Silver and Gold ✿ Neytirix

Chapter Two: Temporary Guest

"-So they ripped out her veins, and she drained away."

"Alright, ask any questions you have then," I tell her, awaiting for the second interrogation.

"Okay, well, tell me about your home town first. We can focus on the important questions later," She says. I nod and think about Arden. "Well, my village is very small and not very state of the art, seeing the size and quality of your home. Everything is made out of whatever we could find. I lived with my mother, we grew our own food, and I hunted. Sometimes we would sell vegetables in the marketplace... and, oh yeah, it was all humans, and that's literally my entire life," I told her.

Telling my life story out loud made me realize how boring of a life I had, but no matter. I liked the simplicity of it all.

"Ah, my life is sort of the opposite, but I'm not the one who should be telling stories right now. So, do you have any other family other than your mother that you know of?" She asked. I thought for a moment, and shook my head. "No, if there was my mother never told me."

"Do you maybe have any friends that lived outside your village?" She asked, and once again I shook my head. "The only people I've ever known are some of the villagers and my mother," I tell her, and she clenches her fist.

"You have nowhere to go?" She muttered, I think she felt a bit frustrated. I shook my head again, sadly. "Well, that's quite.. inconvenient," She sighs and taps her fingers against the sheets. She thinks for a moment, and we sit in silence until it starts to get awkward.

"Uh, how exactly were you going to help me?" I asked her quietly. She laughed awkwardly and started playing with her own hands. "To be honest, I was kind of expecting for you to have family or friends I could just take you to.. but I mean.." she looks away for a moment, "—I guess you'll just have to stay here. If that's alright with you," She tells me and looks down.

I raised my eyebrows, sort of surprised, but what else where I go? I didn't want to be a burden on this girl, and she did have family who probably wasn't too keen on the idea of a practically homeless person leeching off of them. "I have nowhere else to go, so maybe, but what about you? This is a.. really big decision and you have family too, you mentioned. Right? Would it really be alright if I could st.." My rambling was cut off by her raising her hand, motioning for me to stop. "I'll tell my family before I let you stay, since it would be easier to convince them than to try and hide you from them every day," She tells me.

She takes my hand and stands up, pulling me with her to the door. "We'll start with my dad, he'll probably be the hardest to convince out of the family, but it's best to get his permission first," She tells me and leads me downstairs.

Once we're downstairs I get time to take in my surroundings of the room. The walls were mostly made of stone and metal. There were various shelves full of tools, mechanical parts, and boxes. I could also see racks holding different weapons, such as axes, swords, rapiers, and other weapons I couldn't name. I saw a furnace, and that's when it clicked. This was a blacksmiths shop, in Arden we had one, although this one was about 3 times as big.

Ney pulls me through an arched doorway off to the side, and I manage to hold back a gasp as I examined what I saw.

A huge man examining a short sword stood behind an anvil, he towered above me and Ney. He was extremely built, and had pale and greyish blue skin, and white hair that covered his face. He had to be at least seven feet tall. He glanced up at us, "Ney-" He stopped and looked at me.

"Who's this?" He asked gruffly, and examined me. I opened my mouth to speak but Ney beat me to it. "This is (Y/N). I... found them in the streets, and they had told me their parents kicked them out of the home." She explains to her supposed father.

I figured Neys parents didn't let her go out to the mountains, and that's why she lied. I wasn't sure if lying was the best option here, but whatever it takes I guess.

He eyes me skeptically, "What were you kicked out for?" He asks me. I panicked, searching my mind for an answer that wouldn't give away that Ney was in the mountains. "I-I don't really know, but I know they didn't like me very much," I lied and looked down at my boots to avoid his gaze.

I couldn't tell what he was thinking as he put the short sword down on the anvil. "Get your mum down," He told Ney, and she seemed surprised. "O-Oh, okay," She said and walked back, giving me a quick glance before she left.

It was just me and her intimidating looking dad left in the room, and I looked back at him. "I didn't see her walk out the front door today. You know anything about that?" He asked me and crossed his arms. "N-No sir, I don't," I replied. He said nothing, and I started playing with the hem of my cloak awkwardly.

"I'm sorry," He told me, breaking the silence. "For what?" I ask him, confused to his random apology. "Your parents kicking you out, it must be real tough for young kids like you to go through something like that," He says genuinely.

"Oh, yeah.. thank you for understanding," I say with a sad smile, remembering my mother.

Suddenly I felt like crying, until Ney came back in with someone new. The woman was small, had short brown curly hair, and was bundled up with a warm colored sweater and scarf. The woman spotted me, "Oh! Hello, I didn't expect for guests today. What's your name?" She asked and smiled warmly at me.

"Mum, this is (Y/N)." Ney introduced me, and I nodded. Ney's dad walked in front of the anvil, now standing closer to us. "Ney has gotten herself a friend, and I'm guessing she was going to ask if they could stay here?" He said, looking at Ney. She hummed in confirmation and he looked back at Neys mother.

"Oh of course! It's always lovely having guests, but may I ask why she needs somewhere to stay?" She turned to me. "I was kicked out," I reply.

She looks at me with a sympathetic expression, "I'm very sorry, you can stay as long as you like dear," She tells me. The tall man in front of us sighs, "If your mother says yes, then I will too," he says, and pauses to look at me, "just don't cause trouble, but otherwise, welcome to our home." He pats me on the shoulder and gives me a smile.

Ney lets out a sigh of relief and I can't help but grin. I felt accepted, yet there was a small feeling of nervousness. I just couldn't help but wonder what Ney was doing out in the mountains, in such a terrifying room that was completely hidden away from civilization.

I brushed off the feeling, trying to focus on the feeling of victory I had.

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Word count: 1274