Travelling was a boring and arduous time in a world without access to the conveniences of phones, tablets or laptops to keep oneself entertained. Some might say that a lack of such technologies would give one the chance to instead appreciate nature and all its bountiful beauty. Ash would retort that such people were morons. 

There was only so much that he could take of rolling plains of yellow grass before it all blended together into one monotonous stretch of blandness. 

And Myr was no help either. Though she hadn’t changed overly much since their relationship had been taken to the next level, he didn’t deny that the newfound level of intimacy between them had made things awkward at times. It was especially so since the woman didn’t seem exactly sure where to take things and he himself wasn’t sure how to deal with a woman both older and possessing of far different life experiences than his own. 

This wasn’t some cutie his own age that he'd met at the local mall after all, but a fierce, self-possessed and powerful warrior in every sense of the word. 

In short, they were somewhat at an impasse. Still, things weren’t too bad. They still shared talks and Myr still deigned to tease him as she used to. It was just that whenever conversation entered territory that neared intimacy that they both found it hard to proceed. 

He supposed that it was something that time alone would settle without much fuss. 

He was sure of that, at least. 

The thought put him to sorts as they continued their trek through the plains. He’d hoped that the dull hours of travel would give him time to try and focus on his magic but walking and meditating didn’t exactly come together with any ease, and their breaks proved far too short for him to make any progress with the second spell he was attempting to learn. 

Besides, he couldn’t exactly muster the peacefulness he needed to achieve a proper meditative state out in the monster-infested wilds. He hoped that whatever village or town that they stopped at would prove different. By Myr’s estimate, they would reach their first destination within a day, and that was after they took a longer, more circuitous route in order to make it less obvious that they were approaching from the direction of a goblin-ruled forest. 

That arrival came soon enough, and before he knew it Ash finally spied the short yet stout wooden walls that ran the outer boundaries of a village, followed quickly after by the guards equipped in plain but well-maintained leather armor that were stood by its iron gate. 

A few thatched roofs peaked above the upper-reaches of the wall, along with some columns of what he presumed was stove-smoke rising from further within. 

“Anything I need to know?” he asked as they drew closer. “Any do’s and don’t’s sort of deal?” 

“Don’t mention anythin’ ‘bout our goblin friends, obviously.” 

He huffed and nodded irritably. As if that even needed saying. 

“Beyond that, just keep smart an’ polite. Yellowfield is a small place; scarcely even a hundred souls livin’ ‘ere, an’ most folk there already know me from my comin’s an’ going’s so we don’t have any reason to expect trouble. You might get some stares but you know the story, right?” 

“Helper ‘cuz your shoulder’s injured.” 

She nodded and patted his shoulder. It was the truth after all, and what better way to mask the details they didn’t want known than with the honest truth? 

They neared the gate not much later and Myr hailed the guards on approach. 

The men were both rather burly types and sported thick beards under their iron helms, but their expressions seemed amicable enough as they greeted Myr with smiles and friendly nods. Ash watched them both intently as they struck up a line of questioning with Myr. 

The two were the first people that he’d seensince his coming to the world save for Myr herself, and he thought that he’d feel something large and gripping at the sight of them, but Ash instead found his feelings more subdued than expected. 

It wasn’t quite nostalgia or wistfulness, what he felt, but something in between, and it left him uneasy, but Ash managed to contain himself well enough. Unknowing of his strange mood, Myr’s blunt candor eased her through the conversation with the guards and they were waved through without much fuss. 

The two men did ask a pointed question about who Ash was that earned them his attention, but the practiced truth was enough to satisfy them. And with that did Ash find himself stepping forth into his first human settlement. 

It was a disappointing sight to behold, he would admit. 

What he saw stretched out before him was a plain village of no apparent distinction. There were none of the magical village eccentricities that he’d often seen portrayed in comics and film. It was just simple wooden home after simple wooden home with little variation to speak of and all raised on featureless brown dirt. 

He supposed that he’d had his expectations raised too high after experiencing the color and wonder of the Everwatch tribe’s own home. 

A well-trodden pathway cut through the middle of the village from end to end and the smell of human activity was thick in the air, though dampened by the fresh unpolluted breeze, and the faint smell of the flowers that he spied upon a few windowsills.  

In the distance, he spotted a smithy with its wide doors open and the faint glow of fire coming from within. The only other shop that he could find was a smaller building near the front of the village that had the look of a general-purpose store, though far smaller and much less extravagant than Wixxack’s own establishment. 

Said shop was also their destination if the bee-line Myr was making towards it meant anything. The villagers noticed their arrival and sent curious looks his way and familiar ones towards the woman. A few of the more extroverted folk even greeted Myr and struck up casual conversation, though she always ensured that it ended quickly if not still politely. 

