by Pirateaba
“Sorry! Explain in a bit.”
But it turned out that little bit was a while, and when Erin came back, she had to hurry and get the rest of the food she’d been cooking ready for the hungry partyers.
“So Erin, we should talk—”
“Totally! Totally! Hand me that bowl of butter, will you?”
Ryoka did. Erin grabbed it and put a generous dollop into her pasta, making it sinfully buttery. Ryoka had to raise her voice to make herself heard above the general din.
She’d followed Erin into the kitchen, but Ryoka had to keep stepping aside to let Lyonette and Erin rush about with dishes. Ryoka fed bits of marinated beef to Mrsha as she tried to keep up a conversation with Erin.
“So what’s been happening?”
“Oh…you know, stuff. Nothing much.”
That was a total non-answer and a lie, but really, what was Erin supposed to say? The [Innkeeper] was in her element, which was to say, doing everything at once for everyone. Ryoka saw Erin find a bowl for her beef, which was excellent, it had to be said, bring a pot of pasta out for people as Lyonette cleared a table, rush back into the kitchen to find plates, forks, knives, spoons…she was so busy and yet she turned Ryoka down when the girl offered to help.
“You have fun! You just got back, so…relax!”
Ryoka tried to, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Because she’d intended to talk with Erin, and she didn’t seem to have the opportunity to. She kept telling herself she’d do it later, when everything was quieter.
In her defense, it had been a long time since Ryoka had last been to the Wandering Inn.
—-
How does news of a party spread? It could only be magical, or so Erin felt. It was some divine providence, some kind of fate that snagged people up and told the little part of their brains that lived for trying to limbo underneath a sword while drinking shots of Thunderhammer—it was close enough to what Erin had explained, so she let it go—that there was fun to be had.
Maybe that was how a group of Humans from Celum ended up mixing with the Gnolls and Drakes from Liscor. Then again, most were adventurers, and perhaps it was one of the Gold-rank adventurers who’d spread the word. They’d come to celebrate the Horns of Hammerad ostensibly; really, adventurers would use any excuse to eat and get drunk.
But they weren’t the only ones. In the middle of the party, as Erin was debating having a seat and seeing Ryoka had time to have a shouted conversation…maybe outside, she heard someone shout.
“Ryoka!”
Suddenly, the door to Celum was open and Garia and Fals came through. They made a beeline for Ryoka, who looked startled and pleased to see them. Erin smiled, but the smile slipped a bit and she had to hang onto it.
She was so busy. Erin hadn’t been planning a party tonight and she had to scramble to use all the food in her stores. But it was a party for Ryoka and the Horns of Hammerad, so she worked hard and tried to make everyone happy, mainly by stuffing their faces and serving them drinks until they threw up, which was another problem. Erin kept busy into the night, serving tables, cooking more food. She was making money, and that was good too, right?
She was tired, dragging again, when it was over, sometime past midnight. Erin stared around the room, ready to crash despite the dirty tables, when she realized Ryoka didn’t have anywhere to sleep.
“What if she sleeps upstairs with Mrsha and me? There’s plenty of room.”
Lyonette suggested to the two as Erin wrung her hands and Ryoka offered to sleep in the basement. Erin nodded, relieved. Ryoka paused, looking and feeling guilty.
“Ah, well, it’s too late to chat. We have to catch up sometimes, right?”
Erin smiled, tired, sleepy, a tiny bit upset. She glanced around the dirty inn, filled with things to do and lied to Ryoka.
“Oh, it’s no problem. We’ll talk tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah.”
Ryoka hesitated and then turned away, practically dead on her feet. Erin stared at a table, and knew if she didn’t clean up now, she’d have to do it while making breakfast. She lurched over to a table, wandering to sleep. Ryoka watched her friend, full of unsaid words and things she wanted to say or ask, but was too afraid to.
Two young women, two friends, stood in the dark inn by the flickering fire, feeling more like strangers because they hadn’t talked yet. Because they had their own lives, which was natural. But they still felt the distance.
And then as Ryoka got ready to sleep in a room where a small Gnoll cub was lying on the floor in the moonlight, her sides rising and falling, Lyonette drew Ryoka aside. She told her about Christmas. And Ryoka remembered the sight of Erin bending over a table, collecting dishes in the darkness, and knew what she had to do.
