Rogue’s thoughts continue to echo out into his mind.

“I said, are you up yet?”

A low and melancholy hum echoes back.

Rogue continues to walk the forest trail with Huntress aside of him in silence. The dirt road is in average condition, and is well-traveled. From a visual perspective, it perfectly cuts the woods in seemingly two equal halves. Light shrubbery and trees in addition to tall grass on both sides. The only thing that stands out on the well-traveled light brown dirt colored dirt road is the periodic sighting of animal droppings.

The walk is silent and the two don’t talk to each other nearly at all. Rogue finally thinks to himself.

“Maybe now is a good time to ask her for more specific details about her friend over in Stormshire.”

Rogue speaks up and looks slightly over to Huntress, who is looking around and taking in all of her surroundings.

“So, Huntress. You mentioned your friend is a 9th level Priestess, right? What’s her name? Race? And which Goddess does she pull her powers from? Just so I know who we’re looking for.”

Huntress seems to snap out of her self-induced trance that came from observing the surrounding area. Responding quickly to the point of tripping over her words slightly.

“She’s an elf. A wood elf. H-Her name is Nivi Sher. She serves Terra.”

Rogue thinks to himself for a moment. Digging through his brain for all of the wood elves he’s ever met in Stormshire. However, even after half a minute of digging around he cannot recall the name, let alone a face to match it like he wanted.

“I guess I never met her, then. Not too surprising. Stormshire is the biggest city around.”

Huntress quickly asks “Were you born in Stormshire?”

Rogue shakes his head “no” in response.

“I was found just outside a small village about two days away from Stormshire by cart. Real small place, you might not even find it on most maps from stores.”

Huntress gets caught up with and stuck on the first part. “You were ‘found’?”

Rogue nods affirmatively.

“Yeah. I was like 10 years old when they found me. They thought I was a half-elf for a while. It wasn’t until I hit puberty at 11 that they realized I was human.”

Huntress hums to herself. “Yeah… 11 is like 5 or 6 years too early for a half-elf. There’s no way…”

Rogue shrugs.

“It was a village full of half-elves of different kinds. Mainly wood elves. I was a bit of an alley rat, since I didn't have a home.”

Huntress blinks and looks over. “None of them took you in?”

Rogue laughs out lightly.

“Of course not. This was a tiny and poor village. Typical for its size. Maybe around 150 people. To this very day it’s still tiny and poor. Maybe an extra 50 people now though. I was just another mouth to feed to them. People don’t want burdens like that in their house.”

Huntress gently bites on her lower lip before speaking up again. “That’s mean. You were just a kid then. What if you starved?”

Rogue shrugs at the question. “Then I guess that just means I wasn’t supposed to survive.”

Huntress lightly gasps at that. “Not supposed to survive? Isn’t that a really mean thing to say about anyone?”

Rogue looks over out into the woods.

“Maybe if I was about to die they would have spared me something. It’s hard to say. I picked up on the fact that nobody wanted to feed me pretty quick. I would go out into the woods and hunt for myself regularly. I made a few copper and silver coins on the leftover pelts, too.”

Huntress tries to think of what to say next, but her words utterly fail her for a moment. “What were you doing before that? When the village found you?”

Rogue shrugs again.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything from when this one wood half-elf cleric found me out in the woods. Dressed in rags with a single somewhat dull knife and collapsed. Given how I looked, I can’t imagine whatever I was doing was anything glamorous.”

Huntress starts thinking over her line of questioning, as the conversation has taken a turn down a progressively darker path with no signs of getting any better. She wants to know more, but she can’t help but feel this topic is to be avoided. Huntress tries to completely divert the topic.

“When did you become a rogue?”

“I was already a 1st level rogue when they found me.”

“Somebody please, just shoot me.”

Rogue continues.

“Apparently I was the only rogue in the entire village. Most of the villagers were rangers or fighters. I was found injured, or so I was told. Large slash wounds over my chest. The cleric who found me mended my body. And since I didn’t know my name, the village called me Rogue. It just stuck, I guess. I remember thinking I wanted a different name. A ‘real one’, but I could never think of one. By the time I really started thinking of names it was too late to change it. When I signed up with the Adventurer’s Guild in Stormshire, that became my permanent name. Granted I don’t have a last name or family name, which can be a little awkward sometimes.”

Huntress drinks in the statement, as there’s quite a lot to unpack there. Not to mention the implications. A person having a class before puberty, let alone at the age of 10 is very rare, although not unheard of. Goblins and Kobolds for example, which only live half as long as humans would, often get their classes by 10. But they hit puberty by 8 or so. Even after thinking about it for a minute, Huntress cannot think of someone who had their class before they even hit puberty. But there’s always exceptions to the rules.

