The chill morning air brought with it the sounds of the forest waking. The birds could tell the sun was just around the horizon, and began their early morning songs. A gentle breeze carried with it a slight chill from the night before, but as the sun peaked its head just over the horizon, it began to warm quite pleasantly.

Casper had said that he was to be moving before first light, and Casper was after all a patient and understanding man. Not too patient or too understanding however. By now all of his articles had been stored, cleaned, packed, and ready to go an hour ago. Perhaps the boy was tired from all the travel, or got too comfortable by the fire last night, or eaten too much. There are many reasons one could be late to rise. However, he thought he had been very clear about their departure time, and this was a very significant length over that.

Of course, Casper was more than capable of waking the boy himself, even just calling out to him. But Casper was one to believe that life and experience will teach you lessons better than any man ever could. Waking up to see your traveling companion gone was a lesson well enough worth learning, and besides, Casper couldn't be bothered to make an effort to wake his new traveling partner himself. He had to admit the thought of the boy fumbling around, desperately trying to catch up again would be comedic, and maybe then he would learn exactly what Casper meant when he said "moving before first light"

That is exactly what Casper did, making an extra effort in fact to be as quiet as possible, he gathered his things and set off. He decided to forgo his usual method of travel, which involved taking care not to leave a trace in the event he were to be followed, and instead made a more conscious effort to leave behind an obvious path. Learning this lesson, and furthermore learning that Casper wasn't the kind of man to simply make idle promises without intent to uphold them was all and all important. However he enjoyed the boys company and idle chatter and therefor didn't intent to actually strand him here in the wilderness.

It only took about 15 minutes before Casper's heightened senses picked up the sound of staggered breath and heavy running footfall in the distance behind him.

"Wait! Please!" The boy's soft, high pitched voice was only really audible to Casper at this distance because the wind had the courtesy of carrying his voice. Otherwise, who knows how much further Casper would keep walking at his usual pace before he heard, Had the wind been blowing the other direction even with his heightened senses. Casper smiled as he heard the familiar rushed footfall of the boy sprinting to meet his pace, and then slowing down again to catch his breath, and then speeding up once more, though slower this time, to finally match pace with Casper.

"you left me!" he exclaimed through exhausted breath.

"I said I would be moving by first light. You decided to sleep in. that very well sounds like your own decision"

"I'm sorry! But...couldn't you have woken me?"

"I could have," Casper admitted "but if you can't figure how to wake in time then perhaps you are more of a detriment to this journey than-"

Casper barely had time to finish his sentence before the boy ran up ahead and turned to face Casper, walking backwards

"I promise I'm no detriment! Please...i truly am sorry, I will do better. Just...please don't leave me" He held his head down, and how was Casper supposed to deny that. It seemed a genuine enough apology, with a desire to do better. But Casper had to appear a bit harder than he would have liked. After all, you need to learn lessons in life.

"You get one more chance then. But if you are late again I'm leaving, and at my own pace. Take care to be up on time"

"Yes!" the boy brimmed with a wide smile of near perfect teeth. An uncommon sight to be sure but not unwelcome. He fell back in pace with Casper and they pressed onward through the forest road.

Had the wind been blowing in a different direction. Perhaps Casper would have had a better chance at smelling it before he saw it. As it were, however, the wind was not feeling very gracious at this moment and had the wind at his back, and he could not. Instead he had the unfortunate displeasure of seeing the beast before he smelled it.

Casper stood at the top of a small hill, the winding forest path taking a sharp left just at the top before dropping down into a modest clearing of road. With one large hillside cliff, clearly a position used quite often by bandits, evident by their corpses scattered across the ground in violent, mutilated piles.

The hunter had its twisted, toothy maw wrapped around one of the bandits. Its teeth grinding into the pour soul with enough force to make quick work of a human body. The sounds of his screams muffled and barely a whisper as the blood bubbled and flowed from his mouth. An arrow came from the top of the hillside and bit into the creatures thick semi-armored sleek black hide, barely scratching into the surface, and falling out as the hunter threw its prey up into the air, and bit down again, slapping the bandits limp body against the dirt, sprawling reddish pink mist and gore into the mud and dirt.

"Stay back…" Casper held a hand out to the boy as he pulled his short sword from his hip

It didn't seem that the boy needed any further convincing that staying behind was a good idea. Casper spared a glance backwards and the look of abject horror was clear, and familiar. The face of someone who had not once in their life seen the inside of a man. Casper gave a sigh of relief. Likely the boy would be too shocked, too stunned to move. One less moving part to worry about then.

Casper sucked in his breath and sprinted down towards the beast, he was still a little distance away by now. A little too far away. 3 more bandits were trying to take hits at it. The Hunter clawed its way up the hill in the direction of the archer who had taken a shot at it. it's two front legs pulled at the stones as its all too large mouths crunched and snapped up at the archer, who continued to take desperate shots downward at it. A heavily injured man on the ground charged the beast, an axe in hand aimed to come down and strike at the creature's extended leg along with a woman, large great sword in hand aimed down at the monster's tail.

Casper let out a long breath, slow, steady, and channeled the heat in his veins. In. out. slow. The world around him slowed as Casper got faster. In. out. slow. The world slowed down further. He was much faster now, not fast enough to draw suspicion he thought, but fast enough to get the edge over the hunter, and he closed the distance. The mans axe crunched down into the hunters back leg, and Casper dashed in to match, following up the mans strike with one quick motion of his blade, severing the entire leg at its ankle from the main body. The hunter's tail whipped around, trying desperately to stab and slash at anything it could. Casper dug his heel into the ground, stopping his momentum and switching, pushing himself up and towards the tail, which was headed straight towards the woman.

The woman brought her sword up to defend from the incoming strike but it wasn't needed, Casper's blade cut clean through a chuck of the tail, spraying dark purple blood over him as he grinding to a halt again on the other side. The archer at the top of the hill was letting loose another arrow, this one landing firmly into the hunters eye, causing it to rage and thrash around, all 4 arms clawing up at the archer, tearing at the rock and sending a cascade of stone down, the archer along with it.

