Julia leaned over the bar, watching the people in the tavern. Besides the usual drinkers, there were a few travelers in middle class clothing talking about sightseeing in the corner, a big brawny bald man at another table, and a handsome man in armor sitting further down the bar.
"Hey, Julie" one of the regulars, an older man with long gray hair and a beard, said "can I get a refill?"
"Comin' right up!" She said cheerfully, taking the flagon he had placed on the bar. She filled it with more ale and placed it on the bar. "Thank you" said the man, placing a silver coin on the bar. "Why don' ya fill up mine to" the muscle head said walking up to the bar. "You still have to pay for your first flagon" Julia told him. He slammed the flagon onto the bar. "That wasn't a request" he said "filler up!"
"Leave her alone" the old man said. "Mind yourself, old man" he threatened. "Get out of my bar!" Julia ordered. He just chuckled and leaned closer to her. "I believe the lady asked you to leave" the man at the end of bar said. "You gonna make me?" Challenge the bald man. "I don't make trash" the handsome one said "I throw it out."
He walked up to the large man and stared him straight in the eye. The handsome one was about six feet tall and somewhat slender. The bald one loomed over him by quite a few inches and was extremely muscular. It almost seemed foolish that he was standing up to someone that much bigger than him. "You got a death wish?" the bald one asked. He said nothing in response, irritating the other man. The bald man threw a punch, but the other one grabbed his arm. The bald man tried to break his arm free of the hold, but he couldn't even move his arm an inch. He twisted the man's arm so that it was behind his back and began to move him to the door. Once he had reached the door he kicked the man through it, and out into the rain.
"Thank you" Julia said to the stranger "Mister.....?"
"Arthur" he said "Arthur McCloud."
"Have another drink" said Julia "it's on me". "How could I refuse such a gracious offer" Arthur said, coming back to the bar. He wore a dusty gray chest plate and shoulder guards that protected the sides of his neck as well. Underneath the armor he wore a brown tunic. He had no armor on his arms or below his waist. His dark blonde hair was mid length and hung close to the corners of his eyes. An enormous bastard sword hung from his back, from what she could see it was inscribed with runes. He leaned against the bar opposite Julia. "You got a name?" he asked.
"Julia"
"Does your family own this bar?"
"No, I just work here"
"Ahh"
"If you don't mind my saying so, that is an awfully large sword, why did you get one so huge"
"Barringre? It was a gift"
"Oh, sorry"
"It's fine, I kinda thought so at first too".
He took a deep drink of ale. His eyes met hers and he chuckled. "What's so funny?" she asked. "You can tell a lot by a person's eyes" he said, ominously. "What do you see in mine" she questioned. "You're a sweet girl who wouldn't hurt a fly" he said "but you deeply long for adventure, to see what this world has to offer. You want to leave this town and see the sights and creatures in this world."
"Whoa" Julia said, causing him to chuckle again. How could he tell all that just by looking at my eyes? She thought.
"By the way" he said "do you have an open room?"
"Uh, yeah!" she said, he had thrown her off her game "how many nights?" "Just one" he said. "That'll be five silver" she told him "here's your key". He flipped a golden coin to her. "Keep the change" he said heading for the stairs. She failed to answer because she was silently gaping at the coin in her palm. Gold coins were incredibly scarce, how could he just toss her one so casually?
The next day started unusually quiet, almost as if the world was standing still. Julia worked for the room she lived in at the tavern. She awoke to silence, not even the birds outside were singing. She found this odd, but went about her day like it was nothing. She found Arthur drinking at the bar talking to the barmaid when she got down stairs. "Drinking already?" She said. "Oh, hey" replied Arthur. He seemed much more serious than last night.
"Is something that matter?"
"Not yet"
"Not yet, meaning?"
"Something's about to happen, I can feel it"
"Like?"
"A battle, a disaster, who knows?"
"Stop beating around the bush, what are you talking about?"
"Something, I don't know what, is headed for this town"
"How do you know?"
"The silence....it's the same as the silence before two armies clash"
"How do you know that, you don't look like a soldier?"
"I'm not, just be prepared for whatever happens".
She sighed, and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. The day went normal, except for Arthur's presence. He seemed to be waiting for his premonition to come true. Time ticked on and Julia became more skeptical of what he had said. As the sun began to set she was about to tell Arthur he should leave. Suddenly she heard screaming outside. She was transfixed to where stood. Arthur stood up and calmly headed to the door. Julia swallowed hard and followed him.
