“Uhhh, Mr. Sasse. Are we going to stop and rest soon?” says Lauren as she feels the aching soreness in her feet. Looking at the sky, she can see that the sun has hidden itself beyond the horizon and the current view is a dusking orange turning to a starry purple. “It’s getting dark,” Lauren continues on as she notes about the current lighting. 

Hearing the clopping noise of Nightingale’s hooves, Harold answers her curtly. “We’re not stopping.”

“But why?” 

“Because Nightingale and I don’t need rest.”

“But… but I can’t keep on walking like this.”

He turns his gaze towards Lauren. “You… You complain a lot don’t you?” he rhetorically asks as he stops Nightingale. “Remind me again. Why did I bring you along?”

Stopping as he stops, Luaren becomes befuddled by his questions. “I… I am your porter…” she answers back slowly.

“That’s right. You're my porter. My luggage carrier. You stop when I stop. You talk when I tell you to talk. And you walk when I tell you to walk. Your opinions are second from Nightingale and third from mine.” Glaring at her now, he gives his orders. “We’re moving. Now,” he states, commanding Nightingale to continue forward. 

Lauren watches him go on without her for a little bit. Feeling the tenderness in her feet. She looks down and gives a sad-sounding sigh. The straps on Lauren’s shoulders dig into her skin as she adjusts the bags she had been carrying for hours. Looking forward, she continues to follow Harold on foot as they make their way towards the forest. 

Well into the night and into the next morning; Harold, Nightingale, and Lauren have been walking for hours on end as the party continued their journey as they had made their way into the aforementioned forest. During this time, Lauren witnesses the break of dawn as she watches the sun peek out from behind the dark horizon. Dim lighting, rugged terrain, and a mounting exhaustion piling upon her, Lauren staggers about as she walks forward. Catching her foot on a root, she trips and is unable to catch herself from falling. Face first into the ground, Lauren is unable to get up as she lies there unmoving. Harold continues onwards, not noticing the out-cold girl behind him. Nightingale however does notice as he stops, making the rider stop with him abruptly. “Nightingale, why’d you stop?” the rider asks, quizzically clicking his heels against the horse’s sides. The horse responds in a frustrated manner, shaking its head and bucking wildly. “Whoa! What the?! Why are you doing this?! Nightingale!!” Harold yells as he struggles to stay on his mount. Nightingale is peeved at his rider as it tries to have Harold forcefully dismount. Kicking, jumping, and turning. Nightingale does a crazy jig to fling its partner around. Harold has one hand on the saddle as he tries to balance himself on top of Nightingale. Struggling though proved to be for naught as Harold finds himself flung from the back of his ride. Landing on the ground with a thud, the knight gives a disgruntled groan. This is where Harold finally realizes that the girl is unconscious as he lays on the ground; exclaiming, “Ooh! Oh… oh shit.”

Luaren has found herself in a dark, black place. Darker than the night forest she was in and blacker than the armor found on the knight she was following. She looks down at her hands and can clearly see them. Lauren then hears a familiar voice. “Why didn’t you help me?” Immediately looking up, the girl sees a young boy standing not too far from her with his head down. “Why didn’t you come after me?” the boy says. He looks up and reveals a face covered in blood and soot. It’s Paul. Lauren takes a step back in surprise, but as she does, walls of flames erupt behind and around her; the heat is intense as fire encircles her and Paul. “Why didn’t you… keep me safe?” Paul says slowly as he takes a step towards Lauren as the fire burns brighter and hotter. “Why… did you let go?” he asks as he gets nearer to her. “Why…WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!?” Paul screams as he runs at Lauren and topples her over in the process. “WHY?? WHY DID YOU RUN!?” Paul quickly wraps his small fingers around the girl’s neck and squeezes as he straddles her. “WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?!?!” Paul screeches as blood spills from his face onto Lauren’s. She tries desperately to pry apart Paul’s hands from her neck, but the strength of his vice is not that of a little boy as he shakes her neck violently. Lauren’s vision of Paul becomes more unfocused the faster he rattles her neck. 

