"Hm, back here sooner than I had hoped..." I comment as I take the final step up the hill before I look down at my home. Yet, while I was upset by the circumstances that led to my return. I couldn't help but smile at how much my home had grown.
It was like a town now! All the stuff that the others had built years ago was in use and it was so crowded compared to before! It made my heart light with delight and I couldn't help but get excited. So, once they caught up, I ran down the hill giggling like a child.
Much to the confusion of those near this end of the village as well. But I did not let that stop me from dashing all the way into the centre of the village. And, with a final jump, I came to a halt and looked about with a bright smile. A smile that only grew when it became clear that many recognised me.
"Hey! Vadei is back!" someone let out before a crowd started to form.
"Unexpected..." I laugh awkwardly as I try to greet as many as I could before a different feeling set in. Though they were being careful with all that magic, it was clear the others felt it.
"Who are they...?" one concerned voice asked as I stared off at my friend.
"They're with me!" I confidently declared with a puffed-out chest and a little teehee.
"Woah!" one of the pups let out as their tail wagged in excitement. Yet, even amongst all the people I had to smell, one smell in particular stood out.
"Welcome home." Mom greeted me from the edge of the crowd. And, as if there was never any distance between us. I was soon holding her tightly.
"Hello, Mom!" I greeted back as she quickly got over the shock and hugged me back.
"I admit, I haven't prepared enough for three, but, I can certainly make a point of changing that now." she joked as she jingled her well-stuffed purse.
"There haven't been many problems...?" I ask her as I started to worry about their economic situation. Dad was the one who worked after all...
"No, all the buildings you and your friends built had no official owners. So, the village went to the courts over the matter and they ended up in my possession." she informs me.
"Well, look at you, Landlady!" I laugh out happily as I hug my mom once again. Keeping it up as my friend and her guardian arrived in the village. Yet, to my astonishment, they all still showed more interest in me than them.
"I feel very awkward here..." I comment as the pressure of fame got to me.
"We best head out back, then." Mom whispered as she guided me towards a quiet, garden-like path. Einervaene, however, did not lose me because of that, and she arrived again.
"Long time no see, Wastla." Einervaene greeted as Brewbrt came lumbering in behind her. And, I had to admit, he did look quite intimidating when I saw him from this perspective. At the end of a narrow back path, that is. Felt strange suddenly imagining him charging down at us.
"Oh! Einervaene...?" Mom tried to recall before she smiled at her nod. However, she knew full well that she did not know Brewbrt.
"That's Brewbrt." I tell her before she suddenly reacts in a way I did not expect.
"Sky Bomber Brewbrt!?" she exclaims, much to the surprise of us all.
"Now that is amusing." Brewbrt laughs as Mom suddenly moves closer to him to get a good look.
"My husband brought back quite a few stories about you when he went out of town..." Mom explained before she straightened herself out.
"Hi." Brewbrt said.
"I'm Wastla." Mom nervously told him as Brewbrt nodded in acknowledgement.
"The one and only," Brewbrt said before he elicited the strangest of reactions from Mom by tickling one of her ears.
"Mom!" I bark at her as she backed away with a distinct, schoolgirl blush.
"Not sorry." Brewbrt mocks me with before Einervaene steps in front of him.
"Is it alright if we stay the night, Wastla?" Einervaene asks Mom as I start to smile at the thought of one more night with my friend.
"Of course! What kind of woman would I be if I let one of the witches who saved our village and my daughter stay out in the cold? Come, come!" Mom answered as she reversed course and took us home. To my increased delight as well, I saw a bee.
"You restored my garden!" I cheer as I laugh at the bee before it dove down at one of my flowers. Mom even went the extra length and replanted the flowers I got for Dad specifically before it all went bad...
"Somehow, even as the village's first noble, I had a lot of time on my hands."
"Noble?"
"Yes, Vadei, I am now officially a title-holding lady as otherwise I wouldn't legally be able to have all this property."
"But.. H-How...!?" I exclaim as I was pretty sure being a noble required inheritance and a family to go with it!
"Don't you worry about a thing." was all Mom had to tell me as she pinched my cheek before she brought us through my garden.
"Is that...?" Conquei squeaked as she peaked her head out from the house's entrance.
"You want to come here and greet me properly?" I asked my sister as I grinned and held out my arms. But, unfortunately, it was not to be and she shirked away at the sight of Brewbrt. So, instead, I headed on up to her and did it on her terms.
"I missed you..." she quietly muttered against me as she tried to hide something as well.
"You won't have to worry about missing me ever again now. I'll be staying here now." I tell her before I heard Mom come in.
"Are you all done with your studies, then? Did the others not want to visit again? Even Nin would've been wel-"
"Mom, no. It's a bit complicated but... I'll explain when Einervaene and Brewbrt have gone."
"Oh, alright." Mom responds, she then nods in understanding.
"I got something to show you..." Conquei whispered into my ear before she began to desperately pull at me as the others came in. And, with a slight smile back on my face, I picked up the pace. Slipping into our old room before I stared at my side.
"Aw, you left my side." I joked. But, who knew, maybe that is what she wanted to show me! I would've cackled a bit if so.
