Feeling the morning cold entangle his body, Cree slowly blinks his eyes open. Having decided to surrender his sleeping bag to Reela didn't come without a few regrets. Though, he wasn't really expecting to get any sleep last night.
Let alone make it to morning.
He slowly sits up and surveys the camp. He sees that the campfire had gone out at some point. Reela is curled up beside Regan, shivering. Looking at the sky and judging by the cold, it must be just an hour or so after dawn. He woke up earlier than he was expecting, but at least that leaves him with time to get prepared.
But first, the fire.
Cree has to push himself to get up. Once on his feet, he realizes that his legs are a little shaky still. He closes his mind off to everything outside of the present and starts walking forward, stepping around the apple core on the ground beside where he slept and making his way over to the campfire.
After getting a good fire going, he sees that Reela's shivering lessens. The sight unconsciously makes Cree show a small smile before his eyes land on Regan's sleeping face. He stares at the bandage across his cheek.
"Wake the fuck up, Regan! When are you going to realize that not everyone is in love with you?!"
"Maybe once you realize that not everyone hates you!"
Cree has to close his eyes as he looks away and quickly stands up. As he's walking away from the two, he hears someone stirring as they wake up.
"Good morning, Cree..." Reela yawns as she rubs her eyes.
Cree freezes for a moment before turning around and facing her. "Morning, Reela. Feeling any better?" he asks. His voice sounds different to his own ears somehow. The girl sleepily nods with a tired smile. Then her stomach lets out a loud growl and she flops down back into the sleeping bag.
"I'm so hungry..." she whines.
Cree chuckles and nods. "I'll check if the Latyrs had any food. You're going to need it."
He walks towards the Latyr supply tent and starts rummaging through the crates. He sighs at seeing that all the food is some form of spoiled. "Bad news, Reela. The food's bad," he says and heads back out into the camp.
Reela whines again and buries herself in the covers. Cree sighs and rolls his shoulders back. "Don't worry. I'll go see if I can hunt anything in the woods. You're going to need your strength." He walks back over to where he slept by the gate and reaches down to claim his knives.
As he reaches for them, he's hit with another flash of last night. Remembering the moment he felt the blade touch his chest, how his whole body went cold. As though he had died before even taking his life. Then as he found himself pinned to the ground, he felt nothing but rage. He lashed out at Regan. But the cut of his blade was nothing compared to the damage his words delivered.
"Can I come with you?"
He's snapped back to the present by Reela standing in front of him with a big smile beaming across her face, happily rocking back and forth on her heels and swaying innocently. He cocks a brow as he grabs his knives and fastens the sheathes to his belt.
"You want to go hunting with me? Really?" he questions.
Reela enthusiastically nods. "Yes! I want to try using this bow!" She holds up a small wooden bow and a quiver of arrows that she had apparently been holding behind her back.
Cree tilts his head at her in both question and concern. "Where did you get that?"
Reela points towards the gate. "From one of the bodies outside!"
Cree coughs over his gasp and his eyes widen, rushing over to the gate and making sure it's shut securely. After seeing that it is, he turns back to the girl. "Why were you out there?!"
Reela sheepishly shrugs. "Making sure you got them all!" she giggles.
Cree sighs and lowers his head in defeat. So much for trying to hide the bodies from her, as he and Regan had hoped to do after finding her. "Fine. You can come with, but—"
"Yay!" Reela jumps up with a big smile. Cree reaches over and grabs the bow, pulling it out of her hands and holding it out of her reach. "Hey!" She tries jumping to reach it.
He keeps the bow in the air. "But I will hold onto this until we actually find something to hunt. You can have it back then," he states.
The child pouts and crosses her arms. "But Cree! Pleeease?" she whines. Cree shakes his head and slings the bow over his shoulders.
"No 'buts'. I don't want you to accidentally shoot me or get yourself hurt. Got it?" Cree asks. Reela looks away as she pouts, stubbornly refusing to give an answer. But Cree can see how she's fidgeting and anxious to go already, so her anger is nothing more than rebellious defiance to have her way.
"Reela..." Cree glares at her.
Reela growls. "Ugh, fiiine. You can hold onto it..."