"Shit" Casper looked around. The injured man was rearing his axe again to chop at the hunters side, but one of the secondary arms was twisted to intercept the strike. The archer was sliding and tumbling down the rocky hillside aimed towards the hunters snapping jaws, and the woman was running to try and catch the archer from his fall

"Shiiit" Just because these were bandits, didn't mean they deserved to die to the likes of a hunter. It was not a good death for anyone. But they were spread too thin, and the hunter was rearing for a counter attack. If Casper embraced the mark more, it would surely be suspicious...and weighing his options, he would do what he could now, but being outed and found out was not at all worth the risk, and it was most certainly not worth their lives to him.

Casper committed as much as he could. He sprinted up the back of the Hunter, planting his feet firmly on its back, dragging his blade down the length in quick, deadly motions. As he approached the secondary arms that was reaching towards the axe wielding man, he tossed a dagger from his belt with his spare hand, the strike landing firmly in the joint of one of it's arms. It might not stop it but it would give the injured man with his axe more of a chance. Casper sprinted the rest of the length up its large back, gritting his teeth and keeping his balance as the monster thrashed and opened its mouth wide to consume the archer, as well as the woman who was desperate to save him.

The hunters mouth stretched and stretched. Hot breath reeking, its pure white teeth glittering in the sun as the archer slid further. Casper dug his blade into the top of the hunters armored skull, which stopped it for just a moment, just enough time. The woman jumped through the air, clearing the distance from the ground, scrambling up the cliff and grabbed at the man as first his feet, and then his hips began sliding down the hunters throat. The woman grabbed onto the archers arm, one foot planted firmly on the rocks, and her other arm stretched out grabbing at the cliffside. Her muscles bulged from her torn arm sleeve. Casper grabbed his blade and used it to swing down into the mouth as well, following the form of the woman, he reached out his other hand. And they both grabbed hold of the half consumed, screaming archer.

But it was too late, the hacking axe from the man on the hunters side caused its mouth to snap shut. Both the woman and the archer began to slide inside. Casper yelled out as the jaws closed around him. He lifted his arms to prevent the maw from snapping shut entirely but the teeth still dug into his muscle and flush, piercing his arms and legs, as he strained and struggled against the abomination. The archers guttural, helpless cries were snuffed out as the hunters inner row of teeth crushed down on his hips and legs, blood spurting out of his mouth. The woman yelled as well, a horrible, crying sort of yell as her ankle and foot were caught in its secondary teeth as well. Her arm still gripping at the archer as he died in the beasts mouth.

The mouth opened and the teeth expanded to suck down more of its prey, causing the archer to sink lower into its gullet, and then tried to snap shut again. The woman this time tumbled and fell further into its mouth. The archer was gone. His arm that the woman gripped at had been removed from the body, a spray of deep red blood flooding the inside of the hunters mouth. The woman now filled in the place of the archer. Her leg trapped inside the inner teeth. Casper embraced more of the heat. In, out, stronger. In out, Faster.

Casper strained against the jaws of the Hunter, one arm holding its mouth slightly open, the teeth digging into his flesh, and his other arm shot out to grab the woman by her wrist. She looked up at him, her eyes wide, but also soft with acceptance "let me go!" she shouted. Her voice a muffled mess of agony and gritted teeth.

"Not a chance" Casper said, his expression twisted with pain as the hunter fought harder and harder to close its jaws. Casper strained against the woman's arm. They might have been bandits, but this was no place for people to die. He would have saved all of them...but he couldn't take the risk. He felt a little guilty even, if only a little, but saving one life was better than saving none.

He spread his legs into a split, one leg holding the beasts top jaw, the other on the bottom, as he twirled a knife from his belt and drove it into the roof of the hunters mouth. The monster let out a hot, stinking roar, its jaws widening against the pain, its teeth releasing and Casper pulled the woman from its throat. She slid out with a pop, blood pooling around her leg as he heaved her out of its mouth and onto the ground.

Casper dragged the dagger against the roof of its mouth and then out, shattering the upper plate of its mouth in a shower of purple blood and white teeth. Casper threw his weight against the cliff and let his body roll out of its mouth and onto the ground.

The Hunter was already recovering, however and the girl he has saved was not. Her leg was a mess of blood and meat and the hunter was rearing down. Casper quickly threw himself over the body of the girl as the hunter smashed down on him with one arm. He almost buckled under the weight, but managed to hold himself up on his hands and knees over the woman. He could feel her ragged breath right against his cheek, her blood seeping into his cloths as the weight of the hunter barred down on them.

From under the weight of the hunters arms, he watched as the man with the ax desperately tried to take chunks out of its exposed back. "Wait!" Casper tried to shout, but the man couldn't hear him in his blind fury. The injured tail was not yet disabled and in one quick snapping motion ripped through the torso of the man. Sending his upper torso up against the cliff and his legs into the ground.

"Shit" Casper gritted his teeth. In, out, Stronger. Casper forced his body up, the wounds around his arm and leg screaming with red hot pain, he grunted, groaned, he grabbed at the hand axe at the woman's belt, tearing it off her body and swinging around, driving it deep into the hunters lower jaw. The hunter let off for just long enough for him to swivel around and hack again at its snout. It backed off further. Again. It backed off some more, stumbling now, its weight switching to its uninjured back legs as half its tail swiped around. Casper came on it now, one final axe blow into its spinal column and across the back of its legs. Casper grappled up onto the hunters body and hacked, chopped, spraying purple blood over himself, the ground, drenching his cloak, his body, his face as he hacked and chopped and cut until the monster stopped moving. He collapsed in its writhing mess of chopped flesh and blackish meat. It squirmed for a little on the earth, spraying its purple blood all over as it tried to get up, but it lost all the strength as it bled out on the road and died with a sputter

Casper sucked in breath, his head was a mess of stars. Had he channeled more earlier, perhaps he wouldn't have been so injured, though something about the creature sapped his energy much faster than he expected. He quickly looked over his arms, the puncture marks were deep and we was bleeding quite a bit. He looked down at his legs. One ankle was twisted all wrong and the other a mess of raw exposed muscle and flesh.

In, out, heal. He let the heat waft over him. He couldn't afford for them to notice. For them to see. But he couldn't afford to die either.

