It was still the early hours of morning when Mayce met up with Lucy and Sarah near the grain mill. They were waiting on Alexander while keeping occupied with thoughts on what kind of Adventurer or Villain type the new kid would be.
"If he's a tiger, then he has to be a sneaky rogue type." Sarah said confidently. She wore her dark brown hair in a single braid behind her back, a dark green headband keeping her bangs just above her eyes. Dressed in a pair of overalls and simple shirt and farm shoes, she looked ready to either work or play.
"I really hope not. I have enough trouble with your dashing around and 'shooting' at me with your stupid bow." Lucy grumbled. The small girl was only a mere 9 years old, but her frame was as stocky as one could expect from a half dwarf. She wore her blonde hair in pig tails that hang just over her shoulders. She wore similar overalls to Sarah, but with far more stains, nearly to the point where one could barely tell that the original color of the overalls were blue.
"You only hate it because you are so easy to predict. You just run forward. You're so easy to shoot." Sarah shrugged at the younger girl.
Mayce pondered while the two bickered playfully. He hadn't talked to Simon enough to take a guess as to what he would be.
Alexander walked up to the waiting trio, a book under his shoulder, a satchel bag on his side, bulging with what looked to be more books. The young boy looked winded as he nearly fell to his knees just depositing the heavy looking bag. The young 8 year old wore his usual shorts and light jacket with his family crest on the chest, but he was also sporting a backpack that looked to be overflowing with scrolls.
"Alex, you ok?" Mayce hopped down from his perch on the fence to help Alexander remove the heavy bag and help the boy up.
"Yeah. Pa said that Simon's mom told him that he was alone at his house because he was reading books." Alexander paused to take a few wheezing gasps.
"And you thought that you'd bring some to see if Simon liked your books?" Mayce connected the pieces easily enough. He knew Alexander far too well to guess wrong.
Alexander only confirmed such with a nod of his head.
"What kind of books did you bring?" Sarah asked, stepping over from her and Lucy's spot in the early morning shade below the stone fence.
"All kinds. I brought the first book from each of my favorite series. I brought one of my favorite obscure history books Pa bought me." Alexander was a mousy boy, but when it came to books, he seemed to find some hidden strength to lug them anywhere he needed to take them.
"You want me to carry your bags wherever?" Lucy popped up next to Alexander with a grin as she started reaching for the satchel bag on the ground.
Sarah quickly smacked her hand away. "No, you'll somehow lose it along the way somewhere."
Alexander nodded emphatically with Sarah's statement as he reached for and clutched the strap to the bag close to his chest before sliding it sideways towards Mayce.
Mayce silently took the strap and pulled it over his shoulder as he hefted it up. "Alright, since everyone is here, let's head towards the village square. That's where we have the best chance to spot Miss Emserelda and Simon." The trio nodded and gathered themselves to follow Mayce to the center of the village.
-
Esmerelda woke Simon as the sun crested the horizon. She made breakfast with ingredients she had stored the night before. It was a quick and simple meal, meant for supplying the two Shaktarans with enough energy to get through most of the day. Once dishes were cleaned and put away, Esmerelda gathered her things in a small pouch she strapped across her back and chest in a secure manner that would ensure it would not fall off no matter how she moved. One strap went over a shoulder and under the other while another strap wrapped around her waist.
"I was thinking, instead of walking to the village, let's stretch your legs." Esmerelda started stretching and indicated for Simon to do the same.
It took little prompting for the kitten to follow her lead and copy her stretches. "What does that mean? Are we gonna run?" Simon guessed.
"Yes, around the village's edge. It will show you how big the village is, along with the boundary of where you will be allowed to go and where you will not." Esmerelda paused as she bent backwards with her hands outstretched, flexing her body while keeping balance with her tail.
Simon had to pause and watch before carefully attempting the same thing. He stumbled a bit, but with the quick help of his mother's tail around his waist to catch him, he managed to keep standing.
"After that, we will head to the center of the village and meet people along the way. You know Priest Kenly and Miss Ginny, but I want you to get to know everyone here." Esmerelda finished her stretches and stepped out the front door with Simon close behind her. After a few paces out of the front fence, she took a deep breath and looked around. "Such a nice morning. Alright kitten, let's start slow and steady. No rush."
Simon watched in dismay as his mother's "slow and steady" pace quickly grew to him racing to keep up. He ran faster than he had before, now with much more freedom out in the open rather than the enclosed cottage. He had run with his mother along the road while they travelled to Hollow Hill, but she had never had him run this fast before.
It was difficult to keep up, but at the same time, Simon took pleasure in the great speeds he was able to meet on the fairly flat plains surrounding the large hill. The cool morning wind blowing through his fur, the grass and soil under his paws as he propelled himself further and faster. He was soon leaping across the fields on all fours like his mother, spinning mid air as they propelled themselves off of trees or stone buildings to get around a fallen log or closed fence.
Once Esmerelda had made 2 laps around the village with her child, she had turned them towards the center of the village and had run them along the waking streets, slowing to a jog before coming to a walk.
Simon panted heavily as he slowed, his heart racing as his body calmed. "So fast. Why didn't we run like that on the way here, Mom?"
Esmerelda, to her credit, did not seem winded in the least. "Would you be able to run like that all day every day for 2 weeks while traveling town to town?" Esmerelda raised an eyebrow skeptically at her child.
