Yae's Journey 2

Yae marvels at the pristine city; there are so many people, so many different races. The white stone is immaculate, and the craftsmanship is really good. Wagons pulled by strange beasts, ones with horns on its head, ones covered in scales with a large beak, ones with four ears and no eyes.

It’s too much to take in. The hustle and bustle of the hundreds of people going about their day. People are shouting out their wares; it’s all too overwhelming.

Small green-skinned people in robes, small scaly people haggling, tall eared people leading a pack of animals, and other people who look like Runalymo but also different, they give Yae and her people strange looks.

They are taken to a place with more warriors. A training ground these warriors spare, a building that smells of cooked food, and several other buildings.

A warrior walks up to the leader of the metal-clad warriors, Talva, and starts yelling at them until Talva points at Yae and says something. Yae’s group is then taken into one of the buildings with a command of the yeller. Yae walks through the door and is greeted with a place with lots of tables, and an aroma of cooked food fills the air. Yae’s mouth waters at the prospect of no longer needing to eat unseasoned seafood.

Over the last two years, they had to catch small and weak sea creatures, and someone with a fire Bond had to cook them. It kept them alive, but Yae missed properly prepared food; she will just about give anything right now to have melted cheese over Domr or Domr stew. She missed the sweet fruits and roasted nuts, Ice cream and yogurt, and much more.

Half an hour goes by, and Talva and Bunu enter the building motioning Yae to take a seat at a table as food is brought out. Talva places a ring in front of Talva and shows that he is wearing one too. Yae puts the ring on cautiously, watching the scaly person, seeing if she’s supposed to put it on.

When the ring is on Yae’s finger, the scaley person speaks, Yae suddenly seeming to understand her.

“I am Talva, company commander of the Metal Knights” Talva introduce themselves.

“And I am Bunu, Scry Master of the Metal Knights” Bunu introduces himself

“Uh, I am Yae,” she says, not sure what else to say.

The strange people do not show much emotion, but Bunu’s green eyes glimmer with interest while Talva’s beady black eyes remain a stern stare.

“We just want to ask a few questions,” Bunu says

Before Yae can say anything, Talva starts asking the first question.

“Where do you come from? we’ve never met Fylox’s like you before.”

“Uh,” Yae is taken aback by Talva’s bluntness, “Fylox’s?” Yae asks.

“People with ears and tails like yours,” Bunu says with a smile, but Yae can see it’s just a fake smile; their eyes do not share the same expression. It unnerves Yae, but maybe it’s just how their people are?

“We are Runalymo,” Yae says. At least she knows what those other “Runalymo” are called now.

“Where do... Runarymo come from?” Talva asks, mispronouncing Runalymo.

How can she answer that? She doesn’t even know where she is, so how she even begins to tell them. Plus, it’s their expressions; they are giving her strange vibes like they aren’t entirely supportive. They are giving her and her people food, but that doesn’t mean they are trustworthy.

“I... don’t know,” Yae says after a few moments of thought. “We’ve been traveling for two years, and we don’t know our way back.” it is the truth, but the strangers don’t look like they believe her.

“We are here to help you, Yae,” Bunu says. “We need to know where you come from; if there’s trouble, we need to know, and maybe we can help your homeland if it’s in danger.”

“It’s the truth,” Yae replies. “After Leaving our homeland, we were adrift for a month until a Dragon Turtle helped us and brought us here.”

“Dragon Turtle? One of those Leviathans?” Talva frowns.

“Why did you leave? Did you not want to go back?” Bunu asks, still wearing the same smile.

“Of course, we want to go back, but... uh...” Yae considers telling the truth or telling a lie, but she’s long accepted her punishment “...We were exiled,” Yae finally admits.

Bunu and Talva look at each other before continuing to ask questions.

“Why were you exiled?” Talva asks.

“for most of us, it was because we supported a group that went against our traditions and culture.”

“That doesn’t seem like it warrants exile,” Talva comments.

“Normally it wouldn’t,” Yae explains. “But this group also murdered many of our leaders.”

“I see,” Is all Talva says.

“What about you? Were you simply caught up in it?” Bunu asks.

Yae sighs and closes her eyes. Yae was a fool, did something really dumb, and now she must redeem herself. She must be truthful and live a life that she can be proud of.

“I was ordered to assassinate a child; fortunately, I failed. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing; everyone here did... but now we have come to accept our punishment. We do not seek to return; we only seek redemption.”

Talva looks at Bunu before nodding.

“We believe you,” Bunu says. “Perhaps you may do well visiting the Goblins if you really do regret your actions. They are peaceful creatures, pacifists, and philosophers. Your people may find new purpose among them.”

“You may borrow that ring, for now, to help you learn our language, but we expect it back once it’s unneeded, so don’t lose it; it is very valuable,” Talva says before standing to leave.

“Ah! One more thing!” Yae says, catching his attention before he leaves. “There is another group of us. We left them at the beach because they do not share our convictions.”

“Noted,” Talva says and walks off.

“You may finish your meal and sleep here, at the barrack tonight, tomorrow visit the Goblins; they will help you integrate into our city and find you work.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Talva waits for Bunu to catch up to him. Outside the mess hall.

“Have you and your team look for that other group” Talva orders. “I don’t want unrepentant criminals wandering our highways and taking what they want. Look at the beaches around where we found this group.”

“I’m surprised you let them go; they did admit to murder,” Bunu says.

“Bah! Did you even bother to [Analyze] them?” Talva waves him off. “Most of them showed up as craftsmen, those weren’t the murderers, and the few that showed up as mages or warriors are a rather low level; they can’t do much harm.”

“None showed up as a rouge type class, not even Yae,” Bunu comments.

“Exactly. They don’t even have the skills to commit theft, not class skills anyway.” Talva lets out a deep breath. “They aren’t city people; they look like they’ve never even seen a city. Let the goblins deal with them; they love doing the whole redemption stuff; just send them a message to keep an eye on those that may not keep to their convictions.”

“There’s more to your reasoning, isn’t there?” Bunu asks. “The proportion of craftsmen is too high; most of them are one would expect to find mostly farmers.”

“You’re right, skilled people are good for any city, and if they adopt the Goblin’s way of life, then that’s all the better” Talva gives Bunu a little smile.

“You Kobalds always have a sense of economy, don’t you?” Bunu mumbles and walks off.

“We’ll find that other group; I doubt they have retaliation either, so that’s a plus!” Bunu says without turning back.

“Now, where’d the General go? He’s going to love this,” Talva mutters to himself. After getting chewed out for returning early, he can finally be vindicated. News of another group, one that may potentially cause problems is more valuable than completing the route n a blind attempt of catching bandits and monsters.

The general will, of course, send them back to apprehend the other group and bring them in for questioning, but that’s to be expected for returning early.

An hour later, Bunu reports that his team has located the other Runalymo group, moving north, closer to the city, but they may miss the city and keep moving toward the open plains and into the dwarven lands. It’s excellent news! The group is coming to them, so they don’t have to go as far. Talva would rather they go die in the dwarven lands, but there is no guarantee that they will go that far and not just stick around looting villages.

“Get the Company ready to move out in fifteen minutes.” Talva orders.

Hopefully, this group can give better insight into who the Runalymo are; he went easy on Yae as he can see the regret in her eyes; she was caught up in something she didn’t fully understand but has chosen to take responsibility for her action instead of running away; Talva respects that.

Once his platoon has gotten into formation again, Talva leads them back out of the city to catch some potential troublemakers.