Silvia’s hair blew in the wind as she stepped out of the forest. Covered in blood and grime, she was the visage of a woman pushed past her limits. A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at the iron gates that led into the city, and saw a collection of merchants and citizens walk through them.

“Hi” she said as she approached the guards.

“Have you got your pass?”

“Uh…”

Frozen in place, she didn’t know what to say. She could try to play the pity card by using her current state to her advantage, or she could say she simply misplaced her citizenship and hope they were feeling generous. However, as she stared at each of the guards, she realised that they weren’t the kind to budge, and with war on the horizon they were being extra vigilant.

“Are you okay?” the other guard asked.

“Yeah, uh, I just realised… I don’t have my pass. And I realise how big of a mistake it is because… Well, a war is on the horizon with the southern kingdom”

“Mhm, got that right” the guard in front of her said abruptly, “Leaving your pass is the last thing you should do. We can’t let spies into the city, Sorry, you look like a good person and all but I have to protect the city. I’m sure you understand”

“I do… Sorry… I will just… Visit the outskirts beyond the walls”

“There is an inn not far if you continue up that way” the second guard said in a friendly tone, “You’ll be able to clean yourself up there”

“Thank you!”

…

KNOCK KNOCK

“Are you okay in there? Is the water warm enough?” the kind hearted innkeep asked as she placed a towel by the doorway.

“Uhm, yes, thankyou”

Silvia dragged her hand across her skin to dislodge the deeply caked in mud and grime. The tub water became an uneasy grey, as steam rose from her shoulders. Her face now wiped clean of the blood still carried the wear of her exhaustion and the terror in her heart.

She knew she had to rest but at the same time, she feared it. It felt like stopping meant she would no longer be able to put what happened behind her, and she wasn’t ready to confront it yet.

“Fuck, what is wrong with me… Why did I follow him into that stupid cave… Why didn’t I just leave right away when I spotted it was him…”

*Shit… I know why… Don’t I…*

“I just don’t want to admit it”

*I was still holding out hope somehow that I hadn’t saved his life for nothing*

“Ha, what a joke…”

She looked down into the murky water in deep consternation, unable to refuse the truth.

*He was never worth saving*

A tear rolled down her cheek and reflected a ray of sunlight peering through a crack in the shuttered windows.

“Fuuuuuck!”.

…

Wild stirring strings of magic danced in flowing streams around Mirio as he sat perched upon a fallen tree trunk. Tinges of purple and yellow flecked at the translucent tendril edges.

FWOOO

Mirio let out a deep and steady breath as he reached out with his mind as the tendrils stretched through the woodland.

Gentle wafts of air current moving from air pocket to air pocket twirled through the magical streams.

Mirio’s eyelids were closed but calm as he extended his reach further and further into the woods, until he felt a strong tug off into the distance. Each of the tendrils reaching out of his body like a low lying fire unwound and faded from the material plane, as Mirio opened his eyes and glanced towards the south.

Standing to his feet he leaned forwards as if to head in the direction of the pull, but relaxed his body and stood back on his heels.

“I must be going crazy… I swear I felt something there”

Mirio turned back to the north and headed out of the forest. The soles of his shoes scraped against the paved stone of the path heading toward the city. He glanced towards the gates for a moment to observe a merchant haggling with one of the guards before turning in the other direction.

He stroked his hand through his hair as he made his way through the door of the inn and began shuffling out of his shoes. They flew through the air a few feet as he tossed them through his room doorway, tumbling and rolling to a stop at the foot of his bed.

He strode through the halls like he had done countless times before and placed his hand on the bath house door, and cracked it open.

WHOMP

His footing caught on a towel wedged in the doorway and he stumbled into the room, slamming over onto the ground.

“Great…” he said as staring up at the ceiling from the flat of his back, “Some master swordsman I am…”

He squinted his eyes as he made out a trail of fog drifting in the rafters.

GASP

“What are you doing?!” a woman’s voice shouted out

*Fuck*

Mirio calmly raised his arm and placed his forearm over his eyes.

“Don’t worry I won’t look, I’m just a clumsy idiot who didn’t see the towel at the door, don’t mind me, once I recover from my humiliation I’ll get up and leave without a fuss. Sorry for the interruption”

“Wait… Is that…” the voice replied curiously.

“Huh?”

“Mirio?!” Silvia said as she pushed her modest bust up against the side of the tub, “Fuck am I glad its you! You scared me half to death”

“Wait a second… You know my name?”

“It’s me!”

“Kinda hard to tell who with my eyes closed to be honest, are you covered?”

“Yeah yeah, put your arm down”

Mirio opened his eyes and deftly rolled back over his shoulder onto his feet.