Disoriented, confused, and distraught. Lauren is quickly losing grip on reality as her blurry vision tries to focus on her kid brother. Paul… I am… so… so… sorry… I’m… sorry… Unable to voice her thoughts she tries to take in breaths of air, but Paul doesn’t allow that to happen. Lauren croaks as she tries to suck in what little air she can get past Paul’s vice, but it isn’t enough. A familiar feeling washes over her. A sensation that she can recognize because it had happened to her not too long ago. Fire and flame covered surroundings started to dim and fade. The darkness slipping in between the light shown by the fires around her as her consciousness starts to slip away. The only thing she can see now is the blood-drenched face of her beloved kin. Removing her hands away from Paul’s sturdy grip, she places one hand on the cheek of her brother’s. “I… I’m so sorry that I let you down…” she coarsely lets out.

“What?” Fluttering her eyes, she is met with brightness and accompanied by a scorching feeling in her retinas. Lauren winces as she covers her eyes as she lays placid in Harold’s shadow. “You awake now?” the knight asks.

“What… what happened?”

“You passed out. I think.”

“I did?”

Harold nods his head as he answers, “Yeah.”

“Have you been standing over me this entire time?”

“I suppose so.”

“For… For how long?”

Harold looks up towards the sun and looks at a shadow of a tree. “Maybe for about 10 hours. A While ago, you kind of fell down over here and spasmed a bit… but now you’re awake! And all better now!” he says with glee at the end. “Almost thought I lost you there though. You started gasping for air and were practically scraping your neck off. So I had to almost chicken hold you and force feed you this little thing of goodness!” he says courtly, jangling an empty spherical bottle. “You also owe me a potion,” he states tossing the bottle to her.

Catching the empty container clumsily, she realizes what it is. “Is… is this a… potion of health?” Lauren asks in amazement and shock.

“Correct.”

“But aren’t these… AREN’T THESE AT LEAST 50 GOLD PIECES (GP) PER BOTTLE!?”

“Really? 50 GP? Prices have changed since the last time I had to buy one,” Harold says with astonishment.

Lauren gets up to her feet shakily, feeling pins and needles prickling her legs. “BUT!! BUT YOU KNOW THAT I DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY!!” she yells at Harold.

Shrugging his shoulders he states, “Not really my problem,” as he flings his hands out, dismissing her.

 Taking the few steps she needed to take, Lauren staggers towards Harold shaking the empty bottle. Dropping the empty bottle from her hand, she quickly grabs onto Harold; putting her weight onto him.“But, but why then? Why did you give me something knowing that I can’t pay back? You knew that I had nothing, but you still… YOU STILL…!”

Taken aback slightly, Harold easily breaks the girl’s clutch and pushes her back lightly. Interrupting Lauren before she could start her tirade. “Okay. Kid. Just… just stop. Just stop yelling for one second,” he states with a sigh as he puts his hand over his face, sliding it down and off his helmeted face. “First, I am not going to let the kid that I owe a favor to die. That would be stupid. Second, I’ve forgotten how frail people are and I probably overdid it when I made you march without rest. So, I’m coming to realize that I have been too tough on you. Thus, the potion I gave to you? Nevermind on paying me back for it. I shouldn’t even be taking money from kids. Much less putting them into debt.”

“Really…? Do you mean that…?”

“Mean what?”

“Are you absolutely serious about me not needing to pay you back for the potion?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Sure. You don’t need to pay me back.”

Lauren stares at Harold. She scrunches her brow and unsteadily gets to her feet. “Okay… I’ll keep you to your word.”

“Yes, yes. Whatever. I’ve been waiting forever for you to wake up, so let’s just go already,” Harold says to her as he goes towards Nightingale. “This is why I hate escort missions. So goddamn annoying…” he mumbles. “Oh. By the way, how is your condition? The potion should have been enough, but you were out for almost half a day.”

