I've found that writing little vignettes of conversation snippets really helps move the story along. I will be making gratuitous use of this, thanks for asking. Now to FINALLY write the rest of the Great Plateau section. I just need to get to the Temple of Time and I'll be fine.
On the Saturday before last, I got to join my first Splatoon tourney, IDTGA (It’s Dangerous To Go Alone)! It was super fun and I got to team up with (see chars left to right) Kaisa, (me), Godof, and Sabeano, and we had our kind cheerleader, Ink, who I got to substitute for~
We even took home 2nd place in the Power Bracket! It was a great first experience ^^
Estril didn't have the knowledge to show Yvara the finer ways of mixing poultices, but she knew the healer in the village, a kind woman of middling years, who had skilled, steady hands and patience borne of a hoard of children.
While waiting for the local smith and tailor to fix the rips in her leathers and dents in her armour, Estril watched Yvara giving the healer all of her attention, nodding and asking questions, wringing every bit of information out of her tutor that she could, and by the end of the day had a small potion in a plain, stoppered bottle that she proudly displayed for Estril's eyes.
"It seems you may have found your calling," Estril said. "May I try?" Yvara nodded, and Estril gently took the bottle from her, pulling the cork out with her teeth and taking a tentative sip. Her skin tingled, but a few seconds later the remainder of her bruises had faded, and the ache that had been brewing behind her eyes from the pressure of the summer heat was gone. She grinned at her new friend. "I've never had a potion so potent." Yvara took the bottle back from her.
"You'll teach me something now, won't you?" she asked. In her chest, Estril's heart swelled. She cleared her throat and glanced away, aware of the hotness on her cheeks.
"Of course, if you feel you're ready." Yvara nodded, and set the potion bottle carefully on the table she had been working at, and followed Estril outside. The two of them picked their way through the crowd in the centre of town, ignoring the various stall owners that called out to them to feel this fabric or that, or try some fresh, juicy fruit, or look at handmade trinkets. It was easier to breathe when the mob of people thinned as they neared the edge of town and the small, quiet wood that sat a hundred or so yards from the main road.
Within the shelter of its branches and bushes, Estril and Yvara sparred with makeshift swords made from hardy sticks Estril had gathered until Estril's arms and shoulder and back were burning pleasantly, and Yvara was leaning on her own weapon, panting, with one hand pressed against her side. When Estril, concerned, moved to check on her, Yvara waved her off with a smile that was a reassuring as it was beautiful.
x
Sara felt herself blushing when Emily logging out and shutting her computer drew her back into the real world. She licked her lips and glanced over to see Emily smiling at her, somehow sitting closer than she had been when they sat down. Sara could feel her warmth seeping into her own skin through their light layers of clothes. Sara chewed on the inside of her lip and guided her character back into the inn to rest before she shut the game down, and tried to ignore the feeling of Emily's eyes on her, but she didn't last for long. She cleared her throat softly and fidgeted in her chair.
"Hey, Sara?" Emily asked in a voice unusually soft, even in a library.
"Yeah?" Emily opened her mouth, but a clatter from the entrance cut her off. Charlotte appeared around the shelves a handful of seconds later, and barely glanced at Sara before addressing Emily.
"What are you doing back here hanging out with the geek?" she asked. Sara bristled silently and turned away, shoving her laptop into her bag. Clearly fun time was over. Absently, she registered the growing hole in the pit of her stomach that threatened to gurgle loudly and embarrass her further. Emily twisted in her seat.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked, scowling. Charlotte shrugged.
"Wasting your time." Sara's ears burned. She rubbed the back of her neck then yanked up the zipper on her bag. The legs of her chair caught against the carpet as she pushed it back, but she managed to keep from tripping. She was prepared to push past Charlotte and head back to the house for dinner, but Emily's hand closed around her wrist and kept her from moving.
"Fuck off, Charlotte," she said. "Go be a bitch somewhere else." Charlotte's eyes widened briefly in surprise, but then she scoffed and glared at the both of them before turning on her heel and storming back out. Sara stared down at Emily's fingers, still holding onto her. When Emily noticed, she jerked her hand back, her cheeks a light pink. "I'm sorry. I don't think it's anything against you personally. She's just had a stick up her arse since she got dumped. She's been taking it out on everyone, even me." She smiled again, and Sara floundered, eventually managing a lame,
"Thanks." Emily put her own things away and shouldered her bag.