Outside, a group of thug like men walk down the dirt street, weapons drawn and crossbows aimed at the crowd on either side of the street. They seemed to only keep the crowd at bay, blood had yet to be spilled. At the head of the group was the man Arthur had literally kicked out of the bar last night. They stopped at the center of town. "I'm looking for a blonde man in gray armor" the leader said "give him up and I'll spare your town."
"I'm right here, ugly!" Arthur yelled, causing the crowd to part. He walked out onto the street with a big grin on his face. "Wipe that smirk off your face" the brute said "you'll be dead in a minute". "Why don't you tell the truth" said Arthur "you plan on pillaging this town once you've dealt with me". "Wow" the brute said, grinning "aren't you smart". A nervous murmur went through the crowd.
"Game time" Arthur said, cracking his knuckles. He punched the leader, sending him across the road. His lackeys swarmed their boss's attacker. Arthur leapt almost impossibly high for a human. Coming down he used the downward force to increase his punch's power. He smashed one of them on top of the head, instantly rendering him unconscious. At this point he was surrounded. The entire town was frozen with fear, never being faced with a crisis such as this. "Someone help him" a female onlooker cried. "Don't even think about it" he yelled, dodging blades and returning with kicks "this is my fight."
He turned his gaze to the townspeople, his eyes showing steely determination. It wasn't long before he had bruised up the henchmen enough to ensure they couldn't get up. "Now it's just you and me" he said to the leader, who was back on his feet. The enormous man drew his war hammer and charged. Arthur slowly reached his right hand over his right shoulder, seizing his sword's two foot hilt. He drew the colossal sword, the blade was at least five feet long. Julia blinked and missed it. The brute was lying unconscious, his hammer cut into stones. Arthur sheathed his sword and turned to the crowd, smiling devilishly.
The Cheering erupted from the crowd and they swarmed Arthur, who put his hands up as if saying "take it easy."
"Hold on everyone!" a slender man who looked very bitter said, making the crowd go silent "have you not forgotten that he brought them here!?" The people in the crowd looked at one another, murmuring. "So?" said Julia gaining the crowd's attention "they still could have come even if Arthur wasn't here. Thanks to him no one was hurt and no property was damaged."
"Yeah!" Someone in the crowd agreed. "She's right!" yelled another. "Besides" she said to the man "he just took on an entire gang, mostly bare handed, by himself, do you think it's a good idea to mess with him?"
The man bit his lip and stood down. The small crowd resumed cheering, Arthur looked kind of annoyed. Everyone followed him into the tavern, offering to buy him drinks, which he politely declined. He went back into the tavern, the crowd funneling in after him. He sat at the bar, surrounded by his new fans. Julia pushed through the crowded tavern and finally made it to the bar, where she should be. She poured a flagon of ale and slid it to Arthur, who slid her another cold coin. He smirked at her confusion and drank deep. As time went on the tavern became less and crowded, by nightfall it was almost vacant.
"So I guess you ended up staying another night, huh?" said Julia. "Seems that way" replied Arthur. He gave her another gold coin. "You know" he said "I never asked why a nice girl like you would crave adventure". She smiled, turning to grab a washcloth. "I want to see what's out there, as you said yesterday" she said, scrubbing the counter "this town is all I've ever known, I want to know what else this world has to offer, the sights, the people, cities, dragons, magic."
"That's a big order to fill" said Arthur "you'd need someone to look out for you".
"Yeah, that's why I'm still here"
"Well, your ship has come in"
"W-what"
"If you really want to, you can come with me"
"R-really!?"
"Yes, I can show you many things that would remain hidden in this world"
"Th-thank you!"
Arthur left it at that, and went upstairs to his room for the night.
The morning came swiftly, and Julia was already waiting for Arthur to awaken. I'm finally going to see everything I've dreamed of she thought dragons! She already left a letter for her employer, thanking him and telling him she would be away for a while. She was just about to go upstairs and get him, when she heard his heavy footfalls behind her. "There you are!" she said. "Good morning to you to" he yawned "you're all ready to go I can see". "Yeah" she said, then frowned "where's your stuff?" "I have everything" he said sitting down "we'll go when you're ready"
"You don't have anything else?"
"Nope"
"Well let's go now"
They stood up, and Julia practically ran for the door. Arthur followed at his own pace. Together, they headed for the road leading east of the village. Julia soon learned Arthur was a somewhat quite companion. "Why so quiet?" Julia questioned. "Oh, sorry" he apologized "I'm not used to having anyone to talk to."
