So, here a chap. I will now go into hibernation for a week or year, depending on my mood. I hope you guys enjoy it.
]
"Do… Do you really need to go?"
Late in the night, most of the houses in the village had already turned off the fire.
The only people that were out were the two people and an oddly large dog.
They have been calling each other at the edge of the village. Alina was too engrossed with the little game she was playing with him.
It was dead in the night when they finally came back.
After he was done escorting her home, Bjo- Adrik wanted to head back, to the forest far away from the village.
Far away from her.
As she stood in front of the door with Ash by her side, that was why Alina asked that when Adrik was about to leave.
However when she heard herself saying this, Alina quickly berated herself in her head.
"Why did I say that!? What am I, his wife that misses her husband!? I mean, I will miss him and it's kinda lonely with only Ash and I wouldn't really- what am I even thinking?! Focus Alina! He's looking at you now!"
Although she was the furthest thing from calm in her head, on the outside Alina was smiling at him.
"I want to… pray."
"O-Oh… I am sorry for asking. Nevermind then."
She had forgotten about that thing about him.
Although her and her father would always offer him to stay with them, Adrik always rejected them.
He said that the forest was the best place for him to pray because there was nothing to bother him there.
Didn't really stop them from asking him the same offer every day though.
Alina thought today would be different but alas she was wrong.
Adrik noticed, although it was subtle, he noticed that the smile on Alina's face slightly fell when he denied her.
Alina slightly opened her door and waved at him.
"Have a safe trip, then."
"W-Wait."
"Y-Yes?"
Alina stopped herself from going in. Adrik did not realise that he even outstretched his hand toward her when he said that.
Seeing his blunder, Adrik tried to cover it by stretching his cheek.
"About your offer…"
"Yes!"
"U-Um… Ahem."
He was little taken back by how enthusiastic she was. Adrik coughed into his fist to give him time to sort his words correctly.
"I think… I would like to stay… Just tonight… If that's fine with you, Alina."
"... Yes.. Yes! I would not mind at all!"
Adrik did not know why she was happy with him agreeing… But it did not really matter.
She was happy, that was enough for Adrik.
Just when she was about to go inside her home, Alina stopped in her tracks.
"Is something the matter, Lina?"
"U-Uh… U-Um… I am in quite a pickle…"
"?"
"I know.. That I was the one that offered but…"
"?"
"B-But… I am not ready!"
"... Pardon?"
Looking everywhere except to him, Alina hurriedly tried to explain herself, blocking his view of her home.
"I did not clean the house! It-It might be a mess and I don't want you to see it! So…"
With that she went on and on, rambling about things after things to him. A smile broke onto his confused face. Adrik then slowly brought up his hand to cover his mouth.
"P-Pfft. Haha…"
"... Huh?"
Alina stopped her talking when she heard something she never thought she would ever will.
Adrik was chuckling. It sounded… not in a bad way… It just sounded like he had never laughed before and this was his first time doing it. It was also so small, barely louder than the wind.
He was laughing…
At her…
The colour red slowly crept up onto Alina's face when the realization hit her.
"H-Hey! Stop laughing!"
"H-How… Can I? You're acting silly. I lived in a dead forest, so it's fine. Hahaha."
"Alright! J-Just stop already!"
"Hahaha!"
"You're laughing more now!"
Alina trying to salvage any dignity from this only made his laughter last longer and louder.
Only after a hilw, Adrik stopped by a smirk was still present on his face while Alina's was still red.
"A-Are you done?"
"Unfortunately… And about your home being a bit messy, it's fine. It's not like this was my first time."
Alina knew he was right, Adrik having breakfast with her family was a normal occurrence but…
A girl still has her dignity!
Worse of all, Adrik wasn't even doing this to embarrass her. She was being unreasonable.
"I-If you say so."
"Excuse me then."
"Bjorn! Lina!"
"M-Miss Iziaslav. Why are you out so late?"
Alina rushed towards the elderly woman, hurriedly ran towards them.
Seeing all of this, Adrik could not help but feel something was awry. He saw Ash poking his head from the house to see the commotion. The dog, smarter than most, glanced towards him.
Ash must be thinking the same as him.
With just a nod, Ash knew what to do.
"That does it, that's no normal dog."
Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts for now, Adrik made his way to the two women. He was near enough to hear why this was happening.
"There's a girl! Just the outskirt of the village. She looks injured and we, my husband and I, can hear beasts. In the dozens!"
