A V I V A

"Good morning, Alistair!" I wave at the boy as I pass through the village, barely lifting my arm.

Giving me a wide, toothy grin, Alistair waves back and skips over to me. The water inside the bucket he carries splashes onto the dirt, but he pays no attention. "Mornin', Miss! How are ye feelin' today?"

"Much better, thanks to that delicious tea you make. What are you up to this early in the morning?"

"Miss, it's almost noon." He tilts his head, biting back a smile.

"Yeah, early." I say, ruffling his chestnut hair. He laughs, fixing his hair after I stop messing it up.

"Alani asked me to fetch a pale of water for her. I'm headin' over to her cottage now. Wanna tag along?"

I can barely shrug, since my shoulder is still taking its time to heal. It's been about a week since I arrived here in Nogrud, and I've already settled into the cute little cottage Fiske had told me about. My body still aches from time to time, and my ribs are nowhere near healing. Nonetheless, I decided today I would explore the village, since walking isn't an issue anymore.

Alistair gets the message and gestures for me to follow him through the village. We pass through small huts and shops as we walk. Everyone's doing their own thing, like daily chores, shoe cleaning, and clothe washing. But the young children run around and chase after each other, laughing like maniacs as they struggle to keep themselves from bumping into other grumpy Dwarves.

"That's the Blacksmith's shop. You're a Cupid, right? We didn't find ye with any bow or arrows." Alistair gestures to the structure made of cobblestone, with moss growing over the smooth rocks. Small clouds of smoke puff out of the chimney, indicating that the blacksmith is definitely at home.

"That's because I left them back at my loft," I frown, stopping in front of the tiny shop. "Say, do you think the blacksmith could make me a pair? And maybe some other weapons?"

"What do ye need other weapons for?" Alistair lifts a bushy brow as he looks up at me with suspicion.

"For my journey, of course. What if I come across those Goblins again? Or other dangerous Supernaturals? My archery skills aren't going to be enough, I'm afraid." I explain.

His face twists with realization and he grabs my hand, leading me into the blacksmith's shop. "Oh! Well, what are ye waitin' for, Miss Aviva? C'mon, we're goin' to craft things that spill blood!"

"Uh, couldn't you have just said weapons?" I laugh, shaking my head as we climb the small and shaky uneven steps to the shop.

"It's called expandin' my vocabulary, Miss Aviva. Ye should try it sometime." He shoots me a cheeky grin as he sets the bucket of water down onto the grass before knocking on the wooden door.

Rolling my eyes, I punch the boy's shoulder lightly. "You know, you don't have to call me 'Miss Aviva' all the damn time. Makes me feel . . . formal. Which-trust me-I'm not. Plus, we're friends, aren't we? No friend of mine should address me as 'Miss', that's just silly."

Alistair lets out a bark of laughter just as the door swings open, revealing a rather large man who wears a black apron. His face, covered in ash, wears an expression of clear annoyance.

Whoops. Guess we showed up at the wrong time.

"What do ye want? Can't ye see I'm busy here? Get off my property, ye bloody rascals!" The blacksmith's gruff voice makes me flinch a bit, but I stand my ground and smile politely.

He grabs a stepping stool so that he's my height and looks right at me with a slightly intimidating look. Wiping the ash from his eyes, he gasps in what seems like both astonishment and realization. He sniffs, backing away with a look of awe on his face. "Hold on a minute, you're the Matchmaker the whole village's talkin' about, ain't ya?"

With a small laugh, I nod. "That's me, alright. I'm Aviva Marieur. Nice to meet you . . ."

"His name's Jon." Alistair whispers as he nudges me.

". . . Jon. I've heard you make the best weapons in Nogrud." I give him a nervous smile.

Jon chuckles and gestures for the two of us to come inside his little workshop. Ash covers most of the creaky wood floor, so I carefully step inside and move to a space that's clean. Meanwhile, Jon continues throwing sticks and planks into the small fireplace and Alistair's attention is fixed onto the sharp blades that lay across a table. "Well, that is true. So, what brings ye to the land of Kairan?"

"I'm visiting a friend," I say. I hope that's enough information for him. I really don't want to start lying to his face.

"Ah, fair enough." He shrugs, scratching his scruffy beard. "What kind of weapons are ye lookin' for?"

"The Dragon slayin' kind." Alistair answers for me. He gets into action as he swings his imaginary sword, making all sorts of sound effects.

Jon laughs, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've got plenty of those."

Smiling, I shake my head. "I have yet to learn how to use a sword. Or anything, really. For now, do you have any bows and arrows?"

"Naw, I don't craft 'em. You're gonna have to make a pair yourself, lass." He frowns and presses his lips together into a thin line, as if in deep thought for merely two seconds. "Wait, actually, I may already have 'em in the storage room. Give me a minute."

I nod and wait for him while he disappears into another small room, sighing as I avert my attention elsewhere. Alistair is pretending to shoot arrows at me, so I laugh and dodge the invisible arrows, making sure to be careful with my injuries and almost knock into a table where all sorts of daggers rest in the process.

