Once again a new morning had risen over the cozy village of Kalekanka, and the morning call of the cranes resounded through the skies. Much of the village had already gotten up, but the sound of the call was enough to wake up Yilka and Varma in the humble hut where they lived.
"That damned bird won't let me sleep." Yilka complained in his bunk.
"Motherrrrrrrrr, do I have to?" Varma complained in her own bunk.
Nobody replied to either of their complaints. Yilka got out of his bunk, put his white shirt on and left the house. He washed his hair and face in the big bucket outside and looked out into the village from up the small slope where he was.
"Were the trees on their yard always that big?" Yilka wandered when he saw the unnaturally tall trees by the yard of the nearest house down the hill.
He went down the slope to get a closer look. The trees that before had only reached the height of the nearest house's roof, was now about three times the height of the house, with more branches and much more leaves than before.
"Ah, good morning, Yilka!" Said an old and kind voice from Yilka's left side.
He turned to face the voice and now was face to face with the old man who lives in the house and is too old to work and thus letting his children and grandchildren do the chores.
"Morning, Autuas. I came over because your trees seem bigger somehow." Yilka replied to the old man called Autuas.
"Well that's because your brother is a miracle! He made these trees grow threefold and made them greener too. The little ones are up there picking the fruits of it as we speak!" Autuas explained eagerly.
"It grows fruit now?" Yilka wondered.
"Sure does. This will be a great help. And I bet you didn't even see them picking the fruits up there because of how luscious the foliage is, hehe." Autuas continued.
"I still don't, but I see the top branches shaking." Yilka replied and looked up as small thumb-sized fruits fell from the midst of the leaves.
"Your brother also made our drinking water less murky too. Really a decent man he is." Autuas told him.
"Hmm, yes. I've heard that before. Where is he now?" Yilka asked.
"Just follow the tall trees!" Autuas exclaimed.
Yilka looked around and saw that during the conversation more taller trees had popped up around the village. He went to the nearest house where he saw that everything in their garden had gotten bigger and healthier. He went past every house on the surface level of the village and on the barren crop field outside the village he saw a circle of people standing. He couldn't see what was in the middle of them, but they were clearly focused on whatever it was. Yilka went treading onto the field to go join the circle, and there he saw that in the middle of the circle Venamo was crouched with his hand under the dirt and his eyes closed. A white glow came from under the dirt, and then the glow spread gradually to cover all the land inside the circle. The glow then gradually spread and quickly the entire field had white glow coming from under the soil. Venamo pulled his hand from the dirt and stood up, and the glow disappeared.
"The soil should be blessed with Holy magic now. May your summer be bountiful." Venamo said to the folk around him.
"Only one way to know." A doubtful man said and planted a seed into the soil.
Everybody in the circle, including Venamo and Yilka looked at where the seed was planted. Nothing was happening.
"And you folk said that this man made your plants and trees grow before your very eyes. Ha." The doubtful man taunted.
"Like it is right now?" Somebody in the circle said as everyone saw the beginnings of a crop growing from the soil slowly.
The folk gasped and then looked at Venamo with gratitude and admiration.
"We will never again see a famine year!" One person exclaimed.
"We'll grow in a day what it took to grow in an entire summer!" Another one added.
An earnest man squeezed Venamo's hand with both hands and thanked him. Two others hoisted him up on their shoulders. Venamo seemed to be the hero of the village.
Yilka got a tap on his shoulder from behind. He turned around to see who it is and saw an aged woman who wanted to speak.
"How come you can't do any of the things your older brother can?" She asked.
"How so?" Yilka asked.
"Well, you've never really helped anyone like he has." The lady clarified.
"Sure I have. I help in planting the seeds to this field every spring." Yilka defended himself with.
"Anybody can do that. How come you don't have what he has? He said the Holy people chose him. I guess they only chose him for a reason." The lady replied.
Yilka took a deep breath and used his self control to prevent himself from saying what he wanted to say, and simply walked away from the conversation and the whole crop field.
"Well since he's so needed here, he can stay here. I can go to war myself." He said to himself while walking through the dirt road that goes through the village.
"Him getting paraded around is not the last thing I want to see before I leave." He said to himself and headed outside the village to the hills where he knew a place that he liked.
Behind a few hills he came to a pond that the folk used as a place for cleaning themselves. He figured that on his last day home he should clean himself. A quick trip under the cold water of early spring cleared his state of mind. During his cold bath he went over all the things that he should take with him, and also what he wanted to do before he left. After he had bathed, he put on his white shirt, brown trousers and black boots and squeezed his long hair to dry it a little.