4.11
Ryoka woke up when she stopped breathing. It wasn’t that she’d stopped trying of course; it was just that trying to inhale through a layer of fur was a nearly impossible feat.
“Grfph!”
Mrsha had been happily sleeping in her new spot on Ryoka’s head. She went flying as Ryoka sat up, but landed in her actual bed. She woke up, looked around, and glared at Ryoka reproachfully.
Ryoka glared back. She coughed, spat out a bit of white fur, and looked around.
“That was not fun. Mrsha, you’re not a cat. Don’t act like one.”
The Gnoll sat up and yawned. She scratched at her head with a paw, and then padded over to Ryoka. She began to rub her head against Ryoka’s face.
That was like a cat. But a cat didn’t hug you. Ryoka felt her irritation slipping away. She hesitated, then hugged Mrsha back.
“Okay. Okay, I guess I can forgive you. Why don’t we have breakfast now that I’m up?”
The Gnoll nodded eagerly. She scampered towards the stairs and Ryoka wondered what she was going to do with Mrsha. What could she do? The Gnoll was homeless. This was a good home for her, but—
She wasn’t a cat. She was a person, a child. Yet she couldn’t speak. And Ryoka had no idea how old Mrsha really was. Urksh had talked to her like she was a kid, but she could be anywhere from just a baby to a pre-teen by that standard.
Ryoka dressed herself and blinked at the dark sky. She walked downstairs, hearing Mrsha running about. Her mind was filled with somber thoughts.
If she was in her tribe, Mrsha might have grown up fine. She could be a [Hunter], a [Cook]—her disability wouldn’t hinder anything else. But if she grew up here, what would she do when she was older? Get a job at Erin’s inn?
Would they be around that long? Would Erin and Ryoka grow up here? Really? And if they didn’t, what would happen to Mrsha, to Lyonette, when they left?
These were dark thoughts for a morning. Ryoka decided she wanted to face them on a full stomach. Hopefully Erin was awake. Maybe Ryoka could sneak by her and steal some food? The Asian girl blinked as she entered the common room of the inn.
“Huh.”
“Morning Ryoka! Want some honey bread and sausage?”
Erin grinned as she turned with frying pan and spatula in hand. She finished ladling hot, sizzling sausage onto Zel Shivertail’s plate as Mrsha sat herself down next to him. The Gnoll cub waved to Ryoka and bounced up and down in her seat.
“Erin. You’re already up?”
“Yup! I’ve been awake for like an hour. Or two? Lyonette’s got your bread. Hey Mrsha, leave some honey for Ryoka, okay?”
The Gnoll nodded eagerly as Lyonette emerged from the kitchen with some bread, steaming, freshly cut. Ryoka’s stomach began to rumble the instant she smelled it.
“Good morning, Ryoka.”
Zel greeted Ryoka as if there was nothing odd about sitting with Mrsha. He smiled as Mrsha reached for a mug in Lyonette’s hand. The [Princess] frowned at Mrsha.
“Don’t grab or I’ll drop everything, Mrsha.”
Obediently, Mrsha sat and waited for Lyonette to put the mug on the table. Lyon turned and smiled at Ryoka.
“Hi Ryoka. Is bread and sausage good?”
; “Uh…sure.”
Still blinking sleep from her eyes, Ryoka sat at the table across from Zel. She watched as Mrsha began to slurp greedily at the warm honeyed milk. In moments, she had her own plate of bread, sausage, and a mug of hot milk. Zel passed a bowl of honey across the table and Ryoka slathered it over her bread.
“Hell of a breakfast.”
“I’m growing soft with age. I can’t stay here too long or I’ll get spoiled by the food.”
Zel sighed happily as he patted his stomach. He eyed Ryoka, and the young woman tensed slightly. But Zel just nodded to the honey.
“Mind passing it back? I think Mrsha wants more.”
That was breakfast. Zel didn’t speak much, and Mrsha was happy enough to provide enough entertainment at the table. She unabashedly tried to steal food from both Ryoka and Zel’s plates when she was done with her food. Not because she was hungry; Ryoka was sure she could get more if she wanted. It seemed to be a game.
