Defiant Fate, Ch. 5: Dawn

CHAPTER 5
DAWN

Those who feel that an individual is powerless
Have never seen one man change another,
Nor have they seen the striking result
As a ripple becomes a tidal wave.

Strell was abruptly awoken to the sound of the werts in the cavern scuffling about quickly. Confused, he was not sure what to do for a moment. Everyone was in such a hurry that they nearly did not even notice that he had been awakened. Strell spotted Leon in the bunch and called out to him.

"Leon! What's going on?"

Leon heard his name and stopped and looked at Strell, then looked back towards where he was going, then looked back to Strell and briefly replied.

"Strell! There's a caravan coming by the valley and we're running low on food. We'll be back shortly!"

"Wait, Leon, what..."

But it was too late. Leon had already disappeared. Strell ran after him, not sure what exactly he planned to do. As he came around the corner, he stopped suddenly. The unnamed wert was standing in his way, with his arm extended and palm facing Strell, as if to tell him to stop.

"Not you," said the wert.

"What? But– Leon– I–" Strell could not find the words he was after.

"Not you," growled the wert. "I'm not about to let you endanger this."

"Endanger? But I–"

"You stay right there. We can handle ourselves."

The wert turned around and climbed up the ladder. Strell looked towards the ground, then up the ladder, in a haze of sadness and loneliness. He thought to himself that perhaps he wasn't wanted there after all. He took one look back towards the ladder before turning around and sitting down on his makeshift bed. He curled up in the fetal position and sighed.

It took less time than he had expected before he heard motion down the ladder. Leon was the first to show himself around the corner, followed by the unnamed wert. No one was carrying food. As the rest walked in, Strell could not contain himself from asking the obvious question.

"What happened? Did something go wrong?" he asked.

"Someone arrived before we did," sighed Leon.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Bandits attacked the caravan just as we were arriving. That's not something we want to get ourselves involved in."

"What? But the people in the caravan... they'll get hurt!"

"Strell, we are not wanted in the human world. It would only make things more complicated for everyone if we..."

Strell stopped listening at this point. All he could think about were the people in the caravan and their fear for their lives that they were likely experiencing. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned. He knew what it was like to feel that there was no one in the world to protect you. And he knew he could not live with himself if he knowingly let it happen to someone else.

"No! No! No! This isn't right!" He sprung up onto his feet. "We can't leave them like this! I won't allow it!"

"Strell, what are you–"

"If no one in here will go, then I will go myself!"

Strell ran away from the group towards the ladder. He could hear Leon call after him.

"Strell! No! Don't!"

He paused for a moment. It was those words once more – the last words he had heard from the one he had trusted most. He choked back tears and kept running, climbing the ladder. He did not once turn back. He simply kept climbing, ever upwards, until he reached the top. He looked out of the entrance, to the left and right. Forest was all around him. He did not know where to go until he heard a faint sound from the right. It was his only lead, and he jumped on it. He sprung out of the hole and raced to the right as fast as he could. Leaves and sticks crackled beneath his feet as he ran, and birds flew away in fright high above in the canopy. After a short while he came to a grassy clearing that led down into a valley. At the bottom of the valley, Strell spotted the caravan. The bandits were on foot, and had the caravan surrounded. He could faintly see what appeared to be the leader talking to someone on the caravan, but he could not hear what was being said. Not knowing what else to do, he ran down the slope of the valley. As he got closer, he could faintly begin to hear the conversation.

"I ain't concerned about y'all's state of affairs, bud," said the bandit's leader. "See, it just don't seem to me like it matters much what yer doin', seein's I ain't gonna see you no more after this. Now hand it over."

"But... my family, my people... they need the food," said the timid man on the caravan. "I– I cannot..."

"Iff'n I didn't make myself clear the first time, perhaps I kin use a prop." The bandit brandished a long knife. "Is yer precious family worth more than yer life, huh?"

The other bandits laughed and applauded. Strell could not believe what he was hearing. Without even thinking, Strell yelled out.

"Hey!" he began. "You... you leave him alone!"

"Whassat?" asked the leader. The leader turned around, looked at Strell, and broke out in laughed. "Oh, oh, what's this? Look, boys, we got ourselves a real hero in this one!"

The bandits laughed even harder.

"Son, you done make a big mistake, see."

The bandit leader walked towards Strell confidently. Strell quaked in fear, but knew that running was no longer and option. He desperately looked towards the ground. He could only spy a small rock. He picked it up and threw it at the leader. It hit the leader in the forehead, causing the leader to exclaim various profanities and hold his head. The leader then regained his composure and looked at Strell. All humor was drained from his face.

"Kid, I don't know who y'are, but you got some guts." The leader ran up to Strell and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, brandishing his knife in a menacing manner. "'S too bad yer guts will soon be spilled on the ground!"

