I woke up to the sound of shrieking, examining my surroundings I was worried that trouble had once again found its way to me. However the only thing I had woken up to was the sight of Edith flapping about as a curious cat had found its way into my room. It must’ve been Akilah’s little companion, I had forgotten she had mentioned it once before when we first met. It began hissing at Edith, likely upset that there could only be enough room for one pet in this household. Having had not enough sleep, I wasn’t quite in the mood to handle this situation kindly. Getting out of bed, I picked the cat up from behind by the scruff of its neck and wandered out the door into the hall to let it out. Seeing it scurry off I couldn’t help but be alerted to some chatter nearby, following the noise I found myself eavesdropping on a conversation between Akilah and some stranger outside the front door.

“As I’ve told you before, he no longer lives here.”

“Then tell me where he went.”

“I don’t know, I barely knew him. He was only a guest here renting a room.”

“Fine, then let me in, I want to have a look around.”

“I already told you, he no longer lives here. Besides, the room’s being rented to someone else, I can’t have you invading their privacy.”

“Even if he doesn’t live here, I need to see it for myself. I’m sure they won’t mind, the man I’m looking for might have left some clues.”

“Sheesh, you’re just as stubborn as those men from the other day. How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t come in.”

“Other men? Tch, they’ve already sent in a clean up crew, huh? This can’t be another dead end...”

“I’ve been trying to tell you that there was nothing here.”

“Still… they might have missed something… you… you’ve been living with him, you must know something.” She glared.

I recognized the woman from before with those three men, to think we would meet again. It would appear that trouble seems to find its way to me whether I want it or not. She seemed determined to sniff out every little detail she could learn from Akilah and this household. This might be a problem, seeing as the man she was looking for is already dead.

“Hey, everything is okay?” I intervened.

“Ah, Grit. It’s fine, this lady just seems to be lost.” Akilah suggested to me.

“Lost? I see, then perhaps I might be able to provide some help.”

“You’re…”

“Ah, you seem familiar, I believe we’ve met before.”

“You know this woman?”

“You… You were the man with that girl…”

“Yeah… that’s besides the point. The man you’re looking for clearly isn’t here, I’ve already taken up residence in his place.”

“You live here?”

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant, I needed a place to stay and Akilah here was kind enough to let me rent a room here that was available after the previous tenant left.”

“You’re staying in his room then?”

“Well, yes. It was the only room available.”

“Then since you’re paying for it, you own it, right? So if I asked if I could look around, would you let me?”

“Well, no. I’m only renting it under her name, the room is within her property so it’s still her decision to make.”

“Tch, this is a waste of time…”

“We’re sorry we couldn’t help you, but I did recall that the men from yesterday mentioned that the previous tenant passed away, not exactly sure how though.”

“What… what did you say?”

“About Talal? Like I said, he was found dead.”

“No… no, that can’t be…” She waned.

“Is something the matter?”

“Fuck…”

“Excuse me?”

“Fuck… Fuck… Fuck… Fuck! This can’t be happening, what am I supposed to do now?!”

“Ma’am, are you alright? Would you like us to get you some help?”

“He can’t be dead… that bastard was supposed to feel the same pain they did… Fuck!”

“Do I need to call the guards?”

“No!” She snapped. “I’m fine…” She gritted her teeth. “This whole journey was a waste of time… no… I wasted too much time. If she was here… Fuck!” She covered her eyes with her arm. “I’m sorry for intruding, it was rude of me.” The girl quickly apologized.

“No, it’s quite alright… I’ve changed my mind, if you’d like I don’t mind showing you around.” Akilah relented.

“No… I should be going…” She turned, tears coming down her face.

Without another word, the woman left the scene in a most pitiful way. I couldn’t help but feel for her in a way. Perhaps if we had let her look around, she wouldn’t have found anything anyway. But it would’ve been wrong to lead her on an endless chase like that, best tell her the truth so that she moves on.

“That poor girl, to think that disgusting man still torments the living even in death.”

“Whatever he did to her, I can’t imagine how awful it must have been seeing as she came all this way to confront him herself.”

“Yeah…”

We couldn’t really blame the woman, after all Talal had somehow been involved in our lives one way or another. The woman appeared to have been an acquaintance of Talal and it would seem that he had personally upset her. Having told her the truth about his death, I would hope I won’t come to regret it later. Having gotten over the situation, Akilah turned to me, changing her expression to a smile.

“Say, are you hungry?”

“Hm, uh… yeah, I can eat.”