"So if ye don't know how to use anythin' besides a bow, how are ye goin' to learn?" Alistair asks.

I stop moving around and pick up one of the daggers. It's made out of pure obsidian, the tip of the blade as sharp as a tiger shark's tooth. I run my fingers over the smooth blade, wondering where Jon got this from. It's obvious he didn't craft it himself.

"I don't know, actually. I guess I'll have to teach myself if I can't find anyone; like I had to do with archery." I explain, shrugging as I place the dagger back.

"But isn't everythin' available in Midgard? I know nothin' of it but I do know its very different from our land."

"If by everything you mean classes, then yes. Well, for archery there are shooting academies and camps, things like that. But when I was young, my parents couldn't afford to send me there, so I managed to teach myself. I guess when you're a Cupid, you already have some skill, but I was still in desperate need of training, so I trained myself every day ever since I was a child."

"Wasn't there anyone in your family to teach ye?" Alistair tilts his head, curious now more than ever.

I chuckle. "Unfortunately, no. You'd think the last Cupid in the Marieur family would have taught at least one person, but centuries have past now."

He nods in understanding and bites down on his lip. "Mis-I mean, Aviva, may I ask ye somethin'?"

I smile, already knowing what he's going to ask by his pink tinged ears and neck. "Of course. What is it?"

"Uh, well, you're a Cupid, and everyone knows that they can't fall in love but . . . do ye believe in it?"

I hesitate, debating whether I should lie or not. Either way, I doubt he would understand. He's only a child. Then again, some children can be much wiser than you'd expect. Alistair seems genuinely curious, so I settle for the truth. "Do I believe in it? Sure, for others. I mean, I'm a Matchmaker, it's my job to make people fall in love. But not for myself. It's just impossible, you know?"

Alistair pouts, leaning against the walls made of jagged rocks. "Nymphs suck."

My lips twitch upwards. "That's something we both can agree on."

What I'm surprised about most, though, is how not one single Dwarf has asked me to tell them about their Soulmate since I arrived in Nogrud. Perhaps they prefer their love lives to be full of surprises, or maybe they're just too shy to ask.

"Aye, here it is!" Jon's voice booms from the next room as he makes his way back to us. He shoves a quiver into my hands before I even have the chance to look at it properly. While Jon holds the bow, I take the time to examine the quiver and the arrows inside.

The entire set is sleek and black, but also practically weightless. I carefully take one of the arrows out of the quiver, as if it could snap in my hands any second. The head is the smoothest and sharpest I'ver ever seen, and the shaft so thin and long. Just by taking a look at this one arrow, I can already tell that this set is the best I've come across, and it's probably one of the best out there.

I place the arrow inside the quiver, along with the other thirty five arrows I counted. Taking the bow from Jon with a grateful smile, I immediately notice how perfect it feels in my grip. Everything about the bow is perfect; from the string to the looks. If I had a Soulmate, I'm positive this bow would be my match.

"Wow," I say almost breathlessly, continuing to admire the set. "This is stunning! Where did you get this?"

Jon grins. "Ah, an old friend passed it on to me years ago. Beautiful, ain't it?"

"Beautiful is an understatement." I laugh, setting the bow down on the table behind me while the quiver sits on the floor by my feet.

"Sellin' it for six hundred and fifteen coin. What do ya say?" Jon puts his hands on his hips, waiting for my answer.

Six hundred and fifteen coin?! I don't even have one coin!

"Uh, I've only got cash from Midgard . . ." Shit, I need this set.

Jon shakes his head. "Oh, no. That won't be of any use here. Sorry, lass."

Did I really expect Jon to give the set to me for free? Why am I such an idiot?

Alistair seems to catch onto my pained expression, so he grabs my hand and tugs at it. I crouch down to his height so that he can whisper in my ear.

"Don't worry, Aviva. Fiske knew ye would be needin' some coin. He left a small sack in your hut. C'mon, now. Let's go fetch it." He grabs his bucket of water and pushes me out the door before I can protest. Once we are back onto the dirt path, Alistair starts to grumble. "Greedy ol' man. I know that set ain't worth that much."

I snort. "Yeah, I'm going to have to bargain with him."

I wonder how many times I'm going to have to bargain with townsfolk for other things, like food or water. Do they even sell plastic water bottles in Kairan? If they don't, I can confirm the people of this land actually care for the environment.

I just hope I can survive in this place on my own.

♡♡♡

Guess wha?

I'm tired.

Keep scrolling tho, I gave y'all a double update for making you wait.

Actually, no. That wasn't the reason. I had to split this chapter in two because it was waaaayyyy too long and I thought it would be better if I just updated two chapters :)

Anyways, go ahead, keep reading. I mean, only if you wanna. This chapter was fairly boring; more like a filler. There will be a few chapters like this in the future because ya know, it needs to be done. But trust me, the next one is much more eventful. But ye, go go!

❤ Chloe