Interrupted by a storm

A loud thundercrack suddenly pulls me from my letters. It is only now that I hear the sound of rain falling on the sheet of cloth that covers the carriage.

“Hey, guys.” The driver yells at his passengers, me included. “We’re nearly at the next village. Get ready to stretch your legs and have a meal.”

It still takes about 5 or 10 minutes until we get there. By then it is raining cats and dogs. Fortunately, I can make it into the local inn and buy some sandwiches quickly. But by then the inn is so full that there aren’t any free tables. I instead try to find refuge in the stables. The straw there reminds me of Mia. Just a few more days now and we’ll finally be reunited. I can only imagine how starved Mia must be for my affection.

Just as I am finishing my last sandwich, someone interrupts me.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

I quickly swallow the piece of bread I have in my mouth and turn around to answer, “Sorry, I’m just searching shelter from the rain.”

The person I’m answering to seems to be a guy of about my age.

“Huh, I haven’t seen you around here.” He replies. “Are you on your way to the city?”

“Yeah,” I respond. “I’m going to …” That is when I notice he has pointy ears.

I point my finger at him and say, “Hey, are you an elf by any chance?”

The guy smiles and replies, “Did the ears give it away? I would love to talk about it further, but I’m afraid I’m in a hurry. I’m searching for my sister. She’s a little girl with blonde hair. Have you seen her?”

“No.” I say. “You’re the first person I’ve seen in this stable.”

“Damn, where did she go?”

“Want me to help search for her?” I offer. “I don’t have anything else to do anyways.”

“Thanks. Much appreciated. My name is Ryul, by the way.”

“Awesome, I’m Darx.”

Ryul and I search through the village in the rain, but we can’t seem to find any little girls.

“Hey, Ryul. Do you know any places she likes to frequent?” I ask?

“Of course, I do.” He says. “But I’ve already gone through all of them. Well, all except for … Oh, gods no. Don’t tell me she went there.”

Ryul then starts running towards the trees.

“Where are we going?” I ask as I follow him.

“There is a place in the forest with lots of flowers. She really likes to go there, but she’s not supposed to go there alone because of the monsters.”

It doesn’t take long for us to get there, and as soon as we do, we start calling her name. It is still raining heavily, making the ground all muddy and slippery. Eventually I hear Ryul scream my name. I run to where I heard him and there, I find a little girl sitting and crying on a big rock with a giant rat underneath trying to reach her. Giant rats are pretty weak, but untrained fighters should still be weary. I still remember the days when I could not take on one of these by myself. But those days are long in the past.

Ryul has picked up a loose branch and is swinging it at the giant rat, but it is obvious that he has no combat training. His stance is all wrong. I fortunately do know what to do.

I unsheathe my sword and run up to the rat from behind. Just like I used to do with Mia, 6 months ago. Except now it is Ryul distracting the rat. I make a slice at the rat’s hind leg, wounding it while making it turn its attention at me. This gives Ryul the chance to bop the rat on the head. With the rat dazed, I now have an opening and a jam my sword in the rat’s chest, straight in its heart.

Once the rat was dead, Ryul helped his sister down. Interestingly, I noticed her ears are round like mine. She is human.

“What were you doing here alone?” Ryul says as he hugs her. “You know you can't come to the forest alone."

The crying girl replies. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I just wanted to pick some flowers to give to you before you left."

After the two calmed down, Ryul picked her up and started walking back to the village.

"Thanks, Darx. I owe you one. Let's go to my house."

On the way home, Ryul explains to me how his birth parents were traveling merchants. He traveled with them to a whole lot of places until one day their caravan got attacked. A human adventurer was able to save his life, but he was too late for his parents. That adventurer then took him in and raised him together with his daughters. Hence why Ryul is the only elf in this village of humans. He also told me that his adoptive mother died a year ago. That way I wouldn’t have to ask any uncomfortable questions.

When we arrive at Ryul’s home, we are immediately greeted by his two older sisters. Then by a large bearded guy who askew what happened.

Ryul explained everything. From the stables all the way up to the flower patch and even how I killed the giant rat for him. All of Ryul’s family members are quickly impressed, especially his sisters.

Then I tell my story. About how I trained to become an adventurer and how I would continue to Riledo when the caravan starts up again.

“I’ve already spoken to the caravan leader.” Ryul’s adoptive father says. “He has deemed that the storm is going to last for much longer, so the caravan will be spending the night. It is for the best. After this much rain, the roads are going to be far to muddy to travel across anyways.”

Since the inn is already full, they suggested I stay the night with them. It is the least they could do for me since I helped save their youngest.

They first suggest for us to change out of our soaked clothes. I get to borrow some of Ryul’s. After that we have dinner, which is where Ryul explains he is planning to join the caravan to Riledo as well. Though he is not really planning to become an adventurer. He just wants to have the ceremony to get the boost of physical strength that comes with being an E or D rank, then he’ll come back to the village. If that then also comes with him being able to learn some magic, that would really help him to become a lot more useful here. Water magic would help him with irrigating the crops, earth magic would too, fire magic would be useful in the local smithy.

At the end of the meal, Ryul’s father says, “Listen, Darx. You’re free to sleep in Ryul’s room, but if I find you fooling around with one of my daughters, I will kick you out without a second thought.”

One of Ryul’s older sisters rolls her eyes and says, “Oh, dad. Ignore him, Darx. He’s just being overly protective.” She then leans in closer to me and whispers, “My room is next to Ryul’s. Come visit me and I will let you fool around with me.”

I laugh awkwardly and reply, “No need to worry, sir. See, I have a girl waiting for me in Riledo and I plan to stay faithful to her.”

I looked at Ryul’s dad when I said it, but I also meant for Ryul’s sister to hear it.

After a while, Ryul and I decide to go to bed early. It’ll help us wake up early and prevent us from having the caravan leave without us.