Chap 5 part 2
Warning.. Bit of a tear jerker this section.. Maybe.. Hell i dono.. Sigh ..Well at least the MC cries. Dono bout you all.
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Walking out the door of the blacksmiths shop I couldn't help feel I had fallen into a ambush. With time time difference being what it was.. one day on earth was six months here I knew that I had plenty of time. Just the thought of staying stuck in one place though had me a bit apprehensive. I didn't want to be stuck in the village for the entire length of my stay here. Resolving to ask Martha a few pointed questions the next time I saw her I headed off in search of little Tommy Washburn.
Strolling through the village I was impressed by how industrious the people were. Nothing seemed to be wasted and everything had a purpose. Passing by what could only be a small bakers shop the smell coming out of the door almost made me go inside. 'Ahh nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread' I thought.
Moving along taking in the sights I noticed quite a few people were watching me, most of the watchers were woman of various ages. They were clustered together talking in small groups of two or more I couldn't hear what they were saying but by the giggling and glances they were giving me I had a pretty good idea what the main topic of their conversations were.
Not seeing any little boys running around and not even knowing what Tommy Washburn looked like I came to the conclusion that the best way to find him was to simply ask someone. Seeing a particulerly large group of woman ahead of me I hid my trepidation at the coming conversation and figured that the more present the less likely the chance of one of them flirting with me was...................
Just before reaching the group they all burst out in laughter..The group of woman with large smiles on their faces turned to face me. Walking the last few feat up to them I greeted them “Good afternoon ladies, My name is Richard. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Would any of you happen to know where Tommy Washburn may be?”
At my words all of them started laughing again. A bit nonplussed I was turning to leave when one of the woman reached out and took hold of my arm stopping me. Looking back at her friends she said with a small smile “Hello Richard..Don't let this bunch of gossips scare you away. They are still a bit young and don't know how to talk to men without giggling like little girls” Which earned her a few frowns from the rest of the group. “It is a pleasure to meet you Richard my name is Sara” pointing to each of the others she told me their names “and this is Shelly, Trisha , Heather and Rachell.” Giving the group a slight little bow I said hello once again and asked where Tommy might be located. Taking my arm in hers Sara quickly dragged me away from the others eliciting a loud collection of boo's and cries of “No fair” and a lot of laughter by the others.
I started to dig my feet into the ground but she promptly said “None of that now, You want to see my Brother and the quickest way your going to find him is if I show you where he is. Besides if I hadn't gotten you away from that group back there they would have eaten you alive. You are the only thing people have been talking about ever sense you showed up. Honestly I find it quite tiresome to tell you the truth. I know if I was you I would not like all the attention.... Why do you want to talk to Tommy anyways?”
I was amazed at how fast the woman was talking while dragging me along by my arm, without a word I Dug out Old Yella's collar from my inventory and showed it to her..With sadness in her voice she said “Old Yella.. He was a good dawg til the rot took hold of him. Many in the village are going to miss him...... Don't worry about having to kill him though.”
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“Everyone will be relieved when they find out Old Yella was put out of his misery. Tommy isn't going to take the news well....No not well at all. He and that dawg were inseparable for over ten years..That is until the rot took hold. No one in the village has had the heart to tell poor Tommy what happened. All he knows is his best friend disappeared about a year ago.”
Looking back at me with a soft expression she said “Please be gentle when you tell him.” Nodding at her request “I will do my best Sara, I know what its like to have lost a loved pet.” About that time we came up to a large barn, Inside was a boy of about twelve years of age. Looking at him he was a handsome kid, he had long brown hair and like most rambunctious kids his age was covered in small scratches and covered in dirt twigs and leaves from whatever adventure he had been involved with during the day. At the moment we walked up he was thrusting a long branch with a sharpened point on it into the hay loft.
Seeing this Sara Called out to him “Hey Tommy how many you get so far today?” he happily replied “seven so far!” I leaned over and whispered into Sara's ear “Whats he doing?” Laughing she said “Hes waking Wats” Seeing my confusion Sara pointed at a pile of something on the ground. Taking a close look I see a small critter, it looked like someone took a Rat and crossed it with a Bat. It had the body and head of a rat but the wings and ears of a bat... Not understanding where the W in the name came from I decided I probably didn't want to know nor did it really matter.
Saying out loud for the boys benefit I stated “he must be a mighty Wat hunter to have goten so many in one day” The boy turned from his 'Wat waking' with a huge smile on his face and said “Thank you kind sir, you sure look better then the last time I saw you! Near on half dead you were. Seeing you kill off all those were-wabbits was exciting!” Looking over at his sister he said “What you all doing here sis?” Glancing at me with a slight wince she said “Well Tommy Richard here has something to tell you”
Tommy turned his eyes towards me expectantly. Coughing a couple of times I proceeded to gently tell the boy about Old Yella. At the end of telling a edited version of the story where His dog had saved my life from the Were-wabbits. I pulled out the collar and handed it to him. (Yes..I lied to the kid. He was better off remembering the dog with happy memories compared to the heartache the truth would cause.)
Crying he reached out and took the collar. Looking up at me with heart wrenching eyes he asked “Sob..Did he suffer?” At that point I couldn't help myself and started to cry myself a bit. Sara gathered Tommy into her arms and hugged him tightly. “No Tommy Old Yella didn't suffer, your Old dog was a Hero in the end”. Nodding at my words he thanked me for bringing him the collar then turned around with Sara and walked away. Sara looked back at me and mouthed the words “Thank you” Wiping the tears out of my own eyes and seeing that it was getting dark I headed back to Martha's house.
Ding
Quest completed: “Old Yella”
500 Familiarity with residents of Washburn
Bonus: 100 Familiarity with members of the Washburn
Family Because of your Compassion shown to Tommy.
10 Silver Bounty Reward
See Leeroy Jenkins for Reward
End Chap 5 Part 2
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