(This story was written with the help of A Wondering Tea Darden: A Solo RPG by AP. It helps create writing prompts. I will put a link to the game in the comments. I did enjoy the game and do recommend you give it a chance.)
Location #6.
None of the people here seem to mind my mask. Everyone in this God forsaken settlement has something to hid. My wings strain against my long blue jacket. Some of us have more to hide than others.
The sun is getting ready to set. I only had enough to rent a horse for two days. A large black flame rises from the ground and drags my steed back to Hell.
I tighten my boot laces and hop off the front of my covered waggon. I pull my home over loose sand and sharp rocks. I set up my tea shop in the middle of town. Hopefuly I wll get a lot of cutomers tomorrow.
4-6:
I see a little black bat flying over head. No bats live withing fifty miles of here. I made sure of it before coming here. They remind me of home. I left home to forget. I pull a throwing knife out of my boot and watch the little guy fly away.
Anyone could have sent that bat to find me. Mom, Detective Black, Mara. A chill runs down my spine. Mrs. Posy.
I shake my head. I can't worry about that. I am free. I am stuck in a desert with criminals. Free as a bird.
5-1:
A pretty young girl enters my tea shop. Her short gold hair is tied in braids so loose they cpuld come undone at any moment. She smiles revealing the gap in her front teeth. She places a clay flower on my counter. "Do you like it?"
I nod. I have a feeling in my bones she is trying to scam me. "Yeah it is nice. Do you want to order a cup of tea? I also have cakes."
"Amy," says the little girl.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "No. Silk."
The girl laughed. "My name is Amy."
I felt my cheeks turn red. I was greatful for my mask. "What kind of tea did you say you wanted?"
"I came here to give you this flower."
I leaned on my little counter. Hanging tea leaves brushed against my head. My cart was barely big enough to hold four people. "How much do you want for it?"
Amy blushed this time. "Only three copper."
"When I have that much money I will buy the flower," I assured.
Amy sighed. She picked up the clay flower and walked away.
4-1:
As I walk across the cold damp desert I see a dull orange glow coming from an abandoned well. I look into the well. Dragon-Eye is growing in a cold dark hole in the ground. Ofcourse it is. I look around. There is no one araound to see me.
I take off my jacket. My wings unfurl. It feels good freeing my wings. I float off the ground and slowly descend into the well.
I find myself in a cavern full of interesting plants and giant snails.
A fifteen foot neyon green and yellow sanil stares down at me from the ceiling.
I freez. I slowly bow.
"Why do you enter my domain little girl?"
I grit my teeth. I am twenty four.
"Twenty four is little girl," states The Snail King.
Ofcourse he can read my mind. "I beg you to be so kind as to allow me to take a few cutting of Dragon-Eye."
The snail king just stares at me blankly. I felt sweat gathering behind my mask.
"What gift do you bring your king?"
If you were my king I would have thrown my knife at you already. "I am sorry King I brought no gift."
The Snail King laughs. "I would enjoy seeing you stab that want to be king."
I feel my shoulders relax. "I am new to town. I did not realise this was your desert. If I had none I would not have come. I left home to escape the reach of a monach."
The Snail King stares blankly. "I have no intrest in ruling you lesser life forms. Stay away from my snails and you shall not see me again."
I nod. "So may I take a few cuttings of Dragon-Eye?"
The Snail King drips a bit of ooze onto the floor. "You may. Bring a gift for me tomorrow."
I bow again, gather a small number of Dragon-Eye and fly out of the well as quickly as I can manage.
1-3:
A girl stands by the well. She has one finger wrapped in her long red hair. She smiles wickedly. "Nice wings."
I put on my jacket and run.
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My day was fairly slow. A few people came and went. I didn't make nearly enough to rent another horse. I don't know who sent the bat, but I do know I don't want them knowing where I am.
