#bittertale

A small child stood in the middle of a vivid, colorful, yet empty environment. The child was speaking to herself:

“I… I’m scared… I-I don’t want to go…”

She seemed a little thoughtful, but also insecure. Then she spoke to herself again, as if she were talking to someone, even though she was completely alone:

“Oh… well, you really promise…? Hm… okay, here I go…”

The child walked toward nothing. Everything around her darkened…

————

It felt like seconds, or maybe minutes, in that complete darkness. The girl, who was unconscious and exhausted, could hear something — a conversation between people. Their voices were very muffled and almost inaudible. She began to open her eyes. Everything was extremely blurry, but it gradually grew clearer. She felt a sharp pain at that moment, though she didn’t know where it was coming from.

She focused on her vision and hearing until she could finally understand what those people were talking about:

“THE SHORTY HAS ONE HELL OF A SKULL AND THAT THING SHOT STRAIGHT AT THE UGLY ONE AND BOOM… Haha, I feel sorry for that Deformant. I seriously doubt he made it out of that alive…”

The spiky one was recounting in detail what had happened in the fight against the “Deformant” — that was what he called it. The other two men, both human, seemed quite impressed. Among them stood a large monster that looked like an orc, with a serious and quite intimidating posture. And lastly there was the skeleton, who looked very tired and exhausted compared to the spiky warrior, breathing heavily.

They were all walking along a trail.

Then one of the two humans — the one wearing a beanie — said:

“Hey… you know, Sharpy, it’s not really like you to go around praising others like that…”

He spoke in a teasing tone. Sharpy heard the comment, coughed to cover it up, and replied:

“COUGH COUGH I’m just saying what happened, you dig? It still doesn’t take away from how awesome I was for coming up with that plan so I could land my special attack…”

“Even if I didn’t kill him… big deal.”

The skeleton rolled his eyes at that while keeping one hand in his pocket.

The orc then sighed and said seriously:

“What am I going to do with you? When we get back, you’re going into ‘special training.’”

Swallowing hard as a bead of sweat ran down his face, Sharpy forced a smile and said:

“Pffft ahhh, boss, come on… is that really necessary?”

The orc answered right away:

“Yes! And don’t bother trying to weasel out of it with excuses. I don’t want to see you missing today, understood?”

Sharpy nodded, put a hand on his head, and thought to himself with a look of complete discouragement:

"(Thinking) — Ahhh, just great…"

The girl, who had been more or less listening to the conversation and was clearly confused and not understanding anything, noticed she was being carried on the back of the human without a beanie. She felt uncomfortable and put a hand to her head as the pain hit her.

The human noticed her murmuring and realized she had woken up. He called out to the others:

“Guys, the girl’s awake!”

Everyone who heard that she was awake immediately stopped to check on her well-being, each of them ready for whatever might be needed. The human who was carrying her asked:

“So, can you stand on your own?”

She answered:

“Yeah… I think so… ow, my head…”

He carefully took her off his back and helped her stand. She put a hand to her head and then questioned everyone:

“Who are you all? And… why am I in this place?”

They all listened, seeing how confused she was. Sharpy, however, looked slightly surprised and couldn’t understand why she was asking something like that. He spoke to her:

“Uh… human, me and the short guy here saved you from that horrible Deformant. We barely got away while you were unconscious… and look, you lost a bunch of stuff.”

She looked at him with extreme doubt and confusion:

“…What? What’s a Deformant, and… have I met you before?”

He looked stunned and disbelieving as he asked:

“W-what do you mean? My name’s Sharpy, you know… the coolest guy who landed a ‘Special Attack’ on that ugly thing, remember?”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. Sharpy felt completely crushed inside, as if his soul and pride had shattered into pieces. He had nothing left to say after such harsh words:

“Man… and here I thought I’d already made my day…”

He was cut off by the human in the beanie speaking to the girl. Sharpy looked annoyed at being interrupted during his moment of mourning, crossing his arms and glaring at him:

“So, kid… did you get hurt? Feeling anything?”

