Those That Carry the Wind and Water (Leoric and Azza)

Memory was a funny sort of thing for Azza and her kind. She could certainly remember when the last time she was in New Brookeshaven, but she was still astounded by the vast change that had happened between her last visit and the current state it was in. It had always been a sleepy fishing village without much else to its name. Perhaps the brook running through the town was something of note. Or was it someone’s name? Azza couldn’t quite recall it perfectly - she was a child then when it was all being explained to her by old Jacobs.

Still, the sleepy and quaint village in her memory was in the midst of reconstruction with broken buildings and burnt out remains being the more common sight than anything whole. Azza had heard about the situation briefing while riding back to Corone on the bridge of the ship. It was all a bit surreal and to be completely honest, she felt a little lonely now standing here on familiar yet alien soil once more.

There was the temptation to look behind her to see if the white ship with black sails was waiting for her to come back. Then again, even if it was, Azza might not have been able to see it with its veil up and running. A tinge of regret began to well up in the girl’s heart as she sighed with a glance back at the empty horizon of the ocean. “Right, eyes forward.” Picking up her pack and sword, Azza slung it over her shoulder with her wings folded to avoid crushing them, before walking towards the town proper to ask for directions.

Heading to Underwood shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. Azza was certain she remembered the path there, but even so, the situation of Corone was uncertain now and there could be blockades and other things that could hamper her travel. She wasn’t on Se’lutia anymore and thus no longer viewed with reverence for something she never did. She was just plain old Azza again. In some ways it was liberating to be a stranger again and at least the land wasn’t completely unfamiliar this time.

“Hey there stranger! Where’d you blow in from?”

Looking over to the voice that called out to her as she entered the center of the village, Azza couldn’t help but grin a bit. “Coyo. This is where you ended up huh?”

The young man laughed as he spread out his arms as if to show off the village. “Sure did. They need a smith everywhere, even if it’s just nails and horseshoes. You might see a few familiar faces around here too, but you’ve certainly made yourself scarce these few years.”

Azza shrugged at the question and just maintained her grin. “Guess I have.” A few lumberjacks passing by gave a few wolf cries towards the pair’s direction which gave Azza the pleasure of watching her childhood friend’s face turn a dark crimson.

“Oh shut up! The whole lot of you! Ahem, anyways. I’m guessing you’re headed to Underwood to see Mother Holly?” Looking behind him quickly towards the town entrance, Coyo then returned his gaze to Azza. “Might want to head out tomorrow. Probably getting dark now in the forest-”

But Azza began snickering at her childhood friend’s worry. “I know, Coyo, I’ll do just that. We grew up in Underwood and the surrounding forest so don’t worry about me.”

Scratching the back of his head, the brown hairs of his head becoming more disheveled by the minute, Coyo eventually heaved a sigh and shrugged. “I’d offer you a place to stay, but I’m grouped in a lodge that’s filled with just guys and idiots. I’m not sure if there’s room at the inn either. Or what’s left of it.” Spotting the sword on her shoulder he added, “But I’m guessing you can take care of yourself. Guess you always did.”

Hearing what Coyo said, Azza saddled up a little closer with a bit of a smug grin. “Are you complimenting me? You? What did you do with Coyo?”

“Aah, shut up! There’s a few traveler stops and camps around on the outskirts of town so I’m sure you can find somewhere to camp out. I’ve got a few more things to take care of.” As he began to walk away, he stopped and managed to grin back, “But it’s good to see you again. Welcome home, I guess.”

Azza watched as her friend strode off with only a hand thrown back as a wave. With a slight huff and a smile on her face, Azza continued on towards the outskirts of town. Maybe it won’t be that lonely and maybe… just maybe, she’ll be able to see everyone again. Some day. For now, she wanted to wash off so somewhere near the water would be ideal.

Veering off the road without a second thought, Azza began to push on through the shrubbery despite her long robes hampering her a bit- or were the plants and bramble moving aside for her ever so slightly? Whatever the case, it wasn’t as bad as she thought and soon enough she found the brook that flowed through the town again and began to follow it up stream.

By and by Azza found a nice little niche by a small pond that had formed near some abandoned ruins. The main road leading out of town was also a stone’s throw away, but with plenty of foliage in the way for privacy. The area itself looked to be a well used rest stop by merchants or travelers on the road. The remains of a recent fire was also evident with some of the charcoaled wood still about.

