Athalos

"Are you serious?! And… 'my lady'? What?" Maya swore she heard him chuckle as another arrow flew by over her like a rainbow. She thought it was a weird choice of words but before she could wonder, she felt the tension in her arms loosen. It wasn't long until her butt would forever bear the tattoo of a wolf's bite mark. She tried a different way. Despite her predicament, she calmed down as much as she could. She called to the bushes, "W-What's your name?!"

"Athalos Wallington, at your service." A hat, a dingy green bycocket with the mangled feather of a rooster, shot up from the bushes.

Maya thought the hat, which looked like a bird's beak, looked very odd. She thought everything that had happened to her so far was unreal. She shook her head and stayed in the moment. She had to get that man to hit the wolf. "Mr. Wellington—"

"Wall!" corrected the man. "Wallington. Thick as a wall, not deep as well."

"I can see that…" muttered Maya to herself. Three more arrows passed by. She cleared her throat and ensured her grip on the tree trunk, "Mr. Wallington! How about aiming at the wolf's center?!"

"I could try—"

"That would be very nice! It's literally right below me!"

An arrow peeked from the bush. After the man's deep breath and a misty exhale, a flutter of leaves broke from the bush as the arrow took flight. Like all the arrows fired before should have, the arrow pierced the mist straight like a horizon. It finally found its mark, right on the wolf's butt.

The wolf winced and let out a brief but splitting whimper. It reached behind and snagged the arrow off. It easily clamped down on the arrow which brittled like a twig. Unsure of where the attack came from, it's yellow eyes flashed back at Maya and reared its hind legs.

But before the wolf could jump, another arrow hit it on its side. The second hit drew more blood than the first. It let out another whimper before it ran off into the mist.

"Thank you," whispered Maya. She placed her forehead on the trunk and let out a sigh of relief. She slid down the trunk to thank her savior who emerged from the bushes.

Athalos looked no younger than twenty. He had long brown hair tied in a ponytail and had a few nicks around his stubble beard that covered most of his lower face. He wore his hat and slung his bow around him. He knelt down, with the fullness of courtesy and a bit of pride at his achievement, "Forgive my untimeliness, my lady."

"I don't know how to use a bow but- super little piece of advice- You should really keep practicing your aim but thank-" Maya stopped because she didn't know what she was looking at.

"True, my lady. I am but a fledgling hunter and while I strive to be more than I am, I am overjoyed we have thwarted the beast." Athalos was knelt down in front of a tree. He stood up and offer a handshake to the tree. Feeling no response, he tapped at the tree's branch, thinking it was Maya's shoulder. With an eyebrow raised, he felt it coarse and rigid. He treaded carefully like he would in a field of thorny bushes. "You are… Seems to me you're a very hardworking woman! Yes, toiling under the sun in the fields will do that to a maiden's fairness. Fret not! Nothing a little butter bath can't fix!"

Maya cleared her throat, a signal not so discreet for his direction.

Athalos' head whipped towards Maya and quickly adjusted course. He had a glorified staff but it was just a long crooked branch. He prodded the ground with it until he stabbed Maya's foot.

Maya held her words with the restraint of a ready kettle that held its whistle. She kept it together, save for an escaped and tortured grunt.

"My lady!" Athalos was flustered. He straightened his back and bowed his head.

Maya finally understood the flurry of arrows that made her question if she would survive her encounter with the wolf: Athalos was blind. It was at that moment that she truly appreciated how valuable life was. Even as life kept putting her down, she only believed in hard work but she couldn't deny this stray miracle. "Thank you, Athalos. You saved me big time."

"Think none of it!" Athalos nodded and with two hands, tapped his staff on the ground. "I'm confident— maybe except for the bandits and brigands in these lands which are actually quite abundant and really mean— I'm confident anyone traveling by would extend a helping hand without slight hesitation! I mean, to be honest, that wolf's growl was very off putting."

"These lands…" Maya wore her ragged pink sweatshirt. "Where exactly am I?"

"The kingdom of Dernham, my lady." Athalos claimed proudly with a smile, though the white of his teeth quickly faded. "Putting it in a nice way, it's nice."

