Plunging the rusted shovel into the ground as I dug the final hole for my parents resting place I found myself wondering on the reason to why my parents weren't buried a long time ago although such thoughts were quickly flushed away as I reminded my self of the current state of the city.
'everyone should be caring about the cities recovery and not buriels'
I comforted and tamed myself with such a thought however a small part of me was frustrated at the image of my own parents rotting in there for days.Taming myself with another excuse I laid my parents neatly into each hole and gave a short prayer before closing them up and plunging two crosses in the ground where I'd buried them,giving one last prayer as I left the area and threw the shovel onto my shoulder.
The emerald field was clear and somewhat peaceful with the only sound being the constant rushing of the cold breeze allowing my mind to slow down slightly and relax,enjoying the calm feeling my eyes soon drifted to a paper sticking out from the pockets of my coat,pulling out the paper my face quickly turned to that of a frown of annoyance as I stared at where my new name would be written while walking through the plain emerald field with my eyes glued to the paper as I contemplated whether to write anything or not.
'what'll my new name even be anyway, Ida, Anora,Emily?'
Dozens of names danced and presented themselves to me but none of them seemed to fit, if anything they felt unfamiliar and odd as I recited them as my own.
"geeze how's naming so hard, parents are something else!!"
I flung my head back in an exasperated and defeated manner while Belrog didn't make any cheeky expressions to my dilemma,instead he slowly followed behind me, his demeanor and overall attitude towards me had changed, becoming less stubborn and more complacent with any order I'd given him.
"you're not actually feeling pity for me are you?"
Belrog huffed and turned it's head away from me causing a small chuckle as I caught sight of my home,marking the end of the peaceful emerald field.
entering the blackened home once more with my sword laid on the ground and the corpse of the mana beast from last night still sprawled on the floor,images of my uncomfortable sleep last night came rolling towards me causing my legs to buckle and fall to their knees as the realization struck me.
"I'M HOMELESS!!"
My financial problems hadn't even been a worry on my way to Loridea as I was still under the impression that my story would've been believable,by the end of the 3rd calamity I would've been swimming in money however with my parents deaths distracting me it was only until now that I realized:I was starting from scratch!!
Filled with a new depressing topic I stood up and gave the deceased mana beast another hard kick to the belly.
Sighing as the sudden outburst of frustration faded from me, I fell to the ground with my back on the floor and a paper in my hand that marked a metaphorical end to my life along with the now crippling stress of finding a job when my only skill is swinging a sword and toddler level magic.
'maybe I should try re applying as a knight....'
the idea floated there before I grimly remembered the training I had to suffer on a daily basis that I quickly erased it from further debate.
'a new begining needs a job as well but not what I've already been doing'
Academics worked well for me back in school however my knowledge didn't span far as anything I'd confidently say would be worthy of a job.
"stress like this really needs fresh air...."
Sighing I lifted myself from the ground and out the door,a cold breeze grazing my skin and a blinding light that quickly faded to reveal the familiar area of Cranbornes str.People rushed and scurried past with a some holding bricks and others with baskets filled with food,earth magic blazed as walls and ceilings were being restored while others with no affinity for the magic worked together with bricks however help from the earthen magic users came from time to time.
A few children ran past me with smaller bricks in hand that were technically useless for the repairs that were going on but even so their attempt at helping were acknowledged with a lot of the adults taking the bricks and chipping away at the larger ones as they tried finding a way to fit them in.
While watching everything unfold I was reminded of the events during the 3rd calamity,how so many villages and smaller cities had been reduced to rubble, how the people there looked so hopeless with no will to even attempt at fixing themselves,yet here we stood Loridea working it's own ass off trying to fix itself unlike the rest.
'A city that never gave up'
smiling even more at the scenery my eyes darted to the glimpse of something tilting backwards followed by loud cracks then the sound of falling,a wooden pillar only moment's from smashing right onto someone.Reacting immediately to the impending disaster I sprinted and positioned myself in a hunched position that dropped considerably as the weight of the pillar smashed onto my back,surprised at the pillar only inches from his head the person who'd been in line of the dropping pillar called for help to assist at lifting it with me,grunting as I leaned back with help of the several others that had come to my aid the pillar slowly fell back in place before making a loud bang as it dropped to place.
I panted a bit from the excruciatingly exhausting experience however it seemed my slightly heroic effort had earned me more work as others from all around me started calling for my help.
