Title: Baker's Quest
Characters: Takato, Juri, Shuichon||Ship: N/A
Chapter Word Count: 400||Story Word Count: 400||Chapter Count: 1/20
Genre: Fantasy, Drama||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge: Tamers/Savers/Xros Wars: H10, 6+ chapters; Character Diversity Boot Camp, #32, trouble (Shuichon); Digimon Non-Flash Bingo, #8, Katou Juri; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #10, 8,000; Three-Sided Box Challenge, 400 wpc, 20 chapters, Takato, Juri, & Shuichon; Advent 2016-2017, day #13, Three-Sided Box Challenge, hard option; Drabblechapter Competition; Snakes & Ladders In Writing-Land
Notes: Fantasy AU that includes Digimon that can be/are partnered to humans, as well as magic/etc. Takato and Juri are about seventeen. Shuichon is fourteen.
Summary: Takato wants to be a knight. Juri is happy being a tavernkeeper's daughter. Shuichon wants to go home. And some kidnappers just want their money.
The bakery and the tavern in the little town stood across the muddy street from one another. It was really only a street because it existed as a space between the buildings that was too wide to be called an alleyway. That was the way of things in this little town: things were small, battered, used over and over until they could be used no more, and then used again anyway, because it wasn't likely that anyone had anything else that they could use.
Takato was the baker's son and Juri was the tavernowner's daughter. Everyone knew they were going to get married when they grew up. It wasn't exactly arranged – this town didn't have what it took to support a marriage broker – but it had been understood from the moment they began to play together and not break things over one another's heads.
It was a better start to a relationship than some people had, it was all generally agreed. One day Takato would be the town baker and Juri would own the tavern. All things considered, they would be two of the wealthier people in town. The Matsuda family produced some of the best baked goods for five towns around, even more so than the larger towns where the bakers had access to better goods. The Katou family tavern also made some of the best beer in the area. Together, they would maybe even be able to move to a larger town at some distant future point. And if not, perhaps their children could.
Takato didn't mind the idea of moving to a larger town. The very idea thrilled him to consider, actually.
"I don't want to leave and be a baker still," he murmured to Juri as the two of them stole a few moments in the woods nearest to the town. The day was almost over with and while the baking was over for the day – to start again in the wee hours so that there was a selection ready by the time the bakery opened – the tavern was about to open its doors. This was one of the few times they had to spend around one another.
Juri patted him on the shoulder. "I know. You want to be a knight. A hero." She'd heard this many times over the years.
Takato sighed and wriggled to his feet. "Never going to happen," he lamented. "Never."
To Be Continued
Notes: Well, isn't this going to be a fun little romp? Updates will be daily, because I have the whole story finished.