Advent Noion

10

she picks up a large bundle, examing it, "just noion?"

he anxiously watches from behind, "i thought it looked nice."

she grins, "you want to waste your share on all this noion?"

aufri tugs at the hem of her gingham frock, "me next! i know what i want to waste-"

she kicks aufri down, "hey, hands off! i just got this!"

aufri rubs his head, standing up, "ow, master! i want a-"

she laughs at aufri, "ha! who said you get a share?"

doubled over from the sack of noion on his back, he trods away, "i'm going back to the inn."

-

he stands before the pair, sack in one hand, a sheet of paper in the other, "lepfna asked me to find these herbs for his brewing..."

she laughs, turning away, "haha! good luck with-"

aufri interrupts, grabbing the paper from him, "sounds fun! let me see!"

she glares at aufri, "hey, you traitor! let's go steal stuff instead."

aufri sticks his tongue out, mocking her from behind him, "bleh! i'm tired of stealing!"

he grins at her, "won't you help us, nisida?"

she grumbles, "ugh."

-

they walk near the edge of town, scavenging through the surrounding vegetation.

she holds up a leaf, counting the numbers of spiked tips, before thrusting it in his face, "can't we just buy these from the market?"

aufri shouts, pointing to the ground, "here's one!"

he examines her leaf, glancing back to the paper in his hand, shaking his head, "i already checked, these ones are what i couldn't find stocked anywhere."

they gather around as aufri pulls up a small sprout half his height, but it shrivels up in a matter of seconds, "hey! it died!"

he reads from the paper, "it seems we are after the taproot, so we must dig it somehow."

aufri whines, before scrambling to another plant, "ugghhhh... hey, i found more!"

she laughs, clapping her hands, "haha! aufri, you're good at-"

he interrupts her, smirking, "hmm, aren't you glad you came along?"

she brushes him off, kicking some leaves, "i mean... damn plants! i hate this!"

they gather around aufri, busy digging with his bare hands like a dog.

she sits down, watching the dirt flung backward, "how many does lepa need?"

he joins her, glancing at the paper with a pained expression, "if i tell you the amount, you'll probably leave."

aufri proudly holds up the entire plant, taproot and all, after a minute of digging that leaves his tunic a dark brown, "ta-da!"

she takes the plant from aufri, placing it into his sack, as he reads from the paper in his hand, "we need nineteen more of those..."

aufri groans, looking at his tired hands, "ah! nineteen?"

she leans back against a tree, closing her eyes, "wake me up when you guys finish."

-

she opens her eyes, looking around, "eh, where is aufri?"

he is busy digging with a stick, surprised to find her awake, "oh, aufri? he went home a while ago."

a voice is heard, "...and it happened like th..."

another voice, "...ya had to..."

they stop to listen.

silence.

she quietly makes her way to him, looking back to the treeline, whispering, "jfion, did you hear that?"

clearly afraid, ready to run back to town, he answers, "uh, yes."

she grins, poking him, "what's the matter? weren't you a spy? let's spy on them."

his face turns pale.

~

they push through the dense vegetation, finding their way to the cliff, sparked with helix all the way up as far as you can see.

she looks up at the cliff, whsipering to him, "have you heard the voices again?"

he shakes his head, "no, let's turn back-"

she grabs his shawl, tugging him along, "wait, jfion! i found a cave-"

she glances at his paper, "lepa needs mushrooms, right?"

he nods, grabbing some helix from the floor to light the way, "you want to explore it, don't you?"

she grins, "it can't be helped! there could be treasure..."

-

not five minutes into the cave, she triggers a rope trap, swooping them up into the air, leaving them dangling from the ceiling.

she screams, "ahhhh! ahh-"

he covers her mouth, shushing her, "shh! someone will hear us!"

she spits away his hand germs, looking around, "peh! who?"

he tries wiggling to escape, "whoever placed this trap."

she glances at the thick strands comprising the trap, "do you have a knife or something?"

he shakes his head, "no, sorry. i should have grabbed one before i went to gather herbs..."

she sighs, "eh, don't worry. it's just rope-"

she begins gnawing at the strands, "we can chew out way out!"

-

pinned against her, he tries glancing at her work, "uh, how is it coming?"

her sore mouth hanging open, she groans, "ughhh... halfway through one... my jaw hurts."

he pushes her aside with his head, "move, let me-"

a voice is heard coming their way, "who's out there?"

the first man coughs, "kah! see, there ain't no one here."

the second man looks to the third, "what is it, fablio?"

fablio thrusts his lantern into their section of the cave, "i'm sure i heard something-"

the trio of men from earlier in the bar find the pair hanging above them. they stop to appreciate her upturned frock, admiring her exposed underwear.

the first man whistles "whew! i'd recognize that anywhere, it's the girl with the nice ass!"

she moans, looking down, "aghh, not you three assholes, again!"

fablio raises his arms out in praise, staring at up her, "my love! you-"

fablio falls to his knees, tears in his eyes, "came back to me!"

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aan