Cinnamon Bun

Chapter Seventy-One - Friendship is Magical

Chapter Seventy-One - Friendship is Magical

You... agree? I said.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. Unfortunately, I do.

I looked around the Exploration Guilds lobby, just to make sure there wasnt some sort of prank wizard hiding in one corner, then, with a growing smile, I turned to Awen and grabbed both of her hands. Amaryllis agrees! Were going to kidnap you so hard!

Awa, I, I look forward to it, I think, Awen said.

Amaryllis cleared her throat. Do you at least want to hear my reasoning? she wondered aloud.

Sure! I said. I know you love talking.

She glared, not that it stopped her from explaining. Awen deserves better, which is already a decent start. This will ingratiate us with Abraham, her fool of an uncle, and if Awen gains any power in the future she might be indebted to us, and I dont like the local humans.

Ah, that last one was a little... speciest, I said. But its... for a good cause?

Sure, Amaryllis agreed. Did you pick out a mission?

I shook my head. Not really. I did see one that looked neat, but we got to talking about kidnapping Awen and I got distracted. Sorry?

Amaryllis huffed and moved over to the mission book. Show me.

The mission that I had found was fairly simple. Travel out of Greenshade heading North and collect samples of any interesting or useful plants along the way, then return the samples, and a map of their locations, back to the Guild who would provide it to a local Alchemists group. I think no one took it yet because its kind of boring to most people.

But you have a Gardening skill that might help you with it. No tight deadline either. We can grab this and use it as an excuse to meander along our route for a ways. If were careful well find easy things to fight and gain experience with.

That sounds wonderful, I said.

Awa, f-fight? Awen said.

Dont worry, Awen, Broccoli will keep you safe, I said while flashing her a thumbs-up.

Amaryllis sighed. I doubt your ability to keep yourself safe, she said. The area around Greenshade and towards the Nesting Kingdom should be relatively safe. We, that is, the harpy clans, make a point of keeping the area around the foothills of the Harpy Mountains clear of the more threatening monsters.

I grinned and nodded along. Cool! So, were taking the mission?

Amaryllis agreed and soon she was back by the counter and registering the two of us for a bit of flower picking. Last time I had tried something like that, I had met Oak, so maybe this time would be just as fun. Though hopefully with fewer tentacle monsters. Awen didnt seem to have the constitution for dealing with those.

When Amaryllis had finished up with all the dull paperwork stuff, we began to head out. The moment I started to reach a hand for Awen she placed hers in mine, though she did it with a bit of a blush.

Miss Bunch? Awen asked.

You can call me Broccoli, I said.

I like calling her moron, or idiot, Amaryllis said with more than a little snark. It is both amusing and keeps her feet on Dirt.

Awaaa Br-Broccoli, Awen stuttured. Why are you helping me? I appreciate it, really, but Im just me.

I shook my head. Thats a silly way of thinking about things. How about you point us towards a place where we can buy some good gear in a hurry and well chat along the way. If youre going to be an adventure buddy then we should learn more about each other.

Um, that way, Awen said. And what do you mean by silly?

I didnt want to dismiss her concern out of hand. In fact, it was all rather spur of the moment, even for me. Awens story was sad, true, but not disastrous. If I didnt help her she would live a miserable life, yeah, but that was it. That was enough for me to want to help her. Plus, she seemed nice. A little shy, maybe, but the way her eyes lit up when she talked about her uncle and her tiny kernels of dreams made me want to just squish her cheeks.

How many people live in Greenshade? I asked.

Awen blinked. Aw-about forty thousand fixed citizens. Twice as many vagrants who come and go?

She didnt sound entirely sure, but that was okay. How many need a friend? I asked. How many of them are in need of a few more copper, or could use a warm blanket or a place to rest for the night?

I, I dont know, Awen said. She curled in on herself, which was silly. It wasnt her fault that the world wasnt always a nice place.

Im only the one Bun, I cant be all of their friends. Some might need it more than you, but I cant be there for all of them. But thats no excuse not to be the friend of the person that needs one who is right in front of me. You look like you need a friend, really badly too. Um... do you have other friends?

Awen shook her head. The maids, some of them. But, most got fired after getting too close.

I pouted, that was just cruel. Well then, Ill be your friend. And Amaryllis too.

Dont go volunteering my friendship like that, Amaryllis said.

Hmph, fine, then Ill be a super good friend to you, and youll win over Amaryllis by being really nice to her, and like, preening her feathers or something.

Amaryllis trilled. As if Id let your clumsy human fingers touch my plumage.

Amaryllis is actually very cuddly, but she puts on a prickly exterior because she thinks that it makes her look cool, I told Awen.

