Rin II
For one who had spent their entire life, more than twenty years of it, in a world where time is a resource to be measured and divided into the tiniest possible parts, the current situation was a massive switch up.
Village life was slow. People went to bed early, and got up even earlier. There were no real ways of telling the time. No clocks to speak of. Perhaps such devices existed in cathedrals and manors, but in hovels and huts and houses built by strong calloused hands, they were but an unreachable and unnecessary luxury.
Time passed slowly. With nothing to do, no dopamine sources, no enemies to fight, and only a crazy old woman to make conversation with, Rin found herself sinking deep into her thoughts and into her memories.
She didn't like it.
Introspection wasn't something that naturally came to her. Looking inwards could be and often was, a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. Forced to remember your flaws, your mistakes, your failures and lost relationships and squandered opportunities.
Was it all worth it?
That was what Rin asked herself.
It was sometime during midday. Rin's leg had, miraculously, mostly recovered. She could walk comfortably for a bit, though the pain flared up. Whatever it was that the old woman put in that disgusting smelly paste, seemed to work. However, her leg still hurt if she used it more than necessary, and Rin had an inkling that running, climbing, jumping or kicking would be unadvised. Thus, she rested. She rested, and waited, and stared.
Riku was off in the village doing who knows what. Talking to people, doing work, being generally useful. Jan was much the same, and he tried copying Riku like he was an older brother. The boy was also incredibly curious about their origins, and Riku obliged him up to a degree.
It took a late-night conversation between the two to establish a simple ground rule they would not break.
They wouldn't mention Earth or Yggdrasil, and they'd be as vague as possible regarding their origins and connections unless forced to reveal the truth or unless speaking to someone they genuinely trusted.
Riku had dropped a gem of wisdom on the first day after Rin's treatment.
The conversation went like this, somewhat.
"I reek. I need a bath, a real bath, but it's probably impossible." Rin stated after smelling her leg.
"Why?" Riku replied.
"We're probably the only ones in this stinking shitpile of a village that even know what soap is."
"Yes… but we may find soap somewhere."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well… didn't ancient cultures invent soap all across the world? They used different things but it was still soap."
"True. You're smarter than you look."
"Thanks Rin. You're always so kind."
"Don't mention it. But one thing I am not expecting to find anytime soon is an actual shower. Baths may be what we have to get used to. Unless we invent showers somehow."
"Eh, maybe someone brought the knowledge of showers here?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if we aren't the only ones who got transported, then we may find bits and pieces of things invented and what not. We don't know that we're the only ones who got transported, you know? Anything could happen."
This of course spawned a longer debate in which they talked about quite a lot of things in particular, but the idea that they weren't the only people from Earth to come here was supported by the existence of the word 'Amen' after a prayer. Beyond that, there was no conclusive proof supporting or disproving this theory of theirs, but the idea had rooted in their minds now, and they would be on the lookout for signs. Perhaps they'd even find other Yggdrasil Players, and could band together.
'Apes together strong', and all that.
The important bit was, to keep their mouths shut regarding their origins unless they found someone they suspected to know more than the average Joe.
Ever since that conversation, Rin had been using her brain more than a recovering patient should.
One thought that constantly came unbidden to her mind was what her family would say or do if they knew where she was.
Rin felt ashamed. There was a part of her that told her she shouldn't. That it wasn't her fault.
Another part told her that her family's financial ruin was all but assured.
Rin spent years studying at a university, using money that could've been used for other purposes, and now all that time and money was washed down the drain.
She could never support her mother, her father, and her younger brother.
She would never see them again.
She'd never stand up on that podium and receive her degree.
She'd never again hear her mother say 'I love you'.
She'd never again hear her father say 'I'm proud of you'.
She'd lost her family, and she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.
And all because she wanted to play a game instead of study.
Was it worth it?
What if? What if? What if?
She didn't know.
Many such questions swam in her mind. Riku would probably be fine had he come here alone. But she wouldn't. She'd probably make some mistake and piss off a powerful person eventually and meet an ignoble end. And there'd be no one left to remember her, no one left to mourn on her grave.
She was dependent upon someone who, although she was growing somewhat fond of, was basically a child.
It was not a feeling she enjoyed.
She forced herself up from her bed and slowly but surely, walked outside into the woman's garden. There Frenja was hunched over some plant and was digging. Rin didn't know what, and she didn't care. Herbology didn't interest her. She could help, however.
"Need help?" Rin asked the old woman.
"I am thirsty, and could use some cold water."
Rin nodded and looked around the garden until she found a bucket resting a few feet away.
