Cataleya beamed at the voice and ran towards a man who had spoken with so much authority. He picked her up effortlessly and held her close as she giggled
"Papa!"
"P-papa?!" Esmeralda looked on bewildered as Cataleya kept smiling at the domineering male.
That viking is the father of such a fragile little girl?!
They spoke in a strange language for a few minutes before he turned to face the young adventurers with a scowl. He took one step towards Esmeralda, the ground crystalizing beneath his feet, she stepped back out reflex and froze when Vincent stepped in front of her, sword drawn
He's protecting me?
"Okay sir, how about we sit and talk like civilised people?"
The hulking male didnt relent but kept getting closer and closer to Vincent. They were standing toe to toe now, engaged in a fierce staring contest.
.....
.....
...
"Pftttt... hahahahahahaha" Cataleya's father suddenly burst into laughter, slapping Vincent on the back. A grunt of pain was the only reaction as he stared at the laughing man, his shock mirroring Esmeralda's
"No need ta be so stiff boy, I've been expecting ya and ya girl"
ya girl?...huh?!
Esmeralda snapped back to reality when he referred to her as 'Vincent's girl'. She pushed past Vincent as she faced the viking
"I'm sorry but you're mistaken. I'm not his anything "
"Sure sure I hear ya. Youngsters these days, ya can't ever understand em" he laughed once again
"The names Clyde. I'm the chief of Kalosyni village and the little one's Cataleya. she seems ta like ya both. Though I was a bit mad that ya raised ya blade on ma little girl but for that old grouch I can let it slide"
Esmeralda studied him for any signs of deception. By now she knew well enough that trust was not something you took lightly. After deeming him okay, she relaxed slightly, still on edge
"Alrighty then, lets head on over ta my place so we can talk. Cataleya, ya go play with ya friends and for Kalosyni sake go put on ya proper clothes"
so she was dressed like that on purpose...
After shooing her off, he led Esmeralda and Vincent to a house that was visibly different from the rest. It sported a huge statue of some sort of bird at the top, intricate carvings on wings formed the pillar.
They came to a stop at a door that didn't clearly wasn't made of wood.
"Are those crystals?" Vincent asked, voicing Esmeralda's thoughts
"Of course they are. How else r'you suppos'd to guard ya home" Clyde laughed and tapped the make shift door twice. The crystals burst into a million pieces as he ushered Vincent and Esmeralda inside, the door reforming as they went through.
"so ya must have tons of questions. lemme grab some snacks for us first" Clyde left to a different part of the house while Vincent and Esmeralda awaited for his return.
"huh? this might actually be a real bear skin rug" Vincent commented, flexing his toes against the said rug
"And if it is?" Esmeralda replied snarkily. She'd been able to put off the fact that she was stuck in an unknown place for long because her mind was preoccupied with finding the village, then surviving the forest and chasing Cataleya but now that she wasn't up and about all her thoughts seemed to revolve around the fact that she might never see Seth or her mother again.
She was getting pissed. And Vincent wasn't doing much in alleviating her anger
"Whoa, calm down lady. I'm not trying to pick a fight. I was just speaking my opinion" Vincent said as he put his hands up to show he meant peace
Esmeralda scoffed.
"Yeah, well you seem pretty adept at speaking your opinions" She knew she shouldn't do this but she needed to vent her anger somewhere. And fast.
"Excuse me?" Vincent looked bewildered by her sudden proclaim. He ran a hand through his hair, brown curls getting even more messy "something you wanna say to my face Reinhart?"
"No....actually yes, I do have something to say. You're an arrogant prick! You think you're someone important just cause you're captain of the football team well you're not."
Stop...
"You've been pissing me off since junior year! My life was just fine before you came crawling into it so if you could go back to ignoring me like you did before I'd be really grateful okay?!"
Stop talking...
"But nooooo, the mighty Vincent Lorenzo just has to get into the school outcast's business. Even now you've once again ruined everything by getting me stuck in this stupid game. I might never see Seth or my mom again and it's all your fault!"
Esmeralda tried to stop but once she started the words just kept flowing. Things she'd bottled up inside just rushed out. The tears followed soon after
"..."
Vincent was speechless. In the ten years he'd known her he had only ever seen her cry once. He watched her turn her back to him, shielding her face from view as she tried to dry her tears.
He wanted...no needed to say something. Anything would suffice but his voice just wasn't feeling cooperative and so he just sat there in silence, the weak side of Esmeralda etched in his mind..