Author's note: the events described in this story are non-canonical to these characters.
Thoroughly fed up facing the humdrum of dreary Malmhule for months on end without a single holiday to break up the routine, Min believed a getaway - no matter how short - was long overdue, with the goblin girl quick to decide on a weekend spent in Klúbbafer - Snjórland's party capital famed for its nightlife, bars and entertainment incomparable to anywhere else on the island - would be just the ticket! However, two whole days without anybody else joining Min on the mischief she would undoubtedly be making while on this trip would turn quite tedious, which is why she persuaded (read: coaxed) two of her top boys in all of Occassus to accompany her on the sojourn: Gyllen the prince and Argento the apprentice cat burglar, a duo of young effeminate men who coincidentally just so happened to be the near spitting image of one another in spite of there being absolutely zero blood connection between them; identical in bonny features, light skin tone, slim shape, below-average height and even the styles of their long tresses, with the sole physical difference between the two being the pigmentation of said tresses: Gyllen's being lustrously golden while Argento's were a satiny silver.
The three converged early on the appointed day in the Laughing Laelaps Public House in Malmhule's Monster District, with Min naturally being the first to arrive
well
ahead of the specified time to help herself to a number of morning pick-me-up pints before greeting the human lads upon their later arrival at roughly the same instant. Once their hellos had been exchanged, the trio then caught and each paid their fare for the next coach departing from the city's carriage station, each one carrying their own luggage, with Min in particular dragging a suitcase almost as large as her three-foot self, though refused to divulge what it contained to her companions quite yet, insisting it was a surprise she would reveal only once they reached Klúbbafer.
The two human males and the goblin female spent an innocuous enough four-hour ride engrossed in sharing anecdotes on what each respective party had been up to since they saw one another last: oft humorous, occasionally erudite and more than once - in Min's case especially - ribald in the most graphic description she could articulate, much to Gyllen's mortification and to Argento's mirth. Conversation topics aside, each member of the group was greatly looking forward to what this weekend would entail to varying extents, however, all their anticipations would reach a grinding halt regardless of their levels once the three came to an impasse during a stopover in Leiðinlegur; a town significant only in its insignificance, other than it being precisely halfway between Malmhule and Klúbbafer.
Their current cab was only willing to carry them this far from the capital, meaning the travellers would have to change carriages to continue the remainder of the way, but there was about an hour to pass before their second transport was due for departure. Gyllen and Argento elected to take an aimless wander together through Leiðinlegur's samey streets until the scheduled time, though Min chose to spend the interval instead wetting her whistle at one of the local watering holes, generously offering to keep an eye on the boys' bags in the meanwhile so that they may better enjoy their walk unburdened, but being so quick to accept leaving the goblin unsupervised with their possessions - purses included - proved to be a most fatal error, as rather than being well on their way to Klúbbafer once the hour was up, the three instead found themselves standing stranded on a street corner still in Leiðinlegur.
"I thought-a you say we have enough money to get us all to Klúbbafer and back again no problema?" Aregento asked his travelling companions, his voice soft, but his Caligan accent heavy.
"We did...however, fool that I was, I neglected to factor in Min's idea of a 'few bevvies' being to nearly drink a tavern's entire reserve dry,
plus
her complete lack of principles about borrowing cash without consulting the lenders first." Gyllen answered, although staring daggers at Min while he spoke rather than looking to his doppelganger.
"I am just amazed how one so little can drink-a that much and still be conscious..." Argento added, joining in on the louring upon the offending goblin.
"Lissen, the skinflints who run that place mus' be fillin' their kegs one parts lager and two parts water, 'cause I'm jus' as shocked as you that I'm feelin' nothin' 'cept for a bit a' a buzz after spendin' all that! Alright, I
may
have gotten a bit carried away in the heat a' me probin's, but really, I'm doin' the people in this town a favour exposin' those frauds!" Min was swift to defend herself. "Gods above, no wonder this place's got a reputation for a whole loada nothin' if this is what the folk livin' here have gotta suffer..."
"Yes, yes, all very well and noble, but I only wish your heroic deed was not at the literal cost of our fare." Gyllen shook his head and sighed.
"Oi, I said I'll pay ya both back in full once we're back in Malmhule...eventually...probably." Min further added.
"That isn't the point, Min...although I'll be fretting over that when the time comes. But my concern at present is that we're halfway between our destination and home with hardly a handful of pennies in our collective pockets to pay for even a single ticket either way, let alone three! So, unless anybody is keen on a
very
long walk through the countryside back to Malmhule, I'm open to ideas on how this may be rectified." The blond looked back and forth between his silver-haired lookalike and the redheaded goblin.
"Alright, alright, chill! I got us int' bother, sure, but I can jus' as easily get us outta it! C'mon, you two, I've got a plan!" Min boldly claimed as started striding down the street with a determined speed, forcing the two boys to keep pace with her rather than the other way around despite her shorter legs while hauling her heavy luggage behind, and nearly causing them to trip over their own feet when she sharply turned left without apprising down a shadowy alleyway enclosed directly between the pub that had benefited from the goblin's stubbornness and a commonplace baker's shop.
The young human men followed the goblin woman all the way to the far end of this slightly off-smelling lane that terminated in an impassable brick wall taller than any of they. Min then set her suitcase down here, flicked the dials on the three-number lock to their correct combination before unclicking both latches at the same time. "I was hopin' t' save these as a surprise for when we got t' Klúbbafer, but desperate times an' all that. Change yer kit wi' what's inside quick now, you two, while I drum up the punters! Jus' follow my lead once I get back, alright?" She said, scooting back down the alley just as expeditiously as she had come up it, leaving Gyllen and Argento faster than either were able to ask her to elaborate. The two mirror images glanced at each other, the platinum-haired of the pair merely giving a shrug while the blond made a weary sigh before he crouched down to open the trunk.
"Oh, she
cannot
be serious!" Gyllen announced wide-eyed and aloud upon seeing the contents of the case and realising in that selfsame moment precisely what Min had in mind as a solution to their predicament, prompting Argento to peek over the prince's shoulder to see what could elicit such a reaction, and although the Caligan was astonished at first by what he saw, he merely made an amused laugh immediately afterward.
* * *
Stefán Óskarson - aged 32, unmarried and an unassuming blacksmith who had spent his whole life in Leiðinlegur - was just leaving his local as his lunch hour was coming to an end to reopen his shop a short walk away when he stopped upon hearing the sharp sound of hissing through teeth, followed by a female's voice gaining his attention: "Psst! Hey, pal!" He looked over to the adjacent alley where these sounds were coming from to see a goblin girl he had never before met peeking her half-shaved head from behind the corner. "Yeah, yerself! You look like a fellah who could do wi' a bit a' excitement in his life. Fancy seein' somethin' interestin'?"
Stefán laughed. "Oh, really now? And by 'interesting', do you mean mugging me at knifepoint? Come on, how stupid do you think I am?"
"An' how stupid do ya think
I'd
hafta be t' pull somethin' like that in broad daylight, eh?" Min retorted sharply to prevent him walking away then and there. "Gotta admit, it is yer cash I'm after, but 'sonly an honest trade I'm peddlin'. Jus' five minutes a' yer time is all I'm askin', an' if yer not interested, yer free t' walk away, no charge. Or are ya really that afraid a' one li'l gobbo nearly half yer size?"
"Fine, you've got my curiosity at least." The blacksmith acceded with a shake of his head, swayed by Min's sheer insistence. "But not too long now, okay?"