Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 6

The Visitor

As per our agreement yesterday, Marcia wants to meet at Nikolai's forge today to wrap up the job and get my payment squared, so when I wake up the next day, I waste almost no time throwing my clothes on and half-running down the stairs. I determinedly barge through the kitchen door, and accidentally spook Ginger as I pass through. She's at the stove again, this time cooking off what smells like bacon. I'd stop and enjoy breakfast with her on any other day, but Marcia's losing business while she's waiting on me. I don't think our meeting should be too long either.

Of course, Ginger's attention is diverted a bit as I bombastically make my entrance into the kitchen, and I think I see the spatula momentarily jump out of her hand as well. She shoots me a very skeptical look once she recovers from that little shock; it's that kind of look Marcia tends to reserve for rowdy customers at her tavern. Ginger's version, I find, is much more potent, and I slow down the moment I feel her gaze fixing on me.

"You're in a rush," she remarks as she blindly flips a couple of strips in the greased pan.

"It's pay day, Ginger!" I reply, failing to curb my enthusiasm in any significant way. "Like, my first actual wage off a running job. It's exciting!"

"Is that what you're calling it? Running?" she asks back. She's still a little upset that I got the drop on her a little bit ago, but that very gradual grin creeping onto her face indicates I have the upper hand here.

"Better connotation than smuggling," I explain. "And it keeps anyone listening in on us in the dark too."

That probably isn't the right thing to say, as I can tell by Ginger's brief shiver. "Don't make me think of the military eavesdropping on us, please."

"Calm down, Ginger. They probably don't have anything that can do that anyways," I reassure her as I duck down for my pack and make for the front door. "I'll be back in a few, alright?"

Ginger glances down at the pan for a second and then back to me. "You're not going to have any breakfast first?"

I take my hand off of the doorknob and look back over at my sister. She actually looks a little sad that I'm actually planning to skip out on a meal for the time being. It's one of her gifts that I'm less than fond of; Ginger is very good at making me feel bad when she wants to.

But I don't fully succumb to the mind games quite yet. "Marcia's actually waiting to open her inn until I meet with her," I try to excuse myself. "I'm just trying to get her back as soon as I can."

At least I get a full grin out of her this time. "Alright, fair enough," she concedes. "Just get back here as soon as you can, okay? I put the bacon on just for you."

"You won't even have time to miss me," I beam back as I get ready to open the door a second time. Only instead of Ginger looking at me like a puppy wanting to be adopted, this time I'm blocked by the thought that I maybe, just maybe, might get held up at Nik's place. I'm not sure what for, maybe Cassius would decide to ruin my day again as well as Nikolai's while I'm getting my money. And if I do, there's a better chance Ginger would have to enjoy her breakfast alone for the day.

And, arguably even worse, I wouldn't get one at all. Thinking quickly, I dart back into the kitchen for a moment, hijack an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter, and then open the door and let myself out into the street, tossing the apple up and down in my hand like a ball as I casually stroll down the strip.

The weather's cooled down compared to yesterday, the sun mostly obscured by a thick grey cloud cover overhead. Occasionally a strong wind will blow and the sun will sneak a few rays through the layer, but not for any long length of time. Amongst other reasons I can imagine why Marcia wanted to see me at Nikolai's today; if you're in need of someplace warm, it's hard to contest with a blacksmith's forge.

It's also one of the less conspicuous spots to do business like this, or at least in my opinion. At the inn, there are plenty of people around, plenty of unwanted ears hearing every conversation happening in it at once. That will never do. No, for something like this, we need privacy.

That concept only becomes more and more compelling as I finish approaching the forge. Complete privacy. Without the cacophony and noise and potential spying that the inn offered. The exact opposite is what we need right now. Serene, silent, meditative...

"I said get o'er 'ere, ya lil devil!" Nikolai's voice booms from his forge again. Just once I'd love to have a talk with him that doesn't start with him yelling at the top of his lungs at someone in his forge that I can't see.

I flinch as something glass shatters from behind the thin wooden walls. "I dunno how ya got in 'ere, but I know how yer gettin' out!" the blacksmith shouts again, as I ease my way towards his front door. Casually, I slip the apple into my jacket pocket and press an ear next to the frame, curious and kind of eager to hear what all the commotion is about.

"Easy, buddy! I'm not trying to cause trouble!" a high-pitched voice I don't recognize squeaks back. "I was just cold last night and...whoa!"

"Marcia, for the Life Thread's sake, get the lead outta yer boots and do somethin'!"

"I'm trying, Nik!" the innkeeper barks back, then after a second adds, "There, I opened the window for it!"

"Great, now...ach, for the love o', what are you doin' with that broom, Marce?"

"Just trying to help!" she yells. I hear something else crash a second or two later.

