The blue sky bleeds into orange as Vern and Zee make their way towards the river, A sudden gust of wind whips up, billowing up his cloak and ruffling her tied, wild hair. Zee tentatively sniffs the air, eyes widening in alarm as she recognizes a scent.
“I shmell a fire!”
Vern deeply inhales through his nose in response. “Really? I don’t smell anything.”
“Thash because you humansh have tiny snooters!” She gently squishes her broad, round nose between her index finger and thumb, looking up at the ranger. “Ashually, yours is pretty big too. Not ash big ash mine!
Vern dramatically rolls his eyes at her jeering. He was a little self-conscious about his nose, it being a bit bigger than the average human’s. “Can you tell where it’s coming from?I hope we don’t have a forest fire on our hands.
“Yeh! It’s coming from’ta river!” She declares, pointing towards the way they’re headed, slowly raising her extended finger up as she continues. “An look! There ish shmoke coming thata’ways too!”
Vern looks to where she’s pointing, narrowing his eyes as he gazes into the distance. He could make out the distinct dark wisps of smoke rising into the air, barely visible to the untrained eye.
“Wow! Good nose and eyes. Do you have any other natural talents?"
“Mhmph! I can nail a flyin’ wolf-bat from o’er 2 tree talls away!” Miming a spear throwing motion along with her boasting.
“Ha, you’ll have to show me sometime. My guess is someone is already down there trying to keep a low fire going. I just hope they have their fishing licenses.” Muttered with a slightly annoyed tone. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with any potential poachers right now.
As they approached the riverbank, they spotted 3 figures, a man, a woman, and a horse. The man and woman both wore a plain long sleeve shirt, and brown trousers. In addition the woman was wearing a green headband, keeping back her light brown hair, and leather boots. The man sported unkept, dark grey beard paired with a bushy moustache. He was wading, knee deep in the river’s waters, fishing line cast out in front of him, A pair of sandals sat on the shore behind him. The woman sat on the shore, next to a small fire and a basket full of fish, stringing several fish on a line for ease of transport. The horse had a brown coat with white spots, standing some space away, reins tied to a post in a ground
Neither Vern nor Zee said a word as they walked up closer to the river. They were only twenty feet away when the woman looked up from her task, letting out a short gasp of surprise upon spotting the duo, hand over her chest, before relaxing upon recognizing the taller figure.
“Oh, hello there Ranger.” The woman called out.
“Hello Hellen!” Vern responded with a cheerful wave before turning to the man in the water. “You too Felder, hello.”
“Hallo there Ranger!” Felder called over his shoulder in a slightly hoarse voice. “Here to check on oir Licenses?
“Oh that’s not necessary, I know you two are up to date on it.” Vern replied, waving his hand in dismissal of the question.
“Aye, but if we weren't, would you beat on us like that poor sap sitting in a cell right now?” The fisherman daringly jeered.
“Hey That’s different and you know it. That’s what happens when you threaten me with an ax.” The ranger replied sternly
“Oh don’t listen to my husband, he’s just trying to rile you up dear.” Hellen said calmly, before turning to Felder and calling out, hand to her mouth. ”You leave the lawman alone, Felder! Fore ya get us both in trouble!”
“I’m just givin him a hard time, Hellen! If a man can’t have a joke with those sworn to protect him then is he really free?” He said, lightening up his tone.
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“Oh yeah? Then how about you go make a joke at the King’s expense in his court?” Vern challenged with a smile on his face.
He responds with a hearty laugh “Boy, I may be a fool but I ain’t no jester.”
“Difference is, jesters get paid to act a fool.” Vern quickly replies, stepping up to the fire.
“Heheh, that they do Ranger, that they do.” The fisherman turns back to the river, focusing on his line.
Zee, who silently observed the whole interaction gingerly stepped up to the fire alongside her companion. Her mouth begins to salivate as her gaze is drawn to the fish basket.
