Beyond the Garden Fence

Chapter 3 - Rumours

Roughly 17 years after Luck was born

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"Luck! Can I get some help here?!" A loud voice yelled from outside the small house. Footsteps echoed for a moment before a girl with brown hair slid out the front door. She was adorned with an older shirt her mother used to wear and a black singlet type of shirt underneath

Her family wasn't the richest, but they managed to scrape by on hand me down clothes and home grown vegetables. Even with this, they we're never unhappy with their way of life

Infront of her, her father was holding several dead rabbits and was struggling to also keep hold of his bow, which was dangerously close to falling out of his grasp and onto the dirt path.

Luck quickly snatched the bow as her father moved around to the back of their home. She would have to help skin the rabbits later for dinner.

The girl made her way back into the house and carefully placed her father's bow on the wall mount. Below it was her own bow, smaller and more flexible, easy for her to use. She used hers when she goes out hunting. She'd been given it after an incident that happened a few years ago

Inside, she could smell of freshly cut onions and felt a tingle in her eyes when she walked into the kitchen. Her vision gently swayed against her leg as she walked, letting off little tinking sounds.

"We'll be having rabbit stew, Luck." Her mother smiled sweetly at her daughter. It was always nice to spend the days together.

The girl nodded her head and went outside once again. A small breeze was blowing the few bits of hair out of Luck's face. It was a nice day out, birds flying under the warm sun.

It was day's like these that she wanted to do something that wasn't sitting inside all morning. Out the back of the house was a small farm, growing radishes and carrots and different types of vegetables. They often found fruits on the trees in the forest. Sunsettas were always a favourite of Luck's.

"I'm going out!" Springvale wasn't too far from where they lived, but it was still a long walk.

"Be safe! There can be weirdos out there! Make sure you remember how to get back!" Both parent's called out to her, making sure she remembered everything

She'd only gone a few times, yet each time she felt excited to go somewhere different. Her parents would always notice her eagerness and bring her along on their trips. In the end, they had bought a map of Teyvet from a traveling merchant in Springvale and gave it to their curious daughter. They barely had the mora to do so but it always put a smile on their faces when they saw how full of joy Luck was when they handed it to her.

Since then, Luck would occasionally steal glances at the Mondstadt side and copy the path to Springvale in her mind.

If anything bad happened, she could use her vision.

In a steady pace she walked through the winding trees, over a slightly grassy path. It was impossible to keep all the forest off the path as no one barely used the roads, but it was still usable. The only person she'd seen use the path other than her parents was a strange boy dragging a beat up claymore a few months ago.

He had only stayed on the path for a short while before dashing into the trees. Sometimes she'd hear howls from behind him. Wolves kind of scared her.

Thankfully, she didn't catch sight of anything except a tiny fox on the path today.

The sun above had moved away from where it had been when she left. The trees thinned out and finally Luck could see the first houses of Springvale. Now that she thought about it, she had no idea what to do now. She had no mora and no means of buying things. She just kind of left without thinking of what to do.

"Hey, are you okay? You look zoned out. Are you lost?" Someone in the village spoke out to the girl. Luck turned to look at who was calling her

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just felt like going for a walk." The brown haired girl quickly came up with something so she didn't sound stupid in front of strangers. The answer wasn't entirely made up. She was really actually enjoying her walk.

"Ah, I see. Are you perhaps the daughter of Hope and Theodore? I've also seen them walk down from that path. They always practically glow when they talk about you"

Luck instinctively smiled and nodded. She was glad that at least someone would know her

The day was beginning to grow darker as Luck had a look around town. She met some new people and helped with small tasks.

At one point she had to use her vision to get a cat out of a tree per one of the villagers requests. She used it to make a sinkhole small enough to drag the tree into the ground, so Luck could then grab the cat and push the tree back into it's original spot. The few people who had been watching applauded and the brown haired girl smiled. She'd only had her parents praise her, which she was still quite happy with

Throughout the day she had been told many times she could be an excellent adventurer, and it excited her.

But sometimes, she could hear people whispering to another in her presence

Luck could hear low murmurs of her mother. A few people stared at her with pity or disgust, as if she hadn't bathed for a month.

"Theodore, that poor man... I suppose he must love that whore and that bastard child if he's willing to believe her lies..." The girl's walking slowed down to where her feet dragged over the ground, hands clenched in sadness and anger. It was getting harder to keep the smile on her face

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right how humans assumed the worst of things. Couldn't they just let her family live in peace?!

She could already tell what they spoke of. Even herself at one point had thought it wasn't her parents that brought her into this world. Shame hollowed out her soul when she remembered. If she hadn't been raised by them her whole life, she wouldn't have been able to tell the love the two adults held for each other. It was an insult to call her mother unfaithful to the man she loved

"Everyone knows the miracle of the Navrinas. Some just choose to believe rumours." A comforting voice pulled luck out of the voice in her head.

She barely saw the woman wearing purple turn a corner and disappear. She kind of reminded Luck of a witch.

Even if they were a stranger, the woman's words smoothed down the girls angry feelings and she unclenched her fists.

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Luck thanked the villagers that showed her around and gave her trinkets for her kindness.

The sky was already orange and pink as the sun lowered. It would be cold tonight

The path on the way home was silent, and her mother and father greeted her when she walked back into the house, the smell of rabbit in the air.

"Did you have a good day, sweetie?"

"It was good. Can I ask you guys something?" Luck lifted her head to stare at her parents

"Depends on the question. Did you meet a boy in Springvale today?" Her mother liked to tease her like this, grinning wide. The girl shook her head in embarrassment.

"What?! No, of course not! I was gonna ask if I could go to the city of Mondstadt... Maybe join the adventurers guild..." Luck's voice trailed off at the end, worried if they would get mad at her suggestion

Both adults stared at their daughter in shock, before her father burst into a fit of kind laughter

"If that's what you really want then go for it. We're only here to guide you into and through life, you get to decide the rest."

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Bastard in this context means a child born before the parents were married