Zayn is so bored.
Zayn's been lazily huddled in her and her friend's small hut, stuck in the four corners of the small unit since sunrise. While Amur and Chase has been out and about, working their jobs to bring money and groceries to the house, Zayn watches paint chip and dry--honestly not much fun for a ninteen-year-old girl. Sometimes she even compares chip pieces to see which ones are longer--she knows, fun.
Zayn knows it's hard--they've always been moving from place to place, moving around the country of Avia for a good few months now. Go figure--Zayn continues to drag her friends from town to town, city to city, all because she really doesn't want to deal with the consequences of going back home.
It's a small hut, barely the size of a two unit bunker or a cheap hotel room within Avia. It's secluded, except for maybe the lost traveler here or really risky fruit picker there, but the trio--Zayn, Chase, and Amur—have always found a hotspot in whatever place there settled in and coup there until--well--they can't--so either one of them gets fired, burns a shop down, or does something stupid enough to destroy a small town and maybe engulf said town in flames--whichever occurs first.
"I want a really cool job too," Zayn mutters, throwing a pebble across the table, being very mindfully not the break said table by leaning on it too hard, "And I want a really cool apron too, like the one Amur wears everyday."
"That's only because I help Granny Fae with the bakery," Amur said, her small hands opening and closing the small huts door with Chase--Amur's and Zayn's childhood friend--quickly sliding through the almost shut door in toll.
"Right," Zayn huffs, "least you get free bread." She pouts, throwing another pebble across the table.
Chase slowly lifts up his bag of groceries, eyes Amur, then back at the large brown bag as he slowly pulls out a loaf of bread.
"You too?" Amur whines, "why the hell did you bring bread? You work at a freaking guild!"
Chase huffs, pulling down his black mask, dropping the bag of bread on the ground, and pulling off his dark, black gloves, covered in dirt and dry flakes of blood.
"I thought we ran out," Chase shrugs, bringing one of the loafs to his mouth to tear and chew apart, "my bad."
"Bakery!" Amur sighs, waving frustratingly at her apron, her small brown pouch with her paint brush bouncing with her frantic movements, "is working at that darn guild everyday building mush in your brain?"
Chase glares at Amur, rolling his eyes at her tone. "Whatever, my bread is more fresh anyway."
Amur sighs, opening her mouth to scold Chase, but Zayn raises her hand, and although neither of her friends can see her face, she wears a sheep, crocked smile under mountains of heavy helmet armor.
"As much as I really appreciate you both going out to get us food," Zayn said, rubbing the back of her helmet, "I'd kind of want something else besides lettuce, bread, and fruit, like-."
"Meat," Chase said, rolling his eyes and petting his grumbling stomach; he shakes his head and squeezes his black eyes shut, shaking around his ash blonde hair, "meat. I'm a growing man. I sooooo need meat."
"You mean old man," Amur said, grumbling under her breath, dodging a swift kick to the ankles. With Chase, he always aims for the ankles. "I get it guys, really do--but meat is expensive, and we also have to budget-."
"I can like, go hunt for it?" Zayn said, pointing to herself, "like I can totally do that -."
"No." Amur said, vehemently shaking her head, her long dark brown hair moving with her swift movements, "absolutely not!"
"Amur, I've been stuck here all day, everyday." Zayn said, letting out a frustrated whine. "Please let me run a little wild. I'm so bored."
"Get it, totally do girl," Amur said, rolling her big, indigo eyes, "but it's pretty hard to avoid someone wearing a really big helmet. Not to mention--well--we just want to avoid attention because-."
"I'm a fugitive, totally get it," Zayn said, tapping the table, "but I swear I will only hunt what's around here, and if I wonder too far, I'll come back ASAP. Promise."
Chase looks to Amur, mouthing "no," shaking his head.
"Zayn," Amur starts, but Zayn stands up, bowing her head.
"Please," Zayn said, holding her hands together, plucking her fingers covered in elastic from her armor, "I only want to help you guys and pitch in. Promise? Promise I'll be back, twenty minutes tops!"
Amur opens her mouth to argue, but she freezes, scratching her small ear and slowly letting her shoulders sag.
"Twenty minutes," Amur said, "and so don't be late-!"
"Thank you so much, Iwon'tbelateokaybye!" Zayn said, happily running past both Amur and Chase and flying through the small hut's door, immediately causing the harsh pressure from her movements to break the door off its hinges.
"You're so going to regret that," Chase said, chewing on another piece of warm bread, "also, did you forget that Zayn is really bad with directions? Where is she even going? That's not even the right way..."
Amur looks over to Chase, horrified, her throat suddenly becoming dry.
"Z-Zayn-!" Amur calls out to the opened door, to no avail, "Zayn, c-c-come back here! Zayn!"
...
Zayn runs, feeling so freaking free.
It's been months since she's been tied down in the small hut. Zayn gets it--she shouldn't be wandering alone by herself. It's dangerous, a young women--as tall, stocky, and wide her hips are and plump her breast reside--it all calls for many onlookers, wondering who the hell is bold enough to wear a full head of armor in one of the safest towns in the kingdom, especially without being a ridiculous famous knight and hero. Zayn has a name, but she continues to be nameless no matter the place her and her friends wander too--that's the life of a running fugitive.
Zayn knows Amur and Chase do everything because they love her--she really does--but she feels more locked up in the hut then she ever did at home, and that oddly makes Zayn more depressed. So what if she's allegedly so ugly that she wears a helmet to hide her face? So what if she also wears said helmet to hide her identity? So what if she's just a little too strong and breaks stuff really easily and she makes a lot of messes--she's a young woman, she's supposed to.
And you know what? So what if Zayn is really bad directions--that's totally not a fair reason enough for Amur and Chase to keep her locked up in that darn hut--oh wait.
Zayn looks around her, completely alone within the middle of a grass field, the small hut she ran out of long gone, no site of human life near her, and not a single live animal in sight.
"Oh," Zayn said, her shoulders sagging, already knowing exactly what Amur is going to say once she heads back, "I'm screwed."