Young Writers Society

James knew he wasn't going to make it. Ever since he fell off Elliot, he knew he wasn't going to make it.

Blinding pain shot up his leg with every step as he ran, his only hope that maybe he could find a place to hide so that the dogs wouldn't smell out. Even though he knew in his gut that it was unlikely that'd even work, he couldn't convince himself to stop running. There was an instinct that ran deep, tied to his limbs and his veins: everything inside of him was violently reaching for survival, even if it pushed him to his limit.

And gods, he was at his limit.

Blood was streaming out of his leg. Spots danced across his vision as he limped uphill, the freshly rained-on earth slipping underneath him, swallowing his boots in the mud.

The sound of dogs barking and their feet scrambling encroached on him faster than he could even react.

One of the dogs leaped up at his back, knocking him to the ground. The dogs gnashed their teeth but backed away as a shadow fell over him, and James found himself staring up at Butch, with his partner close behind.

Both were on horseback.

Butch's boots hit the ground with a heavy thump as hopped down from his massive horse, looking down at James with a crooked grin.

"Not so good at running anymore, are you, boy?" Butch taunted.

James felt faint. All of the blood loss was making his head spin, and he couldn't help but wonder if Butch was happy to settle for turning him in dead instead of alive even if it meant he'd forfeit the bounty.

James's vision was already blurring when Butch's fist connected with his face.

One. Two. Three.

James's head hit the ground. He was on his back.

Butch kicked James in the gut over and over. James was seeing stars when suddenly his whole world spun around him as Butch lifted him up by the arm.

James didn't even have the strength to lift up his own weight. He could taste blood in his mouth as nausea hit him in a wave. He groaned, limply hanging from Butch's grip.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, thumping like one last anthem. His own breaths shook in his chest, shallow and pained.

Through slitted, bleary eyes, the last thing he saw was a pair of boots.

For a brief moment, Tori thought that Jayce and his group had found her. She didn't think they were THAT good at hunting. She knew Jayce didn't have dogs though...

She peered carefully around the tree she was knelt by, looking for the source of the noise.

Her heart nearly stopped with how close it was. She sank back a bit, quietly watching. Thankfully she had dark clothes and could blend in better this way.

Through the thick of the trees, she could make out the figure of a large, white horse, partially muddied by the wet terrain. It had a large saddle, and a large, looming figure stood in front of it: a man, probably twice the size of the average person, towering over someone crumpled on the ground.

Tori blinked. That is not a human.

Two other men rode up on a horse behind them, average in comparison to the giant who picked up the person from the mud.

It was a much smaller man, splattered with mud and blood gushing down his leg, covering half of his face. He looked hardly conscious, and he went limp as the giant man held him up under his arm.

"Ollie," the giant called out to one of the horsemen behind him. "Can you stop the bleeding before we leave?"

The smallest horse pulled forward, and a pale, willowy man plopped down into the mud, his face contorted into a frown.

"I'll do what I can," he said tensely.

The giant threw the injured man at 'Ollie's' feet with a grunt.

"Hurry up, then," he said. "We don't have all day."

Ollie winced with a flicker of a tense smile and nodded his head, hastily pulling what Tori could only assume was a medkit out of his saddlebag before he knelt beside the injured man.

Squinting through the trees, the injured man was finally more in view, and she could make out his bloodied face on the forest floor, facing her. The dim morning light coming through the overcast sky cut through the shadows of the trees, illuminating his features just enough to be recognizable.

Tori's brow furrowed. That was Tiberius. The Tiberius.

She looked away and then back again. Unfortunately, his features did not magically change. Why did she think they would? Sigh.

Tiberius was the greatest traitor of the Moonlight Kingdom. She really didn't know why though. None of the posters and described events seemed to be that specific about what he'd actually done to deserve such a reward. It was honestly quite sad, now that she thought about it. She had been in similar places before.

As she watched Ollie tend to Tiberius's still bleeding leg, her mind grew cluttered.

If it was any other person, she could just... leave. Yet she felt an overwhelming sense of anger growing inside her.

For the longest time she thought that life was survival of the fittest. If you couldn't carry your weight, you needed to get stronger to do so. If you didn't, then that was the end of the line. But this... this was different.

Gisa's calm, yet strong and compassionate voice entered her mind, bringing her back to her teens for a brief moment.

"Listen here, kid. I didn't save you because I pitied you for being weak. You're strong. Stronger than anyone I've ever seen. You were brought low by someone who doesn't understand that about you. They don't give you the time of day to prove yourself and your worth because they don't care. That's why I stepped in."

"I will never turn a blind eye on someone who needs my help, Tori. We're all imperfect. We all make mistakes, have bad days, make wrong decisions. I believe that no matter how big, no matter how small, everyone deserves respect. We all need the space to be heard and our humanity understood. That includes you."

"Those boys don't understand that you're worth saving. Survival of the fittest includes your friends in my book. The greatest people I've ever met had companions who stuck to them at their darkest moments, holding them close, providing the compassion and forgiveness they needed most..."

Try though she might, she couldn't shake Gisa's words. They resonated deep in her soul and filled her with determination.

She was decided. She had to do what she could get this guy away from these bounty hunters.

Ollie was nearly finished with the bare-minimum "stop the bleeding" request that the bear had ordered. Tori had either spaced out on Gisa for a good several minutes without realizing or the man was some kind of medic. With how his hands moved so gracefully on a bloody leg, the latter option seemed an appropriate guess.

Her jaw tightened seeing the condition Tiberius was in again. She knew for a fact that Gisa would help him even though he was a criminal, the same way she did with Tori.

She shot down a sudden urge to stand. This was not the place to attempt a one-woman rescue mission against goliath and his goonies. Even the massive horse was frightening. Not to mention the dogs, and the hillside... and the wet earth. There was no chance.

"Alright, that's good enough," the giant man barked. "Let's go."

The giant hauled Tiberius up under his arm as if the criminal weighed nothing, and he and the medic got back on their horses, riding off into the forest. The hunting dogs trailed after them.

Once the group was out of sight for good, Tori stood. She needed to find something to occupy those dogs, and also restock on her food supply.

She began to retrace her path back to town.

Not far into her trek, she noticed a rider-less horse. It was nothing like any of the horses she had seen prior. It also had a nice saddle and a few packs strapped to it.

As Tori drew near, she noticed fresh blood down the side of the steed, dripping from the saddle down its golden coat. The horse itself looked fine, albeit extremely alert and skittish. This had to be Tiberius's horse. There was no other explanation for it.

The horse watched her from afar, alerted to her presence.

Tori didn't want to scare it away on accident, so she stopped once it had turned her way.

"Hey buddy. I won't hurt you." She announced, displaying her empty hands as if she was being held at gunpoint. "See? No knives or nothin'."

The horse merely stared at her, flicking its ears towards her, attentive. Listening.

Tori was not a horse person.

She carefuly began to move for her bag, stuffing a hand in to grab something. Hopefully she still had food on her that the horse may like. Finally her hand brushed over a sad buried apple she had stolen the other day. This was her only hope.

She took it out, displaying it. "Look horsie. You like apples right. Hopefully you don't mind soft ones."

The horse's head tilted slightly, and its ears angled towards her with curiosity. Its nostils flared, and it reached its head out towards her just a little, but didn't move forward.

"Please don't bite me." She whispered, looking away so she didn't have a stare down with it. Prior experiences have not been good for her.

She could hear the horse's footsteps draw near, and then she could feel its warm breath on her palm.

Then the apple disappeared from her hand, and she heard a crunching noise.

Tori peeked a glance. Nice.

"I guess it wasn't that soft after all."

The horse stood right in front of her, chewing on the small apple and finishing it off quickly. When it finished, it nudged Tori's hand with its nose, like it was expecting more.

She sighed with a smile. "I don't have any more, bud. Unless you like the chewiest jerky ever."

Was this a horse or a dog, Tori did not know.

The horse pressed its nose into her hand again.

She could tell it wanted some kind of attention. She gave in and scratched a bit up its nose. Maybe she'd only met the worst horses before now. This one was so gentle.

Tori took a brief glance at the horse's bloodied saddle and side as she scratched, checking that it was only topical. Thankfully this seemed to be the case. She didn't have enough gear on her to tend to a horse right now anyway.

The horse seemed to enjoy the scratches, and it leaned into it, resting its head against her shoulder.

"You poor thing." She patted it. "I'm gonna go bust your owner free, if I can. I gotta get food and stuff first though." She really didn't expect much of a response from the horse, but somehow she felt it was calming down with some talking to it.

It rested its head beside her, more relaxed than before.

The horse seemed to trust her enough. Before she got ahead of herself though, she did her best to clean the blood up. She didn't want to waltz into Ruddlan with a bloodied up animal. That was just asking for the wrong attention.

Tori and her newfound friend ventured into Ruddlan. She was not going to stay for long, for fear of the bounty hunters getting too far away with Tiberius. All she needed was food, a restock on her liqour, and if she was lucky, maybe some smokes.

All went according to plan. She didn't run into anyone she recognized, and no one seemed to pay any mind to the horse either. She did not need more trouble right now.

Just before leaving, she bought a bunch of fruits and vegetables and let the greatly overjoyed horse gorge to its heart's delight. She had a feeling this was going to bite her in the rump eventually. Whatever. It was cute and she liked watching it eat out of her hand.

And so the two of them ventured back into the woods with full bellies and determination.

When he came to, his body was trembling involuntarily. Sweat clung to his skin like a garment, and the taste of blood lined the inside of his mouth. The world around him slowly faded into focus, covered in a burning haze. He couldn't focus. He couldn't breathe.

Pain bubbled between his shoulders like a fountain, and the heat felt like it was caught beneath his skin, ever-building, unable to get out.

The gag was still tied between his teeth, soaked through with blood, spit, and sweat. At some point, he'd been removed from the chair he was tied to and thrown on the floor, hands cuffed behind him, stuck around what felt like a support beam, digging into his lower back.

His whole body felt like a bruise.

His head swayed to the side and groaned, trying desperately to breathe with shallow breaths and not choke on the gag in his mouth. His breaths rattled in his ribcage, and James could feel that at least one or two ribs had cracked. The memory of when felt hazy.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been stuck in the tiny cottage that had become his temporary prison, but it felt like ages, even if he'd been unconscious for large portions of it. Any time he woke up, he was soon met with more pain, followed by the cold hands of a doctor piecing him back up just enough while never meeting his eyes.

And just as expected, the moment his movement was noticed - no matter how small it'd been - someone drew near.

James felt a shadow fall over him, and he couldn't bring himself to look up.

A hand brushed down the side of his arm, uncomfortably close, and unsettlingly gentle, and soon the man James had learned to know as Reed knelt down beside him, their faces inches apart.

"Miss me?"

Something inside of James violently recoiled at the sound of the man's voice whispering by his ear, but it pained him to even lean away.

Wincing, he let out a shaky breath through his nose.

"Oh, don't be like that," the man taunted, his touch landing on the now-bandaged wound on James's arm. James flinched when the man applied pressure, choking back the cry of pain that tried to work its way out of his throat.

Reed reached around him, finding the cuffs while being unnecessarily close.

And it was in that moment that James saw a window of opportunity.

The moment James felt the cuffs unhinge from his wrists, he threw his head forward and up, knocking his skull against Reed's. He caught the man's chin, and Reed stumbled back, but only for a moment. James only managed to rip his hands free, but just as he tried to get up and run, Reed kicked his injured leg.

Pain shot up his leg like a giant needle, piercing through his spine and his head. With a mangled cry, he crumbled on the wooden floor, every raw injury pulsing on impact, and black spots danced across his vision.

"Quite the stubborn one, aren't we?" Reed sing-songed overhead.

James desperately tried to get his bearings and push himself to his feet. But one move of his injured leg made his whole body convulse inward, and he grit his teeth down, growling.

"And I was going to transport you so nicely, too," Reed said. "'Ol Ollie's been having a fit ever since I had my fun, so I've been told to be 'careful.' But it's very, very hard to be careful when you're making that difficult, don't you think?"

James could hardly process the movement that occured as Reed slipped his arms under James's, and he put the cuffs back on, now removed from the pole he was bound to. Reed pulled James upright with a shove, but James couldn't hold up his own weight. His injured leg buckled underneath it, and Reed had to hold James up all on his own.

"I do find it interesting," Reed said. "How high your pain tolerance seems to be."

James's bare feet dragged on the floor, scraping against the chipping wood panels.

"I guess I wouldn't expect any less of a war hero," Reed said.

But Reed fell silent the moment he stepped outside.

"Get him on the back of the horse," Butch ordered.

James looked up to see the blurred silhouette of the massive bounty hunter standing beside his equally massive horse. But just as his vision seemed to focus again, he was lifted up, and his center of balance flipped again.

With no care for how James's body fell over the back of the horse, Reed practically threw him, and James was grabbed by Butch's meaty hands, which were quick to tie up his feet and secure him to the saddle like a pack, instead of a human.

The rope dug into James's skin, but the rub barely registered as blood rushed to James's head, hanging upside-down.

Nausea began to wash over him like a wave as the world around him once again grew faint.

Voices beside him began to overlap, but it was all too far away to hear.

By the time he was grabbed once more, he felt himself fading again.

The moon hung in the sky in a crescent, lighting up the forest in dim light as darkness shrouded the bounty hunters' camp under the shadow of the trees. Tori had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the noise to die down when she could be assured that the men were asleep.

Tori was grateful that she had picked up solid tracking skills over the years. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to head into town and relocate these bounty hunters afterward.

She left her new horse friend a distance away, near enough that she could easily escape, but beyond where the dogs would be alerted to its presence.

Creeping closer with silent footfalls, Tori was finally able to get a clearer look at what she was working with.

Among the shadows of the forest, she was able to make out one alarmingly clear.

Tiberius, half-alight from a burning covered lantern by his feet, hung aloft from a tree. The rope strung up to hold him was brought between his cuffed hands, keeping his arms overhead as the rest of his body hung limp, his whole upper body exposed and covered in bloodied bandages across his chest, abdomen, and arms. His knees hovered just above the ground, and his head was slumped forward, eyes closed.

Behind his strung-up figure, Tori could see the shadows of the two larger men prone on the ground, presumably asleep. The three dogs had curled up beside the giant, looking comfortable, but Tori didn't trust them to be asleep.

Beside Tiberius stood the willowy figure of the doctor, "Ollie." His dark coat made his pale skin look sickly in the lamplight, but he seemed steady and focused as he knelt down, rolling up one of Tiberius's pant legs to reveal a dark bandage, deep red from leakage.

With practiced hands, the doctor pulled a medkit to his side and began to unwrap the wound while Tiberius was wholly unresponsive. Tori waited patiently, allowing him to take his time, redressing the wound and wrapping it up tightly before he daintily began to roll the pant leg back down.

Tori took a deep breath, filling her lungs. She had to make this fast. There was no time like the present, and the present was calling to her.

Like a viper, she was on top of her prey within a matter of seconds, her arm curling up and around the poor man's neck. She pulled as tight as she could, cutting off circulation to whatever she could. Go to sleep.

The man's rasp for air hardly made a sound as he struggled for but a moment, and quickly went limp in her arms.

She held him tight for a few moments longer, making absolutely sure he was out. He didn't seem the type to wake up easily from an attack like this, but she never took her chances with assumptions. Better safe than sorry, or dead.

He was out. She didn't want to kill him, so she released him and let his body slump down to the dirt below.

Immediately she checked on the men and dogs, checking that they hadn't heard her. To her great relief, no one had moved.

Turning to face Tiberius's setup, she analyzed the situation in detail. Her eyes moving from where he was attached to the tree above, down to his feet. There didn't seem to be anything too crazy intricate about this, but she wanted to make doubly sure that there weren't any bells or related trinkets attached to him that would cause hell to break loose.

There were none to be found, so with her trusty knife, she made quick work of the ropes that he was bound with at his feet. Done. She tossed the rope aside, making a passing glance toward the man she had suffocated. He seemed ok and hadn't moved.

The next bit of rope was wound through the cuffs, keeping him held upright. She grabbed his wrists, along with the cuffs and bit of chain they were linked with, so as to not rattle them about. Upon the rope being cut, she was nearly thrown off balance as his entire body fell upon her. Somehow she thought that he wouldn't be this heavy. She guessed wrong. Assuming things like that was going to turn her into dog food if she wasn't careful.

Speaking of, she checked to her side again. The dogs had shifted about, but only a little. That was, until one of their heads popped up.

Tori had nearly returned her gaze to the living bruise when she caught sight of the dog's movement, forcing her to look back again. Damn it.

The dog locked eyes with her, and it started to growl.

With Tiberius in one arm, her free hand sank deep into her bag, grabbing for the remains of her lunch from earlier. She was not about to sacrifice the meat she had bought in the city for this, so that was left with her escape ride, but she came prepared nonetheless.

"You see this?" she whispered, holding out a poorly cleaned bone in front of her. With bated breath, she rolled it about in her grip, showing all of it and its boney glory to the animal.

The dog's growling subsided as it stared at the bone, sitting up, alert.

She tossed it, praying she didn't overshoot and hit the sleeping giant. That was the last thing she wanted to wake up right now. A bone would not be saving her from that.

The dog jumped up and caught it mid-air, the bone clapping against its teeth before it brought it to the ground, chewing at it fiercely.

Thank God.

Her heart was racing. The gag and cuffs were waiting for later, she now decided. With a huff, she lifted the deadweight man and draped him over her shoulders as best she could. Tori prayed he didn't cry out. He looked, and felt, extremely broken.

The moment she shifted his body, he let out a muffled grunt, sounding strangled and pained.

She winced at the noise. She needed to be more careful about how she handled him, it seemed. She started off on her escape route towards the horse, as swiftly and quietly as she could. The dog was still at it with the bone. Tori shuddered momentarily. That could've been her.

