Helix

Chapter 3 - Ruby

For the third time in the past five minutes, I tugged at my hood and smoothed out my dress. Did I look common enough? Blend in enough? It felt weird walking in shorts for the first time in years, but they were liberating. I imagined to melt into the crowds and disappear, forever. Like I could melt into the bargaining hollers between the baker and the customer; the vibrant shop hangers flapping in the wind; and the smoothness of the dirt paths paved by the hundreds of feet every day.

I looked around in fascination, memorizing every scene of the calming chaos around me. The smells were flowing in now, of bread straight from the oven and pork floss and bread, of the sweat mixed with fresh salty air from the nearby docks. And, of course, the unmistakable stench of horses.

Ew, gross! I never liked horses. Not only were they obnoxious, but I also couldn't stand against their horsey stench that seemed to permeate an entire kilometer around their stables. The horses were so distracting that I didn't hear the increasing rumbling of a cart hurtling down the lane.

"Watch out!" someone cried. I snapped back, eyes widening when I saw a cart of red apples running at me. But before I could do anything, a blur of a figure slammed into me. Oof! I landed on a the ground. Plop, plop, plop. Great, now I've been blessed with a shower of apples.

"You alright?" I could see the boy who rammed into me clearly now. He was smiling at me, his black bangs loosely framing his face. I locked eyes with him and was startled by the blueness of them. Crystal clear, yet dark, deep, and mysterious at the same time. They were strangely familiar.

"Yes, thanks for saving me there," I said. My hands reached for the hems of my dress for a curtsy, but I realized that I wasn't a princess anymore and I was wearing shorts. In the end, I tried to hide my mistake by pretending I was smoothing out my shorts. Perhaps he believed me.

The boy laughed and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Toph."

"...Elaena." Something flashed over his expression, but he relaxed almost immediately that I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it or not.

I decided to help pick up the apples; whoever's cart that was would probably appreciate it. But as I bent down, a voice hollered in the distance, "You filthy slum dwellers! Get your hands off my apples!" A middle-aged man came running down the hill in the path of the cart, waving his farming pitchfork in the air. "Weren't you the ones who pushed my cart so you could steal my apples?"

I looked at him, nonplussed. "Um, I think you have the wrong idea, sir –"

"Oh no, don't you start feeding me lies! I could call the army for such a crime!" The man was nearing us, and before I could think, Toph grabbed my hand and dragged me away.

"Hey, let me go! I can solve this!" I cried, yanking my arm.

We were still running, but Toph managed to sneak an incredulous look at me. "Are you serious? Do you even know how it works around here? No one will believe what we slum dwellers say!"

"But I'm not –"

"C'mon, keep running!"

"I –" But I looked around, seeing the blur of vendors like they were passing by us, and we were just standing there, watching a movie. It was a fun feeling, and I liked it. I let out a chortle and tightened my grip around Toph's hand. "Okay, let's go!" If he was surprised by my change, he didn't say anything, only smirking at me.

When we were finally sure that the madman wasn't chasing us anymore, we skidded to a stop and hunched over, panting. Toph slapped me on the back, snickering, "Haha, that was fun!" I couldn't agree more.

By then, we had arrived at a tavern with lively music booming from behind the doors. "You hungry?" Toph asked. "The Frog's the best tavern around."

"Sure, I'd –" Shoot, I realized that I didn't bring any of my allowance today. How shameful for a royalty to not be able to pay for her meals.

But Toph seemed to realize what I was doing; how embarrassing! He pulled out a couple of silver coins from his pocket, offering, "Here, I'll treat you. C'mon, you have to try the Frog!" With that, he half dragged, half lead me into the tavern.

The tavern was more or less than I'd imagined from reading books. A pack of arbitrary musicians belting out song after song, rough wood tables that make me wonder how long it had been since they were cleaned, and a simple menu that would never be served in the castle.

"Since it's your first time, I'd recommend the Frog Mystery Special. Hint: it's actually just a really good piece of steak!" Toph whispered.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, and between delicious, finger-licking good food and hilarious conversation, I found myself drawn to Toph. The way he carried himself with an air of confidence, the way he could just so carelessly toss his head without worrying about his mannerisms, how he was free, despite being a slum dweller.

I, Ruby Elaena Maxmillian, may have fallen for Toph, the slum dweller.

I asked to meet him again the next day at the same spot, and to my surprise, he showed up right on time. That day, he showed me a secret spot in the fields behind a barn, and he taught me to listen for the wind. We met again two days after that to accommodate the tutoring lessons I had.

Week after week, I met up regularly with Toph. I learned that he became a slum dweller after his family was killed in a fire. He didn't want to be chained down by debt and property, so when the lawyer asked if he wanted to tend the rest of his parents' properties, he donated everything to an orphanage and lived in the slums. Much more liberating, he had proudly announced. To be honest, I admired Toph for how forthright he was with his decisions. Would I ever be able to give up something like he did simply in exchange for a unofficial freedom?

The more I learned about Toph, the more I realized how much attention I was paying to his freedom. Perhaps I was just attached to the sense of freedom he showed and not actually his person. It made me feel guilty meeting with him day after day, no doubt, but by the end of summer, I was unwilling to say goodbye.

"Hey, Toph," I gently tapped him on the shoulder one day.

"Hmm?" That, I learned, was his way of acknowledging me when he was too lazy to reply.

"I need to tell you something."

Hearing this, Toph immediately perked up, a concerned look on his face. "Yeah?"

I took a deep breath, mentally going through my rehearsed lines I've been preparing. "I'm going to Academia Rephia tomorrow. I don't think we'll be able to meet." Hesistantly, I peered up, meeting his eyes. When I saw that his eyes were just as limpid as the day I first met him, without a single cloud of upset, I was slightly taken back. Maybe this conversation I'd envisioned many times in my head was just me acting sentimental. What was I to him? Maybe nothing, for all I knew.

After a long silence, Toph said something that confused me for the whole day. "We'll see, Elaena." He jumped up and left almost immediately, and I felt a sense of despair when all that was left was a trail of dust. Moments later, even the dust settled down. It was dusk now. The sun dipped below the horizon drawing the dark curtains over the world as if telling me, It's all over now.

Tomorrow looked dimmer than ever.