Using [Mage Hand] she had the bucket float over to her position. Afterwards, she grabbed the bucket and peeked inside. The bucket was half-full. Rin dipped a finger within and found the water was lukewarm.
She put the bucket a bit further away, though she still held it with her left hand, and with her right, she extended an index finger and pointed it towards the water in the bucket.
"[Ray Of Frost]." She said as she cast the spell and canceled it just as quickly. It lasted for but a fraction of a second.
But the results were undeniable.
A small ray of frost, colored whitish-blue, had shot out of her finger, struck the water in the bucket, and frozen the middle of the water, creating a snowflake pattern across the ice that was surrounded by cold water.
The ray of frost had to last for only a short time. If it lasted longer, the entire bucket would freeze over, or explode, due to the water expanding.
Thus, Rin learned a bit more about spell timing.
In fact, she gained some nuance to her spell casting in these few rest days.
Rin wordlessly handed the bucket over back to Frenja, and then sat down on a nearby log.
"Thank you." The old woman said and then proceeded to drink some ice cold water by using some sort of smaller wooden cup and taking water from the bucket with it.
Rin was surprised the old woman didn't just dip her head inside the bucket and start drinking from it like a dog.
Was it too… classist? Racist? To look at these people as all the same? She didn't know, but it was perhaps a problem.
Another problem was just how sweaty she was becoming because of the weather and clothes.
Riku told her that high-level equipment would ensure them to be always clean, comfortable, and rested. And that even food, sleep and water could become unnecessary with the right magic items.
That was a long way away.
For now, Rin was cursed to suffer here, on this earth, because of inferior clothing.
Rin had to resort to wearing peasant clothes, and put her Mage Robes back in her inventory. The Mage Robes were somewhat damaged, and needed repairs.
The peasant clothes were damaged, that is to say, stitched and repaired, and clearly old, but they were healthier.
However, they were uncomfortable. They chafed. They itched. The fabric was not enjoyable. The fabric was heavy. She was sweaty.
Peasant clothes were, as Riku would put it, dogwater.
He wore his without issue though. Stiff upper lip and all that. Jackass.
Suffice it to say, they were in the same spot. Both of them wore clothes that once belonged to Frenja's children or grandchildren.
It bothered Rin. Why was this old woman so kind? Especially since Riku and Rin hadn't done anything to earn such gratitude, such treatment, from a stranger.
So, right then and there, Rin gathered her courage. Then, she asked the old woman why she showed such kindness towards them.
"The truth? The truth about why I helped you?"
"Yes. That's all I want. I am uncomfortable with being indebted to someone."
The old woman looked lost in thought for a while.
"Do you know how many children I've had?"
How could she?
"No."
"Everyone thinks it's six. But the truth is that it's seven."
Rin didn't understand, but she went along with it.
"Okay…"
"When I was six and ten summers old, I went to the city. You know the one, Re-Grawe. The one the Count rules. The one you're heading off to. The place where you're going to die."
"You seem so certain of my death."
"I've seen too many young women die in that cesspool. But I digress. I left for the city when I was young. It was to flee an arranged marriage to the local blacksmith's son."
"Why did you do that?"
"I was young and foolish. The blacksmith's son was tall and strong. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he wasn't ugly. He was a good worker, he was good at his craft, he was well-spoken, as much as one can be here, and he never got into trouble. He just focused on his craft and worked."
Rin stared.
"In other words. He was boring. He was a boring man. All he cared about was work, and I thought that if I spent my life with him, I'd eventually kill myself out of sheer boredom. And I didn't want to life my life here, in this village, chained up in a loveless marriage to a bore. So, I ran away from home, to the city."
Rin remained silent.
"And there I met a man. A charming young man, almost as if forged by the heavens themselves. He was beautiful, in an almost unreal way. Long golden flowing locks, shimmering eyes, pale skin. He used to sing to me. He was a bard by trade. I fell in love instantly."
Rin knew what was going on here. She figured it out already. She knew how this story would end.
"We had a plan. I'd work as a barmaid, and he'd sing. Together we'd scrounge together enough money to open our own business. But alas, it wasn't to be. One day, he just disappeared."
And there it was.
"And by that time, I was already with child. And of course, I wasn't the only one. The bastard had left presents with a few other girls as well."
"So… you had a bastard, is that it? Big deal. Happens all the time."
"Perhaps where you're from, but here, it's a mark of shame. Bastardry is not looked upon fondly, especially among the common folk. And that's just on the child. For the mother, they are looked upon as pure scum."
"You have no one to blame but yourself, you know. No one forced you to sleep with this gigolo." Rin retorted, as she found the woman's self-pity disingenuous.
"True." The woman confessed.
