A Harsh Reality Check (Closed)

[HothouseOrchid]

The day had been beautiful, with clear skies and birds singing. Marina felt the best she had in weeks after sleeping in a true and proper bed again.

Well, she mused to herself as she walked back into the inn from her exploration of the small town, perhaps it wasn’t the type of bed she had grown up with, but it was still better than the straw she had called a bed for the last while. She had caught a ride with a merchant who traveled the lands since she left her home three weeks ago. He had been kind to her, sharing what he could manage while she earned her keep helping him sell his goods. She never accepted money, and neither did he, insisting she save what money she had for when she would be on her own.

When they came to the crossroad village she was in now, that became true enough when he told her he would simply be stocking up and then turning back around. He set her up in the inn before leaving, wishing her a safe journey. Marina felt fortunate to have had met him and felt the people she had met had been nothing but kind. She was beginning to question why her mother insisted on the world being a horrible place.

That was until she opened the door to the room she had rented. With a startled gasp, Marina dropped the small bag of food she had bought for herself.

The room was a disaster, torn apart and ransacked. The bed had been overturned, the bag she had hidden under now lay empty on the floor. The pillow had been ripped open, feathers littering the ground around where it now lay, while the drawers of the dresser and bedside table were left open.

“No, no, no, no!” She cried out, rushing to her bag and peering inside. She knew it had been empty just by looking at it, but she had hoped… But alas, everything in it was gone, safe for a simple hairbrush. The few keepsakes and jewelry she had brought with her had been taken, as well as the money she had left in there for fear of her pockets being picked. Discarding the bag, she scrambled over to the dresser, and even though she had little hope of seeing her things in there, it was dashed very quickly. All that was left were her two most simple dresses. Even her corsets were gone, which left her with just the one she currently wore.

Sorrow hitting her in the pit of her stomach, she slowly went over to the last place she left anything. She reached under a small nook in the headboard and let out a soft sigh of relief when her fingers brushed against the familiar feel of leather. She pulled out the sheathed dagger, holding it to her chest. Despite how simple the thing was, it was all she had left of home.
She was alone, far from home, and no one was looking for her. Marina had nothing…

“No…” She shook her head quickly, picking her bag up off the ground. “I can do this!” She jumped in spot, forcing herself to pep up before setting to work in cleaning up the mess. She didn’t want to trouble the housekeeping staff, after all, especially since she had one more night paid for.

She had all of her things with her this time as she left, including the food she had bought earlier. She set out to look for work, either to be able to earn her keep or to give her money to be able to move on from the village. Marina was optimistic.

Yet as the day wore on, her hopes were dwindling. No merchants needed help or had the coin to spare for her work, the local tavern and all the inns had full staff, and when she had asked the blacksmith hoping he could use the little skill she had learned in jewelry crafting, but he just laughed in her face and insulted her.

In a huff over being told the blacksmith needed no help from ‘a child,’ Marina went to the tavern for the second time that day. Though since it was later in the evening, it was much busier, forcing her to wined herself through the crowd of humans towards the bar. With soft “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s”, she squeezed between the bodies crowding the bar, even though she was sure hardly anyone noticed her. They towered over her, after all, but it was hardly something she wasn’t used to.

“Welcome back, dear!” Marina jumped at the voice, looking around before settling on the nice barmaid she had talked to earlier. The human woman smiled down at her, shifting her weight to be able to carry the tankards she held while still stopping to chat. “How has the work hunt gone?”

“Oh, no luck yet…” She sighed, climbing herself up onto one of the barstools. She watched as the barmaid started placing the drinks down in front of the right people, admiring the grace at which the woman did her job. “I have one more night paid for though, so hopefully I’ll find something tomorrow!”

The woman, once she finished picking up the empty tankards, approached her with an understanding nod. “You’re a sweet enough girl, I’m sure you’ll find something. I’ll keep an ear out for anyone looking for help and let you know.”

Marina’s face brightened, her whole body language perking up hearing the support. “Oh, thank you! I would very much appreciate that!” She was now bouncing happily in her seat, prompting the human woman to laugh and shake her head before moving away to tend to other customers.
Her mood sufficiently lifted, Marina was all smiles, and failed to see the trio of human men who had taken notice of her. They talked quietly between themselves, constantly glancing over at her to watch her. With a smirk, the largest man of the group waved the barmaid over.

A few minutes later, with a fresh drink in hand, the large man got up from his table and went over to the cheerful dwarven girl. “You seem in a good mood, lass.” He said in way of a greeting.

Marina looked up in surprise at the sudden approach, but smiled politely none the less. “Oh, I suppose I am. I am very optimistic for tomorrow, so I suppose that has made today a bit better.” She kicked her feet a bit in happiness, swinging them on the much too tall stool.

The man laughed and nodded, putting the drink down on the bar and sliding it towards her. “Well, seems like a good time for a drink then, eh?”

She was shocked at the offer, and she stared at the drink for a long moment before she remembered her manners. “Oh, why thank you!” She chirped happily, smiling brightly up at him. Despite her race’s reputation, she had never had a beer before. Another reason, she believed, to feel so happy to have met so many kind people!

Picking up the tankard, she lifted it to her lips and took her first drink of beer. Her face twisted into a grimace at the bitter taste and unconsciously stuck her tongue out. The human laughed, stepping close to her side and nudging her a bit with an elbow. “I know it ain’t no dwarven brew, but you get a taste for it the more you drink.”

Looking doubtfully down at the foul tasting drink, Marina considered declining the rest, but he had been so kind to order it for her. With a slow nod, she lifted the drink up again at took a longer swig. She put it back down just in time to see him wave someone over, and before she knew it she was surrounded by two other tall human men. She bit her lip, looking at each of them with a concerned look as an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. “Are these your friends?” She asked softly, her fingers tapping nervously around the cup.

“Aye, so no need to be so worried, Lass.” The first man said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. “We just want you to have a good time while you stay in our little village.”

Marina tried to shrug his arm off of her, but it was far too heavy and he now had her trapped. “Oh…” she mumbled, letting go of the drink. “I thank you for your kindness, but I do believe I should be heading back to the inn.” She slipped off the stool and out of his hold, squeezing herself between them to get away from the counter. “It has been a long day.”

“Don’ be like that, girl.” One of the ‘friends’ said, giving her a wide grin where she noted he had a few missing teeth. “Why don’ we escort ya back. T’ keep you safe and such.”

“There is no need for that, thank you…” She backed away, looking around to see if anyone was watching. When she locked eyes with the barmaid, the woman simply gave her a sympathetic look before looking away.

“Come on, girly.” The leader growled, his kind tone now gone. “You’re acting like we gon’ eat you or somethin’. I bought you a drink and everything. Was it too good for you or somthin’?”

“No no no, it’s not that at all!” She insisted, stepping towards the bar doors. “I simply am very tired and wish to go sleep!”

“This is the thanks we get for bein’ nice, eh boys?” The leader snarled, grabbing her arm to keep her from moving any farther. “All we want is a lil’ bit of company.”

“Would you feel better if we paid ya?” The gap-toothed man questioned, stepping closer. “I hear ya’s been lookin’ for work. Why don’ we’s pay ya for you’s company since you’s think your so above us.”

“Please, I just want to leave!” She pleaded, trying desperately to pull away. Tears began welling in her eyes, and all she wanted was someone to help. Everywhere she looked, people were looking away from her despite the commotion. Why wasn’t anyone helping her? Why was everything going so wrong so quickly?

She yelped in pain as the grip on her arm only tightened. Marina couldn’t figure out what she did wrong to get things like this, and all her hope for the situation was falling. Her mother had been right. She was useless and weak. Everything was going so wrong.

[Leoric]

“Leoric, Wake your ass up, it’s already past noon. Get your life together!” A voice scolded as Leoric groaned and sat up from his bed. He had been up almost till sunrise drinking with a few friends at a small Tavern.


“Sure, i will get my life Together when you lay off the booze” Leoric Said with a half smile on his face as he barely managed to open his one eye, His hangover wasn’t being too kind to him.


Winston scoffed and quickly left Leoric’s room, leaving his door swinging open. Through it Leoric heard the sound of a distressed patron. He sighed as this was all too common an occurrence in this town. Fortunately for him everyone knew of his ability and stayed away from his room. The hungover brawler grabbed his things making sure to grab the bar of ‘soap’ that he had bought from someone in the town saying you scrub your body down with it when you wash and it makes you cleaner.


He sighed as he threw his rucksack over his shoulder and walked past the room where the distressed cries of desperation came from and glanced in. Whoever had done it really did work over the room quite well. Everything was ransacked, without looking into it further, it seemed like everything was gone. He didn’t know the Stocky lady nor could he be arsed with helping anyone out as soon as he woke up. He decided to head out to the nearby hot spring and get to smelling nice and pretty. He had gotten use to hot springs for baths. After all he had spent a year in the frozen north doing nothing but training in a hot spring before coming back to Corone.


=======================


After His bath he had come back to town with his leather vest thrown over his shoulder concealing his rucksack, His hair long as it is was still wet. As he wandered through the town center he saw the same stocky lady from earlier going from shop to shop talking to people and then they would shake their head no and she would be off again.he leaned up against one of the pillars on a nearby building and watched as she did her rounds. She then went to go talk to the Blacksmith who Leoric had become friends with, he laughed and sent her away, Leoric’s Curiosity got the better of him and he went to talk to the Blacksmith.


“Yo, Samsun, How’s it going?” Leoric said as he dropped his vest and rucksack on the ground next to the door. “What did that little miss want?”


“Oh Hey Leoric, She wanted a job? Said she had knowledge in jewelry and offered her services. But i don’t need assistance from a child.” He scoffed as Leoric grabbed his stuff and started heading back to the Tavern, It was about that time he needed to get drunk anyways.


It wasn’t long before he heard the ruckus coming from the Tavern.. And it wasn’t of the Jovial kind… It was a type of ruckus Leoric heard all too much in his travels from tavern to tavern.


“Now, what are you three baboons doing now?” Leoric asked as he tossed his rucksack against the side of the Tavern and slid on his vest. Once his leather vest was on he rested his hands on his hips. His sword dangling half assed on his belt. “Oh sorry not three Baboons… and Ox and his Baboon sidekicks? Sounds like the start to a kids book actually...hmm”


“Leoric!” The two Baboons cried out as they took a step back. The bulkier gentlemen who was referred to as OX in the town, growled and slowly turned his head towards Leoric.


