The first thing Victoria felt was pain.
It sat in her body like a weight she couldn't shake off, pressing behind her eyes, down her spine, pooling hot and ugly in her side. Her breath caught as she stirred, lashes fluttering open.
Trees.
Dark trunks rising into a canopy of green and shadow. Leaves whispering overhead. The smell of earth and sap and smoke.
Her heart spiked.
She lurched upright on instinct and immediately cried out, collapsing forward with a sharp, helpless gasp.
Her leg screamed.
Victoria sucked in air through clenched teeth, hands clawing at the ground as white-hot pain shot up from her ankle and knee. She froze there, shaking, waiting for it to fade enough to think.
That was when she noticed the crude, herbal bandage wrapped around her lower leg
Her head snapped up.
A boy sat across the small clearing, perched on a fallen log like he belonged there. Hood down. He had dark thick, short, wavy hair that curled at the end. He was sharpening a knife against a stone in his hands. He was young, much younger than her, but his eyes seemed tired even at that age.
He didn't look at her.
Victoria's eyes flew to her sides.
Nothing was there.
Her breath hitched.
She searched the clearing wildly, but came upon on nothing.
She shoved herself back despite the protest from her leg, glaring at the boy.
"Where are they?" she asked.
The boy finally spoke, still not looking up.
"You thought we were going to let a stranger wake up armed?" he said flatly.
He lifted a holster from behind the log.
Her twin guns, stolen twin guns, rested there.
Her stolen sword leaned against the log beside him, close enough for his fingers to brush the hilt.
She opened her mouth—
"Wh–"
Footsteps echoed. They were soft and unhurried.
Her head snapped toward the sound, a figure stepped out from between the trees.
He was tall and lean. A strong build beneath a simple white shirt, sleeves rolled up. Leather pants scuffed and worn. Blue eyes that caught the firelight. Short black hair framed his face. He was a handsome man, like one of those heroes from the tales she used to read back then.
His eyes also reflected a paternal spirit.
He smiled gently, like this was all very normal.
In his hands was a stick.
Twelve fish skewered cleanly along it, silver scales catching the light.
The boy on the log looked up. "You sure took your time, Sir."
"Come one~" the man replied mildly. He tossed the stick toward him. "I only learned to fish a month ago. And, you don't have to cal–you were purposely calling me that to make me feel embarrassed, weren't you?"
His gaze shifted to Victoria.
"Oh," he said. "Our guest is awake."
Victoria stared at him.
"Who are you?" she asked, voice tight. "Both of you."
The boy snorted.
"No."
Her brows drew together. "Excuse me?"
"No names," he repeated, finally meeting her eyes. "You don't need them."
"Why?" she asked.
The boy's jaw tightened. She could see the exhaustion in his face. The anger sitting just beneath it.
"Why would you even want to know my name, huh?" he said, voice edged with something bitter and sharp. He flicked his hood off, his tanned skin exposed to her.
"Am I not an inferior race?"
The words landed hard.
Victoria was frozen still. "Oh..."
Her stomach sank as understanding clicked into place, cold and ugly. The way people like her acted. The way they talked. It was all clear.
She didn't meet his eyes.
The tall man sighed, rubbing his face.
"Don't scare her," he said.
The boy shot him a look. "I didn't scare her."
The tall man, turned back to her, apologetic but firm.
"He's injured," he said. "And angry. And you… come from a world that apparently hasn't been kind to him."
Victoria said nothing.
She looked at the ground. At her wrapped leg. The fire cracked.
Then she lifted her eyes again.
"I didn't choose where I was born," she said quietly. "And I didn't choose my race, my parents or my religion."
Adam scoffed. "Funny. That's what we usually say."
Alaric stepped between them slightly, subtle but deliberate.
"Enough," he said. Then, to Victoria, "You're safe. We pulled you from the wreck, came just in time."
Her breath caught. "The bomb—"
"Went off," Alaric said. "The train is currently inside the canyon, in pieces. Luckily, you were the only alive person in there. Some staff were dead, though. And some... cultists."
Adam gritted his teeth. "Damn bastards. Who even killed them?"
Victoria looked at him. He looked back. "No way..."
"Yes, indeed." She raised a hand against her chest, in a proud manner. She stood up, "It was the work of me! The Knigh–"
The pain shot back and she fell back into the ground.
Alaric looked at her. "Really? You defeated them?" He asked.
"Y-yes..." She winced.
Adam nodded before starting to flay the fish.
He got done quickly and put them above the fire, letting them cock.
Victoria watched the fish fry over the fire, the orange light reflecting in her eyes.
Suddenly, Victoria felt a nudge by her side. She flinched and looked towards it. It was...a creature.
Low to the ground. Compact. Armored in overlapping, slate-brown scales that caught the firelight in dull, earthen tones. When it noticed her attention, it curled slightly. But, above all, it was really adorable.
Victoria froze.
"…Oh."
The creature made a sound.
"Gek! Mmmp!"
It sniffed her sleeve, something Victoria found utterly blissful.
She leaned forward despite the pain in her leg, eyes wide, reverent, utterly unguarded.
"You're magnificent," she whispered.
Adam and Alaric glanced over, slowly.
Victoria placed a hand over her mouth. Her pupils emintated sparkles and the aura around her lightened up, in response to the adorable creature Infront of her.
"Look at you. Those scales. That posture. Amazing. Amazing!"
She turned sharply toward him. "What is its name?"
"....Tani," Adam answered reluctantly.
Victoria beamed like she had been handed a divine revelation.
"Of course you are Tani!" she said immediately, voice bright with absolute certainty. "Tani means dragon, after all!"
Alaric blinked.
He turned slowly toward Adam.
"Does it?"
Adam deadpanned, not missing a beat.
"It means lizard," he said. "I don't know where she got the dragon part."
Adam stared at the scene, brow furrowed, deeply unsettled.
"…She's weird," he muttered.
Some time passed, the fish were almost done cooking, Tani had fallen asleep.
Victoria admired the lizard's sleeping form
"What happened after? Anything special?" Adam asked.
"Hm?" Victoria looked to his direction.
"I'm guessing it was the cultists that bombed it," Adam said.
"Yes," she said. "It was them, but not the first wave, they were incompetent. I beat them, but then the reinforcements came and..."
Alaric nodded. Adam took off the fish from over the fire. He pulled one out and placed it Infront of the sleeping Tani and then one to Alaric and then to him and finally to Victoria.
"Eat," he said. Alaric smiled as he bit into the fish flesh.
"Thank you," Victoria said.
The feeling was warm, very warm. Warmer than Victoria had felt in years. She liked that feeling.
When she went to sleep, she smiled. But, her dreams were scarred by blood. She remembered yesterday. The feeling of a chopped head in her hands felt real.
The events played inside her head in loops over and over, twisting as they did. She slept through the nightmares, like she always did.