"Welcome to Riverdale!" I grinned. The sizeable village had a big river that ran through the center of it, providing its namesake. It was a common sight to see ducks and children playing in the cool water.
"It's really nice," Elfie commented, munching on an apple. She spat out a seed, accidentally hitting a duck with it. It merely quacked at her before ruffling its feathers, shaking off the offending apple seed. Elfie did a small gasp. "Even the ducks are civilized!" I laughed.
"Yes, the animals and people here are very nice," I smiled as we hitched our horses by the stables.
"OI! YOU ROTTEN NUTTINS! GET BACK HERE!" a man roared down the road.
"What's going on?" Elfie asked. "I thought everyone here was nice. And what's a nuttin?"
"It's mean slang used for poor children," I explained, looking on towards the commotion. We didn't have to wonder what was going on long before a group of three kids came darting from the crowd running from a large man with elephant ears.
"Run Josie! He's right behind us!" one of the kids yelled to a girl who looked younger than the other two. The kid who had yelled looked to be the oldest, a girl holding a melon under one arm and holding the younger girl's hand in her other hand. The older girl had fox ears and a fox tail, Josie having a mouse tail and a small pair of mouse ears adorning her head.
"Jackson fell!" Josie screeched as the boy in their trio tripped on his own tail.
"Keep running Josie. You know where to go," the older girl said, pushing Josie along and nearly making her drop an armful of fruit. Josie was off, the older girl picking up the boy and attempting to dart away, only to be stopped by the large man.
"Give back my fruit you little nuttins!" he barked.
"Not until you stop overcharging the poor people!" the girl replied, kicking dirt at the man. "We need to eat too!"
"You live right on the river! Eat some fish!" the man argued.
"My brother here doesn't eat meat, jerk!" the girl growled. The little boy had a monkey tail, and he was holding on to it in fear of the monolithic man before him.
"That's not my problem, is it?"
"It is now!" Elfie yelled, hurling a stick at the man. Everyone went silent for a minute before the man turned and stomped towards Elfie.
"What'd you say, dwarf?" he asked. I cringed. Considering her reaction when I called her a little girl, this would not end well. I could feel the anger radiating off Elfie as if I were next to the top of a volcano.
"You have giant ears, you should've heard me fine," she said. "Leave those kids alone. You can afford to lose a few fruit. Back off."
"Yeah? You steal some too? That why you're defending these nuttins? I see that big lump in your bag. Bet you stole a melon yourself!" the man yelled, wrenching the bag from Elfie.
"Hey! That's mine! Give it back!" Elfie said. "You can't touch that!" The man reached inside, but before he could withdraw the orb, Elfie drove the butt of her spear into his throat, catching the satchel as he dropped it. The crowd gasped.
"Someone call the guards!" the man yelped, coughing. Guards appeared in no time, and luckily the pair of kids had scrammed before they arrived.
"What's going on this time, Franklin?" one of them asked. "This is the ninth time today." I tensed up, noticing the guard had a dog tail.
"This kid attacked me! She has stolen fruit!"
"He tried to take my stuff! I stole absolutely nothing!"
"Calm yourselves!" the guard yelled, waving his fuzzy tail in annoyance. My ears twitched and my whiskers felt like I needed to run a hand over them to calm them, so I did so. The guard looked at me as soon as I moved my hand. "You there. What happened here?" I froze mid swipe.
"Um. Well, there were some kids who got some fruit, and the man was yelling at them so my companion defended them. Then he noticed our bag and the roundness of it and assumed we stole a melon and tried to take it," I explained. "So she hit him with her spear."
"Well, considering Franklin, this sounds very plausible. Mind if we check your bag?" the guard asked.
"You can't!" Elfie hissed.
"Lady, if you have nothing to hide then it shouldn't matter," another guard said. Elfie growled.
"Fine, but don't touch it, you'll break it," Elfie reluctantly said, removing the orb from the bag. "This is what he thought was a melon."
"What is it?" the head guard asked.
"I'd prefer not to say in front of a large crowd. It's dangerous enough since I showed it to you. In fact, I would like you to escort me to the leader of this place," Elfie said, stowing the orb away.
A few minutes later, we stood in a longhouse in front of the leader of this chunk of land, Lord Drevis. He answered directly to the king so I guess he was a safe bet to talk to about the Vessel of Sky.
"What's all this?" he asked, grooming his long beard. I was happy to see he was among a feline species, a lion.
"Lord Drevis, this girl demanded to see you," the dog guard stated.
"Alright. I'll let her then. What do you need?" he asked kindly.
"Sir, my name is Elfie Stuffins from the Temple of Elements. I am one of many sacred guardians charged with protecting an elemental Vessel. One of your citizens tried to take it from me so I had to attack him. If he comes in trying to blame me, just know that he could've caused great calamity," Elfie said.
"Proof?"
Elfie showed him the Vessel of Sky, explaining what it was and giving him the same spiel she had given me when I had asked what it was and why it was important.
"So needless to say, I would like safe passage to where I need to go, please," Elfie finished. She showed the lord on the map where we needed to go, and he nodded.
"Anything for a possible future Councilmember, Miss Stuffins. Is there anything your friend needed?" he asked, looking to me.
"Yes, actually," I said, snapping out of my thoughts. "Is it alright if you dispatch someone to join us on our journey? It's a long way to that cave and I know the roads are ridden with bandits and beasts. I'm not skilled in combat and Elfie, as skilled as she is, is only one person. If she is dispatched, then I will be as well." The lord pondered for a moment before shouting, "EMERSON! GET YOUR BLOODY ANTLERS DOWN HERE!" I stood there awkwardly, Elfie looking at me in confusion for answers, but I had none. Soon a young man with a magnificent pair of deer antlers came into the hall.
"Yes, Lord Drevis?"
"These ladies need an escort. Be wary; the pale one is not a little girl and is very strong. She is a guardian of the Vessel of Sky," Drevis explained. Emerson's eyes widened.
"A... a guardian?" he stuttered. He straightened up again, resuming his guardly stiffness. "I will see it through, Lord."
"Wonderful. Here's some gold to aid you on your journey. You'll need it!" Drevis laughed, handing us a bag.
"Thank you!" Elfie and I chimed, then we were on our way. As soon as we were out of the longhouse, Emerson started on a long interview of questions for us.
"What's it like being a cat? What does that orb do? Are you really a guardian? What do they do? How do you live and such?" he shot off. Elfie, enjoying the attention, gladly answered his questions, though I answered when they were directed to me.
We had a new companion and I liked him well enough. He added some sound to our otherwise silent walk on our horses. It was a welcome change and I figured this adventuring thing was pretty fun. I put down the hood of my short cloak. Off we went to more unknown places!
