We take our time down the road, not even Lirien wants to exercise after lunch. The sun just barely pokes out behind some clouds and a cool breeze keeps things comfortable.
Now and then I catch Lirien looking at my arm, maybe he's worried. I already embarrassed myself enough over it, no point getting him all worked up.
It's like the first time we walked to the tavern, but…it's too quiet.
"So ah…Lirien, what did you get up to while I was gone?"
"You really fell asleep quickly huh? Are you sure you're interested now?
Small talk is such a pain in the ass, his little shit-eating grin doesn't help.
"I didn't want to intrude on the gossiping housewives in the kitchen, if you don't wanna tell me then don't."
He laughs and starts talking. Guys at the bar getting hurt and needing him, Miss Rina trying to get a cat for the house. A bunch of stories about nothing, but it's nice.
The trees and the windy dirt road…It's hard to remember the feel of concrete anymore.
Trav's place is nearly empty aside from a few guys eating lunch and Trav, sitting behind the bar counter reading a book. Lyria smiles at us while scooping up a pile of bowls from one of the tables, "Oh oh oh! You're back! Wait, wait just wait a few minutes, I wanna get all the details.
She speeds up, tossing plates and bowls on top of each other before running to the back.
Lirien picks out a table and we sit, Lyria brings us a pitcher of water and some cups between dish trips.
The place is so quiet when it's like this, I'd kill for a radio. Drink water, tap my foot, drink water, Lyria grabs dishes…
It feels like little bugs are crawling on my arm, rubbing it against my pants isn't fixing it. That little tingle, like ants until my skin, grabbing my arm, twisting the bandage a little, but it just comes back, again and again.
Scratching…drink water…dishes…scratching…scratching…god I'm bored.
Lirien clears his throat,
"Gōki, are you ok? Is your arm alright?"
Deep breath, I'm getting too worked up.
"Yea, it just itches, Ani-....Drashka got a hot knife and burnt it all up when i cut it open and-"
He jumps up and his chair tips onto the floor.
"You cauterized it!? What the hell happened out there, I thought you just got scraped up like usual."
Lyria gasps from the kitchen and bursts out the door.
"No-no-no-no-no! Don't start yet! Trav I'm on break!"
Trav nods as she sprints to the table, plopping into a chair next to us, kicking her feet like a kid.
"Fine…Fine, me and Drashka went into the woods to hunt some big, horned cat thing."
Lyria jumps out of her chair.
"Oh! Oh oh oh! How big was it, bigger than you? Bigger than the orc?! What were the horns like? Wha-"
Lirien coughs and gives her a look, she sits back down.
I open up my arms wide and make little horns with my fingers.
"It was way bigger than us, and the horns were big thin ones like this. Drashka gave me a big crossbow, but it weighed a ton and my aim was shit so I just scraped its back while it was in the cave."
Lirien stops me with his hand out like we're in school, "Wait…what cave? You said it was in the woods."
Picky little teacher's pet, do I gotta spell it out?
"Fine, we went to the woods, and THEN went to a cave and that happened, Drashka held it off with a spear while I got ready to shoot it, but I fucked up and the string ripped my arm up."
Peeling the bandage back a little the purple and yellow bruises peek out and you can see the wet ripped skin. Lirien looks worried, but his sister just gets more excited, she must be struggling to stay quiet.
"Drashka was keeping it busy so I ran over and jabbed it in the eye with the broken half of his spear."
Lirien covers his eyes and sighs.
"When did his spear break?"
He's getting on my nerves with this crap.
"During the fight, duh! just try to keep up. So…I jab it in the eye with the spear and it flopped over, Drashka had to make a fire to heat up a big knife to burn up the cuts on my arm…and…well…then I came home! There."
No reason they need to hear about me freaking out.
Neither of them seem very happy with the story, they just want me to explain and explain.
The front door creaks, heavy boots and tin can laugh, sounds like Aniki is here to save me from all this storytelling.
"Awe hel', ya started tellin' stories wit'out me, da'z no fair lemme get in on it before ya give way da' bes' bits."
The chair he grabs creaks as he leans back, I can see his big toothy smile under the helmet. Lyria hops her chair closer , her lips are sucked way in like she's gonna pop.
"'Old on, cain't tell a gud tale wit' my mout' dry, git' a few roun's fo' da' table 'fore we start."
He rips a pouch off his belt and dumps a pile of coins on the table.
"An' don'chu worry Gōki, drinks i'z on me ta'noight, cain't git'cha in mor' debt eh?"
Lyria uses her apron like a basket and slides the coins in before rushing to Trav, he whistles at the cash like it's a sexy lady, it must be a lot..
"I'ma drink you under the table this time Aniki, better be ready. Lirien you drink too."
He looks confused, but nods his head. I give him a big pat on the shoulder,
"It's a team building exercise, the boss will think you're slacking if you don't drink up."
Pausing for the laugh was a mistake, no one got the joke, Lyria saved me by bringing the first round.
We slap the cups together with a big cheer and drink.
Lyria's drinking water, it's cute how she still sighs like she's taking shots. Aniki downs the whole mug and pushes the cup back to her.
"Gow'on an' keep em' comin'"
I won't lose to Aniki like some punk, by tilting my head back I can drink faster. The cup is so much bigger when I chug the whole thing. I choke and a mouthful of beer comes out my nose.
"Ahhhh kaughaaa psssttpsutpt, shit….ugh, ok, Aniki you win this round…buhhh…but I'll beat you on endurance."
Everyone laughs, Lirien tries to hide it behind his cup but I can tell. It's just for fun anyway, who cares.
