Chapter 2: Vyrne The Anna
"Hey half-pint!"
A loud yell came to him from a distance. An exhausted Vyrne slowly opened his eyes before closing them again. "I'll get up in a second,'' he groaned drowsily. ''Can I please just have five more minutes?''
''Five more minutes? Time is money kid. Besides, you slept like a baby last night. Why do you look so rough?"
''Ugh," groaned Vyrne, responding to the mysterious voice with his eyes still closed. ''I had this horrible nightmare.''
''A nightmare huh," the voice asked. ''What happened?''
"It was horrible,'' Vyrne moaned. ''I dreamt that I was kidnapped by this really old, crazy, perverted lady and forced to be her slave. And that for a week, I was forced to do things like clean her wagon, wash her horse, cook her meals, and message her feet.''
"That sounds pretty bad," the voice replied. A sleepy Vyrne thought that he sensed some anger in the voice this time. But he figured that his tired ears were just playing tricks on him.
''Yeah," Vyrne agreed. ''And did I mention that she was old?''
''Yes,'' the agitated voice replied. ''You mentioned tha-
''Because she was old,'' Vyrne mumbled, cutting off the voice mid-sentence. ''Like, Naga was probably her best friend.''
''Why you little!''
At the voice's sudden change in tone, Vyrne open his eyes and it all came flooding back to him. A redheaded merchant woman was looking down at him in annoyance. He was living his nightmare, and he knew what was coming next.
Quickly, Vyrne attempted to scuttle away from his sleeping place on the ground but he just wasn't fast enough. A stinging bolt of electricity surged through his body, making every hair on his body stand straight up.
"Now,'' Anna said, putting her Levin Sword back onto the straps on her thigh, ''If you're finished insulting my charm and youthful good looks, we've got places to be today. So you'd better get busy clearing this campsite.''
''But Mistress Anna,'' wheezed Vyrne, taking in the early morning's air. ''I built and cleared the last two camps we've made. Do you think that maybe you could pitch in this time?''
"I would be happy to,'' Anna replied with a smile. She looked up and pressed her index finger to her chin. ''Of course, I'd have to add my working fee to someone's already-large debt.''
''N-Never mind,'' Vyrne snapped quickly. ''I'll start clearing the camp and packing the wagon.''
''Oh really,'' said Anna, as if she were surprised. ''Thank you so much! That's another five gold from your debt. Only 44,982 to go. You keep this up and we can go our separate ways in no time.'' Anna walked over to where a blanket lay on the ground. She laid down and stretched out on the soft cloth. ''Wake me with breakfast when you finish. I'm thinkin' a nice bowl of fruit.'' With that, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Stupid campsite,'' Vyrne mumbled as he grabbed a heavy sack of supplies and began to drag it toward the wagon. ''It isn't even daylight yet! '' Vyrne strained as he tugged the heavy sack across the dew-covered grass. ''I'll never escape at this rate,'' he said.
Vyrne dragged. . . and dragged. . . and dragged.
Finally, Vyrne reached the wagon's rear and flung the bag onto the wagon with all of the strength he could muster. Satisfied, Vyrne looked back toward the camp site. His ears drooped and his satisfaction disappeared as he saw that he still had three bags, cooking supplies, and Anna's heavy saddle to pack. Vyrne hung his head. ''Why me,'' he asked. Just then, his ears perked. He had an idea.
The past two times he had prepared and cleaned camp, Anna was wide awake and watching him. But now, she was fast asleep. Now was his chance. Carefully and quietly, Vyrne tiptoed over to Anna's blanket. He looked and sure enough, there was a body-length bulge beneath the large, green cloth. Cautiously, Vyrne took ten steps back before getting on all fours and scampering towards the thick woods to the south of their campsite.
''I'm free,'' Vyrne exclaimed softly to himself as he dashed through the woods. ''I wish I would've thought of that before I spent all of that time loading that bag onto the wagon. But who cares? I'm free!"
Vyrne ran and ran until he stopped before a clearing. Something familiar caught his nose. It was Mistress Anna's scent. But it couldn't be. Mistress was back sleeping at the campsite.
"Maybe there's something stuck in my nose," Vyrne said, rubbing his nostrils as he entered the clearing. Just as he entered the clearing, Vyrne fell to the ground with a whimper of surprise.
"Oh,'' Anna said as she noticed Vyrne's cry. ''You come to tinkle too?''
''Bu-But,'' stuttered an embarrassed, baffled Vyrne as he pointed back and forth between Anna, who was fastening the buckle on her pants, and the direction of the campsite. "H-How are you even-?''
''You ok kid," Anna asked suspiciously. She walked over to the Taguel boy and knelt down, cupping one hand to the side of her mouth as she whispered. "You didn't come out here to sneak a peek of my unmentionables did you?''
''What?!" Vyrne's face turned bright red and his ears stood up immediately and began to twitch. He pushed himself away from Anna with his feet. ''Of course not! What are you doing out here anyways?''
''Sheesh,'' Anna said, standing up. ''I was just kidding. And what do you mean 'What am I doing here?' Obviously, I'm here to tinkle.''
''Bu-But I saw you beneath your blanket,'' Vyrne said.
''Oh that,'' Anna chuckled. ''That's not me. It's just the sack of gold that I sleep with at night. It makes for a great full-body pillow.''
Surprisingly, after just a week of traveling with the money-crazed merchant, this revelation didn't even surprise the young taguel boy. It actually made perfect sense.
''Hey," Anna said with a more stern look on her face. ''You weren't trying to escape were you?''
''No not at all," Vyrne lied. ''I-just came to pick some of those berries I found yesterday.''
''Uh huh,'' Anna said. ''Didn't you say that you got those from the bushes to our east?''
''You know what,'' Vyrne said with a forced smile. He was trapped within his own lie. ''I did say that.'' Vyrne took his paw and rubbed the back of his head. He was trying his hardest not to look guilty, but the blush on his small, flabby cheeks said it all. "I can't believe I forgot,'' he continued. ''Let me go pick and wash those right now.'' With that, a disappointed Vyrne scampered back toward the campsite.