“What do you want ‘Leo’?” He snarled as Leoric looked rather Jubilant with the question sent his way.


“Having troubles with the ladies are we gentlemen? You do know you don’t get to man handle them like that.”


“And why not? She is nothing but a Woman. They only serve to do things for us men!” Oxford barked as Leoric shook his head casually


“You may have the physical maturity of a man but still act like a boy.” Leoric shrugged as he approached the trio. “Let the lady go or we will have issues”


“You? Have Issues with us? You have beat Grant and tanner in one on one fights. But with the three of us together we outnumber you. You can’t beat us.” Ox let go of the Young lass’ arm as he turned to face Leoric cracking his knuckles. Leoric nodded at the young lass to go back inside the Tavern as she quickly slid back in.


“You know, if you need help picking up the ladies i have no problem teaching you animals a thing or two. But you know what they say, can’t teach an old Ox new tricks” Leoric chuckled to himself as he kept walking towards the trio.


“I don’t need any help from someone like you!” Ox raged as he rushed leoric with the two lackeys shortly behind him.


Leoric shook his head in an empathetic way and quickly ducked under Ox’s swing before landing a jab on his left knee sending him to his knees. Leoric quickly leapt to his feet and landed an uppercut on Tanner causing a teeth shattering chomp to echo through the empty street. Tanner lost his balance and backed up a few feet before collapsing to the ground holding his chin. Grant hesitated as he saw Leoric send his friend tumbling to the ground in one hit just long enough for Leoric to strike him square in the chest with an open palm strike.


As grant hit the ground and rolled a few feet back gasping for air Ox stood back up his face full of rage.


“Huh, Maybe you are a baboon look at that bright red ass” Ox sent out another powerful strike towards leoric who barely managed to dodge it, the wind behind the swing alone was enough for Leoric to realize that if Ox connected with a hit, he himself would be in for a hard time. Leoric quickly planted his feet firmly on the ground and assumed a stance that his Master once taught him.


Leoric let Ox throw a few punches as he himself flowed like water, narrowly dodging every strike, Once he saw his opening he dropped to his knees brought both his hands to his own chest and quickly pushed both his palms towards OX’s chest. Launching a double Quaking palm straight through Ox’s chest, knocking him up into the air a few inches before Leoric quickly spun around and placed a Kick square against his lower jaw.


All three men were now on the ground gasping for breathe. Well most, Tanner was coughing up some teeth on the ground. They all seemed unable to fight. Leoric grabbed his rucksack and did up his leather vest before heading to go into the Tavern.


“Le-o-ric!” A cry of rage could be heard from Ox as he charged the man who just humiliated his ragtag group of friends. Leoric sighed and turned around and watched Ox.. The punch landed squarely in Leoric’s abdominal muscles, Cracks and pops could be heard throughout the tavern as leoric slid through the door and back a few feet while struggling to maintain his balance. Cries of pain and rage could be heard as Oxford was now holding onto his hand.


“You forgot my nickname didn’t you? Leoric ‘Iron Abs’ Bagua” Leoric snickered as he patted his own Abs. “Now get out of here before anyone else see’s how pitiful you three look.”


As the three men slowly got to their feet and walked away Leoric turned to head for a few drinks. He threw his rucksack into a corner booth and motioned for the young redhead to join him. He nodded at the bartender as to say his usual and started to walk his way to the corner.


“The name’s Leoric, I am sorry you had to run into those three oafs. I hope they didn't hurt you?”

[HothouseOrchid]

The moment the new man approached, Marina was able to feel a change in the air. It was a lot more tense, and it made it feel as if it was too thick to breathe. She watched the interaction with wide eyes, wondering what was happening. The man, she noted he had been called Leoric, seemed to change everything. The once confident men and relaxed men went on the defensive, and she noted at the two smaller men looked scared. And when the hulk of a man, who had been addressed as ‘Ox’, let her go, she had been so surprised she nearly stumbled back onto the ground, though luckily she caught herself. She wasn’t sure what to do until she got a short nod from Leoric, when she hurried herself into the tavern.

“Are you alright, dear?” The waitress asked, hurrying to her once she was safely back inside. Feeling a sense of distrust in herself for this human not aiding her in some way, Marina could only nod before turning herself to look upon the scene she just left.

Marina was in awe as she watched the men fight, though she wasn’t sure if she could call it that. ‘Leoric’ was clearly much more experienced than the three men combined, especially as he quickly disposed of two of them. She had never seen a fight like this before, only having witnessed a formal duel, and this was nothing like it. She was mystified, and didn’t notice the tavern patrons crowding around he to also watch, nor did she notice them passing money around in bets on who would win.

As Leoric moved around Ox, Marina found she couldn’t take her eyes off the smaller of the two humans. He moved so smoothly around the punches, and struck so quickly the moment he had an opening, she felt like she was watching it all in slow motion; and yet as soon as it all started, it was over.

A few grumbles and cheers came from around her as bets were paid, and the moment he moved to approach the tavern everyone but her started dispersing, as if worried he would turn his hands to them next. Marina found herself stunned in place, unsure of what to do now or feel towards her apparent savior.

She opened her mouth to thank him when she heard the Ox man shout. Her hands jumping to her mouth in a gasp, she was only able to shout “Look---“ before it was too late. She squeaked and jumped back as the punch landed, almost stumbling over her skirt as she narrowly moved out of the entryway to prevent herself from being bowled over. The noises that came from Ox’s hands make her stomach feel queasy, only being able to imagine the damage done to cause them.

With his last clever quip from the victor, the three men who had been bothering her and dragging her to do who-knows-what to her only moments before scampered away. Truly, Marina could hardly comprehend what just happened despite witnessing it all herself.

In her shock, she had almost missed the man motioning for her to follow him, despite the fact she had indeed been staring. Nodding quickly, she scrambled to grab her meager bag of belongings and follow him to a corner booth.

She was surprised by his concern, taking her a moment before she bowed her head respectively to him. “Marina, of House Quartzoath. Thank you very much for helping me.” She spoke formally, but softly, her voice only barely loud enough to be heard over the tavern noise. She lifted her head, again, though kept her eyes down in her shyness.

Her hand reflexively moved to the spot where she had been grabbed, already feeling a bruise forming from the tight grip that had been there. “It’s quite alright, I am not hurt… Though I probably had it coming, somehow.” She mumbled the last part, saying it more to herself than the man. She shook her head quickly, banishing away her negative thoughts and forcing herself to perk up again. “I don’t have any money, nor skills, but if there is any way I can repay you for helping me, I would be more than happy to assist!” She gave him her most honest and bright smile, truly thankful to him for his help. She felt she owed him a debt, and what dwarf would she be if she let that be unpaid.

[Leoric]

Leoric kicked his dirt covered boots up on the table in front of him and laid back as the bartender brought over a mug of Ale for Leoric and some food.The bartender asked if Marina wanted anything before heading back to the bar. The food on Leoric’s plate consisted of a shank of freshly cooked lamb and some potatoes on the side. Leoric picked up the shank of meat and bit down on the side where the meat met the bone and then quickly slide up the bone and teared off a huge portion of meat and showed it in his mouth.

“Mar..ina? Of Hou… What?” He said between chewing “You some kind of Noble? What would any self respecting noble be doing in a place like this? This is a place for Whores, Thieves, Scoundrels, and downright Villainy”

He nodded over to the back corner of the tavern as a couple was exchanging coin before heading to the back of the tavern and up a flight of stairs.

“You are out of your league around here Princess, You should head on home. Unless you don’t have a home.” Leoric paused and lowered the shank of meat “In that case you should just leave here before anything else happens. I am leaving in the morning and won’t be able to protect you in case the Ox Boys come back.”

“Speaking of leaving.” Another voice said as they approached the table. Marina seemed to get uncomfortable having another person suddenly enter the conversation. “Here’s the fifty gold pieces i owe you for helping me get the supplies needed to repair my house”

A rather old gentleman smiled as he dropped a cloth bag holding fifty gold coins on the table in front of leoric before offering a rather large smile at the two of them and quietly left.

[HothouseOrchid]

Marina couldn’t help the flinch as his boots loudly hit the table, her eyes going wide in surprise. She shook her head to decline anything from the bartender, knowing she couldn’t afford it, before turning her attention back to the man sitting in front of her. Somehow in just a few short seconds, he looked very different to her. Once looking strong and almost heroic, he just looked… well, for lack of a better word, like a slob.

At his clear mocking, her face warmed up instantly and for a short moment she couldn’t hide her offended look before forcing it away in an attempt to look neutral despite her flushed features. She looked over to what he had directed her to, and couldn’t help her jaw from dropping upon seeing how out in the open what the couple were doing was. How could she have not seen it before?!

“I’m not a princess.” She huffed, looking back at Leoric. “I am… was….” With a pout, she just shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Why I’m here is my own business, and I don’t intend on staying once I have the money to pay for transport out of here.” She kept her voice strong, despite her quietness, while she made a mental note to quit introducing herself the way she had been trained to. She wasn’t a Quartzoath anymore, after all.

Startled by the new voice, as she had not heard anyone else approach, she jumped back away from the sudden man who was next to her. She watched the exchange quietly, her brows furrowing in confusion. This man, Leoric, was quite the contradiction.

“If this is such a place for, as you put it, whore, thieves, scoundrels, and villainy, what are you doing here, exactly? Helping women and aiding men in repairs does not seem to fall under those categories, to me.” She finally let herself look at him as she spoke, watching his body language and just trying to figure out his intentions. “Either way… whatever type of man you are, Mr. Leoric, I owe you a debt, so I will repeat myself. If there is anything I can do to repay you, I insist you let me know.” She once again let herself give him her honest smile in hopes he would take her seriously. She didn’t quite yet realize that this gave her an air of innocence and naivety, instead of what she intended.

[Leoric]

Leoric scoffed as he picked up his feet and threw them back under the table as he sat up.

“You caught me on a good day ‘Princess’” Leoric sarcastically remarked. “Who knows, maybe i am just a bad guy that has standards.

Leoric took another huge bite from his shank of meat leaving bits hanging out of his mouth. He tried to wash it down with some of the Ale and ended up spilling some on his vest. He was not a very couth man. he was a slob who was hungry. He swallowed and put half of his shank back down on his plate as he stood up.

