Alan
"Seriously, no reward is necessary sir." I politely bow to the village leader.
"I must insist on something, after all, you dealt with a Redback Beringel and their troop." he stands up from the table. "That is no easy task, even for a clearly seasoned Huntsman like yourself."
I tell everyone that I am a Huntsman. It's easier than explaining what I really am, besides it tends to make them trust me more. Small villages in trouble, like this one, don't tend to ask for ID either.
"If you insist…I guess I could use accommodations for the night, it would be nice to not have to sleep under a tree again."
"Consider it done, I'll take care of the preparations personally."
"Alright then, tomorrow I'll head out and make sure that I didn't miss any stragglers."
"Thank you, you have no idea how much of a relief it'll be for the people here."
After everything is settled, he leaves and asks me to wait for a bit. It doesn't take long before he returns and beckons for me to follow him. As we walk down the path, the street lamps begin to power on.
Along the way, every villager who is still out and about stops to wave and smile. Some even come up and thank me for getting rid of their Beringel problem before being shooed away by the leader.
I'm glad that they are all happy and safe, I really am but…I still feel pretty far off from being worthy of all the praise they insist on heaping onto me. I still have a long way to go before that happens. I will say though, someday, I could really get used to this whole hero thing.
"This is the place." he says as we stop in front of a fairly modest home.
"And what place would this be?"
"It belongs to the woman who runs the local shop, she insisted that she wouldn't mind sparing a room for you, since our Inn was destroyed a few months back."
"I see.."
"Yeah, poor woman, her husband died not too long after she gave birth and then a mear five years later her child goes missing."
"That's awful."
"Yeah, despite it all though she manages to remain surprisingly cheerful..can't imagine what it's like though. Luckily I've been blessed enough to still have my family, if it weren't for you showing up though who knows how long that would've lasted." he turns and bows his head to me. "Thank you once more, not just on behalf of the village but on behalf of myself, my wife and my beautiful children."
"S-Seriously think nothing of it." I turn away. "Knowing you all are safe is enough for me."
"Such a kind heart…well I won't keep you any longer, I'm sure you're exhausted." After telling me which room I'll be sleeping in tonight, he turns and walks away, waving goodbye.
If only he knew…everything I have to atone for.
"He is right about one thing, I'm freaking tired." I stretch and walk inside. All the lights are off in the house and I just decided to keep it that way for now, I'm too tired to look around right now anyway.
Instead I head straight up the stairs and to the last room on the right. When I walk inside I see that it's filled with toys and there is a drawing pad on a nearby desk. A desk that is fairly small might I add. The bed is actually relatively small too, I should be able to fit in it though. My feet might hang off the edge but no big deal, still better than sleeping under a tree.
I lay my weapons down on the desk and then proceed to kick off my boots and plop down on the bed. I didn't really realize until now just how tired I was..it hits me nearly all at once when I lay down on the soft bed and rest my head on the fluffy pillow.
It was almost enough to make me pass out right away but then my scroll starts ringing. Of course it's Inu. I answer and when she pops up on my screen it looks like she is fixing her hair or something, not sure why but she stops as soon as she notices me on the other end.
"O-Oh hey Alan!" she smiles and waves.
"Hey Inu, how are things?"
"Pretty good, I just got done training with Nora and I'd say I'm improving a lot." she jokingly flexes for emphasis.
"I bet, I'm looking forward to seeing it myself." I take a quick glance around the room in the background. "Where is everyone else?"
"Weiss is doing her usual thing."
"So..being alone in the forest?" I chuckle.
"Yup." She lays on her back. "Blake and Yang are training together, they should be back any minute though."
"Those two have started getting awfully close huh?"
"True..Yang plays it off any time I bring it up but I'm her best friend, I know better." she giggles and I let out a huge yawn. "You seem even more tired than usual."
"Yeah well I did just take on a pretty big job." I proceed to explain everything that happened.
"I can't believe you took on an entire troop of Beringel and a Redback on top of that!" Inu is stunned. "Do you at least have a nice place to rest?"
"Yeah I'm staying with a nice older lady tonight." I say, giving her a quick pan of the room I'm in. "I'm staying in her son's old room…though it makes me feel a little weird.
"Why is that?" Inu asks.
"Well…there is the fact that her son apparently went missing over a decade ago."
"Yeah..I can imagine that would be a little uncomfortable."
"They assume he was killed in the forest by Grimm…but it's not just that, something about this place feels oddly..familiar?" I look around the room and it feels strange. Almost like images trying to claw their way out of my head.
"Maybe it's just similar to someplace you've been before, that's happened to me."
"Yeah…maybe." I say even though I'm almost certain that isn't what this is. I've felt that before, this is nothing like that.
"Alan.." she says with almost a whimper.
"Yeah?" I respond as I'm snapped out of my trance.
"I…I really miss you." That felt almost out of nowhere. Not so much what she said but the way she said it, it sounds so sad, almost pleading.
"I..I miss you too." I sit down on the bed. "Honestly you're the only person who has made a point of calling me every chance you can, it's not necessary but…It's helped me a lot."
"I do have some good news though!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, we just found out yesterday that we are going to be going on a work study of sorts in a few days, it's part of the Vytal Festival." her ears perk up in a pretty adorable way. "It turns out there is a mission available in a village not far from you, so we might get to see eachother sooner than we thought! We could even do some Ruby Recon while we're there!"
"That'd be great..not sure how much longer I can hang around though." I do have a lot to do and I don't want to impose on this village any longer than I already have.
"Oh…" her ears droop and for a reason I can't explain, I feel awful.
