ace of spades

two - i was little, i was weak

I came to the top of the hill that stood between me and the destination I'd been seeking for almost a week. There sat a house in the center of a small lake, or maybe a large pond. It was only two stories, but the building dipped under to water deeper than visible. Four paths connected the house to land. Smaller man made islands surrounded it, farms and other buildings afloat.

There it was again. The eruption of laughter. Friendly, happy souls. I stitched the reins of my steed to a fence post and made my descent to the house.

Every part of me seemed to shake at the sound of my knocks against the door. A bottomless feeling in my stomach appearing as the chatter from inside came to a halt. Footsteps echoed through the building until the door swung open, revealing a tall man with a mask covering his face.

Run. Run. Run. Danger. Bad. Not again. The words echoing through my head only accompanied what felt like a piercing stare. The mask covered the man's eyes and yet it felt as though he was examining every inch of me. The small compass around my neck, the black cloak I'd stitched together only a week prior, the netherite sword sat in the scabbard against my back.

"Yes?" His tone was sharp, causing the one word question to echo through my head as I scrambled for the response I'd rehearsed thousands of times.

"Apologies for interrupting. I was just curious if you had a spare cot, just for the night. My village has burnt and I've been travelling for weeks in search of civilization."

I repeated the words I'd spoken scanning for faults in my words.

"Oh, yeah we can make some space. Here come inside." He stepped to the side to reveal a small living area. Clearly multiple people lived here as the numerous trunks and chests stacked to the side of the wide seating area.

Sliding into the room where the people had waited to fall back into conversation, it felt warm. I could count seven heads including the man at the door. They turned at the sound of the door closing.

"Hello! Who are you?" A boy with what almost seemed to be fire for eyes had spoken. All eyes now on me awaiting an answer.

"I-I'm Amaya. Mayas what most people called me though." That was a lie. Amaya was my middle name.

"Amaya, what a unique name. Does it have a meaning?" The masked man made his way back over to the group and retook his seat.

These people seemed nice. I expected secretive violent warriors who were going to require much more convincing to get through. Quite honestly they seemed like a group of friends rather than the clot of fighters I'd been warned of.

"Night rain. My mother insisted on it." The group smiled in approval, gesturing me over to join them at the seating area.

I got an introduction from everyone. Short but enough to place faces to names I'd heard thousands of times before, and new names that'd been unspoken of until now. The boy who'd seemed to have flames for eyes was named Sapnap. One with a mask covering all but his eyes was named Ponk, and the one with the crown was Sam. Alyssa was the girl with a mask over her mouth, and George had the glasses. They introduced me to Callahan, voiceless but a kind smile. And the masked man himself. Dream.

The night had begun to fall upon the house as the group picked new questions to better know who I was. I'd reply to their's and then ask my own in return.

By the time the sun had set I had a better understanding of the people. Alyssa, Sam and Callahan would be leaving in two days time. New adventures awaited and they'd return eventually. Ponk was building a house not too far from the lake, and Dream, George, and Sapnap would remain living in the house they sat in at the time.

"You have quite the hair color Maya, is it natural?" I pray it looks natural.

"Yep! Another thing my mother granted me with." This gained some smiles. They'd gathered the story now of my village burning down, claiming most of the lives and leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. I could tell someone wasn't buying it but that was a matter to settle later.

Eventually we'd all grown tired. The few living in tents near the house scattered out, the others showing me to where the dorm like bedrooms were.

When we reached the hallway the group scattered to rooms, Dream offering me the pleasure of showing me mine. I could sense his intentions were otherwise though. He was suspicious of something and I could tell the moment I entered his eyesight. 

~

words - 815