The Nymph's Redemption: Acantha's Journey (7ds fanfiction)

Chapter One: The Poet and The Fugitive

.
.
.
"Guards!! That's her! Get it!" A deep male voice rang out. It was a bright burning sweltering day in the small village of Ordia. Among the sounds of metal armor and voices yelling, were the pants, winces of pain, and patter of a certain orange-haired nymph's bare feet on the scalding cobble road. She had just stolen some food from an unsupervised baker's stand, well, what she had assumed was an unsupervised stand. It had been days since this girl had gotten a proper meal and foraging for her food just wasn't cutting it especially since most of it was already eaten by animals or picked by travelers. Acantha was running out of stamina and places to turn, and she knew this. Even though she could feel her lungs burn as she forced air into them, she kept running. She was eager to just find anywhere to hide.

The small girl made a sharp turn into an alleyway, catching the guards by surprise as their metal armor screeched on the road. She made a few more turns, using the spaces between buildings as a maze of sorts. Acantha managed to lose the guards of the village and sighed relief. She leaned against the wall as she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down from the adrenaline rush. She then leaned against the wall of a building closest to her and slid down until she sat on the cold shaded stone ground. With how much she had been running, she was left with little to no energy and ate slowly. Eventually, she did finish the small loaf of bread she had stolen and forced herself to stand. Acantha had planned to leave the village and go to a different one, the only issue being that the entire village was enclosed in a twenty-foot stone wall heavily guarded with holy knights and other guards. It was a mystery as to why the village was so strict about who and what came through, she was just lucky to have been able to sneak into a carriage carrying supplies.

Acantha was too caught up in her thoughts on how to easily escape from the village that she hadn't even realized she bumped into someone. On instinct, the nymph backed away and looked up to figure out the identity of the person. They were a tall and lanky young boy with tanned skin and chestnut brown, almost black hair. His eyes were a deep charcoal color. He wore a simple outfit. A light cotton tunic and simple brown trousers and for shoes, black boots. The mystery boy carried a very plain bag filled with papers and scrolls. Acantha scrambled to her feet as the boy furrowed his brows and started to speak. "Ah! My sincerest apologies! I didn't see you. Here let me help you." He stated kindness in his tone. Acantha refused help and stood in a defensive stance.

The tall boy sighed. "Alright then..." He trailed off, looking at her appearance. "Say you look familiar." He started and tried to think. "Eh, what do I know. I'm always traveling so I see many faces. My name's Eryx. Kinda hard to pronounce I know-. What's your name??" He asked. The boy seemed very friendly and open for conversation which left the nymph in an unsure state. Was this just a trap? Acantha furrowed her brows as the boy stood there awkwardly and awaited an answer. "Anyways... Aren't you hungry? You're thin as a twig!" He exclaimed and dug through his bag. "I'm a traveling poet so I always have some kind of food..." Eryx trailed off. "Dammit... I must have left it at the cart." He mumbled.

Acantha was thinking to herself. Should she just make a run for it? The girl was stopped when she was suddenly being dragged off by the taller male. "Here I'll give you some food back at my cart. Just don't take anything okay?" He laughed a bit. The green-eyed nymph tried to pull away but was already where she was being taken. A decent-sized cart is being pulled by a brown horse. Eryx reached into the cart and went to grab a loaf of bread he had before Acantha suddenly was hiding in the cart. The dark-eyed boy was dumbfounded but heard guards passing by on patrol. Eryx watched as the guards passed and looked at Acantha. "Lemme guess. On the run?" He asked and received a small nod. The boy sighed and took a moment to decide. "Tell ya what. You can hang around in here and I'll feed ya. Only if you don't steal or get in trouble." Eryx offered. Acantha was quick to take him up on such an offer. She profusely nodded. Eryx chuckled. "Alright, it's a deal." He said and started to pack up and hop in the front. "You can stay back there just don't make a mess. I was heading to Vaizel Village. There's a tone of inspiration for poetry there!" He said and gave the horse the command to start walking.

The two traveled the entire day until Eryx decided they had traveled long enough. It had gotten dark, and they were halfway to Vaizel. The night sky was only lit by the stars and moon in the sky as well as a small lantern that hung on the cart. Acantha had taken time to rest her eyes, curled up in the cart as the taller male she had traveled with found a decent spot to stop. "Alright, this should be good. Let me get some water from a nearby stream and get a fire started." The dark-haired boy stated. Acantha of course has awoken to the sound of his voice speaking to her and looked around to see they were in an area surrounded by tall trees. Crickets played their tune while frogs croaked to one another. She could hear a stream nearby, assuming it was past the trees.

The small nymph got off the cart and felt the soft cool ground from under her feet. It was a bit of a relief since during the daytime all she ever walked on was hot cobble roads and jagged rock-covered areas. Eryx soon came back with water for drinking and other uses as well as some firewood. "Hope ya don't mind sleeping on the ground. The nearest Inn won't be for another hour or two." He spoke. Acantha just gave a silent nod in response and observed as he set up a campfire. "Aye, there should be some food in the back of the cart if ya haven't snacked on all of it. Care to grab it?" The boy asked. Acantha stood up and walked to the cart, looking inside, and grabbing the food he mentioned, and bringing it back. Eryx gave a grateful smile. "Thanks. Here. Eat up. Get some meat on your bones." He joked and handed her some food. It was a loaf of bread, vegetables and fruit of varying types, and some small chunks of beef.

Acantha wasn't sure how to express how much she wanted to thank him and hummed approvingly before eating. 'Why can't I just force out the words I want to say... He's treated me with such kindness... Spoken to me like I was normal. Why can't I just do the same...' She thought to herself as Eryx started up the fire and went to feed the horse that pulled the wooden cart. He sat back down on the other side of the campfire and begun to eat. The lanky boy may have only known Acantha for such a short amount of time but found her interesting and quite enjoyable. Even if she hadn't spoken to him. It was just the presence of someone who wasn't an animal that brought him joy. "Ya know. You still haven't told me your name. Kinda rude considering I've fed you and helped you out of that town. If ya can't say it just spell it into the dirt or something." He spoke. Acantha listened to him and used her pointer finger to spell out her name for him. Eryx looked at the name and nodded. "Well nice to finally find out what your name is, Acantha." He grinned and went to pat her head only for her to flinch away. "Ah right... My bad." He chuckled. After a little bit of eating and Eryx going on about poetry and all the places he's traveled, he didn't even realize Acantha was asleep... Curled up on the ground with her arms tucked into her stomach. "Ah guess I bore ya to death." He said to himself. 'Dammit, only one blanket.' He thought. The dark-haired boy shrugged and put the blanket over Acantha and layed on his back, quickly falling asleep under the night any. The fire crackling and the sounds of the night being what lulled the two to peace.

Word Count: 1489