Story time with Nimran
Nimran
Member Posts: 4,875
Ah, what is this? Weary travelers at my doorstep? Why, it’s been some time since I’ve had some company. Come, take a seat by the fire, and I shall regale you with a story. I promise you shan’t regret it.
3
Comments
Alex Neero, a small, thin boy of eight years, with short brown hair and green eyes, rested against the trunk of a large tree just outside the village wall, sitting and trying to read a book given to him by one of the rare travelers who happened to be passing through the forest on their way to some distant place. The traveler had claimed to be a scholar, though none in the village had ever seen or heard of him before his arrival. His strange attire, a dirty and ragged set of clothes covered by a poncho that looked as though it was haphazardly stitched together by an amateur tailor, and a wide-brimmed hat that seemed as though it could keep more than one person dry in a rainstorm, covered his whole form from head to toe, with the exception of his face. Alex remembered the thin, persistent smile that never left his lips as he passed silently through the village and handed over the peculiar book, telling the boy to learn as much as he could from it. Alex himself was sitting alone by the same tree on that day, and it has since become a regular spot for him to sit and while away the hours looking through the pages of the book. Unfortunately, he could not read, so actually understanding the contents was impossible for him to accomplish alone. He ultimately decided to ask for help from his friend, though she was apparently running late.
Alex took a deep breath as his hands idly flipped through the book’s pages. They felt so delicate in his coarse, calloused hands, and he made sure to turn each page carefully so that he wouldn’t risk tearing it. After going through the whole book twice and having made no progress toward understanding it, he finally closed it with a sigh and leaned back against the tree, resigning himself to what seemed to be a long wait. He closed his eyes and began to think about the mysterious book and what it might have to say. A few minutes passed, and his thoughts turned to dreams, and he drifted into sleep...
Only for an instant before he felt a familiar, wet tongue slide up the side of his face. “Gah!” he exclaimed with a start as he instinctually pulled away from the cold, slobber-coated wolf tongue. He opened his eyes and saw the same familiar form his friend had always greeted him with, the form of a small grey wolf pup. The pup casually stepped forward and gave his face another lick as he struggled to rise to his feet, causing him to fall back against the tree.
“Callie, that’s not funny!” Alex snapped at the pup as he started wiping wolf saliva off of himself. The wolf grinned and gave him a wink before its body began to shift and warp, transforming into that of a small humanoid, a short, brown-haired girl who stood up and flashed him another grin, her eyes level with his. She was dressed as simply as he was, with a plain white shirt and dark trousers, and she wore no shoes, preferring the feeling of the soft grass and dirt beneath her feet. Alex quickly rose to his feet, standing at over twice the girl’s height.
“That’s what you get for sleeping, you bum,” the girl, Callie, said with a smirk, not at all fazed by Alex’s indignation. “And actually yes, it was a little funny.” Alex let out an exasperated sigh and sat back onto the ground, his eyes shifting from his friend back to the book he was carrying. Callie sat down beside him and started twiddling her toes as she looked up at him expectantly. Despite appearances, she was a few years older than him. Halflings are always older than they appear to be, and according to Callie, she was even shorter than most halflings her age, a ‘runt’ as she put it. Even so, Alex respected and admired her confidence and optimism. He also really liked that she could turn into a wolf.
A few seconds passed before Alex finally spoke up. “Hey, do you know how to read, Callie?” he asked, turning his head to look at her. “Nope!” Callie replied with a smile. “Never had to. Why, do you?” “No, but I want to,” he answered, holding up the book. Before he could say anything else, Callie’s hand shot forward and latched onto it, nearly pulling him along with it as she drew it close and began to examine the cover. “Where did you get this?” she asked, pulling the book out of Alex’s hand and opening it as she did. Alex shrugged and replied “A scholar gave it to me.” Callie looked up at him incredulously. “Do you even know what a scholar is?” she asked. Alex shrugged again. “Someone who reads books, I think,” he answered, eliciting a laugh from the halfling, who shook her head and said “Don’t always believe people when they tell you things, especially when you don’t know them. As for this, I can’t read Common, but this isn’t written in Common. It’s written in Druidic. Who gave this to you? Did they have a name?” Alex shook his head. He had no idea who the man was, only what he looked like, which he described to Callie as best he could. The halfling listened intently to his description, her expression taking on a thoughtful look as she attempted to remember seeing anyone matching the description. Eventually she gave up, having never seen or heard of any person fitting that description, and her attention went back to the book. After flipping through some of its pages, she closed the book and turned back to him. “This scholar seems like a weirdo. This is his journal, written in Druidic, and he gave it to you, so that you could give it to me.”
