Coldas, 14th day of the 3rd Ertal Moon
... Morning...
The morning sun brought with it warmth and joy. All throughout the morning market, the stalls were freshly stocked and sales were happening left and right.
"'Scuse me! Three fresh fish, please!" One man asked, waving a slim tan sheet of paper.
"Certainly, sir! Three fish comin' up!" Replied the stand keep, who tied the tails of three fish and raised them up to hand to the man who in turn gave him the paper.
With the paper tucked away, the next sale could begin.
"Momma! Let's goooooo!" Lemnia called.
"Yes, yes my love! I'm coming!" Cretas replied, trying her best to carefully and (relatively speaking) politely shove her way through the crowds.
Lemnia's size allowed her to slip between adults at a healthy clip. And miraculously she had no troubles with navigating the gauntlet. However, once free of the crowd with the stall she desired in sight, she took all but one step and her left foot caught on her right ankle causing her to-
"EEP!" BAM!... Face plant.
Cretas shoved the last of the crowd out of her path, and found her daughter face down on the unyielding cobblestone floor.
"Lemnia, dear. Are you all right?" She asked as she helped Lemnia to her feet.
Her forehead was a bit red, and she sniffed back a few tears and wiped them away quickly.
"I'm fine momma! C'mon! We hafta get to that stand and buy some rice!" Lemnia urged as she grabbed her mother's arm and tugged her towards the stand.
A crowd had gathered around it, preventing any easy access to the vendor. And try as she might, she couldn't get the woman's attention over the shouts of the crowd. Of course Lemnia wasn't content with this. She crouched and pushed at the knees of the adults around her to force her way through the throng of bodies to the front where, at the final push, fell forward onto her face again beside the stand. Overwhelmed by the crowd, the woman behind the stall didn't notice.
Lemnia got to her feet and walked around the stall, tapping the woman's elbow.
"Can I have some rice please!?!?" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Hey! Get that runt outta here!" One man screamed.
"Yeah! We've been waiting our turns this whole time! She has to wait too!!" Another woman shouted.
One man yanked Lemnia by the arm, hauling the girl off her feet before letting go and watching her sail almost six feet through the air before she hit the cobblestone ground and rolled onto her side.
... This did not go unnoticed by Cretas.
Quickly dashing to Lemnia's side, Cretas helped her daughter to sit up only to see a heartbroken face caked in tears and pain looking back at her as she held her now bleeding elbow. Cretas' heart burned. Her lips tightened. And she took a sharp breath through her nose before looking at the back of the man who'd thrown her.
Looking at Lemnia and gently lifting her chin to look at her, she mouthed
I'll be right back. With Lemnia nodding and trying to wipe her nose and face of her tears, Cretas stood up and dropped her shopping basket by Lemnia's side and marched up to the man. Not wasting any time, she grabbed him by the back of his hair and yanked him backwards until he was bent as far as he could go without falling. Walking around his side, she balled up a fist and slammed it into the man's lower stomach just above the groin causing him to immediately lose his balance and fall to the ground. Cretas, keeping a grip on his hair, yanked him to the side causing the hair in her hand to tear free leaving a large, red bald spot where the hair used to be.
The crowd observed and went silent as Cretas turned towards them with a dangerous scowl, holding the hair up and opening her fingers to let it sail away softly in the wind.
"Would anyone else like to get in the way of my daughter trying to get some rice?" She growled.
The entire crowd backed away a step, and Cretas huffed through her nose at them.
"My love. Come here, please."Lemnia, still sobbing and holding her elbow, got the basket and limped over to her mother. Cretas took the basket, paid for a bag of rice, and hoisted her daughter up into her arms with the basket dangling around her elbow, and walked away. Once she was gone, the crowd looked to one another, to the stall, and resumed their feud over who was next in line.
Meanwhile, taking a seat on a bench down the road away from the market, Cretas sat Lemnia on her lap and gave her a once over.
"Do you think you'll make it?" She cooed playfully while giving Lemnia's belly a tickle.
Lemnia giggled.
"Yeah. But my elbow and knee hurts.""Let me see."Examining Lemnia's elbow, she saw a rather nasty scrape. White skin torn away leaving the way for blood to flow freely down the flesh of her arm to her fingertips. Her knees seemed fine, though. Just a bit bruised. Thankfully her knee pads took most of the damage.
"Come on. Let's go see Qinta. Maybe she'll have a treat for you like last time."Lemnia nodded and sniffled away the last of her tears as her mother kissed her nose, and the two walked (limped) hand in hand down the road slowly. Several minutes later, they had reached the Raven Eye Clinic where Qinta, an old friend of Cretas', was a doctor.
Seated on a medical bed a minute later, Lemnia breathed calmly while Qinta, a woman in her early-30's with long red hair and a scar over her left clavicle examined her knees and elbow.
"You got quite the ugly little nick there, didn't you?" She asked as she examined the elbow.
Lemnia nodded.
"Well... The good news is that it's treatable. I won't have to lop off that cute little arm of yours just yet... Darn it all." She teased.
Lemnia giggled and shook her head.
"Atta girl. That's the smile I like to see. Now, let's get that thing cleaned up, shall we?"
Dipping a wash cloth into a small tub of warm water, she allowed it to soak through before lifting it and gently covering the wound. Lemnia squeaked a yip, and Qinta chuckled.
"You always make the cutest noises. You know that?"
Lemnia giggled again, and Qinta carefully used her thumb to wipe the bulk of the tiny pebbles and dirt bits out of the affected area before removing the cloth and dipping it in a smaller, separate tub of water. Once done, she rung it out thoroughly before gently dabbing it against the wound to soak up some of the blood.