At home he got a large sack where he stowed some old and hard bread, rope, flint and steel. In the staple he hung the sack to the saddle of his beakmount along with his bow, his empty quiver and his cudgel.
"That's all I can take without taking too much away from the rest who stay here." He said to himself in the staple and petted the head of his own mount.
"You won't be able to squeeze under that tunnel. I may have to sell you in the nearest settlement and make the rest of the journey on foot. Unfortunate that we didn't get a chance to bond some more. Venamo caught you and tamed you for nothing, it seems. But you'll be a loyal companion to someone." Yilka spoke to his mount while petting its neck.
"It doesn't understand what you're saying to it." Suiv's voice said from behind as she opened the doors of the staple and brought two buckets of water to the mounts.
"I know that." Yilka said.
"Instead of spending your time here talking to animals, you could have spent it on something more useful, like collecting the droppings of the chimkins. The floor of the barn is covered in it and cultivation season is soon here so we better collect all the fertilizer we can." Suiv explained.
"You're right. I should contribute while I still can." Yilka admitted humbly and left the staple.
He went to the barn where the chimkins are held, and as soon as he opened the door, a very striking odor entered his nostrils. He immediately put the lower half of his face under his shirt.
"We were away for just a couple of days. How much do they poop in that time?" Yilka asked himself out loud.
"Enough for you to start shoveling it right away." Varma's voice said from above.
Yilka looked up and saw that Varma was sitting on the rafters while wearing a bag with eyeholes and throwing feed to the chimkins.
"Why the mask?" Yilka asked with a muffled voice.
"Same reason why you're covering half your face. Start taking care of the problem!" Varma commanded.
"And why are you up there?" Yilka asked while standing at the door.
"I'm not stepping on that ground. I like these boots." Varma replied.
And so once the floor had been made safe to step on, the chimkins had been fed and a wooden cart had been shoveled full, Yilka took a moment to breathe without anything covering his face. When Varma came out of the barn, she was on her way to the house before Yilka hollered at her. She stopped and turned around to listen.
"Are the mushrooms still working?" Yilka asked from the wall he was leaning on.
"I still feel as cool as a cuckoo inside. And Vena gave the remaining mushrooms the Holy blessing, so that should make them work better if the Holy magic works how we think it does. If you didn't pull me out of the way of the Holy lady's touch, I could have the same power as Vena does, but only he gets to be the village's hero alone now and prance around like a peacock. Thanks a lot." Varma replied and complained.
"Does everybody just want to annoy me today?" Yilka blurted out bitterly.
"Oh, you want to know what annoys me? When you break all the arrows that I spent my time and effort into making." Varma stoked the flame with.
"Well, fine then! Since nobody here wants me around, I won't waste any more of anyone's time." Yilka bitterly said and walked to the staples.
"Curse this damned village. Curse this damned family, and curse my unbearable, patronising, attention hungry, everybody's favourite brot..." Yilka was murmuring when he opened the doors to the staples, but he stopped himself when he saw Venamo in the staple tending to his own mount.
"I see you've already prepared your mount. I'm still getting mine ready." Venamo said as he was putting things in a sack that hung by the saddle.
"Great. Take your time. I'm leaving now." Yilka said and walked over to his mount.
"Right now? I thought we'd have one last proper meal at home before we depart." Venamo replied.
"I'm fine without." Yilka said and climbed on the back of his mount on the first attempt.
"Listen to me. I don't know what you are upset about, but you have not eaten a proper meal in two days. You'll be useless if you faint of exhaustion before you even make it to the border." Venamo reasoned.
"I've gone longer without eating." Yilka insisted coldly and grabbed the reins.
"Listen. We don't know if we'll ever come back from this trip, and I want to share a table with the family one last time." Venamo pleaded
"You can. I'll wait at the Wound." Yilka replied.
"Suiv told that Wicked lady last night that she'd be welcome to eat with us one of these days. Would it convince you if we got that over with and allowed her to join us too?" Venamo suggested.
Yilka stopped everything he was doing and calmed down.
"I've yet to wish her my last goodbye." He quietly said to himself.
"Well, at supper you can have a chance to do that." Venamo argued.
"I'll stay for supper if everybody is good to her, and promises to be good to her even after we leave." Yilka demanded.
