"Hey, can we take a break here?" Ruby asked. She was slouching over like some annoying kid while Soul and I walked ahead of Ipa, Ken, and Ruby.
"She's right, I'm getting tired as well. Let's stop over by that place over there." Soul said, pointing over to a run-down house. I usually would say no, but I shamefully was getting tired as well.
"Alright, let's do it. Is this area dangerous? Should we keep watch?" I asked Soul, but she shook her head.
"It should be fine. If not, then we die in our sleep. Anyway, let's go sleep for the night." She explained. I wish there was some other way to travel quickly around... didn't they have horse and carriage in this world? Why do we always have to walk everywhere?
"Hey, can anybody make fire with their hands? I'm getting cold." Ruby complained again. Geez, did she ever shut up?
"Oh! Hey! Are you an enemy? What are you?" Soul asked, pulling out one of her weapons and aiming at something around the corner. Ipa pulled out his dagger and Ken blankly stared at the wall while Ruby hid behind me.
"Uh, I'm lost. Can you help me find my mom?" A girl asked. Soul tilted her head in confusion. I didn't understand until she turned the corner.
This girl was like my age... why in the world did she need help to find her mom?
"Sorry, I know that's probably ridiculous, but she's the one that needs me, not the opposite. She's elderly, and I'm worried about her. We said we'd meet up here, but she hasn't shown any signs of being around here." The girl explained.
"What's in it for us?" I asked the girl. Soul looked at me with a mean face, but I was dead serious.
"Right, uh, you guys want money or something?" The girl asked us. At first, I would've agreed with her... but I'm sure there was something else we needed from her, right? I wonder what Soul would come up with.
"It's fine. If your mom is elderly, there's no helping it, so we'll do it for free. Where should we start?" Soul asked, sitting down near the front of the house.
"Well, we were just at the river gathering some fish for my village across the way. I twisted my ankle and she told me to wait here. Do you guys have a crutch or anything I could use? Sorry, I know I'm asking a lot." The girl said. I folded into the pressure and handed her [Yggdrasil's Bone] out of my inventory.
"Oh! A Vessel Hero! How cool... thank you, I'll take good care of it." She said, leaning up against my staff and standing back up. She didn't seem to be lying, but not all people on this world were as good as lying as those on Earth.
The girl limped out of the house and once she got down the last step, she seemed to suck in air while wincing from the pain. I crouched down in front of her with my eyes shut.
"Come on, you can ride on my back," I told her. The girl hesitated for a moment but soon climbed up on my back. I took my staff back and started to walk toward the river.
"So, how were you guys catching the fish? Net? Spear? Fishing rods?" I asked her. It was pretty awkward just carrying a girl around on my back, but whenever I started up a conversation, she sat in silence and leaned her chin up against my shoulder.
I walked down the patchy grass that led into a cluster of trees, eventually reaching the river where I could see the silhouettes of various fish swimming around. There was a small bridge across it made of wood and busted logs, as well as a few houses in the distance of an even bigger cluster of trees nearby. This was a simple little area, a lot more of what I expected of this world when I was initially summoned in.
"Anima! She's asleep!" Soul shouted out. I turned my head to see the girl almost drooling on my shoulder.
"Help me get her off! Why is she asleep? Hey, Miss, let's wait until you're home to sleep." I shook her around, but she wouldn't listen. "Come on... let's get her back to her village." I told everybody.
We all crossed the wooden bridge and ended up in the center of the circle that connected all of the straw huts nearby. Several people watched us from the holes in the walls from the straw, but only one old man came out to greet us. He was a classic old man, holding his hands behind his back with a slouch that nobody could beat. He looked up to me with a smile.
"So, what are you doing here young man? How can I help you?" The old man asked me.
"I'm here to return this girl, we found her in a nearby abandoned home. Have any idea where her parents are? Or where I could return her to?" I asked him. The old man disconnected his hands from behind his back and pointed towards the straw hut furthest from us with a red roof.
"Her mom, Jane, went out to help us find some food. She'll be back in a bit if you want to put her to bed in there." The old man stated.
"Well, um, this girl right here was looking for her Mom, Jane, back by the river. We came here to see if you would have any clue where Jane might be... got anything?" I asked him again. He shook his head, looking down the river in the opposite direction we approached the girl from.
"Huh... maybe she got lost. Jane is blind, so there's a good chance she just lost her sense of direction. I don't mean to trouble you, but could you help us find her?" The old man asked me.
I agreed to his terms... but then realized that I was being trapped in more side-quest-like potholes along my journey. I didn't want to find some blind mom!
"We'll get looking if you can feed us dinner. We're pretty hungry." Soul added on. Finally, somebody else began to talk... and I thought she didn't want anything from these people! Such inconsistent personalities...
"Of course! I'll bring my A-Game. Let's get cooking people! We have some guests and we want Jane to stay here!" The old man rolled up his sleeves and cracked his back. Just like a cartoon, his posture instantly corrected itself and heavily-toned abs poked through his shirt as his eyes opened up wide with a newfound passion. Hey... what the hell was this grandpa on?
"Let's make them a feast they won't forget!" He declared.