by R. A. Mejia
When Kitsune finished the last word, a burst of bright green energy burst forth from her, encompassing the entire house. Every part of the house around us sparkles with green energy for a minute. As the glow fades away, I look intently at the house and a notification pops up.
Blessings of the Nine Tail Clan
This home has been blessed by one of the members of the Nine Tails Clan. For one year, it will be more fruitful, healthy, and receive a measure of protection from danger.
Bonuses: Anyone resting in this house regenerates health, stamina, and mana 30% faster. Food takes 50% longer to spoil. The home is 70% less likely to be bothered by wild animals. Reproduction is 30% more likely.
After reading the notification, I turn to Mary who’s as surprised by what’s happened as I am. I lean towards her and whisper, “I didn’t know Kitsune could do that kind of stuff. Guess she’s a pretty good healer. Or is this some beastman thing?”
She leans towards me and whispers back, “Though she might be able to give some buffs as a healer, this is definitely a beastman thing. Poor girl, look at her. That blessing thing took a lot out of her.”
I look at Kitsune and see the tired look on her face as she returns to the table. Concerned, I ask, “You OK Kitsune?”
She sighs and nods, “Yes. I’m fine. Bestowing the blessing of the Nine Tail Clan takes most of my mana. I’ll be okay after we eat.”
As Sam rises from his kneeling position on the floor, I can see that there’s a huge grin on his face. He walks up to his wife and daughter and picks both of them up in his arms and spins them around. Sarah giggles and Suzie squeals in delight as they’re spun around.
Vrax stands on his chair, claps in excitement, and yells, “Me next!”
The tall, grizzled beastman finishes spinning his wife and daughter. When he puts them down they wobble around. He then picks up Vrax and spins him around too. As Vrax is spun around he yells, “Weeee.”
I’m even more surprised by this sudden change in the atmosphere than when Kitsune suddenly got up. I scratch my head perplexed, “Mary, I’m confused. One minute Sam is on his knees solemnly asking for forgiveness the next he’s so happy that he’s spinning everyone around. What gives?”
Instead of Mary, Sam answers after he puts Vrax down, “I’ll tell you what gives.” Pointing to Kitsune, “That beautiful young lady was in her full rights to have me executed for firing upon a member of the royal family of Oturan and not only does she forgive my trespass, she blesses my home. There are chieftains among the Ditlʼoi that would give their first born son for a blessing from the Nine Tail Clan.”
Vrax wobbles back to his seat and asks, “Who the Dit..dit…uh, what you said?”
Sam grins, “The Ditlʼoi are what my clan calls itself in our language. In Xican, you call us the Black Bear clan.”
With a slight redness in her cheeks still, Kitsune adds, “The Ditl’oi are one of our mainland allies among the beastmen tribes. When I was little my parents took me on a diplomatic tour of the mainland, and we visited the Ditl’oi. They were very kind and welcoming to us.”
Sam lets out a hearty laugh, “The clan would do no less for our friends. I remember your families’ visit. Even though I only saw you and your parents from a distance in the crowd with most of the clan, it was one of the most memorable visits we’d ever had. Everyone was preparing for weeks in advance to make sure everything was just right. We even had the cubs practice saying, ‘Welcome guests’ in Shioku as part of the welcome ceremony.”
Still confused, I ask, “Then why that whole part about asking for forgiveness if you are all friends and allies?”
Sam runs a hand through his hairy head in embarrassment, “Well, it was just the right thing to do. I shot at her highness…”
Kitsune interrupts, the redness back in her cheeks, “Please don’t call me your highness, and I’m just the granddaughter of the current ruler of the Oturan. Call me Kitsune, please. I’m not here on any official business.”
Sam nods his head and continues, “As you say your excellence. As I was saying, shooting at the princess was a clear breach of our people’s treaty. So what else could I do but ask for forgiveness and offer up my life?”
I shake my head slightly, still not understanding how giving a warning shot equates to a capital offense which would require you to offer up your life. Mary flies up to my shoulder and pulls on my ear and whispers harshly, “Everyone knows that the bear clans are especially sensitive to matters of honor. So, stop asking so many questions. You’re embarrassing Kitsune.”
Mary flies back to her bowl of soup, and I look at Kitsune. She does look a bit embarrassed. Her hands are in her lap, and her shoulders are slightly hunched. From the intense way she’s looking at it, she seems to think the soup on the table is the most interesting thing in the world.
I smile at Sam and his family, “Sorry for asking so many questions. It all makes sense to me now. Thank you for providing us with such a delightful smelling meal. Shall we all dig in?”
Everyone agrees that the food shouldn’t go to waste and we all have a wonderful meal together. Wanting to make conversation with our hosts, I ask about how the two of them met.
