Charles was a large man. He had been his whole life. He was about six foot four, with massive arms that were absolutely stacked from years upon years of manual labor. With his belly and the broadness of his shoulders, along with his large beard and constantly furrowed brow, he could almost be described as intimidating.

In addition, Charlie had never been too good with frights. There had been one time, many years ago, when his father had tried to scare him as he exited the bathroom. He'd taken a solid straight to the gut and had yakked his dinner up right then and there. His father had never tried again and had also built a habit of announcing himself before going around corners and through doors. Needless to say, it was never a good idea to scare Charles McKnight.

Heedless of anybody's expectations, Charlie twisted around at lightning speed, massive arm outstretched, and knuckles brandished. Charlie hadn't even managed to see the look on the man's face before he felt his huge fist crash into the random stranger's jaw. Charlie could tell something, though he wasn't sure what, was broken. He felt something crack in the man's jaw and watched in horror as specks of red and white hit the wall of the building next to them in the alley. A moment later, the man's face also hit the wall with a wet thud. Slowly, the man slid down the wall and slumped to the ground, motionless.

Charlie and Penny both stared in awe at the crumpled form of the man before looking at each other. Penny opened her mouth to speak, and for a moment, nothing came out. Then, she seemed to find herself. She pointed emphatically at the man on the ground and yelled at him.

"I thought you said you were some kind of crafter!"

"I am!" Charlie whisper-shouted at her.

"Then what was that?!"

"I don't fuckin know! Poor guy spooked me!"

"Would you have done that to me if I had 'spooked' you?!" Penny looked horrified, as if she were just realizing she was trapped in a cage with a starving tiger. She'd stopped pointing by now and was just looking between Charlie and the possibly dead man, running her hands through her afro of filth.

Charlie froze for a moment, thinking rapidly, before responding, utterly sure of himself.

"Nah. Woulda missed. You're too short."

"So you'd still swing?!"

"It's not my fault! I spook easy! Besides, you don't think I feel bad? Poor dude just came up to talk!"

Penny looked downright scandalized now.

"You feel bad?! That was the awesomest thing I've ever seen! And he's a Cultist!"

Charlie looked between Penny and the crumpled form of the apparent Cultist. Now that he was looking, the man did look cultish.

"I still don't know what that means."

Penny looked exasperated. She seemed like she was about to chastise him for a moment before stopping, catching herself before she did so. She looked pensive before responding uneasily.

"Actually," she said, "I dun really know either."

Charlie was about to chastise her for treating him like an idiot without knowing any more than he did, but she cut him off before he could.

"L-look. I do know for a fact," she brought a finger up to emphasize, "That they're dangerous, and there's a reward for anyone who turns them in in town. Which sounds like food to me?"

Charlie looked down at the man.

"So basically, regardless, this guy IS a dangerous criminal?"

Penny nodded emphatically. "Yes."

"And he's got a bounty on him?

Penny looked a little confused this time before responding. "Money."

Charlie looked down and let out a sigh. It really had been an unfair encounter. The guy was tiny. Charlie had to have had, like, 150 pounds on the guy, and he'd been caught off-guard. Welp. Charlie supposed they did need money. But this would also mean they absolutely had to get to town tonight. He looked at Penny, who seemed to be bursting at the seams with excitement. He sighed again.

"Alright," Charlie announced, "We're gonna have to sneak around the bluback thing, though. Got any ideas how?"

Penny froze cold in her excitement. She looked like someone had splashed a bucket of ice water on her.

"Oh, yeah."

As Penny began pacing back and forth, Charlie reached down and picked up the Cultist. He was right in his assessment; the man was damn light and thin as a rail. His face was currently a bloody mess. It didn't look like it was much better off before. Charlie winced a little as he saw the man's missing teeth. He wasn't sure exactly how many of them had been because of him. Overall, the guy was in poor condition. His robes, however, were stunning. Soft to the touch but solid enough as fabric. They were a deep blue. Charlie looked down at Penny's ragged apparel. He cringed as he realized what he was about to do.

Charlie watched Penny as he de-robed the man. She was pacing furiously, and he could tell she had done that thing that made her eye red again. He was gonna let her do her thing, but he was curious. So he asked.

"What does that do? That thing where you turn your eye red?"

She stopped pacing and looked at him with her good eye. She seemed to be considering whether or not she would tell him. She shrugged and seemingly came to some sort of decision.

"It tells me what's safe to do and what isn't. Or at least, it used to. Since I met you, It changed what it does. Now, it just shows me where it's dangerous to be."

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Charlie digested this for a moment before coming up with an idea.

"Let's go back to the bridge."

Penny looked at him like he was stupid. Again. It was getting old. She was about to retort in some way when Charlie cut her off.

"Trust me, Penny. I've got an idea."

Penny looked up at him.

"I never agreed to that name."

"Any others you wanna try out, Yorlunda?"

Penny scrunched her nose and punched Charlie in the leg before turning around and walking back towards the bridge. She called out over her shoulder.

"Guess I'm named after some old lady now."

