The Quests of Fable

Ch. 4: Fable Takes An Unplanned Leave

Fable was packing her bags.

She'd been locked in her room alone for six days and she had had enough. Fable was gathering everything important and shoving it into a backpack and a messenger bag, preparing for her great escape. During her unofficial house arrest, she'd managed to make herself a warm cloak and a mage outfit, get together all of the money and valuables she had, and make a plan to be in Tealing by tomorrow's noon.

Fable was going to leave when her mother went to bed, sell the valuables she was willing to part with, buy a bag of holding and some rations, put the food and her books (including her secret spell book) into the bag, and hitch a ride with the evening delivery man, Tomas. He took deliveries between Sparrowvale and Tealing, and he'd be willing to take Fable with him if she helped deliver the packages once they arrived.

Her backpack contained a few sets of extra clothes, a hairbrush, a set of tin dishes and utensils, a sewing kit with leather and fabric sewing supplies, a length of extra brown cloth that could double as a shawl or a scarf, a long length of thin but sturdy rope, and a small pouch of jewelry. The messenger bag had a leather notebook with a pencil attached to it, a fire-lighter, a pair of scissors, her money (it was tucked into a secret inner pocket), and a magnifying glass. She planned on tucking the bag of holding she bought into one of the other bags, and she also had a hunting knife strapped onto her belt in a leather sheath.

Her new outfit was simple, yet practical; a green tunic, brown pants, socks and lace-up leather boots, a leather belt with the hunting knife attached, a dark green woolen cloak that went around her shoulders like a scarf and was held in place by a silver penannular pin, and a set of thin leather fingerless gloves that came up to her elbows.

The gloves specifically were to hide the glyphs on her hands, since she had a feeling they might raise some unwanted questions. Fable was hoping to get to Tanzim's with no prior experiences to weigh her down, and while she didn't dislike her backstory she also didn't particularly want to explain it, especially the bit about Cedar giving Fable her magic.

When night fell, Fable waited for her mother to bring in her dinner and pretended to be asleep. All of her traveling things were hidden under her bed or in the chest at the foot of it, and Fable herself was laying on her bed wrapped in a blanket. She heard Maris come in, sigh, set down the plate, and leave again. Fable got out of her bed and ate the bread her mother had brought in before gathering her things and climbing quietly out the window.

Casting one last forlorn glance at the home she was leaving behind, Fable only hoped that her mother would back able to recover from the loss of her only family member. Fable knew what she had to do, though. She couldn't stay somewhere that she was only loved for what her mother wanted her to be, not what she truly was.

She pulled up her thick hood and walked quietly through the darkened streets. In such a small town, most everyone was inside at sundown, which only made Fable stand out more. She was extra glad that she had decided on a green cloak instead of a white one, although she'd had to sneak into the sewing room to get enough wool.

Although her original plan had been to sell her valuables and then catch a ride, Fable decided to head to Tealing first. She had a knack for finding teakberries in Sparrow's Wood, and the small dark fruits were considered a local delicacy, fetching quite a high price if sold to the right people.

Fable ran up to the delivery cart just as Tomas was about to pull away.

"Tomas, wait a moment!" She rushed up next to the gnome delivery man. "I need to ask a favor."

"Ask away, Fable," said Tomas.

"Can you take me with you to Tealing? I'll help you with your deliveries if you do."

"Well now, I can do that fer sure, but why in the world would you wanna go t' Tealing?"

"I'm leaving Sparrowvale, Tomas. I'm going to go to Tanzim's Academy and learn to be a mage."

Tomas's eyes widened in surprise beneath his bushy grey eyebrows. "Leavin' the vale? Tanzim's Academy? My, my, Fable, you've got sum big plans."

"I do. Can you help me?"

"Well, I suppose I've got room fer one more. Climb up here onto the front o' the cart, and mind you don't fall off."

"Thank you very much, Tomas. I'll help you deliver all of your packages when we get there, I promise."

"I don't doubt yer promises, Fable. I have got a bit of a wonderin' though, what does yer ma think o' this magic business?"

Fable was silent, unsure of what to say.

"Ah, she don't know, does she? Well, don't worry yer pretty little head. I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks, Tomas."

Tomas and his palomino horse brought Fable to the center of the woods before stopping to take a break.

"If we don't take stops every so often, Clementine likes to stop and take her own breaks, and she ain't as good at pickin' the locations," Tomas explained, scritching between the horse's ears. "Cain't even count how many times she's stopped us smack in the middle of a wolf hunt."

"You've got to admit though," Fable replied, "that on her part, it's a very effective tactic of getting you to take breaks."

"I suppose it is, innit?"

They were able to continue on again after Clementine had been able to rest for a while, and they arrived in Tealing just before sunrise. The port town was gray and blue in the early morning mist, and when the sun began to peek over the ridge the fog gave the illusion of a burning glow surrounding the entire town.

"Would you like me to help with deliveries now, or are you doing that later?" Fable hopped off the front of the cart and stretched, readjusting her cloak.

"Oh, I might go an' get some breakfast first," said Tomas. "Care to join me?"

"I think I will, thank you."

Tomas brought Fable to a small tavern by the name of Red Crab's and had her save them two seats at the bar. He came over a few minutes later with two plates of pancakes and set one in front of her.

After they were both done their pancakes, Tomas had Fable keep track of the cart while he enough the packages to their respective places. It was her job to make sure Clementine behaved and took them to the right buildings.

They finished fairly quickly, and Fable bid Tomas goodbye and headed to the pawn shop to sell some of her valuables. Most of them fetched a fair price, and a few of the necklaces went for quite a bit more than she expected. Apparently, sea-gold was going for a much higher price than it had been when she got it. She also sold her porcelain figurines, since they would be too fragile to bring with her and they didn't serve any purpose. Besides, she didn't really like them that much anymore.

Later in the day, Fable managed to get a cheap room at an inn. She hung her cloak on the back of the door and spent a few minutes pacing about the room and recounting the events of the day. Fable had never done anything like this. Not once in her entire seventeen years of being alive had she ever run away from home and sold her valuables so she could become an adventurer. Obviously if she had done so earlier, she wouldn't have had to do so now. This was something entirely new, and Fable couldn't have been more excited.