Feeling strange and dizzy, she said:

“Well, uh… I don’t know. There’s a strong buzzing in my ear, my head feels weird… ow…”

She put a hand to her forehead and swayed a little.

She noticed her arms were bandaged — not only her arms, but her legs as well. When she touched them, she felt the inflamed pain:

“Ow, what’s this on me? Was this already here before?”

The skeleton, who hadn’t been looking at her directly the whole time, finally paid attention. Hearing that, he found it strange that she seemed so confused, since this had literally happened today — but he preferred to stay silent.

The orc decided to approach, stopped in front of her, crouched a little, and asked in a completely emotionless, serious tone:

“Are you all right?”

Just looking at his imposing face and appearance made her feel intimidated. She couldn’t even look at him, let alone say a word.

An awkward atmosphere hung in the air. The orc waited patiently for her answer while the girl remained uncomfortable. But Sharpy and the human in the beanie, who were standing behind, decided to break the silence.

Sharpy said:

“Hehe, er… relax, human. The big guy here might look serious and scary, like he’s staring into the depths of your soul…”

“But deep down he’s a big teddy bear, hehe.”

And the human in the beanie followed right after:

“Yeah, you can chill. After all, he doesn’t bite, hihihi.”

The two exchanged little laughs while the large orc sighed with a half-serious, half-annoyed expression:

“You two, shut up for a moment.”

Seeing that his gaze had softened a little, she finally managed to answer the orc’s question, a bit awkwardly:

“W-well… I… I think I’m fine…”

The orc, slightly apprehensive, wondered:

(Could the fact that she hit her head be what disoriented her this much? Hm…)

Uncertain about her answer, the orc analyzed her condition. He still didn’t know what was going on with her or her behavior, despite his suspicions — especially for Sharpy and the skeleton, who were surprised by the way she was acting.

He decided to leave the matter alone for now:

“I understand. Let’s keep moving, boys… and little girl, don’t stray from any of us.”

Everyone nodded. One of them signaled for her to follow, and they positioned themselves around her like a guard.

Minutes passed. Silence dominated. The environment around her grew worse — an agonizing emptiness. It all made her tense, even though she couldn’t explain why. She noticed how serious everyone looked.

Seeing this, the orc decided to walk beside her to cut through some of the silence surrounding her:

“So… girl, what’s your name?”

She hadn’t expected him to talk to her and answered quickly, awkwardly:

“E-er… C-Clara…”

He replied:

“I see. (Apparently she remembers her name, but that doesn’t explain much about my other questions.) You’re a refugee, aren’t you?”

Surprised by the question, she said:

“Well… I don’t really know… was I supposed to be…?”

Considering her answer, he thought for a moment before continuing the conversation:

“Well, I’ll just say you’re lucky…”

Caught off guard by the random comment, she asked:

“Uh… why?”

He remained silent for a moment, then finally answered:

“Well, you’re lucky that Sharpy insisted on risking himself to save you — and right near the end of our daily patrol, when we were about to head back to the small city. Of course, with the short guy’s help to make sure he didn’t get himself killed.”

“I actually refused his decision at first. I couldn’t risk my group’s lives or leave our patrol area. But he convinced me, and… I’m relieved everyone is okay, even though I still think it was extremely risky for them to venture into that dry forest. It’s vast — easy to get lost in — and there are dangerous Deformants roaming around those parts…”

“Just for curiosity’s sake, my name is… Grund. The guy in the beanie who’s smoking is James — he’s pretty quiet, but good company. The funny one is Thomas. The spiky guy over there is Sharpy. And lastly, the short one is called—”

The skeleton coughed and looked at him with a serious expression, interrupting him before he could say the name. Seeing that he didn’t want to be very social at the moment, Grund corrected himself:

“That one over there is a pain to even get a word out of.”

While he was talking and recounting Clara’s rescue according to Sharpy’s story, she looked at the skeleton and found him very strange, since he hadn’t said a single word until now. He noticed Clara was looking at him; she quickly looked away to pretend she hadn’t been. The skeleton frowned slightly but decided to ignore it.

Grund continued:

“So, Miss Clara, do you have anything you’d like to share? It doesn’t have to be anything too… personal.”