"C'mon," she said, holding out her hand. "Let's go eat." Sara stared at the fingers stretching towards her, then hesitantly took them with a small smile, and let Emily pull her out of the building.
The next day Emily was back, this time armed with a laptop. She tapped Sara on the shoulder with a smile. Sara returned it awkwardly and scooted over to make room at the table for Emily to sit. There was limited space, but Sara didn't mind having Emily's shoulder pressed against hers. It made her skin feel warm even through her shirt. Emily cracked her computer open and rotated it so Sara could see the screen.
"Could you put that game on my computer?" she asked. Sara nodded, stuttering out an okay and pushing her own laptop towards the back wall that separated the desk from the one across from it and pulled Emily's in front of hers. Emily sat close, her chin practically on Sara's shoulder as she watched Sara dig out her external where she kept all her files backed up and copy the game over onto Emily's hard drive. She didn't know the specs, but she hoped the game would run well enough for Emily to play.
"When this finishes it should be fine," Sara said, sitting back. Emily pulled her laptop over, careful not to unplug Sara's external, and watched the progress bar. "So, how come you're in here instead of out with Charlotte?" Emily shrugged.
"I had fun playing yesterday," she answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sara focused on her own computer and tried to ignore the way her cheeks warmed up. Emily wanted to spend time with her, not with Charlotte, who thought she was weird and hardly ever spared her a second glance. She chewed on the inside of her lip. "Oh! It's done. Can I play now?"
"Yeah," Sara replied, and booted up her own game.
Estril woke in a bed in a familiar tavern with an ache behind her eyes. She remembered the slicing pain of a blade sliding into her stomach, but nothing else. She blinked her eyes to clear the daze of death from her mind, and slowly sat up. A bandage wrapped around her stomach, and a face she didn't recognize hovered over her.
"Hello," the woman said. "I'm Yvara. My father and I found you on the road. Are you feeling well?"
"Yes," Estril replied, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. "Thank you for helping me." Yvara grinned, and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
"You must be a very powerful warrior. Those bandits looked horrible."
"Not so great if they managed to kill me," Estril replied with a wince as she sat up. Yvara propped up the pillows for her to lean back against and sat down in a chair pulled up next to the bed.
"What are you called?"
"Estril." Yvara grinned, and Estril's heart flipped.
"Estril," Yvara repeated. "I'll fetch you some stew from the kitchen. You must be hungry." She was gone before Estril could reply. Estril touched her bandage. She was sore, but she would survive, and be back to adventuring like before. It wasn't the first time she had been killed. Countless times when she was a novice she had stumbled upon a creature too strong for her to vanquish, and found herself waking in the morning in an inn much like the one which she lay in now.
She didn't often wake with beautiful maidens tending her, however.
Yvara returned with a steaming bowl of soup and a tankard of weak ale, which she carefully set in Estril's lap, the mug going on the table beside the bed. Estril gave her a grateful smile and stirred the stew before raising the spoon to her lips. She suppressed a happy groan. Yvara smiled at her again.
"Have you been doing this long?" she asked. "Adventuring, I mean."
"Yes," Estril said. "As long as I can remember."
"I've always wanted to be an adventurer. It sounds so romantic; seeing all those new places, fighting monsters, finding treasure."
"It's a fine life," Estril agreed, "except for dying."
"Oh, but that's not so terrible when you get brought back here, is it?" Estril shrugged and slurped another mouthful of soup. She blushed at the noise.
"It hurts, but it's nice enough I suppose, knowing it takes more than a bandit's blade to kill me. It doesn't mean I'm not careful, though. The more battles I lose, the less I learn."
"Do you think you-" Yvara started, but her face went red. "Do you think you could teach me something? Only, my father is growing old, and I want to be able to protect him."
Estril considered Yvara carefully for a moment, stirring her spoon through her stew, then nodded, and graced the girl with a small smile and a nod.
"I suppose I could teach you something," she replied, "in return for picking me up off the road."
"Only when you're well again, of course," Yvara told her, her brow furrowed in concern.
"Of course," Estril replied. "Come to me in the morning. I'll be strong enough then for us to begin, if that is what you wish."
