Chapter 4: Chapter Four Part One: The Tension in Faerlie
Auria heaved her trunk out of the train and pawned it off to Senwell, "There ya go, you get to hold that, Grenadier!"
"What? Why would I hold this, it's yours!" Senwell retorted, "You hold it!"
Auria put her hands in the pockets of her trenchcoat, "Sorry Grenadier, hands are tied, can't help ya with that one,"
Senwell sighed and facepalmed, "Whatever… Anyway, Crane, welcome to Faerlie, it's relatively close to the Temple, but we'll have to walk the rest of the way… Surprisingly, nobody really feels the need to have a railroad go to the skull of a titan that nobody even cares about,"
"Ah yeah, somethin' about there being no money to be made there," Auria said, "Eh, I don't really mind, I could use the exercise… Besides, if I had to spend another day in that train, I would've eaten you, not because I didn't have food but because it just would've felt right to do,"
"Ah, it wasn't that long, just suck it up a bit, Crane," Senwell said, "Could've been worse you know,"
"Okay, Grenadier, listen here, if you say something like that again I will rip out your tongue and shove it down your throat, that was a week long trip! It was so boring being cooped up with you of all people!" Auria exclaimed.
Senwell chuckled, "It was two days, Crane… Anyway, come along now, we've got stuff to do, it's about a five-day walk, so we have to hurry up, probably get some supplies while we're at it,"
"Do be careful around here, the people of Faerlie are quite hostile to outsiders," Ross commented, "They don't really like anyone but other people of Faerlie,"
"Noted, thanks for that Lieutenant," Auria said, "Anyway, how's about we split up for now, get to know the city, and get some food and stuff for the road?"
"Sure," Senwell responded, "So, Crane you wanna-"
Senwell was cut off by Auria starting up a conversation with Lieutenant Ross, "Say, Lieutenant, you wanna go with me? The boys can do whatever it is that they do and us girls can get stuff done!"
Ross considered the offer for a moment then nodded in agreement, "Sounds good to me, let's go," She said, "Oh, and Grenadier, please do not kill the Sergeant,"
Auria waved as she and Ross walked off, "Smell ya later, Grenadier! Don't die on your own! But if you do, I promise I'll go to your funeral!"
Ross and Auria entered a cafe, though they were given no passing glances. The two took a seat at a vacant table.
Auria caught the attention of a server, "Hello, can we just get some waters for now?" She asked, giving a smile.
The server looked to Ross, then to Auria, then back to Ross, giving Ross a scowl before nodding to Auria and disappearing into the background.
"Hey Lieutenant, I don't think they like us very much," Auria commented, "So so cold…"
"No, I'm pretty sure it's just me they don't like," Ross replied, "Well, they obviously see you as one of them, but definitely not me,"
"Hmm, I wonder why…" Auria said.
"This town is made up of refugees from the former Empire of Ardenia, when Shesla was still controlled by Ardenia," Ross replied.
"Oh! I see… That would make sense since they don't really like Ikarians… That's so sad to see, Ikarians are great, I mean, I might be biased, you guys give me everything I ask for, buuuuut…"
"That's… That's enough," Ross groaned, "Now then, let's talk business, how are we going to gather supplies?"
"Well, I was thinking about doing an amazing, yet possibly dangerous task, for the cities leading government body in order to get their blessing to requisition some food and other goodies from them so that we can be on our way as soon as possible,"
"That's… Definitely an idea," Ross remarked.
"Yeah, but it's a bit out there, so I decided to go with plan B which is to beg people on the streets for money and hope they take pity on me,"
"That's… Also definitely an idea…"
Auria leaned back in her chair, resting her foot on the edge of the table. She rocked back and forth for a little while until the server reappeared and set a glass of water down in front of Auria and a glass of an unknown liquid in front of Ross.
"I'm not drinking that," Ross commented.
"You want some of my water then?" Auria replied, clearly disgusted by whatever it was that they gave Ross. It looked like mud.
"Please and thank you," Ross said, taking a sip of Auria's water.
Auria took a glance around the cafe, it was pretty normal, though she didn't care to go to cafes enough to really know what was normal. She really just chose cafes because where else was she going to take people? The park? Lame.
"Hey Lieutenant, I didn't bring it up at first, but I dunno if these guys are Ardenian, they've all got red eyes, I haven't seen an Ardenian with red eyes before," Auria commented, "Well, light red maybe, like a red-orange, but never a crimson color,"
Ross thought for a moment, "What do you think is going on then? If they aren't Ardenian, who are they?"
