Chapter 5A: A Switch of Memory

Bandit walked down the road that the caravan was on, he was thinking about his memories of his caravan life. It was torture for him to remember that, but he did anyway. "Stupid Strollheim, Stupid Spire, Stupid… Auron." A creepy chill ran down his spine, he didn't want to think of that name. He wandered through a town, thinking about everything, everything that had happened to him, since he met Strollheim and Him.

He wanted something to do, a favor to run, a person to kill, or a time-consuming task for him to do while he was waiting, in other words, he was bored. He went to the closest inn that was nearby, rented a room, and fell to sleep. He hadn't got any decent sleep since the incident; another chill ran down his spine. He fell asleep to a deep dream.

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"Let's kill her" Strollheim's voice echoed in his mind, back to the night he first came in contact with him, "Wait, I'll do it." Bandit said, "You shouldn't have to bloody your hands, partner" Bandit took an arrow out of his quiver and stuck the woman's neck; she was dead in an instant. They soon heard a loud voice yell "Mom" and footsteps coming up the stairs, he saw the opportunity, and jumped out the small window. He waited outside, listening to what was going on. He soon heard a soft "I like you, kid" and a loud "ugh", a few seconds later. He ran around the street, got back into the house, and ran up the stairs. He stared into the room and saw a sight unlike any other; Strollheim was on the ground bleeding in a pretty bad state. He looked at the small, almost unnoticeable kid on the floor, he was also a bloody mess. Could this small midget have been able to beat Strollheim? Strollheim had more arm and leg strength then he did, but Bandit was faster. Bandit really didn't have any arm or leg strength, yet he was just as strong as Strollheim. For all he knew, he could have been the best archer there ever was. The things he saw made him believe that he was much stronger than him, he knew he could beat that kid, no matter how strong he was. He tried to wake Strollheim up, but nothing worked until he slapped him. Strollheim woke up and immediately was alert. He drew his sword to slice whatever was there. Bandit stopped him by yelling "Strollheim, it's ok, calm down." Strollheim looked down at the boy, he then mentioned to Bandit, "You do know that the rule states that we have to bring him along, he beat one of us, he has to join. Remember Spire, the only reason he joined was because he beat you." "Shut up" Bandit interrupted. "Fine, he joins, but I've got a bad feeling about this kid" they walked through the town all the way to the main road, which was quite a ways. Strollheim was carrying the boy, Bandit said, " you do know that this kid is going to hate us, I mean, we killed his mother, well, I did. He may like you and Spire but he will always hate me" Strollheim looked into Bandit's eyes and said " you're probably right" They walked into the caravan, Spire asked while looking at the boy " Who in the world is he?" Strollheim replied "Oh, him, he is your new teammate."

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Ahhh, Bandit arose with a shock. He muttered to himself, "Wow, what a dream. I haven't thought about that night in a long, long time." He decided he needed more sleep, so he tried to go back to his dream but he was unsuccessful. He glanced over at the clock with his eyes wide open, 1:00 in the morning. He began to think more about the connection between Auron and himself. It was wider than Auron knew.

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The 3 friends all sat around their table in the caravan, playing poker while talking about their adventures. The Caravan was parked off the road, so Spire could join them in their card game. "Ante up," Bandit said " If that kid don't like me, then I just won't like him back" Strollheim put 10 places in the pot, then said "I think you should like him even if he don't like you back. There is something special about that kid, he beat me in a one-on-one match. I'm gonna raise him to be just as strong or perhaps stronger than any of us. There ain't nothing you can do to stop me. He is going to learn to appreciate me, whether you like it or not." Bandit knew he was drunk, not because of his stupid speech, or his bad grammar, but because he passed out right there on the floor. Spire got up to check on him, but Bandit stopped him by yelling "Ah, leave him be." After Poker, they played Blackjack and a number of various card games. This continued for a few hours, and eventually Strollheim woke up. They were silent for a while, and then Spire asked out of nowhere, "Out of curiosity, what do you guys think his name is? I think it might be Stroll, as in miniature Strollheim." He quietly laughed to himself. "Well," Strollheim started "I think it might be Gerald" They all immediately burst out in laughter, even Strollheim, who was laughing at himself. They then both looked at Bandit, who couldn't think of a name, so he said, with no idea in his head, out of nowhere, "Auron." He felt a sharp pain in his head that was liked being stabbed by a thousand daggers. Strollheim and Spire had no idea how much pain Bandit was in. The boy walked in the room, they all stared at him. He stared back.

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Bandit tried to forget all these memories of Rickshaw, Strollheim, Spire, and his life at the caravan. The more he thought about it, the more they came. Once again he started to flash back to an old memory. "No, stop it." He screamed. But it didn't.