Sarphi's POV

The inn hadn't changed very much since we were last here, but then again, we didn't have a really good look around the place. We had been pretty distracted by the introduction of Onyx and Senka, along with Aknon's useless book, that we didn't focus a lot on our surroundings after that initial night. Well, it was our only night there.

When Aknon had decided that we were all presentable enough not to draw too much attention and I reminded him several times about Acer being missing, we left the room in search for Niko and Cade. But neither of them seemed to be around yet. There was only one other person in the main room of the Inn, and it was one I vaguely recognised.

"Mesh!" I exclaimed excitedly and bounced over, patting him on the shoulder. "How've you been, buddy?" I gave a wide grin as I leaned on him.

The half-orc chuckled and patted my head between my horns, causing me to stumble back a little. "Good, how is little girl?" He spoke with a thick and heavy accent. Mesh was a big guy, really strong-looking and he towered over anyone. Perhaps there were some full-blooded orcs who were taller than him, but he was at least a foot and a half taller than me.

"I'm okay," I answered him with a smile as I sat down opposite him. "We lost my sibling, Acer, found out who our missing parent is, and we made new friends." That was probably the best way to describe what happened over the past few days. "Oh, also in a bit of pain, but that's fine. I'm just tired."

"Little girl needs food," Mesh declared and stood, causing the table to move forward. "Mess will go and find food for you, Niko likes Mesh."

I was going to argue, reaching out to grab his arm before he moved away, but my touch was useless against him. I turned back around to the door of our room to see Prin coming out. She had a small grin on her face as she scurried over to sit beside me.

"Little girl?" She questioned teasingly, nudging my arm. "I suppose he's right."

I scowled and nudged her back, maybe a bit rougher than I had expected to, but I couldn't do much to hide my annoyance at the situation. I feel like I had been doing a good job of it up until now. "Leave me be, big girl." It was lame, but there wasn't much else I could call her.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." She was clearly joking, since she wasn't that much taller than me, and the tone of her voice made it very clear. "You're just tiny." She ruffled my hair, which I had just gotten so that it was the perfect mess.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, letting out a laugh despite myself. "I'm not that small, and it makes me more charming." I flipped my hair.

"That implies you're charming in the first place," she pointed out with a cheeky smile.

I was going to argue, making some kind of big, offended gesture, but Mesh exited the kitchen door, carrying a tray which was about the same size as me. "Ah, little girl has friend?" Mesh asked as he sat the tray, which was full of meats, bread, and cheese, down. "Little girl is now tiny girl; tiny girl's friend is now little girl."

Prin, now known to Mesh as 'little girl', smiled triumphantly and turned to wave at Mesh. "Hi, I'm Prin, nice to meet you."

Mesh waved back, a smile on his face. "Mesh." He nodded as he introduced himself. "Tiny girl needs more food if little girl is eating too." He began walking backwards towards the kitchen when I stood up.

"No, Mesh, it's okay." I tried to sound as convincing as possible. "We'll be able to share that. Remember, humans don't eat as much as you like to." I gave a light-hearted chuckle as I tried to remind him this casually.

"Ah, yes." Mesh nodded his head and sat back down, causing the utensils on the table to rattle. "It is easily forgotten how little humans eat,"

I felt like questioning his logic, considering his nickname for me is 'tiny girl', surely logic would tell him that we don't eat a lot. But I was also sure that Mesh didn't have a lot of logic. The guy had such a big heart, it probably made all the decisions for him.

"Thank you," Prin said with a grin. I had almost forgotten how long she'd gone without eating food like this. It was a rare luxury nowadays to get something in an actual establishment instead of sitting at the side of the road, eating something which had been hunted down or harvested on the paths. It had happened a few times where we'd picked something which happened to be cursed or poisoned, but luckily those weren't deadly times. It was always safer to eat food which had been provided, because you knew who to blame if things went badly, apart from yourself.

"Any clue where we are, Mesh?" I asked him casually as I began eating some kind of meat. It was chewy, but it looked very inviting. I felt like I would eat anything at this rate.

