Trials of Shortness

Even before the situation in the Kijara Seafalls, Jude was regarded as the most observant member of their small and unusual group. He was often the one to notice valuable items lodged in small, out of the way places while they were traveling. Though Alvin had taken to calling him rover whenever he stopped to pull something out of rocks or trees, it didn't deter him from collecting useful items.

It did, however, make him very wary to ask for help when faced with a problem that surfaced all too often.

And that problem was reaching things too high above his head. He was short for his age, he always had been, but he still did not like to ask for help. Milla would agree, but the particular glimmering item he spotted high up in a tree was too high, even for her. The situation left him with one option; the mercenary traveling with them.

He stared at the man's back for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and hastening his pace to catch up with him.

"Hey, Alvin?" Jude questioned. "Could you give me a hand?"

"Depends on what it is," the mercenary replied with one of his usual arrogant smirks.

"There's an item high up in that tree over there," he said as he pointed toward a particularly high one. "Can you reach it?"

Alvin trotted over and reached up, albeit lacklusterly. His hand came close to the object glimmering in the sunlight; just not close enough to grab it. Jude watched him a bit impatiently as he shrugged in defeat without stretching any farther.

"I'd say it's just beyond my reach, kid," he said unsympathetically. "How about I lift you up there?"

Jude was reluctant to agree, to say the least. He looked at the mercenary warily before looking back to the glimmer; something so bright in the sunlight could be valuable. Considering how much everything cost in Il Fan, it would be almost irresponsible for him to carry on without giving it another though.

"Alright," Jude agreed with a nod.

Alvin smirked as he motioned for Jude to come over. The hand gesture instantly made him doubt his choice, but he still walked over to the mercenary before he changed his mind about helping. Alvin side stepped behind Jude to lift him up. He put his hands on both sides of Jude's torso and lifted him off his feet so effortlessly that he was slightly disoriented to be in the air so quickly.

Nevertheless, he always reacted to situations quickly. He rested one arm against a sturdy tree branch as he reached out for the object. He had to stretch, but he had it firmly in his grasp in no time.

"Got it?" Alvin asked innocently.

"I did!" Jude said cheerfully. "You can put me do-"

He broke off in the middle of the word when the hands supporting his weight suddenly let go. The word turned into a shout as he grabbed ahold of the branch with both arms, clinging to the wood like a desperate squirrel. His legs were dangling and he kicked in midair, too high up to feel the ground and too far from the trunk to make contact with it.

"Alvin!" he shouted angrily. "Get me down from here!"

"In the original terms, you only said you needed help getting up there," he said with a devious grin. "Mercenaries don't violate the terms of the agreement."

Jude had to bite his tongue to refrain from cursing. Though he normally had the strength to hold himself up, he only had one hand on the branch, as he still tightly grasped the item in other. Despite the way it glimmered, it felt oddly soft now.

"Then I'm revising the terms!" Jude shouted. "Help me down!"

Chuckling to himself, Alvin strolled back over at a leisurely pace. Jude felt his hand start to slip and he strained to keep his arms around the branch, but he was losing his hold quickly. He flailed and struggled until his arms finally slipped from the branch, but Alvin grabbed him before he fell.

"You seriously had to wait that long?" he asked irritably once he was back on the ground.

"What did I tell you about the dramatic saves?"

Milla turned around and was walking back toward them after hearing the commotion. Jude glowered at him for a few moments before he looked down at the item he salvaged. As it turned out, a silver sticker on the outside of the bag was the source of the glimmering. However, now that he could inspect it properly, he saw the familiar animal logo and quickly threw it to the ground.

"It's beast dung," he said in horror.

"Humans use that to fertilize their gardens," Milla said cheerfully.

"It's such a small amount..." Jude said disgustedly. "And it smells."

"All that fuss for beast dung," Alvin said, shaking his head. "That's why I'm a mercenary and not a scavenger."

"May as well save it," Milla said with a nod.

With that decision made for them, Milla turned around and returned to leading the group. Jude sighed as he looked down at his 'prize' and considered what the most sanitary place to store it would be. Alvin seemed to understand his dilemma, for he quickly started strolling onward after Milla.

"I ain't putting that in my pocket," he said.

Letting out what felt like his umpteenth sigh, Jude held the bag by the farthest corner at a distance from himself. Being short put him in terrible situations at times.

Author's Note:

You could say…Jude ended up in a shitty situation.

Couldn't let him get a good prize here, like say, a jet black feather shed by a creature no one is sure about.

I love writing about these three though. It's so fun to see them interacting in game.