*Bryna's POV*
Several adventurers were protesting and shouting, my success infuriating him. Silkrend tapped against the nape of my neck to let me know I had an ally. I reached up and selected a fetch request that was at my level in the guild. A big man snatched me up by my arm and stared me in the eyes.
"This isn't a playground kid. Go back to your wetnurse and don't come back." He growled at me.
"No." I said simply.
He shook me by my arm and said, "I'm not playing or asking. Do as I say."
"Hey, you shouldn't handle a kid like that." Someone said.
I'd had enough. I stabbed him in his wrist, he screamed and dropped me. I'd sank the blade through ligaments and nerves, probably disabling that hand without immediate treatement. I landed poorly, skinning my palms and knees and sprawling out. This didn't stop me, I grabbed the bow and my knife and ran for the door, dodging people as a booming voice demanded to know what the fuck was going on. I made it out the door without looking back. I saw a few adventurers, and a few guards as I sprinted back to Bibs's house where Kershka was sitting outside.
Panicked, I dove under the bench he was seated at shifting and cowering there. My arm where he'd grabbed me hurt like crazy. Kershka's body altered it's stance. I edged forward a little and sniffed at his leg, looking around. I laid my head down, watching for anyone to be coming. I glanced up and saw Kershka was being watchful, too.
After I realized no one was coming for me, I tucked back under the bench to shift back to human and climbed out. I turned and looked up at Kershka, "I'm back." I told him.
"What happened?" Kershka asked.
"I had to stab a guy." I said.
"Had to stab a guy?" Kershka asked, baffled.
"Yeah. He grabbed me up high." I explained. I picked up the bow I'd dropped and set it next to Kershka on the bench. "Then I fell down."
"Who grabbed you?" He asked.
"Dunno 'em." I said. "Just a big guy who didn't want a kid joining the guild."
"Well, hope you stabbed 'em good. Should not grab small people." Kershka said.
I started checking on my injuries. my knees and hands were scraped, my arm had faint bruising already, and my where I'd been punched was similar. But I was still fine. "I should return the bow."
"Kershka come with you." He said.
"Alright." I said, checking the bow for damage. It was fine despite being dropped twice. Silkrend jumped onto Kershka and started running around on him. I went to check the East Gate for Frank first, though I intended to march the bow back to the guard house.
When we got close to the gate, I saw it was someone else, so I headed to the guardhouse. Kershka opened the door for me, and I went inside. I noticed Kershka ducked himself in, staying with me. I went up to the desk, and unstrung the bow, with a bit of difficulty.
"Ah, welcome back. How did it go? Did you get in?" The guard from earlier said.
"Yeah. I managed to. In spite of protests." I said, placing the bow and neatly coiled string on the desk.
"Well, then, congratulations." He said.
"Thank you." I replied, smiling. I wasn't about to tell him about the drama that occured.
"Well, I'll go ahead and get this placed back with his stuff." The guard said.
I nodded, "Thank you." I turned and headed to leave. I checked my pockets for the quest paper. I didn't have it. When we were back outside I looked up at Kershka, "I must have dropped the quest paper. I have to head back to the Guildhall."
"Alright. Let's go get you a quest." Kershka said.
We headed to the guild and Kershka opened the door for me, letting us inside. I glanced around. People seemed a little subdued. The guy I stabbed was definitely not present. A few people were looking at me. I went towards the quest board, glancing around at the floor, trying to spot the paper I'd dropped.
"I've got it." Crowley said. "You're looking for the quest paper, right?"
"I am." I said. I walked over to the counter for it.
He offered it towards me and said, "Do be careful while doing these jobs."
"Humans have always been the most dangerous thing I've encountered." I retorted, looking at the paper. "Clearly, I can handle myself."
"Alright. I will say no more on the matter. Here you are." He said.
I took it from him. I didn't feel like being pleasant towards him. I glanced at the lady, then turned back to Kershka, "I got it now."
"Ok. Let's go." Kershka said.
We left the Guildhall and headed back to Bibs's house. Kershka let me inside the house. Bibs was working on some mechanical gizmo at his desk. I didn't get it at all, but I walked over and watched him curiously.
After a couple of minutes he looked towards me and said, "Oh. Did something happen? You seem out of sorts."
I took out my guild ID and offered it to him. "Some things happened. Stabbed a guy."
"You stabbed a guy? What did he do?" Bibs asked.
