Ever The Contrarian

Hello :D thanks for 10 readers! I just logged on today to see this :) I honestly didn't think it would be that fast LMAO anyway without further ado here's more chapters ~ oh and also before I published this I had 20 chapters already typed out and 10 of them at final draft so I'm putting them out really fast but after I run out they'll probably update less frequently but for now it's 2 chapters per day lol 

AWH YEAHH CHAPTER THREE IM SO READY TO TYPE 

Mercury helped Iodine onto Penguin, who seemed disheartened at the idea of two passengers. the poor thing! one person and a pack was quite enough already, thanks. this is animal abuse! However, they were moving at an easy pace - a slightly faster-than-average walk, to be exact - so penguins accepted Iodine relatively easily with the bribe of 5 sugar cubes. all can be solved with money - or sugar cubes, whatever suites your fancy. "So, what made you change your mind?" Mercury asked, and Iodine, who was behind her, rested her head on Mercury's shoulder. "I don't really have anything left for me here. The debt I was training for my entire life just got settled, so I thought, why not accompany you guys? For some reason, I felt like the anonymous person wanted me to. It was such a weirdly strong feeling, so here I am. Did you miss me?"

Mercury flinched, hearing her name on the anonymous tip brought up again. how was it that Iodine knew so so well even when she was hidden behind an anonymous tip. how ironic! the author was guffawing while writing this part. Nox chuckled next to her, and Mercury glared at him. the main character's glare is very deadly, so he shut quite fast. "speaking of which, we should probably get some gear. if we ever run into those hooded figures again, which we will, we're going to struggle. We should find a way to get some loot - cloaks, enchanted items, and weapons. I need a bow and arrows If I'm to do anything, and you guys probably need swords." Iodine pondered, her head still on Merucry's shoulder. #BEST FRIEND GOALS. THEY ARE SO WHOLESOME. "I heard some merchants give us gear for slaying monsters, should we try that out?" Nox said, cutting into the conversation. Mercury just wouldn't stand for that apparently, because she screeched, "WELCOME TO THE CONVERSATION, NOX!" and he covered his ears. ha ha, main charecter sass. I love it. "Okay, okay, fine, Im sorry. but what about that idea? It's decent, no?" Nox said while Iodine chuckled. "Hmph. I guess." Mercury pouted, and Nox tossed her a candy out of another pocket. "Candy heals all," he said solemnly, with a completely straight face, peeling off the wrapping of a piece of candy and throwing it directly into Mercury's mouth. Luckily, Nox, like Iodine, had terrific aim (at least when it came to throwing candy) so it plopped into the middle of Mercury's tongue. Candy heals all. Indeed it does. "Soh, wut were thuz saying 'bout dat monzers sthaying suhthing?" Mercury asked, through a mouthful of candy, chewing loudly. the main charecter just got bribed by a cheap peice of bubblegum! "The merchants will probably give us decent loot for monster carcasses, so we should go down to a dungeon as soon as we reach a large town," Nox said, and Mercury swallowed the candy. "Can I have some too?" Iodine said, and Nox tossed her candy as well, but not before unwrapping it. Iodine caught it in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "It's worth a shot. We might not be able to take down a lot of them, though." Iodine said, and Nox nodded. "So, sleep, then?" he asked, and Mercury patted Penguin's neck. "Penguin, dear, I need you to tell Sky to keep walking. That goes for you, too," she said, and Penguin nodded. nice, animal communication! somehow, Nox had managed to train both of the horses up substantially, so they could walk for many days straight without any breaks. Impressive, Nox! "Goodnight, Iodine and Nox," Mercury said, resting her head on Penguin's neck, while Iodine rested her own head on Mercury's back. It was sort of uncomfortable, but not the worst Mercury had ever had to deal with. After all, her own cottage was much worse and she had spent her whole life in it. When they woke up, the horses were still following the trail. yay, penguin listened! Now it was a wide field of flowers, as vast and endless as the ocean. every wildflower Mercury could name and more were swaying in the breeze, and the morning sun was coating the petals in light glow and dew. It was breathtaking. If only cameras had been invented back then! a photo shoot would have been wild to see. "Io, wake up. Look." Mercury said, nudging Iodine. Penguin was sniffing the tulips curiously, and Sky was eating a bulb of primroses. Nox stirred awake and stretched yawning. It was only the seventh time Mercury had seen his hair imperfect, in her 18 years of knowing him. Iodine was staring in wonder, and suddenly, Mercury spotted pink primroses growing on the side of the road. 

