"Did you ran away from home?" Catherine asked.
Her hand had been playing with my hair for a while now. She said that it's a beautiful colour. I wanted to move her hands away but I didn't hate it, either. Hence, I allowed her to do whatever she was doing.
"I ran away from an orphanage," I answered to her question.
Thinking about the previous incident, I couldn't help but tremble in fear. Worse could have happened had I failed to escape. Knowing Mr. Will, they would only be searching for me around a day or so before giving up. A substitute would be found in no time. Catherine suddenly stopped twirling my hair and leaned closer.
"Actually, me too," she said. "That damned orphanage was selling the kids. I ran the night before they sold me away to a slave auction!"
Catherine got back to playing my hair, looking unfazed by the thing she had just said. Sold in an auction meant giving up one's life and serve their master until death unless the master freed them, which is unlikely to happen. Since she's still young, the years would have been torturously long.
*This girl, is something wrong with her head? How can she be so calm about it?* I pondered.
"And I guess that you have a similar reason, don't you?" She continued.
My gaze fell on the ground before nodding to her question. The girl didn't pry into it more and told her so-called 'adventure of an escapee'. I felt oddly calm with her around. Knowing that there is someone with a similar fate, I felt at ease.
"Say, do you want to come with me, Lucius?" She asked. "My tales would be a lot better with another adventurer!"
Her smile was beaming again. It was bright, as bright as the sun. Not wishing to lose such a light, I agreed without a single doubt.
"I do," I said. "I want to be in your tales, Catherine."
That girl had become my turning point in life. Since then, we had never been separated. Whether it was to acquire food, finding shelter or even running away from rampaging ruffians, we were always together. Living in the slum felt a lot better with Catherine by my side. I had never expected for my life to be this enjoyable and I had been grateful for it every chance I get. It was far from easy but I love every second of it.
Reaching for the sun had been the best choice I had ever made.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. Catherine was very proud that she had grew slightly taller than me. When summer came, we had left the slum and settled in a cave by the outskirts of the Leonhart march. It was discovered when we were hunting for a hare.
"Lucius! I got us some bread!" Catherine's cheerful voice echoed through the vast field.
"Bread?" I looked up from the bow I was making. "Where did you get such a thing?"
With a sheepish smile, she leaned closer before whispering, "I stole it."
My eyes shot open as my hand involuntarily reached to pull her ear. "You idiot!" I yelled. "Didn't I tell you not to steal anymore?!"
We had lived up our lives out of the wild fruits and fishes. If we're lucky enough, we even got to hunt small critters. Catherine once stole a piece of meat from a butcher and got severely beaten up for it. She had suffered a three-days long fever after that.
"Ow-ow…!" Catherine struggled to free herself before giving up. "T-these are the ones that they were about to throw away…" she said. "Please don't be mad, hm?"
Seeing her pitiful gaze, I shook my head before releasing her from my grip. My hand reached to fix her hair and rubbed her reddened ear. Again, she offered the bread with a grin.
"I'm not hungry, you can have it all."
"Aww, don't say that," she said with a mock pout. "This bread is enough for two!" Catherine split the bread into halves. Before I could even say anything, one of it was shoved into my mouth.
"Hey-!"
"Let's eat it together!"
Not getting the chance to refuse, I unwillingly accepted the bread. I was about to scold her again but stopped when I saw the enjoyment on her face while eating her other half of the bread.
"It's nice to have this once in a while, right?"
Catherine nudged me, a smug smile was seen. Her carefree attitude had me worried to no end. I never want to see her getting hurt from stealing again.
"Just…don't steal anymore," I said. "Promise me, Cath."
"Alright!" An immediate agreement was given. "I promise!"
Catherine and I enjoyed the bread together under the shadow of a large oak tree in that vast field. It's our favourite place to spend our free time at. The pleasant evening breeze will greet us once in a while, bringing the scent of grass. The grass blades will be waving towards us, as if wishing to be noticed. Catherine loves this view, so we came here everyday. After finishing her share of bread, Catherine turned towards me again.
"We're 10 now," she said, her voice filled with anticipation. "I wonder when will we be manifesting our attribute?"
At the age of 10 to 12, people will be manifesting their elemental attribute. We could already feel the flow of mana in our body but yet to manifest it.
"It might be sooner that we expected," I replied.
Feeling the soft breeze, Catherine crossed her arms behind her head and laid down on the grass. "I wonder what attribute will I be? Maybe wind? It's common but I think it is cool!"
My eyes followed her down. The sight of her wriggling on the ground put a smile on my face. "Hm, that would suit you," I said.
"I think light would suit you, Lucius. Since you look like an angel," she said.
*A-angel?* Blood rushed to my face but seeing her serious expression, I decided to ignore that comment.
"Light attribute is useless," I replied.
A short silence came between us before she voiced her own disagreement. "But you could at least heal your own self!"
"Still no."
"And if you manifested a good amount of it, you can even heal me when I'm sick!"
*…If that's the case, it might actually be useful,* I thought
"After that," Catherine continued. "Let's get a task from the guild. We can earn some money!"
Seeing her excitement, I considered the idea and came to the same conclusion. "Sure, let's do that."
Catherine continued the talk on our possible attributes and its abilities. I didn't have much say on it and just listened to her all evening. She was very looking forward to it.
***
One night, I had manifested my own attribute. The flame in my hand brightened up the cave we live in. I was about to light up a fire for the night but I guess I won't need to do so.
"Woah! You made it, Lucius!" Catherine exclaimed. "That looks so great!"
Catherine who had just returned from the river after washing herself up jumped in excitement. She didn't even dry herself properly yet. Not bothering to do so, she had stuck to my side, looking in admiration.
On the other hand, I wasn't as delighted as she was. Disappointment crept up to me while observing the flickering flame. "…It's not a light attribute as you wanted," I said.
"Haha! Who cares?" Catherine shrugged. "You said it's useless, anyway. Fire attribute is the best!"
Using the conjured flame, I lit up the woods to warm ourselves up. She sat next to me and leaned on the wall of the cave.
"How nice~ I hope I'll get mine soon. If I get the wind attribute, we could be compatible!"
"I'm sure you'll get it soon," I said, also leaning towards the wall.
"Mhm!"
"Let's get some sleep now. Tomorrow, we'll be catching some fish, " I said before lightly patting her head.
*Her hair is still damp, I hope she doesn't catch a cold.*
The warmth of the fire made the night felt cozier and comfortable. The fire made from mana is a lot warmer compared to natural flames and lasted longer, too. Catherine started nodding off to sleep and snored softly. After I laid her down, I also began to doze off myself. Everything worked out well so far. However, we could've never guessed what the future holds for us.