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  [colpse]Chapter Seventy-Two - The Adventurer Look

  “Hmm,” I said.

  “Hrm,” Amaryllis agreed.

  Awen balled her fists ierial of her skirt. “Awa, is something wrong?”

  I nodded, but instead of answering her, I looked around the shop we had found our way over to. It was filled with clothes of all sorts, most of it on mannequins, but a lot of it hooked onto wooden walls with sts to keep the clothes in pce.

  This wasn’t a shop like the one Amaryllis had brought me to. It felt a little cheaper, and while some of the clothes on dispy were nice, some cked... refi? I couldn’t quite pin why, but it was obvious that the quality here was just a pinch lower than what was avaible in Port Royal. And this was supposed to be the best shop for delving and exploration clothes.

  “I’m not sure,” I said.

  “Frankly, nor am I,” Amaryllis agreed.

  Awen, who was still wearing the same pretty dress she had e in with, shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Sure about what?”

  “How to make you look like a proper adventurer,” I said. “See, looking good while out on an adventure is really important.”

  “It is?” Awen asked.

  I nodded. “Does your uncle spend a lot of time taking care of his magnifit mustache?”

  “Awa, I guess he does?”

  “Well there you have it,” I said. “So, we o make you look awesome.”

  “I, I don’t know if I do that,” Awen said.

  I snorted. “‘Course you ! Amaryllis and I will fix yht up! First, we o figure out what sort of outfit we’re aiming for, though. You’re a meic right? We could lean into that. Go for something with lots of pockets.”

  “I like that idea,” Amaryllis said. “Some pants. They have det ones around here somewhere.”

  “Pants?” Awen said. “I’ve never worn pants before.”

  “Really?” I asked. “I like skirts better myself, but even I’m wearing shorts underh. See?” I grabbed the hem of my skirts, which were fairly thi at of the padding, and lifted them to reveal the shorts beh.

  “Awaaaaa,” was all Awen said. She stared for a long few seds before her face went very red and she spped both hands over her eyes. “I’ll wear the pants,” she squeaked.

  I dropped my skirts and looked at Amaryllis, but she was just shaking her head.

  “We wear whatever, really,” I said. “This is for you, so you should pick out things that you like. We’re just here to, uh, mentor you along. We’re your Obi Wan. But... without the... that was a bad example.”

  “You’re being stupid again. More so than usual,” Amaryllis said.

  I stuck my to at her and walked over to Awen to help her out.

  What followed was a flurry of activity as Aweated over every option Amaryllis and I pointed out, and only set aside a few things for her to try on. Fortunately, the shopkeeper didn’t seem to mind our ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over their stuff.

  “That,” Awen said.

  I paused while looking at a little rack covered is and, after following her gaze, found that Awen was staring at a long coat on a hanger way off in the back of the room. It reminded me of a trench coat, with a few buckles around the waist and a fring bottom. It was done in what looked like a fairly breathe-y material that was almost exactly the same blue as my own outfit.

  “You like it?” I asked.

  “Awa, I mean... yes?” she said. “If it’s not too much?”

  “Of course it isn’t, not if you like it!”

  Awen’s new outfit, which she ended up ging into in a little booth to one side, was quite pin and somewhat unassuming. Long pants of a dark brown material, a blouse made of a thick cotton and my new boots that I never really got around to wearing.

  She had a bandolier over that, and a pair of belts, oo hold up her pants, the other with a loop for her hammer.

  And, of course, the ehing was covered by her long coat, buckled at the front in a way that almost made it look like a dress. It tied the outfit together quite nicely.

  “I like it,” I said with a thumbs up.

  “Th-thank you,” Awen said. She shifted on the spot a little, her knees rubbing together in a way that her skirts would have hidden. Poor thing, she was so nervous! So I glomped her food measure.

  “Now you’re ready for adventure!” I said.

  The shopkeeper coughed.

  “Just as soon as we pay!”

  ***

  “Are you fortable?” I asked.

  Awen shifted a little, blonde hair falling down the nape of her ned into her new coat. We were going to o get her a to finish the ensemble, and maybe something a bit more armoured for underh, but she did look great.

  “I’m fortable, yes,” she said. “Um, the pants pull at my thighs, but I think that’s normal?”

  “I check you out ter, for chafing or the like, if you want.”

  “Awa! N-no! No, I’m okay,” Awen said.

  I shrugged and looked up to the gates ahead of us. We all came to a slow stop before them and kind of just, stared. The gates weren’t anything special, just a rge buildi into a stone wall with a bus-sized portcullis and a few guards standing by. The city tinued oher side of the gate, with smaller homes as and the like.

  Leaving, at least for me, was just the first step on another adventure. But for Awen...

  The girl’s legs were trembling, her eyes were wide, and I was afraid that she might start hyperventiting at any moment.

  “Are you sure?” I asked her. “You could always stay?”

