The pitter-patter of rain hitting the big leaves made for beautiful music, Ronnie inhaled the smell of fresh rain, the first in a long time after the recent drought. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such heavy rain, she had arrived a year prior and this was the first time she had seen it rain, the first still stood tall but the heat till now had been suffocating. Her feet dug into the now wet soil as her hair and clothes were soaked through her braids were heavy against her head but she didn't mind, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A loud thud interrupted her thought as she found herself falling over an unidentifiable object that had been in her way. Steadying herself she crushed under her breath and turned to see what she had tripped on, her eyes landed on a body, short shallow breaths and a hand clutching his chest that had an arrow sticking out of it. She quickly put her arms under his shoulders and dragged him out of the rain, his skin was like a corpse, pale and cold and his lips had been drained of all colour, he had lost a lot of blood and was unresponsive to her calls and questions. She had a look at the arrow and felt around it looking at his face hoping the pain would wake him up but he was out cold. Taking out her leather skin she tilted his head back opened his mouth and made him drink the water once she confirmed he wasn't choking on any blood, then she proceeded to rip out the arrow.
The boy roused from his sleep, his eyes looking up to the wooden ceiling as he felt the stinging pain coming from his chest, his legs felt lax against the bed and he couldn't bring himself to stand up from his position.
"You're awake?"
His eyes shifted towards the voice, a young woman sat at the table near the opposite end of the room, she was eating a simple meal which was quickly deserted when he tried to speak but could only let out a groan as his throat felt dry. She brought him a cup of water and helped him sit up so he could drink it.
"I found you on my way here you were unconscious so I brought you with me, you've been asleep a while."
He managed to let out a croaked sentence, "Where are we?"
"We're in a small village near the forest of giants, where I found you, do you remember passing out there?." He nodded as he recalled roughly where he was, he was still a long way from home. The girl helped him sit up and gave him some soup to eat, this was her first time picking up a stray and she already had a vague idea of what was happening, the medallion he wore around his neck was gold with a coat of arms engraved on it, she must be rich. The only reason a rich person would be half dead in a ditch was because of bandits or a political conspiracy, she liked the idea of both.
"Are you going to tell me why you were half dead in that forest?" He didn't answer but he had an innocent guilty look to him, she shrugged her shoulders, looks like it wasn't bandits after all. "It's fine if you don't want to tell me, I am going to leave this place tomorrow, you can choose to follow me, I am heading towards the capital, if you want to stay I can give you some money for you to stay a few nights before leaving."
"C-Can I follow you!? Ma'am…"
Ma'am?
"How old are you?"
"Just 20 Ma'am"
"What is your name?"
"...Lucas"
"Well Lucas, my name is Ronnie and I am the exact same age as you."
His pale skin flushed bright red as he blurted out an apology, Ronnie couldn't help but smile as he was rather cute. "You can just call me Ronnie, get some rest the capital is still a long journey ahead, we'll be leaving early tomorrow." After saying goodbye she left the boy on his own so she could buy some more materials for the trip, now she was proving for two people she needed to stock up on quite a few necessities.
The next morning she picked up a cart and donkey and took Lucas to register as a mercenary.
"Why do we have to register as mercenaries?" he asked curiously.
"Because we need money, not everyone is born rich little boy."
His face flushed as he averted her gaze, it was obvious he was sheltered, "Don't worry it's just so we can pick up a few jobs along the way."
"You're a swordsman?" She looked at his grey token dubiously, this sickly frail nobleman is a swordsman?
"Yeah I am actually pretty good, I was trained by the best!"
If he was trained by the best then why was he found half-dead? She rolled her eyes at his haughty appearance and put away her mage badge, mage was the closest thing to what she was even though she had never tried 'magic' per se. She climbed the cart allowing Lucas to lead the cart since she had never handled a donkey before, the two set off as the sun climbed the sky.
Ronnie closed her eyes to dreamless sleep, the same as always, all she felt was emptiness an abyss lulling her as if she would cease to exist if she slept a little longer.
"Ronnie? Wake up!" Her eyes peeled open as she found herself staring into Luca's light grey eyes and his brown hair swaying in the gentle breeze, he was a rather handsome man but he was a bit childish.
"We've arrived?" She asked as she looked around, her eyes came upon empty streets with eyes peeking out of the wooden windows looking at her with fear. "What is going on here?"