“Huh?” Alex asked, still sitting there, confused. “What do you mean?” “Here,” Callie replied, showing him the first page. “See this word right here, in the corner? That’s my name.” “Why would he give it to me, then?” Alex asked, somewhat disappointed that the book wasn’t actually meant for him. “Maybe because you were easier to find?” Callie suggested. “Either way, it’s yours now, if you want it.” Alex frowned. “I can’t read it. It’s written in, er, Droodic?” “Druidic,” Callie corrected him. “And before you ask, no, I can’t teach it to you. There are rules against that.” “Aww,” Alex moaned in frustration. “Well, if I can’t read it, then you should have it,” he conceded. “He said it’s for you, anyway.” Callie grinned and gave him a sharp nod. “Alright!” she exclaimed. She stood up with the book still in her hands and said “Alright, time to play! I found a nice, dark cave close by for us to explore. We should go and check it out!” She then immediately turned on her heels and started walking back the way she came. Alex nodded with excitement and followed along after her, happy to finally start having fun.
For her part, Callie was far too busy enjoying Alex’s company to see him as a burden. As they walked on, she kept asking him questions about his life in Lark. “So, how are things in the civilized world?” she asked him. “I see you’re still sitting around by yourself after finishing your chores. Don’t you ever play with the other kids?” Alex shrugged. “Not really,” he said reluctantly. He felt somewhat embarrassed whenever Callie asked him if he had friends in the village. The answer was always the same: no. Callie’s head swiveled towards him with a look of disappointment. “Why not?” she asked. Alex shrugged again, and replied “They all just want to pick on me when I’m around. They don’t like me.” He noticed Callie suddenly stopping in front of him, and he stopped and looked up from where he was scanning the path to see her turned fully towards him, a look of surprise on her face. “Why would they do that?” she asked, shaking her head slightly. Alex shrugged for the third time. He was about to say “I don’t know,” but Callie held up her hand and quickly cut him off. Her head suddenly turned to her left, and she seemed to be staring intently at something in the brush, though Alex couldn’t see anything. He didn’t have to wait long to know what Callie was looking at, however, as a strange form emerged from the brush.
The form was of a large, hulking man with sickly yellow skin dressed in a variety of different animal pelts that seem to have been thrown together haphazardly to make a coat. His face was unlike any other that Alex had seen before, with a large, sloping forehead, piercing yellow eyes, an upturned snout for a nose, and two sharp tusks protruding from his lower lip. The creature hadn’t noticed them before stepping out onto the path, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the two children standing there. Upon seeing them, his mouth twisted into a smile, and he took a step forward, speaking in a low growl “I found small humans.” That first step was also his last, however, as the roots and vines surrounding the path immediately shot forward, catching and holding his arms and legs in place. The creature grunted in surprise and thrashed all around to break free, but the entangling plants held fast. Callie grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled him into the brush on the other side of the path. Alex was still too dumbstruck by the creature’s appearance to move, forcing her to pull harder. “Alex, WAKE UP!” she shouted at him, her voice trembling. Her eyes were shifting between him and the creature, who was beginning to successfully force his way out of the plants. Upon hearing her shout, Alex quickly regained his senses and followed his friend into the brush. Not long after, the two children heard a loud snap as one of the vines was pulled from its tree.
The children breathed heavily as they surveyed their surroundings. The forest was dense with trees where they stopped, and they could barely see in the darkness cast by the leaves overhead, so they had to rely on hearing instead of sight. After a while, Callie took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing her posture. “I think we lost him,” she finally whispered. Alex took that as his cue to speak. “What was that?” he asked, not daring to look away from where they had come from. “An orc, I would say,” Callie replied. “They’re big, surly people who usually live in isolated communities in mountains. There’s a village of them not far from where we were, though.” Alex turned to look at her in astonishment, though he could barely see her in the shadows. “What?!” he exclaimed. “There are more of those things here? And they’re living so close to my home!” Callie nodded grimly. “Yeah, it’s a problem,” she said. “Look, I know you must have been shocked to see an orc for the first time, but Alex, I want you to understand one thing. They are people, just like you and me. They might look different and have a different culture, but they are still just like humans.” She smiled and gave him a reassuring wink before starting to walk back in the direction from which they came. “Come on,” she said. “You should get back home before it gets even darker. Don’t tell anyone what you saw today, okay? It’s best that your village doesn’t find out about the orcs.” “Why not?” Alex asked as he fell in line behind her.
“Because it will not end well if they know,” Callie answered him without looking back.