"Hey, you're going to hurt someone with that thing!" the tiny voice retaliates.

"I don't care if yer hurtin' by this point or not, ya flyin' weasel!" Nikolai hollers back.

"Calm down, alright?" the voice pleads. "And I'm not a weasel either! I'm a...ack!"

"Ha! Gotcha!" Nikolai triumphantly cheers. I can hear him marching, thumping his way towards the front door now, and I take a step back to give him room.

"Ow, ow, owowow! Not by the ears!" the voice cries out as Nikolai shows it to the door. "Those things are sensitive, you know!"

"Oh, I'll show ya a few things 'bout sensitivity once I'm through with you," Nikolai growls as his door wildly swings open to the outside. I can't see Nikolai with the door in my way, but he's probably in the doorway, forcibly yanking along whoever the intruder is.

"Now get outta my house!" he booms again. Only instead of someone getting shoved out the door by the frustrated smith, a screaming orange and white blur flies out the door, zipping past me at about eye level. Stupefied, I can only watch as it soars across the street and crashes into a fully-stocked vegetable cart on the other side. The impact isn't nearly enough to displace the cart itself, but it does upset a few cabbages as they roll over and onto the ground.

I cringe a bit as the creature falls to the ground shortly after, its feet slumped over its head as it tries to recover from its daze. Even if they aren't the right words for it, whatever Nikolai just threw out of his abode definitely looks like a flying weasel. It can't be any more than a couple of feet high, and its fur is mostly orange, with a white underbelly, paws and face. In contrast, its ears are a little longer and a bit more pronounced than any common ferret's would be, and I also notice the two batlike wings on its back, both of which are currently pinned down by their stunned owner.

Its eyes are still shut tight, probably as it tried to recuperate from the pain. I'd lean past the door to ask Nikolai what in the world just happened, but he yanks it closed in frustration before I get a chance to. Which actually confuses me a little more, come to think of it. Whatever's lying against the cart right now has to be a pet of some sort, right? Then who was Nikolai yelling at, and why would he throw the weasel out and not its owner?

I'd have to ask him later. In the meantime, I can't help but feel a little sorry for the creature, as it puts a paw to its head and starts gently rubbing it.

I turn to the closed door momentarily, but for some reason I can't get myself to move to it at the moment. At least not with the weasel there essentially licking its wounds. I can hear Ginger yelling at me now, actually. You get right back out there and patch that thing up, Jin! she'd probably say. Whatever just got tossed out of Nikolai's door is small, cute, and fuzzy. All of which are things Ginger absolutely loves.

So, in an effort to earn karma with my sister, and mostly at the lack of a better explanation, I turn on my foot to the cart and walk over to the weasel. Just to see how it's doing.

It's still rubbing its head, trying to recover from the fling by the time I get to it. "You alright?" I ask, like it's capable of answering.

The weasel slowly creaks its eyes open, a bright but deep emerald green in hue, and nods slightly back. "Head still hurts, but fine apart from that," it replies, to my shock.

I try to keep calm and avoid exclaiming to the world that it knows how to speak. Though I'm pretty sure my face betrays my composure either way. "You can talk?"

She - I'm guessing it's a girl from the voice - looks back at me skeptically, like I missed the daily newspaper or something. "Well, yeah!" she spritely responds. "You've never seen a nimbat before?"

"Is that what you're called?" I continue to ask questions, completely befuddled and amazed by just the fact I'm talking to something that isn't a Warm or Moonblood.

The nimbat rolls herself over onto her stomach and tinkers with her wings for a second, probably checking for damage. "Yep! We kinda like to keep to ourselves though. You know, introverts."

I raise an eyebrow curiously. "You must not be from around here. I think I would've bumped into you before if I have."

She shakes her head no and starts flapping the wings on her back. She's able to get herself off the ground after a second and brings herself to a hover just in front of me. "My clan lives to the south. Near Abadis Forest, if you've heard of it?"

"Yeah, right next to Denham, right?"

"That's it," she confirms. "I'm just up here on...well, I'm just kind of exploring."

That gets a small grin out of me. "You're really out of your way then."

"Yeah, and let me tell you, the whole trip's just been one huge disaster! It's the cold season, so nothing's growing for food. There's a ton of avees and wolves prowling around out to get me," she grieves as she shoots a glare at Nikolai's front door. "And the second I find someplace safe and warm for the night, I get thrown into a vegetable stand!" she yells, hoping Nikolai's still within shouting distance through the wall.

I feel blood rush to my face, though I'm not really sure why I should feel embarrassed for something I didn't really have a part of. "Yeah, Nikolai's just one of those people you don't want to get angry."

"You know that crazy galoot?" the nimbat inquires, still a little miffed about the incident.

