Groans of pain. Distant growls. Polyanna's cries. Mary was used to being woken up early by plenty of unwanted things.
Quiet was not one of them.
She shot up, eyes darting around the darkness of their home.
Maureen was already up, sitting cross legged and keeping a close eye on the path leading out of the cave. Amy and Polyanna were sound asleep beside each other. Then there was Millicent, awake and running a hand through Polyanna's hair. It was weird seeing her up and about instead of curled up in a corner. The good kind of weird.
Mary took a breath, calming down. Waking up to silence was going to take some getting used to.
She began to stretch and for once, back pain didn't rear its ugly head. All thanks to the spread of furs they now slept on. All provided by that man of course.
"The rest are just victims of circumstance." Mary frowned as she recalled his words. She didn't know what exactly it meant but she knew one thing. She wasn't weak. Maybe she wasn't as strong as him but unlike the others, who went running to him when their sickness began to flare up, she held strong, keeping to herself. She was different than the others. Stronger.
Someone needed to be if they were going to survive.
Everyone else began to get up and soon they were stepping outside together, Millicent carrying the babbling Polyanna.
Their bare feet sunk into the dirt, the putrid mix of blood and rot hanging in the air as usual. The nasty clouds above blocked out most light whether it be from that giant tree in the distance or the sun. She hated this place. Every single thing about it.
"Amy. Get ready to go out hunting." Mary ordered as everyone began to spread out.
"What?! Why?" She whined.
"What do you mean why? We need to make sure we have food."
"But mister flame is going to bring us food."
A few days of help and she was talking like that man could be trusted. "We don't know that. What happens if he stops coming? We'll end up starving." Mary said.
"That won't happen if you stop meaning mean to him." Amy said. She puffed out her cheeks and looked away. "I don't wanna go."
"Well, you don't have a choice. Go grab your stuff, we're leaving."
"No!" Amy yelled as she ran off, joining Millicent beneath a dead tree. Mary glared and Amy stuck out her tongue in return.
She'd forgotten how young Amy was. When Millicent ended up too sick to move and Maureen's vision began to go bad, she'd started taking Amy out on hunt's despite her being the second youngest. She whined and struggled to keep up but sucked it up since they had no other choice.
"I'll go." Maureen said quietly from Mary's side. Her cloudy eye wasn't as bad as it used to be, the focus of her gaze much better. Good enough to use a weapon.
At least one of them understood where she was coming from.
While the others meandered about, Mary and Maureen prepared themselves, taking off after saying their goodbyes.
Normally they had to be extremely cautious, even around the cave acting as their home, but there'd been a noticeable decrease in the giant monsters around their general area. And based off the remains they found, almost always slashed up, it was yet another thing that could be attributed to the mysterious warrior lending them aid.
Why was some stranger going to so far for them? No matter what angle she approached the question, no satisfactory answer came.
A fit of violent coughs yanked Mary out of her thoughts, her chest alight with a festering pain that strengthen with each one.
Despite her best efforts they slowed, Maureen patting her back.
"Maybe…" Maureen began. "…maybe you should let that man help you."
"I'm fine. I don't-" Another fit of coughs assailed Mary, cutting her off. "I-I don't need the help of some stranger." She insisted between coughs. She refused to let that man lay his hands on her and use those flames on her. The others might be fine now, better than they ever been even, but there was no telling what else he had done to them. "Don't tell me you think we can trust that man too."
Maureen's eyes dropped. "I don't think it has anything to do with trust. You're getting sicker Mary and-"
"And nothing! I don't need his help!" She yelled, Maureen filching. The pain in her chest flared, growing alongside her anger. She took a deep breath and resumed their trek. "Come on. We need to go find some food."
Maureen silently fell in behind her but Mary could still feel her gaze.
Why was everyone acting like she was in the wrong?
…
The ground tremored.
Trees shook.
The powerful snap of a jaw filled the air.
Mary and Maureen turned a corner, ducking between a pair of fragmented stone buildings. The massive dog chasing them skidded, slamming into one of the walls as it pursued them, kicking up dust and sending pebbles flying. It closed the distance quickly, slobbering maw wide open as it picked up speed.
