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Of all the inconvenient places that stupid cave could have led it just had to be in the middle of a goddamn woods infested with-
The snarling of the giant wolf behind her grew louder as it lunged at her. She dove to the side, doing all she could to protect the bundle in her arms. As her back hit the mud she raised her arm, summoning her magic to send a plume of fire at the beast. It staggered away from her, panicking as its fur caught fire.
Fantastic, now where was-
GRRRRrrrrr…
Oh for gods-
Before her body could react she was swatted across the forest floor by an oversized, clawed paw. As she hit the ground, out of breath and a faint but persistent stinging coming from her torso, her hold on the bundle in her arms slipped sending it tumbling into the mud.
Shez was wailing now. The baby had been crying beforehand, but now she was screaming with all the strength her little lungs could muster, and her tiny face was twisted in pain, and despite all the pain in her abdomen and exhaustion running through her body she forced her body to get up and scoop the girl into her arms.
“It… It’s ok, Shez… It’s going to be…”
She reached into her bag as the wolves drew closer, her hand closing around a metallic sphere. She clicked the button on its top and threw the object behind her. She hid both her and Shez’s face as the sphere let out a blinding flash.
With the two wolves dazed she willed her body to move. She had to run, get out of these woods, if only so the baby could survive.
Her legs only made it a few feet before giving out, her body only having enough energy left to hide the two behind a tree. She looked down at herself, two large gashes further staining her muddied clothes with blood…
She was going to die here…
All her effort to save the girl in her arms and all she’d succeeded in doing was ensure her demise. She should have just… she should have just euthanized her like Thales had told her too… at least then she would have went painlessly.
“I’m sorry…” she said, bringing the… her child close to her chest, “I’m so sorry…”
She could hear the wolves stalking closer, Shez’s persistent crying, the rain pouring down…
…
…
…
The pained howls of one of the beasts…?
One large body hitting the ground, the whistling of a blade cutting through the air, and another body hitting the ground…
She heard footsteps squelching through the mud towards her and struggled to lift her head.
Towering above her was a man, bright orange tunic covering his muscular frame. He crouched down next to her and said something, but at this point she couldn’t hear him.
“P-Please… save… her…”
She heard the man yell something, before the darkness consumed her vision.
——————
She woke up to a dull ache in her torso and a tent ceiling.
In all honesty she didn’t expect to wake up, and though she might have been delirious from both exhaustion and blood loss she thinks that was a fair assumption.
Whatever, she was alive, her wound was healed, and Shez was…
…
Where was Shez?
She pushed herself up, her body complaining slightly but not enough to stop her, and started looking around for… well anything really. Her bag, the clothes that had been removed from her body, her baby.
She had just staggered to her feet when she heard a voice behind her.
“Ahh, you’re awake.”
She whipped around, raising her hand to summon a sigil. Standing behind her was a blonde haired beast who looked vaguely familiar. He raised his hands slightly though the look on his face told her he didn’t see her as a serious threat.
“Hey now, I’m not gonna-“
“Where is she!?” She demanded, her voice wavering slightly despite her best attempts to keep it steady.
“You mean your kid right?” He asked. Her hand didn’t waver, and the beast just shook his head. “She’s in a tent nearby, our healer didn’t want her in the medical tent in case she caught something. I can take you to her… if you put the magic away.”
She stood still for a moment, before finally lowering her hand. It’s not like she had much of a choice, with her body still weak.
“Fine.”
He nodded, making his way outside the tent.
“Your bag and clothes are underneath the cot. There’s also a cloak, the doctor said sunlight might be bad for your skin.” He shrugged, “Anyways, I’ll be outside when you’re ready.”
With that he finally left. She huffed to herself, before reaching under the cot and grabbing her bag.
Opening it she found her clothes had been stuffed inside. She frowned, pulling them aside to see that everything still seemed to be there. Rations, the two remaining flashbangs, her journals…
She shook her head, she’d check more in depth later to make sure everything was actually there. After closing her bag she put her clothes back on, thankfully cleaned of the blood and mud and repaired, before throwing the cloak she was provided over her shoulders.
Finally she grabbed her bag and opened the tent flap, wincing at the sunlight. She pulled the cloak's hood over her head as the beast started leading her away. The sun would certainly take some getting used to…
As they walked she noticed those around the camp watching her.
“Ignore them,” The bea… no, the man. If was going to be living on the surface she’d have to get used to calling them as such. The man said, “They’ve been talking about you since we brought you back. Bit of a headache if you ask me…”
“…You’re not curious?”
“None of my business if you ask me.”
…
…
…
“…How did you… find us?”
“We were camped nearby.” He hummed to himself, “Saw your fire spells and decided to investigate. We were having trouble figuring out exactly where they came from, but then we heard your kid screaming and… well we couldn’t just walk away at that point.”
…Huh…
The rest of the walk was spent in silence. They eventually reached the tent, the man opening the flap to reveal a blue haired child staring at Shez who was laying on bedding.
The girl reached out towards Shez.
“Byleth.” The man warned, “Leave the kid alone.”
The girl turned around to reveal large eyes the same color as her hair, and a blank face. She silently got up and made her way towards them.
Something about the girl made her hair stand on end, and she wasn’t sure what. Yes the girl’s blank face was somewhat off putting, but she’d encountered stranger people in Shambhala. There was just something… wrong about her.
Trying to shake off her discomfort she made her way over to the bedding kneeling over Shez to find her baby’s eyes closed. She gently picked her up.
“Shez?”
She stirred a bit, before her eyes opened and her face split into an excited grin. Shez’s excited gurgles and attempts to reach out for her brought a smile to her face.
“I…” she turned around to face the man, the girl having chosen to hide herself behind him, “Thank you… for saving us.”
“It wasn’t much trouble.” He waved off. After a moment of silence he spoke again. “Nearest towns a fair distance away.”
She turned her head, and eyes the man warily.
“Like I said, it’s none of my business why you were out here.” He assured, “That being said, you could stick with us if you wanted. At least till we reach someplace safer.”
“And in exchange?” She asked after a moment of silence.
“I’m sure we could find you something to do, even if it’s just watching this one.” He said looking down at the girl behind his leg. “Still, even if you were just looking after your own kid you could stay. I wouldn’t exactly feel comfortable letting you wander alone after how we found you.”
She thought about it for a moment before coming to the obvious decision. It clearly wasn’t safe on her own and it’s not like she had any actual idea where the closest area of civilization was after all…
“Okay.”
The man nodded, and held out his hand.
“You can call me Jeralt, I’m the leader of this band of mercenaries.”
She stared at his hand for a moment before taking it.
“Eurydice.”