Pieces of Sonder

Freya bit her lip to keep herself from smirking at the message on her forearm.

{How is the bad idea going?}

She recognized the crisp curling script as her friend Yina’s. 

Infamous Biscuit noticed her looking at her arm, “Do you need to go?”

“No,” Freya said, shaking her head, “It’s just my friend teasing me.”

Moving away from the practice field, they talked for a bit about how Meridian Manipulation might work. Freya suggested some strategies he could try to acquire it, and then they walked back to the meadow.

Infamous Biscuit tried a few more times to “put energy into his staff,” but nothing happened. In the end, he just tested out his new summoning and skill book. 

He sat down to read for a few minutes while Freya continued to practice her own skills. 

“Alright, I think I got this,” he said and closed the skill book. 

It poofed out of existence. 

Seeing Freya’s reaction he explained, “Skill books can only be read once, and then they’ll disappear. I also have to activate the skill within a day, or I won’t get the learning boost.”

She frowned. This whole business seemed like something wizards would come up with to artificially learn something. 

Infamous Biscuit stood in the middle of the field, letting a lot of mushrooms gather around him. He pointed his staff to the sky and shouted, “Watermelon bomb!”

Watching him do it made Freya feel less embarrassed about calling out skill names. 

A single green fruit appeared in midair a few feet from them. It smashed to the ground, sending red and green fruit pieces everywhere.

It didn’t directly land on a mushroom, but the flying pieces were enough to knock over two. 

Soon enough, the practice field was once again cleared of mushrooms. Freya was concerned about how they could reappear so fast, but Infamous Biscuit assured her it was only because of their presence that they came back. As long as they didn’t visit again, the meadow would probably remain free of mushrooms.

“I think you have the basics down now. We should start tackling some real dungeons. But we really need a tank,” Infamous Biscuit said.

“A tank?”

He nodded, “Someone who will take the most damage for the team and hold the attention of monsters. There are three basic roles in a dungeon raiding team: tank, healer, and DPS. I have the healing category covered, and I think you fall more into the DPS category. DPS focuses on just dealing damage. Ideally, we should have some more DPS people, but we need a tank before that.”

“So, we need to find a tank to join our team?”

“Yep, at least before we enter into major dungeons. I’ll look into it. There’s plenty of people on the forums looking for teammates.”

Infamous Biscuit paused to look up at something. His eyes scanned the air in front of him, reading something invisible to Freya.

“Sorry, I need to log out for today. Do you think you’ll be free tomorrow?”

“I don’t have anything urgent,” Freya replied.

“Okay, I’ll come to your shop tomorrow afternoon. Or I’ll DM you if I find a tank sooner than that.”

Freya nodded. Infamous Biscuit touched something on his interface and then waved. In the blink of an eye, he vanished. 

It reminded Freya of the fast-travel system, except if what he said before was true, he was traveling somewhere outside the planet Lanthe.

When she told her friend Yina about all this, she was surprisingly unconcerned. Freya couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that there was a whole other world similar to theirs, but Yina shrugged saying, “Is it that surprising?”

Speaking of Yina, Freya looked at her forearm again. The message was beginning to fade. She wondered if her friend was still free.

Freya picked up her pace as she headed home.

Once in the city, Freya passed by Yina’s workshop. Rose bushes guarded the pathway up to the entrance. Freya peered in the shop window. Mannequins wearing clothes made it difficult to pick out Yina, but she was inside taking someone’s measurements.

Quietly opening her shop door, Freya slipped inside. Yina still noticed, but once she recognized her she smiled and went back to work. 

Freya sat on one of the benches and waited for her to finish.

She remembered the first day she came to Yina’s shop. It was a few weeks after she moved to Safka, and she needed a shaman’s cloak. It was traditional to ask a local artisan to make a new cloak once hired as a town’s shaman. As soon as she introduced herself as the new shaman of Safka, Yina had asked in a sweet innocent voice:

“What made you choose this small backwater town?”

Surprised by her bluntness, Freya had answered in turn, “I heard small towns out west have more interesting demons.”

Yina laughed at that. 

“Good, we were all a bit worried whoever took up the position wouldn’t be any good. But with a mindset like that, I think we’ll be alright.”

Lost in thought, Freya didn’t notice the present-day Yina was already done fitting her client.

“So, was it a bad idea?”

Freya flinched and looked up at her friend. Yina smiled; her light yellow dress matched her sunny expression. Her hair was up in a loose bun. A pincushion sat on her left hand, and a measuring tape was draped over her shoulders.

“I can’t say yet. The paper and pen worked, but in the bigger picture... I can’t say.”

Yina pursed her lips. The dressmaker’s gaze scoured Freya’s clothing as her expression hardened. Then she looked back up at her face.

“I think it was a good idea,” Yina said.

Suddenly she spun around. Her high heels click-clanked in a fast beat as she went to her desk. Ripping off a piece of paper, she started drawing.

Freya came to look over her shoulder. She was used to this behavior from Yina. Inspiration often overtook the dressmaker. Sketching in long rough lines, the image of an outfit began to form. It looked to be a sleeveless shirt and pants combo with some added elements not entirely clear to Freya’s untrained eye. 

As Yina’s drawing slowed, Freya finally asked, “So why do you think it’s a good idea?”

 “You look happy.”

Yina set down her pencil and looked at Freya again.

“I don’t know much about this new friend of yours and this odd situation, but you look happy. And that’s really all that matters in the end.”

Freya blinked. 

“Anyway, you need a new outfit,” Yina said with certainty. “You’re not just doing shaman work anymore. You need more flexibility in your clothes. I can already see the fabric and seams of your pants aren’t right.”

Yina pulled Freya over to the fitting platform, but instead of taking measurements, she had Freya pose in different positions. After some muttering, she took a sheet of fabric and draped it over Freya’s shoulders.

“Move as if you’re going to punch someone,” Yina instructed.

Freya awkwardly punched the air.

“Do you really fight like that?”

Putting more effort into it, she punched again. Yina sighed. 

“Please picture it in your head, don’t just do the action.”

At first, she thought of punching the mushrooms in the practice field, but then a better idea came to her mind. Freya pictured the demon that had appeared in Azer’s house. If she had the opportunity to face it again….

She punched.

Yina nodded, “Keep doing that.”

The dressmaker ripped off another piece of paper and began sketching. Her pencil flew as her head bobbed up and down between the paper and Freya. 

Activating her Sweeping Kick skill, Freya imagined knocking the demon off its feet. 

A smile crept onto her face.

After a few more minutes, Yina’s sketching slowed and she finally called an end to the session.

 “Okay, I think that’s all I need. The fabric will be the tricky part. Something light and flexible, but not easily tearable… Well, maybe with certain stitching,” Yina continued to mutter to herself.

A little out of breath, Freya stood up straight. Her exhilaration over the imaginary battle surprised her. Perhaps Yina was right about this being a good idea.

“Thank you Yina,” Freya said. “You’re too good to me.”

Yina’s eyes cleared of her musings for a moment to retort back, “I haven’t even made the outfit yet. It will take me quite a while, so hold your thanks. But I promise you’ll love it.”

---

~Info Corner~

Character Card:

 

*Yina Lajekin*

Class: Dressmaker

Age: 27

Nationality: Oyosian

Ethnicity: Tibisi

Lives In: Safka, Oyosi

Likes: Soft fabric, high heel shoes, roses

Dislikes: Rainy days, toffee