Lee sat down on an overturned log coated with one of his furs to eat his slightly charred, overdone steak. While he wasn’t expecting this steak to be any ‘fine-dining,’ he at least expected not to be taking a bite out of rubber.

Looking around their camp, he noticed everyone else was struggling to eat their plated tire. Well, all except Em. She eviscerated her steak with glee, looking like a feral dog as she savagely tore chunks of meat and swallowed. Lee watched with a blank face, knowing that she herself was the one to ruin their meals.

Then, a question formed in his mind. If Em’s ‘legs’ were her fangs. Why did she eat from her human half? Couldn’t she shovel loads of food down her spider mouth? He shook his head, deciding not to ask about his curiosity. Given her stature, he was already surprised she didn’t eat ten times as much as the rest of them.

As everyone was finishing up with their meals, Kooco (who was actually eating a steak, to Lee’s surprise.) let loose a sharp whistle as Meriah was coming to.

Lee set aside his food and walked over to ensure Meriah wouldn’t jump into a fit of paranoia or rage. While he was never a doctor, nurse, or any other kind of medical personnel, he felt like this would be like breaking bad news to a patient. Letting her know she wouldn’t have hands for the foreseeable future wouldn’t be fun.

Meriah mumbled as she slowly came to. She tossed her head from side to side before attempting to rub her eyes. She raised her hands, paused, and then remembered what had happened. Lee watched as her face flickered through various emotions within the span of a second. Before she could say anything, Kooco nuzzled her side and patted her with her wing.

She opened her bleary eyes and looked at Lee, crouched beside her. After seeing his face, she looked down at her two nubs and then asked a question. “Are they gone forever?”

Lee’s immediate instinct was to say no. But, he was also unsure about how the system determined when someone was at full HP. Technically, Meriah was at full HP, even though she was missing body parts. Would there come a time when this would be her new normal? He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t seen anybody with missing limbs so far, but he had seen scars. He could theoretically heal scars, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure.

So, he went with the safe option. “I’m not sure.”

Needless to say, Kooco wasn’t happy about that. She quickly turned and puffed up her feathers in some awkward threat display as she shuffled from side to side. “You will heal them before permanence, Friend Lee Barnes! If not, then we will no longer be friends!”

Lee didn’t even turn to face her as he replied. “Then so be it. Friends or not, you don’t get to tell me what to do. Do I think it will be permanent? No. But I’m also not sure. Might be a timeframe thing.”

He then spoke to Meriah, his voice not uncaring but definitely stern. “They will be gone until you learn to behave. Frankly, you’re a liability. I heard you have a pretty nasty skill, and we don’t want you going berserk anymore. If we get into a fight, i’ll do my best to protect you, but you’re not getting your hands back until you either learn not to attack your allies, or die.”

“I think your friends are too afraid to say it, but I’m not. You’re a burden, a threat, and we don’t really want you around. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Nomatter your past, or trauma, it’s not our job to put up with it. There becomes a time when it’s your responsibility to get better. If you never try to solve these issues, then why do we have to sit here and take your abuse? I hope you remember that Belgrate is dead.”

Lee waited a few seconds for it to really sink in. Meriah lay there emotionless, staring off to the side, gazing into the fire. He then spoke to Kooco. “Time for you to shine some light on why this happens. No more waiting until you feel like it’s time to share. Now is the time.”

Lee paused, then looked over his shoulder toward Kendri and Jeremy. “Actually, everyone get over here. It’s time to talk.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Once everyone was settled around, Lee drummed his fingers on his thigh while thinking about what to say. “I think it’s time we share our pasts. To get more of an understanding about one another.”

He scanned the group, seeing that everyone was either uncomfortable or disinterested. “Belgrate is dead. What did we know about him? Do you all wish you knew a little more? Did he have a family?”

Everyone just looked to the ground. Some faces showed shame, and others showed uncertainty. Lee decided to start everyone off.

“A few months ago, I was terminally ill. That means you are sick, and there is no help for you. You are going to die, and you know it. I was given around two years to live, and my time was approaching.”

“I didn’t want to die. So, I spent my time studying, researching, and trying my best to fix myself through magic. As you can tell, I succeeded. Now, I am traveling around teaching my magic to others, so that nobody has to be in the situation I was in ever again.”

“When I created my healing magic, Arcani took notice—Since I was planning on spreading magic, she was supportive of my goal. That’s how I became god-blessed. My secondary goal is to free the Dark Elves from the Shadowgrove forest. The Wall of Shadows is built to keep them in—They’re trapped and want to be free. They helped me live, taught me about magic, and this continent, and are my friends. Just because people are different from you, either in appearance or culture, it doesn’t make them bad. They’re just different and that’s okay.”