In, out, heal. His breath slow and soft and icy cold as he channeled his body to repair itself, to make his injuries nonfatal. But it was a little too late. He had already lost too much blood. He felt his body weaken as he rolled onto his back. he could hear the sounds of footsteps now. One familiar, one not as his vision began to spin.

"Stay with us!" one of the voices shouted. But again it was too late. His vision was a mix of black and stars, the ground spinned, and he collapsed.

Casper came to. His ears first. The sounds of feet shuffling, of a campfire burning and hushed whispers and rain. Then his nose. The smell of food, of blood and iron, and of wet dirt and pine. Then his body. The cool aching in his wrists, hands, ankles and feet. The tender soreness of healing wounds. The heat of fire close by. And the gentle misting water.

His memory was slowly flooding back to him. The hunter, the bandits. Saving one of them, maybe two? Why had he done that again? Casper smiled to himself. As much as he liked to play it safe, not take risks, look out for himself. He new better than anyone how much of a hypocrite he was. At the end of the day, no matter how much he wanted to be like his father. The cold, stoic type. The one who could look after himself, Casper couldn't be that. It had been some time since he was truly around and with people. Some time since he spent any length even where others were visible. And he had always told himself he would look out for himself. He wouldn't bother with others. Wouldn't stick his neck out. But when the going got tough and people needed help, it seemed he couldn't really help himself.

He groaned a little, testing his arms and legs. They were aching to be sure, but quickly healed. He couldn't let anyone see however. He made made sure to heal them enough to prevent any lasting damage but in turn would absolutely draw suspicion. "He's waking up" A gruffer woman's voice said, clearly happy and relieved. "Thank the divine…" a familiar voice, the boy, said next.

Now that his eyes were closed and he really listened, it was a little funny. The bandit woman's voice was much deeper and raspier than the boys, who's sounded particularly feminine now that he thought about it. He was still young after all.

Casper's eyes fluttered open and he inspected his surroundings slowly. It was dark, he was inside his own tent, laying down on his own bed roll, as well as some unfamiliar bed rolls. He had been stripped from his clothes and placed in new ones, far baggier than could fit him, but clean. The fire was close by. The boy and the surviving bandit woman huddled close to both him and the fire underneath the protection of their own lean-to's. They were in a small patch of clearing surrounded by large mossy stones and tall pines, the water flowing away from them and keeping the camp nice and dry, save for the occasional splash or misting nearby. The boy entered the tent first. Followed quickly by the bandit woman. Both taking up a position on either side of him.

"Thanks…" Casper managed to say, his voice still groggy.

There was a relieved sigh from the boy, and wide smile from the bandit now as they heard him speak. He looked at the both of them, the boys face was wet from the misting of rain, his freckles and soft features outlined by the campfire, short brown hair matted to his face. The woman's longer black hair tied up, she looked slightly older, perhaps his age or a year above, A very attractive woman, which made it even stranger for her to be out in the wilderness as she was.

Casper, recalled his fathers explanation of how women were expected to behave in the kingdom. To see a woman on the road, in the position of a bandit or at the very least even to carry a weapon was far and beyond what was acceptable in the kingdom. While Casper didn't mind personally it was particularly curious.

Looking at her now, trying to gauge the kind of woman he was dealing with made it even more difficult. Her features were strong and angular, with a nice jaw and slightly weathered tan skin. She wore strips of armor, though some of it looked removed, her tunic untied slightly as to let it fall over one shoulder leaving it bare. Her well endowed chest pressed between her arms, letting small drops of rain slide between her cleavage. She had full lips curled back into a pleasant smile, hard eyes that were soft when looking at him, and below the sections of clothing and armor he could see, as well as her one ripped tunic sleeve. Defined and hard muscle.

She looked equal parts a refined and elegant woman and equal parts hardened and well traveled, a competent fighter. Casper couldn't quite nail her down no matter how hard he tried.

"Thank us? Fool." the bandit said, though in a playful enough tone. "You saved me life...our lives. Had you not been there for me I would have been just another rotting corpse in the mud...thank You" she said, he mouth pursed in a soft smile that showed genuine thanks.

Casper just nodded. "Of course…"

"Of course? Nonsense…" she said, turning her gaze down a touch "you knew what kind of people we were. It's obvious, but even though you knew we were bandits, knew I was a bandit, you put yourself in harms way, risked your own life to save mine..it was a damned fool thing to do, but its not without my thanks" She nodded her head and closed her eyes "i owe you my life, sincerely and in the truest way. I Do."

Casper sat himself up a bit, the boy let out a gasp and placed a hand on Casper's chest "you shouldn't get up yet! Just rest please, lay down. Here" the boy grabbed and fluffed up the bed roll under Casper's head to prop it up enough for him to see the two more easily.

The bandit woman lowered her head, and placed her hands on the ground as she took up a kneeling position. with her head lowered and body leaned forward, it pressed her breasts together more and Casper had to turn to look away "respectfully" (it took great effort) as she spoke to him

"please allow to me to repay this debt" her voice was soft, yet firm with resolve. "Please allow me to accompany you. I will not be able to live with myself if I do not repay this debt. I owe you my life, so please. Use mine on your travels" She kept her eyes down, arms planted firmly on the ground, on one knee, waiting for Casper's response.

It was quite the dramatic proposal he thought. Even a little extreme perhaps. But thinking back to what his father had told him about a woman's place in the kingdom, it made a little more sense. Even if the woman was a bandit, capable of wielding a sword and fighting, she was still ultimately under the men by kingdom standards. And a man had just saved her life.

Honestly, Casper didn't want any additional companions. One was already enough, and this bandit may end up being a liability with her propensity to charge head first into battle, especially now seeing as she owed him her life. But Casper also thought that denying her this when she truly wanted it would be rude.

Looking over to the boy garnered the same sort of reaction as the bandit, his head was to the ground, perhaps even waiting for something bad to happen, it was hard to tell. Casper could probably find a use for this bandit in their little band, he would just have to be extra careful from here on out, but surely the idea of a life debt was old fashioned.

"I'm not one for accepting something as extreme as a life debt, perhaps some coin if you could spare it would be more than enough if you are insistent on repaying me" he tried, though given the unwavering body language of the bandit he quickly figured that wouldn't cut it.

