It had been a couple days since I joined the Orphans and War unofficially as a temporary member, although Lark did say that we would go over to the Adventurer's guild in the coming days to register me as an official member. Today, I was with Leia, as she rushed to me from a distance, her black curls bouncing behind her as sweat poured from her head. It was hot, and I knew that running would be extremely tiring for her, but I was still grateful that she was willing to help me improve by doing this.
My goal was simple-to try to shoot her with my arrows. Luckily, they’re older and blunt, so aside from a small bruise or very improbable injury you’d be fine if you got hit. I raise my bow, aiming to Leia, hold the bow strong even with my shaking muscles, and shoot the arrow.
It whistles as it flies through the air, and I watch eagerly and with anticipation as she continues to run. She looks at it as she runs, and speeds up, surpassing the arrow with sheer speed and also, I had not thought to account for her running too much. I sigh. I was getting better, definitely, but some things I still needed to work on, like accounting for movements and running speed.
A thunk is heard as the arrow slams into the ground, and I draw another as Leia gets ever closer. Looking at her as she rushes to me, she and I both know what I did wrong, and if I don’t manage to shoot her with this arrow, she’ll lecture me on reading movements again. I draw the bow, but this time don’t shoot directly where she is, this time doing a shot where I think she’ll be. Sure, it's definitely harder to estimate where she’ll end up, but I still try, aiming for somewhere halfway between her and me. Clunk. The sound of metal on wood was a satisfying sound, and I threw my hands up in celebration, one still clutched around the handgrip of the bow.
Dennis, who was behind me with Harvey training on blocking his fireballs, claps me on the back. Even though his orcish strength makes me almost fall over, which, gathering he didn’t mean it, I shrug off-although some slight annoyance does creep into me. “Nice one!” He congratulates, and even Harvey nods, acknowledging my growth. As Leia finally arrives, she looks at me proudly. “Well done.” She says. “That was a good shot, predicting where I’d be.” I nod at the praise with a smile.
I’d grown a lot these last couple of days, and I reflect on those days when I could barely hold my bow straight from my muscles protesting after an hour of practice, or when I had accidentally shot Dennis-as he was near the target that particular day. From that day they had learned that training near a target where a rookie archer was practicing wasn’t the most smart nor practical thing if they didn’t want to get shot.
As my thoughts wandered, I looked up at the sky, and saw how it was growing dark faster, since its summer, and realised that the post office gets their Tingaren letters today. I look up at Leia silently, and she chuckles as she pats me on the back. “Go.” She encourages as she pushes back her hair in a futile attempt to control it, only for where her hand had carved a path to pop back as if she had never tried to suppress it. “Just come back when you’re done, alright?” Nodding, I rush away, but I don’t forget to put down my bow.
I run through the streets, everyone getting ready for Jiri. I couldn’t believe how it had caught up on us so fast. (Jiri is basically Christmas, and for all the festivals except the summer and winter solstices are on the week of Jiri, or commonly referred to as the Week of Festivals). People were putting up stalls and markets, and I smiled as I ran past. Kids were watching as the plant mages grow vines for The Growth of Dasani, and people were putting out there plants so all the flowers would be visible when they bloomed. I stop for a bit, looking around the town.
(If you forgot what the Growth of Dasani is, it’s when their god, Dasani of the forest, does a massive growth of plants and they all bloom. That’s why everyone puts their plants out so the blooming is visible to everyone.)
It was, well, beautiful. The brick houses were covered in vines, with the street having a crowd people of all ages and races, along with many market stalls and people selling lots of trinkets and fruits. This was the market street that lead to the main market, that coincidentally was near the post office.
Many people sold clothes, fruit, monster hides, their produce, and some even sold farm animals in a discreet corner of the markets. Obviously, since people were people, there were a couple who didn’t approve of animals being close to food. I pull my focus away from the stalls and back to the post office just as I notice someone entering. A courier.
A courier entered it as I approached. I entered soon after, and was greeted by many plants and vines on the inside of the shop, as well as the owl hybrid, someone who’s rare in these parts since hybrids aren’t on the dragon head but on the spine. (Since the land that Reika’s on is shaped like a dragon head, and it has a spine part that is behind the head, but she’s on the snout of the dragon, so it's very unusual to see a hybrid since they live on the spine. Taegan, Shankhe and Dalyva all come from the dragon head continent as well.)
They have grey feathers, and wings that come out of a hole in their courier uniform, as well as owl ears that are like dragon horns, it feathery and waving with the wind. A satchel on their hip they reach into, and letters pour out. Handing over the letters to the person, the owl hybrid leaves.