Lyria brings out new cups for me and Aniki, no toast this time, I'll take it slow.
The wooden chair creaks when Aniki leans back, he must be trying to look wistful, but it's just a helmet and tusks.
"Rememba' it loike it woz' jus' yestaday, me an' Gōki, scalin' up mount'ins, to da' voile den of da'...um...Feral…horn'ed…big cain't forgit big! cat monsta'"
He counts off slowly on his fingers, killing that stuff must happen all the time, it barely even registered to him.
"Gōki had ah brillan' plan ta' shoot da' beast whoile it woz sleepin', but mah armor clunked 'round an' woke it up an' his shot skimmed it'z back."
Aniki is doing his best to make me look good, but no one's going to believe he's the one messing up.
"It got up, tawl 'az Lirien's house, an' shook da' groun' wit it'z roar. RAHHHHHGGAAGGGG!"
Aniki's roar is way scarier than the monster's was, everyone fell on floor like it's an earthquake, even Trav is shaking behind the bar, Lyria is the only one standing, stars in her eyes.
Lirien and I climb back into our seats, he's still shaking like a scared puppy.
"What the hell is goin' on! Are we under attack!?"
Gralkus bursts out of his office with a shield and club. Trav clears his throat, "Story time, Gralkus. Just…Stories."
Gralkus looks around like he's been lied to, breathing like a dog left in the sun. He slowly lets his guard down, putting his knife away and rubbing his forehead.
"Don'...ugh…don' do that shit again, or at least warn me, Trav! Gimme ah drink, may as well sit in."
He takes a seat at the table next to ours, leaning his shield against it. Rolling his hand in the air, he stares at Aniki.
"Go on Drashka…Regale us."
"Wit plea'sha, So! Da' monsta' git'z up an' tries ta' pin me whoile Gōki reloads, It'z strong, but mostly…it'z heavy, an' da' spear I had snapped loike a bitty twig."
He wriggles around on the floor like a kabuki actor, holding the chair up where the spear would be.
"Turns out, dat mos' of da' stuff I brought waz shit, Gōki's crossbow mal'funtchuned, Causin' it ta' rip a big ol' scrape down 'is arm–Show em quik Gōki."
I show everyone the scrape like a kid in front of class. Everyone looked but everyone saw it already so Gralkus was the only one who looked surprised.
"Yea…den jus' as it wuz 'bout to pin me down, Gōki runz ova' grabs da' broke spear on da' ground, an' jabz it into it'z big eye loike ah lance wit' his good hand."
I'm starting to get into the story a little, when Aniki acts it out it seems so much cooler than when we were there.
"Gōki even let me burn up da' woun' all noice, I seen orcz cry more den he did ova' it."
My face is getting all hot, the way everyone is looking at me now, I sounded like a badass.
Lyria chatters on, asking about what color the cat was, how strong it was…Aniki just wiggles his empty mug and she shimmies away for refills.
Gralkus pulls his chair over when she comes back, "Sounds like 'ah tough one, sorta like tha' big bear we had ta' hunt 'round ten years ago."
The Bear!
The chair falls over when I stand up, Lirien flinches and looks at me worried when I stare down the dwarf.
"Gralkus! Tell me about the bear! Did it have human hands and get all mushy? How many eyes did it have, was there–"
Gralkus waves me away, "Lyria has some competition on this one I guess, ok ok enough jokin', I'll tell ya' 'bout it, may as well have a 'lil story time eh?"
His story is hard to focus on…His bear is just a bear, it's big, but…no special eyes or hands…Everyone else seems excited about it, Lirien keeps looking at me, better just smile and drink…Nothing I can do about it anymore anyway…I'm already here.
Everytime I think about the bear…or school…or mom, the beer helps wash it back out. Think…Drink…Think…Drink…The stories are easier to listen to, everyone has at least one.
Lirien says he saved a kid's life after they were attacked by wolves, he barely whispers like he's embarrassed or something.
Aniki and Gralkus have the best ones, big fights, big monsters, some…political crap but who cares…Lyria is eating it up between refills.
Even Merrik and Ferra join in…when did they get here? Ferra talking about…something about the woods…god she smells nice.
Merrik, he keeps looking at me but what did he say? Oh shit! Is it my turn? Gotta stand up, just a little wobbly, I only got one big story they weren't there for.
"When I got here, before I got to here, I was in a school trip! Camping! And when we were sleeping a bear attacked…"
Gotta spread my arms out wide…or they won't understand…
"It was huuuuge! It was…the size of…it was a bear! But it had too many eyes, and when I hit it with a rock, it melted into a big…mush but with hands that grabbed at me and knocked me into the river."
They're stunned…heh…of course they are. Lirien stands and puts his hands on my shoulders…he looks sad…
"No no Lirien–no it--it's ok…that was before…so I'm ok now–sides you guys have my back…we…we would whoop that bear's ass!"
Raising my mug high, everyone else cheers.
"We should work together all the time!"
Pointing to each of them.
"Me and Lirien, and Ferra, and Merrik, and Aniki…and…that…ninja guy! We could be the best team! The…uh…Four Heavenly Kings!"
Merrik calls out all pissy looking.
"But that's six!"
Dumbass. Doesn't even know the basics.
"It's always four! That's how it is…the big four! The Four Heavenly Kings…and friends!"
Aniki and Ferra give a big cheer, they get it. Lirien and Merrik raise their cups after a second, and give a half assed cheer but it's good enough.
"Tonight let's spend all of Aniki's money! The heavenly kings need a heavenly party!"
No one argues.
We will take on the world…My unstoppable team…