"That would be unacceptable!" she dictated rather firmly, causing the boy to jump slightly.

"Saving someone's life would be expected i would think, really it's nothing worth throwing the rest of your life away, servitude is hardly in fashion"

"I believe it is…" the boy started, but a quickly glance from Casper had him end the thought early.

"Not only is it not expected, it is exceptional" the bandit stated firmly.

Casper didn't quite understand. His father had always taught him to help others. His father had also told Casper to keep to himself, his father was similarly to Casper, a hypocrite when it came to the specifics of his advice.

"Casper had told me he came from a small village near the border, its possible then he is missing critical context?" the boy offered.

"Ah, that must be it then" the bandit nodded her head and looked up to Casper. "Please allow me to explain"

Casper motioned for her to continue, genuinely curious to learn if he was missing some critical cultural information that would make him stand out.

"It is less common on the borders and fringe villages and towns, but it is much more common as you are closer in proximity to larger cities and settlements. Life a product, something to be sold, exchanged, traded and offered. Its common for those of able body or of a particular skillset to sell themselves of over themselves in their entirety in exchange for goods or services."

"This sounds like a more extreme version of bartering or trading" Casper tried.

"Similar, but more extreme." the bandit clarified. "Life itself is the commodity, it carries with it a value to be traded and sold directly."

"So slavery?"

"In a sense, though slavery is different. To be owned entirely by another being in exchange for coin is also rather common in cities and larger towns, but slavery is different by a few measures."

The boy nodded along to the bandits words

"Slaves are taken, they are entirely subservient in every regard and aspect, slaves are documented like property, with deeds of ownership, often branded or marked, slaves are truly objects. However, the exchange of life is a centuries old manner of contract. For example, you have saved my life, this is a service you rendered to me, and that service comes with an inherent cost to it. The fair value for a life of course is another life."

Casper was profoundly confused by this backwards cultural logic, but pretended to understand as to end this infodump as quickly as possible.

"As an example" the boy started, causing Casper to internally groan. "A smith may offer his life in the form of services rendered to a noble. This noble does not have ownership over the smith, the smith is not property, but the exchange of life calls for the smith to produce wares for the noble, and in exchange the noble provides for the smiths life in the form of food, drink, living space and medical care."

The example made it make slightly more sense to Casper, though still a strange practice he thought.

"With that said, you saved me life, the cost of those services rendered is my own life in exchange."

"But I didn't know about this, you could have simply kept this information to yourself and been on your way"

The bandit shook her head. "No, i could not. I am honor bound to uphold the contract."

"A bandit with honor enough to hand over your life to a stranger who saved you?"

"Indeed"

"You shouldn't just say indeed to something like that, it makes no sense at all"

"I suppose it wouldn't make sense if you were not born into the culture." the bandit nodded

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"That isn't an excuse" Casper retorted, though a strange look from the boy let Casper realized that pushing the bounds of cultural norms was in fact a dangerous game to play. Just as his father said, if you don't play the role correctly it will bring attention. Casper supposed this was one of those moments it was best to play along to avoid any further issues.

Casper sighed and nodded his head "fine, you can join me then."

"Thank you kindly" the bandit woman bowed her head even deeper, a sigh of relief coming from her.

"I do have a question though" Casper said, bringing his hand up to inspect the new shirt and pants.

"Ask anything of me" she replied, head still bowed deeply

"Whos cloths are these...and who changed me?"

"I made sure Alex was the one to change you and clean you...please do not worry, they are also the cloths of one of my old companions, from his pack, we had them washed thoroughly in the stream and dried before Alex put them on you" The bandit said, looking over to the boy.

It was half a relief, half a disappointment, but all in all realistic. Casper nodded "thank you very much" He swore he saw Alex's face go red for a moment. Perhaps a sheltered life, but even so, seeing another man was not uncommon even in small villages. Likely then because Casper was still very much a stranger.

Alex nodded "its late. I know you just woke up but it will be best to get some sleep still. We can stay here as long as we need until you both are healed" he said, looking over to the bandit woman's own bandaged up body, and then to Casper in his own sorry state. Casper nodded in agreement "I have always been a fast healer, we shouldn't be here too long any ways"

The bandit woman chimed in next "my companions and I had some horses tied up deeper into the forest, Alex and I can go and retrieve them, make travel moving forward less strenuous on our bodies, and allow us to move sooner."

Alex smiled "i love riding! It will also really speed up our travel to the city, we should do that now before it gets too late. Especially if they are by themselves"

"Agreed" the bandit stat up, pulling her falling tunic back over her shoulder and tightening it up, much to Casper's personal displeasure.

"lets make it quick. Get yourself some rest, we will have food ready in the morning for you" the boy offered a warm smile and the two of them made their way off into the night, leaving Casper alone in the tent.

Once he was sure they were gone. Realization dawned on him. If he had been changed...then they would have seen the marks on his arm. A cold sweat began beading down his brow.

"Fuck…", he began to panic. The thought of them both wandering out into the night to retrieve soldiers or guards from one of the nearby towns flooded his head. Though they hadn't killed him in his sleep, they waited for him to wake up, they didn't leave him there to die when he had been changed…" he pulled back the tunic and inspected his body. The markings were still there. As deep and as black and as twisting and winding as ever. Even though he used the mark earlier that day, it didn't look like anything had changed on the markings. He forced himself up and looked around for his weapons. They were set at the edge of the tent. They hadn't totally disarmed him.

His mind raced looking for an explanation. Could it be, Alex was simply ignorant to what the marks meant? He had been a new adventurer, never left his humble town, but still. Everyone in the kingdom knew what the mark meant, to be born under the star. It was the very reason his own village was burned to the ground all those years ago. The very reason the mark is so rare. Babies and their mothers executed. Villages and towns burned to the ground just to make sure it was an impossibility for one to be born, or escape after birth. There was no way Alex was ignorant to the mark or its meaning.

Casper sat up entirely, looking into the campfire and feeling its heat on his face. But then there was another thing. If the mark was visible since birth, easily identifiable, why then had whole towns and villages been burned. Would it not have been simple to just inspect any children born around that time. Look for the mark. Peasants may be peasants but they bring in money, food, resources. They provide for the lords. To raze your own village or town would be to destroy your own livelihood. If it was easy to identify then why go forward with such a rash and damaging plan.

