I dodged the axe, and watched as the man who had swung it spat out spittle in the effort.

He made a weird noise as he inhaled, as to step forward and swing the axe back upward at me, since he was missing several of his front teeth. He sounded as if he was trying to whistle, making as much whistling noise as the axe made as it flew through the air towards me.

Stepping out of the way, I glanced to my left at the three other men. They were no longer stunned by my appearance, or what I'd done, and were readying to assist their axe-wielding comrade. Two had swords and one had a spear.

It was the spear I worried over. Not because I myself feared it, but there was a huddled family not far behind me. They were close enough, and there were enough of them, where even a half-assed spear toss could take life, maybe even from more than one individual. So I needed to handle him immediately before he got any ideas. I'd have targeted him first if not for the fact that the axe now attacking me had been mere moments from chopping off the head of a previous victim.

The man attacking me let out a roar of a groan as he grew frustrated, and took two steps towards me instead of one as he attacked. Him doing so allowed me to not back step, making him misjudge our distance, and get a clean hit square between his eyes.

His head snapped back, crunching into itself, but I didn't stop. I hadn't hit him with a punch, but an open palm, so that I could grab his face and head. Holding it tightly, I stepped forward a step and pushed the man forward alongside me. I basically tossed him at the three, causing them all to startle at the sudden craziness of the situation.

The man's body spun as it flew at them, and even in his death he had held onto his axe. It spun around as he did, and clipped one of the sword wielding men in the arm. The man with the spear was hit by the body in full, sending him to the ground, and the other man with the sword fell backward in shock, even though he had barely been missed by the dead body's feet as they flailed around.

All three of them shouted out wordlessly in shock, as two fell to the ground and the third grabbed at his now profusely bleeding arm. Based off the way the spearman was shouting, he had broken something in the tumble with his fellow's dead body.

The pain, shock and confusion had been enough. None of them were even looking at me anymore and instead at each other. It allowed me to easily stride forward, to re-enter the fray without them even realizing it.

I kicked the uninjured swordsman in the head. Before his body crumpled and fell to the ground, I turned away and towards the man with the bleeding arm. He realized I was now focused on him, and his eyes were wide and white. His pale face was undoubtedly not because of the blood loss, but pure shock and terror.

Even hardened brigands weren't used to such strange carnage, even though they dealt it out themselves often enough.

It was a strange thing. No matter the era, or human or not, I'd always wondered why people became so terrified of their own deaths… even though they brutally handed it out themselves throughout their lives without mercy. Even base animals comprehended that such a life was full of comeuppance. No matter how strong you were, how proficient or lucky, eventually you ran into someone… or something, which would defeat you. Eat you, or kill you for sport.

It was just life.

"Wait…!" the man with the bloody arm dropped his sword, to raise his good arm up as to beg and plead.

I didn't even consider it, and kicked him in the head as I'd done the other man.

"Gods! No!"

The spearman, who no longer had a spear at all since it had gotten stuck under the dead corpse of the man I had thrown at him, was hurrying to his feet. He stumbled forward, towards me oddly enough, but not because he intended to fight me. He landed flat on his face, rather harshly, and let out a yelp of pain. His left leg was askew oddly, telling me that it had been his knee he had broken earlier. It was mangled, and judging by the pant leg being taught in an odd way a piece of bone may even be sticking out of his flesh.

Feeling no pity for the man, I stepped over to him and right before he could lift his head as to look up at me I stomped down on the back of his neck.

He crunched a little oddly under my boot, and for a few heartbeats… there was silence.

Glancing around, I made sure the brigands were all dead. I counted the six bodies real quick, verifying each one wasn't moving or making noise, and then glanced around again at the surrounding area. I checked the trees all around us; past the road we were on, and made sure once again that none of their comrades had hidden back instead of joining in on the fight.

I hadn't seen any, and still didn't see or sense any others… which told me if someone had indeed stayed back and not attacked with the rest, I'd likely not ever know. They'd undoubtedly now stay hidden away, out of pure fear.

Still I kept my guard up as Renn emerged from her own hiding spot. She hurried out onto the road from behind the larger bushes, and without even a glance to me hurried over to the huddled family I had just saved.

