After finishing off the last of the traffickers, Auron and Ceila proceeded to loot all the money and any food they could find around the camp. The dead have no use for worldly possessions, and most of it was most likely stolen anyways.
It was too late at night to wander around the forest so they decided to stay for the night in one of the shacks with beds. They had been thorough in killing all the men silently and swiftly so as to not let them contact any help. As such, no one would likely show up during the night time. As long as they left by daybreak they would most likely be fine.
The small shack they settled on had an assortment of cotton beddings spread across the ground. As the traffickers spent most of their time outside the camp, the lodgings were very minimalistic.
Auron plopped down onto one of the beddings in a crisscross position. His feathered friend continued to use his head as its own bedding, not seeming to really care what Auron felt about it.
Ceila sat down on the bedding opposite of his, lightly hugging her knees. She seemed a bit absent minded, her eyes not really focusing on anything.
"So, I am guessing this wasn't your first time killing someone." Auron had noticed that she seemed out of it ever since she killed that man, so it was easy for him to tell what was bothering her.
Ceila tightened the grip around her legs and listlessly responded, "Why would you think that?"
"Most people who just killed for the first time are normally lurching on the ground throwing up and crying their ass's off. At least if they are any good of a person."
"Do you know from personal experience?"
"Of course I do! When I killed someone for the first time I was wailing on the floor like a baby afterwards, and my stomach didn't have a drop left. I am a great person after all!" He said while flexing his arms in different weird poses, a grin on his face.
Ceila loosened the grip on her legs a bit and a smirk appeared on her face. "It's pretty pretentious to proudly exclaim you're a great person you know?" She said, with the tension starting to loosen from her face.
"I guess I'm just pretentious then" He said with a smug look on his face.
Ceila let go of her legs and covered her mouth, a little laughter leaking out. Her mood was uplifted from its previous gloom.
Auron was happy he could cheer her up, he was worried she wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but thankfully he got her mind off of it. Kind people tend to worry too much about things.
"Alright," Auron clapped his hands, "You're most likely pretty tired, and I slept plenty while being captured, so I'll take the first night watch. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours."
Ceila suddenly got a little embarrassed, suddenly realizing that this would be the first time she had ever slept in the same room as a man other than her father. She wrapped her arms around her ample bosom and glared at Auron. "You better not do anything to me in my sleep!" She shouted.
Auron was surprised by the warning, not expecting the slight on his character. But on closer inspection he understood. He hadn't noticed before due to the chaos but Ceila is really beautiful. She had flawless tanned skin, silky evergreen hair, dazzling emerald eyes, and an explosive figure. A man with less scruples would definitely be tempted, especially with no one around to stop them.
"I'm a gentleman, I wouldn't do anything unscrupulous, I swear." Auron held his hands up in the air with a helpless look on his face.
Ceila calmed down a bit and realized that she may have been a bit too paranoid and accusatory due to her nerves. With her face as red as a tomato, she shot under her blanket and hid her face, laying in the opposite direction from him.
"I'm sorry, I was just being nervous, I didn't mean to insult you…" She said as she covered her face with the blanket.
Auron thought she was kind of cute, hiding her embarrassment. He just chuckled a bit and shook his head. "Don't worry, I don't mind. Just get some sleep, I am sure you need it."
"Yes…"
Ceila finally relaxed and fell asleep only a minute after she closed her eyes. All the exhaustion from the day's events had left her deeply fatigued.
After a few minutes Auron quietly asked if she was awake, and got no response. "Sorry for the small lie Ceila, you need a full night's sleep." He said quietly to himself. He knew she wouldn't want to make him take the responsibility of keeping watch all night, but she clearly needed it. Not to mention he doesn't like sleeping much in the first place.
Auron moved over to sit against the wall facing the door. He settled in for the night, watching the door at all times. If being stuck in that ruin taught him anything, it was patience.
Meanwhile the phinx made itself comfortable and fell asleep atop his head.
-
The sun crept over the horizon, light started to seep underneath the door of the shack.
Auron stood up and went over to wake Ceila up. She was still sleeping peacefully when Auron clapped a couple of times, attempting to wake her up. "Hey, Ceila, Wake up! It's morning already!" He continued clapping to no avail.
"Five… more minutes… daddy…" Groaned Ceila as she pulled the blanket over her face.
"I don't recall being anyone's father, I am a bachelor." Auron sighed and felt the phinx on his head stir and wake up. He suddenly had an evil grin on his face.
"Hey, little guy, if you wake her up I'll catch you a nice juicy rabbit!" He coerced the bird, and somehow the little phinx understood his intentions.
The phinx nodded it's beak at Auron in confirmation before proceeding to dive kick Ceila straight in the butt. It made what seemed to be a bird battle cry during the whole motion, eager to get its food.
"What the hell was that for!?!?" Ceila obviously shot out of bed, rubbing her sore butt, and shooting daggers at the red bird. She was having a good sleep, and was not expecting to be assaulted by a feathered cretin first thing in the morning.
The bird in question simply flew back onto Auron's head and gave the irate woman a pompous look.
"Now, now, it's not good to constantly be glaring at everything, you'll get a migraine. It's morning time anyways." Said Auron while giving the phinx a head pat.
"Wait… It's morning? What happened to waking me up to switch?" Ceila was confused, he had said that he would wake her up in a couple of hours, but he clearly just let her sleep all night!
"Sorry for lying to you, but you seemed like you needed a full night's sleep. I slept plenty the previous day, I didn't need any sleep. It was better for you to take it easy." Auron said.
"Thanks… But don't do that again, I want to help out the person who saved me, not be helped over and over again." Ceila pouted.
"Ok, I won't do it again, I promise."
Auron flashed a sincere smile that Ceila couldn't get mad at. She mostly settled down, other than shooting death glares every now and again at the phinx.
The two packed up all their things and set off out of the camp. Their current goal was just to get a couple hours worth away before finding a spot to rest, eat breakfast, and figure out what to do next.
"Hey Ceila, while we are walking I wanna ask for a favor, after that you don't need to worry about repaying me. I don't really like having someone owe me, I want us to stand on equal footing."
"What sort of favor is it?" She wasn't sure what favor he was going to ask her, but she doubted it would be anything major from what she had seen from him so far. Either way she doubted she could really feel like she repaid him, no matter what he asked.
"I just want to ask some questions. You see, I am considerably older than you would think I am. I have been stuck somewhere away from society for a very long time and I want updates on major things that have happened while I have been gone. What year is it anyways?" Auron looked over at Ceila as he talked.
Ceila was confused because Auron looked fully human, and humans generally did not have very long lifespans. Other than humans who reached demigod level, most long lived humans live to 100 at most. But Auron is clearly not as strong as a demigod. He could also be a long lived race shapeshifting into a human look.
Either way she was not going to pry into his secrets as it would be rude. If he wanted to share his secrets with her, he would. She already owes him immensely, she doesn't want to poke where she shouldn't.
"It just turned into a new millennium this year. It is year 7000 in the Aeleran calendar."
Auron was shocked, when he entered the ruin, it had been the year 6500. He had been trapped for 500 years! He knew it was a long time, but hearing it out loud still stunned him.
"Thank you, next question, what major events have happened in the past 500 years? For example any notable changes in the world."
Ceila stopped to think for a couple seconds, trying to recall anything that might be noteworthy.
"To be honest I am only 90 years old, I had only just left the Yggdrasil Forest, my home, right when I came of age. I am not really that well versed in events outside of Yggdrasil except for a few scatterings… I suppose all I can really tell you is about the human kingdom of Reikon's Trinity of Millenium."