"And if you had chosen a proper lover, he would not have left you. Again, for having a fatherless child, you have no one to blame but yourself." Rin continued to chide her.
"True." The woman confessed again.
Silence reigned for a few breaths.
"So what's the catch?" Rin asked.
"I could not take care of the child, my daughter, my first born daughter. Not by myself, not alone in the city. I was young and foolish and… I made a choice. I… gave my daughter to the Temples. They would raise her. Give her a better life, an education, a roof over her head and food in her belly. And best of all, they wouldn't care that she was a bastard. She could have a purpose there. She would have a life there."
Rin absorbed the information, but found herself strangely detached.
'Perhaps it's my origin… but this isn't a sad story. This is rather basic. Abandoned fatherless and then motherless child? Please, this happens all the time back on Earth. You can measure a city's prosperity by street orphans per square kilometer.' Rin thought to herself.
"So you gave your daughter away." Rin stated.
"I gave her away. I told myself I was doing the right thing." The woman repeated.
She had taken a pause, and then continued speaking again after the span of a few breaths.
"Of course. I didn't tell anyone. I was too ashamed. So I just went back home, and married the blacksmith's son. The man who would go on to become my husband, and the father of six of my children. And I never told anyone. Not my husband, not my sons, not my daughters. No one, but you. Why?" Frenja asked.
It was obvious wasn't it.
"Because I am a stranger. Because I do not actually care about your secret. And because it has been so long that you no longer care about many of the things you once cared about, like a father's approval and a village's scorn." Rin replied.
A small smile, sprinkled with old pain spread across the old woman's face.
"True. At any rate, I think you asked me a question. Why did I help you, and Riku? Well… to put this long story short, Jan's father, Michai, was my daughter's son. Jan is my great-grandson."
Rin raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
"How can you be certain?" She asked.
"One of the priestesses in the Temple where I delivered my daughter was a friend of mine. She told me when my daughter got married to a farmer from here. I even attended the wedding, though I didn't have the courage to tell my daughter who I was."
'How fascinating. Peasant lore. I thought everyone in this village was inbred, and I was only half right.'
"So… this confession. It's all just a way for you to express your gratitude towards us for exterminating the monster that killed your grandson."
The woman nodded.
"Well… I suppose it makes sense."
She got back to digging the dirt with her metal tool.
"And you also want us to take the boy with us when we leave, correct?" Rin shot out the question while the woman was pretending to try to work.
"...yes. I want more for him than what this place can offer."
Rin thought for a while. For a long while. It may have been a minute long. A minute filled with silence.
"Right now… if we take him, there is a very good chance he will get injured or possibly die. But in the future, once me and Riku become a bit stronger, we will see about coming back here and taking the boy with us. But again, I make no promises."
The woman turned around and smiled.
"I suppose that's the best I can expect. Thank you, golden girl."
This conversation was filled with too much emotion for Rin's comfort.
"The weather is way too hot, and I can't stand it outside. I'm going to bed. Wake me up when Riku comes back." Rin informed the old woman and walked back inside, where she tried to force herself to fall asleep and have a deep and dreamless sleep, but instead, all she had were nightmares of abandonment.
Her dreams were more akin to nightmares, and the waking world's embrace was not gentle.
Forcefully, she was woken up by shouting and shaking.
There were noises.
When Rin opened her eyes she saw two jade-like irises staring at her with a mixture of fear and concern. They were somewhat muddied, and the capillaries were visible. Beneath the eyes, Rin could see filth of some kind. Dirt, or perhaps dried blood?
"Wake up!"
The voice compelled her.
It took her a fraction of a second to fully come to consciousness until she realized what was going on.
"Riku? What? Why'd you wake me up?" Rin protested. She didn't know how long she slept, but it must have been more than a short nap based on how drowsy she was. She knew the body completed a sleep cycle every 90 to 110 minutes, and waking up after one was completed was optimal, but waking up in the middle of one would make one feel groggy.
Rin also noticed that Riku was very sweaty, and that the light level was far lower than it should be, which meant that she probably slept more than 90 minutes. It would've been good if she had some sort of alarm clock or watch to tell the time but… that was not possible at the moment. At any rate, she was up, Riku had woken her up, and for a good reason. Probably.
"We need to leave. Now." Riku said firmly.
"I… I don't understand." The grogginess was still there.
"The village. It's not safe. It's under attack." Riku replied with urgency.
It was then that Rin blinked twice and noticed the bits of dried blood here and there across Riku's cream-colored linen shirt. Dried, but still somewhat fresh. Based off the disgusting scent.
'Under attack? What the hell is going on? Why can't I just have one day when everything goes alright? God must be a cruel playwright.'
