"What is it?" Han asked.
"It was, apparently, his first treasure he got as an adventurer with his party." She put it back under her clothes. "So, that's why I became an adventurer."
"I'm sorry," I said as the fire crackled in the silence of the night.
"Don't be," she waved off my apology. "I was sad, I still am, but I'm doing this in memory of him, and with this, I feel like he's always with me. Also, he always told me never to change, so I won't. I'll stay happy, always, like he said."
"I don't think that's what he meant," I muttered, but the crackling of the fire drowned out my words.
"Mine's kind of selfish," Han muttered. "I became an adventurer because I wanted to prove to the world that my tribe wasn't as bad as the rumors."
"That's not selfish," Rubellia comforted him, thought it was to no avail.
"No, it is. I wanted to prove to everyone that they were wrong, and no other reason. Not to help people, not to save towns, but to prove them wrong. It was a selfish motive." Silence followed after that, a silence I didn't like.
"Of course it's selfish," I retorted. "But aren't we all selfish? Do you really think people become adventurers for reason's as just as 'saving the people'? Cause I can tell you, that's not the case. If it was, why would we be getting paid? Why would stronger people only chose the quests that reward the most? Because they want money, they want to get stronger. It's all self-gratification, you're no more selfish than the rest of us."
"Yeah, but..."
"Who cares if you think it's selfish, you know what I see it as? Redemption. You're on of the few, if any, in your tribe trying to restore its name and honor. That's not selfish, that's just."
"You really think so...?" He looked at me with eyes that said many things.
"Of course I do, you know I don't lie, nor do I filter what I say or feel."
"That's true," he laughed. "But now that I think about it, I see what you mean. Thanks, Kichichi."
"Don't call me that." I stabbed my stick into a fish and handed over to him. "See if it's good."
"What if it isn't?"
"Then you'll most likely die from it being undercooked."
"What?! So I'm the Guinee pig!?"
"No, you're the test subject. Now shut up and eat it, it's fine." He did as told and took a bite out of it. Then another and another.
Heh, master chief.
"Well, what about you, Rubellia?" I asked as I handed the other fish to Patora, who also started taking bites out of it. I put two more on the gauze to cook.
"Oh, me? My story isn't anything special. My dad was an adventurer, so was my mom and older sister. Of course, my parents stopped once they had us kids, but they taught us the ways of adventuring when we were younger. My sister became a Knight, like my dad, and I a Wizard, like my mother. They both trained us in their ways and once we were old enough to become adventurers, they brought us to the Guild, signed us up, and then went back to adventuring themselves."
"Oh, that was short and sweet," I said, pocking at the fire some more to move the wood around.
"Yeah, what was your story, Patora? You told Kichi, but not us."
"Oh, you know, the usual. Village was attacked and mostly destroyed, mom died, father was stressed between the rebuilding of the village and death of my mother, a strange woman appeared and helped rebuild the town, gave me a weapon and said one day I'd met someone that reminded me of her and I'd journey with."
"Wait, was that woman beautiful? Like on a whole different level of beauty?" Sora asked.
"...Yes, why?" Patora replied.
"Long pink hair? Silver eyes?" Han added to it.
"Yeah!" Sora and Patora both exclaimed.
"Perfect body, voice like an Angel?" It was Rubellia's turn to get jumped with three "Yeahs".
It seems all of these people met that woman before. Talk about a coincidence.
"That's crazy! I met her on my travels and she said the same thing! That I'd met someone like her and journey with them!"
"Same!"
"Same to me too!"
"What's going on?" I asked nervously. They all cast their gazes at me on once, making my skin crawl.
"It was you she was referring to!" They all exclaimed in sync.
"I'm confused," I tilted my head pathetically. "So you're all saying that you met the same women who told you the same thing? That one day you'd met someone like her and journey with them?"
"Exactly," Han said. "And she told me that after saving me from a swarm of Orcs when I was a beginner."
"She saved me from a house fire," Sora said. "I saved a family but got trapped myself."
"She helped me pay for a meal when I was poor," Rubellia chimed in nervously, her story sounding pathetic compared to the others.
"Huh, that's crazy," I poked one of the fish. "And she told each of you about me?"
"Not exactly, she just said 'someone like her' and you're like her, with the aura you give off."
"You mean the one of pessimism?" I said haughtily.
"No, the one that makes it obvious you care for others. You just try to hide that with your pessimism."
"Wanna bet? Let's head to a cave and see who abandons who."
"Ah, but you won't abandon me, you'll fight until you die, or succeed. But I wouldn't leave either, so of course we'd succeed."
A sigh escaped my mouth. "Whatever."
"What about you, Kichi?" Sora leaned forward a little. She wasn't looking at me, but at the fish that was cooking.
"What about me?" I asked as I stabbed the fish with the stick and handed it to her as I grabbed another one and stab the second one, handing it to Rubellia.
I put two more fish on the fire and grabbed another stick.
"Why'f yu befon an anfendurer?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full," I scolded her. She soloed before repeating.
"Why'd you become an adventurer?"
"..."
Huh, what do I say to that? I can't just say the truth, but I can't lie either, it goes against my beliefs. Maybe I can try changing the subject.
"The stars sure are pretty tonight," I said as I looked up. All of them were now out, shining bright in the sky.
In the old world, even I would stare at the stars through my window. I had even learned the constellations, but under this sky, these stars, I knew none of them, if there even were any.
"Don' try an change the subject'," Ellie caught on to what I was trying to do.
"We told you, so you tell us. This a bonding experience, so don't lie either." Sora added.
"I don't lie."
"Perfect. Then tell us why you became an adventurer."
"Because I just did. I was weak, and I didn't like that. I knew if I became an adventurer I would level up and get stronger. That's my reason."