Kazius sighed, “I know of her. She talked to me… Or rather at me, I wouldn’t call that a conversation…” He admitted in irritation, looking at where the Wind Goddess sat. He supposed that she did tell him important information… It was just annoying she had not let him get a single word in.

“She spoke to you!?” Damon exclaimed, shaking Kazius in excitement. “Buahaha! That is incredible! I knew she was real! She really did talk to the first chief like the story said!” He exclaimed, beaming. “What did she say!? What did she say!?” He exclaimed. If Damon already lacked an inside voice, even with the wind… Kazius was almost certain people at the foot of the mountain could hear the Werewolf.

“Okay okay, calm down.” Kazius stated, feeling dizzy at the shaking.

“Sorry.” Damon stated sheepishly.

“It is okay, you are her Champion and all of that… I understand why you would be excited… I didn’t get words in, but she spoke about some stuff… I think she knew my father? She also spoke about a hidden temple in Mount Ulf…” Kazius trailed off, trying to recall all the woman said. So much happened so fast.

Damon was shocked at his words, “I am her Champion? What do you mean?” He asked in surprise, seeming excited for a second only for his expression to grow mixed, “No… That can’t be right… No way she would choose someone like me… I shouldn’t be Chief, much less the Champion…” He trailed off.

Damon always confused Kazius, he would grow from proud to insecure at the drop of a hat. Though something told him that he really was both… Proud, yet seeming to have a lot of self-hatred. Then again… Considering how his sister and the town treated him… It did make sense…

‘I remember she said something about him running off to cry in the mountain as a kid…’

“That isn’t a lie, that is what she said. She spoke of seeing you in her mountain at a young age… Something about you hiding? And crying…” Kazius stated awkwardly, unsure of how to talk to another guy about such things. Even though Damon now had them as friends, Kazius could still tell such a topic was delicate.

“You know it is true, you hold an uncommon affinity for the wind. You have said it yourself. You should be proud.” Kazius stated.

As they spoke, Alice seemed lost. “What even is a Champion?”

“A Champion is a mortal a particular god or goddess favors… You don’t do anything for them or anything like that… They usually pick people they like on rare occasions, people they feel are like them. Then they give them power, that is all… It is hard to understand that stuff well, Caleb knows more than me about it… He has been trying to earn her favor for so long, since he doesn’t have any affinity for the wind powers of the tribe. He can shift… But no wind control… He always tells me he has no right even thinking about being Chief when he can’t even make a tiny gust… He isn’t related to the previous Chief either but…” Damon would trail off, seeming to feel conflicted on what to say.

“I… I wanted power... To protect my mother... But I don’t deserve to be this strong. I have no right to be... I am the reason she is gone... So... I just want to enjoy my battles and not think.” Damon admitted, opening up some it seems. He never talked about his mother until now. Likely a sore subject. The joy he held earlier was now entirely gone despite what should have been good news.

“You wanted power and now you have it… Then you used it to protect us, didn’t you?” Kazius pointed out.

“If you didn’t come when you did, I would likely be dead… All of us would be… You're quite kind to do what you've done for us.” Alice pointed out.

“I did want it to protect people… But I don’t deserve it! Okay!? I have no business protecting anyone!” Damon exclaimed, being snappy for the first time since they’d met. At this, he seemed to grow more tense and looked down. “I… I will meet you both back at the house.” He stated, hopping off the mountain, and running. He moved with such speed despite his size, considering he was the Champion of Wind, it made a lot of sense why such a big guy could move with such agility.

Kazius watched him, frowning. “Excuse me, Alice.” He stated. He refused to let Damon sulk, alone. He was their friend.

With that, he would scoop Alice up, bridal style. Causing Alice to let out a surprised squeak. She looked so flustered.

‘Why is her face so red?’

The drop was tall as Kazius would look out towards where Damon was at a distance. The sun had set during their conversation, darkness enveloping most of the land.

‘Perfect’

“K-Kazius, hold on. Damon could jump this, but you have neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeVEAHHHHHHHH!” Alice would begin only to scream in horror once Kazius would indeed jump. She would cling to him for dear life, burying her face in his chest.

Kazius would hold her securely, falling quite fast. Still, his little shock earlier had given him an idea. After all, his shadow had held him in the air… And while he couldn’t do something crazy like fly, he believed he could do something close to it.