Lee looked around at the surprised faces surrounding him. “Any questions?”

Everyone was silent, either not daring to pry into his past because of his standing or simply because they had none to begin with. He wasn’t sure.

“So, who’s next?” Lee asked.

Kendri shifted, glanced around the group, and then released a held breath. He quickly glared at Jeremy before he spoke. “I was a former adventurer. I was just a boy when I started. My ability, Spirit Apparition, was sought after, and I joined a few parties as a mule.”

Seeing Lee’s slightly confused look, he quickly explained. “I carried their stuff.”

“One of the common parties I joined with eventually picked me up full-time: Glough Ward. They wanted to go on a quest to kill some Hob’s near the River Fel. They had been attacking those traveling along the roads, and it was nearby and relatively safe. It wasn’t the first time we’d killed some hobs. The quest was posted by Lord Branchel, so it paid well and was suppose to be trustworthy.”

Kendri drank his bottle and continued. “What was said to be four hobs turned out to be seventeen…” Kendri grunted to clear his throat. His emotions were beginning to overtake his calm voice. “Things went bad, and I ran away. Since then, nobody wanted a deserter in their group. Afterall, who runs away when you outnumber four hobs? So, I joined the military. Here I am.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Kendri.” Lee said sincerely. He didn’t say anything else, as trying to comfort a grown man about his troubled past wasn’t what he was here for. If Kendri wanted to talk about it later on, he was more than willing to hear him out, but Kendri didn’t seem the type, and Lee didn’t want to force the issue. This was a good start.

Kendri went back to taking a drink as Lee looked from Jeremy, Meriah, and Kooco, seeing who would be next.

Jeremy spoke next, but it was unexpected. “I can’t speak about the details, but I made a grave mistake in Felispar and was ordered into my military service prematurely. Before my service, I lived an average life.”

Kendri snorted and mumbled out. “Average…”

“Shut the fuck up and let him speak. You’re acting like a fucking child.” Lee spat out and shut down Kendri’s mumbling immediately. They were here to share their pasts, not degrade one another. Lee assumed Kendri’s ribbing of Jeremy was because he was a noble, and it was a noble who killed his previous party---Even if it was indirectly.

Jeremy gave Lee a nod and a forced smile before continuing. “I hope that when we reach Felispar, the… mistake I made can be resolved without issue. That’s all.”

“Can you at least tell us why you can’t talk about what the mistake was?” Lee asked.

Jeremy looked around at the others, then cleared his throat. When he spoke, it was a single word, and almost as if he was unsure of what he was saying. It was also slow and broken up. “Dra…gon.”

Lee was confused, but after looking around at the others in the group, he realized what Jeremy had done. He spoke a different language. Curiously, Lee noticed that Kooco might have understood what Jeremy had said as her feathers slowly ruffled, almost as if she had gotten a chill.

While it was concerning that the mention of dragons was why he couldn’t speak about his mistake, this wasn’t the time to delve into that obviously severe topic. “Will that be an issue when we arrive?” Lee asked.

“No. I can promise you that.” Jeremy finished by leaning back, letting everyone know that he was finished speaking.

Kooco jumped into the center of their small circle and began speaking with haste and joy. “I am Kooco! Avianshee beastkin! I am twenty-five and a member of Meriah’s family! Meriah’s dad raised me, and he was my dad, too. Sadly, he is no longer with us.”

“I left my family not long after and traveled for a short time to explore the world. I went on many adventures and killed many a beast. I made many a friend, and met others like me. Back home, there were no others like me.”

“All was well, until I returned home. I found out that Meriah… had gone through something horrible. Some things happened while I was gone… It’s… It is not for me to say.”

She looked around at all the confused faces, then looked at Lee. “Do not translate this part, Friend Lee Barnes, but you must know. She was… assaulted. Sexually, and not by people. This is a major reason as to why she acts like she does. If she does not share this freely with the others, I hope you understand why.”

Lee felt like his heart was torn out from his chest. He knew something bad had happened to her, but this was… He wasn’t prepared enough to hear that.

All of the monsters he had met so far had been bloodthirsty monsters, only seeking to claim the lives of others. Long ago, when Lee first arrived, Neia said something to him. Something that he always remembered but never really contextualized, given his own encounters.

“If you put it nicely like that and leave out the pilaging, child stealing, murder, and rape. Then yes, those Goblins.”