Sam and Sarah look at each other lovingly. Sarah turns to me and tells of how the two of them met. Sam, whose clan name is Samiahle, was chasing after a notorious thief who’d stolen thirty gold from the clan treasury. He’d chased him across Monstrum, through the mountain passes, and into Xican. After such a long chase, he had the thief cornered in hills near a village. But the thief had his gang spring a trap on Sam, and he ended up having to fight a five on one battle. Sam defeated everyone but suffered grievous wounds. Sarah found him and brought a healer to him, saving his life. She found the fearsome looking fighter so impressive that she visited him. They talked every day while he healed up and the two fell in love. They were married that spring and Sam retired to the life of a farmer in Xican. A year later they had their first child Sebastian, and then nine years later they had Suzy.
When it’s our turn to tell stories, we regale them with tales of our adventures, omitting any of our plans to find my kobold brothers. No sense in bringing trouble to these folks if anyone comes asking around. Instead, we focus on the stories about how we met, our adventures in the Restrian dungeon, and our flight from the Imperare border town of Valse with Kitsune.
Suzy stares in wide eyed amazement at our group as we finish our stories and the food. She tells her mom, “They’re real adventurers! Just like Sebastian.”
Sam and his wife had mentioned that they had a son named Sebastian. I ask Suzy, “Is your son an adventurer? I hope to join the guild when I get to level five.”
Sam and his wife give each other a look, and Sarah bites her lower lip as if unsure what to say. Finally, Sam breaks the silence and tells us, “Sebastian left a year ago to become an adventurer.” He sighs wearily and continues, “I tried to tell him that it wasn’t all that the stories made it out to be but he wouldn’t listen. When I forbade him to go, he ran away.”
Sarah sniffles, “He never liked being a farmer, and the kids around here always made fun of him for being part beastman. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that he would have run way to be an adventurer in Monstrum.” Turning to her husband, she says bitterly, “We should have supported him more. We could have gotten him training or some good fighting gear at least.”
Sam shakes his head as if he’s had this argument a thousand times, “He was just too young to be an adventurer. I didn’t want to encourage him to risk his life for some stupid coins.” He turns to his wife and raising his voice, “He’s smart. He could have gone to school or gotten an apprenticeship with a craftsman.” Then remembering that they had guests, he turns to us, takes a deep breath and says in a quieter voice, “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t be arguing in front of you. It’s just that we’ve only gotten a couple of letters from him since he left and we worry about him.”
I’m about to say more, but I feel a small hand
touch my forearm. I look down and see Mary shaking her head for me to let it go. She’s probably right, it’s better not to poke at the family's problems just to satisfy my curiosity.
Our group thanks our hosts for the wonderful dinner and we’re shown to our rooms. Suzy sleeps with her parents so that Mary and Kitsune can sleep in her room. Vrax and I sleep in the chamber that used to belong to Sebastian. The twin sized bed is a bit small for both Vrax and me, but it beats sleeping on the hard floor of the wagon again.
Chapter 2.8
We leave Sam and Sarah’s farm the next morning after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal. Our wagon is loaded with enough supplies to feed our group and the horses for four days. We even manage to get an old cooking pan that Sarah doesn’t use anymore. Sam refuses payment from us saying that he is still an ally of the Nine Tail Fox clan. The look his wife gives him for refusing good coin for their goods leads me to believe that they’ll have a ‘discussion’ about it later. I feel a bit guilty about taking all the supplies without compensating Sam, but no matter how I try to give him the silver for it, he refuses. Mary finds a unique solution to the problem by quietly handing three silver off to Suzy when she says goodbye to her and making her promise to give the money to her mommy.
Before we go, Sam pulls me aside and offers me an envelope, “Would you please deliver this to the first adventurers’ guild you come across? It’s addressed to my son.”
Mailman
You’ve been asked to deliver a letter from Samiahle of the Black Bear Clan to the first adventurer’s guild you come across. This may be the first step towards a father reconciling with his son.
Rewards: An improved reputation with Samiahle, and 5 XP.
Accept or Decline?
I look at the quest notification. Geesh, I would have agreed to deliver the letter without the guilt inducing description.
I take the envelope from Sam, accept the ‘Mailman’ quest, and the notification disappears, “I don’t know how long it may take to get your son to get the letter, but I’ll deliver it Sam.”
“Oh, don’t worry about him getting it. The adventurers’ guild will notify him that he has mail the next time he checks in with them or turns in a quest. They have a nice postal service.”
We shake hands, I climb into our wagon, and we’re on our way to the mountain passes.
On the road again I’m curious about how difficult it will be to complete the quest Sam gave and ask Mary about it. Sitting on Kitsune’s shoulder, her eyebrows raise, and she laughs, “You got a letter too? Sarah gave me a letter to deliver too. She asked me not to tell her husband about it because she was afraid he’d get mad.”
I can’t help but laugh too. They both wanted to send letters but were afraid of upsetting the other person.
Kitsune quirks her mouth in a smile and adds, “Make that three letters,” and pulls out an envelope from her pocket with the name Sebastian written on it, with the S backward and two Ts. Suzy must have sent a letter too. It’s rather touching how much that family loves Sebastian.
