Chapter 3: Sleep

Chapter 3: Sleep
Mitchzen
3 Weeks (Approximately) after the Destruction of Drakestone..


The small town of Mitchzen was bustling with activity, children of both human and qin running around. The sky was clear and the sun was shining down upon the town, seeming to make everything brighter. It was really starting to look like a fantasy world for the earthling, Yui, as the grass was literally greener..at least at the moment.

Despite getting herself lost in the Wolfwood forest, she had found the town and took up learning to read and write. Whilst she has nowhere near a level of mastery, she was able to learn to do both for most communication. 

She took up spear fishing and used that to survive, as well as get in with the traders for anything else she would need. She eventually was able to start understanding the sounds, so whilst she is still unable to speak, she can at least somewhat understand people when they talk to her.



(OOC Note: I am atrocious at describing towns. Was unsure of what level of..things I can do. I don't want to create NPCs out of nowhere if I'm not supposed to do so. Lol. BUT YEAH..Stuff. Super basic setup + What Yui's been up to. More posts to come later.)

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Famine

The town of Mitchzen is composed mainly of fishermen, fishing been their trade for many generations. The locals are kind and generous, despite having only so little to give. Lately the atmosphere in Mitchzen has grown dim, the Famine season had come. Normally the shortage of fish lasts for 3 to 8 months every year, but this season was nothing like the ordinary for it lasted 2 years.

The town's livelihood was slowly dying, as did the town. Some had already fled the province to go work in the city and others, forced to join the Ramoan army just to feed their hungry families. Majority of those who left were young-able bodied men, leaving only a few number of strong sailors and fisherman in the town.

During her stay, Yui was treated well by the locals. They offered her their generosity and hospitality, despite their own sufferings. An old woman, who sits by the bay everyday at midday, speaks to Yui about how she reminded her of her daughter. The old woman's daughter died many years ago, she was a Ramoan Soldier. Her last mission was to investigate a mysterious sighting in Lake Supot, she and her group never came back.

A fishing boat arrives from a long 2 month journey. They appear with sad, disappointed faces for after staying out for so long, all they caught were two buckets of fish. Incidentally, they also lost two crewmen during an unfortunate accident at sea.

Chapter 3: Sleep
Mitchzen


Yui was doing a little bit of fishing herself in the more shallow areas of the bay, trying to spear a fish or two for lunch. She grabbed her spear and opted to take a break when a fishing boat arrived at the town, moving over to where it had been moored. She was curious to see how much the fishermen had caught, but could easily see the disappointment on their faces as she approached, so she didn't try too hard to see much of anything.

After all, she did have to lay a little low..And it was probably around the time she'd find the old woman at the bay. After all, having someone to chat with was always nice.

Chapter 3: Sleep
Mitchzen




Whilst the people of the town had treated her well, she didn't exactly want to cause any trouble. It seemed as though the fishermen who had returned were in a less than ideal mood and, since she had recently taken up spear fishing, did not want to come off as some sort of competitor or anything of that sort. Not that she could be, with her inexperience.

It was roughly around the right time for the old woman who she would usually hang out with would be sitting near the bay, so she gathered her things and opted to head back to the bay for now.

(OOC Note: Double posting because I forgot to state what exactly Yui was going to do in the post above, and didn't want to edit the post and seem like I was changing things..Haha.)

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Famine


Incidentally the old woman wasn't in her usual spot today. She was in her cabin, resting. People often avoided her because she sometimes goes into a delirious state while holding her rusty old spear. The old woman used to be a warrior for the Kingdom of Ramoa a long time ago, which inclined her daughter to enlist. During her youth, the old woman was a very renowned warrior. She even served as a member of the King's personal guards, but she retired shorty after being pregnant with her one and only daughter. However she can no longer perform as she once could, her aged body has obscured her in performing even the simplest of task like walking.

Everyone in town knew her story, even the new comer Yui. The old woman would sit near the bay for long periods of time, just telling her story to anyone even the wind. She was trained by her father, a skilled warrior, on how to wield a spear which was based on an ancient and forgotten tradition. She joined the army at a very young age. She won several tournaments in the field of jousting, she was chosen as a member of the King's personal guards when she was only 25 years old and was proclaimed the Spear of Ramoa by the late King Bartolome, after her numerous victories in battle. However those times have passed and there were no wars left to fight, no need for fighters.