"A pack of beasts? This close to the village?"
Alina couldn't believe it. Normally, the village would be alerted by the people guarding the village if any threats were near.
"I will have a word with the villager that was on patrol tonight. That can wait for later."
Adrik mentioned when he finally got a good gasp of the situation.
"Lina, please take in Mrs Iziaslav and prepare medical aid. If Mrs Iziaslav is right our visitor must be quite injured. Ash and I will help her."
As if que, Ash, with Adrik's wooden spear, stood beside him.
He took it from the dog, and asked the old lady.
"She is at the entrance. I will be going then."
"Be careful."
"It won't take long. I will be back soon."
With that the boy and dog rushed towards the scene while Alina ushered Mrs. Iziaslav into her home.
]
Talulah was barely holding on to her consciousness as she dragged her feet towards the small village a few miles from her, her sword used as a cane of some sort.
Her body was soaked with her blood and some from others. However, what felt like the world spitting at her for hoping, she was surrounded by a pack of beasts.
"T-This is not good."
Although her vision was blurry, her eyes could barely make out the beasts around her. Their eyes glinted red as their fangs were aimed at her.
Normally they wouldn't be in any trouble but with how tired and worn down she was now, Talulah did not like her odds in this situation.
Nonetheless, with what little power she had, Talulah raised her sword at the predators in front of her.
If she was going to die tonight, Talulah could at least bring some beasts with her as well.
"W-What are you waiting for? Scare?"
Talulah knew that the beasts couldn't understand her but what felt like they could, a beast lunged at her.
Her grip on her sword tight, Talulah was about to slash it.
Shuuunt!
A spear went through the skull of the beast before she could do anything, killing it.
"Ash. Right."
Stunned at what just happened, Talulah did not react when a blur ran past her.
"Grrrrr!"
Crack!
She looked behind her and saw what looked like a wolf, cracking one of the beast's skulls with its mouth.
Thud!
"Yip!"
A beast's body flew away from her, but did not get up, presumed dead.
A voice was picked up by her.
"There's a lot of them. Must be because of the blood from you."
A man stood in front of her. His cloak covered his whole body. If it was not because of the torched he was holding, was that the thing that he used to hit the beast just now?, Talulah wouldn't see his face.
His brown eyes bore into her as his dirty blonde hair slightly moved by the wind.
"Guard up. Danger is still here."
"Grrr!"
"Cover her rear, Ash. I'll handle the front."
"Ruff!"
"Suru, you eat some when we are done. After I skin them. Some villagers need coats as of late. Deal?"
"Rufff!"
"Glad we are at an agreement then."
With that, the young man turned her back from her and whisked the torch at the beasts while the dog growled at the rest behind her back.
Not wanting to be just a burden, Talulah guarded herself with her sword raised.
The beasts, seeing more threatening creatures arrived, slowly backed away.
After a long standstill, they finally retreated.
When they were out of sight, the young man relaxed and turned to look at her.
"Looks like we're safe. Let me get you- woah!"
Her body finally gave up when she was safe, falling to the ground. However, before she could feel the ground.
An arm caught her.
"Oi! Don't you dare die on me. You have no idea the trouble I'll get if you do…"
When he made sure she was fine, the young man let out a sigh.
"Yesh. What were you fighting out there for you to look like this? A pack of dragons?"
Hearing an outlandish guess, Talulah couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"At least you're fine, seeing can still laugh. So that's a plus at least."
The dog made its way to their side.
"They're gone?"
"Ruff!"
"Good job."
He looked away from it and back to her.
"I will bring you to the village. Rest now."
She did not know the reason but Talulah felt she could trust him.
With that, Taluah let herself fall unconscious in a stranger's arm.
Ironically, this was the safest she ever left for a while now.
]
Alina anxiously waited in front of her house door. She already prepared the medical supply and Mrs. Iziaslav was indoors.
Although she knew she did not need to wait outside in the cold, Alina could not help but worry for Adrik's safety.
Everyone in the village knew that Adrik was the strongest amongst them, even the adults admitted this fact.
So he would be alright.
Alina knew that…
But… she was still worried.
Mimicking how she would always see how Adrik did it, she brought both of her hands to her mouth, closing her eyes, and she started to pray.
"Please… Please be okay…"
"Ruff!"
Like answering her, Alina immediately heard a familiar bark, albeit a bit muffled.
Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the sight he hoped for.
Ash, the best dog a villager could ever ask for, had a sword in his mouth. Like how he was once as a pup, holding a large stick that he found in pride, that image overlapped with how he was now.
Beside her boy, was the reason she was so anxious just now.
Adrik carried an unconscious girl on his back while he was holding a torch in his single hand.
"No. That's hers. You cannot have it."
"Grrr…"
"Don't growl at me."
"..."
"And use those droopy eyes on someone that they could work on."
"Grrr!"
"Back to growling again, huh? Being unreasonable here."
Seeing the goofy interaction that the two were having, Alina felt silly for even worrying about them.
She ran towards them, making the two stop. Adrik looked surprised at seeing her.
"Lina, why are you out here? It's cold."
She shocked her head in disbelief. Alina wasn't the one fighting off beasts, did she?
"I'm fine, silly. Thanks Ash for taking care of him."
"Ruff!"
Alina petted Ash, making his tail wag. Adrik could help but sigh.
What was he? Chop lever.
"Let's get her inside. The cold might not bother you, our guest here might be a different story."
The group got inside.
Adrik gently placed the unconscious girl on the bed. He gave a quick glanced at her conditions and looked toward Mrs. Iziaslav.
"Good for her, no lethal wounds on her. Just patch her up like any normal person. I will head out, give her some privacy so Mrs. Iziaslav, please take care of her. I am sorry for giving you all the work."
"Oh you! Don't be that, dear. You're always helping around here, so it's the least I can do. Give her a good night's sleep, she will wake up tomorrow."
Adrik smiled as she patted his head.
"I will go out and patrol the village. We don't know if there are more and not."
Seeing that he was not needed, Adrik nodded and let himself out.
Now, Alina was alone with Mrs. Iziaslav, treating her patient, putting substance to her wounds and warping them with clean cloth.
The old lady noticed her younger companion could not help but glance at the door where the dear boy had just left.
"Go. Before he's gone."
Alina blushed when she was caught looking.
"But-"
"You won't take long, no. It's fine then."
"..."
The old lady gave the girl that she viewed as her own girl a supportive smile.
"Go."
"... O-Okay."
With her nerve finally set, Alina nodded. Then she remembered something.
Rushing to a small basket that was filled with yarn, she pulled out something from it.
The old lady saw it and smiled.
Just before she was about to bolt to the door, Alina looked at the lady.
"T-Thank you."
"Off you go, dear."
With a nod, she rushed outside, closing the door behind her.
Mrs. Iziaslav shook her head.
"They really need to get together by now."
]
"How many times do I need to tell you? No, you cannot have the sword."
"Ruff!"
"You don't want to make Lina mad, do you?"
"... Ruff."
"Doesn't matter if what I said was fair or not, was I wrong?"
Adrik massaged his temples as he had to deal with a dog throwing a tantrum.
He picked up one of the many torches the village had, nudged his head towards the outside of the village to Ash.
"Let's just get this over with."
"...Ugh."
"You can bite the person that should be patrolling when we're done. Come."
Although the dog was groaning, he still walked beside him, making their way to their patrol.
As they were about to step out of the village, Adrik heard someone.
"Adrik!"
"... Lina?"
Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of Alina rushing towards the two. She stopped just in front of him.
Seeing how much she was out of breath, back slouched and hand out to stop them, Adrik guessed that she must be running quite far and hard to get to them.
Adrik noticed that she was holding something but with her body covering it, he did not know what it was.
The Ursus looked to Ash and he swore the dog gave him a shrug.
"Lina? Is something-"
"Here!"
Just when he was about to ask Alina why she was here, she held something towards him.
With the light from the torch, Adrik saw the thing she was hiding.
It was a scarf, orange in colour. He noticed some stitches were out and it was a bit uneven in some parts.
However from this he knew something.
It was handmade.
"... For me?"
He asked dumbfoundedly. Alina slowly nodded her head, eyes looking everywhere except on him.
"Y-Yeah… You gave me a knitting kit, remember? Even yarns. So I thought… I should make you something…"
Adrik remembered he bought it for her birthday a few weeks ago when he went to Chernobog before. He saw it in a store and after getting some opinion from father and Uncle that both thought it would suit Alina.
So without any thoughts, Adrik bought with money that he had at the time, even got some yarns as a bonus.
