“Us too,” another woman spoke up, herself and her friend smiling gratefully up at the elf. “I still remember, I’ll never forget that day. You certainly proved yourself to be the best archer of our grove without a doubt.”
“I did? What… what did I do?”
“You don’t remember?” the second elf asked shaking her head. “You must, you have to remember what you did for us. You definitely taught my friend a lesson that day.”
“Yeah, you sure did,” the first humbly admitted.
Clover eyed the two elves with a curious expression, seeing one with a long brunette ponytail while the other had very short blonde hair trimmed around her ears. Their green eyes, their matching nose piercings, and the sight of the brunette having a familiar looking necklace with a bronze star medallion on it; after a moment Clover recalled having seen them before during a patrol of the surrounding woods.
*****
“Come on, coward,” the blonde sneered, both of them standing in the lush forest that surrounded their village and next to an old tree with a dark hollow in its side. “Quit being such a scared little mouse and get over here.”
“I’m not scared, Shiva,” the brunette complained, hesitating with stepping closer to her friend that was waving her over.
“Then why are you keeping your distance? What’s wrong?”
“You know why, Bolla!” Shiva flustered. “I’m not falling for this again! You’re going to try to frighten me again with something gross you found!”
“I thought you said you weren’t scared?” Bolla smugly quipped. “Come on, I’m not going to show you anything gross this time. It’s really cool, I promise.”
“I’m not scared…” Shiva complained. “I just don’t like it when you throw bugs and creepy animals at me without warning.”
“Just get over here,” Bolla sighed. Shiva grumbled before reluctantly stepping closer, her eyes nervously going from her grinning friend to the darkened hole in the side of the tree that obviously had something her companion wanted to show her.
“If this is another one of your fucking tricks…” Shiva warned.
“No tricks,” Bolla promised. “I just want to show you something that I found to be really interesting. That’s all.”
Shiva walked over next to her friend and crossed her arms with a pout, her eyes worriedly glancing to the darkened hollow then back to Bolla again while she gave a small shrug.
“Well, what is it?”
Bolla calmly stepped over to her side, keeping Shiva between her and the tree, then reached past her with a slick grin into the hole. Her friend tensed up with a nervous whine as she paused for a moment, and then slowly drew her hand out to reveal a large, furry spider on her palm. Shiva gasped as Bolla carefully brought the spider over in front of her, the arachnid having dark fur with blue spots all over it while its many eyes seemed to peer right into Shiva’s soul with a chilling gaze.
“What the fuck?” Shiva cried out, pressing back against the tree as her friend laughed a bit. “Dammit, get that thing away from me! You know I hate those fucking things! Bolla! Knock it off!”
“It’s not going to bite you,” Bolla chuckled as she shook her head. She held the spider up near her big grin and tilted it around while Shiva was whining and pushing herself back against the timber as much as she could. “Relax, this spider doesn’t bite or anything, it’s not going to hurt you. You’re perfectly safe. I know you’re always complaining that the thought of spider bites freak you out, so I wanted to show you one that can’t bite you. See? It’s harmless. Cool, right?”
“It’s still disgusting! Get it away from me!”
“Aww, you’re so mean,” Bolla teased with a pout. “See? This little guy isn’t so bad. C’mon, be nice and give him a gentle pet or two to apologize.”
“BOLLA!” Shiva shrieked, turning her head away and shutting her eyes tight. Bolla burst out laughing as she backed up a few steps, watching with amusement as her friend shook her head and squealed in fright.
“Sorry, little spider,” Bolla cooed. “I guess my fearless friend still doesn’t like you. I don’t know why, you’re so cute after all.”
“I hate you so much, Bolla!” Shiva shouted at her. Bolla laughed and held out a hand towards her, opening her mouth to speak in an effort to calm down her emotional friend, before suddenly her mood quickly changed to a fearful one. Shiva trembled a bit at seeing her freezing up then started to get a very ominous feeling in her chest.
“Bolla? What is it now?”
“Shiva,” Bolla slowly cautioned. “Don’t. Move.”