Cree smiles and pats her on the head. "That's what I thought. Now, come on. We should get going so we can hopefully get back before Regan wakes up. Speaking of..." He turns to look over at where Regan is sleeping beside the fire with Romeow at his side. "Romeow, watch him until we get back. If anyone shows up, wake him and come get me," he calls to the cat. Romeow just lifts his head, stares at him from across the camp, then flops back down. For a robot cat that never grows tired, he seems strangely drained this morning.
Then Cree realizes why. It's the same reason that Thor was so weak after what happened to Edith. Regan may not be an SRL or have an EPC to drain, but his emotions were definitely peaked last night, and it seems Romeow was indirectly affected. Another spike of guilt strikes his heart as he thinks about how he forced Regan to that point.
Cree nods as he stifles his remorse and turns back towards the gate. He pushes it open and leads Reela out before they head off into the forest to hopefully find breakfast.
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When Regan wakes up, the first thing he wonders is if last night really happened or if it was just a nightmare sparked from how Cree has been acting lately. But as his senses return, he feels the sting on his cheek as a reminder that it was real.
After they had gotten back to camp last night, Cree had helped stitch and bandage the wound before bed. But he didn't really say anything for the rest of the night. Understandable, seeing as Regan is aware that Cree has never been one for talking about his emotions. After all that was said in the forest, there really wasn't much more for either of them to say.
Pushing thoughts of last night aside, Regan sits up in his sleeping bag and is delighted to be greeted by the warmth of the campfire. But his fear rises as he realizes that Reela isn't beside him, and Cree is nowhere to be found.
"...Ty? Reela?" he calls out. He quickly stands up; his hands start shaking.
What if Cree took off again...? Like last night. But then where is Reela? What if more Latyrs showed up and caught them? But then why did they leave him? What if Sara found them?
He starts nervously rubbing his knuckles, trying to take deep breaths, and trying to think of what could have happened to them. But as his fear starts reaching its peak, the gates to the camp push open. Reela rushes in with a beaming smile which instantly melts Regan's fear and doubts away. She's safe, so he can allow himself to relax.
"Regan! Good morning!" She happily waves.
Regan smiles back. "Where were you?" he asks. He then notices how sore his throat feels.
Before Reela answers, Cree walks up behind her carrying the body of an elk. "Hunting. Kid was hungry and we need to make sure we've all got enough energy to make it to Balmoral by the end of the day," he explains and carries the elk to the side of the tents and sets it down.
Regan's eyes return to Reela. "You went hunting?"
Reela nods. "I killed a deer!" she states proudly. Regan goes to question the child, but Cree comes back over to shut the gates. He nudges her shoulder as he walks past.
"Yes. And now you're going to skin a deer," he says with a smirk.
Reela scoffs and crosses her arms. "What?! No!" she complains. Regan just stands and watches the exchange as he's left near speechless. Is he missing something? Was Cree perhaps abducted by some magic sorcerer who brainwashed him and turned him into a completely different person? Because if not, then he has no explanation for what he's watching.
Cree shrugs. "You killed it; you skin it. That's what I was taught at your age." He grins.
Reela groans. "But Cree... Pleeease?" she pouts and makes sad puppy eyes at Cree.
Cree chuckles and gives her a gentle push towards the campfire. "I'm teasing. I'll take care of it, you go warm up and start getting ready to go," he says.
Reela instantly perks up. "Yay! Thank you, Cree!" She gives him a hug before scurrying off to warm up by the fire, happily playing with Romeow who is just starting to come back to life from his heavy slumber.
Cree smiles after the child before returning to the body of the elk to start preparing it for breakfast. Regan stares at him and tries running through the things he could say to him, but his thoughts are all jumbled and he's left unsure of what to say. Instead, he joins Reela by the fire.
After getting breakfast made, Reela stays beside the fire as she eats. Cree goes through the Latyr chief's tent to see if he can find anything useful for the road ahead.
He digs through old papers on a wooden desk, trying to see if there is any useful information to be found in them.
"...Ty?"
He turns his head back to see Regan standing in the entrance with a timid gaze.
