New Chapter!
Yay!
Enjoy!
Millie sighed as she stared up at the tall statue in front of her. It showed a cloaked figure with wings. At its feet was a large slab of stone, which had the words "Millie, Guardian of Angel Falls". It was nice and all, but it looked nothing like her. According to Erin, there was at least one of these in each and every village, no matter how small.
It really looked nothing like her.
"Oi! What are you doing over there day dreaming?" a voice said behind her. She could hear a pair of footsteps approaching her. It was Ivor and his friend... Hutch? Hank?
Whoever he was, he had weird hair.
"I don't even know why Erinn is bothering with her," Ivor continued. "She won't say where she's from, her clothes are weird... I really wouldn't trust her as far as I can throw her."
"I bet Erinn is only housing her because she has the same name as the Guardian," Hugo said with a snap.
"That's probably not even her real name," Ivor said with a scoff. "I'm guessing that she's just some wandering minstrel who took on the name for a free lunch." Millie glared at him with her gold eyes. She would like to explain herself and set the record straight, but she had no proof.
"Well, just listen here!" Ivor shouted. "I won't take any funny business from you! Got that?"
"Yeah! Ivor doesn't like you," Hugo said, stating the obvious. "Especially since Erinn is giving you all her attention." Millie let out a laugh as Ivor turned red. He turned on Hugo so fast he nearly fell.
"Shut up! Why would you say that?" Ivor yelled.
"Because it's obvious," Millie muttered, just loud enough for Hugo to hear. He cracked a smile.
"Uh-oh," Ivor said as Erinn came up the steps. If she had heard anything, she wasn't letting on.
"What are you two doing?" she said, sounding furious. She didn't raise her voice, though.
"Hey, Erinn!" Ivor said, turning a darker shade of scarlet. "Uh, we weren't doing anything! Just telling Millie here about a couple of the rules in our town!"
Erinn gave him a hard look before turning to Millie with a raised eyebrow. She gave the purple-haired girl a thumbs up.
"We were just leaving anyway," Ivor said, grabbing Hugo and dragging him along. "Bye!"he shouted over his shoulder. Millie waved to Hugo, who tried to wave back while escaping the accidental headlock that he was now trapped in. Erinn sighed as she watched them go.
"Ivor has been acting so full of himself. He was never like that when he was younger," she said quietly to herself.
"Maybe it's a phase?" Millie suggested. Erinn just shook her head.
"Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're walking around," Erinn said with a bright smile that was just a little fake. "That must mean you're feeling better."
"Much, much better," Millie agreed with a nod.
"This spot reminds me of when I first found you," Erinn said. "I was so surprised. You must have fallen from the top of the waterfall during the earthquake. It's a fifteen meter drop at least."
"It was a little higher than that," Millie muttered. More like a lot higher.
"Either way, it's a lucky thing that you survived. You were on the rocks there for a little while, literally," Erinn said. She was right. Millie had hit the water and continued right to the bottom, getting a few scratches from the rocky river bed. She ended up on the beach that lined the river.
"Anyway, I'm going home. There's not much else to do at the inn," Erinn said, turning away. "Try not to over do your walk. Make sure to come to the house soon."
"Don't worry about me!" Millie said with a smile, watching her friend walk away. What a nice girl, Millie thought. No wonder she had provided so much benevolence, especially with such a pure heart.
"Dinner will take a little while!" Erinn shouted over to her from the house. "Try walking around town for a little longer! Talk to some people!"
"Alright!" Millie replied. Where to go first...? she wondered. There was a pair of women talking by the well. They seemed nice enough. As she walked closer, she could make out their conversation.
"First the earthquake, then all the monsters, and now the pass is blocked!" the first woman exclaimed. She was short and stout with a soft, pretty face. The woman next to her looked much different. She was tall and haughty with the face of a crow. She just looked angry.
"It's terrible, isn't it? I bet it's because of that girl Erinn took in," she muttered. "What was her name? Millie, or whatever? I bet she's the one who brought all this misfortune." She looked ready to go on, but she caught sight of Millie. "Oh my goodness!" she said with a nervous laugh. Millie just looked at her and continued walking, this time away from them. The pudgy woman smiled apologetically.
Millie hurried down the steps, only to be stopped by a little boy who looked like a younger copy of Hugo.
"You wear weird clothes," he said bluntly.
