"When I get my hands on you, woman!" I cursed as I trudged through the forest by the road. Even though I was dressed, it still felt safer to be in some form of shadow. It was also amusing to spook those who were cautiously watching me. Especially the many oxfuinei travelling the road as they always tried to sniff me out.
Even now, I couldn't help but snicker at the many bits of fun I have had. It also made me thankful that Larishazza had shown me various ways to have fun. I was never a people person, that was always the case. But, I very much enjoy taking a little something out of everyone.
It made boring treks like this one tolerable as I had something to do. It also made me realise how much I hated being on my own while on the move. Up until now, I have always had a companion. Even in my worst states, there was someone there.
But here there was no one but the short-lived friends I made along the way. Thankfully, the village did not seem to be too far as I was now catching sight of some landmarks. Namely, the mountain range that ended right ahead of the village. How I knew it was that mountain, however, was a mystery.
"BECAUSE THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" I suddenly screamed at the gargantuan stone objects. Mountains were just baked into this land like an overly fruity biscuit. You could not escape them unless you went towards the canyon. But, was a canyon just not the incline to a land-sized mountain!?
Complaints about mountains, aside, however, I was finally able to see the village. All the way atop the hill the road went up. But, I held my ground and I crossed my arms. And I was content to just look at the village from a distance.
"So very different to life in the city..." I quietly uttered as I began to lower myself down a tree. Keeping my oddly-shaped osibindah back against it while flexing my legs about. And when I was done positioning myself, I just carried on taking in the view. I then smiled as I caught a glimpse of people outside.
I may have not liked being involved in why it was like this. But the fragile peace I helped give this small village made me happy. I was able to save someone's home from a danger that would engorge itself upon it. I had help, sure, but my part in it was clear.
Perhaps now as well, I could apologize for any foul actions I did to those I saved. Or maybe me saving them was enough and I could just drop it? I did not really know. I guess I would just have to let the gods decide for me on this one.
They would have to let it all flow out for me and I would go along with it. Just like how I went along with the paths their distant battles had created. Legends often spoke of shockwaves so vast and so distinct that they carved the earth. Were these lands perhaps where most of that occurred?
Jherikra did mean Greatest Land, after all. Was it referred to as such because of its association with the gods? It probably was, so much stuff of note was near this land. The Anvil-Peak, the now empty but still great canyon that once cooled thunderous metal.
Perhaps, I could be, as I have heard it be said, perhaps I could be Jhrerikra one day. Great man of the land. Perhaps I could be that, someone who became great through their courage and strength. Someone who confronted the evils that scarred them and saved others from their fate.
Or, maybe I could think small like the village Vadei was from. Just live life as easily as one could, stepping up only occasionally to keep it safe. It would certainly make a change to all the adventuring I have pretty much been doing. From simple wall-engraver to witch-in-training at what seems to be the main magic school place.
Yet, oddly enough, I was warded away from that idea by the boredom of it. I have fought my way out of monster hives with magic insects. Bested the best of a sex maniacal, nomadic people and stole the heart of their most beautiful without trying. I won something from a great man from the prior generation who had a sacred gift he needed protecting. I was able to triumph even when the world wanted me to fail.
"If I keep on going, there's no telling where I might end up!" I cheered as I got up, yet, I also dreaded those words. For with all these stories came something I was the expert one. The only expert in the world, in fact. I knew what it was like to die and to lose oneself to a corrupting monster.
Maybe there were others out there like me, cursed individuals who have tasted divine love. Or, perhaps I was alone in that experience. I could either assume it or seek out the potential answer that proved me wrong. And I would both enjoy it and hate it with every bit of passion in me. However, I was thinking too far ahead now.
A village needed help from a strong man and one was right here. So I started to move towards the village again. Not partaking in any revelry or conversation on the way down. However, I did meet the wandering gazes of curious farmers as I made my way into the village.
"Hey! Stranger! Take my advice, get out of here. This place will bring nothing good." a bitter man told me as he held onto a rosary detailing its allegiance to Undwote. So, I could only assume he was one of many we had failed. Be it our slowness or ineptitude, it did not matter.
"How come?" I asked as I approached him, somewhat spooking him with my size. But, I was intent on keeping the agreed-upon act up. I was a stranger from out of town, so I just had to, unfortunately, avoid the others for a bit. Who knows what kind of slip-ups our familiarity would cause.
"Vile osibindah have recently gutted our village for all it was worth. Not that it was that valuable to begin with. Not one official from the Lord who's meant to be looking after us after the slavers came... This village is cursed, that is all that you need to know."
"This village has been around for a few generations, what do you mean?" I asked him which got me a scoff as the initial response.
"You don't know a damn thing about this place. Now, if you value your life, get going. There's no telling when the bugs will be back."
"I know enough about this place to know that isn't true." I tell him as I lean on the fence keeping me out of his garden.
