Chapter 7: Rain

After a week of traveling with May, I started to get used to her even though she still annoyed me in every way. I also noticed that I've never actually spent time with a woman before, and some of the things she did were weird. She would spend more than ten minutes on her hair, she would go to a nearby river and wash herself twice a day, and she showed no interest in killing anything. I didn't know if all women did these things or if it was just her, but either way, it was strange.

One day there was a light storm. It rained a lot, but it didn't come down very fast and the sound of thunder was farther away. The sky was gray yet bright, and May and I were sitting under a large leaf that we set up so we wouldn't get wet. We both sat on a log of wood across from each other with a fireplace in between us. May had pulled a small pan from her satchel and made some warm soup over the fire. 

I noticed that she was daydreaming as she stirred the soup with a wooden spoon. She had a faint smile and she was humming a slow song. I rolled my eyes. "What is it now?" She slowly came out of her daydream continuing to smile, and then poured some soup into a wooden bowl. She handed it to me and sighed happily. "Do you have someone special in your life Rin? Someone you would do anything for, and love them forever and ever?" 

I raised an eyebrow. "You mean other than myself?" Her eyes pointed up as she went on thinking out loud. "I sure do. My boyfriend Damien. He is the most amazing person in the entire world, and I can't wait to see him again!" I sipped my soup through my helmet before responding. "That sounds like an asshole's name. Wait. You have a boyfriend? But you're so nice and sweet, who the hell would want to date that?"

Her eyes returned to me and she crossed her arms. "Would you care to recite lesson number forty for me Rin?" I groaned and let my bowl rest in my lap. "Back-handed compliments are insults in disguise..." She nodded proudly and continued talking about how in love she was with this guy. I didn't want to remember everything she taught me, but she would pop quiz me so often that I failed to forget.

It was annoying, but I knew that once I had the stone, I would never have to see her again. Either that, or I would kill her with the very thing she helped me get. The thought of limitless power that could shut her up made it seem like this was worth it. Later after the rain calmed down, we continued our very long walk. I was walking ahead while May was getting distracted by every single thing she saw. The sky was still cloudy and the smell of rain was in the air, but it seemed like the storm had passed.

Just then I heard May scream behind me, and I drew my sword in response. I turned around quickly, expecting to see a monster, but no danger was in sight. May was flying in place with her hands on her cheeks as she looked through a gap in the trees. She was smiling brighter than I'd ever seen her, and at least ten more sparkles had appeared in her eyes. She bounced happily and pointed in the distance in front of her. "A rainbow!! I love rainbows!! Do you love rainbows?! Rainbows are so magical!!" 

I moved my gaze to where she was looking and returned my sword. There was a rainbow there caused by the rain, and I couldn't believe that's why she screamed. I whispered to myself as I exhaled angrily. "You can't hit her. You can't hit her. You can't hit her..." I then walked over to her and flicked her in the forehead so hard that she fell to the ground. "Ow!!" I technically didn't hit her. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Who screams bloody murder when they see something as useless as a rainbow?! I thought you were in danger!" 

She rubbed her forehead with her palm, and her smile returned. "Were you going to save me if I was?" I shrugged. "If you consider amputating whichever limb of yours was caught and dragging you the rest of the trip saving you, then yes." I turned around and she got up to follow me. "I'm sorry. Sometimes my voice gets away from me. I won't scream anymore from now on."

I knew that was a lie and didn't respond. A second of silence passed before May looked around and gasped. "Hey, are you still hungry? Because there's the gnomes' tavern around here! It's a bit of a detour, but it's super fun!" I shook my head. "No detours." She then flew in front of me putting her hands together. "Please? It's not that far, and they even have a map of all the tests for the stone!" I hesitated. "Fine. But only for the map." 

I then let her lead me to the right, and after about half an hour we made it onto a dirt trail. The sun started to appear through the cloudy sky, releasing sun beams upon the forest and down the trail. Water droplets were still on all the leaves and other surfaces from the rain, making our surroundings sparkle. The aroma of freshly fallen dew was in the air and I didn't care to notice until May inhaled loudly. "It's so beautiful here. I love the smell of rain."

I rolled my eyes. "You say that about everything." She turned to me and gestured to the scenery. "Well, it's not my fault that everything is so lovable." I scoffed. "Yes, it is. You would think a rotten swamp with snake-infested waters is beautiful." She put a hand on her chest and her voice became higher. "But I love that the little snakies look like noodles in the swamp's brothy water!" 

I felt the urge to gag again. "Ugh! You're such an 'I love you' whore!" She raised an eyebrow. "What's a... Whoore?" I sighed annoyingly. "Someone who sleeps with everyone." Her smile came back and she raised her hands. "Yes, that's me! I love sleeping with everyone!" I slapped the forehead of my helmet and groaned. "Ugh! That's not-! I didn't mean literal-! Just don't use that word!!" She held her smile as she flew next to me and winked. "No problem whore buddy." 

I wished she could see how pissed I was under my helmet. "God I hate you." She then looked ahead and smiled even more. "I love you too." After a few minutes, we approached a building at the end of the trail. It was made out of wood and clay and had fishnet-designed windows and lanterns that hung on either side of the door.

I could hear upbeat violin music coming from inside, and the closer we got to it, the more I realized how small the door was. The building looked regularly sized, but the door was at least two feet shorter than me. Also in front of the door, there was a wooden sign hanging over it. In fancy black letters, it read 'Gnomes' Tavern'.