"How'd you get this one, dear?"
"Some oaf at the rice stand grabbed her arm and threw her."Qinta paused, glancing over her shoulder at Cretas.
"... Threw her?"
Cretas nodded sternly.
"Tell me you crushed his lame excuse for family heirlooms?"
"No. But he's missing some wind in his lungs and a fist full of hair.""Psh. You're too soft, Cretas. The brute throws your baby and all you do is rip some hair off? C'mon."
"Well, I'm not a barbarian. Much as I'd like to say I was sometimes."Qinta sighed.
"Lemnia, dear. Do me a favor and grow up tougher than mommy, okay?"
"Hm?""Mommy's too nice sometimes. For throwing you, that guy deserved to get kicked between the legs as hard as you can manage."
"What's between his legs?""His-"
"DAT-DA-DA-Da-Da-da-da-da... Dat's not something to talk about in front of her just yet, Qinta.""Oh please. I'm a doctor."
"And she's only nine.""Ugh. Fine, fine. Maybe tomorrow."
"Qinta!""Okay, okay Cretas. Sheesh. I'm just toying with you."
"And I wish you wouldn't. How am I supposed to focus on the discovery of a new world if all my friends do is make me crazy?""Cretas. Sweety. You went crazy a long time ago."
"I-... Okay, maybe so. But still. You know what I mean.""Right, right. I got it. No more talk of man parts."
Lemnia was completely lost as she looked back and forth between the two.
"Well, there we are. All wrapped up and ready to go, dear."
Lemnia checked the bandage on her elbow and smiled.
"Thank you miss Qinta!" She said gleefully as she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck.
"Oof!... Aww. Lemnia, dear. How many times do I have to say you can call me Qinta? I practically raised you didn't I?"
"Excuuuuuuse me?""Ah ha ha ha haaaa... Cretas! I forgot you were still here!"
Cretas shook her head with a sigh as Qinta let Lemnia down.
"Be good for mommy, okay?" She asked while holding up her hand.
"Always!" Lemnia cheered, giving Qinta a high five before walking to her mom who lifted her into her arms again.
"Thanks for the help, Qinta. What do we owe you today?""Ugh... How many times do I have to tell
YOU that little things like this are on the house? We're practically family, Cretas. I can't believe you're still asking me about pricing after all these years."
The two women shared a laugh before Cretas and Lemnia departed.
"Feeling better, my love?""Mmhmm!""Good. Anything else we need to get that I'm forgetting?""Umm... Nope! Just the rice!""Well all right then. Looks like we can-"Cretas paused as the shadow of Captain Lohran descended upon her in the street. With the sun at his back, she couldn't see his face. But she recognized his hat.
"Good morning, Captain." She said as she walked forward and slightly to the side to get the glare out of her face.
"Mornin', missy. How ye be today?"Oh, you know? Just shopping.""Aye. Getting the last of the favorite ingredients for the meals at home before the trip, eh?""Something like that, yeah.""Well, don't let me be standin' in yer way. I'll meet ya both at the ship when yer ready in two more days.""Thanks, Captain. You won't regret taking on this journey with me. I promise!""Oh, I know I won't missy. Don't ye worry yer beautiful head none.""You think mommy's beautiful?""Aye, me wee lass. She be prettier den the mornin' sun herself."Lemnia chuckled.
"You have a funny way of talking.""My love. That's not polite. Please say you're sorry.""It be fine, missy. I take no offense. Let the little one have her fun."Cretas sighed and gave Lemnia a knowing look which earned a chuckle and a hug from her daughter.
"Well, we need to be off. Until we set sail, Captain.""Take care, missy. We be seein' ya soon."The two walked away and disappeared, leaving the Captain to watch Cretas' movements. The sway of her hips. The curvature of her rump and thighs. The long, slender musculature of her legs. The trim waist and the reddish-brown hair. Even if she was a mother for the runt, she was almost too appetizing to resist. He licked his lips and turned towards the docks just in time to see that stranger staring him down from beneath his bamboo hat.
"Ah. It be you, stranger. What can I do fer ye?""I heard everything. So she's going to be on board your ship, is she?""Aye. We be settin' sail in two days ta find a new world. Or at least, that's what she be hopin' for.""I see... Then you won't object to another tag along, would you?""Ye be askin' ta board me boat for the new world, do ye?""Precisely. Forgive the intrusiveness of the request. But I simply can't resist the call and promise of lands yet unknown.""Ah. A traveler and explorer at heart, are ye?""Very much so." He said with a smile.
"Well, if ye be boardin' my ship. I need ta know yer name.""Tora." The man said with a light bow.
"Tora Lithenmiir, at your service.""Tora... I haven't heard such a name before.""I come from afar, so it's not surprising.""Well, mister Tora. Welcome to me crew." He said, holding his hand out for a shake.
Tora approached, and shook his hand.
Even without the hat, Tora stood a few inches taller than the Captain. But he was unfazed, as he gave Tora's hand a very firm grip and shake which was returned in kind. Neither man let go for a long moment, until at last Tora yielded and unfurled his fingers.
"I suppose I'll see you in two days. What time will we be departing?""We be sailin' at midday to catch the East winds.""Excellent. I shall see you there and then. Good day."Tora walked further into town with the Captain glaring at his back the whole way until he disappeared.
Welcome to me crew indeed, mister Tora. If ye be the trouble I think ye be, then we gots ourselves a bit of fun on our hands. He thought with a menacing smirk.