"I-I guess I can try to stick around a little longer…"
"R-Really!?" she immediately perks back up.
"Yeah, I'll figure something out, just don't keep me waiting." I chuckle.
"We'll take care of the mission ASAP and then we'll come see you okay!?"
"Okay, I'll hold you to it.."
"I'll make it happen! After all..I have something super important I want to say to you."
"You can always just tell me now." I raise an inquiring eyebrow.
"No..I have to say it in person."
"If you say so." I yawn again. "I'm gonna catch some Zs, I'll talk to you soon okay?"
"Okay..goodnight Alan."
"Goodnight." I say before hanging up and falling back on the bed.
She is such a strange girl but it's not unpleasant or anything. After all she has definitely helped keep me sane these months I've spent on the road. Don't get me wrong, it's been nice. Helping villagers and seeing the smiles on their faces but if I didn't have a familiar voice to keep me company now and then I might have wavered and gone back by now.
I can't do that though..I still have a long way to go to making things even remotely right. I'll keep going for a little while longer.
I can't be off the road for very long. I have to do my part to get Ruby home, it's partially my fault she was taken in the first place. My inaction gave the others an opening and that's how they managed to sink their claws into her.
I'll make it right though, I'll rip them away from her with everything I have. Even if it cost me my life.
Finally sleep starts to completely overtake me, the warm room and comfortable bed not exactly helping.
(Next Morning)
I wake up to a wafting smell of sausages and eggs. A smell I haven't experienced…since we left Patch really. I get out of bed, throwing my boots on and after grabbing my weapons, walking downstairs.
I pop my head into the kitchen and see a woman, the woman who owns this house I assume. She is wearing an apron and standing in front of a stove, cooking breakfast. "Oh good morning."
I guess she noticed me standing here at some point. Guess I wasn't exactly hiding. "Y-Yeah, morning."
"Sorry I wasn't here to greet you last night, I had business with a vendor in the neighboring village." she says, placing a plate of food on the table.. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Celia Pragne"
"It's alright, my name is Alan." I bow my head. "Thanks for everything, but I should really be going."
"Nonsense, I insist you sit down for breakfast at least." she says, her voice again sounding familiar. How could it though, I have never even been to this village before so how could I have met her? "You have no idea how much taking out those Berengals has helped our village."
"You already let me sleep under your roof, I couldn't ask more of you."
"Oh don't be silly." She gently pushes me toward the table and insists that I sit down. I decide that refusing any further would be rude and do just that. She sits another plate of food down in front of me before taking a seat in front of the other plate across from me. She just smiles and motions for me to eat.
"Th-Thanks for the food." I take a bite and immediately I find something..nostalgic about the taste. I dismiss it though, maybe it's just reminding me of something I ate on Patch, it is just sausage after all. Very tasty sausage though, I don't hold back and excitedly scarf it down.
"Well I'm glad you are enjoying it." she says giggling.
"Yeah..it's just been awhile since I've had home cooked food like this." I say, embarrassed.
"I can tell, poor thing."
I look around the room, trying to find something to change the subject to. I spot a photo of her and a boy with purple hair and green eyes.
"So is that a photo of you and your son?" I point toward the photo.
"Indeed it is." a very sad smile forms on her face. "He is about eight years old in that photo…my little Sagnis."
Hearing that name…it sends a weird jolt up my spine. Why does that name speak to me so much?
"His father, Hemil, passed not long after he was born, so for a long time it was just me and him. I did my best and he was a good boy..for the most part."
"I see.."
"He wandered off to play with his friend one day, I told them to stay out of the forest but he never was a very good listener." She gets up and touches the photo. "His friends came back, scared to death of something they saw in the woods but..I never saw him again."
"I…I am very sorry to hear that." I stare at the photo of the young boy. I don't know why but I feel strangely attached to it. "I don't remember much..I..lost my memory at a very young age. So anytime I try to remember where I am from, my mother's face or even my old name, all I get are vague flashes."
"I'm terribly sorry, that must be quite painful." she says, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"Something about this place though…it feels oddly familiar." I finish my food and get up from the table. "Anyway, I should really be going."
"What's the rush?"
"I just need to find a safe place to stay nearby, my friends will be in the area in a few days and I promised one of them I wouldn't go too far." I chuckle. "Can't ever bring myself to say no to her."
"Her huh?" she says in a teasing tone and raises an eyebrow.
"It's not like that." I try to dismiss it but she just gently pats me on the back.
"I'm only teasing." she smiles. "If you need a place to stay I am more than happy to continue letting you use that room."
"Oh no, I couldn't"
"Please it's no trouble at all, I rather like having the company and besides having a strong Huntsman like yourself around for a bit longer will be a real reassurance for everyone."
She does make a good point, after all the Beringel problem was literally just dealt with, everyone could still be a little on edge. Besides, it's not like I have any other ideas for where to stay.
"When you put it like that, how can I refuse?" I nervously rub the back of my neck.
"Wonderful!" she claps her hands together. "It's settled, make yourself at home and if there is anything else you need don't hesitate to ask."
She grabs her bag and makes her way to the front door. "I am going shopping, gotta make sure we have plenty of food in the house."
"I wish you wouldn't worry about me so much."
"Oh hush, it's my pleasure." she says. "I'll be back in a little bit, just try to relax, I'm sure you haven't had a real break in awhile."
'She's not wrong.' I think to myself as she closes the door behind her. I can't help but smile, what an incredibly kind woman. I'll try not to impose too much but…if it makes her happy I won't object anymore.
I sigh and stretch before spotting the photo again out of the corner of my eye. I walk closer and stare intently at it…what is it about this photo that draws me to it so much?