Continent: Fimbulwinter

Location: Village of Aplos

I still remember over a decade ago when my father laid disease-ridden in his bed, with both me and my brother staring at her from a distance.

“Father please don’t go.”

“I am so sorry I can’t be there for the both of you. But never forget even if you don’t have me, you have each other; if you ever get sad and doubt yourself please be there for each other, you’re a set for life. Aea, Alis both of you be happy.”

A little bit after Orb and Willow became Warriors.

Φ Staring from a distance the young warriors of the village look at Orb with repulsed expressions. But regardless of their opinions all they can do is just stand and watch them.

-Break-

Location: Buloke house

Shoving wine down her mouth, my sister Aea breaks the mug on the ground shattering it to pieces.

“That was a solid wood mug!”

“The monstrous strength of Aea the beast still remains!”

Grabbing the head of Banya, Aea says, “Hey did you just call me a beast!”

As Aea is about to beat him, Coco says, “Have this,” While offering her another drink.

Taking it from his hands she shoves it down her mouth, then lets out another scream of happiness, with the others partying around her shout with her.

As my sister shoves more wine down the back of her throat, I see Buloke scowling in the back, so I ask, “Are you alright?”

With the same angered expression, he says, “This isn’t right, that intruder shouldn’t be allowed to wear the same clothes, or have the same bracelets as us.”

Everyone who hears Buloke’s words immediately stops partying. Seeing the mood drop I say, “What a buzzkill, you know the reason we are partying is to drink away our discomfort about Orb, yet you still choose to bring down the mood.”

“Hey, don’t ask if I am alright if you don’t want the truth!”

“I asked out of courtesy because you were being a wet blanket. You know it is that same attitude that makes Jute not like you.”

Angered Buloke slams his head into mine and says, “Someone forever alone like you has no right to judge me for shit.”

Slamming my head against him, I say, “Come at me bitch!”

As we are about to start a fight my twin sister Aea comes and puts her hands around both of our necks, and completely wasted she says, “Orb is a warrior who passed the test so it is not like we could stop him if we wanted to, and besides nobody even likes him except Willow so he will probably leave soon.”

“But then he will tell people about our existence.”

Looking at Buloke, I say, “Unless you want to either rip off his tongue or kill him, I suggest you get over it.”

“You know that might be the answer.”

Seeing the gears turn in his head, I say, “It was a joke you understand?”

“Alis you’re sense of humour sucks just like usual.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a drunk oaf like you Aea.”

“Well whatever, in all honesty, we are looking at this backwards, if we want Sequoia to kick him out of the village all we need to do is show he is untrustworthy, so basically stalk him until we find some dirt on him.”

Buloke thinking says, “That’s a good idea.”

Behind her, Banya says, “Did getting so drunk made Aea grow a brain?”

Turning around, Aea throws her jug right in his face.

“I guess the only thing left to do is figure out which of all of us will be stalking Orb,” I ask.

“Well, we will need multiple people, preferably two with great coordination.”

“They should also be well acquainted with Orb to understand his weirdness.”

“It will also have to be people who Orb would let his guard down against, preferably two idiots.”

“Now where are we going to find a duo like that?”

Suddenly I notice all the eyes in the room staring at me and my sister.

-Break-

Φ Piering my head over the corner of a house, I look at Orb and say to my brother, “Target in sight.”

Whining behind me, Alis says, “Why do I have to join this stupid mission anyways?”

“Shut up, you’re being too loud.” Noticing Orb about to turn his head, I grab Alis and move away from his sight.

After a moment I look again to see that Orb has vanished. “Target lost.”

Grabbing Alis I start to run around looking for him, but I can’t find him anywhere. “AHHHH, where did that brat go.”

Sighing, Alis says, “Maybe we should ask around and see if anyone has seen him.”

“Good idea, let’s go look around for clues to solve this mystery.”

“You’re enjoying this far too much.”

“Whenever else do we get to do something as fun as this!”

Interviews with the villagers.

(Cedar Wodok, assistant chief of the village)

“What I think about Orb?”

“That’s about it oldy, any strange behaviour you have noticed from him, You’re usually at the Rians household for meetings so anything at all.”

“Well, the boy is incredibly clean. The household has been incredibly spotless since he came, it is actually rather pleasant to see something so clean, especially since my lady wife has died my house has been rather messy, and lonely-.”

“Shut up, no one cares. Tell me something more salacious!”