A few minutes later of conversational meandering and the elderly shop-keeper, an amiable man with a noticeable bend to his posture, greeted Myr with a touch of familiarity and a warm smile as soon as they entered, though he sent a surprised look his way. Myr mirrored the greeting and introduced Ash as her helper. The man accepted the explanation as easily as all the rest and soon enough, the haggling began as Myr started to pull out items of interest from her spatial bag’s voluminous interior. 

Ash didn’t miss the thinly veiled envious look the shopkeeper shot the bag itself, but quickly tuned out their discussion as he plucked out his agility spellbook from the small satchel by his side and started to work on his second agility spell. He didn’t think he’d have much time to work on it, but he’d rather spend what time he could than just wile it away, especially since there wasn’t exactly much else to see in the village. 

The next twenty minutes swept by thusly before Myr concluded her work and they set off again. They left the village the same way they’d come in and made for their next destination. Fortunately, it was a much closer place and they neared it before nightfall made any further travel too dangerous to attempt. 

And even more fortunately, their destination wasn’t some minor village as the last had been, but what looked like a bustling town in the distance. Ash straightened his back at the sight, and felt a smile worm its way across his lips. 

“Remind you of home?” asked Myr as she noticed his expression. 

“Kind of.” he admitted. “I was born in a city, and its way bigger than that town, but there’s something familiar there. Makes me miss it.” 

The woman smiled and sported a wistful look of her own as she lost herself in thought for a moment. 

“Were you born in a city too?” he asked idly, only later pausing a moment later as he realized that he’d rather blithely pryed into her past. 

The woman shot him a look that bore no heat or irritation. If anything, it was one of guilt. She looked away and he quickly added that she didn’t need to answer. 

“I ain’t no fragile thing, kid. You don’t need to dance around me when it comes to my past. ‘Sides, you told me things ‘bout yourself. Only fair that I reciprocate. To answer your question, no, I wasn’t born in no town. My home was a shitty little no-name village filled with shitty little no-name folk, and they knew it. Made ‘em bitter and angry. Well, that an’ a hundred other reasons. Seems to me now that they likely just wanted any reason to be angry.” 

She laughed then, though there was no real mirth to her tone. “My folks were no different. ‘Pa was a drunk if he could afford the ale and ma was angry that age had taken the only real thing of worth that she’d ever had: her looks. Both of ‘em took out their grievances on me an’ my siblings.” 

Ash furrowed his brow at the revelation. He had his own fair share of experiences regarding that front, as Myr well knew, and it always pissed him off like nothing else whenever he heard people he knew recount their own accounts of parental abuse. No child should ever have to face that kind of life growing up. 

“I suppose I hafta’ thank ‘em in a way. Weren’t any stories of princess an’ dragons for me growin’ up. Their scummy parentin’ knocked into my head the reality of what the world really is an’ that’s a lesson I ain’t never forgotten.” 

Ash would concede that the world, both his and hers, wasn’t a place of rainbows and daisies, but he would contest that it was as terrible as she likely believed it was. Still, it wasn’t the time for a philosophical debate, and so he allowed her to continue without interruption. 

“Lived that way till I was old ‘nough that talk of marriage started ‘ta happen. Ran away the day after. Lived on the streets for a while until it got... too rough, an’ then I joined up with The Shield. Thought that it’d be my way to a better future. Fat chance of that happenin’, as it turned out. Still, as miserable as those Shield bastards were, they taught me strength an’ how to kill things that needed killing an’ if nothin’ else, I’m grateful for that.” 

“Are they... really as bad as you say they are? The Shield, I mean.” 

She looked to him and he could see real anger there, as if she was affronted that he’d doubt her words. His sincerity broke through the emotion though and she cooled off with a huff. “Maybe not. I know that I met and dealt with some real scum durin’ my time, but there were some gems in there too. Good folk. Rare, but they were there. An’ maybe it’s different now. Maybe I was unlucky and got in at a bad time, or a bad branch. Whatever. All I know is what I dealt with, an’ what I dealt with was scum, kid. That’s all I can say.” 

And that was all he needed to hear. He smiled softly and grasped at her hand gently. Her eyes turned to his and he did his best to show her nothing more than support and understanding. Pity, he knew, would not be received well by Myr. The woman snorted at his show of affection but he nonetheless felt her fingers curl around his, and so they continued joined as one until the town neared and they were forced to part. 

“Gotta be careful from ‘ere on out, kid.” she said once they were close enough to spy the guard outposts that loomed ahead of the large stone walls that circled the town. 

