Jack pushed himself up from the ground. He had an empty hole in his stomach, breathing slightly alleviated that feeling. Something else caught his attention.
In the distance, a group of ragged clothes travelled towards him. They looked grim, with serious expressions on their faces, they gazed at the corpses, but the man in the front stared at Greg.
Greg felt nervous and stood up straighter, he nodded and then waved, but received no response, they continued walking towards him.
“Hello,” he nervously said.
“When did the goblins attack?” The man leading the group grunted, there was a giant scar running through his left eye and down his chin. The pupil was white.
“Yesterday,” Greg said.
“Jonte, take him to camp and give him shelter.”
“Sure thing chief,” the man behind him spat out, “com’e here you,” he said to Greg.
He walked over to Greg and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the direction they came from. The rest of the group scattered all over the town whilst Greg and Jonte walked back to camp.
“Where are we going?” Greg said.
“To camp,” Jonte said.
“Who are you?”
“A bandit.”
“A bandit!” Greg cried.
“Yee, the type to steal and kidnap and shit, but sadly not today”
“What are you going to do with me?” Greg asked.
“I’m going to give you food and shelter and stuff.”
“Why?”
“Chief’s got a soft spot for people like you?”
“People like me?” Greg asked, Jonte’s hand was still gripping Greg’s arm. It hurt but Greg didn’t say anything since he didn’t want anger to Jonte. Joy used to grip him in the same way when he’d drag him off to the alleyway.
“People who’ve been attacked by goblins.”
“Why?”
“Ehh, don’t know. Guess he got attacked by goblins when he was a young one. If you ask me, raiding merchants is a lot more fun. Kidnappings too much of a haggle you know.”
They were in the woods now, Greg could see small tents set up in the distance. There was a few campfires around and a lot of movement in between the camps. Greg even saw a few children.
“What will happen next?”
“If they’re too weak, we leave them at another town, but for a chap like you I’m thinking you can join us,”
“Join you?”
“Yup.”
“But I can’t rob people or fight.”
“You’ll warm up to it in no time. Anyway, we’ve reached the tent. There’s water, bread and a few blankets inside, the Chief will come later and talk to you.”
Jonte threw Greg towards the tent, Greg stumbled and fell in. His face hurt like hell even though he landed on a pillow, he wasn’t sure how long it would take for his nose to heal.
There was a vase filled with water alongside a few loaves of bread in the middle of the tent. There were purple cushions placed all over the tent, and a few blankets. Greg found it very cozy. He crawled forward through the tent and laid down, it was hot and comfy.
He grabbed a loaf of bread and bit into it. The bread was stale, way too white, hard and it was the best bread he’d ever eaten. For the first time since he’d gotten here he got a moment to relax.
Becoming a bandit sounded really dangerous, perhaps if he proved weak he was they’d let him go awa…
The most gorgeous beauty in Greg’s life entered the tent. She quickly made eye contact and smiled, Greg smiled back. His mind turned completely blank, his jaw hung low, he was completely lost in her pearly eyes.
“Hello, I feel awful for what happened.” she said.
“H-hello, yeah it’s pretty bad huh I lost my mother.”
Greg thought, “Why did I say that? Why did I say that? I can’t believe how stupid I am.”
“Ohh that’s awful, come here let me give you a hug,” Greg stood up and reached her in a blink, he moved quicker than he’d ever before.
Greg thought, “I’m the smartest goddamn human in the world.”
He hugged her for way too long but she felt awful. This was the first time in his life he’d hugged a girl, it made him tear up. The tears slid down his face and onto her shoulders, she thought he cried over his mother and hugged him tighter.
Eventually, Greg reluctantly let go, and looked at her. She smiled at him; Greg would describe the smile as the slyest smile he’d ever seen.
“Who’re you?”
“You mean what’s your name, right?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Greg said.
“I’m Alice,” she said.
“I’m Greg-uh, even though you didn’t ask. But now you know, sorry I’m not used to talking to pretty girls, ahhh, sorry,” Greg looked down at the floor and hoped it would all be over soon, what was he thinking talking with a girl so far out of his liege. She chuckled and he looked up.
“Well, hello Greg-uh it’s nice to meet you.”
