Chapter 3: The Search Begins
After at least three hours have past chasing after Gwenn since they left the Lobby, now heading towards a small clan that had recently been raided by the largest known clan out there called 'Barbarians', Gwenn had come to a sudden stop with him seeing the sight of the damage done by the barbarians, he turned to Kayla trying to warn her ahead from seeing the horrible sight of injuries, but she was already seeing what has happened, and it seemed like something inside her seemed to be triggered by the amount of injured and dead in her line of sight.
Almost as if it was some sort of instinct Kayla ran down to the injured people, overwhelmed by the need to help them, despite gwenn's attempt to warn and stop her, going to help the first person she can get too, seeing that person with a broken leg, trying to assess the damage, then she scrounge around near by trying to make a splint for the leg.
Hearing them whimper and complain "Do you even know what you're doing!?" They snap out at Kayla, while she was finishing up making the splint "Please stop moving otherwise it's going to hurt worse, and you don't want that." she said as she prepped the splint to the broken leg.
As she finishes up fixing the splint to the injured man's leg, Kayla gets startled by the booming yell of this hulking man stomping towards her "Hey! We do not take kindly to strangers here, especially when we just got attacked because of strangers, so leave! Or I'm going to make you!" The man's voice echoed out angrily towards her.
Kayla who was intimidated tried to speak " All I was doing was..." She stuttered nervously a bit getting interrupted by him "That's it, I warned you!" He yelled at her, grabbing her, causing Kayla to yelp when she saw the man's boulder sized fist reeling back causing Kayla to attempt to struggle out of the man's grip, while the man with the splint held leg and tried to yell at the hulking man.
"Come on, you really think she is a spy?" The man said limping over to the hulked out man, "Look at her it's like she is a lost pup-" the injured man was interrupted by the boulder fist to his face causing him to fall back a considerable distance away "Well if you got those traps right we wouldn't have had this problem you worm!" He said clearly angered, reeling his fist back again.
Kayla then saw Gwenn grab the man's wrist, with the man snapping his head over to Gwenn, he immediately became enraged seeing who had stopped him "you!? You're supposed to be dead?!" The man said letting Kayla go causing her to topple over slightly.
"Look, I don't want any trouble, she's just trying to help." Gwenn stated, releasing his grip from the man's wrist.
The man then grabs Gwenn by his scarf and slightly lifts him off the ground, only to shout in his face "What?! You fake your death in hopes people would forget what you have done, Ace?! Did those barbarians hit us because of you! That's it, huh!"
Gwenn only was giving an unamused small stern look, seemingly not giving a single care in the world what this man was doing to him. "It was your clan's actions that made the Barbarians retaliate against you, I had nothing to do with it." Gwenn added somewhat sternly.
The man looks at Gwenn silently and throws him over, causing Gwenn to crash to the ground. "You better keep those mitts clean..thief.." The man said as he storms off back towards the ruined farm.
Kayla who tried to catch her footing as she stood up and wiping the dust off of her as she quickly made her way to Gwenn as he lifted himself slightly with a somewhat saddened and shameful look. "Is...what he said true?" She asks because of what she witnessed.
Gwenn said nothing, it only made her feel bad for him, "Gwenn…" She attempted to gently reach out to him to help him up, as she gently grabbed his arm. Gwenn immediately recoiled from her touch as he quickly stood up, "Don't." He stated lowly and somewhat shamefully as he walked off and left her.
Kayla frowned seeing Gwenn walking away and attempted to follow him "Gwenn...Wait…!" She pleaded to him, "I don't believe you're a bad person like that guy claimed...honestly I think most of that intelligence went more into his muscles.. So I'm sure he is in no means capable to judge anyone.." she said out to Gwenn still following him.
Kayla came to a sudden halt when he did, peering over his shoulder at her with a stern look. "You don't get it, do you?" He said, Kayla's confused silence only made him squint slightly at her as he knew she didn't, "Just leave me be, I can't do this…" He added concerningly as he walked off once more.
