"You're up a bit early, fuzz." An ear twitches as Edward speaks, a half hearted smirk appearing on his face as I sit opposite to him. "Didn't sleep well?"

"Mn, If I'm gonna be honest, it wasn't the best sleep. I already miss beds." I reply with a grumble as I rub at my eyes, rubbing the lingering sleep away from it as he chuckles.

"We are gonna be on the roads for the next few days, so you best get used to it. We'll reach Dartwood within a timely manner, I'll report to Uncle, and our mission will be completed." He continues to speak in a mostly informative tone, though his mind seems to be partially elsewhere, his eyes idly lingering on the fire pit between us. The woods long since burnt out, nothing more than the ashen remains left.

"I know, I know." I say flatly, biting the inside of my cheek as the conversation dies down between us. We'll split up after Dartwood, won't we? I can't drag him away from his work… Pfah, I'd love to say I can deal with it later, but that 'later' is coming up pretty soon. I hum to myself as I examine Edward a little bit, he's displaced his armour set, bits and pieces spread out beside him, glistening and shining in the early morning sun. It looks like he's taken it off to properly wash it, makes sense, seeing him dressed in his street threads is rather unlike him is all. It surprised me a little bit.

'He looks rather distracted.'

I realised, his mind really is elsewhere at the moment, his eyes nowhere near as attentive and alert as what I normally recall. That's, kinda odd, what's up with him?

'Jesus Christ, you really are dense, aren't you?'

I purse my lips with a mostly suppressed hum, fingertips twitching. I'm aware that I'm a little… slow, lets just say that, your commentary is always welcome, isn't it Adrian? Is the answer something overly obvious?

'Bingo, good going dunce. Ask him what's wrong, dumbfuck.'

I was going to, thank you very much, just thinking up the words. I don't wanna fuck things up again, ich, that'd be a mess.

"Hey, Edhead, you feeling okay?" I ask with a frown on my face, shuffling and leaning forward as I look over him. He hums in surprise, eyes darting from the pit to my face, an eyebrow raised.

"Mrn? I'm feeling just fine, Fuzz." He answers monotonously, slouching forward, elbows resting against his knees.

'He's as good at lying as you are, it's impressive that you both manage to be completely inept.'

"Come on bud, you can share with me~" I rest my chin in a palm as I trail myself off, rocking myself forward as I stare at him with a wide grin. His eye twitches, rubbing at his face almost aggressively with a palm.

"Fuzz, I'm fine."

"Cmon famalam, I won't tell a soul."

"Don't call me famalam."

"I won't if you tell me." I linger on the final word with a smug smile, snickering as Edward exhales an aggravated groan, of which turns into a throttled sigh afterwards. He purses his lips together, his body in an awkward manner as his fingertips taps against his legs. My frown deepens as I tilt my head, a genuine worry stirring in my chest. I know he's not the most expressive person, or the most social one, but this is uncharacteristically reserved of him, he looks so meek right now, it's awful.

"Hey, dude, I'm just kidding, mostly anyways. You just seem a little off is all, and I'm worried about you, but I won't force you to talk if you really don't want to." I quickly tack onto the conversation, holding my hands up in a surrendering manner, backtracking my bluntness. I remember what happened last time I pushed too hard, and if he's put off this much by whatever's on his mind, then I won't pry. He sighs again, a solemn and somewhat reserved sigh this time around, a hand reaching up and rubbing against the back of his neck.

"I know, just… Maybe another time Zeke, maybe another time." He finally says, his tone as awkward as his posture, puffing out a defeated exhale. I hum and twist my lips, tapping my fingers against my chin. Him using my name in such a tone is really off putting, it's unnatural, what could get his mind off of himself, I wonder…

'Why don't you punch each other in the face? You barbarians seem to enjoy doing that a bit too much.'

That was a rhetorical question, Adrian, but you get bonus points for answering correctly!

'God FUCKING dammit.'