Hellen’s nervous smile fades as she brings attention to the goblin. “And who might this be? Keeping strange company, are we ranger?
“I’m Zee! The greatesht hunter in’ma tribe!” She proudly declares, standing up straight pointing a thumb to her chest.
“Zee here is uhh, helping me on my patrol.” Vern sheepishly explained. He hadn’t thought about what he would say about their little party if they came across anyone. Despites his efforts and reassurances from working with the tribe, many of the villagers still distrusted the goblins, leading some to begin distrusting him in turn. He knows how popular of a topic he is for rumor and gossip, none of them good or flattering. Anyone finding out he’s traveling with not just a goblin but a female at that would just be throwing more fat into the fire.
“Oh. And what business would a lawman have traveling with a…non-citizen.” The fisherwoman cautiously asked, returning to her work.
Vern looked towards the flowing river for a moment before a thought popped into his head. “Breaker’s ridge! Have you heard of the monster sighting there? I was going to investigate anyway so why not bring along some extra help?”
Zee craned her head up in surprise at his words, her brow furrowed in confusion. Vern met her stare for a moment before darting his eyes away. He had neglected to tell her about the potential monster they’d be facing, almost forgetting about it till now.
Hellen shrugged at his answer. “Alright ranger, I’ll trust the decisions you make. You haven’t let us down before.”
“Thank you Hellen.” Vern politely nodded his head in respect. At least he still had some people’s confidence, mostly those who knew him best like the guard force and other outdoorsmen.
The ranger turns attention to their fish basket. “So, good haul today? How much you got there?” He kindly asks, moving on from the awkward subject.
“Oh yes the Brassfin have been plentiful today!” Hellen cheerily answers. “We’re upto twenty-nine, one more and we’ll hit our limit for the week.”
Vern scratches his chin, thinking over what he’s about to propose. “Tell you what, the Brassfin spawns have been almost double what expected this season. Spare us a few of your catches for dinner and I'll let you go up to forty this week.”
“Fifty!” Felder calls out over his shoulder. “It’s already gettin’ late, we’ll need enough to warrant comin’ back all the way out here.”
Vern sighs before letting out a defeated chuckle. “Alright, you got a deal.”
***
The sun began to approach the horizon, skimming orange streaks of light across the river. The husband and wife fishers were loading up their haul and equipment onto their horse’s saddlebags while Vern took over their campfire, 5 medium sized fish with shimmering brown scales were skewered onto sticks, stuck in the sand surrounding the fire. He began unpacking a small rolled up tent, a wooden cutting board, and a sleeve of utensils. Zee stood by the shore, tossing small stones dug up from the sand into the river.
Felder climbed up onto the saddle, helping his wife up onto it after. Vern stopped his task and walked up to the pair for some parting words. “If you can, try to avoid going north through Breaker’s ridge. I advise heading east, following the river until you get to the sharp bend, then head north. There you’ll have to ride through the trees a bit before reaching the road that should take you directly up to the village.” Motioning down the river as he spoke.
“We’ll keep that in mind, ranger.” The burly fisherman replied. “Listen, I’m sure you know people haven’t been speaking too kindly of ya lately, but we know you’re a good man, So keep up the good work.” Hellen nodded in agreement with her husband’s words.
Vern’s expression softened as he took in his words. “Well thank you, that means a lot to me.”
“One more thing.” Felder leaned down closer to the ranger, speaking with a voice barely above a whisper. “Whatever you do, don’t bring her to the village.” He looked up towards the shore where Zee stood as he finished. Vern’s eyes followed his, they both watched for a moment as the goblin tossed another stone into the river, splashing the water with a soft “Ker-plunk”.
Vern didn’t respond as the fisherman straightened up, snapping the reins in hand. The horse whinnied in response and began trotting away. “Stay safe out there Ranger!” Hellen called out to him, waving as she did. He waved after them, before slowly walking back up to the half unfurled tent laid out on the coarse sand.