But all of that didn’t matter much to Azza as she dropped her pack on the ground by the water, sat down, took off her boots, and dipped her feet into the cool water.

'Bliss.'

Leoric let out a grunt of effort as he hefted the large log onto his shoulder, he may be quite a bit stronger then most men, but this log was pushing him near his limit of carrying. As he trod through the forest back to his little campsite he couldn’t stop but think about his travels the last few days.

He had landed in a neighboring port town, they had the deeper waters to allow larger ships to dock, and had immediately been put on a rescue mission to save an orphan who had been kidnapped by a group of bandits trying to become a powerful force. It wasn’t until they had gotten to the bandit camp that they learned why the orphan was needed for such an endeavor.

She has the power of precognition, she saw things in the future before they happened and could change the future based on those visions. The bandits had wanted to use this ability to take over a few towns and then fight the armies that came to dethrone them with superior strategy from her visions.

Leoric had the help of Felicity, a red haired beauty that could destroy most men with just a glance. Felicity was trying to be as ‘good’ as she could be. But without thinking too much of the other side of things. And his time with her was spent trying to teach her to think on the long term effects of her actions.

After a decently complicated fight with the bandit leader, Leoric and Felicity came out on top and quickly grabbed the girl and brought her with them to New Brookeshaven, Leoric taking responsibility for the young one and vowing to protect her at all costs. On the ride to New Brookeshaven they found out she didn’t even know her own name, and so Leoric gave her one ‘Kylie’

It had been almost a week since they had gotten back home, and Leoric had already enlisted the help of a few craftsmen in town to work on getting himself a proper home or residence for himself and kylie. However, there seemed to be a lack of lumber shipments coming into town, so they didn’t know when there would be enough to start work on a new house. He had plans to head to the trademaster in charge of sending out the shipments in the next few days to figure out what the problem was. He just had to get Kylie comfortable with the new town and the townspeople before he left her with his best friend for a few days.

As sweat dripped down his face, he could feel a cool breeze caress his sweat soaked skin. He looked up and saw someone sit down on his pond’s edge and dip their feet in. his guard went up immediately as his instinct was telling him she may look pretty and lithe, but she had a dangerous amount of potential. Kylie was hiding behind a tree and looked at him with a smile before she turned to look at the stranger.

“She came up from the stream, not the road.” Kylie whispered as Leoric walked past.

“Alright darling, wait for me to motion if it's safe alright?” Leoric ruffled her hair with his free hand as he walked past her before turning and trying to reassure her. “Don’t forget, I promised to protect you no matter what.”

With the monstrous log still on his shoulder he walked out of the woods and into the clearing. The setting sun illuminating him, glistening off his enchanted leather vest, barely hiding a sweat soaked white shirt underneath. His hands mostly hidden behind a pair of fingerless gloves. The sweat stained brawler attempted a hair flip but the sweat had caused his hair to get stuck to his face, obscuring some of his vision. He approached the newcomer as they sat at the pond edge. His muscles bulging in complaint at the weight that he was carrying.

“Do you often wash your feet in someone else’s pond?" he joked as he took a few more steps before dropping the log on the ground not far from the pond, with a ground shaking thump, but close enough to the campfire that once firewood was chopped up it could easily be added to the fire.

“The name is Leoric, and this is my home. If you are staying the night, you can help with some chores at least.”

No sooner had Azza sat and dipped her feet into the cool water did a voice call out from behind to claim that the pond was theirs. Following with a rather large thud Azza craned her head back to look with a bit of alarm. The large- massive log that wasn’t previously close to the fire was certainly indicative of the man’s strength. Certainly impressive, but after seeing so many strange things for the past several years mixing with her older memories it was a relief to encounter something more simple. A strongman of some kind or one of the lumberjacks in town? Perhaps a former soldier or adventurer of some kind?

Whatever the story behind him was, the fact that he had stated the area to be his home, and not just a travelstop hidden from the road, had Azza wearing her typical awkward half-grin of not entirely understanding if he was being serious or joking. A quick glance over at the burnt out ruins didn’t exactly give the impression anyone still lived there and there wasn’t a tent or any sort of shelter that she could see in sight. It certainly was possible that it was hidden somewhere and there was a campfire.