The rest of the bandits again broke out in laughter.

"Any last pleas for mercy, kid? Hmm? Perhaps you wanna call for your mommy? Ha ha! You got spunk, I give ya that."

"You– you can't do this," quivered Strell.

"Ha! I reckon I can, little man. Y'all'll need an army t' stop us."

Strell swallowed audibly, but said nothing.

"'S 'bout time you stopped talking. Enjoyed the time, kid." The bandit gave out a hearty laugh.

A voice behind Strell was not amused.

"Let him go. Now."

"Oh? An' who might you be, punk?"

Strell was not able to see who it was. The voice continued.

"I said, let him go."

"What's this kid, yer posse? Maybe this'll be fun after all! Ha!" The bandit leader tossed Strell aside. Strell looked back. There, on the hill on the valley side, was Leon, with the seven other werts behind him.

"What's up with you, cat-man?" asked the bandit leader. "Cat done got yer tongue?"

The bandits began laughing again. Leon's facial expression stayed constant.

"See, I got me a weapon here, so it seems to me that I done got the high ground. I don't care what y'all are. My boys ain't got time for games."

Leon smiled.

"I don't think we do either."

"Oh, is this a challenge? You a tough guy? I like tough guys. They go down fightin'!" The bandit leader laughed and then walked towards Leon. "Whatch'y'all gonna do, huh? Y'all think you kin–"

Leon took off his right glove. Within two blinks of an eye, he had left his position on the hill and was behind the leader, facing away from the man. The bandit turned around and looked down. Across his chest, running from the bottom-left to the top-right, were four claw marks that had torn through his shirt. His skin was showing underneath, and there was not a drop of blood to be seen. It was a perfect cut.

"It seems to me," said Leon, while looking at his gloveless hand, facing away from the bandit leader, "that we now have the high ground."

The bandit leader was dumbstruck. He said nothing, and dropped his knife out of inability to muster the physical strength to continue grasping it within his hand. The only movement from his body came from an involuntary twitch in his eyebrow. Finally, he found words.

"Wh– who th'... what the hell are you?"

Leon sighed, crossed his arms, and looked towards the sky.

"There are eight of us," began Leon, "and I assure you that I am not the most talented of the group."

Leon turned around and looked directly at the bandit leader.

"If you value what is most dear, you will not stay here any longer."

The bandit leader became incensed.

"D– Damn you! Retreat! Retreat!"

The bandit leader ran away down the valley trail. His lackeys who had previously possessed so much humor were not far behind. Their faces were pale from fear. Leon then eyed Strell and walked up to him. Strell could not face him.

"I– I'm sorry..." sobbed Strell. "I don't know what I–"

"Don't say anything more, Strell," replied Leon. I'm just glad you're safe."

Leon looked at the people at the front of the caravan. Strell looked at Leon, and then at the people Leon was looking at. The people were still quaking in fear from the event. He went up to them.

"Are... are you all right?" Strell asked to the man the bandits had been threatening.

"I– er... yes. Yes, I am. Thank you. Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me. I– I was so scared. I could not protect myself or my wife. I felt so powerless... and the supplies, what would I have done if I could not get them to my town? Oh, thank you again." The man clasped his hands together and bowed towards Strell.

"I..." Strell was not quite sure what to say. "No, I didn't do anything. Thank them." He gestured towards Leon and the others. The man looked at them. Leon was a bit unsure what the man would think, but the man appeared to take no notice to the fact that Leon was not human.

"Oh, thank you all," said the man. "I do not know who you are, but thank you."

"I– I..." Leon appeared not to know what to do.

"Leon," Strell whispered. "The response to 'thank you' among humans is 'you're welcome'."

Leon cleared his throat.

"Er, you're welcome." Strell suspected that Leon was not quite sure what this statement meant.

"Is there anything we can do to repay you? I will never forget this."

"Repay us?" asked Leon. "What–"

Strell whispered to Leon again.

"If you do a good thing, a human will usually want to do a good thing back." Strell turned to the man and thought of exactly what to ask. "Do you have any food in that caravan?"

The man's eyes brightened.

"Ah! Food! Yes!" The man seemed proud of his reply. "What food do you want? We will give anything! We have the finest cheese in the land, or–"

"Actually," interrupted Strell, "what we'd really like is some sort of meat."

"Ah! Very good! Here, here, you can have this." The man gestured towards one of the large boxes held in the caravan. "This is lamb meat. It is the finest meat we have. Take it, please. It is yours. Are you sure you will have nothing else? We have much food to give."

"Well..." began Strell, "Do you have any potatoes?"

"Do we have potatoes? Of course we have potatoes! Here, potatoes are back here." The man got off of his mount and walked back to another box. He opened it and removed a large bag of potatoes, and then handed the bag to Strell.

"I think that should be good," said Strell, smiling.

