Scruffy’s Adventure
Written by Scruffy–hime
Edited by Luciferia
Chapter 20: A Rare Encounter
“Scruffy… Scruffy wake up!” Ria nudged him again with her finger. “It’s time to leave.”
“Huh…what?” Scruffy rubbed his eyes as he sat up.
Ria tossed Scruffy’s cleaned clothes at him, “Put some clothes on. We need to leave.”
Scruffy blushed as he remembered what had happened earlier. Ria laughed as he tugged on his pants and shirt. Ria had put on tight blue pants and a light blue shirt.
“How are you getting me out of here?”
“Quietly.” Was the only answer Ria gave as she opened the door.
Ria motioned for Scruffy to follow as she peeked out the door. Once she sure that no one was around she started walking at a fast pace.
Ria and Scruffy began weaving through the shadows. After several close calls they had made it to a small gate.
Ria paused in the alleyway as a concerned look crossed her face. “Something's wrong…
“Stay here. I’m going to go ask them what happened and see if there is any way we can sneak around them.”
Ria left Scruffy alone in the dark and walked over to the dozen guards posted at the gate. After several minutes of talking she walked back.
“Seems your friend got out.” Ria whispered when she was hidden again.
“Really?” Scruffy asked with hope.
“Yea two bodies were found at the gate. It’s good for her but it makes things much harder for us. We have two options… kill them or make a run for it.”
“You know I don’t like killing people…”
“So that leaves us with option two.”
“What’s your plan then?”
“I’ll distract them and get them to open the gates. Once they know I betrayed them, they won’t hesitate to kill even me.
“I know most of these women pretty well, they will react fast once you're seen. I trained most of them to fight so I know their habits… I should be able to get past them.”
“Alright...don’t die.”
Ria smiled and then walked back over to the guards. Scruffy inched as close as he could without being detected and waited. It only took a moment for Ria to persuade them to open the gate for her. She waved her hands around and talked to them for a moment longer. It looked as though she was giving orders.
A few of the guards left and Ria motioned to where Scruffy was hiding. He figured that was the sign and sprinted out of the shadows.
The women were stunned for a moment. The gap from his hiding place to the gate was only a few feet. Ria rammed into one guard with her shoulder and kicked another one from her feet. Once the guards understood what was going on the drew their weapons and charged Scruffy and Ria.
Ria had tackled another guard from her feet and kicked another guard sending her tumbling backwards into a couple others allowing Scruffy to catch up. Ria turned from the fallen guards and ran up behind Scruffy.
The livid guards chased the pair for a long time. Some of them screamed at Ria asking her why or cursing her for helping Scruffy, others accused Scruffy of brainwashing her. The guards gave up when the pair entered the Astal forest. Ria explained that no one lasts long inside the forest and that they would need to hurry to get out.
Ria and Scruffy walked inside the forest for a while until they came to a trail that lead them to a main road that Ria said would take them to Bel’tas.
Once they were out from under the thick canopy Scruffy looked around at the beautiful light blue grass that spanned as far as he could see. The night was lit by the light of the two moons and thousands of stars. One moon looked to had been shattered as pieces of it exploded out to one side and the other was larger and still whole. The pale blue glow radiating from the moons was dazzling.
“It’s very unusual for a man to be walking outside a town without a lot of protection so if we run into anyone along the way just let me do the talking.” Ria warned.
“Will you tell me why you're even helping me?” Scruffy asked. “I really do appreciate it, but if I'm going to trust you I need to know.”
Ria let out a long sigh, “Yeah... I guess you're right.”
Ria paused for a while. Scruffy was starting to think she wasn’t going to say anything else.
“I need your help…” Ria said in a soft voice.
“With what?” Scruffy replied curious.
Ria sighed again, “My sister was taken…”
“Taken? By who?”
“By a god.”
“What do you mean ‘god’? Scruffy replied confused. “I don't know what that is.”