“By the way, you don’t seem to be able to lie that well. You are a runaway, you left home, probably cause of some mommy or daddy issues. And you know what that is fine, i don't care why, But just so you know most of the whores around here? They ran away from home and then realized they had no money to survive and had to resort to that profession. But if you don’t want to do that profession i guess you could always follow me. If you fall behind i will not stop, or slow down, just so you can keep up with those stubby legs of yours. Out in the forests we do things at one speed” He looked her in the eyes with a very judging look in his eyes, trying to figure out what exactly she was doing. “My speed.”

“Leoric, you don’t have to be so rough on her” One of the barmaids giggled as she passed.

“Look, it’s my way or the way those men were going to teach her a lesson. My way seems a hell of a lot more gentle. Jimmy! prepare one large travel pack for two will yeah? Make sure it’s nice and heavy.”

“Heavy? You aren’t planning on weight training the little miss are ya?” An abrasive voice piped up from behind the bar as he casually washed some mugs.

“Please, i doubt she could carry much more than that tiny bag she is carrying.” Leoric turned to look at the little Dwarf and sighed “We leave in two hours, i got an appointment to keep. If you aren't ready i am leaving you behind.”

[HothouseOrchid]

Marina tried her best to keep her smile up, even when he called her Princess again, but it fell into a disgusted grimace as his sloppiness became clear. She hadn't been under the impression that people of lower class had such disgusting table manners, but she was starting to wonder, for just a moment, if her mother wasn't exaggerating about how disgusting they were.

Then again, this man alone could simply be revolting.

Though as Leoric continued speaking, she couldn't help feeling angry. How dare he assume her life, even if he was partially right? Even as she looked back and noticed more women exchange sweet words and promises for money, his words stung. If she hadn't been robbed, she would have been fine for a few months at least, but perhaps she had just been that silly to believe that leaving home would have been easy. The idea of turning to the same form of income as the rest of these women made her almost feel sick from fear of perhaps one day needing to fall back on something like that, even if she chose to follow this man who insisted on insulting her with every sentence.

She looked back at him to see him looking intently at her, and how little he seemed do doubt her only spurred her on to prove him wrong. Standing a little straighter, Marina narrowed her eyes at him in a look of determination and stubbornness. “Fine.” She said simply, holding her bag close to her chest. “I can keep up.” It wasn't as if she had much of a choice, since she could hardly go back on her promise so soon, nor did she have any better options.

Even as he insulted her further by assuming she was weak, though she could admit this wouldn't be easy for her, she was going to show him that he was wrong about her. At the time limit given to her, she nodded curtly. “I can be ready in ten minutes.” She said quickly before running out of the tavern to the inn to cancel the last night she had there, and before he could put in another harsh word towards her.

Marina spoke with the innkeeper, explaining that she was leaving tonight as opposed to tomorrow, which the large man behind the desk just shrugged as he stood from his chair. “If you give me a minute, Lass, I'll get you money back for the last night if you're sure.”

“Oh, no!” She exclaimed, shaking her head quickly. “There appeared to be some damage done to my room this morning, so please, keep the money for the last night to help with repairs.”

The man frowned, and stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging. He wasn't about to decline money just to explain damage deposits to the woman. “Alright. Be safe out there, Lass.”

“Thank you, Sir!” She bowed her head to him and offered him a wide smile before jogging back out, her mood starting to pick up once again. Even if it was leaving with a brute of a man who she couldn't figure out why he was letting her leave with him, she was looking forward to leaving this place which seemed to bring her nothing but trouble.

Entering back into the tavern, Marina looked to make sure that Leoric was still there, and was pleased to see him still where she had left him, which really wasn't surprising since she really had been gone for a few minutes, but part of her doubted him and his offer. After all, with the exception of a small handful of humans, they really haven't given her much reason to trust them as a whole.

Before going back to Leoric's table, Marina weaved through the crowds and tables easily toward the barmaid who had been nice to her before, who was tending to a table of two elderly men. “Ma'am?” She called out for her attention.

The older woman was startled by her voice, looking down at her. “What can I do for you, dear? Leoric hasn't been giving you trouble, has he?”

“No! Well... A little, but only unkind words, nothing that I cannot handle.” Marina smiled sheepishly up at her. “I just wanted to thank you for your kindness to me today.”

The barmaid was taken aback, surprised by the innocent compliment. “Why, it wasn't any trouble.. I suppose you are leaving, then?” Marina nodded. “I wish you the best then, dear.”

“Thank you, Ma'am.” Marina bowed her head to the woman before scampering back to Leoric, not seeing the looks exchanged between the barmaid and the men at the table, all communicating the same thing; “That poor girl isn't going to make it far.”

Once standing back in front of the table of her uncouth savior, the dwarf stood tall again, her smile falling for her stubborn look once again as she held her meager bag close. “Ready to go whenever you are, Mr. Leoric.” Had anyone been timing her, her ten minute promise would have been right on the dot.

[Leoric]

The small dwarven woman agreed to his terms and leoric was a little shocked at first. He said all of that to try and deter her, to test her resolve. It wasn’t the first time he had stepped in to help someone before things got as bad as resorting to becoming a whore. Leoric grabbed the gold pouch on the table that old man Emanuel gave him and added 15 more gold coins on top of what was in there and tied it back up. He would have to drop that off to Rebby on his way out of town.

“Leoric, i got everything needed for your pack but its not as heavy as you normally like it, the extra rations and bedding took up the space of the rocks.” Jimmy said as he struggled to do up the last buckle on the bag.

“That’s fine Jimmy, As we use up some stuff i will toss some rocks in there.” Leoric mentioned as he chugged back some more swill. Leoric managed to finish his mug and slid it across the table to Jimmy who was back to washing dishes when the small Dwarf returned, same determined smile on her face as ever. Leoric found this quite endearing and adorable but while inside the tavern he had to keep up appearances. “We are leaving, Now, Keep up. And when we get to my appointment do not say a word”

Leoric grabbed the travel pack that Jimmy had prepared and quickly flung it over his shoulder as he headed out the door. Leoric had no idea what Jimmy was talking about, the pack was plenty heavy. He sighed as he could already tell that the night was going to be a long one. Marina was going to learn a few things about Leoric that no one really ever got to see all the while he was going to try and teach her a few things on how life as a ‘common folk’ really worked.

==================

“Mi...Meestir weeowic” a Little voice cried out excitedly

“Hey hey! Little Leo!” Leoric said as his demeanor seemed to shift from imposing hired blade to that of what seemed like more akin to a family man. “How is your momma doing little one, you keeping her safe?”

“Uh huh! I keep her wheel safe when grandpa is out of the house.”


“But remember…” Leoric said as he straightened his back out.

“... Only use our strength in cases that there is no other alternative.” They both said in unison as a rather attractive, tall, red head came out of the door of a house. The house wasn’t that pretty to look at, it seemed dilapidated in some area’s and others seem to be freshly repaired and holding nice and firm.

“Teaching my little Knight there are we Leo?” She said as she seemed to dry off her hands in her apron as she walked down the steps and towards them.

“Well i won’t always be around now will i Rebby? Someone's got to keep you safe” Leoric chuckled as he grabbed the gold pouch from his side. It looked to be the same exact one the old man had tossed him not even an hour earlier. He then gently tossed it at Rebby. “Make sure yo get your dad something nice. But most importantly make sure everyone is well fed and taken care of. I will be back eventually. Just going for a little adventure it seems.”

“You stay safe out there will yeah?” she said as he quietly hid the pouch of gold she had just received under her apron.

“I always do, besides if i get hurt out there who is going to train this little guy to keep you safe!” Leoric said as he lowered himself to a knee and ruffled the young child's hair.

“Leoric? What are you doing here?” an old familiar voice said as he slowly approached.

“Just saying a little good bye before i head on out to train.”

“OooH! Can i come train to Weeoo?”

“Nah not this time wee one, maybe when you are a bit older.” Leoric said as he stood up right. “What took you so long to get on home?”

“Oh, i stopped off at the carpenter’s place to see about a walking stick or cane, i am getting too old to walk without one.” He sighed as he put his hand down on the fence and it wobbled under his weight a bit. Leoric looked at Rebby and nodded.

“Emmanuel keep them safe will yeah? And let me know if Ox’boy’ acts out of line again?”

“That was you? Should've known by the way they were complaining.” He chuckled “Trouble follows you wherever you go doesn't it?”

“Well, i seem to end that trouble wherever i go. That is for sure” Leoric said as he turned away from Emmanuel, ruffled the kid's hair and continued walking. “Marina, you coming?”


=========

They had been walking for quite some time in silence before Leoric let out a sigh and started to explain.

“Rebby, or i should say Rebecca, was a lot like you when i met her. She had left home cause of an abusive relationship going on and she couldn't take it anymore. On her travels she found out she was pregnant and couldn't afford a house anywhere. She ended up wandering into town here when she thought she had to do what every other woman ends up doing around her for coin. Turns out i was her first ‘client’ she was so unsure of everything it just felt awkward so we sat and talked for a bit. When she told me what was going on i just couldn't let something like that happened and i was staying with Emanuel at the time. So i gave her my room at his place, and helped fix up the house a little bit so it was safe for a kid and we built that fence 5 years ago out of logs and twigs we found just in the forest up here we are going to. I actually plan on building them a proper fence for their yard within the next few weeks. But regardless, shortly after we got her in the house and comfortable she ended up giving birth to the little tyke, she asked if she could name him after me seeing as i was doing so much for her. At first i was against it, i should not be a role model for anyone, especially not a little kid, but it dawned on me shortly after that i could help teach the kid not to make my mistakes in life.” Leoric paused at the entrance to the forest and seemed to look around to get his bearings. “Emmanuel is a rather prideful man, he would never take me helping for free, even if it is mostly for Rebby and little Leo, he feels he always owes me. So i let him pay me back and then i just give it to Rebby with a bit of interest so she can afford food for them and to make sure they are healthy in case they get sick. I am no saint, or hero, but i can not stand to see a man force himself on a woman or think they are below him just because of their gender. Now if a woman wants to sleep around for money of her own volition all the power to her. I have met some great people that way. But i do not want to see anyone end up in the position of having to do that cause they have no other option.”

Leoric took a few steps into the forest and found a small narrow path off the left he motioned for Marina to follow him. It was a rather narrow path, barely large enough for them to walk through in Single file. But after five minutes or so they entered a clearing, a rather large clearing surrounded by tree’s on all sides and a few beams of moonlight peeked through the canopy roof.

