Chapter 19 - Brown Bread and Stew
"Thank you, for your cooperation," the woman in black said peacefully.
"We didn't … cooperate … " groaned one of the men. WHACK! She kicked him hard in the head so he was completely out. Hotpie nearly pissed himself again. A person, let alone a woman, with no armor nor swords nor shields, defeated a group of men.
"Who … who are you?" squeaked Gendry. She was taller than him. Gendry had never seen a female warrior before. She looked too pretty to be a knight. He could not take his eyes off her, and neither could Ayra. The woman crossed her arms over her chest.
"Where's the second one?" said Ayra confidently. Her sword was still raised but she could not stop smiling. The woman grinned, impressed by her wit. A rustle from behind could be heard. A man approached from the trees, dressed in similar light weight attire, only his had no sleeves. He clutched a strange metal bow in his hand. Ayra feared they were after either her or Gendry. She kept her sword up.
"Who are you and what do you want?" she asked him. The man raised one eyebrow, insulted.
"How about a 'thank you' first?" he scolded her. Ayra gripped her sword harder. She had never heard his kind of accent before and found no sigil on his clothes.
"A thank you for what? How are you any different than them?" she demanded glancing at the fallen Brotherhood.
"Arri … I think if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done so already," whispered Gendry. The woman stepped forward. Only the boys backed up.
"Look, we're not from here … we just want to get our bearings," she began, "We can still talk over a meal, but if not, then continue doing … whatever it is that you were doing." One of the men on the ground moved slowly. "But I would decide quickly, before they wake up," she finished.
"Why not kill them and be done with it?" asked Ayra. The man and woman exchanged worried faces.
"What are you, like nine?" the bowman scolded.
"I'm thirteen."
"Same difference," he retorted. One of the Brotherhood began to push himself up from the ground.
Ayra put her sword away and grabbed a stick. She walked over to the man. WHACK! She hit him hard with it so he fell asleep again. The bowman raised his eyebrows surprised. Then, Ayra rummaged around the man's belt. She took a leather pouch that jangled with coins. The woman looked slightly impressed.
"You like brown bread and stew?" she said proudly holding up the money. The bowman snickered to himself. Gendry walked over to her.
"What are you doing?! Are you mad?" he hissed at her.
"You want to stay here and deal with the Brotherhood again? Besides, it's like you said, if they wanted to harm us, they would have done something by now." she said. Hotpie scooted over to them.
"What if they are part of the Brotherhood?" he asked. Ayra sneered at him.
"Why would they fight their own people?" she hissed. Gendry glared at Hotpie. Ayra sighed. "Let's figure out who they fight for, I'd rather go with them than the Brotherhood anyway." The man and woman watched them with some amusement.
"Kids … " the bowman said shaking his head.
The trio of children and two adults left the men to their own injuries. They walked onward towards a nearby inn. The bowman peered through the trees before approaching. He saw more people dressed in medieval clothes. Some had raggedy robes while others had armor. Horses and wagons delivered supplies to the inn keep that looked like a European stone cabin.
"What in the Renaissance festival is this?" muttered the bowman. The young ones looked confused.
"What's a Renaissance festival?" asked Hotpie. The bowman slowly turned towards him with a look of skepticism.
"You don't know what a Renaissance festival is?" he asked. Hotpie shook his head.
"A Renaissance?" he asked again. The three of them shook their heads. The bowman squinted his eyes at them judgmentally.
"Don't you go to school or something?" he hissed.
"What? No, we're war." snapped the girl.
"Right … " The bowman said unconvinced. He could not take this medieval stuff seriously. He'd seen LARPing before but this was insane.
"Me'Lady," said Gendry speaking up. The woman turned her red head around slowly confused, eyes wide. She pointed to herself.
"Are you talking to me?" she asked kindly.
"Y .. yes," he said shyly. Arya could practically see the rouge blush to the surface of his cheeks. She rolled her eyes hard. The woman waited for him to respond.
"Um … Me'Lady … I mean no offense … but you two might want to find something else to wear … " he finally said. The woman raised an eyebrow and glanced at her companion.
"You sort of … stand out … " he said quickly looking them up and down. Ayra elbowed him in the side.
"What do we even call you?" demanded Ayra. The man and woman continued to peer out through the trees, analyzing their surroundings.
"Clint," said the man without looking at her.
"Natasha," said the woman. Then man then turned to the three of them.
"Stay here," he said.
"What?" Ayra said confused. Before they knew it, Clint and Natasha, disappeared into the trees. Ayra, Hotpie, and Gendry leaned in to where they once stood, searching for them.
"What are they doing?" asked Hotpie. Ayra spotted Clint stealing a robe out from someone's nose, while Natasha stole some for herself. She slipped the bagging clothes over her suit so quickly covering her from toe to head, encircling her hair, it was a wonder that no one noticed. Ayra smiled. Clint's robes covered his bow so well, she wondered where it had gone. Natasha looked at him a bit concerned. The leather he choose had a hood and face covering. It was clever attire not unlike her own, but it reminded her of his previous employment. Clint made a quick whistle to the kids like a bird. Gendry turned to Ayra wide eyed, but she was too excited to notice his concern.
"I told you we should stick with them," she said heading to the dirt path so she looked less conspicuous. Hotpie and Gendry were not so sure, but they followed her regardless to the Inn.