Chapter Text
Baldur’s Gate. Kythorn 18, 1466 DR (Eris Stormvale 4 years old, Enver Flymm 12 years old)
Under the highsun, the market by the docks in the middle of the lower city’s eastern part of Baldur’s Gate was brimming with people. This was a special kind of busy market day, as people was preparing for the summer solstice. The stalls were overflowing with all types of different foods and trinkets. Compared to the usual smell of the lower city dockside, this was a feast for the senses.
In a dim alleyway, away from the busy meandering of people, a dark haired boy sat in silence, watching. His stomach was making pained growls as he watched all the food that exchanged hands. How long was it since he had eaten? Half a day? A whole day, or maybe two days? He didn’t know. He tried to keep such thoughts at bay, or else the hunger would have gotten the best of him a long time ago. The boy was used to being hungry, but it surely didn’t help lurking by the marketplace and inhaling all the delicious scents. His hair was raven black and sat unruly on top of his head. Eyes as dark as the alleyway he was crouching in. The shoes on his feet were barely hanging on, despite the fact that his mother and father owned a cobbler’s shop. Money was always scarce, and the few coins that measured the income was either spent on ale at the Blushing Mermaid or gambling. The gambling was, according to his father, the best chance they had at attaining gold. Money never went to proper food, at least not for him. He was being treated as a source of labor and in other ways an annoyance who had to be fed. His parents were never loving or caring, and the boy often got a hard slap to the face where other kids his age would have gotten a hug. A menace his mother would call him, a vile creature that should never have been born. As if he had any fault in being born. He hated his parents, and would take every opportunity to sneak away, to spy on other people, and maybe nick some food, gold or other valuables. Maybe he was vile, or wicked, but that was all he ever experienced anyway, and it was his shield against the cruel world who wanted nothing to do with a starving twelve year old boy. His favorite past time activity was drawing. He had so many ideas in his head, and he tried to get them transferred on to paper as best he could. But paper and proper charcoal was hard to come by, and he didn’t even bother asking his parents for some, as he knew all too well what the answer would be.
The dark haired boy was crouching, looking for an opportunity to snatch an apple or some bread that somebody dropped in the heat of the moment. He hoped for an apple, as it was his favorite. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long.
There! Perfect! One of the stalls crashed to the ground as a pig on the run charged into the poor salesman, who in turn toppled over his own stall. Wholly absorbed in the goal at hand, the boy was totally unaware of the elegantly clothed, sleek haired man who was leaning back against a wall, watching him from across the marketplace, eating a juicy red apple.
The fruits and vegetables were spilling everywhere, and in the ensuing chaos, the dark haired boy saw his chance. He threw himself out of the alley and was heading straight toward a big, red apple that was rolling his way. Suddenly there was a flurry of arms and legs, followed by an intense pain in his chin. He tumbled around and landed on his back, the air punched out of him. The confusion was all ensuing, until he registered that he wasn’t alone.
Like a sack of potatoes, a tiny person was lying on top of him. He groaned as he pushed the creature off of himself and slowly stood upright. He stumbled a bit, woozy from the violent crash. Blood stained his fingers when he rubbed his face, its origin being a narrow but rather deep cut that now adorned his chin. When he lifted his gaze his eyes caught another set of eyes staring back. Big, green, slightly teary eyes framed by wild locks of red hair. “Watch where you’re going you little shit!” he snarled. All he got in return was a confused look and eyes still staring him down. “Who the fuck are you?” he continued, “…and what the fuck are you doing here?? You ruined my big chance of getting that apple!!” His voice was almost cracking, that is how hungry he was. Suddenly, a string of muttered words escaped from the little girl’s mouth. It was a foreign language he didn’t recognise. He just watched her, incredulous, as she bent down and reached for a small bag on the paved ground behind her. After fumbling a bit, she lifted her hand from the bag and extended her arm towards the boy. In her hand was a big, shiny red apple. She stood there with dirt on her face, chafed knees and a bleeding cut above her left brow. But she smiled at him. Sniffling, she uttered some new words, and carefully stepped forward. As in a flick of the wrist, the boy woke from his trance, and stared at the apple offered to him. “I don’t need your charity!” he yelled, and shoved the girl backward, away from him. The push was maybe a bit harder than intended, and the girl fell over and yelped as she hit the cobblestones.
A tiny speck of bad conscience hit him in the guts, but to his surprise the girl didn’t cry. She just sniffled and huffed a bit, before lifting herself up from the ground. Again, a string of unfamiliar words slipped from her mouth, silently and almost apologetic. She brushed the grime and dust off of her as best she could. “I….I’m sorry” the boy muttered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I….” The words died in his mouth. He wasn’t used to apologising. It was a sign of weakness, and that was something he couldn’t afford. For a moment there was a silent stalemate between the two kids. “I’m Enver” the boy finally said and broke the silence. “Enver Flymm”.
