Year 609
I planned to have a long talk with Arlo about him ratting me out to the village Chief.
Though I eventually decided against it as I rather not create conflict between himself and me and will just have him offer up forgiveness when I get back.
Or that was the plan until I headed down to the main gates just to find him waiting for me at the edge of the right gate.
He looks at me with depression and guilt in his eyes,
He cries out that he only was doing what he thought was best and didn't want me to get hurt!
He further cries out with tears down his face that he suggested that I be allowed to go, but at least the fact I left to be documented.
I put my arm on his shoulder again and tell him thanks, and that I reassure him that I am not mad.
It was probably smart of him to do what he did because I would have had to walk around on earth stilts longer, giving him a good laugh.
He says I have a gift to give you since you are leaving.
Hopefully, it will be useful if any dangerous situations arise, like wild wolves or anything that might occur.
I do hope that you return and tell me that it was useless, though.
That will just mean you ended up not needing to use it.
Taking the sword from his hands, I notice it is a short blade sheathed in a rough leather.
I take the sword from its hilt to find it has the engravings.
"Buckle but don't Break"
My heart sinks when I read these words as they are in plain English.
Arlo, where did you get this sword??
And do you know what it says??
My shocked expression and dread throws Arlo off, who just responds that he has no idea.
It was a family treasure passed down for many generations and has a gem in the center to concentrate the spirit energy of Earth.
So, I thought it would make a good travel weapon for you.
To my knowledge, no one knows what the icons on the sword mean, but it has always been well taken care of.
I guess that makes sense. You wouldn't know. It's okay, Arlo. It just threw me off with it being in another language.
(I decided to keep it simple, not to let any information slip. I don't want people thinking I'm crazy or anything.)
Thank you for the sword, I will ensure it remains safe, and I fully plan to return it in mint condition upon my return.
We give each other a hug, and I head off towards outside the gates, where a new group of people is waiting on a caravan ride driven by the (2) horse-like creatures covered in green fur.
The ride is a medium-sized wagon that can fit 14-16 people generally.
This one has about ten adults covered in ragged clothes that looked to have lost a lot in the recent accident and have decided to seek shelter elsewhere.
I really can't blame them; it's possible they no longer trust the village to keep them safe and hope to make a new life elsewhere.
I rustle into a spot towards the end of the wagon that is surrounded by iron bars that are rusted from years of unkept work.
I slump down, trying to keep my emotions in check; I haven't really thought about the pain of losing my mother or the chances of her not being alright after what happened.
But I composed myself and determined myself to get closure on her whereabouts.
As we departed from the village gates, I saw Arlo off in the distance, waving and saying he would await my return.
Giving him a slight smile, I put my head down to get some sleep and find the Naps had decided to sneak on and are asleep by my feet.
Signing in confusion, and I just decided not to complain. To much work as I slowly drift off to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of the horse's yelping in pain; opening my eyes, I find that about 3-4 hours have passed since we left just by gauging the position of the sun.
Everyone in the carriage looked panicked, and the wagon driver decided to stop to see what the fuss was.
When he got out, I decided to peek over the side of the rail, being the curious soul I am, and see that a man is lying on the road passed out.
My thoughts crack through what could be going on, and I instantly have flashbacks of my previous life with random thugs acting hurt to get the attention of someone before robbing them.
I yelled out to the driver and told him to stay away!
He turns back in confusion about to ask why and in that instance, the injured man in the middle of the dirt road just opens, revealing a bladed dagger and plunges it into the man's neck.
As this is happening, some of the passengers scream out in horror, and on each side of the carriage, 3-4 bandits start to run up with swords pulled and short scarves around their mouths, concealing their identities.
Thinking on the fly, I decided to grab my bag of goods and jump off the edge of the carriage to retreat to the village.
In my thoughts, even if I have to run for miles, it will be safer than confronting a handful of bandits.
That's when I'm cut off by (2) identical bandits who cut my path off.
They both give a sneering smile asking where I'm going. Is mommy not here to protect you?
They begin to jest further at me, gauging at my young age that they must assume I'm an easy target
I gather myself and decide on a sudden change of plans.
The best route is to defend myself and knock out as many of these bandits as possible.
Fine, if you want to do this the hard way, we can I yell back at them.