"Thank you?" It came out more as a question.
"Are you a minstrel?" he asked. "That's what everyone's saying."
"What do you think I am?" Millie asked him.
"I think you're a girl," he said, looking at her, "and my brother says you're nice."
"Then I guess I'm just a nice girl," Millie said. "Are you okay with that?" The boy stared at her a little longer before nodding. Before he could say anything else, the short lady from the well yelled at him. He waved and scampered off.
And Millie kept walking. She crossed the bridge and saw a young nun outside the church, sweeping away some of the dirt. She paused and looked up, smiling when she saw Millie.
"Ah! You're the one Erinn is caring for at the moment, aren't you?" the nun asked. Millie nodded. "Oh, come here, my child. Let me take a look at you." Millie obeyed and approached the nun. She look at her carefully. "It's a miracle that you weren't badly injured in that fall. To think you came out of there with only a few cuts and bruises."
Millie smiled and was about to walk away when the nun spoke again.
"Truly, you must have a Guardian watching over you," she said earnestly.
"Something like that," Millie said with a sad smile. The nun smiled and patted her back before returning to her sweeping.
Millie walked past her and towards the mayor's house. A woman with curly red hair under a red bandana was pacing in front of the house.
"Erinn is so worried about the inn," she murmured, still going back and forth. She spotted Millie and looked at her with reserved coldness. "She's been very kind to you. You better help her out, too."
"Of course!" Millie exclaimed. The woman gave her a hard look before resuming her pacing. Millie just continued into the mayor's house. It was only logical that she introduce herself to the leader of the town.
The second she stepped in, she was bombarded with shouting.
"Isn't it about time that you stop flaffing about the place and actually find yourself a job?" one voice shouted. It took Millie a second to realize that it wasn't her getting yelled at. "You should really take a page out of Erinn's book! That girl works so hard on that inn of hers!"
"What does she have to do with it?" another voice yelled. Millie peeked around the corner and spied Ivor in an argument with a balding man, probably his dad. "Besides, I'm looking for something that I'm interested in."
"Oh, really?" his dad asked.
"Yeah! And once I figure out what it is, I'll work my butt off," he declared, pausing before adding, "probably." Ivor's dad looked ready to explode, so Millie decided to interrupt.
"Hello?" she called out, stepping into the doorway. Both men spun around and looked at her. Ivor's dad composed himself first.
"You must be that minstrel that Erinn took in." It wasn't a question.
"Yes, sir," Millie said. The 'sir' seemed to make him stand up a little more.
"Well, good. I'm Mayor Litlun and this," he turned to Ivor, "is my son-"
"Ivor," Millie interrupted. "Yes, we've met already."
"Oh really?" Mayor Litlun said. "Well, if you're all healed up then I suggest you find yourself some job instead of just flaffing around."
"Of course, sir," Millie said with a smile. "It's just that, in a small village like this, there are not many established opportunities."
The mayor grunted before getting up. He turned to Ivor. "We'll finish this later," he said before walking out of the room.
"Nice guy," Millie muttered as the door slammed.
"What are you doing here?" Ivor demanded. Millie raised an eyebrow, making Ivor sigh. "I didn't want anyone to see that."
"I can see why," Millie said. He glared at her.
"Just don't tell Erinn, got it?" he yelled. Millie looked at him. "I mean, please don't tell her!"
"I've got no reason to," Millie said with a shrug. She jumped as she heard a high-pitched giggle. A little girl with long brown hair looked at Ivor with a devilish smile.
"But I do!" she sang.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ivor yelled, getting to his feet and chasing after her. "You are the worst sister!" he yelled. Millie took the sudden sibling battle as her hint to leave. She skipped out the door and down the dirt path.
"Excuse me!" a voice called. "Nice girl?" Millie stopped and turned around. There was the little kid that she was talking to earlier.
"Yes?" she inquired, walking up to him.
"Do you have a sword?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I lost it when I fell," she said bitterly. That had been a gift from her Master.
"I think Daddy found it," he said. "He sent me to ask you."
"Can you take me to him?" Millie asked excitedly. The little boy nodded and scampered into the house next to the docks. Millie followed him, pushing open the door.
"Daddy! She's here!" the little boy yelled unnecessarily.
"I can see that!" he scolded.
"Hello!" Millie greeted quietly. "A little birdie says you may have found my sword."