I explained what happened in the guildhall, with the excessive test and the belligerent reaction everyone had to me. And the hostile action the man had taken towards me. Then I told him bout how stiff and long the longbow had been. And how I overestimated my first attempt to string it.
"Certainly sounds like you had a... well, a bit of a day." Bibs said. "As your Daddy, do I need to go have some talks?"
"I think Kershka's made them think again about it. He took me to the guardhouse to return the bow, then the Guildhall acause I'd dropped the quest paper when I fell down." I told him. "I think they got yelled at, maybe? acause there was a real loud man that shouted at them when I ran outside."
"That probably would have been Greggor. They more than likely woke him up." Bibs said.
"I didn't expect any of that, Daddy." I said.
"I definitely wouldn't have expected such a grandiose reaction." Bibs said. "I may still talk to Greggor just to see what kind of preventative measures he may implement."
"If you want to, Daddy. I should probably try and find someone to work with, acause people don't bully groups so easily." I said.
"Indeed. Finding a good group is very important for an adventurer." Bibs said.
"Will be hard to do since I don't think people will want to work with me." I sighed.
"There's no way to tell, you'll just have to try." Bibs said.
I nodded obediently and said, "Yeah. You're right." I looked at the quest. The fetch quest asks for someone to travel to Hearthstone Town to get a special pack from June. "Hearthstone Town?"
"Yes, it's a town being made inside a cave nearby." Bibs said.
"Oh. I gotta go there and get something from June." I said.
"I don't know this June, but it's only a half hour from here, it shouldn't be anything too dangerous." He said.
"Oh. I'll go take care of it then." I said.
"It's an interesting place. I've stopped in a couple of times." Bibs commented. "You may take Kershka along if you wish."
"Oh, okies Daddy." I said, heading for the door. It opened before I got there, Kershka opened it. "Oh, thank you." He shut the door behind me. I told him I was gonna go ask Kaz about the pack he wants picked up. Then I headed towards the bakery.
In the square I spotted Thomas. This distracted me completely. In full view of all of the adults, I crouched and began stalking towards Thomas. Staying out of his line of vision expertly. With a devilish grin, as soon as I was close enough, I shouted, "Boo!" Goosing his ribs.
He jumped to the side, twisting, with a surprised shout of his own and flailing his hands. As soon as he saw me, he realized what'd happened, cleared his throat, and straightened saying, "Thomas wasn't scared."
I doubled over laughing and said, "Were so! I got you Thomas!"
"Nuh-uh, Thomas strong." Thomas said.
"Such a cutie, it's okies to get a little scared." I said.
His face turned red and he blew a raspberry at me. "Ah, Thomas has something." He said. He rummaged through his shirt and pulled out a yellow woven headband with a topaz stone. "Thomas has gift for you."
I looked at it utterly surprised, then I tossed my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "I love it Thomas, I'll treasure it always." I told him. It was thoughtful and very pretty.
"Well, you said you were going to be an adventurer so Thomas wanted to help. Put it on and touch the rock." He said.
I let him go and listened to him. It turn into a helmet with the same topaz at the bridge of the nose guard. It wasn't heavy at all.
"Apparently it's a set but Thomas didn't have enough on him to get it" He looked disappointed.
I pressed it again, and it returned to normal. I gave him a hug again and said, "Thank you very much, Thomas. This is more than enough for me. It's the bestest gift ever, and you're the bestest friend ever."
Thomas smiled and said, "Yup, Thomas is the best."
I smiled and giggled and said, "Does it make me look pwetty?"
"Pretty? Yes, but it's supposed to keep you safe." Thomas said.
"Heehee, I like it." I grinned, "It'll help a lot."
He looked proud of himself and said, "It'll fit no matter what."
I giggled and said, "Whachu doin?"
"Thomas has earned spending money. So Thomas was spending money." Thomas said.
"You're having a good day, then?" I asked.
"Yes. Thomas has been having a wonderful day." Thomas said.
"Do you want to go talk to Kaz with me?" I asked.
"He was one of my intended stops." Thomas said.
I took out my adventurer's ID and showed it to Thomas and said, "I made it into the guild."
"Aw, man. The helmet was supposed to help with that." Thomas said.
"It'll help lots." I said, then whispered to him, "I got enemies."
"Who? Thomas will beat." He said.
"I dunno. I stabbed him and haven't seen him since Greggor roared." I said, starting to walk towards the bakery.
"Greggor roars really loud. Especially if you wake him in the morning." He said.