With his full force, my brother smacks me on my head and says, “Use your brain your idiot.”

Grabbing me and walking away, Alis says, “Sorry for her rudeness.”

(Ewen Shaker, head of all construction in the village)

“What do the two of you want, I am busy preparing for the Aronian festival.”

Alis says, “Hey, we are just asking a question?”

“It is already mid-day, you should be actually doing something instead of playing. Have some shame!”

“You’re just a mean old bully, I can’t wait till all your children will grow up and hate an old fart like you.”

“My 5 precious little angels will never be anything like you lazy bums, they will be more like that brat Orb.”

My sister immediately regains her composure; gets up close to Ewen and asks, “Can you elaborate on that?”

“Well Orb is always up super early, and active so I have lots of respect for that boy. Though recently I have seen him walking with cloth from the chiefs in the morning.”

Staring at Alis, I say, “What could he be doing with that cloth?” With delight.

Pridefully Ewen says, “Probably getting into craftwork, every young man reaches that point eventually in their lives.”

In unison, me and my brother scoff at Ewen, who then yells, “GET OUT OF HERE YOU BRATS!”

(Throne Beak, the head chief of the village)

“About Orb?”

“Anything at all will be helpful.”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Sorry, I don’t know anything, because, in all honesty, I have been avoiding him.”

As Throne starts to shake, I ask, “Why?”

“Because he is strange, he looks and speaks the same as us, but I know he is different. I can’t tell what he is thinking, so I can only imagine the worst of him. I can never be at peace as long as he is around and have to watch him with the eyes of a hawk to feel safe.”

Alis says, “I know what you mean. Whenever him and Cole were speaking their strange language, it makes me feel rather uncomfortable as if he is planning something behind our backs.” Smacking his chest, Alis says, “But don’t worry since all of us warriors are so strong that if something happened, we would take care of it!”

Cheering up, Throne says, “Thanks, guys. You can take some bread with you.”

(Maple Rian, the next chief)

Munching on our bread, and walking through the village we hear Maple scream, “I WILL NEVER SUBMIT!”

Looking over to her we see she is still hanging right in the center of the village. Turning to her Alis says, “Hey Maple, how do you relieve yourself all the way up there?”

With all the force I can muster I kick my brother directly in his side knocking him to the floor, “Don’t ask such a young lady that, have some tack!”

Staring directly at us, he says, “You two beasts don’t qualify as young ladies.”

As Maple starts to give him a fierce stare, I say, “Now you have done it.”

Taking a moment to clear her throat Maple starts to sing the following, “Oh how no one understands this sad soul of mine, it hurts so bad, hurts so bad. Will this darkness ever fade, will I ever find love…….”

“What the hell is that awful song.” Turning my head, I see Alis making an embarrassed face.

Φ No, no, no, no, no, no. That is one of my songs from my dark era when I used to sing them at night. How the hell does Maple even know that!!!?

Staring into each other’s eyes, me and Maple communicate without words.

“How do you know such a thing!?”

“You forget I was hung up during all those nights Alis, I know not only this one but the remaining 108 songs of the Sun god collection.”

Φ Beside me Alis buries his head into the ground, and says, “Sorry Maple, I regret all that I have said!!!”

“Where did this come from!?” I say confused.

“If you want my favour, come feed me some of that bread.”

“Yes, my queen,” Alis says as he runs to her side.

As Alis feeds Maple his bread, I ask, “So have you noticed anything strange about Orb?”

“Yes, I have. Sometimes I have seen him making hand-crafted sculptures and talking to them reciting stories and whatnot.”

“See Alis the boy is talking to dolls; he must be crazy.”

“Or he could be reciting an ancient curse to kill us all sister.”

“I am finished the bread now get away from me you twin fools!”

(Jute Iza and friends)

Seeing my friends, I run up and say, “Jute, Juniper, Holly, Acadia, I missed you guys.

Grabbing me and giving me a hug, they all say, “We missed you too.”

“It’s almost like I never get to see you guys.”

“Well, you were the one who decided to become a warrior, and leave all of us behind,” Jute says.

“But if I didn’t my stupid brother would have gotten himself killed!”

“Speaking of your brother.”

Turning my head, I see my brother in full flirty mode talking to Holly and Acadia. “Hello, fine flowers I am here to pluck you and make you all mine.”

Laughing, Acadia says, “Oh how funny you are, only my little brother can make me laugh like that.”

Holly, says, “Well since he is Aea’s brother he might as well be our brother as well.”