=====================================================================

Taking a seat at the kitchen table, there was a great deal of food presented to me, a little too much for more than two people. From bowls of thick yoghurt and oil, a variety of cheeses, flat bread, freshly cut cucumbers and tomatoes, fried eggs, meat pies, dates and sweet cheese pastries, I couldn’t name them all. There was just so much, I had already packed my bags and brought them along expecting a small meal, I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. Seeing the effort she went into making this for me, It was only fair I show my gratitude in kind. Taking a little bit of everything, I piled it all onto my plate and began to eat.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Ah, sure.” I replied.

Bringing over a teapot, Akilah stood close to pour the tea into my cup. This was the first time I’ve seen her this close to me, I couldn’t help but notice a pleasant smell coming off of her. She seemed to have a gentle smile on her face as she poured the tea, her clothing seemed a little more casual than what I’ve normally seen her wear. Watching her hands pour the tea, her skin was a dusky smooth almond color. Glancing up at her face, her complexion seemed to compliment her soft greyish-blue eyes.

“Is that enough?”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

“Of course, let me know if you would like some more.” She smiled.

Without a moment to collect myself, Edith seemingly came swooping into the room making herself known to us. Seemingly circling around the kitchen ceiling, she didn’t seem to want to come down. Following shortly after through the door came the cat from earlier this morning, its eyes locked on to Edith, it was eager to continue its little game of tag. Hissing at Edith, he began clawing at the air unsure how to get up to her. Looking at her surroundings, he spied me sitting at the kitchen table and made his way towards me. Hopping on top of one of the chairs, he leaped onto the table, his paws stepping on a plate of eggs that Akilah had prepared for us.

“Hey, get off the table!” Akilah snapped, hurrying over to pick up the cat. “I’m so sorry, he’s not used to being around other animals. And now the eggs are ruined, I was up all morning preparing everything too.” She sighed.

“It happens, let me help clean up.”

“Ah, thanks.” She replied. “As for you, I’m putting you in time out.” She glared at the cat.

Having had the cat ruin the eggs, Akilah seemed more than eager to take out her frustration on her little companion. Disappearing into the hall, I could hear the front door open and close shut, it would seem there was one less mouth to feed this morning.

“Now then, seeing as I made a lot of food, how about we get your friend something to eat, shall we?”

“Sure, though she is a bit picky about what she eats.”

“Let me see what I can find. Do you know what she likes?

“Meat, as far as I’m aware.”

“Just meat? I’m sure you can do better than that, I think adding some color to her meal would do wonders. I’m sure she would enjoy it.”

“You're welcome to try.”

“Hm, maybe let’s start off with something small, would you like some dates?” She offered. Edith seemed disinterested. “Okay, then how about cucumbers?” Edith examined the slice of cucumber, snatching it from her hands.

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“Oh, do you like it?” She said, Edith who had the cucumber slice in her beak then proceeded to drop it onto the floor. “I guess not…”

“Try not to take it to heart, she’ll open up to you eventually.”

“I hope so, I want to try and get along with your friends if I can. Well, I won’t force her to eat if she doesn’t want to, but she should at least have some water.”

Akilah stepped over to the counter and grabbed a small wooden bowl and then moved over to the side where a large iron barrel stood. Uncapping it, she dipped the wooden bowl inside to gather water and placed it on the counter. Edith examined the bowl, tilting her head to determine what to do, lowering her beak, she began to drink the water.

“Oh, she’s drinking!” She exclaimed. “Hm? What’s this red stuff on her beak…” She questioned, eyeing the blood stains from yesterday's incident.

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that, it’s from the other day. I’ll take care of it.”

“Ah, so this is from those men… I don’t mind, I’m not afraid of a little blood. I can’t imagine it’s any different than wiping away the stains of red wine.” She exclaimed.

She began to grab a spare rag and soak it into the bowl of water Edith had been drinking from, gently rubbing the stains off her beak with the rag.

“There you go, all cleaned up.”

Edith tilted her head, seemingly examining herself in the reflection of the water before giving way to an audible screech. Spreading her wings, she lunged upward and perched herself up onto Akilah’s shoulder.

“Oh! Did I upset her?!”

“Hah, it would seem she’s warmed up to you.”

“Does that mean… we’re friends?”

“I suppose it does.”

“Hah, I’m glad. Though, having her on me might make it difficult for me to eat.”

“Edith, come here.” I pulled a locust out of my bag, presenting it to Edith who came flying fast. “Here you go.”

“Oh, so she likes insects.”

“She enjoys them, but she’ll eat anything as long as it’s alive, or was.”

