Dovetails [Solo]

Elliya stopped by a small stump on the side of the road, resting her satchel slowly on its smooth surface, taking care not to disturb the many small vial and jars within it. Satisfied, she plopped her buckler and mace down unceremoniously on the grass beside it, taking a moment to stretch in the morning sun.

After a few more moments of rest, Elliya stooped down and ran her fingers through the dirt, sifting through the many small rocks and seeds to come up with a small pinch of fine powder. Lifting her hand to the sky, she flicked it up in the air and squinted into the tiny cloud, trying her best to watch where the wind was taking the minuscule mote.

After making a mental note of the dust’s movements, she swept up her things with a well-practiced motion and set off again.

---

CLANG!

“Are you alright dearie?” An old woman’s voice creaked from the next room.

“Yes, yes, so sorry, terribly sorry!” Elliya yelled back, stifling a yelp as the large iron pot she was trying to hang over a firepit came loose and made an unexpected break for her kneecaps before clattering to the ground.

“It’s quite alright, you know- I can wait for my son to return and ask him to-"

“No! I mean, erm, no, I got this!”

Elliya gritted her teeth and hoisted the cauldron up on her knee before whispering to herself, “Okay, now you’ve asked for it you rusty piece of garbage-”

This time a faint, almost imperceptible warmth seeped from her hands into the pitted iron, and its handle seemed just the slightest bit more cooperative as Elliya rotated it upwards with her free hand and hooked it on the chain suspended over the pit.

“There! See? All done!”

Elliya took a step back and blew out a puff of air to jostle the stray hairs that had come loose during her work, wiping her hands on the table beside her.

She never knew where the wind would take her, but she always knew it would be someplace where she could make herself useful. Sometimes even in ways a little more glamorous than helping the elderly cook dinner! Still- there was an undeniable satisfaction in the small things, and household chores had probably earned her more hot meals than fighting.

“Oh, thank you so much sweetie- won’t you stay for supper?” The old lady asked as she shuffled towards the pot, pushing past Elliya and wasting no time getting to work, already pouring cupfuls of water into the vessel.

Elliya briefly considered leaving to get back on the road early, but any thoughts of hesitation were quickly drowned out by her grumbling stomach.

“Gladly! I can help chop too!”

---

A couple satisfying bowls of soup later, the sun had just started to dip beneath the trees, bathing the cottage in a warm light. After a brief rest, Elliya bode the woman farewell and, over protests and invitations to stay for a cup of tea, excused herself to return to the road. Some people, she noted, were not as dulled to the excitement of new faces as many months of travel had made her.

After scanning her surroundings, Elliya plucked a dandelion from the ground and held it aloft, waving it about to release its seeds. Taking a moment to study their movements as they drifted away, she started off in the direction of her next job.

Elliya belatedly realized she had made a huge mistake not staying at the cottage. Unexpectedly, the sky had opened up, pelting her with sheets of ice-cold rain. Running off the road to find shelter, Elliya camped out in a small, forested area under the cover of some trees. Cursing her luck, she took a moment to ensure that her reagents had not been spoiled, thankfully noting that the wax she used to seal her vials seemed to have held.

It was clearly much too blustery and wet to try and read the wind- dandelions and pinches of dirt certainly weren’t going to cut it. She needed some other way to reorient herself and figure out where to head next. Maybe she could try scattering leaves on the surface of some water? Eyes darting around, Elliya saw a potentially sheltered puddle under the canopy of large oak. Wrapping her pack in her cloak in a vain attempt to keep it from getting too soggy, she darted towards the oak, hoping to get some directions from above.

Upon looking at the rather pathetic puddle, Elliya quickly realized that this was a fool’s errand.

Ugh! Why did I think this would be still enough to read in a damn storm?

Dejected, Elliya turned around just in time to spot a lightly armored bandit picking up her things and starting to sprint away.

“Hey, uh excuse me? Wait, stop! That’s my stuff!” she called out as she took off after him, running as fast as she could. The cold had sapped much of her muscles of much of their strength, and she could see that the thief was slowly gaining distance on her.

Shit shit shit shit.

