"How long have I been asleep?"

Nat agreed she would talk about The Blade in the evening – Before then, she had a lot of things to do. Fonda and Will didn't seem to mind. The two had to go hunting anyway, with how low they had been running on food. So, in the end, once the father and son left and the woman entered her tent to work on something, asking not to be disturbed, the two boys were left all alone. Nat asked Taza to help Tom replace his bandages – Which he did gladly. It would give the two time to talk, which they definitely appreciated. They were sitting near the fire Fonda used to make breakfast, now put out and only a small pile of charred wood left behind. The wind was blowing more strongly now, and the sun was slowly but surely making its way down. Taza hesitated before answering, but he knew better than to lie to Tom.

"...A month and a half.", the boy muttered, grabbing onto some of the buttons on his shirt and starting to twirl them with his fingers.

"We're about half way through September now..."

"A month... and a half...?", Tom whispered, his voice filled with terror.

The dreams themselves felt like they only took place over a short period of time, a week at most.

"Not much has happened, though. We've just been out here... trying to survive."

Taza shrugged.

"...We only check in on Dissonance sometimes. It's risky to show ourselves at the edge of the woods."

"Do people even care? That I... died?", Tom's voice turned quieter, the boy slowly losing himself in this strange situation.

Taza clearly noticed, coming closer with a smile.

"Hey, there's something I've got to show you!"

He jumped up, bouncing on the tips of his feet. He rushed into Nat's tent, apologized for disturbing her and then jumped back out, a dirty, leather backpack in his hand. As Tom recognized it, he gasped and grabbed it from him.

"No way! You got them out?"

He quickly unzipped the bag and removed three discs, all in strangely good condition. His name, however, painted on the side of each one, was beginning to rub off, showing the label underneath.

"And they all seem completely fine! How did you... when...?"

"After the duel, Dissonance went back to Lasenberg and got these. He put them up in his house like some sort of trophy... I told Nat about it one time when she was taking care of you. She didn't say anything... but that night, she left after we all fell asleep."

"Did she go get them?", Tom asked, touching the edge of one of the discs. The paint peeled away slightly, revealing writing underneath it... it seemed to be a name. For some strange reason, as Tom looked at the discs, an image of The Crown of The Uprising King appeared in his mind.

"Either Nat got them herself... or she got The Blade to get them for her."

Taza gave Nat's tent a worried glance, and upon noticing no movement, he carried on;

"She might not say it, but she gets The Blade to do a lot of things for her... he even leaves her supplies sometimes..."

"Why are you whispering?", Tom asked with a quiet chuckle.

Taza lowered his head for a moment, playing with his thumbs and instantly changing the mood.

"Nat doesn't like when we mention him... she gets super defensive about it. But maybe she'll finally explain it this evening?"

The boy hopefully looked at his friend.

"Well, whatever the deal is, she's a strange one, isn't she?", Tom muttered with a grin.

Taza punched his arm, causing him to laugh.

"Don't let Will hear you say that!"

The two laughed on, the blonde feeling that helplessness he felt from his nightmare fading with each second.

"I'm really happy you're back, Tom."

"God, Taza, you're so clingy..."

"Hey! You're ruining the moment!"

"Sorry, sorry! Don't look at me like- Ow!"

For just a moment, as Tom and Taza chased each other around the camp and knocked over more things than Will and Nat would ever possibly be okay with, things seemed to be alright. For just a moment, as they laughed and talked about things that didn't feel as important as they made them out to be, Tom forgot about his strange nightmare. For just a moment, as Taza showed Tom how to feed Fungi and the two got a few good laughs out of it, the boy didn't even think about the overwhelming fear that shot through him when Will aimed his bow at him. For just a moment, while the group gathered in the evening again and everyone got ready for Nat's evening tale, he didn't feel like everything about hiding out in these woods was wrong. For just a moment, Tom looked at his discs and he felt comfort, rather than feeling himself travelling back to the front gates of the capital of the Uprising Kingdom, with the death of the Uprising King.

And as the evening grew ever closer, Nat finally emerged from her tent.

The wind had calmed down. The fire was crackling loudly. Crickets, owls, and other night-loving creatures began singing their usual songs, and Nat listened in carefully. She already knew how to take care of these things – She owed most of her knowledge to The Blade, and his unlikely kindness towards her. The whole time they prepared for night, Tom couldn't help but ask questions about pretty much everything she did. So, just as she explained a month and a half ago, she explained everything now.

She ordered Taza and Fonda to light some of the torches she attached to certain trees, giving them a ring of light separating them from the forest. She told Tom the campfire was normally not enough to keep monsters at bay – it was better to create a large circle of light additionally as the creatures of the night despised light. Along with this, she and Will scattered some strange flower around that Tom had never seen before. Nat explained that their smell often kept most creatures away, and with a group as large as theirs, it was always better to be safe than sorry. Finally, she showed him a couple of the traps she set up outside of their camp – Partially, against the monsters at night. Partially, against Dissonance.

