Hi there, and thanks for reading chapter two of my wicked little story. (haha, word play, haha) ... *cough* yeah.

I'll keep this author's note short (but the chapter long :D):

Enjoy!

~ Chapter two ~

Military training had taught Leonardo a lot of valuable lessons; battle tactics, survival techniques, even some political know-how. It had taught him to deal with a wide variety of situations, and deal with them well. All that knowledge, and yet, right now, it was failing him thoroughly.

None of his teachers ever mentioned what to do with lunging, insane clerics.

Feeling sore and lightheaded from his fight with both the torrents, and Begnion soldiers, he had regained consciousness just a little while ago.
Unaware of a nearby presence, he had opened his eyes, only to be pinned to the ground with force-- almost effectively giving him a heart attack in the process. But judging from the culprit's face, he had startled her just as badly as she him.
Her amber eyes were wide as saucers. Disarrayed hair, and ruffled white robes (which had made him reckon she had to be a cleric) finished the image of complete and utter shock.

He hadn't pushed her off him yet.
Something about roughly shoving a female member of the church just felt... morally wrong. Plus, he wasn't exactly in his best condition. The last thing he wanted to do was anger her.
She continued to stare down at him, mouth agape.

Well, this was very awkward, and literally not going anywhere. Not unless he said something, so he did.

'Would you mind... getting off of me?'

The cleric seemed to consider his request. He could almost hear her think, weighing her chances against him. He just hoped she hurried up with making up her mind, her weight on his injured chest really started to hurt.
After what seemed like ages, she hesitantly released her grip, and backed away a little.

Leonardo suppressed a sigh in relief. He sat up, and winced when a sharp pain shot through his uncooperative muscles. Obviously the aftermath from being in that freezing water for so long. Water and open wounds did not make a good combination either. Luckily for him, his injuries were less serious than he thought. The cuts weren't deep and would heal quickly, he concluded with some relieve, after a brief inspection.
He glanced back at the cleric.

She still not taken her eyes off of him, but didn't seem to be at all interested in initiating conversation. This was really started to get very uncomfortable. To be frank, he had girls staring at him more often for reasons beyond him, but he never actually had to deal with any of them. Maybe she was just waiting for him to start talking?
It wasn't like words were his forte, but it was worth a shot. She might even have some useful information about the area and such... If he was able to convince her he didn't have bad intentions, that is. She still looked rather frightened.

'Who-' Leonardo started, but the girl cut him off before he could finish.

'My name is Natalie,' she breathed nervously.

'Natalie. I'm Leonardo. Uhm, nice to me-'

Again, Natalie would not let him finish his sentence.

'I know who you are.'
Her eyebrows furrowed in an angry frown, all signs of nervousness gone.

Okay, that didn't go over well. Please go back to being astounded, he pleaded silently.
Leonardo tried to shift himself in a more comfortable position, but groaned as he got painfully reminded of his injuries by a sharp stinging. He would have to treat them soon, even if the wounds weren't that grave. If he remembered correctly, he still had a vulnerary in his pocket...

'H-hold still, I'll fix that,' Natalie suddenly said, completely baffling him for the second time that day. The cleric seemed to switch moods as quick as a flash.
Well, at least he was on the good side now, let's try to keep it that way. Although, he had absolutely no clue how this Natalie's mind worked, and what to say to her. This was one other thing military school did not cover; girls.

Natalie whispered a few words in the ancient language, and the orb on her staff illuminated.
After only a few seconds, the cuts and scrapes on his upper body had vanished, and the cramp in his muscles faded away.

'Thank you,' he told her with a small, but grateful smile.

Natalie only bit her lip in response, and then averted her eyes. Leonardo had not missed the conflicting emotions written all over her face, however. There was anger again, but also... desperation? Seriously, how could he have said "thank you" wrong?