The man got back up on his mount.

"May you go in peace, kind souls. I will not forget what you have done."

The man cracked the reins for the horses and the caravan began to depart. Strell waved goodbye as the man began to leave, but it was not long before the caravan came to a halt again. The man seemed puzzled, and looked down the caravan line. Further down, there was a girl, roughly Strell's age, getting off a horse. She stomped up to Strell, and then began to speak.

"I can't stand around any longer! Do you know what you've done? Do you?"

Strell was shocked, and didn't know what to say.

"I, uh..."

"Emily!" said the man sternly at the girl. Emily appeared to be his daughter. "Do not make any trouble for these people! They saved our lives!"

"For now, sure. But kid, do you know who they were? Huh?"

"Er... no, I don't," said Strell in an awkward manner.

Emily spat to the side and continued.

"We come from a dark town, see. Old King Jules has abandoned us all because there are so many bandits and thieves hanging around that he didn't see the point in bothering to keep the peace."

Strell recognized the name of King Jules. That meant that he was still in Astria. Emily continued.

"They let us live because we tolerate their doing stuff like this. It's sort of an equal relationship, see. They don't kill us, we don't stop them from robbing us."

Strell shook his head.

"That sounds more like holding you hostage than an 'equal relationship'..."

"Whatever. See, the thing is this: now you've done what you did, they'll have no reason to keep their side of their bargain since we've gone back on ours. 'Course, we didn't mean to, but you had to go and do what you did."

"Emily, please..." begged the man.

"So whatcha gonna do? Our knight in shining armor? Ha! More like our executioner."

Strell's heart sank. For once in his life, he thought for a brief moment that he had done something to change someone's life for the better, but now all of his illusions were fading. He had not helped anyone. He had only made life harder for someone else once again. He slowly clasped his head within his cupped hands and could not hold his tears back any longer. For a brief moment, he wished that he had never been born, since his existence seemed to exist for no purpose but to cause others pain and misery. He lamented his very life, and could only wish that he could undo all that he had done, but he saw little that he could possibly do anymore.

It was just then that he looked up briefly and saw Leon walking over to the man. Leon spoke.

"Where is this town?"

The face of the unnamed wert erupted into shock, and he ran over to Leon.

"You... you can't be serious! This is not our problem! They are–"

"We have already interrupted the careful flow of the human world," said Leon. "If we do nothing more, many will die. Do you wish to allow this to happen?"

"We have no place interacting with these humans! Why should we care if many humans die? That will teach them to–"

"It will teach them to curse their fate and to curse those who could have helped them, nothing more. What do you honestly expect them to do?"

"Why have none of them solved this problem themselves? They are selfish! They don't want to solve their problem because no one wants to be the first to die, the one who will never see the conclusion."

"Then perhaps they need inspiration from someone other than themselves. If you are taught nothing since birth except that you are inadequate and that you cannot solve a problem, and if the consequence of attempting and failing to solve the problem is your death, then why on earth would you ever bother?"

The unnamed wert bared his teeth and growled, turning away from Leon. Tristan spoke up.

"But what if he's right? Think about it. We've lived so long without a care in the world. Why disrupt it now?"

Leon turned to the side and closed his eyes.

"Is that such a thing to be proud of?" asked Leon. He raised his voice. "Is that all we will do until the day we die? Will that be our crowning achievement in life?"

"What are you suggesting?" asked Tristan.

Leon turned and faced the other werts and began speaking again.

"Fellow werts," he began. He took a deep breath. "What is done is done and cannot be undone. We have only the future to look towards for something that can change. But whatever it may contain, we can no longer escape responsibility for what we have done. We can hide, but we cannot escape. Whatever happens next will be either because of our actions or because of our inaction."

Strell's eyes brightened. He could not believe what he was hearing. Leon continued.

"For all our years, we have done horrible things to innocent passers-by because we had no choice, with no other source of food, but here we are, attempting to act unconcerned about any of this. It has killed me every time, and yet still I stand here today, as alive as I have always been. I–" He turned to the side. "I have tried to tell myself repeatedly that this is not our concern. We all have. I know we have. None of us wants to sacrifice what we hold dear for those with whom we are not in direct contact." He shook his head. "But... Strell's actions, and what has come from them, have opened my eyes to the reality. It is our concern. It always has been. Whether you accept or reject it, the state of the human world has always been our concern. Without it– without the human world..." He turned to look in the direction of the unnamed wert. "We would be nothing." He turned back. "We owe them our lives. We owe them our existence. At the very least, we owe them this." He turned around to face away from the werts. "I have only two choices: I can either do what I can and risk that I die or I can run away from it all and be murdered by my conscience. But... in the end, this is but my choice alone. What you do is your decision, and I am in no position to tell you otherwise." He looked towards the ground at his feet. "I never have been."