Rogue looks over at Huntress after noticing she got quiet and stayed that way. Part of him can tell she wants this specific topic to end, so he pivots to a completely different one.

“So, how does your personal ability work? If I’m gonna protect you right, I gotta know what it does.”

Huntress is about to speak up, but stops herself, rubbing her arm over her shoulder.

“My mother and father told me that I’m not supposed to tell people what my personal ability is. And that telling people could endanger me.”

Rogue nods affirmatively before responding.

“And they’re right. You shouldn’t. But I’m asking you because I want to keep you safer. It’s a little different.”

Huntress lets out a groan in her throat as she thinks about it silently.

“W… what’s your personal ability? It’s with your eyes, right? That’s why they change colors? I haven’t met anyone whose eyes change color before.”

Rogue decides to slide her a compliment to lighten the atmosphere which is growing increasingly tense.

“That’s a pretty astute observation. You’re right. My personal ability is basically all about my eyes.”

Rogue looks around before talking more.

“I can see things other people can’t. For example, I can see ambient mana floating around in the air. Deep blue, wispy trails all over the place. I once even could see someone who was invisible because their body was pushing mana in the air around by walking through it.”

Huntress lets out a light gasp. “You can see mana in the air? I thought you need to cast and channel a spell to do that!”

Rogue continues.

“I can see lots of other things too. So long as there isn’t a solid object in the way, I can see it. There was one time where I was working as a bouncer for this brothel, right? Making sure nobody freaky got inside. Using my eyes, I could see through people’s clothes. People don’t realize it, but there are gaps between the threads of clothes. Where the threads are woven together. It’s a little tough depending on how fine the material is. However, if it’s just street clothes I can typically look through them if I want to no problem. I would look at people and see them carrying knives and stuff. That job paid really well. Maybe I should go back there sometime. They really liked me there.”

Huntress nods along and has a moment of realization.

“Wait, so you can just remove people’s clothing from your sight if you want? All the way down to the skin?”

Rogue corrects her.

“No, I can see through skin too if I want to. That isn’t solid either. Your skin is actually covered in a ton of tiny holes. That’s how people can get miasma poisoning even if they hold their breath. That’s how I was able to see what part of your body all that mana was going to.”

Huntress feels as if what she was asserting was side-stepped. But Rogue’s expression did not change and remained serious and steady.

“So… if you felt like it, while walking down the street, you could look at any person you want as if they were totally naked?”

Rogue shrugs. “I suppose so, yes. That doesn’t mean I do it though.”

Huntress crosses her arms over her chest.

“So that’s why you were staring at me so hard before…? Last night.”

Rogue shakes his head dismissively.

“No no no. I was looking at your head. Your curse is affecting your hypothalamus. Since it’s sucking in ambient mana like a vaccuum, it’s pumping out so many lust hormones that you’re going crazy. Thus giving the curse it’s intended effect.”

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Huntress reaches up and feels over her head. Closing her eyes as she does so.

“You can see all that? I don’t even feel it in my head… And why are you so different now, if you don’t mind me asking? It’s like I’m talking to a different person.”

Rogue rolls his eyes and redirects the topic back to Huntress’ own personal ability.

“You wanna tell me what your personal ability is before you jump topics again on me? I told you about mine to make us even and now you’re taking the info and running? Talk about cold. Maybe even a little suspicious? Are you sure you’re a cat?”

Rogue gains a sly grin, knowing he’s giving Huntress a jab at her pride. Feline demihumans are known to be extremely prideful and honest. They would rather insult someone to their face rather than lie to them. For better or for worse.

Huntress looks over at Rogue and huffs at him.

“You’re being shrewd with me. Goading me into telling you secrets.

Rogue laughs lightly one time and shrugs again. “Yep. But I wanna know.”

Huntress groans again and thinks.

“It’s my sight too. Way different than yours though. I can see people’s motives. Like uh… how to phrase it.”

Rogue lets out a deep exhale from his nose.

“Just read me what your ability card says.”

Huntress closes her eyes and stands still for a moment. Before reciting out her ability from start to finish.

> Sense Motive

>

> [Personal Ability]

>

>

> Able to see an aura around a creature’s body to determine their motives. Such as friendly motives, hostility, lying, and many more. Each motive has its own distinct coloration. Green for friendly, red for hostile, and so on.

Rogue thinks for a moment about it. Her personal ability is no joke. Lie detection for example is something a court would pay top-level pay for. She could sit next to a judge and make a high-tier adventurer’s salary without even trying. The only thing comparable to true lie detection is higher level magic spells. A vast majority of which are very rare and difficult to learn.