The flame haired girl stood unmoving and stared at Enver. She blinked as if to absorb the meaning of his words. It was obvious that she didn’t understand him. Did she know common language at all? By the looks of it, probably not. He guessed her age to be around 4 maybe 5 years old. Enver sighed. He pointed a finger toward himself and repeated: “Enver Flymm”. The look in her eyes revealed that she finally understood him. “Een-verr”, she repeated after him. She had a peculiar lilt in her voice, and used sharp r’s. Enver looked at her as if she was mentally unstable, and couldn’t for the life of him figure out who this creature was. He turned his index finger toward the girls’ sternum and said “…and you?” What’s your name?” The girl blinked again, and followed Enver’s finger with her eyes to where it almost connected with her chest. Then, she met his gaze and smiled. New foreign words spilled from her mouth as she moved her hands to unclasp the golden chain that hung around her neck.
The pendant looked like a small shield with some streaks protruding from the center of it. It caught a stray sunbeam intruding on the dim lit alley, and Enver quickly concluded the necklace to be of solid gold. She took it off and handed it to him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Enver stood frozen with eyes wide open. What was happening? The girl must have misunderstood him for pointing at her necklace and not her as a person. “No, no, no, I didn’t mean it like that!” Enver said flustered. There was, of course a small part of him (or maybe a bit bigger part of him) that was tempted to accept the necklace. Can you imagine all the food he could buy with it? Maybe the necklace was worth so much that he could run away from home and never come back? But still, the small sense of pride he had left wouldn’t allow himself to accept it. He crouched down to her eye level and gently pushed away the tiny hand holding the golden necklace. “I can’t take this from you. It’s yours”, he said. The red-headed girl held his gaze with her mouth slightly agape. She blinked and looked down at his flat palm on her fist. Enver decided to try once more. “What is your name?” he asked, slowly this time so she hopefully would understand him. He pointed to himself and said “Een-verr” and then at her again with both of his eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. Her big green eyes twinkled with joyfulness and she smiled at him again. “Eris!” she answered, grinning widely “Eris!” she repeated a bit louder and pointed at herself. “Een-verr!” she proclaimed and pointed a tiny finger towards him. Enver couldn’t help himself and laughed at her little outburst. That made her smile even more. She looked like a little forest-troll, with wild, red hair in a dishevelled state, dirt in her face and a grin that missed a couple of teeth.
“Eris!?” A female voice rung out over the marketplace. “Eris, where are you?!” Eris quipped her head around, toward the sound of her name being called. Enver instinctively retreated further in to the darkness of the alley, like a scared stray cat. “Eris!?? Where are y-“The woman stopped shouting when she caught sight of the little girl in the alleyway. “There you are child!” she said relieved. “I have been looking all over for you!” She didn’t sound angry, only worried. When she crouched down and brushed the hair away from the girls face, she laughed. “What in the name of all the Gods happened to you?” In the process of fixing her hair, the woman caught the eye of a dark haired boy over Eris’ shoulder. “Oh? What have we here?” she said surprised. Enver cowered further back when the woman addressed him. She was the most beautiful woman Enver had ever seen. With the same red hair as Eris, but much longer, falling in big waves down her back. Their eyes were also the same colour, but, unlike Eris, the grown woman’s left iris was combined of a brown half and a green half. She radiated an almost royal aura, and her smile was as soft as the summer breeze. The image would forever be burnt onto his retinae. This must be her mother, Enver thought. “Don’t be afraid boy, I won’t hurt you” the woman said, reaching a hand forward. Scared of the unwanted attention, Enver got to his feet and ran away, deeper into the alley and the darkness. He didn’t look back. Eris was left alone with her mother, looking bewildered and….a bit sad? “Come” her mother said “it’s time to go home”. She took the girl by the hand and led her out of the alley, into the busy street. Eris looked over her shoulder as she was led away, holding her mothers’ hand. “Enverr?” she whispered.
Enver stood in the shadows, naturally blending in to the dark as if it was his home. He hadn’t run far, but stood just around the corner, watching the beautiful woman lead Eris out of the alley. He caught a glimpse of the girl’s emerald-green eyes as she looked over her shoulder. And then she was gone. When he was certain that no one was watching, he crept out from the shadows, back toward the spot where they had met. Something glimmered in his peripheral vision, and when he turned around his breath escaped him. There, carefully placed on top of a crate, lay the golden necklace.
In the distance, the elegantly clad man was watching his every move, with faintly glowing eyes and a malicious smile around his face.