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Chapter 2 - Food and Friends

The smell of a warm campfire always set Giu's stomach in the mood.

The rotisserie was simple enough to set up. He was in the middle of the woods, where trees came a plenty, and no one was there to stop you from chopping to your heart's content. At least, he assumed no one was. Law enforcement was still a gray area.

"Mmmm," he hummed, letting the succulent aroma drift through his nostrils. He could already feel his mouth-watering. He pulled a stick from the fire, biting deep for an explosion of flavor. Totally worth it. The eyes of the small creature looked back in betrayal.

"Help yourself," he groaned.

The creature blinked. Why it had stuck around was anyone's guess, but if it was going to try the sad eyes, it might as well share in the revels. Not like there wasn't plenty of the gray guy to go around.

"Okay," the small creature said.

It stared into the fire. With a quick swipe, it plucked off one of the sticks, gazing at it for a few moments before finally tearing into the meat. Must have been hungry. The orange creature squealed.

"It's schwow guud!"

"Chew, then talk," Giu ordered. "We're not savages."

It swallowed. "Sorry. It's really good. It smelled so- I never had charred rabbit before."

"Rabbit?" Giu looked at his meal. "Is that what this is?"

"You didn't know? Have you never seen a rabbit before?"

Giu shrugged. "Maybe. Can't remember. Good eats, though, that's for sure." He bit off another chunk.

"On that, we agree." The small creature went back to tearing apart their meal.

Considering how the last few weeks had faired, Giu didn't quite mind the day's turnout. When the fight had ended, he had gone through his usual routine. Check the corpse for valuables. Salvage whatever you can. That sort of thing. The idea to eat the rabbit only came about after a thorough sniff told him it wasn't toxic. It was no warrior fish, but it was a good substitute. Maybe next time.

"Ow, ragh." The small creature swallowed. "Thanks for saving me...uh..."

"Giu," he introduced.

"That's a funny name."

"Says the flying fairy."

The small creature frowned, but Giu was too busy sinking his fangs into his dinner to care. Note to self: kill more rabbits. He smiled as the spicy flavor enraptured his tastebuds. It was almost intoxicating. Unworldly. Surely he'd be able to find more guys like him if he looked around hard enough.

The fairy scoffed. "It's Tea. And I'm a pixie, by the way. Don't get it mixed."

"Frankly, I don't see a difference."

"Uh-huh. And what if I called you a mutt, then?"

Giu stopped eating, glaring up from his food. The pixie only smiled back. Don't think it's too late to cook you.

Tearing apart the last of his thigh, he let the insult slide, concentration switching to his ever-expanding stomach. He knew the rabbit was big, but he'd only eaten one rotisserie stick. How was he already so full he could barely move?

Lying back in the grass, he could hear the other meat sticks taunting his weakness. It didn't make things better that the pixie finished theirs and went for another.

Curses. Maybe I can- His stomach roared in defiance. Cheap reserves. Leftovers it is, then.The pixie burped, reclining back and rubbing their stomach.

"Mhmm. Thank you for the meal, kind stranger."

"Uh-huh," Giu muttered.

Considering the sun's height, daylight wouldn't end anytime soon. Even so, Giu felt the dreariness seeping in. The last thing he needed was another vulture incident. "You wouldn't happen to know of a good spot to sleep off the meal, would you, pixie?"

"Tea is fine, thanks. And the closest city is about ten miles that way." They flicked an ear behind them.

"I meant more like a nice cave or something," Giu retorted.

The pixie shrugged. "Meh, I don't make a habit of sleeping outside. Have you seen the kinds of guys you find out here? No offense."

"Some taken."

Getting up made the dreariness worse. The last time he was out a full ten hours before he could move again. And considering the last of his energy was spent with the rabbit...Crap. I'm gonna need a meat shield. He looked to the pixie.

"Well," Giu declared, "as payment for your meal, you can help me find a place to sleep. As far as I can tell, there's nothing but woods, woods, and more woods out here. Don't see how you can avoid it."

"Isn't that what the train's for?"

Giu blinked.

"The what?"

The pixie sat straight up, staring at Giu as if he were speaking fluent rabbit tongue. It made him a bit uneasy.

"What?"

Tea continued to stare.

"Where are you from, exactly?" the pixie asked.

"Heck if I know. Does it matter?"