The girl nodded seriously while Amaryllis squawked and denied the obvious truth.

Anyway, my point is that Broccoli Bunch says yes to friendship, and I guess it was coincidence or fate or whatever that I happened to bump into you while my friendship quota was unfilled.

You have a quota? Amaryllis asked.

I nodded. Yes. How many people are there on Dirt?

Idiot.

Miss... Broccoli, Awen said while her hand squeezed mine a little harder and she focused on the path below. Thank you. Ill, Ill try to be the best friend youve ever had. I promise!

Holding hands with Awen turned out to be useful. It made it easier to pull her into a big tight hug. I only stopped it when her face had gone so red that I was afraid that she might have been running out of air.

We gathered a few looks, but I guess we--or at least Amaryllis and Awen--looked important enough that no one made a fuss. There were a lot more people around, and the area had changed a little, with more homes and quite a few businesses. None that looked as grand as those in Port Royal, and judging by the dismissive look on Amaryllis face, she was going to comment on how plebeian they all were, but I saw signs on stores that promised to sell what we needed.

The first stop was a general goods store, where I dragged Awen up to the counter and asked the clerk, a younger human boy, if they had any pre-made travelling bags.

Then, with Awen hugging her new backpack--one a bit smaller than my own--to her chest, we moved over to a clothing shop across the street.

There are a bunch of things well need, besides the blankets and food and such we got, I said. Youll need a knife, for little things, like cutting food and rope and plants. And youll need some sort of weapon too, I guess. I have a spear you could use... I had a spear. Oh, shucks, I forgot my spear!

You dolt, Amaryllis said. I tossed it in my bank, no worries. Now, if you give her your spear, what will you use to defend yourself?

My shovel and my wits? I asked.

Amaryllis laughed, in her strange, whistle-y way. Might as well bow down and let yourself die, then.

I harrumphed and pointed off to a shop at one end of the street. There was a large chimney sticking out the back, and the air smelled like charcoal the closer we came to it. We can buy her something usable there, I said.

I-- will I really need a weapon? Awen asked.

I considered it, but the answer was rather obvious. Youll want to try to negotiate your way out of any fight first, but sometimes that just doesnt work out and you need to fight. Its not fun, and its not pretty, but I guess it is part of the adventure.

Awa, I see. Uncle Abes stories have lots of fights in them, she said.

I can assure you any battle we enter will be nothing like a fight involving that man, Amaryllis said.

The weapons shop was filled with racks and racks of shiny tools of death and destruction. The place smelled like oil and wax and sweat and I loved it instantly. Ohhh, I cooed as I skipped down to a rack that held a whole slew of pretty swords.

You have Inspect? Amaryllis asked.

Insight, I corrected.

She nodded as she looked around. Then well be using that to find something. Half of these are awful. She tapped one of the prettier swords with a talon.

A cheap steel sword of very common quality.

Aww, I said.

Awa, Awen said. I dont know what to use.

I looked over to Amaryllis, who was my expert at all things non-friendship related. The harpy sighed and shook her head. Youre a human, which means you have pretty little hands and decent arm strength. Im assuming you dont have any offensive magics? Of course not. Maybe... a warhammer? Broccoli is a surprisingly nimble fighter, and Im better at range. We could use someone to act as... bait.

Bait, Awen repeated faintly.

I gave her a side hug. We can get you a big hammer to scare the monsters away with. And hammers can be used as tools, right? Do you think there are any mechanical weapons here?

None that I would trust, Amaryllis said.

I, I think a hammer would be okay, Awen said. My uncle had one for some time. It was a good weapon, he said.

Brilliant! I said. A few of the other customers glanced my way, but they went back to minding their own business soon enough. I drug Awen over to a wall rack that had a bunch of hammers on display. Plenty of them were all black with spikes and heads made to look like wolves or dragons and such, most of those were of rather poor quality. One caught my eye because it was shorter and really simple. Just a steel head, a few metal bits holding that in place, and a nice shaft made of some dark wood.

Insight, I said while pushing some mana into the skill.

A simple warhammer of Uncommon Quality. Recently modified after the hilt was damaged.

This one is nice, I said as I handed the hammer to Awen. She weighed it in both hands, gave me an uncertain look, then swung the hammer around a few times while I backed out of kneecapping range.

Awa, I, I think I like it, she said.

Neat! I said before dragging Awen to the counter where a young woman in an apron was waiting. Ill pay for this one.

Th-thank you, Miss Bunch, Awen said.

Wait, why didnt I get thanked for buying that backpack of yours? Amaryllis asked. Am I just a canary to you two?

Youre the prettiest canary, I said.

It was a little hard to pay for the hammer while Amaryllis bonked my head, but I managed.

***