The walk for the rest of the day was relatively quiet. Kenshin just kept sending wave after wave of smugness at him. Fucking prick. They rested every few hours, not saying anything to each other, and then continuing on their way.

They all stopped as the sun began to set. The wind was starting to get a bit of a chill to it. It was nice after the packed heat of the city and summer. Autumn was well on its way. The wench shivered in the breeze.

“Are you cold?” The Warden—William he’d learned—asked, concern lacing his voice.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t get cold,” she lied. She wasn’t good at that. She was trembling like a leaf.

William removed a large cloak from his bag and placed it over her shoulders. Renault couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“The armor will keep me warm, I don’t need the cloak.” William said.

Renault frowned and scoffed. Like hell the armor would keep him warm, not unless all that bulk was padding, and then he’d sweat death in the summer. Not to mention the way he moved was far too fluent for there to be much padding there.

“He’s being honorable. You should have offered a coat to the young lady,” Kenshin said.

“Oh, shut it. She said she wasn’t cold. Isn’t it more honorable to listen to the wench when she says something assuming she’s a liar and doing something she said she didn’t need?” Renault shot back in his head.

“Thank you,” she muttered and snuggled into the coat, drawing it across her body.

He shook his head. Fucking women. This was why he was more of a lofe them and leave them sort of guy. No strings meant no responsibility, no expectations, no chances of betrayal.

“I’ll take the first watch,” William said, looking to Renault.

“I’ll take second watch and the wench can take third,” he said. He sat down at the base of a tree and leaned against the trunk. He slipped his sheathed katana through the belt at his waist and placed them against his knee, one of his arms resting on it.

“Don’t call me wench. I have a name, fucking use it,” the wench growled, her golden eyes narrowing at him.

Renault snorted. “Calling you by name is a sign of respect. You got to earn that, you haven’t yet.”

She stared at him, a flicker of sparks at her fingertips. They quickly died down. Apparently, she did have a bit of control of her SPirit and her emotions. That was good.

She turned and set her bedroll up and crawled inside, using the cloak as a second blanket.

The night passed peacefully. It gave Renault time to get some mediation in. He sat cross-legged, his katana in his lap and his eyes shut.

Small flickers of life began to appear around him. Rabbits asleep in their burroughs, birds resting in their nests. The roaring rivers that were his two companions and then a small stream from a pair of foxes a few dozen feet away. The bats that took wing above them were small puddles, and the insects but small droplets. He knew where they all were, even without being able to see them.

“You’re getting better. It doesn’t take you nearly as long anymore.” A hint of approval and pride came from Kenshin.

It was one of the benefits of having his Spirit. It didn’t just help with his swordsmanship, but it also allowed him to sense the chi of living creatures in the area. It was useful.

“Soon, we will be able to get you to expand your radius so you can sense further.”

Renault nodded. Right now he had a rather small radius of around one hundred feet. It would be useful in a fight if he could use it then. He had to concentrate far too much to actually make use of it. He’d be able to if the enemies didn’t know where they were and he didn’t know where they were, but in an active fight? It was useless.

“You will be able to use it as naturally as breathing. You just need to practice more.”

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Practice more. That’s what it always boiled down to, wasn’t it? Training. He was fucking sick of it. Would his training ever actually end? He sighed and tilted his head back against the tree, watching the wispy clouds meander by.

Waking the wench up wasn’t difficult; Renault just stood by the fire and yelled at her. He ignored her when she sat up and went to sleep.

He awoke to the sound of the other two speaking, and not being quiet about it. Fucking rude. He opened his eyes and glanced over at them.

“Why the fuck is everyone being so loud in the fucking morning?” he groused. He stood from his spot by the tree and slipped his sword back into his belt.

“We weren’t being loud, you’re just cranky,” Mina responded with a shrug.

“Right of course. It’s my fucking fault,” he grumbled and combed his fingers through his long, black hair and placed his hat on his head.

