lirvothethird

  A clear view opened towards the sea. The parting of the trees resembled the aftermath of a ndslide.

  "I need a break."

  My arm was pulled slightly. Nodding, I turn my gaze back to the sea. The further you look, the stranger it became. At some point, the sea merged with the sky. The horizon curved slightly as the sun's rays cast sparkles into the water.

  A small sailboat idly cruised by, just a few kilometers off shore. It bobbed gently with the waves. It looked extremely common and pin, with what I can assume is fish nets after a day's haul. That means we're getting closer to a vilge.

  The smush of soggy leaves came from behind me. I turned around at the foul smell of poop. It came from an embarrassed person.

  "Use more leaves, then smush some flowers and apply it."

  My experience had increased while traveling, with this situation happening multiple times to me. A more efficient method I had was unsuitable for this occasion.

  "Where do I find flowers?!?"

  Anna huffed as she returned to the cover of the brush. I faced the sea again as I quickly thought of other things.

  Would the water in the sea be hot or cold? She probably flipped- the water should be warmer- her skirt might get- on the surface, where the sun is shining. Her panties.

  I spped myself twice in the face. Why do I have such thoughts?

  "Why did you sp yourself?"

  I turned around again. She was holding something white in her left hand. Unknowingly, I gazed down towards her stomach.

  Another resounding sp echoed. Anna huffed, storming ahead.

  "I deserved that one."

  I quietly muttered, before quickly chasing after her.

  After a day's walk, we arrived at the outskirts of a city. A rge sign proudly dispyed its name in a vibrant grey: Stonewall. In the stony crags above, the bleats of dunpors echoed.

  "Would coming back this way be bad?"

  "They were all nice though..."

  "That was when your father was there. Imagine, they would either take you away to sell, after all, a lone girl surviving a raptor attack? Very easy to make you disappear. Or if your father has trusted confidants that help would be the best solution."

  She whispered some names under her breath while I waited.

  "Uncle Seth, Marc, Ms. Chavosie, Amanda..."

  "Then do you know if any like children more? We can dirty ourselves again to show a more miserable appearance."

  "Mrs. Whitetucker the baker's wife always gives out bread to the children on the street. No, what we need to do is to clean ourselves up while leaving signs of travel moderately hidden. When she spots it, she'll go 'Oh, my dear babies, you must've felt so scared.' while hugging both of us. What, what's wrong?"

  A line of goosebumps rose on my arm. What the heck!

  "No, nothing's wrong. Let's follow what you said."

  "We are a bit too clean right now, come here, smear some dirt- wait. We can just enter like this already. Just act more tired, slouch your shoulders a bit... Perfect! Follow behind me now."

  I moved behind her in a daze.

  "Closer, we want them to think that you're more cautious and protective of me."

  "If I was more cautious. Fine."

  I raised my hands up in surrender and resignation. We started to march into the city, letting loose the fatigue from walking for so long. I realized I've never checked on her feet. She wore dirtied shoes that seem to have a buckle. I quickly looked away.

  At long st, I had arrived at another town. Simple and sturdy buildings of mortar and stone caught my attention. Almost every single one of the buildings had a box of wood with simple windows adorning it.

  "Why is there a wooden box on top of every house?"

  "Apparently Stonewall gets extremely bad weather conditions some time, like entire buildings being lifted in the air, falling into the water below, and the building colpsing. I don't know why there's the box tho."

  This time I took the lead. Moving towards a random passerby with a smile, I asked.

  "Why is there wooden boxes on the houses?"

  The old man blinked his eyes rapidly as he gnced towards us. Pausing the knitting, he patted down towards the seat beside him. I shook my head as I gestured no with my hands.

  "Youngsters these days... Fine. We hold a small competition every year, with the most recent disaster as the subject. This tradition dates back many, many years. That house boat you see on the buildings can save people by being a temporary boat in case of disaster."

  He proceeded to shoo us away. This was the first time an elder spoke so concisely to me. We continued on our merry way.

  Signs with simple depictions and a store name hung underneath the eaves, with names such as: The Singing Lamb, Honeyfruit Boudoirs. I immediately headed towards that sign as I've never seen that word before.

  "Why are you stopping me?"

  Anna shook her head vehemently. I guess that she wants to return quicker. Nodding my head at that conjuncture, I felt down inside.

  Tantalizing scents of freshly baked bread wafted towards the street. We were getting closer to our destination. Jeffery's Bakery. An extremely rge oven y right at the entrance, the source of the smell and heat.

  A row of bread was dispyed on a wooden table, along with all its prices. 20 bronze for a pristine rye loaf the size of my head. I tapped her shoulder before whispering.

  "Hey, hey Anna. Can you check what type of money I have?"

  I pulled my leather pouch and grabbed a silver piece and a copper piece out before handing it to her. She flipped the coins over to look. The look of focus on her face looks cute...

  "These are Noxian coins, see the fancy axe on both sides and the number encircling it? Sometimes the number on it is scratched out, like this one."

  "It seems I only have Noxian coins."

  I sighed, does Piltover accept these, or does this establishment accept these?

  Just then, a kind and somewhat rotund dy came up to us with some small pieces of bread. The bread had bumps and was bckened on some areas.

  "Here, have some leftover bread. Oh my! The young-"

  She stopped mid sentence. Turning around, she picked up better pieces of bread before handing it to us. Preferably treatment? Probably a result of our miserable appearance.

  Anna returned my coins as she looked pitifully at who I presume to be Mrs. Whitetucker. Tears started forming as her eyeshes trembled, sparkling with the tears. I reached to wipe her tears, before realizing it was out of bounds, so I had my arm awkwardly held out.

  "We were attacked , hic."

  Mrs. Whitetucker cooed as she patted and hugged Anna.

  "And who are you? I've never seen you before..."

  I bowed my head slightly.

  "I'm Aerth. I found her near the carriage and brought her with me. Is it possible to send us to Piltover? I have some Noxian money."

  "No need for money. Mr. Torek helped out many of us back in the day. I can help you exchange the Noxian coins you have into bronze washers, as Valors don't have much purchasing power in Piltover. There's a rge ship traveling to Piltover soon that I can arrange for you two."

  "Thank you, thank you - hic. Sniffle."

  Few days passed and we soon boarded The Iron Lady. From casual information I gathered, it was a Ferrec ship named after literally an iron dy of their's.

  Stonewall's specialty is in their dunpors. The horned creatures gave a rich milk, used for butter, cheese and cream.

  In repayment of the grace I received, I made some ptes and bowls for the bakers, as well as fixing any small cracks that had formed in the oven. The reason why they showed such care to children was because they were unable to conceive a child, and instead decided to give all their love to everyone in town.