"Hey, hey Edhead." I pipe up quickly to get his attention, a wide grin forming on my face as I stand upright, rolling my shoulders and stretching as he raises his eyebrow.

"What?"

"Get off of your ass, we're gonna spar." I metaphorically throw down the gauntlet to the man, resting a hand on the hilt of my sword. He seems surprised, but the corner of his lips twitches upwards, grunting as he stands upright himself. Fucking score!

'Wild fucking, primitive bastards, the both of you, you're both idiotic bastards.'

"You know what? I'll take you up on that offer, are we to spar like beforehand?" He finally verbally replies, the ghost of a smile still on his face. At least I know what'd get him out of his grump. I hesitate for a moment, my smile widening as my hand continues to grip at my hilt. I know just how to spice the spar up, and it'd help keep me on my toes.

'Don't you fucking dare-'

"Sword fight, first to draw blood? Or first to surrender, either or, I don't mind." Edward seems surprised, but also impressed, the guardsman chuckling softly as he grabs at his hilt.

"I'm surprised you'd offer, but I'll take you up on it, let's move to a less occupied area though."He nudges his head away from the campfire, stepping towards a flattened field. A feeling of glee floats in my chest, a sense of excitement running through my veins as I follow after him.

'You're hopeless, are you fucking kidding me? God fucking dammit, you're doing this to spite me aren't you? You fucking bastard!'

I stop in my tracks amidst Adrians rambling, humming and tugging at the hem of my shirt, the uncomfortable chain mails was put away in my bag for the past while, and I think I've left my shield in the wagon. This is the only piece of clothing I have to be honest, and it'd be a shame to make its stench even worse...

'You've no idea how much I detest your very existence, Zeke.'

I shrug and yank at the bottom of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head and tossing it onto a nearby rock along with my gloves, shivering as the cold morning air thuds against my chest and wraps around my hands, hastily walking to catch up with Edward, can't be losing too much time after all. He finally turns to me after a while, catching his own sentence as he looks up and down to me, eyebrow still thoroughly raised.

"...Where's your shirt gone? Why is it gone?" He asks simply, the question itself getting a chuckle outta me. Not entirely sure why, but his confused face is hilarious.

'I bet that keys dangling in front of you is funny too, you ape.'

"I only got one pair of clothes, and I don't wanna sweat up the shirt too much. It might already stink, but it's the thought behind it." I answer with a shrug, a grin still on my face as I draw my sword, gripping it tightly as I jab the tip towards him before letting it hang closer to my side, knees bending and bobbing ever so slightly. He still seems confused, but he shrugs himself, content enough with the answer to draw his own blade. He holds the tip towards my chest, his eyes squinting as his breathing slows, he looks a lot calmer now despite the threat of a fight. Good! That's good, I want him to be more comfortable and stuff, the fact that my vein ignites with the thrill of a friendly fight is just the cherry on top.

'Think whatever you want to think, savage'

Pfah, you can be a mood killer all you want, I'm gonna have my fun! My lips curl into a wide grin, the muscles in my legs tensing before pushing myself forward, rushing down Edward. Steel meets steel with a thunderous clanging, my sword slamming down onto the broad of his blade with a downward swing, a grunt puffing through his lips as his hands tremble. My grin widens as he furrows his brow, grunting again as my blade slides closer to his hilt, forcing the both of our swords upwards with a rough shove, I force myself to quickly stumble backwards to move away from his own downward swing. I bring my sword down to earth and lunge forwards with a wide swing against his side, his hands clenching around the hilt of his weapon to block the strike once again. My chest throbs with a sudden pain, the slugging of his foot against my chest dulled from the rush of blood and excitement that floods my veins, stumbling and leaning backwards, just barely dodging the swipe of his tip. I can almost feel the tipper of his sword brush past my nose, the grin on my face almost hurts from overuse. He takes another step forward, pushing the advantage as I barely dodge another swing, this time against my chest, swiftly back peddling to get some distance from the man.

