Ever The Contrarian

CHAPTER FOUR WOOHOO 

Mercury flushed and scratched her head. She wasn't used to any praise at all, and it sounded weird. yes, praise sounded weird to her. I chose the best main character, right? After all, her knack for storytelling was her only skill. Because of iodine, she had always been stuck in second place, sometimes even inches away from getting first. As you all know, the second place never gets any praise, so Mercury didn't either. Second, second, second, it had become her way of life. She was certainly an exceptional person to get second at all - after all, she had beaten 3rd, 4th, and 5th to get there - but all she ever saw was that she wasn't good enough for first. For the first time, she was being praised for who she was - not her accomplishments. for who she was, as a person, not a trophy. She almost started bawling on the spot, haha. what a crybaby.

"Erm. thanks. You all are really amazing too," she said, without skipping a beat. does that mean she was lying, if she can lie without skipping a beat? hmmm. Both her friends beamed at her, which was like Iodine but unusual for Nox. "Speaking of, did you notice this trail doesn't have any hoofprints or footprints? Unlike the trail we had in the peach plantation back home, this one probably hasn't been used in a while.' Mercury said, piloting the conversation away from herself. "ah, then… where does it lead to? probably not a village or a city." Nox said. Iodine rubbed her chin like she always did when she was thinking. It reminded Mercury of the village elders, who always walked around, stroking long gray beards, and annoying the hell out of everyone else. Under her breath, she muttered a few curses about them. old people are so boring. Suddenly, the horses stopped again. "huh? penguin? What's wrong? did you get a rock in your hoof? Or maybe you're hungry or thirsty?" Mercury said, concerned. She stroked Penguin's neck. Then she saw what was ahead of them. "Mercury? we have a bit of a problem." Iodine said from behind her. "Indeed we do. The trail just ended." Nox said. In front of them, 2 wild wolves snarled and bared their fangs. 

Mercury noticed that Penguin was shaking, so she said, 'Nox, can you take the one of the left? me and Iodine will take the bigger one."

'What?! but-" Nox started, and Mercury slipped off of Penguin. "Penguin, I need you to stay still until the time is right. And when it is, ram straight into that wolf, alright?" Mercury said to Penguin, who snorted and shakily nodded her head. "Iodine! Can you aim a rock straight into its eye? a big, heavy one? that'll hurt?" Mercury said, and Iodine nodded. She drew a sharp-edged rock out of her pocket, as well as her slingshot. Mercury drew her sword and slowly approached the wolf. stay calm, stay calm. Mercury said to herself, trying to remember her mantra. what was it again? Oh, right. "all well that ends well." It raises its hackles, taking the stance to pounce. Luckily, Mercury had grown up watching and taking care of her neighbor's dog - Charles. Every time he jumped, he would take up a certain stance. The front legs would be slightly bent forward, and the back legs would tense up. Mercury knew that stance by heart, so she could easily predict when the wolf would attack. Thank you, Charles. Rest in peace, buddy. she thought. Charles had died a long time ago, but his legacy had apparently lived on to save someone else from joining him in heaven. As the wolf pounced, Mercury nimbly dodged (but barely) and claws nicked the edge of her cheek. Lunging, she plunged her sword into the wolf's underbelly, sending it twisting in midair to bite her. just as it was about to close its jaw on her hand, Mercury yelled, "IODINE!" and a rock hit the wolf straight in the eye. all well that ends well! come on, mercury! slice them peaches! It drew blood, and, as the wolf lunged back, taking up a defensive position, Mercury saw that its eye had burst. "Again, Iodine!" she said, and this time the other eye took a hit. Go iodine! what a power duo! The wolf whined, not able to see anymore. Sucks to be you. Loser Wolf, Loser Rock. I can see the resemblance, especially because they're both grey. Mercury took the chance to lunge with her sword and missed, but the slice still went straight through the wolf's heart. It slumped to the ground, not before chomping down on Mercury's hand. She screamed, and Iodine appeared to kick it off. "Penguin! go!" Mercury said, collapsing onto Iodine. Her hand was throbbing, but she was able to lurch away from the wolf. Penguin rammed into the wolf, knocking it to the ground. Penguin stomped on it thrice, killing it. Mercury staggered back, clutching her wrist. It felt like it had been fractured, and there were deep teeth marks near the bone, oozing red. "Mercury! Are you alright?" Iodine said, rushing over. Mercury nodded. The pain was already fading away, and if she concentrated, it went away completely. looks like it wasn't so bad after all - but you got worried for a hot second, right, reader? Iodine grabbed a roll of bandages and ointment from her pack, and Mercury wordlessly held out her hand. Iodine carefully dressed and wrapped up the wound. "there." she said, tying it in a neat bow and patting the white piece of cloth. the pain was completely gone now. Weird - if she remembered correctly, it should have hurt for a couple of days still. Mercury swiveled her head, to see Nox viciously battling off the wolf. "Let's go help!" Mercury said, dashing away before Iodine could protest. She still inquired, so what? she had two arms for a reason. "Nox! Duck!" Mercury yelled across the clearing. Nox ducked, and Mercury swiftly leaped over him to plunge her sword into the wolf's back. It howled, and Nox punched it in the face. Mercury pushed her sword deeper, hanging on for dear life as the wolf thrashed. Iodine appeared on top of Penguin to surprise the wolf with a large rock. The rock bounced off the wolf's head, and it stayed still for a moment in surprise. Nox tossed Mercury a dagger, and she caught it. With one hand already holding her sword, she plunged Nox's dagger into its neck. It howled, but too much blood had been lost. Mercury jumped off, abandoning all weapons, and Nox sent it to the afterlife with a final roundhouse kick. the thought of Nox in a karate uniform, beating the life out of a sandbag flickered through Merucyr's head, and then went back out of her head. Mercury stopped to catch her breath, her hands on her knees. Nox sat down , and, realizing the cue, she sat down next to him. Iodine joined them on the soft grass. "You're hurt." Nox said, taking her wrist in his hand. "Ah, that. It's fine. Iodine took care of it." Mercury dismissed, yanking her hand away. Nox stared at her for a minute, and then turned away. what was that? Iodine held out both her hands. " hmm?" Mercury asked her, and she grinned. "High-fives! we did it guys, we slew the monsters! the merchants will offer us a lot for those furs." Mercury's brain finally caught up and she clapped Iodine's hand. Nox joined, gently putting his hand to hers in a civilized version of Mercury's high-five. Iodine took out three apples, and they each took one. As they crunched on apples together, Nox said, through a mouthful, "Good job. I had no idea it was so easy to fight together. It was almost like I didn't need to say anything." He said, and Mercury grinned. "You didn't. we know each other too well, it seems." 