Checking herself and how she felt, she is surprised that most of her fatigue is gone, though there is still some tenderness in her feet and shoulders; it is nothing compared to aching soreness she felt the night before. “My feet feel fine. A lot better than before. Shoulders feel a little sore, but it’s not bad,” she answers Harold. 

“Good. Can you keep on moving then?”

“I think so.”

“Alright,” he says as he takes a moment to sigh. “We’re going to keep going for another couple of hours before it gets dark. Then we can stop and so that you can rest for the night. Does that sound good?”

“I… guess it does.”

“Well then…” he confirms with Lauren as he jumps onto and mounts Nightingale. “Let’s get going.”

Just as Harold had planned it, The party had continued onward for the next couple of hours before night fell. Stopping, the group prepares for the night as Harold orders Lauren to gather fallen branches and twigs for a campfire. Though they had made camp, the site itself is practically barren as night falls. Other than the small bonfire made for warmth and illumination, there is nothing. No tents made, no food being cooked, and no merriment to be seen. It is just Harold and Lauren sitting on their respective seats; separated by fire as they watch it burn and crackle in obscure silence. But, it is soon broken as a loud gurgling could be heard as it echoes out. This catches Harold’s attention as he moves his gaze away from the flames and directs it at the point of origin.

“You hungry?” Harold asks.

Lauren, embarrassed, nods her head in confirmation. “I am. But I don’t think I have really eaten since two nights ago.” 

“And you probably don’t have food, do you?”

“I… I unfortunately don’t have any…” she says timidly.

Even with his face covered, Lauren could feel his disappointment. “Fuu… Alright. If I gave you food, you should be able to eat it on your own right? That much you can do I assume?”

“Y-yes!”

“Terrific.” Saying that, he stands up and goes towards where Nightingale stands. He shuffles through the horse’s saddlebag and takes out a satchel similar to the bags given to Lauren the day before. Harold tosses the bag to the girl, scaring her in the process. “Here. That should hold some food. Probably some bread and water in there if I remember correctly.”

“O-okay,” she replies meekly. Barely able to say anything to Harold. Lauren opens the bag that was tossed to her and sticks her hand inside. Having a vague feeling that it was magical like the ones before; she reached deep inside to feel around. Lauren grabs the first item she touches and takes it out to reveal a block of cheese. Reaching in again and again, she proceeds to take out more food items and utensils: a bread loaf, smoked fish, and a canteen of water.

“By the way, if you want to eat you’re going to have to carry that bag with you the rest of the time you are with me,” Harold says letting Lauren know the trade off is as he takes his seat. 

“But I thought you were going to be less harsh on me?” she shyly asks. 

“Hey. I’m letting you eat and rest aren’t I? Plus, I’m not making you pay back for the health potion I used on you. So be grateful, you little shit.”

Lauren winces at the comment before asking, “But aren’t you going to eat too?”

“No.”

“Don’t you need to eat though?”

Staying silent for a moment, Harold takes a breath before answering, “I don’t need to eat.” 

“But why do you have all this food then? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Okay. I’m going to take back the bag if you keep asking stupid fucking questions like that.”

“S-sorry. I am sorry.”

Harold shakes his head before he answers Lauren reluctantly. “I have it because I do. Remember why I was looking for your father? I wanted to sell the shit in these bags like the food that you’re eating and the swords that you’ve collected,” he says pointing to the bags at her side.

“O-oh…” she replies as silence falls over them again. Lauren looks at the food that she had taken out. All of it could be eaten as is, so she starts tearing pieces of bread and fish; eating them together. Chewing her food, she gazes through the fire to look at Harold. “Do… Do you always wear your helmet? Doesn’t it get uncomfortable?” she asks cautiously.