"Dernham?" Maya never heard of the kingdom or any kingdoms. She felt confused but there was no doubt in her mind that she was nowhere in Japan. Everything that had happened felt so bizzare but very real. She couldn't be dreaming or pass the events off as the most elaborate prank in the idol industry. The sword, the wolf, the difference in crisp and pureness of the air, a blind archer who talked in a funny old way. She read comics and watched movies about it but, such as everyone in their right mind, never thought it was possible until now. "Did I actually travel— Was I even hit by a truck?"

"Forgive me. I'm uncertain of what you mean." Athalos, with an eyebrow raised, leaned in with a face of concern and intrigue. "Who is this truck and is he the reason a fair maiden such as yourself is alone in the woods and has bequeathed you to fend for yourself against the fangs of nature? Because by the gods, just point— just shout audibly to who has brought you misfortune and I, Athalos Wallington, will claim the wrongdoer's life with my mighty bow!"

"Huh? Wha— No, no. I need a drink." Maya brushed her face with both hands. Her breath was shallow. Her mind raced and her knees weakened. "How is this even possible…"

"A drink, you say?" Athalos' words bended with suggestion. "Aye. You've happened upon one most suitable for the task. Come with, Miss…?"

"M-Maya Yamamoto." Maya was flustered that after all this time, she hadn't introduced herself to the man who saved her. "Just Maya's fine."

"Lady Maya Yama… Yamamourn… Yama-more-though?" Athalos shrugged it off and rebounded joyously. "Such a title befitting one's character! The Just Maya!"

"Oh god. I don't think I could take it if everyone here's like him." Maya said to herself then urgently corrected him. "Maya will do just fine."

"Of course, Lady Maya." Athalos tipped his hat as he tempered his assumption. But a smile spread over his face, a feature Maya found as warm as a rugged golden retriever, as the thought of a tavern's greasy coziness came back like a recurring dream. "Do come with! A celebration of life or lost souls are best spent in the bottom of a mug! Though the patron's don't love the sight of me, I bet you'll love every gritty bit of The One-Legged Duck!"

"Sounds like an appealing place to drink." Maya agreed. It wasn't as if she didn't have a choice nor she didn't have a clue where to go but all she knew was that she badly needed a place to sit and think. And anywhere, whatever animal with a disability, sounded better than the wolf's return.

Athalos walked on, stick prodding the ground, while Maya followed at his side. He could already taste the bittersweet ale and had much more to say about the tavern. He cheered, a tad louder than Maya would've liked given they were still in wolf territory, "Song and drink! Can you relish a better union than that?! I don't believe you could in this kingdom or any!"

"Song, huh?" Memories of auditions, both failed and recently upended by a trip to a world unknown to Maya, flooded in. She smiled but it wasn't her best. There was a tinge of sadness that pushed through. "I used to sing. Well, I tried to."

"Well surprise me like a gold coin in the gutter!" Athalos' greyed coffee-brown eyes widened. "You were a performer of the arts, Lady Maya? A bard perhaps?"

"Something like that I guess." Maya chuckled in defeat. Since Athalos saved her, she didn't mind sharing a bit about herself. "I wanted to become an idol, you know? Um, someone who sings and dances for other people's happiness and pleasure? Sorry, I'm not sure if you have those here—"

"Oh! A songstress!" exclaimed Athalos with an explosive interest. "I don't mean to wet the appetite but speaking of song, there's this new songstress infecting the continent with a warmth and joy that crumbles even the stoniest of dwarves and satiates the pissiest of orcs—"

Athalos then retreated to the corner of his mouth. "If you garner any gratitude for your savior's well-being, please share none of this."

For some reason, Maya's blood boiled. It was a familiar feeling she'd almost forgotten in the absurdity of it all. It was an itch on her back that was right on the center and no matter how contorted her arms were, she couldn't scratch it. And then the face she wanted to punch most entered her mind. She stopped in her tracks. "Don't tell me…"

"She goes by many names," continued Athalos with revived bravado. He stretched out his arms and opened his hands, except for the one that held his staff. "The Shooting Star. The Savior of Hearts. The Voice of Souls. The Kindest of the Kind. The Very Pretty One. She goes by the name—"

"Io Hara." Maya correctly guessed with utter disgust and a rekindled spite.