The air was still for a long time. He stayed silent after his last sentence, and no one else knew what to say. Then, slowly, Mia emerged from the pack. She walked up to him and looked up at his back. There were tears in her eyes.

"I have followed you for all my years," she sobbed, "You are our leader. I won't let you go alone. I will follow you to the edge of the world."

Saff followed her and spoke to Leon next.

"I won't run. I can't leave you here like this." Saff nodded. "I will follow you."

Jess emerged from the pack close behind Saff.

"You can count on me. I will follow you."

Tristan was close behind.

"You know I hate to be alone. I'll follow you."

Skye was next.

"There is nowhere I will go where you are not. I will follow you."

Marlon shrugged and joined the pack.

"I'm in. I'll follow you."

Leon turned to face the group.

"I... I don't know what to say."

Strell then turned to the nameless wert. The wert looked at him, growled and sighed, and then looked away.

"Fine. But only because I have nowhere else to go. I'm protecting my fellow wert. Nothing more."

Leon turned to the man at the front of the caravan and smiled.

"Is there room somewhere for eight–" Leon looked at Strell. "Nine more?"

The man was flabbergasted. He did not immediately know what to say. He shook his head out, and then provided the obvious answer.

"Yes. Yes, of course. Of course there is. There is room all around the caravan. Simply seat yourself anywhere you would like. Anywhere is fine. But you don't have to..."

Leon nodded.

"We would like to."

"If you are sure, then please, make yourselves comfortable. But I am not sure what you can..."

"Neither am I," said Leon, "but there is only one way to find out."

The group dispersed among various seating areas along the caravan. Strell and Leon both seated themselves with the man in the front and his wife. Strell was to the left of the wife, and Leon was between the wife and her husband. Strell turned towards the three and asked a question that he thought of.

"By the way, I don't believe I ever got the name of the town where you live."

"It is known as Dévoleur."

"Dévoleur? I don't believe I've ever heard of that town."

"It is not very well known. It is considered shameful by King Jules due to his lack of control over it. He would prefer it not become a common name."

"I suppose I can see that. Still... that's not very nice."

"That is... the least of our worries."

"Oh, right, yes, I suppose it would be."

The journey continued slowly down the train towards Dévoleur without any speech for many minutes. Strell noticed the man to his right continuously glace towards Leon, and then back again. He wondered whether or not Leon did not notice, or whether Leon was simply ignoring it. He also wondered what the man was thinking. It took many minutes more before he finally had at least one question answered.

"Wait a minute," said the man to Leon, at last. "Now I recognize you."

Leon sighed.

"I had hoped you wouldn't," he said under his breath.

"Yes, it was – what was it – a year ago when you stole some of our meat."

Leon closed his eyes and looked down and to the side. He stayed silent.

"It was the least invasive and destructive robbery I was ever subjected to," said the man, with a nervous laugh.

"...I'm sorry," said Leon.

"But why? You seem like such nice... er..."

"Werts, I believe we're known as."

"Yes, those. But yes. Why..."

Leon sighed and shook his head.

"I suppose I do owe an explanation if you're going to take me to your town." Leon nodded. "All right..."

Leon explained carefully and slowly all of the relevant information that the man did not know prior to Leon's explanation. He explained about how his band of werts was carnivorous, but could not kill forest creatures. He told the man about how he felt it was the only way to get any food. The man pondered what he had been told for a moment, and then replied.

"But the people of Dévoleur, besides the bandits, are very generous. Why did you not ask first?"

"Any creature's natural reaction to the unknown is to be afraid, and the natural reaction to fear is to escape from the fear. And we..." Leon sighed. "We are as unknown as you can get for humans. I'm sorry for all the trouble we have caused over the years."

The man smiled.

"To be perfectly honest, we're so used to being robbed by bandits that we practically didn't even mind. In fact, it was almost a delight when we were robbed by you; we knew that we would be safe and would be able to keep most of what we owned. Just last week I remember talking with a man who was delighted to have received such a safe robbery."

Leon laughed slightly and smiled.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

The man turned to look at Leon.

"If you are truly willing to turn a new leaf, I will hold none of your past against you."

"Turn a new leaf?" asked Leon. He evidently had not heard of the expression.

"Er, yes. Turn a new leaf. You know... reform your ways. Live your life differently."

"Oh, I see. Well... thank you."

"By the way, do... do you people have names? Do you have a name?"

"Do I have a name?" Leon was evidently still not used to the question. He looked over to Strell. Strell smiled and nodded. "Er, yes. Leon, I suppose it is."

"Well then, I am Emmanuel."

Emmanuel smiled and extended his hand. Leon looked at it sheepishly, and then remembered what Strell had taught him. He smiled and shook the man's hand.