"You, hah, you're fighting a bit more wildly than last time." Edward comments with a sharp intake of breath, moisture forming on his forehead as he regains his posture. Sword held with two hands and back ever so slightly bent, his eyes never completely closing, more so squinting and reopening to simulate the motion than anything. He's extremely focused, his eyes intently examining me over and over again. His focus is entirely on me, and I can't be more delighted for it to be so.

"I'm well aware, it's so much more freeing than before, I did take that tip of yours into consideration after all." I reply cheerfully, twirling my sword in a hand before returning it to its more natural position, arm hanging loosely by my side, both my arm and my grin twitches with the pure rush of excitement.

'You're acting like a rabid animal, a feral, I'd be begrudgingly impressed if my chest didn't fucking hurt because of you.'

"Mn, even so, I wasn't entirely expecting it anyways. Didn't you have proper training of some kind." I raise my eyebrow as he questions me, head tilting forward in a small motion.

"Really? You're asking the amnesiac if he remembers training?" I counter his question with a question of my own, sarcasm dripping off of my tongue. He smiles awkwardly, the hilt of his sword shifting in his hands.

"Well, perhaps that's not the greate-" He cuts himself off with a grunt, stumbling backwards as he barely manages to block another strike of my sword, a small frown on his face as he barely recuperates his balance before properly blocking another wild swing, pushing it and myself backwards.

"Really? You're gonna cut me off mid sentence?" He half whines with an exasperated tone, sighing in an almost disappointed tone afterwards, but I still see the ghost of a smile on his face. I know you're enjoying this too, Edhead!

'By the gods, you're both savages, god fucking dammit.'

"Duh? This is the time for friend fighting, dammit, we can chat later." I answer casually with a shrug and a roll of my eyes, refocusing on Edward himself with an amused grin. He sighs again, his lips twitching upwards as he rolls his shoulders, back into his natural position he goes. He suddenly pushes on the offensive, stepping forwards and dragging his sword in a predictable but strong upward cut, the grin on my face widens as the blood ignites, stepping backwards to force the swing to whiff once again. I lunge forward with a quick jab, the man sidestepping himself, the tip of my blade clipping and tearing at the side of his shirt. I continue to push myself forward, the muscles tensing with a burning feeling as I force myself to twist mid step, barely managing to bring up the flat of my sword to block his oncoming downward swing, bringing up my spare hand to support my own defence, the two weapons deadlocked in a power struggle. We both breath heavily as our eyes lock contact, despite the potential for actual harm, there's a strange respect in the brief moment that we share, the both of us are smiling. This is a power struggle between the both of us that someone's gonna win eventually, but, I could always use my head…

'Oh my fucking lord, please don't.'

I refuse to heed Adrians begging, a delighted snarl escaping my lips as I force my head beside the two blades, my skull whacking against Edwards with a lovely cracking noise, my head flaring up in pain with the mutual strike. I take the brief relief to shove Edward away and stepping back myself, gasping heavily to answer the demand of air, there's so much excitement and electricity in the air!

'And my fucking head hurts, you mother fucker.'

He groans and shakes his head, a slightly dazed look in his eyes alongside a delighted yet positive glint, an oddly amused chuckle slipping from his lips. We meet together with the clattering and banging of steel on steel, my vision a blur from the adrenaline that still forces itself through my body, the muscles inside of me feeling flared from vigorous use, even the clanging sound feels dull against my twitching ears as the both of us collide once more. Is there someone else here? Is Adrian as muted as the sounds that I can barely process? Does it even matter at the moment what he'd think or say? I'm having so much fucking fun! The sound of battle, of steel battering steel is what matters!