“Hmm, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for next time then. Now then…” Moving to the other side of the table, Akilah took a seat across from me. “Are you enjoying the food?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Everything here is very good, it’s delicious.” I replied.

“Mm, I’m glad.” She smiled.

She continued to stare as I laboriously stuffed my face with the many dishes in an attempt to disregard her uncomfortable gaze. Almost coming to a point in choking on some food, even then she seemed a little too keen on keeping her eye on me.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine.” I coughed.

“Oh… alright.”

“The food was too good, I ended up eating a bit more than I could chew.”

“Hah, try to chew it slowly then.” She laughed.

“If I take it too slow, I’ll get full. I wouldn’t be able to taste all the food you made for us.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She smiled. “Say… I want to talk about what happened yesterday… I probably asked a little too much from you, I’ve been feeling a little guilty.”

“Hm? Oh, that… It’s fine.”

“Still, I think it’s only fair I give some of it back to you.”

“I don’t really need it. Just keep it in storage until you have a need for it.”

“I disagree. I think carrying some of this blood with you might prove to be useful.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I saw how exhausted you were when you drained your blood for me into that small pot. I worry how much pressure you exert on your body.”

“Nothing a little food and some rest can’t fix, so don’t worry about it.”

“Still, having seen you fight those men, It’d be a problem if you ran out trying to heal yourself, but I think if you stocked up on your blood in advance it would prove to be useful to you in emergencies.”

“Huh, I never thought about it like that.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Hmm…”

“Is it not a good idea? I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up…”

“No, it’s not that. I think… you’re pretty smart, smarter than me. It’s a good idea, I appreciate the thought.” I smiled.

“Hah.” She blushed. “Well, I’m pretty considerate in my own way.” She grinned. “But here, take this just in case.” She handed me a small vial.

“This is…”

“A vial of your own blood.”

“Hm, thanks. It’s not a lot though.”

“Well, yeah. I figured you could always make more for yourself. I’m keeping the rest, after all it was a generous donation from you.” She grinned.

“Heh, I try to help out where I can.”

“That’s what I like about you the most…” She murmured.

“Were you trying to say something?”

“Hm?! N-No, nothing.” She stammered. “Oh! But before I forget, there was one other thing I meant to give you, I’ll show you after you’re finished eating.”

“Sure, though I’ll probably be heading out once we’re done.”

Having finished up our heavy breakfast, Akilah led me out of the kitchen and down the hall into some sort of storage room. Old furniture and clothing cluttered this space along with spare appliances and useful tools. Moving over to a wooden crate, she pushed it to the side revealing a ruined portion of the wall where a couple of peculiar sandy bricks stood out that looked a little loose. She began pulling them out one by one till there was enough space for her arm to fit. She began reaching inside the small opening only to pull out a clothed object. Brushing the dust off of her, she happily handed it over to me.

“You’ll probably be wanting this back.”

“This is…”

“Yep. I told you I’d hold on to it till you paid me back, I always keep my promises.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m sure this will prove to be useful to you.”

“You have no idea… though last time I tried to use it, there was no response.”

“Hm? It was working perfectly fine when I was fiddling around with it.”

“You used this thing?”

“Well, kinda… It wasn’t working at first when I first toyed with it, but when I went to get it appraised by a friend at the guild she explained it was out of energy and offered to recharge it for me. After that I went to toy with it again only for it to make a beep, so maybe you’re right, it might be broken.”

“Then it’s working just as intended.” I chuckled.

“Wait, so it just beeps, that’s all it does?”

“Not quite, you have to hold down the trigger. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing it inside the household.”

“Oh, I see. I wouldn’t have thought to try that. Well, better off with you than it is with me.”

“I suppose so. Still, I really do appreciate you holding on to this for me.”

“Of course, I’m more than happy to keep my promises.”

“Say, do you think you could hold on to one more thing for me?”

“Hm? Sure, I don’t mind, but what is it?”

Reaching into my coat’s inner pocket, I pulled out the small book and handed it over to Akilah. Knowing how many people seemed to want this book, it was too dangerous to keep it on me, it needed to be stored somewhere safe with someone I could trust.

“This is… a book? You want me to hold on to this for you?”

“If you can, you’re the only one I can rely on at the moment.”

“Of course, I don’t mind. But what is this exactly, why can’t you hold on to it?”

“Well, It’s Talal’s journal, it holds some very important information that proves to be too much of a risk for me to hold on to.”

“So that is why those men came here the other day… but why do you have it?”