"...Now, before I tell you anything, I need to make a couple things clear.", Nat started as she sat down, finally taking a break from all of the work she had been doing.

Will was sitting next to her, with Fonda joining his other side. Tom and Taza sat across from them, slightly further away.

"I can only tell you a bit. No questions before, during or after."

"Is it really such a big deal?", Tom asked, instantly regretting it after seeing the glare he got from Will.

The woman moved some of her hair out of her face, revealing she was equally unimpressed with him. She looked into the fire and reached out with her hands, warming them.

"The Blade is a very, very particular man. But I spent enough time with him to understand him."

Nat crossed her arms, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"...And he doesn't want you telling people about him?", Will asked.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Clearly, Tom was not the only one left out of this piece of information about the woman.

"Exactly."

Nat nodded.

"And I cannot tell you his title, either. But I can tell you how we met and how I've been living out here for the past few months. Will that be enough?"

"Y-yeah! Come on, tell us about The Blade!", Taza cut in, clearly getting far more excited over the matter than anyone else there.

"Uh... If you want to, of course-"

"Right, right. Let me stop stalling."

Nat flipped back her hair and smiled.

"So it all starts like this..."

I think an important place to start would be where exactly I come from and how I got here.

It's a really long story, but I can summarize it pretty well. I used to live in this pretty big city, far from here. There's actually a lot of them around, if you travel far enough. But right around half a year ago monsters stormed the place and destroyed everything. We were too overwhelmed to fight – So everyone just ran. We all ran our own ways, hoping to get away with our lives. All I had with me was a bag of medical supplies I took from my work place... I was a nurse back there, and I was working on a patient when it all started. That patient being... my best friend. She was one of the guards at our city and got badly hurt that day. Hah, I remember she always told me I shouldn't worry about her and that she wasn't as fragile and gentle as me, and... I'm... I'm getting off-topic, aren't I? Right... well, we ran. Together. And then... we were separated... I don't even remember how, she just... went out of my sight, and then... I never saw her again...

...Right, so... anyway... I was alone in the woods, and I was.... I was so scared. The whole 'the woods are the most dangerous place on this planet' thing isn't just something Dissonance does to keep control. It's pretty common in other cities. And to an extent, it's not even propaganda. Those woods are riddled with monsters at night, and with no light source or repellent you are as good as dead. And that was me – A weak girl with no weapon running through the forest, stricken with fear from everything she had just been through. I was still looking for my friend, screaming her name, bringing more attention to myself than was probably necessary. I think I kept going like that for... hours? I don't even remember... it was all such a blur, I must have gotten miles away from the city by the time something actually spotted me. From what I remember, it was a skeleton. I felt an arrow whizz by my head and I instantly turned to the side, seeing it standing there with its weapon raised. All I remember is screaming for help before the skeleton was knocked aside by someone.

Someone hit the skeleton with their sword, knocking it aside and making it drop its bow. I just watched in stunned silence – I had gone through too much that day to just keep running. More monsters started closing in, so in a panic I picked up the dropped bow and some of the arrows the monster had dropped, trying to remember the techniques my friend had taught me. I don't even remember how many of them swarmed in on us... but I know I fought as well as I could. The stranger, of course, did most of the work. There were noises, blood, smells I didn't recognize and smells that made me sick... but I stood tall, because I was too afraid of what could happen to me if I just gave up then and there. When it all calmed down I wanted to thank the stranger for saving me – But as I turned back to where he stood, I found him lying on the floor, passed out.

Turns out, during the fight, he got bit by one of those huge spiders and got poisoned. And I... I felt like it was my fault, for some reason... this guy clearly knew what he was doing, and I got in the way which threw him off. So I lit a small fire, laid him down on a large patch of soft grass, and tried my best to take care of him... I know around here you guys rely on potions a lot, but we didn't really know how to make them back in my old city. So we relied on other ways of treating wounds – Including poison. I managed to figure out how to get the guy back in a somewhat safe state, but I didn't wanna leave him, either. The sun was rising and I was conflicted – I could have left to look for my friend... but something drew me to stay by this man's side.

Now, I can't describe how The Blade looks, but I can tell you a few small things. First of all, when I put bandages on him, I noticed a ton of battle scars. That guy, wherever he was from, had been through hell. That was what I concluded at the time, at least. He also rarely slept – The bags under his eyes were more prominent than anything. I was scared, I didn't know what to do, and now I had a passed-out stranger to take care of... as you can guess, I was having a great time. He eventually woke up... he was disorientated, still slightly sick from the poison. It took a lot of talking him down to even get him to actually sit down and rest. We had a pretty awkward morning of just eating in silence and giving each other nervous glances – I was lucky he actually shared his food with me, since I had nothing with me but some stitches, bandages and old medicine.