"He's a nice guy when you get to know him," I continue to defend. "Look, I'm sure he's just as upset as you are, so why don't I head inside and talk to him for you? Let him know you're okay and that maybe he overreacted?"

"Maybe?" she dubiously repeats.

Bad choice of words on my part. "Okay, he did overreact a little. Somewhat. A lot. Too much."

"But...yeah," she cautiously accepts. "Would you do that for me?"

I grin back at her. "Sure. You need anything else?"

She's about to make a reply, but a loud growl coming from somewhere near her midsection forces her to double over reflexively. "Well, I haven't had anything to eat yet, for one," she explains. "You wouldn't know where the nearest fruit tree is, would you?"

I waste no time digging my apple out of my pocket and tossing it to the nimbat underhanded. Its initial trajectory puts it short of her position, but she quickly swoops down and catches it with both hands.

"Why don't you just take that for now and take it easy for a bit," I tell her. "I'll go talk to Nik in the meantime, alright?"

She blinks a couple times before she answers. "So not only are you going to yell at the guy who just threw me like a shot put, but you're also giving me a free breakfast?" she recaps.

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

She peers down at the glossy red sheen of the fruit for a second, then glances back up at me. "You're way too nice to people," she complains.

Well, most people. "I aim to please," I return as I turn back to the forge's front door.

I stop myself about halfway, and look back over at the nimbat, who's about ready to take the first bite out of the fruit. "Hey, what should I call you, by the way?"

She stops with her mouth open and looks at me curiously, almost affectionately in a way. "Um, Fidget," she says after a small pause. "My name's Fidget."

I give her another smile over my shoulder. "Alright, Fidget. I'll let him know what you have to say." And at that, I give her a small wave and head back to the forge.

Right before I turn the knob to enter, I turn around once again to check on the nimbat. She's taken a seat on the cart's awning, still holding the apple with two hands as she went to work on it. I'm sure Fidget would have asked for my name as well, but right now she's too busy munching away on her breakfast, cheerfully enjoying every bite as it came to her.

I laugh a bit to myself, amusedly, and push open the front door, secretly wondering what she's really doing up here.

"I don't bloody care. She still broke into my house, and I dealt with it as such," Nikolai steadfastly continues to argue.

"Look, Nik, all she needed was a place for the night. And wasn't like that furnace of yours was being used that late anyways."

Nikolai blinks at me, almost stunned. "Was that what she was on 'bout earlier? She just needed a place to rest?"

"And when you wouldn't listen, you threw her fifty feet into a vegetable stand," I blankly point out. "I think you're lucky she didn't break anything."

The stand's owner must have just come back from his break or something, because a horrified yell of "My cabbages!" leaked its way through the forge's walls. Fidget must have taken off by this point as well; I would probably hear her arguing with the vendor over her liability in the matter if she was still there.

Nikolai glances at his front door from where he's seated, like he can see through it and to where he had flung the nimbat. After a small second, he turns back to me, sitting across from him at the medium sized rectangular table, then over to Marcia on his left, and puffs out some air with reluctant concession. "Aight, fine. I mighta o'erdone it a tad," he admits. "You know where she is right now?"

"She's probably out of the village limits by now," I speculate. "I think she'll be back at some point."

"Good," the blacksmith sighs. "She coulda at least woke me up and said she'd be stayin' the night."

"Well, in your defense, she still snuck into your house," Marcia states.

"Aye, she did," Nikolai agrees. "But I'm not that 'eartless. I'd o' gladly let her stay if she let me know she needed a spot."

That sounds more like the Nikolai Ginger and I grew up with. "She'll appreciate hearing that. I'll let you know when I see her again?"

"Aye, and if she needs a place ta rest again, let her know she's welcome ta come back."

He glances over at Marcia as well, a jocular grin formulating on his face. "And that the crazy broom lady's gone as well," he appends.

"Hey!"

"Yer out one vase ta me now, by the way."

"Who puts vases inside blacksmith forges in the first place?" she snaps back.

A very valid question, but probably not what we're here for. "Uh, Marce?" I say. "You want to square off before Roscoe gets swarmed again?"

She snaps to attention and her hand immediately goes to her belt. "Uh, right. Good idea," she corrects herself as she wrestles loose a coin purse.

I reach a hand into my jacket pocket and slide out a small scrap of paper from yesterday. Sereth had used it as an impromptu receipt, and I thought it'd be good form to bring it today, just to prove I did the job. I press it to the table and slide to Marcia.

She's recounting the money in the bag, but she shoots me a look of approval out of the corner of her eyes. "Covering all your bases, aren't you?"

"Just showing I didn't run back to the house and throw a party with Ginger," I reply. "Make sure that goes in a safe spot, alright?"

"Always do," Marcia nods as she ties the bag off and tosses it in front of me, the coins clinking onto the table as they land. "Sixty by ten makes six hundred, if my math is right."