Seeing despair overcome my brother's face as the two girls laugh, I turn my head away; I know you will succeed one day Alis!

“So, what brings you here?” Juniper asks.

“We just wanted to ask have you seen Orb do anything strange, or more like what is your opinion of him?”

Jute thinking says, “I don’t really watch him that mu-.”

Holly jumps in and says, “I think Orb is super cute!”

Alis says, “What?”

Then Acadia says, “I agree, unlike most of the other men in her he has such a pretty face. It is a nice difference.”

Holly says, “Not to even mention his little brother aura.”

Juniper says, “I know what you mean, it sort of makes you want to protect those clear innocent eyes and hold him close. Unlike Alis who you just sort of see as a snotty little brother.”

Acadia says, “And he is good with kids, my little sister in Pines classes always tells me how he plays with all of them after class.”

“Beautiful, strong, good with kids, intelligent. Truly a good man.”

Looking at Jute, I ask, “Do you think the same?”

“While all those qualities are good, the type of man I like has giant muscles and is simple but also kind. Strong in body, but is also strong in mind, and wants to be with me more than he wants to be alone. Will never let their pride stand in the way of our love and loves others as much as they love themselves, and is faithful to the end.”

Juniper says, “Doesn’t Buloke sort of fit that description?”

Getting flustered, Jute says, “No he doesn’t. That idiot who is afraid of commitment isn’t the type of man I want.”

“Then what was that expression?”

“It was nothing Aea, I am done with this conversation,” Jute says walking away.

“Oh, how wonderful it is to be a maiden in love,” We all say as she walks away.

As I wave goodbye to Holly, Acadia and Juniper, I say, “Well Alis let’s go forward.”

Looking at Alis I see he is seething with rage, and as blood comes out of his hand from his tight grip, I hear him whisper repeatedly, “I will never forgive you Orb, I will never forgive you Orb, I will never forgive you Orb.”

(Hazel Shaker, Ewen wife)

Grabbing Hazel’s new baby, I say, “How cute this little boy is!”

“Thanks, but I think this is the last one I am going to have, 5 is enough.”

Holding child 4, Alis says, “Didn’t you say that when the second one was born.”

“Hey I mean it this time, I don’t think my body can keep up anymore.”

Suddenly through the door, child 1 to 3 appears and scream, “Where back!”

Looking at them we see they are quite dirty, and then we see Hazel jump up and say, “What happened!?”

“Oh, we where just playing and doing something with the others.”

“Now what would that be?”

“Nothing,” The youngest of the 3 says.

Giving them a death start, Hazel says, “You have till the count of 5 to tell me. 1,2,3,4.”

“We were helping Orb!”

Running up to the kids, me and Alis ask, “Where?”

“It’s a secret!”

“We are no rats!”

“I will bring you a treat next time we meet.”

“He is that way!”

Throwing the babies towards Hazel we say, “BYE!”

-Break-

“Aea that’s him.”

“Be quiet Alis or he will hear us.”

Seeing Orb kneeling down on the floor, I say, “We strike in three.”

“Two”

“One!”

Jumping from our hiding space, we tackle Orb. “What are you two doing?”

“Be quiet, we caught you red-handed!”

“It’s time to die you lady magnet!

“What are you two on about!?”

Stopping for a moment, I look around us and see that Orb is knitting clothes, so I ask, “What even are you doing?”

-Break-

In unison, both me and my brother say, “You’re planning a play!?”

“Yeah, that’s why I have been taking cloth to use as costumes, and I have been training the kids to be actors as well.”

“You call those costumes your craftwork is garbage.”

“No, it isn’t! It is just that my arms are injured due to all of that psychopath Pines, training. She is extremely tuff on me for no reason, especially after I became a warrior it is like it intensified.”

Feeling something stir in my soul, I say, “I know what you mean!!! She is always picking on me for no good reason, like don’t treat me like I am a slave.”

“Exactly she needs to calm down, and stop being so mean.”

“If you two have such a problem with her, why don’t you take it to the chief.”

In unison, we say, “WE CAN’T”

“Why?”

“Because she is just so cool!!”

“Like it hurts really bad.”

“But she really is just so awesome.”

Grabbing me and taking me to his side, Alis says, “You are forgetting our mission.”

“Oh right.” Turning around I say, “Why are you even doing this?”

“Well Willow and the kids liked my stories so I thought if I showed them to everyone at the festival, they would also make them happy.”

