An update. I finally got around to doing something productive with my time.

Oh, and I've decided that I want a muse. Just because. Of course, I also wanted something to build up my self-esteem.

So...

Huey:...

Say something if I'm stupid.

Huey:...

Don't say something if my writing is excellent .

Huey:...snort...

...I'm a failure...

--

Lyn and the cavaliers had remained inside to talk to the priest. He had insisted on talking to them, so greetings between them and Saleh had been delayed. While they conversed, Saleh crouched over the body of his friend. Sykes had always been unafraid to get involved in others affairs, but this time it had cost him dearly. Saleh shook his head. He stood, casting about for a shovel, when he felt pain surge through his right arm like fire.

With a hiss, he held with injured limb with his good hand and looked at it. The splint containing it was red with blood. Moving it elicited a flash of agonizing pain. He swore a few times. Ramming Glass had not helped the condition of his arm. He looked around, and spotted Sykes' horse grazing nearby, unaware of its rider's demise. Grimacing, he paced over to the saddlebags and reached in, rummaging through the contents. 'Oilcloths, knife, book, don't want to know, ah!' He extracted a blue vial, and shook it slightly. It sloshed. Good. Pulling the cork from the container with his teeth, he poured the elixir over his arm. He felt the tingle of the concoction immediately as it closed his wounds.

After a moment, he gave it an experimental flex. The same, sharp pain greeted him. He swore again. He was going to have to see a cleric or something for this.

"I… I'm nothing special!"

"Think of it this way: Some weapons feel more comfortable in your hand, right? Well, the Mani Katti itself feels very comfortable with you. Does this make it any easier for you to accept? It doesn't appear that either of us can use it."

Saleh turned. The trio seemed to be done with the priest. He saw the object of discussion held in Lyn's hands. It was a gleaming, curved blade, a shamshir that was obviously of sacaen design. They spotted him, and started in his direction. "Saleh! I apologize for the wait…" Lyn turned to look at Sykes' body. "I'm sorry... was he… a friend?"

Saleh turned away. "Yeah. His name is… was… no, is Sykes. He was the one I started out with when I became a merc. We've... known each other a long time."

Lyn looked over at him, her face downcast. "I never had a chance to talk with him, but… he had the look of a good man."

Saleh only nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak.

"So, Saleh… why are you out here?" It was a painfully obvious attempt to turn the conversation to another topic, one the Saleh was grateful for.

"…Long story short, Sykes guilted me into it. He was always the idealistic one. He told me… he told me to live my life to the fullest… and, well, here I am. I know that in my current state, I'm not much use, but if you'll let me accompany you, I'll be happy to help with anything I can." He looked at Lyn hopefully.

She gave a smile. "Of course you can! We're happy to have you along, Saleh."

He gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you. So, where are we going next?"

As Kent began to fill him in on their plans, Saleh couldn't help but think of how nice Lyn looked when she smiled.

--

"He seems to have been quite the accomplished fighter."

"I'll say. Oh, and you would have gotten along just fine with him, Sain."

The green haired cavalier looked up from his daydreaming to Kent and Saleh. "Oh? I suppose he was good looking, but surely he was not such an idol to women as I!"

"You know Sain, I've been dying to ask you: how did you manage to grow an ego your size while training to be a knight?"

Kent muttered, "He didn't train."

Saleh gave a short laugh. "Of course. Anyways, yeah, you could call Sykes a bit of a flirt too, Sain."

"Flirt? Me? Never! I merely uphold my knightly vows by looking after the welfare of the beauteous women of-"

"Oof!" Saleh walked into Lyn, who had suddenly stopped. "Hey, what's-" He stopped as he surveyed the scene before him.

It was a town- or rather, used to be one. He could see the blackened and charred remains of the houses, still smoldering, though it seemed to be a couple days old. Some had caved in completely; others stood, silent and haunting, a massive gravestone marking the bodies strewn about. Lyn began to walk forward. The cavaliers and Saleh followed her wordlessly as they strode down the streets. Lyn found her voice. "This place… its…"

"Why doesn't their marquess do anything to help?" For the first time since Saleh had met him, Sain's face was devoid of cheer.

Lyn clenched her hand. "Talivar Mountain is home to gang of vicious, ruthless bandits." The hate in her voice shocked Saleh- he had not expected someone as young as her to contain such rage. "No marquess holds power here. My village was near here, on the other side of the bank. My people were…" She trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. They continued their walk through the streets, the stench of death filling their nostrils. The silence was broken only by the horses snorting, distraught as they were surrounded by blood.

As they turned a corner around a wall, cracked by the heat of the fire, a grisly sight greeted them. A young girl, perhaps no older than thirteen, lay on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Her arm lay in the grass, blood mixing with the morning dew, a few feet away. Her face, partially covered in hair matted with blood and filth, was fixed into a cry of agony. Her death had not been swift. Lyn knelt over her. "I will never forgive them. Never," she hissed.

Sain finally spoke. "When the time comes, bring me with you."

"Sain…"

"Don't forget me, either." Kent spoke up as well.

Saleh frowned. "Well… I guess if my arm is all taken care of by then… and I'm nearby… why not?"

Lyn's face was lit by a small smile. "I… you're… thank you."

