Chapter 3

Quill was astounded with her while he was still suspended in the air by the orc, still holding his fist. "What's it to you?" the orc said, dropping Quill to the ground as he faced the girl. "Well, starters… He's an idiot of a brother!" She slowly walked towards Quill and picked him up. Quill raised an eyebrow at her and was bewildered by this sort of help. "Play along…" the girl whispered, looking Quill in the eye. Quill understood what she was going on about and decided to play along with this whole act. "He likes to be a hero in every kind of bad situation, and sometimes that gets him into all sorts of trouble," she said, as she slowly drags Quill and the boy away from the merchant. "Sorry!" She said as she then faced Quill, the boy, and herself away from the orc. "If it happens again, I'll gut him like the squirmy fish he is!" the orc said, shaking his fist at them.

Quill let out a big sigh and a whole lot of weight from his chest as he was ridden from the orc. "Thank you… For getting the two of us out of that." Quill said, walking right next to her with the boy following along. "Don't mention it, plus, almost no one liked that guy, to begin with." She smiled. Quill and the girl then heard a sudden rumbling noise from the boy. "I'm sorry, it's my stomach… I haven't eaten yet…" The boy said, looking down in shame. The girl then kneeled in front of the boy and presented an apple, the very same apple the orc was refusing to give. "Here have an apple." She said, handing the boy the apple.

"How did you--"

"Oh, the apple? I was able to get it while you were busy with that scary orc." She said with such carefreeness as if it wasn't a big deal. Quill couldn't find the words to express his gratitude, as she patted the boys head, scratching it a little. Quill looked back at the boy and saw a big smile with eyes bright with joy as he gobbled it bit by bit. Quill couldn't help it but a small smile started growing on his face, as he admired how radiant the girl had made the boy. The boy then ran off in a hurry with the apple in hand as he waved goodbye to Quill and the girl. "I can't thank you enough…" Quill said, as she stood up from the ground. "It was nothing," the girl scratched her head as she smiled.

"My name's Elysabeth Hartman, but my friends call me Elysa."

"Name's Quill Langston."

"By any chance, you wouldn't have happened to be related to Asher Langston… Are you?"

"That's my brother…" Quill embarrassingly laughed.

"Really! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"You have? Wait who's 'We'?"

"My friends and I! We stumbled upon your brother and he was frantically looking for you. C'mon, I'll lead you to him before it gets dark!" Elysa said, grabbing onto his arm. Without a second to move, Quill's feet were stumbling stepping over one another as he was following her.

"Hold on," Quill said, as he began to rebalance himself. "Where are we going?"

"Well I remember him saying about meeting up at the tavern if we did or did not find you," She said, still holding onto his arm.

"But hey! I got lucky and found you!"

"Yeah, you did," Quill chuckled. "You also managed to save my neck."

"As I said, it's nothing!"

Elysa then let go of Quill and stopped right in front of a big house, with the inside being as bright as day. Quill saw people walking in and out of the building, even ones where people had to be carried out. The house was classical with the stone walls, wooden beams, and the hay roof. "C'mon, he's probably inside the tavern with my friends," Elysa said, leading Quill to the tavern, he could hear chanting and music playing so loud. Quill could hear his insides beating in sync with the music, as if everything in him loved the music.

"Is there a celebration going on?" Quill asked, stepping onto the porch with Elysa.

"Celebration? It's always a party in the Vagabond Tavern'!" Elysa said, opening the tavern door, revealing people drinking, chanting, and folk playing lutes, and drums. Quill followed behind Elysa as she slipped through people having fun. Quill kept looking around the tavern and saw ornaments hanging on the walls, old paintings, and animal trophy heads that looked scarier than the orc he faced earlier. Tables were strooned about, filled with people gambling, drinking, and some passed out. The jingle, played by more partygoers in the tavern, was quickly getting into Quill's head as the melodic tune rang with such joy and glee. Quill then heard a somewhat familiar voice sing along to the tune of the song, then say: "Man, I hadn't had this much fun a long time!" Quill, then went on ahead of Elysa to see if it was Asher. "I should come here often!" A Nekojin said, raising a tankard along with a cramped Elf.

