I'm here.

[supernal]

Though he pretended not to listen to Charmae's question, nothing could be further from the truth. The question itself was amusing, the girl's response poised to either be more so, or to be so dry and matter-of-fact that the knight might find some delight in the sobriety of it all. Before a chance for appreciation was realized, however, Arthur spotted the river half a second before Atticus did. He did not rush, but followed swiftly on the path that Charmae blazed with zeal.

When he reached the river bank, Arthur knelt just beyond the place where the water lapped the edges of the earth. Arthur looked at his hands. Blood slicked his fingers and dried trails of the stuff left red stripes down his palm, ending abruptly at his wrist where the blood presumably simply dripped to the ground. Arthur's eyes, gray pools of emotion and humanity, turned into something gradient and neutral. Distant in contemplation.

"Use sand when you wash your hands. The grit makes it easier to scrub the blood away."

Dipping his hands into the water, the sensation of cool water rushing about his wrists brought back memories. Of a time when he was younger, but no less vicious with a sword or barehanded. He recalled a time when his father passed down that very tip while idly commenting that the smell of blood made his stomach uneasy, quite a feat to accomplish for someone as large and as steeled as Geoffrey Terces.

Arthur gathered up silt from the side of the bank in his hand, leaving jagged trenches where his fingers dug, and rubbed the dirt against his hands underwater. The blood, freed from his skin, streamed out across the water like ribbons.

"Relax for a few minutes. I want to wash the sword and everything else. The…what's it called?" Arthur turned to Kino but the answer came to mind before she had time to respond. "Gunpowder, that's what it's called. The gunpowder and oil smell is making me nauseous."

[zombzeh]

[right:1ftahawh][/right:1ftahawh]

Was Terces difficult to protect? Kino asked herself this, first. She'd never really thought of it until now. Usually, she just stuck comfortably next to him, partly invading personal space barriers, but feeling perfectly calm in doing so. Really, though, she didn't have to do much to protect him. Terces kind of took care of himself, really. He didn't often need protection.

However, Kino always had his back. If he needed her for something, she was ready and willing to try. If it dealt with his personal safety, she felt compelled to succeed.

She looked to Charmae and shrugged her shoulders. It was the only answer she could give. It was tough traveling so frequently, but it was pretty enriching. Once she got over how stressful that was on her body, she was able to deal with it pretty well . . .

Kino would have spoken about how Arthur was very powerful and more than capable of taking care of himself without her presence, but by the time she gathered a select few words to describe it, Charmae was already making a dash for a river--one Terces pointed out shortly thereafter. Kino approached slowly and hesitantly. She kind of wanted to take a drink from the water--but she couldn't be too sure. She'd heard stories about Renovation soldiers poisoning water supplies.

That poison it . . . it got into everything. It got into the soil, it killed all forms of life that grew from it, that ate from it, and even touched the water. If there was an open wound . . .

By the time she realized the possibility, Arthur already had his hands in the water, looking her way to talk of gunpowder. She was spry to get to him--not a mad rush, but certainly an urgent one. She broke all boundaries of person space, to practically throw her body into his side and grab at his wrists and try in momentary desperation to rip them from the water.

She needed to make sure he had no open wounds. She needed to make sure he wouldn't need an apothecary within the next five minutes . . .

[mire]

Charmae followed Arthur’s instructions and used the sand to scrape the dried blood off her fingers, arms, and chest. Most of the irreversible damage had been done to her shirt, which she did not particularly care about. Clothes came and went; she’d find some more later. While Charmae cleaned up, Atticus sat nearby, careful not to step into the mud. He absolutely hated water mixed in sand, as it was difficult to get off and made his body heavier than usual. He hated water in general.

Charmae didn’t notice, but Atticus did. He saw the way Arthur’s pet reached out, snatched his hand and profusely examined it. Was there something wrong with the water? Though he had not touched it, Atticus had not sensed any danger. Could it be he had missed something? With his tail waggling, the small animal approached the river’s end, sniffed the water.

It was fine.

Aggravated, Atticus growled, labeled Kino as the worst pet ever. He should’ve known better!

“Aww, look at you. Got mud all on your paws! Come here.”

Before he could escape, Charmae picked up Atticus by the mane and submerged him underwater. She gave him a good shake, pulled the mortified animal out. He was not harmed; just really fucking mad. How he hated baths! Charmae squeezed the excess water from his body, settled him on her shoulder. It was only after she’d finished man handling her animal that she noticed Kino’s peculiar behavior.