A girl with long red hair and rosy pink cheeks walks into my tea shop. She does not look native to a dessert. "Why did you run away from me? That was rude of you. I would not have run away from you and you have." She flaps her arms like she was doing the chicken dance. "You need to be more friendly if you want your business to succeed. And smile. You need to smile."
I am not sure if she wants me to take my mask off and smile or if she wants me to smile under the mask. "I don't have wings," I state curtly.
The girl offers me her hand palm facing don like she expects me to kiss it.
I cross my arms over my chest. "Buy something or get out."
The girl smiles. She has a pretty smile and pretty eyes. "I don't have any money. People with money don't visit The Snail King."
That statment piques my curiosity. Not enough for me to ask why she was visiting.
She pulls her hand back. "My name is Reia."
"Silk." I curse myself for not asking when I had the chance.
"What kind of being are you?"
"I am a leprechaun."
"Leprechaun don't have wings."
I stare at Reia.
Reia nods. "You don't either. I assure you I don't care. Out here you can be whatever you like and no one will bat an eye. Our king is a giant snail."
I nod. "I will make a note of that."
Reia sighs. She storms out clearly a little miffed with how I treated her. I do feel a twinge of guilt, but it is snuffed out by my sense of self preservation. Others knowing I have wings will be bad. Them knowing why I have wings would be a death sentence.
3-2:
Buisness has been slow. I have barely made any money the past week. While wandreing the desert I can't help but feel beaten down. I will never escape their grasp.
I see a long red stem with little black berries growing off it. Thorns cover the berries like bee stingers. Scorpian tail. I found scorpian tail. I press my lips together. I could make a lot of money selling scorpian tail tea. Yes it ia as poisonous as it is addictive, but I will be long gone before anyone notices what I have done.
I pull out my knife and cut down evey stalk of scorpian tail I can find. After two hours I have nearly six pounds of the addictive plant. It is easily worth twice its weight in gold.
I carry my bounty into my tea shop and light up my stove. I toss all six pounds of easy money into the fire and watch it burn. I can hear Mrs. Posy shouting at me; telling me I am a horrible girl. I smile.
5-3 & 3-5:
I walk lazily along a wide slow river. It is an unussaly hot day. I take off my jacket and my mask. My grey skin almost looks silver under the bright sun. I flap my wings to fan myself.
In the distance I group of hunters with guns pointed in my direction. I don't know if they intend to shoot. I do know standing still is a good way to end up dead. I fly across the river as quickly as I can. I hear shots fire but don't dare look back. I turn back toward town. Strange as it is the safest place I can be is amoung criminals. If the hunters come by asking questions they will be in more danger than I will.
I fly past The Snail King's well and take a sharp right turn. I put my mask and jacket back on and run. After an hour it dawns on me there is more than one well and the one I passed could not have been The Snail King's well. I turn around and see a vast landscape of sand. I could fly up for a better view, but I don't know where the hunters are. I don't know if I could be seen from town.
I pick what I hope is the right direction and start walking.
I never cared for my old home. Mom's cooking was vile. Detective Black's jokes blatently racist. The store on the corner sold scorpian tail by the kilo. The stories of gays being burned in public were true enough they made me physically sick while others laughed.
Mrs. Posy's garden went on for miles. She had flowers my none of my three botany text books could identify. Her guard dogs never let me out of thier sight no matter how many times I visited. After years of tending her garden every day none of the dogs liked me. I suppose they could tell Mrs. Posy didn't like me. Maybe they knew I hated her guts.
I look through my bag of thin sickly tea ingredients. I would give anything for a garden of my own.
"What are you doing out here?" yelles Reia.
I am happy to see the curious girl. She is walking right towards me. Given the time of day she is likely headed home. In other words I am heading the wrong direction. "Are you headed home?"
Reia sighs. "No. I am headed back to town."
"Where are you from?"
Reia grows an evil smile. "Why do you have wings?"
I feel my face flush. Her smile is so pretty. "Wings? What does that word mean?"