A squeak, followed by a rustling noise, broke the silence. The four travelers immediately turned towards the direction of the sound and listened intently. "…flying mule…Don't you dare touch…let her…twit… pegasi… worth more than you… mountain of gold…" Lyn glanced at her companions, then sprinted off towards the commotion, Kent and Sain following a moment afterwards.

"Hey! Hey! Hold on, don't just… Wait… Uhhnnng…" Saleh gave a sound of exasperation and began running after them.

--

"Leave us alone, you thugs!" A pot smashed into the wall where Saleh's head had been a moment ago. "Go away! Go away! We've no more gold for you!" He rolled behind a fence to avoid the volley of missiles from the boarded up townhouse. He crouched, ready to flee if the barrage continued. Lyn, however, stood up.

"No, wait! Please! We're not bandits! We want to help! Please, listen!"

There was silence for a moment. Then, the front gate of the house opened, and a red-topped head with a ridiculous smile popped out. "Not bandits, huh? So who are you?" He stepped outside, revealing him to be of light build and wearing a shoulder guard. An archer, if I'm not mistaken.

Lyn spoke up. "My name is Lyn. My colleagues and I are just traveling through here. We saw some bandits about. We're going to deal with them, but... We need you to go and warn the villagers." She spun on her heel and began running back to where the two cavaliers had engaged three axemen.

"Hey! Wait!" The boy called after her. "The names Wil. I'm a traveler of sorts, too. Listen, these villagers have been kind to me. Mind if I fight too?" He pulled a bow from a pack on his back. Saleh smirked. Who called it?

Lyn turned. "Not at all! We need all the help we can get! Welcome aboard, Wil!" She rushed around the corner of a wall with a battle cry.

Wil ran up beside Saleh. "Hey, it's me! Wil, remember? You look like you're in charge asides from Lyn over there- why don't you issue me a command? I'd love to help!"

Saleh arched an eyebrow, then shook his head and pointed "See that house over there? The one next to the wall that looks like it got chewed up by a dragon?" Wil nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I don't think it looks that bad, though. Look, its still got its paint in some places! I bet that with a little-"

"Do you ever shut up? Just climb on top of it and shoot anyone who needs a bath and isn't wearing green armor. Think you can handle that?"

Wil nodded, unfazed. "Sure! I used to go hunting with a girl in my hometown all the time! In fact, once…"

Saleh groaned.

--

"Nice axe." Saleh leaned over the corpse of the dead bandit leader. He had an arrow stuck in his left shoulder, and his head was impaled with the lance of the newly recruited pegasus knight. Speaking of which… He turned towards the lavender haired girl, who was brushing her mount. He strode over and grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, I didn't-"

--

"Ow." Saleh lifted a hand to tenderly touch the large bump on his head. He winced. "What happened?"

"S-s-sorry…" He turned to see the one responsible for his injury standing over him, fidgeting nervously. Lyn stood next to her. "Y-you scared me, and…" She trailed off.

Lyn spoke up for her. "She nailed you in the head with the butt of her lance. This is Florina, by the way. She's a pegasus knight in training. She's… a little scared of men, though. No offense."

"None taken. I think she already took care of the offensive part. You've got a nice lance arm, I can say that."

Another voice chimed in. "Hey, you're up! Good. We thought she had killed you for a moment. You dropped like a rock! Oh, and by the way, we bought some new weapons. Kent and Sain needed-"

"Hello Wil."

The cheery archer waved, despite being two feet away. "Hi!"

Saleh sat up, still rubbing his head. "Well, as nice as it was to meet you, Wil, I think we need to move on. Lyn?"

The Sacaen girl grinned. "Actually, Wil and Florina have agreed to join us. We're now called "Lyndis' Legion" by the way. We discussed that while you were out." She frowned. "Are you sure you're feeling better? Here, let me get something for that bump-" She reached down to help him up.

Saleh straightened, pushing her hand away. "I can take care of myself, okay," he snapped. Lyn pulled back, looking hurt. Saleh struggled to his feet, then paused and noticed her face. He sighed. "Sorry. I… just don't like accepting charity when I can avoid it." He gave an apologetic smile. He looked around. He could see over by a tree dressing down Sain on something- from what he knew of the green rider, he had probably made a move on Florina. Why'd I get knocked unconscious and not him? There's no justice in this world… Casting about, he saw the axe he had been looking at earlier lying on the ground. He jogged over to it and tried to heft it with his left hand. It was too heavy, and he let it drop. Steel, by the looks of it. Turning, he spotted Kent and Sain making their way back to the group. He waved them over. "You guys got any room on your saddlebags?"

--

"Ah, this should suffice! Tonight's bed!"

Saleh stared incredulously at the ruin. Wil was pointing to an old fort that had to be at least fifty years old. He could see cracks where the wall was damaged, and the overall atmosphere of the place was depressing.

Sain voiced both their thoughts. "This mildewy old fortress? Surely you jest!"

Lyn cut off Saleh before he could add several vulgar agreements with Sain. "This will be fine. Who wants to be stuck inside, anyways? I prefer a place where I can feel the wind blow."

"Well, I suppose if Lyn's fine with it, I'll make due." Saleh quietly grimaced all the same. It never hurt to get on a person's bad side, especially someone as pretty as Lyn, but still, a night in someplace that could cave in on you while you slept was pushing it.

Well. Really pretty.

--

Huey:...

Sniff... Well, anyways, drop a review if you feel so inclined.