“Is something the matter?”

[supernal]

Kino had seen Arthur's skill and ferocity first-hand and so it must have taken nothing short of fanatic desperation, to save his life for instance, to drive the girl to Arthur's side and so abruptly enter his personal space without warning or pretense. And in times so trying as these, too. Reflex almost sent the girl, too young to truly know life, to the foot of the Dark Gates and it was reflex again that saved her. Were Arthur's prodigious talent for massacre any less tempered, there'd be a grave where Kino stood.

"Kino, do I have to tie a bell to your wrist?"

A good natured jest followed by a smile that masked the tremulous anxiety in Arthur's steady fingers. The concern painted in heavy strokes across Kino's brow conveyed a very clear message to Arthur and the way she had rushed to pluck his hands from the water, the way she examined his hands even now, gave him enough clues to go off on.

"Everything's fine Charmae."

Arthur withdrew his hands from Kino's, the vestiges of blood and water dripping from his fingertips, and shook his hands dry.

"There are some rumors floating around about our enemy, but that's all they are. Rumors. About something called the 'sweeping death'. Some poison that they blanket the lands with. As to my knowledge, no such poison exists. A lot of their soldiers stay here, and they claim Rosinder as a land of their own. Poisoning the water supply and the land just means less food and water for their own troops."

Arthur's eyes roamed from Kino to Charmae, and from Charmae to the woman's hands. At some unseen, unheard prompting Arthur took a few steps toward her. The first were brisk, but as he neared her, the steps softened in pace.

"Alas, they aren't that self-destructive; one could only wish. Even if they were, and they had poisoned the land and the rivers, this area would show it long before we got here. But look there. The grass still grows. And there, the trees leaves are still green. This water's fit to drink."

Arthur reached out and took Charmae's hand in his, then used the thumb of his free hand to wipe a stripe of blood that had remained streaking against her palm.

"You missed a spot." Arthur spoke softly.

[zombzeh]

[right:1afxv0jl][/right:1afxv0jl]

Kino tried to see if Arthur had any open cuts, first and foremost. She was kicking herself for being so slow to react, but before she knew it, Arthur had withdrawn his hands from her.

She was ready to speak, however meekly, about the poison. She was about to justify herself--but Arthur got to it first. Kino watched him as he walked away, her expression one of stoic bewilderment and stoic hurt. She didn't know exactly what feeling this was.

"But it is t-rue," she frowned.

Not that she protested any further, though. Arthur was right. If it was that poison, there'd be death all around them. She was just getting worked up for nothing, but . . .

Then she watched how Arthur went to Charmae and wiped a spot of red off of her. Kino furrowed her brow and frowned at this. What was it? Was it that Charmae could have been an enemy and was just getting so close to Arthur that she could've stuck him with a knife right then and there? That she was an assassin out for Arthur's life, and Kino should've long since gotten rid of her? No, if that was the problem, she'd have tried to convince Arthur to ditch Charmae on the hill.

With her gaze averted, Kino moved to the waterside and plopped down upon her knees. She didn't try to wash the blood off her cheek and neck, not yet; all she did was try to look into her reflection. She couldn't see her it too well in the water, but she tried to.

If she had seen it, she'd have been aware of her slight pout and sulk of her shoulders--not really that noticeable to anyone else, probably. But she'd have noticed it.

[mire]

Arthur Terces had some balls; that much Atticus would not dispute. Some big balls, to step in like that, and dare to touch his dirty fingers to Charmae’s skin. What balls this man had! Such balls! But what good would a pair of balls do to a man, if his reproductive tool was ripped apart by teeth? Were he not currently rendered immobile by his own damp fur, Atticus would have surely imposed this dilemma upon the high knight. But alas, life was cruel to him and kind to Arthur. Atticus watched his master’s cheeks turned a light pink, felt his heart sink to the bottom of his little body.

This was getting dangerous.

“Ah, thank you.”

She was at a loss for more words, or any other kind of action. Her flesh felt hot all over, particularly her cheeks. She knew she was blushing furiously, though likely it would not be as visible due to the tan tones of her skin. She felt awkward, completely rendered useless by a simple brush of his thumb against her palm. What was this? Why was she so affected by his actions? Charmae cleared her throat, threw her nervous hands behind her back.

