Sunlight pierced his eyelids. The smell of freshly cooked food forced itself into Kenan’s nostril. His deep growl was enough for him to wake up. Sitting up took effort. His injuries flared in anger, and his muscles were more sore and tighter than the result from any workout. Nearly the entirety of his upper body was covered in bandages, head included. One arm was stuck in a makeshift stint, and a leg was heavily wrapped in cloth.

Currently he was in nothing more than a pair of simple trousers. He also resided in a tent, with a bed and dresser. Probably one of the bandits. It didn’t bother him too much. The sense of missing something almost caught on, but he saw the Black Blade leaning on the dresser. On it were the two tomes, the dagger, the small pouch, and the lion hair pin. Near the foot of the bed were his leathers and cloak. Someone had taken the liberty of cleaning them of blood and mud. Unfortunately they were still damaged. Wearable, but not perfect.

He gently set his feet on the ground. Still sitting, he felt his left arm be softly lifted for him. Dion had snuck underneath the crook of Kenan's limb, and then proceeded to lick his best friend's face. Noctis chuckled and scraped him behind the ear. Just like he always did.

Then he stood. Tried to stretch, but pain thought better of it. Put on some boots, grabbed his sword, and didn't bother with a shirt. When he opened the flap of the tent, the full brunt of the sun assaulted him. It took time for him to right his vision. He saw busy people, mainly guardsmen, shuffling about. Kenan didn’t know what they were doing, didn’t care, couldn’t. His nose guided his steps.

Multiple times did one of them stop and give him a form of respect. He didn’t see any of the captives yet. Eventually he got to a fire with a large pot over it. It smelled tantalizingly good. A bit to the side of the fire were three dead chickens. Kenan shook his head and did a double take. Noctis and Dion looked at each other in confusion. [Those are my chickens!]

He shrugged. It didn’t matter if Roshu revived with his full power. Kenan was going to eat at least one whole chicken. While he did feel bad for the captives and their starvation, he felt worse for his own. [And there my goddamn chickens!]

No other than Lucy was tending to the pot. Sitting around were all the survivors. Each with a large bowl in their hands. Slowly eating their fill. Soon, Kenan's sister saw him steadily approaching. “Kenan!” She exclaimed. Immediately she dropped her ladle and ran over to embrace.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow.” Noctis was crushed in a bear hug.

“Oh, you're fine.” Hands on hip. “Do you know how long you’ve been sleeping?! A full day! You left your poor sister without the details of all that's happened to you and your new cool, angel of death look. Also…”

A cough from behind stopped her. She turned and Kenan looked over her shoulder to see all of the captives standing. “Oh sorry. Forgot.” She faced her brother again and then walked behind him.

“What’s happening?” Kenan whispered

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“They want to thank their hero.” She said. Then one by one, they came up. Shook his hand or hugged him. All of them were young. Some young adults, others kids not even reaching the age of ten. The last person was a child, about seven. With hair just past his eyes and baggy clothing. The kid walked up with his head down.

“Mr. Noctis.” He said weakly. Suddenly the kid looked up. Green eyes with tears flowing down his cheeks. “What happened to my parents?”

Wide eyed, Noctis glanced back at Lucy. Who nodded. Then he looked at the other captives. Tears in their eyes too. Understanding came. They were just like him. Each had parents sacrifice their lives for their children's sake. He kneeled, and became eye level. Then brought the kid for a hug. Noctis faintly felt sobbing in his shoulder. Pain pulsed from his irritated muscles, a minor thing compared to this child's sadness. After a few moments he separated from the embrace. Still kneeling, he pointed to the kids chest.

“They are here. Where forever they will be. They are the wind in your hair.” As if by magic, an invisible force ruffled the child's hair. Noctis saw a man casting behind the kids back. “They are in your shadow and rain that lands on your nose. Wherever you are, they are right behind you. Guiding your hand in whatever you do.” He heard a sniff behind himself, and more behind the kid.

“Mr. Noctis?”

“Go ahead.”

“Will you keep the bad people away?”

“Always. They’ll never touch you again. I promise.” Kenan finally stood. His eyes shifted to the group. “If I draw breath, no monsters will hurt you again." He then proceeded to meet the eyes of every individual. “My life is my word.”

After a time, they all sat down. Returning to their food and delving back into their thoughts. Kenan turned to Lucy. "When did you get so… mythical? Can we talk about what's happened to you?"

"No." Hands went back on the hips. "I'm starving, I have things to tend to, and there'll be plenty of time on the road."

"But…"

"Are you going to eat Sean or Gregory the Third?"

"What!?"

"Those dead chickens. They're our, or were our chickens. You don't remember them" Kenan said.

Lucy cocked her head. "Oh my gods! Those are our chickens!" She looked momentarily mortified. Then shrugged it off. "No. We accidently butchered too many. Our freaking chickens! Wait, why?"

“Can I eat them?”

"Yeah, but…"

Kenan stopped listening. In a split second, rapid mental communication happened between him, and Dion at his heels. The wolf pup blurred as he activated his speed. Suddenly two of the chickens disappeared. Dion hit the brakes with his two front paws and released the two chickens from his maw into the air.

Kenan let the Black Blades sheath fall to the ground. With one hand he proceeded to cut off the feet, and head of both of the chickens. In a feat of dexterity and swordsmanship, gutted then mid air. As the chicken corpses reached the zenith of their arc. Noctis held out his blade, and on its point formed a ball of heat. Once they started to fall. A cylinder of flame sprouted from the blade. Blasting the chickens with so much force it made all the feathers fly off. He didn't stop the sprout of flame until all the meat was cooked.

Kenan shoved the blade into his sister's grasp. "Sheath that for me." Then caught the burnt bird with one hand. Dion caught the other one. In a daze he sat next to the captives.

"Do you need a knife…" one began to tentatively ask. Noctis didn't answer as he just started eating the thing with hands and teeth. Dion followed suit of course. No more than a few moments later All of the meat of the chickens vanished, bones cracked and marrow slurped. Kenan burped.

"I'm still hungry."