It was a dreary morning by definition, the sky overcast with clouds and air heavy with the threat of rain. The villagers of Hollow Hill seemed to think nothing of it as they woke to the early morning crowing of the farm birds.
Mayce woke early with his parents. He washed his blonde hair and wiping his sky blue eyes free of sleep crusts before meeting back with his parents to start the morning chores.
It was normal from morning when he tended to the crops with his father, to noon when he prepared lunch at the inn with his mother. It wasn't until late in the afternoon on this overcast day when something changed.
Mayce wandered around the somewhat filled inn, saying hello to various villagers that had come for lunch, taking the wooden dishes and tableware to wash.
It took him only a few minutes, his small hands diligent but swift. These were easy dishes to clean after all. His mother made a stew that barely left anything behind. The villagers loved this stew for to much to let a drop go to waste.
Once Mayce set the dishes to dry on the counter, he quickly dried his hands and rushed to his mother.
"Ah gathered the dishes and washed them, Ma. Can Ah go play with the others now? They called from the window 2 strokes ago." He asked with urgency, not knowing what his friends wanted him so eagerly for.
His mother, a stocky woman with as much muscle as she had fat. She wore long, braided blonde hair and looked down from her work on the stove with her jade green eyes. "All of 'em?" Her voice wasn't stern, but said in a tone Mayce knew all too well.
"Yes Ma'am. I even got farmer Johnson's bowl as well. He ate fast once he got the stew. He said to give his complime-"
"Farmer Johnson needs to stop tryin to flirt through ma kid. It's downright disturbin." Lucy shook her head as she stirred the pot of stew she was preparing for dinner, already knowing what farmer Johnson is going to say, not wanting to hear her 10 year old child repeat such things. "Go ahead and go play. Ah need to reassert the rules of conduct in ma inn."
Mayce smiled and thanked his mother before turning towards the door to leave from the back, but before he could even open in, it was opened by a shaktaran woman and a young child.
Mayce had heard about the Shaktara. He heard of the humanoid felines that came in as many types as there were felines. However, he had never seen one before. He knew instantly that this woman and her child were both Shaktarans, without a doubt.
Her snow white fur with obsidian stripes, very soft looking ears, and fluffy tail made that much clear. She wore what looked like a deep red robe that ended just above the ground, splatters of caked mud coating the bottom edges. Her emerald eyes seemed to pierce young Mayce when they fell on him before they moved to his mother.
Mayce looked then to the child that stood just behind her, holding onto her robe with a small paw. The boy looked only to be four cycles old. He had snow white fur like his mother, but his stripes seemed to be a dark silver instead of obsidian. Mayce's breath caught as he saw the boy's eyes. Something itched at Mayce's memory.
They're such a pretty shade of purple.
"Hi. I was told I could move in somewhere-" Her words faltered as the focus in her eyes blurred. The young child at her side looked up at his mother, worry clear on his face.
"Mom?" His voice was shaky as he gripped his mother's robes tighter.
Lucy had looked over when she heard the door open, still working the pot as she took note of the intruder to her kitchen. It took both Lucy and her child a moment too long to notice the blood that soaked her clothes. The bottom of her robes was a tanned brown, but her chest and back were a deep crimson with lost blood.
Lucy dropped the ladle she was stirring with and quickly stepped to the Shaktara, hands outstretched to catch the woman as she fell forward. All she said as she caught the frail tigress was a soft "ohp, careful now" before she lifted the woman carefully and set her on a chair nearby. "Playtime has ta wait, Mayce. Go get the priest." Lucy's voice was firm and calm.
Mayce was watching the young tiger cub at the Shaktaran lady's side before his mother's voice snapped at his attention. He nodded and gave a quick "Yes Ma'am" before turning on his heel and running off to find the priest.
It was easy to find the priest on a day like this. Priest Kenly was at the church, doing his own chores around the old building, sweeping away the leaves from the small garden path he tended.
"Preist Kenly! Ma needs you at the inn. We got hurt travelers again." Mayce gasped as he caught his breath in front of the middle aged half elf.
