Charlie kept running and running, not slowing down for anything. Even after the noises stopped and it was clear that he was no longer in danger, he ran. Even as he heard Penny's voice ringing in his ear, he ran. And even as he felt the cultist squirm to get away from him, he ran. He couldn't help it, for in front of him, he saw it. Heaven. At the entrance to civilization, he saw piles and piles of trash. And mixed in with that trash? Metal. He saw it all over: ample piles of scrapped, rusted metal. It was precisely what he needed to achieve his dreams. It was so glorious he felt his sight tunnel vision onto the scrap and his breathing stutter. He was so close. He could feel himself reaching nirvana. Just a few more steps and-

WHACK

"DON'T PASS OUT!"

WHACK

"WE'RE NOT IN DANGER!"

WHACK WHACK

"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THIS CREEP!"

WHACK WHACK WHACK

"Please?"

Charlie fell to his knees, pulling in great, bellowing breaths. He felt Penny manage to hop down from his shoulder and the cultist squirm down from the other. As they did, he fell to his palms, great heaves pulsing through his chest. Nothing came up, of course, but it was still painful. Once they finished, he fell to his side and rolled over onto his back, looking up at the night sky. It was beautiful.

As he breathed, trying to calm his aching chest, he felt another rush of wind followed by a squeal from Penny. Immediately, he tried to lift himself up but found himself attacked by a great fit of coughing, racking his entire body. He tried to look around but saw nothing. He called out between his breaths.

"P-Penny? You" -cough- "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just got spooked by," Charlie could tell she was motioning with her hands somehow. "This guy."

Charlie turned his head towards Penny's voice. Sure enough, she was motioning towards some random guy who was currently holding a very angry and flighty cultist in a one-armed headlock.

"Hello!" the man called. He waved emphatically with his other hand. He had a massive toothy grin splitting his face and a confused look in his eye.

Charlie's breathing was calming now, ever so slowly. He began getting up to a knee, slowly rising to his full height, and walking over to the man. He studied the man as he walked over. The man was shorter than Charlie, but not by much. Maybe by 3 inches. He was dark-skinned, with jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was completely decked out in plate mail from head to toe, not an inch other than his head uncovered. He was handsome, too. He looked like a lawyer, Charlie decided. His smile was a little too wide and showed a few too many teeth. He had a massive silver spear, closer to a lance, strapped to his back. It was covered in blood. Charlie looked to the side, where the bluback had been, and saw what could only be described as 'bloody chunks'. He grimaced but still went through with the next part.

"That's ours," Charlie huffed, "We found it."

The man looked down at the cultist and then back up at Charlie. Just before he responded, Penny jumped into the conversation. She ran behind Charlie and peeked out from behind him.

"Yeah! The cultist belongs to us!"

She hid behind him. Charlie was about to reach a hand down and scruff her hair before deciding that he wouldn't do that. He didn't want whatever was living in there to bite him. Regardless, he held eye contact with the man, who seemed perplexed now.

"Very well!" the man said, his voice fluid and jolly, almost like a car salesman. Do you have his Memorandum? You will need to turn it in with him to collect your reward."

Now Charlie was perplexed. He asked what he should have started with.

"Sorry, Who are you?"

"I," the man responded, "Am Captain Derringer of the guardsmen of Kurthe. I am the man you would be turning this apparent cultist into. Now, if I may, who are you? I recognize the girl; she's a known beggar. But I do not recognize you at all."

Charlie froze as he realized he was basically looking at law enforcement. He had no idea how to deal with this situation. What was he supposed to say? He didn't know nearly enough about this world to bullshit his way through this and had no way of quickly getting information from Penny. So he told the truth. Kinda.

"My name is Charles McKnight. I am lost," He said dumbly. He felt like a dumbass, but it was all he could say.

The man, Captain Derringer, stared at Charlie as if he were a daft horse before responding.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You're lost? That's it? You're just lost? Where are you from?"

Charlie answered in the simplest way he could while remaining truthful about what he believed to be the truth.

"North."

Immediately, something clicked for the man, and he relaxed muscles that Charlie hadn't even realized he had tensed. He looked like he'd passed a kidney stone. He looked up into Charlie's eyes.

"It all makes sense now. You gave me quite the fright there, Northerner. Thought those cultists were trying to pull something over on us! I should've figured, with the way you were talking and acting. You Northerners are always so dull. That's not an insult, mind you! You people are some of the best warriors out there. I suppose this guy," he shook the long unconscious form of the cultist," got treated to some of that Northern kindness, didn't he? Bashed him right in the face, did ya? Serves right by em'. Welp, just follow me, and I'll get you your reward."