“Uhh, are you a bandit?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“Well, they took me in when the goblins killed my parents. I feel like I owe them at least this much,”
“Oh really, but don’t you have to, like, kill people and steal and stuff?”
“Yeah but you’ll get used to it,” Alice left after saying so.
Did Greg want to get used to it? Killing other people seemed wrong somehow, but that was just how life was made Greg thought. And it wasn’t like Greg was killing innocent people. His classmates had laughed at him and watched him as he got bullied for two years without saying anything.
Greg thought that humans are selfish and only care for themselves at the very core of things. They’d kill him and get over it, so why shouldn’t he kill them. No humans are saints, no humans are innocent.
The winds grew rougher against the tent walls, they waved in and out. Greg could hear the sound of cloth moving and found himself very grateful at that moment for being inside the tent, wrapped within a warm blanket.
The rat from before was also in the tent. It had snuck in behind Greg, for some reason it kept following him. It was hidden under a blanket a meter away from Greg, each time he’d move towards it, it moved slightly back.
Greg found the rat nasty and scary, he didn’t want a rat following him. What would Alice say if she saw it? He needed to kill it, somehow.
The two kids from before had also entered the tent, they weren’t thrown in like Greg was. They sat on the opposite end. The boy cried heavy and loud tears, he cried until he had no air to cry with. They hugged each other.
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Greg turned around and tried to ignore them, because everytime he looked at them he felt guilty. But over what? He couldn’t do anything about the scenario, running out there was a sure way to die.
Eventually, the scarred man from before entered. He was alone, and had a frown plastered on his face. Simply being around this person made Greg shake, he had the aura of a great leader.
“I’m sorry for your losses,” he began, “know that every person that passed away is in a better place.”
The little boy sobbed so loudly it made it hard for Greg to listen. Greg almost wanted to tell the kid to shut up, a dead parent, so what? If his parents had been killed he’d been better off, that’s for sure.
“I was just like you once boy. I’d lost my parents to a raid, I was alone for a long time then. Say, what's your name boy,” he didn’t have to raise his voice for the boy to hear him.
“Martin,” the boy said.
“Mine’s Doko. I’d recommend you come help with the graves, it’s a good way to get your mind off things. As for you boy,” he looked over at Greg, “how can a boy be so fat? Are you a noble’s son?”
Greg felt his throat block, his mind went completely blank. He didn’t know what to say, the man felt so intimidating it was hard to think.
“I’m a thief,”
“You’re too much of a coward to be a thief, let alone too fat.”
How the hell does he know? Greg looked at him shocked, and Doko decided to explain further.
“I can see it in the way you carry yourself. It screams coward, needless to say, we’ll drop you off at the next town we visit,” Doko said, and Greg had memories of Alice flash before him.
“Wait, no I want to be a bandit.”
“Boy! Bandits are not cowards,” the man took a deep breath, “I grieve for your loss, but becoming a bandit is not the right decision for you.” The man walked out with that.
The boy stared at Greg as if learning something.
Greg felt the clump in his throat expand, it made it harder to breath. The worst part was, Greg knew that what the man said was true, but he needed- had to do something because he was in love.
Yes. He’d fallen in love with Alice in that brief moment. He had heard of love at first sight, perhaps this was like that. He wanted her to embrace him.
If he couldn’t become a bandit, then he wouldn’t meet Alice again. He stood up, filled with motivation and passion to prove himself not a coward. For the first time in his life, he had to do something.
He marched out of the tent, the rat following behind him, he heard shrieks from the tent. The leader was nowhere to be found and the movement he’d seen earlier had disappeared.
They were making tents… tents, they must be at the town collecting bodies! Greg ran towards the city before realizing that he couldn’t run, and turned it into a very slow jog. He quickly reached the town and found all the bandits spread out, carrying corpses towards the middle.
“Hey Jonte!” Greg said.
“Hey kiddo, you here to help out with carrying the corpses?”
“Yup.”
“Carry the corpses and throw them into the middle.”
“Okay,” Greg said and didn’t question why.
He scoured through all the different bandits but couldn’t find Alice. That didn’t matter though, he was here to prove he wasn’t a coward, not to talk to Alice. He looked around and spotted a few corpses.