"And what do you know?" he asked with a sneer as he approached me with a growl as well.
"I know that there are two very powerful witches here. As well as some kind of aid from a mountain-state."
"No, it's just those two witches, unfortunately." he admitted with a sigh as he backed down.
"So you need help?" I then asked him which surprised him to some extent.
"I... I have nothing to offer for your help. Besides, there's nothing to help."
"There are farmers with verdant fields and children playing, seems like you got plenty of things that need help."
He scoffs again, "Well, if you're so insistent on wasting your life here, go speak to one of the bigshots on the far end. Give them some help with the lifting or something, I don't care. Just leave me be."
"Alright, enjoy your day." I say to him as I give him a brief wave on my way further into the village. I also let out a groan in my mouth as pretending like this felt off.
"Yeah, you too..." he said to me rather quietly before I heard him go back to his prior business. Which, going by how active the small temple they had was, was likely religious. But, I knew that already as I was aware of the series of funerals that had been going on. Yet, somehow, the priests at the temple kept the will to keep doing it.
To keep exposing themselves to despair and the suffering that came with loss. Over and over again until the temple closed its doors for the night. I also knew that, that was the worst time of day here. Those who still wanted their loved ones buried got into frequent arguments.
"Now, to keep it up." I then muttered as I turned towards the reconstruction work. Steadily moving closer and closer until I found myself nearly running into someone.
"Excuse me." Einervaene sweetly asked with a knowing smile as she held up a large piece of wood.
"Sorry, need any help? Man back down the road says this place needs some labourers." I ask her as a smile comes to my own face. I may have wanted to keep up a facade to build up believability. But, speaking to someone I knew made it a fun endeavour. It almost made me want to joke about it with her.
"I'm sure someone can guide you to a house that needs fixing up." she tells me as she casually swings an arm behind her. The other one was occupied with the effortless load in her grip. And, it felt odd, mostly because the heavy lifting was usually left to me. But, granted, that was probably as light as a feather to both of us.
"So how's the reconstruction been going?" I asked, this time, however, it was not related to my act. I just wanted to know how it has been going from the perspective of someone who had been doing it.
"We're focusing on the most damaged buildings at the moment. Thankfully, we don't need heavy equipment as me and my friend are here to take care of it."
"Einervaene! Get moving!" Liada barks as she comes on stomping over with a pile of papers in your hand.
"Yes, sir." Einervaene muttered snarkily under her breath as she walked off. And, when she had moved enough, I was being shoved to the nearest wall.
"And you, pick up some planks or step aside, you're in the way!" Liada demanded of me like an angry foreman. But, then, her expression shifted and she gave me a grin and brush of the tail as she went elsewhere.
"You take work too seriously." I comment as she walks off, huffing as she stops and looks back at me.
"And you're not working at all." she chastises as her fingers gesture at the damage.
"Alright, alright." I quietly laugh out as I move to a pile of lumber. Waving to Larishazza from under my new cloak as she hummed away sawing a tree apart. What she was using, however, I had no idea as it looked more like she was just being her. But, upon closer inspection, it became clear that she was using a hair of hers.
"Saw, saw, saw, saaaaaw!" she sang each time she twisted one way. And, when a chunk of unwanted wood fell off, a child would collect it and put it on a pile. A pile which was in turn added to a cart and taken to what seemed to be a public kitchen. It wasn't even a fresh-looking one, so it must have been part of the village anyway.
"Redskin in charge said to find some lumber?" I recalled to Larishazza once I had caught her attention. But, as she was easily excitable, she briefly forgot the act we were putting up.
"HELLO!" she screamed into my ear as she latched onto me all of a sudden. Thankfully, however, her choice of greeting did not give away the plan. Only her absurdly out of place reaction did.
"I want a hug!" one child suddenly demanded before all of them began to demand it. And Larishazza was only more than happy to hand them out. She even teased some of the shyer boys with quick kisses on the cheeks. And when she put them down, they all had red faces and twitching hands.
"Go ahead and take whatever you need! There's plenty more trees for me to work with." Larishazza quickly tells me before she gets back to playing with the children.
"Got it, thank you." I say before I pick up a bundle she had bound together with more of her hair. In fact, she had pulled out a few strands and kept them in a box as if they were tools... Well, I have to praise the thinking, but, it was so weird to look at. A small box of hair strands was helping to rebuild a village.
At least Einervaene was likely just applying some magic to fuse metal together. And Liada was probably bringing tools off of the airship! But, then we had Larishazza using hair... And I could only repeat prior thoughts in my head.
Now, I had other things I should focus on, like what to do with this lumber. So I held it above my head and walked about until I found Liada again. And I had to wait for a bit as she was currently doing something on that paper of hers. I could get her attention, but I also wanted to see what she was doing.
They were construction plans by the looks of it. Heavily edited and crossed out ones, however. And, if I went by the way she sighed and fidgeted, she was dealing with material problems. I can't imagine it's a case of not enough, we mostly needed wood.
