At some later point, I lift my head. It feels like I've been dead to the world for some time. I look up. What was I doing? I don't think I was asleep... probably? I don't remember having any nightmares at least. I sit up, glancing around. "Emily?" I ask. She's sitting against the tree trunk, staring impassively at the ground below.
"Oh, hey Aria," she says.
"What's wrong?" Something about her tone doesn't sound right.
"Nothing."
"Umm... if you say so..." I mutter. Something clearly sounds wrong, but if she doesn't want to talk about it... "What are we doing right now? I feel like I was out for a while..."
"You were."
"Right..." I scratch my head. My brain feels overworked, like after I do a whole lot of hard math equations, but much, much worse. I try to think back anyway. Right, I was working with mana and tried to see if I could pull out a single mote of mana. I think I pushed my brain way too far when I did. That's why I feel so out of it now...
I shake myself a little. "Sorry I was out for a while. I pushed myself too hard, kind of fried my brain and couldn't really think afterward."
"Oh, is that what that was?" It sounds like she wants to know more, but... also like she doesn't? I'm having trouble understanding her at the moment. Well, I should explain anyway.
"Yeah, I might have figured out how each little bit of mana is composed of all the different elements, but I couldn't be sure, so I tried to isolate a single mote. Uhh, that's the name I came up with for one single piece of mana. I tried really, really, really hard, but I couldn't do it. And well... I guess you saw the result..." I sigh.
"O-oh..." she mutters and looks down.
"I'm sorry to pry, but... are you sure there's nothing wrong?" I ask hesitantly. Even so, I lean in a little closer.
"Mmmm," she grumbles. "I just got a little mad at you. You were mean earlier."
"I-I was?" I ask, lunging forward to hug her immediately. I can't really remember what I did exactly. "I'm really sorry," I apologize anyway.
"It's fine," she sighs. "I'm just... I'm not used to you being selfish like that, I guess..." It sounds like she's laughing at herself, so I start rubbing cheeks with her again to cheer her up. She starts to giggle, so it must be working, but then she says, "Umm, Aria? I think you're doing the cat thing again."
"Huh?" I blush and back off a little when I realize it. I still have that air-lightning mana, don't I? "Oh, I'm sorry about that." I quickly start to convert it so it won't wreak any more embarrassing havok.
"It's fine, it's kind of cute actually," she grins and gives me a quick head pat.
"Well, if you say so..." I smile back even though I still feel a bit awkward about that. Then I try to turn my thoughts forward again. "So what time is it?" I look up, but it's always hard to tell under the dark canopy of trees.
"I'd say it's getting pretty late. We should be getting most of our hobins soon, then we can head back. You probably need to get ready for tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I think so." I spend some time going over everything and consider what I still need.
I'll need to generate a number of different types of mana to help me in battle. So I'll bring my metals. I'll have to buy a basket or something to carry them since I won't be using Mister Fredricson's.
Apart from that, I was told not to fight, so I won't be needing those iron pins to use as weapons, or that lightning. Though I never really figured out why it hit me, so I'd be more likely to kill myself with that than use it successfully against any enemies anyway...
Leaving that aside, I might have been able to use iron to launch myself out of harm's way, but I didn't have the time or money to buy anything for that, so I guess that is out. Is there anything else? I can pick up the bandages I need when we go to the market on our way home. Are there any other items I should bring with me besides the metal and such for mana generation?
Then an idea strikes me completely out of nowhere. That's right, mana! I should buy some lele fruit! I have no idea if it has negative effects on any of the other rail units. Even coming in contact with it could be bad for them or their divine weaponry. If all else fails, I can eat it myself. We normally find targets based on mana, so while eating it will knock me out, it's possible that it might make me invisible to the enemies. Of course, lying completely defenseless in the middle of a battlefield would likely get me killed in the crossfire anyway. And it might not even work... but it's just one more trick I might be able to use to survive. At worst, it'll just make my death painless. Which is a plus... I guess?
I nod to myself a few times. "I have a few things to buy before tomorrow."
"Yeah, I thought so. Let's get this finished up for tonight." We sit for a little while longer to catch the bulk of our hobins for the day as the sun descends toward the horizon. Then we get packed up and start to head back. On the way, I stop to pet Maven.