“Well, whenever you are ready to go, I shall be too.”

She stepped back, pretended to be in the need of more hand washing and headed for the river's edge again.

[supernal]

Arthur found himself swimming through the tides of some oneirism or another. The warmth that radiated from Charmae's hand, the softness of her skin, and the mere proximity of his body to hers all helped generate it; made him feel as if gracefully detached from the world. Reality, with all of its cold fronts and sharp edges, was miles away. Arthur was on an island with pink clouds and sweet smelling flowers where the throes of war could not reach him.

But soon enough that warmth turned hot, and it burned a hole in his hand. Arthur became abruptly aware their bodies' respective propinquity and took a step back at nearly the exact same time that Charmae did. So near in timing that to the outside looking it, it appeared to be some kind of orchestrated dance. Arthur's sight defected, fell from Charmae's to the ground where he spot a grumpy looking Atticus, and responded to Charmae in turn.

"Yes. I'll just gather the weapons and we can continue on."

Years of about-facing allowed Arthur to turn a full 180 degrees with sharp precision, and he thus made his way back to his little section of the river. In gathering the captain's sword, and everything else the errant knight brought with him on the excursion (including bow and metal arrows), Arthur noticed Kino.

"You missed a spot." The man smiled while rummaging about in his pocket, pulling a clean rag free. He knelt beside her, left arm kept faithfully at his side to keep the various things on his back from sliding forward, and dipped his hand into the water. "Sit still."

With cloth in hand, Arthur rubbed firmly but not abrasively at the various streaks and spots on Kino's cheek and neck. A distinct difference between how he handled Charmae and how he handled Kino underlined itself. Arthur acted like an awkward little boy around Charmae those few moments ago, but around Kino he acted in the capacity that he had become most familiar with. Like an older brother.

But really, you'd have to be on the outside to see that clearly. If you're the attender or attendee, you might miss something.

"There we go. Alright, let's get going. I don't think we'll reach the camp before sundown, but I don't want to spend more time outside in the dark than is absolutely necessary."

[zombzeh]

[right:23b64e0e][/right:23b64e0e]

She didn't paying much attention to Charmae and Arthur after that. The girl didn't quite know why, and she didn't think about it much, either. It was an illogical thing that she couldn't really help, so she just accepted it and (successfully) tried to ignore the two and their . . . whatever it was they were doing as a means of bonding. Had she watched, she'd have thought it was frustratingly awkward.

But she was drawn back into noticing Arthur when he was kneeling by her. She stared up at his face confusedly until he wet a cloth and wiped it across her cheek and neck. At the time, she didn't say anything--just continued to stare up at him with the utmost confusion spread across her face. Of course, the extremely observant would see that she'd a touch of pink upon her cheeks. Unlike someone like Charmae, though, even when Kino blushed, it was barely visible. She looked more confused than anything else. And she was. She hadn't the slightest clue what to say, do, or feel during times like this. During moments that Arthur was close and making physical contact with her.

It was weird.

Kino was a fairly inexpressive person. Perhaps that's why no one ever noticed anything about her. Why she never noticed anything about herself, too. Stoicism bore all kinds of problems. Not to mention all the social skills she was in the dark about . . .

"Thank you," she said to Arthur with a bow of her head when he finished cleaning her face and neck. She at least knew it'd be rude if she said nothing.

Oddly, her face still felt like it was on fire, but she figured that'd go away shortly. Anyways, she had a bit of a problem with wardrobe; her coat was covered in blood, too, which meant she'd have to abandon it or ball it up and carry it with her until they had the proper utilities (a heavy rag and soap) to scrub the blood out. Kino stood and began to unbutton her coat whilst Arthur continued to get ready. She hadn't much on underneath, just a loose fitting white sleeveless shirt (that people in some countries called a "wife beater" for whatever their reasons) tucked into her pants. It was an undershirt of sorts, as she didn't figure she'd ever be losing the coat. Well, fortunately beneath that she also had a white strip of cloth wrapped around her chest and back for modesty's sake, as this brand of shirt was vaguely translucent in the right light and if someone were looking hard enough.

While Arthur had seen her in this much before (and once less, and she was very upset at him for that), Charmae had not. Without a bulky coat, Kino looked her age--barely adolescent, perhaps. She was also undoubtedly frail and skinny like a girl whose metabolism was in a constant state of overdrive. Definitely not the type that should see extended battle. Or any battle at all. But that was just the nature of the world anymore.