The border of this little camp came quickly to her, her every footstep placed as it should be to not disturb the land.

Tori finally snapped out of her focused march with how badly this guy was trembling. His breathing was rough and shallow, but with the shape he was in, that was to be expected.

Usually she wasn't intimidated by situations like this, but something about these bounty hunters made Tori uneasy. She had only seen the big one in action a few days ago, but neither of the other two had done much at the time for her to get any valuable information on them beyond the one being a medic.

The two finally neared the horse. Tori clicked her tongue to call for it, praying it wouldn't be startled by the swaying mass approaching. She doubted any response from the food-motivated creature, but it didn't hurt to try.

The horse looked her direction, and though it didn't respond at first, when it saw Tiberius, it seemed to understand. With haste, it came up to them, quiet and obedient.

She sighed in relief. The posters didn't say anything about how heavy Tiberius was. Her legs had just started to shake beneath her when the horse slipped beside them.

"Sorry in advance, bud."

Tiberius was slewn atop the horse with one good heave. When his ribs met the saddle, he let out a quiet "oof," followed by a wheezed gasp.

She winced to herself. She'd already forgotten her earlier promise to be gentler, but she wasn't going to get him up there any other way. Once she climbed on after him, she pulled him upright, facing her. Immediately she knew this was not going to work.

After a brief pause, his arms were lifted over her head, then fell around her waist. His cuffed wrists caught behind her, and when she lifted her arms up and over his so she could take the reins freely, his dead weight leaned against her chest.

Tori ushered the horse to go, and it didn't hesitate to move forward, already picking up the pace before she told it to. It followed her lead as she weaved it through the forest in the dark, hurrying away from the camp behind them.

Once they began to near the cottage she had discovered earlier this afternoon, she slowed the horse to a stop. This time she remembered to take great care as she slipped herself out of the man's arms. It was time for these cuffs and the gag to go before anyone stupid enough to be out this late saw them.

His arms now in front of her, Tori moved them to the side and left him leaning into her in order to keep him from falling off the horse. As she waited to make sure he was stable in this position, she listened to his breathing. Based off of his occasional wheeze and shortness of breath, and all of the bandage work that the doctor had done to him, she could only assume the bounty hunters had made fine work of his ribs.

Hopefully he wouldn't die on her. That would arguably be worse than being found with him alive. That would put the "new worst person ever" title on her. What with all the crazy theories and rumors that floated around about him though, he seemed to be relatively sturdy, as if he'd unfortunately been through this before.

She huffed to herself, shoving the thoughts away. They were wasting time. For all she knew, that doctor she knocked out very well could have alerted the rest of the group by now.

Tori lifted her usual pick from its home in her bag and started in on one of the locks, breaking through the first one with relative ease. The cuff slid open and she began on the second. Cuffs on their own weren't that bad in terms of picking, at least in her experience. The second cuff fell open.

Tori smiled to herself as she returned her pick to its other friends in her bag, along with her new cuffs. It had been a while since she'd pulled off a stunt like this so well.

Her fingers found where the knotted material of the gag began, and after a bit of a struggle trying to get her nails to catch in the knot, the gag fell loose.

Tiberius was now entirely free of his bindings, and likely could breathe better with this disgusting gag removed. She nearly tossed it into the trees, but thought it best to hold onto anything that smelled this bad until it could be properly disposed of. Those dogs she duped were the leading concern for being followed right now. It was not going into her bag though, so she drew it through a belt loop at her side.

Now that she had taken care of this, she took hold of the reins again from his sides. With Nye's most wanted slumped in her hold, they made haste into the night, due west.

And so they ran.

Periodically she would check their orientation whenever there was a good enough break in the clouds, picking out her favorite patterns in the stars as she always would. It had proven a regrettably useful habit in recent days. Their cover under the trees eventually broke, and they were met with a familiar expanse of plains. Their diligent steed could run safely here, free of the obstacles that forested land seemed to make their alliances with.

As they continued to ride into the west, Tori watched the forest that surrounded Ruddlan dwindle from across her shoulder. She half expected to see the bounty hunters behind them with the luck she'd been having, but they were nowhere to be seen.

The moon sank into the clouds along with her guiding stars. Now that she had gotten her bearings though, she knew they'd be fine. There was desert to the south that she intended to avoid traveling through, but she knew that it had a relatively straight border they could follow once they came across it.

She looked forward again. As the horse's hooves became a rhythmic beat, Tori was lulled deep into her thoughts.

Something wasn't right.

Something happened, but he didn't remember what. His hands were at his sides, and the cuffs and ropes were removed from him. He was lying down on his back, and he could feel the fabric of his blanket sticking to him, clinging to his skin, and the bandages on his back. The air was warm. Humid. It flowed freely around him, and he realized he could finally breathe without his mouth being forced agape.

His jaw felt sore, but the gag had been removed.

He took in a deeper breath, feeling his breath hitch in his cracked ribs as his body twinged in pain. A whimper escaped him before he could manage to stifle it, and he felt every muscle in his body tense in dreaded anticipation, knowing that the noise might've alerted Butch or Reed to his conscious state.

If they'd decided not to tie him up anymore, what were they planning to do?

It wasn't like he could run. His leg was in agonizing pain. Putting any weight on it was near impossible, and he knew he would never get far. Maybe that was why they took off the cuffs - just to add insult to injury - as if he wasn't already aware of just how pitifully helpless he felt, or how desperate he was to get free.

He had to steel himself. Whatever they were going to do next, he had to endure it.

He couldn't let them break him. He couldn't let them win.

Weakly, he set his jaw shut as he dared to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see.

At first, all he saw was the darkness of the night sky. The stars were partially obscured by clouds, but the waning moon broke through with its sliver of light. When he turned his head to the side, he was expecting to see the silhouette of Butch or Reed, but instead, there was someone else he didn't recognize. And beyond them, the shadow of a horse.

His horse.

Confusion and worry began to spiral in his mind like a storm, and though he'd thought himself no more adrenaline left to draw from, his heart began to race anyway. Panic took over, and though he didn't know who this was, or where he was... this was his only window of escape.

He had to get out of here. He had to get away. If this was just another bounty hunter -- he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't.

James didn't know what he was up against, or how this person had found Elliot, or how and why they'd managed to get him away from the other bounty hunters. But the recurring pattern ever since he left the kingdom had remained the same: the moment anyone knew who he was, they were hostile, or quick to turn him in. His instincts told him he shouldn't treat this any different. Not if he wanted to survive.

Whatever he did, he had to do it fast. At the moment, his new captor had their back turned to him, and he had the advantage. They didn't seem to know he was up yet.

He just had to keep quiet. He could manage that.

Taking in a careful breath, he slowly pushed himself up, feeling his aching arms tremble under his weight from the pain of the exertion. All of the wounds he'd incurred had hardly begun to heal, and they still felt fresh against his skin.

It looked like Elliot was facing the figure sitting a few feet from him. If James were to get on Elliot, it would be an obvious escape - but if he made it, he would be able to ride away quickly, leaving the person behind, hopefully without confrontation.

With one last moment to steel his resolve, he forced himself to his feet, gritting his teeth and ignoring the shooting pain up his leg. Practically hopping, he skipped his way as quickly as he could up to Elliot, falling into Elliot's side as he gripped the saddle.

He couldn't bite back the grunt as he pulled himself up, but when he tried to swing his injured leg around, something in his chest snapped.

His arms and leg gave out, and even though he scrambled to hold himself aloft, he fell back onto the ground with a loud thump, and his whole chest was burning as he let out a pained cry, clenching his jaw and groaning through grit teeth.

His vision started to blur with spots of white.

He didn't want it to end like this. Gods, did if have to end like this?

It pained him to breathe. Every inhale was ragged, and he couldn't manage to get back up as he laid on the ground on his back.

He felt a shadow fall over him, and then a slobbery, wet tongue ran across his eye.

Squinting up, James found himself staring up at Elliot's snout, his damp nose right in James's face.

Elliot was standing over him, already begging for attention. Or hovering over him with concern. Though it was probably the former.

James didn't know where the person was, or what they were doing, or how they'd reacted. But he could hardly move, and he knew Elliot wasn't going to back away until he at least got some recognition.

With a weak sigh, he raised an arm and brushed under Elliot's chin, muttering words that sounded incomprehensible even to himself.

Elliot touched his nose to James's forehead before he finally pulled away with a quiet, pleased whinny.

James was miserable. But at least someone was happy.

He let his hand drop down to his side, and he turned his head. Now that he was closer, he had a clearer view of the person who'd caught him: it was a woman, standing over him, only a few feet away. Her long, dark hair shadowed her angular features, and her dark clothes blended in with the night. At her side, a knife glinted in her hands.

He couldn't make out her expression, nor could he meet her eyes, but he knew in his current state, were he to fight her, he would only end up in greater physical agony.

"You should've just stayed down." She finally spoke.

James didn't move.

"Who are you?" he asked.

He was met with silence.

"What do you want with me?" he asked instead.

The woman shifted a bit, uneasy.

"I haven't decided yet. If you keep doing what you're doing though..."

"If I try to run?" James asked, his voice thin.

"You wouldn't make it that far, Tiberius." She said, her voice low.

It was a threat, but it also didn't answer his question.

She said she hadn't decided. But if she wasn't going to let him go, there was only one good reason.

"You want the money, don't you?" he asked with heavy breaths.

She sighed, the knife disappearing into its sheath. She began to say something, but stopped herself. Unable to say anything at all, she simply sat back down, pretending to ignore him.

"You haven't decided," James said slowly, letting a painful, wry laugh shake his broken ribs. "And yet you risked taking me from those men? You know they're going to--" he wheezed, his breath catching again.

"They'll be back," he said, unashamed to let the desperation leak through. "You'd be better off leaving me here--"

His breath caught again, and he coughed.

"--to die," he finished. "They'd probably have just as much fun with you... as they did with me."

Though he was aiming for pity, he really was hoping more than anything to scare her with the truth. None of what he was saying was deceitful; he knew Butch would come back with a vengeance, and if she was on the receiving end of his and Reed's wrath, it would be a bloodbath.

Before he could continue again with the scare tactics, the woman's head flicked to the side, an eye piercing through her hair to meet his. She stared at him for a good few seconds before looking forward again, out at the sky.

"I wanted to help." She said after a moment. "I don't know why. I saw them catch you and I...," she trailed off, obviously deep in thought. "I could've just sat there and watched, but I didn't."

James wasn't sure what he expected in reply, but it wasn't empathy.

Even though this woman had been on guard, despite her threats, she had yet to act on them. And unlike bounty hunters he'd encountered in the past, she was not quick to shut him up, to quick to escalate to violence. Though it was possible to write that off as her natural temperament, he found himself - however naively - inclined to believe her.

If she'd really wanted to turn him in, they wouldn't have gone west. They'd be in the city already, or moving down through the desert.

Did that mean, from the start, that she meant to get him away?

But they were strangers. He didn't know who she was, and he didn't know how far her momentary compassion would carry him.

"...Why?" he asked quietly. "Why help me?"

Why take that risk?

Silence drew between them once again. The woman clearly had some conflicting feelings on this whole ordeal, this fact becoming more and more obvious as time passed.

"I saw myself in you that day." she said, barely audible.

James let silence fall between them again for a moment as he watched her, still unable to make out her face with clarity as her hair fell over the side of her face, obscuring it from view.

"And now?" he asked softly.

She scoffed, shaking her head as if she was wholly disappointed in his response.

"If what you're saying is true," James said. "Then I'm in your debt. But I have nothing to offer in return."

The woman looked over at the horse, Elliot.

"You can start with this mighty beast's name," she said, a glance passing his way. "For now."

James stared at her.

"Elliot," he answered.

She looked back at the horse, the faintest glimmer of a smile growing.

"Elliot, huh." She flopped backward into the grass with a huff. "Finally I can yell something when he won't f'n stop running."

James turned to glance up at Elliot, who, upon hearing his name from James, had drifted close again, bumping his nose against James's shoulder. James stiffly lifted his arm again, reaching over to gently pet the side of Elliot's face. Elliot leaned into James's touch, clearly having missed him.

"Can I know your name?" James asked quietly.

She looked over at him, an eyebrow cocked.

"Is this another one of your little fear tactics?"

James turned his head to face her.

"I just need something to call you," he said. "It doesn't have to be your real name."

She huffed and looked back up at the stars peeking in and out of the clouds above them.

"It's Tori." She said, stiffly.

From the way she said it, it sounded like it was her real name. Not an alias.

He took in a deep breath.

"Thank you for saving me," James said quietly. "Tori."

Tori went quiet again, which was becoming a recurring pattern in their conversation.

"Yeah." She responded softly. "About that last question, by the way... I do still see myself in you."

James hesitated.

It was unclear whether Tori had been motivated by a personal moral conviction or some kind of internal sense of guilt revolving around her own circumstances. If she saw herself in him like she said, then he truly felt sorry for her - because anyone who saw themselves in his current state having gone through even a fraction of what he had endured had to have gone through hell. The fact that her past had been painful enough to drive her to help him of all people was still something he couldn't wrap his head around, but for once, there was a small sense of relief that began to seep in.

He was far from safe, and Butch and Reed were likely on their trail. They couldn't have been far behind.

But at the very least, it felt like he could trust that Tori wasn't a threat.

It felt like a trepidatious alliance, and he still didn't know what she planned to do going forward, but his odds of surviving were much higher with her than they were with the men who'd held him captive for five days.

He could at least give her a chance.

"I'm sorry that you do," James said quietly.

"I know, I know." Tori groaned. "No one should be relating to someone like you, I know."

James wasn't sure how to respond to that. There were many layers of nuance to his situation, and he didn't know to which - if not all - of it that Tori was referring.

"I... don't know about should," he said slowly. "But, if you do, I don't think it's something that can be helped."

Unsurprisingly, Tori fell back into silence, and he found himself becoming aware of the wet sensation on his back between his shoulders.

The burn was bubbling again, and he could feel it oozing. It might've burst upon impact when he fell. Clearing his throat, he gingerly shifted his shoulders to prepare to sit himself up.

"If I move," he said. "Would you object?"

"I don't care."

"I just wanted to be clear that I'm not going to flee," he added. "I only need... to take care of something."

It was needlessly vague, but he didn't want to explain.

"Is it your back again?"

James had only just propped himself up with his arms, sitting up. He froze, hesitating as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

"...Again?" he asked, his voice withering to a whisper.

"As if I couldn't hear you whimpering the whole ride out here. Of course I can tell when it flares up."

James sat stiffly, feeling his chest grow tight, like a knot. His heart began to beat faster again, more insistent as panic started to creep in again like claws digging into his lungs. He swallowed thickly, trying to push it down.

Tori wasn't Oliver. She wasn't Reed. He... he still hardly knew a thing about her, but she--she wasn't-- she hadn't done anything. Right? Not while he was out?

He felt a wave of worry pull at every nerve ending, like a ship, capsizing under a wave.

How long had he been out? How long had she... had she...?

Tori looked over, wondering why he wasn't responding.

His breaths grew shallow, and he couldn't move. His arms trembled under his weight, but he couldn't seem to unlock his elbows out of place.

"Did you...?" he managed to rasp out, but the question was cut short as he took in a breath that sent a shudder through his whole body. His head sunk between his shoulders, feeling the heat of Reed's breath against his neck like a sickening omen. He snapped his eyes shut, trying to gain his composure. Trying to convince himself that he was-- he was--

He couldn't breathe.

Tori noticed him shutting down, going unresponsive. This had to be from whatever the bounty hunters did to him.

"You alright?" She called out, getting no reply.

A sudden wave of panic coursed through her. Maybe God had decided his time was now. She scrambled over to him, making sure nothing had broken on him beyond her meager repair. There was no fresh blood anywhere, aside from the newly aggravated wounds he had reopened.

Tiberius was slouching forward, and it looked like he was barely holding himself up. His breaths sounded rapid, but pained, and his eyes were unfocused, staring out ahead of him.

"I'm fine," he finally said, barely audible.

"You really aren't." She muttered, checking over his back now, glancing for anything new. The burn between his shoulders was oozing especially bad.

Tiberius clenched his jaw, but Tori could visibly see his lower lip trembling as he snapped his eyes shut, turning his face away from her.

"Yes, it's my back," he said, his voice tight from what sounded like holding back tears.

She needed to address that burn. It seemed to be the main issue from what she could see at the moment.

"Hold on." She got up and went for the one saddlebag on Elliot she knew the man's medkit was stuffed away in, returning to his side moments later with a nearly identical bandage to the one that needed to be replaced.

"Can I change it, or do you want to do it somehow?" She said, squatted down by his side, but not close. He seemed to be uncomfortable about that.

Tiberius didn't respond right away, but eventually she could make out: "I can't."

He sounded on the verge of tears.

"Ok. Well..." She trailed off, shuffling to his back side.

He probably wouldn't be too happy about this, but it had to be done. She knew how it felt.

She lifted the bandage slowly but carefully off the wound, unveiling an extremely unhappy burn, shaped like the letter B set inside a circle. As she peeled the bandage away, strings of wet, white ooze clung to the gauze, ripping away from the burn, stuck to the bandage.

The burn looked irritated, and some of the blisters she had seen before had popped, weeping into the gauze and crusting on his skin with a yellow hue. Beneath the broken blisters, she could see the deep red layers of skin peeking out underneath, like they were still burning.

"Did those bastards do this?" she hissed, nearly recoiling from the state of it.

Tiberius flinched at the question, still keeping his face out of view.

Tori willed herself into a happier place as she tossed the old bandage to their side and placed the new one upon what she now realized was a brand. Her blood was boiling.

Once she was sure that the new bandage had been placed properly, she sat at his side.

"I wish I could've helped you sooner."

Tiberius still looked away.

"It wasn't you," he said quietly.

She looked at him, puzzled.

"It wasn't your fault," he said.