"Be a good boy, alright?" I say quietly. What will happen to him if I die? I put a part of myself in him, didn't I? I don't know if me dying will kill him too, or maybe it will be the opposite. Since he is also sort of me, maybe I'll just be him from that point on. I don't know, and I really don't want to find out. I stroke his wonderful, shiny fur for some time before finally standing up to move on.
He goes back to his burrow for the night, and we continue out of the forest. "Wow, you did a real number on your clothes running around like that earlier..." Emily suddenly says. Wait, I did? I look down at myself in horror. It looks like when I went crazy and started running all over, I snagged my clothes on all sorts of things. There are little rips in the fabric all over. I'm going to need so many patches to repair this... I sigh sadly.
"I'll help you when you get back, ok?" she asks.
"Y-yeah..." I stammer. I don't really want to make a promise I can't keep... In part because I still feel like despite all my preparations, I'll still end up dying in combat. But mostly because I'm going to tell her tomorrow. I gulp a little, but don't say anything else.
We walk up the road, surrounded by far more people than usual.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Looks like everyone is heading into the city for the Summer Solstice," Emily comments.
"Huh..." I mumble. Didn't Emily's friends say that there was a big celebration on the Summer Solstice? I doubt I'll be able to see it though... The traffic builds up as we approach the gate. I see the guards checking carts coming in. A man hands one of the guards a little wooden board, probably with something written on it. The guard reads it before passing it back and letting the man through.
Suddenly, that reminds me. "Oh, that's right!" I start digging through my basket. I stuffed it in here earlier when I was getting ready because I wanted to know what it said, but I was completely lost in thought on the way out the gates this morning. Finding it, I pull the white thing with the writing on it from last night out of the bottom of my basket. I quickly go up to one of the guards, since they should be able to read.
"Excuse me, sir?"
"Yes, what is it little one?" he asks, though he still has his eyes on the crowd.
"You can read, right? Could you tell me what this says, please?" I hand him the writing.
"It says 'hahahahaha'... Is this a joke?" he looks down at me, annoyed.
I blink a couple times. "I don't know... Why would it say that?" I scratch my head, completely stumped. Of course the man just shrugs and hands it back. "Thank you very much for the help," I bow before running to catch up with Emily. It looks like she's been slowly moving with the crowd while attempting to watch me. I manage to slip through the legs of the adults all around and make it back to her.
"So what is that anyway?" she asks when I get back.
"I didn't have a chance to tell you." I speak quietly since I don't know who in the bustling crowd might overhear if I'm too loud. "When I had that vision, she lured me to the storeroom with a leaking bucket of water."
"O...kay?" Emily says with a totally blank face.
"After, Mister Fredricson woke me up because I was passed out on the floor or something. He kept yelling at me to tell him why I was there and he wouldn't believe me when I told him I was drawn there by the bucket of water."
"Yeah... that's understandable..." she mutters, looking at me with pity in her eyes.
"But I noticed that the bucket of water was gone." Again, my explanation is met with a blank stare. "I followed the trail left by the bucket to show Mister Fredricson that someone had lead me there. We found the bucket two blocks from the orphanage, with this thing stuck to it. Apparently it says 'hahahahaha'. I... have no idea why though."
"That's... one really strange story..." It feels like she doesn't even know how to react, because she just keeps staring at me. "I don't think I would believe it if I hadn't seen so many weird things already..."
"Umm, thanks?" That... sounded like she said she believes me? I shove the writing back into my basket for now, and we keep walking.
We go for a little while before Emily speaks again. "Now that I'm looking, I don't see any cats anywhere. I guess the big crowd scared them all off... I'll make sure to point one out when I see one, alright?"
"Sure." I grin. Emily said that cats are fluffy so I kind of want to touch one now. I wonder what they're like...?
We make it to the market after a little while. It's even more packed than usual, and we need to hug the hobins close and force our way through the packed crowds between all of the stalls. We finally make it to the counter we're looking for, pressing up against it as the crowd threatens to crush us from behind.
