"Khio, you received a saint's blessing! Why didn't I realize it until now!?" Florian exclaims with great excitement. Khio looks at her, the saint's blessing was some temple talk that Khio never really lent an ear to.
"What?" The perplexed expression on her face said it all, she had never realized it.
"Just now when you told them to lay down and they listened, did you not feel anything?"
"It's the same feeling as always."
"When you did that, there was the movement of divine energy. I vaguely recognized it when I first saw you at the execution ground." Florian puts her hand to her chin and considers her companions who evidently looked lost with her explanation. "Some have compared it to the feeling of magic, of course no one is really able to confirm that for us. I finally remembered the previous time I felt the same energy."
Khio's face darkens and shows a complicated expression, many would react positively to the news but this was not the case for Khio.
"I met someone who received a saint's blessing at the temple, he received the blessing from Kerraelas, I suspect it is the same minor god who gave you the blessing." Florian elaborates, with the hopes that maybe further explanation would help relieve Khio of whatever was troubling her. "Every minor god is capable of giving a saint's blessing, it's almost as if they give you an ounce of their power. The man I met also possessed a heightened affinity with animals, not to this degree though."
"So I got a blessing?" Khio murmurs dejectedly
"That appears to be the case."
Rhetta raises a question, "Aren't those blessed by the gods just called saints? Wouldn't Khio be recognized as a saint?"
"Fundamentally they're different. Being a saint and receiving a blessing...To explain, if you're a saint you are chosen as a delegate of that god. You hold authority even higher than a head priest as you speak directly to, and for that god. Receiving a blessing means you were not chosen as a saint but that god has their eye on you, they give a blessing to those they believe will do good with it." Florian provides the lengthy explanation in the easiest to understand terms, "Typically a saint of a minor god is chosen when they are children, and only one saint will be present for that god at a time. Obviously I specify the minor gods here, because another saint has never been chosen by Kleminus other than the saint Myleen."
"Surprisingly, when you speak like that, I can see you as an actual temple disciple." Rhetta comments, genuinely impressed by how fluently Florian explained everything.
"I did have to inscribe the same thing everyday for years! I would be worried if I didn't know the difference."
"I never knew that...I've always had this talent for taming creatures but if it's due to a blessing...Then this talent isn't really mine." Khio states sadly, looking at her hand with a quiet disappointment.
"Don't misunderstand Khio, a blessing cannot give someone a gift. It's not powerful enough for that, it can only amplify what is already there." Florian reassures her. "The gift is yours. All the blessing did was make it a little stronger."
Khio visibly seemed relieved to hear that the gift was hers and not something given to her. She had always been the kind of person to attain things through her own effort and hard work. Her talent was no different, the countless scars she earned from years of learning and practice were proof of that.
"I have a saint's blessing too." Florian confides with the two before her.
"What!?"
"You have a blessing?"
Florian nods "Yeah, I have the blessing of Batur."
Rhetta clicks, "Wait...Back at the tavern, your strength, is that because of the blessing?"
"Pretty much" Florian smiles "I told you I was confident in my strength."
"How did the temple not recognise it? You said that you could feel divine energy, wouldn't they have felt something from you?"
"I told you before, I don't have any divine energy. I wasn't chosen as a kid, I inherited this from my dad. I don't know how but that's just the way it is."
"For all your talk about us being weird, you're the enigma." Khio blurts, "You said I have the blessing of Kerraeles. Is there a difference depending on the god?"
Florian clears her throat, acknowledging and choosing to ignore Khio's first comment, addressing her question. "Each god governs something different you could say. Kleminus oversees everything, he is omnipotent. Whereas the minor gods turn their gazes to something else, they were given nicknames by the temple to explain it easily to people. While they govern a lot more than their name suggests, it's just a broad scope."
Florian gazes at the faces of Rhetta and Khio to make sure they are still following and not confused. "There are fourteen..." Florian trails off, "I miscounted, thirteen gods."
"Tarrant of Thunder; Kerraelas of Animals; Islwyn of Earth; Batur of Warriors, Emilian of Merchants; Bardyl of Justice; Einri of Domesticity; Sorin of Light and Fire; Sama'el of Night and Astrology; Ji-Hun of Knowledge; Cà of Morality and Truth; Gawen of Craftsmen and Calogero of Beauty."
Khio and Rhetta gawk at Florian who really shines through with all of her years of knowledge. "Well... Now that everything is settled! You can see how pretty this little one is!" Khio exclaims happily, while changing the topic before the 'educational' lecture continues. The smooth subject change brought the creature in question back to the forefront of attention, everyone had forgotten about the docile beast.
"Pretty...?" Florian raises an eyebrow at the description trying to establish how the creature was considered pretty.
"Little one?" Rhetta quipped uncomfortably, the creature approached and nuzzled into Florian and Rhetta. Evidently far more amicable and friendlier than earlier. Those eyes begged for any shred of affection and even if they did not find the appearance cute, the two could not deny giving some attention when the beast begged so pitifully.
"It's just a pup so it will get bigger." Khio coos
"They get bigger?"
"I don't think it's a bad thing. These guys are incredibly strong and rare! If anything I reckon we got ourselves a real strong ally."
Rhetta shifts away "Ah, yes. Strong ally..." She feels nervous around the beast given their encounter of having it trying to drag her to a watery grave.
"Let's see...I'm going to name you Hammy! Hammy is a good fit for a cutie like you."
Hammy inched towards Rhetta and nudged and nuzzled at her injured ankle seemingly in apology.