Simon shook his head, his eyes quickly looking around at the buildings and people that came in and out of them. Most were doing chores or carrying materials to and fro. Nearly all waved at Esmerelda and greeted her warmly. Esmerelda greeted them back and started introducing Simon around.
Simon met a fair portion of the village along the spiral path Esmerelda seemed to take them through the street. Overall, he had guessed about an hour to meet around 100 people. How his mother had met so many in only 2 weeks after her bedrest, Simon had no idea. Everyone seemed to adore his mother though, so he couldn't care less.
By the time the pair of felines made their way to the village center, Simon had fully recovered from the morning run and had, somewhere along the way, picked up several strips of still warm bacon on toast with some sort of cheese on it. He had been lost amongst all the faces, so where he acquired it is anyone's guess.
He was several bites in when his mother sat on a bench across from a clearing with a large statue of a male elf that looked like a mage and a female human warrior.
Esmerelda watched the gears turn in Simon's mind as he seemed to search his brain for what it was. It only took about 40 seconds for him to remember.
"The elf and human who stumbled onto the secret of Hollow Hill, resulting in the crack in the side that allows entry." Simon proudly stated as he beamed up at his mother.
As a reward for his studies, Esmerelda praised him and scratched the top of his head affectionately. "Yes, kitten. Good job. Your memory is amazing. My special little kitten." Esmerelda's ears twitched and she calmed her affection, pulling her paw away from his head, causing the boy's purring to stop in confusion as she turned her attention to the group of children emerging from the bakery, clearly having caught sight of them from the open windows.
Simon looked around confused for a moment before following her line of sight to the group. He paused for a moment before looking back at his mother. "Are they who you mentioned last night?"
Esmerelda looked down at her son and nodded. "I think you will get along with them. They seem just as imaginative as you." She smiled, stopping what she said before she spoiled the surprise.
Simon only nodded and looked back at the group as they walked towards the bench they rested at. Simon took the moment to look them over. Mayce he had met before, and he looked much the same, blonde hair and green eyes.
He seemed to be carrying a satchel full of books, which Simon questioned internally as Mayce didn't seem the type to read a lot. The other boy looked younger, black hair and blue eyes, and he carried a sack across his back, overflowing with scrolls.
Ah, the books must be his. Simon thought.
Of the girls, the younger blonde girl seemed energetic and ready to do anything while the older brunette girl walked calmly. Why the smaller girl was carrying what looked to be a wooden club nearly the size of her, Simon could not say.
It only took another moment before the group stood before Esmerelda and Simon, each nervous, as if arriving for an interview.
"Hello, Miss Esmerelda, Simon." Mayce nodded in greeting and the other children nodded along with quiet greetings.
"Hello children. Lovely morning." Esmerelda smiled kindly as Simon nodded with her, staying quiet for the moment.
Mayce nodded in agreement before he continued. "We have come to ask for permission to meet and play with Simon." Mayce's back was a bit stiff, surely only from the heavy bag he carried, not his nerves.
Simon looked up at his mother, already knowing she was planning this all out to begin with, but still awaiting her permission.
Esmerelda nodded only a second later. "Absolutely. Take my Simon and go play around the village. Have fun, but please be kind to him." Esmerelda gave her son a small nudge to pull him from behind her.
Simon nodded his own greeting at each of the children. "Hello. I am Simon. I hope we can get along."
Each of the children took turns introducing themselves before Alexander seemed to burst from eagerness. "Pa told me you read. Have you read the White Mage and the Dragon?"
Simon's eyes started to gleam. "Only 3 times since we moved in. The twist at the end where it was revealed that the dragon was-"
Alexander finished Simon's sentence, knowing just what the shaktara was talking about. "Actually the white mage's husband? I know, right? There was a small hint in the beginning, but only if you know that the marking on the dragons chest was-"
Simon took his turn to finish the sentence. "The family crest, just muddled because of the transformation magic."
Alexander nodded emphatically as he and Simon quickly devolved into speaking of books, the other 3 children surprised that someone remembers as much about books as Alexander, let alone one so enthusiastic to devolve into quickly paced conversations that none of the 3 have achieved with Alexander before.
It took the group of children moving from the village center back to the grain mill before Lucy had enough of listening about various key points of history Simon and Alexander had known and which the other didn't.
"Oh ma Gods! Can we talk about somethin different? Y'all are so borin talkin bout nothin but books!!" Lucy flopped on her usual stump, her log of a club dropping with a soft thump.
Alexander stuck his tongue out at Lucy. "Maybe if you could read, you could follow along with the conversation." Alexander quickly had to drop down to avoid the stick that found itself flying through the air towards his head.
"Lucy does have a point, Alex. You can't hog the new kid the whole day." Sarah interjected, taking her seat on the stone fence opposite of where Mayce had started leaning.
Alexander looked between Sarah and Lucy before sliding the latest book he was about to pull out back into the bag Mayce dropped for him. "Ok." He sounded a bit disappointed but looked at Simon with a reinvigorated smile. "She's right though."
Mayce smiled along with Lucy as Sarah started swinging her legs. She spoke with an innocent curiosity, but there was a hunger growing in the children's eyes that started to make Simon a bit nervous.
"Ever play Adventurers and Villains?" Sarah asked simply.