The Elf's hair awkwardly hung over his uncomfortable look on his face as he hide in his shell of a robe, his hood failing to cover his face. The Nekojin's fluffy ears poked out of his short and fluffy hair, his smile wide as can be, raising his tankard in enjoyment. "You're not Asher…" Quill said, as he stopped in front of the table. "Guys, I thought we said no drinking!" Elysa said, leaning against the table. "Hey, You're Quill! Asher's told me a lot about you," the Nekojin said, putting his tankard down. "Where have you been!?! We were looking everywhere for you!" Quill nervously smiled as he recalled past events, only to remember what he said. "You know my brother?" Quill said as he leaned closer towards the table, hoping Elysa's friends could hear him. "Asher? Of course! He's a funny dude!" the Nekojin said, slamming his tankard onto the table. "Guys, where are your manners," Elysa said, as she stood between the Nekojin and the Elf. "The Neko is Chiko and the Elf is Alwin!" Elysa said, pulling them closer for a group hug. Quill could tell they were a merry bunch of friends and had a strong bond that couldn't be broken like him and Asher. Quill smiled as Elysa and her friends were joking around, with the Nekojin singing along to the tune of the song. The happy thoughts "We really gotta go find my brother… We can't keep my friend waiting," Quill said, stopping their sing-a-long.

"C'mon Quill! Have at least a bit of fun," Elysa said, holding his shoulder. "We'll wait for your brother here. "

"I don't know…"

"If anything we should wait for your brother here, it'd be better if he came to us." Alwin said, adding his opinion, before hiding in his robe once more.

Quill looked around the table to see their heartwarming smiles that made it very difficult for him to choose. "One drink… Couldn't hurt… Right?"

. . .

As Quill slowly regained consciousness, he heard both talking and yelling nearby. He could feel his legs dangling in the air with a warm grasp that held onto him, which then great pain occurred as he moved his neck. Quill slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the beautiful night sky, filled with bright yellow dots. As Quill looked around, he saw a man with stubble facial hair, but when Quill looked closer he noticed it was Asher. Quill looked behind Asher to see the Elf, Nekojin, and Elysa following. "What's going on?" Asher was startled and surprised to see Quill awake. "Can you walk 'Lil brother?" Asher asked, Quill, nodded in response. Asher then put Quill down, but as soon as Quill felt the ground, he dropped. "Quill!" Quill felt Asher's hands grip onto his arm, helping him up. "You okay?" Elysa said, throwing Quill's arm over her shoulder. Quill tried to think back on what had happened in the tavern, but all he could think of was the regrettable choice he made.

The wagon came into view including Clara, as she came rushing to Quill's aid. "What happened?" She asked, Quill said nothing as he was set down against the wheel, his back, and bum uncomfortable with the bumpy ground and rough wooden wheel. Quill shook his head to get all the unsteady headache out of his system, only for the feeling to worsen. Quill looked up and saw everyone bickering, unable to hear their muffled voices, with hands flailing around. Quill could feel a warm hand press against his forehead as he leaned his head back against the uncomfy wheel.

"Hey, drink this," Elysa said, handing Quill a vial filled with a yellow glowy substance, and it was warm to the touch. "It's a potion a friend made for headaches and hangovers. It was made for Chiko, but it looks like you need it more."

Quill shook the vial as the liquid inside moved around in weird formation, almost as if it was a mix of solid and liquid. Quill took the cap off and slowly took a whiff, and then gagged to the horrid smell. The smell was so horrid, it was worse than horse dung and with the look of it, the liquid was going to be kind of chunky. "Are you sure? It smells horrid!" Quill said as he tried handing back the weird potion to Elysa. "Oh man up!" Elysa then grabbed the vial and without a second, Quill was chugging the whole thing. When Quill finished the vial he pushed Elysa's hand away and almost regurgitated right in front of her. Quill stopped himself before he could get the chance and accepted the fact he drank that weird potion. After a while, Quill's headache slowly disappeared along with the weird feeling in his stomach. "Thanks, Elysa… That helped a bunch." Quill said, smiling a little. "No problem--" A loud and sudden cry came from nearby, stopping the whole argument Asher was having with Chiko and Alwin. "HELP!!!"