My thoughts run through my mind with a zealous fever, a feeling of elation surging through my chest and limbs as I bring my blade down to the mans center, the tip will rip through his clothes and tear his skin, and that'll be the end of that, that'd be the end of this fantastic sparring session. The grin on my face falters for a moment, the feeling of metal sliding off of metal reverberating throughout my arms, the screeching of it is on the forefront of my brain as it happens. I feel myself lean forward into a fall, the chill of a sharp edge pressing against my throat as the blood thunders in my hearts, my heart pounding against my chest as I stare unblinking into the mix of dirt and grass beneath us. It feels as if the fever of the fog of battle was suddenly lifted from my mind, blinking rapidly as general awareness returns to my body. The both of us remain stock still, my hand dangling lazily in the air as the sharp edge seems ever more apparent as we both take in deep and heavy breaths of air.

I put too much of my posture into that one strike, Edward knew that I'd over extend and let it happen, Edwards blade's against my throat.

Holy shit

I fucking lost.

'Yeah, you did, now can you stop being an animal and behave like a normal human being? By the fucking gods, I feel tired entirely because of you, how the fuck do I feel physically exhausted without a proper body?'

"I yield, I yield." I say after a few moments, a hand reaching up and gently pushing his sword away from my neck, stepping away from him as both of our chests heave to take in the now shockingly cold air, unsynchronised and rabid.

"Hah, that was a surprisingly close fight, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did." Edward responds with a raspy tone, a half smirk on his fatigued looking face, his face beaded with sweat dripping down and off of his chin. I let out an exhausted sigh as I sheath my sword, trying my best to just breathe in air. Gods, my chest feels so deflated, I almost feel like i was too focused on the fight to remember to breathe.

'Not too unlikely, your mind was so fucked that you didn't even respond to me, pretty rude of you by the way, you savage.'

"That I did Edhead, that I did. Fuck, I fucking lost, can't say I expected that." I pipe up with a half hearted grin, a heavy wariness in my limbs setting in as I bring my hand up, dragging it through my hair. I grimace and blanch, a salty stickiness gluing onto my fingers as I pull it away, trying in vain to flick it away. Gross, eaugh, thank fuck I didn't have my gloves on, otherwise that'd just turn out extra disgusting.

"Heh, despite how wild you were, I got a feeling for how you'd act, so I counted on you making a mistake." He answers with a soft snicker through his raspy through, coughing almost violently afterwards, wiping away his spittle and the sweat that clings to his face. I flicker my arms to fan the cool air around me as I stand upright with a groan, spine cracking slightly as I do so, being bent over for so long must've put a fair bit of strain on my spin there. Probably should keep an eye on that.

"I guess I got a bit too in the moment, but still, I fucking lost. I don't recall you being so fast either, have you been training?" I strike up the conversation once again with a question, my stony limbs limbering up slowly but steadily, maybe I should've stretched before the sparring, but better late than never right? The muscles that scream at me probably doesn't agree, but that's besides the point.

"Well, yeah, after I lost to you when we first met, I promised myself that I wouldn't become so complacent to lose another fight due to overconfidence alone. Putting my pride aside, I wanted to hone what I was good at to get better, and that'd be duelling. Have you been training, Fuzz?" He questions me in return with a raised eyebrow, his feet tapping against the ground with an inspective eye. I press my lips together and roll my wrist around, a half hearted dismissive way.

"Eeeeh, not exactly? I don't think cardio counts as actual training." I reply with a playful smile. He drops his smirk with a sigh, shoulders slouching forwards slightly as he fingers his sword hilt with a spare hand.

"Not sure what 'cardio' is, but the fact that I almost lost despite your apparent lack of proper training and personal training is… worrisome I suppose, almost makes me feel like this victory is a trifling one at best when I take that into consideration." He trails off as he looks away, his eyes taking on a far off look and glazing over as he crosses his arms. I huff, my cheeks puffing up slightly with it before sighing, making my way over to him. I raise a hand and let out a forceful click against his skull, a light thwapping noise coming from the small strike, it pulls him out of his downtrodden looking posture, and I assume his thoughts too. He yelps with the hit, too, sending a small glare my way as he rubs at the struck point with the palm of his hand.