"Oh, hey Regan. Did... you need something?" Cree asks. He has to fight to keep his eyes off the bandage on his face. Regan clears his throat, still feeling the soreness from all the yelling.
He's still unsure of what to say. It's hard to tell where they currently stand with each other. Are they friends? Does last night qualify him for talking to Cree about his feelings again, just as a casual topic of conversation? If he tries, will Cree get mad at him again? It's honestly impossible for him to tell. Cree is still such a mystery to him, only now it scares him, making him afraid of saying the wrong thing and doing more harm than good.
"I was just... I just wanted to see how you're doing." He is barely able to meet his eyes.
Cree momentarily feels panic strike his heart, but he keeps it down and covers it up with a shrug as he turns back to the papers. "I'm fine... I was fortunate to have gotten up early, so at least we were able to get food before the day really started. And now we've got enough venison to last us—"
"You know that's not what I meant," Regan cuts him off, keeping his voice soft.
Cree freezes and his fist tightens around a handful of paper. He has to take a deep breath to calm himself down. Whether it's anger or guilt or remorse that's creeping its way back to him, he can't tell. Seeing him fighting himself, Regan slowly enters the tent and stands a bit closer to Cree. He waits a moment to see if Cree will say anything but isn't surprised when he doesn't.
"Are you... feeling any better...?" he asks with hope and desperation in his voice.
Cree sighs and glances back to the outside of the tent to see Reela carelessly playing with Romeow by holding up pieces of venison and making the cat jump for it, and Romeow is calculating how best to strike down the food without inflicting harm on the child.
He turns back to the desk with his head down. "I'm... okay..." he says. Regan almost didn't hear him.
He takes another step towards him. "Last night..." he pauses. "Was that... something that has been on your mind for a while...? Or was it a one-time thing...?" Regan asks. Cree takes another deep breath. He hates talking about feelings, especially when they're his own.
"...A while, I guess... I just... didn't realize how bad it was..."
Regan sighs and stares at the ground. He anxiously taps his finger against his leg, for once feeling unsure of how to talk to someone. "Is that... going to happen again...?" His voice just barely breaks a whisper.
Cree's body tenses and his face hardens. He stays silent as he doesn't know how to answer. Regan, seeing him still battling his own thoughts and emotions, presses on. "Please, Ty... I just... I need to know that if you ever start... feeling that way again... You will talk to me..."
"You know I'm not good at talking about my emotions, Regan..." Cree mumbles.
Regan nods. He knows that all too well. The only person he knows that Cree was able to talk to about feelings was John. Maybe Edith, if she was lucky. But John for certain was able to get Cree to confide in him. He could tell just by the way they would look at each other that Cree placed so much trust, love, and faith in John. It was beautiful, but at the same time, bittersweet. Knowing that there was one person who Cree could turn to. And that person is now gone.
He doesn't know what he wants from Cree right now. He wants him to know that he cares and is there to talk to him if he needs it, but he also doesn't want to push him to his next breaking point. He doesn't know what sparked what happened last night, but he can't help but worry that it may have been his fault for ignoring all the times Cree would tell him to shut up and leave him alone.
Regan sighs. "I know... And that's okay. Just... If you ever start feeling that way again... Please... Please let me know... You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Just... give me a sign... Something to let me be there for you in whatever way you need. Don't just... leave." Tears start stinging his eyes so he blinks them away.
Cree nods slowly. He tries thinking of something that would work for both of their situations. He knows that Regan wants to help, even if he wishes he didn't. Letting people care about him isn't easy, but he wants that to stop. To do that, he needs to try. "If I ever get... those thoughts again... I'll..." His eyes cast down, until they land on his blades. In his mind, he gets another flash of last night. Of the moment he felt the blade touch his skin. If Regan had gotten there a second later, Cree would undoubtedly be dead.
"...I'll give you my knives. That way... I can let you know without saying anything... And make sure that I... can't use them to...—"
Regan cuts him off by pulling him into a tight hug. Cree holds his breath and tries to remain as still as possible as he waits for Regan to let him go. But when he doesn't, Cree strangely doesn't feel annoyed. Instead of shoving him away or yelling at him and lashing out, Cree slowly brings his arms up and gently wraps them around Regan's back.