He gazed half in the direction of the tub at first and saw a fleck of silver hair, turning towards her his gaze drifted with his body until he looked steadily into her eyes. Hot beads of water sat upon the soft skin of her shoulders and arms as she pressed up against the edge of the tub.

“Oh its you” he said with a warm smile, “You are an adventurer right? And you were with that kinda weak guy with the curse mark, Yuta was it?”

Silvia turned stiff at the mention of his name, almost as if a cold wind crept over her body.

“Don’t tell me, he did some weird shit?” Mirio continued, “Don’t burden yourself with whatever he did, he struck me as a guy who hasn’t found himself yet, and us guys act a bit wacky when we are like that”

Silvia stared down at the floor in silence, as the bath water made the room echo with the stillness of her thoughts.

“Ah shit, it was that bad huh… I’m sorry”

Silvia’s eyes slowly released from their spot on the floor and rose to meet Mirio’s, “How did you know?”

“A process of elimination combined with a lack of imagination. Only thing I really know about you was that you guys were partnered up, and that Yuta guy has potential for both good and bad. If it was good, you wouldn’t be so broken up…”

“Yeah, he had potential alright, to become the most insane, righteous, asshole I’ve ever met. I think he’s a murderer now…”

“What?!”

A surge of rage stirred from within Mirio, his eyes alight with focus and determination. His breathing was tense as he grit his teeth.

“Well he tried to murder me at least…” she said offhandedly before sinking back into the bath, no longer worried about her modesty.

“That… Rat. I am sorry but I don’t know what to say. Did you sock him one as you got away?”

“Yeah, I think I cracked one of his balls” she said with a hint of a smile

“Good thinking, population control shouldn’t have been your first thought though, awfully selfless of you”

“I know right? There I am about to get done in and I thought… Bah, nevermind I know what you are trying to do, but I can’t keep up banter right now”

Mirio nodded and made his way to a stool beside the tub and took a seat, “Sucks to feel let down by someone you thought you could trust”

An image of Talon standing before him on the hilltop by the spurs tavern flickered into his mind for a brief moment.

“And then you are left wondering if their actions leave blood on your own hands” Mirio continued as looking down at his hands.

“I worry that I might be a coward for running away…” Silvia said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“No… To stand against evil you don’t understand isn’t courage. Its recklessness”

Mirio’s gaze drifted over the cobblestone floor and traced its way up the wooden planks of the tub, until catching Silvia’s eyes as she sat back in the water.

“To fight, you have to know what it is for, without that, there is nothing behind your blade except rage and fear. You can’t make a life out of that kind of thing, because there is nothing in it to help you stand more confident in who you are” he continued.

“Hmph. Were you always this wise? Or is this a recent thing?” Silvia said with a playful pout.

“Oh it definitely isn’t wisdom. I’m just a guy without a clue of who he is anymore, so I cling to what I actually can make sense of. And from what I have figured out, you aren’t a coward. In fact it is brave of you to cut him off, to separate yourself from his thoughts and mind, and to go your own way. However…”

“What is it?” Silvia said as sitting up in the tub.

The water drew off from her slender body and modest breasts as she rose half out of the water.

As steam flowed off her warm skin, Mirio’s gaze hung sincerely to her eyes without wavering.

“You have to choose your next action for yourself, you can’t let what is past define you”

Silvia stood up out of the bath and pointed to the towel in the doorway, “Could you grab it for me?”

Mirio’s eyes flicked across the open wounds and scratches on her body, before turning off towards the bathroom doorway.

Mirio smiled tenderly as he handed her the towel.

“How can I choose an action when I am filled with the emotion of everything that has happened though. It is almost like it still holds me by the throat”

Mirio watched Silvia’s hands carefully as she wrapped the towel around her bust, observing the scars and red welts on her skin from using her bow.

“Trust that every choice you made to get here was the best you could have chosen with the knowledge you had at the time, and adjust with the knowledge you have now”

“That is just it though, I don’t trust my choices, I wasted months of my life and almost all my savings to drag him from that fucked up tower… I’m a fool”

Silvia gasped as Mirio’s warm hand grasped her shoulder, and his eyes met hers.

“You’d have been a fool not to”

Silvia’s mouth dropped open in awe as she looked into Mirio’s gaze. Something about him was different now, almost like he had become harder and softer at the same time.

“Thankyou”

…

The air was thick with the beast’s scent. Ezee’s nose twitched in the mellow winds at the edge of the forest. His eyes locked onto a trail up and into the mountains. With a skip and a jump he made his way into the rocks and followed his nose up the trail into a cave.

His eyes gleamed in the darkness as each tender footed step rung out against the cavern walls. The glow of patches of toadstools lit up the farthest reaches of the cave. Ezee gulped down a mouthful of saliva and wandered through the darkness, keeping his ears alert.

