We start heading off down the hill where Ranni's rise is. We don't talk much until we finally get outside of Caria Manor's gate. I finally get onto Torrent and look at Blaidd.
"Where is your horse?" I ask looking around
"I do not need one," He says ready to run
I look at him confused about whether or not he would run the whole way there. "Are you being serious?"
"Im a half-wolf, I can run for as long as I want," He says before sprinting down the trail, leaving me behind. I look dumbfounded seeing him just run off so quickly. He just doesn't stop surprising me.
"You ready Torrent?" I looked down at my horse as we started picking up speed
I few hours pass by. Mind you they weren't too fun since Blaidd was running ahead of me leading the way while I just sat on Torrent. The sun has nearly set so I can say, Blaidd has a lot of stamina. It wasn't too long until Blaidd slows down near a lake. I direct Torrent towards him wondering why we were stopping.
"What's up?". Blaidd seems to be looking at the lake that splits in half into some bushes ahead of him.
"Say, we've been at this for a while now, we should set up camp for the night," He says before putting down his bag of supplies
The amount of supplies he has in the bag seems heavy. Though I doubt he even notices the extra weight he had to carry throughout the day. It's a little scary. He has the strength of 5 rune bears and he can run with heavy weight for hours. Even I got tired of just riding Torrent.
Just who is this wolf...
I nod in agreement. Following suit in getting out supplies for the night. Im about done with getting my tent up and tying Torrent to a nearby tree. I've gotten used to sleeping in a tent whenever I couldn't find a place to rest at. Especially when you don't have any runes to spare.
There was even a time I had to rest outside an inn. They wouldn't let me get a room unless I paid the remaining 3 runes I owed. Not to sound like an asshole, but I was glad the owner got punched by some homeless during his smoke break.
I look at Blaidd and,
well...
All I can say is that his tent was MASSIVE. Not only that but the supplies he had, contained multiple herbs and vials filled with unknown liquids.
I shouldn't be surprised at the fact he was able to carry all of that. Once we were done, Blaidd turns to me.
"Sit tight, ill be back with some firewood," the wolf says getting up. "alright ill go catch us some food for the night," I say following him. "No, you'll stay here" He points at the ground. "I'll get us something,"
"Well, what am I supposed to do? sit here?" He smiles "Yes, I need you to watch our stuff." He turns and leaves before I'm able to protest. His huge figure disappeared into the trees. I don't waste time and head near the lake to see whether or not there are some fish for me to catch. We're in the middle of nowhere, so I doubt there will be anyone that would come by.
I look around in the murky water in front of me. The lake is huge so there's bound to be something in there that I could catch. I start rubbing my hands together, chanting a spell for me to work with the water. It wasn't long until huge groups of water started rising just above the water's surface. I focus on trying to use the sunset's light to my advantage and find a silhouette of some sort. It was a good 30 minutes till I caught five fish, dumping them into a bag. I'm not a big eater, but I do know that three fish won't fill an 8 feet tall wolf.
I quickly throw it over my shoulder so that I can head back to the campsite before Blaidd gets back. I know he'll get a little mad, but he'll thank me for it.
........
That's what my plan was until I see an already lit campfire where we settled. He seems to be looking around frantically. For me of course. I probably look like an idiot for not just doing what he says and then going with him to fish. Of course, my ego just had to take over to feel useful. Not only that but he might also get angry at me for not doing one simple thing. The more I stand there, behind a bush in the dark, the more panicked he gets from a quick look around to pacing back in forth, looking at different angles to see where I might be.
I finally walk about the bush with cold sweat. My heart races at whether or not he will scold me harshly as he did when we first met up. Not a second passes once I leave my hiding spot, and he notices me. His long scarred ears faced my direction. listening to the footsteps approaching him. Once he realizes it was me, he jogs towards me.
"Hey, Sorry for not-"
before I get to apologize he cuts me off. Suddenly overwhelmed with questions.
