"I was also running," he says. "Attempting to drag my sorry hide to safety before I got shot again. You?"
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Verdammt, what did you do to piss people off that much, Herr Luke?"
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
James just looked over to Kratzer with the hint of a smirk on his face. "That's a little personal, don't you think? I'm not asking what you did to get shot in the heart."
He chuckles. "Fair, but if you were to ask I'd gladly tell you."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He looked wildly between the two of them, trying to understand what they had just said. He had been running away, too, but not from anything like that! It was kind of scary when he thought about it. What where these two guys doing that could get them hurt like that? A chill ran up his spine. They seemed okay earlier, but now both of them were kind of scary. He slunk into the back corner and watched the three men with somewhat wide eyes.
He really wanted to run away again, but he was sure these guys would be able to catch him better than the guards could.
Any semblance of a smirk on his face had completely vanished as he saw the boy slink away into the corner, and despite himself, he felt a tug at his heart. Aen was scared. He looked over to Aen, but still spoke as if talking to Kratzer.
"...That said, though we all are complete strangers, I'd like to assure you that at least, in the eyes of anyone with a decent moral compass, I was on the 'good guy' side of the fight. Though I know that's always subjective." It was then that he paused and looked over to Aen.
"There's..." he attempted the warmest look he could muster, without actually smiling. "I'm not a violent man. I don't go looking for trouble. And I won't harm anyone here, Aen. Least of all you."
Kratzer chooses silence over deception or the truth; the fact is, he's anything but an ethical, moral, or honorable man, but he'd rather not scare the kid any further, so he doesn't speak a word more.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He looked from the two men to Hali, scooting just a little closer to the later. After glancing at them, he raised a hand to cover his mouth and stood on the very tips of his toes. He was far from tall enough to fully reach where Hali's ears were, but it was close enough. "They were running from really dangerous people," he informed him. "With all sorts of dangerous weapons. That makes them scary too."
He thought for a moment. "Although Luke says he's a good person..."
He stopped standing on his toes and turned back to Luke. Crossing his arms and looking him over with a wary glint to his eyes, he asked, "You're really telling the truth?"
He turned to Hali. "He says he's telling the truth." Then he turned back to James, thought a moment and said with an approving nod of the head. "Well, I'm a good guy too."
Kratzer continues not to engage in the conversation, instead looking around to see if he can find a shirt that's not covered in blood to change into.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Gender:
Points: 481
Reviews: 117