The ride continued uneventfully for the rest of the course taken to reach the town of Dévoleur. The sky was a bright mass of sapphire on this day, with tufts of cotton caught in it here and there. Above the caravan the sun shone bright as an angel, strongly illuminating the path ahead. The wheels of the caravan slowly yawned as the caravan moved ever closer to the town. After a period of time whose exact length Strell could not quite determine, the town of Dévoleur could be seen over the horizon. It seemed like an innocent town from the distance at which he was viewing it at this particular moment, but he remembered well what Emmanuel had told them.

As the caravan grew closer, he began to see what Emmanuel had referred to. While there were decent folk ambling about, interlaced among them were many people with a shady look to them – people who looked like they were slit a throat for paltry pocket change if they knew nothing would happen because of it. None seemed to notice the werts among the caravan, or if they did, they were not fazed in the least by the sight. Given how careless the men seemed to be, Strell wagered that it was the former. The town itself seemed ordinary enough. There were houses and small shops littered all over the place, and there was one main dirt road through the town. However, before Strell could survey the surroundings any more, the caravan came to an abrupt halt. He looked forwards. There in front of the caravan was a vicious-looking character with his arm extended, telling the caravan to stop. Emmanuel suddenly looked very pale. It appeared that Emmanuel knew who the person was. Emmanuel's wife leaned over to Strell and whispered into his ear.

"That man is known only as Raoul. He is the de facto leader of this town. The bandit leader that had threatened my husband earlier, he reports directly to Raoul."

Strell looked at Raoul. He did indeed appear to be the sort of man where those on his bad side faced certain death, and where those on his good side did not fare much better. He had long and somewhat unkempt black hair, and his shirt and pants had tears in them. He wore a brown sleeveless jacket with fleece lining. Strell supposed that the jacket was likely stolen, as it seemed too good to be something Raoul would acquire honestly. A scar traversed Raoul's right eye. Strell grimaced at the thought of what likely happened to the person who gave Raoul that wound.

Raoul nodded his head at Emmanuel and spoke only one word.

"Emmanuel."

"Y– Yes?" stammered Emmanuel.

"Heard from my number two guy that there was an incident down in the valley. You know anything about this?"

Emmanuel was petrified. Strell figured he had likely not expected news to have reached the town this quickly.

"I... I..."

"'Cause, you know, we have that deal going on, and I would hate to be forced not to hold up our end of the bargain, if one of you folk begins to hold out on me." He smiled and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, wait, yes, now I remember, it seems to me that he was attacked when he tried to take his rightful possessions. Now doesn't that just beat all?"

Emmanuel could not speak out of fear.

"You know, you always were a timid one, Emmanuel. I never expected you to be the straw to break the camel's back."

His face lost all of its humor. He drew forth a large scimitar that had previously hung from his belt.

"Now, you got two options. I can either kill you and your family, take all of your possessions, and the rest of the town goes free, or you can resist and I burn this whole God-forsaken town to the ground."

Emmanuel was quivering. His face appeared as if he had seen a ghost, and it was white enough to be one itself. Raoul took a few steps forward and sneered.

"Looks like you're making the right decision, Emmanuel. This'll be over quick."

It was just then that Leon, unnoticed to this point, spoke up.

"Or," Leon began, "you could leave him alone and lead an honest life."

Raoul quickly looked for the source of the insolent voice. When he found it, he suddenly took a step back in shock. His face looked as one usually does when one has seen something that must be real, but which one simply cannot reconcile with one's previous experience.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, gesturing towards Leon. "What are you supposed to be?"

Leon responded without looking directly at him.

"I would be a wert from what you likely know as the Storm. I find it odd that you don't know me, given that our tactics used to be similar."

Raoul shook his head in anger.

"I don't know who or what you are, but you got no right standing here and talking to me like that. I own this town, and don't you forget it!"

Leon smiled and looked towards the clouds.

"Funny, isn't it, how ownership always eventually changes when it was unjustly acquired."

Raoul appeared not to have the slightest clue what Leon was talking about. He tapped the side of his scimitar against his forehead while his face bore an expression that seemed to be saying, "I warned you."

"I don't much care for your type," began Raoul, not humored in the least. "I think it's about time we saw who's boss 'round these parts!"

He brandished his scimitar and walked towards Leon. Leon simply looked towards him and nodded.

"I couldn't agree more," said Leon, simply.

Leon let himself down from his seat and took a step towards Raoul. Raoul raised an eyebrow, nodded, and then smiled.

"Oh, a real tough guy? Fine by me. Makes it fun."

"Doesn't it, though," Leon replied.

Leon took his gloves off and placed them in his pockets. As quick as he had done before, he leapt forwards before Raoul could react. Before Raoul knew what was upon him, Leon already had one hand grasping Raoul's forearm and another pushing against the dull side of the scimitar. In passing, Leon had also put a substantial scratch on Raoul’s cheek. Raoul became angry.