When he introduced himself as Leoric, Azza just nodded her head. If he had hostile intentions he’d have attacked her from behind without calling out first and with how much he was sweating, he did have the look of a laborer type. At the very least he was accustomed to it. The request to help with chores had Azza laughing lightly. “My apologies, I didn’t realize that you had made this pond. Name’s Sophia and since I intend to stay here for the night, I guess I’ll help out with some chores then.” It certainly wasn’t a lie as the name had been given to her and it was now hers to do with as she wished.

When Azza made to stand however, she paused and then pulled her pack closer to rifle through. Finding the pair of wooden sandals, she pulled those on before getting up. As she did she spotted a smaller shape standing near the treeline and, reflexively, Azza offered a small wave with just her fingers then stopped when she realized what she was doing. Turning her attention to Leoric she continued, “Or at least that’s what I’d like to offer, but it doesn’t seem like there is much to do. I can share some dried meat and cheese if you’d like.”

“Not much to do?” He chuckled heartily. “The hut needs fabric dug out and placed over the roof, or lack thereof,”

“I won't put her through sleeping under the night sky like that.” He jutted his thumb back to the treeline where Sophia had been waving previously. “Then, the training dummies need to be dragged out and set up, This firewood needs chopping, and the balance logs need to be attached to their weights and thrown in the pond.”

With the lack of any sign of animosity or aggression, Leoric let out a sigh and took off his vest before motioning for Kylie to come forward.

“Oh, not to mention we also got to cook dinner, none of this dried meat travel rations.” He folded his vest up neatly and handed it to Kylie who ran off to the burned shed before coming back out empty handed and running back to Leoric who patted her on the head before turning back to their visitor.

“Take your pick, or you can help Kylie here with setting up the roof and making dinner while I set up the training yard.” Leoric started to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt letting his chest hair become exposed and letting out a gentle sigh as cold air sweetly kissed the freshly exposed skin. “Oh! And if you are a drinker, I got something special to go with dinner for us.”

There were a few things that Leoric said that made sense to Azza. There were also a few things that he said that had her smiling more in disbelief as she bit her tongue to keep from commenting immediately. And what was wrong with sleeping under a starry sky? It certainly wasn’t going to rain tonight and even if it did, a cloth sheet wasn’t going to protect from it. And the dried meat certainly was good on its own! Though the mention of traveling rations had Azza realizing her mistake. It was more of a snack food item than rations, but that didn’t change the fact that it wasn’t a proper meal.

Putting up her hands in a show of conceding, Azza stooped down by the remains of the campfire and prodded it a few times. There certainly was enough vitality left to restore, but a quick glance at Leoric had her reconsidering. Being ‘normal’ was the right call in this case, right?

“I’ll choose to set up the roof and help make dinner as I don’t need dummies in a training yard or balance logs in a pond to help me sleep soundly.” Mumbling the last bit, she produced a bit of flint, steel, and tinder from a pocket on her robes to begin her given task. “Ah! I can partake in a drink if it’s something light.”

===

By the time the group was finished pulling a makeshift roof over the hut, boiling a stew for dinner, and whatever Leoric was doing with the training dummies and “balance logs,” the sun was beginning to properly set and darkness was beginning to envelope the world. A few travelers had passed by just beyond the bushes with what sounded like carts and wagons, but other than that, no one distrubed them.

The training dummies certainly didn’t look like the kind used for sword fighting with their multiple limbs sticking out everywhere. Perhaps some different form. However, it was impressive that there wasn’t just one, not two, but THREE dummies. Leoric was just finishing up, or what seemed to be, when Azza wandered over while Kylie watched the pot.

“It’s certainly impressive,” she began while looking at the two weighted logs bobbing in the pond. Returning her attention to Leoric and the three dummies, perhaps four with him included, Azza couldn’t help but smile. “Is there a reason you didn’t use the same energy in restoring your…” Pausing, Azza looked over at the hut. Or was it supposed to be a cabin? Was it once a cabin? “Shelter?” Azza finally decided on, as the most neutral word she could think of. “Dinner is ready by the way and despite your earlier protests, I’m including the dried meat that I have on the menu. You can always wet it a bit with the soup if you prefer your meat to be moist.”

By the time Dinner was almost ready Leoric had thrown three logs into the pond and set up the Three training dummies across the pond. The training dummies were a three tier dummy, with spinning limbs. If you struck the upper right limb it would spin backwards causing the upper left limb to spin in your direction. One tier was about Knee height, the middle tier was about waist height and the upper tier was about shoulder height. They had seen better days as these were heavily used daily by the brawler.