"Good evening," we greet the owner. Then I move over, bracing myself against the stand behind Emily to keep anyone from hitting her while she talks to the big man.
"Much better catch today, I see," he comments.
"Yeah." Then she turns a little and says, "Maybe I should let you go feral more often?" in a low voice with a joking grin.
"Feral?" I ask, not knowing the word.
"I'll tell you later," Emily pouts a little when her joke falls flat.
"Sorry..." I mutter. While I continue to shield her from the crowd, receiving quite some number of bumps and knees to my back, Emily finishes selling twelve hobins to the man. We say say goodbye to him and the little boy, there again today. He responds by making an unfamiliar gesture, some movement of his hand, while wishing us well on the solstice.
After a brief look of shock, Emily responds in kind, saying the same words back, so I try to copy her. "I wish you the best during the coming solstice..." I say, thinking I might have gotten most of the words right, but I have no idea how to repeat whatever that gesture was, I hardly even saw it. Is it some sort of custom people have? But Emily didn't know it either...
Whatever the case, we fight to escape the market, finally getting away to the outer ring where the crowd isn't so dense. Once there, we split up the money. "That's right, these are for you from yesterday. You were too tired to take them." Emily hands me three copper coins, adding to the seven coins we earned today. So I guess we only got six hobins yesterday? I feel a little bad about that but try not to dwell on it. With this, I have twelve coppers and two nuvrites to spend.
We push back into the crowd, fighting our way over to a stand where I pick up four more rolls of bandages. They are expensive, immediately costing six of my copper coins. No need to be cheap here, I tell myself. No point in trying to save money if it just ends up getting me killed.
When I tell Emily I want to get lele fruit as well, she goes pale, but leads me in the right direction anyway. When we arrive at the stall, I see the lele fruit all sitting there in a big basket, and get nervous just looking at so many of them in one place.
Shoving down my nerves, I pick out five of the fruits and deposit them in my basket carefully. Then I shake my hand a little. It feels a bit tingly just from touching the fruits. And they're really expensive too, seventy five barr each. I pay the stallkeeper with four coppers, getting a whole handful of coins in return. Now I have two coppers, five nuvrites, and five tin, plus the one bit of tin I left home.
Our last stop is to get me a basket. We pick up another small one, just like the one I've been using. It also looks like it was woven out of thin strips of some sort of wood, though the color is a bit different. A little less brown, a little more yellow. I guess they used different wood to make it. It costs seventy five barr, so I give them another copper. It puts me at only one copper, but I have seven nuvrite coins now, which is kind of nice. And a bunch of tin that I'm a little unsure of how to deal with it. I'll just hold onto it for now. You never know when light could be useful...
Finished with our hectic shopping, we begin to head north for the orphanage. Thankfully, there are far fewer people on the street here. Now that I'm awake, unlike yesterday, I'm wary of all the eyes on our hobins again... Still, I don't get any specific bad feelings like we're about to be robbed today, and we make it back home without trouble.
The night passes quickly. Emily pulls my hair out of the braids so I can sort of wash it and get it back to its normal, smooth appearance after being put up for so many days. The wash isn't enough to get it any lighter than a dingy gray, but it'll do. I also spend a little time to scrub myself off, for what it's worth.
There's a flurry of activity as Emily works with the hobins and I get ready for tomorrow. We eat dinner, head back to our room, and I double check that everything is ready. I have pretty much all of my metal in my basket, along with my numerous rolls of fresh bandages sitting on top to keep them off the dirty floor. The lele fruit is tied up in a piece of cloth as well, shoved all the way on the bottom of the basket underneath the metal ingots and coins. As soon as I'm sure it all looks right, I climb into bed with Emily.
However, I'm a complete ball of nerves. The day is finally here. No way I'm going to sleep like this.
Then Emily hugs me, holding my head and stroking my hair. She begins to hum. "Hmm hmm, hmm hmm..." her quiet voice creates an unexpected melody. It is unfamiliar, but immediately soothing.
I close my eyes, and just focus on her voice. The soft tones, the comfortable stroking of her hand on my hair... I slowly feel the tension leave me. Whatever tomorrow brings, I can deal with it then.
For now, there's only this quiet moment...