"No."

"Wha-" I cut him off the raising of my hand, threatening another flick against his skull. I hold it against him for a few moments before lowering my hand, feeling my lips morph into a frown of disapproval.

"No, bad Edward thoughts, you won the fight fair and square. The fact that I haven't trained doesn't mean shit, that's on me, not you. My personal willingness to dip out on training with a sword doesn't detract from you taking your time to get better. Also, I'm a basitin, I'm fairly sure I'm naturally hardy in a fight or some shit, something like that, so you being able to work over and past a natural advantage of mine solely due to my body is also a point to you." I half scold and half commend the man as I look down at him, it feels strange to do so, it's part criticism for myself, part for his own pessimistic thoughts while trying to point out his good work. It feels odd, and off putting, like I'm on the verge of fucking up while outside of my own comfort zone. He remains silent for a few moments longer, his eyes still distracted elsewhere, but I see his lips twitch upwards with a chuckle.

"If someone told me a month ago that I'd meet a non human who'd end up being a friend of mine, I'd have written them off as a mad man." I raise an eyebrow as he continues his soft laughter, his twitching lips going from a barely suppressed half smile to an oddly soft and genuine one, his body unwinding with a relieved sigh as he looks up at me. "You've my thanks, Zeke, truly."

I'm not sure why, but the genuine feeling from his voice and his body forces an overly happy and dopey feeling grin on my face, an odd feeling of elation fluttering through my body. It's similar to the thrill of the battle, it's a lighter feeling on my mind and body than that though, it's nice.

'Ew, you're both fucking gross.'

I ignore Adrians comment as it intrudes on my skull, raising a hand between the two of us, a smile still on my face. His hand clasps into mine, a surprise yelp coming from his throat as I drag him closer to me, wrapping my arm around his back in a forceful hug that lifts him off of the ground.

"Love ya too, Edhead." I say simply as I squeeze my arm around his back, ignoring his groans and grunts of rejection as I do so, dropping him onto the ground eventually. He groans again and puts a hand against his back, leaning backwards with a non committal frown on his face.

"Don't do that again, that's weird, and now I smell like a wet dog. Thanks Fuzz." I ignore his deadpan grumbling with a mirthful chuckle, wrapping my arm around him in a side hug.

"You're welcome bud, we both probably smell like garbage anyways." The ribbing between us two devolves into friendly chuckles.

"That much is true, lets get back to the camp though, I might've lost track of time, but I pray to the masks it hasn't been too long." I roll my eyes and nudge an elbow against his shoulder, following beside him as we walk back to the camp, it feels odd to see a great big smile on his face, but it's a welcoming odd. Ain't no friend of mine gonna have bad sad thoughts, no sir.

'Your own thoughts are just fine though, ain't that right?'

You're damn right Adrian, damn right, I'm the exception to that rule naturally. A whistling brings me out of my thoughts, my head twisting around and facing forward. A familiar pale face stands out against the backdrop of the camp, clad in ankle high boots with a plain brown and white tunic that looks a size too big for her, hanging off of her shoulders semi-loosely, at least her cloth pants look like they fit well.

"Awh, aren't you two just adorable! I should thank ya two for the show~" She says with a coy grin as her head tilts back slightly, fists resting on her hips. Edward sighs beside me, pinching at the bridge of his nose with a shake of his head.

"Good morning to you too, Miss Lucy, sleep well?" I ignore her comment with a question of my own, a polite smile on my face as we approach. She huffs, a displeased pout on her face for a brief moment. Her baiting doesn't work in this situation, how unfortunate for her.