That was wrong. She went quiet again. Everything within her began to brim with anger. She regained her composure moments later, forcing the emotions back down. It wasn't going to help anything right now. Like it hadn't helped her before.

She stuck her hand into her bag for her canteen and held it out to him where she knew he could see it. Tiberius needed to work on his emotional issues just like her, it seemed. That was best saved for later.

For a moment, Tiberius didn't look at her. She could see him swaying, like he was barely staying upright, and his eyes were half open.

She sighed, scooching over so she could be near enough to catch him if he fell.

"You need to drink. Its been days."

"That so?" Tiberius asked faintly, turning to look at her. He looked like he was attempting to lean forward and hold himself upright, and she could see the muscles in his face tense as he lifted one arm to take the canteen from her, each movement stiff and shaky.

Eventually, after what felt like ages, he brought it to his lips for a drink, but just as he he did so, his arm that was propping him up seemed to give out under his weight.

Suddenly dipping down, he struggled to keep the canteen steady, warranting a stabilizing hand from Tori. He tensed under her touch, but didn't recoil. It didn't seem like he had the strength to.

She really didn't like babysitting, but she had to suck it up and help him.

"I'll hold it for you. Just nudge when you don't want no more or something." She mumbled, snatching her prized canteen from him to hold up to his mouth.

Tiberius didn't look pleased about it either, but he didn't protest.

She carefully dribbled some out for him. She felt like she was some kind of oasis that he'd stumbled upon. Maybe she was, actually.

He drank steadily, taking down more than she thought he would before he finally reached up and tapped the canteen.

She took her canteen back, recapping it.

"We need to get going soon. We've been here for a few hours before you woke up. I only stopped 'cause Elliot over here wanted to sit down. I didn't have the heart to push him any more."

"He's not used to carrying the weight of two people for so long," Tiberius said quietly, visibly trying to relieve her of holding his weight, despite still looking like he could fall over at any moment.

"Yeah... You should probably lay down to be honest."

"But you..." Tiberius said faintly. "You need to sleep."

The man was right, she did need to sleep. Badly. She wasn't sure if she had more than an hour in the last day. She watched him, quietly.

"I can stay up," he said. "If I can get propped up, I can wake you if anyone's coming."

"I take it you trust me now?" Tori eyed him.

"You haven't hurt me yet," Tiberius said quietly. "And you've had every opportunity to."

He looked down, a shadow falling over his face as he looked to the ground.

"The least I can do is keep watch," he said.

She could tell at least he was truly grateful for being saved now. It wasn't like he could do anything in the condition he was anyway. Hopefully she had made a solid enough introduction that he knew she wasn't going to throw him to the bounty hunters again at the slightest hint of inconvenience.

"Do not let me sleep till morning, and you have my trust," she said.

"Understood," he said quietly.

She stood, peering down at Tiberius with a stretch. He looked nothing like the posters right now. This was deeply unsettling, but she didn't want to think too hard on that right now. Those posters were just rumor spreaders anyway. The girls she encountered in the cities would not like this rendition of Tiberius Hemming.

"You think you can walk, or should I drag you over to your big baby over here?" she asked, nodding in Elliot's direction.

"I would walk on my own," he said faintly. "But I fear I wouldn't make it very far."

All Tiberius could hear was a long winded exhale as she stepped behind him.

"I'm helping you up," she announced, not waiting for a reply. Tori lifted him from under the arms and up to his feet. It sounded like he stifled a grunt, but otherwise attempted to hold his own weight under his uninjured leg. She shifted him about so he could lean on her, and then led him over to Elliot.

"Oh, Elliot..." Tori called.

Elliot lifted his head to look at her and Tiberius, ears turning towards her.

"Be a good pillow for your dad so I can sleep, ok?"

Elliot trotted over, but stopped in front of them, like he was waiting for something. James extended his hand, making a motion that looked practiced.

Without hesitation, Elliot bobbed his head and carefully lowered himself down so his four legs were tucked up beneath him, his back legs more tucked to the side.

"Oh my God, he is like a dog," Tori gaped, her theories had come true.

"He's always been a little odd," James said with a quiet fondness. "But he's an excellent companion."

Tori let him down gently beside the horse, still awestruck. Tiberius leaned against Elliot's side, bringing an arm around the horse's back.

More and more, the rumors and reward on Tiberius' head perplexed her. Maybe she'd saved the wrong guy, but he never objected to being called Tiberius, so that couldn't have been it. People hated his guts, generally. They probably wouldn't take to well to being called by his name.

Once again, she shoved these thoughts aside. She kept catching herself off track, losing herself in thought like this.

"You should get some rest," Tiberius said to her. "I can wake you in a few hours. I'll be sure to do it before daylight."

She squinted down at him, praying he wasn't just saying it for show.

"Alright... You better stick to that."

"Just don't sleep too far off," Tiberius said. "I'd rather not have to move more than necessary."

She gave him a little eyebrow raise as she lifted a leg and dramatically spun in place, waltzing over to the blanket he had left abandoned in his earlier rush of stupidity. She promptly snatched it up, letting it drift in the wind for a moment before thoroughly snapping the dirt off it a few times and heading back his way.

A wad of blanket flew toward him, colliding with what she hoped was his face. The attack wasn't intended to hurt, she just felt randomly provoked. It had been too long since she could bother someone.

The blanket caught on his face with a thwap, and after a split second's delay, dropped into his lap.

Tiberius stared at her, his face tensed ever so slightly.

"...Thanks," he said flatly.

Smiling without her teeth as best she could, Tori returned to her prized property, the patch of dirt she was sitting in earlier. No rocks or anything nearby, it was going to be a good sleep tonight.

She sat, then laid down with a huff and immediately turned her back to them. It didn't take long before her hard bed became uncomfortable and she swapped to her back, staring up into the sky as she was doing with Elliot earlier. Then she peeked a glance to her side, taking care to not move a muscle in the process.

Why couldn't she have arms like that? It wasn't fair. She looked up again, almost instantly passing out.

Fortunately, being close to Elliot meant that James had access to his saddle, and everything in the saddlebags. He was quick to quietly search them once Tori seemed fast asleep, and he was relieved to find almost all of his things untouched.

The only thing missing was his gun, but all things considered, that was the least of his worries. He was sure that Tori still had her reservations about him, and he couldn't blame her for being reasonably cautious, but she had left every other weapon behind - his dagger included.

But what he was really looking for was his medkit, and fortunately, it was on top of all of his things since Tori had recently taken it out to care for the burn. Hastily, he opened up the small bag, fingering through the supplies until he found the two small syringes buried under everything.

When he'd escaped from the kingdom, he'd been able to make a few plans ahead of time. It hadn't all been spur of the moment, despite how it seemed, and he'd managed to get a hold of two syringes of pure adrenaline - normally limited and preserved in the army hospital - but he was able to sneak out two. Hopefully, it would be enough to save them when Butch and Reed caught up. He was expecting them to; it was just a matter of time.

Pocketing them away in his pants, he closed the kit back up and put it away, only taking his utility knife to keep on his person in the even he needed the tool.

If only the bounty hunters hadn't discarded his shoes.

He dug through his bag, annoyed that his socks were put to waste and that he'd have to be more careful of wear he walked lest he gain another injury and be rendered completely useless, not even able to limp with assistance. It was humiliating already, as it was, and he hated feeling useless, nevermind having to be fed water like a helpless lamb, as if he were hardly human.

Perhaps there was something to be learned about humility in all of this, but he couldn't help but feel the degradation of every interaction. Butch and Reed had been horrifically cruel, and even Tori seemed to treat him like an inconvenience, despite having been the one who went out of her way to rescue him.

It felt like she didn't even know what she was getting into, nevermind what she wanted.

Even though he preferred that over two sadistic bounty hunters, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. She'd been kind enough, and clearly gutsy enough to pull him out of Butch's capture, but there was a part of him that still doubted her resolve.

She said she saw herself in him, but failed to give any details.

That would be fair, because such things were personal, but he couldn't help but worry that it was all some kind of ploy to disarm him so that he'd be more agreeable. It wasn't like he could fight back much anyway, but if she did intend to turn him in, it would make her life infinitely easier to have cooperative cargo.

There was the seemingly genuine affinity she had for his horse to her credit, but affection for a well-trained beast of burden could not by any means be the sole indicator of her overall character, nor the only proof of her intents. If anything, it only meant she was likely to steal Elliot if the time came for it and it was more self-serving to leave James behind.

It wouldn't surprise him, but maybe he'd already become too cynical.

With a small sigh, he pulled out one of his few remaining shirts, holding it in his hands and running it through his fingers.

How much blood did he want to get on this one? Was it worth it, in this weather? With how the humidity made every piece of fabric cling to him, along with the excessive bandaging on his torso and arms, he didn't think it would serve much of a purpose besides aesthetic purposes, and they were far from civilization at the moment.

Was it worth it to look presentable? He didn't even know how long Tori had toted him across the plains, half-naked and bloody. Nor did he want to consider how she even acheived that in his unconscious state.

Regardless of whether he was clothed, he was going to have to redress his wounds daily, and it was going to be a recurring pain he'd have to endure.

One layer of clothing wasn't going to make much a difference, and at the very least, it would make him feel more... human. More safe.

He didn't know why. It just did.

Gritting his teeth, he painstakingly lifted his arms and slid the sleeveless shirt over his head, pulling it down over his stomach as he brought them back down and leaned back against Elliot, already aching all over again.

He couldn't wait for the day every injury stopped having a heartbeat of its own. But he knew that day was not soon coming.

Wearily, he turned his gaze off into the distance, over the shadows of the rolling fields, waiting to see a foreboding silhouette fortelling of their inevitable confrontation. But as the hours passed, and James fought to stay alert, nothing changed but the slight hue of the sky, and the pitch of the chirping crickets in the night.

He'd pulled his stopwatch from his bag, checking it frequently as the minutes passed by until it was an hour before sunrise.

Shifting, he turned to look at Tori, who was still peacefully fast asleep on the ground, turned away from him.

"Tori," James called out at a moderate volume. When she didn't respond, he tried again, a little louder: "Tori."

Still, she didn't move.

He was going to have to get up, wasn't he? He sighed, hoping that she wasn't violent upon being woken up abruptly.

With a pained grunt, he pushed himself to his feet and hobbled slowly over to her. The few feet of travel felt like a mile on his busted leg, and when he finally got within her reach, he had to let himself fall next to her, catching himself with his arms.

She was still fast asleep, curled up on her side, with her mouth gaping open and some drool dribbling down her chin.

Hesitantly, he reached out and gingerly touched her shoulder.

"Tori," he said again, trying to be as gentle as he could to not scare her. "We should get moving."

She awoke with a jolt, nearly slamming into him as she sat up.

"Gods," he muttered, barely swaying away to avoid collision. "Sorry to startle you."

"You scared the shit out of me,..." she groaned, face in her hands.

"Apologies," he said. "I was at a loss for how to wake you. I'll try not to scare you next time."

She nodded, pulling her hands back through her hair. She still sounded exhausted, but significantly less so with the brief nap she'd gotten.

"The sun should be up in an hour or so," James informed her. "It would be wise of us to move again soon. If you need to eat, I believe I have some rations among my things, if you need them."

"I'm not hungry," she sighed, her stomach immediately grumbled, giving her away.

"Please allow me to return your generosity with some of my own," James said more gently. "If we are in this together, what I have is yours. Just take it."

"I will. I just need to wake up first," she muttered, looking away with embarrassment.

Apparently he had been too forward, but at least she didn't object.

"Alright," he said, leaning away. Looking back down at his legs, he quietly contemplated the thought of getting to his feet again.

It occured to him that, even if he recovered from this, he would likely have a limp for the rest of his life. Somehow, he had never considered that as a possibility until the present moment, when he pulled his leg up by his knee to test it.

It had hardly been a week, and already his body had grown so stiff. At the rate he was healing, it could be months before he returned to his former agility and strength - if he ever did.

And that was if he even lasted long enough to recover.

Steeling himself once more, he began to force himself to his feet again.

Tori watched him and what he was up to, wary. James whistled, and Elliot slowly got up on his feet, and then walked over to him, coming up to James's side.

James reached up and grabbed the horn of the saddle for balance to hold himself upright.

"Is dried fruit to your liking?" he asked, masking the pain.

Hardly making a sound, Tori had stood up while he balanced himself. She waited there, quiet for a moment.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I 'ppreciate it."

With a small nod, James reached into his bag with one hand and, after digging around for a second, pulled out a small pouch, which he offered to her.

"Pears," he said.

She took it from him, holding the pouch in her sight, briefly inspecting it. Then she broke in and ate. She definitely needed it.

"Thank you," she mumbled through the fruit.

"You're welcome," James said with a slight smile.

Tori nearly went silent on him again, but this time she noticed when he smiled.

"This is all so wrong," she said bluntly. "Nothing about this makes sense at all. The posters are wrong, the things people say are wrong."

James blinked, his smile slowly fading.

"Well..." he said faintly. "Not many people have gone to the source."

He tried to offer another smile again, but it was weaker this time.

She turned and faced him squarely, her fierce gaze meeting his. Her eyes seemed to get lost, as if she was searching for something in his face that simply didn't exist. Her brow softened a bit shortly before she broke her stare with him, returning to glossing over the horse's saddle.

"I just don't understand you," she huffed.

"What were you expecting?" James asked.

She balled the empty pouch up in her hands, wringing away at it, thinking.

"Like the men I saved you from," her voice quiet.

Anything that remained of James's smile faded, and his brows pinched together with a deep sadness. Had she compared him to anyone else, it might not have stung so deeply. But he knew first hand what those men were like, and he hoped to gods he was nothing like them.

"Why bother rescuing me if you believed I would be just like them?" he asked, voice hardly above a whisper as his eyes dropped to the ground.

Finally, she snapped.

"I don't know, ok? I was having a shit week and I couldn't see someone be taken advantage of like that," Tori's voice was the loudest it had been since they got stuck together. She sounded angry, yet deeply hurt at the same time.

"I almost died that way when I was younger, but someone dropped in and stopped it. I kept asking why and none of it made sense," her hands fell to her sides, the one still strangling the poor fruit pouch. She faced him again, her features obstructed by the shadows of the night.

She went silent on him, but this time it was different. This was a purposeful silence.

She was... angry with him, and he didn't even know what he'd done to warrant it. He had a feeling that, perhaps, it had nothing to do with him at all.

Had she been hoping that, perhaps, in helping him, she would make sense of some of her own story? Had she hoped to be the person who'd helped her on behalf of someone else, or was she just as lost as he was?

James swallowed thickly, unsure if Tori was hostile, or merely upset at him, or their circumstances.

"You know," he said in a quiet calm, not wanting to raise his voice to match hers. "I really am grateful for everything you've done for me, and I know you've put yourself in great danger by helping me. I hope you know that I expect nothing more from you, and though I know you have yet to decide your next course of action, if you chose to leave me behind, I would not despise you for it. I don't know what I've done to upset you, but if you find yourself regretting this decision, please know that you can go. You don't have to worry about me. Your life would best be lived out elsewhere without the burden of carrying me along with you. And I think we both know there's no way it would last, unless your intent truly is to turn me in eventually. I don't know what you would intend to do with me otherwise."

Behind Tori's head, James could see the sky just begin to change color. It was faint, shifting to a lighter hue of dark blue, but it meant the sun was soon to come.

Tori had remained silent, listening to every word he said, each one cutting into her heart deeper and deeper as he spoke.

She barely moved, tense.

In the faint hints of morning light, he could catch a reflection of tears welling up in her eyes.

Gods, he didn't know what was going through her head, but if he couldn't get a read on her at all, he didn't know how this was going to work.

"We need to move," she hissed through gritted teeth, fighting herself, and the growing tears.

Clearly, she intende to drop this conversation.

Fine by him. He wanted to get as far away from the bounty hunters as possible.

"Right," he said simply. "I'll follow your lead."

Without looking at him, Tori reached up to the saddle and lifted herself up, swinging her leg over to slide her boots into the stirrups. Wordlessly, Tori extended her hand to him, and he lifted his, taking hold of her arm while she grabbed his.

With a heave, she helped lift him as he used his other arm to pull himself up, grabbing the horn of the saddle for balance.

He sat in front of her, facing away as he brought his leg over the other side.

He felt unbalanced without his feet in the stirrups, but with his bare feet, he felt exposed regardless, and he found himself holding onto the saddle so as not to fall. With one hand holding on, he used the other to take the reins, glancing over his shoulder at Tori.

He didn't ask, but he also didn't assume that she was going to be directing Elliot.

Quietly, he waited to see if she would reach for the reins.

She did, missing all of the wounds at his sides, snaking her hands under his arms to snatch the reins away from him.

"Do I get to know where we're going?" he asked, looking out at the tip of the rising sun just beginning to break over the horizon.

"I planned on west. Dunno where."

It was vague. James had a feeling she didn't have a plan.

"Tori," James said slowly. "We simply cannot run together forever, you know."

Elliot moved forward, and James swayed, grimacing as he braced himself for the slight lurch and balanced himself again as Elliot began walking.

"I'm not leaving you this soon," her voice cracked from behind him. She cleared her throat. "I'm just tired," she continued, her voice cleared.

"Okay," James said, more gently, trying to be appeasing. "That's fine. We can... figure out what's next later. Let's just go for now."

Unresponsive, Tori merely leaned into his back as Elliot carried on, and James tried his best to stay steady in the saddle.

And in silence, they rode west.

Blissful shaded woods enveloped them, providing relief from the awful midday sun. It wasn't much relief, but it was more than enough to satisfy her, and likely Tiberius too. The glimmer of a lake in the distance shone out, the sight of which gave Tori immediate relief. She was so thirsty.

Eventually, slowly but surely, they finally came to rest at the edge of their temporary oasis, Lake Harmony.