He made his way to the edge of the cavern and was lit up in the blue light of the toadstools. His paws pattered in the shallow water of the passage as he wound around the corner, coming to a stop at the entrance of the space ahead.

Several furry shapes loitered up ahead, their scent unfamiliar except for one of them.

The ears of the shadowed forms flicked up as they rose on all fours.

GRRRRR

Ezee stood silently in the doorway, and ignored the growls of the closest wolf, his gaze pierced into the distance where she stood; the green wolf.

Her shadowed figure locked onto his, his scent carrying through the cave on the breeze.

She trotted towards him, passing by the growling wolf with a flick of her tail. The growling stopped as she pushed her nose close up against Ezee’s.

Ezee didn’t know precisely what he was doing, but it was wild instinct, something about her drove him here and he wasn’t leaving until he knew why. Similarly, she couldn’t quite muster up the strength to drag herself away.

…

“Come on, I’ll get you into the city” Mirio said with a smile as he motioned to Silvia to follow him.

She followed along, curious to see what his plan was.

“Hey Ged, I’m escorting this one”

The guard looked at Mirio for a moment and then stared at Silvia. He leaned into Mirio’s ear and whispered so that she could not hear.

“She’s cute, but come on, you know I can’t let anyone in without a pass”

“Do you think I’d do us dirty like that?”

The guard stood back up and lifted his gaze off of Silvia, “I’m not saying she can pass”

Mirio reached back his hand and grasped Silvia’s, and then slung her through the gates in a flash.

“C’mon Ged, you know I’m a cheeky one”

“What!?” the guard said as reaching for his sword, torn between his duty and the idea of drawing his sword on a comrade in arms.

“Come on, now the blame doesn’t fall on you does it, cuz I threw her in. What were you gonna do?” Mirio said with a wink.

Ged tried to hold his lips stiff but couldn’t help but let out a hint of a smile, before he turned to a merchant off to the side, “Hey you! You need a permit to sell that by the gate! Maam, don’t wave me off!”

The other guard laughed and shrugged at Mirio.

“Come on let’s go” he said as he guided Silvia by the small of her back into the crowd.

“When did you get this shifty” she said under her breath

“What do you mean, I’ve always been shifty,” he said as beaming a smile at her.

“Nuh uh, you were a badass fighter, always, but a total goody goody. I heard stories about you all the time, every last one of them was you being a total paragon”

“You really should never trust good PR, I thought you knew that?”

“Ha. Ha.” she spoke instead of putting in the effort to laugh, “At first I was glad to see you, now I don’t know what to think, maybe you are secretly whisking me away to a sex dungeon in the city. Did the brothel mistress get to you? Are you in debt!?”

“No no, my debt is to you, for gracing me with your fine presence on this beautiful day. And my only thoughts of passion are of just how deeply you stir my protective instinct to help you find your feet in the city!”

“I don’t trust you” she said with a pout as coming to a stop

“Come on, its not much further idiot”

“Hey! Don’t call me that”

“Call you what?”

“I’m not an idiot, I’m super smart, and super brave on top, a super great girl who will be the best monster hunter that has ever been!”

“Brave idiot then” Mirio replied with a wink.

“Hey!” she said as she punched his arm, “That’s only half the way to getting it right!”

“I’m sorry… I’m not really smart enough to understand your point, so I’ll just assume I’m close enough”

“Arrgh!” she grumbled before turning away with a big smile.

Mirio glanced at her as her hair flicked in the sunlight.

*no doubt she feels vulnerable right now, if I can keep getting her to react naturally, it should help her break away from the trauma, and hopefully that is enough to help her find her strength*

…

A dark presence grew within the cave and towered over the two of them. Ezee’s gaze looked up at the enormous alpha as it stared down at him with bared fangs. The green wolf trotted back in shock and watched on with wide eyes, unsure where her allegiance should lie. She shot a look at Ezee as if to ask, “Can you handle this?”.

Ezee ignored stare and looked up at the giant beast calmly. He had seen Mirio face things bigger than him more times than he could count, and while he couldn’t count very high, he was sure it was still a good few times.

RAWF

The snap of the giant alpha’s jaws sliced through the space where Ezee had been standing. He darted off to the side and backed his way into the tunnel.

The alpha looked at him with a smug glint in his eye, sure he had struck ample fear into the intruder. Until Ezee’s glare held onto his own tightly.

*What?!*

Ezee slipped back through the winding tunnel and vanished into the shadows.

*Where did he go?*

The alpha strode through the passage and into the large cavern with his ears alert. Ezee looked on from the darkness analysing the way the large beast settled into its footing, trying to spot a weak spot in its balance.