“Milford ain’t as easy to get into as the village. I know most of the guards here by now but they get new blood occasionally and those types are stricter ‘bout the who’s who of everyone enterin’, so expect some questions thrown our way.” 

He nodded and mentally prepared himself as much as he could. Unlike the village, Milford’s walls had no apparent gate, and he suspected that perhaps they had some magical mechanism like the Everwatch boasted of in regards to exit and entry. He was proven right after they were done with the guards. To their luck, they were acquainted with Myr and much like the village, allowed them through with only a cursory inspection. 

The entryway that they went through was a door sized hole in the solid stone that opened like legos being disassembled upon their approach. It was a much less impressive sight than the massive gate that he’d expected to open up, though Myr explained that whilst it was possible to do, it wasn’t economical or practical to expand the gate opening to that size unless needed.  

The interior was not too unlike the Everwatch’s own township, though the light emanating from the crystals embedded into the walls weren’t quite as bright as those that the goblins boasted of, nor were the defenses he spied as thick or the attitudes of the guards on patrol as vigilant. 

It was still a massively better sight than the village had been. 

A quick walk saw them eventually hit onto the sparsely populated civilian areas that were cloaked in a growing gloom that was only thinly warded off by the scant few crystal-lights he saw were spread across the dirt street. 

There was no nightlife here, he supposed, and most folk were well in their beds and awaiting the dawn. 

There were still a few stragglers about though. Most of them looked like guards patrolling the streets or night workers plying their myriad trades. Or drunks, as one particularly rowdy individual was. The fellow looked young, but his mane of black hair and bushy beard, as well as the dirt that caked his skin and clothes both, put that assumption to question. 

He approached them with an unsteady stagger all the while mumbling about something that maybe even the man himself didn’t fully understand. Until he spied Myr and Ash, or rather, Myr in particular. 

“Ay th-there pretty lady. Ya wanna have a good time with me?” he drawled whilst drawing closer with each shaky step. Myr’s eyes narrowed as she took him in, and he saw her glance towards the surrounding guards for a moment before returning her irate attention to the man. 

Ash didn’t need to be a mindreader to understand the violence that was being contemplated behind that icy blue stare, and he hoped that the hand he placed on her shoulder would be enough to convince her against that line of action. She stared at him and huffed. “I ain’t a moron, kid. I’m not doin’ anythin’ excessive to the fool. Not when there’re guards ‘bout.” 

He wasn’t quite convinced but accepted her words. Myr rolled her eyes and turned back to the drunkard. He smiled, as if taking her silence as acceptance of his offer, and stumbled closer still until he paused. Ash did too. A bloom of mana fluttered from Myr. It was faint, but palpable to anyone in the vicinity. He startled and shook, his eyes wide as he fell back onto his rear. 

“M-mage!” 

The woman smiled icily down at him and then turned away. “Come on. Let’s get movin’.” 

Ash sighed tiredly and hurried away. The rest of their short walk proved blessedly uneventful and a few minutes later, they stood outside a quaint, unremarkable shopfront, a faint light emanating from within. 

Myr rapped on the door harshly, and the sound echoed across the deserted streets around them. It took a few minutes for an answer to come, and when it did it was in the form of a tall spindly man with an annoyed frown on his pale lips. A frown that quickly became a smile as soon as he noted Myr’s face. 

“Myr! Come in, come in! Is it that time already? I’d completely forgetten about your coming.” 

“I don’t fault you for it. You’re a busy man, Nostrious.” she said as she strode inside with Ash quick on her heels. 

“Ah, and you come with a friend?” he asked, black eyes searching over every inch of Ash’s person. 

“Aye. He’s my helper. Got banged up by a beastie a while back.” 

“My condolences. Well, if Myr trusts you then so do I. May I have the pleasure of your name, my new friend?” Something about the way the guy stared at him left a shiver crawling across Ash’s skin, but he answered as politely as he could nonetheless. 

“Ash Pale? A curious name, though I’ve heard curiouser still. I am Nostrious Venith, a procurer of oddities and baubles, as it were.” said the merchant with a shallow bow and a whimsical flourish before he returned his attention towards Myr and strode towards her with long, purposeful steps. “Now come, Myr! Let me see what your little green friends have for me this month.” 

Ash froze as soon as the words left the man’s lips, and his gaze immediately shot towards Myr for confirmation. The woman, however, seemed unaffected and shot an amused smile his way. 

“Ah, didn’t I mention it? Nostrious here is in the know.” she said offhandedly. 

The young man blinked, and then scowled as he allowed his mana to settle and the shadow of the Fire Bolt that he’d already started to muster to fade away. Some warning would’ve been nice, he thought with a huff.