With her coat inside-out and balled up, she'd return to Arthur's side, at the close proximity they'd both become comfortable with over time, and wait for everything and everyone to be ready and willing to head out.

[mire]

Charmae didn’t think much of Kino’s attire (or rather, lack of). It was completely logical that the girl preferred not to wear a coat covered in blood. In fact, were it not for her well-developed chest, Charmae would have certainly mimicked the young girl’s choice. Well, maybe. Her clothing had not taken so much damage—she was perfectly fine with wearing the red and sticky jacket for a while longer.

Atticus was mostly dried by now, and would have been given permission to trot around if he wanted, but fuck it. He was comfortable where he was, and wasn’t quite willing to risk another bath if he happened to step in some mud again. He was getting tired too; it took a lot of energy to hate on somebody that was constantly within his field of vision.

Upon Arthur’s urging, Charmae returned to his side, albeit widened the distance that had previously separated them. The incident of thumb against palm was still a fresh memory, and she could not be certain a blush wouldn’t creep up her cheeks again. It was best to keep the distance, at least until they reached camp. In a few days, all would be forgotten. Though it felt awkward to even address him, she did it anyway, because she did not want him to feel as strange as she felt. If that was possible. Did he even feel anything?

What a mess!

“Do we have a long way to go still?”

[supernal]

"About five hours. If we walk without taking a break, we'll get there just a little bit before the sun takes rest for the night."

The camp was about 20 miles away from their current location, and if they kept to a decent pace, then the five hour approximation that Arthur had given them before would prove fairly accurate.

The winding path that took them further and further from civilization exposed the trio to a number of landscapes. From flat plains, to another series of rolling hills with tall grasses, to areas densely populated with woods wherein they trundled through a rough patch of something eerily reminiscent to a swamp.

The trek there was riddled with conversation, but given the pace they had to keep in order to adhere to Arthur's surprisingly strict schedule (something about the night he wanted to keep them all away from), it was sparse as well. Plentiful, but periodic and most of it meaningless.

Arthur kept his position ahead of the two women. Before long, after entering the forest that is, Arthur held up his hand and silently beckoned them to hold. With that same hand, he motioned to a break in the brush and the tightly woven branches of the trees. Keen eyes could spot the smoke spiraling heavenward.

"We're near. The camp is guarded with all manner of traps. Line up behind me single file and step only where I step, or something unpleasant might happen."

And in this fashion, Arthur advanced to the rebel camps and brought them all closer to a fresh change of clothes, a hot meal, and maybe even a bath.

[zombzeh]

[right:vgzch4ha][/right:vgzch4ha]

Conversation amongst them mainly existed between Arthur and Charmae. Kino seemed content enough to stay (rather close) by Arthur's side, with Charmae a little farther behind the both of them. So long as that's the way things remained, she was comfortable. Kino rarely spoke or expressed herself in any way, after all; conversation was dull on her end.

She spent most of the time observing her surroundings. Truth be told, she didn't get out much when she was in the company of Herr Kommander. It was only when she was sent out with Terces that she was truly allowed to see a world beyond the village she'd been (partially) raised in . . .

. . .

Kino tried not to think about that.

Before she knew it, they were near the camp--but also in the vicinity of traps, it seemed. Kino looked up to Arthur confusedly, but shrugged her shoulders and followed his lead. She was somewhat insistent, albeit not blatantly so, to follow immediately behind Arthur, with Charmae behind her. Hopefully Arthur didn't take long strides, though. Kino was much shorter than he . . .

[mire]

She was glad to hear they would very soon come upon this elusive camp. She was tired and sweaty, more so than the other two. Arthur had abnormally long strides, and more than once Charmae had to break into a little dash to keep up with the giant. She refused to slow them down, and if he asked if she needed a break, she smiled and said no. But as soon as they reached that camp—oh God, she was going to sleep so hard. So hard.

Atticus had traveled all the way on Charmae’s shoulder. The knight was so preoccupied with getting them to the camp before nightfall that he dropped off Atticus’ danger meter. He could feel Charmae’s fatigue, and figured she would fall fast asleep as soon as she had a suitable location to settle down. At least for the rest of the day, he wouldn’t have to worry about another incident.