"No... I... Look what... Look what I have managed to do!" she nervously declared as she shakily held up a drawing for me. And I smiled as I looked at it. I could clearly tell one of them was her, but the others were...
"You made some friends?" I asked her as a sense of pride filled me. It was strange, but I remembered well the promise I had her make. Yet, I could not understand why she was seemingly starting to cry as she nodded.
"Y-Yeah... I made some... Some good friends." she admitted as a big smile dominated her face.
"Well done." was all I could really think of as a response before I hugged her one more time.
"N-Now that you're back! I can go get them and show them all the sister I am proud of!" she explained, her shaky voice full of excitement.
"I would like that." I tell her before we both catch onto a scent wafting into our room. So, I opened up the door and looked back at the main room of the house. Mom had clearly started cooking but what was it? It smelled so unfamiliar yet it had a potent... Welcomeness to it.
Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
"What's this?" I asked as I reached the end of the bedroom hallway.
"I was going to cook some mutton stew for dinner but Brewbrt has sort of..." Mom tried to explain as I finished coming out into the central room.
Then, as I briefly looked over at Einervaene, "Sorry, he just dove into his bag and pulled something out and now..."
He was rambling as he went about cooking.
"He better not ruin dinner." I complain as I cross my arms before I look back at my sister. And for the moment, I tried encouraging her to come on out. She was safe with me and my friend.
"Long time no see, Conquei!" Einervaene chirped as my sister hid. Some parts in my shadow, other bits just behind the furniture. Which, had noticeably improved since I was last here. The house had clearly been renovated since we were last here.
"Now... Hm... I think I can find some of that up in the mountains... That one should do." Brewbrt mumbled as he suddenly got up and went out into my garden.
"HEY! NO FLYING OFF NEAR MY FLOWERS!" I angrily snap, breaking him out of this careless trance he seemed to have put himself in.
"My apologies." he said to me before he scooted over the wall before he blasted off. And, regardless of if it was intentional or not, the blast of wind that came my way angered me.
"GODS DAMN YOU!" I scream up at him before I made a point of making sure my flowers were all safe. Though, I suppose, these were all Moms as I had not played a part in their growth at all.
"I know you probably had a plan for them, but, I tried my best to fix it up for you." Mom tells me as she comes out to help me with the precise cleaning.
"I would already be idiotic for expecting more than this... I honestly didn't even expect it at all. So, again, Mom, thank you."
"I h-helped as well..." Conquei called out from inside the house.
"Which ones did you do?" I asked her as my ears and tail perked up. To hear that made me happy. If only because it was an issue long before that I had to guard my flowers against her.
"I... Brought in the bees..." she tells me as she flinches away from the sight of the active house.
"Wow..." I let out with some awe knowing how skittish she had become since I saved her.
"She did, she had a little help but she and her friends went on a little adventure and helped some bees move in."
"The Tale of Conquei and the Empty Beehouse." I laughed out, much to her embarrassment.
"However, I hope you don't mind me helping out a little more with the garden from now on, Vadei. I've grown quite attached to all of this." Mom told me.
"That's fine, I need to make up for lost time anyway." I tell her with a smile before a distant bang grabbed our ear's attention. It came from the mountain and whatever it was, it was bringing a lot of mess this way.
"This is a first." Einervaene commented as she glanced at the disturbed snow as it fell down on us from the mountain.
"Yes, Brewbrt coming here is a first..." I grumble before I found myself flinching when a snowflake hit my nose. I haven't been beside snow often. The most I have ever seen it was when I was with Vapooliar travelling up to Suhurlodst...
And, when I thought about it, I was amazed by how long ago that was. It was three years or something. Maybe more, but it was about that long, I think. It feels weird acknowledging that I have been without the warmth of my home for nearly as long.
When I was younger, I could have never conceived it... I had been on quite the adventure since the fateful night those slavers came. And to even know that there was someone who has been doing this for centuries... And he was right up there.
Heading straight back to us...
"You better not..." I growl before he impacts in the woods beyond our garden wall. Yet, I was fine with that landing. So I smiled in relief and watched with curiosity as the human came stumbling out of the trees.
"What did you go to get, Brewbrt?" Einervaene questions as she steps back alongside the gate she had just opened.
"Roots, only ones that grow under the snow."
"There are edible roots up there...?" Mom let out in bewilderment as Brewbrt went about bashing the frozen soil all over the place.
"You don't want the roots, though, you want this!" he exclaims as he revealed a strange gemstone-like object.
"What is that?"
"Amber-rich ice." he answered before he carelessly flicked it into the pot. A loud crash then came as he dropped down onto his bottom.
"Can the roots be used?" Mom asked as she went about picking them all up before sniffing them. She then sneezed all of a sudden.
"Bless you."
"Thank you, Vadei, so, well?" she thanked first before she put them down on a tray near Brewbrt.
"I guess if you wanted. But they are a very tough thing. Not good for much other than long-cooked brew." he explained as Mom did a little bit of testing with one of her knives.
"I see what you mean..."
"Do you want to go for a walk or something?" I then decided to ask Einervaene as she came back to the house. Mom would probably be occupied perpetually by our newest chef at this rate. I didn't bother asking my sister, though. Because she had gone back into our room even having heard that.
"Sure, I would like to see how the stuff we built is doing." Einervaene answers.