"It was a coupla hours ago." I said. "Is he scary?"
"He can be. But only to people that typically deserve it." He replied.
"Oh." I said, opening the door to the bakery for us. "He sounded scary. But everyone was was anyways."
"Lots of adventurers can be mean." Thomas commented.
"Was someone mean to you?" I asked, frowning.
"Not lately. Hello Kaz." Thomas said.
"Well, hello kids. Thomas, did you get some more spending money?" Kaz asked.
"Indeed, Thomas has. Thomas has come for the cookies." Thomas said.
Kaz gave him the cookies he wanted and Kaz bagged them up for him. Then I showed him the quest and asked for details on the pack I was supposed to retrieve for him. Once I had the details I was all ready to go. But I played with Thomas for a bit. I fell down a couple of times both chasing and running from him. But it was a fun game.
Then I went on to the East Gate where I could head to Hearthstone Town. Frank was there, so I proudly told him I got my adventuring license and that I thought he was trying to bully me. He laughed, congratulated me, and told me his intent was that if I could sting and draw that bow, no one could deny me.
After our conversation I traveled along with directions from Frank. Left after second bridge. In between the two bridges I caught a whiff of something dead, but I didn't mind it much. Spotting the old worn path heading North off this road, I followed it. I saw the giant mansion that was being built on with time. It was only four stories when last I saw it, now there was a whole tower attached.
Fascinated, I wanted to go explore it, it's overgrown features that indicated it was abandoned were highly inviting to me. But, I was on a mission. So, I found my way back to the road and continued East. This bridge was clearly brand new, and reinforced. I decided to take my pack off. I then took off my precious headband and placed it on top my pack. Then I tucked my quest paper into a small pocket on my pack and got in the water to scrub myself as best I could. The soap I'd manage to make from memory was unscented. It'd get me clean.
Honestly, having these memories was conflicting. I knew so much, yet everything was new, too. Like Tilton smelled like woods and a sunny place to nap. Bibs smelled like paper, ink, and strangeness. Kershka smelled like outside and stone.
Tilton was my favorite back then, and Bibs wasn't as calm as he is these days. It wasn't a bad change, honestly. Really, wasn't that an odd thing to say? That a goblin is your moral compas to life? Well, he was and is.
After bathing as best I could, I climbed out and shook myself dry as best I could. Then I changed clothes and put my headband back on. Then I got the quest out and tucked it into a pocket, put on the pack and headed across the bridge.
The entrance to the new town was as obvious as I'd been told it was. It's big garland amused me quite a bit. Garlands used to be common to keep evil thoughts from entering your home. It had yellow flowers, which made me wonder if they replaced it daily. I opened the door and entered. It was difficult to do, I was almost too small to open it.
Minutely offended over the door I looked around. Some kids were sprinting from the left tunnel to the right tunnel laughing away. Curious, I almost started to follow them. But instead when another kid had ran up I stopped them, asking where I could find June. They pointed down the left tunnel and ran off.
So I went down the left tunnel. There was a room off the left of the tunnel that was turned into a break room for guards. I asked where I could find June again. Unbothered, they directed me left and down once more.
I followed along with what they said. The tunnel became stairs, which at the bottom opened into a large cavern... with sunlight pouring in. I heard the most beautiful music being played, too. Some kids pushed past me, throwing me off balance and I fell down the rest of the stairs, only to be caught at the bottom by a very tall and skinny teen boy.
"Woah, careful." He advised.
"Do you know June?" I asked.
Suspicion in his eyes, but a pleasant enough smile graced his face, "What do you need June for?"
"I gotta get a pack thing from him that has metal bars." I said. "It's a quest."
"A quest, ey?" He said amused, probably thinking it's a kids game. "I'll send June your way, ok? How bout you play in the meanwhile?"
"Okies." I said as he set me on my feet. "Stairs are not my friend."
He seemed to chuckle at that and he wondered towards the houses. I almost decided to follow him, but the music stopped. So I wondered in the direction the music had been played at. Then I paused at a delighted shriek, as a kid came flying out of a hole in the wall where water was pouring from and splashed into the pool at the bottom.
Then I heard music start up again and followed it. There'd been a crowd of adults and teens there, which is why I hadn't seen the performers. One was playing a lute and another was playing an oboe. They were next to the medical building. I wondered if people got hurt here a lot for them to have a whole building dedicated to it.