Kayla only stood there with a sad expression as he disappeared in the distance, heading towards the tree's which was a forest near this clan. How could she understand and get it if he wont tell her, "Do you even know what Ace means?" The man that Kayla previously helped with his broken leg had walked up to her giving her a small concern look.
Kayla turned and directed her attention to the man with a small confused expression now, "Isn't it a form of a card game?" She answered, knowing she was most likely wrong. Which she was when he let out a small sigh, "Ace means expert, and in his case, he was an expert in theft. Even before the disaster befolded, he aced at everything that meant theft and stealing, and because of those wings of his, he managed to escape easily every time." He began.
"Ace continued to steal from people, but mostly the clans, foods, supplies, you name it. He did this just about his whole life, then he suddenly stopped a few years back." He added, Kayla was left intrigued as she listened though with concern in her eyes, "Why did he stop? I don't believe that's him though… is it?" She questioned concerningly, not wanting to believe this.
Gwenn had been so kind to her, and yet again he saved her from that one man and helped her get this far, preventing her from breaking down as well from being away from her home and family. The man only let out a small chuckle, this confused her, "No one knows, after he attempted theft on the Barbarians he was severely injured, still managed to escape, though was never found. So everyone presumed he died because of the injury, bled out since nothing was heard about him since then to this day." He said with a small shrug.
Kayla formed a small stern look at the man, about to say something in order to defend Gwenn, which this man clearly had already assumed she was going to do. "I'm not finished." He said, sitting down because of his leg, Kayla quickly formed a surprised look.
"He actually stole for people as well, helping them out from starvation and freezing to death. I was one of them actually, doubt he remembers me though, was several years back before I found myself in this clan. I was on brink of starvation one night, fell and decided to rest against a tree, that's when he came down from flying noticing me, leant me some food that managed to help me keep going, though I didn't know it was stolen until I heard rumors that began to spread about him, so he quickly became despised, hated, and wanted dead." He said, giving Kayla a subtle smile.
"I believe he was doing it to survive, but also to help others survive even if a majority of people don't see it, most do." He added, "But why do you keep it secret, not defend him?" She questioned him. "You still don't get it do you?" He questioned, glancing up at her concerningly.
"More people want him dead than the ones that don't. If we help him, we're asking to be killed too, why do you think he avoids people and is alone. Why do you think he recoiled from you, and by the looks of it, you didn't know any of this, he didn't tell you because he wanted to protect you." He stated concerningly. Now Kayla understood, Gwenn didn't say anything because he didn't want to involve her in his problems when she had her own, now she knew why he was being so hesitant towards the name and the questions, and the people.
"I hate to say it, but you shouldn't be around him, he's bad luck." He said sadly. Kayla immediately gave him a very stern and angry look, she hated to do this but she did it anyway as she glanced down at her right hand, removing the glove and showing him the Arkawa symbol that was embedded on top of her palm.
He immediately had a surprised look form on his face and quickly jolted at her hand, grabbing it and hiding the symbol. "You're insane! If people found out about this about you, you're dead!" He growled, Kayla knew he would keep it secret and she took her chances in order to defend Gwenn.
"He's not Ace anymore, if he's an outcast, then so am I." She growled angrily, recoiling her hand away from him and putting the glove back on as she turned her back at him and walked away, quickly chasing after Gwenn in the direction he went.
Kayla managed to find Gwenn sitting in front of a small lake, she was honestly amazed to see such a beautiful water source so close to a desert. "Thought I said leave me be." Gwenn stated, already knowing Kayla was there behind him, not even turning or glancing at her.
He tossed a small pebble at the lake which skipped across the water, toying with another one in his hands as he was slumped down once more. Kayla slipped the bag she had been carrying the whole time off her back, letting it fall to the ground as she approached behind him closer.
"You know, don't you…" He questioned, she could hear the sadness and shame in his voice as she approached and made her way in front of him, gently crouching down to his sitting level. "You've been alone your whole life… haven't you..?" She asked, immediately still having a sad expression herself of pity.