He waited for an answer, but nothing came except her making a face while massaging her head.

“(Sighs) Forget what I said…”  

He felt terrible at trying to make conversation.

Then Clara asked:

“What did you say again?”

Clara’s question was ignored as Grund continued:

“(Sighs deeply) Look, I’m not… great at conversations… I’m just trying to… put you at ease while we head to a safe place.”

One thing that caught her attention was him mentioning this “safe place.” She immediately asked:

“Wait, wait — safe place?”

Grund explained:

“Well, uh… that place is called Provisional City.”

“It’s a small, peaceful town… well, not exactly, considering how things are right now. BUT it’s a lot better than being out here.”

As soon as she heard about this Provisional City, she grew curious about what the place was like:

“Ow, er… what’s it like inside that place—”

Grund cut her off:

“Well, Clara, you’ll have to figure that out when we get there. It’ll be much calmer. Ah, and sorry for interrupting.”

“So, Thomas — are we close?”

He asked Thomas, who was holding a small device with a little lamp that blinked more and more until it finally stayed lit. The human holding the device looked at Grund; a simple confirming glance said everything.

Everyone stopped.

“Why did we stop?”

She asked.

“We’ve arrived...” Grund said.

As soon as the orc spoke, Thomas pressed the button in the center of the device.

In front of them, where there had been nothing, a blue rift opened. Clara was completely stunned by what she was seeing, while the others showed no reaction at all, as if they were simply waiting for something. Right after the first rift opened, another one appeared — this time revealing a large wall. In front of them stood two massive gates, and high above, two monsters were waiting.

They seemed to be expecting them. The group moved forward, and the two rifts behind them closed. Clara was even more surprised and could hardly believe it:

“What… is this?!”

She asked, completely shocked. Grund answered while one of the monsters up top gave a signal to the other side:

“This, Clara… is Provisional City…”

The moment he said that, the gates opened. The light from the other side briefly blinded their eyes — perhaps from the strange effect of the barriers. Once their vision cleared again, she could see it: not huge, but not very small either — a hidden city with a population visible to the naked eye, something that hadn’t been possible to see before.

Inside the city there was a circular wall surrounding the entire place. Shops in buildings and houses could be seen, most of them made of wood. Humans and monsters, crowds walking around, many things happening. A restaurant, carts moving through the streets carrying all kinds of materials.

The group walked a little further. Clara admired everything around her — a mixture of total confusion and complete surprise. Sharpy commented:

“Heh… the refugees all had that same reaction, huhu.”

She spoke while looking around:

“Wow… ow, I really wasn’t expecting any of this… it’s like something out of a fairy tale.”

James made a comment while taking a drag, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes:

“Yeah… but this is reality, kid, heh.”

Meanwhile a small group of humanoid monsters passed by them. Grund nodded his head to the leader of that group, who returned the gesture. After they went out through the gates, the gates closed again.

He then interrupted the silence or any interaction to announce:

“All right, boys. Get some good rest. All of you except one are dismissed until the next patrol rotation. Understood?”

Everyone said “Yes, sir!”, the orc then turned to the skeleton and said:

“Kid, I know it might be a bother, but… could you take care of her and take her to the medical department? I need to deal with… other matters…”

He said this while looking seriously at Sharpy. Sharpy took the chance to try to slip away:

“Er… speaking of matters, I’ve got other stuff to do, hehe… bye boss, see you later—”

Before he knew it, the orc grabbed him by the scarf and lifted him with one arm without any difficulty, since he was bigger and clearly strong:

“HEY!!! CALM DOWN, MY GRANDMA MADE THIS SCARF WITH ALL HER LOVE AND CARE, YOU KNOW!!!”

The orc, completely expressionless, said:

“You remember our ‘special training,’ Mr. Sharpy?”

His face was quite stern. Sharpy felt a strong chill and broke out in a cold sweat as he tried to escape the situation:

“Ah, come on… I-I’ve got a bunch of really important commitments, can’t you cut me some slack?”

