I continued watching her fish for some time, as I rested. We chatted every now and then, but, for the most part, I just sat and watched, and she sat and fished. Eventually, after I felt that I was adequately rested (by which I of course mean that I got bored of sitting down), I picked up a sickle once more, and returned to swinging. I started playing with my magic, too, after a while. Mostly just looking at the weird after images from my vines, and doing cool poses with them. I can't say for sure whether or not what I was doing was actually helpful, but, if nothing else, it was a little fun. 

I guess it was probably good exercise, too. Which was good, because I've not been eating particularly well over the past few days. Y'know, considering the rapid rate at which I'm either assaulting or being assaulted, I should probably put more thought into my diet.

Never thought that would be the reason I finally decide to go on a diet. Guess it's as good as any.

Anyways, the two of us remained there, at that random spot on the river, fishing and swinging, alone, for quite some time. 

...

Or, so I thought, but, after a while, I noticed a strange figure slowly stumbling towards us. At first, I thought it was a monster of some sort, but, upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a person. A person I recognized, at that. It was that green robed guy from town. I couldn't really tell if he was coming towards us on purpose, or if he just happened to be passing by. I had seen him pacing around town before, after all, figured he might just be doing the same thing. But, after I caught the look in his eyes, I could tell he was coming for us. Well, me at least.

Y'know, I kinda forgot about this, but, now that I'm thinkin' about it, yesterday he said he wanted to talk about something... And if I remember correctly, he seemed to be eluding to the idea that he saw the fight I had with that dude with all the knives. Oh, hey that was just over there, wasn't it? Ahh... Good times.

No it wasn't.

Wait, no, focus. Okay, there's a couple possibilities here. First, he might be glad that I took care of that guy, and is on his way to thank me. That'd be good. That guy was rather unpleasant, after all. Other possibility is that he's not so happy with me. Which, honestly, seems likely. Now, I know, I should be the last person to profile someone, but this guy gives me the creeps somethin' fierce. My instincts are telling me that he's gonna try to stab me. But it's wrong to think like that. Surely, if he wanted to stab me, he wouldn't be so obvious about coming over here. Or he'd have done it already. Don't be rude, me.

Well, I'll put my hands together. Just in case, right?

Oh, crap, I almost forgot, if he saw the fight, he probably saw-

"Hello....... Stranger." Said a familiar, vaguely threatening voice.

"Ah." I said in surprise. Which was strange, since I thought I was watching him the whole time, how did he surprise me? I guess I was lost in thought, or something. "He-hello." I said, looking up at the green man. Man, he's got some wicked circles around his eyes. Did last time, too, now that I'm thinking about it. Does this guy sleep?

"You'llBeStayingInTownFor...... SomeTime...... OrSoI'veHeard...... Stranger." He said, at an agonizing pace.

"Uh..." Well, actually, I'll be coming and going to and from impossible distances whenever I please, rarely actually 'staying' anywhere, but, as far as this guy needs to know, "Y-Yeah, I guess." I said.

I noticed that Sis began reeling in her rod, despite there not being anything on the line.

"ISee......" The green guy said. "InThatCase......IMustAskYouSome......Questions."

"Uh... Okay." I said.

I think I noticed Sis's head turn towards us, just a little.

"YouAreA......Fighter......AreYouNot?"

I just shrugged. I mean, I guess I've fought things before (more often than I'd like, anyways), and that is how I make money, generally, but 'fighter' makes me sound like I'm some sort of thug, or something. 

"YouHoldInYourHand......AToolOfWar......AndYou'vePracticedTheArt......HaveYouNot?"

"Well, technically, this a tool for harvesting wheat." I pointed out, unthinkingly. Probably shouldn't have.

Sis chuckled.

The green dude's eyes seemed to narrow slightly. Clearly in no mood for jokes.

"O-okay, uh, y-yeah. It's a weapon." I said.

"AndYouHaveFought......Before......IHaveSeenSo."

I nodded. Where's this guy going with this? 

"AndYetYouAre......NotAFighter?" 

I thought about that for a moment. "A couple loaves of bread doesn't make one a baker, right?"

He, too, thought, for a moment. "ThatIsFair......You'veNotSeemedTo......HaveMadeManyBreads......SoToSpeak."

Rude.

The green guy continued. "AndYetYouHold......InYourHand......TheTools......Why?" 

"Occupational hazards." I explained.

"ISee......ISee." He said, gazing elsewhere, for a moment. His eyes shifted back to me. "IHave......OneLastQuestion." He said.

"Shoot."

"ToThisPlace......ToBasenholm......WhoAreYou?"

Once again, I thought about that question for a moment. It seemed important.

...

Ultimately, however, I couldn't come to any conclusions. I mean, It's kind of a dumb question, isn't it? How's anyone supposed to answer that? Stupid. 

"Elaborate." I implored.

He squinted slightly once more. "AreYou......FriendOrFoe?" He said. I couldn't help but think that line would have had more impact if he paused after 'or', but that's not important right now.

"F-friend, I guess."

He nodded, and seemed to look into me. "IDoHopeThatYou......SpeakTruth......Stran-."

"Where do you get off asking all these questions, buddy?" Sis shouted from her post, rather angrily, tightly gripping on to her fishing pole. I was rather surprised, to be honest. It seemed to have come from out of nowhere. Though, I if I'm honest, it was a little refreshing. Now all that's left is to see her cry, and I'll have seen her full range of emotion. Eugh. That was weird. Why did I think that? Geez, brain, stop. 

The green guy looked down, and closed his eyes. "PleaseForgiveMy......PresumptiousBehavior......IAmQuiteProtective......YouSee."

"Go be protective somewhere else!" She shouted. Dang! She's going in on this dude! I'm not sure if I should apologize for her or start cheering her on!

The green guy kept his head down, and said nothing. 

I couldn't help but look over at Sis, who had turned over to us. She was looking dead into the green dude, her face as red as a peach, and she wore an unfamiliar scowl. 

She looked over at me, after a moment. As she did, her face seemed to shift, just a little.

To shift in a way I was rather familiar with. I'd seen it plenty of times, across plenty of different people.

Though, I'd only ever seen it from each person once.  

Sis looked away, after a moment. Just as they always did. Sis looked back at the river, and I could no longer see her face.

I turned back to the green guy, who still hadn't said anything. He was still looking downward, but his eyes were open, and they seemed to be looking at something, rather quizzically. 

At my hand.

At my sickle.

I too, looked down at it, to see what he was so enamored with.

I found my sickle, which seemed to be being consumed by some sort of unfamiliar inky blackness, which was protruding from my arm.

Which, needless to say, I found a bit concerning.

Yet, just as soon as I began to comprehend what I saw, the darkness retreated back into my arm, and all that remained was the vine I'd forgotten I'd left summoned. 

Which, once again, obviously, rather concerning.