Elliya tried one last trick- conjuring the faint trickles of moonlight to cast a bolt at the rapidly retreating figure. For a moment, it seemed it might work, as light coalesced at her fingertips and shot towards the thief. Then the moon winked behind the clouds, and the light she had gathered harmlessly dissipated into a shimmering mist.

Knowing she had no hope of catching her target now, Elliya plopped down on the muddy ground to catch her breath.

Well. I suppose I should have been more careful. How was I supposed to hear someone following me over all this rain? Just my luck. . .

Meandering back to her original shelter, Elliya noticed that the thief was at least nice (or hurried) enough to leave her cloak behind. After wringing it out, she hunched under it against a tree and prepared for a very uncomfortable night.

---

The next morning was mercifully dry, although the news had apparently not reached the inner layers of her armor yet. Groaning, Elliya stood up slowly and tried to rub the aches out of what felt like every muscle in her body.

I guess I should head to Stonevale and check the local pawn shops? Small time bandits have got to fence things somewhere after all.

Elliya instinctively reached down to try to pick up her pack, sighed heavily, and began the long trek into town.

“Look missy, I believe you got robbed, and yes it’s very sad, but what does this have to do with me exactly?”

Elliya sighed and composed herself with a long inhale.

“All I’m saying is that the amulet in that cabinet looks exactly like mine, which was among the stolen goods.”

“So? Coulda gotten it at the same place, yeah? Coulda been a re-pro-duc-tion?”

The word seemed unfamiliar in the man’s mouth as he spat it out, as if dusted off specifically for this argument.

“Well, sure but uhm, actually no.”

“And why? Huh?”

“Because I made it? Sorry, that sounded like a question and it shouldn’t have, I did- I did make it.”

The pawnshop owner stared back at her suspiciously.

“I’m actually pretty good at this sort of thing, really. And maybe if you let me prove it to you by fixing the hinges on that cabinet over there, you’d be willing to give it back to me?”

“How’d you know it was broken, huh? Are you trying to scam me?” the man took a step towards Elliya and gritted his teeth together in some misguided attempt at intimidation.

Oh wow he’s really, really pale. Should get out a little more. Yikes. Could probably use a bath too, if we’re just being honest here.

“No, no, I mean I- Look, just look at the thing.”

For a moment he stared at one of the rust encrusted hinge as if expecting it to change in front of his eyes before turning back around.

“Frankly, they’re a little gross.” Elliya said. “I’d be happy to fix them up, give the cabinet a once-over, and then you’ll be so convinced you’ll give me my things back.”

“Bah, fine!” The man spat and retreated into the back of his shop. “But I’m gonna be watching you!”

Finally. Yeesh.

Elliya fished some rags and supplies out of her pockets and got ready to work.

Man, this thing must not have been cleaned since before I was born. It’s almost impressively bad. It’s like. . . the opposite of squeaky clean. Silently dirty? Whatever.

With a little elbow grease (and a little magic) the hinges were positively gleaming. A little extra wax and resin had the wood and glass face of the cabinet at least looking better than before. As a little test, Elliya gently pulled the cabinet door, which opened smoothly and quietly.

Best of both worlds. Silently clean. Haha!

“Great, so about my amulet and pack-”

“You never said anything about a pack, missy!”

“Oh come on, the pack that the amulet came in? That was sold to you by the same bandits?” Elliya glared back at the man.

“Fine, fine, just joking, just joking. Bah.”

The man fished out her things from behind the counter and handed them over to her.

“Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!”

Dick.

Elliya swept up her things, counted carefully to make sure each of her reagents was still present, and practically leapt out the door.

Sweet! Okay, that was annoying, but it definitely beats being robbed.

Time to find some information on this bandit. If he comes here regularly somebody must know and-slash-or hate him. I mean, I would.

The old man had begrudgingly given a description of the person who had sold him Elliya’s things, but it amounted to hardly more than what she had seen with her own eyes just the previous day.

---

After a long day of asking around, Elliya finally had a break- a known associate of the thief who frequented a particular dive a little off the beaten path.

If I’m not careful, I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, probably even if I am careful! Hopefully he doesn’t know I’m coming or he’s going to bolt the moment he sees me.

Elliya trekked off towards the bar, alternating practicing seedy scowls and looks of drunk disinterest all the way.