Charlie watched as the man started walking away, whistling a tune to himself. He looked down at Penny, who looked just as shocked as he felt. That situation changed fast, he thought. And so, the two of them followed Captain Derringer towards the town.

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

Twenty minutes later, Charlie and Penny stood outside the guardhouse, shell-shocked. The Captain had been as pleasant a man as any of the nicest that Charlie had ever dealt with. The Captain had walked them through the entire process of turning someone in and had even dumbed it down for the 'Northerner.' Something Charlie hated to admit had been beneficial. The Captain had put the man in a cell before searching through the pockets of the robe that Charlie had pilfered, pulling out a small red stone. He had held it in his hand, eyes closed, before determining that the man had, in fact, been a cultist. He then threw the stone into a small lockbox and handed Charlie a small bag containing 5 Sarmalis. A good sum, according to the Captain. He had then sent them out of the building on their jolly way.

Charlie looked down at Penny, who looked up at him with wonder in her eyes.

"C-can I see the money?" She whispered in a small voice.

Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out the pouch, dropping it into her outstretched hand. She caught it and looked inside, absolutely awestruck. Slowly, she closed the bag before handing it back to Charlie. He took it and put it back in his pocket. He cleared his throat and was about to speak when he witnessed one of the strangest things he'd ever seen. Slowly, ever so slowly, Penny began to dance. Not a normal dance, either. It. Was. Weird. She brought her hands up, put them under her armpits like she had wings, and began flapping them slowly while bringing one leg up and twisting her knee out to the side. She then swapped legs, doing the same thing but in the opposite direction. All the while, she quietly chanted moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney under her breath. Charlie couldn't help it. He burst out laughing, falling to his knees as he busted a gut. He pounded his fist into the ground as he absolutely lost it.

There was a crowd gathering, but neither of them cared. They just continued living in the moment. Eventually, the crowd lost interest, and Charlie chortled his last. Slowly, he raised back up to his feet and walked to Penny. She was sprawled out on the ground. At some point, she'd stopped her dance, losing her own gourd on the ground with him. Charlie reached down and picked her up.

"Come on, kid," he chuckled, "Let's get some food."

And so they did. Charlie walked around the town until Penny pointed at the place where she usually had the most luck begging for food. Apparently, the owner actually had feelings, according to Penny. They walked in and grabbed a seat, waiting to be served. It didn't take long. Eventually, a younger, pale woman wearing her black hair up in a bun approached the table. She took one look at Penny and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Rat, but I don't got any extra tonight. You'll have to try somewhere else," she said. Slowly, the woman started turning around, when she stopped and looked again, this time noticing Charlie. She looked back and forth between Penny and Charlie, brows furrowed.

"Can I help you, sir?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am, you can," Charlie responded. He put a single Sarmalis on the table. The woman's eyes launched open, shock evident in her every feature. She started spluttering something, but he cut her off.

"You guys run an in as well as a tavern, correct?"

The woman nodded emphatically. Charlie looked at Penny and then back at the woman. He sighed.

"Alright. Listen up, cuz I'm only going to say all this once. Long story short, this girl you call Rat is actually my daughter, Penny. We got separated a long time ago, but now I've found her, and she's safe. I need two full meals of whatever you've got, two baths, some assistance for her in the bath, and as many nights in the inn as this will buy. Am I understood?"

The woman nodded again.

"Alright, that's all I need."

The woman dashed off, taking the coin and running towards the back. Charlie looked at Penny, who was staring at him.

"I know," he said, "I lied, but it worked, right? She didn't ask a single question."

Penny continued staring, wide-eyed. She swallowed before speaking up.

"I get my own meal?"

"Of course. What did you think would happen?"

"I dunno. I thought I'd get the leftovers. That's what momma always gave me."

Charlie looked into Penny's misty eyes and felt something inside him give way. He felt something he hadn't felt since his mother was alive. He felt a desire for one thing above all, even above his dear robots. A desire to protect. This girl's life was too precious to lose, and he swore to himself that he wouldn't fail her as he had his mother.

"You won't ever go hungry again. Do you understand?" He said more forcefully than he meant to. It was almost like he'd given her a command.

"Yes," she responded quietly.

They sat in silence until the food arrived. It was some kind of roast and didn't taste the best to him. But to the girl in front of him? It was her very own heaven. They ate in silence. Not once did they look at each other or make eye contact. Penny only managed about a quarter of her meal before she stopped eating. It was much too much for her to eat, but at least she'd gotten her fill. Slowly, she looked up at Charlie.

"Thank-" was all she managed before she started bawling.