Chronicles of Metal: Chapter 4 - Shadow on the Horizon

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A young woman pulled a small wooden car behind her, traveling down a narrow dirt road. Her dark blue hair waved in the wind, held down by a white bandana, a red scarf trailing behind her. A bright smile accentuated her blue eyes, one that she couldn’t help. Her fishing had been good for the past month, as indicated by the large drying rack in the back of her cart full of some of the biggest fish she'd ever caught. That little alcove near the bridge was a godsend for her and her sister's business. Anyone could open an eatery, but not everyone could claim to sell the biggest fish in Hashigin, a walled town stretching across a massive stone bridge between two countries.

Making her way through town, it became easy to see why business was so booming. All manner of merchants, adventurers, and nobility made their way through Hashigin, and every single one of them needed to eat at some point. Of course, not that she knew much about that. Her job was catching the fish and buying the ingredients. Her sister was the real culinary genius.

Speaking of sisters, the woman rounded the back of the small stone building and threw the door open. "Aki!" She shouted excitedly. "I'm back."

Another woman poked her head around the corner. "Hey, welcome back Aoi." Looking at her was like looking in a mirror. The two where twins, after all. The only way people could tell them apart was Aki wore a red jacket with the sleaves rolled up, and Aoi usually wore blue. Aki usually showed a bit more skin too, but mostly because she worked in a hot kitchen all day long. "Get a good hull?"

"Naturally." Aoi said, proudly pounding on her chest. "Gimme a hand."

"Can't. Busy." Aki shot back, vanishing into the kitchen once more. The flash of a flareup lit up the doorway accompanied by a sharp sizzling sound. "Get Hazel to help!"

Aoi rolled her eyes. Aki never liked to help with the heavy lifting. "Where is she?!"

"In the cellar!" Aki called again. "She's probably cutting more vegetables!"

With another tired huff, Aoi headed down the hallway parallel to the kitchen and followed a short set of stairs down to the basement. The room was a maze of shelves. Bags of rice piled to the ceiling, boxes of vegetables, spices from all over that she couldn't even pronounce. At the end of it though, stood a small girl with silky brown hair chopping away at a large bag of potatoes. "Heeeeey, Hazel!" Aoi called, slowly sneaking up on her. "How's my favorite helper?"

Hazel whipped around, a bright smile forming on her face. "Hi Aoi!" She waved with her knife hand, beckoning her forwards. "Hey hey, listen! Everyone really likes my potato stew. We sold out of it on only a few hours this morning! I added a few roasted chicken bones and-."

Aoi gave a small nod as Hazel continued to talk. She didn't really understand any of what she said, it was like listening to her speak in another language. A definite far cry from a year ago. They opened the restaurant one day to find Hazel half starved and scrounging around for something to eat. After taking her in for a few days, Aki had the idea to teach her to cook for herself. As it turned out Hazel had a real knack for it, and with no family of her own, she had become an integral part of their little business a few short weeks later. She was like the little sister Aoi always wanted. Despite being twins, Aki always seemed to act like she was the elder. Having Hazel around at least made it feal like she could order someone around, even if Aki still made a majority of the decisions for all three of them.

Sensing that Hazel was done with her culinary explanation, Aoi returned to her fishing. "Hey, mind helping me onload?" She said, nodding towards the stares.

Hazel looked back over her shoulder, but was far less enthusiastic about this than making her stew. "Do you really need me to?" She asked, shying away from the request. "The fish you catch are way to big for me to carry. I always end up covered in those stinky scales."

Aoi knelt down to ruffle her head over her bandana. "C'mon, please? I caught a few small ones, just for you."

Looking back at her large pile of chopped potatoes, Hazel let out a disgruntled groan. "I dunno..."

"Fine." Aoi stood up straight and spun around, clasping her hands together behind her back. "Aki was thinking of making some pudding later if we finished up early, buuuut... I guess we’'ll have to wait until tomorrow when we're all done."