"Why are you sleeping so much?" Emily asked. Their shoulders were touching again. Sara knew she was blushing but tried to ignore it as best she could.
"Ah, well-" She raised her hand to fix her braid, elbow dragging along Emily's arm. She wondered why her new friend didn't decide to move away. "So I can heal up and train you. It's the easiest way since I don't have the skill to make any potions, and I can't really spend any money to buy some since I have to repair my gear."
"Gear?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, my armour and stuff." Emily hummed and nodded sagely, shifting in her seat.
"Could I learn how to make them?" Emily asked. Sara shrugged.
"Sure, if you've got the skill points. I put most of mine into fighting. Pretty stupid, actually, since I can't heal myself at all."
The one good thing about school trips was that they were old enough now for Sara to spend the entire time in the library near the house they were boarding in if she wanted to, and she never found herself wanting to do anything else.
The only time she left was for food and the events she was required to attend (and to sleep, of course). Every morning she would wake up and have breakfast in the hall with the rest of her classmates, then inform one of the teachers that she was going next door, and cart her laptop and her headphones and her bag over to the old building.
The first day the class had been in it, she had found the perfect corner to hunker down at, with a desk with walls for privacy, a comfy chair, and an outlet nearby. As soon as she settled, she plugged in, and tuned out.
Estril gazed down the mountain path, wind tugging at her hair. She clicked her tongue and her horse started forward, gently swaying her in the saddle. As always, she kept a keen eye out for any trouble, but none had presented itself since she had started back down the other side of the mountain, heading for the little hamlet that rested at its base. She had visited the town before her climb up, but her journey back home was taking her through it again, and she had a sack slung over the back of her saddle full of treasure to ply to the local merchants.
She reached the bottom of the mountain without incident, and left her horse tied up while she bartered with the traders in the market, walking away with a decently sized sack of gold balanced in her gauntlet. She tossed it lightly to test its weight, then tied it to her belt, where it would be safer than in her saddle bags. After a stop at the well to quench her thirst, Estril mounted up again and started out of town.
Halfway through the woods, she was attacked. Outlaws after her gold, no doubt, and the treasures that still lay across her saddle, waiting to be sold. The first bandit tasted her boot, his jaw breaking with a crack. She was off the saddle before the other had a chance to draw his sword, and met his blade with her own. Steel slid against steel as he pushed her blade up, trying to get under her guard.
"What's that?"
Startled, Estril lost her concentration, and the bandit's blade slid into her stomach. She crumpled to the ground, her vision fading to black.
Sara blinked, pulled out her ear bud, and looked over her shoulder. Emily Charleston stood next to her, peering down at her computer screen. She felt her cheeks redden.
"It's, uh, it's my game. My computer game."
"What's it about?" Emily asked. Her friend Charlotte was standing behind her, looking thoroughly uninterested. Emily pulled out a chair and sat close, elbows on her knees. Sara glanced back at her black screen and rubbed the corner of her eye.
"Uh, adventuring, I think. Mostly. You make a hero, and you run around and kill monsters and bandits and get treasure." The explanation made her feel lame, but Emily didn't seem deterred.
"Could you show me how to play?" she asked. Behind them, Charlotte sighed and began tapping away on her phone. Sara heard her feet shuffle away on the carpet. Emily scooted closer.
"You-you want to play?" Emily smiled, and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
"Why wouldn't I? It looks cool."
"Oh. Yeah, yeah sure." She scooted over to make room. Emily eagerly settled in front of the laptop, her hands hovering over the keyboard and mouse. Sara could smell perfume wafting off her neck. It made her head swim. She cleared her throat, and pointed out which buttons to press, and helped her make a new character. Emily's enthusiasm was surprising. Sara rubbed the corner of her eye again, easily answering Emily's questions. She wasn't bad for a newbie, but Charlotte drew her away after not too long. Emily gave Sara an apologetic smile and waved at her.
"I'll see you at dinner, right?" she asked. Sara nodded, and returned Emily's goodbye wave. She ignored how her heart was racing and her stomach was twisting, and stared at the character Emily had made; a pretty little warrior, idling in the middle of a town, and sighed before saving the file, shutting the game down, and packing her laptop up.
