Piv appeared in the doorway. “I’ve got some stuff for-“ He cut off, eyes fixated on the items Maya had laid out on the table. Glimpses of recognition cut through, before he quickly gathered his composure. “Just food, and a couple of skins of water. Enough for a day or two. I brought a blanket as well.”
Try as he might, it was clear that Piv could not ignore the contents pulled from Grandpa’s bag. Maya pressed the matter, “Do you know what all this is?” She waved her hand over the tools. Piv nodded, “Well, not exactly, but I have a pretty good idea in general. Those are Hazemaker’s tools, for brewing hazes.” He motioned towards the vials laid carefully at the other end of the table. Maya turned to look at them, “And do you know what those are? I know what the blue ones do. Like I said before, but the others, I have no idea.”
Piv stepped round the debris on the floor and climbed on the second bench. Maya reached out instinctively to protect the vials, but Piv made no attempt to touch them. He pointed at the blue ones, “Hazeports, they take you places, different places. I don’t know how they work, but they should be labelled.” He reached to take one but paused and looked to Maya, “May I?”
Maya winced at the thought, “OK, but careful.”
Piv picked up a vial and turned it in his hands. He stopped to inspect the metal cap at the top of the vial and then turned it face Maya, revealing a small circular pattern. “That will be the label, I don’t know how to read it, but that will be it. It should tell you where the port’s to.”
Maya scoffed, “I know where it ports to!” She picked up the other blue ones checking their caps. All had the same symbol. The red ones however had a different pattern on their cap, all the same as each other, but different to the blue. She waved a red one at Piv, “These have a something else on them, so will they take me to a different place?” Her eyes widened.
Piv shook his head, “I don’t think so. Hazeports are all a light blue. The other colours do other things. I think those red ones are called Regens. They help people recover from injuries faster. The Orange and Yellow I have no idea. Green I’ve heard of for making people stronger, but those, they both look different. I really am not well informed in Hazes, sorry.”
Maya shrugged, “Well, you know more than I do.” With an audible groan from her stomach, Maya began to replace the vials into the bag. “You said something about food?”
Piv shook, “Oh yes, of course.” He hopped down from the table and retrieved the satchel he’d arrived with, pulling bread and cheese from its folds, as well as two large leather water skins.” Laying them on the table, Piv began to apologise. “Sorry it’s not a huge amount, but it should keep you going until we work out what to do with you.” Maya took the food items and began tearing pieces off. Hazeporting, meeting a Togi, and getting attacked by Fylguard was hungry work. Piv watched Maya eat, a sombre expression on his face, before speaking up.
“I’m going to help you.”
It took Maya a few seconds to register what he’d said. She looked up from her cheese, to find Piv staring straight at her. “I want to help you. I don’t know if I can get you home, but I can’t in good conscience leave you to the Fylguard. And who knows, if I can help you to learn enough about hazemaking to get home, maybe you’ll send me home too?” Maya put her food down and nodded slowly. “I’d like that.”
Piv smiled, sadness still creeping through, but a smile nonetheless. Maya reached her hand out across the table. For a short moment they both sat there, before Maya piped up with a laugh, “You shake it, to seal the deal.” Perplexed, Piv reach out and grasped Maya’s hand, then rattled it from side to side. Maya’s grin grew, and spilled over into a giggle, which was followed quickly by a chuckle from Piv.
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Maya kept hold of Piv’s hand and squeezed tight. “So it’s set then? You help me work out what the hell is going on, and I’ll try and learn how to make one of these- haze things that sends you home.” Releasing Piv, Maya sat. There was however, one rather large issue. “Piv, not to put a dampener on things, but if you don’t know much about these hazes, how am I supposed to learn how to make them.”
“Well, I was thinking about this. I think we need to head to Nurba. It’s a city, biggest one in Misvir, they have a library. Probably not likely to have hazemaking scrolls just available for all to see, but I figure it’s our best chance.” Piv looked at Maya, hopeful.
“Ok. I’ve got a few questions though. I don’t mean to be rude but, if you think you can help me learn to make hazes that can get us home, and you want to get home enough that you’re willing to risk getting got by the Fleaguard or whatever, why haven’t you tried to learn it yourself?”
Piv’s face dropped. “I- uh, well you see- Togi are not exactly common here, and we are not exactly, liked. There is no way I’d be allowed into a library. And there is no way a Misvan hazemaker would be willing to help me, I don’t even know if I have the essence. I’m stranded. I make myself useful enough to avoid trouble, and that’s about it really.”
Maya frowned, “Why don’t Misvans like Togis?” With a sigh, Piv continued. “Because that is what they have been taught. That all others are lesser. It’s been drummed into them for centuries. You should be fine, you look a lot more like them than I do, easier for them to abide. Please understand, they’re not all bad, but even the nice one’s don’t want to stand out. It’s easier in the countryside, that’s why I’ve stayed here. I am tolerated and even liked by some. Not that they’d admit it to their friends.”
“That’s horrible!” Maya made no attempt to hide her outrage. “So you just put up with being treated like crap?”
Piv smiled, though he clearly had no reason to. “I’m not treated badly as such. Mostly I’m just ignored, which is fine by me. It gives me more time to tinker.”
Maya still could not fully get on board with Piv’s level of acceptance, but moved the conversation along regardless. “So how do we get to Nurba? I don’t have any money, I assume they have money here?”
Piv smirked and dipped once again into his satchel. He pulled out a pouch and emptied its contents onto the table. “These are known as rings, they are made of zorem, a crystal. They’re the money that all linked realms use.” Maya inspected the four glassy hoops that sat on table. “Is this a lot? They look like rubies!”
“It’s enough for a Togi to buy food, but it’s not a lot. Red ones like this are rings, ten of these is a disc. Those are purple, a bit more see through, and flattened, smaller hole. Ten discs is a dome; greenish half spheres. Uh- Ten of those is an orb. A completely clear sphere. I’ve never seen one of those though.” Piv collected the rings back up into his pouch. “Like I said though, this isn’t much, and it certainly won’t buy passage. We’ll have to walk to Nurba, its probably two weeks on foot.”
This was to be expected really, but that didn’t make the idea any easier to stomach. The conversation continued and Piv outlined his idea for the route, with Maya nodding along as though she had some idea of where these places were. With the evening light fading, Piv gathered his satchel as Maya stood, pushing the bench back with her knees. “I’ll be back in the morning, probably just before midday, I have a few loose ends to tie up.”
As the pair made their goodbyes, both froze at the sound of movement outside. Piv rushed to the window and peered out into the garden. He turned back to Maya, panic warped across his face. “Maya we have to leave, now. Grab your things!” Maya sprung into action, throwing everything into her Grandpa’s bag. Piv rushed through to the kitchen, returning within seconds. “We’re surrounded…”
Maya hissed “What is it? Who is it?” Piv ran through to the hall, and waved for her to follow, “Fylguard!” Maya’s skin turned cold as she rushed after Piv, up the stairs and into the bedroom. This was not fair. A wave of courage swept through Maya, and she looked round the room, determined to find some weapon to fight them off. Foolish, of course, but it did not matter. Maya would not accept her fate. Piv stood at the window watching the movement outside. “I count eight of them. We have no chance.”
Maya swung the back pack over her shoulders and moved to reach for the slats on the bed. As the bag thudded against her back however, a flash of genius hit her. Maya swung it back round and shoved her hand into the bag. She shouted to her new friend as she pulled two blue vials from the bag. “Piv! Let’s go!”