Also Titled: Arthur Freaks Out

The river became wider and very calm as it wove through the forest valley. Soon the baby was in a land few of her kind had ever seen. After a few hours, she was deposited by the riverbank and she looked around curiously. A bird caught her attention for a few seconds, but a rustling of leaves made her look at the bank… where two tiny children were watching her. They were Nelwyns, also called little folk or small ones by others. There was a boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and bushy brows; the girl next to him had black hair and brown eyes. The boy left the girl by the baby and ran out of the trees to the small field where his father was planting crops.

"Dada, Dada!" he called as he got closer. Their father, a small Nelwyn named Arthur, had messy blonde hair and green eyes. He pulled the pig he was using to till his small field to a stop. The boy tugged on his father's hand. "Dada, we found something in the river!"

"I can't run off and play with you now, Peter, I've got work to do," his father explained.

Peter looked at him pleadingly. "You've gotta come! Hurry!"

Arthur looked at the field once before giving in. He chuckled. "All right, come on."

Peter led him back to the bank where the baby and his sister were waiting. He pulled the kids back in fright when he saw it. "Don't go near it; we don't know where it's been."

"But Dada, it's a baby," the girl, Michelle, said.

"It's not like us," Peter said. It was obvious to tell that, while the baby was small for her kind, she was rather large to be a Nelwyn babe.

Arthur nodded in agreement. "It's not a Nelwyn. It looks like a Daikini baby."

"What's a Daikini?"

"Daikinis are big. Giants who live far away." The baby gurgled and grinned at the Nelwyns.

"Aw! She's so cute," Michelle cooed.

Peter turned to his father excitedly and asked, "Dada, can we keep it?"

Arthur recoiled. "No! …We'll push it downstream and forget we ever saw it. Come on." The baby whimpered, almost as if she could understand what they were saying, and Arthur paused. Arthur wasn't cruel or unfeeling; he'd just been under a lot of stress lately because of-

"Kirkland! Arthur Kirkland!" a voice called in the distance. Speak of the devil.

Arthur hushed his children. "It's Sadiq. That's all I need..." He looked at the baby again. "Keep it quiet- and don't touch." The children nodded, and Arthur ran back to his field. He got to his pig just in time to see Sadiq walk up, followed by Arthur's wife, Francine. She was a pretty Nelwyn with curly brown hair and indigo eyes, though right now she looked more angry than pretty; with hands akimbo she addressed the older man.

"Mr. Adnan, my husband hasn't stolen anything!"

Sadiq waved her off and shoved one of his hands into Arthur's face; it was full of seeds.

"Kirkland, you still haven't paid your debts to me! Where did you get these seeds?" he demanded. Arthur gritted his teeth. Oh, how he hated being under that man's thumb!

"Well, maybe I used magic," he bluffed.

Sadiq snickered. "You're no sorcerer Kirkland, you're a clown." His face grew hard and he threw the seeds onto the ground. "I sell the planting seeds around here. Now tell me where you got them!"

Arthur pulled Francine to his side and said truthfully, "My family's been gathering them in the forest since last fall. There's no law against that, now is there?" Francine nodded proudly. A loud laugh from the riverbank caught her attention.

"Arthur! Did you leave them alone by the river?" She hurried off and left her husband to deal with Sadiq. Sadiq leaned on his cane looked at Arthur jeeringly.

"Magic? You'll need magic if you expect to get your planting done before the rains start." He shoved Arthur in the chest and continued: "I will have this land, Kirkland. And you will end up working in the mines." He turned and walked away.

Arthur straightened out his shirt before sprinting back to the riverbank. His eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw Francine holding the Daikini baby.

"Francine!"

"Oh, Arthur," she said with a laugh. Peter and Michelle peered over her shoulders at the baby and giggled. As Francine stood up and started walking slowly back to their house, Arthur decided it was time to put his foot down:

"Absolutely, under no condition whatsoever, is anyone in this family allowed to fall in love with that baby!"

Francine ignored him and the children trailed behind her. Arthur watched their retreating figures.

"I will not be ignored!"

He was still ignored.

"Michelle? Peter?" With a groan, he followed them, kicking at ferns as he went. He had a bad feeling this day was going to get even stranger.

When Arthur finally got inside his small home, Francine was already washing up the baby in the tub. "You're going to be all clean," she cooed as she gently scrubbed at the girl's soft skin with a cloth. She frowned when she noticed a strange mark on the baby's arm. Was it a birthmark? A burn? "Arthur, do you think we should take her to the village council?"

Arthur threw up his hands in despair. "No. They'll think it's a bad omen." He walked around the room gesturing wildly. "There'll be a flood or a drought and everyone will blame me for it. 'Arthur Kirkland brought that Daikini didn't he?' 'That's right he's that lousy farmer too, let's get him!'"

Francine laughed, "Arthur! Calm down, cher."

"Calm down?!" Arthur looked at her incredulously. "Francine, tomorrow's my big day."

Shaking her head, Francine reminded, "Cher, the High Aldwin hasn't picked a new apprentice in years."

"Tomorrow's going to be different; I just know he's going to pick me." Arthur knew that most people thought he was useless with magic, but he also knew he had potential, and he hoped that the High Aldwin, the village's sorcerer, would see it too.

Francine finished bathing the baby and wrapped her in a towel. The baby began crying and Francine held her out to Arthur.

"Here."

Arthur backed away quickly. "Hey, no. I don't want her, Francine."

The baby cried louder and Francine forced him to hold her. "Let me just get some milk."

Arthur grumbled as she walked away and bounced the baby gently. He looked down in surprise when the baby abruptly stopped crying and squealed in delight. Peter grinned and said, "Dada she likes you!" Arthur looked down at the baby…she really was cute. She smiled at him and Arthur felt himself smiling in return, despite his misgivings.

Yay, we get to meet that main character! If you're confused as to what Nelwyns are just think of less hairy Hobbits who still have the ability to find macguffins.

I think I'll be posting a chapter every Wednesday. I dunno, it depends on how much people review and how motivated I am to write since SCHOOL starts in two hours. That's right, I got up an hour earlier than I needed to just for you (XD Actually I'm just an early bird... and a night owl... noon isn't a good time to try and have a conversation with me).