He would concentrate for a bit, his fall stopping as he landed on a shadow that stood in the air. He would grow satisfied, it succeeded. With that, he would hop and dash forward, materializing steppingstones of shadow in the air. By going by air, he would catch up to Damon quite quickly.

Damon had already slowed down to a walk, likely thinking they would be unable to walk down the mountain fast enough. Though as Kazius approached, he would stare at the two in shock. “BUT HOW?” he questioned in shock.

“You are my teacher, you should know by now; I am a fast learner…” Kazius would state smugly as he would land. “Right, Alice?” He questioned, figuring she would say something about what happened back at Remus. When he looked at Alice though, the Princess had gone limp, looking like her soul was leaving her body.

Kazius grew surprised. She had handled the drops with Damon easily enough now. He figured this would be easy too. “Uh… Sorry…” he stated sheepishly, putting her down, letting her stand and regain her breath and senses.

After she regained her breath, the two men were in for quite the scolding. “Stop jumping down tall places without warning people! Especially if you are holding someone! Both of you! Don’t you start that habit, Kazius. You used to not do that.” Alice scolded, both sitting down and looking quite apologetic. Getting quite the earful.

“Sorry…” Both men would state in almost unison.

Alice would huff at the response, looking quite pouty as she gazed at Kazius. Her face was a bit red again.

“What? I am sorry.” Kazius stated in confusion.

This seemed to only make Alice grumpier, but she did calm down, despite her scowl. “Okay… I won’t be mad anymore… As for you… Damon… We’re your friends… Don’t just run off on us like that. We will respect your boundaries if you don’t want to tell us something… But running away like that is entirely uncalled for.”

Damon would look down apologetically, “I’m sorry… It isn’t that I don’t want to tell you, I just don’t want you both to hate me.” He admitted.

“I don’t know what you did, Damon… But I doubt we would hate you.” Kazius admitted. The man was an overgrown puppy at worst after all. He wore his heart on his sleeve. At least that is how Kazius felt… And it seemed Alice felt similarly.

Damon looked quite touched at their words, gazing down, ashamed it seems. “I… I am sorry for not telling you sooner… I… I am sure you know some of it by now… But… My father was the previous Chief… and I am the half-brother of my siblings… because… well…” He seemed to look almost nauseous as he spoke.

“The dad of my siblings, he was a traveler that settled here… An elf mage that had nowhere to go, so he came here… And he was lucky enough to marry the woman that was considered the most beautiful in the Tribe… The town loved him, he helped change the town to have a stable food source and used magic to make everyone’s lives better… My father… The Chief… He was jealous… Of the glory and admiration, he had… And that he got the woman of his dreams… So… He killed the outsider… And… Well…” Damon began, seeming disgusted as he spoke.

“I was born… Not long after…” Damon would finish, looking ashamed. Clearly not wanting to say the words, but it was clear what his father had done.

Alice was horrified at what she heard. Of course, she knew people did such things, but still… “Damon…” She would begin. Kazius too could not hide his shock, his eyes wide.

"I look just like him, you know? My name isn't even Damon, that isn't what my mother named me... She took one look at me and called me Demon... I... I was always called that by her until the day she... She... Ended her life with a knife while making dinner." Damon would add, bitterly. This indeed explained his self hatred.

"Damon, stop." Alice would speak up, firmly.

At this Damon would look worried, clearly expecting the worse. “None of that is you fault.” Alice stated, looking at him in concern, “Were you taking that upon yourself this whole time? That isn’t you… That is how you came about, but that isn’t you. You're nothing like someone like that.” She assured, tearing up a bit.

Kazius at this nodded, agreeing with her, “Was your town blaming you for that the whole time? You aren’t your father, Damon… You can’t blame kids for the crimes of the parents. Specially you… You try so hard to be friends with people, you even helped us, strangers not that long ago… Heck, you are even training us… You aren’t that… Honestly… I feel like I should have a word with your town… They are allowed to not want you to be their Chief, but how they have been treating you... is unacceptable.”

Before either could say more though, the two would be scooped up into quite the bear hug from the large male. Kazius and Alice both would be surprised at the sudden hug. It was clear that their words mean a lot to Damon. After all, his origin had clearly been tormenting him for a long time… And his father… If he was really like that… Just what sort of abuse had the Werewolf suffered? At the hands of both his parents... Regardless, it was okay now. They were here for him. They were his friends.