“What?! That’s outrageous! You expect me to buy that?”
The vendor looked at the skinny young man with a confused, misunderstanding look. “Um, no? You don’t have to buy anything, sir. You were just really curious about it,” she finally said.
Leone stared dumbfounded at the strange creature at his feet. The animal was a bipedal mammal, slightly bear-like, with an almost perfectly round body. It had stubby arms hanging at its sides and stood on stubby legs. Its color was similar to that of a panda and had plump, chubby cheeks. “No, yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean actually buy it. Just… believe it,” he clarified to the vendor. “What did you say this weird little guy was called?”
“That’s a Milmer, sir,” replied the vendor, regaining her composure. “They’re a staple of Milkwood. Most residents have them, and they’re farmed and sold as the town’s primary commodity.”
“And they just spray milk? Out of nothing. Seriously?”
“Yes, sir.”
The young man crouched down so that he was at eye level with the small, panda-like creature. He hummed to himself, poking the milmer’s belly out of curiosity. The creature just stood there smiling, giggling slightly at being tickled. He then gently put his hands on the milmer’s cheeks, squishing its face together. Opening its mouth, the milmer sprayed a stream of fresh milk directly into Leone’s face, knocking him off balance. He sat back, covered in milk, and looked up at the vendor. “Woah!” he cheered.
The vendor, more confused than ever, asked the young man why he had done that. Leone simply replied that he was curious about the strange creature. The woman did not understand what this strange young man was doing, but offered him a small towel. She informed him that she could have shown him how milmers make their milk, but he assured her that he wanted to find out for himself, and didn’t mind getting messy. Tourists, the vendor thought to herself, shaking her head.
“So, are you wanting the little guy?” asked the woman, trying to change the subject.
Cleaning himself off, Leone responded, “Oh, I think I’m good. I’m just looking for some interesting stuff. You know of anything?”
“Well, if you don’t want little Tubs, here, I can offer you some of what we make,” the vendor answered, handing Leone a small glass bottle.
He took the bottle and examined it. On the front was a label that read Helma’s Medicinal Milk. Inside, the bottle was filled a little over halfway with milk, but Leone couldn’t help but notice that the drink sparkled slightly. He pointed to the label and showed it back to the vendor to ask her about it. Helma explained that the milk that her milmers produced she then imbued with healing magic. This way, she was able to make a refreshing drink that had the effects of an elixir, but tasted better than one.
Leone chuckled at the idea, impressed. He had never thought of adding enchanted properties to food, but quickly figured that it was probably quite common, especially in larger parts of the world. The idea made him think of how much of the world he didn’t really know, and how much of Irvana there was to learn about. He wondered how Azim felt, not having any frame of reference or understanding for anything, discovering everything as if he were a child tasting things for the first time.
The young man asked if the milk healed all ailments or if it specialized in something, like physical injuries or poisons. Helma answered that her magic mostly applied to physical injuries, whether external or internal, but could sometimes stretch to cover lasting effects like burns, as long as they were still fresh and had not yet scarred. At the woman’s words, Leone had an idea. He asked the woman to punch him clean across the face. She was speechless. He leaned in and patted his cheek, insisting she lay him out. Of course, Helma did not want to punch the young man and just stood there, a little disturbed by him. Realizing the vendor was not going to strike him, Leone looked around for another solution. He settled his gaze on one of the houses behind him. “Strength Switch,” he uttered, before walking over to it.
Helma watched in confusion as the young man just stood in front of the house across from her booth. He was staring up at the roof but did not move. Finally, about 10 seconds later, he crouched again. Coming back up, Leone sprung into the air, launching off the ground so hard that a small dust cloud puffed out from where he had jumped. He landed on the grassy roof softly, turning back to the vendor to wave at her. The magic was not too surprising to her. With so many travelers and adventures passing through over the years, she had seen plenty of spells and displays of impressive magic. What held her attention to the young man was her curiosity. She did not understand what he was planning while up on the roof of the house across from her. Just then, Leone crouched again. A moment before he jumped, Helma could have sworn she saw the kid smirk.
He bounced into the air once more, gaining a little bit more distance than he had on the first jump. Now about 20 meters in the air, the young man went limp and started to fall. “Wait, what are you doing?” exclaimed Helma.
Leone hit the ground with a thud, ruffling up another cloud of dust as he smacked into the dirt. “OW!” the young man groaned.
The woman ran around the side of her booth to check on Leone. She was frantic and stammering, trying and struggling to get any words to come out. Finally, she asked, “What the hell did you do that for, young man?! Are you insane?!”
Slowly sitting up, Leone clutched his left arm in pain, “Ha, ha, no… ow… Just wanted to test your product thoroughly… ow…”
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“You look like you broke your arm. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, ow… I think I’m good, though, ow… I think I broke one of my legs, too. Your stuff heal broken bones?”
Helma was in complete shock at the young man’s nonchalance over the situation. “Um, yes, yes it does,” she managed to say.
“Alright, let me try a bottle then,” the young man said with a weak, squinting smile.
The woman walked back over to her booth and picked up one of her bottles of milk. She returned to Leone slowly, not feeling as pressing of a sense of urgency in response to Leone’s casual demeanor. The kid was still holding his broken limbs tightly yet did not seem too worried about anything. Handing him the milk, the woman gave him a look that read, You’re one weird kid.