“I’m sorry, I had my own reasons. I don’t blame you if you grow suspicious of me, after all just having it might put you into too much danger.”

“No, I won’t ask, I’ll hold on to it for you. But you have to promise to tell me everything when you get back, no more secrets, deal?”

“Heh, deal.” I stifled a smile.

“Good, we’re in this together after all.”

“You know, you can still back out if you want.”

“I wouldn’t dare… at least not for the one who stood against those who wished to harm me. Your sudden appearance was not unlike that of the men vowing to protect young maidens mentioned in stories I used to have read to me as a child… you know, in some ways I think it would be nice… to have my own prince.” She smiled softly.

“I’m afraid to inform you that I’m nothing of the like, have you seen the way I look? I’m nowhere near as charming or virtuous, I get paid to do dirty work and I’ve seen far too many good men lose their lives while I was around… Besides, considering my lack of inheritance and wealth, I’m hardly qualified to be a noble of any sort, let alone a prince.”

“Yet despite all that, you came to my rescue, did you not? I still consider you to be somewhat heroic, no matter how you may view yourself or how you may hide how you truly feel behind your stern expressions, I believe there is a great deal of compassion hiding beneath it all. Even without an official status, if a maiden such as myself sees you as such, does that not give you the qualifications to be exactly that, at least in my eyes?” She exclaimed.

“I suppose it does…” Looking into her eyes, I couldn’t help but look away, disregarding her intentions. “Still, I think you have a very funny way of looking at it, you’re certainly a strange woman… ”

“You think that I’m strange…? Is that… something you dislike?”

“No, that’s not to say… I didn’t mean in a bad way… it’s just… a refreshing kind of strange. If I were to describe how I feel about it… it’s certainly a trait I don’t dislike.”

“Really… well then… today is a good day to be strange then.” She smiled gleefully.

“Right… I suppose it is…” The conversation seemed to trail off.

“...Well anyway, I recall you needed to be somewhere, where did you say you had to be?” Akilah reminded me, breaking the tension.

“Ah, that’s right.” I had almost forgotten what plans I had waiting for me this morning. “I was supposed to be headed toward the western side of town, on the outskirts. I registered for an exploratory mission at the guild to investigate some ruins that were discovered.”

“Won’t that be dangerous, will you be okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. There will be a lot of people there, we should be able to hold our own against anything we come across.”

“Right… Still, try not to be too reckless.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Besides that, this mission is the whole reason I came to this town, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“I see… so you’re only visiting. I suppose you won’t be staying here much longer then…”

“Actually, I’m not sure how long this mission will be, so I’ll probably be gone for a few days.”

“Wait, so you’ll be coming back?”

“Well, yeah. I was hoping we could share a meal when I return, unless you don’t want me staying here?”

“N-No, that’s not it, not at all! I just wasn’t sure if your stay was temporary is all.”

“You make it too easy.”

“Oh? What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing really.” I smirked.

Seeing her mad only made me want to poke fun at her again, I couldn’t help but find her pouting to be a little appealing. Akilah has been quite nice to me, allowing me to stay here and keeping me fed while putting herself at risk for keeping my secrets. I shouldn’t take advantage of her kindness, perhaps I could bring something back to thank her for her generosity. However, knowing I won’t be back here for a while, it would be best I stock up on some supplies if I can, this would be the last time I ask for anything from her, hopefully.

“You think you could spare me any food for the trip?

“Well, if it’s food you need, you’ll be happy to know this house is home to quite the skilled cook.” She smirked.

“Hah, don’t I know it.”

I was generously given a great deal of long-lasting food and preserved goods Akilah had been more than happy to share with me. Insisting I take more, she seemed concerned I wouldn’t have enough to eat and insisted that I eat it all, explaining to me that she didn’t want it to go to waste. I assured her that Edith could always eat any leftovers if it had meat in it, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well then, we’ll be heading out then.” I declared.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”

“With everything you’ve already given me? I think I’m more than good.”

“If you say so… try to be careful out there.”

“I will. I’ll see you soon.” I smiled, heading out the door.

“Stay safe, try to come back in one piece!”

Leaving her home, I felt quite good about the journey going forward, I would have to show my appreciation to her when I get back. She stood by the door, likely ensuring she took one good last look at me as it would be some time before she would see me again. As much as I’d like to stay, there wasn’t much time to stall as I wouldn’t want to miss out on participating in the mission. I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious, would I really find what I’m looking for? I brushed the thought away, I had to focus, seeing as right now the only thing that mattered was arriving on time, let’s hope I make it.