Naeva Zero didn't really consider herself a warrior. She'd learned how to use a staff from Master Zero seven years ago, and those skills had helped her survive in Finster, but even with what Master had taught her, the only monster she'd ever killed was a small griffin, and that was almost entirely by accident. Here in this country to the north, people had their mercenary guilds-or orders, as she'd heard them called-placed all over. Naeva's staff wouldn't often be needed when far more skilled warriors were always on patrol.
She didn't want to join any of those orders, either. She'd heard there was a solid income, especially in the ones that served the king, but while she could hold her own in a fight, that didn't mean she enjoyed it. Besides that, most of those orders were always running off to the next town over, if not farther. She was sick of traveling so much.
Why don't these guilds just pick a town to protect? she mused, glancing at another building, one that housed an order called Oceanheart, according to the sign. There are enough in this town alone to protect every settlement in this country.
The growling from her stomach reminded her why she wasn't preparing to sleep in the outskirts of town right now. Everything edible in the north "belonged" to people, so she needed more Tierisch money soon or she would starve. As someone who'd been doing nothing but survive during the last ten years, that meant becoming a low-profile, one-girl mercenary guild of her own, at least for now.
So Naeva had been asking around town, trying to find a place where she could work, but this town of Jotaris was frustrating in its peace. She supposed having so many orders based here would deter criminals. Normally that would be great, but as hungry as Naeva was...
She sighed. No business here needed a guard. The few that did already had a contract with a local order. Her skill with a staff would be useless here unless she signed herself into one of those guilds.
I never thought I'd hate a peaceful town this much, Naeva thought, her stomach growling still louder, demanding food now. Maybe if I'd just visited one of those guilds, I wouldn't be so hungry now...
"Excuse me, young miss?"
At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Naeva cautiously turned, adjusting the sling over her shoulder, adjusting her staff so she could easily grab it if the need arose. A matronly woman was approaching, a sympathetic expression on her face. "I heard you've been looking for a job?"
Naeva instinctively put a hand on her staff, but she forced herself to relax. The odds of this woman being from a bandit clan were next to zero. Those dangers had passed when she left Finster.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied, inwardly cringing at her strong Finstrese accent. She kept having to remind herself that her freckles and wild berry-red hair already made her nationality obvious.
The woman looked her over. She looked Naeva over, from her bright hair, only neck-length but sticking almost straight to the right, to her tired blue eyes, to the roundness of her cheek even as the bones showed through, as if trying to prove her starvation. After a final glance at Naeva's torn clothes, the woman noted, "Well, you'll never get a job here looking like that." Seeing Naeva's disheartened expression, the woman's smile returned. "But that's besides the point. When I heard about you, I decided to come out and see if I could help."
"I don't want to inconvenience you," Naeva said uncomfortably, backing up a step. Inconvenience aside, she didn't want to let a stranger take her in. She'd learned her lesson about that mistake ages ago.
"I'll just help you get started, okay?" the woman promised, gently taking her hand and leading her down the street. "You can pay me back later if you must."
Feeling some shock through the curtain of hunger, Naeva whispered, "If you're sure, then I suppose... Ma'am? What's your name?"
"Molly Pastel, young miss," she replied. "I'm a seamstress by trade, so it won't be too hard to make some clothes that will suit your needs. You're a combatant, aren't you?"
"N... Never by choice..." Naeva vaguely shook her head, exhaustion and hunger clouding her thoughts. Now that she wasn't on edge, it hit her full force, and she was ready to pass out.
"But you do a lot of physical activity?" Molly was looking at Naeva's exposed right arm. While it was thinner than it had been a couple months ago, there was still evidence that Naeva was well toned. She was only weak now due to starvation.
At Naeva's tired nod, Molly continued, "I'll make you a meal when we reach my home, and once you've gotten some meat back on your bones, I'll get you measured for some better clothes. I've made clothes for fighters before. Even my daughter..."
Naeva couldn't tell how long it was before she fell asleep; it all went by in a blur. She moved robotically, only vaguely aware of the instructions she was following. Molly cooked a warm meal. As hungry as she was, Naeva had been half-expecting herself to eat like a starved Cerberus, but watching from a distance, she felt surprised to see herself taking small bites, too tired to eat much. Even so, she could still feel some strength return with each bite she took. That done, recognizing just how tired she was, she let Molly steer her to a guest bedroom and tuck her into the bed. Naeva was out cold before her thoughts could catch up.
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When Naeva woke up, she felt much more like herself, albeit a little hungrier than usual. She sat up in the bed, trying to register where this friendly-looking room was and how she'd gotten there. Based on what little she could remember, she figured that Pastel woman must have taken her in and...
Pastel?
Naeva climbed out of bed and walked out of the room. Curious though she was, she couldn't run just yet; her entire body still shook wit hunger. It wasn't as bad as before, but she'd been stretching her rations for over a month; one meal wasn't anywhere near enough to completely fix the consequences of that. That smells amazing, though...
She followed her nose into the kitchen, where Molly was cooking breakfast. She was listening to the woman next to her. This new person was five-foot four, about average height for a Tierisch woman, with dirty blonde hair that flowed below her shoulders. She wore what looked like formal clothing, but Naeva could tell, even from the other room, that it was a façade. The skirt was cut down the side in just such a way that it allowed free movement, and the cut in the side exposed trousers rather than legs or nylons. The shirt the woman wore had no sleeves, and while it was tight at the shoulder to keep from exposing too much, the rest was loose and unrestricting. The whole ensemble left her ready for a fight at any moment.
