{Creature Hunt} The Death Millipede

[Analisia Moonbright]

"I am happy that I came as well. You make for good company. And I don't think you're stupid at all. In fact, I think you are rather bright, as well as brave." She says softly. Her voice gentle for once. This was the longest she had stayed in anyone's company since she had left her home. His easy going temperament made her smile often, which was rare. She thought on this a moment, until realizing that he had asked a question.

"Oh yes, my father tried very hard to teach me. He used to say that it would help me become a better hunter, and keep me out of trouble. I didn't want to listen though, I guess at the time I didn't want to be a hunter like him. I just wanted to be as normal as possible," she sighs inaudibly. Holding one arm tightly across her chest, the other gripping the pommel hard. "Yes, I suppose you could say I had a brother. Although we were not blood kin. He was my father's only begotten child. I was just a stray found in the woods. They are the only family I can remember, and they never treated me as anything other than family...."

She pauses for a moment, her gaze staring straight ahead.

"What was your family like Nate?"

(yeah that sounds good)

[Nate]

Nate's attention slowly moved from the road to Analisia as she responded. He had always preferred to believe that he was just stumbling his way into the dangerous situations that he did by accident, but he often sought them out to fulfill some desire he didn't quite understand himself. Thinking that he'd been doing it because he was stupid made it feel a bit less voluntary in his eyes. But the words still gave him a strange feeling in his stomach, and it brought a smile to his face.

“Oh, hm.” he said as he slowly looked back to the road. “I had brothers like that. A few of them, actually.” Nate didn't delve much into the topic after first mentioning it, but as she asked about his family, he fell silent for a moment before finally mustering up a response.

“Well, it was just my Mum and I for a long time. Since my Dad was a knight, he was gone a lot. I'd only seen him maybe... four or five times before he finally stayed around long enough to teach me how to use a sword. Then he uh...” Nate said, pausing for a moment while he rubbed the back of his head. “Well... he was a knight, and he fell in battle. After that, I was really mad a for while and I left home, but then I met up with a group of mercenaries. They were like my brothers for a few years before we all decided to split up 'n go our own ways. But after a while of being with them, I just sort of... stopped being mad, I guess.”

[Analisia Moonbright]

"I can understand leaving home under duress. I did much the same thing with my home. It is why I have kept travelling for so long," she nods slightly, a sick feeling coming to her stomach as she thinks about what she did to her family. Then shakes it off mentally, now was not the time nor place to think about that. "Why did you leave the mercenaries if you were so close to them? And what was it like to travel with a pack like that?"

She was curious about his father, but assumed that asking more about him would be unwanted from Nate. It seemed that, like herself, he didn't want to delve too far into family matters. While talking like this, she could almost forget that she was injured, not even thinking about it in the past few minutes of their conversation. She had missed having straight conversation without worry, far more than she had realized in the past. "What drew you towards these mercenaries? You don't exactly seem the type to be a sell sword so much as a chaser of adventures."

[Nate]

Nate released a sharp exhale as he listened to her speak. "I'm not even sure what I was angry about. It was really strange, to just be mad at nothing and everything at the same time." he said, a shrug followed to dismiss the idea. It was in the past and he had since moved on from that point in his life.

"Well, we all decided that it was time to go on our own ways. Everybody had a different idea on what to do next, so I guess it was just time. But it was nice while it lasted. Everybody was... nice. We all got along. It was like we were just a big family." he said. The memories were bitter, but they were bitter sweet. He missed his brothers in arms yet he knew that their decision had made them all happier, so he rested easy with the choice that he had made. As Analisia brought up the question of what drove Nate to join a band of mercenaries, who are typically known for their less than just deeds, he smiled warmly.

"Well... It wasn't exactly what drew me to them, as much as how I sort of lost a drinking contest and ended up being their pack mule for a time." Nate said and a short fit of laughter followed. The week that he and Tarian had carried a large portion of the group's supplies were just as fond of a memory. "I was planning on leaving right after I'd fulfilled my end of the bet, but I ended up meeting everybody and really liking them all. We mostly worked as body guards anyways, so it wasn't like we were contracted to kill people or raid towns or something. The coin was nice too, but I saw a lot of amazing things with them."

[Analisia Moonbright]

She listened carefully to what he said about the mercenaries. Then chuckled momentarily at how he had joined with them. Only to end the laughter in a hiss, curling up into herself for a second. After a few moments of harsh breathing she straightened out again and turned her head to look at Nate, still smiling softly.

"It seems as though your misfortune turned to benefit you. What a wonderful thing to find family and friends in such an unexpected place. I did rather consider most mercenaries as vagabonds and louts. Perhaps that is just a mask that they wear to the public, or maybe a misconception. It can't be half as bad as some of the other misconceptions people have about those who are different than themselves." She turns her eyes away suddenly. Then turns back to face the road, moving slow to keep from further hurt. She goes quiet. Not really sure what to say next, despite wanting to continue the conversation. Analisia knew that her social skills were lacking after so many years avoiding public contact with other beings; but this was the first time she found it to be a detriment. She decided, rather than embarrassing herself and perhaps doing harm, she would go the rest of the trip in silence.

In the quiet, she let her mind wander. If Nate was as accepting as he came off, perhaps he could come to be a friend, rather than just someone that she traveled with at the moment. Thinking about it, she wasn't sure if she knew how to allow someone to be a friend, or if she would turn around and push him away. She hunched forward, her body reacting to her thoughts.

[Nate]

Nate's quiet laughter died down as he heard Analisia hiss in pain. He glanced over to her as she turned and looked back at him with a smile, to which he met with one of his own. As she went on to explain how she had viewed most mercenaries as she did, his eyes wandered back to the road.

"I thought the same when I first met them too, just thought they were a bunch of cutthroat thugs out to make some coin at the expense of another person's life. They didn't even seem to be that way when I look back on it, they were just a bit... rebellious. But I ended up learning a lot from them. They taught me that everybody has a story, and I learned to not judge somebody based on first appearances or their past. They might have been bad people once, or had done bad things, but they were different then." His eyes shifted over to watch her turn before he finally reclined slightly on the saddle. The road ahead of them was long, worn, and seemed to extend onward endlessly. "Hell, we'd never even actively sought to kill anybody. There were some highwaymen and bandits looking to rob the coaches and caravans we escorted, but but our hands were always forced."

Nate fell silent soon after, allowing for the sound of their travel to fill the quiet. It was peaceful, a beautiful contrast to the hell they had endured earlier. The ride back to Avaleur would be long, and it'd be rough, but at least he had some good company to make it that much less boring.

(Continued here)