There was a medium size fire pit on one side near what looked like a tree log cut in half that was slightly sunk into the ground to function as a bench. There was also a small shelter erected nearby. It looked like it would be large enough for both of them to sleep in albeit a little closer than either of them would be comfortable with. And a little further down the clearing there was a few oddly built shapes on tree trunks and a small lake that seemed to just bathe in moonlight.

“Welcome to our home for the next week” Leoric said as he motioned for Marina to enter the area ahead of him. He let out a small smile as he felt at home here.

[HothouseOrchid]

The order of silence surprised her, but she really didn't mind as she doubted really that she would enjoy talking to him, as she was sure any small talk would just lead to more insults. So Marina decided that until he prompted a response from her, she would heed his order to be quiet. She was sure that she could be on her own in a few days or so anyway, and a few days of silence could probably do her good.

So with a quick nod, Marina followed him out of the tavern, managing to keep pace quite easily as she was already used to having to keep up with people with longer legs. The problem tended to be having to keep a quick pace like this for a long time, so she hoped that they wouldn't have long to go. At least, she reasoned to herself as they walked through the village, her bag was a lot lighter than it used to be, which certainly was helping.

When she heard the shout from the child, she was hardly expecting one to come running over to the man she had been following. However, it was the change in Leoric that surprised her the most, as he seemed like a completely different person. If she had to be honest with herself, she was half expecting the man to shoo the child away.

She remembered his previous order for her to be quiet quickly, and instead just watched the interaction between Leoric and the child, and later the mother, from a few steps away. She noticed the coin pouch exchange, making the whole thing even more confusing. The first thought that came to mind was perhaps this child was his own illegitimate child, and he was simply giving financial support to the mother, but she couldn't help but feel that wasn't right.

It wasn't until the old man from before approached him where she clued in what was happening, and she couldn't help but let her jaw drop a bit. What was with this man, to interfere with men who had tried dragging her off, then to ridicule her and make assumptions about her life when he didn't even know her, and then went on to return money that was given to him as payment? She couldn't even begin to comprehend Leoric's thought process, and she didn't know if she wanted to try.

So she just stood back and watched, staying out of the conversation until she was addressed. She made a soft sound of confirmation before jogging up to catch up to Leoric.

While they walked in silence, Marina couldn't help but watch the man in front of her in fascination, doing her best to make an assessment of him to try to figure out what she might be in for associating with him. Despite his rough attitude, the people of the village seemed to trust him overall and seemed rather fond of him, with the exception of an obvious few. Perhaps his insults were just for show? That thought made her frown, wondering what type of man preferred to let people believe he was unnecessarily mean. It was obvious from the fight she had witnessed that Leoric was strong and was absolutely not all talk, so why the talk was necessary in the first place was beyond her.

When he began talking, explaining the situation of “Rebby” and the child, Marina just listened and tried to keep pace with him, only stopping when he did. While at first she was frustrated with his assumptions again, she let him talk. She felt sympathetic towards the woman and her troubles, but as he went on more and more questions came up unanswered. At least the biggest question of why he was bothering to help her had been answered, and she couldn't help but feel grateful for his help now that she understood at least some of his intentions. Once he finished, she could only nod, not knowing whether it was appropriate for her to talk yet, or if he even wanted her to.

At his prompting, Marina followed him again, picking up the front of her skirt to knee height to keep from it getting caught on anything or her tripping on it, though that wasn't as successful as she had hopped, as it would still get caught on brush branches and a few twigs the stuck up from the ground. At one point, after her skirt got caught on a bush, she stumbled and tripped, letting out a startled yelp as she fell onto her knees and catching herself with her hands before she could land face first into the dirt. Not wanting to lag behind or make herself look even more like a fool however, she jumped back up and forced a wide smile and chirping a light “I'm fine!” She quickly worked to catch up to him, ignoring the throbbing in her knees and heels of her hands, and just brushing the dirt off onto her skirt before lifting it again out of her way again.

When they stepped into the clearing, Marina was surprised, even letting out a soft “Ohhh” before she could stop herself. Drawn in by the space, she stepped ahead of him once she had permission, looking around in wonder. While this certainly wasn't the first time she had seen wilderness, or forest homes for that matter, she couldn't help but feel comfortable here. It was also the first time she had ever been somewhere like this at night, and she couldn't help but marvel at how pretty it was in the moonlight.

Realizing she had been aimlessly wandering further into the clearing without him, Marina felt her face flush again as she stopped herself from intruding too far, spinning in spot to turn to him again. “I... don't know what I expected, but it is really pretty here...” She admitted softly, smiling at him before turning to look around again. She bit her lip a little, trying to resist letting her feet move on their own towards the water, which she dearly wanted to get a closer look. Instead, she let herself rock a bit on her heels and her hands fidget with the string on her bag.

Marina took a deep breath, her whole body relaxing as she took in the forest air, and for a moment she let her eyes close to just take in the sounds and smells of the area. While she was worried at first about getting home sick, being in this place made her more than happy to have left the city. “If this is where you normally live, I have to say I am rather jealous...” Her eyes fluttered back open, and she just looked up at the sky, admiring the stars for a moment. After the day she had today, she could easily say this is the most relaxed she had felt since before she ran away. And to think, she had considered going back only a few hours before.

[Leoric]

“I wouldn’t say i live here, i exist here, I live in the town” Leoric said as he dropped the pack and walked over to the small shed he had built. Rather then open the front door he bent over and seemed to pull off the top of a tree trunk. It was a tree trunk that he had hollowed out for storing of valuables, food, anything he wouldn't want to get ruined. “If you are hungry our food is stashed in here. Just make sure you put the lid back on properly, wouldn't want my training to involve boxing a bear or a few scavengers.”

The enigma of a man finished unpacking the travel pack, including putting their sleeping bags inside the shed. He then began to grab rather large rocks from around the camp and put inside the travel pack before putting it back on. He stumbled slightly before regaining his balance.

“Marina, of House Quartz.. Oath? Like you made a promise to a mineral?” Leoric said as he stopped and turned to face towards Marina, he was trying to remember her last name and how to pronounce it without being offensive. “I don’t mean to insult or anything, just want to make sure i have it right, unless you want me to keep calling you stubby?”

Leoric could tell that she really didn’t like the nickname of stubby, she seemed to huff and if he didn't know better would've said she pouted a little. "Yes, Quartzoath... It comes with a story that only my family has ever cared about, so I will spare you. But please, just call me Marina. I left my family, so it would probably be best to abandon the name, as well."

“Ha! Knew it, runaway. It’s all good i ran away too. Maybe i will tell you the story one day…” He smiled his smug grin as he headed towards his training dummies. “This is your home, you can do literally whatever you want here. You can talk whenever, this is not a prison. When my body is too tired to train we will go over how the world works around here. So maybe hopefully in the event i am not around you can take care of a problem or avoid it before it becomes a problem.”

He lowered to a crouch right next to what looked like a tree with 6 clubs sticking out of them. There was three levels of them and each level had two on it, perfectly opposite from the other one. He grabbed what looked like hollowed out logs and stuck his arms in them so only his fists were exposed on the far side. They were rather heavy. They had to be at least ten pounds for each arm. The now over burdened man then struck one of the ‘clubs’ sticking out of the log, it spun and the one that was on the opposite side came soaring around the log towards his head. He quickly brought up his other arm and hit it back the other way. Now instead of knocking the other one back he ducked under it and hit the middle level clubs so he had two sets constantly moving that he had to either dodge or hit back. Eventually he upgraded to all three tiers at a pace that someone who hadn’t been trained to fight would of had a hard time keeping up with. His eyes narrowed and he kept it up for as long as he could, his body became heavy but it kept pushing on through muscle memory.

“"When you're ready to finish, breakfast is here for you!" came a voice from behind him.

“Ohh Breakf...:” Leoric started as he went to turn around but got clocked in the face by one of the clubs, knocking him out and collapsing to the ground.

[HothouseOrchid]

Marina certainly noted the change in his tone in regards to her name, and this only served to confuse her more, as he had ridiculed her on it only so long ago, and now he wished to be able to say it properly? Truly, the only expectation he was creating for her was that he would continue to confuse her.

Although he continued to assume things about her, she let it go, especially since she would only argue his choice of words. Being referred to as a runaway made her feel like she was a child having a disagreement with her family, not an adult leaving to embrace her own personal freedoms and escape the abuses she had in her future had she stayed. She hardly felt he would be interested in her past, so unless he asked she wouldn't waste her breath in telling him.

Instead she followed him as he spoke, nodding along to what he was explaining. She couldn't help but feel a touch offended when he implied she didn't know how to talk to people or work things out, as she had been trained to converse with the highest classes and the most noble of peoples, as well as be able to haggle with the toughest of merchants. Though as she thought more about it as she left him to his training to explore the area a little more, perhaps today's events was enough evidence that her training did her little good out here. That realization whisked away the last of her optimism that she had for the day. Even if this strange man helped her, was she going to make it out here, or will she have to eventually retreat back home to her inevitable future of a spinster who could not follow the duties put upon her as a daughter?

Sitting next to the water and putting her bag down next to her, Marina started undoing her long braid, letting her hair fall loose over her shoulders and down her back. Once it was free, she dug into her bag and pulled the hair brush and began to absentmindedly brush her hair, clearing it of knots so that it wouldn't begin to tangle. This one of the few rituals she was able to allow herself, now that most of her things were gone. She figured that everything would be much easier to cut it short like she had seen many of these country women did to keep it out of the way, it was one thing of luxury that she felt she couldn't bare to part with. She had even heard once that offering one's hair to a wig maker could give her a lot of money, especially if it was long and of a rare colour such as her own, but that price would never be high enough for her.

She sat for a while, letting her mind go to a far off place, until she felt herself begin to fall asleep where she sat. Sighing softly to herself, Marina stood, looking over to where her new companion kept with his training. He was clearly working hard, and seemed to not be wishing stop to talk or for anything really, so she decided perhaps it was best to put herself to sleep. Marina walked into the small shack that she assumed to be where they were to sleep, finding a single clump meagre pillows and blankets pushed up against a wall by the sleeping bags he had placed inside.

