As the roars and frenzied cries of a large audience echoed within the stony walls of the Valasquez Arena, a young man wandered through the empty halls and spaces of the arena.
He had heard about the Velasquez Ultimate Street Rumble by word of mouth while in a tavern. He had a few copper to spare for at least a decent seat and decided to go, though the tournament had started long before his arrival.
His golden-brown hair hung over the shoulders of his moss green tunic with gentle waves, with one braid running from the front of his head all the way over one shoulder. The tartan of his namesake draped around his waist and over his shoulder in a display of blues and greens with orange stitched crossings. He had left most of his things at the inn, so all that was on him at the moment were the necessities — the sword on his hip, the battle ax across his back, the dirk hidden under the small of his back in his kilt, and one wooden bottle tied to his hip with leather and filled with home brew~
So far, he hadn't seen a single person, not even people at the vending carts. He passed by an unattended vender's cart with a few coils of rope hanging from the posts and wondered into a breezeway where a well poked up from the ground.
It wasn't strange to him that people became this excited about feats of might and wit, but they were a wee bit regular where he came from.
He was going to continue when he noticed there was a door just beyond the well that had been completely obliterated. Wood planks and large splinters lay on the ground all around one side of the well.
This caught his eye for a moment and he figured it had been a few patrons that got too excited about the fighting in the arena and thought to have a brawl of their own, that got a little out of hand. Couldn't blame people for wanting to have fun—
Until he spotted a bag laying on the ground just by the well...
The boy cocked his head curiously, not making a sound, before he picked it up.
Simply from the sound it made and it's weight, he could quickly tell five coins were all that made up its contents. For a bag that was a bit bulky, it seemed strange for so few to be present. And by taking quick examination of his empty surroundings, and the secludedness of this part of the tournament grounds during the actual tournament itself, his next thoughts were leading to that it might have been a missed item during a violent robbery. Though there was no sign of struggle from what he could see, the thought wasn't far-fetched. Either way, the robbery would have taken place long before he made it here, so there wasn't much he could do about it now. He figured he might as well take what he could, if there was no one here to claim it~
He checked the contents of the bag. As he guessed, five coins fell out into his hand, but...there was something written on the inside of the bag...
The boy had learned the language of this land well enough since wandering it for little more than a year, and reading had been something he taught himself, with a few travel companions that had offered their assistance. However, he had never been introduced to proper spelling and grammar, contrary to what was on the message.
'Hoo evers reeding this, Im stuck in the well. Some budy please help me. Maril.'
He barely had a moment to stare at the message in surprise before a faint, raspy voice caught his ears.
"Helllp...anybody...? Merrill's down heeere..."
He leaned over the well, peering down into the dark.
"Hey! I hear yeh!" He called out.
"Haaaahhhh..." The voice changed to high pitched squeals and squeaks, trying to scream for joy, though unable. "Yeees! Thank yooou—kagh!-kack!" This was followed by coughing.
"Don' worry! There isn't anyone around, but I can help!"
"Pleeease...!"
"I knoh where there's rope, I'll be back! I'll be right back!"
"Hurreeee...!"
A few minutes later, he stole the coil of rope from the shop cart and found a nearby post to tie one end to. Then he tied a large loop into the other end. It was crude, but it would get this person out.
He called back down, "I'm sendin' rope down! Loop it undah yah arms an' hold on tight!"
There was a pause from the darkness, "Wh...wha?"
This was a problem he had been running into often with the people of this country - his accent...
"I said, loop it under yar arms!"
Another pause, "...uh, sure!"
"Fock, 'Canae undastand yeh, Calum~ What is eht yeh says, lad~?'" He grumbled to himself before tossing the line down.
In short seconds he received a few tugs that the person was situated on the line, and he started pulling.
He had begun pulling from a distance, and he soon realized for good reason.
"Ah, what tha' hell did thas' person eat...?" He continued heaving at the taught rope, make slow, agonizing progress. "They mus' weigh a ton...!"
The voice had been small, so he assumed the weight wouldn't be cumbersome, but he was suddenly wondering if he had made a mistake with that and was currently hoisting up some fat nobleman!
After a few minutes of pulling, his hands were beginning to ache. He'd pulled and tied line on ships before, but there was nothing like trying to hoist the weight of seven cannon balls all by one's lonesome.
"Argh, when this person sees sunlight again, I'm gonna make it clear they should have mentioned they war a fat slobberin' pig before the fact..." He growled.
"Th-thank you...almost there..."
He could hear the voice close to the lip of the well, and before long, a dainty hand appeared over it. It pulled up with it a head of brown hair and...a sack?
