Travarus

[*Phoenix*]'s Character Challenge Character!

RPer: [*Phoenix*]

Character name:
- Travarus

Character setting:
- Heaven :]

Age:
- 16

Race:
- Human turned Angel

Appearance:
- Shiny white wings
- Blond mid neck length hair
- Bright blue green eyes with red glasses
- freckles on face
- tan

History:
- He was a good kid, loved by any adult he met but envied by many of his peer group, good at sports, a straight A nerd, and a helping hand to those who needed it.
- Travarus was a up and coming high school student who had just gotten his license and died in a crash into a tree.
- He was pressured into taking some of his not-so-good friends to a party. Travarus was nervous about going and, when things started to get heated at the party, decided to call it a night and leave early. It had started to rain and he was too nervous and worried about his friends that he crashed into a tree head on. He died instantaneously and was accepted into Heaven because he had believe in Jesus.
- While in Heaven, as a student, he had the opportunity to get on the path of a squire. Travarus becomes "Reminder" to Jesus as a test during his studies.
- He lost track of time, but, by running as fast as he could, made it in time to remind Jesus about waking the stars. During that time, Jesus teaches him a valuable lesson about how to feel about death: whether it's a celebration or a time to mourn.
- He is still continuing with his studies and hopes someday to not be as nervous around his Lord/Master in hope to become a squire.

Personality:
- Travarus is a quiet guy, and tends to be lost in his music. Although he's always loved to learn. Sometimes he likes school, sometimes he doesn't, but if you give him something to learn and he's all over it like a wolf on a deer!
- He's not really into girls; with school and sports, he doesn't have time. He did have a girlfriend once, but she dated him just for the "title" that comes with dating a great jock. It was then that he swore off girl until college.
- He tends to get nervous around people he greatly admires or respects. His cool goes out the window and even gets the sweaty palms.
- He loves his family and friends.
- He had a little brother that was his best buddy, until he died from a rare and unique strain of influenza.

Occupation:
- Deceased
- was a student

Abilities:
- Athletic
- Geek/Nerd
- Caring
- Teaching (He tutored after school.)

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Let us begin!

Mr. L, a tall, skeletal man with thin black hair stood waiting in front of a high arched window. The evening's dull light was broken into patches by the trees outside, casting odd moving dots over Mr. L as he sighed and checked his pocket watch. He glanced at the open door of his office, hoping Travarus would make his appearance.

Travarus came running across the lawns of his old high school. He had a meeting with Mr. L, and he knew he was late. His backpack almost flew off his shoulder as he whipped around the corner and took the stairs two by two. He slowed his pace down, just for a second to catch his breath. "I thought being dead would make things easier," he thought to himself. He was upset the day he learned you have to pass four different classes to learn how to walk through solid objects. "It's like I'm still in school." As he made his way around the corner, he saw Mr. L's office in sight. He slowed down to a walk, readjusted his backpack, and took a deep breath. He knocked quickly on the oak door, and wiped his hands on his jeans.

Mr. L blinked at Travarus and put on a tight fake smile. "The door is open..." he said, waving his hand in the door's direction. "Come in and sit. You're already late." Mr. L returned his watch to his pocket and walked over to his desk where he retrieved a manila folder with TRAVARUS written across the front. He plucked a fancy steel pen from a pencil holder on his desk and flipped the folder open.

Travarus stuttered, "I-I'm-I'm sorry. I did not intend to be late." He closed the door behind him and sat on one of the red chairs in front of Mr. L's desk. He clutched his backpack on his lap because he was so nervous.

"So," said Mr. L, leaning on his desk and skimming his file. "Where to start. Well, how about when you were still alive. According to this, you were perfect. Intelligent, athletic, kind, loved by everyone. I can't find any flaws here. Am I missing something, or are you really that, how should I put it, impossibly immaculate?"

Travarus continued to stammer and stutter. "Wha-wha-what kind of flaws, sir?"

"Any flaws, Travarus. Any at all. According to this file, you don't sound human. You have to have problems. What are they," asked Mr. L, sounding annoyed.

Travarus scratched his cheek. "I sweat a lot when I get really nervous, and I have a really hard time talking public speaking. I used to party a lot until I assaulted my good friend, Sarah. It was then that I realized how bad underage drinking and partying can be. Um...." Travarus kept trying to think about bad things he's done, but couldn't think of anything big. "A-a-all I can think of, sir, are just a bunch of little things besides that one time a few years ago." Travarus wiped his hands on his jeans again. "I wish I brought another shirt," he thought.

Mr. L cocked a brow and bunched his lips to the side, looking unimpressed. "So, besides innocent mistakes and some sort of gland problem, you were practically an angel before you even died. And after you died, you were admitted into heaven... let me see..." He flipped through the file. "You were admitted into heaven because you believe in Jesus. So, you being a good noble person had nothing to do with it? Believing in Jesus is the one and only qualification one needs to enter heaven?"

Travarus gained a little confidence because Mr. L was asking about something he knows very, very well. "Yes, sir. The one and only way."

"Really?" asked Mr. L, folding his arms and looking more than a little agitated. "Ok then. Let me throw some hypothetical situations at you. Say there was a man, a man named... Yin. Yin lives in rural China. His family is poor and cannot afford a television, a computer, anything. As a result, he has never heard of Jesus and therefore doesn't believe in him. Yin, despite living in poverty, has grown up to be a noble, selfless and wonderful human being. He lives a heroic life, is beloved by everyone and dies at the age of 51. Will this wonderful human being not be admitted into heaven because he doesn't believe in Jesus?"