"H-Hammy?" Florian repeats, slightly confused by the name choice. Rhetta sighs and shakes her head.
"As long as you're happy I guess."
Rhetta leans over and whispers to Florian; "Just go with it. Her naming conventions are a little...odd."
"So what are we going to do now?" Florian asks.
"Food."
"Food!"
Rhetta and Khio say simultaneously, Hammy lets out a happy chirping noise that seemed to approve the food scenario. Khio hops up and checks the map, noting a stream a little ways away from their current spot. "I'll head over there with Hammy, there might be some fish." Khio looks upbeat, happy both with the action of food and her new companion Hammy.
"Fish?" Rhetta inquires about the choice that Khio made.
"Everyone knows when camping outside you need skewered fish or roasted hare!"
"Was there a rule like that?" Florian is genuinely fascinated by the unspoken rules of travel.
Rhetta sighs, "More of Khio's personal preference. Don't put too much faith in it."
Khio whistles, calling Hammy to her side. The short relationship between them already seems to grow deeper, Hammy runs alongside her as Khio makes her way to the stream without any further delay. She turns to Florian and Rhetta "You guys go get some wood and get the fire going! We'll be back soon. Don't get lost without me!" She waves and runs down the path.
Rhetta shrugs. Pulling at her soaking clothes that stick to her skin uncomfortably, a change of clothes was not available at the moment so she had no choice but to deal with it. The only upside was the warmer weather. "That section over there is getting a lot of sun, I think there will be good wood to burn." Rhetta takes the lead while Florian follows behind her and they head in the opposite direction to Khio and Hammy.
They trudge further into the forest, Rhetta uses her sword to strike the trees and use the scars as markers so they can easily find their way back. Along the way the two pick up any dried twigs, sticks or branches that have a good burning potential. Florian spots some small flowering herbs, and picks with a newfound enthusiasm.
"What is that?"
"It's something to help Hammy. You should probably chew on one too, it's good for relieving pain and fevers."
Florian looks around for some more, and regretfully stumbles into the dirt, coming out with a few scrapes.
"At this rate you're going to need those herbs for yourself, Florian." Rhetta offers a hand and pulls Florian up. They continue gathering wood, the sun begins to dip down and the forest grows dark with the fading light.
Only left with a dismal amount of light, and large enough bundles of wood to burn. Rhetta decides it is best to head back to their camp for the night. She searches the trees surrounding them, while gathering wood she had neglected to mark any trees. Meaning, wherever they currently are, they had no directions to follow back. The sun had set too low, the canopy of trees obscured the sky and couldn't navigate with the sun. They could not recall the direction they came from and no recent markings, everything regarding their whereabouts were a gamble.
They find a vague path that descends downwards, Rhetta takes the charge marching in that direction while hoping for the best, Florian follows close behind and trips over a tree root that juts out from the ground. Rhetta waits patiently for Florian to stand up and gather her sticks. "I swear..." Florian growls, shifting her bundled wood to one arm and readying herself to punch the tree. She halts, letting out a frustrated growl.
Rhetta searches, touching the trees and trying to find her marks, none of which were found in the vicinity. The forest grows darker, and the need to find their way back to their meeting point with Khio grows more urgent. Stumbling through the darkness at a quickened pace, Florian finds herself falling to the floor again.
"I swear if it's another tree root, I will uproot the whole damn tree!" she yells, turning over to glare at the thing that made her trip. She expected some large, obvious root jutting from the ground. Betraying her expectations, she finds a person in the place of the obnoxious root. They are half laying against the tree.
"Oh, it's a corpse." Florian grabs one of the longer sticks from her bundle and pokes the body.
"Florian?" Rhetta calls, noticing her kneeling down and jabbing something with a stick. As she approaches, the vague remnants of light allows her to identify the silhouette of a body.
"Sorry, I was just making sure that this was really a corpse."
"Uh, right...So, is it a corpse?" Rhetta inquires while shaking off the unnerving nonchalant attitude on Florian's part.
"If they are, then a very fresh one. They're still soft." She emphasises each word by jabbing the stick at the arm of the person.
The suspected 'corpse' grumbles in dissatisfaction, swatting the stick away before turning over and snuggling into the hard bark and dirt, eliciting a loud snore from the figure.
Rhetta's heart calms, the shock of a corpse moving had given her a slight fright. "It's just a sleeping person. It takes bravery or stupidity to fall asleep here though."
"Ahh! It's them! The one who saved my life!"
"What!? Is this the Great Sage!?"
"No, it's someone different. But they saved me."
A brief recollection comes to Florian's mind. The kind hand that extends towards her to give her a loaf of bread straight after leaving the temple. A hand of grace that spared her from another day of hunger. The bread tasted delicious, life saving and even felt like edible gold in the eyes of a hungry person. Florian could practically shed a tear with the thought.
"I see..."
Florian sets aside her bundle, and attempts to awaken them gently. Despite her efforts to be gentle and tender, her strength shakes them rather violently.
"F-Florian wait! If you shake them that hard they will really end up as a corpse!" Rhetta tries to hold her hand and stop her incessant shaking.
Rhetta felt panicked and even more so when she noticed that level of shaking had no effect aside from some brain rattling. The person remained sleeping, peacefully and without a care in the mortal world. With Rhetta's warnings in mind, Florian lightly shook them. This time, the hood of their cloak had fallen, revealing the face of a literal sleeping beauty.
Rhetta and Florian freeze in complete shock and awe of the face they see.