They had made decent progress. Not as fast as Tori would've hoped, but it was progress nonetheless. She couldn't expect Elliot to go much faster with both her and Tiberius weighing him down the way they were. He had been such a good horse through all of this.

She slid off the saddle, leaving Tiberius patiently waiting, not making a sound. Maybe the real crime he had committed was being too much of a gentleman. She really could not wrap her head around this man.

Tori quietly extended a hand, offering her support for him to climb down.

Tiberius hesitated, slowly swinging his leg over the side of the saddle first while he weakly held himself steady. Letting go of the saddle with one hand, he finally took hers, and he hopped down.

Unfortunately, it seemed his leg was still pretty useless, and he ended up falling into her. She quickly caught him, her grip firm and steady. She expected this to happen.

"You tryin' to crush me or something?" she snorted.

Weakly, Tiberius held her waist for a moment before attempting to push away. She let him go.

"Sorry," he said, clearly strained as his whole body shook, and he sloppily let himself fall to the ground.

Since blowing up at him this morning, Tori had been wracked with guilt. She had caused an unfortunately quiet start to the day for them. The faces he had made at her responses stuck with her, making the guilt she felt even heavier.

Tiberius sat up slightly, propping himself up on his arms. Despite the effort, he looked like he was barely managing to function as it was.

His breaths still came out in quiet wheezes, and now that they'd gotten off the horse, she could see that the burn on his back had oozed through to his shirt, wet and sticky. It looked like one of the wounds on his arm was bleeding again, too.

Tori momentarily set her thoughts aside. As much as she wanted water right now, it looked like Tiberius's wounds needed to come first. Dutifully, she collected his medkit. Once returned to his side, she sat.

"I'm sorry," she stated bluntly, not really expecting much of a response. She didn't expect him to forgive her, honestly. Ever since she saved him, all she'd done was criticize him for showing her kindness.

Tiberius had been hunched over, his face to the ground. He continued to wheeze and didn't look up at her.

Tori bit her lip, looking down into the dirt below them. Setting the thoughts aside wasn't working, and she couldn't focus on the wound care she swore to do.

"I have been so unforgiving," she finally continued. She was so lost and confused, and she kept taking it out on Tiberius. "Something in me just wanted you to be like what everyone says. Some vile criminal that not even God will save." Her voice began to quake a bit, but she forced it into submission. "I was wrong about you, Tiberius. You really are nothing like the posters."

She turned, forcing herself to look at him. Gisa would've slapped her for talking into the dirt.

"I truly wanted to give you a chance, but I realize now that I haven't given you a single one," she said, struggling to keep herself from shrinking away. "Again, I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be treated this way."

Tori held her breath, waiting for his response, straining against her welling eyes. She wanted to at least admit her mistake to him, even if he didn't forgive her for her actions.

Slowly, Tiberius lowered his forehead to the ground.

"Okay," he said weakly.

She blinked, a bit confused at first. Okay? What was she supposed to do with that kind of response? Her mouth began to open.

"Don't... it's fine," he said, his arms beginning to tremble under his own weight. "Thank you. I for... forgive..."

His body went limp and he let out a sickening groan as he hit the ground.

Tori swore to herself as she opened the medkit sitting so patiently in her lap. This is why she told herself to take care of him first. How was she supposed to expect him to listen to a word she said when he was dying from blood loss and dehydration?

She pulled herself over to him, fresh bandages now in hand, as well as a new dressing for that awful burn of his. It was probably best to get that one taken care of first, lest she become ill.

While she lifted up the back of his shirt, she thought on the response he had managed to give before collapsing. Again he had shown her grace, even though she was entirely undeserving of it. He had yet to do anything that was truly criminal behavior, excluding his appearances. His handsome features were an issue to address another time though, perhaps never.

Tiberius sucked in a sharp inhale when she peeled the bandage away, and when she looked underneath, she could see it more clearly in the light. The burn followed the shape of what looked like a brand as she suspected, but fortunately, it didn't look infected - only irritated. Obviously, neither she or Tiberious could've touched it, but it seemed that all of the jostling had burst a few of the blisters, not that there were many more left to burst.

Tori winced at the sight of it, but she knew better than to mess with it if the medic had already bandaged it. He hopefully knew more about what he was doing than she did, so she decided to gingerly pull the yellowed bandage away and simply change it out for a new one.

Digging into the medkit, she found another patch large enough to put over it - thankfully in a material that wouldn't stick - and she carefully stuck it over the burn, securing it loosely.

Rolling his shirt back down, she turned her attention to his arm, where the bandage looked to be a fresh, deep red.

Gently, she took him by the shoulders and turned him over on his back so she could more easily lift his arm to look at it. He moaned as she rolled him over, but once he was face-up, she could tell he wasn't fully there. Though his eyes were half-open, they were unfocused, and his mouth hung open ever so slightly, like he was struggling to breathe.

Lifting his injured arm, she slowly started unrolling the bandage, feeling it peel away stiffly from his skin. When she finally unwound it, the wound revealed underneath was unsettling to see.

Thick stitches bound his flesh together, but it was clear that a square of his skin had been neatly cut and peeled away before being reattatched again. The stitching was clean, and taut, but crusting blood still leaked out of the fresh wound between each stitch, and the reattached skin looked like it had a bubble underneath.

Steeling herself, she took her canteen and carefully cleaned around the wound, clearing away the excess blood and leakage with a rag. After gingerly dabbing it dry, she took the fresh roll of bandaging and propped his arm up over her knee while she rewrapped it, making it taut, hopefully to keep it from bleeding again.

After cutting off the bandage, she looked him over again, seeing no other wounds that looked in need of immediate care - but knowing how healing went, he'd probably have to clean and change more of them soon.

But that could wait. At present, both of them desperately needed water.

Tori glanced about, looking for Elliot. He had swiftly abandoned them, making a new friend of the lake a short distance away. He had stepped into the shallow water up to his chest, dunking his head in the water. Tori sighed, watching him for a moment. The horse's actions were understandable. She too wanted to go for a swim.

She got to her knees, then refastened the medkit shut. Returning her attention to Tiberius, she thought to herself for a moment.

Once decided, she slid an arm under his back, taking care to miss the known sensitive areas of his back. She sat him up as straight as he would go. After a brief pause, preparing herself for his full weight, she scooped him up and stood.

Wavering just a little at first, she marched toward Elliot. Tori wasn't sure if Tiberius's weight felt any lighter since she'd saved him, or if she was simply hallucinating. No matter. Hopefully once she went into the nearby town and got them all some food, things would be a bit better off.

Arriving at their destination, she knelt down to the ground, her legs nearly giving out from under her. She sat him down, allowing him to move as he pleased once more.

Tiberius hissed as he sat, bending his legs like it visibly hurt him to do so. For a moment, she still held him up, but upon seeing the water, he leaned forward, reaching for it.

Without hesitation, he dunked his face in, immediately taking a drink.

Tori watched him intently, praying he didn't drown himself. She desperately wanted to drink as well, but she could stand to make sure he didn't fall in. She didn't want him destroying all of her careful doctoring. As he drank, she sat there patiently, alone to her thoughts.

Finally, Tiberius shakily lifted his head, letting out a deep breath of what sounded like relief.

"Bounty hunters," he said faintly. "Don't believe in water."

Tori felt a smile grow in her cheeks, but it was soon lost. Her mind had returned to a darker place once again, and she grew silent.

"Gods," he sighed. "It's so cool..."

He turned his head to the side, dipping the wounded side of his face in the water. For a moment, he just stayed there, holding his face half in the water, closing his eyes.

"Are you not thirsty?" Tiberius asked, peeking open his eye that was above water to look at her.

Tori was brought back to reality unwillingly. Her focused frown softened a bit as she realized he had spoken to her. She hesitated to speak, not knowing what to say.

Slowly, Tiberius lifted his head out of the water, sending it dripping down the side of his face and from his hair.

His expression softened as he looked at her, and there was a concern deep in his eyes.

"...Is something wrong?" he asked softly.

She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't muster the strength to say anything, so she simply shut it again. Tori was trying desperately to hold her now welling tears back, but failing miserably. She was so dehydrated but her eyes kept saying otherwise.

Tiberius's eyes flicked to her hands, still hovering near him, and then returned to meet her eyes.

Moving slowly, he managed to sit up all on his own, turning to face her. Her hands went to her lap, folding together tightly.

With his brows pinching together, he looked at her with compassion a hardened criminal wasn't supposed to have.

"Tori," Tiberius said, this time gentle and soft. "I'm not angry with you. It's okay. I forgive you. This is difficult for both of us."

She looked down, faintly trembling, everything in her straining not to break. Her voice broke as she attempted to speak through her teeth. Unfortunately, the moment she tried, the tears began to flow.

"Damn it," she choked, turning away, pretending he couldn't see completely through her right now.

Tiberius didn't say anything right away.

"Would you... like to be alone?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, still looking away. That was the last thing she wanted to be right now. Alone. Her hands had gone from her lap to her arms, squeezing her upper arms tightly. In the process, she had sunk deeper into her soiled shirt.

Attempting to regain her composure enough to talk without crying her eyes out was so difficult. There was so much more that she just didn't know how to explain to him.

She exhaled, slow and steady.

"You're too damn nice to me," she growled finally, vigorously wiping her tears away with a palm. "You're a real shitty traitor you know," she snuffed, shaking her head slowly. The grip on her upper arms began to ease.

Tiberius was quiet again for a second.

"True," he said quietly. "I wouldn't have gotten caught if I was a good one."

"Oh, shut up," she groaned and sighed all at once. It was hard to be upset with him making witty remarks like that. She turned his direction, just enough to see what sort of expression he had. It had better not be a sad one.

Briefly, he met her eyes.

His brows were arched upward, and his eyes widened ever so slightly. When she looked at him, his mouth turned from a slight pout to a weak grin.

She rolled her eyes and looked out at the lake before them, quiet. Memories of the weeks before began to dig their way into the peace she felt, uprooting it at every little seam.

Another lull of silence passed before Tiberius spoke up again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Tori didn't respond at first, undecided on what to say. With how much he'd seen of her just today, she felt he at least deserved some kind of explanation. Maybe it would assure him that she wasn't going to abandon him at a moments notice.

Where to even start, though? She folded her hands in her lap again, rummaging through her memory.

Intentionally skipping past her most recent experiences, she finally settled on what she determined was the most sensical start to her story. Beginning elsewhere wouldn't make much sense to anyone but herself. The story would be incomplete.

"I had a group of girls I was with," she finally began. "They picked me up when I was about fifteen years old. There were twelve of us at the time. We ran all over the place helping people. Sometimes it was as simple as bein' an extra hand on a ranch, but other times we fought for people," she said gently, looking toward him, but not meeting his gaze just yet. The tension in her forehead had lifted, along with her brows, allowing her to think clearly again.

She continued to hold her hands in her lap, mindlessly running the fingers of one hand over her visible tattoos on the other in her usual attempt to relax. Nothing else worked as well, save for her favorite liqour, but she ran dry of that relief a long time ago.

She hesitated to continue. She could falsify parts of the story, just in case he tried using any of this against her. However, she felt that he deserved the full truth, no matter how truly criminal it may be.

"We mainly fought for mages after the war began," she said, locking eyes with him for a moment. She waited, searching for any sort of disgusted reaction he may make to that information. Instead, his eyebrows lifted, and his eyes searched her with what almost seemed like curiosity. Her anxieties eased at the sight of this. He seemed to handle this alright, so she looked out at the lake once more to continue with her story.

"We ran into trouble because of it, obviously. Then again, we weredisobeying the kingdom," a hint of a smile formed across her cracked lips. She resisted the smile for fear of busting her lip open again. She'd done that at least three times today.

"Our leader, Gisa—I always called her 'Boss'—She often did the confronting for us when we got caught by your everyday folks. It usually worked well enough that we could relocate afterward, before anyone from the kingdom could put a quick end to us," a dim look fell across her face. "I always tried waiting around. I wanted to give the damn soldiers a piece of my mind, but she'd haul me out of there before I ever got a chance to."

"She'd help anyone," she looked over at him, meeting his curious gaze again. This time she didn't falter. "They could've been a soldier, a murderer, the man in the poster. Everything about them could have been against her and she'd still help them. I couldn't understand at the time." With a sigh, she looked down toward her hands, thinking on these feelings again. "I still don't think I do."

"Gisa took care of all of us," she continued. "She spent just as much time saving the broken and the damned as she did mothering us, it seemed," Tori huffed through her nose. "Her approach with me was being blunt. I usually didn't take well to it, especially since she was soft with the others. She was patient with me through all my shit, often restraining the fiery tongue that I knew rivaled mine."

Tori then grew eerily silent, kneading hands grown still. She thought long and hard about what came next. As she did, her jaw began to tighten, every muscle in her neck visibly stiffening.

"What happened to her?" Tiberius asked quietly.

"About two weeks ago, I fought with her again," she said. "She had caught me hanging out in the weeks prior with a man from a group not unlike our own. She warned me against it." Guilt had seeped into her voice that she couldn't push back. "There were no objections to him personally, but rather the unsavory pack of men that he was with. She couldn't get it through my thick skull that I was jeopardizing our group. I couldn't face the facts, so I stormed off."

"We had plans organized to coordinate with a small group of mages that evening, and I was supposed to be there. I had sworn that I would be. I was just going to blow off steam and come back," Tori quieted, her voice growing thin. "But I ran into the man I mentioned before, waiting where he usually was, not too far from our camp. Before I realized it, I had wasted the remainder of the day with him. He had led me away from camp as we talked, too far for me to make it back before dusk when we were supposed to head out. I have a feeling that it was intentional, now that I think about it."

"I abandoned him there, claiming I forgot some stupid ass chore back at camp, and I ran. No one was there when I got back, so I headed for the rendezvous point, praying I'd catch up with the group before they arrived."

She had begun to rock in her place, blankly staring out beyond the lake, keeping herself as calm as possible.

"There was,..." she practically gagged on her own words, trying to speak. "... so much blood."

"Everyone but her had been taken. The bastards, whoever they were, had left her there to bleed out, slashed everywhere I couldn't fix." Tori took a deep, wavering breath in. "It had to have been obvious she was our leader. I didn't know why they left her. Her bounty would have been the highest of all of us, the mages included."

"Once I had her in my arms,..." Her stone face finally shattered, tears falling freely. "She shouldn't have been able to speak. But she did it anyway. She told me I'd be ok, and that I had to leave. Before I could even reply, she was gone."

"Some of the men found me, and I had to leave her there. I couldn't save her, I knew that much, but I--" she finally sobbed, pulling her knees up to her chest to quietly cry into them, wrapping her arms around her head. She couldn't speak anymore, and she'd made it so far without breaking too.

Tiberius hadn't made a sound for some time, but after what felt like a minute, he spoke up. When he did, Tori turned her head ever so slightly to listen.

"Thank you for telling me," he said quietly. "What those men did to Gisa and your friends was deplorable, and you have my deepest sympathies."

There was a small pause.

"I know words will not right this wrong, nor could anything be said to alleviate your grief," Tiberius continued softly. "But if you are in need of a hug... here's my offer."

While she couldn't admit it in words, she did need a hug. She knew Tiberius was quite broken at the moment, and he seemed adverse to being touched, which made her hesitant. However, she soon scooted over to bump up next to him. She continued to sit with her knees in her arms, but gentler than before.

"I'd probably snap you in half on accident," she mumbled, trying to work herself back into talking by cracking a joke. She rubbed her eyes into her knees, slowly drying her tears. Hopefully he understood the silent approval she had given him.

"I'm not that fragile," Tiberius said quietly. And then she felt his arms come around her shoulders, pulling her close. "It's alright."

The embrace was gentle but steady.

With her head tucked beside his, he spoke again.

"I'm honored that I get to be a part of your story in carrying on Gisa's legacy, Tori," he said gently. "Thank you for considering my life worth saving, just as she did yours. I'm sure if she were here, she'd be proud of you."

He'd been subjected to so many of her faults already, and yet he still treated her with respect. It was clear that his heart was unwavering and steadfast in its beliefs. He really was just like Gisa.

The tension in her shoulders began to melt away, and she realized she had bashfully leaned into his hug. Oh well, it wasn't like she hadn't been vulnerable just moments before.

Finally mustering the courage she needed, she looped an arm around his back, returning the hug. She didn't want to hurt him on accident, so she simply nudged him a bit with her body while she held him.

"She would be proud of you too," she finally responded. "I really needed this. Thank you."

After a moment longer, she pulled away.

Tiberius seemed to wither a little once her support was gone, and he slouched, humming faintly.

"You're welcome," he said, but she could tell he was exhausted and that, in sitting up, he was probably in a lot of pain.

"You should... get some water," he said after a pause, looking out at the water. "Crying dehydrates you."

"Not for me, apparently," she sighed miserably.

Tori leaned forward and narrowly caught herself from toppling into the water.

As she drank, she couldn't tell if she was making some kind of blissful groan, or trying to say something through the water. "Finally," she managed to get out.

Beside her, she heard Tiberius slowly shuffling, and eventually looked up to see he'd reoriented himself. His feet were in the water, and with the rest of him sticking out, Tiberius had laid down on the sandy lake beach.

He stared up at the sky, letting out a deep sigh.

She noticed he was keeping the bandaged part of his leg out of the water.

"How long will we rest here?" Tiberius asked quietly.

"That's what I was going to ask you, actually."

Tiberius turned his head to look at her.

"Elliot will need an hour or so," Tiberius said.

Tori nodded in approval in his peripheral, and had began to guzzle more water.

"Okay," she sighed, partially in relief. The rest out of anxiety.

"Thank you for finding him, by the way," Tiberius said. "I was worried when I'd lost him that he might end up in the wrong hands."

"Yeah?" she looked over, watching him.

He'd returned his gaze skyward, and though he was clearly awake, the way his lids hung heavy made it seem like he could fall asleep at any moment.

