Previously in NWC-
Reno, at Luna's recommendation, used the various rocks around the grounds to make a fire pit. He helped Kent move the firewood in before meeting Deb, Kent's wife. After conversing with Deb, learning may more than he admittedly cared to, Reno receives the sharpened axe. Luna criticizes Reno's social skills once again. Reno gets a flint from the mayor and makes his way to the training grounds again. Reno, with no sort of prompt or context, announces that the future training grounds need to be named...
"This place. We need to name it."
"This place? You mean the training grounds?"
"Yes, right here. Where we are right now. We have to name it, it's very important." Reno seems dead serious about naming the training grounds, his eyes showing a look of pure determination as he speaks with enthusiasm.
"Okay, well… let's brain storm, I suppose!" The two sit in silence, occasionally making a noise of deep thought as they ponder. "I have an idea! What if we named it "Leisure Lookout'?!"
"Hmm… Not bad. I like the alliteration, but this place is definitely not going to be used for leisure purposes once we get it cleared out."
"Ahh, I suppose you are correct about that." They go back to thinking. It takes Luna a couple more minutes before she's able to come up with anything else. "What about this one? We could call it 'The Terrible Training Grounds'."
"Look. I appreciate the creativity, but do you really think I'm going to want to come to a place with 'terrible' in the name?"
"Well I've run out of ideas then! What about you? Do you have any ideas? You ARE the one who said we should name it after all."
"Just one. 'Future Training Grounds'."
"And what exactly lead to you coming up with that name?"
"I remember back in my old world, there was this highway that was always under construction. People would laugh because the sign said 'Future highway', but they never actually finished it because the governor at the time got caught doing MAD illegal stuff and the person who replaced him refused to waste more money on it. Turns out the whole project was just a money laundering thing. His cousin owned the construction companies, and he was paying them exorbitant amounts of money that would just go into his pocket."
"Why in the name of the universe would you want to name something after a terrible thing like that?"
'Think about it, the construction never finished. Life is just a string of events that lead to man growing, always improving."
"Is that the actual reason or did you just pull that excuse out at the last second?"
"A little bit of both."
Luna ponders before finally caving. "Fine. Future Training Grounds, it is."
Satisfied with their agreement, Reno begins cleaning. Too tired to move or cut any logs, he decides to make a pile of smaller branches and twigs that he can use in the fire at a later time. By the time he's finally done, the sun is starting to set. "I think we did a lot today, don't you?"
"I agree. I thought today would be unproductive when you were dragging your feet in the morning, but I'm quite pleased to be proven incorrect. Shall we go see what the mayor is cooking?"
"You read my mind!" Reno sets off for the town hall as Luna returns to Reno's shirt. 'Hey, old man!"
The mayor looks up happily from his table, the food already prepared. "I thought I could hear that stomach from a mile away!" The two happily eat, Reno sneaking a piece of food in his shirt for Luna when the mayor isn't looking. Reno uses the shower and switches in to a clean pair of clothes before thanking the mayor and setting off for the barn.
"Today didn't seem all that long." Reno speaks to Luna as he slides under the blankets.
"Agreed. I think it was quite productive despite seeming shorter. I hope you're able to carry the same level of enthusiasm into tomorrow."
"I'm never gonna' get a break with you around, am I?"
Luna sighs as she floats over and gets under the blankets with Reno. "You're the one taking on all these extra tasks and offering to help everyone."
"Hey! Don't call me out on my poor choices that I had every opportunity of NOT doing in the first place! That's mean!"
"However unwise you might be at times, you are a good person, Reno. It brings me great ease to know the person helping me has such a kind heart. When I see you do your best for others like this, I feel at ease. Almost as if there will be no issues getting my power shards back."
"Damn. No need to get all serious on me like that. At least give me a waring next time."
"We will have to work on your response to compliments at a later date. For now, you've more than earned a rest. Goodnight, Reno!" With that, Reno and Luna fall asleep.
Morning comes and the two rise once again. Reno groans as he sits up. "Ugh, still feel sore as hell." He slowly stands to his feet, stretching. He meets Luna on the first floor where they exchange good mornings. "So, what should we do today? I kind of want to test out the axe to see how sharp it is now, but there's not really all that many branches or trees left in the Future Training Grounds."
"Hmm, I'm sure if we give ourselves time, we can think of something." Luna takes her place in Reno's shirt, and they begin their daily routine, stopping at the town hall to have breakfast with the mayor.
"Mornin', old man!" Reno sees the mayor, prepared for his arrival again.
"Mornin, young Reno! How's your mornin' so far?"
"A little sore still, but okay other than that. Just don't really know what I wanna do today. I'm going to go mess around in a little area in the forest I've been cleaning up but other than that I'm not too certain what to do today."
The mayor thinks to himself before suddenly getting an idea. "You remember that building I was telling you about? The old carpenter's house?"
"Vaguely. I remember you saying it was absolutely terrible. What about it?"
"Well, young Lyn was complaining about it smelling like mold. If you were willing, you could take that on as your next carpentry job!"
Reno thinks to himself as he eats. After a bit of contemplating, he agrees. "I can do that. I'd need a ladder, but as long as I don't have to put it back together how I found it, I should be able to destroy it. Safely, of course."
"Perfect! I'll walk you to it after we get done eating and you can bring my ladder!" The mayor eats, seemingly excited about this building finally being demolished. After they finish eating, the mayor shows Reno the ladder. He grabs an assortment of tools and tosses them in a wheelbarrow, pushing it along. "I bet a lot of people will be grateful to see thing finally disappear."
"THAT bad, huh?" Reno begins to get slightly uncertain about this job.
"Well, it wasn't in very good shape when it was moved in to, and it's been 10 years since then. It wasn't taken care of at that point either. The poor thing should've been knocked down ages ago." They walk through the village, turning a corner. "Have you explored much of the place, yet?"
"Not really, just to Mr. Kent's shop and back."
"Well, on this street there's the church of Mixzys. The priest is out of town for his son's graduation, but he should be back before long. Him and his wife live there with their little girl. I'll let them introduce themselves when they get back." They walk past the church which has a large wooden statue that resembles the necklace the mayor gave to Reno. The front had an ornate metal fence that had bits of rust littering it, showing off it's age. Behind the fence were some bushes and flowers displaying a stone walkway that lead to large double doors. This building was significantly larger than the other buildings around town and seemed to have the most attention to detail. They walk past it, turning another corner. "On this road, the most important place is the clinic." The mayor points to a sizeable building that had a sign with a hand painted red cross on it. "If Dr. Salt can't fix you then you might as well start praying to Mixzys! He could be in the city, making some serious money, but he chooses to stay in our little town. He and his new nurse are more than this humble village deserves!" They turn one more corner and Reno stops in his tracks.
"Oh. My. God."
TO BE CONTINUED...