His mind was racing. She had looked mad when she told him she knew who he was, and now she was angry, somewhat desperate again when he thanked her. Was she working for Begnion? No, then he would have already been dead, and her face was far too kind and soft to be soldier.
This did not make any sense at all. Unless... she was from Daein and did not like him being here because where the Dawn Brigade went, there would undoubtedly be trouble. It had happened before. The first time he had been mad about it, but later he realized he couldn't really blame people for thinking like that. Everyone was just coping the best way they could.

'You are... different,' Natalie muttered, breaking his thought stream.

'W-what?' he asked, snapping back to reality, not understanding what she meant.

Natalie didn't answer his question. Instead, she stood up, and straightened out her robes.
Only then she spoke to him again: 'Leonardo, you should go. Soon, this place will be crawling with soldiers.'

'And what about you? Wandering off alone in a time like this is dangerous.' Leonardo asked, somewhat feeling responsible for the frail cleric.
Natalie looked like she wouldn't last a minute if he left her alone. She might be a bit confusing, but she was a good person, he could tell.

There it was again, that hint of desperation in her eyes.

'I-I'

Natalie never got the chance to finish that sentence.

Leonardo head shot up when he heard the rustling of leaves nearby, followed by some gruff male voices. Soldiers! He didn't waste any moment. He quickly grabbed Natalie, who yelped in protest, and dragged her to the bushes with him, out of sight. She struggled in his grasp, but when he signaled her to calm down, she finally held still. Just in time. Seconds later, the shapes of several Begnion soldiers came into view. He just hoped the soldiers could not hear his rapid heartbeat.

'Keep looking. That little Dawn Brigade pest has to be arround here somewhere,' the biggest and most stupid looking of the bunch spoke.

'Ugh, that kid was already a corpse when he hit the water, why do we have to search anyway?' a second soldier complained.

The first soldier growled in annoyance. 'You know these were Sir Jarod's orders. If we don't find that twat, we'll be in big trouble.'

'Speaking of trouble; where did that prissy cleric go? She was supposed to be here too.'

Leonardo felt Natalie flinch at those words. Was Begnion after her too? He couldn't imagine why. Damn those Begnion dastards, they never pass up an opportunity to harass some poor innocent he thought angrily.

'Bah, who cares. She'll turn up one way or another,' one of the other men replied 'We have bigger problems now. Let's move on.'

Leonardo didn't dare to move until he couldn't hear the rustling of the trees or voices anymore. They were safe again, for now. He released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He turned to Natalie, to see if she was okay.
With wide eyes, she stared in the direction where the Begnion soldiers had disappeared. She looked even more terrified than she had when they first "met".
So he had been right, those heartless soldiers were after her. Only one way to know for sure, though.

'Natalie, I don't mean to intrude, but were those soldiers talking about you?' he asked carefully, not wanting to upset her even more.

Natalie turned her head to face him, and then she nodded slowly.
That was just horrible. There are some boundaries you don't cross; chasing around unarmed clerics was one of them. It was people like Natalie reminded him why he had joined the Dawn Brigade.

'You should come with me for a while. I'll help you escape,' Leonardo offered.
He stood up from the ground, and extended his hand to help her get up.

Natalie glanced at his hand, but didn't take it.
'Why?' she asked softly.

That was a good question. He had enough problems of his own, and he couldn't even guarantee her safety. Yet...

'Well, you helped me first. And besides, this is the Dawn Brigade's work after all,' he said, after considering his exact reasons for a moment.

The words Natalie spoke then, were the last he had expected.

'No, just leave! And pray we never meet again!'

Natalie slapped his hand away, and without ever looking back, she ran.

And that concludes chapter two, with Leonardo not realizing that Natalie was in fact a Begnion soldier, because of her robes and other not-soldierlike characteristics.

Enjoyed the read? Want to rage and rant at me for wasting your valuable time? Anything in between? Let me know!

Next chapter will be in Natalie's point of view again. I'll be switching between the two's point of view each chapter for the duration of the story.

I have a question for you readers: we don't learn all that much about Leonardo's personality. Do you think I wrote him okay? I just filled in the gaps the game left with the way I think he is. I always thought of Leonardo as someone who really thinks about anything he does, and sorta polite.