“I always enjoy my meat moist, if its dry i am not doing my job correctly” He laughed as he winked towards Sophia. “Well before dinner is done then let me set up the last balance log.”

He walked behind the middle training dummy and undid his white shirt fully, untucked it from under his belt and gently tossed it towards a dummy before flexing his hand into a palm shape and launching a blast of wind at the shirt, ensuring it reached the dummy. The now shirtless brawler stretched his back and rolled his shoulders before quickly leaping to one of the floating logs, balancing on one foot before taking a deep breath and diving into the pond.

After a few moments one of the logs began to wiggle in the water as one edge kept sinking deeper into the water, a few more moments later and it was now standing vertically in the small pond. Leoric surfaced and took a lung full of air as he lifted himself up onto one of the horizontal logs, straddling it for a moment.

“You going to join me for some training tonight? Would be interesting to see your capabilities first hand.” He said as he did a hair flip and got most of the wet hair now out of his face. With a quick grab of the log with both hands, he quickly hopped to his feet and caught his balance quickly before leaping up and landing on the vertical log. One foot firmly planted on the now bopping pole as his other leg was bent and his foot was placed gently against his other legs knee as he entered one of his balance poses. Within moments the pole stood perfectly vertical, and even though there was a nice breeze coming through the forest it seemed to not budge the pole as Leoric stood up there before he was shaken from his trance by a cute voice.

“Leo, Sophia, the soup is ready.” Kylie said softly as she dug into one of the sacks they had and took out a few wooden bowls.

Leoric smiled and quickly hopped down into the pond and swam to the edge, as he climbed out he placed a hand on his right shoulder and rolled it again. ”damn thing is so stiff.”

“Kylie, mind going inside and grabbing the bottle of Amber glow for me and our guest here?” He asked politely as he grabbed hold of his bowl of soup and dropped a handful of dried meat into it. She nodded and smiled and quickly turned to go inside as Leoric sat down on one of the stumps near the fire. “The reason the shelter hasn’t been fixed is because I normally was barely here. So I was fine with it being in disarray, but since I found her and decided to keep her safe I have begun working on this area more. Unfortunately there is a problem with the lumber shipments lately, so building a new shelter isn’t feasible. Tomorrow I will bring her to town to stay with my best friend while I head out to secure those lumber shipments and make sure they make it.”

He smiled as Kylie handed over the dark amber bottle, it was unmarked, there was no label, just a cork stopping spillage. With a quick tug the cork popped out and he offered the bottle to his companion for the night.

“Made in Salvar, went through hell to secure a shipment of this made it to the tavern in town. Of course I kept a few bottles for myself.”

Azza has to resist chiding the man for what he said and how he acquired the bottles of Amber Glow while in front of Kylie. It wasn’t her place and she still wasn’t exactly sure of their relationship. If Landbound relationships were how she understood them to be, Leoric was certainly going to be a large influence on the young girl. Thankfully, Kylie seemed to already have a better head on her shoulder than the ruffian of a man. The way that he so easily unclothed his upper half with no attention to present company was already something that Azza couldn’t help but smirk at.

Sure, she enjoyed the sight, but it was hardly proper. Glancing over at Kylie, the girl looked to be a bit too young to be interested in those sorts of things as well. Perhaps Leoric just did so out of habit then as most of the other working men often did the same thing. “Well, if you’re sharing a cup or two, I won’t say no to the treat. Maybe just half for me though.”

Taking a bowl of the soup for herself, Azza sprinkled in some chopped fresh herbs and greens that sat on a cutting board by the fire. “Feel free to use some too if you’d like,” she said while dropping in a handful of the dried meats she had brought into her bowl as well. Spooning a bit of the soup to her lips to sip, Azza licked her lips after with a soft hum in thought. “Guess the flavors are just about right. I’ll have to gather more herbs later when I get a chance to.”

“As for your question earlier, I’ll pass on joining, but I can certainly watch. Maybe even say some encouraging words while you go through your routine.” Grinning, Azza then suggested, “Though it looks like you might prefer having me massage your shoulder. Did you hurt yourself recently?”

“Suit yourself, I guess not everyone is up to handling vigorous training.” Leoric said as he suddenly remembered he should make Kylie a bowl. He got up and made a bowl of soup for Kylie. He Flashed her a smirk as he handed her the bowl before ruffling her hair slightly.

