A QUEST FOR SOMETHING OR OTHER

Chapter Four - Little Arsington

"Hurry up" called John, who was waiting, leaning against a signpost.

The pair had cleared their way through the forest of softwood called Hardwood Forest, and were only a mile or so from the town of Little Arsington.

"I'm coming, I'm coming" replied Pumpkin, emerging from the forest, zipping up his fly he doesn't have. "God I've been waiting for hours for that"

He hops and skips over to John and looks up at the sign. 'Two miles' it says, continuing down the path and up a small hill in the distance.

"It must just be over that hill" Says John, stating the obvious.

He looks up at the sky, the sun beginning its descent, maybe a couple of hours of sunlight left. John pushes himself off the sign post, stretches, and begins walking with Pumpkin.

"Tired?" Chuckles Pumpkin.

"A little" Nods John. "We'll find an inn when we get there"

So onward they go, not interacting with anything or anyone along the way. How very unexciting.

***

"Only a little bit further" Says Pumpkin.

"Shh, not so loud" Whispers John, being carried in Pumpkins arms like a baby.

The sun is setting behind the hill, but as they get closer to the summit, the higher the sun gets. Which makes perfect sense, because that's kinda what happens when you get to the top of hills, you know? Pumpkin notices how the ground is beginning to level out a little as he reaches the peak.

"There's the village!" Exclaims Pumpkin, pointing below, dropping John in the process, who hits the ground with a thud.

"Arugh, I landed right on my dice" He says, rubbing his backside.

Pumpkin takes in a deep breath and stretches his arms in front and behind his torso, happy he now has his arms back. He stops mid stretch and mid-inhale, his eyes widen. He drops his arms and turns behind him.

"Yeah, nah, we're leaving"

"What are you talking about?" Says John, getting to his feet and looking out over the town. "Oh, that"

Before them, just down the hill, stood a few dozen wooden homes on stilts, connected to each other by wooden planks. But they weren't stood in water like a nice tropical getaway, they were stood in the dirtiest water the characters had ever not seen in their imagination. Not to mention the smell, oh God the smell! Pumpkin turns back, now with some odd bits of fabric shoved up each nostril.

"Well no wonder it's called Little Arsington" He says. "IT'S FULL OF SHIT!"

***

At the bottom of the hill, a large wooden archway greets them, held up by two large wooden pylons. 'ARSINGTON' it says, the word 'little' scrawled above it in some sort of black paint, which must have been added at a later date. Below the sign is a wide wooden plank, leading towards a large house on stilts, which too is connected to several other houses by wooden planks and so on and so on. John and Pumpkin ease onto the plank, looking around the village.

"Wonder if there was a BIG Arsington?" says Pumpkin, though muffled slightly by his makeshift nose plugs.

"I can't see many people" says John, putting his makeshift hand binoculars to his head again, panning to the right. "Wait! There's someone!" He shouts.

And sure enough, there was someone. Standing only a few centimetres away from the end of the handoculars. John lowers them. A woman stood before them, wearing a patchy shirt and some high trousers. Waders I'd think.

"Hello" She says, in a voice which sounded a lot like a bloke trying to put on a woman's voice

"Yeah, we're just passing though" Says John "We're on a quest of some//"

"//Why does it stink?" Interrupts Pumpkin.

The woman ignores him and turns back to John.

"A quest you say? You must be a brave man" She says.

"Not really" John shrugs. He looks around past the woman. Hilda, we'll call her Hilda. "Is there an Inn in this town?" he asks.

"There is" She replies.

"I'm not staying here" Says Pumpkin. Hilda ignores him.

"We do have an Inn, just past those two huts"

She points to a dark brown hut with INN above it, written in some black paint. Quite a shoddy job actually. John smiles and rubs his hands together.

"Lovely, thank you" He says.

Hilda sticks out an arm before John even has a chance to move, blocking the bridge. She looks at him.

"Now I've helped you, perhaps you two can help me" She asks, quite demandingly.

John sighs. There's a strong chance this is no normal NPC encounter and an even stronger chance that there will be some kind of side quest involved before they will be allowed to pass.

"Which direction?" asks John, reluctantly.

"Well, a couple of days ago, the village was preparing for the Annual Alligator Migration to the village..."

"That explains the stilts" Says Pumpkin to himself.

"However, the snappy little fellas didn't appear. For the first time in over 50 years, they didn't show"

John folds his arms "So you want us to go and find some Alligators?" He says.

She shakes her head. "Not just any Alligators, they are key to the village people and our way of life"

Pumpkin walks and stops next to John.

"So, where do we start?" He asks.

Hilda puts her finger to chin and looks up.

"Well, maybe you could ask around the town. See if anyone has seen anything suspicious"

"I mean, you could have done that" Remarks Pumpkin.

She ignores him. John gives him a nudge.

"We'll see what we can do" He says.

Hilda lowers her arm, and they walk past her, one by one on the plank. John walks across with his arms outstretched like a tightrope walker. Pumpkin follows suit.

"your town stinks of shit!" He calls out.

"I know!" Hilda calls back.