"Yeah," he said, softer. "I'm glad you were there to take care of him."

Tori laid back, coming to rest next to him. After drying her face with a sleeve, her hands folded atop her chest. She watched the sky with him for a moment.

"You act like he was some kind of lost child," she chuckled. "But yeah."

"Maybe we are all lost children," Tiberius said. "In our own way."

Tori held back a sigh. He kept getting poetic on her.

"I think..." nearly drifting away in thought again, she caught herself this time. "I think I've gotten us into a lot of trouble." Her voice was back to its usual thickness.

"More than I?" Tiberius asked.

"I mean, I couldn't really rush in and save you guns-a-blazing. Those bounty hunters, they seemed to know what they were doing."

"That's because they're professionals," Tiberius said. "Career bounty hunters, as opposed to opportunists or personal vendettas."

Tori couldn't stop a short laugh that escaped her.

"I assume you took advantage of Oliver, the medic, on his watch" Tiberius continued. "He was the one most likely to fold under pressure."

"He did literally fold on me," Tori said, matter of fact.

"That doesn't surprise me," Tiberius said.

"There's a someone after me, too," her voice grew low.

"Ah," Tiberius answered.

"I fell into the worst state of mind I think I've ever been in. I found the man who did that to Gisa..." she paused, then moved on. "Needless to say, I'm wanted for more than just saving mages now."

"I see," was all Tiberius said at first.

"May I ask who's after you?" Tiberius asked. "So that I might identify them if they were to appear?"

"Some creep named Alabaster," she said bluntly, a bit slow to continue.

"What's he look like?" Tiberius asked.

She took a moment to respond, recalling all the best descriptions of him that she could think of.

"Older guy," Tori began. "He's a bit taller than you. Got a busted up old hat with a cut in it and wears a long black coat with a shotgun on his back. He has blue eyes, like yours. Wavy black hair that's begun to grey in spots. The most notable thing about him is a knife scar that runs up the left side of his face." Tori sat up and looked over at him, running her pinky nail up her own face, describing the length of the scar.

"Noted," Tiberius said, watching her.

"He's the reason why I found you in the woods. I was hiding out, trying to throw him off my trail. I wasn't waiting around to save some prince charming I'll have you know," Tori frowned down at him, as menacingly as she could.

He stared up at her, his eyes still hanging lazily half-open, but he offered her a weak, closed-mouth smile. It faded rather quickly though into his former look of exhaustion.

Of course he wasn't going to comment. Maybe she'll try that again when he was more awake.

Her thoughts returned to matters at hand.

"Back to you. Is there anything about these professionals after you that I should be aware of? Besides the fact that the one has some kind of birth defect, being that size," Tori asked.

Tiberius averted his eyes to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm not sure what would be most useful to know," he said, sounding hesitant. Tori listened intently. "The large man is named Butch, and he seems to be the ringleader. The hunting dogs are his. The medic, Oliver, seems to be a more unwilling participant in their arrangement, but he... he serves his purpose."

Tori was expecting him to say more, since she knew there were three men. But after a few seconds of silence, it seemed like Tiberius wasn't going to continue.

"What about the other man? With the dark hair," she prodded.

Tiberius swallowed, still looking away.

"His name's Reed," Tiberius said, but it felt more distant. "He..."

Tiberius's adam's apple visibly bobbed again.

"If they catch up to us," he said instead of continuing his thought. "They'll prioritize keeping me alive. But unfortunately they will likely target you first to get you out of the way."

"I figured as much," she sighed. "I knew I was getting myself into deep shit helping you."

Tiberius let out a weak puff of air through his nose, warranting a raised brow in his direction. She couldn't tell if this was a sort of disproving scoff, or if he'd laughed at her comment.

"Hopefully we can wade through it together," he said. "However unsavory the experience."

"There's no hoping, only doing. I've been through a lot," Tori responded. "All of it forcing me to realize that."

"You're a woman of action," Tiberius said. "I can respect that."

"Thank you."

It wasn't often she received a compliment like that.

"After all," Tiberius said. "If our words are not backed by our actions, what are we then?"

"Sacks of meat," Tori stated.

"I was going to say liars," Tiberus said, looking back up at the sky. "But that too."

Tori laid back into the sand next to him, pleased with herself. Soon she was sharing the view with him. A moment passed, the two of them simply staring into the clear blue sky.

"I'm glad I saved you, Tiberius," she spoke, breaking the silence. "I think it's important you know that I did recognize you that day, before I finally took action. It wasn't for some nobody criminal."

Tiberius was quiet for a moment. The silence dragged on just long enough that Tori wondered if he'd drifted off.

"I guess I'll have to arrange a better disguise," he said plainly.

Tori sighed gently, a tired smile growing into her cheeks as silence drew between them once more. His breathing started sounding a bit ragged as he began drifting off again. She could tell he hadn't fully fallen asleep yet, but if she stayed quiet long enough, hopefully he would.

She'd meant to ask him why he was on the run, but it was too late for that now. He needed the mental recovery that came with more than a few hours of sleep, and he appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness during their conversation. Maybe he'd be more willing to elaborate once he'd slept. Her questions could wait.

There was still a lot on her mind, but somehow, she felt more at ease with it. Accepting.

Her thoughts began to sour. The lack of detail on the bounty hunters, particularly Reed, left her deeply unsettled. Tori could only assume that something deep inside of Tiberius had been broken beyond repair during his time in the woods. A twinge of anger filled her, thinking on the purposefully cut wounds she cleaned earlier. Though it pained her to do so, she slowly released the sensation to a cooling breeze that washed over them from across the lake.

Tiberius had finally fallen asleep, she realized. This was characterized by the occasional scratchy wheeze in exhales and faint squeak in his inhales. It sounded better than the first night she had him. She peered over, watching his chest rise and fall. Listening.

After a minute or two, Tori got to her feet and snuck away to collect the medkit she'd forgotten after carrying him to the edge of the lake. She returned, quietly sitting with it at her side.

She began analyzing a nearby tree's shadow in relation to the sun above, judging the time of the day. Tiberius had said Elliot needed about an hour. With the sun conveniently overhead, she picked a small landmark on the ground for the shadow to drift toward. That should be an hour, give or take.

Tori sat at the edge of the lake for some time, cooling off with her feet in the water and drinking some more. She eventually got up and refilled their canteens before returning to the beach, noticing Elliot had drawn near again, finally coming out of the water.

He walked behind them, grazing on a patch of grass.

After hanging the canteens up on Elliot's saddle and giving Elliot some much needed attention, Tori returned to Tiberius's side, once again taking a seat by the water. A small breeze ran over the water, creating a cooling breeze and some relief from the humid summer heat.

Tori got lost in thought as the time passed on, occasionally noting the position of the sun in the sky to keep track of time.

About half an hour had passed when Tiberius stirred.

He gasped with a shaky, jagged breath, and his breathing changed quickly, coming out with rapid, shallow crackles. Looking over, she saw that he was trembling. He was dreaming.

Tiberius started to roll over onto his side, but the movement seemed sudden and panicked. He faced towards her, letting out something that sounded like a groan and a cry combined. Pushing himself up with his arms, he started to heave, his breaths growing louder as he wheezed, clearly close to hyperventilating.

He didn't seem aware of her presence at first until his eyes flicked up, and he stared at her, wide-eyed, frozen in his movement apart from his shaking. Her brows furrowed in concern, she didn't move for fear of frightening him more.

It felt like he didn't recognize her at first with the genuine fear she saw in his eyes. But after a few seconds of tense, unbroken eye contact, Tiberius looked down, his shoulders slumping.

His head hung low, and he let out a retching sound. With a cough that crackled out of his chest, he stared at the ground intently.

"You alright?" she asked quietly, remaining still.

He didn't look up.

"Where are we?" he asked, barely audible.

"We're just west of Banden, across the brook on the south side of Lake Harmony," she replied. "You were only asleep for about a half hour. I've been keeping watch."

Tiberius didn't look well. His jaw tensed as he stared at the ground.

"Okay," he said, but it almost sounded like he was holding his breath.

His head dipped lower, and he let out a sickly groan. Clumsily, he turned away from her in haste, collapsing down onto his elbows as he hunched over to the side and began to vomit.

But all that came up was water.

He leaned there, shaking for a moment as he heaved, and nothing else came up for a while. Eventually, he collapsed back onto his back, his head falling to the side, looking away from her.

"Half an hour," he said vaguely, his voice hoarse.

"Barely," Tori reassured him. "You're not back by Ruddlan, its ok."

Tiberius sighed, and though he was hiding his face, he looked pained.

"Okay," he said again, but said nothing more.

Tori continued to sit there, a bit lost on how to help him. She never was much of a hand holder when it came to comfort. Even though she knew he would recoil at touch, she still felt bad not knowing what to do.

"Do you have a last name?" Tiberius asked out of the blue.

"Huh?— Oh. It's Hisaue," she was a bit confused for a second, but rolled with it. He was probably trying to get his mind off the dream.

"Hisaue," he repeated, surprisingly, not mispronouncing it like most people did. "Is Tori short for anything? Or is it just Tori?"

"Toriko is the full form of it," she replied. "I usually just go by Tori so people don't ask weird questions about my family or where I'm from."

Tiberius hummed.

"Fair," he said. "Names aren't always indicative of geographical backgrounds anyway."

"Yeah," she shrugged a bit, still keeping an eye on him.

"Do you... have much experience with horses?" Tiberius asked after a small pause. It felt like was reaching for anything random for conversation.

Tori dramatically hissed as if she were in pain. Why did he have to ask that?

"The only horse that likes me is Elliot," she said, bluntly.

"Huh," he said.

A beat.

"He's usually well behaved, but when I'm not around he can be a little ornery. I'm surprised he took to you quickly," he said.

"Me too, the last horse I found like that out in the woods almost crushed me," Tori pouted. "Must be my looks or somethin' making 'em jealous."

Tiberius huffed through his nose, and when she looked at him there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"Oh, I see," her eyes narrowed. "Fine then. I'll laugh my ass off at you if you ever lose a hand to an angry horse. It'll be loud too."

"You lost a--?" Tiberius looked over at her, eyes flicking to her hands. Both were intact.

Tori stared at him directly, forcing an intense look, but struggling to keep a straight face. "I almost did, but I didn't," she grumbled.

Tiberius blinked, and she noticed his eyes looked red and bleary. Perhaps it was best not to ask about his dream after all.

"Ah," he said. "Sorry. I don't mean to belittle how terrifying it probably was. But if animal handling is something you're not confident in, perhaps I could give you some advice, if you want it. Elliot seems to already be fond of you, so he would be good to practice with."

Tori's frown softened.

"I'm not sure," she started, sounding a bit sad. It was probably best she didn't form any attachments with Tiberius beyond what was necessary. He'd just be weighed down by her in the long run. "I'm hesitant with the state of affairs we're in right now," she said, a bit vague.

Tiberius huffed through his nose again.

"Right," he said. "What am I thinking? The only thing you have time for when running for your life is sleeping and shitting. And even that's being generous."

Tori snorted.

"Sometimes, even," he continued. "You must forsake one for the other. Usually the latter takes preference. Sleep can always be recovered... at some point, I'm sure."

"Such a poetic worldview you have," Tori said with a coy smile.

Tiberius looked over at her and a tired smirk tugged at his lips and he hummed.

"Are you not a fan of poetry?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Don't really have time for it if all you have time for is sleeping and shitting," she closed her eyes and looked off, dramatically and poetically.

"Profound," Tiberius said, clearly playing along.

Tori peeked an eye at him, eyes narrowing.

"You know," Tori said quietly, a moment of purposeful silence following her snide glance. "I'm really beginning to think you were prosecuted for something other than treason. The kingdom just couldn't stand your enlightened state of mind."

"Something like that," Tiberius said, offering a weak smile as he looked up at the sky.

Tori thought for a moment. Maybe this was her chance.

"Can I ask a personal question?" she asked, turning his direction. She watched him intently, trying not to seem like she was going to pry.

Tiberius glanced at her, hesitating.

"I... suppose?" he said.

Tori's brows furrowed.

"What did you even do?" she asked, still watching him.

Tiberius stared at her for a moment, his expression frozen, unmoving. Flicking his eyes away, he drew his brows together.

"Right," he said in almost a whisper. "The question the whole world is asking."

Her expression dulled. Somehow she know he would respond this way.

"I..." Tiberius started again, but hesitated, like he decided to start over before he even began. "You said you helped mages, sometimes. That was the truth?"

Tori's eye twitched. Her chest grew tighter as anxiety began to sink in.

"It's a long story I'd rather not tell," Tiberius continued, even though Tori didn't answer. "But I helped one escape."

She could breathe again. Part of her thought she was about to die soon with how he began. The tightness in her chest slowly began to ease.

"It was one of the only things I accomplished in my service that I don't regret," Tiberius said quietly.

Tori nodded, an unfamiliar softness entering her eyes.

Tiberius grew silent. It seemed that was all he was going to be telling her for now.

Before silence had drawn on for too long, she spoke up.

"While I don't know the full story," she whispered. "I think you and me both know that you made the right choice helping them, even if no one can see that yet."

Tiberius hummed quietly.

"I know," he said. But there was a weight of guilt behind his words she didn't understand.

"I wish I could help somehow," Tori sighed, looking downward. "I'd get my ass kicked though."

"You can't exactly take down a whole world order built on oppression," Tiberius said lowly. "And clearing my name isn't going to happen. But I appreciate the thought."

"I know," she said, growing silent shortly thereafter. She laid back beside him, watching the sky.

"Can I be honest with you, Tiberius?" she asked, her voice grown serious.

"You don't have to ask," Tiberius said.

"When those men show up again, what do you plan to do?"

A heavy silence followed, and Tiberius didn't move at all. The sound of his wheezy exhales filled the space between them.

"I will do whatever I have to do to make sure we both make it out of there," Tiberius said.

As much as Tori had grown to trust his words, she doubted the extent of his help given the physical condition he was in. She went quiet.

"When you found Elliot," Tiberius went on. "How thoroughly did you search my things?"

Tori huffed. Even though she had put everything back where it belonged, all in their little homes, he still knew.

"All I have is the gun," she stated blandly.

"Are you a good shot?" Tiberius asked.

"I am with rifles. Not so much with pistols." She paused, then continued before he was going to beg for it. "I intended on giving it back when we settled down for the night tonight. It's more use with you than me, and I know you well enough now that I can trust you."

Tiberius turned to look over at her.

"I was going to argue it'd be better kept in your posession," he said. "I used to be decent with it. But over the past year, my eyesight's gone to shit. You're more likely to hit something in the dark than I."

Tori hesitated to look at him for a moment, then finally turned her head.

"Okay, but if you ever want it back—"

Tiberius let out a long sigh before she could finish, shifting as he reached for something in his pocket.

"-What?" she asked.

"If I must," he said, holding up a small syringe over his chest. "I'll use this."

Tori's eyes widened momentarily, unable to make out what the contents were.

"Temporarily, at least, it'll make the pain less of a problem," Tiberus went on. "I should be more functional to step in if needed. I'd like to pull my own weight if I can."

He pocketed it away before Tori could get a good look at what was inside.

Tori snuffed her nose, freeing an exhale.

"So you leave me with the gun and you get the fun goodies. I see," she joked, unserious.

"A fair distribution of goods, I'd say," Tiberius said.

"We'll just have to see about that when the time comes, I suppose," Tori sat up, checking the time. The shadow was atop the landmark she had chosen earlier.

"You slept for half an hour, and now we've gone and blown through the other half I told myself you could have before I woke you up," she stated.

Tiberius sighed.

"Alright," he said. He started to move, slowly sitting himself up. "Let's go, then."

They spent the rest of the day riding, and frankly, by the time night came, James was spent. He was able to eat a small portion of the rations he had left in his things, but there wasn't enough to last them long, even with the meager portions he allowed himself.

He was accustomed to having to push through physical discomforts. The rigors of military training had conditioned him to be able to function under the most dire of circumstances, but it had been weeks now since he'd gotten a decent night's sleep, and when he'd been captured, he'd been given water minimally. Food wasn't even in the picture.

Every part of him was being pushed to its limit, and he could feel it taking its toll. His mind was trapped in a permanent fog, and though Tori didn't engage him much in conversation, when she did speak to him it felt like it took too long for words to register.

If he'd only been hungry, tired, and dehydrated, he thought, he'd have been fine. But the fact that his body was in constant, sometimes deeply stabbing pain - it made everything ten times more difficult.

That night, James took the first shift, only because he was in too much pain to fully rest.

Tori fell asleep almost instantly as they camped out under the stars, settled between the twin lakes. They were close to Banden, and Tori was hoping to stop into the small settlement to restock on food.

James only wished he had money to offer. Butch and Reed had taken what little money James had left, leaving him destitue, among other things. If he remembered correctly, Butch had something akin to: "You won't be needing this anymore." Perhaps he was right, but it still would've been nice to have some extra coin at present. Not that anyone ever seemed to care for what James needed since his face was posted everywhere in Nye.

At least, with the exception of Tori, he supposed.

He still didn't quite understand her, but he felt like he was starting to.

He sat with his back leaning against Elliot, who'd curled up beside him again for the night, allowing James to be upright without as much exertion so he could keep watch. Under the clear, starry skies and the light of the crescent moon, James occasionally drifted his gaze back to Tori, who was curled up on the ground atop his blanket, which he'd offered since the ground was a bit muddy, and he was staying up anyway.

On occasion, she'd start snoring faintly in a bit of a stop-start rhythm. Fortunately, it wasn't a loud, alarming snore, but more of a low hum, akin to a putter. It at least confirmed that she was sleeping, which they both sorely needed, so he didn't mind the occasional noise. He didn't think it'd draw anyone to them any more than their mere presence would. If someone was close enough to hear her over the sound of the chirping crickets, they'd be close enough to see them.