“Enjoy, and you can have seconds if you want as well.” He smirked as her face lit up brightly. He then walked over to his own stump and sat on the ground next to it, using it as a bit of a back rest as he began spooning some soup into his mouth.

“I wouldn’t mind a shoulder rub, I have overworked it lately. Been practicing swinging with my new device and it puts a lot of strain on the shoulder. But we can wait till after dinner.”

With that being said Leoric quickly drank his soup and chewed on the tough meat for a bit before placing his bowl down on his stump and quickly hopping up to his feet. He walked into the dilapidated shed and grabbed a strip of fabric before quickly walking back out and towards his training dummies. He punched each wooden limb and made sure that they swung as they should before jumping back a distance and tying the piece of fabric around his forehead. He entered his First stance, where he launched all of his attacks and defenses from and closed his eyes. Dust and loose dirt began to swirl around him before launching into the air in a double helix pattern before the wind calmed down and he pulled the headband down over his eyes before launching a few quick punches straight forward at nothing.

Within seconds the training dummies in front of him acted like it was struck with the same force as the brawler himself had punched forward. But as the other limb swung back around it acted like it hit something and was launched back as well. With several jabs launched Leoric’s arms came back to First stance while sweat began to bead up on his forehead. The training dummies were still spinning and acting like they were getting hit, this time without Leoric moving. The strain was becoming more and more evident in his posture and the sweat forming on every part of him, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling as his training was beginning to pay off. He still needed to start the attack, but once the sensation was there. He could put his magic into a loop pattern, and if he didn’t change the pattern he could keep it going.

With a sudden burst of wind that emanated from the brawler, the now out of breath Leoric collapsed to a knee. Chuckling a little before getting back up and catching his breath. “It’s finally starting to work.”

With a smile he pushed his blindfold up to his forehead as he walked over and grabbed his rucksack and fished out two armbands, he quickly clasped them on as a magical dart formed on the outside of his forearm. He pointed his arm towards a tree and a blunt wooden dart attached to a white tether shot out from him. As it collided with the tree Leoric himself was quickly whisked off his feet and directly towards the tree.

When it looked like he was about to collide with the tree, he used his other arm and forced out a jet of air which pushed him around the tree, with a release of the first tree his other arm shot another dart at a tree further ahead that was taller. He began swinging through the tree’s at a reckless speed before he swung around a tree and launched himself through the clearing. He landed on one of the horizontal logs in the pond and as the impact knocked water into the air, he quickly formed a sphere of quickly moving air around the water, making it look like he could control water as well. Before moving it above him and releasing the air letting the water splash onto his head.

With a quick smirk towards the two at the fire he lept up onto the vertical training post and brought his left leg up, putting his foot on the side of his right knee as he quickly entered a meditative stance where he would be trying to maintain perfect balance and stillness.

“Well. So much for campfire conversation,” Azza said with a glance towards Kylie as she sipped her soup. Watching Leoric go through his routine was certainly an interesting spectacle and while impressive, Azza didn’t quite feel that it was too practical. Practicing alone could only get one so far and Azza knew better than most. When Leoric finished, or seemed to have, he remained there at his last position, balancing on a post with only one leg in the same fashion of storks waiting to spear a fish.

Kylie replied with a weak smile as she took her own meal quietly. For Azza, it was a bit awkward as well as she didn’t exactly know what to make of the situation. Leoric and his young charge certainly didn’t look related and even if they were, Leoric didn’t seem the type to go out of his way to take care of a child. Well, at least that was what first impressions of the man told Azza. That being said, it was to Azza’s surprise when the young girl broke the silence first. “I’ve never seen anyone else with horns before. I mean, I have, just not this close to be able to talk with them aside from my mother.”

“There’s a surprising amount of people with horns, you know? Sometimes you can’t see them.” It was only after that Azza said that did she realize how stupid it sounded. She quickly added, “Some hide them with magic or a hood or hat and others disguise them as accessories and the like. I used to hide mine with a large hat a long time ago. But I was rather lucky. I didn’t really need to and did so because I was self conscious.”

The expression of the younger girl fell as she muttered, “My mother and I weren’t so lucky…ah, but I’m okay now. Leoric takes care of me really well.” Does he? Something on Azza’s face probably gave away her doubt to the younger girl. “I don’t need much and he gives more than enough.”