Charlie hoisted the de-robed and very unconscious man over his left shoulder and the guy's robe over his other. He smiled to himself as he walked to catch up with Penny. Her ears were bright red, and she walked with some pep in her step.

----------------------------------------

Charlie looked out at the creature. Yep, he thought, still there. Penny looked up at him with a questioning stare. He whispered down at her.

"I'm going to pick you up and place you on my shoulder. Tell me what you see."

Penny looked alarmed, but Charlie didn't give her the chance to respond. He reached down and scooped her up, placing her squarely on his shoulder. The shoulder with the robe. She let out a tiny peep as he did, but he ignored it. She slapped him in the head a few times, and he ignored that, too.

"Alright," he whispered, "You see anything?"

Penny went still for a moment before whispering back. She sounded confused.

"J-just the bridge and bluback is dangerous. I don't understand."

"You're above the water level on either side of the bridge. Your ability only accounts for your danger, not mine. If you are safe up there, it means I can walk through the water, and you'll be fine."

Penny understood what that meant a moment too late. She stiffened as Charlie began slowly walking towards the edge of the river. She pulled his hair and tried everything she could to try and get him to turn around, but it was all in vain. Charlie was sure this would work. And so, he continued walking. He ran into no issue as he approached the water's edge. They were only about thirty feet from the bluback now and could hear it snoring away. It growled in its sleep, and Charlie could've sworn he felt Penny's soul leave her body, but she sat firm.

Gently, with his eyes on the beast, Charlie dipped one foot into the water. He tensed as he heard the water trickle around his foot. He stared at the beast, but it didn't move. He continued. He could hear Penny's breathing speeding up and her grip on his hair tightening. Clearly, this was some sort of fear of hers. But she'd be fine. He'd make sure of it.

He was about a quarter across the river now, and the water went up to his waist. As he continued deeper, he felt something give beneath his foot, and he felt himself sink very deep very quickly. He barely kept his balance as the water came up to his chest. Penny let out a little yelp, and, for a moment, Charlie thought they were dead. He stopped and listened. Sure enough, it sounded like the beast had remained asleep. Charlie and Penny both let out a sigh. He continued walking. He was in the middle now, and the water went above his mouth and below his nose. It was now, upon feeling his other shoulder begin to jerk, that he realized he was drowning a man. As quickly as he could, he started rushing to the other side. The man was thrashing now, and Charlie heard the bluback on the other shore snort. Shit, he thought.

He was about out the other side of the river when he heard the man start sputtering and coughing, clearly groggy but waking up and confused. He didn't know what to do, so he tried to move faster. After a few steps, he felt his boot get caught on something and tripped, losing the boot in the process. This was when, of course, he heard both Penny and the cultist gasp and something on the other shore roar. Charlie began to run, leaving his boot behind.

He was entirely out of the river now, hobbling for his dear life. There were lights up ahead, just down the road. He heard the man on his back begin to speak, coughing as he did.

"What in the name of Daromir is going on?!"

He then heard a healthy whack followed by an angry Penny.

"SHUT UP!"

WHACK

"THIS"

WHACK

"IS"

WHACK

"ALL"

WHACK

"YOUR"

WHACK

"FAULT"

WHACK WHACK

Charlie couldn't help but laugh as he hobbled as fast as he could down the road. Then he heard an answering roar and a splash and stopped laughing.

"S-stop it! Who are you?! What is going on?!" The Cultist couldn't seem to remember their encounter. He flailed about momentarily when his voice seemed to fill with anger.

"And where is my Memorandum? What did you do with it?!"

Penny laughed like a hyena before responding. It was very obviously fake but serviceable. Wait, Charlie thought, Why is she antagonizing him?

"I took it! And you'll never get it back!"

The Cultist's voice went lower now, as if the man was trying to be intimidating. It was not serviceable.

"You will give it back, girl, or you will pay." The man was trying really hard to be intimidating, but Charlie could tell he was talking out of his ass. He felt the man shift and could also tell the man was reaching for Penny. He punched him in the thigh, right between the muscles. The man yelped like a kicked dog. This was followed with, of course, a

WHACK

"You fool! You cannot defeat me in the temple of my power!" Penny yelled. Charlie did not know where she had found this confidence all of a sudden. Then, a splash sounded, followed by another deafening roar, one that Charlie felt in his soul. Penny then lost her confidence. Charlie pushed himself to run faster as he felt the people on both of his shoulders scream like little girls. He then felt as both of them began pulling at his shirt and hair. They both started screaming at him as he heard something akin to a train chugging behind him. He, meanwhile, was puffing. Jesus, he thought, I gotta start some kinda cardio routine if I survive.

"RUN FASTER, DAMN YOU FOOL!"

WHACK

"SHUT UP! RUN POPS!"

WHACK

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Charlie asked. That was the first one she'd aimed at him.

WHACK

"STRESS RELIEF."

The lights were close now, but so was the bluback. Charlie hobbled as fast as he could, but the damn thing was faster. We aren't going to make it, he thought. Just as he was beginning to lose hope, he felt a whoosh of wind, and the noise behind him vanished. He continued running.