And another chapter, because why not?

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I let my eyes wander across the countryside as I walked along the meandering country paths, across the border to the kingdom of Lun. This area’s infrastructure had never been properly developed after all; there had never been any trade relations between the two kingdoms due to their differing beliefs, and despite what one might expect, there was also next to no military stationed in these parts.

Since a long time ago the two kingdoms shared this hazy border and completely ignored one another; Lun was always a more peaceful nation whereas the kingdom of Sol wouldn’t make any moves without completely superior military forces, capable of crushing its opponents. To be honest, I don’t really agree with this peace; the lack of effort to convert the respective kingdoms to one another’s religions simply showed how lacking the church and kingdom leaders’ faiths were.

I looked over to my new companion and unhappily noted that she was hiding her face under the grey cloak that she’d retrieved after we’d finished our little talk. The conversation had been a long and philosophical one, and by the end her fears appeared to be somewhat alleviated, although the impact that her ‘education’ had had on her couldn’t be so easily erased. She appeared tense and uncomfortable; a good way to describe it would be that she seemed paranoid, as though her heretic god would suddenly appear and smite her. Hehehe… seeing this little killer so afraid can only be called an adorable sight.

I did most of the talking in the end. Silk over there is quite the quiet one. Compared to the little screeching owl, she’s a more pleasurable conversation partner. Her silence reminds me of how Serenity was back in the beginning. Those were the good old days, but just because serenity has changed doesn’t mean I’ll abandon our friendship! She’d likely be devastated to lose my company.

I’d attempted to gain a little more information about the heroes’ kidnapping from Silk, but unfortunately, it would appear that her knowledge on the topic was limited. From what I’d garnered, Silk was only ever given orders; no explanations had been provided or information on the plan thereafter. Although this was quite frustrating, it was nice to see how co-operative my new companion was being.

Silk, as far as I can tell, is akin to a sheep which will blindly follow the herd and do as it’s told. Although not an especially healthy mind-set, it is quite endearing. We were at present, half way to our destination, the northernmost city of Lun. My knowledge of the kingdom wasn’t especially good, and Silk wasn’t exactly a well of information either, so we were just heading in its general direction, according to what Silk could remember from her journey.

I looked over to her, and saw the picture of a young girl taking in the sights, staring at every little thing that drew some of her attention, as though she were afraid it would all disappear in but a moment. Her dull, grey eyes sparkled with a bit more life than I had originally seen in them. She noticed my gaze, and briefly met it before turning away, shifting uncomfortably. She had a complex about her appearance. It isn’t something I can say that I particularly understand; the story of abuse and torture that her scars told was beautiful. She shouldn’t hide it away like that. But, I suppose not everyone has the same tastes…

I felt a sharp pain from my ear as Serenity dug her tiny beak into my flesh. Damn bird. She hadn’t given any opinion on the new addition; she briefly saw the girl’s suffering and had let the topic, of her joining us, rest. The tiny owl looked over, showing concern. Every time Silk so much as showed any indication of discomfort, Serenity would immediately attack my ear. It is an unfair world. We don’t know for certain whether it is definitely my constant glances and borderline creepy staring which is making Silk uncomfortable. It's simply an assumption she made. Where is the evidence?!

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We finally made it! After almost a week of travelling, where I was the main propagator of any and all conversations in this little group of ours, we were now stood in front of Lun’s northernmost city. Like most cities around these days, it had had a solid wall surrounding it. It was a strangely smooth wall, as though it was all one slab, which had conveniently shaped as such. I wonder how they did that. These crazy heretics and their weird architecture.

“This is definitely it. The sounds and smells are the same.” Said Silk, opening her mouth of her own volition for the first time in days.

“Fantastic. Shall we enter?” I asked. I was a little bit happy that Silk spoke to me. I could feel our bond strengthening; she’d even gotten used to the staring. It was quite a soothing experience for me to simply gaze upon her scars; it even dampened my urge for a good heretic burning. But only a little. At the very least, it was convenient for long journeys with heretics few and far between.

She nodded in agreement to my proposition, her face lacking any significant expressions. It was part of her charm, but it was a bit of a barrier to communication. There is only so much you can understand from body language alone.

We walked in line with the rest of the travellers, all of them filthy heretics. Whoops! Can’t go showing any enmity towards these fellows, this is a covert operation! But, I must say, it truly is odd to see the races intermingling so freely… There’s and elf over there, some demi-humans over there, and what’s that I see? In the name of Sol! It’s actually a demon, walking about freely and without any sort of restraint?!