Leone popped the cap of the small glass bottle and downed the milk in one swig. He handed the bottle back to Helma, thanking her as he did. In a matter of seconds, he felt, and then saw, both his arm and leg adjust and realign themselves. The pain washed away almost instantaneously, and a second later, his body was back to normal, with no sign that he had even fallen in the first place. He stood back up with a noticeable spring in his step, acknowledging that even more than his bones, he just felt good. Refreshed. As if in a single moment, he had gotten rest for a tiredness he didn’t even realize he was feeling. He gave the kind yet confused woman 2 gold coins as a generous payment for the milk. She grew even more flustered, insisting that they were not that much. In response, Leone asked if he could have a couple more for the road, along with a way to keep them cool. Helma arranged for the young man a small basket that carried 8 bottles, but let him know that he did not need to worry. Part of her enchantment on the milk prevented it from spoiling, so while he might want to keep the bottles cold for taste, he had nothing to worry about regarding the contents of them going bad.
Leone graciously accepted all of the milk and started to head out. Before he did, he quickly jogged back to the woman’s booth and left another 3 gold coins. He ran away before she could give them back to him, leaving the vendor at a loss for words yet again.
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Elsewhere in town, Riva was doing some shopping of her own. She had been looking for some business for her textiles but was having some trouble. Nobody seemed to want to buy from her. A few people had simply shaken their heads and kept walking, but one or two of them had outright said that they couldn’t. She wondered why this was. It’s not that the town was being weird. If anything, the residents had all been extremely polite about their denials. It was almost as if they considered her weird. For whatever reason…
Riva eventually grabbed the attention of an elf woman who was gardening in front of her house. The elf greeted her politely, taking a pause from digging up the weeds that were taking root in her soil. Riva asked her why nobody in the town wanted to buy or trade anything from her, and why it almost seemed like she was doing something wrong for trying to sell her fabrics. The woman stood up and told her something that surprised her. It was a rule in Milkwood that no outsiders were allowed to sell their goods in town, especially not if they were just passing through or were considered a traveling vendor. Anybody who visited that wanted to sell or trade had to stay at least 2 weeks before they could, and even once they started, they had to establish some kind of shop in town. Otherwise, you could only buy and move on.
The fabric seller, perplexed, asked why this was a rule in the first place. The woman kindly explained that Milkwood prided itself on being a town of self-sustainability and selfless servitude. Its community, as well as its economy, were in such a balanced harmony that Milkwood’s ability to take care of itself had turned into an expectation to uphold. The town still enjoyed serving travelers who passed by and offering any goods they had to keep the town’s economy afloat, but when it came to the goods and resources that the people lived off of, the residents resolved to keep the source internal.
Riva found herself surprised at the elf’s answer. She acknowledged that such reasoning was a rather referable philosophy on the town’s part, and considered it somewhat admirable. While she was, of course, somewhat disappointed she would not be able to move any merchandise, she could appreciate the reasoning behind why and accepted it.
Catching the woman’s decently hidden disappointment, the elf invited Riva in for some tea. Riva was delighted. If she was not going to be selling anything while she was here, which was obviously not going to be 2 weeks, she realized she did not know what else to do to keep herself busy until she met back up with the boys. With nothing better to do, she accepted the elf’s offer, climbing off of her cart and following the gardener inside her home.
The two ended up getting along quite well. While they did not have the most in common, they had similar outlooks on life and other people, allowing them to fill the gaps between their differences and enjoy the company of one another. The elf introduced herself as Ovi’en, to which Riva introduced herself in turn. They chatted about how they liked their tea, their hobbies, where Riva was traveling from and where to, and the kind of life Ovi’en had lived in Milkwood. Finally, the elf asked Riva about her dreams. Her hopes for the future and what she seemed to achieve in life. Riva was rather taken aback by the question. She had not really ever given much thought to it before. Despite traveling from town to town, she felt a lot like Ovi’en. They had both chosen very simple lives for themselves, sticking to a simple habit and living out one simple day after another. The only difference was that Riva crossed a few more plains than the gardener did.
However, choosing a life like this meant not really having a dream. Right? Riva figured the life she had chosen for herself, as had Ovi’en, was designed for someone who did not aspire to much. She would simply work, live humbly, and work some more, and then that would be it. She wasn’t on some grand quest, or did not have a major goal she was hoping to achieve. This, she figured, was intentional. But she never thought about why. At least, not in the past couple of years.
Riva thought about Azim. She thought about how in the past 3 days, she had experienced more excitement and adventure than she had the entire rest of her life, save for a few key moments. She thought about what Azim’s quest was, and was it was destined to be. What he was destined to be. She knew there was something special about him. She knew he was meant for something here. He might not have had dreams at the moment, but he had goals. He had a mission. And she was helping him with it. Was that her dream? To help him? To see him achieve whatever greatness he was meant to reach? Part of her didn’t want to diminish her to just an extension of him. But the other part of her figured that’s not what she was doing. She was not an extension of him. He was a reflection to her. Not of her, but of something else. Something… meaningful. So for her to stick around, was not solely to serve him, but to see through what she saw in him. For herself.
Ovi’en eyed the fabric seller for a minute, as she had gotten lost in thought and hadn’t spoken for a while. Riva eventually noticed the elf was staring, to which Ovi’en giggled. Riva thought, and decided she didn’t yet know what her dream was. But what she did know was that on this journey, with this strange companion, she was going to find it.