"Pudding!?" Hazel whirled around, her eyes lighting up excitedly. All at once she composed herself, trying not to look as exited as she was. "W-well... If you really need help." She placed her knife down and tied off the bag she'd been working from. Watching her diligently march off to work, Aoi smiled to herself. It was great having a little sister.

A while later, Aoi dropped into one of the dining table seats in their dining room. Their restaurant had an outdoer dining area, with an overhanging roof just in case it rained. Not only did it make it easy for passers-by to see the food they had on offer, but it gave them a nice view of both the market and the river below the town.

It was late in the afternoon, about half way between lunch and dinner, and as such there where fewer customers. Hear-in meaning, the place was empty. Aki finished cleaning up the kitchen and joined her shortly after, wiping her hands clean on a rag. "All done?"

"Yep." Aoi chirped, pulling out a chair so her sister could join her.

Aki sat down with a heavy sigh, fanning herself with a small paper fan she kept in the kitchen. "Where's Hazel?"

"Back in the cellar. She's a little workaholic that one." Both sisters had a small chuckle at that, but Aoi abruptly stopped and nudged her sister with her elbow. "Oh, hey, umm... She's going to be expecting some pudding later, so I'd really appritiate it if you made some..."

Aki shot her a confused look, but figured out why after a few seconds. "You spoil her too much."

Despite her accusatory tone, Aoi let out a smitten chuckle. "Yeaaaaah... I do, don't I?"

Rolling her eyes, Aki slumped back in her chair. "Fine, fine. But just this one time. You're going to make her sick at this rate." Aoi did a small fist pump, but Aki shot her a mischievous grin. "But, you're on dish duty for the rest of the day."

Cringing to herself, Aoi sunk her head between her shoulders. "Oh... Fine..."

"Quit pouting, do you know how expensive sugar is nowadays? Taxes got raised again." Aki snapped at her. Aoi did her best to look apologetic, but knew she wasn't doing a great job. They where practically rolling in money right now, what harm would it do to indulge a little? Aki must've realised she was talking to herself, and changed the subject after a short sigh. "So are you being safe out there?" Aki asked, much more concern in her voice. "Nothing worrying you?"

Caught off guard, Aoi did a double take. "What? What's there to worry about?"

Aki shot her an irritated glair and pointed downriver. "That." Aoi squinted her eyes, staring out over the water at a small black bump on the horizon.

It'd been the talk of the town for the past week now, a dark cathedral appearing overnight smack in the middle of a bridge. Everyone had talked about it like it was some sort of monster or something. And the truth was Aoi was just as worried as everyone else when it first appeared. But a week had passed and... Nothing. It just sat there. She'd been within spitting distance of the bridge once and hadn't seen a thing. She really didn't see what the fuss was about.

"Ooooooh... Yeah, that." She hummed, trying to put off this conversation as long as possible. Aki continued to glare at her, so she finally gave in. "Oh, come on, it's just a weird building. What's there to be scared of?"

"I don't know." Aki said with a small shrug. "Which is the problem. We don't know what it is, but the town guard all say it's dangerous."

"Really?" She didn’t like where this conversation was going, but felt like being argumentative. "Because the rumor is they haven't even gone near the place." Aki narrowed her glair, but Aoi knew she'd heard the same rumor. "They ride out there every few days, on either side of the river, but none of them have been brave enough to set foot on that bridge." Aki let out a defeated sigh, knowing she was the less bullheaded of the two. It made Aoi's heart ache, so she moved to give her sister a hug. "Don't worry about me. At some point, one of them will go poking around out there and find it's just a big old empty building."

Aki let out another huff. She didn't even look half-way reassured, but knew that arguing would be pointless. Glancing to the side, she patted Aoi's arm and stood up. "Well, why don't you convince that guard there to be the one, then."

Aoi looked back just in time to see one of the town guard remove his helmet, revealing a head of shiny blond hair and pointed ears beneath. One of their regulars, Aeirfin Thyocrei. It was an unspoken fact that not many people liked the town guard in Hashigin. Most of the time they just went around demanding free stuff, or getting drunk at night and making a scene, or jacking up taxes for any merchant that tried to enter the city. Worst of all, a small bribe was all it took to get out of most petty crimes in this city. Not Aeirfin though. Not many people could see it past his pointy elf ears, but he was one of the good ones.