She fell in love with an fisherman, who lives here in Mitchzen, she retired shortly after becoming pregnant. King Bartolome allowed it with the agreement that she will have her offspring take her place once the child comes of age. True to her word, the old woman sent her only daughter to the capital to become a soldier. At first, her daughter was doing well and was even promoted to the rank of Knight Captain. But during her last mission, she encountered something out of the ordinary in Lake Supot. She and her group never came back from the mission and they've been deemed to be dead.

Chapter 3: Sleep
Mitchzen




Yui went to the old woman's home when she couldn't be found in her usual spot. She wanted to make sure that she was alright, since she wasn't exactly young. Yui enjoyed chatting with the old woman whenever she could, finding her stories to be interesting. She always kept some cloth and coal on hand, so she could converse properly via writing and commonly traded stories with the older woman, omitting the fact that she was from a different planet.

She tapped on the door to the old woman's house, not wanting to disturb her if she were simply resting, yet also wanting to make sure she was alright.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Famine


The old woman heard someone knocking on the door and immediately thought it was her daughter, who was finally coming home after all these years. She sets her spear at a corner and proceeds to open the door. But to her dismay, it was just the red haired girl, Yui. It was her daughter's birthday today and that's why she wasn't at the bay. She still waits for her daughter even though the others said that she wasn't coming back. She quickly reverts back to her grumpy mood and says, "Oh! It's just you. What do you want?"

Chapter 3: Sleep
Mitchzen


She opened up a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a piece of cloth and a chunk of coal, or whatever coal was called in this world. She scribbled "Checking in. Didn't see you." to the best of her abilities, trying to keep what she wrote fairly simple due to her limited understanding of the language. It was much improved since her "arrival", but she didn't like to push her luck.

She smiled at the old woman, almost dropping her own spear as she had to let go of it to write what she said to begin with. Fumbling like some sort of fool for the briefest of moments.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Even though she was very grumpy, the old lady was delighted to see Yui. She reminded her so much of her daughter. The old woman opened the door fully, and offered for Yui to come in and have some tea, "Come in. I'm having some tea while I wait for Jenn to come home. It's her birthday today, I prepared a meal for her."

On the table there was a pot of tea, a quarter slice of molded bread, and steamed fish that the old lady had been saving. There were a collection of quality Spears displayed on one side of the way, and a Dragon's head on the other. The Spears were not brand new, they were all used, bent, broken, and degraded. The Dragon's head belonged to a small Dragon, it was preserved rather beautifully using special chemicals. There were also a notable collection of armors lying around on the corner of the room. They were, like the spears, collecting dust and tattered.

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Yui bowed her head respectfully before entering at the old woman's invitation, setting her spear near the door. Her spear was nowhere near as cool looking as any of the woman's, despite the lack of care, but she hoped that one day she'd have something to show the old woman.

She flipped the cloth over and wrote "Tea. Yes please." on the other side. She didn't have any water right now so she couldn't erase it to write new things, but she kept extra scraps of paper for that purpose.

She always felt strangely at home when visiting the old woman's place, so she tried to stay on her best behavior during her visits.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

The old woman poured Yui a glass of tea and handed it to her. She then offered Yui a seat. Some places looked very dusty and dirty, but it was evident that the old woman had recently done some cleaning, perhaps in preparation for her daughter's birthday. She noticed that Yui was looking are some of her old stuff, she was very delighted whenever she was retelling her stories of her glorious past, of course these were stories Yui has heard before. "Please sit down. Have I ever told you about that time when...."

She continued on for long periods of time, telling Yui the same stories she told everyday in the bay. But as she neared the end of her story, she suddenly felt saddened and added, "My daughter isn't coming back is she? I hope she's found herself a decent-honest man who'll take care of her. Maybe she has a child of her own or two or more. But I doubt she's ever coming back. I raised her, trained her, and then I just gave her away. Because I had agreed to it, because I wanted to live a quiet life with my family."

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon


Yui took the tea and then sat herself at the seat offered to her, sipping her tea casually whilst listening to the old woman's stories. It didn't matter how often she heard them, she always enjoyed the old woman's stories.