He hoisted harder until the person was able to hook their arms over the lip of the well, then he rushed over to lend a hand.
It was...a girl...
He pulled her over, while also grabbing hold of the sack slung over her back, managing to pull the whole bundle on to the edge of the well.
"Wh-watch it-watch it!" She rasped at him.
"Yoo watch eht—wah!"
She hooked her leg over the edge, her boot landed on his, he lost his balance, and the sack and girl came tumbling over the lip and right on top of him!
A stray lock of brown hair was licking at his face when he looked up and saw she was laying on him!
She had not been just any girl, she was just shorter than him! And he was rather short by the standards of his own people. All that weight he had just hoisted had been in that blasted bag she was carrying with her!
She lifted her head and he found himself staring into a playful pair of emerald green eyes, glimmering back into his.
"Uhhhh..." She stared at him dumbly, her voice crackly from lots of shouting.
She quickly scurried off him until her back was against the bricks of the well.
"Ah, hey, hahaha, sorry 'bout that~"
"What was the meanin' ah pullin' tha' big thing up with yeh?" He sat up on his elbows and glared at her, pointing to the sack.
"Ah-oh-uh-this?" She suddenly grabbed the sack and pulled it behind her. "Ah, just an insurance policy...it's...it's filled with old family heirlooms, haha..." She stared back at him with obvious nervousness.
The clinking sounds coming from the bag told him it was more gold.
"Aye, sure lass, an' Ahm the Thane of Inverness..."
"The what of what?"
"Yeh think I's born yesterday?"
"Hey, what're you getting all whiny about?" Her weak voice was getting snappy all of a sudden.
"Yeh couldn't ah said somethin' about theh extra weight!?"
"Hey! Listen here, you!" She pointed her finger, unable to shout at all. "It's none of your business what I got in here! Capisce!? Settle with it being something that's very-very important to me! I couldn't leave it behind! You'd do the same thing!"
He couldn't argue, being a former horse and cattle thief, but he wasn't about to admit that to this...this hawker!
He growled at her, "Not thinkin' ta' mention a turn in things doesn't help enaigh—" he had to stop himself and breath a moment, "Fine. I got ye' out the well, yoo got yer 'heirlooms', all's well with the world, aleigh?"
"Almost..." she glared back at him defensively with this barely audible comeback.
She hoisted the sack over her shoulder and stood up, looking weak and tired, but obviously not wanting his help.
After he stood, she took a quick moment to let her eyes glide over him, more particularly his clothing. He knew this because he got it everywhere he went.
"Uh...nice clothes!" She said this, trying to be nice, since he'd rescued her. "And uh...thanks, for saving me!" She hefted the bag once and began walking away, but stopped.
He stared at her a moment, and it looked like her entire body was shaking.
Suddenly, she turned around quickly, walked over to him and slammed the bag down right in front of him with a loud clinking of coins.
She jerked it open and began rummaging, all while grumbling to herself. It was so weak and airy, he could barely make out a word.
She grabbed his hand and shoved coins in it. "Here's ten to go with the five that was in that bag you found. Buy yourself a room, a hot meal and an extra few drinks on me, kay?"
In a flash, she shut the bag, hoisted it over her shoulder like it was filled with feathers, and sped off at a fast walk.
And thus, Calum MacDhòmhnaill of Glencoe, son of Graem MacDhòmhnaill, and heir to the bloodline of Angus Aug MacDhòmhnaill and Somerled was left standing in an empty breezeway by a well, with a fist full of coins and the name of a girl that sounded like more trouble than he wanted. He would have been fine with just the money after this encounter.
"Merrill, eh? Happy trails to yeh, an' good riddance..."
AN: I began writing this fanfiction about three years ago and never posted it because I had very little knowledge of fanfiction sites and no drive to become a writer at the time, and also I had written it in script format for a doujin. Had I been enticed enough to post it, I would probably be further along in things now, but oh well. I really enjoyed this anime, Rune Soldier. I liked the satire appeal it placed on fantasy tales while also remaining true to many of the rules involved with fantasy tales. It showed the people who created it had respect for the genre of fantasy, but weren't afraid to poke fun at their interests. Anyways, I'm going to continue transcribing some of my old scenes for this into novel format, and start writing up new ones. The next post should be pretty soon. Let me know if you want me to tone down Calum's phonetics (accent) for reading fluency.
And please let me know what you guys think, I enjoy hearing from you. I hope you enjoy! =D
Glossary
Hawker - coin term for thief
MacDhòmhnaill - the Gaelic form of MacDonald