"H-hey Fin..." Aoi muttered, her face turning a little red.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then." Aki muttered just loud enough for only Aoi to hear, scooting around the table and heading into the back. "Same order as usual, chef!?"

"Y-yeah... Thanks." Aeirfin nodded his head, dropping into a seat at a table next to where Aoi and Aki had been talking. "How's business?" He said with a tired smile.

"It'd be better if you'd come by more often." Aoi chuckled, dropping into the seat across from him. "Been keeping busy?"

With a heavy grunt, Aeirfin nodded his head. "You've no idea..."

"Aww, what's the matter?" Resting her elbows on the table, Aoi propped her head up in her hands with a coy smile. "Being the only decent guard in this city too much for ya?"

It was clear Aeirfin didn't know how to take that complement. Either that or he didn't realise it was one. He shook his head all the same. "No. It's that cathedral downriver. It's got everyone on edge."

Aoi's expression soured. "Uuuuughhh... Why is everyone so hung up on that? Nothing's happened." Leaning back in her chair, she gave a disappointed huff. "The ground shook a bit they day it showed up. That's it. It’s been dead quiet ever since."

"It's more than that, Aoi, it's-." He cut himself off, as Aki had returned from the back with a large fish stake and cutlery for him. She placed it down Infront of him and disappeared into the back just as quickly, but Aeirfin didn't continue his explanation. "Forget it..."

Of course, Aoi couldn't do that. Her curiosity had been peaked. "It's what?"

Looking around again, Aeirfin put on a grimace. With an annoyed grunt, he leaned in to whisper. "You can't tell anyone I told you this..." Aoi nodded slightly and, after checking around one last time, Aeirfin began to whisper. "The Viscount has purchased a small fleet of horse carts, weapons, and oil. I think he means for us to muster a raiding party and burn it down."

That was... Not the answer Aoi was expecting. "Why would he do that?"

Now it really began to look like Aierfin regrated opening his mouth at all. "We've... Seen someone there. Keeping lookout." He leaned back again, glancing down at his food and picking up the cutlery. He cut himself a large chunk of fish and took a bite, his downtrodden expression improving immediately. If only just. "We don't know who they are, but the Viscount wants rid of them."

To say Aoi was unimpressed with that would've been the understatement of the year. "That's dumb."

Aeirfin let out a small laugh. "I told my commander the same thing. But... I'm just some elf in the town guard. What do I know?" They both chuckled at that, but a few bites later, Aeirfin's dire expression returned. "Look uh... I saw you when you came back with your cart. It looked like you had a good catch, so I want you to stay in town for the next little while. Until this whole thing is done with."  He finally looked up, locking eyes with her. "Your sister and Hazel too."

Despite his request not sitting well with her, Aoi couldn't help but smile at his concern. "I'll think about it." He sighed at her, but Aoi leaned back in her chair with a big grin. "Besides, even if I do get into trouble, I'm sure Aeirfin and his big bad magic sword will be there to help me out."

Hidden beneath the table, the young elf's hand drifted to the ornate hilt that hung at his hip. "I wish you'd take this more seriously." He hummed after a moment.

"Aaaand, I wish I didn't have to work a day in my life." Aoi shot back with a coy smile. "But I enjoy what I do. And I've got you, my sister, and Hazel to keep me company. Which as far as I'm concerned is the next best thing."

For one reason or another, Aeirfin smiled back at her. He was playing with the last of his fish stake, chasing the last cut around his plate with his fork, obviously at a loss for words. "You know, back where I'm from, we have a word for people like you."

"Is it something mean?" Aoi said, chuckling to herself. "I bet it's something mean."

"N-no, no." This time Aeirfin's face turned red. "It means free bird. fit's you to a T, wouldn't you say?"

"Yep." Aoi chirped, smiling up at the ceiling. "Ain't nothing's going to change that.”

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