She could tell from the old woman's tone and facial expressions that she was getting sad, so Yui pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. "Don't give up", She wrote as she set her tea down and put her previously used cloth back in its pouch. She wasn't exactly the best when it came to cheering up others, but she didn't want the old woman to be upset.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

She smiles blankly at Yui, she knows the truth will be painful but it's something she must seek out. She can't physically go on the journey to locate her daughter, but perhaps someone younger and more capable could do this task for her. The old woman puts her tea down on the table and nudges closer to Yui. She stares, interestingly, at Yui's face and says, "You do look like her. My name is Cassea, and you are?"

"You look like a capable woman. Do you think you can help a silly old woman with a task?" she asks Yui.

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Yui blinks a couple times, her cheeks turning a slight pink color as she looked away. She wasn't used to anyone actually getting up close to her like that, so it was a little weird.

She flipped the piece of paper she had just written on and wrote "Yui" and "What do you need?" on it, though she wasn't too sure how exactly to write her own name. She slid the piece of paper closer to Cassea, sipping intently at her own tea so that she could focus her attention solely on the older woman.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Cassea's eyes are filled with hope. She leans in a bit closer to Yui and says, "Can you find my daughter for me? Tell her that I miss her dearly. I would do it myself, but my condition prevents me. Please will you help me with this request?"

She reaches for her purse and begins counting her coins, she had quite a lot, yet she's barely surviving on old and nearly rotten food. The reason for this is because she's been saving up money to give to her daughter. She laid the coins on the table and skipped counting them all. "Here you can have all of this if you can bring word of my daughter, I only wish to know how she is doing."

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Yui blinked and brought her right hand up, extending her index finger towards the ceiling in order to ask Cassea to wait. Her opposite hand brought out another piece of paper, since she had used up both sides of the last one already.

She turned to the table and started writing, not quite efficient enough at it to write without looking. She wrote "Where? Help identify?" sliding the piece of paper closer to Cassea and tapping on it gently with her index finger.

She didn't exactly have much knowledge of the land, but she figured at the very least getting the name of a place might help her find her way. And she'd need to know what Cassea's daughter looked like, or if she had any distinguishing jewelry or something to indicate who she was. After all, running around asking everyone if they were Cassea's daughter would be tedious and excessively difficult due to her constant need of paper.

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

"Her name is Jenn Gerdis. She works in Ramoa as a soldier. Please find her and tell me how she fares. I don't have a portrait of her unfortunately. But she's carrying a green Spear, with intricate Dragon designs, you can't miss it." Cassea coughed heavily after her brief moment of excitement. She shoves the coin in Yui's direction and adds, "Please this is all yours. Just bring word of my daughter." She continues to cough for a few more seconds until finally she recovers.

"I'm fine. I just choked on my own spit. So will you do this for me?" Cassea asks.

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Yui pulled a piece of paper from her pouch and wrote "Ramoa. Jenn Gerdis. Green Spear, Intricate Dragon Designs." on it in English before shoving it back into the pouch, so that she wouldn't forget about it.

She flipped the piece of paper she had wrote "Where? Help Identify?" on earlier over, scribbling something on it before moving her hand over to the gold. She organized the coins into stacks, taking two-thirds of what was there and placing the remainder on top of the piece of paper, off to the side as to not cover the writing.

She tapped on the piece of paper with a single finger to draw Cessea's attention to it, specifically to the writing which said "Keep. Get Tea and Bread. For Return". She smiled to Cessea and gave a thumbs up, unsure if a thumbs up even meant the same thing in this world, but it was the thought that counted!

Chapter 3: Sleep

Mitchzen
The Path of the Dragoon

Yui accepted the Cassea's request. She is given 750 Gil, 100 of which will be used to pay for her travel expensens.  She immediately departs and travels to Red Hold, via a sailing ship, the journey took 2 days. She arrives at Red Hold with a purpose. Meanwhile the town of Mitchzen continues to starve. Without solving the Famine, they are surely doomed if they continue to stay in Mitchzen. Some have already packed their bags and left for the capital, Ramoa, travelling with Yui on the same ship.