“Ya’ll know how to pick your names out here. Like mother, like daughter.” Rixam said.
“She's more like her dad. He’ll be there too.”
“I’ll make sure my bat drake don’t howl too much, L’maya.”
She hit his shoulder in a playful fashion, “Mhm. Good luck.” she said, leaving the tent.
“You’ve gotten along famously. I thought we were meant to keep a low profile?” Luna said.
“I might’ve gotten carried away.” Rixam admitted, “but now we won’t be treated like outsiders as much.”
Dreiki scanned the other refugees in the tent. He had only grabbed a limited supply of medicine, so he had to be careful with who he helped, “The people in here are sick. Maybe we should try to help them while we’re here?”
“I think that’s a good idea, Argo. But if we’re keeping a low profile do you think that’s best?”
“I’d rather we stood out a little than ignore people we could be helping,” he said, showing some of the vials he had taken from the cart.
“Fair enough. The more we use to help them, though, the less we have to bargain with. We still need food and equipment for when we leave. That stuff’s not gonna be cheap.”
“I’m aware. I say we use it as an opportunity to practice some healing magic before the ceremony. Who knows? It might save more than just the lives of the other refugees in camp.”
Gornax nodded in agreement, all four of his arms crossed over his chest, “I think it’d also be a good idea to come up with some code and formations too. I’m sure no one will bother a few Noxa that wander into the woods from time to time.”
“Let’s remember why we’re here in the first place. We don’t know anyone here, and if we overextend ourselves we’re going to be the ones paying for it,” Luna said.
“Aw lighten up, Feathers-” Rixam said.
“No, she’s right,” Dreiki interjected, “It’s a good idea to be conservative with how much help we offer. We’re lambs, remember?”
“You make a good point, Argo. Then we’ll make sure to keep an eye out for the people that need the most help. I say we trade in our goods for an extra weapon or four to defend ourselves with, what do you guys think?”
Dreiki’s hand instinctively touched his hip where he normally carried Savekio’s sword. He had taken it with him leaving the boy with his standard axe and dagger. It only made sense, considering the sword would be an obvious giveaway if someone saw him with it, “We’re not planning on fighting the Malaki ourselves are we?”
Rixam scratched his chin, “I think it would be worthwhile to test ourselves against one. I’m also more interested in what we can do with them in the future. I think the Tibur will give us high quality goods at a reasonable price now that we’ve befriended them. I think they’re sympathetic to the plight of Noxa, so they’re not gonna try to screw us like they would in the cities.”
“On that note, it might be a good idea to think of what we’ll need to take with us, and how we’re going to do that.” Luna said.
Dreiki cupped his chin, “That’s true, Grandpa didn’t tell us how to accomplish that, or what we should trade for. I think it’s up to us to determine the plan from here on out.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“So pops’s testing us on more than just surviving a monster attack huh? He wants to make sure we know how to survive in general. That shouldn’t be too difficult, I think we’ve all got experience in taking care of ourselves,” Rixam said.
“I think it would be good to gather some Ingen fruit if we can. Maybe we could offer to help out and learn how the Tibur cook Malaki?” Gornax said.
“That’s a good idea. There’s plenty to learn from these people, we just gotta look for it in the right ways.”
“This may be our only opportunity to get equipment made from Ingen wood too. Shields, bows, spears, all of that,” Dreiki said, “I’ve read they’re essential to bringing Malaki down.”
“Good idea. It might also be useful to outfit ourselves with light armor if we can afford it.” Rixam said, “Let’s take some time to look around and figure out how much we can trade in. Feathers, you’ll be in charge of finding weapons. Arms, see what we can do about food and cooking. I’m gonna see what kinda budget we can get for selling our potions. Argo, you go on and see who needs some medicine or healing magic. Sound good?”
The rest of the group nodded. In a way, Dreiki was glad that Rixam had stepped up as the leader. He didn’t know the first thing about leading people and Rixam had clearly practiced it. It only made sense considering that Rixam had once planned to lead a revolution in Kul Creek.
Dreiki was glad to have someone to learn from. He spent the day observing other people. Watching others was something that always felt natural to Dreiki. Their mannerisms, their ways of speaking, the expressions on their face. He wondered why he was like that. It wasn’t as if he was particularly introverted, or didn’t prefer to speak with people.
It was the fact that people acted differently when they thought they weren’t being watched. They relaxed and showed a different side of themselves. Dreiki didn’t think it was their true selves, just their vulnerable side. Rixam seemed to know how good Dreiki was at that. Perhaps he had caught Dreiki observing him from afar from time to time? Wind users were always highly perceptive.
Dreiki saw refugees young and old, some with families and some without. He tried to focus on the ones that looked the most ill, or the ones that looked the most worried about the future. The question that remained was how to help them. A random Noxa offering free medicine was too good to be true. He thought about Rixam and Gornax. What did they do that made them so easy to get along with? Despite being Noxa like him, people trusted them a lot easier.
He kept a tally in his head. About four needed urgent care, twelve would worsen if they didn’t get help, and about forty three were in need of help, but could likely manage on their own if something didn’t worsen their condition.
He thought about pretending to be like them when he talked to new people. Admittedly, Dreiki wasn’t good at acting out a role if it was not something he could relate to. He chalked it up to a lack of practice. Even if he wanted to interact with other people, he had spent the majority of his life without anyone his age to call a friend.
Luna was probably the first friend he ever had. Before Dreiki knew it, he was lost in thought remembering what happened the first time he met her. The day after the incident with those poachers in Yvian, his mother had taken them all to the arena.
Seeing the fights had given him so much energy. Their spectacular techniques and incredibly beautiful spells. Two forces of will clashing with one another to determine who would win.
For some reason, Dreiki could understand why xiozians made friends through combat. His mother had apparently met his father on the battlefield as an enemy. He had ambushed and pinned down Luna before they became friends. Rixam and Gornax wouldn’t trust them until they fought.
Was there one friend he had made without fighting them first? How could he befriend people who needed help?
He saw movement from the corner of his eye, noticing Ezo popping out of the snow and diving down to tunnel under it. The bat drake now happily bouncing and rolling around in it.
Dreiki laughed, making Ezo’s ears swivel as the bat drake noticed him. He barked, trudging underneath the tree Dreiki sat in and wiggling his hips.
“Wait Ezo-”
It was too late, the large bat drake leaped up to the branch he was on.
CrrraCK!
Dreiki tumbled into the waist-deep snow, his legs sticking high in the air. At least it had cushioned his fall somewhat. Ezo dragged him out by his ankle, looking happy with himself.
“Geeze, you’re not that small anymore, y’know?” he laughed, petting Ezo’s fluffy white mane, “Maybe it’s my fault for not finding a sturdier branch to sit on, huh?”
Ezo mewled, and nuzzled his hand, playfully gnawing at his wrist and swiping his paws in the air like he wanted to wrestle.
“Alright, I’ll take a break, cmon let’s play!”