Leaves rustled as Shadow walked through the wastelands of the forest, he hadn't slept that night. Not that he needed to. Besides, it was much better staying up to watch the spoiled little brat he had kidnapped.
He walked up to her and saw her peacefully in her sleep. He crouched down close to her eyes, close enough that he could feel her soft gradual breaths on his skin.
He sucked in a large amount of air and opened his mouth.
"WAKE UP YOU LITTLE CUNT. THE SUN'S BEEN UP FOR HOURS!" He shouted as loud as he could.
Sure enough, Liora jumped up screaming and banged her head against the piece of log that lay by her side. She looked up and Shadow with a deep frown on her face.
Shadow smiled at her feeling very much satisfied. There were no limits to how petty Shadow could be.
She kept looking at him, her hands holding the spot on her head that hurt, tears began gathering around her eyes whilst she maintained her gaze with Shadow.
"Hey come on now, that was just a joke" he took a step back and bent low, hoping she would understand and not do what he thought she was about to do.
But she in fact did what he hoped she wouldn't.
She began crying.
"No no no, I'm really sorry"
"Hey calm down now. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for you to bang your head against a log of wood"
"Please stop crying, I'll get you some sweets, maybe a chocolate cake or ice cream?" He offered.
"Shit, you don't have those in this world, do you?" He cursed at himself. He just felt a little goofy and wanted a slight payback for what she had done the night before.
But rather she just kept crying, wiping her eyes and nose like a child that she truly was. A certain guilt tugged at Shadow's emotions.
He simply sat down and looked at her, he had absolutely no experience with crying children. All he knew was, stick a lollipop into a kids mouth and there would be silence.
Well there was no lollipop.
He sighed and got back to his feet and spread his arms and legs out. "Here, I'll let you hit me just once. Then we can call it even?" He asked her hopefully.
She looked at him with teary eyes, a little smile forming at her lips. Shadow began doubting his mental faculties and why he had decided to do this.
Liora smiled at him and nodded. She stopped crying and wiped her eyes clean.
"Well that was fast. Just one hit remember? Then we'll call it even...."
Before Shadow could finish his statement, Liora's foot swung upwards towards the crotch of Shadow.
He hadn't expected it. It was a lightning fast attack, something he would never expect from an underage girl such as her.
Shadow doubled over to the ground grunting in pain. He held his balls with such care and passion.
"Never again!" He swore. Never again would he let himself into this situation because of his petty feelings. He felt a boot step on his head. Sure enough it was Liora and she was grinning down at him.
"Serves you right. Cunt!" She giggled as Shadow threw her foot from his head whilst he struggled to stand up.
He staggered slightly but balanced himself and kept one hand holding his balls while he used the other hand to rip his cloak of Liora.
"Let's... Let's get going". He grunted once again and awkwardly walked towards the south. They were heading towards the Capitol.
"Sure you don't need to rest?" Liora giggled as she followed behind him but he pointedly ignored her and half walked, half dragged his legs. He slung his travel sack on his shoulders and tried his best to maintain his breathing.
It was a long journey ahead of them.
***
"Hey, out of the way?" A man who sat on horseback while pulling a carriage shouted at them. He had a whip in hand and Shadow certainly did not want to get cracked on the back with that whip. Terrible experience.
"Bumbling fools, fuck outta here! Ya don't deserve the little girly by yer side. Give her to me for five gold eeh?" Another man called out towards them. But Shadow ignored him.
They stood out too much. He didn't know such vast differences existed with the Empire's Capitol and the territories surrounding it.
Everyone here wore silk garments or cotton, light clothing that may reveal the underworking of a well built woman. Shadow turned his attention away from the woman who poked her head out from a window and waved at him. Her breasts flayed about in the open.
He pulled Liora along, making sure to dodge and wave past unnecessary trouble. It seemed they were in the merchant parts of the city.
He saw a woman selling meat by the corner and walked over there, he pulled off his hood and looked at the woman who seemed pleasantly surprised.
"Hey, good day" he greeted.
"Well aren't you looking mighty hefty. Mind if you could rock my bottoms?" She grinned at him, revealing two holes in her mouth where he teeth should have been.
Shadow resisted the urge to throw up. He heard Liora giggle right behind him.
"Maybe later" he smiled back at her. "I just need to know where the Office of Imperial arms is at" he asked her gently.
Her face slowly turned into a scowl. "Tch, what a waste, good lord. Are you signing up for the army? For glory and honor and all that crap?" She asked tentatively.
"Ooh no no, nothing of the sort" he shook his head. "I have a letter of Truce". He admitted. The meat seller eyed him calmly then pointed with her free-hand.
"See that white dome building over there towards the left? I don't know how you'll get there but that's where it is" she turned her attention back to her meat. Picking up her knife and chopping off a chunk of meat.
"Aah, thank you very much' he thanked her.
She looked back at him. "If you really wanna thank me, come back here by sunset, I'll take you to my rooms and we can..."
Shadow was already meters away from her, walking away as fast as he could.