"What kind of cowardly move was that, huh? Let me go!"

Leon shook his head.

"I don't know. What kind was it?" He dug his claws into Raoul's forearm. Raoul yelped in pain and dropped the scimitar. "After all, you're the king of cowardly moves, I can imagine."

Raoul could not contain his anger any longer.

"I have had it! Men! Kill them! Kill them all!! Burn this damned place to the ground!!"

Bandits appeared from every nook and cranny all around. All were armed as Raoul was, and all had fire in their eyes. Leon looked up and yelled to the other werts.

"Now!" yelled Leon.

All of the werts who had lain dormant within the caravan to this point suddenly sprung to their feet and faced the bandits who surrounded them. All had gloves removed and claws bared. The werts could not quite tell what the bandits were thinking, and the feeling was likely mutual. Raoul yelled at the bandits.

"They're too fast! Forget about these vermin! Kill the damned villagers! I have had it with their insolence!"

The bandits let out a sadistic cheer and turned to search for villagers. Leon was horrified and yelled to the werts.

"Go! Don't let them hurt a single one!"

Raoul struggled in vain to free himself from Leon's grasp. Leon growled at him.

"No, you're going to sit right here and watch."

Leon took out another bandana from his pocket and gagged Raoul.

"There. We can't have you giving them any more orders, can we?"

Leon looked out towards the werts, anxiously pleading with the fates to allow no villagers to come to harm. He surveyed around to watch the other werts.

The first wert he saw was Mia. As her eyes quickly darted about, she spotted a small boy running away from a bandit. She screamed after the bandit.

"No! Don't hurt him! He hasn't done a thing!"

As if by only instinct, she ran after the bandit and plunged her claws into the bandit's back to slow his chase. The bandit yelled in pain. She brought her hand back and then paused for a moment, as if to apologize for what she had done. The bandit turned around and yelled at her.

"Argh! That hurt!" The bandit shook out his head. "I'll kill you first, then!"

The bandit swung his scimitar quickly, but Mia was already well away from its trajectory. She bowed.

"I'm sorry!"

"Oh, you're going to be sorry!" yelled the bandit. He charged at her, swinging his sword in all directions. She easily, and yet also awkwardly, dodged each swipe. She spoke in between slashes of the sword.

"Can't we resolve this in a better way? You could injure someone with that thing!"

The bandit stopped to catch his breath. She looked at him sternly.

"Hah... hah... that... that's the point... argh!!"

The bandit got up and thrust another volley of sword thrusts at her. Again, she dodged every last one with minimal effort.

"You know, you're putting in an awful lot of effort into this."

By now the bandit was bending over and panting heavily. Mia walked up to him.

"Are you okay?"

The bandit became enraged and jumped at her.

"Die!!" he yelled.

She gently stepped backwards and the bandit fell flat on his face, exhausted. She then spotted the boy and walked up to him. Crouching down, she spoke to him.

"Are you all right? Don't cry. It's going to be okay."

The next wert Leon spotted was Marlon. He was walking casually towards two bandits who had cornered and were terrorizing a mother, father, and daughter. The bandits laughed heartily at their achievement before turning around angrily as he tapped them on the shoulder. He spoke briefly.

"You know, you really shouldn't do things like this."

The bandits angrily leered at him. They rose up their scimitars, but before they could do anything with them, Marlon had already planted his fist into the face of the bandit on the left. The bandit stumbled backwards, swayed from side to side, and then plopped down on the ground. He, too, was unconscious. Marlon tilted his head to the side to look at the other bandit and smiled.

"It's very bad for your health."

He raised his hand up to his face and flexed his fingers. The other bandit's face lost its complexion. He screamed, dropped his scimitar, and ran until he could no longer be seen. Marlon turned to the family.

"Hey, everyone all right? Did they hurt you?"

Leon turned his head next to rest his eyes upon Saff. Saff was already in the middle of a fight with a bandit. The bandit had already been distracted from his attempted murder of a small girl and her mother. Saff looked up at the bandit. The bandit produced an intimidating frown towards him and jumped up, bringing his sword down onto Saff – or, at least, where he was before. Though he had been there when the bandit had last looked, he was now nowhere to be seen. A voice was heard from behind the bandit.

"Why do you do these things? These people are innocent."

The bandit quickly whirled around. There was Saff, with an innocent look on his face. The bandit yelled at him.

"Quit yer yappin' kid! Die!" The bandit swung his sword once, twice, three times. He then surveyed the damage. Either he had vaporized Saff, or Saff had disappeared again.

"But wouldn't it make you happier to do things that didn't hurt people?" asked a voice to the left of the bandit.

The bandit turned to his left. He was getting visibly agitated.

"Shut up!!"