“Why?” Shiva nervously asked. She then felt something slowly crawling along her hand, her eyes shakily turning down to see a large spider of sleek red carapaces with black streaks on its abdomen coming out of the darkened hollow and making its way up along her wrist.
“Don’t move, Shiva,” Bolla ordered.
“Why not? I thought you said these spiders were safe.”
“Not that one. Not that one. Very poisonous. Very dangerous. Don’t move a muscle.”
“Is this another one of your tricks?” Shiva nervously laughed. “You’ve had your fun, Bolla, so knock it off already.”
“Shiva, I’m fucking serious. One bite from that thing could be fatal.”
Shiva looked to her friend with a pale expression of fright while feeling the spider crawling up along her arm.
“I hate you so fucking much, Bolla,” Shiva faintly spoke. “Do something. Do something, you crazy bitch.”
“I… uh…”
“Do something. Goddammit, why would you bring me to where these horrible things live? What is wrong with you?”
“I only found the harmless ones last time I was here, I didn’t know those little fuckers moved in since then. It’s not my fault.”
“Bolla!” Shiva whined, feeling the spider crawling up her shoulder and touching her neck now. “Help. Do something. For fuck’s sake, do something.”
Bolla gulped before slowly reaching her hand out, her movement quickly coming to a halt as something else caught her eye and made her heart skip a beat. The two elves watched another of the deadly spiders slowly lowering down in front of Shiva’s face on a strand of silk, its legs moving about right before the terrified woman who locked up completely from the sight.
“Shiva,” Bolla quietly whimpered.
Shiva held in her scream with tightly pressed lips, eyes glancing between the two dangerous arachnids before looking to her friend who was frozen in fear. The spider on her neck crawled along her tunic and down onto her breast, its legs gently tapping on her while the one in front of her face began touching her nose and cheek with its feet. Bolla bit her lip as she fretted about what to do, watching as her friend was moments away from being bitten by two of the spiders while silence befell the area. Before she could attempt to make a move sharp whistles were heard, the spiders being instantly struck and taken away by two arrows that flew by and whacked into a nearby tree. The elves blinked, looked over to where the spiders were pinned to the timber with twitching legs, and then turned to see a blonde elf with long twintails having her bow held out as she stood further away in the woods.
“C-Clover?” Shiva stuttered, shakily slumping down against the tree as her legs gave out. Bolla dropped to her knees in the same manner, both elves watching as Clover holstered her bow and walked up to them with a harsh scowl on her face. As she stood over the stunned women her sharp gaze shifted between each of them before taking notice of Shiva’s star medallion that glistened in the sunlight. Her eyes then moved back to the woman’s face that had tears running down her cheeks, a calm breeze coming through the woods that swayed her long twintails and being the only sound that could be heard.
*****
“Wait,” Clover slowly said, eyeing the two elves in the crowd carefully before she jumped and pointed to them. “I remember now! You two idiots were the ones playing around with poisonous spiders! What the fuck was wrong with you girls? You stupid bitches c
ould have been dead, you know those fucking things are dangerous! What were you thinking?”
“We know,” Bolla agreed, grateful smiles from her and her friend being aimed up at the elf who was shouting at them while banging a fist on the balcony’s railing. “I was an idiot and nearly got my friend killed. You saved her life, and shouted relentlessly at me for what I did afterward until I was more frightened than she was that day. I can never thank you enough for setting me straight, Clover. For keeping my dear friend alive.”
Clover halted her angry tirade and showed a puzzled look at them before seeing the other elves in the crowd nodding and smiling at her in agreement.
“You’ve always been watching over us, like a real guardian,” an elf praised. “You’ve always been there for us in your own way.”
“But…” Clover hesitantly said. “Well… not always…”
“You were there for me when our crossways fell apart from the windy storm,” another elf spoke up, with Clover glancing up in thought while Sivil was growling at her with clenched fists.