"What? Give me more than a few words, damn you."
Riku exhaled with more than a hint of frustration.
"The bugs? You remember the bugs? In the swamp? Those fuckers? The small ones?" Riku explained as if he were talking to a child.
Rin nodded.
"They've attacked the village. And the big ones, the one we had to prepare to kill… there's half a dozen of those. Inside the village." Riku stated calmly.
The words entered her ear, but they merely passed through her skull like water through a sieve.
The information was being processed by Rin's brain.
She was silent.
It was still being processed.
Then it hit her.
"What the fuck?" Was the only thing she managed to blurt out.
Riku nodded with concern.
"How?" Was the next thing she said.
"I… I have no idea. I was in the village square, talking to some of the locals…talking to them about this and that, learning about the village and city and kingdom…one of them tried to marry me to his daughter if I could beat him in an arm-wrestle…doesn't matter. They, they came out of nowhere. I… I fought. I killed more than a few of the fuckers…" Riku explained, then paused for a bit as if to catch his breath, then continued.
"It was the noise… the disgusting, horrible noise. So many of them… But they took up arms, valiantly, they fought with pickaxes and hoes and shovels and axes and sticks. A lot of em died but we ended up holding the line for a while. Then we set up some sort of barricade using chairs and haystacks and things you could find here and there. Just basic cover. But it didn't help that much. The waves were unending."
Riku scratched his hair furiously with visible anger.
"It almost seemed as if they were testing our strength. Sending more and more of the disgusting bugs with each wave. They're small… but annoying, and they can fly around. They'd probably cause trouble for better trained enemies, but peasant men and women were on a timer. Each wave claimed more and more lives. We could not hold, not for long, it was obvious. Minutes felt like hours and eventually even I felt exhausted."
Rin remained silent, as she listened attentively to Riku's recount.
"I debated running to you to wake you up, to get you to help, but I realized if I left these people alone, they'd die within half a minute. I was the heaviest hitter. So I sent one of the villagers on a horse to ride to you and bring you here."
Riku scratched his cheek beneath his eye, then looked at his dirty fingers that he used to scratch his cheek. They were filthy and the nails had blood and dirt on and beneath them. He didn't seem to notice.
"One of the fliers flew right over us and stabbed the rider in the eye. He dropped dead and the horse ran away, until it got killed a few seconds later. Everywhere I looked, people died. It was so… you don't expect it to smell like that, you know? Not just the blood, but the shit as well? Men shit themselves when they die. Who knew? Not me, that's for certain."
The random comment threw Rin for a loop.
"Did you know that?" He asked her suddenly.
Rin was confused for a second and merely stared at Riku's eyes.
There was so much pain within… it was as if they shone just a bit less brightly than they did this morning.
"It's…been known to happen." She replied automatically.
"Huh." Riku nodded, then he began to rotate his left wrist. He probably sprained it or sustained an injury of some kind on it.
"Anyways, things simmered down for a bit. Then the big one showed up. I thought for a second I could take it alone. But nope. Another one showed up. It just walked in out of nowhere. Then the third. Then the fourth. The fifth. The sixth. There may have been more but… I didn't stick around to count. One of the villagers, a man a few years older than me, probably late twenties, pulled me to the side before the slaughter began anew. He told me to get away. He told me that we need to bring word of what happened here to the nearest city, to prepare the defenses. He told me that I need to live, to tell people what happened."
Riku fell silent. Rin took this as a prompt to speak up.
"What'd you tell him?" She asked.
"I asked him a question. 'What about the village? What about you?'"
He sniffed his nose and then wiped it away.
"He just pointed around me. 'That is my niece. That is my friend. That is my cousin. They are all dead. Look around you. Taewe is already dead and lost. Go. Now, and make sure we are not forgotten. I will buy you some time.' That is what he said."
Rin noticed a hint of shame on Riku's features.
'Why did this happen? These people didn't deserve to die like this.'
"And I did what he said. I ran. Killed a few of the flying fuckers on my way here. One of the big ones tried to ambush me, but I just broke one of its knees with my shield and ran past it and came here. The damn shield got stuck in its carapace. And I kept running. I was so out of breath… I'm so tired… but I made it here. First thing I did was burst in here and wake you up. And now here we are. And like I said, we need to leave. Now."
Rin nodded furiously and then stood up. Her leg was, mostly, recovered, and she could walk. Running might be difficult but… At least she could kill things from range before they got to her. That would have to suffice.
"Right. Got it. Let's go." She replied and took a look down towards her white and brown dress.
'The Mage Robes would be better in combat but… it'd take time to change them, and they're damaged to boot. No… it'll have to be this. But damn, I hate running while wearing a dress. It's basically impossible.'
