It was a long walk to the gate, not that he was walking. May had decided to carry him over her shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes. It was also part of his punishment, using him to serve as a deterrent for the other young children of the village, and many parents took advantage of this.

He could hear them say, "Yeah! ya see dat boy! Listen to yer mother or I'll get the church to give ya hair a cut just like his an I'll be the one to walk yer dumbass tru the town" the son just said "Yeah, an I'll tell mum Dat you said Dat the big nun can pick you up like that any time!" "Shut it, an I'll get you somethin to eat later. Damn brats, why did we have em?" The father grumbled and dragged his son away. Of course, that wasn't the only conversation he heard, but it was the one he heard clearly. Most were. "I won't, mom!" Or "don't be like that or I fill your ears with mud, understood young lady!" or some variation of those.

He sat they're propping his head up with his hand while the other rubbed his rear, very sore from the recent whipping. He didn't complain about the punishment, after all, even though he kind of deserved it. He was a 7-year-old, after all. He waved at a couple of older boys he knew from the orphanage. One of the boys called out, "wut'd you do? Escaped Ceilie and chores, then jump the wall?" He ment it as a joke but froze when he heard the reply "Right on the first try Malc." Lone grinned and pointed a finger gun at Malcolm and fired

"Wait, really!? No way, you're lying!" Thomas the other boy said.

"would have gotten away with it too. If it weren't for these pesky nuns." Lone said, gestured at May and Ceilie.

May slap his sore behind, signaling that the conversation was over. Taking May's suggestion wincing, he went back to propping his head up and let the short parade continue.

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Aaron's POV:

'Here comes the little smartass now. Looks like May gave his rump some divine guidance. Well saves me the hassle,' Aaron thought, as he stands on the top steps of the church, hands crossed behind his back, feeling his age as the longer he stood there. He could see Celia walking next to May on the opposite side of Lone, obviously still a little peeved at the boy. She had literally raised him since she was 14, and Aaron could certainly see she had formed more of a bond with him than the other children of the church. From the time Lone could walk and talk, he asked her questions after questions, with which she answered as honestly and best she could but quickly found a limit to her knowledge. That's when a strange turn in the conversation happened. Instead of continuing with the much harder questions, the boys seem to just ask her easier things about everyday happenings and things about herself, like her tail, eyes, and ears. He would talk to her about her race and capabilities. And like a big sister, she would answer everything even if she didn't really know the answers. Funny enough, he would always come to Aaron to confirm whether her answers were correct or not.

When he started asking Aaron about more advanced things like how magic worked or how to read, the boy had a hard time phrasing each question and would pause thinking of a better way to say it. Aaron was no stranger to Cosmic questions from children, but the way Lone asked made it feel more structured and like there was some sort of endgame to each round of questioning. There were times though, when he would ask a question, " Why is the sky blue?"and then derail the line of questioning with "how much is a copper worth?" as if that was the question he'd been waiting to ask the entire time.

Aaron wasn't the only one to notice, Celia did as well, frequently saying, "I've got a gut feeling he's smarter than he looks." Aaron couldn't help but agree.

He was somewhat relieved when he was caught playing with a bow and arrow rather than watching the Smith work or examining the undercarriage of a wagon. Lone was just a normal curious kid, right? There was no way he could learn so much so fast.

When he started training, though, it did confuse Aaron. The boy should have known that none of that would have worked until he turned 10 years old. Why was he doing this? Even if there was a stat gain, it would only be a meaningless amount. Sure, nobles and knight families still practiced this sort of thing, but they could also cart in wild monsters and get sword training as well. When he asked Lone about it, his reply was, "I'm just seeing what I can do. You know, finding my limits." As if it was the natural thing to do. But even when he did find his limits, he just kept going on with the routine.

When the villagers came to ask what he was doing, Aaron was relieved when they laughed it off, saying it'll get him off their backs in the morning at least, and asking all those random questions. Lone often went out and investigated the village and asked questions to the point of irritating whatever craftsman he decided to bother.

While he finished reminiscing, Aaron watched as May put down Lone facing him toward the priest. Aaron had expected him to sneak out of the wall he just didn't expect him to do it so early at the age of 7.

Looking down at the boy, he said , "You know what you did, don't you?"

Lone's response was quick and full of fake shame. "I went outside the wall without an adult."

"And why is that a bad thing?" Aaron asked

"Because I could have gotten lost, killed, and eaten, sir." Lone said, now sounding a little bored.

"and?" Aaron beckoned

"and?..."Lone paused for a moment before continuing , "and that would have made everyone very sad?"