'it's not like I'm really doing anything anyway besides this is my own street right?'
motivated by everyone else's hard work I helped out with repairs here and there as I tried distributing myself evenly,the feeling was calming and pleasant. In all honesty if there was a job for construction I might've been hired on the spot.
"that should do it for you"
I gave the now restored wooden entrance a light nudge, showcasing it's sturdiness as I gave the owner a warmful smile.
Giving one enthusiastic wave I was off through the streets with no set direction or goal,my quest for a job withered away after the exhausting morning work so I buried the thought to trouble me later and instead focused myself on just enjoying the street I hadn't seen for weeks.
The cave like feeling to it felt safe and comforting it also made noises just a bit more unbearable when you're trying to sleep but I liked it either way,the audible footsteps and voices of people as they hurried away or conversed with each other on the benches it was an odd thing that satisfied me.
My attention now at rock bottom I practically squealed in shock when I heard the loud shout of someone along with crashing and a thud,concerned I pointed my head to Thrands tavern however this time instead of a few holes in the building there was now one large opening resembling a mine entrance with splintered wood behind and rocks covering a man quite shorter than myself wearing a shabby shirt and overall that matches his appearance well.
Removing the rocks covering the man and dusting him off as I lifted him to his feet I was surprised to see a tattoo made with gold burned onto his skin in the shape of two intersecting sideways U's that faced the opposite direction from each other,holding my tongue I sat the man onto a dusty seat within the tavern to which he started coughing and thumping his chest before sighing in relief and slowly concentrating his sight on me.
The man's eyes glared at me pryingly before opening his mouth.
"thanks however your help wasn't needed, I had everything completely under contro-"
before the man could finish his sentence a part of the ceiling fell off and smashed between us causing a surprised expression on the man's face before an awkward cough.
"small mistakes,nothing that needs extra han-"
Another part fell as if an invisible entity was openly disagreeing with him,rolling my eyes a bit I kicked and cleared the crumbled rocks and broken pieces of wood while only keeping those that seemed somewhat still useful.The man tried intervening a few times however I kept adamant on helping and instead directed his attention to other parts that desired repairs.
Time flowed by in a haze as thanks to the man's poor works men skills repairing the tavern took twice as much as should've however even with the extended time it took to repair some of the parts in the tavern I still somewhat enjoyed the full experience of repairing Thrands tavern.
"To the left a bit,no never mind try the right.....THERE!!"
Finally letting go of the large wooden sign with Thrands tavern written in fancy cursive as the man was finally able to pick a spot on where to place the damned thing,I slid down the roof of the tavern while shooting Belrog a menacing stare as he'd been useless the entire day causing his head to lower slightly as my feet finally touched the ground.
Rolling my eyes I turned around to the tavern, the walls had been closed up and even renewed along with the Thatch like roof and the new large wooden sign that sat right at the top,Lights lit up in the inside of the Tavern followed by the lights outside as the building was now ready to open up again.
'well that's a job well done....'
Turning around to leave I felt a hand grab my shoulder as I was spun around into a handshake with the man clasping his hands around mine while spouting countless words of gratitude something I couldn't imagine him doing when I'd first met however he did seem to open up during the hours of repairs we went through
"thanks you really,I apologize for the stubbornness earlier dwarves and even half dwarves like myself usually can't stand needing help"
opening my eyes slightly to the revelation of his half dwarf lineage when his appearance really fit that of a pure blooded dwarf I quickly smacked the thought out of my head, trying desperately not to stereotype dwarves to just being short.
"I guess that's understandable"
Chuckling as I said this the man soon let out a hand to me, surprising me a bit more but I took the gesture anyway.
"Thranduil Belndier, I'm taking ownership after my brother"
Realizing that we hadn't exchanged names throughout our entire encounter I stood there flustered a bit as I ravaged my mind trying to find a befitting name,My head slowly splitting apart I started separating parts of my original name and putting them together trying to find a name that didn't sound like a completely different language till I eventually spluttered out words that came to mind.
"N-NIEL!!"
Thranduils eyes eyes widened slightly before a large smile appeared on his face and a laugh escaped from his mouth.
"Niel huh?,fits you quite well although I wasn't expecting such a flustered response"
Frowning at the chuckling half dwarf I gave the dwarf a hard jab to the chest causing him to hunch over and a pamphlet to drop out of his pockets, picking up the pamphlet as Thranduil stayed rubbing his chest while my eyes surfed the contents of the pamphlet till the words "Workers needed for Thrands tavern".
My face lit up at the sight of the sentence and I suddenly jerked my head towards him with excitement and relief brimming within me.
"where do I sign up?"