Casper never even considered it, until now. As he had done well to hide it all his life like his father had said. he always keep the mark hidden. Then again Casper's father was very adept in the magical arts...perhaps then, it was only a theory now, that the mark was not visible to the normal eye at all then? The possibility hadn't even been considered until now as no one had ever seen the arm. No one had mentioned it. He had always been careful to hide it so there was no way of knowing. It was a wild guess. Frankly a shot in the dark, but there was only three realistic options. Either they saw it and didn't mind, or they saw it and are planning something. The third and more unlikely option being they, for some reason, couldn't see it. And Casper needed to test it sooner rather than later.

Casper sighed, he would hate to have to kill them, after all the effort he went through to save the bandit and the boy. But there were of course benefits. Less travel company made moving quickly and quietly easier, cheaper, and he could simply take their belongings. But still, it would be quite the shame indeed. Better to just get it over with then.

Casper rolled up the sleeves of the tunic so his forearms were visible. He looked down, the black inky lines clearly visible and very prominent on his left arm. Obvious and apparent to anyone who lived within the kingdom that it was the markings of a child born under the dark star. And with his sleeves rolled he waited. Waited and listened to the sounds of the rain pattering on the pines. Of the crickets and critters of the night chirping their ambient noises through the night air. Listening to the fire crackle, and the tents flapping. Casper took in slow, deep breaths, smelling the wet pine and damp dirt, and sat there, until he hear the sounds of their footsteps return, the familiar otter of horse hooves along with them.

Casper watched as they both entered back into the camp. He quickly leant over to grab one of the daggers sitting in the corner and placed in under the blankets that had been laid around him. He really sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to kill them. But he tightened his grip around the blade as they tied off the horses under one of the lean to's to help get them out of the rain, and soon the two quickly re-positioned themselves near Casper and his tent next to the fire. The Bandit woman peeking her head inside and looking at Casper.

Casper let out a long breath, his knuckles white around the grip, praying to what ever god would listen that they either didn't care, or couldn't see it. "I thought Alex told you not to sit up." The bandit woman leaned inside the tent and frowned at him "but i guess there isn't anything we can do to stop you"

"I heal quickly" Casper said, using is left arm to make a wide and obvious inspection of the left wrist, still keeping the blade hidden. To Casper, the markings were visible, but it didn't look like the bandit girl even noticed, or if she did, she didn't care.

Casper had to make one final test, he needed to be certain, to be absolutely confident. "Do you know, the mark of the dark star?" he asked. The question obviously caught the bandit off guard, causing her to jerk her head upwards a little towards Casper.

"We shouldn't speak of it.." she said, her voice suddenly very nervous, eyes darting.

"Forgive me...I was raised in small farm, never saw much or learned much about such a thing, but I've heard it in passing, but can't say I know what it is myself. You and the boy…sorry, Alex are the first people I've really spoken with in...many years"

So Alex was the boys name. Casper didn't realize that he didn't know it until just now, which made the thought of having to kill them even more of an unpleasant notion.

The bandit still looked remarkably nervous even at the mention of it. Casper still moved his left arm around, inspecting at the bandages. The bandit woman gentle grabbed his wrist, her fingers wrapping around the markings. "You're body is warm...stop messing with your bandages and lay back down please...you need to heal. If you do that I'll tell you" she bargained

Casper looked at the bandits hand around his arm, and he obliged. Pulling his body back under the covers and laying down with a heavy sigh.

The bandit woman shifted uncomfortably in the tent "the mark of the star....they say that the mark is visible on the arms of the child born under the star, like inky tattoos that bleed. Big dark black spots. Its supposed to be the mark of power" she shivered

"its the mark of devils if you ask me. If you ever see one you run away as far and as quickly as you can. Don't look back, don't second guess" she looked Casper in the eyes. And there was something behind it, some horror, or terror, and deep fear behind them as she spoke.

"If you see the mark, you run as far away as you possibly can...you can try and beg, or plead, but the mark is too strong for any one man to fight against. If you see that mark, you are already dead...now, does that answer your question? I would much rather not talk about such scary things" she shivered a bit, and Casper ran through the information he had just received in his head.

Her reaction to even mentioning it was genuine, that fear wasn't something you can fake, but he made sure his own markings were clear and visible.

"Thank you" Casper said, nodding. "I...don't think I ever got your name"

The woman bowed her head deeply "I'm sorry!' she said with perhaps a bit too much sincerity, it was after all just a name. "My name is Annabelle." she looked up back to him, and Casper replied with his own name

she smiled to him then, "a true pleasure to be traveling with you Casper." she took a brief pause to look over at the other tent, where Alex was getting ready to lay down "Its about time we get some rest, we can talk more in the morning Casper" she gave a polite nod and exited his tent, doing well to close it behind her on her way out. Leaving Casper to stare up at the canvas material.

His father had told him to keep the markings covered at all times, and Casper still planned on doing this, but it would appear that not everyone can see the markings. If Casper were to guess, the most likely possibility then would be that those who possessed some manner of magic would be able to see them, and as such its always best to keep them covered any way because you never know who might possess magic. If even a passing bandit knew of the danger and the rumors and the stories of the mark, Alex likely did as well. It would also explain why whole towns and villages would have to be burned.

Magic was hard to come by and even rarer in people, it wouldn't make sense to have the 3 or 4 mages that existed in the entire kingdom go door to door. Casper rolled his sleeves back down over his arms. It was good information to have, but he still needed to be careful. Gripping the knife back under the blankets and stuffing it under the pillow instead, Casper curled up to get as warm as he could, and drifted off to bed.

The next day brought with it the same cold wind, but finally an end to the ever persistent drizzle that had plagued their travel up until this point which was a very welcome reprieve.

Breakfast was cooked by Alex, who once again slept in, though this time went without reprimand as Annabelle and Casper both needed to focus on rest and recovery. Annabelle seemed to walk well enough last night, though the pain of her injuries caught up to her this morning, evident but the sound of pained groaning coming from her tent this morning.