"What's your title?", he eventually asked me, and I was a little confused on how to respond.

Usually, people ask for your name, right? I hesitated, stammered, and then looked aside.

"...N-Natalie.", I responded hesitantly, biting my nails.

This was probably the only time I did it and he didn't remind me of how unhealthy it was – He simply told me his title, which I cannot repeat.

"Why are you out here?", The Blade continued asking me, noticeably looking down at his wounds.

He seemed impressed with how I took care of them. Or... I like to believe.

"My city was attacked.", I whispered, the lack of sleep that night and everything that had led up to it showing in my expression.

"...I had to run... and here I am..."

There was some silence.

"Thank you for saving me.", I whispered, unsure on how to approach this man.

His expression seemed like he was about ready to cut me open with his sword any moment...

"...Thank you... for saving me.", The Blade said with some hesitation.

"There's a city not too far from here. I could take you there. There's a group there who could use a nurse as skilled as you."

"I... I'm sorry... I don't think..."

I moved some of my hair back, hugging my knees.

"I don't think I can go to another city right now. My friend... I lost her, and I..."

"You want to... find her?", he repeated, leaning closer to me.

It felt like he was staring right through me, with eyes that carried years of knowledge... I gulped.

"Yes."

I nodded.

"I... I need to find her. She's all I have. She's... basically my family."

The Blade watched me carefully, and eventually, nodded his head.

"I could help you.", he told me.

"I know these woods better than anyone. I could show you how to stay safe while you search. Looking for lost family... it's an admirable task."

Somehow, I felt like he knew exactly how I felt. I didn't ask any questions, though.

From here things get more boring than you might imagine – The Blade showed me the way to the city, in case I changed my mind, and then showed me how he survives in the woods. He taught me about the importance of light, what flowers and herbs work as repellent, and where to strike each beast to make it die quickly and efficiently. For some time... I watched you guys, as well. I watched you build your nation, I watched the war happen... I didn't want to intervene, though. You see, me and The Blade made a deal. A deal very important to him.

He told me that if I ever interacted with the city we would have to cut contact. He doesn't want to ever be known by name here. I don't know why, but... he told me that people make him... nervous. They make him... remember things. Now, he never explained what that meant exactly, but it means that being around me for about half of his day was already a bit much. He would rather stay hidden and distant, without anyone ever intervening with his business. And I agreed. So I guess... the last time I saw him before the duel... was truly the last time. It's funny... in the span of this half year I ended up losing two of my best friends to these woods... but it was worth it, I'd say. Tom is alive. And that's all that really mattered to me when I made that decision.

And in case you're wondering, no. I never found her... my friend, I mean. I gave up about two months in and focused on helping The Blade. I mean, do you truly think it was him alone that saved you from the Final Authority Room? I may not have been there, but it was my supplies he was using. I'm grateful I met him, though... these past six months have been special to me. He taught me a lot of things I never knew could be useful, and it's thanks to him I'm alive and able to pass that knowledge on to you guys. I just wish...

I wish I got one more chance to say goodbye, I suppose.

"And that's it... That's the story."

Nat paused, wiping something from her eye with her sleeve.

"Wow... I... you didn't have to give that up for us, Nat.", Will muttered, getting closer to her.

"I'm sure The Blade himself would have wanted me to do it, too."

She shrugged.

"And... you won't even tell us what he looks like?"

Taza sounded incredibly disappointed.

"Taza, come on!", Will exclaimed, but Nat cut him off with a sigh and a roll of her eyes.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell you only three things."

She cleared her throat and looked up with a smile.

"The Blade wears a glimmering crown, his hands are always stained with the blood of various monsters and he wields the single sharpest sword I have ever witnessed."

Now, to Taza and Fonda the description was satisfying enough. A bit over dramatic, sure, and even Nat laughed at how serious she sounded when she said the phrase. To Tom and Will, however, the sentence had a very, very different meaning. They looked at each other with eyes that were filled with terror – But also understanding. Understanding about what this single, innocent sentence had revealed to them. Will quickly made up a lie about having to speak to his right hand man in private – And then pulled him to the edge of their circle of light, pacing around nervously. Tom simply stood against a nearby tree, leaning on it for support.

"Glimmering crown... blood-stained hands... sharp sword... Tom, are you-"

"A perfect fighter who seems more fond of us than he should be as a stranger. Yeah."

"You've seen him too, right? We see the same people, don't we?"

"It's him... it's actually him.... The Blade, he's..."

"...The Emperor of the Arctic. It's him, Tom."

And as the President and his right hand man talked on, on the other side of the woods an Emperor awoke from yet another nightmare.

And this time, the nightmare involved a crown and the Uprising King.