Her eyes widened. Pink Primroses were her favorite flower, and it meant a lot to her. gently, she picked a single flower and tied the stem around penguin's neck. Nox was smiling while watching her, which somehow gave her the creeps. Who did he think he was? She turned around to stare back, and he flinched and looked away. what a coward. She thought. no one would dare to stare at Mercury like a stalker! She was going to slice their head right off, even if ti was Nox! Gosh, the main character is so violent, haha. Penguin sniffed the flower curiously and was about to open her mouth to eat it when Mercury shook her head and pushed her snout away. no one eats flowers! horses are supposed to eat grass! "Don't, penguin. Don't eat this one. You can eat this, though." The main character offers her a long tuft of grass, which Penguin munches on slowly. Iodine plopped off the horse and stretched animatedly, bending down to pick a lot of flowers. 'hey! Don't - picking one is okay, but don't pick a lot." Mercury exclaimed. "What? why not? they're so pretty. I like looking at them." Iodine huffed, picking more flowers. "Of course, and the flowers deserve to wilt just so you can look at them," Mercury said, cross. The main character is kind of weird, but she is also kind of a philosopher from all the books she reads. Iodine stops in her tracks and straightened up. "I… never thought about it like that…." She said quietly, after a minute, staring at the bunch of flowers in her hand. "Don't mind her, Io. It's just Mercury and her weird philosophies, but she's right even though she's strange. Besides, you didnt mean it." Nox said helpfully. "thanks a lot for calling me strange, Nox." Mercury muttered under her breath. Obviously, the elf somehow heard her. Nox saluted her and nudged Sky with his bridle. "Ready to go? Me and Sky will be waiting for you to catch up at that big oak tree." Nox said, shaking the reins. Sky galloped off, and Mercury shook her fist at him. "CHEATER! GET BACK HERE AND SETTLE THE RACE FARE AND SQUARE-" Iodine clapped a hand over her mouth. "shush! there's no time to waste - let go catch up!" Iodine said delightedly, getting onto Penguin. Mercury jumped on too, exhilarated, and spurred Penguin forward. Iodine stood up on the back of Penguin - she was so dainty and light that Penguin likely didnt notice. Bending her knees for balance, Iodine whipped out her slingshot and a few pebbles. "Go, go, go, Penguin! we have to beat them!" Mercury whooped, and Penguin, sensing her excitement, ran even faster. As they were only a few yards away from Nox, who was frowning perpetually. He definitely hadn't expected them to catch up. Mercury thought with satisfaction. Iodine used her pebbles to distract Sky - forcing the horse to slow down in order to avoid a nasty scrape by falling. "what?! How???" Nox said, exasperated, as Penguin leaped gracefully over a log, not losing any speed, and bounded to the Oak tree. "We won! haha, Nox! how does it feel? how does it feel to lose when you have a head start? I definitely wouldn't know how it feels to lose, because me and Io clearly won!" Mercury said with satisfaction, placing her palm on the bark of the wood to prove that she had reached the tree. Iodine also climbed down and put a palm on the tree as Nox walked up to them. For some reason, he was smiling. "what? wipe that cheeky smile off your face, looser!" Mercury said, and he instantly smiled wider. "Good job, Mercury and Iodine." He said sincerely, and Mercury grimaced. "Nooooo! Nox, please! get mad or something! it's so hard to call you a loser when you're being such a good friend! Please, sulk or something.!" Mercury wiled, and Nox laughed. "Exactly, Mercury. Exactly," he said, and Mercury threw a piece of bark at his head. Of course, he sidestepped it. (Not that it was gonna hit anyway, she had terrible aim.) "You're too nice for your own good." Mercury sulked, and this time iodine laughed. "But should we continue on? we have a long way to go, I imagine." Nox said changing the subject off of Merucry's victory. "aha. now he changes the topic." Mercury whispered to Iodine, who giggled. "I can hear you!" Nox shouted from the trail, much to Mercury's dismay. Iodine and Mercury collectively glared at him, and Penguin even snorted at Nox. Good horse! give her a few extra sugar cubes, Mercury. 

