A Hero With/Out Time

Chapter 7: My result of choices. (Part 2)

"You're back," Ardent greeted me once I returned to camp. He hadn't moved from his seated position but now had an additional book besides him. "Don't worry I didn't pry."

"I didn't expect you to," I replied respectfully.

He laughed, "The Master thief, Empress, Taylor Tiana. I was quite worried as to how she would interact with us but she's been rather pleasant, especially around you."

"I'm not sure if she's being pleasant or a bother most the time." Between teasing me, scaring me, yelling at me and now teaching me, I really couldn't narrow down how she felt. When I considered the past iterations she was a bit more open but I wasn't sure how far that stretched. For all I knew she could be acting. People in her field of work, like Faith, twining others around their fingers was just another day in the job.

Ardent stood up, "Well I'm off to bed. I'd like to be asleep before Earnest. The man can snore quite loudly." He walked closer to me and paused with a curious frown. "Rain were you perhaps using magic?"

I was surprised, "You can tell? Is it my mana?"

"No, it is the aftermath of failure. The scent of blood mixed with traces of mana. Your body must have gone through rejection, are you feeling okay?"

"More or less," I smiled wryly.

"Take it easy," he patted my head. "I would rather you not die before my colleagues and I can properly study you."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that one. On one hand it felt like he was being caring but I wasn't sure if it was coming more from a personal point of view or a research one.

"Goodnight Rain," he headed into the carriage.

"Goodnight...." I waited for him to close the door before I stretched. There was still quite a lot that needed to be done and I wanted the Hero and everyone else's equipment to be in tip top shape.

I doused the fire and cleaned up my work as midnight came around. The sky was clear despite the weather earlier and the stars shined down revealing a beautiful display. It was one of the few perks of sleeping outside. If it weren't for the insects I'd do it all the time. Thankfully with the Hero's supplies I had a plethora of goods to use as bug repellent.

With a yawn I settled myself down on top the carriage. Pina moved her head beside me for one final pat before curling herself beside the wooden boards. Just as I was about to fall asleep the creek of the carriage door threw me wide awake. I shuffled my bundled body to the side of the roof to get a closer look and to my surprise the Hero stepped out. She was wearing lighter clothing than usual and not a trace of armour. Like this she really did look like a normal girl. Although after what I had seen her do today I could no longer think of her as anything close to normal.

She let out a sigh and stared into the star speckled sky. Her hand rose as if grasping the tiny lights.

"It really is different here," there was a melancholy in her voice that resounded with my own. Homesickness.

I decided to call out to her, "Hero, are you looking for something?"

She jumped in fright and span towards me almost instantly, "R-Rain, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm always out here," I replied.

"Wait, you don't sleep inside the carriage?"