"That all depends on his heart. I am not God so I can't speak for him, but he probably wouldn't be admitted. There's only one way. You might be better off asking God yourself."

"Well that's a great system," said Mr. L sarcastically. "Here, another situation. Say there was a man named John who lives in New York. He was raised a Christian but he's a despicable man. He's racist, sexist, selfish and ignorant. On his deathbed he asks God for forgiveness for his sins, and then dies. Does he get into heaven?"

"Once again it depends on his heart. If he sincerely meant it, then yes he would be accepted. God accepts everyone who believes." Getting a little annoying, Travarus had a feeling where this conversation was going and dared to ask, "Sir, why I am here?"

Mr. L sighed and shook his head before giving Travarus a hard, unhappy look. "You're here for evaluation, Travarus. I have a question for you. Do you ever think for yourself? Do you ever question God? Because, from what you just told me, his policies don't seem fair."

Getting even more annoyed, but attempt to remain composed, Travarus calmly replied, "As a matter of fact I do think for myself. I don't know whether or not 'Yin' would have been accepted because I can't see his heart and true motivations. If he did his good deeds out of the goodness of his heart, then he might be accepted into the family of God because he had never heard about Jesus while on earth. That's a situation that can't be explain by other people because Judgment Day is different for every person, and once you get to Judgment Day you can't tell people on earth about it. I know what MY Judgment Day was like, but I can't tell you what my neighbor Hector's was like because he's never told me." Travarus took a breath and continued to speak. "God is fair because he accepts everyone, everywhere, no matter what IF they believe. It doesn't matter if their male or female, murderers or saints. 'If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.' That's what the Bible says, and that's what I believe." Travarus ended by placing his backpack on the floor and crossing his arms.

"Poor Buddhists..." Mr. L joked and cracked a cruel smile. "Well, then, moving on. Let me see-" He flipped through the papers again. "So, my information seems incomplete. You were admitted into heaven and... heaven is school? Why is that?"

Travarus sat for a second. "I'm not exactly sure why. I think it might have something to do with me being in high school when I died, but I think that's just a teeny tiny part of it. We have all of eternity, got to do something, right?"

"So has this heaven school been nothing but happiness and bliss for you?"

"For me, yes. I love to learn. I don't really have homework either, so it's great," Travarus beamed. "And, of course," he chuckled, "I can quit whenever I want to."

"Well, I'm glad to hear heaven is all it's cracked up to be. Alright, so next question. What is this reminder business? In your file, it sounds like a title of sorts, but I don't understand what it denotes..."

"When you're on the path to become a Squire, you have to do various odd jobs. The beginning one is 'Reminder' for Jesus. He knows exactly when everything happens, but the point of the title is to teach us when things are supposed to happen by having us 'remind' Jesus that it's time to do something. It's kinda like a teaching exercise rather than a job title actually."

"So, you're not actually reminding him of anything, you're just pretending to so that you'll learn the timing of... things?" Mr. L asked, cocking his head.

"Yep," Travarus nodded.

"That seems like an awfully pointless and trivial thing for our Lord and Savior to do... wouldn't making students memorize an events list be a lot more effective? What kind of things do you pretend to remind him to do?"

"I know for me, it's really hard to just memorize a list. This way is actually easier for me to learn. I reminded him one evening that it was time to change dusk into night. I know one of my friends reminded him that it was time for him to read to the younger kids." Travarus laughed heartily. "They love it when Jesus reads to them."

Mr. L pulled back looking disturbed. "Ooook..." he said and looked down at his file, trying to regain his train of thought. "Aren't there more important things for the Lord to do? The world is full of killing and suffering. Satan is obviously rampant, and Jesus is just... reading books to kids? Isn't there some sort of eternal war against good and evil going on? One would think Jesus would be a little too busy to do pointless things with school children."

"Well, yes, I could see how that would sound like a problem, but you must understand that Jesus is eternal; which means for him what seems like just an hour or so could be 1,000 YEARS on earth. It's not like he's running out of time. He knows when and how to do things. He's got the big picture. Trusting him and his timing is part of the 'faith' aspect of Christianity."

"I see. I suppose questioning the schedule of a being who lives outside of time and space is a bit silly. I apologize. Moving on. My file says Jesus taught you a lesson about death and mourning... would you mind giving me some more details about that experience?"

"Right.....that was quite a change in thought. Basically what Jesus wanted to teach me was that even though what would seem like a tragedy, like the little girl being beaten to death by her father, should be viewed from an eternal standpoint. She was coming home therefore we should celebrate," Travarus said as he bowed his head.

Mr. L seemed to choke on his own spit. He went a little blue in the face, held up a finger indicating Travarus should wait and then he got up to lean on the window frame. He finally regained control of himself and spun around on his heels to face Travarus. "Well!" he said in an oddly jovial tone, clapping his hands together. "It seems-" he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his watch. "Yes, it seems we've run out of time. My next interview starts in a matter of moments and I really must prepare." He replaced his watch and walked over to Travarus, offering him a hand to shake. "It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Travarus."

Travarus smiled as he shook Mr. L's hand. "It was nice to meet you, too, Mr. L. I pray you got everything you need from my evaluation." With that, Travarus scooped up his backpack and left Mr. L's office, confused, yet satisfied.

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