Chapter 9:
Muadhnait/Mai:
The next morning, we docked at Taren Island where we would go to Ratta.
"Woah," Aida and I muttered, "It's so... pretty..."
"The camp shouldn't be too far," Faelern informed us.
Aida started to walk ahead of both Faelern and I, sending a wink in my direction. I just smiled in amusement as Faelern turned towards me.
"Are you alright? You fought in the captain's cabin."
"I'm fine, I can take care of myself."
"I'm here to protect Aida, but you as well," Faelern said firmly, "You can't just go around fighting carelessly."
"I wouldn't call saving the Captain careless," I pointed out, "I saved someone and that's all that matters."
"And if you lose your own life in the process?"
"Then I lost my life in the process," I said with a shrug, "Life doesn't really end here, does it? I don't think so. If I die then I was meant to die. Granted, I still won't go down without a fight though."
I gave a chuckle, but Faelern wasn't amused. He was looking at me in concern and I quickly hurried to catch up to Aida.
"I'm sorry," a guy with animal ears greeted us, "but we're not taking visitors."
"We were told that the Lith are welcoming, were we misinformed," I asked.
"I'm sorry, but one of our own is going through the Ileth trails. Until the matter is resolved we can't welcome any outsiders."
"-She has no where else to go," a voice said.
I thought for a moment. Was it possible that this was the village that Zander went to? I wasn't too sure, but it was a Lith village, so it was a possibility it really was his voice I was hearing. Sure enough, the figure that was arguing with the chief was Zander and as soon as the chief was gone, he spotted us.
"Mai," he greeted, "What are you doing here? Is there something-"
He stopped. He stared at Aida.
"Aida," he whispered, "Are you..."
He hugged her tightly and burrowed his face into her neck. She was shocked, but I could tell she was happy. However, since they did get together, it looked like I was going to have to eat a cake since I forgot to do that before... As soon as they released each other, Aida gave a wave,
"'Sup?"
I covered my laugh with my hand and Faelern looked at me curiously.
"Who is he," he asked, "He is a Moon Elf. They are not very welcoming nor are their kind."
"You don't like moon elves, do you?"
"No. They are cruel."
"Most are, but keep in mind, not to judge a whole species by the actions of a few," I chirped, "If you think a whole species is bad than you'll miss out on the good ones of the species and therefore miss out on gaining not only a good friend, but an ally."
"That is very wise, Nameless."
"Thanks, it's something my father taught me," I mused, granted it was about our own species.
I watched as Zander and Aida headed into the tent to talk after Aida gave instructions to Faelern to not scare the kids. I laughed slightly.
"What is so amusing, Nameless?"
"Nothing," I said cheekily, "But just the idea of you with kids... I don't think you'd scare them off."
He didn't seem like he knew what to say so he just nodded as he stood by the hut as a guard. I, however, ventured off.
"We don't really get visitors," a little kid with bunny ears said.
The kid looked like she was maybe six years old. It was because of her that I got noticed by the other kids that ranged from the years three to eight, I would have guessed.
"Mai," I said with a smile.
"Play," one of the kids asked.
"Sure."
With that, when Aida and Zander emerged from the hut, they saw me on the ground being tackled by a lot of kids. The chief stood by looking amused. Faelern raised an eyebrow.
"You are good with kids, Nameless."
"I love kids," I said as I stood up, the kids protesting slightly, "Sorry."
I turned to the kids,
"I promise, next time I come by, we'll play, okay?"
"Okay," they all chirped.
I went to stand by Faelern, who looked like he was remembering something from the past. I didn't bug him about it as the Chief suddenly started to talk about the little ten-year-old Lith, Seena. I watched in amusement as Aida called the Ohna guy out on all the bull crap about the Liths being good spirited when they were kicking out a kid for slapping someone.
"I have to agree with Aida," I pitched in, "She's just a little kid."
I had to make myself say the word little since I almost said 'wee' instead. I needed to work on my accent more after all. If I got rid of the accent then there were would be fewer questions. After the chief made a deal with Zander- in exchange for Seena's safety in Ildis, the chief gave his journals to Aida about the Old Kindom. Then a heart-felt goodbye later (two actually- one by the chief to his daughter and the other by the kids of the village to me), we were on our way to Ildis. It didn't take long before Seena was pestering Faelern with questions before we even boarded the boat.
"It looks like you made a new friend," I joked as I stood beside him.
"I don't understand. She is too small to be a friend, is she not? By what purpose did you think she was my friend?"
"Seena not friend," the ten-year-old asked tearfully.
I glared at Faelern,
"You made her cry."
Ignoring what ever argument he might have put up, I went over to Seena,
"It's okay, lass," I said, my accent slipping through slightly, "You're my friend, alright? We can even be best friends..."
"Best friends," the girl sniffled, then smiled, "Yay! Seena never had a best friend before."
"Well, you do now, kid," I smiled and she motioned for my hand.
With her hanging onto my hand, we boarded the boat together as Faelern followed us with a frown.