Wow I am really sorry for the long time it took to write a chapter. I would give excuses but nobody cares or really needs to know. Just to get it out that no updates happening over thanksgiving break. about the overly intenst battle scene, it wont happen again because well… one overly intense and two it shows what it looked like to Greil to kill his first living thing and to see blood split because of him. If it was too much for people I am sorry and won't be as intense in the future. I promise. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: Alone

The news of this pregnancy stunned Greil to his very core. He couldn't believe it. It seemed as if everything was being done to make sure that he doesn't achieve a peaceful life. His father died, his mother is pregnant, and he had a wound in his left arm that was still bleeding. His mother seemed to have momentarily forgotten of his injury. She was crying and Greil tried to comfort her. He started stretching out his left arm seeing as his mother was to his left and winced remembering the wound. She heard him hiss and remembered the wound he suffered.

"Greil, why didn't you say anything, you could die from lose of blood. I couldn't bear it if I lost you. You are all I have left." His mother said still crying

"It's oka…" he stopped short. He suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous. He could barely stand and felt his energy quickly disappearing. His knees started trembling and he slinked down to the floor. His mother cried out and ran into the house. Greil's head was still spinning so he had no idea of what was going on. His mother ran back in caring something in her arms.

"This is my heal staff. I may not be the best healer in the world but I can't do anymore harm." She walked over to him placed the staff over his arm and concentrated all her might into it. For a few horrible nerve-wracking seconds the staff remained as it was. Suddenly a dim light came from it growing stronger and stronger. As the light grew stronger Greil's wound began to heal ever so slightly. The wound closed up and the staff dimmed extraordinarily. Greil was still dizzy but not as much. The bleeding had stopped and some of his nauseous left with it. Relief swept over Greil as the wound was being healed when suddenly the staff dimmed completely and the pain restarted. It was all Greil could do to not yelp out because of the pain.

Greil's mother was swaying tried from her endeavor. He pushed himself up with his right arm, and caught her just as she was about to fall. He lifted with strength he never knew he had and walked toward his home. Inside he lay her on her bed and turned to leave.

"Wait don't leave yet. It's still early. Please Greil. Ride out to town and start trying to sell the farm. We can't stay here long. Using the money the farm collects we shall buy a house in the village. After I regain my strength I will clean up after your father and after the bandits. Take a horse and ride down there. Look for a cleric to finish up your wound as well." She said drifting off to sleep

"Yes mother I will leave. But first I must bury father. I am sorry for disobeying your orders but I must do this. I can not live with myself if I do not." Greil muttered to himself. He trudged out to the barn collected a shovel and started digging a hole.

For the next two hours Greil worked on the hole. At first the pain in his left arm was unbearable, but as time went by it numbed in pain and didn't feel it. His need to bury his father drowned out the pain. As time passed he received blisters on his hands and his muscles ached, but he didn't stop. Finally he finished the hole. He ran to his room and found his blanket. He ran back to his father and wrapped him in the blanket.

"You made me this blanket. It has kept me warm and safe for my whole life. Now it will keep you warm and safe. I will take care of mother. I promise" he said. A few tears slid down his face and landed on his father. He didn't notice or didn't want to notice and they were left there. Carrying his father to his grave he remembered all the times his father had carried him. His thoughts were cut short as he reached the hole. He lay his father in the grave and was about to shovel the dirt back in when he thought of something he could do. He found two weeds in the garden his father was trying to start and placed them on his covered chest.

"The weeds haven't won the battle yet. You'll conquer them one day." Then he shoveled the dirt back in, in complete silence. What he didn't notice was his mother standing at the door looking at him and crying. She turned around and left so he wouldn't notice her.

With his father buried Greil went into the barn to find a horse. He picked a dark brown horse that he had grown with the help of his father. The horse was named Shadow, for its skin. The horse was a strong horse and could easily make it to town and back within a day. He found a saddle on the make-shift hook and placed it on Shadow. He climbed on. He was about to kick the horse to start it when he realized he never rode to town alone. He felt some fear at the concept of going alone, but he knew he couldn't cause his mother any more discomfort. He brushed it off and rode away towards town.

The trip to town was uneventful. The sun kept rising in the sky causing Greil to sweat profusely. He nearly slid off of Shadow his hands were so slippery. The sun hadn't even reached its highest point in the sky and Greil was already nearing the town. Within twenty minutes he reached it. The town was no Melior, the capital of Crimea, but it wasn't too small either. There was a blacksmith, a school, a chapel, and a nursery. Greil knew he should visit the clerics in the nursery so they could fix up his wound but he decided to look around first. He had taken a few coins in case he got hungry but didn't expect to use all of them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a stable and he marched the horse toward it. Before he even could say anything to old stable hand croaked

"Three coins to hold that pretty thing" The man pointed at the horse. Greil instantly distrusted him

"I am sorry sir, I thought this was a cheaper stable. I am afraid to say I can not afford this. Thank you.

"One coin then, can you afford that, pipsqueak?" offered the old man. Greil didn't know what to say. He wished his father was here so he could come with with an excuse. Greil was frozen in place. His mind was blank and his mouth was dry. He licked his lips but it offered no help.

