Nat had just finished setting down food on the dining room table when Mary shyly sat down on one of the chairs.
She wore one of Nat’s outdoor shirts, a simple long-sleeved pants with suspenders to complement it. It seemed more fitting for a farm boy.
Nat overheard her mother ranting to her father in the kitchen the next room over.
“Goodness me, that girl is as stubborn as a mule! She absolutely refused to wear any dresses! She insisted that a skirt could easily get ripped up and not protect her legs in the slightest. She even refused to wear dress shirts! Said something about them being ‘too thin’! Harrumph! And don’t get me started with her bath! It was as if she never taken a bath by herself before! I had to sit in the bathtub with her and walk her through using filterizer!”
With her task of setting out the food on the table done, Nat sat in the seat next to Mary as she waited for her parents to join the table.
“I hope my mom wasn’t too hard on you. You look good in my clothes.” Nat offers.
“Yeah...”
She didn’t seem to be very comfortable. Mary was currently wearing very boyish clothes, complete with a plain long-sleeved pants and a simple t-shirt.
“My parents are okay with us eating dinner early. So, eat up.”
Mary didn’t touch her food.
“Are you waiting for my parents to come eat with us or...” Nat asked.
Mary glanced up at that. “No, no. I appreciate the courtesy.... It’s just that I already ate some rabbits out in the forest this morning. I’m not hungry right now...”
If she wasn’t hungry, then why did she keep staring at her food?
Nat refused to put up with that. Especially when it comes to her mom’s godly homemade cooking. She rose from her chair and walked up to Mary, picking up a spoon full of food, and holding it up to Mary’s face.
“Say “Ah.””
“Huh?”
“Open your mouth. Big sister Nathan is not going to let you starve yourself.”
Mary’s hands waved in panic. “I can feed mysel-“
Nat plunged the spoon into her mouth mid-sentence.
“Mhmp!”
Mary managed to pull the spoon out of her mouth, but she ended up swallowing the food anyways. Mary snatched the spoon out of Nat’s hand. “I can feed myself, thank you very much.”
A cheeky smile stretched across Nat’s face. “Sorry for trying to kill you. Did the food taste good?”
Mary gave a reluctant nod. “...Yes... I suppose… though I didn’t have that much time to taste it. The after taste is adequate... I think. Just… don’t do that again.”
Nat happily saluted. “Big Sister Nathan at your service!”
“Try not to choke our guest big sister Nathan.” Mary and Nat turn their heads to Nat’s parents entering the dining room.
Nat’s father holds out his hand to Mary. “It’s a pleasure to meet you...”
Mary returns the handshake. “Mary. And you?”
A warm smile formed on Nat’s father’s face. “John. Or is it Kat? Does it really matter? Joking aside, just call me Nathan’s father.”
Mary nodded briskly.
Nat’s mother turned to face Mary. “My name is Reedson and my husband’s real name is Palma. But you can call me Nathan’s Mother.” Nat’s mother clarified.
Mary nods again. “Yes, Nathan’s Mother and Father.”
Nat nodded too. “Yes… Reedson…”
“I told you to call me Mother!” Reedson exclaimed in a flustered fashion.
Nat rolled her eyes. “Yes… Mother…”
Reedson nodded. “Nathan, would you be so kind to return to your seat? I believe our guest is grown enough to feed herself.”
Nat nods. “Yes Mom.”
“DON’T CALL ME MOM! Call me mother.” Reedson couldn’t hide her flustered expression.
Nat rolled her eyes again.
And so, the four sat around the dining table as they prepare for dinner. Or rather, Nat’s parents prepare for dinner. Nat and Marry already started eating.
Nat’s mother stared at them with an aura that demanded attention. Shame that neither of the girls were looking back.
“Ahem.”
Mary looked up to the source of the voice, but Nat kept on eating. She remained blissfully unaware of her mother, Reedson’s eyes closing due to the sheer amount of irritation threatening to show in front of a guest.
“I can understand Mary not knowing our customs... But you should know better. I didn’t say anything about you eating early young lady.”
The only response she gets is the sight of Nat happily chomping away at her food. Mary’s gaze averted in shame. “Pardon me for eating early. Nathan said it was okay. I wasn’t aware of any customs.”
