“Argh, great gobsmacker. Remindin’ me of the ol’ days already”, a dwarf walked out tattered from behind the trees, while clutching at his side.

“You lot still good, yeah?”, he brushed a bush out of his way.

There he witnessed the human and elf helping up the woman.

“I’m fine. Said I’m fine, let go of me!”

She struggled from their grasp, but almost stumbled to the ground. Standing firm, she arched her back straight, facing them.

“I appreciate the concern, but as I’ve already told you many times, the shield took the brunt of it”

She displayed the shield she still holsted in her embrace. It had a large dent in the middle of it, rendering it quite ineffective for any future use.

After being told off, Thaite turned his attention to the dwarf.

“Gal, man. Glad you’re safe, come here. I’ve something to discuss with you all”

“Ay? What is it?”

Thaite peered past the hole in the wall. He gazed off into the distance, where a trail of blood led further into the trees.

“Well… It’s about our future”

“Hm, what of it?”, Ferlein expressed, her ears perking up, taking interest.

“It’s about the big man”

“Our pack leader?”

“Pa- What? No. Fuck sake Fer, he’s not a leader. He’s not someone we should follow”

“Bu-”

“No buts, listen to me. Just before you say anything, listen to me”

“...”

“He’s bad, we all know it. He steals our autonomy and treats us as less than people. We shouldn’t tolerate his abuse, we have an out. We should take it. If we cup our ears, and tune out the commands he waivers, and just run. We can make it, all of us, a fresh start”, he looked over to Fer.

“A pack, if you will”.

Dromund looked at Thaite with interest, seeking into his eyes. But looking around at the troubled expressions of the woman and dwarf, he couldn’t help but pipe up.

“That guy… Is only a Steel rank. A-Against that beast? He won’t make it. It’s Light Silver, the gap is too huge, even for a noble. Besides, even with his gift… He was just using it on us as if he’s just learning about it, testing it. I-It should only be a low rank, probably Iron, at best Bronze. That’s not enough to defy the rank gap. There’s a good chance he dies here”

Seeing how the elf spoke the longest sentence he had while with him, all in support for his claims. Thaite couldn’t be happier, and grew a large smile, backing him up.

“Exactly my point, and if he dies? No bother to us, no master for us. We are free. So we should just leave him to his fa-”

“No. No, we’re a pack now already. And a pack should not ever leave another behind, no matter who they are. It’s… Not right. We don’t betray each other, that’s not what we do”

“Fer… You’ve the wrong idea. Don’t you see? He’s betrayed us already, he’s betrayed you. Or are you too blind to see it? He’s hurt you, he’s clearly a bad guy, yet why are you-?”

“It’s… No. My previous… Leader, did that stuff all the time. He did it to train me. I didn’t like it, I never did. So I see your point. But despite that, it was for the best. I would have never survived out here as long as I have, had I not endured that much. The pain… Is just a necessary step to survival”

“Tsk, you’re not trauma dumping your way out of this. You say we’re a pack right? Then let’s call a vote. As a pack. All those that say we leave the fucker behind, raise your hands”

He was the first to do so, Dromund following quickly in succession.

“No, that’s not how this works, only the leader gets to dec-”

“No. Those aren’t the rules this pack abides by. Not anymore”

Thaite glanced over at Galgael, but he still seemed to waiver with a tense expression.

“Man, why are you even hesitating?”

“Lad… I agree”

“Then that’s that, Fer-”

“I agree that the boy is troubled, but we kinda owe ‘im”

“What? No”

“Not only did he save us from a lifetime behind bars, or from collar and chain… He’s made his intentions clear from the get go. He’s given us work, and a chance to pay off our dues. And frankly, where I’ve come from, what I’ve seen. He ain’t nothin’ to all that. The lass ‘ere seems to get it, so I agree that we shouldn’t leave the lad behind”

“Old man Gal… You’re in over your head. Fer, please don’t be influenced by this”

“No”, he shook his head, “while I’d love to go off and resume my life, to my wife, I… Well what of our seals? Worse, what if he don’t die? What if he escapes, or by some strange merit, kills the blasted thing, what then? We ain’t gonna be safe in the city then, and we won’t last the trip anywhere else. I don’t even know where the bloody well we are”

“W-We’re in the forest of Keinsha, south of the city of Easthrer”

“It don’t blasted well matter where we are. Your callin’ this a democracy ay? Then it’s a tie”

“Knew you were a loyal one Gal”, Ferlein cheerfully punched him on the side.

