"Everyone."
"Are you okay?!" Mia asked.
She worriedly looked at him and was terrified when she saw the blood on his shirt.
"I'm sorry! I-I should've helped you!! I-I...!" Tears formed in her eyes as she apologized.
Jamie look at her and then at the others. They all had sorry and guilty expressions. Jamie smiled and wanted to tease them but knew now wasn't the right time.
"It's fine. I would've ran too if I were you." Jamie didn't blame them. Who would?
"Jamie, we." Belle didn't seem to believe him and was about to apologize once more.
"Seriously, it's fine. It was a monster after all, who wouldn't run away."
'You did.' Everyone thought.
"Let's play again tomorrow, I'm gonna take it easy for the rest of the day." Jamie stated before he walked with the men.
"He's probably mad that we left him."
"Didn't he say that it was okay?"
"Would you be okay knowing your friends left you to die?!"
"We didn't leave him. He stayed behind."
"Damn it, Joseph. You're so dumb!"
Belled shouted in exasperation before walking away.
"What? What did I do? She's weird." Joseph shook his head with a sigh.
Mia looked at him before ignoring him.
"I'm going home."
The remaining boys looked at the two leave. They looked at each other and shook their heads.
'Woman.'
***
Jamie reached their house with his father soon after. Opening the door, he saw his mother impatiently sitting. She was surprised to see Jamie before jumping and squeezing the air out of him with a bear hug.
His mother scolded him, telling him off for always worrying her and to run if he ever feels like he's in danger. Her attitude jumped between relief and anger while she never stopped holding him in her arms.
Jamie was happy to feel how much she cared for him and also scared if one of these days she's just gonna break his spine while she hugged him.
"Honey, I think you're smothering him." His father warned
"You, quiet! This is also your fault."
"Eh? How?"
"If you weren't playing around with your friends, and just did your jobs as men, Jamie wouldn't have had to go through such a thing!"
"Honey, I already told you. We had been hunting the wolf for months and it was only because it underestimated Jamie that he was even able to kill it."
"Excuses...Wait, did you just say that Jamie was the one who killed it?"
"Ye-..." Reg was about to agree but froze when he realized.
"No, it wa-"
"Reginald!!"
Jamie was then a witness to a reenactment of David Vs. Goliath. With Goliath crying and begging David to let go of his ear.
***
Inside a tavern, known in its town for serving thugs and adventurers. Three men were currently whispering to each other.
"Boss you really think that tiny village will have any decent girls?"
"Of course, who do you think I am? The people don't call me the Perfect Trader for no fucking reason."
"Yes boss I know. But, last time we went to a village, all the women were old and ugly."
*Slam!*
The man in the middle slammed his mug. "That wasn't my fault. It was this idiot's. Besides, I already checked, the women there are mid grade and even saw some top grade ones!" The man licked his lips before showing a goofy grin.
"Really?! Boss, will we.." The man stopped mid sentence but the one in the middle understood.
"Hahaha, of course! We have to ensure our products are top of the line!!"
After the man spoke, seven men walked in. The one in the lead, seemingly the leader sat opposite of the man in the middle. The other men sat next to him or took someone else's seats.
"Pablo! So glad to see you doing well!" The man said.
"Geezer, you have the supplies ready?"
"Moh! Always so rude. I should've taught you manners when you were younger." He feigned heartache.
Pablo only stared at him.
"Huff, why so serious?" The man deepened his voice at the end.
"Hehe, yes. I already have everything we need, even bought some aphrodisiac so your boys can enjoy themselves a little more."
The men grinned after hearing him.
"Appreciated. When do we move?"
"Whenever you're ready." The man shrugged.
Pablo nodded. "We move in three days."
"Okies"
***
Jamie woke up and saw his parents entangled with each other right next to him. If he were a child he wouldn't have known why they were like that but unfortunately he wasn't. Mentally that is.
Shaking his head he got up and went out. The sun had just begun to rise. He admired the sight for a bit before he went to the well in the middle of the village.
The villagers seemed to have also just started their day as many were leaving their homes and walked to do their respective jobs.
Reaching the well, he saw a few children with their parents scooping up some water. He saw the big breasted woman along with 4 children and was also carrying one in her arms, they seemed to be filling up their jars with fresh water.
The oldest who is Joseph was helping his siblings with pouring water. Joseph was occupied so he didn't notice Jamie. He stood behind them and waited for them to finish.
"Oh. Joseph, your friend is here." The big titties, I mean, big breasted woman, noticed Jamie and informed Joseph. She smiled at him before telling Joseph to go say hi.
Joseph was surprised but quickly walked up to him.
"Hey, bro."
"Yo."
"Listen, I'm sorry for, uh, like running and leaving you behind. It, it wasn't cool of me to do that." Joseph lowered his head and scratched his neck.
He seemed to genuinely feel bad. Jamie was amused by his apology but was otherwise fine with it. He didn't care that they left him. It's normal to prioritize yourself over others when it comes to critical things after all.
"It's fine dude. Already forgot about it."
"Eh, are you sure? It was pretty recent and traumatic."
"Dude, I just said that so you would forget it."
"Oh-oh." Joseph nodded clumsily.
"Jamie!"
Jamie heard a high pitched voice from behind. He turned and saw that it was the petite younger boy from yesterday. He didn't talk much last time so he was pretty much ignored the entire day.
He approached them, Jamie also saw that Zach was with him.
"I'm sorry Jamie!!" The boy bent over. He did so after standing in front of Jamie.
"Me too. Sorry, bro." Zach also apologized when he stood in front of him. He turned his head when he apologized, though Jamie could tell it was out of shame instead of disrespect.
"Don't worry, it's in the past now." Jamie smiled. His impression of Zach improved, even finding the kids' attitude adorable.
Jamie spoke to them while they waited for Joseph's mom to fill up her jars. The two visibly relaxed when they saw that Jamie didn't seem to hold a grudge.
After Joseph's mom left they drank directly from the bucket before hanging out for a little while longer.
Belle and Mia came a while after. They both apologized profusely when they saw Jamie. They continued to apologize even after he told them that it was fine.
He had to pinch both of their cheeks so that they would stop. Mia blushed while Belle whined in agony.
They chose to hang out inside the village today. They were afraid to go inside the forest and decided not to go for a while.
They played and talked for the entire day. Time moved slowly, but for them it moved quickly and soon the day was reaching it's end.
They stopped playing a little bit ago and instead spoke of miscellaneous things as it became dark. The villagers lit the small lamps that were spread out in the village, lighting the place in a beautiful orange glow.
"Hey kids." One of the adults walked up to them.
"The grown ups have decided to throw a banquet to celebrate Jamie as well as his heroic feat of killing the Blue Clawed Wolf." The man said
The kids were surprised as they spoke to the man for a bit before he left. They congratulated Jamie as they continued to chat. Jamie wasn't used to being the center of attention but he enjoyed it as much as he could.
They hung out for a bit before they went back to their homes.