"You look pretty happy today." Serin noted as Ravynne entered the office; humming. Ravynne smiled wide and nodded. "I am! Verlian seems to have forgiven me for the whole ring and furniture debacle. We're actually beginning to get along quite well at home now!" Serin handed Ravynne a brush and bucket filled with hot water and inquired further, "At home? What do you mean?"
Ravynne got on her hands and knees and began to scrub the floor – a task she did every morning, "Almost all of our arguments occur at home, usually when the day is over." She paused for a moment and tied up her hair before placing her hands on her knees and staring up at Serin, "I'm not sure why, but it just ends up that way."
Serin leaned over and brushed an extra piece of hair out of Ravynne's face. She had a look on her face that looked slightly displeased but Ravynne was unable to figure out exactly what Serin was feeling. Suddenly Serin let out an awkward laugh and turned to begin dusting the top of the tables, "I've been meaning to tell you that I think you're doing really well here. You're actually helping me a lot. What would you think if I started to pay you for working here?"
A loud gasp filled the room and Ravynne jumped up excitedly to hug Serin, "Really?! Do you mean it? I would be extremely grateful!" Ravynne's smile went from ear to ear.
"Yes, it won't be much though, but at least it'll be something. Since you came here with nothing, maybe you should buy yourself something. Then you'll really start to feel at home. It must be such a hassle to only be using Verlian's things." Serin returned her hug and patted her back, letting her know to let go. Ravynne released Serin and quickly got back to work after giving her a playfully guilty look.
"It would be nice! That way I won't be so much of a burden to him." Ravynne began thinking of things she could get that would be her own, when suddenly a solemn look came over her face.
"What's wrong? Are you realizing how little your pay is going to be?"
"No, it's not that. I just remembered," Ravynne rubbed her neck, "My mom gave me her necklace before she died. So many people were taking anything of value they could get their hands on to take to the trade routes in exchange for food. I hid it under the floor so no one would steal it so I didn't get to take it with me. Otherwise, I never would've taken it off."
Ravynne's shoulders slumped and Serin gently patted her back. "I understand. I don't have parents either, remember? Dino's my equivalent to your necklace. I couldn't imagine how it would feel to lose him."
The two women took a few moments in sorrow to remember the things they had lost before starting their work again. It ended up being a pretty hectic day, quite a few people came in with injuries ranging from falls to hunting accidents and many came in with minor colds. The winter season was really beginning. So many people were so cold that they were losing feeling in their feet, causing them to lose balance, and others were so desperate to make sure they got enough food in their storage that they were making rookie mistakes. Serin even noted that this year was probably the worst she'd seen it.
After the work day concluded Ravynne set out toward the forest, absolutely exhausted, to begin her fighting lessons with Verlian. Naturally, Verlian had gotten there first, as he always had. He noticed that Ravynne seemed tired but decided not to say anything when she enthusiastically said, "Okay teacher, what are we going to learn today!"
Since they had begun with their training lessons, Ravynne had mostly learned basics such as form, posture and minor defense moves. Today, however, Verlian taught her some more complex defense moves as well as a few offensive ones. Despite her exhaustion, Ravynne put her all into her training.
Usually Verlian would explain how it was done, give her a demonstration, and then teach it to her. Ravynne hung on to his every word, and even practiced as he demonstrated for her. All of this work was really paying off. Verlian could tell that she was making major improvements and smiled to himself, thoroughly enjoying how seriously she was taking it.
Once their lessons concluded, Verlian and Ravynne parted ways. He would go gather more firewood for the village stock and Ravynne returned to the village. Verlian always gave her spending money, which she felt guilty for and thus only used it to buy supplies with the intention that she would give him the leftovers at the end of each week. Now that she would be making her own money, she would be able to pay him back and not need to take his money anymore.
For now though….the Bank of Verlian would have to still be in business. She decided to thank Verlian by cooking him a special meal – one that was popular in her village. Verlian would probably be out for a while to gather wood, since he usually liked to return with full bundles under his arms, so Ravynne knew she could take her time getting home and preparing.
It wasn't an easy dish to make. She knew what ingredients were required, but Etelia had never actually taught her how to cook it. "We'll just hope for the best!" she said to herself as she added the chopped up ingredients to a pot. Thankfully, Verlian had taught her how to light a fire and she was able to get the fireplace lit fairly quickly – given it did take quite a few failed attempts.
Ravynne imagined what the completed dish looked like, "It should be right if I just let the meat and vegetables cook in there and then make the sauce after right?"
She put the pot over the fire with a hook that was installed in the fireplace before going back to the cooking area to begin chopping up ingredients for the sauce. "Oh! Duh, Ravynne!" she said aloud while lightly hitting herself on the head, "You didn't get any water!" She looked over at the pot to check the contents, "I should hurry so these don't burn."
With that she hurried out the door to go gather water from the nearby well, slamming the door behind her. Like the medical office, it was also located in the middle of the village which was quite a bit away from Verlian's home. A few times she almost slipped and fell but she managed to gain her balance.
As she hurried home, she noticed a large amount of smoke coming from the chimney. "Oh no! I hope the food didn't burn!" Upon opening the door, she was met with the pot knocked over in the fireplace and the food sprawled out on the floor, on fire. The flames were quite large as one of the nearby stools had also fallen victim to the event. Ravynne gasped as she quickly tossed the water over the flames. She grabbed one of the pelts off the bed and stomped out the lesser flames that were left over when Verlian walked in.
He stared in shock for a moment, processing what he was witnessing, before stomping up and grabbing the pelt off the floor. Smoke rose from the blackened and singed item and Ravynne looked up at him with an extremely apologetic look. As soon as she was about to say something, Verlian stopped her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea how difficult it's going to be to get another one of these right now?" He shook the pelt in front of her before tossing it to the side. "It's completely ruined. This winter is already going to be difficult enough as it is and now we're down an extra layer of warmth."
Ravynne stood up and hung her head low, nodding in agreement with what he was saying. She knew the severity of her mistake and didn't both trying to argue. "You made several promises when you asked if you could stay Shadow. You promised you wouldn't waste resources," he gestured to the ruined pelt and charred ingredients that littered the ground, "and I told you I wasn't interested in wasting my time. Now I have to figure out what to do about this pelt and food. Maybe you are a curse, you've only brought trouble since you got here. I want you gone."
Tears welled up in Ravynne's eyes. "Wait, Verlian! Please! I don't know how it happened, I promise-" Verlian cut her off, "I'm tired of your promises. You make them and don't deliver. Get out. Now." He pointed out the door. Ravynne hadn't seen him so angry before and ran out of the house sobbing without turning back. Verlian slammed the door behind her.
What neither of them saw was a mysterious cloaked figure hiding around the corner of Verlian's house….