It was a little frustrating having to pretend to be injured still, when he had healed entirely the night before, though he figured it wasn't all bad having an opportunity to let someone else do some of the work.

Annabelle emerged from her tent, clearly in pain but no longer possessing enough energy to make much noise about it. Alex grabbed a few pieces of dried meat and handed them over to Annabelle as she grabbed her seat.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Casper asked, taking a glance at the mess of bandages around Annabelle's leg.

"I've had worse" Annabelle said through poorly masked pain.

"It's alright to admit if you are in pain" Alex said, grabbing his own seat around the fire. "Hunters are magical beasts, their auras alone are deadly, and the damage they deal lasts much longer than normal wounds"

Casper supposed that's why his healing had taken a full night as opposed to its usual few minutes, and why he felt he had to use much more of the marks ability than normal to achieve only a fraction of the typical power. Dangerous beasts these Hunters were.

Casper recalled hearing about them a few times from his father, and he had seen more than a few in the distant horizon while in the village but had never had the opportunity to encounter one directly until the other day.

"What's the worse you have had then?" Casper asked out of curiosity. It was safe to say he was indeed curious about Annabelle. Even if Casper himself didn't conform to the cultural norms of the kingdom, even in the more liberally minded village he grew up in, the notion of a woman wielding a sword, especially one as large as Annabelle's was quite the novel concept.

"Hmm, i suppose it would have been my 2nd ever night out on the road" she thought. Propping her leg up onto a stump to elevate it.

"My first night on the road wasn't easy" she chuckled at the memory, perhaps a story for another time. "But my second night out was the worst by far."

"I was deep into the forest, I didn't yet have my armor or my sword. Instead I only carried a small hunting knife and a felling ax along with supplies enough to camp, and I thought myself something of an adventure already so I went off into the darkwood all by my lonesome"

Casper couldn't help but examine her a bit as she spoke. Looking at her extended leg he for a brief moment felt slightly hypnotized by it. Despite her casual clothing being particularly covering, the length of her well defined leg as it met her wide hips. The way the firelight glinted off the stray droplets of water that dotted her skin in a fine mist and gathered in the creases of her curves, pooling into her collar bone, her chest…

Casper realized then it had been quite some time since he had been around a woman specifically and had to make a conscious effort to divert his gaze from her ample, muscular figure and instead focus on the words, though it would appear he had already missed a bit of the story

"The goblins by this point had torn through my pack, all of my supplies lost to the mud as i scrambled over rocks and stones to try and escape. I could feel the blood soak into my boots and fill up. The beasts were crazed, yet I persisted" she smiled wide, flexing her arm to illustrate her strength. "I had after all valiantly cut down 3 with nothing but my felling ax, and they could smell their kins blood hot on my skin" she grinned wildly. It was clear to Casper this woman had quite the affinity for combat

" I was looking behind me then to see if they were still in pursuit, and in doing so i tripped and fell down a large ravine"

A little tunnel visioned too….Casper supposed.

Alex audibly gasped at this "were you okay?!" he exclaimed

"Sadly Annabelle perished" Casper shook his head solemnly

"No!" he shouted out, standing up abruptly, which garnered a laugh from both Annabelle and Casper because Alex realized.

Pouting slightly, Alex sat back down and Annabelle continues her story.

"I fell nearly 30 feet down into a rapid and the current took my away, battered me against the rocks and roots. I must have been pulled nearly a mile down river before I was able to gather enough strength to pull myself to shore. I was a miracle I had lived through the encounter"

"That does indeed sound like a pretty miserable time" Casper had to admit. Its one thing to get beaten to a bloody pulp by wild animals, but another entirely to be beaten, battered, cold, and totally alone.

A crack of distant thunder interrupted the introspection, as he compared her story to some of his own. He didn't feel it would be appropriate to try and "one up her" in this moment by telling a comparable story so instead he kept quiet.

The horses began to grow unease at the loud noise, their neighs of protest and sounds of stomping feet drawing Alex's attention slightly.

"It looks like it might rain again after all" Casper sighed in unison with Annabelle, who also seemed to not particularly enjoy the downpours.

Almost on queue, the ambient misting in the air turned into a persistent patter. Prompting the fire to begin to sizzle and sputter out. "Damn, I was hoping I could hear some more stories today" Alex frowned slightly.

"You're tent is large enough to fit all of us" Annabelle pointed out. "Perhaps not comfortably but enough to stay dry for a while"

Alex looked over at his tent, which was in fact about twice the size of either Casper's or Annabelle's. "I suppose it is"

"Well we better get in then before the rain picks up more" Casper said, eager to get out of the rain, and if were being honest, eager to hear a few more stories as well, hopefully less distracted this time.

That idea of course was dead on arrival, as the three of them packed tightly into the canvas tent, and Casper quickly found himself pressed up against both Alex, but worse, or better depending on how you define it, pressed against Annabelle.

The rain had managed to get through to them a little bit, though as it pertained to Casper, on his head and broader shoulders. As it pertained to Alex, his heavy cloak, which covered most of him at all times, and as it pertained to Annabelle, soaked through her broad shoulders and even broader chest. Turning the white tunic semi transparent as it stuck to her.

The three settled into the tent, tying it off on the inside in order to keep their collective body heat inside. The persistent pattering of rain on the canvas tarp along with the growing wind lent itself well to the atmosphere of storytelling Casper thought, and apparently so did Alex, as he pulled his knees to his chest with fervent anticipation of more exciting tales of boars.

"I told my story, why don't you share one Alex?" Annabelle offered

"Ah, I'm not sure my life is particularly interesting enough to have any stories that would excite either of you" he admitted with a slight look of disappointment.

"I'm sure you have something" Casper offered as well. He knew his life perhaps was an exception to most who lived in remote, rural towns, but even excluding the excitement of of hunting beasts and monsters with his father or the large festivals they held there was still plenty of story material in the minutia of day to day life"

Alex seemed to think of that, and then think some more, and some more. Over the course of a few minutes Alex seemed to think much harder about a story from his past than Casper had ever seen, going so far even as to make a very strange face as Alex closed his eyes tight, puffed out his cheeks and pressed a finger to his lips as he, Casper supposed, tried to conjure up a spell with the amount of effort going into this.