His eyes flashed with a sheen of red as he thundered towards the beast. The alpha picked up its front paw just as Ezee smashed hard into his side. Ezee snapped and lashed with his jaws, pushing and pressuring the wolf with every step. Sliding his hind legs to get deeper into its blindspot, as he thrust and snapped with his fangs.

The alpha snapped back, each muscle on its body alternating between tense and fluid as it threw its neck back and forth in an attempt to regain its footing and crunch down on the small intruder.

Ezee dug his head under the front leg of the beast and leapt deep into its position twisting its upper body until…

FLICK

THUNK

CRASH!!!

Its other front paw shot out from under it, leaving its weight to smash into the cavern floor. Ezee continued to pressure and thrust until the beast, in attempting to rise to its feet, crashed once more up against the wall of the cavern.

Ezee leapt on top of the creature and held his fangs to its throat, forcing the alpha to lift its chin and expose its neck in defeat.

Ezee turned around to see the pack filing into the cavern, shock written across the face of the green beauty. Ezee withdrew his fangs from the alpha’s neck and shot out through the entrance of the cave.

*What am I doing? What are these feelings…*

He scampered down the rock faces and leapt into the woodland.

The green wolf stood at the cave entrance and watched on as the mysterious wolf vanished.

*Alpha is defeated… By one so young?*

…

“Look” Mirio said with a smile as he thrust Silvia through the last of the crowds.

Her eyes lit up with wonder as the pink sands of the mountain lake stared back at her, dappled sunlight scattering across the near smooth surface of the water.

“Whoa… I thought this city was just a red shit hole” she replied with a slack jaw.

Mirio edged up beside her and looked on with a sense of pride, “Not quite”

“Why bring me here though?”

“Opportunity is kind of like this lake, its hides in unexpected places, and if you only believe in what you feel alone, of course it will be hard to find. It is the people that adventure anyway, despite the trouble and the worry that find places like this”

A buzzing sense of joy rose from deep within her as Silvia was moved to shed a tear, but not one of sadness. She reached for Mirio’s shoulder and squeezed it in a manner that communicated her thanks.

“Why are you trying to cheer me up…” she said with a happy sniffle as she turned to catch his gaze.

“If you are willing to go through what you did to get here, I’m not going to be the one to stand in the way of you going a little further to reach what lies just out of sight”

“Stop me… But you pushed me?”

“Yeah, well I cheated a little” he said as gazing back at the water, “I figured you wouldn’t hate me for it”

“Mhm, no I don’t, it is really sweet of you. Really…”

“Now you can make your choice freely. Take the path that is right for you. FIgure out where you want to go, what you dream to be, and then let’s take a step in that direction”

Silvia’s eyes darted around and through the crowds, and spotted a stall in the distance.

“There!”

Mirio nodded in approval, “Hell yeah”.

As the two of them approached the lady in the back of the stall gazed at them in a way that made it strikingly clear that she thought they were a couple. She looked at how happy Silvia looked and envied her for a moment until she saw the wounds and scars. She looked back at Mirio with concern.

Glints of sunlight shone off the swords and spears on display on racks next to the stall. Silvia picked up an ornamental blade and gazed down its length, peering at the artistic carvings and pattern work.

“Iridium inlay, perfectly balanced, this is an elven thinblade, legend says that a drop of blood must be given as tribute every time you draw the blade or else malice will grow in your heart”

The blade spun and shone in the sunlight as she flicked her wrist, slicing a neat little cut in her finger tip.

“Don’t you have enough cuts” Mirio said as looking on with concern

Silvia smiled politely to the stall merchant as she gently placed the sword back down. Her eyes then flicked over the merchant’s shoulder to an ornamented bow with a red bowstring.

“What I really need is a new bow, damn wolf ate my last one”

“Wait, what?” Mirio said before becoming awkwardly silent.

*What are the chances Ezee did it? Probably none… Probably… It had to be that other one right?*

“Damn it, its a platinum and five solid golds”

Mirio stared down for a moment at his full satchel.

He swiftly pulled out some coin and tossed it to the stall merchant with a nod.

“No! You can’t!” Silvia cried out to him, “Please give it back, I can’t accept it like that”

“Consider it a tribute in honor of you saving Yuta from that tower”

“But it had nothing to do with you?”

“Sure it did… I would have made the same choice”

That stall merchant smiled, her suspicion easing as she gazed at Mirio’s supportive and warm smile. She happily gripped up the bow and walked out from being the stall to strap it onto Silvia’s back.

“It suits you darling” she said with a smile and a squeeze on her arm.

Mirio turned and walked quickly away from the stall, “No take backs! Those are my rules!” he said as he skipped off.

“Wait! You didn’t buy any arrows!!!”

“On your own with that one” he said with a wave.