Originally posted on Ao3 - 2021-05-03
Beta-readers: Matt, Folgoll
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When our eyes locked, the expression on his face transformed from suspicion to surprise at seeing someone crouched down where I was, and in that instant, the hair on the back of my neck rose and my heart skipped, the realization dawning on me that my appearance then and there was not only odd but highly suspect. I became hyper aware of my surroundings, my circumstances, and how it all looked, and with little thought, I came to the same conclusion someone else would most likely get to given my being on the run.
It felt like I was sat there for ages when our eyes locked on each other, and I refused to move a muscle, whether it be out of fear or the subconscious and vastly incorrect conclusion that he didn't see who or what I was yet, like how a cat would react when spotted hiding in the bushes. The whole situation seemed ridiculous even back when it was happening, but despite this intense hesitation to do anything, I began to run in my mind all the different ways this situation would play out. This lasted for an eternity, but when I had done so, I latched onto the first one that seemed to give me the best outcome, that being just simply get up and run.
I waited for the man to break eye contact, knowing that I could simply sneak off whenever he looked away, but I had to rely on the fact that he wouldn't try to alert the family before doing this. Thankfully, this chance would come without the family ever knowing what was afoot, he looking toward the family to see if they noticed me despite the fact that I knew they wouldn't be able to based on my current position then. And so, with little hesitation, I backed away from the bushes I was hiding behind and into the shadows, using the tattered, brown cloak I had around me to cover my head. Once in the shadows, I got up, turned, and ran, though without the use of yoki as I wanted to remain at least somewhat undetected still.
This dash lasted only a short while, running past trees and climbing up dirt slopes, being careful not to generate too much noise or leave any obvious tracks in the ground, but when it ended I found myself standing among the trees, the moon shining through the still canopy and lighting things in a dull glow. I watched for a moment as the leaves and bushes rustled gently in the pale moonlight, their glossy green surfaces shimmering ever so slightly in a dazzling display of muted grey, and feeling the cool evening air I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I at least got away.
This, as my luck would have it, did not last long as I soon picked up on the sound of running nearby closing in on my position. What? How did he...? I thought then, but my thought did not finish as I turned to run once more. It soon turned into a chase.
"Hey!" I heard his voice go as I ran, hushed at first but soon louder as he tried to call out to me. I ignored it and continued, thinking I could outrun him. "Wait!"
Many tree trunks and several stone patches whizzed passed me as I ran, but still I could hear him behind me, perhaps even gaining on me, though that was my own fault as I didn't use my technique during this time for whatever reason. Seeing that my current efforts were not working and that he was slowly closing in, I decided to change tactics. At a clearing, I slowed to a stop and waited for him to arrive.
"Wait up! Wait," he said as he closed in.
Without hesitation, I turned drew my blade, pointing it at him as he emerged from shadow of the canopy and into the moonlight. As I anticipated, he reacted accordingly, slowing rapidly to a standstill and showing his hands, a surprised look upon his features.
"Hey. Take it easy, alright?" he said with a soft tone.
"Why are you following me?" I asked him.
"What?"
I repeated my question. "Why are you following me?"
"I... I wasn't following you," he replied. Seeing his hesitation, I knew immediately something was off about him. I squinted, waiting to see if he was going to lie some more, but instead he doubled-down. "Truly."
"Then why were you watching that family?" I asked him.
"I should be asking you that," he replied with a sort of half-grin.
I stepped forward, hoping the threat I posed to him was actually being registered. Thankfully it was as he raised his hands a little higher and took a step back.
"Alright!" he said, then with a sigh he continued. "There's been a group of slavers running around here, kidnapping people to sell them off down South. So when I came across that camp, I decided to make sure they were safe."
"You stumbled upon them?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes," he said with a nod.
"And you're not simply following me?" I asked. Admittedly it was a bit of a stupid question to ask at the time as anyone would answer with a simple "no," but I was still rather anxious about the whole situation.