"Is anyone hurt?" Renn asked worriedly as she approached the two older women and several kids. Now that I had a small moment I went ahead and counted the small group hiding under and behind the two older women, clinging and cowering in fear. It looked like there were at least five of them, most not much taller or older than Fly or Lomi.

"I… I don't know," one of the older women whispered an answer, and I knew the reason.

They were fine. I had intervened before the brigands had touched any of them.

Renn too turned to look away from the group, and we both glanced at the man lying not far from me. One who had not been a part of the six I had just counted.

A man still breathing. One on his back. Beaten.

I assumed it was the husband of one of the women, or father, of the group of huddled kids. He had gray hair, but he had received a hard beating. His face was already swollen magnificently, and he had blood oozing from a few places. Not just his nose and mouth, but one of his eyes and forehead too.

Stepping over to him, I stared down at the man and wondered if I should treat him or not. He looked bad, by appearance, but his breathing wasn't strained. His left eye was open, staring up at me rather clearly if winced and in pain.

He had received a beating, but I didn't see any life threatening injuries… in fact the worst of it, other than the swollen face, was his left hand. One of the brigands had stomped on it with a heavy heel. It had broken and crushed fingers, and likely many bones in the hand itself. In today's era it likely meant he'd never be able to use it properly again. He'd not need it amputated or anything, but hopefully this man was right handed.

"You alive?" I asked him.

The man wheezed, and a very noticeable smiled wormed through the swollen cheeks. "I am," he groaned.

"Dear!" one of the women heard his voice and stood, scampering out of the huddled group and hurried over. She fell to the ground next to him, skidding to his side, and went to grab at his face. "Honey…!" she cried at the sight of him.

Hmph. He was fine. He'd not like eating or drinking for a few months, and his hand would trouble him for life, but he was not in danger of dying.

I could leave the tending of wounds to his family. There was no need for me to worry about it.

Stepping back as the rest of the family hurried over, even the children, I frowned when one of the younger boys ran at me instead of his father. I noted Renn stand and approach, smiling weirdly, as the boy wrapped me in a small hug. "Thanks mister!" he said as he clung to me.

"Hm." I patted the boy's head, as Renn walked up to us.

Ignoring her smile as she stared at me, and glanced at the families two wagons. They had two donkeys pulling each of them, and both looked fine. It seemed although Renn and I had come upon them as they were being robbed, we had done so rather early into their traumatic event.

The brigands had been beating the man, the only resistance, and had been doing so leisurely. If they had simply killed the man, they may have been able to do more damage to the family before I had gotten involved. In fact, depending on how quickly they could have done it… I may not have been able to help at all. Instead I would have only been getting revenge.

Sometimes such scum's cruelty was a good thing, it seemed.

"Thank you, sir knight," the man was now sitting up, half being held up by his family and half slouched forward in a slump. He looked like he needed a long vacation.

"Yes! Thank you, ever so much!" the other older woman said, and I noted she didn't sound or look at all like the other woman who had called him honey. Was she an older daughter then, maybe? Sister?

Did it matter…?

The young boy released me from his hug, and then hurried away. I watched him run around his family and over to one of the dead brigands. The first one I'd killed, the one who had been stomping on the man's hand.

The boy began to kick at the corpse, right into the man's sides. Even his little kicks sounded hefty and mushy, thanks to the fact I had crushed the man's rib-cage rather completely.

"Don't let him do that," the man whispered, and one of the older women stood and hurried over to grab the boy.

"I suggest leaving quickly. Tend to his wounds on the road. Get to your destination and heal there, not out here," I said simply to the group.

They all looked over at me, as I nodded and glanced at Renn. Her weird smile faltered, and she glared at me a moment as she sighed and nodded.

Glad she understood, I nodded again and turned. I stepped away from the group, the wagons, and dead bodies and headed down the road. To return to our path.

Luckily they were heading the other way. They had been heading south. It gave me another excuse to not get involved with them.

"Goodbye! Take care, and I hope the rest of your journey is safe and happy!" Renn said loudly as she followed after me.

"Wait…!" the man groaned a request, but I ignored it as I stepped past the dead spearman.