Elliot had curled his head around, resting it at James's side, and James kept his arm over Elliot's neck, his fingers occasionally brushing through his mane.

James stared at Tori's shadow for a moment, feeling Elliot's steady breaths beneath him.

From what Tori shared, it sounded like she was at a pivotal - albeit traumatic - turning point in her life. He knew well how moments like left your life in shambles, and discovering who you were and who you wanted be in the aftermath felt like an impossible task, especially with the constant pressure of the law bearing down upon you.

It felt suffocating, like something that could never be fully escaped. He knew he felt it because of the extensive exposure of his name and face around the world, but he knew it was just as stressfull for mages and sympathizers who were targeted by the mage-hunting guilds. Once you were on their hitlist, you could never fully live your life in peace without constantly feeling the need to look over your shoulder. There was always the risk of being found out.

Though James had resigned to his fate of constant running, he couldn't help but wonder if Tori had considered any plans for the future. It seemed that, with it only having been two weeks ago, that she was only at the start of this journey, and she probably had no idea what she was going to do, nevermind what she wanted with the limited options she had open to her in this world.

He wondered how long she'd stay with him, if they even survived long enough for it to come to that.

She'd told him she wasn't going to leave him so soon. Which meant that she intended to part ways eventually - as they both knew without saying so that it was unsustainable - and it was only a matter of time.

He knew the moment he'd left the kingdom that, for the rest of his life, however long it lasted, he'd be subjected to wandering. And to invite anyone into that long-term felt like far too big of a commitment, burden, and sacrifice for him to ask of anyone. How could he expect anyone to throw their life away for him? He'd thrown away his own willingly, counting the cost before he'd done so. But most people didn't want to spend the rest of their days in fear for their lives. No one did.

He had to live with the consequences of his actions. He knew that. He just hoped the danger that followed him didn't kill Tori in the process, for however long she insisted on staying by his side.

He had a feeling that, the moment he was well enough to function on his own, that she would feel well enough in her conscience to say goodbye. But James also knew it might be some time before it came to that, so he decided in his heart to already prepare for a departure when an opportunity presented itself, and he knew that Tori was at least alright.

Halfway through the night, James woke Tori up. Again, she nearly punched him with a start, but once she heard his voice again, she at least became less hostile. Groggily, she got up to take second watch and he laid down, finally closing his eyes.

Despite his undeniable exhaustion, it felt like it took ages for him to fall asleep. And by the time he finally fell asleep, he found himself waking up with a jolt, heart racing.

Another nightmare.

Tense and pained, James woke up on his stomach, eyes shooting open. He stared out into the night, unsure of how much time had passed, but aware that it was still far enough from morning that the moon could still be seen in the sky.

Squinting, James tried to make out Elliot's shadow. It looked like he was standing again, but his head was low as he slept. A small distance from him, he could see Tori's silhouette, sitting in the grass.

It looked like she was...

He squinted harder.

She was combing her hair. But she was... grumbling, very faintly to herself.

Her hair was pretty long, and they had been traveling nonstop, so he could imagine it was possible it'd gotten tangled in all of the running and tossing and turning at night.

Too tired to move, but too awake to sleep, James simply laid there with his face against the blanket, watching as Tori continued to fight with her hair for some time. But it became clear after a few minutes that she didn't seem to be making much progress, and when she finally groaned and flopped her hands down into her lap with a huff, James had a feeling she'd given up.

James didn't want to startle her, but he had a feeling he would no matter what he did.

"Working through a knot?" James asked.

"I thought you said your eyesight had gone to shit," she called back, sounding exasperated.

"I can figure out quite a lot with context clues," he said.

"It is a knot, yes," she sighed, bemoaning her current state of affairs. "Honestly, I just want it all gone, but I'm still attached to it at this length."

James was quiet for a moment, and then began to push himself upright.

"Do you want help?" he asked.

Tori looked over.

"I mean, if you know anything about this, then I suppose."

"I used to do my little sister's hair all the time," he said.

It felt strange to talk about her, knowing he could never see her again. But the pain had been suppressed for so long, he hoped mentioning it offhandedly wouldn't welcome too many prying questions.

"I could braid it, if that helps keep it out of the way," he said. "It might keep it from knotting as much."

She hummed, not saying much at first.

"You know what, go ahead. I was going to say no, but I'm sick of this," she grumbled as she faced her back toward him.

"Could you-- uh, I imagine it'd be easier for you to come over to me than the other way around," James said weakly.

She was only a few feet away, but the thought of getting up and putting weight on his leg was unpleasant.

"I know, I was getting to it," she sighed under her breath.

She scooted back toward him until coming close enough to barely bump into his knee. His hand shot out to stop her, hovering tensely for a moment before she stopped on her own.

"The comb?" he asked.

Tori handed it back over her shoulder, and he took it, turning his attention to her head of hair, which looked a little messy, even in the dark.

He reached forward, gently feeling through her hair, going from the bottom up. When he found a knot, he carefully started working on it with the comb, trying not to tug or pull so that Tori wasn't in pain. She slouched forward, unmoving.

It took some time, working through the knots this way, but he was making progress slowly.

"Do you have a preference for how I braid it?" he asked quietly.

"Anything works as long as its outta my face, probably," she replied.

"Alright," James said. "I can do that."

"Just don't make me look twelve again, and you're good."

James huffed through his nose.

"I'll aim not to," he said. "But you don't look like a twelve year old."

"Believe me, it can happen. It wasn't my doing though," she said. "Having your hair braided be your dad's only stress relief... I was in hell."

"Your dad did your hair?" James asked. "Did he do it... well?"

Tori slouched more.

"I suppose it was... alright. He always wanted it perfect, so he'd keep starting over," she groaned. "I'd be stuck there for hours."

"Ah," James said. "I can see how that would get tiresome."

He found another large knot at the back of her head - that might've been the one causing her the most trouble. He started combing through it carefully.

Tori grew silent as he worked.

Occasionally, her head began to drift forward, her hair tugging on his hands or the comb. She'd shortly lift her head back up once this happened. Apparently, she was drifting off.

James had finished clearing her head of knots in her hair, and after parting it down the middle, had begun to braid one side. Tori's head nodded forward again and bounced back up.

"I'll try not to take much longer," he said. "If you want to sleep again for a while, I'm probably not going to be able to fall back asleep."

"I can try if you're sure about that," she yawned. "I keep waking up, even though I'm wiped out."

"It would be easier for me if you leaned back instead of falling forward," James said. "And easier on your scalp. At least, until you can lie down."

Tori sighed.

He finally got to the base of her neck, his fingers working faster as he finished off the braid.

"You know, I think I have... a tie on me, somewhere," he mumbled, pulling away to dig in his pockets for a moment. There was some string, and though it was only one strand, he'd be able to split it. It'd be enough.

Pulling it out he measured it between his fingers before he found the half-way point, and then he ripped it, using his teeth. Tucking one half into his palm, he used the other half to tie of the braid.

Now onto the other side of her hair. He found the front of her hairline again, feeling for all of the loose strands.

"You know," he said, deciding to fill the silence. "I've always thought about growing my hair out at some point. It used to be longer when I was a boy, and my mother would braid it sometimes."

"I can see you with long hair," Tori mumbled to herself.

"It gets quite heavy, when it's long, though, so I'm not sure I want to deal with that hassle," he said. "Then again, I will need to change my appearance eventually. So maybe it'll be worth it."

He hummed.

"Perhaps I should grow out my beard as well," he thought aloud.

Tori snorted to herself, sounding on the verge of passing out again.

James tugged lightly on her hair, hoping she'd lean back instead of forwards this time.

"Sorry. I don't know where you want me," she said, leaning back carefully.

"I'm almost done," James said, already almost to the base of her neck again. "Just sit up a little longer."

She let out a strained groan. At that, James braided faster, even though his hands felt stiff. He got to the last of her hair and pulled out the string, tying it off again, and then pushed the ends of both braids over her shoulders.

"There," he said. "It's over. You can sleep now."

"I doubt it'll actually happen," she mumbled.

"You dozed off at least five times in the past few minutes," James said. "At least try."

Silence. Perhaps this was the sixth time.

"...Tori?" James asked, watching to see if she swayed.

"Is it ok if I stay over here with you and Elliot?"

James hesitated.

"Sure," he said.

He shifted, pulling the blanket out from under him, and he handed it to her.

Tori took it quietly, still staying seated. She seemed to be in thought, since she wasn't falling over yet.

"Thanks. I just keep waking up thinking they're here or somethin'. Once I'm awake I know its fine but, y'know," she sighed.

Ah. James understood that.

"I'll be keeping watch," James assured her. "And if anything happens I'll wake you immediately."

"I'd sure hope so," she said with a huff, flopping over onto her back. "I'd probably have to carry you out of here."

"Maybe," James said. "Maybe not."

"You said you have a little sister. How much younger?" she asked.

James paused, sitting forward a bit to not bear weight on his arms.

"Four years," he said. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a younger sister too. I'm six years older than her. It sounds like you enjoyed spending time with yours?"

James swallowed, knowing Tori couldn't see the sadness he felt in his eyes.

"I did," he said.

Tori rustled around for a moment, getting comfortable.

"That's good..." she mumbled, obviously about to fall asleep again. For a moment, it sounded like she was going to continue, but the words never happened. She was back to sleeping, just as he'd predicted.

James waited out the rest of the morning in silence, and when the sun just began to rise, he finally woke her.

This time, he expected the abrupt jolt as she threw her limbs out, and he was prepared to back away when she did. After another quiet apology and a few mutters on her behalf, they ate the last of the food they had before tending to Elliot and getting on the move again.

Waiting a few miles outside of Banden was nerve-wracking. Tori had taken Elliot with her into town to help carry supplies, and James couldn't help but play through every possible worst-case scenario in his head. There were multiple ways everything could go wrong. If Tori ran into any trouble in town, there was no way James would know. If James was found and caught while Tori was away, there was no way for him to tell her. Being separated was temporary, but there were so many ways it could become permanent.

The only solace James had was in that, with Tori's life-altering eventing having been so recent, word of her werabouts and posters of her wouldn't have reached their area yet, or as quickly.

To most of the world, Tori was still just another person, and with the exception of the one man she knew was after her, no one had any reason to recognize her.

She should be alright. He hoped she would be.

James waited under the shade of a large tree, not far from the edge of Lake Lily, on the opposite side of the town. He knew Tori would be gone for a few hours, so he decided to do something productive, as it was the only thing that helped get his mind off of his present worries.

Left with not much but himself and a spare shirt and underwear he pulled out of his bag before Tori left, he decided to wash his clothes, since they were filthy.

Butch and Reed had let Oliver be as sanitary as he needed to be in regards to the wounds they left behind, but they'd cared little for the state of James's clothes, which had been bled on and dragged around in the dirt and mud several times, leaving them crusted, stained, and smelly.

James already felt disgusting with how his body felt, so he was eager to wash his clothes as best he could, even if he didn't have much but the water of the lake to wash them out.

It had taken a while to scrub out the dirt and blood from his clothes, but after doing the best he could, he found a low branch to hang everything up, letting it dry.

Unfortunately, he had to wait around in his shirt and underwear while they dried, but he'd tried to clean his pants first so they could dry first - or so was his hope - before Tori returned. He'd rather not be witnessed sitting around in his undergarments, and he wanted to leave as soon as possible once she returned. They were wasting enough time getting supplies that he wanted to use the rest of their daylight to get as much distance as possible to compensate.

Eventually, he got tired of sitting, despite how much his body ached, so he got up and stretched, trying not to let his muscles get too stiff. He didn't want to lengthen his healing process by having to do extensive exercises just to gain his flexibility and strength back.

Finally, he checked the progress of his clothes, and his pants were mostly dry. Considering that good enough, since the dampness would cool him down from the heat anyway, he put them back on and folded up the rest, tucking it under his arm.

Just as he did so, he heard the sound of hoofbeats, not far behind him.

Nearly jumping out of his skin, he whirled around, seeing Elliot's heat poke out from the trees, and Tori atop him.

Gods, that was too damned close.

Trying to compose himself, he shifted his weight to his better leg, watching as Tori rode Elliot up slowly.

"Run into any trouble?" he asked.

Tori looked to be hiding a smile.

"Nah. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary," she said, sliding off of Elliot with another bag besides her own.

James walked up to Elliot slowly, feeling a little more stable on his feet than the day prior. It still hurt like hell, but at least his body wasn't giving out on him. He watched Tori closely, squinting as he drew closer with suspicion, not sure why she was trying to hide a smile.

"Right," he said, meeting Elliot, who came to a stop. "Good."

He pet the side of Elliot's face, still watching Tori with narrowed eyes.

"And you got food?" he asked.

Tori hummed in approval, still suppressing her smile.

James watched her, flicking his eyes over to Elliot, who happily nestled his face into James's shoulder. James continued to pet him, waiting for Tori to say whatever it was she was holding back.

"What?" she asked with a feigned innocence.

"Spit it out," James said.

He didn't know what it was, but he didn't want to dance around it.

She hummed, simply stretching a bit where she stood.

James didn't like what she was implying. A mix of emotions swirled in his gut, but the primary one was shame, and fear. Anger and embarassment tried to overpower them, and he found himself frozen in place, his face growing hot with both at once. His brows pinched together tightly as he glared at her.

"The posters didn't say anything about your ass," she yawned.

Did she think that was funny?

Taking in a sharp breath, James lifted a finger, pointing at her with a restrained anger.

"Were the roles reversed," he said, his voice cutting. "I would never degrade you so."

Tori looked at him in shock, her mouth dropping open.

"I aim to treat you with respect," he continued. "The least I expect in return is some privacy. Even if it were a mistake, that comment--"

He bit his lip, dropping his hand as he looked to the ground and let out a quick sigh.

"Was completely unecessary," he said tersely.

And it made him uncomfortable.

He was tempted to move on quickly from the subject, but he didn't want to run her over. If she had a response, regardless of whether it was what he wanted to hear or not, he wanted to give her a chance to speak for herself. He looked back up to meet her eyes.

The smugness she had prior was gone. The moment he met her eyes she couldn't hold the eye contact, and looked down.

"It was just happenstance," she muttered to herself. After a moment of pause, she looked back up, clearly ashamed.

"I didn't intend to upset you. I wasn't thinking when I said that," he could see her gaze coming and going.

Pursing his lips together, he held his breath for a moment and let out sigh, brows still knit together tightly.

At least she was quick to repent, and she seemed genuine.

"You could benefit to think more next time," he said quietly. "But... consider it forgotten. I forgive you."

She sighed shamefully, staying silent.

James closed his eyes for a moment, letting the momentary anger fade before he looked at Tori again.

"I mean it when I say that," he said. "You're forgiven. Now. Let's see what you got from town. I'm starving."

Tori smiled back at him sheepishly.

"Right."

She pulled the bag in front of her to unveil her finds. The first sack to come out had a variety of biscuits inside that would keep long enough to last a couple days, and she had also grabbed some softer cornbread to eat in the short term.

James found himself staring at the bread in her hands, feeling the desperate pull of his empty stomach.

Tori noticed his stare, and huffed through her nose, handing him the bag of cornbread.

"Take it."

James hesitated, swallowing. He resched into the bag and took one small piece, knowing he needed to take it slow after not having eaten for a week.

He didn't, however, wait to take a bite. Holding it with both hands, he savored the taste.

Gods, he was so hungry. He forced himself to nibble at it slowly, watching Tori again to see what else she'd bought.

She had begun to rifle through the large bag, ultimately drawing out more dried fruit.

"We were running out of this too. Figured it'd be worth it," she said, mindlessly handing the smaller canvas sack his way.

Mouth still full, he freed one hand, he took it, though he wasn't sure why she was handing it to him.

Tori struggled to continue for a moment before finally groaning and sitting down.

"My back hurts," she complained to herself, going back into the bag. "Oh yeah. I also found these." She pulled out a small package of biscuits, but these ones looked softer than the others. "They have a bean paste in 'em. Sounded good." She sat it down in front of her.

The remaining food looked to be more preserved fruits, vegetables for Elliot, and then an alarming amount of dried meat.

She looked up at him, watching him eat.

"I'm assuming it tastes alright," she smiled weakly.

James blinked, realizing she'd sat down, taking everything out to display at his feet, and he'd remained hovering over her with his half-eaten bread.

Pausing in his slow-consumption, he nodded and set down the bag she'd gave him on the ground. With careful movements, he got down on the ground as well, sitting across from her.

"Thank you for getting all of this," he said. "I only wish I'd had something to contribute. I know this is all coming out of your pocket."

She shrugged a bit, waving a hand as if to shoo away his gratitude.

"It's fine," she huffed through her nose. "I've got plenty to last us. Once I find a good tavern I'll make it back and then some."

James tilted his head at that.

She closed her eyes, pretending to wipe sweat from her brow.

"How else is a homeless, pitiful woman such as myself supposed to make enough money to survive?" she bemoaned.

James still wasn't following. His confusion visibly increased as he creased his brows. He felt like she could be referring to a number of things, many of which made him concerned. But they only had a mere two days of rapport with one another, so he decided it better not to press on the issue.

Tori had already gone back to digging in the sack, proceeding to pull out more first aid gear that they'd been going through, a bar of soap, and a variety of other small items.

"That's basically it, but I have one last thing. Close your eyes," she said, looking back up at him. She had a mischievous glint in her eye again.

James squinted slightly, his mouth full of the last bite of bread.

"I promise it's nothing bad," she sighed.

So this was an exercise of trust, then. With a small sigh, James relented, reluctantly closing his eyes.

"Alright," he said. "What now?"

Instead of receiving an answer, he felt something land in his lap. James was tempted to open his eyes, but he waited, admittedly a bit apprehensive. Whatever it was, it was light. Maybe something in a bag.

"You can look."

Looking down into his lap, he found himself looking down at a pair of shoes.