“Sleeping on the floor... It's okay, I've slept on more uncomfortable things.” She reasoned as she grabbed one of the sleeping bags, unrolling it and setting it up in the other corner, away from Leoric's assumed space, and putting her bag down on the head of the bag.

It wasn't until she had already stripped the dress off and was half way through unlacing her corset did she remember that her sleeping clothes had been amongst the clothes that had been stolen from her, and she couldn't help but whimper. Having little choice, she removed the rest of the lacing before tucking it away in her bag, and putting her dress back on. She couldn't exactly sleep naked or in her underclothes with a strange man, after all.

Tucking herself into the sleeping bag, Marina set her bag under her head as a pillow, letting herself relax into the comfort and safety of the hut. She slipped her hand into the bag, curling her fingers around the hilt of her dagger as a precaution, and finally slipped into sleep.

When morning came, the sun peering in through the cracks in the wood woke her from her deep sleep. She mumbled, attempting to cover her face away from the assaulting sun, laying still until she gave up trying to reclaim her dreams. The dwarf sat up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head and looking over to see if Leoric was still asleep, and was surprised to not see him there, and see that his sleeping bag was still rolled up. She frowned, but didn't let herself think too hard on his decisions. He was a grown man after all and could make his own choices.

Once her corset was on again with a clean dress, and her hair rebraided, Marina left the shack, looking over to see Leoric exactly where she had left him. If the amount of sweat that was dripping off of him was any indication, he didn't simply wake up early and reroll his bag.

She sighed, and wondered if she should try to get him to stop. Thinking about it for a moment, a better idea came to her. Forcing a wide smile onto her face, Marina ran to where the food was stored and got to work.

Within an hour she had breakfast made. It was simple, eggs, toasted bread, and grilled breakfast sausages, but she was proud. She was never allowed to cook too often, but she was very happy to see that the few lessons the family cook had given her had stuck with her. She settled down next to the cooking fire, putting the servings onto plates, and waited.

For an extra hour, where she had picked at her food to eat as slowly as she could, Marina waited for Leoric to finish, hoping he was able to smell the food and take that as a hint, but he just kept going. She watched him, admiring how hard he was able to work and push himself, but he really needed to eat. She was already finished eating when she finally gave up waiting.

“When you're ready to finish, breakfast is here for you!” She called, setting her empty plate to the side. She watched as he turned, and let out a shocked squeak as she watched him proceed to get decked with one of the clubs. “Mr Leoric!” She cried, jumping up and running over to him.

Kneeling next to his body, it was clear he had been knocked out cold, so Marina quickly tried to rid the weights off of his body. She was surprised to find that she struggled, grunting as she pulled the logs off of his arms, and ended up having to just pushing the pack off of him once she released his arms, being completely unable to pick it up at all. For a brief moment, Marina was amazed that with all that weight on him he was still able to train throughout the night.

She dismissed that thought, however, in place with focusing on caring for the unconscious man. She had started with trying to pick him up, pulling his arm up and over her shoulder to try to half carry him over to the shed, but only managed a few steps before nearly collapsing herself under his weight. “You are deceptively heavy, Mr Leoric!” She grumbled, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear her as she put him down again.

Trying again, she began to drag him, but realized quickly as she heard the painful sounding scraping of his back on the rocky ground, and gave up. Marina thought quickly, and ran to the shack.

Soon enough, Marina had moved the fire pit over closer to Leoric and put the sleeping bag down so she could roll him onto it. She then piled the pillows from his corner set up under his head. Once he was on his side, she slipped his vest off of him and went to go fill a container with fresh water. Being unable to find a clean rag, She ripped off a strip off of her silk chemise and used that to begin cleaning the scrapes that had come from her attempt at dragging him, as well as washing the sweat and dirt off of his chest, back, face, and arms.

Once she finished that, Marina replaced the water from the pot and located a small cup amungst the few things around, and proceeded to encourage him to drink some, tilting his head up to keep him from choking. By the time she had him laying on his back and put a few of the blankets he had over him, as well as reset the fire, his breakfast was irreplaceably cold, so she just readied her stomach to feel ill from not only over eating, but for feeling upset as it did whenever she ate cold eggs, before going to clean pans and plates she had used.

Once that was done, the dwarven woman started on boiling the water in the pot while she continued to make rags out of ripped pieces of her chemise. She had ripped it high enough that it would fall just at her knees, but she knew she had to make sure she had enough. Once the water was heated, she dipped the strips of silk into the water, soaking them before wrapping them around Leoric's arms, hoping that the warmth of the water would aid in healing his no doubt sore arms, and continued to do so until both of his arms down to his knuckles were completely wrapped.

Over the hours Leoric slept, Marina kept herself busy by washing her few clothes, and once the water in the silk strips either cooled or evaporated, she would replace them with fresh warm water. For the most part, she kept close to him, just in case he woke up. Eventually she began making food again that could be reheated easily, humming softly to herself as she cooked. As confusing as a man Leoric is, she didn't want him starving, and she couldn't help but worry about him.

[Leoric]

Leoric struggled to open his eyes, his head was throbbing worse then after he drank an entire tavern under the table. “What hap… ah!”

Leoric screamed out in pain as he tried to sit up, His body completely sore after what leoric could only guess to be about 9 hours of solid training. The second half of which was just muscle memory. If he broke his concentration for even a moment he would of been hit. Thats when it hit him, ‘someone’ called out to him about breakfast and broke his concentration.

“Ma..Marina?” He said wincing as he struggled to reach a sitting position.

“Stay laying down,” she said sternly, not even looking at him as she tended the simple stew she had managed to make with what food they had. Tapping the spoon on the edge of the pot before setting it down on one of the spare rags and going over to him. Marina sat down next to him, putting her hands onto his chest to gently push him back down. “You’re not allowed to move. If there is anything you need, let me do it, okay?”

“Not allowed?” he chuckled as he struggled to place his palms flat on the ground and push himself backwards a little bit so he was resting more so against a large rock. “I don’t follow orders well”

Leoric entered a coughing fit as his lungs protested the extra work.

“What happened? I thought the camp was a good few yards that way?”

Marina opened her mouth to chastise him for not listening, but his question seemed to catch her off guard. Her face slowly turned a shade remarkably close to her hair colour. She looked away from him, seeming to find it difficult to look him in the eye in embarrassment. “You were… a little heavy…” She muttered, her hands moving to toy with the end of her braid.

“Well…” he started as he strained to look down at his arms “You managed to take off the logs and my pack, so i am quite a bit lighter then i would of been”

“If i remember correctly there was mention of breakfast?” he said flinching as he tried to move his right arm onto his lap.

The dwarf’s face scrunched up in frustration as she watched him move before reaching out, using a gentle touch to his forearm in order to help him bare the weight of his own arm until it rested down comfortably. “You slept through breakfast, it became way too cold to let you eat, so I made some more food…” She sighed, standing up and moving back to the pot to serve a bowl up for him and then returned to his side. “Open your mouth.”

Leoric went to reach for the spoon to feed himself until his arm went limp from exhaustion. And he grudgingly opened his mouth. “You know i am not going to die, my body just needs some rest. Besides i need to head into town later and pick up some more fresh ingredients for food.”

As she fed him he felt the delectable and savory beef stew slide down his throat and his eyes rolled back in his head slightly. It had been awhile since he tasted ‘adequate’ cooking.

“This is so damn good.” he said with his mouth half full of stew.

She was clearly surprised by his compliment, pausing with wide eyes as she was scooping another spoonful. Then her face fell after a moment, almost pouting as she blew on the spoonful to cool it down for him. “You don’t have to make fun of me.” She mumbled, offering the next bite for him to take.

“Not making fun of you, legitimate compliment there Marina. I don’t normally cook, i train till my body gives out and then stuff my face with whatever i have. Dried out bread maybe some jerky. Nothing fancy. This … is delicious.” Leoric said while looking directly into her eyes and giving her probably the most sincere smile she had ever seen.”

Marina stared at him for a moment, her cheeks starting to blush again before she turned her gaze away, focusing a little too intently on the bowl in her hands. “It could be better. I only had so much to work with… If I had some spices, or even some salt…” She trailed off, then perked up as an idea hit her. “Oh! Bread!” She placed the bowl down and jumped up. Once running to the supplies and back, a loaf of bread in her hands, she ripped off a chunk of it and dipped it in the stew before offering the piece to his mouth. Her bright smile lit up her face, looking very proud of such a simple idea. “This will fill you up a lot better, i think! And don’t worry, I washed my hands earlier.”

Leoric smirked as he went to take a bit and half of the bread fell down and hit his bare chest. He looked down and realized he wasn’t wearing his vest. “Well, if you wanted my clothes off all you had to do was ask.”

Marina’s face color seemed to match her hair with his latest comment and she was trying to find the right words to express herself when he spoke up again.

“Look, i will be back to being able to stand here in a minute, how bout we talk a walk into town, together, we can start your ‘social’ training and get you the herbs and spices you need for some more of this delicious cooking.”

“I already told you, if you need anything, I’ll do it. You stay here and rest.” She said sternly, shaking her head quickly. “And I’ve had social training, thank you very much. I’m not completely clueless, nor would I be gone long.” She paused, looking down at his chest. “Besides, you can’t even move to clean yourself up, how could you possibly make the walk to town?” If he didn’t know any better, it almost was sounding like she was teasing him as she cleaned his chest up for him.

Leoric smirked as she began to to clean up his chest, he flexed his chest to show off how toned his musculature was. He then sighed. “Fine If you are so intent on going by yourself, just be careful”

[HothouseOrchid]

“I'll be fine.” Marina chirped happily. “But first you have to at least finish the bowl, and stop making a mess!”

“I already told you, I don't take orders well.” He replied with a smirk, and yet still opened his mouth.

Once she ensured that he had finished eating only when he was full and had him comfortable, Marina left the campsite towards the village, hoping that it wouldn't be too late in the day to miss getting the best produce.

= = = = =

“So, that's what happened to your hand, huh?” The boisterous laughter that followed the comment echoed off the nearly empty tavern walls, making some of the barmaids flinch before returning to their work.

Ox, Tanner, and Grant all stood in front of the large leather chair, looking meek as they finished explaining what happened the night before to the man in front of them. He was a large man, his short black hair brushed back neatly out of his face and his chiseled face shaved clean. He was slouched a bit in his chair, but somehow still managed to look imposing, even with the impossibly large Ox before him. He had a wide grin on his face, but his eyes were dark, snowing how unamused he really was.