But, her drawings, on closer inspection, seemed to be too complex for what we had. So, I think it was fair to presume she had gotten ahead of herself. She let out as much as she could and now she was constantly remaking it. I can't say I understand the feeling, I was never the making type.
Despite my old job...
"Something troubling you?" I asked her as I put the lumber down and sat on it. Staring at her as I leaned forward on my open legs.
"I'm not used to working without some kind of machinery. Everything back home was mechanised to make up for our population deficit..." she admitted with a frustrated sigh. And when she said it, I dropped the continuation of the act just to see if I could help. I would rather not see her stressed out because of something like this.
"Larishazza and Einervaene fit in for most of that, do they not?" I ask her while I gently fiddled with the tight hair chain the former made.
"Using her hair was my idea, but that's not what I'm on about. I'm on about actual machinery. Forges, factories! But, this is a backwards village without even a rudimentary blacksmith." she let out as she threw the paper down. So, I then leaned further down to pick it up. Maybe I should compliment her on it? It looked pretty good, but, I was no architect or engineer.
"Why not start over but just build it around what you do have access to?" I proposed, assuming a brief moment to step back from it all would help.
"I'm not starting over! I put too much work into it already!" she replied loudly, but, I felt like she was exaggerating. There was a bit of time invested here, sure. But it was both a small drawing and the notes were a line or two here and there. It would not cause many issues if she had to restart.
Besides, the villagers seemed to know how they wanted their houses and businesses done. Some even seemed to be taking advantage of the damage in order to get the girls to build more. And I only picked up on that I was familiar with the idea of renovating. It was part of my old job after all. You go in, clear an area, and build it back up, something we often did in communal areas.
"Food!" a woman then called out from the tidier part of the village. And when she did, some walked, but many ran as if they'd not get any.
"Smells good, perhaps something to eat will calm your mind?" I offer as I got up. Holding out a claw to help her to her feet-claws before nudging the lumber to the side. If I was not going to be doing anything with it, there was no point in leaving it on the road. However, when we got to the food, I declined a portion.
That would mean taking off my mask and that defeated the point of having it. So I just moved on into the shade and let the girls gather up around me. Looking at Vadei in particular as she walked about in a simple dress handing out bread. A fresh dose of cheer even came to her lips when she saw me.
"You came just in time!" she told me as she handed me a bread roll despite my protests. But, as I felt its warmth in my hand, I found it hard to decline. It even had the letter 'N' on it to denote it was my one. At least, it looked like an 'N,' it was Vadei's language after all, not Wind-Speak.
"I'd be fine coming later." I say with a hidden smirk as she flattened her dress and sat down before us.
"Conquei, over here!" Vadei then called out in a notably duller tone. And soon, we had a girl who looked similar to Vadei, but with much shorter hair. She was dress similarly, too, but, she did not seem to be used to it. Vadei had to sort her clothes out before she sat down.
"Thank you, Vadei." her sister quietly said as she took a bread roll apart and mixed it into her food.
I seemed to make her uncomfortable, as well, "Something wrong?" I asked her simply before I watched her twitch.
"N-No, nothing." she tells me before diving into her bowl to occupy herself. But, she burnt her mouth as a result and Larishazza had to intervene. She was a lot calmer around her, though. In fact, her issues seemed to lie with me. Did she...?
"I hope you don't mind me finding somewhere quieter." I then said all of a sudden as I got up and moved away from the group. Leaving my bread roll behind so I could ponder alone on a fence. Vadei, however, followed me with my roll in hand.
"It's not your secret that bothers her." Vadei tells me as she puts the roll in my hand again.
"You are really insistent with this, you know?" I exclaim as I shake the piece of cooked flour about.
"Because I made it for you." she tells me as her ears dip slightly.
"Well, as we're further away and around a corner." I say before cautiously exposing my mouth. However, I did not nibble to roll, I just slotted it into my maw. Chewing only once I got the mask back on. And while I could feel the steam its heat caused, it did not bother me at all.
"Well?" she asks as she leans in a little closer.
"Meaty inside was a nice touch." was all I really had to say as it was just a bread roll outside of that.
"Thank you, I caught the bird myself." Vadei tells me with a small smile as she grips her dress.
"Vadei? I need your help with something." her mother suddenly said as she abruptly got between us.
"What is it, Mom?" Vadei asked as her expression lost its joy. Something which seemed to make said mother angry.
"Don't think that just because you are wearing that, that I don't know it's you!" she sneered at me as her tail wrapped around Vadei protectively.
"Mom, there's no need for..." Vadei began to say before she shirked away when her mother glared at her.
"Listen carefully, Bug, stay away from my family. And when you can, get away from my home." she growls to me before she takes Vadei away.
"Well, that ruined the moment..." I quietly let out as I started to focus on what she had called me. Sometimes I could ignore it, other times it just bothered me a lot...