“Ay… Not there, hurts still”

“That’s… No… No, no, damnit. Gal, that’s just straight… No!”

“Thaite, lad. Thank ya for worryin’ ‘bout us. But we’re gonna go risk it and help ‘em. If you two wanna escape, do it. I won’t tattle, I’ll ensure she don’t either. Go any direction after we leave, heck we’ll even say ya tried yer luck further in the forest, case ya head back to the city-”

“Man, fuck. Gal, Fer. No”, he sighs, “no… I’m not leaving you behind, not again”, he glanced at Ferlein with a sorrowful expression.

“You had to just before… It wasn’t your choice”, Ferlein retorted, trying to ease his mind.

“No, sorry. Not that, you just r- No, stupid!”, he slapped himself on the forehead.

“Aha, Forget it, sorry”, he chuckled after realizing the stares he received from his sudden embarrassing display.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Nevermind, if we’re going to go. Then go”, he started walking forward.

Ferlein glanced down, contemplating if her ideology was flawed. Something must be wrong if it could cause such drama between those she trusted. But she shook her head, and followed after Thaite, the dwarf sighing at the ordeal and followed as well. Yet Thaite suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Drom, coming?”

“I-”

“You’re not leaving by yourself buddy, are you?”

“No…”, he slowly caught up to them, but glanced at the trees.

They walked for a while, Ferlein stumbling once, but being caught by Thaite. They proceeded past the bloody trail that led further into the forest. The chirping of birds had been quiet for a while now, but slowly started making their presence known again.

After following the trail a while, the blood stopped, but they could still follow the trail of destruction that was left in its wake. Branches were sprawled, broken all along the forest floors and amongst some of its trees. Those trees had even been pushed to the side, others uprooted. In short, it was a chaotic mess. An unnatural devastation that the environment that wouldn’t soon recover from.

And in time they would encounter the body of the beast that caused such destruction, as well as the boy that sat before it, gazing at the sky while absorbed in the thoughts of his past.

But before that could happen, Dromund tapped on Thaite’s shoulder, and pointed at a tree.

…

I was a lowly boy then. A teenage punk that was too caught up in his own curiosities to be aware of the greater world around him. And it appears I still am. I only had one chance to grow past the trial that stunted my growth, the tribulation that fully consumed me whole.

That tribulation took the form of a boy. He was a fairly unassuming one at first glance, if you didn’t give credit to his hidden muscular physique. That boy's name was Leo.

Ding Dong, Dang Dong.

Vrrr-sssht.

A screen door closed shut.

“Okay class, this is your new transfer student I’ve told you was coming since last week. You all should have remembered his name. Be sure to behave around him, and show him the best treatment of this private institute”

A male teacher gestured for a boy to move from beside him. The boy in question stared back at the professor with his deep, piercing, hazel brown eyes. With a sigh, he turned his head and strolled down leisurely from the front of the class to an empty seat in the back. He sat next to a boy who was chewing on a pink candy.

Leo peered over at the boys desk, hidden under a pencil case was an opened packet of fads. But his curiosity did not go unnoticed as the boy glared back at him, sizing up his new neighbor. He briefly glanced over Leo’s uniquely gray hair, yet his attention readjusted as his eyes led him down to his arm, at some bruise markings revealed slightly, hidden from under his sleeve.

“Whatchu’ lookin’ at, huh? Want someone to protect you from daddies beatings, hey?”

Leo slowly trailed along with his classmates' gaze, pulling down his sleeves upon noticing the bruising on his arm. The teacher in this time peered down the bridge of their glasses, a handful of papers were placed on the desk before him.

“And don’t forget to listen attentively to your studies today, your exams are coming up soon. That means you, Dillan! I see what your eating”

The boy with the packet put his hands in the air, turning his attention to the teacher and swallowed the candy protruding from his mouth, whole. The gesture made the teacher crinkle their nose as he turned behind him to the whiteboard, muttering under his breath.

“Fucking delinquent”

It took half an hour before the homeroom class was finished, everyone quickly packing up to get to their next lesson for the day. The teacher was the first to go out of the class, just as he always was. But while some people headed straight out after him, most students hung around while chatting to each other.

And yet the majority seemed to move to the front of the class to have their discussions, sometimes peering at the new kid, which caused him to feel something in his chest. A proudness he couldn’t quite receive from his father.

But the feeling was short lived as most attention was placed on another student who sat in a chair behind his desk, at the front of the class. He was a tall lanky boy judging from his backside. However from the gazes of admiration the few students gave him, it seemed like there was something else to him. And this was only confirmed as a girl walked up to talk to him, but walked away moments later with a dejected look on her face.