"Not at all, no," he said with a smile, his arms dropping slightly.
It irked me a little as it felt like he was getting cocky thinking he was sly and that I was stupid enough to not see through it. Given how this irked me, I found myself having squinted briefly once more which resulted in him tensing up again and the smile instantly dropping from his face.
"Honestly," he said, showing his hands again. "So, let's just... take it easy. I'm not here to hurt you."
I looked him up and down several times by this point, trying to see what signs if any pointed to a nefarious nature, and it was difficult to see anything rejecting it given that he was watching that family before and literally chased me down. Of course, it didn't help that his sword was visible.
"Weapons," I said to him. Unfortunately, he didn't reply, only giving me a blank stare. I immediately knew what was going on with that look, the gears in his head slowly turning as he tried to find a way to take advantage of the situation; at least that was how I perceived it as it was happening. As a result of this, I raised my voice and repeated my demand; "Give me your weapons."
He seemed to snap back to reality then with a look of momentary surprise. "Alright," he said, then with a sigh, "Alright."
He reached for the belt buckle that held his sheath on him, carefully unbuckling it as he watched me carefully, whether it be to look for an opening or for a time to run, but neither came as I kept my eyes on him. With the sheath free and after I opened my other hand to signify where he should toss it, he grabbed hold of it and tossed it to me. Once I grabbed hold of it, I maneuvered it in my hand so that I could grab hold of the leather strap attached to the sheath, being sure not to drop it in the process.
"Knife, too," I said, assuming he had one. He exhaled through his nostrils as he reached around to grab the knife from behind his cloak, the shadows it cast on his person hiding what he was grabbing. His eyes seemed to waiver for a moment as he struggled to get it free from his belt or however else it was attached to his person, but after he got it free, he revealed it from beneath his cloak and tossed it to me, again to my free hand. I caught this too, thankfully without having to maneuver it around, and after catching it he proceeded to show his hands as before.
I watched him for a bit more, trying see any hints of other weapons and things he might have hiding on his person, but given his nervous expression and the fact that I couldn't see anything else from both beneath the shadows of his cloak and the dark color of his clothes, I let out a soft sigh and finally lowered my blade, knowing that he would have to be stupid to try anything against a warrior without being armed.
With this, he, too, lowered his hands, appearing more relaxed now that I was no longer threatening him.
"So, why were you out there?" he asked.
"I was... doing the same," I finally said with a little hesitation. "I heard voices, found the camp, and decided to watch to make sure they were safe."
His expression changed subtly to that of suspicion, likely in response to the way in which I replied to his question, and very quickly his eyes glanced over me in an attempt to deduce a hidden motive given his newfound doubt in me. Great, I though as I stood there, knowing that if he were to come to the wrong conclusion about me he would likely go running off telling people of this very encounter, further impairing my efforts in getting to Urek. After a moment, his eyes closed as if he had come to some sort of conclusion about me, causing my heart to sink a little as I had a feeling of what it was that he had come to.
"You must be the one everyone's talking about," he said after the pause, "the warrior everyone's after for killing a group of people. Lot of people are saying it was the work of a real monster."
Although I refused to show it, there was a part of me who was utterly crushed to hear that not only did word spread quickly but that word had evolved to such an extent that people were beginning to say things reminiscent of what was said during the times of the Organization. This regression to old ways, to rushing forward to spread harsh and, in my case, untrue rumors quickly sparked my own disappointment in myself. Perhaps I was so naïve to think that after six years of fighting awakened beings that things would improve to a point that those negative opinions would simply vanish over time, but regardless of my thoughts and feelings on that matter, I still found myself in a situation that was slowly becoming more and more complicated as I even stood there.
"And what do you think of it all?" I asked lowly.
"I don't believe a word of it."
Given the gravity of what had transpired several days before, I was fully assuming he bought into what was being said of me up until now, so it was no wonder that his words caught me completely by surprise, enough so for him to see it on my face and react to it accordingly with a slight grin.