  Awen looked back over her shoulder, deeper into the city, then back to the gate and the wide world beyond. She tried to speak, but no words came out.

  Then, with a face set with growiermination and a fire that sparked in her eyes, she stomped forwards and out of the city.

  “She’s pretty brave, I’ll give her that much,” Amaryllis said as she watched our new friend go.

  “What do you think of her?” I asked.

  “She’s inexperienced, naive, gullible and likely to get herself into trouble at the first opportunity,” Amaryllis said. “But she also seems well-educated and smart, which is more than I say about my other friend.”

  “You called me your friend!”

  “Idiot,” Amaryllis said as she started after Awen.

  Not to be outdone, I ran after the pair of them and glomped Awen from behind. “Well done,” I whispered into her ear. “I’m really proud of you.”

  “Awa! Th-thanks!”

  I gave her a st squeeze, then grabbed her hand and started running ahead. “, it’s past midday! If we want to find a pp we ought to get going!”

  “You’re the ohat made us stop at nearly every shop,” Amaryllis said.

  I stuy to her before a delighted giggled tore its way out of my throat. Maybe it was having a new friend, maybe it was walking off into another adventure, or maybe it was just the sun shining above and the happy sounds of a bustling city. Either way, I felt like every step I took could unch me into the sky.

  Greenshade’s ions, basically everything past the walls, were a mix of much smaller homes and rge tents, dotted with the occasional warehouse and store. The people here weren’t dressed as prettily as those in Port Royal. Drab clothes with stains so old that removing them would probably ruin the cloth and I saw plenty of men who were just not wearing shirts or shoes.

  We had to pause at oerse to let a flock of sheep pass by, led by a bored shepherd who seemed practiced at ign the jabs and insults of the other people blocked on the road.

  There was even a stench to the air, ohat had Awen pressing the sleeve of her new coat over her mouth and nose.

  “This pce is filthy,” Amaryllis said.

  “The people here must get very sick,” I added as I watched a group of human kids run after a wooden loop. They were all barefoot and covered in mud from head to toe.

  Awen nodded. “We have lots of problems with illnesses. We hire a lot of healers, but the moment one siess is put down another rises up, and the greater part of the popution is made up of caravaneers and vagrants. They bring new ones all the time.”

  I shivered a loose a small burst of ing magic around myself. I hoped it worked on bacteria and the like.

  The number of houses thinned out as we reached the northern outskirts and were repced by lots with tents and wagons and carriages parked by pens that held big horses.

  The roads turned from cobbles to packed dirt, and then back to cobbles again as we reached the very end of the city.

  Greenshades didn’t have an outer wall. Instead, the city just... ended. It was a little jarring to go from a stinky road where you o avoid droppings on every other step to a wide open tryside with... a bit less poop on the roads.

  “I’m... out?” Awen asked.

  I grinned. “I guess you are,” I said. “Amaryllis, do you know the region at all?”

  “Not very well, no,” Amaryllis admitted. “But we’re aiming for Rosenbell, which is to the North West.” She pointed off in that dire, towards a road that moved through a bunch of orchards.

  “Awa,” Awen said. “Um, if you ght that way, we’ll o cross part of the desert.”

  “So, we should go another way?” I asked.

  Awen csped her hands together. “If, if you want, yes? It’s safer to ght North, then tur once you’re a bit past the desert, otherwise, um, the sand and the heat be pretty bad.”

  “Ah yes, sand, it gets everywhere,” I said, then pouted because no one in this world was going to get my awesome references. “Whelp, off we go!”

  “J-just like that?” Awen asked.

  “Yup!” I said as I began walking North. Amaryllis snorted and was by my side a moment ter, and I heard Awen’s boots thumping behind me as she ran to keep up.

  “Oh, okay. Awa, if... if I’m not very good at adventuring, , you help me? Again? I know I’m asking for a lot, but I swear, I’ll work hard, and I’ll improve.”

  “Don’t be silly,” I said. “As long as you try your best and are a good friend, then having you along will just make the adventure ever more fun.”

  Awen nodded so hard her hair was whipping bad forth behind her. “Yes! I promise, I’ll do my best. I'm going to be just like you, Broccoli.”

  “I sure hope not,” Amaryllis said. “The world has enough of one Broccoli.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I said.

  “It means your eternal optimism and y are l the world’s average intelligence,” Amaryllis snarked back.

  “Yeah, but I’m increasing the world’s average friendliness, so I’m making it a better pce,” I said. “All you’re doing is making it even snobbier.”

  Amaryllis squawked. “I’m not snobbish!”

  “The most snobbiest,” I said.

  The harpy bumped her shoulder against mine, and trilled happily before she let loose a long string of insults about me, my intelligence, and every choice I had ever made. Awen stared wide-eyed, but I think she clued in on the fact that her of us were really angry at each other, because she wore a happy little smile as she watched us bicker bad forth.

  Soon, we’d get her to join in on it too.

  It was a fun start to what would no doubt be a grand adventure!