Apparently from Neopets

“Your hometown looks very quaint, Luke,” Nyx mentions from the edge of the flower-covered hill that they had camped on.

Reveling in the fresh breeze, she takes in the sight of the modest town sitting a mile away. Plumes of smoke billow from the only stone building in the town, which Nyx assumes is the local blacksmith. Unlike this large structure, the rest of the town is a collection of various types of wooden houses. The styles of buildings range from single story homes to a tavern with several offshoots that can be rented as single room apartments. Many of the smaller buildings have two square holes cut into their dark wood roofs.  Nyx is curious about the holes and how they stop rain and snow from falling into the houses.  The only consistent feature of the buildings is their fenced-off backyards.

“It would have been nice to spend the night there instead of sleeping a mile up the hill,” Aedyn complains, his back sore from sleeping on the ground.

“Come on, guys. Would you really want to give up sleeping on a flower-covered hilltop for a boring bed?” Luke asks with a crooked grin.

“I can’t believe you actually asked us that,” Nyx says, turning away from Haven to finish packing.

Nyx and Aedyn are slinging their backpacks over their shoulders before they notice Luke preparing a new fire. A warm crackling fills the air as Luke pulls out a small frying pan from his backpack. Aedyn is about to say something once the forest tracker begins cooking some narrow strips of bacon. Nyx can only shrug when the priest looks to her for an explanation. After a few minutes of quiet, Luke begins absent-mindedly whistling to himself.

“You ask him,” Aedyn whispers.

“You’ve known him longer,” Nyx contends.

“Well, you call him your little brother,” counters the priest.

Nyx scowls angrily at the priest. “It’s your job to . . . damn it. I got nothing.”

“Do you two want some breakfast?” Luke asks, flicking the frying pan to flip the bacon. He finishes cooking the bacon and carefully places the frying pan on a nearby rock. After some more rummaging through his backpack, Luke pulls out some dried fruit to snack on while the bacon cools.

“We’re less than ten minutes away from the town. We could make it to your parents’ home in time for breakfast,” Nyx answers, her eye starting to twitch with annoyance. “If we get there early enough, we could even offer to help them with the cooking.”

“I believe Nyx is trying to say that we should go into town and meet with your parents in time for breakfast,” Aedyn interjects, trying to be more diplomatic. “We will not cause a big disturbance in their day if we show up early. If we show up around noon then we will be disturbing their work day. Am I right?”

Luke scratches his head thoughtfully while looking at the distant town. “I guess. It isn’t easy for my dad to stop in the middle of projects because of the heating and cooling process. Still, my mom can take a break from appraising and gem-setting without a problem. She works out of the kitchen after all. Now that I think about it, we should probably wait until evening. This way, my parents will be done with work and we won’t be disturbing them at all. I saw a wide river that we can hang around for the day. It was about two hours to the southeast from here. If we hurry then we can catch some early morning fish and have a good lunch.”

“That was a glorious failure, Aedyn,” Nyx whispers.

“At least, I did not make it sound like we were going exclusively for a free breakfast,” Aedyn snaps in frustration.

“Stuff it, sun boy.”

“Do not bring my religion into this.”

“Hey, guys! I used up all of my water to put out the fire and clean the frying pan, so we should head to the river instead of going to Haven. I can’t travel without anything in my water skin. It could lead to trouble if we get lost,” Luke interrupts. Nyx and Aedyn stare at him as if they are trying to burn a hole through his back.

“Let us not fight amongst ourselves,” the priest proposes.

“Sure. Let’s just fight him,” Nyx says with a cruel grin.

“That is not what I meant,” Aedyn states.

Luke is meticulously drying his frying pan while Nyx cracks her knuckles and walks up to him from behind. He nimbly flips over her when she tries to grab his shoulders. Aedyn watches with a smile as Nyx chases Luke around the hilltop. It isn’t long before Nyx is red in the face and holding her gurgling, empty stomach. Luke cautiously tries to step toward his backpack in order to put his frying pan away, but Nyx uses the last of her strength to launch herself at him. The caster skids across the soft ground after Luke leaps out of her reach. He is still looking at Nyx when he lands chest first onto the end of Aedyn’s carefully placed quarterstaff.

“You could have done that earlier,” Nyx mutters. She wipes dirt and flower petals from her face with the back of her hand.