"So, you don't believe..." I was unable to finish the sentence.
"No. Why would I?" he replied, the grin remaining.
Part of me was ready to jump onto that more positive opinion of him, the idea that there was at least someone within the general area that didn't believe the rumors, the possibility of this blowing over easily and people seeing through the tales told both by the bandits and perhaps even more individuals who were ready to accept things as they were. But, it was, of course, that singular response from him that would pull me back to reason, the response seeming far too matter-of-fact, too "obvious" to feel true. The grin, the words, it all brought about an air of confidence, or rather overconfidence, as if he knew that I was about to be tied around his finger.
He's smart, I thought then. That or lying. As a result of this and my becoming very aware of my misstep in showing him my proverbial hand, I readjusted myself both physically by turning to face him and mentally by settling my optimism and looking at him more critically. The surprised look on my face would turn into a more serious expression with this readjustment, and with all this combined, the grin on him would soon fade to a mix of surprise and nervousness.
"So now that I'm here, what do you want?" I asked him. He gave me a look of mild confusion, though this wouldn't last long once I continued. "Information? A favor?"
He initially didn't respond, likely thinking of his next step, but once he had thought enough, he exhaled softly. So, the gears are turning yet again, I thought.
"I want to help you," he said flatly.
"Help me?" I wasn't expecting the response, but it seemed far too genuine to be believable.
"Yes," he said with a short nod. "You seem to be in rough shape. I noticed it before, when we initially ran into each other. So now that I'm here, I want to offer my help."
"I've been through worse," I said with a half-grin and a soft scoff.
"Have you?" He responded quickly.
Shit, I thought as he called my bluff. Although there was some truth to what I said, it wasn't complete since this was a situation I had never found myself in before. Even in the northern reaches of Alphonse, I was accompanied by six others, but in this situation, there was no one I could quickly turn to.
"Doesn't matter," I deflected weakly. "Besides, what kind of help could you possibly give me?"
"I can get you new clothes and an alias to go by," he replied readily, catching me further off guard. He continued; "I have connections, so I can get you out of the region if needed. I even know people who can spread false information to help clear your name."
I had to think for a moment on his response. If what he said was true, I knew then that he would likely be my ticket to Urek and even out of the region, creating a desire within me to latch onto what he had to offer and use his connections and knowledge to my benefit. But regardless of this, I was still uneasy about him, feeling that if I let that desire fulfill itself I would be opening myself up to serious complications in achieving my goal. My reasoning was still obvious, though I was becoming more aware of my current circumstances as time went on and the idea of using his help was beginning to seem more and more enticing.
"I don't need help," I said, "at least not that kind of help."
There's something off about him, I thought then. My mind was still swimming with conflict in whether I should trust him so readily. The way he speaks sounds genuine, but too much so. That and he's so willing to help someone he literally just met. He also knows full well who I am. He's likely hiding something, but what?
"You need clean clothes." His voice pulled me back to the present, and the statement caused me to look down at them instinctually. As much as I didn't want to acknowledge it, he was right. "At least let me get you that much."
"How do I know that this isn't some elaborate plot to kill or capture me?" I asked. With the inner conflict still raging, I found myself blundering by asking questions that shouldn't be asked in the first place. "Or that you're simply trying to distract me from a larger group closing in?"
"I wouldn't do that," he said flatly. "Trust me."
"Trust me?" Really? The statement rung out in mind. It was as laughable as it was hollow, especially given that there were supposedly so many people readily willing to toss me from the proverbial wagon.
It took me a moment to come up with a response given how many red flags I observed from him over the course of our short interlude, his words and behavior seeming genuine enough to be accepted by anyone but questionable in both timing, specifically with how ready he was willing to help me, and in familiarity. The latter alarmed me the more I reflected on it as most individuals would still be somewhat nervous around a warrior such as myself, whereas he seemed rather comfortable compared to what I had seen before. Finally after much thought, I spoke again.