The cultural shock was almost too much. We had only been in this backwards country for a week at most, and I was already seeing such peculiar practices. Of course, Silk wasn’t too familiar with any sights whatsoever, and was simply watching everything curiously, from under her hood. Once again, that little complex of hers. She shouldn’t be ashamed of her appearance… But, then again, it’s like she’s my own, private piece of art to behold whenever I wish… I’ll leave her be.

We approached the large, iron gate and were soon halted by a 2 fellows, who from their appearances were guarding the place. They wore chainmail and strangely pointy helmets… Do they stab people with those things?

“Identification.” droned the guard, clearly unenthusiastic about his job. The other appeared somewhat simple, having a staring competition with Serenity. Don’t these heretics know about passion?! Passion for your job! It’s what always keeps me going… Wait, I don’t have any identification.

“Sorry, we don’t have any…” I replied. The two guards looked at us strangely, and in response, I gave an awkward smile. Hopefully they take pity on us, and just let us in, otherwise we’ll have to sneak in. Wait… we should have just done that in the first place. I suppressed a sigh at my lack of foresight. With the powers I gained from Serenity, it would be a simple matter of gaining entry. Well, what’s done is done.

“You don’t have identification? Hmm… Well, you and your companion will have to pay a fee and go straight to the government office to get one. We’ll have Joe join you.” Said the first guard. I widened my eyes in surprise. It was so simple? I would’ve assumed these heretics would have their cities’ on tighter lockdown this close to the border.

At the mention of the so-called ‘Joe’, the fellow who had been focused on the battle of gazes with Serenity, refocused and turned his attention back to the people, and not to the owl. This dim fellow, was clearly Joe. I paid the fee and followed Joe into the city.

The city was diverse and bustling with activity. All the buildings were slightly unique in the way they were built and the materials that were used. It practically screamed multicultural at you. It was disgusting. These damn heretics need to learn about maintaining a good theme! All the houses and buildings should follow a similar style of design and be made of the same materials with only minor differences so that they were distinguishable between.

The variety was giving me a headache. On the other hand, Silk was looking around frantically, although I couldn’t tell whether she was uncomfortable or excited to be in such a place, due to the hood and whatnot.

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Eventually, Joe led us to an office where we ended up vaguely filling out a few forms, and receiving identification cards. It was a simple process, and one that was severely lacking in security, in my opinion.

The end of the day was quickly approaching, so I took the liberty of renting a room at an inn recommended by Joe, who had by this point once again gotten into a staring competition with Serenity. The inn had a very unique design with a peculiar, domed roof… it looked somewhat like a capsized boat, I suppose. What happened to good old, triangular, tiled roofs?

Of course, I only ended up renting one room, to save a bit of money; no need to needless waste on expenses. I could also cuddle Silk in my sleep. Her figure is quite petite, so it wouldn’t be a problem to fit on the bed. The idea of gently caressing those scars as I drift off into dreamland where all the nasty heretics are burning… Before that though, it was time for some information gathering.

I told Silk to head up to the room first. She seemed rather distressed at the idea of parting ways, but eventually complied when Serenity flew over and landed on her shoulder. This way she wouldn’t be alone for too long. I’m too soft on that adorable creature; she’s reliant on me, has an extremely malleable concept of the world and her body is, to put it simply, an artistic masterpiece.

I proceeded to walk to the innkeeper, in order to strike up a conversation. The fellow in charge of the inn was a large bear demi-human. I’d put him in his late forties, but he was still built like an ox… or should I say bear? I suppose it doesn’t matter. I strolled over casually, with a friendly smile dominating my face. The big bear fellow looked over, and sent me a frown. He was quite an unsociable fellow, but I’m sure I can get a few tidbits out of him.

“Hello innkeeper! I was wondering if I could ask you about the goings-on in the city these days.” I began, keeping my tone light and my expression approachable. Big bear squinted as he sized me up.

“Why?” he grumbled. No need to be so grumpy…

“Sorry to bother you, but I’m new to the area and thought it would be best to not stay clueless about current events.” I continued.

“I see. Nothing big has really happened.” He grumbled, curtly. He really isn’t very cooperative. Damn heretics don’t know about basic politeness?! What sort of barbaric society have I stumbled into?!

“Really nothing at all?” I asked again, smile twitching slightly as I pestered him for more information.

“I suppose there was that announcement by the government.” Mumbled the bear as the cogs in his brain started to slowly turn. We were finally beginning to get somewhere.

“Announcement?” I asked.

“Yeah, the one about those heroes.” He continued, his tone monotone and clearly uninterested in the conversation. For Sol’s sake, how much effort do I need to put in to get this damn bear to talk?!