Reia chuckles. "I am from Sthwilt if you must know."
"Oh." I had never heard of it.
"I was princess for a brief time. The actual princess caught the flue and needed a stand in. The king pulled me from the kitchen perminenlty changed my hair color, made my ears smaller, my legs longer, my nose turn up a point, my cheeks sharp, my chin long, my skin smooth and freckle free. It hurt. It all hurt so much. After he was done I could not see myself in the mirror. To this day my reflection hurts my eyes. After a few weeks of sitting in meeting and never speaking and attending parties and never speaking the princess made a full recovery. They could not have me walking around looking like the princess so they decided to behead me. Changing me back would have been more trouble than it was worth."
"How did you escape?" I ask with bated breath.
Reia cocks her head. She pushes her hair aside and showes me her neck. She wears a light pink scar like a necklace. "I work for a witch."
I suck in a deep breath and take off my mask.
Reia takes one look at me and recoils in fear. I can tell it takes everything in her to not scream. "That explains why you didn't want to tell me what kind of being you are," she choaked out brethlessly.
I put my mask back on. "I did tell you. I am a leprechaun."
Reia clears her throat. "You- you are quite pretty. I have never seen a- one of you before. If I din't know any better I would think you looked almost..." She clears her throat again. "You are pretty."
I know the way back to town now. I decide to make the trip alone. I march away. Reia tries to keep up with me but I lose her after only a few minutes.
1-6:
Reia enters my tea shop. She looks at everthing but me. "I am sorry about yesterday."
"Not as sorry as I am," I spit.
Reia takes a step back. She looks at the clay flower in a jar on my counter. "That is a pretty flower."
"Get out!" I explode.
Reia flinches. She reaches into her pocket and takes out five copper. "Could you please brew me a cup of tea?"
"No. Get out." My blazing fury has been reduced to a low smolder. I know she didn't intend to hurt me. I know she is trying to make things better. I am still mad.
Reia just stands there like a statue. Her lips quiver like she is trying to talk, but can't make any sounds.
I walk past the Reia and out of my own house. It is not fair. I storm off in a random direction. I forgot to bring my bag with me so I can't even gather plants. When the sun sets I am still walking. I find myself on the edge of the next town over. I walked right out of the desert without even noticing.
I take a deep breath. I would not be able to afford a hotel if I did bring my money with me. I have no choice but to walk all the way back to my wagon.
"Wait," yells Reia breathlessly. She looks like she is about to drop dead... again. She takes three full minutes to catch her breath. "I realy am sorry."
I can't help but smile. "You followed me all the way out here to say that?"
Reia nods. I can not tell if she is blushing or red from running.
"I forgive you. Your reaction to seeing a monster was normal."
Reia stomps. "You are not a monster!" She covers her mouth with both hands. "You are no such thing," she says in a softer more prim voice.
Iook back the way I came. "Ready to head home?"
Reia groans. "If we get back before tomorrow night would you like to accompany me to the founders day party."
I smile. My heart flutters. "Yes."
"As my date," Reia clarifies. "I like you."
"I know. You are not hard to read. I like you too."
Reia blushed even brighter.
2-2:
I woke up bright and early. Because someone was knocking on my door. I pull on my mask and my jacket. I open the door and see Reia's smiling face. "What do you want?"
"We are attending a party tonight. We have to coordinate our outfits and do our hair."
"I only own the one outfit."
"That is fine I don't have any other clothe either. Sit down so I can do your hair."
I lite the stove and drop onto my bed. I feel Reia sit on my bed and my heart races. She quickly stands up. After A moment she sits on my bed again and gently runs a brush through my hair. She slips off my mask and gently caresses my face. Time seems to stop as the world fades. In this moment I know I am in trouble. Whoever is looking for me will have no trouble finding me. I am never leaving this place.
(I may expand on this idea in the future. The Wandring Tea Garden is a useful tool. It helped me come up with a lot of ideas quickly. I will be using it again.)
