I was inspired to write this by a game but these boys are all my own. And every one of them is going to find someone to love. Enjoy!
mac
000
Danroth watched from the depths of his cloak as a tiny red headed elf came bouncing happily in through the door of the Rusty Bucket. The innkeeper ran over and grabbed her up in a bear of a hug. She laughed and pounded his back.
"Put me down, Egan! I'm soaking. You'll get wet."
"Nan, Ni is back!" Egan called out toward the back of the inn as he set the girl down.
"That's wonderful." Nan, Egan's wife said exiting the kitchen. She came forward and gingerly hugged the girl. "You poor thing, you're soaking wet. I'm going to have Bets get some hot water ready for you. You need a bath before you catch your death."
"Thanks Nan." Ni said with a grateful smile.
"We were worried about you." Bets, the Barmaid, said as she came down the stairs. "This weather is horrible!"
Right as she said that the inn was shaken by a large clap of thunder. Everyone one jumped except for the four cloaked men that sat at one of the few tables. The four merely turned their cloaked heads toward the window, looking out at the rain pinging off the windows.
Nerves of steel, Ni thought to herself.
"Come on Ni." Bets said taking her hand. "Let's get you in a hot bath. You can tell me all about your adventures."
"Sounds good."
"Did you kill any walkers?" Bets asked talking about the undead that always seemed to be plaguing the region. Sometimes it got so bad that you couldn't walk around without being in a big group.
"You know they can't really help what they've become." Ni told the girl. "I try not to kill them if I can help it."
"Whatever. I just don't see how you can be sympathetic toward those things." Bets told her but immediately let the subject drop.
Ni shrugged but didn't say anything else about it either. They walked upstairs and talked about silly female things. Bets helped Ni with her bath and into some clean clothes. When they went back down stairs Ni sat at the table next to the four cloaked figures. Egan and Nan joined her and Bets went to fetch food and drink.
"You said a week only." Egan said with a shake of his head.
"I know." Ni smiled. "But I found a great vein of silver. The only reason that I even came back was because the weather was starting to get bad."
"You made it just in time." Bets said as she put food and drinks on the table.
"I still got a bit wet though." Ni said.
"Can I get you gentlemen anything else?" Bets asked the four cloaked figures, not even going near their table.
They shook their heads no and Bets sigh of relief was almost audible. The figures all looked to be around seven feet tall and they had large builds with wide shoulders. They dwarfed the table that they were sitting at and everyone in the inn felt intimidated.
Accept for Ni. Her father was around seven feet tall. Most of the men that Ni had grown up around were large. Ni could sympathize. Sometimes large people were just as frustrated about being large as small people were about being small.
"You look worn out." Egan told Ni when they had finished eating.
"I am." Ni rotated her head, hoping her neck would pop but it didn't. "Between Goblins and Walkers I didn't sleep a wink."
"You've been out for almost two weeks!" Nan said with wide eyes.
"Thankfully I take after my dad." Ni said and the others nodded in agreement.
Danroth rubbed a finger over his lips thoughtfully and put two and two together. Her small size and generous curves indicated human but her obsidian black eyes and pointed ears indicated elf. So she was a half breed. Normally elves only mated with their own kind but there were acceptations to the rule. It was that way for any of the races of Solaran.
Ni looked over and saw that one of the cloaked figures was looking at her. She smiled shyly and turned back to her conversation with the others. He was just curious about their conversation was all that it was. It would have been nice if he'd been interested in her but she was plain and never garnered much attention from the opposite sex.
"I'm going to go to bed." Ni finally said, getting to her feet, and yawning widely. "The rain should stop in a few hours and I want to get an early start."
"How early?" Egan asked.
"I'll probably be gone before you're up." Ni pulled a small pouch of gold from her pocket and set it on the table.
"Ni I told you that-" Egan started but Ni halted him.
"You're the only human family that I have left cousin." She patted his cheek, remembering the day he'd been born. "It will make sure you get through the winter. You know you won't have many people come this way when you have six feet of snow."
Egan stood up and hugged her tightly. She was such a gentle caring soul. The inn, the Rusty Bucket, would never go under because the locals came for the booze no matter what, but things could be a little lean in the winter months. The gold would ensure that they all stayed comfortable and wouldn't have to let Bets go for winter.
"Thank you, Ni." Nan said gratefully and gave her a hug.
"My turn." Bets said and then whispered to Ni. "Thank you."
Ni caught sight of the cloaked figure watching again and for some reason started blushing furiously.
"It's nothing." She smiled at them. "I'm off to bed before I drop."
When she was gone from sight Egan looked over at the table holding the cloaked figures. Their food and drink were untouched. Danroth took that as his cue and stood up, the others following suit. They'd paid for their beds in advance so he merely headed up the stairs, the others following behind him. Egan shook his head and looked over at Nan and Bets who were watching the strangers walk away. Both women had on identical frowns.
"We'll be gone early." Danroth threw over his shoulder to the innkeeper.
Egan shook his head again and helped the ladies clear the table. Good waste of food and beer was what came to his mind. Strange, those ones were. But he figured if they hadn't made trouble by now then they probably weren't going to at all. This was good, because it would probably take the whole damn town to stop them.
There were four bunks in the room that Danroth had rented. Of course none of them would really fit on the tiny things. But they didn't really need to sleep either. They just needed a place to rest for a while. Even those that were undead didn't like to traipse around in the rain if they could help it. He walked over to the fireplace that was lit and heating the room. He contemplated the small pot sitting next to it. It was filled with water waiting to be heated for drinks or bathing. He looked over at the wall that was separating their room from the one next to it, cocked his head slightly, and listened. He could hear the little elf settling down to sleep for the night. After a few moments he heard her sigh as she dropped off to sleep.
"Neron?" Danroth said the name of one of his companions getting his attention.
"Ya mon?" The troll asked.
"Do you have any sleeping herbs?" Danroth asked him as he put his hand to the wall gauging its thickness.
"Ya mon. Why?" Neron asked.
"Make some tea." Danroth told him then threw out his elbow and knocked the wall hard. Each of the men heard the girl in the room sit up. She mumbled something about the horrible weather and snuggled back down into the bed, dropping back off to sleep almost right away.