“Serves you right, you idiots.” He spat, pushing himself up from the chair. “You can't expect the likes of you three to take on Leoric, you have to actually have some brains to do that.”

“But he was butting his nose in our business!” Grant objected, until he realized his mistake of talking back to the man. The room felt a little colder, and Tanner and Ox both stepped away from their friend.

The dark haired man took a long look at Grant, who tried stammering apologies. Taking a few steps close to Grant, he put his hand on the back of his head, making the poor man flinch in fear. “Then maybe you shouldn't have made your business so loud for him to hear about it.” The man growled, barely loud enough for the other two to hear him before he gripped Grant's hair, forcing his head back before slamming it hard against the stone fireplace, a loud crack of his skull ringing through the building.

It was deathly silent after Grant crumbled to the ground, Ox and Tanner practically shaking as they waited for the man to speak again. “Don't worry, he's not dead this time.” He sighed, brushing his hand off onto his velvet coat as if it had become covered with dirt by simply touching the other man. “So... what did you want me to do about your idiocies? Did you want me to clean up your mess?”

“No, Darius, Sir.” Ox quickly said. “Just didn't want you to hear about it from town gossip.”

The man, Darius, paused before looking at the two. “So you are capable of being smart.” He made a simple motion to instruct the two of them to follow him, and left a few gold pieces on the fireplace for the barmaids to take as payment to drag Grant somewhere out of sight before leaving the tavern.

“Luckily for the both of us, Leoric's training tends to line up when I'm back from my hunting trips, but if he really is sticking his nose in the business of my town, I'll have to deal with it.” He explained, walking through the streets of the busy noon-time market. As they walked through, people would offer him free food and goods, most of which he would decline as his tastes were much finer than the town could provide, but he provided much more for them as the prime game hunter. He was responsible for feeding the town and protecting livestock from savage beasts, as well as returning with the leather and fur needed to keep the town clothed, so they admired him. They needed him to stay happy.

“That might be a good idea, Darius Sir.” Tanner agreed, making sure to retain a few steps behind his boss. “He's starting to get real smug.”

“We can't have that, can we.” Darius rolled his eyes, looking over the crowd of people until they fell onto a single bright red spot. He stopped in his tacks, locking his gaze on the tiny woman who owned the beautiful locks. “What do we have here? I've never seen her before.”

Ox's eyes widened when he saw who he was talking about, quickly looking around for someone else. “That's her, Boss. That girl from last night. We saw her leave with Leoric last night, too.”

“And no Leoric in sight now.” He laughed. He took in her appearance, admiring her full figure and cute face. How pure she looked was something he couldn't ignore, even as she was simply looking over a stall of spices. Not to mention he was sure she had the biggest breasts he had ever seen on any woman in this village. “Not that he could stop me. Go make sure that Grant has been taken care of, will you?”

Ox and Tanner looked at each other, the former scowling in jealousy, but they nodded and left. They knew better than to try to stop Darius from getting what he wanted.

Once they were gone, Darius went over to the young woman who had caught his eye.

= = = = =

“You drive a hard bargain, Missy, but you're sweet so I'll take your offer.” The spice merchant said with a laugh before handing over the various bags of spices to her before accepting the payment lower than the average price. “Just don't tell everyone, alright? I've got a business to run.”

Marina laughed, putting the bags into the basket she had purchased just for the ease of buying groceries. “No, of course not, but I will remember your kindness and be sure to come to you again.”

“Take care, Miss!”

With a bright smile and a polite bow of her head to the man before moving on to the next stall full of herbs. She couldn't help be amazed by their freshness, with some even still in small pots for people to grow themselves. “Ohh, these all smell amazing!” She exclaimed, picking up a sprig of parsley and taking a small sniff of it.

“I happen to agree, our little town does provide a large portion of the herbs sold in the city, after all.”

Marina jumped, startled by the voice so close to her ear, twisting around quickly to look at the huge man who was suddenly behind her. “Oh, is that so?” Her voice shook a little, smiling politely up at him. “I had no idea.”

“It's true.” He hummed, standing straight in front of her. “You're new to town, right? We don't get many dwarves around here, especially not beautiful women such as yourself.”

Marina felt her face warm up at the compliment, looking down bashfully. “Oh, you're the first person to not assume I am human...” She muttered, starting to toy with her hair.

“Most of the people around here have never seen a female dwarf, that's all. It's mostly the men who travel, isn't that so?”

“Well, I suppose...” She trailed off, looking back up at him. This time, she caught a specific gleam in his eye that made her stomach twist with discomfort. He was looking at her with his dark eyes as if he were a predictor, ready to eat her. “Well, as it stands, I still have some shopping to do, so if you don't mind...”

She tried stepping around him, but he just stepped in her way. “Let me accompany you. There are some man around here that are just beasts.” He insisted, and something was telling her that he wasn't going to accept her saying no.

“There is no harm in walking with me, I suppose...” She sighed, managing to duck around him to continue her shopping while he followed close behind her.

“So, what might your name be?” He asked, his gaze low down on her body while she walked.

“Marina of--” She stopped, being mindful of how she should introduce herself. “Just Marina.”

“Well, Just Marina,” he joked, grinning down at her. “I'm Darius, the head game hunter of the village.”

“Oh, how important.”

“Of course it is!” He laughed, not catching her uninterested tone. “I practically feed and cloth this entire village.” Marina hummed politely, which seemed to encourage him to continue. He talked about himself the entire time he followed her through the market, talking through her haggling down prices with the butcher and other sellers. She did note, however, that they acted different now that this strange man was following her. They seemed a lot more nervous, and more likely to agree to her prices as if they were worried that this man next to her would be upset if they disagreed. This in turn only made her more nervous.

She was at the last stall, looking at some dresses that were on display, when Darius actually asked her a question. “So Why are you buying all this food, anyway? Do you have a husband you are cooking for?”

At the question she couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. “Not at all.” She said vaguely, stepping away from the stall. She wasn't there for fashion, after all. Her smile fell however when she saw that predatory look again.

“Well that's good to know.” He said with a chuckle, stepping next to her and wrapping his arm around her. “Perhaps you should come home with me, then. Only someone with a skill in cooking can shop as well as you, and I would love to taste some of that. You would make a beautiful little housewife, after all.”

Before she knew it, Marina was being lead away. She couldn't help but think 'not again,' as she tried to duck out from his arm, but he resisted her escape. “I really should return, I have been gone long enough as it is...” She said, trying to be polite as possible.

“Oh come now, I know you have no where to be.” Darius said with a laugh, pulling her out of the crowd and into an alleyway. It was there where he pinned her against a wall, his hands on either side of her to block her from getting away. “You're too beautiful to be on your own, you know, and with me you would never go hungry.” There was a growl to his voice as he leered down at her, his grin wide. “And I would be sure never to let you go cold at night.”

Marina's voice was caught in her throat as she tried to figure out a way to talk herself out of this, but she really was too scared, as this man definitely seemed like he wouldn't be the type you would want to say no to, if he ever gave you that option. And this time, Leoric wasn't there to help her.

“I really have to go,” She tried, attempting to duck under his arm, but he made quick work to stop her by cupping her face with one of his large hands, forcing her to look up at him.

“You don't fool me with that pure act, you know. I know you left with Leoric last night, so I know what type of woman you really are, but you don't need to live that life.” He growled to her, leaning down so close she could feel his breath on her face. “How does that sound, you being my pretty little housewife?”

[Leoric]

Leoric grunted as he managed to get to his feet and stretch his shoulders. His muscles were incredibly sore but he wasn’t one to just lay around. Marina had been gone for barely an hour when Leoric started to get a bad feeling. He put on his leather vest and threw the rucksack over his shoulder. The momentum of the bag threw him off balance but didn't send him to the ground.

He wasn’t the kind of man to flake on his training from a little exhaustion. Hell if it wasn't for marina he would've just went straight back to training. Only resting when he went back to town. But something wasn’t sitting right. He knew oxford and his entourage to be persistent and they would probably be back in town as soon as he left. He stumbled as he started on the trail back to town, he grabbed a large stick that was on the side of the trail, it had a nice crook on the top end for holding onto easier. He used it as a type of walking stick incase he stumbled again.

============


“Leoric, you may want to get into town. Darius is here, and he seems to have taken a liking to the red haired one that was with you last night.” Emmanuel said as he saw Leoric get near the house.

“Well when it rains it pours” Leoric sighed as he picked up the pace and stumbled a little bit.

“Did you really go and over do it already? What on earth are you thinking?” Emmanuel scolded as leoric was visibly limping.

“You know nine hours of straight training no breaks with this rucksack and wooden weights do that to you” Leoric chuckled as his face twinged as a bit of pain shot up from his leg.

“I will have to see how you train one day” Emmanuel chuckled as leoric finished walking past “Rebecca is still in town, please keep an eye out for her too if you can?”

Leoric nodded as he continued his walk into town. It wasn’t long before he spotted Darius all over Marina, Leoric could clearly see she was uncomfortable and just trying to get away. Leoric kept walking towards them as they seemed to go around a corner and down an alley. Leoric knew this was typical of Darius to try and isolate his ‘prey’


“How does being my little housewife sound?” He heard as leoric turned the corner.

“I dont know, that would mean she has to see that ugly mug every night. At least she is with me for the next week so she can see a pretty face for a change.” Leoric said as he leaned up against the wall.

“A week?! How did you get that kind of coin to have a pretty exotic whore for a whole week!” Darius said as he turned to face Leoric

“Well, i guess all that sucking dick you do doesn't pay that well then eh?” Leoric chuckled as he straightened up and his eye twitched with his muscles protesting. “How about you stop revolting every lady in town and fuck off? Before i make you.”

“Oh please, a pipsqueak like you couldn’t make me do anything” Darius smugly said as he stood upright and rolled his shoulders.

“And someone like you couldn’t get a woman without paying a pretty penny, Hope the dick sucking picks up”

Darius’ face contorted into something of rage as he charged leoric and let out a punch into Leoric’s stomach sending him flying backwards and into the middle of the cross roads. Everyone around let out a cry of surprise and quickly disappeared into their houses or into the local shops and closed the windows. They knew what happened when these two fought.

Leoric coughed a little as he struggled to get to his feet, he still had his walking stick. He slipped out of the knapsack and used the stick to stand up and face Darius who was busy trying to shake the pain out of his hand.

