Katye's Debut (Two-Hour Story)

[grimoireofkenji]

 

At least once a month, Wendell Village was subject to a particularly foggy night. On nights like these, some kind of cataclysm or incident almost ALWAYS occurred. There was a time, two months ago, on a Tuesday, where it seemed nothing had happened. However, within the fog, a swarm, no, an army of hungry, ravenous termites invaded the village and demolished the town hall’s foundation overnight. Fortunately, the only person caught inside was Wendell Village’s mayor, Thom Miller, who continued to pass laws keeping himself in office. He did this by having the largest family in the village, and using all of them to pass bills extending his service. The citizens of Wendell, in this case, considered the loss of the Town Hall a sustainable one, and a victory for overall democracy. 

The week after, however, a roving gang of bandits attempted to sack the village under the cover of the fog. The first building they chose to barge into, however, was the Adventurer’s Guild. The guild at this time was filled with several grumpy warriors who had gone on a long and arduous journey into Hell’s Chasm to slay a dragon who was plaguing the nearby valley, and had come back after failing their quest. They had lost their bard to the dragon. This wouldn’t be particularly infuriating, since they hated the bard. In this case, it was because the bard had seduced the dragon, and they had flown off together. The bill required the party return with the head of said dragon. Without proof of their conquest, They couldn’t claim the reward. They were in an extremely bad mood, and the bandits were, for lack of a better term, knocked on their asses. Violently.

On this particular foggy night, however, all seemed peaceful. Not a ne’er do-well or brigand to be found, nor a pack of supernatural creatures out to feast. The well-cobbled roads of Wendell Village were quiet. 

And with the sounds of a rolling cart, all hopes of the villagers to have an uneventful Fog-Night (as they had begun calling it) were dashed. 

Within moments, the source of the disturbance was upon Wendell. 

A short, well-endowed young woman with platinum blonde hair strolled into the village, a sense of confidence in her step as she pulled a cart with various vials and jars of liquids behind her. They clinked and clanged as the small cart rolled over the cobbled roads. Her larger-than-average chest bounced slightly as she did. The pep in her step was almost contagious. A man who lived alone at the end of the main street, transfixed by her stroll as he was, attempted to walk outside and see what the situation was, before quickly coming to his senses. 

The woman, seemingly a merchant of some sort, pulled out a wand, and waved it gracefully at her cart. Under the light of the dim streetlamps, villagers looking closely could see that she was reforming her cart into a stand. 

The magician sat down comfortably on a conjured plush seat. She rubbed her plump thighs together and fixed her short hair in impatience. After several minutes of inaction, She pulled out a book. The villagers couldn’t see it, but it was titled “How to Sell ANYTHING to ANYBODY!”, by one Eclair de Lune. Upon reading the book, an average intellect would’ve realized that several of the techniques enclosed were used to sell the very same book she was reading to her, in exchange for her last few gold pieces. The pink-haired Elf girl gave her a charming smile upon her purchase, with teeth far too sharp to be natural. The mage hadn’t thought about any of that, though. She WAS, however, thinking about how she was going to make back all the gold she had spent on her travels in one night. 

And so it was that Katye opened up shop for the first time. Wendell Village, while normally welcoming to travelling merchants, stayed quiet for most of that night. However, after around two hours of patient waiting, a child from a house down the furthest lane wandered outside, after his parents had fallen asleep. He warily approached the stall, with a sign reading “BLOOD SUPPLIES” on it in red paint. The mage could barely see him approaching through the fog. When he reached the stall, he barely waited a moment before asking loudly “oi, what’s BLOOD SUPPLIES mean, miss?”

Katye’s face lit up instantly. She had been prepared for this. Chapter two of the book had taught her to “clearly define exactly what your product is.” She cleared her throat and her wide, excited smile took over. “Well, I’ll tell you, little sir! What I am is a travelling medic! I sell magically preserved blood for transfusions and other such uses.” The mage waved her wand and the crimson liquid contained within the open vial on her stand’s counter flowed out, forming into the shape of a red ball, and spinning around. 

The child looked on, transfixed at the blood orb. “What’s an… uh, transfuser?

“It’s the transfer of blood to another person or being who needs it! If you ever hurt yourself really REALLY bad, I can give you lots of blood so you’ll be a-ok!” She proclaimed proudly. 

“I’ve never hurt myself at all! I’m real strong and tough!” The kid replied, thumbing himself in the chest with self-assurance.

“Well, coagulations, then! I’m sure you won’t need any of this blood here!” she said, chuckling at her own joke.

“What’re you, some kind of vampire, Miss?”

“Nope! The name’s Katye, and I’m a proud blood mage!” Katye replied, standing up from her seat and moving the plasma back into the vial. Truth be told, she wasn’t really proud of being a blood mage, since they were known to be just a step below vampires in terms of the awful, heinous, blood-related acts they’d commit on the living. She didn’t fit in with her family very well, however, as she chose to train to become a medic. It was that choice which led her to her sitting at a stall, on a Fog-Night in Wendell Village, talking to a ten year old.

“Tell me, child, why are there no other citizens outside tonight?”

“Well, it’s Fog-Night!”