"Aw phooey, neither of you are fun, you both suck butt. And no, no I bloody didn't, wooden floors suck at actually being comfortable. I don't suppose either of you have somethin to help me out, hm~?" Her pout only intensifies as she looks up to the both of us, a sniffle coming from her as her eyes wetten, crocodile tears threatening to fall. I raise an eyebrow as I look down to her, eyes glancing at Edward, the man shrugging nonchalantly with a disconnected feeling. I roll my eyes, reaching up and flicking at the small ladys forehead very lightly, a dainty squeak coming from her throat, suppressing a snicker as she raises a hand to rub at the spot, her pout still staining her pale face.

"Sorry, Miss Lucy, but we all have to sleep in the same conditions. Sorry to sound so callous, but you probably should've taken the fact that we'd be sleeping rough into consideration, sorry again." I part answer and part apologise to the lady, who huffs once more and crosses her arm.

"Bah, you don't really mean that, fuzzy. Incidentally, where's your cloak at? Not that I mind the view or anythin, just haven't seen you without the thing, and I don't see it around?" She questions me with a hum, stepping forwards and pushing up onto her toes, leaning a bit too close to my face for comfort, a feeling of awkwardness clutching my heart as an uncomfortable sweat beads on my forehead, leaning away from her in turn.

'Pfeh, this tiny bastard's getting on my nerves, how can you stand how she acts? That's not even getting into her treating us like a lab rat.'

It's a mutual agreement, Adrian, and I don't particularly dislike her little 'quirks'.

"I, ah, lent it to Mabel for a while, just so she had something like a blanket to stay warm for now." I answer her with an awkward feeling in my throat, the girl staring into my eyes with her own, squinting with a truly unneeded scrutiny. She hums once more before sighing, pulling away with her steps. I let out a sigh I didn't realise I was holding, coughing to clear my throat as she continues to stare. Suppress that shiver Zeke, she's not being intentionally creepy, that's just how she is. I think, I hope.

"I see, I see, well I ain't one ta judge. You got that mana crystal on ya? I wanna hang around for a bit longer to teach ya, I am your teacher after all, and it's the reason I'm on this dumb dumb journey after all. I'm sure you don't really mind, do ya Eddy~?" She directs her attention to the somewhat left out guardsman, his body jolting slightly in surprise, but I see through his suppression of it! He's probably feeling a bit awkward from that, that's hilarious.

"While I'd prefer to get marching sooner rather than later, I'm not currently opposed to a brief respite to recover our energy, it'd help with having some breakfast too." He responds monotonously, shrugging alongside his answer.

"Great! Super duper fantastic, now go get your stuff fuzzy." She twists and skips away wordlessly soon after that, my eyes staring into her back with slow blinks. I'm uh, a little bit confused by this entire interaction, but I'll just roll with it. Quirky indeed. I turn my head to face Edward, raising an eyebrow as he pinches the bridge of his nose again, squeezing his eyes shut with an irked sigh.

"You did let her come with us, to be fair." I comment chirpily with a good humoured smile on my face, chuckling as he sighs again, resting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing lightly.

"I know, I'm aware Fuzz, I'm just going to elect to ignore this conversation and go about with my morning. Thank you again, though, we should do this another time" His soft smile returns to his face as he looks up to me. My smile widens as I give him a thumbs up, patting him on the shoulder before brushing past him, jogging to the tent as I softly curse myself out. Fucking mana crystal, I forgot about that thing, I sure hope Mabel doesn't do anything with it. Does she have the capability for magic? I dunno, maybe I'm just worrying too much.

'Yes, yes you are, weirdo.'

Thank you for your commentary, Adrian, it's very helpful. Hey, what's it like up there? Are you just kinda being dragged along for the ride by me?

'More or less, it's like a really hazy dream, where you can't really control your body and you're forced to move by other means, like you're being railroaded to a destination. Except this dream is lucid and by god do I wish for it to end, you're almost insufferable sometimes.'

Love you too, Adrian.

'Pfah.'

