All Fair Play

The days passed better than expected for the three Outworlders.

Hayden and Ariana were able to collaborate well enough for Ariana to grow several of the plants described.

With Ariana’s magic and Hayden’s survivalist knowledge, they make some soap to scrub the place down with. The cell becomes surprisingly livable, much to the shock of the guards who came with daily meals.

On the first night, they thought about sleeping arrangements. Ariana was able to summon a good quantity of cotton.

With Hayden braiding some into thread, Ariana forming sewing needles from a cactus prick, and Ellie’s impressive skill with sewing, they were able to fashion some fairly comfortable sleeping mats, pillows, and blankets.

With Ariana’s magic, they were able to bathe as well. She fashioned a curtain to cover a portion of the cell from a leaf and made a bucket from an acorn shell. Casting some of her water magic into the bucket for the others to use, they were able to wash themselves with the soap. When they were done, she just cast it out the window. She could use this same method to clean their clothes.

Their clean appearance and pleasant aroma were a surprise, but a welcome one to the guards who checked on them and brought them daily food.

Hayden admitted that he was excited by the prospect of eating peppers and something he called nopales. He hadn’t been able to since arriving. She’d never considered cactus being edible before, but she would be willing to try.

With some of the cotton and needles, Ellie spent her time felting little animal shapes. Ariana joined her. As they did, Hayden wove more thread. He felt it was a good idea to wind some cording, perhaps even some rope. 

Seeing all of these craft projects underway was deeply confusing to the guards who checked on them. 

Ariana thought more about cleaning; she wished she had a sponge. This led to a little conversation. 

“Are sponges plants?” She pondered.

Hayden shrugged. “I think they’re some kind of animal.”

Ellie looked up from the pants she was tailoring. “Well, maybe? I feel like I recall reading that they are alive, but not technically animals… like mushrooms, or germs.”

Ariana tilted her head. “Are germs alive?”

Hayden shrugged. “You can kill ‘em.”

Ariana placed a hand up by her chin. “I guess that’s true… I’m just wondering what the extent of my magic is. The voice I heard when I first arrived said I had water and nature magic, but nature still feels a bit vague.”

Hayden nodded. “Did some thinking on that myself and my own powers. The voice called ‘em ‘Bless’ and ‘Smite’. A bit high and mighty for my tastes, but I reckon it fits the description.”

Ellie set down the tailoring project. “I only had one skill, ‘Shapeshift: Crow’.”

Hayden continued. “My mission is the same it’s always been: Protect and serve. Don't matter none what the power’s called. I can heal, I can shield, I can draw attacks away. That’s what matters.”

Ellie looked at him. “Yeah, and you can blast guys to kingdom come!”

Hayden shook his head. “It don’t work that way.” He looked at his hand. “When you have a power like that, it’s made to kill. You need to be damn sure it’s the right choice. Only one reason I used it when I did. If I didn’t, that spell of his coulda killed us three, them tangled guards, that hero boy, and anyone else ‘round us, including some of them in the church. The fact that he felt right in his soul with that cost was reason enough to use Smite.”

Ellie looked back down at her sewing. “Cost… that’s a good point.”

Ariana leaned forward. “How do you know what that spell could have done?”

Hayden seemed to be looking somewhere distant. “I’ve seen him do it before. Besides, you saw the damage it did. Compare that to what my Smite did, what your little tricks with them pumpkins did. Y’all tilled his garden and bruised some folks up. I broke his staff and probably some ribs. He damn near blew the town up, and he didn’t even finish chanting.”

Ariana nodded a bit. “That really does put it in perspective.”

On the final day, the three Outworlders sat idly with whatever crafts they had on hand. 

A guard came to open the door. "Hayden." 

He looked to the guard. 

The guard continued. "The Captain wants to speak to you three." 

They all moved to stand up. 

"One at a time."

They looked at each other. 

Hayden stood. "I'll go talk to her first." He exited the cell. 

An hour passed. 

Hayden returned. "Ellie, Captain wants you next. Just follow the guard and do what he says, alright?"

Ellie nodded, her ears bounced slightly. 

Another hour passed. 

Ellie returned. 

Ariana stood. 

Hayden patted her on the shoulder. "The truth is obvious. Just ask the right questions."

She nodded. "Right."

Ariana was escorted out of the cell and down the hall. She was led into a much larger room. There were shelves and cabinets full of books and papers, wall to wall. There was a desk with several more papers and a wooden chair in front of it. Behind the desk sat the captain. 

The captain gestured to the chair. "Sit." 

Ariana complied, hands resting on her lap.

The captain organized some papers. "You have been accused of attacking the church, terrorizing the town, assaulting public officials, engaging in political espionage, fraud, money laundering, indecent exposure, smuggling, trafficking, and vandalism." 

Ariana just stared wide-eyed.

The captain looked up from her papers. "Somehow, you committed all of these crimes when you've only been in town for four days, three of which we've had you here in the barracks. Care to explain that?"

Ariana was at a complete loss. "I... couldn't if I tried, ma'am..."

"Feel free to try." 

"Oh, um... well... when the guards attacked Koichi, I fought back... some people were probably scared by my magic... um... not sure about the rest... Oh, maybe it was all of the magic I was casting to make the cell cozier during our stay? There was a loose brick with some moss on it, I took that out to grow things from the dirt underneath... but I put it right back, I swear! Um... money... Oh, maybe at the inn, I had a gold coin left over from the reward for White Tusk, it was a gift, I tried to pay for my Inn stay with it. Was... that bad? Indecent... I can't even begin to think of where that came from..."

The Captain raised her hand. "That's... enough... and I thought the elf was chatty..." She sighed. "I've been given quite the picture here. The problem is, most people can't seem to agree on the finer details. Some said you had horns or were wearing a black cloak. Some claimed you were throwing fireballs."

Ariana frowned a bit. 

"And then there's Hayden. He's told me everything from his perspective, so why does it still feel like he's not given me a straight answer?" 

Ariana looked around at the papers. "He told me the truth is obvious if you ask the right questions."

The Captain did the same. "The right questions..." She sighed. "Very well then... Why did the fight break out?"

Ariana thought for a moment. "I don't really know... They kept saying things I didn't understand about flocks and heathens. I wanted to go see the church, to learn more about this god they had, but Koichi told us it was a bad idea... we went anyway..."

The Captain seemed surprised. "You... went into the church... to learn about our god? Are you implying you didn't know about it already?"

"I don't. I'm an Outworlder."

"That's... that's not possible. There's no such thing as a Demon Outworlder."

"But I am! I know there's some way to prove it! There's got to be some magic, right? Something that can prove I'm not lying!"

"There are, but they are very invasive. Are you sure you want to follow through with that?"

Ariana thought for a minute. "I'm prepared to do anything if it means seeing my son again."

"Your son..." She looked back at her papers. "...On the first day you arrived, you were in an altercation with a guard. Hayden claimed that my son would be aware of that incident. Why is that?"

Ariana became angry, having recalled it. "Because that brute was going to beat them for playing in the fountain!" 

The captain's eyes widened. She stood up and leaned forward with her hands on the desk. "He WHAT?"

Ariana did the same. "He yelled that the children were making the water unclean and was about to hit them with a club!" 

The captain's eyes narrowed. The look on her face was one Ariana knew all too well. This was the face of a mama bear ready to raze all.