“How is your hand doing? Oxboy did the same thing last night and broke his hand. You really want to keep doing that?” Leoric chuckled as he coughed. he looked to the side and saw Rebby. "Rebby, Take Marina some place safe. i will deal with cock sucker here."

[HothouseOrchid]

Never did she think that hearing Leoric’s voice would make her relax so much, and Marina had only met the man yesterday. She was surprised to see it escalate to a fight so quickly, causing her to yell out in surprise when the first fist swung. “Mr Leoric!” She called out, moving to run over to make sure he was okay when she felt a hand grab her arm.

Turning around quickly, she saw the woman from the night before, Rebby, holding her back with a concerned look on her face. “You don’t want to get in the middle of this…” She warned before the both of them looked back at the two in the street.

Darius let out a low growl as he glared at Leoric, letting his hand fall back to his side. He didn’t wait for Leoric to bring his attention back to him, charging at him and swinging again, this time landing a full punch right to his jaw. “That better for you?” He snarled, watching Leoric fall back again with a growing smirk.

Marina covered her mouth as she watched with wide eyes while for a few long moments Leoric was still, whimpering softly as she hoped he would get back up. Then, as she saw him start to slowly move his legs and arms to get back up, she noticed a small change in him, namely the slow appearance of strange red markings crawling down his arms, pulsing in time with his heart and getting a little brighter with each beat. Marina couldn’t look away, fear and curiosity keeping her eyes locked on him while he slowly got back up.

Once he was back up and supporting his sore body against his walking stick, the markings stopped pulsing, instead staying a solid colour. Darius’s smirk fell as he took in the sight of him. For a moment he looked hesitant to continue, even as he noted that Leoric’s glare was back on him, his eyes a vibrant red to match the markings.

Flexing his jaw with a loud crack to realign it, Leoric grinned once again at the bigger man in front of him. “Try that again, maybe I’ll feel it next time.”

The insult seemed to set Darius off again, and he was lured into another charge. This time however, Leoric was ready. In one fluid motion he spun the makeshift cane around and hooked the end of it onto one of his opponent’s leg and pulled it out from under him, causing him to fall heavily to the ground.

This action seemed to surprise both men, with Leoric being a lot happier about it as he let out a coughed out laugh, tossing the cane up to flip it in the air before catching it again. “Well would you look at that. No pain.”

Darius scrambled back up to his feet with an angry yell, his face starting to turn a bright red from his anger and humiliation. He shrugged off his coat and tossed it aside, rolling his shoulders as they gained more freedom of movement now that he was just in his loose sleeved shirt. He wasted no more time in going at him again.

This only resulted in more humiliation as this Leoric took a step to the side, hooking the cane this time around Darius’s neck, getting a choking sound of of him as he was once again pulled down to the ground.

This happened four more times, and while Darius got angrier and angrier, Leoric just started to look all that more amused.

Marina watched the strange fight, it reminding her remarkably like the bullfights she had the privilege to see once with her family. Leoric was leading Darius around with a grace and ease that surpassed the fight she had seen before, and considering he couldn’t even lift his own arms over a few short hours before. The danger she had felt before was lost while the dust kept getting kicked up around them. In fact she even started to enjoy watching the two of them in their dance, and if the small crowd of people leaving the safety of their homes to get a closer look was any indication, she wasn’t the only one.

That was shattered however when she noticed Darius change a bit, getting back up onto one knee and taking a deep, slow breath as he glared up at Leoric instead of just charging back at him. It made her stomach drop, watching carefully and taking a cautious step forward. She noticed him reach with both hands seeming to adjust the boot on the leg he was leaning on it, and noticed a slight glimmer of the sun hitting something metallic that he pulled out of his boot. In the same motion he made large movements to turn his head and spit out onto the ground, clearly diverting the attention away from his hand while it tucked away behind his back before standing up.

It took her two seconds for her realize what that was, but it was enough time for him to launch himself at Leoric, and she only had enough time to shout, “Knife!!” as loud as she could in an attempt to warn him.

[Leoric]

The shrill cry could be heard throughout the entire street, it seemed to echo across the buildings before finally reaching Leoric’s ears. His focus was momentarily shifted off of the lumbering brute in front of him that was charging him full speed and instead looked around for where the cry came from. It was too late.

Shluck!

The knife entered leoric's left shoulder causing him to cry out in pain as the momentum from Darius continued going. Both men hit the ground and rolled for a bit before leoric kicked out and sent Darius flipping over him as he got to his feet. Leoric grabbed the dagger from his shoulder and ripped it out before dropping it on the ground.

“Can’t handle the humiliation so you have to resort to cheating in a fair fight eh pisspot?” Leoric sneered as he grabbed his walking stick and turned to face Rebby before tossing it at her and changed his stance. If he was going to have any chance of beating Darius now he was going to have to get serious. He was going to use his masters fighting stance, that tried to mimic flowing water to avoid attacks and execute quick and painful counter attacks when there was an opening. “Well then, Let’s play this game then”


Darius got up and lunged again at Leoric a smirk on his face, he was sure that with the injury on leoric he wasn't going to be able to do much against him, he brought his arm back full force and went to swing for leoric’s head. However before the punch could even connect he stopped mid swing, Leoric had ducked under him and gave him a full force quaking strike directly to his balls. The pain that welled up in Darius’ eyes was evident to everyone watching and a few ooh’s and ahh’s could be heard.

"you tried this with Rebby and failed, just as hard as you are now, i would of thought you learned your lesson by now. The town is sick and tired of you taking women and never returning them!"

Leoric wasn’t going to just leave it at that, so as Darius fell to one knee in pain Leoric gave him a swift hit to the back of his head. Sending Darius to the ground, breathing heavily. Leoric limped away with his back turned to Darius. To leoric he had won, Darius was on the ground unable to get back up and he was still standing. He grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand and applied pressure to the wound while grimacing. He tried to hide the pain from his face as he walked towards Marina and Rebby.

“You son of a bitch!” Darius spat as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position. “You watch your back, cause when you least expect it i will kill you! And make that little whore of yours mine! One way or another!”

The grin from a fun fight left leoric's face as his eyes seemed to flicker with anger. His lip twitched as his hand went from his left shoulder to his side.

“Marina, Turn around, i don’t want you to see this.” Leoric said as he turned around and started walking towards Darius.

[HothouseOrchid]

When she saw Leoric’s attention be drawn away by her warning, Marina’s stomach drop just as the knife dug into him. The guilt hit her hard, knowing he’d hurt because of her attempts to help. Though even as she watched the knife go into his skin, and the blood pool out the resulting wound, she couldn’t dare look away. She caused the wound, she reasoned with herself, so she had no right to look away now.

When Leoric finally seemed to be finishing, the fight, Marina had started to walk over to look over the wound on his shoulder to see if she could treat it, but when Darius started yelling she froze.

“And I’ll make that little whore of yours mine! One way or another!”

Those words shot through her, shattering the last shreds of faith that everything was going to be okay. There was no questioning what he meant there, or his intentions, and there was nothing she could do to convince herself otherwise. This being said towards her coupled with What Leoric had said about doing this to Rebby and other women, it made it abundantly clear. This man, either out of spite towards Leoric or out of an extreme sense of entitlement, intended to force himself upon her and hurt her, and that terrified her to her core. Never in her life had she heard so much hate in someone’s voice, and never did she think she would experience it directed towards her.

She looked over at Leoric, noticing his quick change in mood, and it really didn’t help her fear. She felt Rebby’s hand on her shoulder again, but didn’t register the woman begging Marina to move away, or the fact that she was attempting to pull her back.

At Leoric’s order, there being no room in his tone to not take it as such, Marina turned around, wrapping her arms around herself to try to hold in her shaking. Rebby seemed to notice the dwarf’s distress and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close to support her. Knowing what was going to happen, however, Rebby turned herself away as well, as did many others in the crowd around them. Some however, with looks of triumph, kept their eyes locked on the scene. It was increasingly clear that Darius had this a long time coming.

“What are you going to do?” Darius barked out with a laugh, having the audacity to look smug. “Kill me?”

“No, but you’re not going to change.” Leoric replied, standing over the beaten man. “So I’m going to fuck you up enough that you won’t have the brain power to hurt anyone again.” Wasting no more time, Leoric swung his leg out, twisting his body and with as much force as he could muster into her kick, struck Darius across his head.

Expecting a thud and maybe even a crack of his skull, but not even Leoric expected the loud series of cracking coming from Darius’ neck as his head twisted sharply and in an unnatural angle, while his body fell like a sack of stones to the side. A stunned silence fell over the market, and Leoric stood staring at the now lifeless body before him for a few long moments before shrugging his shoulders. “His spine was a lot weaker than I thought it was already, I guess.” He mumbled, turning around to walk back towards Marina and Rebby.

Marina’s shaking got worse the moment the bone cracking noise hit her ears. It took all of her willpower to keep from letting the tears come out, not wanting to break down over this, but it was quickly becoming overwhelming. Even Rebby’s gentle rubbing of her back did little to help sooth her. Deep down she knew that it was likely the best choice, as she had yet to see any proper law enforcement since leaving the city, and if Leoric’s claims were indeed true, there was no stopping someone like Darius as long as he was able to walk.

“It’s for the best, Marina,” Rebby pulled back a little from her, putting her hands on the woman’s shoulders to look at her. “He’s hurt a lot of people here, tried to hurt even more…”

Marina nodded slowly, turning around to look over at the mound of body that was just left in the street. “I… I understand…” She spoke weakly, her arms tightening around her own waist. “I understand…”

[Leoric]

The kick to the skull wasn’t meant to kill, Leoric was hoping for some mild to severe brain damage so he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else again. After all in the time Leoric was around he had taken six ladies out of the city and none of them had returned. Rebby and Marina would of been just another number to the town if he hadn’t stepped in. so even though the death was unintentional Leoric didn’t mind. Afterall what would happen if he was away for a bit and darius was left to his own devices. How many of the townspeople would of gone missing or been bullied?
Leoric bent down and ripped off Darius’ shirt, it wasn’t that hard as it was mostly undone from the fighting, a large enough piece ripped off and Leoric bandaged his left arm as best he could with one arm. He then stood up as he tossed the rest at the Tailor who was one of the people standing outside watching the fight go down.