Kenly only nodded before setting the broom aside and rushing back to the inn with Mayce. Kenly, being older and having a longer stride than the 10 year old child, rushed off back to the inn faster than Mayce could.
"Mayce! There you are! What happened? We called you out 2 strokes ago." A voice called from behind Mayce as he continued running back to the inn.
"Can't talk. Someone at the inn." Mayce kept his words short, keeping his focus on running back, trying to ignore his tired legs. Why did the inn have to be on the other side of the village from the church?
When he made his way back, Priest Kenly and his mother, Lucy, had already brought the woman up to a spare bedroom for healing. Lucy stood outside the door, acting as a guard to guide attention away from curious villagers.
"C'mon, Lucy. You gotta know what happened. Was it bandits or beasts?" One voice sounded more solid and clear from the small group, one serious person amongst the busy bodies.
Lucy looked at the village's Chief, Sir Banwood Von Gont. "Unclear. She collapsed before she could say. She said somethin, but it wasn't bout no attack. Kenly is healin her. Ah'll let ya know if she says more." Lucy kept it brief and concise.
Banwood nodded and spoke again, turning his voice to the busy bodies still asking questions about the Shaktaran pair. "Lets back off for now everyone. You know the deal. Injured get space." He started waving his hands at the group and they dispersed easily enough."
Mayce nodded to the older brunette man as he walked past the boy, nodding back. Mayce waited till the group was clear from the hall before walking up to his mother. "She gonna live?"
Lucy tisked at him. "Ya shouldn't ask it like that, but yes, she's gonna live." Lucy sighed and stepped away from the door, looking at it, as if she could see through to see the woman in the bed. "She was hurt bad. Ah couldn't tell from what. She should be good once Priest Kenly works his magic." She glanced at the door next to the one she was guarding. "How bout you go talk to the boy? He's in that room while he waits fer his ma. See if he knows anything."
Mayce nodded and quickly walked to the door, knocking on it gently before calling out. "Hey, can Ah come in?" He waited for the voice of the boy to call out an affirmation before he opened the door.
The Shaktaran child looked small as he sat on the bed, his short legs barely reaching the halfway point to the floor as he dangled them over the edge. The boy was clearly worried about his mother. His paws gripped the sheets tight as he stared at the ground.
Mayce didn't say anything as he stepped towards the chair at the table against the opposite wall from the cub. He waited another moment before he spoke.
"Priest Kenly is healin her right now. He's real good at healin." Mayce waited a moment while he waited for the boy to react. When no reaction came, he spoke again. "Ma asked me to see if you know what happened." He left the sentence sit for a moment before he asked. "Do ya wanna talk about it?"
The tiger cub blinked and took a breath. His voice was small. "Bandits and monsters, right after one another. Mom fought the bandits off, but she was injured when the monsters attacked. She got hit when she started running away with me. She said she would be fine. She lied."
"She will be fine." Mayce said with certainty, a bright smile on his face. "Ah told you, Priest Kenly is real good with healin magic. He's fixed up worse." Mayce beamed reassurance at the boy.
The shaktaran child looked up at Mayce with those purple eyes that seemed to search him for any shade of doubt. When they found none, he returned Mayce's bright smile with a meek smile of his own, tears welling up in his eyes before the dam of his emotions broke.
Mayce kept smiling reassuringly, eventually getting up to pat the young boy on his back. "It's ok, ya'll got here in one piece. It's alright now." Mayce kept smiling even as the crying child grabbed ahold of him and cried into his side. Mayce couldn't help but pet the boy's head, barely resisting the temptation to touch the boy's fluffy looking ears.
After a moment of crying, the Shaktaran child sniffled his last and wiped his eyes and fur free of remaining tears. "Sorry."
"No need to be sorry. Ah'm always good for a hug if ya need it." As if to prove this point, Mayce grabbed the small cub up and gave the boy a gentle but tight hug before releasing him back onto the bed.
The tiger cub laughed a bit as he was set back down. Mayce smiled warmly. "Ah forgot to introduce maself. Ah'm Mayce. Mayce Halls. Whats yer name?"
The tiger cub smiled back. "Simon. Simon Averile."