Nat’s father stepped in, waving away Mary’s bows of apologies. “That’s fine. Some of our customs are exclusive to this town. You see, we thank who provided the food, which would be me and my wife, then we pay respects to the founder of this town and ask that his spirit continues to protect us... And then...”
Mary looked like a student who just saw flaws in a multiple-choice test. And thus, she interrupted before the topic was dismissed. “You say that as if to pray to the town’s founder. Is your town’s founder a god or something?”
Nat’s father waves his hands in a dismissive matter. “NO NO! Nothing like that! We do pray to a god, but it’s definitely not the town’s founder. It’s more of a tradition than anything religious.”
Mary’s head tilted quizzically. “Then who or what is your town’s founder?
Nat’s parents look at each other for a moment. “You know how this town is called Pegasus Shoe Town? It’s because it was founded by a Pegasus.”
Mary nodded knowingly. “Nathan told me.”
Nat’s mother cocked an eyebrow. “If you already know, then why are you asking about the Town’s founder?”
Nat was about to explain, but Mary stepped in. “She only told me that the founder was a Pegasus. But how can a Pegasus found a town for cloud folk? How could a Pegasus communicate with cloud folk?”
Nat’s father chuckled. “You don’t know? Some Pegasus can speak our tongue. More specifically, the older ones can. The young ones that were breeded to carry the king’s soldiers or carry our delivery men are usually almost never taught to speak our tongue.”
“Sorry if I sounded rude. I wasn’t aware that Pegasus had capabilities to speak our tongue.” Mary clarified.
Nat’s parents once again shared a glance.
Nat’s father resumed. “No worries. I can understand why some people don’t know. The Sky King heavily discriminates against Pegasus who speak our tongue. It’s why you usually don’t see any mention of their ability to speak in this kingdom’s written books, nor hear many people talk about it. Not to mention that wild pegasus are rarely seen on lower elevation levels, like this town, so most people don’t usually see a pegasus speaking our tongue to begin with. It’s more likely to find a homebred Pegasus than a wild pegasus speaking our tongue these days. Wild pegasus are usually found up in highly elevated places such as the mountain. Pegasus that can speak are more common knowledge to people who live up in the mountains. I even heard of stories of delivery men and mountain men who befriended and rode talking pegasus! Though I’m not sure how much is fact and how much was exaggeration...”
Mary’s head cocked to the side. “Hmmmm... If talking pegasus are uncommon in these parts, then how do you know about them? Does it have to do with Sagittarius, the founder of this town?”
Nat interjected before her father could respond. “I can take over for this one. It has to do with the town legend. As the legend goes, Sagittarius and his herd were chased by hunters down to ground level. But before the hunters can find them, a woman with an unknown name helped them evade the hunters. But they didn’t evade them for long. Soon, the whole forest was teeming with hunters and soldiers for months. The pegasus herd was relentlessly hunted, the woman leading them from one shelter to the next. But every cave and forest area she placed them in were eventually found by their pursuers. Eventually, the woman hid the herd in her secluded cottage in the forest. And when the hunters eventually found them again, Sagittarius finally stood their ground and protected the woman and her cottage from the hunters. Ever since then, the herd stayed there, and soon, the woman built some buildings for the herd to stay in. Soon, more cloudfolk in need of shelter came, and one thing led to another until the nameless woman’s cottage grew into a full town! Soon, the pegasus’s pursuers gave up, and the town started thriving. Sagittarius felt that he was no longer needed, and so he and his herd returned to the mountains.”
Mary listened... She processed... and then she asked her question. “So this town was created because Sagittarius was around to protect it while it was still developing? But what about the woman? Doesn’t she qualify as a founder too? Was her name not recorded in history?”
“The town legend never mentioned her name.“ Nat answered.
Mary nodded and filed the new found information into her noggin. “Okay...”
“Does your town have any legends?” Nat asks.
Mary’s body stiffened. “Um... I haven’t heard of any legends... to my knowledge anyway.”
“Okay!” Nat responded.
Nat’s parents raise their eyebrows when Mary avoided mentioning were she came from, but they didn’t press her for answers.
However, Nat isn’t completely dense. As the friendly chatter and tasty food comes its way, a different but very present question hung at the back of Nat’s mind…
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Note: Special thanks to LeezardMan for proofreading this chapter.