The dawn sky had little light, but Lero could see his surroundings perfectly. The room remained clean and organized, with magazines neatly stacked for him on the table in front of him, as the apartment's sole exit was a white door. One would simply have to walk through, find the complex's exit, and you were free. Then again, Lero wasn't necessarily a prisoner, but it felt as if. Getting shot didn't help with that predicament, but the recovery process had to happen.
He was a guest among a doctor and his son, who found him on their small balcony. Lero was running away from the Reserve Guard, Youden's homeland armed forces, who were in the city of Appleridge to prepare for a possible attack by Jamal Wrint. The name may not sound familiar to most, but within the nation of Youdenia, did it ring hard. One of the most feared and powerful men in the nation was a rebel, wishing to bring back the old government of Saputa, a democracy, back into power. What made him more of a threat was a secondary goal of his, which although wasn't as direct, was a simple one that some under the regime had. Killing Youden Qey, the leader of the nation, and ending his regime. The main problem with that was that he was stronger than Jamal himself, with the only reason for his existence being due to outside elements keeping him alive.
Lero knew he wasn't going to do jack against either man, but he did want to reunite with Jamal. That was a promise he made to himself, no matter what the costs were. The Ariocaster of his back in Suruthum was probably scrapped up by now, Lero fumed at the thoughts, although there was little he could do but hope.
"Are you alright?" a young voice alerted the man of somewhere here.
Shifting his head, Lero could see that it was the doctor's son, Henry, peeking behind a wall. The boy seemed friendly despite the few days Lero was here with them, but him being suspicious of their new guest was only fair.
"Yeah, I'm doing just fine. Thanks for checkin' on me." Lero had his head propped against the pillow. "Say, aren't you in school?"
"Only seventh grade. Why are you asking?" Henry raised a brow.
"I was just thinking that you would be heading there soon. Doesn't it start early?"
"Oh yeah. Class has been canceled for this week due to the approaching rebel presence. I'll be using that time wisely."
"I would bloody hope so." Lero shot the kid a toothy grin.
Henry just gave him a reassuring smile, before he left the man to his own accord. Things didn't seem bad at all for them, and Lero was being treated quite well. All he had to do was play along until his injuries had healed up and then would he continue west to meet Jamal. Such power was only a few more miles away from here, and true freedom with it.
Pressing against his side, Lero could feel where the bullet had entered, causing him to stifle in pain. He couldn't have expected anything to have happened, but it hadn't even been a full day since he tried moving on his own. The pillow at least had his head propped up properly, as the breathing helped him stay calm and sleepy until he some strange popping in the distance. At first, Lero thought it was something with his bones, although the sounds repeatedly got louder with more noises erupting. It was too early in the morning to be hearing this.
"What in the bloody world is going on?" Lero tried peeking out the window, seeing bright lights traveling over the city and towards the western side.
"Those rockets. It's finally starting now. I knew something was going on." he recognized the voice to be Dr. Ben, as the man was standing beside him.
"What?"
"Those rebels have likely been finding any weak points and now the battle for the city is likely beginning as we speak. We should be fine, as long as you still do as we say. Am I clear?" Ben looked down.
"Of course, no questions needed." Lero had to contain his smile and joy.
"Good, we'll have breakfast cooking up in a bit. Hopefully, things calm down by then."
At least knowing that his belly would be full in a few more hours, Lero continued to watch the light show, as even the explosions from such far a distance were now audible. Things were starting to pop off, and he was now coming into the middle of it. All he had to do was survive. Survive until this entire ordeal was officially over and move on. No more resistance, no more trouble with Jamal, but living in peace, just as he always intended.