Amira yelped as Leto's crushing strength constricted her wrist, depriving her hand of blood flow.
Leto coldly glared at her and spoke with an assertive voice through gritted teeth.
"What do you think your doing?"
"I- I'm sorry! I was just going to wipe some of the blood off your face, I swear!"
Leto continued to glare at her and stood up. He grabbed his makeshift bag of harvested monster meat and dragged Amira to the front of the hall.
"Sit here and don't move."
He let go of her wrist and walked out once again. Amira rubbed her wrist as her eyes teared up from the pain.
Leto returned shortly after, and to his surprise, she actually listened. She was still sitting on the edge of the stage, facing the entrance. By now, the pain subsided a bit and she was left with a bruise on her wrist. Leto placed layed out the hide of a monster that was highly resistant to fire and assembled the sticks and leaves as he'd done before.
As the meat was searing above the blue flame, Leto looked at Amira.
She was still wearing the withered bandages and his shirt which was oversized on her tantalizing body. Her face was sullen and her eyes were heavy, she looked tired and depressed. Leto cleared his throat and straightened his back.
"I'm sorry."
Amira looked at Leto in the eyes and he looked into hers.
Her crimson eyes lit up and her shoulders slightly raised, as if a huge burden had been lifted from her.
"I'm sorry as well. I just wanted… to see your face."
She looked away and brought her knees to her face, hiding herself. Leto looked away as well and his cheeks slightly turned red.
"After you left, I got anxious. And then when you didn't come back before the sun fell, I got even more terrified. I kept thinking that you either died or abandoned me in this place. I'm scared to be alone right now and I'm honestly not sure if I should believe that the war ended hundreds of years ago. It just seems… made up."
Leto stared at the fire and inhaled deeply.
"Do you want to know how I got here?"
Amira looked back at him and nodded with a smile.
Leto sighed and a slight smile appeared on his face, harboring no joy.
"Four years ago, I was fighting at the Northern Border with a dear friend. I got injured and forced to retreat and receive medical treatment, they helped me with that, and killed the beast that had hurt me. I was resting in the med tent when multiple people rushed in and ushered the injured out. A few people, including me, were able to fight again by now so I stayed. A Behemoth had managed to break through our defences and ravage the area. My friend got injured while fighting it and I stepped in, the Behemoth was distracted so I thought it'd be the perfect time to attack. Sadly, I was severely wrong. I was instantly swatted away and flew into the woods nearby, I received multiple injuries and blacked out from it.
The first time I woke up, I was being dragged around by these funny looking little green fellas, before I could try anything though, I was knocked out again. When I awoke the second time, I was in a cave surrounded by multiple corpses. I managed to kill the little guys unscathed and then rested and treated some of my wounds."
Leto dropped his head, remembering every detail.
"Then after that, I just roamed the forest looking for a way out. For the last four years. Anyway, enough about that. Foods ready."
Leto grabbed a few of the skewers and presented them to Amira, she smiled weakly and took them.
"Thank you…"
Leto looked at her and he could feel his heart beating through his chest.
"Yeah, no problem. Oh, uh… let me see your wrist."
"What?"
"The one I hurt, I was going to heal it."
Amira set down the skewer and her eyes glistened.
"Thank you!"
After that awkward exchange, they both ate quietly, enjoying the delicious meal Leto had gathered.
Once they finished eating, Leto went to sew a set of clothes for Amira, and she decided to get a bit of sleep.
Leto's technique for sewing clothes was quite crude, which was to be expected since he never formally learned. Luckily, the beast who'd hide he somehow managed to procure despite his… episode.
The beast had a coat around it of a wool like material that was resistant to heat and fairly difficult to cut. It was mainly different shades of black, gray, and white, and this specific one was black with a slight blue tint on it, meaning that it would help protect against larger amounts of heat and was even more difficult to cut.
Leto sat twiddling with a needle and the wool until the sun fell, then he decided to get some sleep. The top was nearly done, he made the sleeves long and made a hole for her thumb to poke through so the sleeve wouldn't ride up her arm. Obviously, once they returned to civilization, they were going to throw out the crude clothing and buy some that was of quality.
He set down the top as he finished the sleeve then layed down on the bench adjacent from the one Amira was sleeping on.
'It's a little chilly in here, I hope she's not cold.'
Tomorrow, Leto was definitely going to make two blankets…
And two pillows.
As Leto fell into the embrace of sleep, memories he'd drowned had swam to the surface once again, infecting his dreams.
He saw a solitary house in a forest with a body of water behind it, he saw a chamber full of dead nobles and soldiers, at the top of a set of stairs and resting upon a throne, a headless king sat. There was a small shed in a forest where Leto and Halia were hiding, only to be found and killed. Then he was in a baroque manor surrounded by snow, a warm and caring woman with a scar on her face ate dinner with him.
Many more settings were built by his mind, each falling and leaving him bitter.
His sleep was like a mind hex. He tossed and turned and was woken up with a shock multiple times, only to be lured into the trap multiple times.