Or maybe they simply prepared for it. The two men playing looked very similar, both were blonde and blue eyed, except one was clearly an elf, which was the oboe player. There was a green elf lady listening to them while sitting next to the human male. While I listened another blonde elf came and joined them, she had a fairie dragon with her, setting up and beginning to play a viol, and a dark haired man with a white bat stayed near her. He didn't smell human, but looked it, his bat also didn't smell like a bat.
Then again, I'm the same way aren't I? I seemed to have caught the mans attention as much as the music and beauty of the group had caught mine. He circled around the back of the group and over to me, he knelt down to speak to me, while his bat crawled curiously to the front on his shirt.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm okies." I answered.
He smiled and touched my shoulder and the pendant around his neck, healing me. I looked at my tiny hands as they healed up. His smile turned into a look of concern while he was healing me. He looked towards the elves and man for a moment, before turning back to me.
"Who hurt you, little one?" He asked.
I tilted my head. "I'm fine. I'm not a victim. I joined the adventurers guild and a man bullied me, but I stabbed him, so it's fine." I gave a small smile to show no harm no fowl.
"Sounds to me like self defense. I'm glad you're okay, are you needing a place to stay?" He asked. "Adventurer work is dangerous, if your needing money for a place to stay then you can live here."
"I want to help people like Daddy and Tilton taught me." I told him. "You don't have to be grown up to help people."
He smiled and said, "No, you don't, anyone can help. Is there something you're needing help with here, or are you just enjoying the music?"
"I was looking for June and a tall boy said he'd get him but the music is so pretty, I haven't listened in a long time." I said, "I like it. Oh, here, I'll show you the quest paper.." I took it out of my pocket and placed it in his hand so he can see it. "See? Kaz at the bakery needs this pack-thing thats metal and so I had to come find June."
"Ah, alright then." He said, handing me back the paper, "Yes, they play a beautiful melody don't they? Alexander's family seem to be all skilled in the art of music."
"My Daddy is friends with an Alexander. They used to adventure together with Kershka and Greggor, he said." I told him, grinning. "I wonder if that Alexander knows Daddy, too."
"What's your daddy's name?" He asked curiously.
"Bibs. I told him I'd tell people he's my Daddy and he said he's happy with that and will claim me." I told him. "He said he'd get me a paci but I think that was a joke."
"Well, I do believe that's the same Alexander right there who used to adventure with your daddy." He replied.
Shock showed on my face and I looked towards the people again, I couldn't tell which one Alexander would be, but I was still amazed. Bibs hadn't told me Alexander was here. I guess I had figured he'd died like I did. "Wow! Daddy's friend is here!" I giggled and turned to the man, flopping against him and giving him a hug. "Thank you for healing me. My arm doesn't hurt anymore."
"That's not a problem, my name is Plight, what is yours?" He asked.
"I'm Bryna. I'm happy to meet you Pwight." I smiled at him while the song came to an end, "Can you tell me what that is?" I asked pointing to where another child was coming out the watery hole and falling to the pool below.
"Oh, yes. That's the water slide. Would you like to see it?" Plight asked.
I shook my head and said, "No, I don't like to drown. I don't know how to swim."
"Well, that's unfortunate. We can teach you here if you wish." Plight said.
"Mm. Would that be a good thing to learn to do? I wasn't very good at learning bout it before." I put my hand on my cheek while I was thinking it over. "I haven't tried it this time."
"That's an odd way to say that, but yes, it's good to learn. You never know when you might need to swim." He said.
"Hmm. Well, okies. I could learn. But I used to panic if the water went over my head. I pulled Tilton's hair real bad that time. He gave up after that." I told him.
"Then he gives up far too easily." He replied.
"He taught me to shoot a bow good as any elf." I said.
"Tilton has been busy." He said, slightly impressed.
"He won't even play with me. Hmph." I crossed my arms. "But if I do well, he'll have to have tea with me. That's the rules."
"And one must obey the rules." Plight agreed.
I laughed and said "Exactly."
The elf lady who'd joined the men walked over and curiously asked, "Everything ok, Plight?"
"Yes, I've just been talking to Bibs' daughter." Plight replied.
"Bibs..?" She hesitated looking at me, then turned and said "Adya, Bibs has a little girl, too."
"Oh?" The human man said, coming over, "Where is she? Are you her friend little one?"
"I'm Bibs' daughter. He said he'd claim me." I replied. It was reasonable, their reaction. It even amused me a little. "I'm Bryna, and Tilton calls me Ashtar."
"My apologies. I had made an assumption." The human said.