Harold looks away and says with grimace, “I always wear it. Probably because I don’t have the prettiest face to show.”

“I see…” she says slowly, taking pieces of bread and fish into her mouth. Chewing delicately, Lauren swallows and asks with care, “Did you sleep, Mr. Sasse? You said that you were watching over me for 10 hours. Did you rest during that time?”

“Are we playing 20-questions? Do I need to give you a ball or a toy to shut you up?”

“S-sorry. I was just curious. I just don’t know much about you Mr. Sasse. You knew my father, but he never talked about knowing a knight nor did he talk about being owed a favor from one before.”

Snorting he says, “I’m not surprised. We, well, I failed to save his wife.”

“...” She stays silent as she stares at the man across from her. What is he talking about? “Failed to save his wife?” Does he mean Mom? But, Mom died of an illness a decade ago when Dad went to get medicine in the capital… Lauren furrows her brow as she starts weaving what could possibly have happened.

Harold looks off in the distance as he continues to speak. “He was desperate. Willing to go to the ends of the world for his wife. It’s something that I envied about him. That kind of desperation or will I suppose.” Harold reminisces; resting his chin on his hand. “It’s disappointing. It’s really disappointing that he is dead. I hate it when people die unnecessarily. Similar feeling to when you find that your neighbor’s dog passed away while you were gone. So unfortunate… for them though.”

Listening to his words and gauging his attitude, she fires another question at him. “You were with my Father when he went to the capital city?”

“It’s more like I chanced upon him. He was shit-faced in an alleyway puking his guts out. Moping about how his wife’s illness was incurable or about how she doesn’t have anymore time or something along those lines. Memory’s a bit hazy with that night.”

“But I remember my Father coming back with medicine for my Mother. You’re telling me he actually didn’t find anything there?”

“Well, he was practically passed-out on the street. Tell-tale signs of a man down on his luck. So I’d assume he couldn’t find anything.”

“R-right… but that doesn’t explain how you failed to save my Mother though. If there wasn’t medicine to help her to begin with, wasn’t it all doomed from the start?” she asks despairingly, casting her eyes down at the food in her lap.

Clicking his tongue he reprimands Lauren. “That’s where you are wrong. Your Mother could have been saved. What she needed wasn’t medicine or some miracle drug. What your Mother needed was time. And the only thing that could’ve given your Mother more time was an artifact: The Elixir of Life. All she needed was one drop and she could've lived another decade at least. I just happened to be too slow then.” Harold mumbles with mounting displeasure. “Too fucking slow… shit… just remembering it is making me irritated… Dying in her sleep the night before… Seriously? what the fuck was with that timing? Literally hours too late… God… fucking… DAMMIT!!” he shouts in frustration as he slams his fist on his knee. “SO FUCKING ANNOYING!!” His sudden outbursts startles Lauren causing some of her food to fall off her plate. She watches him calm down as he brings his hand to his face; taking a couple of deep breaths afterwards. “But, whatever. Shit like that happens. Still fucking sucks when it is the only stain on a otherwise perfect record.”

“I-I see,” Lauren nervously stutters. Moments pass and only the crackling of the embers could be heard between. She waits a small moment, letting Harold cool before asking her next question. “Is… Is that the reason why you owe a favor to my Father? Because you were a few hours too late?”

Calming down as he passes air through his nose, he nods in agreement. “Yeah… pretty much.” Staring off in the distance he continues, “I gave him that coin saying that I owed him anything. Told him everything that I told you. But do you know what he wanted the most? More than a big bag of money? More than a fancy house or some crazy magical artifact? He said that he wanted his wife back. The one thing I couldn’t give back to him. Really rubbing the salt in the wound you know?”

She doesn’t answer him, instead she looks down at the fire; taking a long pause from Harold. Lauren takes in and digests what Harold had said about her Father as she relaxes. “My Dad really loved my Mom, didn’t he?” she asks rhetorically.

