V2Ch156 New Fruit

The morning seemed to come way too soon. A guard knocked the butt of his spear on the ground just inside the "door."

"Wake up. It's time."

Babur was up and ready before I could stand. I put on my clothes, realizing just how tattered they had become from that previous night. I left the hut and followed behind Babur.

"Hey. Can we stop by the dressing hut? I left my stuff in there. I need new clothes."

"Those clothes are fine. Besides, if you have to do another trial, you may not want new clothes just yet."

The beast-man was right. We have no idea what the new trial will be. My clothes could get ruined in a matter of seconds if it's rough. I yielded to the logic and kept quiet all the way to the elders. We ascended a short flight of stairs. Most of the villagers seemed to be around, watching the spectacle. The elders were in their seats and ready for the day's event.

"This morning, we have come to a conclusion that may shape the future of this village. The fifth trials shall be abolished at a nearby future date."

Murmurs started to spread throughout the crowd.

"This also means that exiles will nyo longer be allowed back into the village, as that was the sole purpose of the fifth trials. Due to this factor, once the fifth trials are abolished, we will also be rid of the exile status. Those that are exiles when the fifth trials are gone, will have nyo way back into the village, and nyo new exiles will be thusly titled.

But, that is nyot the reason for the gathering today. Today, we still follow tradition. In light of the interruptions of the sixth of five trials, we elders had the task of choosing the replacement trial. The rules state only that we must choose a new trial."

Nimer leaned forward.

"They do nyot say it has to be a fifth trial."

The murmurs in the crowd got louder. Nimer stood up and came to us at the edge of the steps that we stood on.

"We elders feel, that the trial was significantly completed before the interruption. Due to this, we felt the first trial would be more than sufficient for the exile to earn her status of "villager," back. Of course, the first trial is for a single child, but the hero of last night may accompany her to his heart's content."

Babur looked dumbfounded. She stared at Nimer as though he were an alien concept.

"But... But that's..."

She began to tear up before she turned to me. She reached past my hood and grabbed my face to pull me in for a quick kiss.

"That's the easiest trial among all villages. It will take most of the day but, the only way to lose is to nyot know where to go. I've been there a million times."

She turned to Nimer.

"When can we start?"

Nimer shooed her away.

"Go now. Have fun."

Babur hopped up and started to run west.

"Come on, Lake! Try to keep up."

An amused smile crept onto me. I quickly caught up to her speed and we both took off at near godly speeds. After a minute or two of her running at her absolute fastest, I was sure I could surpass her at more than triple the speed. There was just one problem.

I still don't know where we are going.

So I tagged along for the ride. We ran for maybe half an hour before she came to a skidding halt. She was breathing heavily but still had a smile on.

"It should be around here."

She looked up at the sky and began laughing hysterically.

"This trip is supposed to take almost half the day to get here."

It was too infectious not to laugh with her.

In a seemingly random event, a single large boulder started to roll off of a foot-tall rock shelf. The laughter instantly stopped.

"What was that?"

Babur asked.

"Pffff. I think a single elemental spirit is nearby. Your laughter might be able to make me laugh but my laughter can piss off lesser spirits."

I laughed at the thought of a single elemental spirit getting mad while I was around. In my hubris, the large recently rolling boulder shot between us at bullet speeds, narrowly missing us by margins of an inch.

I ducked down, holding my laughter back at the thought of such a narrow miss. A habit of mine from Earth. Instant relief from a close call would trigger my laughter.

"Come on, let's go before it really gets mad."

I nudged her. I followed her around a canyon ledge. The drop was easily 200 feet down. The overall view though.

Beautiful.

One could see the western ocean from here and a thinning forest that led up to the beaches. Some wild animals were playing on the beach. What kind, I couldn't say. I was so distracted by the view that I hadn't noticed Babur had moved ahead and come back already.

"Here, hold these."

Babur handed me some soft fruit looking objects. She went back and got a few more. We came back around the corner.

"What is the first trial anyway? What do we have to do?"

Babur held up the fruits.

"Bring these back."

"That's it?"

"Nya!"

"Is this place frequented by anyone?"

"Hmm? Nyot that I knyow of."

I lowered my hood and placed the fruit in it so my hands could be free. I pointed to the neck bag I just made out of my hood. Babur placed hers in too.

"Won't they fall out while we run?"

"Do we have to run? Let's just enjoy the day and each other's company."

I took her hand and we started walking side by side. She seemed to like the idea. We spent the rest of the day strolling casually while making stupid jokes at each other, kissing each other and just being all-around comfortable with each other. I think she spent about an hour in my arms while she took a catnap.

We took a detour when we were closer to the village. We stopped by a place that Babur said was considered holy among all beast-people. A small round valley held a tree at the south end. At the foot of the tree was a small patch of green grass. Around that green grass was a solid sheet of ice. Babur said it was never melting ice and it was only ever cold if it was actually wintertime.

"This is the place I wanted to show nya, Lake. This is where people in the Beast Lands get married. I want to get married here someday, too. It's been a dream of mine since I was little."

I walked up behind her and held her. She lovingly grabbed my wrist.

"What do nya think?"

I don't know if my thought process would be agreeable to everyone but, honestly, I still had Sophie on my mind. I thought It would be nice if I brought her here and maybe we could get married officially. If she and Babur got along well, I would love it if the three of us could stay together. I don't know though. It was nerve-wracking to bring it up with Sophie and Riksa in the first place. With Babur... I know she likes me. Maybe she loves me. I know she makes my heart skip a beat. Marrying her too would be... well... swell.

"I think it looks amazing."

We continued to look on while I held her for a while longer. I eventually kissed her on the neck.

"Let's go. We have an exile to redeem."

"Nya!"