He stared at them, his expression immediately softening into surprise and gratitude. He looked up at her, a small smile spreading across his face as he met her eyes.

"You got me shoes," he said.

"Dunno when your birthday is, but happy birthday," she smiled back, meeting his eyes momentarily but then looking away. "Arguably, I think this was the best purchase I made today."

It was in the fall, but it didn't matter.

James lifted up one of the shoes, examining it before he brought his feet to the side, within reach, happy to slip them on. They were a little snug, but it felt like they were already broken into - probably second hand, since they looked a little worn - but it was far better than nothing.

"I wish I had something to offer in return to express my gratitude," he said. "But hopefully someday I can repay you for your kindness."

Tori sighed to herself, still smiling.

"Don't worry about it," she looked back. "Think of it as my predestined apology."

James huffed through his nose.

"That's some exceptional foresight to prepare for such a thing," he said lightly.

"It's what makes me so much money in poker," she smirked. "I must be lucky like that."

James paused for a moment, slipping on the other shoe.

Ah. That's what she meant. She gambled in taverns. Though it was still a questionable use of resources, it gave him relief to hear it wasn't what he'd initially assumed.

"Ah," he said, tucking his feet back behind him in a more comfortable position. "Poker. I haven't played that in years."

He reached forward towards the bag of bread again, but then thought better of it. He looked back at Elliot, whistling lightly for him to come closer. Elliot turned around from his former grazing and James had him step closer. He quickly grabbed his canteen off the saddle, he turned his attention to the food on the ground.

"May I give him one?" he asked, grabbing for a small piece of one of the dried apples.

"Oh yeah, I got plenty 'cause I knew Elliot liked those," she snorted to herself.

James turned to Elliot, who already had his nose hovering by James's shoulder. James offered him the apple slice, and Elliot gently grabbed it from his hand with his lips.

"We should probably pack up and leave soon," James said, deciding to cut to what was on his mind. "After we eat, I suppose. I want you to get a chance to."

Tori nodded, going for the bean filled biscuits.

"I'll feel better once we're closer to the wilds," she said through the biscuit in her mouth.

James raised a brow. "Is that so?" he said. "The wilds aren't exactly safe either, you know."

She shrugged, and seemed to nod in approval of his statement. Her mouth had more biscuit in it. After she'd gotten her bite down, she leaned forward in thought, analyzing the biscuit's insides.

"I figure along the border of it we'd have more escape options..." she thought aloud. "I'm usually alright with running from people if I have the woods to blend into. I plan to help you out as long as I can, but I can't really ditch you and Elliot in the trees."

It sounded like she had more clarity, now, on what her plans were.

"You know I wouldn't fault you if you did," he said, looking up at her. "I know that as long as you associate with me, you're only putting yourself in more danger than you already are."

Tori grew quiet, on yet another bite of her biscuit again. While she chewed, she would occasionally glance about. Apparently, she needed time to think over her reply.

Fine. He'd wait. He took a biscuit as well and took a bite.

She took her time, finishing her biscuit before saying anything.

"I know," she mused. "If it makes you feel any better, I've always been a bit of a free bird." She paused for a moment, watching their surroundings again. "I usually just live in the present, with how up in the air the future seems to be for people like me."

Looking down at the biscuit in his hands, James let out a small sigh. He understood what she meant. It was hard to live like you had a future beyond a few years ahead, if that, when you knew you were being hunted. It made sense to take joy in the little things, in the day to day. But it was a sad reality, and not one James felt any joy in sharing.

Tori huffed to herself, sounding a bit amused. He looked up at her.

"I dunno why I'm telling you all this. You're clearly in the same boat as I am," she said, meeting his eyes again. For a moment she watched him in silence, reading his expression. A hint of sadness entered her gaze, but she seemed to notice that this had happened. She looked back at the biscuits, taking another one.

"I'm getting all sentimental an' shit. Sorry," she huffed to herself, a bit of a smile on her face. She started eating, keeping her eyes away from him.

"No need to apologize," James said simply. "Sentimentality isn't a crime, and I appreciate the honesty."

Tori simply shook her head with a sigh, finishing off her biscuit.

"Yeah. You done for now, or do you want to eat more before we head out?" she asked, looking back towards him.

James stuffed the rest of the biscuit in his mouth, leaving his cheeks full as he started chewing it to break it down.

He nodded his head and began packing up the food of hers into the bag on the ground.

Tori huffed, a faint smile growing. "Don't choke to death," she remarked.

"Wuh a way to die," he mumbled through his mouthful of food, still packing.

She snorted, looking away as she held back a laugh. She looked back, composed. "You know you aren't helping with the whole 'you should just... leave me and my horse for dead' thing," she moaned, mimicking his voice sadly.

James was still working on the wad of biscuit in his mouth, so he only briefly glanced up at her with a pointed look.

He finished packing the bag, and then he began to push himself to his feet.

It was a process every time.

Tori had gotten up and come to his side.

"Want some help?"

James had gotten to a point where his knees were tucked up into something of a squat.

Pressing his lips together, he tried to push himself up on his own, but he could feel the twinge of his injured leg beneath him.

"Yes," he said through his teeth.

Her hand drifted over within reach, and he reached up, taking her arm.

He pulled himself up as she held him steady, and when he was on his feet, the pain shooting up his leg made his vision go white for a moment.

He stood still, feeling faint, and hating that he did.

Annoyed, he let go of Tori's arm, waiting for his sight to return to normal as it faded back in, like a light had blinded him. When he finally blinked it away, Tori was standing there with the bag slung over her shoulder, watching him closely.

"I'm fine," he felt compelled to say. "It's just... my leg."

"I'd be swearing up a storm right now, probably," Tori said bluntly. "I know."

James clenched his jaw. He would be swearing too. If she wasn't present.

"Yeah," he said, more vacant.

It was difficult to focus at the moment, as his leg had yet to stop hurting at an agonizing level.

Without saying more, Tori left to walk up to Elliot, presumably packing away their things in his saddlebags, though she'd left his peripheral vision. He couldn't quite bring himself to move yet, as simply being upright on two legs was painful enough.

Tori led Elliot around so that the saddle was right in front of him, and she hopped up first from the other side.

She extended him a hand.

Blinking hard to try and get his vision back to full focus again, James clenched his teeth and took it, lifting his leg up into the stirrup to use as a support as he hopped up, sitting in front of Tori again in the saddle.

He glanced over his shoulder, but stopped short or looking at Tori when the pain made his head spin again.

He could feel he was at the beginning of a migraine.

With a small sigh, he let himself lean back into Tori just a little, being honest enough wihim himself to know he didn't feel steady and would need the support. Even if he didn't prefer it.

Tori's arms came around him, taking the reins. And they were off again.

Tori slowed Elliot to a stop near the edge of Lake Lily just as the sun began to dip below the trees. There was a slight relief from the sun, but not much. The air was still so thick.

She was hoping they'd get here a bit sooner, but so be it. They had made it to the southwest side of the lake. However, given that she made a stop into Banden for food and supplies earlier today, they had made good progress.

Tiberius had dozed off again, as he'd been doing all day. Whenever this happened, it only took a matter of minutes before he woke up again. There were a few times he seemed to genuinely fall asleep, but it never lasted. She suspected that he was just as worried as her about their future.

While his weight began to slouch into her hold again, she thought a bit on the day.

Thankfully in Banden she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. There was the usual word on Tiberius and his elusive nature, but that was unsurprising and to be expected. As for Alabaster, there was nothing. With how she'd escaped last, however, she expected to see him eventually. Supposedly he was wanted too, but to what extent she did not know.

Her chest began to ache as she looked up, watching the stars above them.

While she wouldn't dare admit this to Tiberius, part of her had hoped she was caught that night. She was so lost.

Tiberius was wanted alive, but she wasn't. She knew if--when--she got caught, she would likely not survive for long. Tiberius was afflicted with the curse of being kept alive, with what sounded like the worst bounty hunters ever on his tail.

Before she could start to think much more, Tiberius shifted. As expected he was waking again, mere moments after dozing off.

Now that he was awake, she carefully slid off the saddle from behind him and helped him down. Once he'd gotten to the ground, he promptly had put his arms about Elliot's neck, simply hugging the horse. Just a man and his steed.

Tori smiled a bit to herself, watching for a moment. Ok, that was enough tender emotions for the night. Euch.

She expected Elliot was going to bolt for the lake like he did at Lake Harmony, so she got their gear down early. She tossed the canteens and the blanket to the ground, then began to dig for the food, grabbing what she figured was a suitable dinner.

"Ok, I think that's everything we'd need off Elliot for a good while," she thought aloud. "Tiberius, you should probably let him go swim. He looks sad."

Tiberius didn't move for a moment. His face was buried in Elliot's neck, and he very slowly pulled away, his eyes looking vacant as he did so.

Tiberius patted Elliot's side as if to dismiss him, and Elliot hesitated but for a second before trotting off towards the water.

The man, left in his horse's wake, swayed on his feet.

Tori set the food down on the blanket and came over to him. He was definitely in pain right now with how he was standing hunched over, his weight favoring one side.

"I'll help you sit and then I can go refill our canteens," she said gently, waiting to see if he'd protest or take action on his own.

He only moved slightly, bringing a hand to his side. It was like he hadn't even registered what she was saying. He squinted off into the distance, somewhere past her.

After a moment of waiting, she led him to where she had tossed the blanket and canteens. Before sitting him down, shee straightened the blanket a bit, moving the canteens out of the way in the process.

"I'm helping you sit, don't punch me or nothin'," she said, then helped him down to the earth below.

He sat, but she could tell that he wasn't doing well. Almost immediately, he curled forward, holding his head in his hands with a groan.

Tori took her hand and set it on his forehead to check if he had a fever. It wouldn't be surprising if he did with how malnourished they both were right now. Dehydration and being starved did that to a person.

He did feel warm. Great.

She took her hand away, yawning. She just wanted to sleep, but first she needed to fill the canteens and grab a rag out of her bag. Said bag was with Elliot at the lake.

With a stifled sigh, she wandered off to the lake, leaving Tiberius behind.

She returned a few minutes later with full canteens, her bag, and freshly drenched hair. She laid a wet rag on his head, then sat down next to him on the blanket.

He'd laid down in her absence, flat on his back, eyes open in slits as he stared overhead.

"'M... sorry," he muttered, his words delayed since she'd last interacted with him. That didn't sound good.

She looked over at him and watched his face for a moment.

His eyes had closed, but his brows were tensed with pain.

"You... you're okay?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Sigh. Even when he was like this he was still being obnoxious.

"I'm okay, Tiberius," she assured. "You need water," she pressed his canteen into his hand, severely doubting that he had the strength to drink it on his own. It didn't hurt to try.

A groan escaped him, but he rolled onto his side, weakly propping himself up on one arm. The rag on his forehead flopped to the ground with a splat as his head turned upright and he unscrewed the canteen, taking a drink.

He seemed to be pacing himself more this time, which was good. He closed the canteen again and set it to the side.

"I'm... it's just my head," he said quietly. "It's killing me."

"You don't have to explain," she replied, matching his tone. "I'll be quiet while you lay down. I'm not really that tired yet so I'll take first watch too. Just rest."

"You'll wake me up," he said. "Right?"

"I will, I promise," she whispered.

James was quiet for a moment.

"Okay," was the last thing he whispered out before he finally fell asleep.

There Tori sat, leaned against a tree. She’d been checking the time thanks to Tiberius’s pocket watch more frequently since it had passed three hours. He was going to be a better man after this, she hoped.

When she’d searched his things a few days ago, she had glossed over the watch in search of weapons and such that posed an immediate threat. Since then, she noticed Tiberius pulling it out of his saddlebag and using it during his lookouts.

She gave herself permission to borrow it for tonight.

At the time of borrowing it, she had briefly glanced at the designs in the fading twilight. She held the watch in her lap, feeling out the metalwork of the device with her fingertips. She’d kept herself awake for this long thinking on it.

It had the crest of the Moonlight Kingdom etched into the casing. She assumed it was something he had kept as a sentiment of his military days. There was also an engraving inside the cover that said “To my brightest pupil.” She couldn’t really do much with that without speculating, but it told her well enough that the watch was from someone dear to him.

She carefully placed a hand over her non-dominant side, searching for a something tucked away under her shirt and belt. For a moment she couldn't find it, but finally her fingertips came to rest over a knife safely at rest where it should be.

Gisa's hand carved trailing point. It was a knife meant for skinning game or fileting fish, but nothing like knife fights. It had been sorely used. Becoming a secondary knife over the years, it had been cursed to live its days buried in the depths of Gisa's shirt in a safe, out of the way location.

This was all she had of her. That and the memories of course, but having something tangible grounded her. Perhaps Tiberius's pocket watch provoked similar emotions in him as Gisa's knife did for her.

It had been some time based on how far the stars had moved in the sky. She checked the time again. Four hours. She carefully closed the cover, internally sighing. The bet she had with the positive side of her mind had lost, and Tiberius had a new record. She couldn’t guess how long his record setting would last for, apparently.

Shortly after hitting a standstill in her pondering, her head fell forward, jolting herself awake.

She forced herself to sit up straighter, fighting her eyelids. Her body was so heavy all of a sudden. The sleep was trying to get to her again. She needed to find something else to think on, but she couldn't come up with anything.

Her mind and eyes felt so... heavy. There was a comforting warmth about it, like a much needed hug to her eye sockets. She was so, so tired.

Perhaps she could sleep for a short while...

The moment she began to consider the option, her mind slowly grew silent. The weight of the night held her in its comforting embrace. It was massaging her every thought, working away the knots, releasing built up tension.

There she slept.

Until a loud, panicked shout echoed through the night.

Immediately, Tori was on her feet, her knife at the ready. What the hell was that?

She looked for Tiberius. He was on the ground, where she'd left him, but he was on all fours, head hanging low, curled up.

She could hear him muttering faintly. Then she realized it might be crying.

Her heart had nearly stopped for good. There was no one here besides them, but with how loud he yelled... Gods, he had yelled so loud. She groaned to herself.

"You good?" she called out, voice quaking. Hopefully he wasn't having some weird waking nightmare, and could still recognize her voice.

There was a long delay, but eventually, Tori saw his arm rise up just enough for her to see him give a thumbs up.

She sighed in relief and shuffled over.

"You scared the shit out of me just now," she muttered as she sat to his side.

"Sorry about that," she heard him mumble, still curled up with his head to the ground and his arms over his head.

Her heart rate was still sky high, but it was slowing now. Hopefully Tiberius didn't have too many of these habits she'd need to learn about.

"It's ok. I'm happy its just us," she said wearily.

A long time passed before she heard much from him again. And he hadn't moved an inch either.

"My head feels better," he said quietly.

"I'm... glad," she managed to reply.

She was feeling the exhaustion hit her again.

Tiberius finally started to uncurl from his self-made shell, hesitantly sitting up to look over at her briefly, though his eyes quickly fell to the ground.

"It wasn't always like this," he said, shoulders slumped, barely audible.

Tori sheathed her knife as a heavy yawn hit her out of nowhere. She yawned, her eyes being forced closed.

"We..." she yawned again. "...all got problems. Its ok."

Tiberius was quiet for a moment.

"Go to sleep," he said softly. "I'll keep watch the rest of the night."

Tori made a long delighted hum, letting herself lean forward. She promptly laid down on her front side with her head to the side, facing him. One arm was under her head like a pillow. This felt so good.

Her other arm was at her side, holding the pocket watch of his firmly, but gently in her grasp. She should probably give it back to him so he could watch the time.

Eyes closed, she reached in Tiberius's direction with the watch in hand. Unfortunately, she had begun to pass out before making it too far. Her muscles going limp, the watch loosened in her hold, slipping from her hand.

The sleep finally overpowered her, and her world grew dark once more.

"Tori," Tiberius's voice spoke beside her.

She groaned.

"The sun's up," he said. "We should get going."

Already? Both of her hands were on her face, rubbing her eyes.

"Aaaaand I'll take that," Tiberius said, his voice moving ahead of her. His shadow fell over her as he seemed to lean down.

She peered out from under a hand.

"Oh yeah," she smiled sheepishly. "I meant to tell you I borrowed it."

Standing over her, he tucked the watch into his pant pocket.

"It's fine," he said. "It's useful for both of us. We can share it."

With a groan, she sat up. Once she looked at him, she raised a brow.

"Before we go though, your face is a mess."

He looked down at her, his brows furrowing slightly. Even as he did so, the scabbed cut over his brow started to crack, some blood and ooze bubbling again.

"No shit," he said. "Tell me something I don't know."

Tori squinted at him.

"You scraped your leg too," she pointed at his leg dumbly.

Tiberius sighed deeply, looking up at the sky with a small shake of his head.

"I know," he said.

"I'm just being a pain in the ass," Tori smiled, getting into her bag.

"You said it, not me," he said, turning away with the hint of a smirk.

Tori huffed to herself and pulled a small tin from her bag.

"When I went into Banden, one of the shop keeps gave me this," she said, holding out the tin for him to see. It was a bit smaller than the palm of her hand.

"I had offhandedly mentioned I cut myself a while back and this older woman wouldn't let me leave without taking this with. She wouldn't tell me how much it cost, so I'm assuming I wouldn't have been able to buy it otherwise."

She turned it to read the lid.

"It's got beeswax, olive oil, and some other crazy stuff in here," she stated. She returned her gaze up to him, staring at him.

"Salve," he said simply, like he recognized it before she'd even explained.

"Uhhhh huh," she gestured toward the ground with her eyes, trying to get him to sit down.

He was slow, but seemed to get the idea. A bit stiffly, he got down on the blanket, sitting in front of her. He extended his hands, like he expected her to hand the tin to him.

She stared at him, not moving. He was not going to be able to do this himself.

"...What?" he asked, hands still extended.