"And that's a bad thing?" Iodine asked, and Mercury shook her head. "nope." Nox stood up and grabbed his dagger and Mercury's sword out of the Wolf's body. He wiped the blood on the grass and handed Mercury her newly-cleaned-by-the-grass sword. "ooh, it's tinged slightly red." Mercury said, turning it over in her hand. "huh. nothing happened to my dagger." Nox said, flashing his own shiny cleaned-by-the-grass dagger, which still had an unstained blade. "whatever. let's start skinning these guys, and we end up with 2 nice rugs to sell." Mercury said. Iodine nodded, and Merucry helped her up. best friend goals!!!!! 

In the morning, they saddled the horses and tied the furs onto Sky's back. As they galloped off, Nox pointed to a sign in the distance. "Airre, 1 mile north." 

"Finally! a city!" Mercury beamed, Iodine snoring behind her. "how does she even sleep in broad daylight? It's the middle of the day, and the sun is shining down on her face, so how…?" Nox pondered, watching Iodine let loose a large, world-record-worthy snore. She really was a prodigy, to be able to sleep in daylight like that. Mercury giggled. She sounded like a grizzly bear. After travelling half a mile, Nox and Mercury stopped for a break with half a mile left to go. They both sat on a log, right next to the trail, drinking water until Mercury splashed some of it on Iodine's face. Iodine spluttered awake, coughing, and let loose a stream of curses and insults when she saw Mercury holding her water flask, grinning like a cat. "Wh-why- y-you! I was dreaming of eating candy!" Iodine spluttered, grabbing a towel from Mercury to wipe her face off. "Yes, and you were also snoring like a grizzly bear," Merucury informed her, and Iodine turned bright red. Nox was trying to hold in his laughter, still sitting on the log. Finally, he tossed Iodine a few candies from his pocket. "You don't have to dream of eating candy," he said with a wink, and Iodine ate all three at once, stuffing her face. "Anyway, we have half a mile left to go before we reach Airre, so you'd better remain awake for now. Were planning to sprint the remaining distance, but we had to give the horses a break." Mercury explained, and Iodine fiddled with the loose strings at the end of the towel. "We should enter the town separately, in case the assassins are on the lookout for a group of three. Nox, wait for us by the gate, alright?" Iodine suggested, and Nox stopped mid-drink to nod. "Mhm. I'll get going, then." Nox said, capping his water flask and leaping onto Sky. As he galloped off, Mercury and Iodine decided to walk alongside Penguin for half a mile. "I feel like we haven't gotten much time to talk recently, just to the of us." Iodine said wistfully, and Mercury slung an arm around her best friend's shoulder ("I THOUGH YOU SAID I WAS YORU BEST FRIENDDDDDDD" Nox sobbed in the distance). "What are you talking about! we've got time now, right!" Mercury said cheerfully, and Iodine hugged her. "But, anyway, have you been to Airre before? I heard its really big! and technologically advanced! I bet it's different form our little slum, isn't it? Considering we have those furs now - will definitely have coins! Our lives are turning around, Io!" Mercury cheered. Iodine grinned. turning about, my foot. I think your life turned around the moment you decided that slicing people and slicing peaches were comparable to each other, Mercury. 

"A big city, huh…. I look forward to exploring it with you!" Iodine siad, and Mercury nodded. Half a mile sped by, and soon enough they had reached the city gates of Airre, nicknamed the "Robot City" because half of its inhabitants were robots. The city guard, a human with skin appearing to be made of copper, welcomed them in. Robots, who contained the minds of people who had died. Essentially, they had preserved their brains to become robots. "Did you see his skin? it was copper! it was held together with staples, Mercury! staples! this place is wild and we haven't even entered yet-" Iodine said. Mercury nodded along absentmindedly, but they both stood, shocked and speechless, and they entered the gates. Large buildings towered over the skyline - everything was 20 floors or higher. rooftop gardens and bridges that soared through the sky connected the floors. "Hiya, guys!" a voice came. They turned to see Nox, hefting 7 large sacks in a pulley behind him. "Huh? Nox? What's that?" Mercury asked, glancing at the pulley. "it's our payment, of course. You guys were gone for a long time, so I made myself at home." Nox said, opening up one of the sacks. it was full of gemstones and coins. more than mercury had ever seen in her life. "what- but- how?" Mercury asked. The sacks were ginormous - the money they must contain was more than she could imagine. "Why, the rugs, of course. We got a pretty penny out of 'em." Nox said, and Mercury gaped a him. "how much?" she asked nervously, and Nox smiled. "30 million gold coins. we'll each take ou shares of 10 million."