"That is for the others to decide. You have my permission to go invite her when you want. The day's chores won't take long today. I gave our land the blessing so we already have fully matured turnips and pumpkins in the back. The only chore left to do today is cleaning the water. I can get that done so you can spend the downtime how you wish." Venamo explained.
"Oh, is that so?" Yilka asked rhetorically, dismounted and left the staples without explaining anything more.
23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDS2vrOyx0
A few minutes later Yilka was at the door of Nofa's hut at the top of the hill. He looked at the barren ground around the hut and the dead tree next to the tombstone before doing anything else.
"I have to ask her why everything around her home is so dead when everything else as far as the eye can see is green. But that's not what I'll ask first." He thought to himself.
He wiped his long hair away from his face, cleared his throat and knocked on the door. It was the first time he had knocked on Nofa's door without anyone's company.
The smaller door on the front door opened.
"What shall it be?" Nofa's voice asked from the other side.
"It's me. You can open the door." Yilka replied.
Nofa opened the front door fully.
"Aaaafternoon!" Nofa wished cheerfully with a grin.
"Likewise." Yilka wished, not being able to help but feel happier whenever he's talking with Nofa.
"So what might be your business here? Some last minute needs maybe?" Nofa asked.
"Just wanted to come talk for one last time before I leave." Yilka admitted.
"Aww. I'll gladly talk with you. So what do you want to talk about?"
"I actually wanted to ask something I've been too hesitant to ask before..." Yilka began to tell.
"Oh." Nofa simply replied and looked curious.
"Would you want to go for a stroll through the village with me, fully unashamed of who you are?" Yilka suggested.
"What? You mean... me and you, just strolling through the village like..." Nofa blabbered and felt flustered.
"Yes. That's precisely what I mean." Yilka calmly answered.
"Would you not be ashamed to be seen with me?" Nofa asked.
"No. And besides, I'm leaving today. It doesn't matter what these folk think of me." Yilka answered.
"Oh of course. But... I'm not sure if I should. I know that many of them have bought from me before but that doesn't mean that they want to see me in their village." Nofa explained.
"Since most of them have bought from you, you'd think they'd want to stay on your good side to ensure future service." Yilka theorised.
"I'd... think so. Hm. Maybe you're right. If they're rude to me, no more medicine for their seasonal illnesses." Nofa said with a smug chuckle.
"That's what I was thinking. So do you want to come?" Yilka asked.
"Sure. Just... give me a moment to ready up. Alright?" Nofa said and closed the door.
"Is she actually readying up or did she reject me?" Yilka wondered in his mind.
"Ahem. Right. I'm ready." Nofa said as she came out of the hut.
On her head she had a black scarf that covered her entire hair, and on her body she had her red robes that were dyed with the hopperberries.
"You really don't want them to see your red hair, don't you?" Yilka asked.
"Well, it's just that... it would just catch their attention and I don't want anyone's attention right now. I mean, anyone other than yours, haha." Nofa explained.
Yilka didn't believe her reasoning but decided not to argue.
"Should we get going then?" Yilka suggested.
"Yes. Of course." Nofa replied as they began walking.
"Careful with the steps." Yilka noted when they reached the steep steps leading down.
He extended a hand for support.
"I do walk down these steps every day but I won't turn down help when offered." Nofa said and gave her hand as they went down the steps all the way down.
At the bottom of the steps their hands separated and they got on the main road just outside the unofficial border of the village. Nofa was visibly nervous as they were walking on the main road. She began walking slower, but when Yilka also slowed down to the same pace as her, she got more comfortable.
"What made these trees so big?" Nofa wondered when she saw the massive trees up close.
"Hmph." Yilka only responded with.
"What? This is odd. I've never seen trees this big. I've only heard of trees this big growing in the Lerhean islands. Has a Lerhean come around here?" Nofa asked.
"No, my brother got a blessing from one. Now he's the hero of the village for doing all this." Yilka explained.
"Oh, lovely. This is great for everyone in the village. I don't like looking at the trees and their leaves but I understand the good sides of it. They even grow fruit! Useful." Nofa said.
"Hmm. You're right." Yilka.
"I can tell that you're jealous of him and he hasn't really made the best impression on me but the folk will be happy and better fed." Nofa reasoned.
"Sorry about his attitude towards you." Yilka said.
"Don't apologise for that. It doesn't make me dislike you." Nofa assured and felt more comfortable.
"I got curious about why everything around your hut is so... dead?" Yilka asked curiously.