"How are you supposed to get this prized salve where it should be if you can't see your own face. I'm doing it," she said back, holding the tin closer to her.

Tiberius opened his mouth, his brows furrowing like he was going to protest, but instead he closed his mouth into a small frown.

"...Alright," he said, sounding a bit reluctant. "Fine, then."

"You sound disappointed," she pouted.

Tiberius's brows furrowed deeper, but it looked less annoyed and more perplexed, now.

"I..." he said with a small crack. "Just. Get on with it."

Tori rolled her eyes and scooted over. Men never knew what to do with her when she fought them on things like this. While he could've easily done this himself, she needed something to focus on right now.

She raised a hand and brushed his hair away from his forehead, and his eyes twitched as he averted his gaze. While analyzing his newly split scab, she noticed how greasy his hair was. The heat wasn't doing them any favors. His whole face looked sweaty too. Usually hardworking guys like him were attractive, but Tiberius could stand to take a long bath.

She popped the lid of the tin, taking a swipe of the salve. Delicately, she spread it over the scab and where it had split, taking care to not irritate it more than his frowning had done.

Already looking toward the other cut on his cheekbone, Tori collected more salve from the tin and smoothed it over the scab.

"I'm doing the other ones too," she said bluntly, knowing that her announcement had come after the fact. "Just thought I'd let you know."

Tiberius didn't reply, and instead kept his eyes locked somewhere beyond her, presumably on the ground. He sat stiffly, and she could tell his jaw was clenched tight.

When she looked closer at the cut over his lip, she noted that it looked like it'd split open several times, probably from eating and speaking. Dried blood stuck above his upper lip in his fast-growing beard.

She could tell he did not want to be here right now. What a shame.

With a gentle sigh, she carefully salved this one too.

"Allllll done," she proclaimed, as deadpan as possible, capping the tin.

"Was that really necessary?" Tiberius said faintly through his teeth.

She full body shrugged, her hands in the air. What was a woman to do?

"I'm being nice doing it for you to save time."

At that, he pressed his lips together in a thin line and he got to his feet.

"Thanks," he said a little sharply. "Let's get moving again. We're wasting daylight."

Without waiting for her, he walked over to Elliot with his usual limp.

Tori sighed to herself and stood, bringing the blanket with her. As she walked over to Elliot, she folded the blanket up.

"Yeah yeah," she said dimly, tucking the blanket away into its usual spot. She climbed up and let him up after her.

They traveled northward along the edge of Lake Lily for most of the day, taking a few breaks along the lake for water and to cool off.

The day had been... uneventful.

In some ways that was a relief, and others not so much. To her, the greater stressor was not having even a hint of an idea where the enemy was. She’d much rather know where they were so she could avoid them.

Their relatively silent ride came to its usual conclusion when the sun faded behind the trees.

Tori hopped down, holding her arm out for support absentmindedly.

Tiberius took it, hopping down without comment.

She passed a glance his direction. It seemed like in the last day or so, the initial shock of his injuries had faded. Unfortunately that just meant the next few weeks for him would be constant throbbing pain, unless they were to stumble upon a healer. That was extremely doubtful though.

Instead of bothering him, she got the usual necessities out and set up their sad little camp. It wasn't a lot, but sometimes that was all you really needed.

She sat down once done, letting her thoughts roam while she watched the surroundings in the fading sunlight.

Eventually, Tiberius silently led Elliot over to where she was and sat down with a small sigh.

Tori pushed the small bag of biscuits over to him without looking. He was probably hungry and she'd had her fill for now.

He reached in gingerly and took one out, nibbling on it quietly.

She flopped backwards onto her back, watching the sky and trees in her peripheral. There wasn't much of a breeze, but she could see the branches gently sway from time to time. It was peaceful.

"If you weren't on the run," Tiberius started, out of the blue. "What would you be doing right now?"

She blinked. How had he been quiet all day and then suddenly be provoked to ask her that? He really had too much on his mind. No wonder he couldn't sleep.

"That's... a deep question," she sighed wearily. "If I'm going to be honest, I don't know. If I wasn't with Gisa, maybe somewhere down south across the rivers. I don't think about that sort of thing much."

She looked over at him, propping her head up under her arms.

It was true. Live life in the present and not fuss over the future. Her actions in the present would affect those events anyway, so why waste time planning for something that may not happen?

Tiberius hummed, his mouth full of food as he listened.

"I guess it doesn't make much sense to," he muttered through his chews.

Tori hummed in agreement. They were on the same page with that one.

"Gisa picked me up after I tried stealing from her camp," she said gently, looking up once more. "I have a feeling I'd be just as conniving, if not worse, if she hadn't beat me into shape."

She grew silent for a moment, wondering how much she should tell him. She didn't really want to ask too many questions, since he seemed to be distant today.

"You seem like you came from a good family," she said quietly. "Were both of your parents around?"

Tiberius hesitated.

"Yeah," he said quietly, looking off to the side. "They were. For... a while. My father died when I was ten."

A pause.

"What about yours?" he asked.

Somehow the mention of his father made sense to her. A few of the women in her group had come from similar backgrounds. She felt like the most tragic stories came from the kindest people, those who didn't deserve the pain they had been put through.

She sighed, pondering how to start.

"I had both of mine, yeah," she replied. "My father was always tending to my mother when I was younger though, so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him."

Tiberius turned to look at her briefly.

"Was your mother sick?" he asked softly.

Tori continued to watch the stars come into focus as she thought on that.

"Now that I'm older, I know she wasn't physically sick," she finally let out.

She'd begun to play with some of the grass above her head with her fingers as she talked.

"She had... mental issues, to put it lightly," Tori said lowly. "Some nights she'd wake up screaming, as if someone was there watching her. It was only ever us where we lived. My father would have to spend the rest of the night trying to calm her down. I usually couldn't fall asleep again afterward. It happened all the time."

It wasn't often she shared that piece of her family history to someone, let alone someone she'd only known for a few days. It was probably a lot.

Tori looked over solemnly, letting him digest the story. Usually when someone asked about her family, she'd leave them to speculate. It wasn't left out intentionally, she just simply couldn't find the words to describe it. The people who asked usually only expected a simple and sweet response, not some tragic and long-winded chronicle.

"I can imagine that being scary," Tiberius said quietly. "For a child."

"It was," she whispered, more to herself than him.

"I don't remember a lot other than that," she continued. "But I know she had other problems too. I just..." her gaze left him as her eyes drifted around, unsure of how to describe the feelings. There were so many conflicting emotions that she couldn't explain well, even though she lived it. "I feel as though I never truly had them, if that makes sense. Both of them were so caught up with that going on, and my little sister being born in the middle of it... That's why I ran away eventually," she sighed. "I couldn't bear it any more."

After a moment of silence, she met his eyes again.

"It's a lot, don't feel bad if you don't know what to say," she assured him with a sad but understanding look in her face.

"How old were you?" Tiberius asked, not breaking eye contact as he searched her eyes with compassion. "When you ran away?"

It took her a second to process what he asked. Not that it was a difficult question, but there was a lot of emotional weight to it. Eventually she had to look toward the grass. Something about the look in his eyes set her anxiety off, but she couldn't admit why.

"I had just turned fifteen," she said quietly, growing silent. She couldn't focus on much besides the grass or texture of the blanket in the growing twilight. "I barely took anything with me."

"How long were you alone before Gisa found you?" Tiberius asked softly.

"I can't remember well. About a year. Maybe less."

"That's a long time to be alone as a fifteen year old," Tiberius said. "I'm... I'm glad Gisa found you when she did."

Her jaw grew tight and her brows furrowed as she gazed skyward again, taking a shaky deep breath. All she could muster was a nod for a reply as she fought her welling eyes.

"I was eleven," Tiberius said after a pause. "When I ran away from my home."

Silence began to draw out as she recomposed herself, blinking hard a few times. She finally wiped her eyes before too much time had passed to respond. She looked back over as she swallowed back her sorrow, listening quietly.

"After my father died, my mother began working in the city," he said. "And so did I. We lost everything. I became a page boy, and my mother started learning gunsmithing. I earned a small wage that went to supporting my family at the time."

He paused, biting his lower lip slightly as he stared off into the darkness.

"I ran away to join the army without my family knowing," he said. "I didn't know the weight of the decision I was making at the time, nor where it would lead me now."

He looked back over to her, his expression tender, and understanding.

"There's a lot in life we can't prepare for," he said quietly. "And it doesn't always go as planned. I think most people would admit it almost never does. But... I'd like to think our paths have crossed for a reason. I can't say what it is yet, but it sounds like we have more in common than I thought."

Extending his hand towards her as if for a handshake, he met her eyes. She couldn't help but blink a bit in surprise, her tight brow beginning to soften.

"From one runaway to another," he said. "May you, one day, no longer have to run anymore."

Without hesitation, her calloused hand lifted to close around his, making a firm grip.

"May you too," she whispered. A gentle, wistful smile began to take over her focused frown. "From one runaway to another."

Tiberius smiled sadly, but the smile reached his eyes. With a small shake, he pulled his hand away and reached into the bag between them, pulling out a biscuit. Without saying anything, he set it in her still extended hand.

She took it, wiping her eyes off with the same arm.

"Hey," Tiberius said, reaching into his pant pocket. "Do you like music?"

Somehow, she knew what was coming. She glanced back over.

"Yeah. I do."

"Great," Tiberius said with a small smile. He leaned in towards her with a small smile, as if preparing to whisper something to her as an aside, despite them being the only ones out there.

"I'm going to play something really melancholic," he whispered. "So if you hate it, just push me."

She deeply sighed, sending a helpless smile back. "I'm sure it will be."

With a small smile and a nod, Tiberius pulled out a harmonica and turned away, bringing both hands up to hold it as he started to play.



She looked to the stars once more while he played.

If someone had asked her a week ago what she thought of Tiberius, she would have deemed him just another criminal, his face slathered on a piece of paper along with his exorbitant reward. She never expected to make any lasting connections with him when she saved him. All they had in common, she assumed, was being runaways. Even that was a stretch with how weighty the claims were against him. She had been swayed into thinking that he was an undeserving outlaw.

Oh, how wrong she was.

They had both made many mistakes in their lives, she knew full well. Those mistakes were the proof that brought her to the realization that he was human, just like her. Human like his family, and her family. Human just like the king, soldiers, and the mages.

While she knew she had plenty of sins of her own, Tiberius hadn't displayed anything truly deserving of condemnation. She only knew what he would tell her, of course, but that was more than enough. A person's eyes spoke for their soul. Liars usually didn't make prolonged eye contact because of this. And yet Tiberius did, letting her get the occasional view inside.

She closed her eyes, thinking on this deeply, biscuit still in hand. The harmonica seemed to fade into the background, even though he hadn't budged.

If only people would stop to listen to each other, and to him, there could be a change. He said that nothing could ever clear his name, but she disagreed on that. He had cleared his name to her, one of the most unforgiving people out there, in a matter of days. Someone might complain that this was too short of a time to do such a thing, but ultimately that didn't matter, so long as it had been done. If it was possible with her, it was possible with others, even if it took some chipping away to get there.

She finally ate her food, laying the ponderances aside for the time being to listen. After all, it wasn't often you got to listen to Nye's most wanted play the harmonica for you. It was unfortunately quite endearing.

A short time later, his lugubrious performance drew to an end.

He pulled the harmonica away and let out a quiet sigh, sitting in the silence that followed.

Tori sat up and looked over, watching him quietly.

"I take tips," Tiberius said after a long pause.

With a snort, she chuckled to herself.

"Tips, huh? Hopefully you take biscuits or somethin' 'cause I got nothing," she shook her head, smiling. "It was good though, I will admit."

"Why thank you," Tiberius said with a small nod. "With all the alone time I've had I've had plenty of time to practice."

"Huh. The most I've done is carving. Never anything like music though," Tori thought aloud, stroking her nonexistent beard.

"Carving," Tiberius repeated. "Like wood-carving?"

"Mmhmm, it's a stress relief but occasionally people would buy them off me."

Tiberius glanced over at her, slouching forward a bit.

"What kind of things do you make?" he asked.

"If it wasn't dark I'd show you. I have some in my bag," she replied, looking over his way. "Usually they end up being birds or animals."

His eyes seemed to light up at that with a hint of a smile, and he tilted his head to the side.

Tori had noticed that whenever it was dark, he wasn't really able to make direct eye contact. At first, she thought he was avoiding it, but ever since his comment about his sight, she realized he probably just couldn't see her that well.

It looked like his eyes were searching for her face, or where he thought it might be.

"Maybe in exchange for my musical entertainment," he said, a smirk tugging at his mouth. "You could make me a hawk."

"That can be arranged," she nodded. "A fair trade in my eyes."

"In that case," Tiberius said with a nod. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

Silence.

Tori turned her whole body his direction quietly, staring his way, not moving a muscle. He stared back in her general direction, unmoving in response.

With a dramatic, and purposefully quiet cry, she flopped forward, as if in prayer, her head pressed into the blanket.

"Oh great Sire Hemming," she pretended to cry, faking an occasional sob. "I am eternally grateful," another sob. "You don't know how much this means to me..."

There was a solid second of dead silence.

And then Tiberius let out a sudden burst of airy laughter.

Tori looked up feigning shock, still fake crying.

For a second, she caught a glimpse of Tiberius's full smile, reaching his eyes. But when he seemed to notice she looked up he lifted his hand, covering the lower half of his face as he continued to laugh, looking away.

"I..." he started, but broke into laughter again.

"Sire please.... there is no need to laugh at me, I am a humble carver... Am I truly so pitiful a creature to you?" she wailed.

"Oh gods," Tiberius said through laughter, turning his face away with a shake of his head. "Please never call me sire."

He slouched forward more, moving a hand to hold his side, and she could tell that his laughter was beginning to pain him.

"Dragons above," he muttered, his laughter dying down with a faint groan cutting it short. "What was that?"

Tori looked behind her, then back again, "What was what?" she asked, her voice back to normal. She hadn't broken yet, but she was trying so hard to stay controlled.

Tiberius rubbed his hand down his face, a smile still lingering as he looked in her direction before it faded in an instant.

"T'would be a dishonor to laugh at such an excellent woodworker," he said, putting on a nasally voice, matching her tone. "Please pardon my excessive former outburst, I meant you no disrespect, Ms. Hisaue."

"But Sire--" she cut herself off with some obviously fake coughing, clutching at her gut, as if she had only days left to live. "You haven't even seen my work," she began to cry once more.

"It should only be proof of the confidence I have in your character," Tiberius said, still playing along. "That I would be so presumptuous."

She began coughing again, in an attempt to hide her laughing.

"Ooooooh, my lungs..." she clutched her chest, flopping over.

"Perchance," Tiberius said. "We should takest thou to a doctorly establishment so you might not die of this cough that ails you. Pneumonia will kick your lungs to shit."

This time Tori started coughing for real, an occasional pained laugh breaking out as her hand went to her stomach.

"Why was it that--" she coughed once more, with feeling. "--that broke me." She was heaving, trying to calm herself.

"Maybe it's because we're so desperately sleep deprived," Tiberius said, returning to his normal voice.

She groaned, still unable to stop laughing. "I hate you," she managed to get out through the tears. "You suck."

Tiberius went quiet, but he was looking down at her with a small, warm smile.

"Thanks for noticing," he said. "They should put that on my posters, I think. It would really motivate people to find me."

After a few moments to calm herself, Tori regained her ability to breathe. She shoved him where she knew he wouldn't hurt.

"You better be grateful you're broken or else..." she began, but stopped herself, trying to sound threatening. With the lingering amusement in her voice though, that was highly doubtful.

Tiberis leaned to the side, laughing lightly at the push.

"Lucky me," he said, smiling wider.

She let out an exasperated sigh, rolling onto her back again, cursing to herself.

"My stomach still hurts," she sighed, trying to force a painfully sad voice. Maybe he would pity her and leave her alone. Though at this rate, that seemed unlikely.

Tiberius laid down beside her, letting out a small sigh of his own.

"You did start all of that," he reminded her.

"I couldn't think of a good response," she said simply. "So I just channeled the saddest, most grateful old man I could. I was scared you'd think I was going bat shit."

"Tori," Tiberius said slowly. "I hate to break it to you, but I think we both lost our minds a while ago."

She forced a gasp so he could hear her sheer surprise. She smacked her forehead with a hand, doubly shocked.

"No way," she said, sounding dumbfounded.

Tiberius huffed through his nose.

"Thanks for that, though," he said, a little softer.

She gently shoved him again.

"Stop goin' all sappy on me, Sire Hemming," she muttered.

"Ugh," Tiberius groaned. "That's-- that's horrible. Stop that."

"Fiiiine," she sounded out, defeated. "What about Mr. Hemmy," she started, looking over.

A beat of silence.

"If you must call me something besides Tiberius, I will tolerate Mr.Hemmy over the former suggestion," he said flatly. "But if you must call me a nickname, I'm sure there's something less cringe inducing. Imagine if bounty hunters caught up to us and heard you calling me that. I'd be embarassed. For them."

Tori began to chuckle deep in her chest at that.

"I'm never calling you those, I promise. I mean it."

"Thank goodness," Tiberius said with what sounded like genuine relief.

She brought a hand over her forehead with a sigh. Her head had begun to ache with all of the laughing.

"I was gonna say we should get some sleep. I can take the first watch, if your lordship so desires," she muttered.

"My physical frame would probably thank me for it," Tiberius answered. "So I won't object the offer."

Tori huffed through her nose, replicating the one he had done earlier.

"Good. All the jokes aside, you need the rest."

She scooted off the blanket so he had all of it for himself, then flicked an edge over him, being obnoxious. He didn't move, and just laid there, staring up into the sky with an unfocused gaze.

"Sleep tight, Tiberius," she bluntly wished him.

"Something like that, yes," he said. "Goodnight for now, Tori."

And at that, he closed his eyes.