He closes his eyes as he feels the tears start to blur his vision. Regan slowly lets him go. He still says nothing, so Cree does instead. He just says the first thing his mind tells him to say.
"...Thank you." He shows a small smile that Regan returns.
Cree then clears his throat and steps back, casting his gaze back to the desk. "Yeah, so uh... We're gonna be heading out here soon," he says as he desperately wants to change the subject. Regan notices how he reverts back to his typical goal-driven mindset to avoid discussing his feelings further and doesn't mind leaving it at that for now. This trust is a good start towards helping Cree get used to letting people care about him.
"Right. Speaking of, have you found anything useful?" Regan asks.
Cree shrugs. "Maybe... It's hard to tell what all this stuff means. Lots of old logs and notes, but I think that with how close this camp is to Balmoral, maybe they'll have some information on the city," he says.
Regan smiles and peers down at the papers. "Hm... Look like business logs to me. Seems that these Latyrs may have had some dealings in the city."
"Aren't Latyrs bandits? Why would a city make deals with people beneath the law? Especially with the Dev'al Ordon controlling everything," Cree questions.
Regan shrugs. "It seems that perhaps these apparent dealings fly under the Order's radar," he says.
"What makes you say that?" Cree asks.
Regan moves closer to the desk and sits down in the wooden chair in front of it. He starts sifting through the papers, staring at each of them and skimming through the words like a machine. "It doesn't refer to the Dev'al Ordon directly, however in many of these notes there are mentions of avoiding attention from so-called 'Redcloaks'. We have seen soldiers of the Order wearing red cloaks, but that is hardly evidence enough..." He looks through a few more papers.
"Hm... How curious..." he mumbles to himself as he reads a few more.
"What is it?" Cree asks.
Regan lays out a few papers, letters by the looks of it. "The intriguing dialect these letters seem to have in common. Look here, it seems that the person who sent these speak in the third-person. Someone by the name 'Cle'Mishari'. And from what I have gathered from some of these other notes, apparently the prefix 'Cle' is a title given to those who are deemed as renowned thieves in Aramora," he explains.
Cree looks over the letters and tries piecing it together. But he's more curious as to how Regan is able to connect the dots so effortlessly despite not knowing much of anything about Aramora.
"So... You're thinking that maybe there is some kinda thieves' guild in Balmoral? Run by this 'Cle'Mishari'?" he asks. Regan shrugs.
"It certainly seems that way. And if this city is in some form of avoidance to the Dev'al Ordon, then perhaps it would be a safe place to lay low. At least until we can get our bearings and figure out a plan, especially now that Reela is involved," he says.
Cree nods and leans against the desk. "Speaking of which, did you learn anything from her? Like where she's from and what happened to her?" he asks.
Regan sighs. "Sort of... Apparently she's from the farthest city to the north, 'Whiteridge'. But..."
"How the hell did she end up here then? According to the map, there's a massive river separating the mainland of Aramora and the northern half of the continent. It's not like she could have walked over here," Cree questions.
"Correct... Unless it wasn't by choice that she came here," Regan says.
Cree glances back at the child again to see that she is now playfully wrestling Romeow in the dirt, chasing the cat all around the camp. "Do you think the Dev'al Ordon did something?" he asks as he turns back towards Regan.
"It's possible. You did mention that Sara is looking for her for whatever reason. So maybe that has something to do with it," he says. Cree sighs as he remembers that part of last night. His deal with Sara. It had somehow briefly slipped his mind, but it hits him again that he surrendered his freedom to her in order to keep Reela safe. He made sure to leave that part out of his explanation to Regan, but he can't forget his current situation.
"Tyrell?" Regan snaps him back to the present.
"Hm? Sorry, spaced out for a second. Anyway, we should get going. Take whatever you think could be useful from here, and I'll start getting packed and prepare the horses. Still got a ways to go," he says and turns to exit the tent before Regan can say any more.
After a few hours of traveling north and following the map, Reela smiles bright and points over Regan's shoulder from atop Juliet. "Balmoral!" she exclaims with a giggle. Regan smiles and looks over at Cree, who is also smiling and making no attempt at hiding the relief on his face at finally making it and in one piece. With a quick nod to each other, they pick up the pace and gallop towards the towering walls that rest within the colorful autumn forest.