Glancing over at the man standing out in the middle of the water, Azza couldn’t help but smirk a little at the thought before looking at Kylie. “Sounds more like you’re the one taking care of him. But, if you ever want to be somewhere with other kids, there’s an orphanage in Underwood that I grew up at. The matron there is really dependable.”

Kylie frowned. “But I already have Leoric.”

“Yeah, I mean that, if he ever needed someone to watch you while he… does whatever he does…” trailing off, Azza rubbed at the back of her neck somewhat abashed. “Well, maybe I’m just being nosy.”

A bit of silence followed as the two of them continued their meals. It certainly wasn’t a feast in terms of quantity, but at the rate of both of them barely nibbling their food made it last. Eventually, it was Kylie who broke the silence again. “You’re… a good person, aren’t you?”

Azza managed an empty smile. “I don’t know why you’d say that to someone you just met, but thanks.”

“I mean it! I can- I can see things. About people’s pasts and sometimes even the future.”

“Clairvoyance?” A quick glance over at Leoric yielded little more than just the man still standing there- did he change which foot he was standing on? Could the child read her memories or mind or perhaps even soul? This would certainly be an unprecedented thing and certainly a threat perceived by her order. Then again the mention of seeing the future had Azza more curious than worried. “How much can you see exactly?”

Kylie shrugged as she continued sipping at her soup. “Sometimes it’s pieces and fragments and sometimes it can be months of events surrounding someone or something.” The girl frowned again, seeming unsure why she was even divulging so much to a stranger. Or was it perhaps that Azza felt familiar to her? Whatever the reason, Kylie managed to form a grin. “It’s usually a bit confusing for me. I don’t really know what’s going on and it’s not like a memory I’m seeing or reading the minds and feelings. Just, watching what happens. Like a play from the bards and I don’t get to control it. Sometimes it just happens too.”

“I see…” Mulling the idea over in her head, Azza figured that even if she ever mentioned it off-hand to her mentor, Kylie would be safe. Probably. Maybe better to just not mention it at all. “Well, I’m sorry if you ever see anything bad from my past then.”

Kylie laughed and looked over to her caretaker. “Being around Leoric means I’ve already gotten to see plenty of bad things. But he’s changed a lot from what he used to be. He’s a good person too.”

“... yeah. I guess anyone can change for the better if they try. Guess I know that better than most.”

It had been some time since Leo had entered his meditative stance. He wasn’t sure how long had actually passed but it seemed like the new young comer and Kylie were enjoying a decent conversation. Or he assumed decent, cause voices were not getting raised and Kylie would prob call out to him if anything serious was happening.

His thoughts began to drift back to his past, and what he had done long ago, when he worked for the man known as Lye. Leoric had killed many people, injured or maimed others, psychologically traumatized as many people as he needed just to get his job done. It wasn’t until he got lost in salvar, stuck in a cave with a hot spring, that he began to think upon himself and figured out what he really wanted or what he really needed to be happy.

Finding Kylie was either a stroke of luck, or whatever fate had planned for him. Leoric wasn’t sure if he using Kylie as a reason to better himself was fair on her or not, but after the first few days and her seeing everything he has done and some things he will do in the future she wanted to stay with him. Leoric couldn’t bring himself to say no to such an innocent soul, especially after she probably saw many things he wouldn't even want to see again. And in the end who knows, maybe he could help teach her to control her powers so it doesn't cause her anymore issues.

After a little bit more time he decided to finish up his training for the night after all he did have a visitor. He sighed softly and stood up right properly before leaping off the post towards the campfire, letting out a large bellow of wind to try and slow his descent just before he landed, causing the fire to nearly blow out before it roared back to life.

“... yeah. I guess anyone can change for the better if they try. Guess I know that better than most.”

“You may know that anyone can change for the better, but no matter how much they improve, there is always the guilt, the disgust, and those that used to be around you that try to claw you back into the disgusting cesspit of what you once were.” Leoric stated as he walked past the fire and picked up some of the debris he had blown away with his rather rough landing. “Look between my shoulder blades and you will truly know my shame and my guilt.”

Azza cast a glance to Leoric’s back between his shoulder blades and saw the inked lines of a tattoo. She couldn’t exactly make out what it was in the dim light, but she could guess what it meant: a criminal’s branding or a clan’s marking. Easily identifiable to those who knew what it was and for those that didn’t, it could serve as a deterrent depending on the cultural ideals surrounding tattoos.