Still, he refused to look at her as he only closed his eyes, looking down slightly with a small sigh, clearly showing her the answer was an obvious one.
Kayla silently wrapped her arms around Gwenn after he sighed and stayed keeping her arms around him tightly, looking up at him with a look of reassurance refusing to release him from her arms as she embraced him.
This action of hers surprised him as she felt him stiffen somewhat unsureningly. She knew immediately he most likely has never been hugged before, and if he never has with just this, then he probably hasn't with other forms of comfort.
He relaxed a bit, realizing she wasn't letting go. "You can let go now…" He said uncertianingly, Kayla only shook her head in disagreement, only embracing him tighter so he wouldn't attempt to break free as he clearly needed the hug.
Gwenn only let out a small sigh in defeat as he reluctantly wrapped his arm around her. She knew it hurt him remembering the past, all the terrible things he did considering theft was a crime, and it still was a way of resulting hate towards said person who performs such actions.
He's been an outcast his whole life, no one to care for, no one to care for him, someone to consider a friend, family or more. He helped her and now she wanted to help him, she wasn't going to let his actions in the past change her thoughts on the one's he's performed now, she still saw him to be kind and gentle, and accepting.
She smiled warmly to his arm wrapping around her and looked out at the lake seeing the reflection coming from it, This place was most definitely beautiful. She's only been able to see places like this from books back at home. "Did you really get severely injured a few years back by the barbarians?" She questioned him, still refusing to let him go.
Gwenn noticed her staring at the lake, as he also directed his eyes at the reflection of the trees that showed on the surface of the water and let out a subtle sigh. "Ace is just a nickname people started calling me because of the ways I was always succeeding in the thieving of people and clans, no one really knows my actual name because they prefer to call me that… which in short is a thief." He began, tossing another small pebble into the lake where she watched it skip across the water, leaving her somewhat wondering how he did that, she thought pebbles and rocks just sunk.
"What you heard is true, I did fake my death in a way because I learned to survive on my own without needing to steal, so I wanted to stop, I thought if people knew I was dead, it would help them not worry about a thief showing up every night, So I took advantage of that injury from the barbarians, disappeared." He added as he leaned back slightly, using his hand for support.
Kayla finally let go of him slightly as she looked up at him concerningly, so he really did get badly hurt that day, it only left her curious, but she hated to ask so many questions. Gwenn had quickly picked on this as he finally glanced at her with a gentle and soft look, he didn't mind telling her his past now it seemed.
He squinted yet again slightly, still with his gentle look as he looked away from her, pulling down his scarf to show her his neck and part of upper shoulder, she immediately noticed a small scar which looked a lot like a stab wound.
"I don't really remember much after I received the injury, it was just mostly darkness. I almost died, though, someone helped me and to this day I have no idea who." He said, removing his grip from his scarf and returning his look at her with a small shrug.
"You didn't see them at all?" She questioned, sitting back slightly, still close to him with a concerned look on her face still, only to feel more pity. He closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly, in short, telling her no, "I woke up alone with bandages, that's all. So I chose to change then and there and use that incident as an advantage. Now that I showed myself, rumors will most likely go around that I'm still alive, the despising and hate will return along with the worry. People will probably hunt me down, want me dead for sure this time." He stated still with a somewhat now shamed look, and small sign of worry that somewhat scared her as she knew what was coming.
Kayla started to slowly shake her head, not agreeing, "I can't help you, Kayla. I'll only put you at risk and danger, I'm sorry. If you return to the clan, I'm sure you can find-" He began, only to immediately be stopped when Kayla shouted angrily at him, "Dont!" She growled.
She immediately looked at him in the eyes as he did her, he showed no sign of surprise from her sudden interruption as she glared at him. "You said you were going to help me and you thought it through and agreed, you're going to keep your word!" She growled. "Kayla…" He began, "No!" She interrupted yet again.
He quickly gave her a somewhat annoyed and stern look, "If you're with me, you could get hurt or worse." He stated with a small growl, she knew he just wanted to help her and keep her safe from the clans and people from finding out the truth about her and the fact she was with him could also result into people hating and despising her for helping him, let alone being with him.