Packing up camp took no time at all.

“Did you hear that?” the wench asked after an hour of walking.

“Hear what?” William asked.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Renault added, glancing back at her with an arched brow.

“Seriously?” She turned in a circle, scanning the area. “It came from right next to me, asking for help.

Renault glanced at William and then back to the wench.

“I didn’t hear anything. You sure it wasn’t your Spirit?” he asked.

“My…Spirit?”

The confusion told him all he needed to know. “You haven’t Awoken your Spirit?”

“What? Of course I have.” Her brows furrowed. She held a hand up and a butterfly appeared on it, wings fluttering gently.

“No, that is an Active Spirit, not Awoken.” He shook his head and pulled his sword out, closing his eyes.

“What are you doing? Are you putting a show on for this girl?”

Kenshin materialized regardless of what he said.

She blinked and stared at the Spirit with wide eyes.

“This is Kenshin, he’s my Spirit.”

THe humanoid Spirit placed his fist on the palm of his other hand and gave a shallow bow.

The confusion on her face just grew. Her eyes darted to William. He nodded along and then a huge snake appeared. It surrounded the three of them twice, its large head resting on its body near the Warden.

It’s skin was made of minerals and its eyes of obsidian.

Both of the Spirits were translucent.

“This is Jormund. He is my Spirit.” the knight reached up and pat the serpent on the head. It nuzzled into his gauntleted hand.

“What? But…how? I don’t understand.” She looked between the two Spirits.

“Do you not know anything about Spirits?” Renault asked, shaking his head. He sheathed his sword and Kenshin remained.

“Of course I do! Maybe…not as much as I thought,” she muttered the last half.

He sighed. How had she not learned even this much as a child? That was basic education. Of course he’d have to teach her the most simple shite.

“Right, so first things first. There are four forms to Spirits. I’ll go over three since the fourth is so rare you’ll probably never actually see it.” Renault held up three fingers. “First is Dormant. This is before whoever they’ve chosen has their traumatic event.” He dropped a finger. “Second is Active. This is directly after the event and the person can now use their Spirit’s abilities.” Another finger went down. “Third is Awoken. They’re more powerful than their predecessor because they’re awake. This happens when you manage tof orm a connection with your Spirit and they come into their sentience and power.” He dropped his last finger.

“Okay…how do I Awaken my Spirit?” She ran her fingers threw her hair and chewed on her bottom lip.

“It varies, depending on the person. It’s usually something very personal and not a lot of people are willing to speak about it,” William told her.

Renault ran his hand over the hilt of his sword and smiled slightly.

“I’ve never even heard of this before. Why wouldn’t I have learned of this before now? I’ve been traveling around the country for damn near two years, and this is the first time I’ve encountered it.

He shrugged. “Could be a few reasons. People don’t typically advertise that they have an Awoken Spirit, despite how common it is. Granted, an Active one is much more likely to be seen than an Awoken one. Maybe you never payed attention, or quite frankly, never cared to notice.”

“The fuck do you mea–” She paused and scowled. “That’s besides the point. I would have realized if someone had a sentient Spirit.”

“You did not realize I was,” Kenshin’s smooth voice washed over them like an icy river.

“I would have realized…”

Renault arched a brow. “You saw him in the tavern and realized he was sentient then?”

“Well, I…” She stared at the ground and her shoulders slumped. “No…I didn’t.”

“Exactly.” Renault shook his head. “Your obliviousness is not only going to get yourself killed, I’m actually surprised it hasn’t yet, but could get us killed to. I rather like me hide, so you need to whip yourself into shape before something drastic happens.”

She glanced up at him and took a step back at the steel gaze he’d settle don her.

“I fight fine,” she growled.

“You do, Miss Mina, but extra help isn’t a bad idea, and more training never hurt anyone,” William piped up, Jormund fading from sight.

She fixed her gaze on Kenshin.

“Fine.”