Embers danced around the smoke as they ascended into the night sky. The darkness was oppressive in the forest, the only spot of light coming from the little campfire next to a shallow river. Four impaled fish were slowly roasting, their scales turning crispy and giving off a delicious smell.
Touly was sitting on the ground, her face still covered in mud, a twig adorning her messy honey hair. She hugged her knees close to her chest, her gaze lost in the dancing flames. Min sat opposite to her, staring curiously at her partner. The knight wasn't very talkative before but now she was downright gloomy. Her attitude had not improved since their rescue, and she was bringing down the overall mood of the campfire.
It was gloomy enough that Min could not appreciate that she was finally on another real(ish) quest with an honest-to-goodness knight. Now, granted, Min didn't have a high opinion of her Order, what with them wrongfully arresting her for crimes she didn't commit. And, without her cool plate armor, the woman might as well be a random schmuck.
But still! Min had left prison! She was traveling in a fantasy world! She might find magic treasure and fantastic creatures along the way! There was no reason to feel so down. If only her companion could share her outlook.
"H-hey, cheer up, it's not so bad! We brightened the villagers' day. I bet they are probably still laughing about it."
Touly lifted her eyes to glare daggers at Min. "Yes, they will laugh about this for years, and I have to patrol this forest in the future! How can they respect my authority if they have my tits burned in their mind?"
"Maybe they respect you more now? I bet they will be more willing to talk to you now that you aren't just a scary suit of armor to them!"
"More like they will be more willing to talk behind my back. How can I call myself a knight if can't even get peasants to look at me in the eye?"
"H-hey, a couple of laughs isn't so bad. When you rise the ranks to Grandmaster or whatever, this little incident will make you look all the more human. Trust me. People will respect you more in the long run," Min said, hoping her words would be true for herself as well.
"After this mortifying pilgrimage I´ll be lucky if I can keep being a knight, let alone even reach the rank of captain…"
Yikes. The knight's ego was bruised as if it had been struck by a war mace. Min took some solace in knowing that at least she handled her mortifying escapades better. Better to try to distract her, and keep her mind occupied.
"Smell that? Dinner is almost ready. Here, I picked some berries and mushrooms. Help me pick the non-poisonous ones." Min walked next to Touly and dropped a couple of fruits she had gathered earlier.
Touly raised an eyebrow, staring at Min and then at her berries. "I have never heard of poisonous berries or mushrooms before."
"What? Really?"
"Yes, all the plants I know are safe to eat, mushrooms and fruits included. Even the bark in some trees is edible and supposedly quite nutritious. You can eat everything you see."
Min looked around, astonished. Half the trees had fruit, the bushes all brimming with berries. She could eat all of it? "I guess you have to work hard to starve here. That's amazing!"
"Well, yeah. This is the Blessed Land where the Gracious Sisters first created the world. Everything is bountiful."
"Right, the blessed land… from the kind sisters. I knew that."
"You don't know anything about the Sisters, don't you, heathen?"
Great, Min got downgraded from criminal to heathen. When was Touly going to use her name? "Whaaaaaat? Of course, I know about… Ok, no. I have no idea about the Goddesses and their blessed lands."
"About the Gracious Sisters, you mean. The Goddess is their mother, and she created the universe. Her daughters created this world," Touly replied, her voice carrying a bit more energy. Almost as if she was offended by Min's lack of knowledge. Oh well, whatever got her out of her self-pity party.
Wait a minute. Powerful goddesses that transcend space-time and can create worlds out of nothing… what if one of them was the one that brought Min to this world?
"Err, is one of these goddesses a tall woman with silver hair and no pupils in her eyes?"
"There is only one Goddess and Three Sisters. And no, I have never heard of any of them being described that way."
Well, crud, the pale woman wasn't one of the goddesses… maybe. She could have changed her appearance. If she created a world, what stopped her from making hair dye and contact lenses? Min needed more info.
"And, hmm, does anyone know what the goddess looks like? Has anyone ever seen her?"
"You keep using that word… goddess. Tell me, criminal. You do mean THE Goddess, right? Not one of the other local goddesses?"
"Yes?"
"Then no. And no one would know her appearance because she doesn't have a physical form. She died after giving birth to the universe, leaving the care of the physical realm to her firstborn daughters, the three Gracious Sisters. She is beyond our material realm and looks after our souls in the afterlife."
"Ah, but you said there were lowercase goddesses? I assume they aren't the Sisters, right? What's their deal?"
"Lowercase?" Touly asked, perplexed. She absent-mindedly poked the fire with a branch.
"Yes, as in, you write their name with a lowercase letter, as opposed to a capital letter for THE Goddess."
"Huh, didn't know you knew how to write. I've never been good with a quill myself. Can only write the basics, like status reports to the Marshall and my name."
Oh right, medieval literacy was not too good. Wait a second, did the knight acknowledge her abilities for once? Min was making progress in their relationship! "Oh really? What's your name by the way?"
"I'm Touly."
"And your last name?"
"Not a noble, so I don't have one."
"Well, my name is Min. Nice to formally make your-"
"Anyway, to answer your first question. Yes, the world is filled with spirits, some powerful enough to govern small aspects of reality. A few heathen countries worship them as gods. I assume that you come from one such land, right?"
"Y-yes, I guess I do…" Min rubbed the back of her head nervously. Uh-oh. Did she admit to being a heretic to a zealot? Was she in danger? "Does your Order like, try to convert these people by force?"
"Not really. Most spirits serve the Goddess, after all. We let them be so long as they don't cause any mischief or try to rebel against the Gracious Sisters."
Ok, so maybe there was a goddess or spirit powerful enough to bring Min to this world… but why? For what purpose? And did she bless her with magical powers? Min still hadn't manifested the special abilities she supposedly had. Of course, this all assumed that Touly was telling the truth. And that her Order and religion were right all along.
"But… how do you know the spirits are just spirits, and not actually capital G gods?"
Touly tossed her branch into the fire, the flames flaring up with a crackle. For a second, the whole glade shone crimson red. "Because we already killed a few of them."