“Yeah… it’s what I envied about him…” Harold answers her. “Reason why I helped your Dad in the first place. But now he’s dead. Like his wife. And I’m stuck searching for one kid who might be also dead, or enslaved, while looking over the other one who’s barely potty trained. How old are you anyways? Twelve? Thirteen?”

“F-fifteen…”

“Yeah. A fifteen year-old kid that doesn’t know how to do shit on her own. Fucking sad how this family ended up, isn’t it?”

She looks pained by Harold’s comment. Not even hungry anymore, she sets aside the food she had taken out to eat. “Is it okay to put back the things I haven’t eaten?”

“Go ahead. You’re the only one eating anyways,” he says waving his hand in allowance. “You got anymore questions? Or is that all of them?”

“No… I… I don’t have anymore,” she answers as she puts away the foodstuff and utensils.

“Good, then get to sleep. We are going to leave as soon as you wake up in the morning.”

“Okay,” she affirms, placing the bag with the food away. Lauren then turns around towards Harold and asks, “Do you have any blankets that I could possibly use? I… don’t have any of my own currently…”

“Right. Just… go to Nightingale and just shuffle through the bags I have inside the saddle. Carry what you take.”

“O-okay,” Lauren says as she stands up and heads towards the black stallion. Reaching into the saddle bags she takes out a one and looks through it. She does this with every bag until she finds the one with what she needs: a sleeping bag for the outdoors. Taking the satchel that it was in, she places the rest of the unneeded items back to where they belong. Walking back to her area, she places her gains down as she sets her sleeping bag down for the night. Trying to relax in her new found beddings, Lauren lays down on her side facing away from Harold. Though, she finds herself too tightly wound up to sleep. Laying there. Eyes open. She stares into the open darkness; passed the trees around her. Seconds pass. Then minutes. Maybe hours? She doesn’t know. Lauren stares into the darkness with one thought on her mind. “Do… Do you really think my brother is dead?”

“I thought we were done with the questions?” Harold grunts with displeasure.

“I… I can’t sleep. I… I’m sorry…” Lauren says as she lies there stiff. Feeling the radiating heat from the fire behind her.

Harold stays silent as he looks down at the bonfire before him. Letting out a despondent sigh he says, “If you want my honest opinion. Then, yes. Your brother is probably dead. I’ve seen this scenario many times and… well… it’s rarely a happy ending…” 

“Do… do you think I should give up…?”

“I mean…. it’s a wild goose chase, but… if you don’t see his body with your own eyes, then how will you really know if he’s alive or not? I know it would bother me to no end.”

Lauren bites her lower lip as she closes her eyes. “What happens if we find him… not alive?”

“That… well…” Harold stops as he ponders for a moment. “Well… depending on the condition of the body we could revive him but… the longer he’s been dead: the harder and the more costly it’s going to be.”

Lauren sits straight up and faces Harold. “You are saying we could revive him? But what about my Dad? Couldn’t you have brought my Mom back when he asked? Even with the cost?”

“Kid. Listen to yourself. Do I look like the kind of person that could just revive people on the spot?” He says pointing to himself with his thumb. “Most of my business relates to the opposite end. Even if I were to cover the revival fee, your mother had an illness. Even if she were to be revived, it doesn’t mean her disease or whatever would disappear. If it were that easy, then we’d be seeing a lot more dusty-looking old men walking around.”

“I’m… sorry. I just didn’t know…”

“Yeah. Whatever. It is what it is.”

Lauren stays sitting up as she watches Harold to eventually move her gaze away. Nothing said between them as the illumination flickered about; causing their shadows to move erratically. Lauren’s hands are cupped in front of her lap; looking down at them as she watches the darkness pool in her hands. “You said that you’ve seen this scenario many times. What are the chances that this does have a happy ending? As in, we found my brother and he is alive.”