They cut through several of the ruins buildings, failing to lose the rabid animal, but managing to put enough distance between them that they weren't immediately reduced to food the moment they broke free from the cover offered by the structures.
There was a cliff straight ahead. They reached that and they could lead the overgrown dog over the edge.
As they closed in, the pain in Mary's chest flared up once more, yet another fit of coughs overtaking her. She tried to ignore it. To keep running and reach the cliff. To be strong.
The pain proved too much and she began to slow, numbness spreading across her body.
She could smell the sickening sweet scent of the rot infected dog. Hear its desperate snarls and feel its spit hitting her. The ground behind her shook and she twisted around, steel dagger in hand.
Dammit, if she was going to die, she was going to buy Maureen time.
The dog's teeth lined mouth darted straight for her. Mary pulled back the dagger, teeth gritted.
Something slammed into her side just as she charged in.
Maureen, face twisted in fear and horror, stood in Mary's face, frozen still.
"No!" Mary screamed as the jaw snapped shut. Not like this. Not because of her.
A wave of flames. Pains roars. Scorched flesh and blood.
Once more that scene played out before her.
The man stood before the beast they could only run from, red flames leaking off the pitch-black blade of his weapon, and a frozen Maureen, tucked beneath his left arm. His eyes, a grayish silver, shifted to Mary.
If it weren't for this man Maureen would be dead. If it weren't for him, she and Amy probably would've died back when he first came across them.
The pain within Mary worsened, her vision blurring as she coughed up globs of blood. The world shifted and she left the ground. Probably picked up by that man.
Mary couldn't bring herself to fight him.
Weak and pathetic as she was, what could she even do?
…
Mary awakened to familiar darkness and an odd sense of clarity.
The dull aches. The faint but ever-present burns. The writhing…thing beneath the surface. None of it was there to cloud her mind.
She rose up, the cave empty of all but Maureen. The man must have taken them back.
"Are you alright?" Maureen asked. How could she act as if she wasn't almost killed? As if Mary hadn't been the sole reason she could've died?
"I'm sorry." Mary whispered.
Maureen's eyes widened and she waved her hands. "You don't have anything to be sorry for Mary. You were doing what you thought was best like always." She said. And those decisions had almost gotten them killed. Almost gotten them killed if it wasn't for that man.
"Is he still here?" Mary asked as she stood up, no pain rising up in response.
"He's outside with Millicent and the others."
Nodding, she took off, Maureen quickly following as she made her way out of the cave. It didn't take them long to reach the entrance and just as Mary said, the others awaited them. Amy was talking the man's ear off, practically bouncing around him as she fired off question after question. Millicent stood beside them, Polyanna held in her arms.
And the man looked out of place as always. His loose clothing was tattered like theirs and the few pieces of armor he wore -shoulder pieces, arm guards, and shin pieces- were far different than anything the soldiers were. The dark pieces of armor were almost layered, tied together by red rope. And weirdly of all, he had more than one sword. Two were tied to his right hip, one to his left, and another, much longer one, tied around his torso.
He was the first to notice them, his gaze flicking to her and the short ponytail his black hair was bound into swaying as he shifted to face them. Amy and Millicent caught on, both rushing to Mary to check on her.
Mary ignored them and walked up to the man.
He stared down at her.
She didn't trust him. Someone just coming along and deciding to help them for no apparent reason? And that someone happening to be immune to the sickness they and everything else around them had? It was too good to be true.
But Maureen was right. This wasn't about trust.
"I want to be strong like you." She said, refusing to look away. "Teach me, old man."
"Jin." He said.
"What?"
"My name is Jin." He broke off the staring contest, looking between them. "I will teach you, all of you starting tomorrow." His eyes returned to her. "For now, I suggest you get some rest."
Amy immediately threw a dozen questions his way while Maureen and Millicent both looked surprised.
Whatever this man wanted, they needed to make use of him while he was around. She wanted to, she had to, become strong. So strong that nothing could threaten them again.
No matter what it took.