"Well? Whaddya say? Will you let me look after that beautiful piece of work?"

"Father, leave him alone. He said he can not afford it so let him be" the voice of a youth said from behind the stable. A boy who looked a few years older than Greil walked out. He was tall almost a foot taller than Greil and he wasn't wearing a shirt. He had a muscular built but it looked like it just came from age not from working day in and day out. The boy walked over to his father and whispered something in his ear. The old man mumbled something back and left.

"So if you aren't willing to pay one coin to stable a horse, what are you doing in the village? Do you even know what village this is?" asked the boy

"Yeah I do. I have been here many times. This is my first time here alone though. The name's Greil. What's yours?" Greil answered.

"I'm Mitcell. As you can tell I live in this village. Where are you from?" asked Mitcell.

"I'm from the farm all the way past the hill. My father's name was Gawain but he was slain by bandits. I came here to try and sell the farm and move myself and my mother here." Greil answered telling the boy of his plight

"You're telling me that you are a Gawain? I am friends with that blacksmith and he will not stop talking about that axe your grandfather built. He saw it once as a little boy and that made him want to become a blacksmith. He would be very pleased to meet you. Let's go meet him and then I'll help you with selling your farm. And about your father, may I ask when he died?" Mitcell asked

"He was killed this morning by bandits. I slew the bandits and left my mother to recover from the shock. I just buried my father. I was injured in the battle and I need to find a cleric. My mother healed as much as she could but I need to see a real cleric. Please help me find one then I promise I will go visit this blacksmith." Greil begged

"My friend you should have said something earlier. Come I'll take you to a cleric. Don't worry about the blacksmith. You have to heal first. Come on let's go" Mitcell said.

"Thank you greatly Mitcell. But I made a promise that I will see the blacksmith and I intend to keep it." Greil told him. Mitcell started walking toward the nursery and Greil followed dragging Shadow along with them. As they walked Greil looked around at the village as if he was never there before. Even though he had not been alone for a long time he still felt scared for the time that he was. Now he had a friend who seemed to kind enough to help. He wasn't alone anymore. At least for now he thought His thoughts drifted to how his mother was holding up. He was scared for her. He was scared for the both of them. Taking care of a baby was not something that could be done without a father. The money from the farm wouldn't last forever, and Greil didn't know how or where he could get a job. He thought about selling Urvan but then he decided that it would be a dishonor to his grandfather's name.

Finally they came to the nursery. Mitcell offered to walk in with Greil and Greil accepted. Inside they saw a young woman praying to a statue of Ashera. The woman was attractive but she was a cleric and they were in a room of the goddess so Greil instantly banished those thoughts.

"Pardon me miss, but could you please heal my friend? He was hurt badly and needs assistance." Mitcell asked. She turned around and smiled at them. Greil couldn't help but grin sheepishly. He also noticed that Mitcell was without a shirt and felt a pang of jealously that he couldn't show off.

"May I see your wound?" she asked politely. Greil rolled up his sleeve and stuck out his arm. The place where the blade went through was still blue but there wasn't a hole there anymore. "It looks like someone already healed a little bit of it for you. I myself am an apprentice so my healing powers aren't fully… established yet. But I will see what I can do. How did you get such a wound anyway?" Mitcell elbowed him inconspicuously and waved him hand in a signal of no.

"I am sorry but I would rather not go into the circumstances of the injury. Please miss, may you just heal it?" Greil answered. She nodded and bent down with the staff hovering over his wound. This time the staff lit up faster and brighter. The relief came again and it lasted longer. The blue was disappearing and the pain was also gone. As before the light from the staff dimmed, except this time it dimmed faster. It went out and the girl fell back. She was panting slightly.

"I healed the internal wound and most of the external wound. Don't work it too hard for a week. A scar will be there but if you want it removed come by later when the cleric comes." She said.

"Thank you miss. You don't know how much you have helped. I will leave the scar. It's a symbol of..." He was broken off by Mitcell. They both thanked her and Greil gave her a coin as a thank you. She tried to deny it saying that this was training but Greil remained stubborn. Finally they walked out;

"Why did you stop me both times?" Greil asked Mitcell.

"You want to sell your farm right? It's best you don't go telling stories of bandits attacking there. People might get discouraged" Mitcell answered. Greil realized how good of a friend Mitcell was to him. Greil kept his promise of going to the blacksmith with Mitcell. At the blacksmith's the blacksmith went crazy over meeting Greil. He asked about Urvan and Greil's family. Greil decided to tell him. He couldn't think of a reason why. Mitcell didn't stop him. After the blacksmith Mitcell, as he promised, showed Greil around to some people who wanted to buy a farm. Not many people wanted a farm because they didn't want the work that came with it. But a family that according to Mitcell moved into the town did want a farm. They offered to come see it the next day and Greil accepted. Mitcell offered to take Greil home for supper, but Greil graciously declined saying he had to go tell his mother the news and stay with here in these hard times. He hadn't told Mitcell she was pregnant. He couldn't find it in him to trust him too much yet. So even though he had a friend he was still alone. All alone except for his mother. He hoped she would recover from his father's death. He hoped that he would never have to be truly alone.