Hello again, good Reader, glad to have you back, or you remained. That's okay, resting is just as important, and what better way to do so than listening to good old me telling you a tale. Last time, there was a magnificent battle in one of the alleys in the city, and I'm afraid to say this, but that won't happen here. However, I did promise new characters, so how about we continue the story?
As Ava continues walking down the road, the area starts to drastically change. Walls start to show signs of wear, leaving holes and cracks on them, some even tried to cover them with wooden planks. The floor wasn't any better, with missing tiles here and there, trash discarded without a care. The worse could be the roofs with holes, one could imagine the problem the owner would face when rain started falling. The more she continues walking into this awful area, things just looked worse. As a matter of fact, she passes by a brothel, something a child would get curious about, but not ready to know the activities that happen in there. Ava wasn't so lucky, not because she did anything in there, but has seen what goes on in the building. Leaving that behind, she sees some vagrants sitting on the floor and begging for money, the typical stuff they do. A man dressed in rich clothing walks down a side road with a woman in each arm. Unfortunate indications of the area's condition, which is fortunate that is far away from the main road, the east wall to be precise. People here are hidden and forgotten, poor souls unable to get out of their situation for one reason or another. Some didn't get enough pay, others were scammed, and some have just given up. The reasons are many, possibilities are infinite, and none are relevant to Ava.
She understands that survival is one's own responsibility. Her shoulders are already heavy with unspoken responsibilities and hidden misdeeds. Would she help the unfortunate and vulnerable if the opportunity ever arises? Even she wouldn't know the answer to that. For now, she continues walking onward, and arrives shortly after to an unpaved open area. There was a dirt road leading straight to a single two-story house that was close to the city's wall. To say that the building was ugly would be an exaggeration, but it wasn't pretty either. It was a very simple dwelling with visible cracks in certain areas of its walls, a wooden porch, wooden planks covering other parts of its walls, a wooden door, windows with bars, and a chimney on a normal tiled roof. For anyone else, the place would be considered a dump, but to our hero, it is something special.
“I'm finally back. Home, sweet home,” says Ava to no one in particular, but it's a pleasant sight for her after a day like this. She walks up to the door, opens it, and yells with a smile, “guess who's back!”
Ava is greeted by the sight of three kids inside the house. Allow me to describe the interior before we move to the young ones. Inside the building, there's a long table with benches in the middle of the room, a table to the wall on the right, a fireplace with an iron cauldron to the far left corner, a forge to the far right corner, and stairs going up in the middle of the left wall. Now its time to introduce the new children in the story, starting with the youngest of the bunch. He's a five-year old boy with short, curly black hair, light brown complexion, and green eyes. He's wearing a forest green shirt, dark brown pants, and leather shoes. His name is Harold, and he was preparing the table by putting bowls on both sides. He stopped to look at Ava.
“Ava's back!” yells Harold with a smile on his face.
Moving to the next child living in the house is Harold's older sister, who's standing on a stool and using the cauldron. Her name is Wendy, a nine-year old girl with short, curly blond hair, light skin, and green eyes. She's wearing a long, white tunic under a green apron, and leather shoes. The little lady might be too young to be cooking, but she has great talent and a lot of experience for someone her age. She also happens to be the only one who can actually cook something decent.
“Welcome back,” says the girl with a warm smile on her face.
Introducing the last and oldest of the children, is the boy working at the forge. His name is David, a ten-year old boy with short, red hair, pale complexion, freckles on his face, and blue eyes. He is wearing a leather apron over a white shirt, dark brown pants, leather gloves, and leather shoes. At the moment, he was hammering an extremely hot sword, and it's one made with great technique. A blacksmith would be delighted to have the oldest boy as an apprentice, since it would be near impossible to find someone with that skill.
“What took you so long?” asks David in a nonchalant way.
“Give me a break, David. It was Thane, what else could it be?” answers Ava while giving the bag with the bread to Harold and closing the front door.
“I have to give it to him, he's really persistent. Still doesn't explain what happened, you usually run away from him very easily.” David continues to hammer the weapon without stopping.
“He had the twins block my escape with a cart, and he learned how to use mana.” Ava puts the sword and shield next to the table, then takes a seat. To give a quick explanation, Mana is the life force that humans and animals can use to empower themselves, or inanimate objects, and perform extraordinary feats of power. However, they must learn how to tap into it, either through training, meditation, or pure instinct.
“He did? I thought he was too dumb to figure it out,” says David as he submerges the weapon into a bucket of water.
“All that matter is that everyone is here, safe and sound,” says Wendy while stirring the vegetable soup in the cauldron. David starts to take off his gloves and walk towards the table, but he's stopped by the girl's stern voice. “Don't even think you're going to eat with those dirty hands of yours.”
“What are you talking about? I used gloves, I didn't get them dirty, see?” David shows his hands to emphasize his point.
“No excuses, go wash you hands.” Wendy turns around, and points at the stairs.
“Ha!” Ava laughs.
“That includes you,” says Wendy.
“Dammit.” Ava gets up from the table and starts walking towards the stairs. After two steps, she stops and looks at Wendy with a scowl. “Wait a minute, what about Harold?” She points at Harold, who's sitting at the table.
“He washed his hands before putting the table.” Wendy tastes the soup and, as expected, finds that it requires nothing else. “Now go wash your hands, food is almost ready.” Ava doesn't move, and stares at Wendy right in the eye. She stops working on the soup, turns towards the other girl, and stares back. Neither breaks their line of sight, nor do they falter, and their determination is a spectacle to behold, for a full ten seconds.
“You win this time.” Ava looks away and walks up the stairs.
“I always win.” Wendy turns back to the soup with her usual smile back on her face. David is walking behind Ava, with a hand on his mouth, and trying to hold a chuckle.
Let us skip the boring part, and lets jump at the moment where they're all eating at the table. They sit in pairs, the siblings took one side, while the two oldest kids took the other. The meal isn't anything exciting or exquisite, but where it lacked in presentation, it made up with nutrition. It was a simple bowl with vegetable soup, and a loaf of bread. If they needed seconds, they could get more from the cauldron. A quiet moment for the children as they nourish themselves, but silence is easily broken.
“Just what I expect from our Wendy, a meal worthy of a king,” says David with a smile.
“Thanks, but I think the king would be eating something more than just soup and bread,” answers Wendy. A humble little girl, one who still appreciates the compliment with a smile of her own and a blush on her cheeks.
“You managed to create this soup from mere scraps, that's something to be proud of,” responds Ava while eating.
“Well, I couldn't have gotten those ingredients if it weren't for our two breadwinners.” Wendy points at both David and Ava.
“Just you wait, once my apprenticeship is over, I'll be working on the armor and weapons of the royal army. Still, its kind of weird that they don't let me work on their forges” says David while rubbing his chin.
“…Well, they don't have an opening at the moment, and they want to make sure that you have the necessary skills for the job,” responds Ava.
“Is David going to leave?” asks Harold, worried that the boy that he sees as a brother would leave them.
“No, no, I would never leave you, guys. If they ever asked me if I wanted to go with them, I would demand that they take you guys with me,” answers David.
“Because we're family, right?” The three older kids look at each other with a smile, before they look back at the youngest.
“That's right, no matter what happens, we're a family,” proclaims Ava. Small talk continues through the meal, seeing no reason to deny or add into the obvious.
Let us end it here for today, as I think continuing from this point would ruin the moment between the children. However, I will tell you that the next time we meet, I'll move the story to another character that will have an impact in the life of Ava. Until then, good Reader, have a good day, or night, and I'll see you next time.
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