" Squeak... Squeak... squ... Hey! You can't do that! That's cheating! You Little cheater!"
Amon complained when he saw Little One almost take another step but then pulled back his leg. Amon blew a raspberry into Little One's laughing cheeks. Philomel turned around just to see Amon quite a long distance behind her.
" Amon could you please stop doing that... You're slowing us down."
Philomel said with a sigh as she stopped and waited for Amon to catch up.
" See, see. You made Mel, angry. You better hurry your little feet up."
Amon said in a teasing tone and pointing finger as his arm from back hugging Little One switches back to holding both Little One's hands.
" Just carry him, he isn't wearing any shoes, he'll injure himself."
Philomel instructed with a slightly annoyed tone.
" But he's doing so well!! Ok ok! Just this last bit. If he managed to make it all the way to you. I'll carry him from there."
Amon bargained with a pleading expression.
" Sighs, fine! Just hurry this up, will you? We are losing daylight!"
Philomel said as she gestured at the evening sun that was just a few hours from setting.
" Aighong! Donhing. "
Little One babble as he turns to look at Philomel.
" Come on Little One, go to Mel. Look! She's just right there."
Amon said with a pointing finger, encouraging Little One. Little One holding both Amon's palms, slowly crab walked another step.
" Squeak. That's it! Good Little One! You're almost there!"
Amon squeaked as Little One took a step encouraging Little One to take another step if he wanted to hear his favorite sound.
" Come on Little One! Come on! Come here."
Philomel squats down with her arms wide open, calling out to Little One with gesturing hands.
" Ai?!"
Little One seeing this smiled, revealing his one tooth as he started taking more steps.
" Squeak, Squeak, Squeak."
Amon squeaked, closely following Little One from behind even though it was quite painful walking on his knees for so long but it was the only way to make up for his height difference from Little One. It also helped with safety reasons, since this position made it easier to catch Little One if he trip on something since his arms were just a short distance away from back hugging Little One.
" Ing! Ing! Ing! "
Little One wanted to squeak along but since he didn't really know how to pronounce the word, he ended up making a sound that was close to the beeping sound of a reversing car. But since he was saying it at the same time as Amon, Amon, and Philomel both didn't notice it.
" Halfway there! Come on, baby!! You can do it!"
Philomel encouraged as her gestures got wider and bigger. Little One suddenly let go of Amon's palm, running up to Philomel just to fall into her arms.
" YOU DID IT!! HOORAY!!"
Philomel cheered as she picked up Little One, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
" My! What a heavy boy you are!"
Philomel teasingly said as Little One babbled knowing that, that was how a conversation was supposed to be like.
" Great job! Little One!! You'll be walking in no time!!"
Amon praised as he pat Little One's head and Little One grabs Amon's hand wanting to play snake with it.
" He's learning how to walk. Doesn't that mean he would be talking soon?"
Philomel questioned as she continued down the dirt road toward the next village.
" Uhh... Isn't talking supposed to come before walking?"
Amon wondered out loud as he followed Philomel and allowed Little One to pull his fingers.
" Is he a mute?"
Philomel wondered out loud as she pokes Little One's cheeks.
" Mute people can babble?"
Amon titled his head.
" I think so. Making sounds like sneezing or coughing shouldn't be a problem just the talking and pronouncing part."
Philomel guessed with a titled head as she finally comes closer to the town. Cobblestone houses lay in rows, alongside shops and restaurants. A beautiful signboard saying "Welcome to Town Sharnwick" hung at the entrance. There were guards standing at the entrance but they were more swaying and wore weird masks that covers their whole head until the shoulder. The mask resembles a crow since its shape had a long beak and the eyes had bronze rims that held a glass. It was hard to see the guard's eyes but it was obvious they were seeing through the glass.
" Those people look creepy..."
Amon softly informed Philomel.
" Maybe they are from a different tribe and need to wear masks?"
Philomel guessed with a shrug as she walks up to the guards.
" Halt! Light elves! State your names and business."
One guard ordered with a gesture but he looked like he was going to fall over rather than stop them.
" I'm Philomel and this is Amon, we are just passing through and might stock up on supplies."
Philomel informed as she gestured to herself and Amon.
" Do you know any form of healing magic?"
The second guard asked as he used his spear as a walking stick and hobble closer to them.
" Unfortunately no, we weren't blessed with healing magic. Are you two in desperate need of healing? Is that why you were those masks?"
Amon questioned as he noticed more people wearing the same mask, rushing deeper into the town.
" We wear the mask to prevent the plague from spreading. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to breathe through. We are in desperate need of help. I suggest that you two avoid entering the town. Many are infected and we do not know the cure nor know what's causing it."
The first guard informs with a sigh.
" Who does the sickness affect and what are the symptoms?"
Philomel questioned feeling slightly curious.
" Leprosy, affects all races. Turns the skin dry and cracks start to form. Along with rashes and boils. Affects the body from head to toe. By the end of it all, the person looks more like the walking dead than alive."
The second guard informs with a shaking head.
" That sounds terrible. I hope you guys find a cure soon."
Amon wished as he pulls Philomel away from the town, fearing that Little One or her could catch it from being too close.
" Well... That's dangerous. I would suggest that we keep a distance and find a good place to set up camp."
Philomel frowned.
" Hey, what's wrong?"
Amon questioned when he noticed Philomel's long face.
" I was really looking forward to sleeping in a bed."
Philomel pouted, after a few weeks of under the stars without a blanket or something soft to lay on, really made her body sore. Little One didn't have any issues since he slept within Philomel's satchel like a sleeping bag and Amon since he spent 3 years sleeping at the entrance of Crimtroy, his body adapted to sleeping without any form of comfort.
" Well... we do still have Estrella's magical potion that cures any quick spreading sickness... "
Amon informed as he pulls out the vial from his pocket. He trails off as he started at the potion in hand.
" Hey! Wait a minute! Isn't this a little too convenient? Did she know about the sickness and knew that we would come through here?"
Amon wondered out loud as he looked at the town and the potion.
" It wouldn't be a surprise if she did. know. You did fib about following them for weeks."
Philomel shrugged.
" You heard that? How much did you hear?"
" Just the last part, where Lenny summarised everything you told him just to confirm the story."
" *Laughing* That really pissed him off. You should have seen his face! It was like he ate a lemon and was trying to hold a straight face."
Amon laughed as he headed toward the left side of the town.
" Where you going?"
" Looking for a house a distance away from the village to squat in."
Amon inform as he wandered around. Philomel ran up and caught up to him.
" If we don't find a place?"
" Then we'll have to risk heading into town but it's a little bit dangerous, walking there since it's a higher chance that we would be infected."
Amon said with a worrying sigh. The two, took a calm stroll following the tree lines as they watched the sunset on the horizon, a vivid shade of orange that blended with red ripples across the sky. A silent peaceful moment until Little One decided he didn't like the silence and decided to sing. Which made Amon and Philomel share a glance at Little One, then each other, and burst into laughter.
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