Aedyn offers her a handkerchief, which she waves away. “I did not want to hit you by accident. Also, I thought you were about to catch him a few times. I apologize if it makes you feel better.”

“I accept your apology,” Luke groans from where he is doubled-over in pain.

“Not you. For you, I have a question,” the priest states.

“I want to ask him,” Nyx quickly declares. Aedyn nods his head and takes a step back as Nyx crouches in front of Luke.

“What’s the question?” Luke asks, rubbing his sore chest. Nyx smiles sweetly at him, which sends shivers down his spine. It is a feeling of dread that slows Luke’s reflexes enough for Nyx to grab him by the shoulders and heave him to his feet.

“Why are you avoiding your home? Tell me!” Nyx demands as she violently shakes Luke.

“I’m not avoiding anything. I’m just not in a rush,” swears the forest tracker. Nyx casts a quick spell to increase her speed and strength before lifting Luke into the air and spinning him until over her head. She begins looking for a place to hurl Luke who is smacking at her arms and head.

“I would not shake him, Nyx. He just ate and you are not going to like what happens next,” Aedyn warns her.

“If anything, that will force us to go to this damn river,” the caster agrees, dropping Luke on his rear.

“Tell us the truth, Luke. What is in Haven that you do not want to face?” Aedyn kindly asks.

“It’s rather complicated. I can only say that I left at a bad time and angered everyone in town,” Luke answers, his voice slow and defensive. “The welcome we receive might not be too warm if they are holding a grudge. I can guarantee at least two people would want to beat me into the ground.”

Nyx raises an eyebrow suspiciously. “You can’t be in that much trouble. If that was the case then somebody would have tried to bring you back home. I think you’re exaggerating.”

“I have to agree with Nyx on this,” Aedyn admits.

“They could have been so angry that nobody wanted to find me,” Luke argues while ringing his hands.

“I doubt that. Even if the people of Haven didn’t want to waste effort in going after you, they would have spread news of your disappearance hoping that somebody brings you home to settle the problem. I didn’t even know you ran away until a few days ago,” Nyx says, turning her gaze to the peaceful town below them. “Not that I’m in the circles that would hear about such things. My point is that we should have come across at least one person who tried to bring you back here during our journey across Serab. The fact that we have never met such a person tells me that the trouble you caused was not as severe as you are making it out to be.”

Luke smiles and his voice is full of childish pride. “I evaded all of my pursuers by the time I made it to Visindor. Now, how about going to that river?”

“I hope we were not expected to believe that lie,” Aedyn groans, his patience beginning to fade.

“For the gods’ sake, Luke, stop stalling! It was your idea to come here in the first place,” Nyx says in exasperation.

“I made a mistake. I’m allowed to make mistakes,” Luke declares with his arms crossed.

“We cannot deny that. By the light of Durag, mistakes seem to be your specialty at times,” Aedyn mutters under his breath.

“I just want to enjoy the outdoors some more before we have to go back to town and deal with my problems,” Luke argues while looking from Nyx to Aedyn and back again. “There isn’t anything wrong with that.”

Aedyn rubs his blue eyes, feeling a pounding headache coming on. “While there is not anything wrong with your suggestion, it is nothing more than you delaying the inevitable. I can see an open field to the north of town, which would grant you the outdoors that you want while allowing Nyx and myself to stay in the town.”

“That area is still part of the town. It doesn’t count,” the forest tracker counters.

“We don’t have time for this!” Nyx exclaims, picking up her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder. “I’m starving and would much rather bathe indoors instead of in a river. Call me a city brat all you want, but we can’t all be excited about living in the wild every day of the week.” She shoves Luke out of her way as she begins walking down the hill.

“What are you going to do?” Luke asks, obviously worried.

Aedyn bluntly answers, “We are going to Haven.”

“You can’t go without me,” Luke says.

“It does not appear that we can go with you either,” Aedyn contends as he leaves to catch up to Nyx.

“We’ll meet you at your parents’ house!” Nyx yells from halfway down the hill. “Don’t worry, Luke! I’ll tell them that you sent us ahead while you were helping a family of rabbits or something!”

“You guys are going to get me into trouble,” Luke whines to himself. He slings his backpack over one shoulder and straps his sabers in place at his sides. Luke takes a final look around the flowery hilltop before letting a nervous sigh escape his lips. Luke turns toward Haven and begins a slow march down the hill. To anyone watching, the young half-elf looks like a man being taken to his execution.