"I just don't like grass or leaves. I won't explain more than that. You should come to Rarhea and see how barren everything is." Nofa answered.
"I'd love to visit one day. But that day won't be anytime soon." Yilka said.
Nofa went quiet again.
"Ohhhhhh but who is this fine lady that you are walking with, Yilka?" Said the maiden picking fallen fruits on the yard that Yilka and Nofa passed.
Nofa seemed more nervous than ever when the maiden came within conversation distance to them.
"She's a friend." Yilka simply answered, noticing how nervous Nofa was.
"Where do you come from? I haven't seen you before." The maiden asked further.
"Uhh... hmmmm... quite far... actually..." Nofa mumbled and then turned her back to the maiden and looked at the ground.
"He said that today I shouldn't be ashamed of myself." Nofa whispered to herself.
She turned to face the maiden again and put on a shy smile.
"I live in that hut up the hill. I've just never come to the village before." Nofa answered.
"Ohhhh, so you're the Wicked lady of the mysterious hut. I've only ever seen you once and that was when were both just little girls. You came begging for scraps but the elder folk told you get lost. I really felt bad for you and wanted to come talk but mother won't let me even go near you. Pleasant to meet you finally." The maiden said in a friendly manner.
"Pleasant to meet you as well." Nofa replied with her confidence back.
"Kovana." The maiden said.
"Huh?" Nofa replied.
"It's my name." The maiden called Kovana explained.
"Oh. Of course. Nofa." The Wicked lady replied.
"Who are you talking with there?" An angry and old sounding female voice called.
It became clear quickly who the voice belonged to, when a grumpy looking old lady with potato shaped cheeks, a round belly and bare feet came out of the house. The lady came over to Kovana and gave a glare to Nofa and Yilka.
"Who's this lady, young man?" The lady interrogated seriously.
"She's my good friend Nofa, a Wicked Rarhean and a helpful, wonderful person." Yilka answered without shame or risk of reputation loss.
Nofa's face got so red, it was hard to tell if she was nervous or blushing.
"What? Why would you bring her to the village? Everything around her will wither away. All of our wonderful new trees, crops and bushes will all be gone if she's allowed to stay another moment." The old lady accused.
Nofa looked gravely insulted by the lady's accusations.
"Just so you know, I choose to keep my hill the way it is. Nothing will wither away at just my mere presence..." Nofa began to defend herself with.
"And who gave you permission to speak, Wicked witch?" The lady interrupted with.
"I am not a witch, I am a wizard's daughter striving to earn the honour of being called a wizard and..." Nofa defended herself some more.
"Your people are evil and a plague for the world. All around you is nothing but death and decay. You can't create, only destroy. And if you're allowed to spread, you'll destroy all life in the world. As the Records say." The lady explained.
"And where in the Records does it say so?" Yilka asked.
"Huh? I... ummm... well, it's somewhere in there. Are you questioning the Records?" The old lady answered and asked.
"You're saying what my brother, the village's darling always says, but just like him, you can't point at where the Records say anything bad about her people. And my brother has read the Records very carefully. I will stop seeing Nofa as soon as somebody shows me that part." Yilka explained as if he was tired of saying the same thing for the millionth time.
"Well, you show me a part where it defends them!" The old lady could only reply with.
Kovana subtly chuckled but kept it hidden from her mother.
Nofa pulled Yilka aside and got in his ear.
"We won't be left alone here. I shouldn't come to the village. I'm not wanted here." Nofa said to him quietly.
"Not everyone is like that hag. You saw how nice Kovana was to you. I don't want you to think that everyone here is like that." Yilka assured.
"Fine. But if anyone else is like that, I'm returning home and never coming to the village again." Nofa replied.
"I accept those terms." Yilka said and continued walking along the road, ignoring the grumpy old lady who was yapping about something that he didn't listen to.
As they walked along the road that splits the village, people were mostly distracted by their daily chores, but whenever somebody did get a look at them, it was never for long. The village's folk didn't recognise Nofa and didn't pay her much mind because they cared about their chores more.
When they passed one house, Yilka explained what family lived in what house. As they got to another house with a big fruit tree, Nofa saw that the branches and leaves above were rustling.
"Branch hoppers!" She exclaimed with great worry.
Yilka started chuckling to himself while Nofa was taking cover inside her clothes covered in repellent.
"What are you laughing about? It's right above!" Nofa asked in confusion and worry.