"Sorry… He's in a hurry," Renn apologized on my behalf, which made the small group go silent. Luckily they remained silent for several minutes as Renn and I left their vicinity.

Once we were out of earshot, at least to them, I heard them hurriedly begin talking amongst themselves. I ignored most of their conversation, as Renn hurried over to my side. She grabbed my sleeve as she glanced back, to stare at them.

"They'll be fine Renn. He's not as bad off as he looks. They'll be able to travel shortly," I told her.

"I figured… but still," she said softly.

"Even if we lingered all I'd do is bandage him up a little. Nothing more than they'll do, really," I said.

"How can you say that Vim? You know so much more than any of us," she said, accusing me.

I shook my head. "I do, but it'd take time for me to tell if he needed any kind of specific help. I'd have to wait to see or hear certain issues, such as internal bleeding or something, and that could take time. Time we don't have to spare for those not of our own," I said.

"Mhm…" Renn made a noise that told me she understood, and maybe even agreed… but didn't want to.

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"The important ones are fine, Renn. That should be enough for you," I said.

She sighed at me as she finally turned forward; to no longer look at those we left behind. "I suppose, in a way, yes."

I smiled at her, glad I understood her so well.

It was the women and children she really worried over. Not the man. In a way it made her kind of sexist, I suppose.

"Odds are wherever they're headed can't be too far, Renn. People up this far north don't travel very far usually. A few days at most," I said.

"Oh, I know. I think there's a village a day or so away from here. I think I've traveled this road before," Renn said.

"Really?"

She nodded as she glanced around, and I noted the way she still clung to my sleeve. Was she worried about something? Why not just grab my hand, or arm itself? Why the sleeve, as if she was a little girl afraid to take my hand?

She hadn't done that even in the beginning, back when we first met. She had grabbed me fully even back then, though I don't think she ever really realized she did so.

"This road will eventually lead us to a mountain village. One that has a mine, I think," she said.

"Really…?" I tried to remember if that was true or not.

It was hard to, since I'd only been up this way a few times recently. And by recently that meant in the last few hundred years.

Lilly had given me the general directions to where Sap was, but even she didn't know the exact route. We simply were making educated guess… and hoping, really, that she was still there after all this time. But it was fine. If we didn't find her in a week or two we'd head southwest, since there was another location we could stop at along the way. And after them, we could check in on Elk and the other members up here before heading to the coastline.

"You know Vim… why does it feel like there's more violence lately?" Renn asked suddenly as she glanced at me.

"Hm? There's always violence," I said. What'd she mean?

"I went lots of years between seeing, or experiencing, violence. Dozens at a time. Yet now it feels like it happens every few days. In fact I've seen more violence since joining the Society than I have my whole life, I think," she said.

Hm… She likely had a point. Her life before joining the Society was… one of solitude. Even when she had traveled around she had done so carefully, and alone.

Still, wasn't the answer obvious? I mean I was right in front of her.

"Would you have interfered? Before. Back before you joined the Society, while traveling around alone. Had this happened while you were alone, finding them being attacked and needing help, would you have done something about it?" I asked, deciding to tackle the question that way instead.

Renn slowed a little and frowned at me as I heard her ears beneath her hood and hat shuffle and move. "Before…" she mumbled as she thought about it.

I waited for her to find her answer as I glanced around again, to make sure once more we were safe. I felt almost as if there should have been more enemies, though I didn't see or sense any.

"I see," Renn then said as I looked back at her. She nodded, more so to herself than me. "Yes. I see what you're saying," she said.

"Hm…?" What had I been saying again?

"You're saying the world seems more violent because I myself have become so. You're right… I might not have helped had I come upon them back then. Six men, armed as they had been, would have been terrifying. Even today, even with all you've taught me and all I've done, I'd hesitate likely. But back then? I would have hidden myself. I might have tried to save the children, had an opportunity arrived, but odds are I would have failed. At best I might have been able to hurt or kill one or two of them, and then run off since I'd gotten hurt myself, and at worst I would have cried and ran away," she told me.

Hm.

She was speaking not of hypotheticals but experience.

She was telling me what she'd done before, under similar situations. Back in the day.

