Where Did You Come From?

          The trio walks down the overgrown narrow path which was once a well used road that ran through the two realms. Reioi watches the little girl for a moment. “So, what’s you’re name anyway?”

“My name? Oh yes, I have a name.” The winged girl is caught off guard by that question. ‘I don’t have a name! All I’ve been called is ‘the long-lived child’ by the troll, I need to think of something quick.’ She thinks to herself.

“Kid? Are you alright?” Tuipa asks softly. “We aren’t fair folk; we aren’t going to own you by knowing your name.”

The winged girl runs a few paces ahead of the women and stops. “My name is Rivhild! I am Rivhild! Yes, that is my name!”

“Rivhild?” Reioi echoes.

“Whoa, so exotic.” Tuipa coos.

Reioi ponders something for a moment. “Rivhild, hm, that sounds almost like a Isnoliae realm name. What’s your father’s name?”

“My father?” Rivhild asks, truly confused by the question.

“Yes, the people of Isnoliae usually have surnames that track the bloodlines, unlike us from Aicolia who have surnames based off occupation.” Reioi explains.

“Yeah, and by maternal grandfather is from Hiedoi realm, so his surname is based off the location of his ancestral cemetery.” Tuipa adds.

Reioi sighs. “Tuipa, you can just admit that you like stuff from Hiedoi, you don’t need to make up some blood connection to it.”

Tuipa’s face scrunches up as she balls her hands into fists. “I am not making things up! I’ll prove it to you! After we get this kid home, we are going to my place, and you are meeting my grandfather!”

“Ugh! Fine.” Reioi rolls her eyes. She returns to a calmer demeanor before speaking to Rivhild again. “So what do you parents do for work anyway, we can try to track them down that way.”

“Um, I don’t have parents.” Rivhild admits with a half laugh. Tuipa covers her mouth as her eyes well up with tears.

Reioi shifts uncomfortably. “Oh, you’re an orphan. Do you know where you are from then? Like the name of your village?”

Rivhild points to the direction they just came. “I’m from the Destroyed realm. I think the city I was born in was called Ealiaoun?"

Reioi and Tuipa exchange looks, then Reioi speaks. "I think there were some mentions of a city called Ealiaoun in a few of the books I read. So you were born in the ruins of a city in the Destroyed realm? Then you were abandoned?"

Tuipa then puts her hand on Reioi's shoulder. "The troll called her 'the long-lived child', a better question would be; Rivhild, how old are you?"

Rivhild starts counting on her fingers. "Um, I'd say, fifty-seven. I think."

"F-fifty-seven?" Reioi stammers.

"You look more like your five to seven, not old enough to almost be our grandma!" Tuipa exclaims.

"Fifty-seven years. That’s when, the Destroyed realm, became the Destroyed realm." Reioi mutters flabbergasted. She takes a deep breath. "That still doesn't explain what happened to your parents."

"I don't have any." Rivhild simply states.

"...don't have any?" Tuipa stares at Rivhild, hoping that looking at child who shouldn't exist will somehow give her answers.

Rivhild takes a deep breath, then explains. "As the explosion went off that turned the Destroyed realm into the wasteland it is today, a goddess was born, me."

"Wow." Reioi crosses her arms. "You really just claimed to be goddess. You're probably just a human-harpy hybrid."

"Think about it. That would explain that blast she used to kill the troll." Tuipa defended the child.

Reioi is silent for a moment. "I suppose so, I've never heard of someone ever having that much power and being a mortal. So, you are Rivhild; goddess of the Destroyed realm?"

"Yes." Rivhild nods.

Tuipa scratches her head. "So, uh, what do we do then? We were planning to take you home, but..."

"Well, what do you usually do?" Rivhild asks.

"We are adventurers!" Tuipa proclaims, raising her fist to the canopy of leaves above.

"Tsk, we are scavengers." Reioi clarifies. "We find old stuff and sell it. Usually to museums or collectors we know. That's why we were scouting out the edge of the Destroyed realm. We were seeing if there were any relics there." She then motions to the path ahead. “Come on, let’s walk and talk, we are wasting daylight.”

The group continues on their way. Rivhild looks up at Reioi. “Sell, like to get money? Money is important to humans?”

Reioi nods. “It is. We could have also collected a bounty on that troll, unfortunately the body is too big for us to carry, and you destroyed the head, so I guess we are out of luck.” She shrugs.

“I can go back and get it!” Rivhild offers. “I’ve never tried to carry something that heavy, but I can try!”

“Oh no.” Reioi shakes her head. “Don’t bother, it’s not worth it.”

“Oh, okay.” After a few minutes of silence, Rivhild asks another question. “I know that troll was rude, but do humans make money off of killing other folk?”

“Yes, sort of.” Tuipa was the one to answer. “Most other folk don’t think they way do. With humans, we don’t eat other folk, even though they are different species, they’re still people, so it’s considered cannibalism by human standards. Other folk though, like trolls, ogres, giants, harpies, sirens, mermaids, and some fair folk, don’t think about it that way. They will eat humans, so it’s either kill them or get eaten.”

“We had thought that you were in danger of being eaten by that troll. That’s why we fought him. Even when it comes to killing monsters, there are laws, you can’t kill children or pregnant women, unless you truly, without a doubt have to in order to survive.” Reioi adds.

“I see.” Rivhild is satisfied with the answers she was given.

The group stops at a clearing. “The sun will be setting soon. We should make camp here.” Reioi says.

“Camp?” Rivhild questions, “Why?”

Tuipa walks forward and takes off her backpack. “Monsters are more active at night, plus we need to sleep, do you sleep Rivhild?”

Rivhild comes up beside her and watches her as she unpacks for the night. “I do, but I don’t really need to. It’s strange though, I have this feeling I’ve never felt before, I think it’s what being tired is like.”

“Hmm.” Reioi tosses down her bag. “That blast you made must have taken some of your energy. I don’t know much about magic, or about deities for that matter, but you might have over did it today.”

“That makes sense.” Rivhild agrees. She watches Reioi chop down a tree with great interest. Within a few swings, Reioi took down the small tree.

Reioi then raises her axe again. “I have to cut this tree into smaller pieces so we can use it to make a fire.”

“Hey, Rivhild!” Tuipa calls out. “Why don’t you help us by finding a bunch of rock we can use to keep the fire contained. We need about thirty about the size of my palm!”

Rivhild’s face lights up. “Yeah! I can do that!” She then runs off to go find some rocks. She wanders around the forest, staying within sight of the camp, searching for rocks to put around the fire.