"Wait." Riku held up a hand.
Rin raised an eyebrow.
"Where's Frenja? Where's Jan? Are they here?" He asked.
'Oh, right. We should probably take them along. I don't know if the old lady can make the distance to the city though. Perhaps we're better off leaving her behind… Wait, what am I saying? We don't have to leave her behind. We can just put her on the donkey! Problem solved.'
"She was working in the gardens last I saw her. As for Jan, I have no idea."
Riku's face frowned in displeasure.
"Let's find them and get to the city, as soon as possible." Riku stated and then started walking away towards the door. Rin followed behind.
Faintly, as if under his breath, she heard him mutter 'I'll be damned if I let them die as well.'
They found Frenja quickly. Her loud snores originating from her room were an easy way to locate her once they both stopped talking and took a moment to listen.
As for Jan, that one was more difficult. They found the boy by following the buzzing of wings and the fearful screams. Not far from the shed, perhaps about sixty feet away, next to a small tree that provided a bit of shade, was Jan. He was engaged in a battle against a straggler, a disgusting flying thing that had become separated from the main group. Jan was armed with a trusty pitchfork and was desperately trying to stab the flying insect. He missed and accidentally stabbed his donkey's hind quarters. This provoked the donkey, which was already panicked and not sitting still. The donkey kicked, and against all odds, managed to land a blow against the bug, which managed to stun it.
At that point, Rin shot out a [Frost Bolt] that impaled the bug and froze its corpse against the dirt.
Jan looked absolutely terrified. The look of fear on his face was visible from a skyscraper. The donkey looked scared as well.
When Frenja saw him, she instantly beckoned for him to run over to her. The woman also ran to him as well, or rather, she tried to, as much as one at her age could walk, and with Riku's help, the two embraced each other. In the meanwhile, Rin sneaked a glance at the donkey that had so shamelessly snuck up on her and bit her hair when she first came to the old woman's home. Frenja embraced Jan in a hug that the boy jumped into. The boy was taller than his great-grandmother. She possessed a hunched posture, no doubt caused by her many decades of manual labor on this world.
"I was so scared…" The boy managed to huff out in between raggedy breaths. It did not escape Rin's mind that though this was a world which forced people to grow up early, twelve, or thirteen, however old Jan was, was still too young to face such things. He was still just a boy, a boy that lost his mother and father. A boy that had lost his entire village, now that she thought about it.
'He's a good kid… Likable even… Yet he's lost his mother and father, orphaned and homeless and under attack by giant bugs… My heart goes out to him, truly.'
"There, there… It's okay. We'll get out of here, leave this place behind. We'll all go to the city. We'll be safe there, I promise."
"I saw what happened in the village and came running here…there were so many…" He sniffed his nose.
"Are we really going to live through this? Do you promise? Promise?" The boy asked the matronly figure, who he didn't know was his great-grandmother. Perhaps he should know. Rin would have a word with Frenja and tell her to tell the boy the truth.
The old woman consoled the boy gently. "I promise." She said to him.
There'd be no harm in it. Everyone who could and would judge… was already dead.
It was then that Riku interrupted the re-union.
"Jan. We are preparing to leave. You'll come with me to the shed to take all the clothes and food we can. Rin will remain here and pick off any bugs that come by, and then we will, all four of us, leave."
Jan nodded at Riku's instructions and started walking away towards the shed with him. Only, at one point, he stopped.
Riku turned around and asked him impatiently. "What are you doing?"
"We don't have enough knapsacks, and we can't load up the donkey to have him carry everything. Miss Frenja can't walk, she will have to ride the donkey or we'll have to think of something. Re-Grawe is only a two day walk, maybe we're better off not taking any food? I don't know… I'm so confused… Can you tell me what to do? You know what to do, I'm sure of it."
Riku just shot an awkward smile before he clapped the boy on the back gently, and by gently he accidentally pushed the boy a few feet. When he saw what he did, he looked at his hand and froze for a second before pushing it out of his mind.
"Don't worry about bags or anything like that, okay? Just gather up what we need, take as much as you can, I'll take care of the rest."
The boy nodded and then opened his mouth as if to ask a question before closing it again. Riku saw this and gestured for the boy to ask his question.
"What if we get attacked on the road?" The boy asked.
"Don't worry, I won't let you get harmed. If anyone or anything tries to, they will die. Now that, I can promise."
'Riku and Frenja both promised to keep the boy safe… I hope they can keep their promise.'
Rin hoped they would.
'But I doubt it. Nothing ever goes as planned, in the last world I lived in, or in this one by the looks of things.'
