Octopath Travelers, plus one

Chapter 1

"Thanks miss isla, I don't know where this village would be without you."
"Dead. Plain out dead." Isla responded, to the grateful woman, patting her platypus next to her. Ever since she had walked into the wetlands, she had known things were going to turn for the worst. For her, anyways. She was a 22 year old ex battlefield medic, and didn't have much experience even. She had only started in the job, when everything went wrong. Then, she had stumbled into this small, backwater town of few people and they were more than obliged to welcome her in. She was confused by this, because she was used to people kicking her out, and that this place had enough problems to deal with on their own. They shouldn't have added another to the long list. After she had bandaged an old, bleeding man up, she became the rock of the village's survival. She was the only one with medical experience, not only to mention that she was the only one who could handle a sword right. She reached a hand back towards her scimitars in her waist. Hssssssshhhaaa... on instinct, she pulled out her weapons and flipped around faster than you could blink. A black snake slithered toward her at a very fast rate. Black pit viper, she thought. Waiting for the right moment to strike, the snake froze and curled up into a jump position. "Run." She said to the woman behind her. Ignoring the rudeness and edge in her own voice. She was always grumpy, because she never got any sleep anymore. The woman ignored it as well, not even giving the snake a chance to bite her. Isla only had experience in stabilizing people, not curing diseases and poisons. She was a poorly trained medic, not a skilled apothecary. Although, in her spare time, she would really enjoy a good anatomy or medical textbook. She did know how to perform a surgery, if needed. She kept her eyes on the snake, as if she was waiting for its next move. Finally, it lunged. She stepped to the side and stepped on its neck, and slashed at its throat. It was dead in an instant. A Black pit viper. This viper season is going to be rough. She thought. She didn't even have time to wipe the sweat from her brow, or catch her breath, when a call came out. "Miss Isla! Its my daughter! She's got a fever!" Again? Isla thought bitterly. She was never going get going with her plan if she was stuck here. She ran to her house to grab some medical supplies, and hesitated for just a bit when she saw her bed. It looked like it was trying to welcome her, and take her away to a foreign land. Nope! Isla drew her attention away from the bed, and to the sick girl's house. She sighed as she opened the door. As she treated the girl, her own thoughts of regret followed her. You are never going to be able to explore Isla, and If you do, you won't even have a chance alone. Even as a sorceress, you won't beat the ones who chase you. Her crude thoughts echoed in her head. She was reminded of one of the fellow medics in the yard, who had died during the incident. He was kind and gentle, and recruited her despite the fact that she was a thief on the streets. She had officially abandoned that life now. "There. She should be fine for now, at least she won't die. She'll still have the fever for a week or two." They all exhaled. "Can't you do anything more miss Isla?" An old man asked. "Look, I've explained this hundreds of times, and if not, thousands. I'm an ex battlefield medic, not an apothecary." She snapped. The old man went quiet. Isla took it as an invitation to walk out. "Charles! Charles! Get out of the water! Its viper season!" Isla rolled her eyes. Of course Charles is in the water. He was 12 and knew better. Isla invited herself to get Charles out of the water and yell at him for a bit, and return him to his mom. She never really liked kids anyways. She ran through the docks and leaped into the water. Unlike the hot day outside, the water was freezing. Risking her life for a kid. Ridiculous, in her opinion. Others might have found it heroic, but she found it as just another thing she had to do to keep this small village above the water. Quite literally, in fact. After she had pulled the stubborn kid out of the water, she decided that this kid needed to learn. "Will you ever listen? Its viper season! Vipers. In. Water! How many times do I have to jump into the water to get you? Next time, you're on your own!" She snapped at the kid. Getting no sleep was doing a number on her patience as well. She wasn't always like that. Once, she would have done everything in her power just to make a little kid smile. Now, she didn't care how they felt, as long as they were alive, she didn't care. Simple as that. She wanted to get out of this place, and as grumpy as she was, she couldn't find the motivation to walk out and leave this village to suffer. Although sometimes it felt like it would be best for her because of the countless people trying to pry into her past. She gave them her first name, the fact that she could handle a sword, and that she had medical experience. Nothing else. Nothing. The sun had started to go down as the village quietly packed down for sleep. Not for me, Isla thought. Patrol. Sometimes she wished that everything would stop happening for 3 days, so she could teach these people how to handle themselves. The sun sets quickly in the wetlands, so soon enough she could barely see her hand in front of her face. After a few hours of patrol, a rustle came out of the bushes. She flipped around, swords at the ready. A guy in a green tunic came out. "Heh heh, howdy!" He said. Isla raised an eyebrow. "Shucks, this is awkward", he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Then, out of nowhere, 7 more tumbled out of the sludgy forest, one by one. "Who're you talking to, alf?" A girl asked, obviously exhausted from the trudge to the village. Just some weary travelers, Isla thought. They didn't get much visitors in the small settlement. She sheathed her scimitars and sighed. "Inns over there." She said, pointing the way. They all grumbled a 'thank you' or 'thanks' and she swore she heard an 'i thanken thee, kind maiden'. Isla rolled her eyes and moved on. They would probably be gone by morning, and she would never see them again. How very wrong she was