"Well, I'm not sure if saying they aren't Ardenian is really correct, hold right here, I gotta check something out," Auria said as she quickly stood and ran off elsewhere.
Ross yelped out for Auria, but it was too little too late, Auria had already run off, so Ross sat there, doing her best to act calm and natural.
Auria skipped over to a table on the other side of the cafe. She tapped the shoulder of a young man, with light brown skin, just like Auria.
"Excuse me, Brother," Auria said, "May I take a seat here? I need to ask you something real quick,"
The man looked to Auria and gave a smile, as though he had known her all his life, "Of course, Sister, ask anything you'd like!"
"So, I got a couple questions actually," Auria commented as she pulled up a chair and sat, "First though, how are you doing? Can I get you anything?"
The man held his hand up and gave a disapproving face, "Oh no no, I'm just fine, thank you for asking though," He said, returning to his normal smile.
Auria considered how to properly get the information she needed. She could just outright ask, but that might be suspicious and she didn't know this man well enough to really know how he'd react. Alternatively, she could butter him up for a bit and then drop the bomb, it would probably give her a better chance at success. That's what she'd do! Play to her strengths, what she already knew about the people here!
"Brother, you know the woman I came here with?" Auria said, lowering her voice to a whisper, "She's actually my kidnapper, I need your help,"
The man's smile instantly faded as he glanced back to Lieutenant Ross, who still sat at the same spot, glancing around periodically and sipping water. He then looked back to Auria, "I knew it!" He said in a sort of yell-whisper, "As if the massacre of Faerlie wasn't enough… Anything you need, you can ask me, we're all here to help you, Sister,"
"So, first off, I actually meant to get some supplies to help me fight them off when we leave, do you know where we could get some things like that?" Auria whispered.
The man thought for a moment before speaking, "Ina's shop, down the street, you should see a sign for her shop," He whispered, "You may take this, consider it a donation from me, I'm always more than happy to help a Sister,"
The man gave Auria a few silver coins and a single gold coin. It was different from Ikarian money, but definitely not Ardenian.
"Thank you very much, Brother," Auria responded, "That should be… Actually, Brother, you have quite nice eyes, may I take a closer look?"
The man nodded, "Of course, Sister, I can see you have not been touched by the Lady of the Sun,"
Auria looked into his eyes for a moment before leaning back, "Who is the Lady of the Sun, Brother? Is she the Queen? I've never heard of her before,"
"She is the Head of the Church of the Sun, she has saved all of us from… Outsiders," He said, "She protects us from them so that we cannot be harmed by them,"
"How does she do that?" Auria inquired, "I've never heard of such a thing,"
"I'm afraid I can say no more, Sister," The man said, "If you would like to visit the Church, it is in the center of town, you may visit there if you would like to,"
Auria bowed her head respectfully before standing, giving a thank you and another small bow of the head and then wandering back over to Ross. She seemed more than relieved to see Auria again.
"Got some money, but we should probably leave as soon as possible," Auria said, "I might've told people that you're a kidnapper and that I was looking for supplies to use when I finally grow the courage to fight you,"
"You what?!" Ross exclaimed, "Why would you do that?"
"Shhhh!" Auria responded, "Don't make a scene, we gotta go, so let's get out already, we can talk about this later,"
Lieutenant Ross and Auria then, in as inconspicuous a manner as a suspected kidnapper and kidnappee could, left the cafe. It was quite difficult, all things considered, what with a grown woman escorting a nice young lady who really had no resemblance to her at all. Really, black versus blue hair? It just looked suspicious from all fronts.
"Anyway, they told me about a shop just up ahead owned by a woman named Ina, she'll give us some supplies for the road, though I do still want to check out the Church of the Sun,"
"The Church of the what?" Ross asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's whatever caused everyone here to have their change in eye color," Auria pointed to her eyes, "See, as an Ardenian, my eyes are a pretty dark blue, that's just how it is, crimson hasn't ever been a color we have," Auria sighed, "Plus, he said something about being touched by the Lady of the Sun, which yes, sounded as suspicious to you as it did to me,"
"Hmm…" Ross thought to herself for a little while, "Let's head in, get our supplies, and then we can check out the Church, figure out what's going on around here,"
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