The bandit jumped towards Saff. He swung his sword to the left, and then to the right, and then up, and then down. He turned around and swung his sword again. His sword went all around, but it failed to find anything but thin air once more. It was just then that the bandit felt pressure on top of his head.

"I mean, it's just a suggestion and all, but I really think it would help you," said the voice connected to the foot that had planted itself on top of the bandit's head.

The bandit instinctively swung his sword up, but only managed to hit himself in the nose with the hilt of the scimitar. He recoiled in pain and dropped the scimitar, holding his nose with both hands. He looked towards himself. There was Saff, as inquisitive and as innocent as ever.

"I just want to help you, mister."

The bandit appeared as if he was about to breathe fire.

"I don't want your damn help!!" The bandit charged forwards as fast as he could. Just as he was about to collide with Saff, the wert quickly dodged to the right. The bandit successfully brought himself into a collision, but the receiver was a wooden post. The bandit held his aching forehead. He looked to the right. There, clinging to the post upside-down with his claws, was Saff, looking intently at the bandit.

"But it would do you good!"

Saff appeared hurt at how the bandit was not listening. The bandit stomped up and down on the ground and screamed.

"Argh! I've had it! Forget this! I give up!"

The bandit ran off in a huff. He didn't even stop to pick back up his scimitar. Saff dismounted from the post, shrugged, and went to check on the family who was previously the bandit's target.

Still restraining Raoul, much to Raoul's disapproval, Leon then turned his attention to Skye. She was in hot pursuit towards two bandits who were, in turn, in hot pursuit of two women. The bandits cornered the two women, and the one on the left raised up his scimitar, grinning sadistically. Skye arrived just in time to jump onto the bandit's arm and to dig her teeth into it. The bandit yelled in pain and dropped his scimitar. The bandit sharply turned his attention to the wert who had just caused his arm to bleed. He gestured towards the other bandit.

"You take care of these people. This one's mine."

The bandit then lunged towards Skye, intending to grab her. Without a flinch, she proceeded to jump on his head and use it as a springboard to bring herself within reach of the bandit who was about to kill the women. She sprung from the bandit's head, pounding it into the dirt, and then planted her foot into the side of the bandit's face, just as he was raising his scimitar towards the sky. She wiped her mouth and brushed off her hands before speaking to the bandits, one of whom was unconscious, and the other was getting up, spitting dirt out from his mouth.

"It's not nice to pick on defenseless ladies, you know," she said with a smile.

The bandit who was getting up looked at her. She bared her teeth through her smile and playfully swiped her claws in the bandit's direction. The bandit backed up a distance before turning around and running as fast as he could away from the scene of action.

The next at whom Leon fixed his gaze was Tristan, already in the midst of a fight with three bandits who had him surrounded. Anxiously watching the fight were the two men and a boy who the bandits had intended to kill before Tristan got involved. He looked around at the men who were surrounding him, first to the left, then to the right, and finally behind himself. The bandit behind him smiled.

"Heh heh," laughed the bandit. "This ain't even fair."

Tristan nodded.

"Oh, I'm aware of that," he responded.

He took out a bandana and waved it in front of his face.

"Tell you what, I'll blindfold myself to even the odds," he continued while tying the bandana over his uncovered eye. "There, that ought to make things more even."

"Hah! You're funny, kid," came a voice from behind him. The bandit swung down his scimitar.

"Oh, come on, don't make so much noise," remarked Tristan.

Tristan crouched down and swept his foot behind the bandit's leg, bringing the bandit down.

"I can still hear, you know."

"Argh!" came a voice again from behind Tristan. "Die!"

The bandit's scimitar cut through the air as it progressed towards Tristan. He cocked his head.

"Is that a breeze picking up?"

With pinpoint accuracy, Tristan caught the bandit's arm in one hand and squeezed it tight.

"Hey! Let go!" yelled the bandit.

"You're going to have to convince me," said Tristan with a smile. "I don't do things unless I have a reason."

A voice then sounded to his left.

"How about being decapitated? Hah!"

Tristan pointed to the left.

"Oh, there you are. Thanks."

He grinned, baring his left canine fang, and then wrapped his other hand against the bandit's arm. He then yanked it around, dragging the bandit with it. He continued spinning the bandit around until the bandit had gathered up adequate momentum, and then released him in the general direction of the other bandit. He listened for a second for the satisfying oomph as the two bandits collided. It arrived around the time that he expected.

Tristan next heard the sound upon the ground as the bandit he had tripped earlier was getting up. He did nothing but look towards the sky. The bandit remembered what Tristan had said earlier and simply swung his scimitar, intending to sever Tristan's head. Immediately before it made contact, Tristan simply held up his right arm, forcing the bandit's arm to collide into it.

"My, but we have erratic breezes today," said Tristan with a smile.

