Marshall looks down at the young face peeking around the edge of the door with a heavy sigh, but also with a slight lightening of his heart. If such was guarding the door than it couldn't be all that bad. He didn't hear anything from beyond the open door either, though he did see streaks of ash on the boy's face, and the faint red cheeks meant something had happened. Tilting his head to the sky he figured that many would have a similar story after today. Hopefully, they wouldn't realize it was Pyra, if she had truly summoned such a storm of death.
"You are right kid. I am a friend of Pyra though." His voice a little raspy after the long hike through the town in the oddly cold day. The door narrows and the little boy's eyes follow suit.
"Who is Pyra?" His voice confused and suspicious. Marshall thought for a second since Pyra would have introduced herself to anyone she was staying with. There were many possible answers to the question, but playing it by ear had helped so far.
"She is my Lady, and I have been trying to find her," Trying to sound even and calm, "My bond to her lead me to this place so that I could protect her." Most kids had a pretty mystical view of the world and the System that they wouldn't get access to until they came of age. Even Humans got the System though a bit later compared to the Beastkin. And, by the way the kid's eyes went wide and the door opened more it was a good call.
"You are a Knight?" He asks with a tone of awe, and Marshall stopped himself from rolling his eyes. It wasn't the time to be exasperated by innocence, though a Knight class was pretty prestigious and Marshall would be lying to himself if he didn't acknowledge that he had wanted to be one. His mind flashing back to only a few hours ago when he wondered about the Imperial Guard class he had been drooling about.
"Not the class but working on it, though I would like to know if Lady Pyra is alright. She is pretty easy to notice with her two colored eyes and green hair." The boy starts at the mention of the green hair, "I see that you have seen my Lady then." He muses while the boy drops his head in defeat. The door swings wide to let him inside, and the entry brings back some memories of the Holding and the quarters there. Giving himself a quick, mental shake he enters with the boy closing the door behind him.
"Now before we go further, I should ask your name lad." Marshall says, turning to look at the boy, who stiffens but doesn't turn.
"Donald..." He says quietly, and Marshall can almost smell the sadness from the small frame. It's almost certain that he lost his mother to the ash, which makes his reason for helping Pyra a way to divert thinking about what happened. 'He is acting like a guard...' Marshall thinks to himself, 'At least the ideal of a guard, perhaps his mother or father was one. Which means this might be the low income family barracks or something.'
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"Alright, Donald, let's go see Lady Pyra." He says to the boy in a clear tone. Hoping that it will pull the boy away from his thoughts. Likely the kid will go through various phases in the next few days, and Marshall felt bad about the source. Just what had happened to cause all of this? He had expected a column of flames or a few dead guards, but the ash and snow had covered the whole city. And, it didn't seem to affect everything the same way. Like the stone was pitted in some places and others had strong metal, but sometimes the opposite was true. It was more like a story he had heard in the past about curses or wild magic of the Wyrian. His thoughts churned as they walked through the various halls and upstairs to a room on the third floor. The boy carefully opened the door before gesturing Marshall to enter.
"Here is the Lady Pyra." He says with a grand gesture to a bed in the corner with a person sleeping beneath a wool blanket. Marshall could never understand people liking those things, but he guessed that during the winter it would be a warm comfort if you didn't already have fur. The mess of green, textured hair was as good as being shown a status screen to Marshall. In fact the whole vison of her sprawled out slightly under the blanket helped him shake off the lingering worry about her. He had come to terms with the fact that she was pretty, but he didn't love her or want to pursue anything. In fact she annoyed him to no end during their trip, but both his oath and his personality didn't want to see her hurt.
"Well it look like she has been in good hands. How long has she been sleeping?" He asks in a low voice, not wanting to get too close in case she woke up. Likely she would not react well to being disturbed, which is why it was very easy for him to see her as a noble. They were naturally like that and at least she wasn't too mean about it. Just in case, though, he took a mental picture of the scene to remember later. Teasing was not something he could get away with, but it would keep his spirits up to remember that even she drooled in her sleep.
"I only managed to get her home a few hours ago, Sir." The boy responds, an inflection of a military report to his voice, "I found her just as the storm started, and she had fallen on the street. I was afraid she had been touched by the ash...." Trailing off near the end, the light flickered in his eyes as if recalling a painful memory. Marshall had an idea of what happened, but decided to keep from asking too much about what happened. 'The boy needs structure and distraction right now.' He chides himself internally.
"Very good, then she will likely be up soon. My Lady rarely sleeps for long, even after something as traumatic as this storm," He gives the boy a sharp nod of his head, "Thank you for watching her so far, might I trouble you to let me stay here until she wakes?" The boy seems to relax a bit, perhaps worrying that Marshall was going to just take her away, like a villain in a story would do after tricking the hero. It probably would have passed through his mind too if he was in the same situation.
"I have to go watch the door," The boy says after nodding, "That was my job today, mother will probably be home soon..." He trails off again, and Marshall connected that it must have been his father that had been hit by the ash. He silently prays that the boy's mother didn't and manages to make it back. Preferable after he and Pyra leaves the town. His original idea of stocking up on supplies, and maybe managing to get a wagon and a horse seems like a pipe dream after the events here. He should have been smarter about it all, and Pyra began to stir.