There were some traps up ahead, and per Arthur’s instructions, Charmae moved directly behind Kino. Hopefully, the ordeal wouldn’t last too long; she really wanted a bath, change of clothes, something warm to eat, and a bed to sleep in. Oh, and pee. She really needed to pee.

[supernal]

Arthur led the two women on a rather tortuous path. He wound through the trees, under branches, over fallen logs and the like. The most obvious of the traps, which could be spotted if one moved about the forest deliberately and knew that there was something to look out for, were things like pitfalls covered with a thin layer of leaves. Branches bent back and held in place by a trembling piece of wire, the shaft of the branch speared through by various spikes.

The less obvious ones went unnoticed for a reason. There would be times when Arthur would stop suddenly, sniff the air or rummage through an inconspicuous bramble, and then either continue forward or take a sharp, counter-intuitive turn in a seemingly random direction. One might wonder what the women would think if they had known that they had come close to dying twenty-seven times by the time they reached a clearing in the forest.

Here, as the single file line was broken nearly instantly by Arthur's stepping aside and letting Charmae and Kino onward, something filled the air. A levity of sorts, intangible but yet clearly expressed, and the sound of music only further punctuated this ambiance. High notes were the only sounds discernable at first, as they carried the furthest, but soon the medley enriched itself with intricate, light-hearted melodies.

Soon enough the camp was in sight, the campfire smoke a prevalent indicator now that there were no trees and leaves hiding the rebels.

Laughter tinkled like bells and made the music, played by men with flutes and accompanied by dancing women, all the more lively. Arthur smiled. He smiled wide and with true joy. Other nations would have broken under the weight of that fat whore Renovatio.

But not his people, not the people of Rosinder. These people danced, they made merry, and they thrived.

A sentry had spotted them even while they navigated the traps, warned the others long ago that the bodies moving towards them were not enemies, and so they did not interrupt their music and their festivities, but a few of them turned to the three. When they looked to Arthur, smiles and glittering eyes. When they looked to Charmae or Kino, cordial befuddlement.

[zombzeh]

[right:2z743ye7][/right:2z743ye7]

She was just fine getting through the forest behind Arthur--and blissfully unaware of some of the danger he nearly put them in. Kino walked only when Arthur walked, stopped only when he stopped, breathed only when he breathed. She tried, and succeeded, to copy everything he did in this veritable puzzle of a forest path. The only thing she could not do was take long strides, but Kino was more than capable of hopping forward with one foot to make up for the distance in some of Arthur's longer strides.

It was only when they arrived that Kino's calm approach to following Arthur's lead broke. More like shattered. Kino expected that she, Arthur, and Charmae would just walk into the camp without much notice; maybe just a nod of companionship to Arthur or something, but nothing more. But they wound up stopping before the camp, stopping at Arthur's behest, perhaps suggested to continue on in front of him--but Kino didn't get that hint. She stopped because Arthur stopped, and soon found herself extremely uncomfortable.

These people were staring at her.

The girl spoke no words when she received the quizzical looks of Arthur's allies. All she could do was try to evade their eyes; look down at the ground and edge slowly closer to Arthur, until, at the very least, she could be standing right up against him--and, of course, partially behind him. These were his allies, right? She didn't need to protect him from any of them. So she could hide behind him just fine. It just seemed like the best idea at the time, to evade the stares of these people . . .

Kino failed to realize the warmth rising in her cheeks. They were a bit reddish. Maybe she would have felt a little better were she wearing more clothing--or maybe she'd not have felt good about it at all. All eyes on her (so it felt)? She hadn't the social skills to deal with that kind of mess.

[King]

Yet, when Brandon looked upon Arthur and his small troupe there was far more than a smile and glittering eyes.

Time had been stretched long and thin since he had last seen his beloved sibling. And when last they met, it was upon a battlefield littered with the corpses of their enemies; it was a canvas painted of blood and entrails, with the artists of such grotesque masterpiece all but legends among their beloved people of Rosinder. Yes, the reputation of the Terces family was as noble and profound as it was infamous.

Of the dancing group, only one approached trio. While Charmae and Kino would only recognize the blond, handsome, well dressed individual as another stranger, Arthur would would be able to take far more from it.

Arms that once draped at his side rose in explosive unison as the distance grew shorter, and what started out as a grin evolved into a wide, toothy smile that spanned from ear to ear. "Arthur!"

Yes, it had been far too long.