Chapter 1 - Stolen Property

"Want me to quickly run home and get the rest of the eggs?" Aurora asked. She stood behind the counter to Madam Vireo's store. Madam Vireo was the oldest woman in the village of Capo. She was almost eighty years old, making her twenty years older than the next eldest around.

Madam Vireo huffed. “It’s unlike you to forget… Ah leave it, you’ve been helping me around enough as of recently.” The elderly lady smiled, revealing many wrinkles upon her dark skin and a rather large gap in her front teeth. The teeth were blackened, clearly in need of some aid.

Aurora grinned. “I woke up on the wrong side of my bed today, I promise not to forget it next time.” She turned around to leave. Aurora spun back and then moved closer to Madam Vireo. “Who is that by the way? I haven’t seen her before.”

Aurora pointed at a girl who looked to be about her own age of sixteen. The girl was pulling a deep brown chest from behind her across the dusty market. Aurora squinted upon noticing the girl’s long blond hair. Where is she from? I’ve never seen a person with blond hair before, or white skin at that matter.

“How would I know?” Madam Vireo shrugged. “Probably one of those wandering merchants, trying to scam us out of our hard earned grain. I say you stay as far away from her as possible, she has hair befitting a demon of the legends.”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, if you say so.”

Aurora looked at her own reflection in a mirror behind Madam Vireo. She ruffled through her medium length, curly brown hair and stared at her large eyes. Her iris was a deep hazel in the center and became lighter the further it went out. Aurora poked her chubby cheeks and frowned. When will I lose this baby fat already? She sighed.

Aurora spent the next hour walking through the village market, selling the items she procured from her family’s farm. This had been her routine for as long as she could remember. Working at the farm, along with her two older brothers and her parents, and then going to the market and selling the items, be it chicken eggs or wool. Her father and brothers were too busy taking care of the harder labor to go to the market, and thus this had become Aurora’s designated job. She’d also buy or trade items when needed.

Aurora wiped at her sweaty forehead with a cotton handkerchief. She pulled a metal flask of water from her backpack and chugged down its contents. “All done for the day.” Aurora sat on a bench and let her back rest against it. The wheelbarrow she’d lugged around with her was empty, she’d had no things to buy on her list for the day. The sun was high up in the sky, having just recently turned noon.

Aurora put a finger on her lips. Hmm, what should I do now? I wasn’t expecting everything to go so smoothly today since it’s a Friday. It should have been a lot busier. She gazed up at the sun, smiling blissfully.

“Oi, did you not hear me? I said you are trespassing on Song territory,” a man shouted. Aurora looked down to find four men wearing green robes surrounding the girl with blond hair. They each had a sword fastened to their side, and had identical badges on their chests. The badge was in the shape of a yellow horn.

The girl clenched her fists. “I heard you alright, I’m not going to give you a fifty percent discount on my wares. That’s extortionate to say the least.”

Oh boy, she’s being too stubborn for her own good. Aurora moved closer to the commotion along with most of the other villagers in the market. About a hundred people had surrounded the girl and four men. “What is she selling?” Aurora asked a man next to her.

He shook his head. “I didn’t notice her until now. Poor thing.”

“Haha, you think I care about your opinion here?” the green robed man said. He smirked. “You know what, give me all of your goods, I’ve run out of patience with you.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious, I’ve only just arrived here and am going to leave soon anyway. I’m not giving you shit.”

The man laughed. “Boys, show her why nobody in this rundown village goes against our Song clan!”

Aurora looked away from the scene just as one of the robed men slammed the hilt of their blade on the girl’s head.

“What are you all looking at? Scram!”

The villagers paced away from the area, going back to their different stalls and buildings. Aurora went back over to the bench. That was enough to sap away all of the fun from my day. I’ll just go back home before it gets even worse here. She picked up her wheelbarrow. She started moving in the direction to her home. Aurora stopped and looked over to the girl from earlier.

Aurora scratched her head. “Ah, why am I like this?”