"Well… I'd not meant it that way, Renn. Though you are right, that today you may be more inclined to participate in violence thanks to me and the Society. What I more so meant was… well… I'm here now," I said with a point to myself.

Renn's frown deepened as she glared at me. "Are you saying you attract violence?" she asked.

I nodded. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I… I don't know. I always figured all the chaos that happens around you is because of the Society. You get involved with it all because you're forced to… not because you yourself summoned it forth," she said.

Shrugging, I smiled at her. "I don't try to call it up, Renn. I just mean I'm always encountering it. And you're now with me, so you get involved too. Guilty by association and all that," I said.

She giggled at that. "Association," she said, making fun of the word I'd chosen to use.

"That being said… I'd hope you would be smart about confronting such scenarios, Renn. You're strong. Far stronger than you think, even. But you're still… well…" I didn't want to say she was still a woman, since it wasn't fair of an assessment. That didn't work when she was stronger than any man to exist. Even if I did feel such a thing was true. Have I always been such a chauvinist, or was it just because she was my wife?

"Your wife? Yes, I know. I'm precious," Renn said happily.

Ah. Shoot. I hadn't meant that, but she seemed so happy to think so. Though it wasn't wrong…

"Yes, basically," I admitted.

Renn made an odd noise as she giggled and hummed, and nodded at me. "Right. Yet at the same time I know the truth, Vim."

"Truth…?" So she had realized what I meant, then?

"You like it when I go out of my way to help the less fortunate. In fact you expect it," she pointed out.

Oh.

I sighed and nodded. "I do," I admitted again.

Renn grinned at me as she reached over to grab my hand. I accepted it, and kind of wished she wasn't wearing gloves.

"Still… I hope you don't endanger yourself needlessly Renn. I'm very proud of you for being the type to try and protect those less fortunate than our own, but remember you have duties and responsibilities. To many people, thousands even. Dying for someone not related to the Society, even children, would be a great loss. One that the Society may not be able to endure," I said.

Renn studied me as we walked, and I noted the way her pupils had shrunk and elongated. She was very focused all of a sudden.

"Then you better always be there for me Vim. To make sure that doesn't happen," she said softly.

Although a little stunned at her response… I couldn't help but smile and nod.

Yes.

Very true.

And very fitting too.

"You know you promised to teach me more often. About to defend myself," she reminded me.

Right. I had. "Yes. We'll start doing that."

"You said that last time," she said with a smile.

I had. "We've been busy."

For a moment Renn didn't say anything, and then she glanced behind us. I didn't follow her gaze, since I knew the wagons and family were no longer in sight. We had walked far enough, and rounded enough bends, that seeing them was just not possible anymore.

"Before we get too distracted, good job Vim. You did well," she said gently as she looked back at me.

"Hm, yes. I surely accomplished a great feat, defeating a bunch of humans with ease," I said, a little sarcastically.

She huffed at me. "No matter how easy it was for you doesn't change how great it was, Vim."

"True. I was just being snarky," I said.

Renn giggled at me. "Snarky? That was you being snarky?"

"I think so, yes."

She laughed for a moment, and then squeezed my hand as she swung our hands a bit. Although I wasn't sure why she had found such a thing so funny, I was very glad to see it all the same. She looked, and sounded, lovely when she was like this.

It felt very good to be walking with her like this again. Without anyone else to bother us.

I wanted to enjoy this. Since I knew soon our life would become hectic once more, likely far worse than it has been in a long time. At least for me.

Training though…

Glancing at the forest around us, I knew I should say something.

I had a lot to say to her, after all. There was much we needed to talk about, before we were surrounded by others. While we were alone.

There was a chance that Sap would want to join us back south, so I needed to take this opportunity and use it while I could.

But…

Glaring at the dense trees, I wondered what I was going to do with myself.

Have I really always been such a coward…?

Yes. The sad truth was yes. I have been.

I didn't need to fear death, and didn't fear pain, so I feared other things. Things simpler. Less unobtrusive.

Like just telling the truth.

"Vim…?" Renn, like usual, noticed my discomfort as I kept my eyes on the forests for a moment… and then glanced over at her.