Adrians speech stops as I reach the back of the wagon, stepping up to the wood and pushing myself through the wraps, my eyes blinking rapidly to adjust to the sudden darkness. My ears twitches as a soft and confused trill sound hits it, kneeling down beside the source of the noise and slipping a hand under the hood to rest it atop her head, ruffling her hair once more.

"Hey kid, I'm just here to grab something from the cloaks pockets, you don't mind right?" I ask her in a soft voice. She doesn't respond verbally, I can see her shoulders softly shrug in the darkness as she pushes a her hand against a hand. I hum and bite the inside of my cheek, running a hand down the side of the cloak furthest away, that was the right side, right? I let out an accomplished sigh as I dig my hand into the pocket, the hardened feeling of the mana crystal against the tips of my fingers before clutching it, yanking it out of the pocket. It thrums with it's unnatural power once again, it's a different feeling when physically touching it compared to touching it through a glove.

"Alright, thanks kid, you can get me if you need me at any time, okay?" I try to say in an encouraging manner, fingers digging behind her ears. Still no verbal response, and I can't tell if the nodding is in response to the scratching or from the question itself. I bite back a concerned sigh as I pull away from her, gaze still lingering for a moment longer before pushing the wagon wraps away.

I stop mid way from leaving the wagon as the mix of a growl and a rumbling noise hits my ears, twitching lightly as I look behind myself, and at Mabel. She curls and wraps herself in the cloak, motionless and silent in the green blanket, the gears in my mind turning as I step back into the wagon. I kneel beside her once again, her face buried in the wraps of cloth as I frown.

"Kid, didn't I tell you to grab some food from my bag if you needed it?" I try to keep my voice low as I rest a hand on her shoulder, my chest and face wincing as she flinches, visible even when she tries to hide. There's a bitter feeling in my throat as I scowl, pulling away from the girl and drag my bag closer to the two of us, forgetting the glowing rock in my hand for a few moments as I drop it onto the wooden floor. I rummage through the bag, pushing the contents aside before reaching the bottom of it, pulling out three decent size cloth packets. I drop one alongside the mana crystal as I return to tending to the girl, softly nudging her with a hand.

"Hey, Mabel, lil kid, come on." I gently plead to the girl, pulling away and unwrapping a packet part way and holding it beside her. She shivers and fidgets slightly, her head poking up from beneath the hood, tugging it back with a spare hand. My frown deepens as I look at her face, an awful blend of conflicting emotions crossing over her face, her golden eyes glowing in the dark as she sniffles, a frown on her small face. I swallow the bile in my throat, swallow down that overprotective feeling Zeke. I nudge the meat closer to her, her eyes latching onto the thing.

"It's for you, kid. I made a promise." I say to her simply, I refuse to tear my eyes away from her, almost begging her to take the fucking food from my hands. She sniffles again, reaching out with shaky and dainty hands and clutching at the both of the packets. I let go of it, watching she slowly brings the rations close to her, her eyes flickering between the food and myself.

"T-thank you, thank you." She squeaks out softly, a bright and innocent smile on her face that mixes the feelings in my chest, though I do feel absolutely delighted that she accepted the gift. I smile, though it feels half hearted, rubbing a hand on her head as she nibbles at the jerky, or the equivalent of it here.

"Any time, kid." I respond with a resolute nod, her smile widening slightly as she wriggles in place, a content look on her face as the nibbles turn into solid bites of the meat. I turn and grab my things, mana crystal and ration packet, scrambling back onto my feet and stepping into the light. My mood sours as I hit the ground, a grimace on my face as I clench my fists, packet buckling and deforming with it.

If I find the fucker who made Mabel like this.

I'm gonna break their neck.

'Heheh, once a savage, always a savage.'

I prefer the term 'vigilante', for a soul left battered and bruised.

'Whatever makes you feel better, brute.'

Authors note: This is uploaded a little bit earlier than normal due to having to leave for family reasons, there'll be a small delay in updates, but it should return to normal soon afterwards.