"Hey!" a tiny voice said. A small girl with wings emerged from one of the pouches on Arthur's belt. She glowed blue and was adorned in a small leafy dress that hung down to her mid-thigh. She was around five inches tall, and had short messy hair. "What about me!?" she yelled. "This is the first time you've left my pocket since I got into that town" he countered. "Um" was the only thing that Julia was capable of saying. "Oh" Arthur said "Julia, this is Lily. Lily, this is Julia."
"Hi" Julia said with a smile. I just got out of my village and I've already seen a fairy! she thought. "Is this you new girlfriend?" she said like a disapproving sister. "W-what?" Julia stammered. She had been caught off guard, and began to blush. "No" Arthur said, his voice slightly quiet. Julia heard a low "oops" from Lily. "Hey" she said, going from embarrassed to concerned "are you okay?"
He looked at her with a sad smile. "I'm fine" he said, and continued up the path. "Damn" sighed Lily "I'm such an idiot". "What?" Julia asked. "It's not my place to say" said Lily. She flew to catch up with Arthur. How strange Julia thought.
They had a while yet until they reached their destination, and Arthur had grown silent. It was at this point Julia realized she forgot to ask where he was headed. Julia had been so excited to leave that she had forgotten to inquire their destination. They walked for another hour before her curiosity got the better of her. "Where are we going?" She asked. "Have you ever heard of the Arcane Waterfall?" He asked without looking at her.
"Yes, but isn't it supposed to be difficult to get to?"
"I've been there before, I know the way, and it's probably my favorite place in the world"
"Really, What's it like!?"
"If you've heard the tails of everyone who has ever been there, you would know they all say the same thing"
"What's that?"
"Beautiful behind measure, words could never do it justice. It's one of my favorite places in the world"
"Surely you could try to describe it"
"Nope, it's better to see with your own eyes"
Lily let out a little giggle from where she sat upon Arthur's shoulder. "Please?" Julia pleaded. "You'll understand when we get there" said Arthur, giving her a warm smile.
"Nope"
"Isn't it also really far away?" She questioned. "Yeah" he replied "but the journey is only half the fun."
The continued down the forest path like that for the rest of the day, conversations popping up here and there. When the sun began to set they looked for a place to bed down. They found a small forest grove for their temporary accommodations. Julia removed her pack and unrolled her bed mat. Arthur began to remove his armor, allowing the heavy equipment to hit the ground. Julia actually felt the impact from across the clearing. He now had only his brown leather tunic, leggings and boots left. He carefully laid down his sword. What was his sword called again? Julia thought Bathamer?... No that's not it.
"I'll be back" he said walking away from the grove. "Where are you going?" She asked. "There's a spring this way" he answered, getting farther and farther away "I'm going to wash up."
"How do you know?" She called after him. "I can smell it" he called back. "........smell?" she said to herself. "He grew up in the mountains, giving him almost superhuman qualities" said Lily, starling Julia. "Shouldn't you be with him?" She asked. "D-definately not!" Lily said, her cheeks glowing a darker shade of blue then the rest of her body. Julia giggled at the fairy's reaction. "Thinking about Arthur in the bath, eh?" the human girl teased the fairy.
"Sh-shut up!" Lily ordered, her face glowing an even deeper blue "y-you haven't seen him without clothes!"
Julia went awkwardly silent, her thoughts reaching uncharted territory for her. She blushed, then began unrolling her bedroll and lay down.
It was a while before Arthur came back. When he walked through the tree line, he startled Julia. He wore his boots and leggings, but his tunic was hanging over his shoulder. He looked a lot slimmer with his tunic on, when in reality he had a lot of muscle mass. "Hey, Jules" he said, dropping his tunic on his armor. Julia tried to not stare at his bare chest. "Hello" she said. "You need anything?" Arthur asked "if not I'm gonna go to sleep."
"No, why would I?" Julia asked. "Just being polite" he said, picking up his sword. "What's that thing called?" She asked. "My sword?" He replied "Barringre."
Arthur walked across the grove, and then leaped into the trees. "What are you doing?" Julia called, sitting up. "Sleeping" he called back. "In a tree?" She asked, laughing at how ridiculous that sounded "with a sword?"
"Yeah, I am" he called back, making her laugh harder. "Goodnight" she said, rolling over and giggling a bit. "Night" he called back. "Goodnight, Julia" Lily said, fluttering over to the tree that Arthur was perched in "it was nice meeting you."
Julia closed her eyes, and slowly drifted to sleep.