Mesh gave a small shrug. "Very North," he replied. From what I'd gathered during my very short amount of time in the wandering village, which seemed normal. It wasn't always clear where they were, only what direction they were going in. That also wasn't really true either, since it could magically change overnight, and they could find themselves somewhere else. I wanted to learn more about the place, and who created the wandering village, but we didn't have time for chat like that. "Strange seeing you again."

I nodded. "It's quite a happy coincidence." I didn't know how else to tell him that a deity had brought us here. "But I'm glad I got to see you again, and the inn. We avoided it for four years by accident." I still didn't understand how we didn't discover this place on our travels before, or at least I didn't remember.

"No such thing," Mesh argued and shook his head.

"And I'm glad that you enjoy it," Aknon's voice said from behind me as he pulled up a chair. "Because you're staying here." His voice told me that there was no room for arguments, but I was small, so I could make room.

"What?" I asked bluntly, crossing my arms. "I think not. Who is to say that? Because if it's you, then I'm simply not listening."

"It is me." Aknon reached over and stole a piece of bread. "I need you to stay here, and Cade just told me about a good opportunity for you both."
"What?" It was Prin's turn to ask this time. "You're leaving both of us here? We wouldn't be able to get in touch with you or know where you are. You wouldn't know where we are."

"I'd know that you're in the wandering village," Aknon pointed out in a smart tone. "Onyx could help us out. He could stay with you, unless there's something I need to talk to you about. I think that I should be able to summon him."

"Aknon, you're not thinking clearly. Did you bump your head again?" I knew that he was being serious, as he'd entertained the thought enough to think about Onyx sending messages. He wasn't the kind to think about multiple solutions when he found one which somewhat worked in his favour. "We're not staying here whilst you go looking for Acer. You'll have nobody looking out for you, you'll be on your own." Worry was evident in my expression, and I couldn't help but wish that we were somewhere else having this conversation.

"Sarphi, this isn't up for debate." Aknon's eyes met mine and he put a hand on my shoulder, preventing me from looking away. "I am going to look for Acer, back around Kourjit." Kourjit rang alarm bells in my mind. It's where the docks were, so there was the potential that Acer wasn't even on this island anymore. They might be in another country for all we knew. Thena gain, it hadn't been long since they were taken, I think.

"Kourjit is difficult," Mess commented, reminding me that he was here. "Mesh can help with Kourjit." Mesh rose to his feet, as though the two of them were going to head off right that moment.

"Erm, no." Aknon looked mildly uncomfortable at the idea of travelling with Mesh. "I think it'll be better if I just go by myself. It will be a lot more subtle."

"Not subtle," Mesh argued. "Lonely people are suspicious, Mesh is suspicious. Let Mesh take blue boy to Kourjit, and Mesh will be grateful." I realised then that Mesh had some kind of personal gain from this. He must have some business in Kourjit that he wanted to tend to, but couldn't, probably due to his imposing appearance.

Aknon hesitated, but he could probably sense what I was sensing. "Alright." His shoulders slumped. "You can come, Mesh. But please, don't call me blue boy."

I snickered, finding the nickname funny. Even though my height had been a target from Mesh. I found it amusing because Aknon's skin tone wasn't too different from Mesh's. Well, Aknon was blue, and Mesh was green, but both were generally dark and unusual colours.

Mesh gave a big cheer and reached forward to clap Aknon on the shoulder. "Thank you, friend. It is appreciated that Mesh can join." He then leaned back in his chair. "Mesh supposes little girl and tiny girl will be taking up space in the bakery?"

For a startling moment, I'd imagined Prin and myself covered in honey and icing, waiting for someone to come get us from the bakery. But then logic came back to my mind, and I figured out that the bakery in the village was lacking an owner, due to the old owner passing. I'd heard that they were ill the last time I was here, but I hadn't given it much of a second thought. I was distracted, and I was also under the impression that we wouldn't be coming back here again.

"Yes," Aknon confirmed with a nod. "My little sis is going to be a baker."