Whatever new feeling he was developing didn’t mean much to him however, as he was easily distracted by a different girl who slowly made her way towards him. As she approached him, he couldn't help but feel his heart pulse as he examined her facial features. She was pretty, but more than that, she was just his type.

“So you’re the new kid?”, she spoke with a pleasant voice.

“I a-”

“Oh, Kiara. You want something from me?”, the delinquent known as Dillan stole the spotlight as he stood up quickly and tried to start up a conversation with her.

“Dillan… I hope you’ve been treating our newcomer kindly, speaking of. What's your name again?”

“Of course, luv. Why wouldn’t I?”, Dillan tried to answer her, but Leo’s clear voice overtook his.

“Mmm, it’s Leo. Kind of you to ask, but yes, the crude man here has been a pleasant accommodator to my first schooling experience”

“Oh”, she giggled

“Wait, so does that make you a homeschooler?”

Leo looked at her with a lofty smile, “suppose it does. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet, let me formally fix that”.

He pressed out his hand to her, to which she stared at for a second, a smile blooming on her own face as he stood up from his chair.

“Again, my names Leo, pleasure to meet you”

She shook his hand, snorting once from a contained laughter at his extravagance.

“Mines Kiara, I’m the student representative of this class, so if this knucklebrain here gives you any problems, please come to me”

“Hey”, Dillan grumbled, clearly annoyed at being the third wheel. An unused one at that.

But they both ignored him again, as she continued with her words.

“And um, the pleasures all mine”

But her smile faded as she gazed along his arm, at the bruises that were revealed while his sleeve shortened due to his outstretched arm.

“Oh heavens, where did you get that from?”

Leo didn’t need to glance down this time, acknowledging what was there.

“Don’t mind it”, he chuckled, waving away her concerns.

“I just tripped down the stairs this morning, I don’t normally need to wake up so early”

“Oh, thank goodness. Or not that, I’m sorry”, she flushed.

“Just that it’s good that it wasn’t something else. Here let me have a look at that”

She slowly grabbed at his arm, as if waiting for his consent. But while he didn’t say anything in response, he didn’t pull away either, so she took it as a sign and grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve.

“I have some foundation here if you’d like to take a seat. It should hide most of it, and calm the qualms of anyone you should meet today. Mother always said that first impressions are important”

“A mother, huh”, Leo's murmur trailed off as he gave a weary detached smile.

But he sat down as he was told, allowing her gentle touches to gracefully apply the brush laced with foundation, caressing the skin of his arm.

They continued to banter for a bit while most of the class left. It didn’t take long for the makeup to be applied and she left him to go get her belongings at the front of the class, but shortly after that she stopped by another person. The one all the girls were glancing at before. And as she proceeded to smile and giggle at him, Leo continued to stare at them for minutes until she trailed her hand on his desk and passed him by.

It didn’t take much longer than that before the student that received all the attention stood up, turning around to tuck his chair in and revealing to Leo of his handsome appearance. A new feeling seemed to bottle up inside him. And it was a feeling he didn’t like at all. It was a feeling his father seemed to remind him of every night when he’d come home after his homeschooling teacher went off to have a chat with him. It was a deep rooted feeling of insecurity.

“Oh, you feeling a little jelly, eh?”, Dillan’s voice piped out, causing Leo a little frown to emerge on his face.

“There’s rumors those two are going out, you know?”, he continued after feeling a little delighted that one of the people that ignored him throughout the last exchange was finally being influenced by him.

“What’s his name?”, Leo’s face turned a little dark.

“Hm, don’t be getting ideas, pal. That twats known as Silas. Met him in taekwondo once, but he quit after a month or so. Apparently that’s his thing, going around to different places. He’s kinda famous for that, lots of people know him. Fuckers not popular just for being a pretty boii”

Finally Leo turned his attention, staring deep into his eyes.

“You’re a delinquent right? You take pleasure in fights and violence?”

But he was only met with a short silence as Dillans face turned from a smirk to a grimace that matched Leo’s own.

“The fuck you call me?”

Yet Leo continued to ignore him, a grim smirk emerging on his face yet again.

“Hey, you want to make a quick couple of bucks?”

Yet Dillan seemed irritated by the deal for some reason, standing up from his chair as he puffed out his chest. Yet it appeared Leo was faster, as he reached inside his bag with swift precision.

“Listen fucker, I ain’t ab-”

Bam!

And that was all it took.