the adorable little blonde girl whose feet soak in a river, sighs sadly. It has already been two days since she left her new home in which, could devour as many chicken wings as she wanted.
It is certainly her pet's fault if today she is reduced to eating apples. A little angry with her cat, with a small sulky face, she sc.r.a.pes the mud near her thigh and throws it at the head of the poor animal whose so beautiful white coat is now a distant memory.
The little girl, relieved after having punished this nasty animal again, leans forward a little. For the past two days, she has been obsessed by the reflection that the streams and rivers reflect back to her.
After a long look at the little blond girl with the big green eyes who, when she touches her cheek, imitates him, Hera puts her eyes on the pretty ring that Caius gave her as a farewell present.
"Stincky tiger! See my pretty ring? You should be ashamed, for it is far more useful than you."
That nasty cat is so ill-mannered that he doesn't answer the little girl. With its head between its paws, its body trembling, it occasionally makes an unhappy meow, but apart from that, it never agrees to converse with its little mistress, who, as punishment for its bad upbringing, throws mud at it again.
"You know, I miss Daddy. I miss Caius. I miss the chicken wings and I miss bothering Gina. I'm kind of bored by myself, so to pa.s.s the time, I'm gonna play the wish game like I used to when I walked by the town fountain."
A little moved by the sad face of its torturer, who is after all just a little girl, the white tiger decides to break the silence...
"Meow"... However, not being allowed to utter its powerful natural growl that men fear so much, it does its best to meow in a cute way.
Hera takes her little leather purse out of the pocket of her dress, which after three mud battles with her pet is now black. She opens it with antic.i.p.ation to contemplate all her wealth acquired by making the drawers of the adventurers' guild.
She takes one of the silver coins out of her leather purse and concentrates before throwing it away. (Plop) When the first silver coin lands in the middle of the river, seeing the swirl that forms on the surface, the corners of her lips stretch wide.
Hera was too busy with one of her favourite games, so when her fingers sc.r.a.pe the leather from the bottom of the purse, an expression of surprise mixed with despair is inscribed on her face... "No, my crawfish locker has a hole in it and all my catches must have escaped." When her little ears, which can hear far away, hear laments, happy she's not the only one who's sad, Hera jumps on her pet's back.
…
"Shtt, Stincky tiger, don't make a sound. This little boy must not be able to sense our presence. Hidden in the shelter of apple trees, Hera and Stincky tiger watches a young boy slightly older than the little girl. The child is coming up out of the water strange wicker baskets. Stranger still, these baskets contain small animals equipped large clamps that Hera finds quite ugly.
The child in grey short pants and dark blue shirt has his brown hair in every direction. His cheeks must not have crossed the path of a soap for a long time, as for his arms and legs, Hera is speechless in front of so much dirt. Too happy to be able to annoy someone, she rushes out of the little woods of apple trees and oaks to join this little boy who is not very clean.
"Tell, you! Aren't you ashamed to be such a dirty?"
At first very surprised, the little boy wobbles and almost falls into the river. He barely manages to steady himself by clinging to the tall gra.s.s and turns around to see whose adorable little voice it is.
"Haven't you seen yourself? I can't even tell if you're a human or a mud golem! Now, leave me in peace. If you have nothing to do, I, I have a lot of work to do."
Without even looking at her, after those nasty, hurtful words, the little boy turns to the river and squats down to pull up another one of those strange wicker baskets. Angry, upset at the boy for bothering her when she was the one who should have bothered him, Hera stretches her leg forward. Thinking about what will follow, she can hardly hold her laugh and knowing that she won't be able to resist any longer, her foot pushes the boy forward.
(Plop) "Maybe I look like a mud golem, but splashing around in the river like a duck, you look like an idiot."
…
"Leave me alone!"
That strange little girl has been following him for over ten minutes. First she came to insult him, then she pushed him into the river, then she laughed at him and now she follows him like a little dog.
"Say, do you want to see my pet? He's not very handsome, but you know, he's very nice."
She smells like mud. That's the first thing the little boy thought when that leech came up to him.
"No, I have to get home to bring my crawfishes or Mommy won't be able to get it ready for the market tomorrow."
"Why is your mommy selling these? Does it taste good? Will you let me taste it? Where is your house? Do you have soap so I can wash myself and my pet? Can you give me some silver coins? Why don't you answer me? You're like Caius and don't like girls? ..."
Annoyed by so many questions, the little boy turns around with the intention of shouting at the girl, who's decidedly very annoying, but seeing her so dirty, he thinks that such a little girl in such a state must not have a very funny life. His mother has always told him that kindness should be shown, that only kindness is rewarded, so, despite the fact that this child is the most annoying person he has ever met, after a sigh, the little boy tries to smile.
"Come, I'll take you to my house. It's not big, but at least you'll be able to wash yourself. I'm thinking about it. You can also bring your tiny pet. We're not rich, but a bowl of milk won't be enough to deplete our reserve."
"Stincky tiger, come here, my cat! The filthy little boy is going to offer us some soap. By the way, do you have any chicken wings?"
Falling on his b.u.t.tocks in front of the huge furry thing that's maybe six times his size, the little boy points at the tiger. "That's, uh... What's that monster?"
"Well, what? That's my cat!"