When he gave it to her the night of her birthday, Alina insisted on escorting him rather than her father back to the forest. Seeing that they were alone at the time, he gave her the gift.
Although they weren't any light, as she held his gift near to her chest, Alina's smile at the time…
How could he ever forget?
But to see her repaying him so fast… Adrik was left speechless.
"... I-"
"And no, I won't let you say That you don't deserve it."
Although her face was a bit red now, the firmness in her voice when Alina said this was clear.
Adrik's shock slowly faded, replaced with a pleasant smile.
"Thank you… But, I may have some trouble."
Alina raised a brow hearing this.
"Trouble? What for?"
Adrik chuckled as he nudged towards the torch he was holding.
"Seeing that I only have a hand, it's being a bit preoccupied with holding this, I might have trouble putting that on."
"O-Oh! I forgot! You're so reliable so I always forgot about that!"
'Oh my god! This is embarrassing!'
"Let me hold that for you then."
"I might have a better idea."
Just when she was about to grab the torched out of his hand, Adrik pulled it back out of her reach. Before she could ask what he meant, Adrik lowered his head towards her.
Alina's eyes sprung open and her mouth was agape.
"You can wrap it for me then."
"E-Ehhhh!"
At that moment, Alina's brain short-circuited. What was she supposed to do at this moment?
Her not-but-is crush's face is just an inch away from her face now. How could she not squeal in distress in her head?
As she was just barely holding on to her common sense, Adrik started to look worried for her.
"I-Is there a problem?"
He looked like a kicked dog!
He's damn cute!
"N-No!"
Adrik was caught a bit by surprise by the volume of her shouting.
Alina cringed when she noticed herself shouting. Before she could embarrass herself more, Alina quickly warped the scarf around his neck.
With her being quite shorter than him, Alina was forced to pull down on Adrik's neck.
When she was almost done, Alina noticed how close she was with his face now.
This revelation made her stop moving and made her hyper aware of everything now.
How her breath was mixing with his.
How his lip was barely an inch from her.
When she dared to look away from the scarf around his… admittedly well defined neck, Alina found herself in a worse situation.
Adrik's brown eyes stare at her, never leaving their gaze.
Out from the pan and into the flames.
And he-it was hot.
The flames… she meant.
Yeah… hot… brown… flames…
"..."
"..."
"Awo?"
"A-Ash! O-Oh and Adrik, there is snow on your nose! So yeah!"
Alina finally broke away from the trance she was in when she heard Ash, jumping in fright.
Trying to cover up herself, Alina gave a lame excuse as she focused all of his will to only wrap the scarf now.
After what felt like an eternity for her, Alina finally did it and took a step back.
"T-There!... How is it?"
Although she was proud of the scarf she made, Alina wanted to know Adrik's opinion on it.
She was a bit nervous though.
Hours of countless late nights and wounds that she would get with some mistakes, Alina could hope she did not do all of that for nothing if he did not like it.
Adrik looked down at the scarf and after nuzzling a few times in it, a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"... I love it. Thank you."
Hearing those words… those simple words.
It made her feel all of the time she spent all worth it.
Alina could feel a few tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
'D-Don't cry! You already embarrassed yourself enough, girl!'
With the will of the Ursus Emperor himself would be jealous, Alina held back the tears and brought up both of her hands to cover her mouth.
"T-Thanks goodness."
The silent gratitude was whispered through her palms.
Calming down, Alina smiled at him as he was to her.
"I hope it will keep you warm then. I-I think I should go now. Mrs. Iziaslav might need my help."
"... Yeah… See you soon then."
"Yes. Take care."
With a timid wave, Alina turned her back and jog back to her home, leaving Adrik alongside with Ash.
Adrik stared at her fading back as Alina was getting out of his sight. He buried his face into the scarf, feeling his own breath hitting himself.
"Hey… Is it really snowing, Ash?"
"Awo?"
Confused at the sudden question, Ash looked up and saw snow falling. The young hunter noticed this too.
"It is… How odd. I should be cold then?"
Ash glanced at his friend and saw Adrik's face have a hint of redness on it.
"Why do I feel so warm though?"
Back at Alina's home, Mrs. Iziaslav just finished treating the visitor's wound and was now cleaning up the supply.
As she put them all into their cabinets, the lady heard the door open.
She looked and saw an out of breath Alina, clutching her chest as she tried to calm down.
Placing a hand on her cheek, a sly smile appears on her face.
"Did something good happen?"