The orc remained impassive and said:

“Unfortunately your… ‘important commitments’ will have to wait. You’re coming with me whether you like it or not…”

Sharpy struggled while still being held by the scarf. The orc turned to the skeleton, his expression becoming a little less serious:

“Could you do that for me, kid? If it’s not too much to ask.”

The skeleton was reluctant at first, but seeing that the orc would be quite busy with Sharpy, he sighed and said:

“Fine…”

He looked at Clara with indifference and mild repulsion. The orc, decisive, started to leave while dragging Sharpy along. The human in the beanie burst out laughing at Sharpy’s pathetic and funny situation:

“Gwahahaha… who’s the softie now, huh? ‘You’re too slow!!’ Hahaha.”

Sharpy, being dragged, got frustrated and irritated with him:

“Grrrrr… OH GO KICK ROCKS!! YOU KNOW I HATE THAT LINE…”

The situation pulled a smile out of Thomas, while James, still laughing, patted Thomas on the shoulder and wiped tears from laughing so hard:

“Owowow… that face of yours is asking for it too—”

Unexpectedly, he was grabbed by the clothing under his jacket. Before he could react, he was being dragged along with Sharpy. He laughed at Sharpy’s face when he saw he was coming too:

“W-WHAT?!? WHAT’S THE DEAL, BIG GUY???”

Grund answered while walking:

“I don’t think it would hurt if you kept your little friend company… I think you could use a bit of special training yourself.”

Thomas couldn’t believe this was happening just because he had teased the situation:

“BU-BUT WHAT THE FU—”

Sharpy commented while trying to hold back a laugh:

“You screwed yourself, idiot. Watch your mouth, partner, hihihihi.”

James gritted his teeth in anger. They argued and struggled while being forcibly dragged by Grund. The three who were left behind — Thomas, the skeleton, and Clara — watched the whole comical scene.

“Hum… had to be those two idiots… they’re a real trip. Heh.”

He said this before taking another drag, looking like a walking chimney (never put a single cigarette in your mouths):

The skeleton commented while rolling his eyes:

“Those two are hopeless… at this rate they’re going to die alone.”

“Hey, take that back, you walking corpse. Don’t go putting curses on people… even if you’re not exactly wrong.”

Thomas replied with a light smile, amused by what had happened.

Clara let out a few laughs watching the whole thing. There was a silence between the three of them, but it didn’t last long before one of them broke it:

“Well, shorty, after you do what you have to do with the girl, how about we go eat together at that—”

The skeleton interrupted him, staring with an impassive face, and spoke in a dry, sharp voice:

“No. I eat alone.”

Thomas put on a fake look of surprise at the skeleton’s quick refusal. He looked disappointed but already expected it — it was clear on his face. He quickly recovered, showing a more energetic and optimistic expression:

“You sure? One of us is gonna have to handle the whole all-you-can-eat.”  

Thomas tried to insist.

The skeleton simply didn’t answer, not even glancing at him.

Thomas shrugged and said:

“That’s a shame… but what can you do, right? Well, I’m starving… anyway, see you later, shorty.”

He left, disappearing into the small crowd that had formed ahead. Clara looked at the skeleton, a little uncomfortable with the way he had just acted. She thought to herself:

“He… seems like a decent person… right?”

The skeleton finally looked at her after a while. His gaze conveyed nothing but detachment. He said in a dry tone:

“Come with me…”

He then walked forward with his hands in the pockets of his overcoat. Clara, hearing what he said, didn’t feel comfortable being near him at all. She just looked up, briefly observing the dome — you could see the sky, but there was a faint blue glow emanating around the top of the city. Then she brought her eyes back to the skeleton walking ahead. With no other choice, she followed, taking her first steps into exploring Provisional City…

Something… new… waiting to be discovered in this hidden city.

Hello to everyone who has been following the process and development of my Bittertale story so far, how are you all doing?

I came here to ask a simple question to everyone who follows me. What is your opinion on the characters, story, concept, or anything else? I'd love to know! Since I don't usually interact that much, this is something that has been on my mind. And of course, if you have never consumed or even heard about my story, you are more than welcome to join in. :)