The pixie didn't respond. In fact, their eyes closed for a moment, a paw tapping against their lips. He hadn't noticed until then, but there was a small crystal embedded within Tea's forehead. The same orange as her fur. It glowed with an odd warmth.

"Hmm," the pixie hummed.

It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but Gui felt something touch his chest. He looked down but only saw his cotton shirt. Thanks to the gray guy, it was full of rips. Tea opened their eyes, the glow retracting.

"You're not in the registry," they said.

"The what?"

"Nevermind." The pixie took flight, levitating so they hovered just at Giu's eye level. "Don't know how you miss the flying train in the sky. Super loud? Runs from Tullula Villa to Red Bane?"

"Never heard of 'em. Also...wait...flying train?"

Giu's brow furrowed.

Now that they mentioned it, he did have the vaguest memories of hearing mechanical noises in the middle of the night. And in the evening. Sometimes in the morning, too. He always assumed it was some giant machine beast hybrid trying to eat him. He never did bother checking it out.

"Oh," he muttered. "So that's what that was."

He came out of his thoughts to find Tea staring again. Did they really have to do that?

"What?" he demanded.

The pixie tapped their lips again.

"Okay," they said. "Because you fed me, I'll pay your travel fees this time. Plus, something tells me you don't have a silver pound on you."

"That is accurate, yes. So where's the train?"

The pixie didn't respond.

"Tea?"

The pixie pointed. Giu followed the small paw.

On the top of a hill several yards away, there sat a massive structure of white metal billowing smoke into the atmosphere. A line of black text hovered on the side. Tour De Villa? How long has that been there? His gaze fell to the line of people already waiting in the clearing.

At the front of the concession, men in fine blue suits stood ushering people within. One was almost as big as the rabbit. The other might as well have been a supermodel.

"Right in front of you, stranger," Tea said, floating by Giu's head.

He groaned.

"I can see that. Where does this thing go exactly?"

"Would you know the name if I told you?"

Giu glared at the pixie. So now you're getting cheeky? You're lucky I'm out of energy. As if reading his mind, the pixie's smile grew. They smacked him on the arm.

"Now, I expect repayment later," Tea said. "Train tickets aren't cheap. Giu's your name, right?"

"It is, yes. And how much is this gonna cost me?"

"Oh, never mind that now." The pixie flew over to grab one of the roasting sticks. "C'mon. We don't wanna miss the departure."

Tea was already flying ahead before Giu could respond. And given his dreariness, he knew he had no choice but to follow. Stupid flying thing. With a grumble, he picked up a roasting stick and followed after the orange headache. Note to self: roast Tea at a later date. He nodded at the idea.

***

Among the crowd of people, Giu noticed a distinct lack of small flying creatures. Sure there were folks with wings and feathers, but none seemed to hover the same way his pixie meat shield did.

"Oh, and before I forget," Tea whispered, "if anyone asks, these things are fish, okay."

He raised a brow as his meat shield gestured to the rabbit sticks.

"Huh? How come?" Giu asked.

Tea scratched their head. "Weeeeell. Let's just say it isn't strictly...legal to eat rabbits in Villa turf."

His eyes instantly grew. Not legal? He took only a single look at his food before immediately pulling back, ready to throw. The pixie swiftly grabbed his arm.

"Hey, stop, you idiot! You trying to get us arrested?"

He froze mid-swing.

The chattering duo had drawn more than a few eyes since they'd arrived in the clearing. What Giu hadn't noticed until then, however, was that two of those eyes came from the train ushers in the front. Crap. Tea didn't say a word, but their expression was impossible to misinterpret. Play it off. He grew his fakest smile.

"Oh, you prankster, you!" he said, shoving the pixie. "Making me think my salmon was dirty! I'll get you for that, mark my words!"

Tea again spoke through expressions alone. Dial it back. He gave a less hearty laugh, watching as the eyes slowly came off the two criminals. Criminal. Oh my god. The word sounded so dirty to his mind but fit so well. Was this who he was before? The thought made him sick, but he refused to show as much.

By the time they reached the front of the line, Giu had learned to keep up a smile and let Tea do all the talking.

"And apologies for my friend," they said. "He's new to Tulla. Hail the paladins."

Both ushers sized up the duo for several seconds. Neither Giu nor Tea's smiles waned in the slightest, the latter even batting their eyelids in a cutesy manner. They were being seated moments later.