“Remind me.” I said.

“You know, the one where we rescued them from that racist country to the North.” He grumbled. Racist country? You don’t even know the country’s name… They can’t mean the kingdom of Sol can they? No, our prejudices are completely justified by religion. These ignorant heretics. If they just took the time to read up on the scriptures of Sol, they would understand that humans are naturally meant to have higher status than other races.

“Where are the heroes now?” I asked.

“You know, this should be common knowledge by now” grumbled the bear, unhappily. Despite his displeasure, he continued to say, “the government said they’d be educated and train at the National Academy of Combat and Magic. My son goes there, you know.”

No I don’t know. But anyway, why would they train them in an academy? Isn’t it for more time efficient to throw them into danger and quickly increase their power?

“Why are they being trained there?” I asked.

“You know, they were forced to fight monsters without adequate training in the country to the North. They probably also weren’t aware of how terrible the country they were working for was. In the end, they’re still needed to fight the shadows, you know. So they’re receiving proper training.” Said the bear.

Well, certainly… Many of Sol’s citizens weren’t even aware of the extent to which the church was involved in the running on the kingdom. And, certainly we’ve done a few things here and there, which would have been deemed inhuman under normal circumstances. But it was all for the greater good and in the name of Sol!

Wait, what happened to Deane and Catherine?... oh, and Melissa? Whilst I was wondering about those three, my questions were surprisingly answered of the bear’s own accord.

“Not only the heroes. I heard they brought over some young talents who hadn’t been fully corrupted by that country. When they’re shown the wrongdoings of their birthplace, they’ll surely turn to the side of justice and equality.” Said the bear. His previous lack of enthusiasm had disappeared as he began to spout unrealistic nonsense about this so-called ‘equality’.

Well, in any case it would look as though I need to go to this academy and retrieve the heroes and company before their heads are filled with lies about equality and such. Next thing I know, they’ll be saying slavery is a bad thing or that heretics shouldn’t be burned alive. This Sol-forsaken country and its abnormal ideas…

“Well, thanks for the information. I’ll be turning in for the night.” I said, abruptly ending the conversation. I’ll find out the finer details later, but for now I don’t feel like speaking with this stupid bear and his ‘equality’.

I quickly headed to my room, eager to slip into bed and use my new relaxation device. I opened the door and was faced with a plain room with a bed covered in plain, white sheets, a bedside table and a single wooden chair. As I entered, Silk who was already under the covers became startled and looked over to me in confusion.

I ignored the little owl, who was glaring daggers at me from the bedside table, and kicked off my shoes before slipping into bed, next to Silk who had remained petrified the entire time. Her dull, grey eyes were opened wide as she stared in surprise at my actions. Every single muscle in her body was tense as I wrapped my arms around her and began to caress her scars. The soothing sensation of the smoothness of her skin, where the scars crisscrossed her body, enveloped me. It was truly delightful.

That familiar shivering came from her body, every time I made contact with her skin. Soon she began to wriggle slightly, making a half-hearted attempt to escape my grasp. Of course, I wasn’t willing to let such an enjoyable time end so quickly and simply strengthened my grip slightly. I could feel a loose smile lazily showing itself on my face.

Silk looked me in the eyes, her conflicted expression gradually disappearing as she reached up and began to trace the smile on my lips with her fingers. It was a bit weird, but since I was caressing her scars, I may as well allow her to do whatever. As she ran her light, ticklish touch over my lips, the facial muscles in her own face began to twitch as the corners of her mouth began to ever so slightly raise themselves.

The multiple wires running through her skin restricted her facial movements quite severely, and it was clearly showing from the resistance those lips met when they tried to rise. She looked to be somewhat pained as she forced her mouth into a smile. After a few moments of hard work, she eventually managed a half-formed, trembling smile. It was quite a peculiar smile, one which I personally had never displayed before; it had a strangely frightening aspect about it as the pain and strain on her face conflicted with the expression she was so desperately trying to display.

Smiling is good for you. I should know; I mean who would I be without a smile? She should try smiling more, even if it was a lot of hard work in her case. Time for old Cyne to offer up some encouragement.

“Your smile is lovely.” I said, keeping it simple. I’d found that she was rather weak against complements, and especially the more exaggerated and elaborate ones. Even this, in my opinion rather basic complement had caused her to show embarrassment and discomfort, but strangely enough the smile didn’t leave her face.

Slowly she began to relax, and made no attempt to escape. Instead she began to nestle herself closer to me as I began to drift off to sleep. That’s better… Now just to ignore that burning gaze of Serenity’s…