They left their horses to rest at the city stables while they entered the city. The gate guard tried threatening them about not causing trouble for the supposed queen of the city, Socles Hu-nis'Hanover. They told him that they just need a place to rest and that they aren't planning on causing any issues.
Now they walk through the streets, admiring the beauty of the rustic city. It's definitely much larger than New Cresthill was. The buildings stand taller. The streets are cobblestone unlike the dirt roads they saw before, and they are blanketed in autumn leaves. Colorful banners are strung from roof to roof of each wooden house. The market seems pretty busy, with a variety of interesting-looking people bustling from each stand.
The sun is starting to go down, so their goal is to first find a shop where they can get new clothes, mainly for Reela. Regan's clothes are rather torn already from the kidnapping thing, and Cree's shirt is still bloodstained from his wounds being reopened by the Latyrs. They found a tailor shop where they successfully found a new dress and a pair of leather leggings for Reela, it's violet and green and doesn't hang too far to the ground so it doesn't slow her down.
Cree got a black studded tunic, figuring that maybe wearing black would be a better option in case of more bleeding down the line. He hopes that won't happen, but Aramora has proven to be set on never giving them a break. They count themselves lucky to have had no problems all day.
Regan got a white and purple-accented tunic. He searched, but alas it seems the Latyrs were right when they said that only rich people could afford a fedora, as he had no luck finding a new one. He's left a little downcast because of this, but he's more grateful to just be alive at this point.
Once they were done, they head for the inn. The first floor is dimly lit, shadows clinging to every corner that the candlelight and fireplace can't reach. The smell of ale, smoke, and pine clings to the air. There are stairs leading to the second floor with the rooms for rent. There are a good number of patrons seated at tables and leaned against the bar counter. The innkeeper is a man wearing a simple white tunic and apron. He has white hair and hazel eyes and pointed ears similar to Reela. This place doesn't seem to have a bard, so the only sounds are from people coughing or the fireplace crackling.
Cree turns to Regan as they enter. "You and Reela grab some seats. I'll get us a room for the night," he says. Regan nods and happily leads Reela to a square table against the wall near the fireplace.
Cree walks past the crowded tables and floor and reaches the counter. The innkeep eyes him curiously. "Om'ralan, stranger. What can I get ya?" he asks. After hearing this enough times and slowly learning to put two and two together, Cree thinks he has figured out that 'Om'ralan' is probably a form of greeting.
"Om'ralan," he says back. "And I'm looking to get a room. Two beds," he says. The innkeeper nods with a smile.
"Twenty numis," he says. Cree sets the money in front of him.
The man takes the coin and walks around the counter. "I'll show you to your room, sir. Right this way." He starts walking through the crowd and up the stairs with Cree following.
As he leaves, Regan looks around the silent inn and bites his lip as an idea pops into his head.
The innkeeper stops at the furthest door down a hallway and hands him a small silver key. "It's yours for a day. Enjoy your stay, sir," he says kindly and steps away.
"Thank you," Cree says as he leaves.
He enters the room and closes the door behind him. He sets his backpack beside one of the two beds against the wall and sits down on the edge. He takes a deep breath and rests his head in his hands. Before he's able to sit and contemplate his life, he suddenly hears clapping in rhythm and cheering coming from downstairs as well as lively music amongst the noise.
Feeling his curiosity overpower his desire for a break from everything, he gets up and leaves the room to go see what all the commotion is about.
As he descends the stairs, he sees that every patron of the inn is standing in a wide circle, and a lot of people are dancing and laughing carelessly. Peering through the crowd, Cree can see Regan holding his lute beside the fireplace, singing with a delighted mischievous look on his face.
"The day you came my way, something shifted in the wind... I saw your face and the clouds parted way, it was like a glimpse of heaven," he starts the song slow, singing the words in a gentle hushed tone.
"My heart fluttered gayly, you turned your gaze onto me... And without another word... You took your fist and socked me!" He jumps away from the fireplace to start lapping around the space accommodated for him, joyously playing his lute and singing as the song speeds up.