I try not stare, I know it's rude, but it's hard not to with someone so unique to this area. After they leave and are out of sight, I walk up to the front desk.
“Anything from Baroness Heart?” I ask, using Reika’s last name as it’s easier to identify by as I’ve learned. The worker looks me up and down with a suspicious look, but shakes her head. “No, not today.” They say bluntly. I can tell they don’t like it when I use a noble’s name, but they’re probably just some of the people who don’t like street kids.
I sigh, sad that there are no more updates on her disappearance and then head out. A smell wafted past me, and my head snapped to where a stall cooking Korrong chunks on skewers before lathering it in honey. Korre. (Korrong is like badger, and when done like this on a skewer and lathered in honey it's a traditional street food called Korre). I walked up to the stall with my copper I earned from the dungeon. The street vendor looks up from his cooking as i approach. “One skewer please.” I say, and he nods. “A copper.” He says gruffly, but i can tell there’s an undercurrent of compassion behind that rough exterior.
I can also tell that he sympathises with me, as I can see how he reduced the price from two copper to one. How do I know this? The sign. Obviously he didn’t know that I could read.
He takes my coin, and I take a skewer. Taking a bite into it, I groan at the mix of savoury and sweet that is Korre. The honey sweetness complementing the meat as it pairs. Rich, complex and appetising, the meat is tough, chewy, yet also soft and nicely cooked as the honey practically drips from it, and I hurriedly eat it as I walk along in order not to drop the golden sugary treat.
Having coin again… was like a dream come true. No longer having to scrounge around for a spare coin to eat, people who actually support and actively help me. It was amazing. But, I never forgot my origins of the street-the place I would end up as well if I wasn’t a good enough adventurer to stay on the Orphans and War adventuring team-and fairly often went to where me and Ollie would meet up. I handed him some of my coins when i got my first payment from the dungeon, and he spread it out between those kids who needed it most. Like those who just got out of the orphanage or those who were truly struggling on the streets.
I ducked in there, and noticed a newer kid there. He had a bag of nuts in his hand. Stolen definitely. He looked at me with an assessing and annoyed look, since he saw the skewer I have. I just chuckle and say. “You got Ollie’s service.” The kid nods, but doesn't respond. After a couple seconds of silence, Ollie reappears. “Hey Reika.” He greets me, and the kid looks at me with surprise. “This is a new street kid, just got here by wagon. His parents…..” Ollie trailed off, and gave me a look. The kid sort of looks sad, now that I inspect him. “Abandoned by the guards?” I ask, and, still wary but not that much, shakes his head. I frown. “What then?” It was common here for the guards to abandon the kids. The guards don’t want to take care of kids who’ve lost their parents, so unless their parents were rich, the kid ends up on the streets. Well, that said, not all guards were bad, just some. But enough to make it bad. “The orphanage.” Says the kid. “I- was too old.” I sigh. It was normal for the orphanage, once they were full, to put an age limit on those who got their help. Suddenly I remembered something. “Were you the kid I took to the orphanage that day?” I ask. “Yep.” Said Ollie, as the kid goes behind Ollie, probably for more security or comfort.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Tyron, this is Reika, a street kid like us. The one who took you to the orphanage.” The kid-no, Tyron i corrected myself-looks at me, before opening his mouth and saying quietly. “Why was she eating a skewer then? And look different from before? Cleaner.” Ollie looks at me, before chuckling. “She’s working to become an adventurer in a team, and she got her first payment. The adventurers are also really nice, and let her shower at their place once.” The kid looks slightly less wary.
“C-can i become an adventurer?” He mutters, as he glances at me. I think i can even see a hint of admiration in his gaze. “Of course!” I say encouragingly. “Hey, hear me out. There’s a training area that poorer kids use, and I can ask my adventuring team if a new team can use it as well. Alright? All you need to do is gather at least four others if you want to be an adventurer as well, Ollie?” Of course, i already knew that Ollie wanted to be an adventurer. It was like his dream. One he only shared to me though. The kids eyes lit up with an excitement I’ve only seen in people who’ve gotten or done something that achieves their dreams. He looks up to Ollie with puppy eyes. “Can you? Please?” Ollie looked shocked for a second, before nodding as well.
The kid, paying half his nuts to Ollie, rushes off to find four other people to get into his adventuring team, as i walk back to the training area, Ollie in tow.