He walked over to one of them. It was the corpse of a little boy, his back was covered in dry blood, there was multiple holes in his shirt. The goblin had stabbed him there multiple times, over and over.
Now Greg just had to bend over and pick the boy up. That was simple enough, so Greg bent over and brought his hands forward and… He couldn’t touch him, it felt too disgusting. Carrying a corpse.
But he had to, he had to carry the corpse. He felt a sting in the back of his neck, he jerked and looked around. The rat ran away from him, it had bit him. Why did it bite him?
He looked back at the boy and couldn’t bring himself to touch him. It made his squirm all over. Luckily, he had a skill made exactly for this, with his magic hand he grabbed the kids arm, and tried dragging him.
The kid moved at a snail’s pace and after three seconds Greg was exhausted.
“You can do magic?” Doko asked, Greg jerked his face back and saw him standing with his hands in elbows.
“Yeah,” Greg said.
“What type?”
“I don’t know, I only have two spells I can cast right now, fire arrow and magic hand.”
“Huh, perhaps you can join us after all. Keep up the good work,” Doko said.
Greg felt something he’d never felt before, he felt pride swell up in his chest. He returned to the boy, and tried picking him up but stopped before touching him. The flies swirling around him, and the dead eyes, and the cold skin got to him.
It took him roughly ten minutes before he could drag the boy another 3 cm. His head dragged through the dirt, before Greg could recharge another bandit came and picked up the kid, the bandit gave Greg a foul eye the entire time.
“Hey,” Alice said, tapping him on the shoulder, it made him jump.
“Hello…” He said, quickly blushing.
“I cried for days after my parents died, but here you are working. You must be really tough huh?”
“Yeah, you know me, tough guy,” he said.
“Sure, we’re almost done with carrying all the corpses, just like two left, here come you have to see this.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the pile of corpses, Greg smiled. They lightly jogged towards the group that was forming in front of the corpses. They were all chatting lightly.
“Look at this,” she said.
A man with a hoodie approached the corpses, he put his hands down on the floor and slowly they began sinking. Soon, the hole in the ground was covered and there was no sign of any corpses.
Doko spoke up, “Right, get back to camp, we’ll sleep here and then move back to the city.”
“Hey Alice, I see you’ve made a new friend,” a masculin voice said, Greg jerked his eyes towards the voice, and saw a group of three boys his own age. He knew this would happen.
“Yeah, he just joined us, his name is Greg,” Alice said.
“Hey Grey, my name’s Alex,” The two boys behind Alex chuckled, “Behind me is Phil and Phil, they’ve got the same name cause their twins.”
“Good to meet you,” Greg said with a wavering voice.
“Yeah, same to you. We caught a boar earlier today, we’re going to roast it, wanna come.”
“Sure,” Greg said with a smile.
Maybe I can make a friend or two. He thought as he followed behind them. Alex wrapped his hand around Alice as they walked, for some reason, it really annoyed Greg. He tried walking as close to Alice as possible.
“So Greg do you like to eat?” Alex said and the phils laughed.
“Ummm, not really.”
“Then why are you so fat, are you like a noble’s son?”
“No.”
“How are you so fat?”
“I’m a magician…”
Alice glanced at him in shock, Greg really liked that, once again he felt pride.
“Really?” Alex asked, “Can you show us some?”
“Sure.”
Greg cast a fire arrow towards the air in front of them. It made everyone gasp, they all looked at him in a new light. Alex walked over and put Greg in a head hold.
“This is the man right here,” he said and everyone chuckled, even Greg.
Perhaps we actually will be friends. Alice walked up to his side, she smiled at him, it was as if she hadn’t just seen a bunch of human corpses. She grabbed his arm, and pushed it against her breasts as they walked.
“Can you show another spell,”
“Yeah I can pick stuff up.”
“I thought you’d do something cooler,” she let go of his arm and continued walking forward. Greg had to learn how to cast cool spells, that was for sure.
They reached one of the man fires, there was a boar being roasted over it. They sat down and waited for their portions, Greg caught Alex staring at him. It wasn’t a friendly stare.
He looked at Alex, but Alex changed his facial expression, smiling at him. He smiled back slightly confused.