"Then, I'm afraid I can't allow that," I told him, noting internally the subtle change in expression that resulted from my uttering those words. "Given the rumors, I would be a liability. Well, that and simply trusting anyone is difficult as it is at the moment."
"Fair enough I suppose," were the only words to leave his mouth in reply.
Shortly after this exchange, I asked him for a place to clean myself up, seeing as my clothes were still quite dirty despite the two-days rain. Thankfully he knew of a large pond nearby that I could bathe myself in, one that he heard from a friend would fill up to a respectable depth whenever it rained for more than a day, but given my trepidation with the man, I was initially hesitant to go to the location. It wasn't until some mild back-and-forth internally that I decided to go, tossing him his weapons and thanking him before turning to leave him. The only response I received from him was a nod and a smile.
Before I left him completely, I stopped and turned, calling out to him with a simple, "Hey." When he turned, I continued. "If I find out that you hurt that family-"
"Don't worry. I won't," he replied, turning back to walk away. After watching him leave for a moment, I finally turned and left him, this time for good.
After quite some travel, I arrived at the glistening body of water, the pale moonlight reflecting off its surface like that of a mirror being distorted by what light wind there was. The surroundings seemed safe enough when I assessed them briefly, nothing obvious standing out to me, but despite this, I felt something was somewhat off about the whole situation, though I couldn't pinpoint what it was. As I approached the body of water, I took my blade, set it against a tree, and proceeded to strip down, though I admittedly had to pause to check my surroundings once more just in case something or someone was lurking close by.
The first thing I knew I had to do was clean my clothes given how the spots of blood and dirt would give me away in more public settings. This was as straightforward as one would expect, dipping the clothes into the cold water and scrubbing about until they were no longer discolored, though this took a long time given the amount of blood on my clothes required me to move around the pond to cleaner water so that they wouldn't be completely stained in blood. When finished, I came back to shore and set them out to dry, placing them on a few low hanging branches.
I knew they wouldn't be finished drying for a while though, but regardless of this limitation, they would have at least a bit of time to dry while I bathed myself. Bathing was also straightforward, though I won't go into specifics for the sake of decency.
While cleaning my clothes and bathing, I found myself in deep reflection and thought, the process being incredibly therapeutic which I quickly found I needed given what I had been through up until then. Initially, I thought back to those nights, trying to piece together how it got as bad as it did, what I did wrong, and how I could prevent it in the future. But reflecting on this only got me further into reminiscence of my past and my time with the others, Nina and Noma primarily but also the many other friends and comrades I met over the years that were now long gone, the only things left of them being their swords and memories of shared moments.
The sound of an owl taking off from a nearby tree briefly snapped me out of my nostalgia, causing me to turn suddenly and instinctually reach for my blade. Instead of the hilt, all I grabbed was air, and after a smile and a head shake over my instinct, I proceeded to finish things off.
I took a mental note of the first thing to came to mind then, the brief idea that the man I had run into before was approaching from a distance to either hunt me or observe my movements, but soon this mental note flourished into an attempt to break down his character. His calmness, his sudden appearance both times, and his ability to catch up to me during our chase all seemed out of place, but aside from those and a few other minor details about his appearance I was left with nothing but a hunch as to what kind of person he was. Was he thief? A journeyman perhaps? I thought briefly, but this train of thought too went nowhere. There just wasn't enough information on who he was to determine if he was nefarious or, as an old friend of mine would likely put it, just stupid.
I found myself standing in the water again, though I don't know how long I stood there for, the water waist-high and cold to the touch from the cool evening air, but I was soon pulled back to reality once more with the sound of something in the distance. I wasn't sure what it was, turning to the direction of the noise in an attempt to see any signs of what it could be. It wasn't until after some time and it getting louder that I soon realized what I was hearing.
Horses, was the only thought that went through my mind.
