Chapter 11
Felicity's
POV
The next morning, Ava and I woke up to the sound of the village coming to life. People were bustling around, preparing for the day ahead. As we got out of our sleeping bags, we noticed a group of people gathered around a man who seemed to be giving orders. Curiosity getting the best of us got Ava and I walked over to see what was going on. As we got closer, we recognized the man as the village leader.
"Good morning, travelers," the leader greeted us. "I hope you slept well."
"We did," Ava replied.
"I have an announcement to make," the leader said. "As you know, our village has been struggling to survive for some time now. But with the arrival of these two travelers, I believe we have been blessed with an opportunity."
I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was talking about. Ava and I exchanged a curious glance.
"I have decided to offer these two travelers a permanent home in our village," the leader continued.
Ava and I exchanged a surprised look. We had not expected this.
"As our newest members, I hope you will do your part to help our village thrive," the leader said, looking at us expectantly.
"Thank you," I said finally. "We would be honored to call this village our home."
The leader nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "Excellent. Now, let's get to work."
As the villagers dispersed to start their daily tasks, Ava turned to me with a smile on her face. "See, I told you the villagers were friendly," she said.
"I know, but I just can't believe it," I replied. "I thought we would have to keep moving from place to place."
"Well, it looks like we found a home," Ava said.
As we walked through the village, we noticed that the villagers were going about their daily tasks. Some were tending to their farms, while others were working on their crafts.
"I wonder if there's anything we can do to help," I said.
Ava nodded. "I think they're in need of some extra hands for the harvest. Would you be willing to help?"
"Of course," I said.
As we started to settle into our new lives, we met some of the other villagers. There was Sarah, the baker, who welcomed us with a basket of freshly baked bread. And then there was Jacob, the blacksmith, who offered to make us new weapons.
But as the days went by, we couldn't help but notice that there was something off about the village. People would disappear for hours at a time, only to return with strange bruises and cuts. Ava and I tried to ignore the rumors, but they were hard to ignore. It seemed like every day, there was a new story about someone who had been robbed or attacked by bandits.
"Have you heard about the bandits?" I overheard one of the villagers whispering to another.
"Yes, they've been attacking travelers and robbing them of all their belongings," the other replied.
Ava and I tried to keep to ourselves, but we couldn't help but feel like danger was lurking around every corner. One day, as we were walking through the village, we overheard a group of villagers whispering about the bandits. "What do you think we should do?" one of the villagers asked.
"We need to take matters into our own hands," another replied. "The village leader isn't doing enough to protect us."
Ava and I exchanged a worried look. We didn't like where this was going.
"We need to tell the village leader," I whispered to Ava.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" she replied.
"I don't know, but we have to try," I said.
As we made our way to the village leader's hut, we noticed that some of the villagers were giving us suspicious looks. It seemed like they knew what we were up to. "Can we help you?" the village leader asked as we entered his hut.
"We overheard some villagers talking about taking matters into their own hands to deal with the bandits," I said.
The village leader's face darkened. "I'll look into it," he said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
But as we made our way back to our hut, we realized that some of the villagers were involved with the bandits. It seemed like the danger was closer than we had ever imagined. "What do we do now?" Ava asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "But we need to be careful. We can't trust anyone."
As the days went by, we tried our best to keep a low profile. But it seemed like the villagers were onto us. We noticed that they were giving us more and more suspicious looks every day. One day, as we were walking through the village, a group of villagers surrounded us.
"What do you want?" Ava asked nervously.
"We know what you're up to," one of the villagers said. "You're trying to get us in trouble with the village leader."
"We're just trying to help," I said.
But the villagers didn't seem to believe us. They grabbed us and dragged us to the village leader's hut.
"We caught these two snooping around," one of the villagers said.
The village leader looked at us sternly. "Is this true?" he asked.
"We were just trying to help," I said. "We heard some villagers talking about dealing with the bandits on their own, and we thought you should know."
The village leader nodded slowly. "I appreciate your concern," he said. "But from now on, it would be best if you kept to yourselves. I can't guarantee your safety if you continue to meddle in our affairs."
Ava and I exchanged a worried look. It seemed like we had made a big mistake by getting involved. But we couldn't help but feel like something was off about the village. We knew that we had to keep our eyes open and be prepared for anything.