RILEY POV

I awoke some time in the morning to the sound of wood smacking against wood, and the sounds of fighting. I lifted myself off my bed and looked outside where, much to my surprise, nearly 10 or 15 people were training together, practicing their skills. I hadn't noticed that the pain had subsided, and when it finally dawned on me, I felt joy. On the table next to the bed there was a bit of paper that read..

"Newcomer, today you start your training. You will, in one months time, hopefully be apart of the Iron Gauntlet Mercenary Corps. Before you are permitted to train, however, there are some things you must do.

Shower. In the basement of the large house, there is a post with a bucket. Undress, pour water into it, clean off.

Eat breakfast. See Narazim for this one, tall man like myself, but he couldn't hurt a fly. Makes pretty good oatmeal.

Talk to Shanalotte. She is important to us as the last, and by extension most powerful, fire keeper. She is a naturally kind soul, but quiet.

Get your training garbs. In the second floor of the large house lies several training garbs made from leather. Find one that is your size and come meet me.

-Eoric"

I smiled slightly and filled out the first task, showering as quickly as possible because the water was rather cold and i didn't know how to heat it up. I wouldn't have showered if there wasn't a thick piece of wood that could cover the basement entrance, serving as a door. Bloody heavy, though.

I then went to find Nerazim and, with a bit of effort, eventually did in a large tent, surrounded by many others. He was tall, like Eoric said, and had a warm smile on hia face. "Now how can I help ya, misseh?" He asked, turning away from the food he was preparing

"Um.. Eoric said you could make me some breakfast?" I spoke softly, not the best at conversation. His smile became wider and he looked like he was about to die from a cuteness overload or something.

"Ah, yes I can! I'll make ya the best meal ya've ever tasted. Sit, sit!" Nerazim pulled out a chair and had me sit at it as he began preparing some food. "Tell me, how old are ya, lass?"

"I'm.. 16." I replied, a little unnerved by the question. The guy was a little too hyper for my tastes. Or energetic with the people he had to work with. "Why?"

He pulled an orange from, I shit you not, out of nowhere, and began feeling it with a knife. "16, huh?" He replied, completely dodging my question. "So then a girl like you's gotta get a lot of proteins an' nutrients!" When he finished peeling it, he pulled it in half and grabbed a cup and some sort of juice extractor, a very crude one, and began making orange juice.

When he finished, he handed the glass to me and kept working, looking at the ingredients he had. "So, what kinna food do ya want, lasseh?" I thought back to the note, about how Eoric liked his oatmeal.

"Mister Eoric said you made good oatmeal?" I asked, getting a chuckle in response.

"Yeh, his favorite meal, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, is oatmeal. Sometimes I wonder to meself if he's a vegetarian or not, never wants any meat!" He laughed heartily, starting on the oatmeal. "Yeh know, Eoric's a single man.." He said softly, looking at me. "Ya could do well with him."

"E-Excuse me?!" I asked, dumbfounded. Nerazim let out a loud laugh and nearly spilled the oatmeal. "I-I appreciate the thought but-"

"Ya shoulda seen the look on yer face!" He said between wheezes. "I'm just messin about, lass." A few moments later, he set the oatmeal in front of me and patted my head. "I'll let Shanny know yer comin'." With that, he left, Eoric coming in a little afterwards.

"He get you with that ridiculous 'Eoric needs some loving' joke?" He asked, sitting in front of me. "You know he's messing around. He says that to every female recruit that comes through." I laughed quietly and took a bite of the oatmeal. It was pretty damn good, I had to admit.

"It did get me pretty good.." I replied, taking another bite. "Hey, mind if I ask a question?" I looked at him with a mouthful of oatmeal.

"What's on your mind?"

"How are uh.. lesbians treated here?" I asked, blushing a fair bit. He seemed taken aback by the question, but answered a minute afterwards.

"As long as you can protect your comrades' lives, we don't care if you're into the opposite gender or the same gender. Why do you ask?" Eoric folded his legs and laid back, crossing his arms.

I replied instinctively with "Just curious." as a way to hide my sexual orientation. Truth be told, I did find women attractive. Older ones, not like in their 40s or 50s or anything, just a few years. I was curious to meet this Shanalotte lady. She had a pretty name, but did her looks and personality match that? I was a little intrigued by how shy she sounded, I thought shyness was cute too. Damn you teenage hormones!