"Where have you been!? Are you ok? Did someone lure you somewhere? What happened?"
I don't even have time to react before he starts dragging me back to the campfire
If anything, this is the wrong reaction I was expecting. When we get in front of the crackling source of light, He lets me go of his strong grasp.
"H-hey, I'm fine, I just went to go get us something to eat," I say stumbling over my own feet at the sudden stop. "What's up with you? I was only gone for a few minutes."
He starts to check my body for anything unusual. Not saying anything.
"Can you stop!"
He jolts after I raise my voice, looking up at me. He stands up, fully showing his height difference against me.
"I thought something had happened to you," he says annoyed. "Why didn't you stay here like I said?" His stern voice slowly came in.
" To get this." I throw the bag of fish on the ground in front of him. I don't even know what to do in this situation. He asked me to stay with our valuables but didn't, and just left without letting him know. The risk of our stuff doesn't benefit from five fish.
Why am I so stupid?
He looks down, confused. He picks up the back and sniffs through the fabric, picking up the fishy smell.
"I'm sorry alright, I should've just stayed put." I cross my arms looking away. I already know what he's gonna say, so now it's the waiting game.
"T-thanks," He says with an embarrassed look.
I look at him surprised. Usually, people would explode at me for not doing what they say, even the little things. Now that I think about it.
I don't think he's caught anything himself. The only things I've seen that we gained were firewood and the fish I brought.
"Wait, were you not able to find anything?" I ask looking behind him.
"That's not the point." He tries to change the subject. Is he embarrassed?
"You only got firewood didn't you."
"You left our stuff in the open!"
"I said I was sorry! At least I got us something to eat!"
...
This is getting us nowhere. We're arguing for no reason when we could be resting and eating for the long journey tomorrow. It's just our lack of energy getting in the way.
"Look we're tired, Let's just do what we can for now," I say trying to lighten the mood.
He sighs, "Your right." He gives back the bag of fish. At least we stopped bashing our heads together.
It's been a while since we had our little argument. I'm currently using the spices that I had with me to make the fish somewhat decent in taste. In the meantime, Blaidd was cleaning the greatsword that he usually carries. It's a large golden sword with blue gems on the cross-guard. A nice Blue handle to match, and a silver lining on the pommel. A Beautiful sword that in a strike, could take a life.
A sword like that seems like it could weigh 100 pounds or so. It wouldn't be hard to believe since its wielder is a giant wolf.
"Is something wrong?" He asks looking weirded out at me staring at him.
"Oh, it's nothing." I turn away swallowing. "Your sword, how do you wield something so heavy"
He looks down and back at me. " Well I've had this for a long time now so, you get used to it."
He seems bashful about his strength. Given that he might have had some accidents by going overboard in force, I probably would too.
"Can I see it?
"My sword?" He looks confused when I ask him.
"Yeah, I wanna see if I could swing it" A smile grew on my face.
"You sure you can handle a sword this big?" He says with a smug look on his face.
"I'm not that weak you know" Getting up, I walk towards him.
"W-well I didn't mean that, Im sure you're pretty strong" He stumbles over his words while he holds the sword up.
"Im joking, haha" I chuckle as I grab the sword. Ready for him to let go.
"It is a little heavy you know"
"I know, but I want to see how I fair against it."
He smiles and shakes his head before letting go. The next few moments are displayed as some short dude trying to get a 100Lb sword off the ground to swing. He chuckles with fish in his mouth. So far it's been ten minutes, and I haven't even been able to get one successful swing.
"o-ok, I g-give up" I struggle, trying to hold up this beast of a weapon after being exhausted.
"Alright then, my turn." He says right behind me.
He grabs the sword and picks it up like nothing. I walk back to my chair and start eating my portion of fish.
"How do you carry that thing around and use it to fight!"
"Wanna see how I use it?"
"Sure why not, but go over there so that you don't go overboard and hit me" I point towards the grassy area to watch in a safe distance.
