“Acantha?” Kevins familiar voice was accompanied by an unfamiliar face peeking through the door opening. He had given up his elvish looks long ago and had been on a canine diet for a while now. Which meant he was consuming canines. It had been intriguing to Acantha how changeable his appearance was, much unlike her own appearance. She had remained a plant throughout her life. Kevins seemed to prefer beastlike features and though Acantha had certainly probed him on why, she had never received answers to her endless questions. Kevins was right, there was nothing for him to teach her, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to.
“Do you remember what I said about knocking?” said Acantha, her face flushing. She had been meditating on her bed and her thoughts were all over the place. She gathered them up and tucked them away from where Kevins wouldn’t see them before looking him in the eye. Kevins was, however, a skilled stare interpreter and from his wolfish grin, she knew that he knew what she had been thinking. And he knew that she knew and she felt like screaming at him, but had accepted the fact that this was just a part of life now.
“If I knock, then I don’t get to see you struggle like this.” Kevins growled mischievously, “Pack your stuff, we’re going out.
“You’re asking me out?” Acantha couldn not help but sound exited.
“Yes, I need to replenish on souls.”
“Oh,” she said flatly, “Ok, well, give me ten minutes.”
“We leave in five,” Kevins walked away from the door, leaving it open. Acantha clicked her tongue and stood up from her bed to close the door again. She then prayed to her Totem, who had not long ago resolved his identity crisis, after merging himself with the Totem BoomBoom, by changing his name to Porphyr.
“Porphyr, keeper of the sky,” she started her prayer, “I am going out to hunt. Please let me know if there is someone on your deathlist.”
“Ah, Acantha, how nice to hear from you. I do not, as you call it, have anyone on my deathlist. However, I would like to remind you that I have been searching for a settlement for the Mikadosh.”
Acantha frowned, she vaguely remembered such a request. He wanted to bring the Mikadosh back from the dead and put them somewhere on the map. In the past year, one by one, the poeple of their former continent had returned to Mundus. They had escaped death-by-drowning during a continent-flooding event called the Watergate. After leaving their home, most tribes had been searching for a new settlement. However, with one less continent, Mundus was getting crowded. Only the most uninhabitable places were available and amidst these already uninhabitable, crowded places Porphyr wanted Acantha to find a spot for the firework shooting goblins to live. Acantha rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I’m on it.”
Acantha took her goodberry, which served as an emergency ration, and her tent-backpack as she stepped out the door with her mentor Kevins.
“Let’s go to one of the Sun Temples. Wait-” She stopped dead in her tracks to point at an odd pair walking their way, “What’s that?”
One of the figures was somewhat tall and hunched over, like an elderly lady not ready to admit she required a walking stick. The other form was much smaller, like that of a prepubescent child.
“She has succeeded,” Kevins scowled.
Acantha looked from her mentor back to the figures in the distance.
“J- Jade?” said Acantha, who dropped her backpack by the door and ran towards her friend, grinning from ear to ear, “Jade!”
“Acantha!” said the old, dark skinned elf, her long black and white hair was braided to keep it out of her face. Next to Jade walked a girl that, based on looks only, Acantha would estimate around twelve years old, but Acantha knew better than to tell age by looks. The girl that walked next to Jade was a Totem perhaps as old as their world.
“It is so nice to see you again,” said Jade, who, as Acantha approached her, raised her arms and then awkwardly lowered them again while grinning apologetically. “You remember Morrigan, don’t you?”
“I do,” said Acantha, looking the Totem over. They stood in silence for a moment until Kevins joined them.
“Jade, it is good to see you again,” he said with a serious look on his face, “You have traveled far, please come inside.”
Acantha raised an eyebrow at him.
“I thought we had to go,” she mumbled, before turning to Jade. “Let me pray to Lumira. She would be very interested to talk to you again.”
“What, really? Lumira? Eh, ok.” Jade said with a frown before she followed Kevins to the wooden building. By the familiar look of the woodwork Jade guessed the house had been built by the forgelords Black and Decker. As they stepped inside, Jade was greeted warmly by Decker and Seamstress, who sat in a cosy looking living area. Decker stood up and gave Jade a bear hug before ushering Jade and Morrigan to a bench with a comfortable back support that was covered in a crochet blanket with flower patterns.
“Here you go,” said Decker as he put two mugs of hot, steamy tea before them on a table.
“Thanks,” said Jade and when Morrigan kept silent she elbowed her softly, after which the young girl spoke up:
“Thank you kindly, sir.”
“Aww, isn’t she darling,” said Seamstress, who was working on a crochet large enough to cover the whole house.
“I thought you had left,” said Farmer to Kevins as he walked into the room. He stopped when he noticed Morrigan and said: “Jade! You fucking did it, lass!” He slapped Jade on the back just as she reached for her tea. She pulled her hand back to prevent spilling the hot liquid all over the table. She forced her grimace into a smile.
“Good to see you, Farmer.”
“So, how have you been?” Acantha asked, still standing in the doorway, eying Kevins who was leaning against the kitchen table, grinning. “And where is Morn?”
“Right-” said Jade while picking up her mug and she blew in it before taking a sip of the scalding drink.
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