Naeva had only seen this style once before, a month and a half ago. The woman's hair was a bit longer than before, but not too much for the time gap to be implausible. This had to be her.
"...And right when Radley started talking about weakening it before he arrived, Valerian popped up in front of us! He took on the Libra almost singlehandedly."
Molly chuckled, moving across the stovetop to flip one of the omelets she was making. "Let me guess: You all hung back and watched until the Libra landed a good hit."
Polina nodded abashedly. "Valerian needed that thing's power to keep up with us. he got back up and beheaded it as soon as Radley got its attention, so things went mostly according to plan, at least. Knowing Valerian, he'll be able to figure out a way to keep up with us now that he's killed a Zodiac. It's powers weren't made for speed, per se, but..."
"If he hasn't figured anything out by the time you get back, tell him to try messing with gravity," Molly said absently, checking how close the omelets were to being done. "A Libra can glide, right? I bet it does that by negating gravity."
"The ability to nullify force, huh. I guess that would technically apply to gravity and friction," Polina noted, turning to lean back against the countertop. She had bright violet eyes, a trait Naeva had never seen in anyone else. Hair and eyes aside, though, she looked exactly like Molly. "That would be difficult, though. He'd have to control and alternate it so he could keep going full speed without breaking his legs or losing all his... momentum..." She trailed off and squinted at Naeva, who leaned in the doorway. It barely took an instant for her face to light up. "Naeva!"
Polina strode across the room and hugged Naeva, quickly pulling back when she shifted uncomfortably. Molly glanced over before resuming her work on the meal. Polina scanned Naeva, her smile faltering slightly. "You're as thin as a rail; what happened to you?"
Naeva shrugged. "Had to ration my food supply. It ran out just before I arrived in town a week ago. Been eating scraps ever since, but even those have been hard to find. Molly found me yesterday and took me in."
"I'd heard rumors about a lost Finstrese girl who was starving to death somewhere in town," Molly said, her gaze fixated on the meal. "I couldn't just stand around after hearing that."
Polina looked at her mother and nodded. "Thank you, Mom. Seriously, thank you."
"Of course. Be a dear and get a plate for Naeva, won't you?"
While Polina set a plate on the table, Molly nonchalantly flipped an omelet over her shoulder so it landed directly on the plate without sliding. Taking the hint, Naeva sat down and tucked into her breakfast.
"So how do you know her, Polina?" Molly asked, already preparing two more helpings on different pans.
Polina sat down after setting up two more spaces on the table. "I was attacked on my way home from a job a month or two ago. A nuckelavee got the drop on me by staying in my blind spots. Its middle claw almost impaled me, but Naeva showed up and deflected it. We managed to drive it off together."
"That shouldn't matter so much," Naeva muttered, keeping her sights on the plate below.
"It should," Molly asserted, flipping Polina's omelet across the room and onto the plate. "Surviving a nuckelavee attack, even as a group, is no small feat."
Polina nodded, swallowing a bite of her meal. "I just don't get where you went after it was gone. All I got was your name, but you were gone before I caught my breath. Why didn't you stick around?"
Naeva didn't reply. Honestly, the abundance of trust in Tierisch scared her. Why did anyone stick around long enough to form a group here? In Finster, trust had only ever rewarded Naeva with betrayal and torture. Even bandits, with all their unspoken agreements, only trusted one or two people each, if even that many.
Then again, following those clans' example was probably why Naeva had starved until a stranger could easily bring her in. She was just lucky that Molly was actually a good person, instead of someone like... him.
"Now that you're here," Polina said, "I actually wanted to ask you something. I wasn't expecting to find you so soon, honestly, so this is a lucky break."
Naeva nodded and waved for Polina to continue, so she sat up straight. "I'm from a small order called Lowly Champion. Our order home is in Nettin, about twenty miles east of here. We've been talking about recruiting a new member or two, and I suggested trying to find you. With your instincts, you would be an invaluable help in what we're doing. What do you say?"
Finally, Naeva looked up, making eye contact with Polina. Based on that look in the woman's eye, she was being honest. She actually wanted Naeva to be part of her group. Polina seemed trustworthy, at least. She tried to help people wherever she went, if Naeva's read was accurate.
Of course, faced with a person like this, Naeva's response was obvious.
"No," she said simply.
Polina's words caught in her throat. "You won't reg... No?"
"That was what it sounded like," Molly said, sitting in her own spot.
"But why?" Polina asked. It sounded like a plea.
"That's all I'm giving you," Naeva said firmly. "I decline. Final answer."
Polina squinted at Naeva, making her uncomfortable. Then she sighed and smiled slightly. "Okay. Tell Mom if you want to change your mind. She'll get the word to me."
Naeva stared in surprise as Polina walked to the pan and started preparing some sausages on the still-hot stove. For a moment, she forgot to finish her omelet; she 'd never seen someone take a refusal so lightly in Finster.
Eventually the smell overpowered the culture shock, and Naeva ravenously finished her omelet. Molly looked amused at the manners, but she didn't care. The cooking was amazing, and Naeva had a bit of catching up to do. She could feel her body getting stronger just from the knowledge that she wasn't going to starve.
She soon found that a gentle temperament wasn't the only surprise Polina had in store. The moment the sausages were done, she rolled her helping onto Naeva's plate. She gave one last friendly smile before bidding them both farewell and promising her mother she'd visit the next week.
Naeva stared after her. Polina had to be hiding something. No one was that nice.