Over the Void

Chapter 4: Ways of Living

"What kinds of food do you have?" Esther asked, no hesitation. She felt so much braver after fighting. It warmed Royal's heart a bit seeing her so much more open and lively than when they had met just yesterday.

"Bread, ale, and on a good day, cheese." The bartender said. "And before you ask, it's not a good day. It should have been, but supplies are missing again."

Esther looked a little disheartened, but smiled anyways. "May I have some, please?"

Royal stopped her. "No ale for us, ma'am." He saved quickly. Esther would probably be wasted by even a single glass.

"'Fraid not, supplies are too scare to be giving out handouts. If you got cash on ya, I'll get you some." The bartender said, looking impatient.

Esther looked crushed. She didn't have any money, and Royal definitely didn't. So she looked at the floor.

"We don't, at least not at the time." Royal said.

The Innkeeper looked done with them. "Then all I can offer you is warmth from the fire. Go on now, I have work to do." She waved dismissively. Esther slowly turned and left, before changing her mind and sitting by the fire. Royal sat next to her.

"Royal? Do we need money at the store too?" Esther asked, after a moment. Royal nodded.

"Oh..." She looked down. But then, Royal had an idea.

"Esther, what if we find their missing stuff? I bet they'll give you something then." He said. "We can be like Paku said. Heroes."

It seemed just so preposterous coming out of his mouth, but in a strange way, it felt nice to say. And Esther perked up right away. "That's a good idea! Let's go!" She said.

"It's getting dark right now though. We can wait until day, that way we'll be able to see it better. Yeah?" Royal asked. Esther relic nodded, standing to go. Royal followed her back to their little tent. It seemed in the 10 seconds it took him to enter the tent after her, Esther had already gone to sleep, curled up like a baby. He smiled to himself, first upon seeing her, second realizing that she must have been very set on morning coming, and their when she latched on to his arm like a baby koala as soon as he loved down himself. A part of him really thought she was aborable and amazing, but the rest of him was too shy to act on that. For now, he'd take what he could get. And he drifted into sleep himself.

Morning came earlier than he thought, and Esther was already up and aching to go. The moment Royal so much as moved, she pounced, excitedly asking him if they were going yet. After a few minutes, Royal managed to nod, and grabbed his things just in case. Esther took the lead again as the pair delved back into the forest in search of missing goods.

"I just realized, we don't know what they look like." Royal said, causing Esther to stop and wait.

"You're right... But I bet it won't be hard to see." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

Royal scoured the area around them as they moved, looking for any sign of something out of the ordinary. Eventually, he spotted something abnormal. Tire tracks that looked like they had gone off the path.

"Hey, Esther, come here. I think I'm on to something." He said, kneeling down to get a better look.

Esther came over and looked. "The line?" She asked.

"It's a tire track, from a carriage or a cart or something. But look, it should go on a path but it turns sharply here, like something pulled on it." Royal explained. Esther somewhat knew what he was getting at.

"So we follow the line?" She asked. "Got it." She ran off, staring at the ground. She didn't even notice a stray goblin lurking until a throw rock bumped her head.

"Ow! Help!" She cried, panicked. Royal, who was walking after her, charged to see what was the matter. The goblin was unlucky enough to be right in his way, and was treated to the business end of Royal's sword. Royal actually failed to hit the goblin right, but he did get it's legs. It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. As soon as he got to Esther, he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey now, it's ok. It's gone, I'm here." He said, winging his comforting speech. It did the trick, and Esther settled down again. Then they realized why this goblins around.

Boxes. A bunch of them, scattered in the brush with a mangled wooden cart. It didn't look like it could still roll.

"How do we get the boxes back?" Esther asked, coming to the same conclusion.

"We need to fix that cart. It's just a broken wheel." Royal said, sincerely hoping that was the case.

No such luck, the wheel was fine, it was the axel that was damaged.

"We need... A big, thick branch. Something to hold those wheels. And something to tie them down, and..." Royal spaced out, using his nerdiness to his advantage to swiftly start repairing the cart to a functional state. After merely 20 minutes of nonstop mumbling, the cart could roll again.

"Now, is the easy part. We fill it." He said, pointing at the boxes.

Esther ran over, and the pair were able to pick up the boxes one at a time and slowly, meticulously gather up nearly all of the boxes. Royal left a few for being moldy, broken, or both. Mainly because that was gross, of course. Who would want that in their mouth? But with the big cart full, Esther and Royal again teamed up to push and pull the thing. Neither  had much in the name of strength, however. It was a long process, but after hours of pushing and pulling and turning and eating a picnic lunch of Manafruits, which Royal was now convinced Esther practically summoned on a whim with how easily she found them, the cart came into view of the village.

A joyous cheer from children rang out, as they came to see the cart. And they were treated to seeing the same strangers pushing the cart with a lot of vigor and a concerning lack of horses or mules. So they pitched in. 8 people combined got the cart into the village square, where the Bartender and a man from the general store came out to collect the supplies.

"It's late." The bartender said grumpily.

"Better late than not here at all, like last week, eh Lycan?" The shopkeep winked sarcastically. Lycan gave him a dirty look and took her boxes inside. Royal gawked at how she easily took 3 at once.

"You, the ones in the cloaks. You found these, didn't you." The shopkeep said, as if it wasn't really a question. "These boxes have the forest smell on them."

Esther shyly nodded. Royal was too sore to do much after all that manual labor.

"Thank you. You've done a great deed today, you know. We've gone weeks without these supplies. We're supposed to get em each week. So, thank you." The shopkeep said graciously. "I'll treat you to a pie later, I owe it to ya."

Tired as she was, Esther's eyes lit up with childlike glee. She was so ecstatic, she didn't even say anything. Royal just nodded. "It was no problem, it was the right thing to do."

"That's a fat lie, and the sweat on your cloths knows it." The shopkeep stuck his tongue out. "We appreciate it all he more for your hard work."

Royal felt elated, and also frighteningly dehydrated. So, he decided to pop into the bar with Esther to get some water before he collapsed from overexertion. Leading the way, he took Esther in, and went to sit down to talk about their future... A future as adventuring heroes. It still sounded so foreign...