Crossroads

“*Inhale**Exhale*Hehe, another beautiful day here in Norn!”

Norn the name of our village, we live near the woodlands because of that we find ourselves in situations with monsters. Like those goblins that killed my father, one of these days I’m gonna-

“Hey I’m happy you’re enjoying the weather kid, but remember I don’t pay you to sit around!”

“Right! Sorry Mr. Timothy, I’ll get back to moving those boxes!”

Mr. Timothy is a friend of my father’s, he gives me pretty good money when I help him move boxes. However, despite how big they are, I know these boxes are empty. Just like the other townsfolk, he’s taking it a little easy on me because I’m a little kid. Not that I can complain though, I gotta help my mom in whatever way I can.

“Here you are Mr. Timothy, all the crates are accounted for!”

“Ha, I guess you really are a chip off the old block! Just like your old man!”

I smirked when he said that, and flexed my muscles. In return Mr. Timothy said my flabby arms weren’t something to be proud of.

“Oh right, you can take some of this with your payment.”

“Oh meat, Thank You!”

“Make sure to tell Matilda to send some leftovers my way, you hear!”

Timothy sure loves my mother’s cooking, luckily for him she always makes too much. I looked up from the gift I received and noticed someone approaching Timothy from behind. The man dropped something in the back of his shirt.

“Ahhh! What the-”

“Hahaha! Tormenting you still cracks me up, how’s it going Tim!”

“Alfred, you bastard! What the hell did you-Is this a goddamn centipede!”

The stranger was Alfred, another one of dad’s old friends. Upon noticing me he smirked and said hi, he also ruffled my hair a bit. His way is a bit messier than dad’s, but I don’t mind it. Upon noticing the satchel of meat in my hands, Alfred turned to Timothy and gave him a whimsical look.

“You little rascal, sending Nina to play cupid again I see!”

“What! You little arse, what are you thinking!”

“Just tell Matilda you like her, you guys have good rapport and Nina likes you. Their house needs a strong man, you know?”

“Bullshit, you just want me to fail so you could gauge your chances.”

The two of them went back and forth just like that, you do remember I’m here right. I sighed and began to move on, the two of them waved goodbye to me as I walked away. When I went home to drop off the meat, my mom wasn’t home. I guess that means she went to work, maybe I should heed her advice and try to refrain from getting dirty. At least that was my plan at first…

“Nina, you’re such a kind child.”

“No worries Granny Erina. I couldn’t leave you here to work by yourself.”

I decided to stop by old Miss Erina’s house, she’s been a little lonely since her husband Floyd passed. I saw her struggling with her garden work, and I couldn’t just leave her like that. So I decided to stop by and help her, sorry mom if my clothes get muddy again. Granny was nice enough to lend me an apron and some gloves to cover myself. With this I shouldn’t get so messy.

“I’ll go whip you up a nice glass of fruit juice.”

“Granny! You don’t need to go out of your way to treat me!”

“It’s the least I could do for a kind youngster who’s trying to help me out. More importantly-”

Granny Erina walked over and pinched my cheek lightly.

“A girl around your age should use your cuteness a little bit, when I was a Spring Julep I had the town like putty in my hand.”

“Granny! You and your stories!”

After teasing me Granny went inside to make me that cup of juice, is this some kind of confirmation. Maybe I should start acting a bit more girly…

…As If! There’s no way I’d do that, and besides if I were prim and proper then no one would listen to me if I got into a-

“For The Last Time! I don’t know what you’re planning, but you better put a lid on it!”

I stopped pulling weeds and walked around the fence to see what the big fuss was about. What entered my sight were three boys standing in front of a trembling boy. I knew one of those boys all too well, the apparent ringleader of the trio was Marcus. Marcus basically does the same thing I do, he’s constantly helping people and doing chores. He also trains with a wooden sword and runs laps around the village, all for the sake of his dream. His dream of becoming a knight some day, although it’ll take more than muscle for some hick villager to become a member of the knightly order. Apparently it takes a lot of money to, but let’s not focus on that for now. Why is the kid who’s usually helping people bullying?

“You hear me outsider, don’t even think about pulling something!”

Eh? Outsider? Wait a minute that boy who’s being bullied-

“Yep, it’s Ein.”

Ein, as sad as it is to admit, is an outsider to this village. He appeared out of nowhere five years ago, he was covered in injuries and soot. He came from a neighboring village apparently, a village that was destroyed. He was the only survivor, so when the village chief said he was going to take him in, the adults were mad. Apparently Ein was a child of ill omen, his silver hair and ash gray eyes were proof of that. They said he was the cause of his village being destroyed and that if he stayed here the same would happen to us. However the word of the chief is the law, so they had to put a sock in it. I didn’t really know how to feel about it back then, but-

“Just look at him trembling like that.”

Ein was trembling before those three boys, he was scared. When Ein first came to the village I saw the look on his face, it was emotionless. The adults said his eyes were dead, now I understand why. He lost everything: his loved ones, his belongings, and even his home. He didn’t have any emotions left to give, but now look at him. His eyes aren’t dead anymore, they're alive and filled with fear. During the past five years I would pay attention to him from time to time. Ein has always stuck to himself and avoided getting into trouble. Despite that most of the people here keep him at arms reach, even though he’s done nothing wrong. At first I didn’t understand him, but after losing my dad I think I could finally get it. Ein is scared about losing, that’s why he tries to stay at a distance. I was scared like that too, but I began opening up again because I had my mom in my life. Maybe that’s all he needs, someone to be there for him.

“Ein…”

Marcus and his gang are still letting him have it, and no one seems to be stepping in. One side being people who don’t care much about a dispute between children, and the other being those same people who don’t trust him. People who secretly agree with everything Marcus is telling him. Someone has to do something, someone should be there for Ein and support him. Someone like me!

I want you to carry my values in this hair of yours. If you do that, I won’t mind if you get into trouble here and there…

I will carry your values mom, and I’ll be brave and strong like dad too!

“You should just leave this village if you know what’s-Blergh!”

Before he could say anything else, the mud ball I threw landed right in his mouth.

“Leave Ein Alone You Big Bullies!”