The young woman couldn’t help but tense and roll her own shoulders before flexing her small wings, ruffling them slightly before offering what she hoped was a sympathetic smile. “I have something like that too. What’s the saying? Birds of a feather flock together?” Turning her attention to Kylie, Azza couldn’t help but ask in a teasing tone, “Do you have one hidden somewhere too?”

Kylie looked to be caught off guard with her spoon halfway to her mouth in mid scoop. The girl looked quickly between her caretaker and her current guest before slowly continuing the spoon’s journey. It took another moment before she just shrugged. “I don’t think so, though it’s not like I can look at my own back. But I guess my horns and you know how hard it is to hide horns already.”

There were several things that Azza wanted to say, but she bit her tongue to stop herself before looking over at Leoric. “Well, there you have it. Though I suppose I’m a bit more free from those clawing hands. They’re more guiding hands since I was the one doing the bad things, you know?” She gave another quick glance at Leoric’s form and studied it in the dim lighting for another moment before adding, “Maybe I could even guide you. Put what I’ve learned into practice and all that.” Resuming her own meal of the soup, Azza noticed that Kylie couldn’t stop glancing at her and Leoric as if considering something.

“She’s right, you know?” Kylie suddenly said. “I mean, about guiding. You’re headed to Underwood, right Azza? Leoric, I think the recent troubles here is something happened over there.”

That was certainly a surprise to Azza as she looked at Kylie. The mention of trouble at Underwood didn’t exactly sit well with her, but then again, it could be anything really. Trouble was, after all, everywhere and as minor as just the usual day to day or something more serious. Well, why not? Downing the rest of her soup, she then stuck out her hand towards Leoric with a bit of mirth, “What do you say? Want to hire me on as a guide? Maybe even a bodyguard from all the dangerous flora and fauna around in the woods?”

Leoric sighed, he really wasn’t in the habit of asking for help. After all he was a man, and a stubborn one at that, he liked to do everything himself. However, what they were saying did make sense.

“I don’t really need a bodyguard, I can take care of myself in that regard. But if you know your way through Underwood and can get me to where I am going faster it would save me time and money.” Leoric looked at the ground, a little ashamed of himself for agreeing to help. “Kylie, we will head to Ruby’s first thing in the morning, you can play with Eric all day, and Ruby will keep you safe till i get back.”

“Really?! They are so much fun to be around!” Kylie exclaimed, finally showing her age.

“Yep! And I will give Miss Ruby some extra coin so you can go enjoy yourselves in town as well.” Leoric smiled warmly as he walked over and ruffled her hair. “Now finish dinner and go get ready for bed kay? I will take care of cleaning up.”

It didn’t take long for Kylie to finish up her soup and dried meat before she quickly hugged Leoric and ran off into the disheveled stone hut. Before she quickly looked back and half whispered. “You may want to go for a bath as well, you stink a little”

Leoric raised an arm and took a sniff before nodding his head in agreement as she giggled and went inside. Leoric grabbed the bowls and pot used for the soup and carried it over to woods where he emptied any leftovers into a pile and wiped the bowls down before walking to the pond to rinse them.

“So if you are to be my guide for a few days, we should get to know each other so we aren't expecting a dagger in our backs. I am Leoric Blackwell, Former member of the Crimson Hand. I was one of their enforcers, their muscle, I got the job done no matter what. It wasn’t till i got list in the frozen wastes of Salvar, i only survived cause i found a cave with a naturally occurring hot spring inside. Animals tended to frequent it for safety from the elements so I harvested them to survive. After years of isolation I learned what I wanted to do….” He stopped rinsing the pot and looked back at his companion for a second before continuing. “Or I should say, what I want my legacy to be.”

After a few moments of silence he emptied the pot and bowls and started bringing them back towards the fire. “My life up to this point I detest, I consider myself a failure of a human being. So I decided to do everything I can to change, to make the last few decades of my life something worth sharing with others. Shortly after i decided this i met some fantastic people who i have to keep pushing for, Kylie is only one of the people i have to succeed for. She has had no one be there for her since her mother passed away. And I know that feeling, my whole life I have had no one there for me. And I won't let her life end up like mine.”

He turned to face his new guide and hopeful new friend. He sat down on the log next to the fire a little distance away from her as he finally let his muscles relax and took a deep breath, finally trying to let his guard down for once. “What about yourself? Obviously only share what you are comfortable with.”