“Mind cutting that up and making a shirt that could fit me? I wouldn't want to look like a slob all the time” he smirked as he turned around and started heading towards Marina and Rebby when he noticed Darius’ velvet overcoat that he generally wore, he must of shrugged it off beginning of the fight. It was coming up to the cold season and instead of just buying a blanket they could use the giant gorilla’s coat as one. Leoric grabbed it with his right hand before masterfully draping it over his arms and heading to marina, his left arm out of view.

“I am sorry, i… Didn’t mean for that to happen. But out here sometimes things like this happen, and since i have been here in this town he had taken over six ladies, none of them to return, if i hadn’t stepped in both Rebby and yourself probably would of been just another number. No lady deserves to be treated as such.” Leoric ran the back of his hand across Marina’s cheeks getting some of his own blood on her face. At this moment his eyes seemed to revert back to the normal Ice blue that they were and the red marks on his arms vanished as leoric collapsed to his knees in front of her.

“Heh… guess the… Adrenaline.. Wore off.” Leoric said as he started panting heavily and was having to spend most of his energy to keep conscious and to focus on what was in front of him. His body was severely exhausted before the ‘adrenaline’ kicked in allowing him to push his body even further. But now that it was gone his body was protesting and refusing to work. He tried to stand back up when he shifted his left arm and screamed out in pain before quickly clasping his shoulder and slumping down, defeated.

[HothouseOrchid]

Marina was stuck in her own mind, quite in shock over everything that had gone on. She was only able to half listen to Leoric and what he was saying, but heard enough to understand that what he had done was truly the best option.

His touch startled her, finally forcing her eyes up to look at him just in time to see him collapse. “Oh!” She exclaimed, snapping out of her dazed state and turned her full attention back onto Leoric. “Oh, we need to get you back, you have to rest!” She scolded, though her concern was clear on her face. She tucked the basket of food under her arm, which somehow had remained unspilled throughout the excitement, and knelt down next to Leoric. She gently took his right arm and pulled it over her shoulders, wrapping her free arm around his waist before hoisting him up. “Lean on me, it’s okay. As long as you’re not dead weight I can manage.” She assured him softly with a smile, not wanting him to worry about her being too weak to support him, while being determined to prove to herself that that wasn’t the case.

“Let me help,” Rebby said while wrapping one of her arms around Leoric’s waste as well. “And don’t think that covering that arm of yours will make us forgot you’re hurt, so if I see you move that arm, I’m going to ensure you won’t get up any time soon.”

Marina looked over at Rebby, surprised by her bluntness. “Are you planning on tying him up, or something?”

This made Rebby laugh, especially with how innocently the dwarf had said it. “Maybe later.” She replied with a light smirk, which Marina completely missed the suggestive undertones of it.

Neither of them allowing Leoric to deny their help, the two women worked together to carry him back to his clearing, only stopping to allow him to rest before continuing on. Once they were back, and they had him laying down again, Rebby instructed Marina on what to get to start getting ready to clean and tend to Leoric’s wound, which the dwarf quickly set off to do while the human woman made sure Leoric was comfortable.

[Leoric]

Leoric tried to rebuttal, tried to say something, but the two ladies grabbed him and helped him to his feet before take him back off to his clearing. Stopping only when he needed a rest or a breather before finally getting him back home. He sighed, he didn’t like having to rely on others but the fight with Darius after pushing himself beyond his limits in training really took its toll on him. If it wasn't for his ‘adrenaline’ Darius would of made him look like a chump and then did whatever he wanted with Marina. Marina was far to innocent and nice to be taken or used by Darius like that. “ I will never let anything like that happen to Marina for as long as i live. ” It wasn’t like Leoric to get so protective or possessive over someone. He protected Rebby cause she reminded him of a lot of himself when she ran away, but she was pregnant. He couldn't let the kid grow up with a mother struggling to make it by each week and possibly having abusive male figures around in his life. The Kid deserved better.

“You know, you can’t just say in that little shack you built.” Rebby said as she gently lowered leoric to the ground.

“Yeah well, I don’t really have the resources to build a house out here now do i?” Leoric grunted as he started to lay back. The velvet coat that he had taken as his trophy was rather comfortable to lay on.

“You know you could ask the Carpenter in town to help out, and i am sure the Lumberjack would offer his services to get you a few logs of your choosing for the house.”

Leoric sighed, he knew all too well that everyone in town would help him if he only asked. But leoric was a proud man and would rather work for everything himself, Or at least pay for it. It wasn’t long before Marina had returned with the things that Rebby had asked for earlier when they undid his makeshift bandaging and began to work on his shoulder. Thankfully the dagger was too small to go all the way through, but boy did it smart. It took the ladies what felt like forever to patch up his shoulder.

“Fine, Once i am back to normal, before training, i will work on a house instead of just staying in a shack. After all where is Marina going to stay if i am called away on business.” Leoric let out a warm smile to Marina

“Well, i don’t have anywhere else to go really” Marina commented.

"Then you can stay with me." Leoric said with a very matter of fact to his voice, letting everyone around know he was serious with his offer. Rebby stood up and brushed off her knees.

“And it better be when your better, i don't want to see you around town or hear that you are doing things before you are healed. We don’t need you reopening that wound and getting infected and sick now do we?” Rebby scolded as she knew Leoric was not the type to take it all that easy.

“Yes, mother, I will focus on my health and well being before i do anything else stupid. That better?” Leoric joked towards Rebby.

“Well it’s not good, but it will have to do. After all you are more stubborn than a god damn Mule on its day off”

[HothouseOrchid]

Marina had watched intently and studied how Rebby had taken care of Leoric’s wound, memorizing what needed to be done for future reference. She was sure that if she indeed stayed with him, she better well learn how to care for his injuries. She listened to the banter between the two humans without comment, giggling softly as they bickered. She mused herself with the thought that they would likely be a cute couple, but kept that to herself with little more than a smirk.

“I’ll make sure he’s resting and well taken care of.” She assured softly.

Rebby looked at Marina and her expression softened a little, nodding. “I trust you to take care of him. I’ll still stop by to check up on him, though, wouldn’t want Leoric to take advantage of a sweet girl like you.”

“Hey!” Leoric protested, frowning a little. “I wouldn’t do anything to Marina unless she asked first.” He paused, switching his attention to the dwarf. “Though if you ever wanted to ask…” Even though there was a clear teasing tone to his words, it was enough to trigger a bright blush across Marina’s face, which prompted the other two to laugh brightly.

“Thank you, but no thank you!” Marina said loudly, quickly getting up and running away to the water in an attempt to hide her face. Rebby and Leoric both laughed as she ran off, though the man was cut off with a groan as the movement from laughing hurt him, prompting more scolding from Rebby.

Rebby left after a few hours, leaving Marina and Leoric once again alone. Marina had reheated what was left of the stew she had made earlier for dinner as the sun started to set, adding more spices and herbs to it that she had bought that day, and sat next to Leoric to feed him again.

Leoric sighed happily after the first bite, smiling contently. “And here I thought it couldn’t get any better.”

“Oh shush.” Marina rolled her eyes, blowing lightly on the next spoonful. “Once the meat we have currently is through, I may see about talking to the butcher about getting better cuts, so I can make this even better.”

Leoric gave a dramatic moan at that, flashing a wide grin at her. “You’re going to spoil me, Marina.”

She giggled, shaking her head as she offered the next spoonful to him. “Hardly. This is the least I could do after everything you’ve done… By the way, you really don’t have to go through the trouble of building anything, once you’re better. I can manage with everything here.”

He scoffed, swallowing before replying. “There’s hardly enough space for the both of us here, and I’m sure you’d prefer having some privacy. I know you don’t want to have to worry about me walking in on you while you’re dressing, right?”

“You say that as if I won’t already have to worry about you seeing me while i bathe, too.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it, frowning a little. “Point taken. I’m still going to do it, no matter what you say.”

Marina wanted to argue, but if there was one thing she had learned about Leoric in this short time was that he was a very prideful and stubborn man. If she didn’t know any better, she’d compare him to a dwarf with how stone headed he could be, but there was little to be done to deny him once he’d gotten the idea in his head. “Just don’t build anything big, please, you really don’t need to go through much trouble.”

“Well, I want to. So forget about it.” He shrugged, and the subject was dropped. They didn’t really talk for the rest of the night while they ate, and after Marina moved him into the shack so he was protected from the elements. Once she was sure he was comfortable, she went about cleaning up from the day’s mess.

She couldn’t be sure why Leoric was doing all of this for her, and she thought long and hard about it while she worked. If he were anyone else, her experience with human men over the past two days had shown her that lust seemed to be their primary motivator, but Leoric did not seem that type of man. Money obviously wasn’t why he was doing this either, as he knew she had nothing, and there was no way for him to know how wealthy her family was to ask for ransom from her. Besides, that hardly seemed like something he would do, either, considering how he had returned money given to him for work.

Marina was slowly realizing how unprepared she was for the outside world, the world she had dreamed of being apart of as she stared outside her bedroom windows. It was nothing like in the stories. It was cruel, mean, and unforgiving.

And yet, there were some hope still in the darkness of reality. The kind man who helped her on her voyage out of the city, the barmaid who took pity on her and cheered her up with kind company, and now Leoric, her strange savior. A knight in tarnished and battle worn armor, perhaps.

So perhaps she had been wrong in her expectations when she had left home. It wasn’t easy, and happiness wasn’t going to just be given to her now that she was out of her family’s stifling obligations, but her mother was wrong, too. Despite everything showing her that she was weak and unsuited for the life she escaped to, she was still here. She was surviving, and perhaps for now that was good enough.

Her hair brushed, corset removed, and camp clean, Marina settled herself in her sleeping bag to sleep. Leoric was snoring in his corner, oblivious and likely uncaring towards her inner monologue, but she hardly cared. Smiling softly to herself, the noble dwarf relaxed into the comfort of sleep.

Reality was hardly anything she could have prepared for herself, and yet it wasn’t so bad, either.

[Thread Complete]

[Philomel]

A Harsh Reality Check (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?31212-A-Harsh-Reality-Check-(Closed)/page3)
No Judgement
Participants: Leoric and HotHouseOrchid

Rewards:

Leoric receives: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?17185-Leoric)
1004 EXP
0 GP

As per request the maximum amount of GP was converted to EXP.

HotHouseOrchid receives: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?18778-HothouseOrchid)
890 EXP
125 GP

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards added!