Eoric chuckled lightly and looked outside, waiting for me to finish my breakfast before standing up. "When you go to see Shanalotte, head outside and to your left. The recruits are on break so they won't bother you." When I left, I followed his directions to a lady in a green cloak, standing at a fire pit and looking out to sea.

"Excuse me, are you Shanalotte?" I asked, standing next to her and folding my hands behind my back. I was unable to see her face as a result of her hood being up, but I could see some strands of brown hair falling from it. She was also very beautiful body-wise, slim and slender, but a bit taller than I was. I wonder how old she was.

When she spoke, she didn't turn to me, continuing to gaze out. I wonder what she was looking at? "I am. I am here to serve any who may attempt to shatter the shackles of fate, and bring an end to the Curse." She turned her head to me and looked down at me, her expression plain, but I could sense a feeling of desperation for someone to 'shatter the shackles of fate', as she said.

Shanalotte's beauty did indeed match my expectations, I think she was one of the prettiest girls I've ever met. I was kind of tempted to just reach out, wrap my arms and kiss her, but only through some sort of self control was I able to keep my feet planted in the ground. "I.. see. Well, my name is Riley. I guess I'm going to be apart of the Iron Gauntlet in one month or something."

She seemed a tad surprised that someone my age would be joining, looking me over. My slim body was one thing that stood out, and, like the girl back in the tree house place, my chest was smaller. Was kinda starting to think that I had the smallest breasts on the face of the planet! I had pale skin and weighed just over 90 pounds, and the running gag between my friends and I was that they would carry me to places. I really don't know.

My hair was a deep shade of black and was longer than most girls I knew, going half way down my back. It was annoying to try and keep straight but when it was straight, it looked pretty. I was kind of short, only 5'4. Short in comparison to all of my friends, but that was part of why I weighed as little as I did. I didn't really ever wear makeup as I firmly believe that natural looks are better than artificial ones, but more power to ya if you chose to wear any.

She didn't say much else after I explained my situation, only nodding her head and turning back to the sea. "So.. what are you doing?" I asked, not getting a response from her. I guess she wasn't much of a talker. I sat next to her and laid on my back, looking up at the sky.

"Are you not supposed to be training?" She asked soon afterwards, looking down at me. My eyes widened and I jumped up, rushing to the large house. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a tenth of a smile form on her lips. When I finished dressing, I went down to meet Eoric, panting heavily when I got to him.

"S-Sorry.. I.. forgot.." I explained, leaning over and trying to catch my breath. He looked down at me and chuckled softly, nodding in understanding.

"Try not to make yourself tired just yet, you still have to train with the other recruits. A tired soldier is a dead one." When he finished talking, he led me to a weapon rack where several wooden weapons sat. There was a rapier, a battle axe, a spear, and a sword paired with a shield. "Take your pick, what do you think you'll perform most efficiently with?"

When I was back in the real world, I did do fencing for a while. I had gotten quite good at anticipating my foe's attacks and parrying them. "I'll take the rapier." I said, retrieving the weapon from the rack. Eoric nodded and took the sword and shield. "What are you doing?" I asked him, looking at him in his custom training armor. His right arm was more armored than his left one, which was a little odd considering knights usually kept their shield arm more defended. Thanks, History class, you actually helped me.

"Every Iron Gauntlet goes through a training match with their captain. In this instance, it's me versus you." He readied his weapons and took a stance as several other recruits gathered around. I thought for a moment before readying myself. "Are you ready?" Eoric asked, myself nodding and taking a glance at everyone that was crowded around. "

Three." He began counting down as a sense of dread washed over me, I was a little scared. "Two." Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck! I could feel my hands starting to shake, I was more than just a little now. "One." He took note of my current state and when he reached one, he began circling around.

EORIC POV

Whether by pity or cowardice, I didn't charge in and slam her with my shield like my original plan was. I needed to make her feel comfortable with me, and by extension her other partners. I needed to make her know that while I may hurt her, I'll never kill her. I held up my shield and waited for her to attack. When she did, she attacked fairly quickly, quicker than most recruits. Upon her third attack, I pushed her weapon out of the way, sidestepped behind her and smacked her across the back. "You need to be less predictable." I said, taking a step back. She got up and appeared to be in a fair amount of pain, slumping a bit.

I started to take the offensive stance, charging forward and bringing my sword down over her. Much to my surprise, my attack was parried rather effortlessly, but a good warrior always has a backup plan. I bashed her with my shield and actually lifted her off the floor, sending her back into the wall of my home. With that, she seemed a bit drained, but stood and did a final push, starting to attack repeatedly, using slashes and stabs together. I think an Estoc would work very well with her.