Confused I ask, “Why would you care about our happiness?”

“I am an outsider who threatens your very existence. Yet all of you have allowed me to live in this village with you and I can’t thank you enough for that, so I just wanted to give you all a special gift. Especially since this festival is the anniversary of the plague spreading through the village I thought you could use a fun event.”

Picking up the cloth and turning around, Orb says, “But it seems I am behind schedule, so I won’t be able to finish in time for the Aronian festival. An idiot like me should never have tried such a thing.”

As Orb continues to knit, I see how lonely he looks. All my life I have had Alis, but does he even have anyone like that?

Grabbing the cloth out of his hand, I say, “You’re knitting it inefficiently.” Then I start to complete Orb’s design at high speed.

Staring at me with eyes of delight, Orb says, “Whoa you truly are wonderful, such skill.”

Alis says, “That’s a nice gesture Orb but that is one of the only girly things this monster can do, as you can see, she is a muscle monster.”

“Say that again and I will bash in your face with my fist!”

Orb says, “I don’t really see anything wrong with that.” Grabbing and caressing her arms Orb says, “Her muscles are nothing but pure dedication and effort, something I am truly envious of. Staring at the work and effort that went into building such a physique is nothing but utterly attractive to me, you truly are a beauty.”

Feeling my heart flutter, I grab Orb and give him a tight hug. “AWW THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

Struggling to speak Orb says, “Please let go, I only give hugs, I don’t take them.”

Φ Giving Orb a death stare, I say, “It must be good to be so popular with the ladies.”

“Well, obviously a great man like you would know.”

“Haha Orb so funny!”

“I am not joking. You always look out for everyone in a group, and not to mention you’re funny and attractive I am sure any woman would love to be with you, and if they aren’t they must all be blind.”

Moving close to him I touch him on the head and pat him repeatedly. Happy I say, “You really know your stuff Orb.”

Φ Seeing the two happy faces of the people around me I think back to my conversation with Capti.

“Orb when it comes to women, you have to find what they are extremely insecure about and make them feel great about it. If you use your beautiful innocent smile, then they will surely believe you.

“What about men?”

“They require a much gentler touch, you must make them feel great, without damaging their pride, but you can’t look too low to them otherwise your opinion won’t matter to them. And if you can master this form of manipulation, I am sure you will make a bunch of friends.

Staring at both Aea and Alis's happy faces, I start to smile. Looks like I was able to make more friends! But feeling a wave of sickness come over me I say, “Could you both stop touching me, please!”

-Break-

Φ Jute sitting beside me asks, “Hey Hazel, isn’t the festival over why are we sitting down here?”

“In all honesty, I have no idea, not really. But more than that I am wondering where my three angels ran off to?”

Stepping onto a stage in front of us, we see Pine who says, “All of the kids from my class will be putting on a play for you all, made by Orb.”

Throughout the crowd, a bunch of people start to talk in disapproval of Orb, but then Aea and Alis say, “OHHHH I can’t wait.”

“I am sure this will be fun!”

The energy they give off calms the crowd down a bit, but Buloke stands up and says, “Why would I watch anything he had a part in I am leaving!”

Pine on the stage staring at all of us, says “Now if anyone of you tries to leave, I will make sure to punish you thoroughly!”

Hearing this Buloke immediately sits down, and Jute says, “That moron.” Then moments later we see the man in question walk onto the stage.

Sitting on a chair in front of the stage, Orb says, “This is the story of the king of the rebellion, Charles.”

Then as Orb reads the stories, the kids of the village appear on stage in weird, but intriguing costumes and act it out. If I had to describe the play in one word, I would say it is simply fun.

-Break-

Φ As I finish the play I stand up and nervously say, “THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.” Then I bolt off the stage and go hide behind Willow’s house.

When behind Willow's house, I throw up all the food in my stomach. “Oh god, that was nerve-racking. Did they like it? Did I stutter? did I get the story across well? Oh god, oh shit.”

“He is over here,” I hear Alis shout.

Turning around, I am grabbed by Aea who says, “Let’s go meet your fans.”

“My fans?”

Dropping me in front of a crowd of villagers, they overwhelmed me with their voices.

“That was amazing!”

“I want to see that again.”

“Do you have any other stories?”

“I would love to hear them.”

Looking at me Aea, and Alis say, “Looks like there are a lot of people who want to talk to you.”

Hearing this all I can do is just smile.