Rogue turns to Huntress with a smile.

“Your personal ability is very powerful. Your parents were right to tell you to keep it a secret for sure. Make sure you tell as few people as possible, and while this may be difficult; you have to learn to not let people know you can sense their motives just by looking at them. It’ll make you a target.”

Huntress looks down at the ground as she starts walking again. Her voice starts to become filled with sadness. The tone shifts down as she loses her bright and warm voice to a colder one.

“I know. My mom would get called to trials in my village every single day. Since she could sense lying, or even the motive to do so; cases were handled at extreme speeds. Some people would even confess the moment they saw my mom walking up. She was so good at sensing motives that she could even tell if someone was dancing around a topic. Not even lying, necessarily.”

Rogue notices the tone shift in Huntress’ voice and calls her on it. Making sure he didn’t step onto a sore topic.

“You okay?

Huntress nods and looks to the side as they continue walking.

“They were worried about me up until I left. I haven’t talked to them for a few weeks now. I wonder how they’re doing.”

Rogue thinks over what to say for a moment before responding. Reaching over and petting over Huntress’ head.

“Honestly, probably pretty boring. Doing the same old thing every day that they’ve been doing that you remember. What made you want to leave?”

Huntress answers surprisingly quickly.

“My village was small. Very small. Middle of nowhere. There was nothing exciting going on. It’s inside one of the safest, lowest level forests in the entire world. Nothing happens there and I was starting to get… uneasy? I wanted to do more. Be more.”

Rogue looks over Huntress’ equipment more intently. For all intents and purposes, her equipment is fairly on-par with what Rogue himself is wearing, despite the fact that Rogue is nearly double Huntress’ current level. Knowing how expensive certain pieces are in particular, like her bow.

“Your shortbow looks very good. Can you use any weapon artes with it? You’re an archer, right?”

Huntress’ tail wags quickly and she gets a little excited. “Yes! I have two that I can use. One is a piercing shot that can punch through armor, and the other is a snaring shot. It’s loaded with nature energy and restrains the thing I shoot it at!”

Rogue nods. The piercing shot is typical for archers. Without it, many cannot pierce through armor at all. Whether it be on a person or a monster. Such as the exoskeleton of a giant bug creature.

“I can use quite a few myself now. It certainly gets a lot easier to fight when you have more than 2 or 3. Especially if you have an advanced one or two.”

The two continue to chat about aspects of fighting and adventuring, and Rogue continues to push the topic to the light-hearted side to alleviate Huntress’ worries and make her feel at ease. However, the two soon come across a wooden barricade covering the road. Rogue spots it down the straight trail in the distance, quite a ways away from a regular person’s vision from spotting it.

“That’s new.”

Huntress perks up, confused. “What’s new?”

Rogue quickly explains.

“The last time I came through this road it was basically empty. A few beasts walking around sure, but empty. It looks like some bandits or whatever set up a checkpoint to shake people down for money.”

Rogue stops walking.

“Let me see if I can spot who is in charge.”

Rogue starts scanning the camp and the bandits appear to be a strong mixture of races and species. An elf, a dwarf, a kobold, a more canine demi-human, and even a half-orc! All of which are women.

“It’s like they just grabbed 5 random guys out of a bar from Stormshire and told them to keep watch… But I don’t see anyone in charge. Maybe we can just sneak past?...”

Rogue looks over to Huntress.

“But she has no stealth abilities yet. We’ll just get caught. Do I just try to talk through it? Their leader isn’t here. I can just bully them around by saying I’m with the adventurer’s guild and to bother somebody else.”

Rogue lets out a sigh and looks into the nearby woods around the checkpoint. Spotting a half-elf hidden away on the right side and a halfling on the left. He looks back over to Huntress and thinks for a moment.

“Huntress, when we get to the checkpoint up ahead, just let me do the talking. You stay quiet, but stay close to me.”

Huntress nods in understanding and the two approach. Without hesitation, the half-orc woman steps up. All of the bandits are dressed in cloth and leather armor, and sporting somewhat messy and sloppily maintained weapons. Still sharp enough to cut through flesh though, and intimidate anyone who isn’t holding a weapon themself.

The half-orc speaks up. Standing tall at a clean 6’8” tall (203 cm.). Her boisterous voice echoes out as she looks down to the pair.

“I’m Grukna Hammerfist! This is my toll gate. If you wish to pass, you must each pay 10 gold pieces. If you can’t pay, turn back the way you came!”

Rogue grits hit teeth under his mask. He misjudged what he saw. Since they all were dressed nearly identically, he didn’t peg any of them as the leader. Generally, bandit leaders are much more well-equipped than their subordinates. This one appears to be an exception.