Zel casually blocked Mrsha’s paws, smiling fondly as she tried to sneak around his plate and grab his food. Ryoka deliberately lifted her plate up as Mrsha tried the same on her; the Gnoll leapt onto her chair and tried to climb Ryoka’s head.
“Mrsha!”
Lyonette rescued Ryoka as Ryoka tried to keep from dropping her plate. She pulled Mrsha off and made the Gnoll apologize to Ryoka. Then more people came downstairs, attracted by the noise and food. And then a door opened and the Horns of Hammerad came up out of the basement.
“Ah, is Mrsha causing trouble again?”
Ceria smiled at the Gnoll. Pisces blinked and rubbed at his face as he slumped over to a table. He didn’t seem to wake up until Lyonette passed him a mug and put food in front of his face.
“Don’t try stealing from me today, child.”
Revi stared at Mrsha as the Gnoll abandoned her table in search of new targets. She tugged at a loose thread around her neck as Mrsha ignored her. Jelaqua laughed as she tempted Mrsha over with a sausage held in pallid fingers. Mrsha leapt, but Jelaqua’s hand blurred and she was chomping down the sausage and catching Mrsha by the time the Gnoll landed.
“Please don’t encourage her, Jelaqua.”
Ryoka stared as the room filled with adventurers. She blinked down at her empty mug and raised it as Lyonette passed by with a pitcher.
“Oops. Here you are, Ryoka.”
Ryoka sipped at the sweet honey milk and then turned her head as a door opened. Not to the front of the inn. Rather, a door set in the side of the wall opened and closed. Ryoka stared as Octavia, looking more disheveled than Pisces, stumbled in.
“Food? Food…”
She stumbled over to a table and put her head down. She was red-eyed and had shadows from lack of sleep. She ate her bread like a starving thing, scarfing it down and snarling at Mrsha when the Gnoll got close.
This was how breakfast in Erin’s inn went. Ryoka sat, sipping her drink with Zel as she watched Pisces tease Mrsha, levitating a chunk of honey-coated bread just over the Gnoll’s head as she leapt and tried to catch it.
Ryoka saw how bustling Erin’s inn was. She felt almost out of place in this new atmosphere, but she could see how it attracted people. There was good food to eat—bread not a minute out of the oven and hot sausage was a treat, even for someone who used to eat in fancy hotels and restaurants when her family travelled.
Ryoka watched as Lyonette rushed about the room, refilling drinks, taking requests, and because she knew to look for it, she watched Erin. The [Innkeeper] didn’t stop moving. She was in the kitchen, cooking, chatting with Halrac at a table, breaking up a fight between Octavia and Pisces over the last piece of bread—and she’d been up for two hours already.
“Erin, I would love to talk about those magical dishes you made for those adventurers a day ago.”
Jelaqua was speaking with Erin as the girl brought over a second loaf of bread to the table for Moore. Ryoka took a breath and stood up. Time to make her move.
“Excuse me?”
The adventurer and Erin looked over as Ryoka made her way over to them. Erin smiled, and Ryoka nodded politely at Jelaqua. She had a hard time not staring at the Selphid’s incredibly pale face, and a harder time not ogling the gigantic man sitting on the ground and still bending over the table, or the half-crustacean fellow.
“What’s up, Ryoka?”
“Sorry—Jelaqua, is it? I’m going to have to ask that you talk to Erin later. She’s got a prior appointment today.”
“Oh?”
Jelaqua’s eyebrows rose. She glanced at Erin, whose face had gone totally blank. Ryoka was just glad she didn’t need Erin to pretend anything. The girl was awful at lying.
“I do? Uh, I don’t remember Ryoka—”
“We’re going out. Just you and me.”
“What? We are?”
Every head in the room turned. Ryoka felt herself go a bit red. She still hated being at the center of attention. But she was getting used to it.
“That’s right. You need a break. And we’ve got catching up to do. So you can finish serving breakfast—”
“I can do it!”
Lyonette waved a hand eagerly. She winked unsubtly at Ryoka. Erin hesitated.
“But I should do lunch. And there’s this thing I do with adventurers, Ryoka—”
“Nope. It can wait. You go have fun!”