Gwenn knew himself he was bad luck for other people, that's why he kept himself away and hidden, he didn't want to endanger people for his actions. Kayla only continued to glare at him, "I don't care!" She growled, this surprised him as he widened his eyes from those short words. "If you're an outcast, then so am I! Or did you already forget where I am from?!" She began, pointing her finger at him still furious, "Did you forget that I said I trusted you, and you only. Are you going to break that?" She questioned, now sadly and concerningly.
She relaxed and now slumped down sadly, head drooped and small tears starting to form in her eyes as memories came rushing back. "You helped me…. Let me help you too… somehow…" She sobbed lightly, the only way she could find a way to help him in return is by sticking with him, he risked his life twice for her sake and she was going to repay that somehow.
Plus, she actually started to take a liking to him more and was growing attached in just the span of almost the two days she's spent with him and his continued help, she honestly only did trust him now. "Or are you going to just run and hide the rest of your life….? I can't do this without you Gwenn..." She questioned sadly, slightly looking up at him with his still surprised look.
She honestly didn't want him to go, she didn't want to feel alone again, she didn't want to break like she almost did when first arriving, missing her home, her parents, she hated being alone and that's all Gwenn has ever had.
Kayla's face lit up with an idea that formed in her mind "Gwenn, i'll be back, i'm going to talk to the people here!" she says to him as she hurried off trying to find who is the head for this clan, she arrived back at the clan and looked around, trying to figure who looked remotely important, she wants to help these people, but she wants to make it clear she needed Gwenn close by.
She tried the farm, it seemed like an important enough landmark aside from the other buildings, like the bar, and an old hardware store, as she approached the farm house she carefully peeked inside, seeing the same hulking idiot from before talking to who seemed like an old, hopefully wise man assuming that was a clan elder.
She whispered to herself "Bingo...now to get inside..." She looked around and opted to try the front door, upon opening the door she saw the man with the splint leg with a massive bruise on his face from earlier, to her left from the door. And looking to her right seeing the big idiot and the elder, who seemed to stop mid sentence and stared at Kayla, the room was quiet with a sight tension before Kayla broke the silence "I want to help you people...but I want to make a deal with you all..." she began trying to keep a serious face despite being a bit nervous.
The hulking man laughs at her "Oh? And what is it you're wanting to make a deal for, huh? Get out of here outsi-" The man was interrupted by the elder with a loud "Silence, you've caused enough issues, you already hurt one of our own because of your ignorance, outside now.." The elder said to the hulking man.
"But sh-" he tried to speak but was interrupted "Irrelevant, leave, Now. And take him with you!" He pointed at the limping man, causing them to both leave, the elder looks annoyed towards Kayla "What do you want.. Hope you see exactly we got very little so whatever it is you want, you better be worth the help." he said sternly towards her.
Kayla took a deep breath and looked at the elder "If you want my help, then h-" before she was able to finish he spoke up "No deal, that would cause more problems than you hope to achieve, what clan are you even from? Clearly not barbarians, they don't use women for field work.." He says towards her, still with a stern glare.
"Plus youre too tiny if they let you in, so.. No matter whoever sent you. Tell them you screwed whatever deal they wanted." He says putting his eyes back to his log book assessing the damage outside.
Kayla, now annoyed, slammed her hands in front of the elder to get his attention. "Look, your people need help, I can help them, but only on the condition that Ace is allowed to stay nearby, got that?" She snapped at the elder who then looked at her unamused, "Ace!? That boy should be dead, he is not welcomed here nor will he ever be for what he's done!" He growled at her.
"Look, I can help your injured people and Ace could help with the heavy work, please...give him a second chance, he's changed." She pleaded with him, being serious and also giving a concerned look of sadness to hopefully tempt him to reconsider, which seemed to be slightly working with the small reconsidering look he was giving she had noticed.
"Leave, i'll think about it, i'll have someone fetch you when and if I made a decision." he said motioning his hand in a shoo gesture, causing Kayla to squint glare at him before leaving the house, making her way back to the lake to see if Gwenn was still there so she can tell him what she did.