"N-Nothing! Nothing happened between me and him!"
This only made her predicament worse as the old Ursus' smile grew, clapping her hands in delight.
"Oh! You finally made a move on him! About time!"
"M-Mrs. Iziaslav!"
The lady rushed toward her and pushed the poor girl towards the dining table.
"There. There, dear. Tell me all about it. I even made tea to pass the time."
True to her words, Alina could see the tea set neatly placed on the table.
Alina could only feel the dread creeping up to her as she did not have the power to deny her.
She was even starting to think, she much rather want to be with Adrik and Ash fighting off beasts than to deal with her current situation.
But alas, fate was not on her side today.
]
Talulah let out a groan as she slowly opened her eyes. She was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.
And an unfamiliar voice.
"Oh, our dear is awake? Alina, be a sweetheart and fetch me a new bowl of hot water for me."
"Of course."
Before she could see who the other person was, she already left, leaving Talulah with the elderly Ursus.
The draco slowly pushed herself up and Talulah felt something damp fall from her head and dropped onto her lap.
It was a wet towel.
She looked around and found herself in a small room made of wood with a lady sitting next to her bed.
"You're out to lie down, missy. You must have had an awful day yesterday."
"Y-Yesterday?"
As Talulah was trying to make sense of all of this, she got flashes of memories before she passed out.
A young man and his dog saved her from the pack of beasts.
"W-Where am I?"
"In the village. And to be more specific, in my house."
"Alina, thank you dear."
A young lady that looked like she was an Elafia with her horns entered the room and gave the old lady a small bowl of water. After that she sat next to the old lady.
"Hello miss. As you guess, my name is Alina. Normally, we would welcome our guests with some food but your current situation might be a bit different."
"I-It's fine. Hello Miss Alina. My name is Talulah."
"Hello Miss Talulah. Call me Alina."
"Then call me Alina."
Alina's attempt at lighting up the mood with the small joke earned her a small smile from Talulah. The lady took the towel on Talulah's lap and dipped it into the warm water.
"Okay missy, lay down now. We need to make sure you warm up. Heaven knows how long you've been out in the cold."
"Don't worry. I am fine now. I can't bother you more."
"Lie down."
"..."
"Just do it, Talulah."
Seeing the combination of Alina shocking her head and the lady preaching smile, Talulah gave in.
The lady's smile became much more pleasant as she placed the wet towel on her head, the coldness from it gave a sense of relief that Talulah didn't know she needed
"Your clothings is quite torn, so we need to give you a new set of clothes while we fix them. Dear Alina, gave you some of hers."
True to her words, Talulah wasn't wearing her military clothes anymore, replaced by a simple tunic instead.
"There wasn't that much to fix so Alina should have done them."
"Yes, Mrs. Iziaslav. They are being dry at the moment."
"That's our golden girl."
The lady, Talulah now knew as Mrs. Iziaslav, patted Alina's back in pride.
"Thank you Alina."
"You are welcome."
As they shared the peaceful quiet between them, Talulah suddenly remembered a lack of a certain person.
"The one save… Where is he?"
"Ah! Our little bear! Dear… Adrik, no Alina?"
Alina smiled and became softer when the topic of that person came up.
"Yes… That's his real name. Don't worry, he promised to tell everyone later today."
Talulah was a bit confused at what they were talking about.
"He… Never told you his real name until now?"
Alina could give her a sheepish nod while Mrs. Iziaslav shocked her head in dismay.
"Well… the boy can be a bit… close off. The only reason he started to open up was because of this lass."
Mrs. Iziaslav tried to explain the situation to their guest. However, Alina explained it without any problems, a smile on her face.
"He's a kind person, who helps anyone that he can in the village. Adrik is the one that brings all of the goods in the village and sells them in the nearby city."
"He's also taught a lot of the kids here beneficial things and helped them survive here. In hunting, no one can do it better than him. Adrik even taught the adult to cook some-"
Alina stopped herself from rambling when she noticed Mrs. Iziaslav was giving her a sly glance while Talulah looked a bit shocked at how talkative she was now.
"Go on dear. What more is it about our charming Adrik."
"T-That… U-Um… U-Ugh…"
Face getting redder by the second, Alina was tongue tongue, trying to find the words that wouldn't come out from his mouth.
Knock.
Just when all hope was lost for her, the group heard a knock from the door.
"Speak of the devil. Go greet him, Ali-"
She was gone.