She gave me a gentle smile, and I felt my heart melt at the mere sight of it.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Everything," I whispered.

Her smile didn't falter, and in fact grew stronger. "I'm sure!" she said happily.

Damn.

Feeling oddly relaxed all of a sudden, I sighed at myself and nodded.

"We have a lot to talk about, Renn," I said.

"We do. I've actually been looking forward to this trip, though it hurt to leave such adorable people behind," Renn said as she stepped closer. She wrapped her arms around my own, and squeezed it. I enjoyed the feeling of her closeness, even if it made me more acutely aware of how heavy a responsibility she was for me.

I had so much to tell her. To explain.

More than she could know.

And I knew she'd accept it all. Which only somehow made me more anxious.

I had to tell her of my decision. Of what I was going to do about the vote. The Society, as a whole.

I needed to tell her why I was gathering up the items I've hidden around the world.

I needed to tell her why I had been so disturbed by her saintly friend's prophecies, and why even though she was a saint and everything I despised I had asked for permission to build her a home there in that village.

I needed to tell her everything. Because she deserved to know it.

Her very life depended on it.

But I couldn't, could I?

The few people in my life I've revealed things to, like Miss Beak, had not even been told everything. And those like Miss Beak had been told such things simply because they had been involved. In their own way. They hadn't needed to be told some things, because they had already known. They had already experienced, or seen it, themselves.

When'd I become like this anyway? In the beginning I didn't remember being so secretive.

I sighed. "My problem Renn, is the type of man I am," I told her.

"Hm…?"

A small gust blew past, and the coldness of it told me a storm was heading our way. Maybe one even cold enough for snow.

"I need to tell you things. But I can't tell you everything. Yet, to tell you certain things… reveals other things. Basically because I'm the type of man I am, to keep certain things secret, I'm unable to tell you one thing without telling you another. It makes me feel wrong. Sick, almost. It'd be like teaching you how to grow food, or catch fish, but at the same time not teach you how to properly prepare and cook it. It goes against reason for me," I said, explaining what was bothering me.

"But I know how to cook, Vim," Renn said gently.

I smiled at that and nodded. Yes. She did.

"But you don't know anything about the world before," I said.

Renn didn't respond with a silly joke like list time. Instead she remained silent as we walked for a bit.

Shrugging gently, since she was clinging to my arm, I decided I felt lost… and had no idea how to find myself. "Basically I need, want, to tell you things. Yet I fear doing so."

"I'm willing to wait, Vim, it's okay," Renn said softly.

I shook my head. "You've been waiting. And… now there's no time to wait. Not enough, at least."

"Why…? Because of the vote…? Or…?" Renn asked.

"The vote is a part of it, yes. But no. In a certain way the vote is now the least of my concern," I said.

"You're talking about what Elaine had said. Her prophecy," she said, understanding quickly.

I nodded, and felt my body tense up a little.

Yes. Right.

I smirked at my own ridiculousness. I had actually gone stiff at her pointing it out so readily! What was wrong with me?

"Yeah. See? You figured that out so quickly. That means you'll figure out everything else just as fast, once I start telling you everything. By my parents that's terrifying," I said with a small laugh, as if it was funny.

It wasn't.

"It was kind of obvious Vim," Renn said gently.

No.

It wasn't. Not like she thought, at least.

Oh well.

"Just… be gentle with me Renn. As I try to guide myself through these strange waters we've found ourselves in," I asked of her.

She squeezed my arm. "I'll try my best," she offered gently, speaking rather seriously. I glanced at her and was a tad surprised to find her without a smile, or even a hint of mischievousness. She had been, and was being, serious. Completely.

Somehow that scared me more than anything else.

But I knew better than to take such lovely devotion lightly.

Nodding gently, I focused on her warmth around my arm and side. She had drawn closer as we walked.

"Okay. Maybe between the two of us, we can overcome my shortcomings," I said.

"A hard task, but I'm sure we'll be fine," she said.

Smirking at her, I nodded. "Surely."

For a few steps she only giggled at me, but then she squeezed my arm… and I noted the gentle smile on her face as she tugged herself closer to me.

"So… shall we start?" she asked.

Damn.

Where were more bandits when I needed them?

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