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31_days2010-06-07 10:35 am
earthstar-moon.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-06-07 10:35 am
[June 7th] [Slayers] The Knot
Title: The Knot
Day/Theme: June 7th/the haunting riddle of the self
Series: Slayers
Character/Pairing: Lina and Gourry
Rating: G
It was the talk of Atlas City. It was becoming a modern legend. A tale to be told for generations. Gourry didn't understand what the big deal was.
The story had started innocently a few months ago in the sorcerer's guild. A professor had given his class an assignment. He showed them a giant knot. It was the size of a large ball and made out of thick rope. All his students had to do was have one of them figure out how to untie it.
They all tugged at it, examined it and even researched magic spells that would unknot it. Nothing worked. The professor insisted that his class keep trying. His students brought in students from other classes to help out. However, the same pattern occurred and those other students brought in more people from outside the magic guild to assist in solving the mystery. Barely a day passed before those people asked for help from others and so on and so on.
A month later the whole city was involved puzzling over the frustrating knot. There were rumours that the professor himself was getting grumpy over the whole situation. It soon reached the point where the king offered a reward to the first person who could figure out the stupid knot so his city could be restored to peace.
That's what brought Lina here with Gourry faithfully following her. They were currently in the classroom where the famous knot was held. The knot was presented on a pedestal and Lina studied the large object from all sides over with a magnifying glass.
The professor sat in a corner, oblivious to them as he turned another page in this newspaper. Every once in a while, he would glance up, mutter about the stupidity of mankind and go back to his paper.
During all of this, Gourry was bored out of his mind. He could only stand watching Lina silently look at a ball of rope for so long. He felt himself dozing off when Lina stamped her foot.
"Dammit! This shouldn't be this hard." She adjusted her glasses and took another look. "I don't get how you're supposed to untie a knot when there's no clear sign of the end or beginning of it."
"I don't think it's that hard," Gourry replied, working the kinks out of his joints. "It's pretty simple if you ask me."
Lina glared and folded her arms. "Oh really? And I suppose you could solve it?"
Gourry shrugged. "Sure, I don't get why nobody has solved it yet."
Lina twitched. "Fine, tell you what. If you can solve this monster I'll buy you lunch and dinner for the next two weeks."
Gourry grinned. "You're on." The swordsman stood up. The professor raised his head and stared with interest from his seat.
Gourry looked at the knot and reached for his sword. Lina blinked and then the realization hit her. "Gourry wait! Don't-"
SLASH!
Gourry's sword sliced through the knot. The pieces dropped to the floor. Grinning, Gourry put his sword back in its sheath. "There, puzzle solved."
"You jellyfish brain!" Lina cried reaching for her slipper. 'You can't do-"
"FINALLY!" The professor clapped loudly. He was madly laughing as he came over and patted Gourry's shoulder. "Thank you! I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity's intelligence."
Lina stared shocked. "Are you kidding me?! That's the answer? That's cheating!"
The professor folded his arms behind his back. "No, the point of this was to teach my students to try not to over analyze problems when there's a much simpler solution. However, it appears that your friend was the only person to actually have any common sense."
"But, but..." Lina stammered.
Gourry grinned. "I know exactly where I want to go for dinner."
Lina groaned, knowing she was not going to be hearing the end of this for the next six months.
Day/Theme: June 7th/the haunting riddle of the self
Series: Slayers
Character/Pairing: Lina and Gourry
Rating: G
It was the talk of Atlas City. It was becoming a modern legend. A tale to be told for generations. Gourry didn't understand what the big deal was.
The story had started innocently a few months ago in the sorcerer's guild. A professor had given his class an assignment. He showed them a giant knot. It was the size of a large ball and made out of thick rope. All his students had to do was have one of them figure out how to untie it.
They all tugged at it, examined it and even researched magic spells that would unknot it. Nothing worked. The professor insisted that his class keep trying. His students brought in students from other classes to help out. However, the same pattern occurred and those other students brought in more people from outside the magic guild to assist in solving the mystery. Barely a day passed before those people asked for help from others and so on and so on.
A month later the whole city was involved puzzling over the frustrating knot. There were rumours that the professor himself was getting grumpy over the whole situation. It soon reached the point where the king offered a reward to the first person who could figure out the stupid knot so his city could be restored to peace.
That's what brought Lina here with Gourry faithfully following her. They were currently in the classroom where the famous knot was held. The knot was presented on a pedestal and Lina studied the large object from all sides over with a magnifying glass.
The professor sat in a corner, oblivious to them as he turned another page in this newspaper. Every once in a while, he would glance up, mutter about the stupidity of mankind and go back to his paper.
During all of this, Gourry was bored out of his mind. He could only stand watching Lina silently look at a ball of rope for so long. He felt himself dozing off when Lina stamped her foot.
"Dammit! This shouldn't be this hard." She adjusted her glasses and took another look. "I don't get how you're supposed to untie a knot when there's no clear sign of the end or beginning of it."
"I don't think it's that hard," Gourry replied, working the kinks out of his joints. "It's pretty simple if you ask me."
Lina glared and folded her arms. "Oh really? And I suppose you could solve it?"
Gourry shrugged. "Sure, I don't get why nobody has solved it yet."
Lina twitched. "Fine, tell you what. If you can solve this monster I'll buy you lunch and dinner for the next two weeks."
Gourry grinned. "You're on." The swordsman stood up. The professor raised his head and stared with interest from his seat.
Gourry looked at the knot and reached for his sword. Lina blinked and then the realization hit her. "Gourry wait! Don't-"
SLASH!
Gourry's sword sliced through the knot. The pieces dropped to the floor. Grinning, Gourry put his sword back in its sheath. "There, puzzle solved."
"You jellyfish brain!" Lina cried reaching for her slipper. 'You can't do-"
"FINALLY!" The professor clapped loudly. He was madly laughing as he came over and patted Gourry's shoulder. "Thank you! I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity's intelligence."
Lina stared shocked. "Are you kidding me?! That's the answer? That's cheating!"
The professor folded his arms behind his back. "No, the point of this was to teach my students to try not to over analyze problems when there's a much simpler solution. However, it appears that your friend was the only person to actually have any common sense."
"But, but..." Lina stammered.
Gourry grinned. "I know exactly where I want to go for dinner."
Lina groaned, knowing she was not going to be hearing the end of this for the next six months.