CLIP-CLOP
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CLIP-CLOP
The sounds of two horses galloping caused me to awaken my eyes slowly. The sun was now out, and I could feel the heat of the glowing day on my skin. I, however, don't remember ever getting on a horse.
I look around frantically with a confused look on my face while sitting up, seeing a group of 5 at the front of this carriage that I was apparently in and one even driving the carriage. They were all wearing hoods to cover their heads while chatting amongst themselves. One of the 5 members drove the carriage while the others sat inside talking.
[Wait, did I get kidnapped?!] I thought to myself as I looked around. I noticed I was wearing a big white shirt to cover my body with some small undergarments to protect my waist. I started trying to figure out a way to escape, even turning around to the back, which was open and allowed the sun to gleam through the curtains.
I started trying to figure out a way to escape, even turning around to the back, which was open and allowed the sun to gleam through the curtains [https://img.wattpad.com/0976e84c3cb79eb17c9ed97a87010558a79b04b0/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f767a6c33425a57743251615461673d3d2d313437373335383530392e313766363865376333666465653934633132313638383430363334332e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
I wrestled a little bit to reach the back, only to realize that the carriage was going pretty fast and it was going to be dangerous to jump out.
Two of the five group members sitting closer to the middle turned around to find Maphiel awake and thinking about jumping. Suddenly a woman's voice called out to Maphiel, and while the woman crawled over, she reached her left hand outwards.
"WAIT!!!" she yelled to Maphiel, causing her to turn her head around. However, as she did so, her hand slipped while she was leaning out and trying to turn, causing her upper body to topple outwards from the moving carriage.
Maphiel's whole body was now out of the carriage, with her back pointing to the ground. The unknown woman's body started glowing as she launched herself out of the carriage and grabbed Maphiel, doing a 180 with the small girl in her arms and using herself as a cushion for Maphiel's body.
"ACK!"
A groan left the unknown woman's mouth as she hit the ground, causing both her and Maphiel to lift off the ground before a second impact and a roll, the both of them eventually ending in a slide.
The carriage came to a dead stop after reaching about 20 feet away from the two. The other 3 people hopped out of the carriage with worried looks on their faces while the one driving stayed out to secure the carriage.
[Ah, what the heck just happened?] I said coughing before noticing my body being covered by a pretty lean but muscular figure. I could feel a bouncy feeling on my sides before noticing a ginger-haired woman wrapped around me. I was confused before I remembered what happened, before breaking free of the woman's now somewhat weak hold, to see both her head and even her back bleeding.
Maphiel's face went pale at the site of the bleeding lady, putting her palm on the girl's arm while slightly shaking her. The other 3 of the group made it over, one pulling out a brown stick-like wand and quickly moving to the ginger-haired woman's back. A slight light green aura began exiting from the wand.
The person who was causing this strange effect was kneeling behind the bleeding woman. A green light began to envelop the wounded lady before her wounds slowly started to close and her once-heavy breathing became soft and more relaxed. The healer then put the ginger-haired woman's back to the ground to lay her out straight. They then lifted the woman's head slightly for a lap pillow.
They all then took off their hoods while looking at me with both contempt and worry. With the bigger two of the group standing behind me. A guy with a long broadsword strapped to his back looked at me frantically and with anger.
He had blonde hair, a lean build, and was about 6'2. He was wearing silver armor across his chest and legs, but for some reason, his arms had no cloth or armor covering them. He had both a worried and dumbfounded look stretched across his face before moving to my left side and bending down.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU JUMP OUT OF A MOVING CARRIAGE?!" The man yelled out with a bit of anger behind his voice for the fact his comrade had to step in to save me. I looked up at him as he was bending over and yelling. I then looked back at the woman, causing me to feel terrible.
"Hey, don't yell at her, Chris. If you woke up in a carriage full of strangers, you would be confused too. Especially in a world like this." The ginger-haired woman said as she was awoken by Chris's yelling. She rubbed her head before sitting beside the woman who had healed her.
"He's right though, that was very dangerous and could have been way worse had you not stepped in Elaina." The bigger guy behind Maphiel spoke up in a rough voice; he was on the muscular side and had a massive shield on his back with a mace hanging on his waist. His arms were crossed as he was fully plated in silver armor, and his head was covered by a classical knight's helm that couldn't be seen through.
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"I'm very sorry for the inconvenience." I said with a soft voice and stutter, looking down. I felt extremely bad for what I did and, of course, realized that I might have judged things too hastily.
Elaina, who I now noticed had some gauntlets covering her knuckles, patted my head with a chuckle and a smile. "It's alright, just remember to not judge certain situations too quickly, or it could do more harm than good." She gave me a slight lecture but wasn't as harsh as the guy named Chris who was yelling at me before.
"What's your name?" Elaina asked as I slowly lifted my head to look at her eyes; of course, she still had the redeeming smile plastered across her face.
"My name is..." I quickly remembered my name, which I had briefly seen when looking at my status screen before passing out. I realize now that I must have been tired due to a loss of mana and didn't get time to fully look through my status screen. "My name is Maphiel."
"Well, that sure is unique." The massive man behind me said with a slight nod, as while it was unique, it was also a pretty interesting name.