"Lucky guess ya little..." Aaron said quietly through his teeth, almost a whisper, then continued , "Well, I see you've already received Sister May's judgment, so I'll just get on with my sentencing. You'll be cleaning the church top to bottom on top of doing all your regular chores, and you'll get to help Celia with whatever tasks for a month." Lone looked up and grimaced, but said nothing,

'New you were smart, I was planning on adding another month if you said anything' Aaron thought to himself.

Ceilie perk up at that, her tail started twitching in what he interpreted as excitement. She looked at the back of the boys head with a toothy grin.

"Get the bath ready. We will want it hot after dinner and before bedtime. Oh!, and you're on bread and water for this week." Aaron added that last one like icing on a cake. Knowing that this week was half over anyway, it wasn't much of a punishment, but he still liked the wince Lone made at its addition.

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Lone's POV:

He knew it was fair but come on he was only a kid 'physically' it seems a little harsh and sore rear on top of building the fire under bathroom. He still hasn't mastered the flint yet so it would take awhile.

"Aarg." He mumbled to himself.

There was a silver lining though, he got to look at how the bath room worked. He had seen it before and this was the first time he'd been left alone with building the fire under the large tub, so he got to stick his head in before it was lit.

He could see how it worked mostly from the first look. It was pretty simple at first but he knew it wasn't like he could copy it and build it him self. It was a two layer style tub, the outside was a metal bowl while the interior side of the tub was smooth stone and wood built leaving a gap between the fire licked underside where the water would heat up and holes in would interior let's in the warmer water, Rotating it on its own. It was less interesting than he thought but still smart way of doing it at least from he knowledge.

After he pull his head out he jumped hitting his head on the fireplace arch. Ceilie was sitting right next to him with a blank face just staring. He didn't even feel her get so close, let alone heard her approach. Hitting his head snapped her out of her hunter's gaze as she burst into laughter.

"Jeez your gonna give me a heart attack you crazy cat." He said rubbing his head

Still laughing she asked "Ha Ha! A heart what now? Ha Ha!" wiping a joyful tear from her eye she continued "Whats a heart attack?"

Lone stiffened "you don't know what a heart attack is?" This was knew he was pretty sure there weren't any more surprises in store for him. "you know where your heart brakes down and stops, your left arm in pain?"

"You mean something like a basilisks glare? Or maybe cursed Heart? Wait are you calling me a monster!? Bwahahaha!" Ceilie she burst out laughing again.

"No, I mean just a weak heart that can't handle stress or old age." Lone reiterated. 'Why doesn't she know that?'he thought

After her last fit of laughter she said a grin still on her face. "I'm not understanding what your asking."

Lone had to think a moment to frame the words right "without a monster attack or cursing someone just grab their chest and fall over and die?" He said a minute after thinking

Ceilie's ear flicked as she looked confused, "No, that sounds scary, did one of the older kids tell you this?" She said with concern, probably thinking the older kids were playing a prank on him.

He sat there thinking for a while when Ceilie said "I don't know what the other kids said but I've never heard of such scary thing." She said as if had just had a bad dream.

"You've got to be kidding me" He mumbled to himself "what would stop a common thing like a heart problems? Well there is magic here so maybe it's just that different from there" He didn't realize that he had been talking out loud when Ceilie got close to his face and surprised him again. "Jeez!!!" He hit the back of his head on the side of the bathroom outerwall backing away from her.

"Your so jumpy when I get close to you. Why is that? It's not that you're scared of me, right?" She seemed to want to know why he did this more that to continue the earlier conversation and he knew why, she'd been around since he was smaller and couldn't get the words right so he just spoke English instead and she called it his thinking voice. He just didn't correct her.

His throbbing head brought him back to the present, and he said while rubbing it. "Well, it's like you just pop out of nowhere. How am I supposed to react?"

She tilted here head and her eyes went wide. Turning her head to look at the air her eyes darted back and forth like she was reading something and Lone realized she was checking her system.

"Oh, I got it! I really got it! Yes!" She exclaimed. "Your a good mine Loney!"

"What? You get a stealth skill because of me somehow?" He guessed it being so obvious with her actions

"Yeah it's like, the third one I've gotten around you! I bet I could..." She abruptly stopped talking and looked away.

Lone narrowed his eyes "Third one? What do you mean third one?"

She quickly looked away and got to her feet then said, "Well, you better get started on that fire or... or Aaron's going to to lengthen your punishment! Well see ya!"

"Hey! We're not done! where..." He began and somehow lost site of her. She used the skill to get away.

"That little..." he said through his teeth.

He knew he couldn't catch her by chasing her but he didn't need to he knew where she slept... it's going to be a long night...