"Certainly is," I happily confirm as I swing my backpack around and open it up. "Thanks again, Marcia!"

She seems satisfied as well, always a nice feeling when wrapping up business, and stands up from the table. "I'll let you know if I need anything else run later on, okay?"

Funny you should say that, I mentally reply. Physically I clear my throat and say, "Actually, Fuse wants us to take it easy on the visits for now."

"What?" Marcia interjects.

"It's 'cause of that blasted army camp, isn't it?" Nikolai speculates.

"Pretty much," I answer. "And until we can find a workaround, I think we need to postpone any more runs to there unless we have to."

Marcia frowns. "What if they hit a shortage? Then as soon as they're found by Cassius then..."

She goes quiet midway through her sentence. She knows how the rest of it ends. She glances down at the receipt for a moment, then walks over to the corner of the forge, where a black furnace is roaring with life. She flicks open the grill, peers at the paper one final time, along with the bright red cinders and dancing orange-yellow flames inside the furnace. And then, after one small sigh, she casually tosses it into the flames.

"Can't let them see me with that," she softly tells herself as she snaps the grill shut. Between the venting slots, I can see the edges of the paper curl up and shift from its normal tan color to a burnt brown to a crisp black as the fire consumes it.

Marcia looks back up and me and Nikolai. "We're really in the thick of it now, aren't we?"

Nikolai adjusts himself in his chair and turns over his shoulder at the innkeeper. "Hey, don't worry too much 'bout it, aight?" he responds, hesitantly grinning from the corner of his mouth. His tone is still concerned, a lot like Marcia's, but he's still shooting for at least a little bit of optimism. "Jin said it himself, we just need ta find an alternate route is all."

"I'll do a little exploring later today and let you know what I find, okay?" I follow up.

With no noise, Marcia almost unnoticeably nods, and then points at the door to the forge. "I...think I need to go help Roscoe," she tells us as she marches over to the door and solemnly, almost helplessly shows herself out. Nikolai looks like he wants to say something more to her, but can't get it out before she goes out the door and secures it behind her.

"What's up with her?" I ask. I feel like I have something to do with this, though I'm not entirely certain what.

Nikolai is still smiling for some reason. "She'll cheer up in a bit," he responds. "I'm thinkin' she already has a lot on her mind for the moment."

"You think I should have kept quiet about..."

"Absolutely not," Nikolai interrupts. "She needs ta know what's goin' on with the camp just as badly as the rest of us do."

He glances over back at the door, like Marcia is still there for some reason. "Her 'eart's in the right spot. As soon as we find a way 'round that camp, we'll be sittin' pretty and she'll perk right back up."

I put a hand to my head, resting my chin on the palm and my first two fingers against the side. "I'll get right to work on that, then."

Nikolai scoots his chair out and stands up. "And I think I'll get back ta work myself, actually," he informs me as he turns to the forge's furnace and reaches for the chain lever dangling above him. He yanks on it with force, and a deep, rumbling fwoom emanates from inside the furnace as the bellows shoots fresh air into it.

I watch and listen Nikolai rework his furnace for a few minutes, until he peeks over his shoulder and notices I'm still at the table.

"Yer still 'ere?" he inquires with slight confusion. "Thought you'd be off scoutin' by this point."

I thought I would too, in all honesty. But I still have something on my mind. Something that's been there ever since the parents left. And I can't get myself to leave Nikolai's with it still picking at me.

"Nik, can I ask another favor from you?" I say to him.

"Why can't you?" Nikolai invites. He adjusts the black, fingerless leather glove on his hand as he moves over to a stack of iron bars in the corner of the forge.

"I want you to teach me how to swordfight," I immediately reply, without any hesitation, like I'm going to miss some sort of window in the conversation.

The blacksmith laughs a bit as he arranges a small pyramidal stack of bars and picks them up. "That's the favor, eh? Just a couple o' sword fightin' lessons?"

"Whatever you know, yeah."

"Well I'm no captain o' the watch, but I can show you a few things 'bout it," the blacksmith assures me as he sets the stack down next to the furnace. "Why the sudden interest, Jin?"

I'm about to give my answer, until Nikolai catches himself and gives one for me. "Nope, never mind! I promised ya! When I gifted you that short sword, right? How she holdin' up?"

"She's been doing great," I respond, and then notice posthumously that Nikolai's vocabulary is slowly starting to infiltrate mine. "But that's not why I'm asking."

Nikolai gives me a crooked look of confusion from over his shoulder. "Oh? Then what for?"

I close my eyes and dry swallow, hoping what I'm about to say doesn't put Nikolai right off the idea altogether.

"Jin? Y'alright?"

I clear my throat and glare back up at him. "I want to be able to defend Ginger if Cassius attacks."