"May I call you Maphi for short?" Elaina asked me with a slightly pleading look on her face. I couldn't refuse after seeing such a look, so I simply nodded my head with a slight tent of red plastered across my face.
"AW!, YOU ARE TOO CUTE!!" Elaina said before giving me a hug and standing up, lifting my short self off the ground.
"I...can't...breathe.." I struggled with the few words I could get out before Elaina finally noticed and let me down. I took some heavy gasps of air while the 2 guys standing near me walked in front of me with Elaina and the other woman who healed her. I then noticed how well-built not only Elaina was, but all of them. Elaina was pretty tall, standing at a height of 5'11 with a very lean but well-built physique. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and the hairstyle was quite rough-looking.
"Time for introductions, I suppose," Elaina said before looking to the far right of herself at Chris, who was yelling at me before.
"That right there is Chris. He may look mean, but he is pretty nice." Elaina chuckled as I looked at Chris up and down. Once again, noticing that he had silver armor covering his chest, legs, and even feet but none on his arms. He had silver-plated gloves on and a broadsword resting on his back. "If you can't tell already, he is a swordsman. Let's just say of "unique" taste."
Chris's hair was pretty spiky, blonde, and resting just right above his eyebrows. He had a sharp jaw and a very toned build. He had an annoyed look on his face while looking at Elaina before his eyes trailed to me, scoffing and looking away. "Don't worry, he is just pouting." Elaina said teasingly before moving her hand to the woman to the right of her.
"This here is Elizabeth; she is our healer and mage. She is very kind, and if you could not tell already, she is a dark elf." Elaina said while pointing at Elizabeth's left ear to show off how pointy they were.
I noticed that Elizabeth was the leanest and most petite-looking; however, I realized it was simply because she was probably more advanced in magic practices. However, what I was most happy to find out was that elves existed! I had a slight gleam in my eyes upon seeing her ears, clasping my hands together with a very happy look plastered across my face.
"Ah, this must be your first time seeing a dark elf, then, huh?" Elaina said before chuckling, seeing me nod frantically.
"It's nice to meet you, Maphi," Elizabeth said with a calm demeanor. She had a smile on her face, and her eyes were closed. I noticed she was wearing a robe with some silver garments underneath and some black leather to cover up the small gaps in her simple armor plating. She had white hair and a pretty nice aura about her. While inspecting, I looked at her chest before looking down at my own, then back at hers. Yup, we were of the same group, and I looked a bit sad for her cause.
A look of embarrassment was then spread across Elizabeth's face as she started turning a bit red in the cheeks. She noticed what I was doing before saying something about it. "They'll grow." That's all she said with her eyes closed and a smile that gave a chilling aura, looking in my direction.
"But-" was all I could say before being interrupted by Elizabeth once again saying, "They will grow!" This time she had an angrier look on her face with a small vein across her forehead. I simply nodded quickly before Elaina chuckled at the awkward situation, trying to get past it.
Elaina then pointed to herself while smiling. "My name is Elaina; nice to meet you, Maphi!" She said as I inspected her just one more time before looking at her "massive personality." I then looked back at Elizabeth, causing her to step forward towards me but being stopped by Elaina. Of course, the once calm-looking smile was now quite scary to me.
"I am a martial artist, and I also use a lot of acrobatics." She said while Elizabeth stepped back and calmed down. Elaina's personality felt quite bubbly but also very "leader" esque. It was strange, but I didn't think about it too much.
"Finally, last but not least, here is Gregory." She said, pointing to the tallest and most built out of the group. He stood at a height of 6'7 with his massive shield on his back and his mace hanging on his waist. All I could see was the silver armor covering his massive build; I couldn't even see the glint in his eyes. He felt like a 'big' mystery, which made him seem somewhat cooler in my eyes.
Gregory nodded his head with a slight approval of me, and I simply smiled before Elaina talked about the last person who was currently at the carriage, watching over it. "The one who is currently at the carriage is Fyzal. He is our group's Ranger and Archer. He is good at scouting and trap disarming too."
Although I couldn't see him yet, I was impressed by hearing his skills. He truly sounded like the ace of the group. Elaina was now done, so she walked up to me and put her arm around my small shoulder. Of course, only being about 5'1, I was very short compared to her. We started to walk back to the carriage with the others following.
"We have a lot to discuss, especially about why we found a young lady laying out in a patch of grass next to the mana signature of a Black Jeguari and right where a massive beam of light hit." Elaina subtly said that she wanted to find out everything to decide whether Maphiel was safe to be with and to also figure out Maphiel's background to help her. '
We reached the carriage before Elaina went and tapped Fyzal's shoulder to let him know they were ready, and the carriage started to move once again. She then came and sat down to the right of me with Gregory and Chris sitting across from us and Elizabeth on my left side...
[This is going to be an exhausting life..and a very long ride] I thought to myself while looking around at the group. My knees pointed upwards, and my arms wrapped around them. The big, now dirty, white shirt covered my thighs and reached down to my ankles. My dirty feet resting on the floors of the carriage.
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Authors Note:
Gregory is pronounced {Gra-gore-ree}.
Fyzal is pronounced {Fizz-all}.