Even just by the way it sounded, Alina knew who it was. As she opened the door she was greeted with sight of him.
Adrik stood alongside Ash, wagging his tail at his owner. The young man was carrying something that looked like a sack tied over his shoulder.
"Adrik… Ash…"
"We're back."
"Welcome. Let me help fake those off for you. And remember Ash, no snow in the house."
Both Ash and Adrik did not need to be told twice as the dog stepped out and started to shake to get rid of all of the snow on him before going in while the man leaned down and let Alina unwarp his scarf and take off his cloak.
Alina started to chat while she was helping out.
"How was your night? Found any beast?"
"Some but we took care of them. Already skinned them and gave the meat to the rascal. I left some for the village, but what did you feed him to have that sort of appetite."
"Grrr!"
"You weren't embarrassed when you devoured half of our spoils."
"Ruff!"
"Ash, I feed you enough. No food until dinner."
"A-Awo…"
"Look away Lina. Stare at anything other than his eyes."
Bite!
"Aaaannddd… he bit me."
Ash bit his ankle with a nonchalant remark, like this was a normal occurrence, as he shook his leg to make the dog let go but Ash teeth were locked into him.
Alina chuckled as she put his warm clothes onto a hanger, close to the door. She went back to Adrik and swiped away the snow that was still on him.
Seeing it was no use, Adrik focused back on Alina.
"I gave the packs of grains to the villagers. How are the crops?"
"I want to say it's fine but the snow is getting harsher and longer now. So not much."
Adrik nodded at hearing this, then he glanced behind Alina and saw Talulah resting on the bed.
Noticing his gaze, Alina turned around and smiled.
"Talulah, her name is, just woke up. She's okay, without any injuries left unattended."
"Hello, name's Adrik. Mrs. Iziaslav. I told your husband you're at Alina's to not get you worried."
"Thank you dear. You are always watching over everyone here.
He held the sack to Ash and he took it with his mouth as he walked in the room.
Adrik gave the lady a small smile, as he made his way to the room. As he was closing in, Talulah got a good look of the person who had saved her. Seeing that he had no use, Ash rested on a chair in the living room.
His was a head taller than her, something that was quite unfamiliar for her because she was always taller than most. The blonde hair was a bit dirty in colour but it was well kept.
What caught her attention was his arms.
Single arms.
Adrik did not have a right arm.
He stopped in front of the entrance of the room she was in with Alina standing by his side.
"I know this must be rude for me to say, how long will you be staying here?"
"I…"
"I am not kicking you out, Talulah. It would be hypocritical of me if I did so. Calm down everyone… Stop glaring at me."
Adrik raised his hand to stop her from explaining. That and to calm down Mrs. Iziaslav and Alina.
"We have food and our life here is sustainable. However, snowstorms are becoming more and more frequent from what I gathered from the rest. This makes our crops harder to harvest and our meat supply might run out in a few days."
Adrik went into detail so that there was no misunderstanding between everyone.
"I won't promise your stay here to be comfortable. I want to know if you want to stay or not."
"I need to know if I need to make another coat or not otherwise. Fur is not something I have little of…."
At first she thought that the man was about to abandon her and Talulah would understand if he did so but Adrik was just looking out for her.
"I… I would like to stay."
Adrik smiled as he nodded at her.
"Mrs. Iziaslav, I will be going hunting now. We need to stockpile our food to ready the village. I might even leave to go to the city tomorrow, to buy some essentials. Please treat our guests well."
"Don't worry my boy. Leave this to the old lady."
"... Thank you. I will be off then. Ash put your share on the table so, please make some food to eat."
With that he turned his back from the rest and walked towards his coat and scarf.
Alina could only watch him getting further and further. Although she was contemplating on what to do, she felt a tap on her foot.
Mrs. Iziaslav smiled at her as he turned around.
"Go. Go after him."
Although she was confused at first, it only took a second before she nodded at her and went to him.
Seeing her running off, the old lady pushed the door closed and replaced the wet towel on Taluah's head.
"Let's give them some privacy."
Talulah stared at the closed door and nodded.
"Adrik… he is truly loved by the villagers."
The old Ursus smiled.
"He's our little hero."
]
"Do you have to go now? You still have not eaten since yesterday when you got back. You must be hungry."
Adrik already wore his coat and was about to take his scarf now. Smiling at the suggestion, Adrik shook his head, making her smile a bit smaller.