Putting a hand on his neck, Harold rubs it and states, “The chances are slim. Very slim. We have practically no idea where he is, so that makes everything that much harder. So I’ll have to take the time gathering information and cutting it down to what’s necessary for us. In between that and travel time; it might take weeks, maybe months to even find him.” He sighs before finishing. “And that’s if his trail doesn’t go sour on us during that time.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to go to the nearest city, like Elathe or Wulfield, instead? Surely you can find something more relevant in a city that’s closer.”

“You would be right with anything else… but we’re dealing with illegal slave trafficking here. Clues on such things are rarely found in cities like Elathe or Wulfield. Those places are too peachy and clean for the grimier citizens found in society’s underbelly. No. We would need to go somewhere more shady to find what we would need.”

“Shady? The capital city is shady? How?”

Harold chuckles a little. “Information is a commodity any place where Money, Reputation, and Power freely flow up and down. Places like those tend to be chock full of dubious deals and suspicious people. It's just a matter of where to look and whom to speak to. It also doesn’t hurt to have a loose coin purse, but it depends on the person really.”

“But do you really think we would be able to find something useful there then?”

“I do. It also helps to have a reliable informant in the capital too. Has a great knack of finding skeletons that were meant to stay hidden. But, dealing with her is always a challenge,” Harold groans woefully. “Bitch is really cheeky, but the one thing I will vouch for is the accuracy of her intel. Never failed me once.”

“Is she really that reliable? This informant of yours? From how you worded everything, it seems to me that she’s just dishonest.”

Harold laughs out loud. “Yeah. It really does seem like that doesn’t it?” His laughter turned into a chuckle as he continued talking about his informant. “In a world like that, being dishonest is the norm. It’s the kind of living where life and death is reliant on how much or how little one knows. Hence its importance. Though, there are times where ignorance is bliss.”

“I-I see. But when we do get the information… what then?”

Feeling himself frown, Harold takes the time to answer Lauren. “Then we go find your brother,” he starts. “Finding a person is not hard. But it's a rather time-consuming and tedious process. A matter of jumping from one lead to the next until we get your brother’s location. And from there it is just a matter of a rescue, a revival, or whatever. Whatever it takes to get the two of you back together like how you wanted.”

“That… that seems simple enough to do.”

“It really seems like that, but it is never that simple nor easy.” Bringing his head back so that he can look at the stars above. “I am probably going to have to jump through hoops and climb ladders for you kid. Just to keep my fucking word to you and your Dad. Only fate can tell how long I would be free from this mess.”

“O-oh… I… I am sorry…”

Harold gives a stress-filled sigh. “What was your name again? Terra…? Darren…?” he asks Lauren amidst her apology. 

“L-Lauren…”

“Lauren… You don’t need to apologize,” Harold states to her. “I am just annoyed that an IOU that I gave to someone blew up in my face. Making it into something more frustratingly annoying.” Harold shakes his head and then stares at Lauren. “Would have really preferred it if you took the gold back then instead of some impromptu rescue mission…. Though it doesn’t matter. Not my choice anyways.”

She stays silent. Having nothing to say, Lauren looks towards Harold and scowls slightly before loosening her face. “I… I think I will go to sleep now.”

“Oh? Finally feeling tired? I’ll keep guard then.”

“Y-yeah,” she answers him as she lays her head down; turning her back against him.

“Don’t worry about having to wake up to change shifts. I am enough to guard us. So, just rest well and try to wake up early in the morning,” Harold states.

Lauren closes her eyes at Harold’s words. “Right… I’ll wake up early,” she says with monotony.

 Wrapping the bedroll tightly around her, Lauren curls up within it. Clenching her eyes shut. She breathes in deeply through her nose and exhales out slowly through her mouth. Am I… Am I making the right choice? Should I have stayed back? Should I… Should I have just moved on? I… I just don’t know anymore… Lost in her own thoughts, Lauren eventually finds herself dozing off as she falls asleep as her worries occupy her mind.