"Well, maybe," the man said.
"May I see it?" Millie asked.
"You need to prove that it's your sword first," the man said, taking a seat on a stool. "What does it look like?"
Millie plopped down into the chair next to him and dove into her explanation. "Well, it's bronze. All the way. Crafted out of one solid piece. It should have some metal wrapped around it's base. It acts a bit like a scabbard. Sort of. It should have a wing and a halo engraved on the bottom of the pommel."
The man nodded and smiled. "Hugo! Bring the sword!" he shouted.
"Hugo?" Millie questioned.
"Yeah. I'm his dad," the man answered. "Nice to meet you. The name's Hank, and the tiny one there is Hutch."
"Seems like I'm meeting everyone's dad," Millie muttered. "Except Erinn's."
Hank gave her a sad look. "That'd be Edwinn. I used to be a good friend of his. He's not with us anymore, unfortunately."
"That's terrible," Millie said, shocked. "What about her mother?"
"Hm? Oh, the poor thing was so fragile. She died when Erinn was young in Stornway. Then Edwinn packed up and moved here, to Angel Falls," Hank said.
"Poor Erinn," Millie muttered.
"What about you?" Hugo's voice said as he came down a ladder that led to the second story of the house.
"What about me?" Millie asked.
"I think he means your family," Hank said.
Millie pursed her lips and tilted her head from side to side. "Never really knew them," she said with a shrug. "It didn't really matter, though."
"What do you mean?" Hugo asked.
"My people don't really do that," Millie said, the word 'people' tasting weird on her tongue. "We're born, and then our elder leader takes care of us until we're deemed old enough to get a mentor." It wasn't a lie. Except the whole people part. And the part where she said born. She wasn't quite sure how that worked. She certainly wasn't going to ask Aquila. That was not a talk that she was prepared for.
"That's an interesting way of doing things," Hank admitted.
"It's weird!" Hutch exclaimed from under the table.
"Maybe it's you who is weird," Millie said, looking under the table at the little boy. He smiled and giggled before running away.
"He's pretty weird," Hugo said, finally setting the sword down on the table. Millie felt an enormous smile overcome her as she picked up the sword.
"Thank you for returning this," she said earnestly. She slung it over she shoulder, onto her back, hanging exactly where it should be. She glanced at the rapidly darkening sky. "I should probably go," she said, heading for the door.
"Of course! We'll be seeing you then!" Hank said as Millie disappeared out the door with a quick wave. She hurried back to Erinn's house.
"Hey Millie!" she greeted as the door creaked open. "I'm glad you're back! You look like you got quite a bit of exercise."
"Yeah, I met a lot of people," Millie said. "And Hugo's dad found my sword!"
"It seems like you've had quite a bit of excitement," Erinn's grandfather said.
"You seem tired," Erinn said. "How about you set the table so we can eat. Then you can pop right on to bed! Sound good?"
"Definitely," Millie said, getting out three bowls. "It smells great Erinn."
"That's probably the fish in it," Erinn said. "Go take a seat. It'll be a second longer." Millie sat in the stool across from Erinn's grandfather. He eyed her from behind the candle, his beard hiding any emotions. Millie was frankly surprised that anyone could have that much hair. Aquila would be jealous.
"May I?" Erinn's grandfather asked, holding his hand out. It took Millie a second to realize he wanted to see the sword.
"Of course," she said, pulling it off her back and handing it to him.
"Very nice," he said, turning it over in his hands. "I've never seen craftsmanship quite like this."
"My people are very unique in their ways of forging," Millie said. "I don't even know how it's done."
"Whoever gave this to you?" he asked, swinging it experimentally.
"My Master did," Millie said with a small pang. The old man caught on to it easily.
"Did something happen to your master?" he asked.
"Well, we got separated," Millie said. "I'm not sure if I'll see any of them again."
"Grandpa! Put that sword down and stop making Millie so sad!" Erinn scolded as she set down a large pot of soup. "There's plenty here, so make sure you help yourself, Millie."
Millie took her sword back and picked up a spoon to dig into her soup. It was phenomenal. So phenomenal, in fact, that they barely spoke through the meal. Once they had all finished, Erinn's grandfather took the bowls and washed up while Erinn and Millie disappeared upstairs.
Chapter done!
Yay!
Thanks,
~CatKkit.