A reptilian voice from the wagon behind me says sullenly, “Why no one give me letter? I feel left out.”
I turn and look to see Vrax sitting in the wagon, his arms crossed and his gaze directed downward, I try not to laugh. “I’m sure they would have given you a letter too if there was another member of the family.” Seeing that I haven’t cheered him up, I add, “How about I give you a letter that you can deliver to the adventurer’s guild? Then you’ll have a quest like the rest of us.”
Vrax uncrosses his arms, bares his sharp teeth at me, and yips. His way of smiling and laughing, “Yes, I like that brother. Then we all have letters.”
Returning to my original inquiry, I ask Mary again, “Why would Sam and his family need to send letters at all? Wouldn’t it be faster to send something by message tablet?”
Mary shakes her head, “Yes, it would be faster. But that family isn’t exactly rolling in dough, and message tablets are expensive. Plus from what they told us, their son left without telling them.”
“Which means that they wouldn’t have had time to save up for the tool even if they had some extra money,” I add continuing the line of reasoning.
Mary nods, then shrugs, “Right. Besides, a lot of regular people use the mail system the Adventurer’s guild offers. It’s cheaper by far than a message tablet and only delays things a couple of weeks at most. It’s perfectly fine for sending standard messages.”
Kitsune watches the exchange between Mary and I out of the corner of her eye. I can tell she’s surprised that I don’t know about the mail system that Mary tells me about. Oops. I forgot that Kitsune doesn’t know that I’m not from this world. Well, if she’s not curious enough to ask about it, I won’t bring it up.
Trying to shift attention away from my lack of knowledge about the basics of this world, I pull out Lilliandra’s spellwriting journal and pretend to read it. The next few hours back on the road are spent in silence. I can’t speak for the other members of the group but my time sitting next to Kitsune is spent thinking about the rural farm we left and the family that lives there. My time there has stirred up some desires and thoughts that I’m surprised I have. They’re not exactly feelings I’m comfortable talking to Mary or Vrax about. So I decide to write to Sonya about it.
Hey Sonya,
Spending the night in the home of one of the nicest families I’ve ever met recently has made me think about what I want from life after finishing the tasks ahead of me.
Aside from their issues with their son, that family had just about everything a man could want. A home nestled near the mountains. A family to love and care for. Good honest work to occupy your time. If I’m honest with myself, I’m a bit envious of Sam. I’m not sure why I’m so fascinated by the idea of having a family, but it truly intrigues me. The concept that there are people in your life that you can love and absolutely depend on is fascinating. Having someone to love so intimately that calling them your ‘other half’ is like describing the sun as ‘bright.' Accurate but wholly inadequate to reflect the depth of the concept. I found myself watching the interactions between Sam and Sarah. There were so many subtle communications that it felt like they had a secret language. A look, a touch, a raised eyebrow. Each spoke volumes to the other partner. It’s hard for me to imagine how two people could be so intimately connected.
Maybe that’ll be us someday? (wink, wink).
Then there was their daughter, Suzy. She had so much energy that I think you could have run a small town off of her. But what caught my attention the most was the way she looked at her parents. As if they were the most amazing and wonderful people that ever existed in the universe. Is it inherent in the child - parent relationship? Or is she just lucky to have such devoted parents?
I told you that I lost my parents when I was young. Just watching Suzy talk with her parents made me wonder if I was ever like that with mine. It was such a long time ago that it’s hard for me to remember what it was like with them. I vaguely remember my mom holding my hand and just knowing that everything in the world was ok as long as I didn’t let her go. I’ll admit that I may be remembering things wrong. It was so long ago that it’s hard to be sure of what’s real and what I made up. But I hope that Suzy feels the same way when she holds her mom’s hand.
I’m sorry if I’m getting all touchy-feely. But I guess it’s better to talk, err, write about this kind of stuff before things get too serious. I don’t even know if having a family is something that you’d ever want. I know that it is something that I’d always planned on having. Growing up I was always acutely aware that I was different. I didn’t have a family, and no matter where I was sent to it was like an invisible sign that hung around my neck or a hole inside of me that I couldn’t fill. Before, I imagined that one day I would have a job to go to every day and I would come home to a wife and family and everything would be better.
Now though I find that my life has taken turns I never could have expected. I’ve lea
rned magic, fought monsters, gained a brood brother and made friends with so many amazing people, including you. While I still want a family eventually, I also want to learn everything I can about Terra and see what it has to offer. I have so many goals and skills that I want to master. However, there are also new obligations that I have to fulfill before I can devote myself to my own dreams. I have to rescue what remains of the kobold tribe that adopted me.
I hope that you understand what I need to do before we can take this journey together.
Yours,
Armon Ellington
I send the message off and hope it doesn’t come off as too needy. Oh, well. If Sonya has other goals in life, it’s better to know about it now than later.
“Touchy feely isn’t hyphenated,” A voice whispers in my ear.