"I will after hunting. The villagers need more food, and most of our men are in fevers. That was why no one was patrolling yesterday. I need to get spoiled as fast as possible and get back to the city. I need to buy some medicine for them, besides clothes for the kids."
"... I see…"
Lowering her head, Alina could not deny those claims. With how much the weather fluctuates these past days, most of the locals are now feverish. They had medicines but they might run out of them.
So Adrik needed to do it.
Alina knew this…
It was unfair though. Since the day they met, Adrik gave and gave so much to the village that she loved. He did not even have a home in it, preferring to stay in the forest near them.
Clothes, food, supplies and even medicines.
He always found a way to give them all of that and more.
But… Adrik did not have anything.
That was why she gave him a scarf. She knew that it was insignificant compared to everything that he had done for them but she needed to start somewhere.
Alina… hated this.
Hated how they were taking advantage of his kind…
If… If she did not find him that snowy day… Not needing to care about the villager.
Not caring about her…
Would he have a better life?
"Lina?"
She pulled back from those dark thoughts by someone calling her.
Adrik stood in front of her, holding the scarf that she gave to him.
"Can you help me put this on?"
Alina stared at him, smiling at her with a relaxed expression, eyes as gentle as they were always been.
"Of course… Ad…"
Although he was caught off guard by the sudden nickname… he let out a chuckle as he bent to lower his neck to her. Alina took the scarf and slowly wrapped it around him.
Those thoughts that were in her mind just, all gone because she realised something.
They did not matter.
What Alina did was to help Adrik to the best of her ability as long as he needed her.
Even as insignificant as wrapping a scarf around his neck.
]
"Ship! Them!"
"It's starting to get creepy at how much you are invested in his love life now."
Two figures, one with a black cloak while the other a white one rested their back on a dead tree bark as they watched the little interaction in the tare of spacetime in front of them.
The white hooded man just stared at his companions.
"Compared to yours? His way is more interesting. Yours way too complicated. At least you got Yue at the end. Welcome by the way."
"... I hope you die… you die by being fucking suck into a fucking black hole and be shred alive, atom by atom, Nott."
"Wayyyy too specific, my man Njord. Turn it down a notch."
Njord could only sigh at how nonchalant Nott was. Seeing he was wasting his time by entertaining him, Njord stared at the interaction between his son and a girl.
"Hey Nott."
"Hmm? What's up?"
His eyes lingered on Nott's.
"Why are you doing all this?"
"Well he's our little hero. How could I not?"
As Nott was laughing goofily, Njord just stared at him without any emotion behind his eyes.
As the laughter slowly died down, Nott was getting a bit uncomfortable by the stare he was getting.
"H-Hey! Say something -"
"You know what I meant."
The tare in front of them slowly closed up, leaving the sound of the wind only present.
Njord sighed as he looked up to the bright sky, no cloud in sight, a rare thing for the tundra they were in.
"You're always lying. Even when we first met on that ship at Yan. At my own deathbed. You only told half the truth."
"..."
He looked back to his… companion to his side, expression hiding under his hood.
"I know you love Terra. So much. Even when you act like you don't care, you do."
"..."
"Why are you doing all of this? Getting me a second… third chance of a life? Maybe seeing Terra was one of them… but that isn't all, right."
"... Is it because you're a therapist cause no one ever asks me that."
Njord could ever a lightheartedness that came when Nott said that. He chucked alongside him, not denying the fact.
"Fake it till you make it."
"Well.. you would have made one hell of a physiologist."
"Maybe in another life. You don't need to tell me anything either. I can wait. Being technically immortal give you all the time in the world for that."
They both went quiet, enjoying a peaceful silence between them.
Njord noticed snow started to fall.
Then he heard Nott talk.
"It all started when I saw a dying world in their final moments. I saw someone on it, alone near it, so I saved her."
Nott looked to the sky and a rare, small… a melancholic smile appeared on his face.
The colour in his eyes flickered.
A shape started to form in them.
A white diamond.
"Then after that, my life changed… For better or for worse"
He let out a laugh…
A genuine and small… joyous laugh.
"And I wouldn't want it in any other way,"
]
And done! Now we have a bit of an idea on who Nott truly is. If you read the lore, you already have a good idea on who. So I think I can write it in a way to make this all make sense.
I hope so.
Oh and I still have my discord if anybody is interested in joining.
discord: JZ9AvR94Fa