Veponie awoke suddenly, without warning. She blinked, and rubbed her eyes before sitting up. She was sitting near the creek, and in the distance she could see the men working in the fields, a familiar scene.
Why, then, did everything feel so strange?
"Veponie!" a voice called from behind her, and she forgot her troubles. A small smile eased over her features as she turned around to see the owner of the voice.
"Hey," she greeted the brown-haired boy. He smiled back at her.
"Vep, where were you?" He laughed. "You're supposed to be helping with the planting today, remember?"
She sighed. "Sorry, Peter, but I fell asleep." She smiled again, gesturing to the creek as she spoke, "You know how I am with water."
The boy laughed. "Yeah, I know, but if you don't work, those guys will get mad again. It's nothing against you, just your family- or lack thereof."
Veponie's smile left her face, but she knew what Peter was saying. In their small village, orphans were looked upon as unlucky, and most people were afraid to get close to her. Only Peter would.
It was nice to know that there was someone out there who didn't hate her.
____________________
In a town many miles away from Veponie's small village, Volcan the blacksmith's apprentice was hard at work forging a new sword. He labored over the hot fire, not pausing until he had finished his masterpiece. He held up the sword and smiled. It was his first true masterpiece.
"Hey, lazy kid!" a voice from the front of the building called. "We need that sword I made last week."
"Coming, Master!" Volcan called. He sighed, rolled his yees, and put down his new sword. He picked up the sword his master had specified and carried it out to the front.
In the room, a fat man was standing in front of a counter, pulling coins out of a bag, presumably to pay for the sword. Behind the counter was an old man, tapping the counter impatiently. "Hurry up, lazy child!" the old man called upong noticing Volcan. "I don't have all day!"
"Jeez, fine!" Volcan threw the sword at the old man.
He dodged.
Volcan cursed.
"Brat! What was that for? You coulda damanged the sword!" The man pulled it out of the ground and swung it a few times. "Eh," he remarked, "Still usuable."
The fat customer had been staring at the exchange wide-eyed. "Y-you people are crazy!" he exclaimed.
"Hm?" Volcan turned to look at him. "Are you really just noticing, fatass?"
Instantly, the customer's expression changed from horrified to angry. "What did you just call me?"
"Oh please," Volcan said. "Are you deaf as well as fat?" He grinned widely-
Until his master slapped him across the back of the head. "OW!" Volcan shouted.
"Please ignore my stupid disciple," the old man said as he handed the customer the sword. "Thank you for buying, goodbye!" He practically shoved the customer out the door.
"You IDIOT!" Volcan's master hissed as he faced the boy. Volcan couldn't help it. He hid.
In a very manly way, of course.
"YOU ALMOST COST ME SIXTEEN THOUSAND COINS, FOOL!" The old man scowled. "You know how much it costs to keep an orphan like you and a man like me happy and healthy?"
"Wouldn't exactly call you happy...." Volcan muttered under his breath.
"THAT'S IT, GO GET SOME DAMN WATER." His master pointed to the pail in the corner, and Volcan grimaced. The well was two and a half miles away, which wouldn't be so bad if the entire journey was uphill on the way back, when he was carrying forty pounds of water.
Still, Volcan couldn't complain. After all, he was happy here.
_____________
In yet another diffrent town, a silver-haired girl walked into a shop. The girl at the register smiled. "Welcome!" she called.
Neither girl would know just how much that meeting would change each other's lives.
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