"If its too much-" Casper began to offer, but was quickly cut off by a "popping" sound produced by the release of air in Alex's cheeks.

"I got one!"

"Thank the gods, I thought perhaps a curse had been placed on you" Annabelle admitted.

"I wasn't cursed, I was thinking! Do you want to hear it or not?" Alex crossed his arms and pouted.

"After all that effort, it would be a crime not to" Casper admitted jokingly. Prompting a slightly annoyed glance from Alex.

"In my….town…." Alex opened, with a very confusing start Casper noted in his mind, as the way Alex said town made him seem unsure even if this story did in fact take place in his town.

"In my town, there was a harvest festival every year. It was a very big event, with music and dancing and all manner of wonderful things"

Alex began to settle into his story, letting the memories resurface as he closed his eyes.

"Every year, the women would make these lovely flower crowns and give them to the boys they fancied. It was a very cute tradition but my father never let me participate" he spoke with a soft sort of sadness, regret for opportunities lost.

"Everyone would dance together under a large tree in the center of the town, strung up with beautiful colored lanterns. Well, one day I decided that I wanted to sneak out of my…house"

Another strange inflection on the word, Casper noted, but no bother, he was getting quite invested in the story

"I had disguised myself, so that my father wouldn't see me should he look out at the party. I was able to dance and enjoy the night with the others for a while. It was very nice. The weather was perfect. The moon was bright, the music was magical…but…"

Alex sighed a bit as the darker parts of the memory began to surface "A hunter had come, and attacked the town" Alex shivered slightly. "It broke through the walls, it was huge. Nearly 10 men tall, with horrible claws and 3 heads"

"Quite the large hunter" Annabelle whistled low

Alex nodded along "luckily the town guard were able to get to it quickly, but not without alot of suffering. We had to run and hide, but my house door was locked and I couldn't get back in. I had escaped my house through the second story window and it was too tall for me to jump through. I tried to knock on the door but no one was there to answer so instead I had to run"

Alex opened his eyes and cast them to the bottom of the tent. "They were able to fend it off, it took nearly every guard to fight it, and many died, though very luckily no one other than soldiers were injured. But it was very scary. Cowering down behind a building as the hunter rampaged. It was the first and only time I had ever been to a festival and something like that had happened"

"A hunter attacked your town?" Caper asked, curious. "My father had always told me they were averse to large groups of people. And only attacked smaller groups in the wilderness"

Annabelle shook her head at that. "Typically yes, though hunters have been known to attack large groups or towns if they get large enough, typically in areas with large volumes of natural magic"

"But no one in my town was magical" Alex said curiously.

"Maybe not, but harvest festivals and large gathers around holidays or events can conjure magic, a collective idea of something is enough to manifest it, in it's own unique form a magic"

"You're rather well studied for a bandit aren't you" Casper teased slightly, though he did mean it. Annabelle, despite her brutish attitude and propensity towards violence and rash decisions had painted her as a more thick headed, punch first ask questions later kind of woman. However she also seemed to possess quite a bit of knowledge as well.

"Well I wasn't always a bandit now was it" Annabelle laughed. "Though I can't say I'm particularly knowledgeable about most things. I'm neither studious nor well read, just well traveled. Back at my old camp the veteran highwaymen would tell stories around the campfire every night. You pick up alot from listening to em" she said matter-o-factly.

Casper supposed that made sense. He didn't think Annabelle was the reading type, but knowing that the knowledge was picked up second hand from stories of adventure made more sense as to why they stuck with her.

Another crack of lighting and the quick roll of thunder somewhere close shook the tent and ground around them. The wind whipped up in a violent crash of.

"Shit" Casper winces a bit as he heard the horses neigh and stomp, followed by the sound of bindings breaking.

"Oh no! The horses!" Alex shot up quickly. Annabelle winced slightly as she too tried to stand, but buckled under the weight of her bad leg. Casper had to quickly reach out to prevent her tumbling through the tent and into the rain.

"Don't worry! I'll go get them, they don't run far in weather like this, and if I head out after them now they wont get far"

"Don't be ridiculous! Its the wrath of Nevitus out there" Annabelle protested, "I will get them"

"Not on that leg you wont" Alex said, with as much authority as his soft features could possibly muster, which wasn't alot.

"I can manage" Casper said, going to stand himself, only to realize that he too was supposed to be suffering from injuries, and very well couldn't let up the ruse without outing himself. So instead he staggered slightly and then sat back down with a grunt.

"Its well and fine, I'm the only one in heavy cloak and I'm very familiar with horses, I will be quite alright. You two stay here" Alex said, pointing firmly to the ground, and then without another word made his way out of the tent and into the storm.

"Brave boy" Annabelle noted with a low whistle as the sounds of heavy footfall disappeared in the same direction the sound of the horses went.

"Determined, more like" Casper admitted. "The first night we traveled together I left him in the morning because he had slept in"

"He must be looking to prove he's not a liability then" Annabelle correctly deduced.

"I would assume that's correct. Alex of course has been a big help in cooking, and that alone is worth the company, though I suppose he still feels bad about that morning"

Annabelle nodded. Looking over to Casper after a brief pause. "What about you then? A story to pass the time?"

Casper dismissed her with a wave of his hand "it wouldn't be fair to tell a story without Alex, he does quite enjoy them after all."

"Ah, nonsense, I'm sure you have more than one you're willing to tell" Annabelle teased.

"I'm sure there is…" Casper swallowed. In truth, Casper had more than enough stories to pass several months of travel, though they would mostly out him as a child of the star. However this wasn't the primary reason he was having a difficult time conjuring up a tale for which he could use to pass idle time, instead the reason was much simpler than that

Casper found himself to be having quite the difficult time focusing on anything that wasn't Annabelle's very close, very warm body. After she had fallen and Casper had grabbed her, for no other reason than to prevent her from rolling out into the rain, she hadn't moved from the new position, which had her leg resting against his. Her body leaned in closer than before, enough for Casper to see the wet cloths clinging to her skin, see the details of her body under the now slightly transparent fabric.