*****
“Hang on, Joanne!” an elf cried out, desperately reaching down from a high treetop balcony while elves were gathered nearby and watching the scene anxiously. Down below them on the side of the tree an elf was clinging for life against the trunk while the broken rope bridge she had been walking on was now banging loosely against a faraway tree in the mighty wind that was blowing through Green Haven.
“Whoever built that bridge needs to be fired and beaten to death!” Joanne shouted while gripping the bark as tight as she could. “Goddammit, someone get me down from here!”
“Reach for my hand!” the elf above called down, being a good ten feet above where the frightened woman was slipping a bit on the smooth treeside.
“Are you fucking serious?” Joanne demanded. “I can’t reach that far! Get a rope or something!”
“We’re looking for one! Just hang on!”
“What do you think I’m doing? Hurry up!” Joanna shouted shaking her head. Her hand slid down the tree before her left foot dropped below her, the woman screaming as she tried to hang on to what little grip she had on the wide trunk. Looking down over her shoulder she saw the very long and easily presumable fatal fall that awaited her, with other elves below gathering near the area and crying out as they saw one of their own clinging to the timber with no visible way down other than falling.
“This is it,” Joanna whimpered. “This is how I die. For fuck’s sake, I never even got to leave Green Haven yet. This is total bullshit.”
“Joanna!” the elf above shouted, seeing her friend slipping again and losing her footing.
Joanna screamed and shut her eyes, feeling her fingers losing their grip on the tree while her feet couldn’t find anything to rest on, before hearing several sharp whistles followed by loud whacks sounding off above her. Looking up she saw a jagged line of arrows struck into the tree, leading up towards the terrace where elves were staring at the bolts with equal surprise. Everyone then turned to see a blonde elf with long twintails standing on the faraway balcony, her hair blowing wildly in the wind while her eyes were keenly set on Joanna.
“Clover?” Joanna wondered.
“Climb, dumbass!” Clover shouted out over the wailing gales.
Joanna blinked then quickly lunged up and grabbed the first arrow, using it to then lift herself up and desperately grab the next. The elves above started cheering her on as she lifted herself up to each arrow one by one, using them to climb up towards her friends as the bolts proved sturdy enough to act as a ladder. After reaching the final arrow she was grabbed and pulled up onto the balcony by her kin, all of them holding her close and thanking the gods she was still alive. After catching her breath Joanna looked over towards the faraway terrace, spotting Clover giving a single nod at her before walking off.
“Was that Clover?” an elf wondered.
“How did she do that?” another asked in disbelief. “The wind is blowing like crazy, yet she fired multiple arrows with perfect accuracy from way over there.”
“I have to learn how to shoot like she does,” one mentioned in awe.
“Lucky for us she was here,” the elf holding Joanna praised. Joanna slowly nodded as she watched Clover vanishing behind a tree, her long twintails flowing wildly behind before also fading from sight.
*****
“Oh… yeah,” Clover softly said.
“And you were there for us when those merchants tried to swindle us,” another elf mentioned, with Clover opening her mouth to speak before halting as she remembered that event.
*****
“What the fuck is this horseshit?” Clover loudly raged. Gathered near the edge of their forest she and several other elven rangers were seen speaking with gremlins and a few hooded monsters clad in dark red cloaks who had traveled to Green Haven in a horse drawn caravan to offer valuable merchandise for those who would be willing to pay for it. Of course instead of bargaining and speaking in a civilized manner it was more like yelling, arguing, and in Clover’s case, repeatedly banging the head of one of the gremlins against a wooden chest that was set on the ground and was starting to crack from the monster’s skull whacking against it so many times.
“We paid you 50 gold coins for what you promised to be the finest arrows in Eden!” Clover continued while slamming the head of the screaming gremlin onto the trunk again. “We have plenty of arrows here already, but we were promised these particular arrows were far superior and needed by our people! So explain to us why my rangers back there are holding fucking twigs with tin can lids tied to the ends! I could get sharper shrapnel to fasten to those flimsy pieces of shit by shattering your motherfucking skull apart and using the bone fragments as arrowheads!”