"Hey! Toss us a couple of juicy ones!" Yilka shouted up.
"Sure thing!" A voice replied from up the leaves as two fruits got thrown down from there.
Yilka couldn't catch the first one, but caught the second one. He handed the one he caught to Nofa who still looked worried.
"They're not hoppers." Yilka said and picked up the one he missed and then wiped it on his sleeve.
"Oh. That's a relief. And thank you for the sweet fruit." Nofa said politely and took a bite.
"Would you want to see our animals? I promise they're nice to everyone except me." Yilka suggested and joked a little.
"Ooh, yes please!" Nofa answered eagerly
"Do you hate animals like you hate plants?" Yilka asked.
"No! Animals are friends." Nofa answered.
"Well, let's go meet them then." Yilka said and led the way.
They went into the staples where the beakmounts are kept. There the mounts still were. One of them caught a rodent with its mouth and swallowed it whole right as Yilka and Nofa entered.
"You met them before but now you can say Hello properly. We haven't named them yet. Do you have a good name in mind for one of them?" Yilka said to Nofa.
"Which one do I get to name?" Nofa asked with intrigue.
Yilka put his hand on the neck of his own mount.
"This one. He hasn't really warmed up to me yet." Yilka said while petting the mount's neck.
"Hmm. He's hesitant to trust you. A little weary. Uncertain... or perhaps just a little shy. Yes, he's shy. And in the language of the Rarheans Shy is Pfelo. So that's your name now. Pfelo." Nofa said and seemed happy with her choice.
"I'm not sure if he'd like that name if he knew what it means, but I'll call him Pfelo." Yilka replied and slightly mispronounced the name.
Nofa put her hand on the other side of the beakmount's neck and petted it together with Yilka. Right as they were having a tender moment, they both heard the sounds of someone waking up right above. They both looked up and saw Varma laying on her belly up on the rafter of the staple.
"Mmm. It should be time to start helping with supper." Varma mumbled to herself in her recently awaken state.
She opened her eyes and looked down where she saw that a guest was in the staple.
"I-I wasn't slacking. All of the chores are done for the day and Vena said that we have downtime." Varma defended herself with.
"I know." Yilka assured.
Varma hopped down from the rafter and looked at Nofa.
"Thanks again for the mushrooms. Did I interrupt something?" She said to Nofa.
"No, not at all. I hope the mushrooms are still working." Nofa replied.
"They are."
"You said that it's time to start making supper. Does your family make you prepare supper for them?"
"No, I only help with it. Today our pumpkins and turnips are massive and we can make a bit of a bigger stew. And a little bit of help will be needed with that." Varma explained.
"Oh that's lovely. What are you going to put in it?" Nofa asked.
"Pumpkin and turnip... because that's all we have that goes with a stew. We also got some cream and fat from the neighbours some time ago. " Varma answered the question she found odd.
"No, but I mean what sorts of spices do you like to put in your stews?" Nofa asked.
"I don't know if you know but... spices don't really grow in this part of the world." Varma answered with further confusion.
"Oh. Am I the only one here who actually has spices from foreign lands?" Nofa wondered out loud.
"You do?" Varma asked.
"Oh yes. My rack has peppers from Haimana and desert rose leaves from Kyrasar and lots of other things that go well with a stew. I could let you try some of them." Nofa suggested.
"That'd be great! If you go retrieve them, I'll go get the work started with mother. And Yia, you're coming too." Varma said to both of them.
"I'll go get them in just a moment but... I had something I wanted to say to Yilka first, so you can go ahead." Nofa replied.
"As you wish." Varma said and shrugged and then left the staple.
As soon as they were alone, Nofa turned towards Yilka with a serious, yet somewhat hesitant demeanor.
"What did you want to say?" Yilka asked.
"It probably doesn't surprise you to hear that you are my favourite person in this village." Nofa started with.
"Do you really dislike everybody else that much?" Yilka asked.
"No, you fool. I mean, Varma and Suiv are lovely folk and that Kovana girl seemed like a nice person as well but... I saw how the folk looked away from us when we walked past, and I know it wasn't because of you. This scarf doesn't disguise me at all. The folk can still figure out who I am and many of them are scared of me and I obviously don't belong here." Nofa explained while Yilka listened quietly.
"Are you leaving? Going back closer to home?" Yilka asked with worry.
"That wasn't what I was thinking. I was thinking... could I come with you?" Nofa asked with sincerity and certainty.
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