Cree just rolls his eyes and leans against the wall, unaware that an unconscious smile has somehow crept onto his face.
"Hard to get? Well, you'll see yet! You'll be the Romeo to my Juliet!" Regan swiftly turns around to face the entire crowd. "My love is strong, my passion aflame! One day you'll say that you're feeling the same!"
Cree snickers and shakes his head as Regan picks him out from the crowd and winks before turning and singing the chorus.
"OoOoOh, my love I hope you know! This feeling only grows with every smile that breaks my bones!"
"Give me something more! It's you that I adore! I'm sure you'll see, that you're meant for me, when you're done kicking me on the floor!"
He keeps playing and riling up the patrons, when Reela darts through the crowd to find Cree. Without a word, she grabs his hand and drags him into the circle of people dancing as Regan continues the high-energy song.
Cree immediately pulls his hand back and shakes his head. "No no no, Reela. I don't dance," he states sternly. Reela just shakes her head and ignores him, innocently giggling as she starts dancing, reclaiming his hands to force him to do the same. Cree grumbles and looks back over at Regan as he keeps singing with a beaming smile plastered across his face as the patrons clap along with the beat, encouraging him to keep going. Regan sings, doing a dance of his own in the center of the floor.
Some of the lyrics get a laugh out of Cree and his smile grows without him realizing it. He didn't even notice as he started dancing with Reela. His mind just started running on autopilot without him noticing. Regan glances over as he sings to see Cree having fun as he dances with the child. It makes his smile grow to the point of making his face sore, but he is happy to keep going.
By the time the song is done, Cree has completely shut off all doubts and worry and has just allowed himself to let go. He can't remember the last time he let himself feel like this.
Regan finishes off with an elegant bow and the crowd applauds him. Many of the patrons hand him numis and pat him on the back as he makes his way with undivided attention towards Cree and Reela.
As Cree sees him coming, he nudges Reela to let him go and tries throwing on his typical gruff expression, but he isn't fooling anyone.
"Well now, that certainly was fun, now wasn't it?" Regan says as he slips his lute back over his shoulder.
Before Cree can say anything, Reela lets out a yawn but still she smiles and nods. "That was really fun..." she says sleepily.
Regan smiles as well. "Come on, Reela. Let's get you up to bed. That'll certainly be a nice change from sleeping on the ground!" He picks up the tired child and she wraps her arms around his neck, closing her eyes as she leans her head on his shoulder. Regan glances back at Cree. "Are you coming as well?" he asks.
Cree sighs. "Yeah. I'm right behind you."
They all make their way up to the room and Regan tucks Reela into the bed across from the one Cree has claimed. He sits beside her as she falls asleep with Romeow curling up on her lap and purring. Cree shuts the door and locks it with a sigh before sitting down on his bed and glaring at Regan while trying to hide his enjoyment from downstairs.
"What the hell was that?" he asks.
Regan shrugs and looks over at him. "I just figured this place could use some livening up! And from what I could tell, it seems these patrons weren't the only ones having a good time..." He makes sly eyes at him.
Cree huffs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, Reela's a kid. Of course something like that will rile her up..." he grumbles. Regan scoffs playfully.
"I wasn't talking about Reela," he says with a smile. "I saw you having fun down there."
Cree crosses his arms. "Well... I guess it was kinda nice. We haven't exactly gotten many chances to relax since coming here."
Regan grins. "'Kind of nice'? Does that apply to my singing as well?"
"No!" Cree snaps.
"Ah! Too late, you already said it! You like my singing!" Regan teases. Cree growls and stands up to pull off his jacket, laying it across the foot of his bed. He keeps his back turned to Regan. As the rush dies down, he is left unsure of what to say once again. So, as he had done before, he just says what feels right.
"Thank you." He turns around again and sits back down.
Regan smiles and takes his lute from his back, carefully resting it beside the bed. He carefully shifts to lay down beside Reela without waking her and he turns his head to look at Cree. "You're welcome," he says softly.
Cree smiles and lays down as well, letting himself close his eyes and relax knowing that for the first time in so long, he's starting to feel like himself again.
What is this ponce doing to him?