She put her wheelbarrow down and walked over to the girl, who was laying with her back on the ground. Her blond hair had become disheveled, dirt and leaves littered within it.

“Stupid country bumpkins, do they even know who I am?” the girl said. “I’ll tear them apart soon enough. Mongrels.” She pushed herself onto her ass and grimaced. She rubbed her head and then her stomach, both of which had become swollen. Blood dripped down from her forehead onto her nose.

Aurora stretched her hand out. “You probably should have just given them what they wanted in the first place. Would have saved you a lot of pain.”

“…”

“I’m Aurora by the way.” Aurora kept her hand outstretched.

The girl batted the hand away and got up. “What do you want? Here to make fun of me?” She glared at Aurora.

“Of course not. What do I look like to you?”

“Whatever…”

Aurora furrowed her brows. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed several villagers were gazing at her intently. She grasped the girl’s hand and pulled her away. “Follow me.”

Aurora left her wheelbarrow where it was, not worried in the slightest about it getting stolen. She brought the girl to a small field about five minutes away from the market. Dandelions and sunflowers filled the area, and a fresh lemon waft through the area. “They were looking at us a bit funny,” Aurora said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m certain they’ll spread some rumors, but that’s for you to deal with later. So, who are you and what are you doing in our fine little village in the middle of nowhere?”

“Irelia, I’m Irelia,” she replied. Irelia combed through her hair with her fingers. She let out a long moan. “What is wrong with this place? I came here to just quickly sell some things and get on my way… Ah, it doesn’t matter, I’ll be getting that stuff back sooner or later. It’s only a matter of time.”

“A matter of time? If I can give you any advice, just don’t cause any trouble.” Aurora frowned. She pulled out a balm from her backpack and dipped it onto her handkerchief. “Stay still, it’s going to sting a tiny bit.”

She dabbed the handkerchief on Irelia’s bruised forehead. The girl squirmed away from Aurora, forcing Aurora to hold onto her tightly. “It’s just a bit of pain, seriously.”

Irelia pushed herself away from Aurora. “Ouch, what the hell is that? It feels like a bee sting.”

Aurora put the handkerchief away. “So, what are you going to do now? You’re not from here and you’ve had all of your stuff taken away… Do you have anywhere to stay?”

Irelia stared at the ground. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“I- Okay, well, you can come stay at mine for a bit then until you find your bearings. Is that okay with you?”

Irelia shook her head. “Why would you want to help out a stranger? I’ll figure it out myself.”

Aurora raised an eyebrow. “You really are something else. Well, I’m just going to leave you to your own devices then.” She walked away through the field.

“Wait.”

Aurora stopped in her tracks. “Are you coming then?”

Irelia ran over to her. “I hate to do this, but I’ll be in your care for just a couple of days, I promise.”

“If you say so. How are you planning on getting your stuff back?”

“All depends on how things go. I should be able to in two weeks, if my calculations are correct, that is . I can’t say anything more.” Irelia groaned and then scratched her shoulder.

Aurora made her way back to her farm, which was about half an hour away from the village market. Large swathes of land covered in grass and flowers were in her sight. Cows, sheep and some horses could be seen in the distance. To the left of the path they walked on, a field of wheat could be seen, whilst to the right the animals were grazing on the available grass.

“This is where you live?” Irelia asked as a small cottage came into view. Smoke bellowed from the chimney of the cottage into the atmosphere.

“Yep, home sweet home,” Aurora replied. The pair got closer to the gate that was built around the cottage.

“Stop!” Irelia shouted. She slammed down her hand on Aurora.

Aurora fell. She felt a wave of wind passing above. Aurora coughed out some soil that had entered her mouth. “What was that for?” She slowly stood up.

“Just take a look for yourself,” Irelia said. She helped Aurora up.

A large tree branch had landed next to Aurora, about a meter away from where she’d been stood. Her heartbeat fastened as she stared at the object. “That… Was going to hit me?”

Irelia nodded. “Yea, what gives? Is this farm haunted or something?”

“Not that I know of…”

The walk back to the farm continued in silence.