After a few more hours of walking and talking, Nox, Iodine, and Mercury sat in awkward silence as they ran out of things to talk about. "erm, so… what weapon do you use, Nox?" Iodine asked awkwardly. forced conversation. "oh, I use… the… its… I use daggers." Nox replied awkwardly. the funniest part was that Iodine knew Nox through mercury, so she already knew what weapon he used. HA HA HA! this was my favorite part of all time. "Oh. so… are they… fun to… throw???" Iodine said, every sentence more awkward than the last. "I don't throw them, actually... I just like to fight at a … closer distance." Nox said, sitting straight with awkwardness. oh my god, its so awkward I can feel it radiating off the pages. Mercury was trying not to laugh, so she buried her head in Penguin's mane to keep from dying of laughter. It was too much - her friends desperately trying to make conversation. To Mercury, conversation was something that came naturally - she was the town's socialite, after all. Iodine must have noticed her trembling back, though, because she launched a pebble at Mercury's head with her slingshot. "ow! What was that for!" Mercury complained, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her head. "Why don't you try talking, then? huh?" Iodine challenged. looks like she inherited some of that main character sass. "All alright, alright," Mercury said. suddenly, she bent over and snagged a plant off the ground. "This is an evening primrose and the purple variant. Who wants a story?" She said, holding the flower up to her nose. Everyone in town knew that Mercury was a great storyteller - she often made up random nonsense straight off the top of her head, but somehow her stories carried a dizzying appeal because they sounded believable. It was sort of strange. A paradox, some called it. Of course, this knack of storytelling also meant a knack for lying, so she was able to lie without skipping a beat. It had gotten her out of trippy situations with believable excuses many, many times. (Why was she even in tryppiy situation in the first place, though? Mercury, you do legal stuff, right? come on, tell me you survived in that cottage by following the law.) The funniest part was that Mercury insisted on keeping her storytelling talent on the low - she rarely ever told any stories. Because of this, her stories were always a treat and a sought-after one at that. Instantly, both of her friends turned to her with wide eyes. "yes, please." Iodine croaked, her voice hoarse after not talking for about an hour. 

"Okay, here goes! So, once, when I was a kid, we learned in class that flowers carry seeds. Right? So, I, who was known as baby Mercury at the time, foolishly decided that if I randomly buried a flower in the ground, a plant would grow because the flower had a seed in it." Mercury began. the words spluttered out of her mouth. Nox and Iodine stared at her, soaking up her words. Like sponges. "Obviously, everyone told me it wasn't going to work. And, looking back, I honestly also think that there's no way a flower could turn into a plant. but, anyway, I was stubborn back then too, like I am now, so I planted it. I actually completely forgot about it for about a year, until one day my parents took me to our backyard with a blindfold on. Suspense, right? When they removed it, I saw that my precious flower was now a shrub. A gigantic bush! from a single flower! that I had planted! It's still there today, I'm sure, and to me, this flower symbolizes the day I proved everyone wrong. Even my future self." Mercury finished, caressing the petals of the flower. Nostalgia! she was currently re-living her entire childhood. 

Iodine and Nox both stared at her. "what? cat got your tongue?" Mercury asked, and they both continued to stare at her. "You're amazing, Mercury. We're so lucky to have you." They both said at the same time. JINX!!!!