“Thanks.” Says Ollie, and I shake my head. “Don’t thank me yet, they might not accept you. As I approach the training ground, Leia approaches me. “Took you long enough.” She teases, before looking over my shoulder and noticing Ollie. “Who’s that?” I try look confident as i say. “That’s Ollie. I was wondering if he and some other orphans could make an adventuring team and use this training area?” Leia thought for a bit, before calling over Harvey. With his staff in hand, Harvey looked at Leia. “What is it?” He asks. “Do you know if Reika’s friends can use this area if they want to be an adventuring team?” He thinks for a moment, then responds. “I’m not Lark with how I know what I can and can't do, but I’m pretty sure if you get another group to sponsor you, you can be a team here at the training area.” Lark, overhearing our conversation somehow despite clashing with Dennis replies. “Yep, that’s correct Harvey!” Ollie looks at them. “Does that mean I can be an adventurer?” He asks eagerly.
Harvey, and Lark who’s currently walking over both nod. “You would be correct with that.” Answers Lark. “We can sponsor you once you get a team together?” He offered, holding out his hand. Ollie, looking slightly shocked and overwhelmed, nods quickly, as if they’d pull back their offer if he didn’t respond fast enough. “Yes, yes, please.” Ollie puts out his hand, and shakes Larks. “Thank you!” He says, before going off to tell Tyron and find some other kids to be with them.
Lark looks at me. “You sure you don’t want to be with them?” I look at him. I mean, it would be good. I shrug. “If they invite me, I’ll go to their team, but for now I like your team better.”
Leia giggles as she hears this. “Are we better?” She asks. I laugh, and nod. “Yep. Well, I don’t know. Ollie’s really good with his spesh.”
We giggle for a bit, before Leia directs me over to the target range. She then goes over to the target that has a string on it connecting to a tree, and pushes on it, sending it swinging and spinning around. Once Leia had moved away, she nods at me. “Go.” I draw the bow, and look at the spinning target. Not long. 3… 2…1. The arrow made a audible thunk as it slammed into the target, and Leia went over fast to check where it landed. She grabs it, slowing its spinning, and makes the arrow face me. It was on the back, near the top. “Not bad!” She comments. “You arced it though, didn’t you?” Sheepishly, i nod. “Yeah.” She looked at me, and moved her finger back and forth like a parent reprimanding her child. We giggle, but get back to training.
After a few tries of shooting the moving target, Ollie and Tyron return with four other kids. Some, i recognise. Tyron goes up to Lark, as we all crowd around Lark as a group. “Let’s introduce everyone, shall we? Because not everyone knows each other. Affinities included.” Lark starts, and everyone nods in agreement, even Tyron’s group. “I’ll start, I'm Lark, 18, and my affinity is Earth.” Of course, I already knew how old he was, as he had told me one day when I was curious. Then Leia said hers. “I’m Leia, 18, and my affinity is Wind.” I knew this at least, since she had already told me when I asked. Dennis is rather reluctant to share his affinity and age, but he does. “I’m Dennis, 19, and my affinity is Ice.” I blink, surprised. I didn’t know that, as they all don’t really use their affinities much, but also, Ice is rather rare. As for his age, well I thought he was younger than Lark. “I’m Harvey, also 17, and my affinity is Fire.” He cheerfully says. I figured he was 17 since he looked younger. Then it's my turn. “Reika, 16, and my affinity is Plant.” Some of them looked slightly surprised that I was barely an adult, but they shrugged it off.
Once we were done, we looked to their group. “I’m Ollie, 16, and my affinity is Illusion.” My team’s eyes widened at that, and some of his team who don’t know, as Illusion magic is rare. One of the girls stepped up. She had magnificent light green hair, and looked about 9 or 10. I did wonder how she was on the streets, but more importantly thought about what her affinity was. “I’m Seia, 10, with a Healing affinity.” She whispers nervously. She definitely looks young to want to be an adventurer, but I won't judge, except I do wonder why she isn’t in the orphanage.
Of course, everyone looks at her with appreciation and happiness. Healers these days if its not an emergency cost money, but even if its an emergency they generally make you pay afterwards. Of course, having a healer on your team just makes everything better. A boy walked up next to her. “Sunny, 10, with the Light affinity.” He said proudly. I kinda expected that. Sunny had light yellow hair, a smile like the sun and an eerily similar face to Seia. “Are you two twins?” Leia asks, and Sunny nods. “‘Course, she’s my little sister by two minutes!” He looked very proud of the fact he was older.
Next up was a boy. “I am Jack, 11, and I have the Earth affinity.” I nod, he’s like Lark then with his affinity, and slightly older than the twins with his age. “I’m Zeen, 12, and my affinity is Water.” Not too common around these parts, but not uncommon. His age too is an increase on Jacks, so they would be an interesting team with the different ages, especially since Ollie is clearly much older than the rest. And finally, it was Tyron. “I’m Tyron, 13, and my affinity is Fire.” Well, I figured that he was around that age, but it was still a slight surprise to know. We all nod, and Lark speaks up again. “Well, you guys should head over to the adventurers guild and get a proper party set up. We’ll come with you, since Reika needs to be added to our party.”