Upon seeing he was still where he was, throwing more pebbles into the lake and letting them skip across the water, she semi-excitedly ran towards him "Gwenn, I think I might have done something to help you stay!" She said with a beaming smile on her face, seeing him react with a look of confusion as he glanced at her.
"I think I made a deal with the elder here, I'll give medical help in exchange for them allowing you to be nearby to help with the heavy work, I might've even said you could help with the heavy work..." she smiled slightly, but also concerningly hoping she didn't make a large mistake.
Gwenn only sighed lightly as he tossed yet another pebble into the lake, "You sure that was a good idea? It isn't that simple, Kayla." He said with concern to Kayla.
"Well it could help get us more information we need especially if we can prove you're not the same person they knew before, no harm with getting them to trust us, would more than likely help us in the long run as well..right?" she said to him gently nudging his arm trying to get him to look at her.
Gwenn looked over at her slightly, "That might be bad if we can't trust the-" his sentence was interrupted by someone from the nearby clan "The elder has made his decision, he will allow your help but under one condition, if he causes any problems, you will be to blame as well." he announced to them, giving Gwenn an ugly look.
Kayla nodded agreeing to the terms and looked up at Gwenn with a smile on her face, "Gwenn, you ready?" She asked him as she gently tugged his arm, he was staring at the ground, hesitating as she tried to help him up by tugging on his arm once more.
Though him clearly being twice her strength, left the action with no effect as he only sat there, unsure. "Gwenn, please…" She pleaded, she made a valid point on what she said earlier, she didn't want him to be running and hiding for the rest of his life because of people despising his past actions after he's changed in a positive way, he was always good to begin with either way.
Kayla noticed the man who came to tell him take his leave, not bothering to wait for them to follow. She crawled her way in front of Gwenn who was clearly lost in thought, most likely having the old memories come back again that originally made him recoil from her earlier. She glanced at the now closed cut on his cheek that she caused when first meeting him yesterday, she honestly forgot about it until now that she noticed it and was looking at him in the face.
She gently reached out to him, placing her fingers on the cut, this spooked him, snapping him out of the thoughts and looking up at her concerningly, which was her intention to begin with. "Gwenn, you've always been a good and kind person, you may have stopped the thieving and that may have changed, but your kindness has always been there." She began, giving him a small reassuring smile.
"I know you stole not just for yourself, but you mostly did it for other people who were struggling and also had nothing. Few people know this, and you probably don't remember all the people you've helped, but they know the kindness you did for them even if they don't show it or help you in return because they fear the people who despise you and want you dead." She added, removing her fingers from the cut and standing up.
"You have to prove yourself to the people who despise you that you've changed and always have been kind even now, maybe they'll even change once they see that." She said with a smile, offering her hand out to him to help him up, hoping he would understand and accept.
Gwenn, gave yet another subtle sigh, giving up with arguing and denying against her, which seemed to be his common response lately. He accepted her offered hand as she helped him stand up, she refused to let go as she pulled him along and grabbed the bag that still was resting on the ground near them.
Kayla came to a sudden halt at the ends of the small forest, right near the clan, Gwenn moved up slightly beside her to see why she stopped only to have them both notice the clan elder standing in front of them, who was clearly waiting for them.
The elder was giving Gwenn an ugly look of anger and hate, Kayla was unsure how exactly long ago all this happened, but it was clearly a few years back which was still a seemingly long time. Kayla stepped in front of Gwenn slightly, being defensive of him as she subtly gave the elder a glare.
"Ace…" The elder began, only to be interrupted. "His name is Gwenn." Kayla corrected him sternly, the elder directed his glare at her after what she said and subtly raised an eyebrow. "He is not to leave your side or our sight." He stated, folding his arms and hands behind his back as he turned away from them, leading them back towards the clan as they quickly followed behind him.