Not to mention, he was considering paying whatever the fee would be just to get it over with. But 10 whole gold pieces is basically total extortion. Even the most expensive toll gates in the world don’t break the 5 gold barrier. And those ones are only used by overly rich traders. The average toll is a handful of silver pieces at best. Generally just 1 or 2.

“Thank you Grukna. But I fear I’m on adventurer’s guild business. So I’ll invoke the rite of free passage and be on my way. I trust there’s no issue with that?”

The half-orc grins wide, her bottom teeth lined with two tusks that barely protrude enough to go over her upper lip. She laughs out after a few moments.

“You are a guy! And here I thought you were just a flat-chested tomboy. But that voice is as masculine as it gets! So deep~.”

She shakes her head.

“Sorry. This toll gate has nothin’ to do with the guild so the toll applies to anyone and everyone.”

Rogue glares at her.

“You know that’s not how it works. Ever. You’re standing out here and extorting people. And unless you want to deal with the law coming down on your heads ten times as fast, you gotta at least play around and know the system and laws.”

Grukna puts her hand over her chest.

“Ohhh~! So scary! Royal knights are gonna march all those miles just for a toll gate in the middle of nowhere? Pffft. Shut up, pitiful man. Go back to a brothel or whatever and make some gold if you’re too broke to pay. Or do you wanna settle something on the side? You got enough muscle that you don’t look boring to fuck with.”

A faint thump pulses in Rogue’s heart every few seconds. Making him breathe a little heavier through his nose as a result.

Huntress looks back and forth between the two and starts to speak up, but Rogue puts a hand up to silence her.

“I’m just on a job that’s totally unrelated to you people. Let us go by and I won’t mention it to the guards. I’m sure you’ve been here for a few days. I bet you got a week or two before a guard patrol swings this way and you gotta abandon this place anyway.”

Grukna points at Huntress.

“He made you get quiet! You gonna take that from some man? You should smack him a bit and teach him some manners. Why you having him do this job anyway? Needed someone cheaper?”

Huntress shakes her head. “I heard he’s really skilled and…-”

She is cut off by the bandits at the toll gate. The dwarf speaks up first. Her voice booms out as loudly as the half-orc’s. Probably louder.

“Skilled? How skilled can that guy be? He doesn’t look that tough. Is he at least hung enough that he isn’t boring in the sack? Is that why you picked him? Have a little fun on the long walk to Stormshire~?”

The dwarf makes an obscene sexual gesture at Huntress, who blushes lightly as the entire group of bandits starts to laugh at the two collectively.

The thumping grows. An echo is starting to turn into a roar. But it calms down before it grows out of control.

Grukna reaches forward and puts her hand on Rogue’s shoulder.

“Tell you what, why don’t you show me and the girls a good time and we’ll think about giving your poor useless man-ass some free passage. The cat can watch if she wants.”

Grukna reaches forward and boldly grabs Rogue by the hair and lifts it up. Revealing his dark blue sapphire-colored eyes underneath. She lets out a whistle and smiles wide.

“At least your face ain’t bad to look at, for a half-elf. But what ya got downstairs~?”

The bandits are still laughing as the orc reaches downward towards Rogue’s crotch. A complete and total disregard for personal space… and many aspects of common decency. Treating Rogue as if he weren’t even a person, simply an object to be made fun of and used for lust.

Just an inch away from his crotch, Rogue grabs the green arm of the half-orc by the wrist. Stopping it in its tracks. His surprising strength stopped the advancement and breach of personal space and respect completely.

A whisper grew into a roar.

“Wow! You got some muscles after all, don’t ya~? But let go or you’re gonna get hurt, man.”

Grukna starts to reach for her axe on her hip and pulls it out.

“I don’t wanna rough up a pretty face. Let me feel ya for a minute or two and I’ll think about letting go after I’m done.”

Rogue glares into her eyes, and pulls out his falchion. Making Grukna confused.

“Your eyes… weren’t like that before. They were blue… What happened?”

Rogue grins wide as he casually taps the flat of his falchion against the orc’s axe on the side. Taunting her with it. Taking steps back now and pulling on Huntress as he creates a gap between the group.

“Oh I get it, you wanna impress your little cat girl over there, right? Try and beat all of us up by yourself? Sorry man, but you’re outnumbered. Bad.”

The bandits in hiding pop out and the entire group, minus Grukna, point loaded crossbows at Rogue, and only at Rogue. He turns to Huntress and waves at her to go hide behind a nearby tree. One of many.

“Not backing down, huh? Feeling tough today?”

Rogue turns to Grukna and shrugs. His eyes have turned a dark crimson color. Like deep, dark rubies.

“I guess I am, bandit bitch.”