(I drew Bernon and now he's my profile picture <3)
Bernon nodded, digging through his spices to see if he could spare any. "I bet he'll be hungry when he wakes up. I noticed he always eats more when he's a little stressed, and yesterday definitely was stressful. But sleep is good for him too, so he can snooze for as long as he…..wants….."
He stopped, tensing up as a shadow passed across the window. "Um….don't look now, but somebody just walked by outside."
(He's so cute I love him just want a Bernon hug)
Tanrial blinked, then stood very slowly from the couch, "You sure it was a person?" She asked, already bracing herself for an intrusion and making sure she was ready to use her magic if it came to that, "And not just a deer or bird?"
(yesss me too, his hugs are 10/10 XD)
"I sure hope deer don't have human faces around here," Bernon replied nervously.
Mike was abruptly sitting up as if he'd never been asleep at all. "Let's wait a minute, in case they're coming to us," he muttered, joining them stealthily in the middle of the room. "But if they don't try to get inside, we need to go and investigate. I'd rather not be trapped by a fire like those bandits."
There was a tense pause. Then, a quiet, hesitating knock at the door.
(Now I hella want one lmao)
The magic user narrowed her eyes at the door, "Do we…?" She raised a brow, moving to reach for the door and open it to whoever was on the other side. It could be a planned attack. Get someone inside, take them out. One of Rider's old men.
(someday humanity will figure out how to package hugs and when they do, I'll send one of his to you lol)
Mike stared at the door for a minute as if he could see straight through it, then slowly made his way over to stand next to Tanrial. "Bernon should get the door, he's our best first impression. You and I will hide on either side and be ready to attack if they try to hurt him. How does that sound?"
"I'll do whatever you guys think is smartest," Bernon whispered, taking their breakfast off the fire so it wouldn't boil over.
(yayyy thank youuuu :)))
Tanrial nodded, "Fair call. You take left and I take right." She nodded in either direction, then glanced to Bernon with another nod, signaling that whenever he was ready to go, they would be too.
Mike stealthily got in position, standing ready with his hand on his knife. Bernon waited a minute, then squared his shoulders and walked over to the door, just as another knock came. Putting on a calm, confident expression, he unlocked the door and pulled it open.
"Hello?" The speaker's voice was muted slightly, as if he'd backed away from the door after knocking. It sounded like a man slightly younger than Bernon and Mike. "I'm sorry, I—I don't want any trouble. I was looking for a place to rest….I didn't know someone already lived here."
Bernon's brow furrowed as he stared at the stranger, seeming puzzled. Finally, he spoke. "Ven? Is that you?"
There was a pause. "That's my name," the stranger replied cautiously. "But how do you know me….?"
Bernon grinned with relief. "It's me, Bernon! Don't you remember? We rescued you from Ryker's base!" Stepping aside, he cheerfully ushered in a pale, black-haired young man with bewildered dark eyes. "Guys, look, it's Ven!"
Mike squinted at the newcomer, then at Tanrial. "Do you remember this guy?" he muttered uncertainly.
"Bernon is going to be disappointed when I say I haven't got a clue who he is." Tanrial replied quietly, still on edge and wary of Ven. Just because Bernon remembered him, didn't make him a good guy. She glanced to Bernon, "How do you know it's him?"
"C'mon guys, don't be so suspicious." Bernon patted Ven's shoulder. "He was one of the prisoners in Ryker's basement. After we saved everyone, he met with us in Polla's tavern and gave us advice for our trip west." Bernon's expression turned puzzled. "But Ven, you told us you were gonna try and get out of the country after that. What are you doing here?"
Ven gave a weak, mirthless smile. He was very gaunt and travel-worn, and his clothes were smudged with mud and dust. "I was heading north, but I ran into a little…..trouble. On my second day of traveling, I was caught by bandits." He grimaced. "Out of one cage, into another. It was only just last night that I managed to escape."
Mike closed the front door, watching Ven closely. "Last night? You don't happen to know anything about the explosion we saw last night, do you?"
