“I’m hurt!” The driver called out, an arrow lodged deep in his upper arm. He rolled over and fell down from his cart chair to the ground. He crawls on the dirt to be beneath the cart, to avoid the arrows, in a time such as this the pain subsides and the fear of death is all that takes hold of a person. Not of Fren of course, how could he be the hero if he let’s this deter him?
“Grey, make sure he’s alright, I’ll hold them off.” As unwavering as ever, I had no doubt. Gregory is also braver than I remember, he would freeze or panic but perhaps he's changed by the previous adventure, he shakes his head up and down once and immediately gets off and around the cart to meet the scared eyes of the driver.
His brown eyes with small frightened pupils, and blood staining his green shirt. Whimpers that sound like “I don’t want to die.” Gregory doesn’t worry though, he has faith in Fren to defend them.
Fren himself at the same time jumps down with the shield in hand and sword in the other. He needs to face three horseback riders who are almost confused as to why he would face them, and even then why alone? And most of all , what is he doing with a bronze pot lid? A boy with a sword would oppose them, It’s not as though they never killed boys even smaller than him. The middle one positions himself and shoots an arrow directly at Fren and before it hits the target it… bounces off? The rider is in shock. His fellow bandits also shoot and that’s only two more arrows deflected by an odd yellow aura that radiates from the… the pot lid?
Fren may have noticed already but the aura is much bigger now than when he was trying it out with Gregory, It’s likely the danger that acts as a catalyst for Fren to output more of himself. He looks directly at the closest one, the rightmost rider.
On a brown horse with a black mane sat a man covered with clothes of black and red, and a piece of red cloth covering most of his face. Black short hair and a scar above his left cheek, his eyes clearly filled with bad intentions for any who meet them. The two locked eyes but because of Fren’s unwavering determination, because his gaze was clearly one of a hunter who spots his prey in a vulnerable position just before releasing a strike, the rider flinched, a stabbing fear pierced his heart for a split second.
Like the wind, Fren ran forward, much faster than a human should. He’s learning how to use magic! Fren pounces faster than the bandits thoughts , they shoot arrows but the arrows only hit the air behind him. The rightmost bandit manages to shoot a weak arrow that gets deflected by the aura shield, he does not manage to load another, or even tell his horse to turn tail. A giant leap from Fren takes him into the air, higher than the height of the horse. He shoves his sword through the bandit’s chest, and accelerates to the ground with the bandit's body. Fren lands on both his feet, but the bandit falls on his back and fails to move again.
The look on Fren’s face is… confused, or is this fear? Regret? It’s over before I can discern what it is he feels. He now looks on to the two remaining bandit’s as the unmanned horse runs wild now that his rider is dead.
“Fren! He’s alright. I can help.” Gregory steps from the cover of the cart.
A priest? We could take him hostage… no, we don’t need the church paladins to come for us… Do we run away? The bandit’s thoughts run all over the place. Fren clearly understands they might go for Gregory and closes in on them, stepping closer slowly with sword in hand. But before they can decide what to do, an arrow finds it’s place in the middle bandit’s side, who?
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“You won’t get away this time! Filthy Damians!” An alto voice comes from the woods on the opposite side of the road. It’s a woman with a bow and an arrow in hand, brown long hair that was clearly never taken care of, tan skin hiding behind green hooded cape and light brown plain clothes and most peculiarly, an eye patch.
"Run! Scatter!" The middle bandit cries out and strikes the reins. They both turn away and gallop on the field of tall grass, fleeing for their lives. Another arrow launches from the girl's bow but it's awkward and misses by a lot.
Fren goes and picks up the arrow then swiftly runs to retrieve it to the bow woman. "Thanks! You're amazing."
It's enough to make the woman blush a bit, she can't keep eye contact. She looks about the age of Grey and Dan.
Gregory also approaches "Wow, I barely assisted. You really-" he stops when he notices the eye of the woman. It's a deep, strong red. There are many people with brown, blue, green and even yellow eyes in major cities, but red is not normal even for them. It's likely a demon, or a vampire, best stay away.
"I'm Fren, and this is Grey, and that's our driver, I don't know his name though. What's your name?" Fren asks her nicely and hands her the arrow.
She takes a step back, is this a trap? Can he not see my eyes? Is he just insane?
"Fren, get away from her."
"What's the matter? She helped us?" Fren is an outsider, things like the dangers of red eyed people are not in his common sense. Maybe that's what she needs?
"Ruby… " she whispers, who is she whispering for? This stranger? Does she believe him? He travels with a priest, maybe their demon hunters?
"Ruby, thank you for helping us."
She takes the arrow back and quickly shoves it into a quiver hidden under her cape. Fren looks at her meticulously, probably looking for body language signs.
She's awkward, nervous, but she doesn't seem uninterested. She's been hurt before, and lonely for a very long time. What will you do? Fren, this is important, you must know this. Show me what you'll do if you meet someone like that, I need to know.
"Our horse ran away, might as well stop for some food, want to join?" You never disappoint, Fren.
"No, I-I can't."
"We have to repay you."
"Fren, if she doesn't want to, just leave it." Gregory urges Fren to let it go.
"You're just ashamed that she got to help and you didn't." Fren jokes a bit, he probably knows that If he'd joke around for a bit, Gregory won't be able to help but join in with humor.
"You're planning on giving her my share of the food?"
"I want to see you shoot an arrow half as well as she does with one eye, she should get four times you're share by that logic."
"Alright, fine, we'll split it equal, but she gets the one with the turnips."
The two continue the banter, even after it's established that she's welcome to eat with them. They move to make jokes about turnips now. She's thinking it must be a trap, the absurdity of them accepting her… without noticing she even laughed at one of their jokes.
"Come on. He was only half joking so I hope you like turnips."
Before she could understand what was happening and how to reject the offer she was already sitting down and eating veggies and fruits with the two fascinating creatures who accepted her and the driver.