I put my sword behind her legs and simultaneously pulled with my sword and pushed with my shield, putting her onto the floor. When the fight ended, the recruits dispersed, starting to train again. I put my weapons back on the rack and held out a hand to her. I got a little worried when she didn't take it, lying on the floor with her eyes closed. "Hey kid?" I called, kneeling next to her. "You okay?" When she didn't respond, I picked her up and rushed her to Shanalotte. "Shanalotte, do me a favor." I laid her on the grass gently and looked at the firekeeper. "Look after her for a minute, I'm going to change out of my training clothes. I know you're particularly adept at it, figure out how her vitality is, and if she's okay." Shanalotte seemed a small bit worried and, for the first time I could recall, she jumped right into action, kneeling next to the smaller girl and holding her hand.

I rushed to the mansion and changed as quickly as I could, coming back to the two girls as soon as I could. "Her vitality.. it's low.. it's lower than the others." She explained, looking up at me with a hint of worry on her face. "You nearly killed her." I was INCREDIBLY surprised with that news, had I been too rough with her? I was far rougher with the other recruits. I was considering expelling her from training for her own good, it's way too easy to hollow in Drangleic, and it becomes so much easier when you're less durable than wet paper.

"I nearly killed her.." I felt guilty. I nodded and picked her up gently, nodding in thanks to Shanalotte before taking her back to my home and laying her on the bed where she had slept before. I poured a bit of Estus down her throat as a way to help her recover, but I was hesitant to even let her leave the house. I stroked her head gently before heading back out, waving off the recruits. They all slept in tents on the path to the Shaded Woods, having cleared the area of trees and boulders before they set up.

I was probably going to have her set on a safer career, maybe cooking with Nerazim or providing entertainment for the other recruits or something. She wasn't fit to be a warrior, and it was my mistake for putting her on that path, even if it was for a short while. I had suspected she made a good impression on Shanalotte, as she had a small look of worry on her face when I brought her, something I haven't seen before.

We had to work on her vitality, and make her more durable in the long run. I sat in the corner of the room and opened a book, starting to read and silently watch over her. When the sun fell, it became a bit cold and I could hear her shivering. I opened a small cabinet and pulled a thick woolen blanket from it, laying it over her and fixing her pillow. I took an unlit torch from the crate next to the bed and, with a final glance at her, set off into the night. I was on fire-watch tonight, my primary concern lying on hollows coming from the Forest of Fallen Giants.

We had a few cases where long hollowed soldiers came from there. It was beyond me how they managed to get the thick iron door open, but they did, and when they came through they caused an uproar. Fortunately, we had no casualties, and one of our soldiers was actually pushed from training and put in the vanguard, a group of individuals that were spread thin, but still managed to make lots of progress towards linking the fire. I, myself, had actually been apart of the vanguard, before High Lord Tyrian Maxford pulled me from the front lines and put me on training duty.

I gladly accepted the order, but when I look back at it, I was better suited to being a mindless killing machine like the mad beast of the battlefield, Vengarl of Forossa. I had to worry about my life, and the lives of my comrades, yes, but it was still a better job than this was. Regardless, I had to train new troops for the Iron Gauntlet, and I didn't have a say in it. I wondered what had become of my former battlefield compatriots, of Lorian the Spearman, Orian the Sage and Queslie the Hexer. While Hexes were looked down upon and even illegal in some places, like sexual interests, we didn't give a damn as long as you protected your comrades.

I planted myself on a small rock and waited, neglecting my duties for that night. I wasn't fit for firewatch, but I didn't mind. The knights of Heide normally stayed put and I was right next to where the hollows came from, so I wasn't in much of a worry. I watched as the sun rose and pushed warmth over Majula, a sensation that was welcome. I closed my eyes, set my unlit torch at my side and laid back, folding my hands over my chest.

A half an hour after starting to rest, a small weight was placed on my legs, and when I opened my eyes to look, the girl was on my lap with the blanket wrapped around her, laying her head against my chest and falling back asleep. She had an expression of pain painted on it but didn't seem bothered by it, trying to calm me. She really was the cutest thing, the most selfless person.. I smiled widely and wrapped an arm around her, holding her tightly in a defensive manner. I felt like a father.

A father.

Was I ever fit to be one?