Ven looked up with grim satisfaction. "As a matter of fact, I do. Although I admit, I didn't expect it to be quite that dramatic."
Tanrial crossed her arms across her chest, a frown settling into her features, "I'm guessing it was the same bandit camp we visited yesterday. There were children in that camp, did you even think about what might happen if you blew something up?"
Ven gave her an equally displeased look. "I wasn't trying to get anyone killed. They starved me, you know. They made me sleep in three inches of scummy water. And for what? They never had any use for me. Their leader's insane, I think he forgot I was even out there in that cage."
"Hey, everybody calm down," Bernon said, guiding Ven over to the fire. "We're not trying to accuse you of anything, Ven. That must have been a terrible experience." He glanced at Tanrial and Mike meaningfully, as if warning them to at least mind their manners. "We have food to spare, you're welcome to eat breakfast with us if you need to."
"Thank-you," Ven replied, sitting down wearily. "But I caught a rabbit earlier, on my way here. I'm very full now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Honestly…..what I really need is some rest." Glancing around, his eyes stopped on the door leading to the bedroom. "Is it all right if I sleep for a bit in the other room there?"
"You can stay on the couch." Tanrial nodded to where she had stayed the night before, "Warmer there." And it meant that her and Mike could keep and eye on him, since Bernon seemed to not care if he potentially stole something or blew them up as well.
Ven paused, eyeing them, then sighed. "All right. I understand, you still don't trust me. If we're being honest here, I don't trust you either. I couldn't if I tried, after all I've seen." Walking over to the couch, he collected a blanket and lay down wearily. Despite what he'd just said, he seemed to have no problem closing his eyes and acting like the others weren't there.
"Poor kid," Bernon whispered, dishing out the breakfast soup for everyone. "Listen, I get it if you guys want to keep an eye on him. For all I know you're right and he is dangerous. But try to at least act polite, okay? Innocent until proven guilty, and all that."
Mike accepted his meal and began to eat. "I'm not saying he's a huge threat. I just wouldn't be surprised if he's unstable after living as Ryker's captive for so long." He glanced restlessly at the door. "I suppose you'll want to stay and make sure he's okay before we move on today."
"Yeah," Bernon admitted. "Sorry, I know we're kinda on a time crunch. He's just so pale….I'm worried he'll get sick and have no one to take care of him once we leave."
(Sorry for disappearing! Was very sick and then went right back to work)
"After everything that happened with Ryker, I'm sure the boy could take care of himself if he was sick." Tanrial dug into her own soup, "I dunno, I don't trust it. And we really should get moving as soon as possible but I get you don't wanna leave 'em here."
(Aw I'm sorry to hear you were sick! I hope you're feeling all better now? hugs)
Bernon took a breath. "I know you guys think I'm being stupid right now, but look at it this way: that's why you're here to save my life if he does turn out to be dangerous."
Mike rolled his eyes. "I'd rather it didn't come to that, but…..I can see you're determined on this one. Tell you what, Tanrial, let's wait an hour and see how the kid's doing, then decide based on that. While we're waiting, we can finish our meal and maybe do a little scouting of the area. Fair enough?"
(Yeah, just stressed. School's nearly over for the year but they decided to give us three assignments and a test in two weeks :)))) I wanna cry)
Tanrial shrugged, "Suppose that's a fair deal," She sighed, "What if he tries to attack you while we're gone? I know you can hold your own Bernon but still, can't help but worry."
(Aw, that sucks. :( Take care of yourself, okay? At least it'll be over for a while once you get all that stuff done!)
"What if Mike stayed here while you and I went out?" Bernon suggested. "I'm not the only one here with medical knowledge, I'm sure. And there's no question that Mike can take care of himself."
Mike nodded grudgingly. "I would be able to defend myself from that kid without a problem, yeah."
"Then let's do that. I'm always the one that stays home, I'd like to stretch my legs and explore this time, if you don't mind." Bernon drained the last of the soup from his bowl and set it aside. "In fact, Tanrial, I'm ready to do that now. What do you think?"