And so, thats how you got a group of around 5 kids and 6 on the younger side adults heading to the adventurers guild. When we first entered and came up to the desk, Ollie started by taking his group to a different receptionist, while Lark came up to the one in front of us. They had the standard guild uniform, and looked bored. However they perked up once they noticed us. “Hello, and welcome to the adventurers guild. How may I help you today?” They ask in a practiced manner. “We’d like to add Reika here to our team.” Lark says, gesturing to me.
The receptionist nods. “Whats your team name?” Dennis replied this time. “Orphans and War.” They get out a sheet of paper, and hand me a quill, with some ink being on the desk. “Put your name here, and then your signature over there.” The receptionist instructs, and i do so. Once I’ve filled in the boxes, they stamp it, and then look up at us. “Is that all?” We nod. “Well, we have a quest offer for any adventurers who want to.” They almost look... hopeful? As if they get something if we accept their offer. Lark glances at all of us, before replying. “What’s the offer?”
They seems hesitant to answer, but grab a piece of paper from under the desk, and hand it to us. “The Adventuring School is doing a dungeon, and they need at least two teams of wood to help them clear the dungeon. It does say preferably middle wood rank, but they truly don’t mind. It’s an experience to show them how the world truly doesn’t revolve around them.”
We all look between us, and the receptionist leans in, their face losing its professional facade. “To be truly honest with you, they’re all real brats.” They whisper. “If you need the money though, that’s a whole other story. They pay good, despite their treatment.” I, curious, look over at Ollie, who is staring at me, and clearly having gotten the same offer as us. I lean in to Leia. “I think we should take it.” I whisper into her ear. “We can do it with Ollie and the others.” She nods at my suggestion, and passes it on to Lark.
After Lark shared it to the others, also known as Harvey and Dennis, they all agreed, and we signed up. The receptionist looked surprised, but it was as if it wasn’t entirely unexpected for them, as we certainly look… poorer than most, to put it kindly. To put it straight, we were wearing basically rags that had heaps of tears, patched up spots, and some of us looked like we spent more on fixing our clothes than buying new ones. Despite that, we were clean, having had showers.
Well, it wasn’t that bad. We had enough money to buy clothes as adventurers, even if we were only wood rank, and Lark had his own house that everyone contributed to so they could sleep there as well. I look across to Ollie, and start to walk to him. “Hey, Ol.” I call out and he turns around, curious. “Yeah?” He asks. “We signed up for the Adventuring School Quest, and we thought that you could join us. Although, you may be a bit weak….” I trail off, just as the receptionist notices my comment. “No, they won’t mind. After all, it's an exercise to teach the kids that despite their wealth, others like you can also be as strong. Besides, they’re first years, and they only got selected, so you’re fine.”
Ollie nods, and he relays the message to all the kids. There are varying reactions, from scowls-from Sunny and Seia-to annoyance-from Jack-and finally some greed at the mention of the money paid, not including tips from teachers-seen from Zeen and Tyron. Well, Ollie just has his normal poker, but being his friend of many years, I noticed how his face ranged from wariness and caution to a scowl. I didn’t blame him. Most nobles were brats, only a couple, like Dalyva, were down to earth and truly kind. I sigh internally. Dalyva. Even in times like this, surrounded by teammates and friends, I couldn’t help but hope she was okay, that she wasn’t hurt, and that she would return in one piece, as perfect as she left. But that was all a fisherman’s dream. No one was the same when they returned from anything. She knew that when she did this trip, it would expand her horizons, change her mind, and make her think of the greater world than just our tiny town here.
But realms changed you, much more than a trip. Especially an unknown realm. Just thinking of how she was made me worried, but I pushed it aside as Lark proposed the idea of us going to his place. Agreeing, since most of us didn’t have a home, we all started to go to his house, of course not before doing the procedures to accept the quest first.
As we walked, Ollie was uncharacteristically quiet. “Ollie?” I ask, looking at him. His shaggy curls fell over his eyes as his head drooped, and I knew he was thinking of something. He looked up briefly, just to say what he was pondering. “Would Appa and honey taste good together?” He says. I stare at him in disbelief. “Seriously?” I ask. He looks up again, innocent. “What? I was curious if they would.” I look at him, before bursting out. “I thought something was actually wrong! But no, its just you being stupid!” I-lightly-whack him on the back of the head, before continuing to walk, a huff escaping my lips as i pass him.
He looks with mock hurt across at me, but I ignore him and go to Leia, wanting to get away from the stupid boys.