“I’m sorry!” the gremlin cried as she flailed her arms around. Her companions were watching the sight with stunned expressions of shock while the rangers behind Clover were glaring at them and holding boxes of what was essentially garbage that was sold to them. Clover roared like a lion as she brought the gremlin up to face her, lifted her off the ground by her neck using both hands, and glared so deeply into the monster’s frightened eyes that the gremlin swore she was staring at a Darker One.
“50 gold coins for all the arrows you had! 100 for all the tunics and capes you had, and 300 for an assortment of pork, beef, and lamb rations to help feed our people with, and what did you give us? Half-assed arrows you barely put together, dirty linens not even an ogre would dare wipe her ass with, and the most rotten, obscene, clumps of god-only-knows-what that I wouldn’t even feed to pigs! You fucking bitches picked the wrong grove to try and swindle!”
“We’re sorry, we’re sorry!” the gremlin cried out. “I don’t know how that mix-up could have happened, I swear! You can have your money back, you can have it back!”
With a furious roar and mighty throw Clover hurled the gremlin over towards the front of the convoy, knocking the driver off with a scream while the two horses neighed and bucked about in front of the ride. Clover started walking towards the convoy with a menacing growl and terrifying aura, with the remaining gremlin and two dark hooded figures quickly scrambling to get out of her way by running around the ride towards their friends who were slowly getting back onto their feet.
“450 gold coins,” Clover restated as she jumped up onto the front seat of the convoy and leaned against the top of the enclosed wagon, watching the merchants backing away while holding their dazed friend with a furious scowl. The elven rangers walked around the ride and threw down the boxes of junk towards the swindlers while glaring at them, with Clover eyeing over the convoy and its horses before turning her piercing gaze back onto the monsters.
“That sounds about fair for a wagon and some horses, don’t you think?”
“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” a gremlin eagerly agreed. “We’re sorry. We’re sorry for… the misunderstanding. Please, it’s all yours.”
“Damn straight it is,” Clover snapped. “Now get your
sorry asses out of our land before we string you up and use you as target practice! And if you dare come back and try this bullshit again you won’t be walking away with just a measly headache!”
“I think I have a concussion,” the dazed gremlin groaned with eyes rolling in her head.
“BEAT IT!” Clover roared out, prompting the merchants to scream and run off as fast as they could. The elven rangers laughed at seeing them go before turning to Clover who was scowling at the fleeing monsters with a twitching lip.
“Toss out whatever useless crap you find then take the rest into the village,” Clover ordered as she turned and hopped off the ride. The elves watched Clover march towards the village without so much as giving them a fleeting glance then looked over the new convoy wagon and horses that now belonged to them.
“We have to learn how to negotiate like she does,” an elf commented, with the others nodding in agreement before watching as Clover walked away with her twintails flowing behind her.
*****
Clover gazed around at the crowd of elves below in stunned silence, words failing to form in her mouth as she heard again and again of how they didn’t feel any animosity towards her at all, rather quite the contrary. More of the elven women and children spoke up about times that she came to their aid, protected them, inspired them, and amazed them, all of which Clover found shocking to hear.
‘They… like me? They really like me? Even though I always pushed them away… treated them so coldly… they only wanted me closer to them? I don’t believe it…’
“What is wrong with you people?” Sivil shouted, banging her fist on the guardrail with a frustrated snarl. “Did you hear nothing that I said earlier? This whole mess with our forest falling apart is all her fault! She’s nothing but a lowly outcast who never belonged here! It’s all because of her our forest’s divine relic wasn’t returned, she failed the one fucking job Celine ever gave her! Without that relic’s protection all manner of hell has been unleashed upon our home and people, all because she didn’t-”
“How did you know about Celine’s artifact being stolen?” Clover suddenly shot back. Sivil turned to her with a grunt as Clover was eyeing her sharply with a sideways glance. “You were cast out of Green Haven long before it was taken from her, and she only entrusted myself and the high maidens of what happened to it. How the fuck did you hear about it?”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 20