(I'll try, just want it to be over already. This school year has gone on for too long)
Tanrial nodded, quickly finishing off her breakfast before tying her hair back into a low ponytail, "Ready to go when you are." She cracked a smile, "Let's hope we don't run into any trouble while we're out."
(I feel that. Just keep treading water a little longer, you got this more hugs)
"Agreed," Bernon said, getting up to grab his shoes. "We'll be back in about an hour, Mike. If Ven wakes up, tell him he should probably keep resting a while."
"All right." Mike settled closer to the fire and got out his knife so he could sharpen it. "Good luck. Don't go too far."
Bernon led the way outside and took a deep breath. "Whew. That cabin's pretty musty, huh? 'S nice to get some fresh air again. So what do you think, should we go further down the path to see where it goes, or scout the woods a bit? I'm kinda curious about the woods, personally."
(hugs back thank you, just over a week to go)
Tanrial stretched her arms with a sigh, "Damn it feels nice to breathe fresh air again." She chuckled, "I feel like there's going to be dust in my nose for days. Let's head into the woods, maybe we'll find something interesting on our little exploration."
"Who knows, right?" Bernon cheerfully set off northwards, admiring the large old trees at the edge of the woods. "Let's try to be at least a little careful, to spare Mike's nerves. Who knows, there could be other occupied cabins around here." He paused, then added, "By the way, now that we can talk in private—do you really get such a bad vibe from that kid? He just seems grumpy and tired to me, but then again, you're the magic-user. Does that give you some kind of extra intuition? Or are you just guessing?"
(Kinda love going back into lockdown for the start of the summer holidays)
Tanrial shrugged, kicking at a rock on the path, "Possibly. I just…" She paused trying to find a polite way to word her thoughts, "He was with Ryker for a very long time. Manipulated by him. I just don't think we should let our guard down so easily just because he's a kid. You might be right, he might just be grumpy and tired but there's also a high chance he could be hiding something from us."
(Oof….yeah, that sucks. My state might be going back into lockdown too, pretty soon. People here keep spreading the disease for no good reason >.< )
"No, I understand where you're coming from," Bernon replied. "Ryker did a lot to hurt and deceive us. Well, not just us, everyone. It makes sense, after all that, to hold back a bit before trusting people. But if anything, I think Ven feels the same way about us. He wasn't raised kindly like the kids Ryker adopted. He was kept in a cell and probably experimented on–we know that because Wren told us. It seems to me that he'd see anybody who rescued him from that life as a friend, or at least an ally." Bernon paused by a tree, noticing an edible plant he could grab for later. "If I'm wrong, I'm sure the three of us can defend ourselves from him. The poor guy's skin-and-bones. And who knows, maybe if we're friendly, he'll change his mind about killing us or whatever he might be planning to do."
(Welp, nevermind, we're going out of lockdown.. geez as much as I love the fact that they're taking action here come on man, it's been three days and they pulled a 180 on us. Stay safe man, I dunno what it's like for you over there but stay inside as much as you can!)
"Suppose you're right there." She said, "I think everyone is on edge. Us and Ven. We all have the right to be that way after everything that's happened." The trail that they were following split off in two, Tanrial taking the road that seemed to be passed on the least, just in case they ran into anyone else out here, "Let's just hope we don't have to worry about him. Hopefully his entire plan is to just find a place to rest for the night and that's it."
(Will do. You too! Seems like nobody quite knows how to proceed TvT)
"Yeah, hopefully." Bernon followed her down the narrower path, tugging off his shoes so he could walk barefoot and enjoy the soft grass under the trees. "On another note, I think we'll be out of bandit territory once we cross these hills. I had a look at the map last night, and it really does seem like that bandit chief's advice was good. This secret path is a straight cut to the other side of the Mississippi, and if I'm reading it right, there's even a safe bridge across. So after we're past that, we should have much smoother sailing for a while." He grinned. "I'll be very grateful for that."
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