"Well then, lets hear one. Surely a bandit woman doesn't have more tales of adventure than the mysterious lone traveler who nearly single handedly took down a hunter" she leaned in closer, teasing him. Casper knew it was for a story. The logic center of his brain was telling him he was misreading her intent dramatically, however the primal part of his brain told him to look down at her incredible tits that where now being pressed together by arm arms as she leaned in.

"For someone who doesn't know much about Hunters you sure knew how to kill one, where did you learn a skill like that?" she pressed.

Of course this brute cared only for details about killing things, is what Casper told himself. Which was a bit rude but being rude was the only way to get his mind out of the currently very dangerous place it was in.

"Fine fine" Casper let out a breath and held up his hands in an attempt to get her to back away from him. And much to his equal dismay and relief, she did.

"My father was an adventurer" he started, and then quickly stopped.

Shit, Casper had just slipped. He was supposed to be some no name from the middle of nowhere important. Dropping the fact this his father was an adventurer would -

"An adventurer?!" Annabelle exclaimed "who was he?"

Just as Casper had feared. Of course this battle loving bandit would be interested in, and familiar with the adventurers in the area. And he father wasn't some nobody, his name carried weight, and in this moment that was a very bad thing. Casper's mind raced with options for lies, though he didn't think that creating a name would work. This woman likely knew every adventurer there was, which may be presumptuous, but it was best to be cautions and assume she knew most if not all of them.

"Ah, sorry, I misspoke" Casper tried desperately, it was a weak attempted but it would be better to backpedal and claim it as an honest mistake than to dig a deep lie that would have been impossible to get out of.

"He was more of a wandering traveler, he didn't do much other than move from place to place" Casper clarified. It seemed that Annabelle had bought the correction, and was even disappointed that his father wasn't someone important.

"He traveled from the city to the outskirts of the kingdom when he had me, as raising a child in the city was too dangerous and he had always enjoyed the more quiet life of the countryside. Well, my father was a wealth of knowledge from his years of travel and imparted alot of that onto me." Casper went on

"From a very young age I was trained to use a weapon and defend myself, as there were many dangers on the road." Annabelle nodded along, seemingly agreeing both with the sentiment that the road was dangerous and an agreement with his fathers alleged system of raising him. Which wasn't entirely a lie.

"We had to hunt for our food so of course I was taught the basics, but I was also taught the more basic principals of anatomy. With such a large number of monsters and beasts in the world it would be impossible to learn the details of all of them. So instead I learned about the very foundation of life and how to take it"

Casper winced, what he had just said was profoundly juvenile, like a boy trying to sound cool in front of his friends. He ventured a glance up to Annabelle, who didn't seem phased at all by this blatantly edgy remark and instead was infatuated with the principals of the concept much to Casper's relief.

"Once the principals were broken down into easy to understand and applied concepts it made dealing with all manner of monsters and beasts much easier. If you know that a non-magic flying creature is likely to have very weak bone structure then you know to strike them with blunted objects. If you know a carnivorous predator likes to chase down its prey in short bursts then the optimal strategy for counter attack is to use superior endurance."

Casper provided some examples, going into the details of how he had taken down a large griffon by using a nearby forest and climbing trees to out maneuver it in a tight space so it couldn't fly.

Despite Casper's pivot to the talk of murder and hunting as a desperate bit to rid himself of the feelings forcibly placed upon him by the proximity of Annabelle's body, he instead found that it was Annabelle who seemed perhaps a little too interested in the talk of combat now. As she had once again leaned in close to him. Hanging on his words with a look in her eye that made Casper just a little nervous

"You father was a wise man, and he did well to teach you those things. To think you have slain not only a hunter, but also a griffon and likely many others. I am truly honored to be traveling with you. I know no one better to have ownership over my life" she smiled wide, a feverish, dangerous smile that made Casper second guess his choice of story, as she leaned in closer.

Casper had to steel himself as he felt her chest against his leg as she leaned in, as her warm breath mingled with the air between them, the shift of the muscles in her arm as it clenched the fabric of the tent.

"I can't wait to fight something incredible with you!" she exclaimed.

Relief washed over Casper. It was of course his own, touch starved mind playing tricks on him yet again. This woman was only interested in the thought of getting into another bloody fight. Casper sighed with a smile "it should be fun" he let out an embarrassed laugh.

The tent swung open. As Alex returned "they are all back…". His eyebrow raised slightly at the sight of Annabelle nearly leaning all the way over and into Casper's space. Though before Casper could explain that nothing was happening-

"He slayed a griffon!" Annabelle exclaimed excitedly, removing herself from her leaning position over Casper and turning now to Alex, though her excitement stopped as she looked from toe to head and the thoroughly soaked through Alex.

"Take those cloths off before you get yourself sick" Annabelle half demanded.

"I can't do that! Not with you two here…" Alex said bashfully, pulling his arms around his middle section in an attempt to warm himself up. Annabelle was right, Alex was soaked through from head to toe. It would appear that the cloak only did so much for the mix of heavy rain and violent wind.

Casper recalled Alex's look when Annabelle had told him, that Alex was the one responsible for placing him in the new cloths the night he was injured, and figured that this boys sheltered lifestyle had left him feeling more embarrassed about bodily exposure than most.

"Then you would send us out into the rain for you to change?" Annabelle asked.

"You-you're a ….. woman! I can't change in front of you!" Alex said, his face turning even more red

"I don't mean to pressure you" Casper chimed in "especially after you went through all the effort of retrieving the horses for us. But if you're to be our caretaker until we are well enough to move under our own weight then having you sick would only make things much harder, not to mention add more time to our already delayed journey.

Alex couldn't seem to handle it. His race was so red it gave Casper second hand embarrassment. His fingers played with the fabric of his cloak and his legs worked uncomfortably under the weight of the soaked clothing.

Casper took the queue then and began to stand. "Its no matter, we should return to our tents as it were anyway, its late"

"Sorry" Alex muttered under his breath.

"No, I apologize for not realizing sooner that it would make you uncomfortable, I didn't mean to."

Annabelle seemed more than a little confused, but taking Casper's queue didn't protest further.

Casper and Annabelle both left, entering briefly into the rain to then return to their own tents after a few passive exchanges of "goodnights"