With them following behind the elder, he lead them to what seemed like a announcement stand with the elder standing upon it and with him clearing his throat, everyone else in the clan stopped and put their attention, with slight murmurs among them, "Now I understand, we were hurt by the barbarians, but fate seemed to smile upon us all!" the elder began as he gestured for Kayla to go up on the same stand as him " It appears, this doctor seemed so willing to help us all for the simple fee of having Ace with her..." He announced out to the clan, causing even more murmurs "Ace..? He's back!?, bet she is just some quack doctor… Thought Ace was dead..." Some of the clan members said among themselves.
The elder clears his throat once more, "All I ask is you all be vigilant, Ace claimed to have changed as a person, this doctor here obviously made a good case for him, or I wouldn't be making this announcement!" he said, finishing his announcement and looks at Kayla "You'll need to make whatever you need, and I'm sure there is an old building out on the outskirts of this clan...It's yours, don't disappoint us." He says to her, pointing in the direction of the building before leaving the stand and back to finish his business in the farm house, Kayla looks at Gwenn and beckons for him to follow her to the old building.
Gwenn and Kayla feel the burning gaze of the clan members as they head to the old building the elder spoke about to see the old building used to be a small office of sorts, "Well..it's not the clinic but..this will have to do" she says slightly looking up at Gwenn, she tried the door to see its locked and sighed and looked at the building thinking of how to get inside, spots a open a.c. on the side.
"Hey Gwenn, can you lift me up to that?" she questions pointing at the open vent hoping to get up but it's clearly too high for her to jump too, Gwenn watching her trying to get up to the vent, to no avail, "You should be careful in there ok? Just focus on getting the door open." He tells her as he lifts her up to the vent and she crawls in fast.
As she crawled through the vent she fell through parts of it because of it collapsing suddenly from under her, letting out a sudden shriek when she fell, landing on a table with dust flying everywhere, including on her. She let out a few coughs and swiped her hand through the air trying to clear the dust from her vision, seeing that she seemed to be in some break room she felt around, unable to see much because of it being dark inside and stopped when she heard something shambling in a nearby room.
As the shambling got closer, Kayla panicked and tried to hide but thought it was too late when she saw a strange man shamble into the room. It shambled through the room, making this sickly gargle and looks like it has incredibly rotted flesh and the scent of eight year old garbage filled the room, causing Kayla to gag in sudden reaction to it, alerting it to her presence.
This caused her to flee the room, tripping down the hall from the break room and shrieking out "Gwenn! Help!" As the strange creature shambles towards her, the sound of a metal door being forced open by a kick echoed through the building. Gwenn rushed into the building using his wings to give him a boost, using that speed as he pinned the creature aggressively to the side wall, stabbing a knife into its shoulder to keep it from moving and holding his arm against its neck. He glanced quickly at Kayla to see if she was bit or hurt, but she was only just babbling away once again. "You could have just kicked the door open, why did I think this was a good idea.." She said, still babbling, hugging her knees to her chest shaking slightly.
Kayla, still a bit shook, looks up at Gwenn "W..what is that thing? Why does it stink so badly.." She asks him while staring at the rotted face of the creature and looks away disgusted by the sight, hearing Gwenn respond to her question "A Zomu... Odd to see one so old by itself, guess no one was ever here, whoever this used to be thought they were safe from the infection." His response made Kayla curious "Infection? There was an infection that happened? And it made these..Zomus?" She says looking at him, who responds with a nod, "This may sound strange to you, but any damage anywhere to their body that isn't the head only slows them down."
Gwenn looks back at the zomu, then back at Kayla "Here, go wait outside ok? I'll take care of this zom, and then i'll help you set this place up." Gwenn said as he was about to pull the knife out of the zoms shoulder, Kayla understood what he was going to do as she quickly walked outside.
After Kayla left, Gwenn pulled the knife from the zom and stabbed it in the head to finish it off, then dragging the Zomu outback. Once it's outside and a good distance away he goes to get Kayla "it's safe now, let's hurry and get this place prepped how you want it." He said to her as he approached. She came back inside, nodding to Gwenn and then spent a few hours turning that old office into a makeshift clinic.