“And, what’s that mean?” She pondered, leaning over her stall, her large chest exposing ample cleavage.

“It means something awful’s going to happen.”

“AH! Did I pick the wrong night to visit?”

“I think YOU’RE the awful thing, Miss Katye.”

“W-WHAT!?” Katye’s yellow eyes lit up in a panic. She ran from behind her stall, impulsively heading to the center of the village. 

“PEOPLE OF WENDELL! I AM NO THREAT, I PROMISE. I AM HERE TO TRADE FOR YOUR BLOOD! I AM OPEN TO ALL TYPES!”

“Yer WHAT!?” came a voice to the left of her. From the rebuilt town hall, and through the ever thickening fog, walked an older man with a cane. He seemed griseled, and still somewhat retained his build from when he was younger. “Yer here to steal me blood!?”

“No! No, sir! I’m here to trade for your blood! I’m a blood mage, and a medic!” she replied with a bow. “I promise, I’m not an awful thing!”

The man, acting Mayor Stahl Ironheart, looked on in confusion. Last he checked, which was about forty years ago, blood mages didn’t ASK for blood. They didn’t TRADE it either. They just kind of stole it from you. “Look, missy, last I checked, YOUR kind stole blood from people. Drained ‘em dry!” He prodded her soft chest in an accusatory way.”

“I’ve never stolen any blood!” Katye replied in protest. Stahl kept his finger on her chest a second longer than was comfortable. She moved back a bit.

“She didn’t steal my blood, old man Stahl!” The young boy from earlier replied.

“Quiet, boy!”

“I simply wish to do business with the villagers! In exchange for a small amount of their blood, I can-”

“You can what! Use us as a meat puppet with yer strange magic!?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mister… Old Man Stahl!”

“That’s not me full name, ye idiot!”

“Sorry, Mister Old Man!”

“Look, couldn’t you just take the blood from monsters or something?” Stahl asked, still eyeing her suspiciously. 

“I couldn’t possibly! Have you ever tried to extract hemoglobin from a hemogoblin!?” She replied, chuckling to herself again. “They make terrible trading partners, too!” 

At this point, several of the other villagers had started to leave their homes and head towards the village center. Several others had begun peeking. The Adventurer’s Guild, full of grumpy adventurers and one drunk, downtrodden, slightly-singed bard, walked out of their little hideaway, as well. 

“When I told her I’d have to go eventually, She got real mad!”

“You tried to have a one-night stand with a dragon, Evans.”

“And a helluva stand it was, Connor!” 

“You’re lucky you got out of there with all your limbs, you blithering idiot.”

“Oi, wait, what’s all this?” The drunken and injured bard walked over to Katye, who was still arguing with the Mayor.

“Hello, good sir! I’m Katye, travelling medic and blood mage!” She said, bowing to the bard.

“Blood Mage? Me boys have killed plenty of your kind in the past!” He said belligerently, pointing his thumb behind him at a burly-looking warrior and his group.

“Ah! I mean no harm! There’s no need to B- about it!” She replied, hoping someone would laugh. Nobody laughed. By this time a large group of villagers had approached Katye, who had slowly retreated towards her stall. The fog was strangely starting to clear up, too.

“Actually, you don’t look so good. Get into a scrape??” Katye said, recalling Chapter Five of the book. “Pulling a potential customer aside to test your product on!”

“Heh, That obvious? I got into a *hic* fight with me girlfriend.” he replied.

“His girlfriend is a bleedin’ DRAGON, for goddesses’ sake!” Called the man named Connor from behind him.

“At least I’ve GOT a girlfriend, Connor!”

“Ye’ll stick yer dagger wherever you can, you lout!”

“A-haha, is that so? I know, I’ll patch you right up.”

“Ow’s that, then?” The bard inquired.

“Easy! Prepare to witness the strength of blood medicine!” Katye grabbed a jar from behind her stall, opening it and setting it down. She waved her wand, and, as before, the plasma flowed forth, forming into a sphere. She directed it towards the man’s bandage-wrapped chest. Within moments, the enchanted blood accelerated scarring over his wound, and healed it up quite well.

Katye’s nostrils flared proudly as the bard felt at his chest. “Oi, it’s just a slight sting now!” 

“That’s right, sir! A blood mage like me can be a real asset to a party. Forget holy magic, I can be the powerhouse of any cell!” She joked haughtily.

“Okay, so maybe you can be useful after all.” Stahl said, parting the crowd that had formed to inspect the Bard’s newly healed wound. The fog had fully cleared up as well, and a line had begun to form behind the mayor. People with minor scrapes and wounds of all kinds had begun to take interest. Katye’s yellow eyes looked excitedly at the potential business.

“That’s right! A Blood Mage is more than a murderer! It’s all about the intent!~”

“Yes, well, ye can trade here for a while, then. It seems everyone being about has caused the fog to dissipate, too. Don’t let me catch you doing anything illicit though, ye hear?

“Of course not, Mister Old Man! I was always taught to keep A+ mindset!” The pale mage replied, her robe trailing behind her as a cold breeze caught the tail. Not a soul laughed. It was going to be a long night.