"Whatever you say Sunshine," He says looking back with a cheeky grin
He holds the sword with both hands and begins his little flurry of swings. He swings with precision and focus. The air getting sent toward me feels cold and dry as if it were winter. I shiver at the drop in temperature his swings bring. Is that normal, or is the sweat on my face from earlier making each swing feel cold? I don't hate it. If anything Im amazed that he can manage it so easily. Once he finishes his little show he puts the blade on his shoulder.
"So, what did you think." He says, hoping for something positive.
"Are you kidding me? That was amazing!" I say Jumping.
He's a bit caught off guard, but his tail wags nonetheless.
"Thank you, It takes a while to get this good but I still need to practice." His tail increased in speed going left and right.
I sit back down watching him take a seat across from me.
"You think you can teach me some of those moves?"
"Only if you promise to teach me what you know in return." He chuckles getting ready to eat his last piece of fish.
We both start talking about some of the things we've learned about battles and moves that we use. From what I learned, he doesn't just use his sword. His teeth are also killing machines, including his sharp claws. It is like he was built for being a strong buff wolf.
I try showing him a few spells in trade for his sword combat. He seems amazed as he's only seen Ranni from afar when she's using spells. I start laughing when one of the water bubbles I cast with water hits him on the nose, causing him to get startled. We get a good laugh at the surprise.
There's a short pause before he speaks. He starts rubbing his neck in embarrassment at what he's about to say.
"Hey Y/N, sorry for freaking out at you again." I put my drink down from his response.
"Trust me, you're in the right for getting worried about me and our stuff. I mean, I did ignore what you said."
"Well, it's more than that." He starts to get serious.
"There's always someone paired with me that has a mindset as if they were invincible."
"Whenever Ranni sends me out on scouting missions with them, it doesn't always end well."
I see his eyes shift from his joyful state to a more depressed look.
"That's why I try to be cautious with you as much as I can." He looks to the side. "I know that makes me sound stupid, and I know you can take care of yourself." He shifts. "But I just can't risk it, not anymore."
I place a hand on his shoulder and look up at him, the moon portraying him in a beautiful setting.
"I don't think you're stupid Blaidd. If anything Im glad you're looking out for me" I've never seen someone open up to me like that before. Even after meeting them a day ago. "I'll try and stop making dumb decisions" Smiling I playfully nudge him.
"Besides, I need someone to train me to be stronger anyways. Might as well do my best to have you on my side, as long as I can."
"You are different like she said." He says before getting up. "We should get ready to turn in for the night" I follow suit getting up from the chair and putting the herbs and supplies in Torrent's bag.
Before Blaidd gets into his tent I call out for him.
"Hey Blaidd," His ears point towards my direction."Thank you, for telling me that. It seems that you are also different than I thought as well" The comment makes him smile.
"Goodnight Y/N"
I get into my tent removing most of my clothes and armor to somewhat sleep comfortably on the ground. The night is quiet and so is Blaidd, I assume he's already asleep. Today was such a mind fuck. I need to get myself together, I'm not on my own anymore. At least for now from what I see. Blaidd sure did change my expectations. He's more understanding than I thought he was gonna be. He's turning out to be someone I can trust. I need to see more before I get to that decision. I mean, it's only been Day 1 of our travel, If he's good enough. He might just gain a new follower. Or maybe...
More
[Authors note]
Here's another chapter, I haven't been able to make this one quickly as I thought I would. I have the next chapter ready in terms of the story I have fleshed out so I'll try to work fast on that.
Also, I wanted to ask what needs improvement in writing. Are things going too fast, too slow, or too confusing? I dunno, you tell me. There are more ideas that I have for this story but ill be asking them later on
Also give some suggestions on the nicknames Blaidd might give you (I chose sunshine cause thats all I could figure out that he might say)
So far I like having fun with this story, there might be more to come :)
Welp until the next update!