Jelaqua laughed. She reached out and slapped Erin on the back. The girl staggered a few steps until Ryoka caught her. Seborn kicked Jelaqua. The Selphid looked abashed.
“Oops. Sorry.”
“No problem. But I’ve got an inn, Ryoka. I can’t just—”
“No arguments. We’re going to go to Celum. Lyonette’s got the shop.”
“Hold on!”
Ceria called out, frowning. She looked at Ryoka.
“We wanted to talk with you, Ryoka. We still need to pay you for going all the way to Invrisil and getting all the artifacts appraised—”
“Tomorrow.”
Ryoka tried to drag Erin towards the door Octavia had stepped through. Someone else called out.
“Hold up! What about lunch?”
Revi crossed her arms. Ryoka stared at her.
“Get it somewhere else. Or I’m sure Lyonette could make something.”
“You’re just going to walk off with our [Innkeeper]? What if we need her?”
“Too bad. She needs a break.”
“Ryoka, really, I appreciate it, but—”
“Nope.”
There was an art to being a jerk. Ryoka shut Erin down and turned her. She began to push her towards the magical door. She met Zel’s eyes as the [General] stared at her in amusement and looked away. She aimed her next comment at the entire room.
“Erin needs a break and I want to catch up with her. But I can’t do that when every two seconds someone wants a piece of her, or needs her to solve some incredible problem.”
The adventurers in the room glanced at each other. Halrac nodded to Ulrien and the big adventurer spoke for his group.
“No objections. Go ahead, Miss Erin. You do deserve a break.”
“I—well—okay—but are you sure, Lyonette?”
“Go ahead!”
Mrsha ran after Erin and Ryoka, but that was fine. Ryoka had nearly gotten the weakly protesting Erin to the door.
“Maybe I can just help tidy up—”
“Nope. Now, let’s get out of here before—”
The door burst open. Ryoka heard a shout.
“Erin! Erin!”
Olesm ran into the room, trailing snow and looking about excitedly. He spotted Erin and made a beeline to her. Ryoka tried to bar the Drake as he danced excitedly around her and Erin.
“Erin, you’ll never guess what!”
“What?”
“I just got the most incredible communication from one of the Walled Cities. I just learned—and you’ll never believe this—”
“Nope!”
Ryoka threw her arms up and blocked Olesm as the Drake tried t
o show a letter to Erin. Olesm halted and stared at her, confused.
“Oh. Miss Ryoka. You’re back. Well, listen to this—”
“No.”
The [Tactician] looked surprised.
“No?”
“No. I’m sorry Olesm, but whatever you have to say, you’ll have to say it to Erin later. Tonight, maybe.”
“What? But I can’t wait that long—”
“Too bad. Erin’s busy. She’s taking a break today.”
Olesm stared at Ryoka, completely dumbfounded. He raised the scrap of parchment in his claws helplessly and gestured towards it.
“But it’s the most incredible news—”
“Is someone going to die if Erin doesn’t hear it?”
Ryoka crossed her arms. Olesm hesitated. His energetically waving tail slowed.
“…No.”
Ryoka nodded.
“In that case, will this incredible thing still be there tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Then it can wait. Erin, come on.”
“Sorry, Olesm.”
“Aw, but—”
Ryoka opened the door as Olesm danced in place, looking upset. He called out as Ryoka stared into Octavia’s shop, eying the place where Erin’s inn vanished and Octavia’s shop began. That was real magic.
“You first, Erin.”
“Okay.”
“But it would just take five minutes! Ten! Please?”
“No.”
“It’s about chess!”
“Don’t care.”
Erin’s head turned as Ryoka tried to push her through the door.
“Well, if it’s about chess—”
“No. You’re taking a break.”
Ryoka got her friend through the doorway. The people in Erin’s inn heard her arguing with the other girl for a moment, and then the door closed. Olesm stood dejectedly in the center of the inn, looking heartbroken.
A few seconds later, the door opened. Every head turned as Pawn walked into the inn, brushing snow off of his head. He was followed a second later by another Antinium holding a bow and a dead bird. Well, ‘bird’ was stretching the term generously. This one looked like a smaller version of a pterodactyl.