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“The gods or Fays are believed to be the most powerful beings in existence. There are sixteen of them, the main four are; Nalmos, the God of Storms, Vesah, the God of Nature, Est, God of Fertility, and Wuigh the Insane. We call them the High Gods.
“And then there are the twelve low gods. They keep their names and roles hidden from us.”
Scruffy thought about the information for a moment before asking, “So which one of the took your sister?”
“Nalmos,” Ria replied in a bitter tone. “I don’t know why he took her, but I want her back.”
“What makes you think I can help?”
“If you really are a demon then perhaps you or someone you know can take me to Elild, the gods’ home.”
“After we find Airi I’ll do what I can but…”
“I know It’s a long shot...but it’s my only chance.” Ria replied in a sad tone.
Ria and Scruffy walked in silence for a while before she asked him, “So why is this Ythra so important to you?”
“I… don't know honestly…” Scruffy said, “She was there when I woke up and we helped each other since then. I doubt I would be alive if not for her.”
“So you feel you owe her?” Ria asked.
“Yeah… but it’s more than that… I think I knew her before my memory was lost… Since we got separated the thing I've wanted most it just to see her again and it hurts to be away from her.”
“I know the feeling.” Ria replied in a depressed voice. “But as you may have noticed, Ythra are not well liked by most people. All Ythra are born into slavery and typically beaten or otherwise abused even as children.
“I never owned a Ythra, but I also never thought anything of it before. It’s just the way things are.”
“Airi is… important to me, when I saw Vera hit her i wanted to rip the little girl in half. Just the thought of anyone trying to hurt her…”
Ria and Scruffy walked in silence for a long time after that. A few passing strangers gave the pair confused looks but didn’t take the time to stop and ask.
Ria slowed when she noticed a large coach parked on the side of the road. When she noticed the large amount of guards surrounding it she guess that it was a traveling male.
“This is rare... “ Ria said, “That has to be a male… but why?”
Ria shot Scruffy a confused look but they decided not to stop. When they got closer to the caravan they could hear a lot of yelling. It sounded like the carriage had gotten stuck.
“Don't speak when we get close. If you say anything weird they might not let us leave by ourselves.” Ria warned as they closed in on the carriage.
Scruffy gave her a confused look but nodded that he understood.
It was only a minute before one of the guards noticed them and yelled. “Halt! Who are you?”
“I am Ria and this is my master.” Ria lied.
“You will stop and help us.” The large woman walked out in front of them and then jumped back when she noticed Scruffy. “I–I’m sorry, I didn't realize you were a male.”
Ria glared at the woman before saying, “We are going to Bel’tas, you will let us go through now.”
“O–of course.” The woman stuttered.
“Did I hear that right? Another male is out there?” a deep voice called from inside the carriage.
Ria’s face went pale as the man exited and walked over to them.
“Hello I’m Atai, I have not met another male in a long time.” Atai took a long look at Scruffy before asking, “Who are you?”
“This is–“
“I did not ask you, woman.” Atai said in a dangerous tone.
Ria was about to answer but Scruffy spoke first. “I’m Scruffy, and I would like to be on my way.”
Ria was surprised by Scruffy’s threatening tone.
“Yes of course.” Atai replied. “But if you don’t mind my asking, why are you traveling on foot… and with only traveling with one servant?”
“Ria was all that I needed for this trip. Also I prefer walking. Now if you are done I would like to leave.”
Atai shot Scruffy a vicious gaze. Scruffy ignored it and started walking away motioning for Ria to follow. After a couple steps Scruffy wished him a safe trip then continued walking.
Atai did not reply as he stormed back into his carriage.
“Well that was interesting.” Scruffy said with a sigh.
Ria laughed, “You probably pissed him off. Hope we never run into him again.”
“Me too.” Scruffy replied sighing again.
“I was surprised though.” Ria said after several minutes. “I did not expect you to handle it like that.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it's just this whole time you've acted completely different from any other man I've known. Something about seeing you acting like that was just weird.”
Scruffy chuckled, “I just acted like how I thought I should.”
“Well it worked.”