"It's fine. It's harder to offend me acause Tilton and I used to fight like cats and dogs, Bibs said." I grinned.
"Used to? Oh, so he grew up a little and doesn't fight you any more. I would expect him not to fight children." the Human man said. I was pretty sure he is Alexander now.
"Well, maybe he would argue with me if I went to his house. But I'm trying to do well first so he can have tea with me." I said. "Pwight said I can learn to swim here?"
"Yes, of course you can." Alexander said.
"If I learn, Tilton'll say 'Bout time you learn something, twerp.' But he'll secretly like that. He likes to hide such things." I said.
"Yes, but we never point that out to him." Alexander said.
I giggled and said, "I do. I like making Tilton uncomfy sometimes."
"I'm sure he just loves that. Do you have time to learn now, or do you want to come back and learn?" Alexander asked.
"Oh." I said, remembering about the quest again. I looked around, "I'm supposed to find June for a quest.. But that tall boy can't spot me here. Oopsie." I grinned with a guilty look.
"Would you like a boost up to spot him?" Plight asked.
I looked at him with wide excited eyes, "You will pick me up high?"
"As high as I can go." He replied.
I laughed and raised my hands towards him, the universal way kids demand to be lifted. "Yes, pwease." He smiled and lifted me up and onto his shoulders, I squealed in delight and looked around. His bat inspected my leg, poking me, it smelled similar to my parents. Several kids had looked in our direction to see what fun was being had. I spotted the tall boy, he had also looked our way, then turned and started walking towards us. "There he is." I said, pointing towards him.
"Ah, Mr. Dean." Plight said. "Well, let's go see if he found June."
"Okies." I said. "Oh, Alexander, I can come tomorrow and learn how to swim?"
"By all means, we'll be here." He said.
"Yay!" I said and placed my hands in Plight's hair. "Thank you." He started walking towards Dean who was watching us.
Once we reached him, Dean said, "Well, I see our new adventurer has found you."
"Indeed. It seems she was looking for you as well." Plight said.
"Are there other adventurers here?" I asked.
"Well yes, us." Plight said gesturing to himself and Sienna.
"Oooh. Can I join you, then?" I asked.
"Join us? What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, I should find people I can work with. I'm a rogue which means I'm excellent back up. Tilton and Daddy are too busy to join me, plus I bet they're tired." I explained.
"Unfortunately we aren't really going out and doing adventuring things at the moment." Plight said.
"Oh. Well, that's ok. If you need help, let me know. I'll be trying to stay around town for a while." I said, unbothered.
"Sure." He said.
"Now, I have no problem with roguery, but a lot of people do. So, best to not mention it to everyone you see." Dean suggested.
"I was telling him my skill set. You have to when you are asking to join a group. And asides, if someone takes offense, they better be able to kill me if they dare to touch me. I'll stab them." I replied, seriously.
"Well, that's certainly the rogue mentality. Anyway. I found June." Dean said, signaling someone.
"Ooh, yes?" I asked. A man was approaching now. He didn't look impressive. Thin and shy like.
"You were looking for me?" The man asked.
"Yes, June. I was looking for you to bring that pack back to Kaz. He's got an attachment to add to it." I said.
"That'll be to heavy for a tyke to carry." June said.
Alexander said, "Well, I can carry it. I need to go see Bibs anyway."
"Alright. I'll go get it. It's an odd thing to send a kid to do." June said.
"I have as much a right to be an adventurer as some people have to act ugly over it." I said.
"Suppose you're right." June said, then went towards the building that appeared to be a mess hall.
"You're a smart kid." Sienna said.
"I'm cute, too." I joked. "Awexander, Do you know how to play 'Ode of Oath's Lost'?"
"Now, that is a song a lot of people don't remember. Where did you hear it?" Alexander asked.
"I heard it at the mansion in the woods." I answered.
"The mansion in the woods?" He asked.
"Yeah, the mansion that way, this area used to just be a few small forests and farmland back when I heard it. And there were seasons." I said, resting my cheek on Plight's head. This caused the bat to climb up and onto my shoulder, like a jealous kid.
"It's been quite a long time since any season changes happened." Alexander said.
"Yeah. Tilton was a young man, then. He's hardly different, except he isn't a trouble maker now." I told him. "And Daddy slicks back his hair, he used to keep it wild."
"Those are quite some stories. I'm going to have to talk to Bibs bout all that. See if he'll tell me some old stories." Alexander said.