Tristan then spun around gracefully and planted his foot in the bandit's abdomen. He then listened intently. It took about five seconds for the thud to sound as the bandit finally collapsed onto the ground. He then untied his second bandana and placed it back into his pocket. He looked around to survey the damage.

"Hm," he mused, "perhaps I should have restrained one of my limbs as well."

The final wert that Leon looked towards was Jess, already in the process of fighting off two bandits who were terrorizing two girls. One was on the ground with Jess' foot placed on his head, and the other was backing off, shakily holding his scimitar. She looked at him and smiled.

"Oops," she said, "it looks like I've missed one."

She smiled at the bandit. The bandit looked enraged.

"Oh, a spunky one?" she asked. "All right. Try me."

She held up her hand and motioned for the bandit to come closer with her index and middle fingers. The bandit screamed and charged towards her. She slipped aside and the bandit tripped over the bandit on the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm over here, you see," she said, still smiling.

"I'll get you, you witch!" yelled the bandit, clambering to his feet. "Take this!"

The bandit ran and jumped towards Jess, wildly slashing his sword about. When he landed, he saw no sign of her until he felt a pressure on his head. Jess spoke from atop his head.

"Gonna have to be faster than that!"

She leapt off of his head and kicked the bandit in the back of the head as she descended to the ground. The bandit stumbled forward and then shook his head off and spun around. Once again, she beckoned the bandit to come forward. The bandit stomped on the ground and charged towards her again. She mused that all she needed now was a red cape. As the bandit charged by, Jess nimbly dodged to the side and tripped the bandit. Once again he found himself face down in the dirt.

"I'm sorry," chuckled Jess. "Did my foot get in the way?"

The bandit pounded the ground and got up in a rage. She held her hands together behind her back and simply continued smiling at the bandit. She didn't even have to taunt the bandit this time. He simply charged once more. Jess stayed motionless until the crucial moment, at which point she simply dodged and tripped the bandit once more. The bandit fell down and collided face first with a wooden post. She raised her hands to her mouth.

"Ouch! That's going to smart when you wake up!" she exclaimed.

Leon completed his survey of the events and then looked back towards Raoul, whose face displayed a mixture of anger and fear. Leon smiled, removed Raoul's gag, and spoke

"Any words to say?"

Suddenly, Raoul's face turned from its previous expression into one of glee. Raoul laughed out loud. Leon was not sure what to think.

"What's so funny?" asked Leon.

Raoul stopped laughing and smiled.

"Well done, very well done. But you missed one. And there's nothing you can do about it now."

A scream was sounded from the second floor of one of the houses. Everyone's heads abruptly turned. From within the house, a bandit emerged, holding a teenaged girl in front of him. A scimitar was placed at her neck. The bandit was wearing a sadistic grin on his rugged face.

"You came so close, but I win in the end."

Raoul broke out into laughter. The bandit looked towards the girl.

"Time to die, little lady."

It was just then that, rather than cutting the neck of the girl, the bandit screamed. Everyone's eyes then moved to a previously unseen hand of a wert that was tightly holding onto and bracing the bandit's wrist. From behind the bandit, the face of the unnamed wert appeared.

"I'm not letting you do it a second time," declared the wert. "Not on your life."

The wert growled and then slammed his other hand against the side of the bandit's head. The bandit fell to the side, unconscious. The bandit's sword fell at the girl's feet. The girl looked up and then looked at the wert. She instinctively held him tight and could do nothing but cry. The unnamed wert looked shocked. He looked around for assistance, but found none. He growled, and then sighed, resigning himself to what was happening. Strell smiled. Leon turned back to Raoul.

"Any more tricks up your sleeve?"

Raoul growled, but said nothing. Leon took this as a "no", and then pushed Raoul forwards.

"Then get out. This is no longer your town. This town belongs to everyone. Don't come back until you're ready to lead a real life."

Raoul continued growling.

"You'll regret this decision," he said, turning and running away. "You should have killed me when you had the chance!"

Leon shook his head.

"I don't work like you," he replied.

But Raoul likely never heard the statement, because he was long gone. As the unconscious bandits woke up, they joined him. It was not long before there was not a bandit left in the city.

The werts gathered around Leon, and the shaken but otherwise unharmed townsfolk gathered in a circle around the werts. Leon looked away.

"I'm... sorry you had to all go through that," he said.

"Sorry?" asked a man from the town. "Sorry? Do you realize what this means? Everyone, we are free! Free!"

The townsfolk erupted in a cheer of jubilation.

"I don't know who you are," said the man, "but we are eternally grateful."

Leon smiled, but continued facing away.

"Wait, wait..." said a woman holding a small girl. "Yes, I recognize you. I know who you are."

Leon closed his eyes and sighed. It appeared that he had expected such a reaction all along, as it did not otherwise faze him.

"You– you are the other ones who robbed us all the time! How can you stand here and act better than the bandits? What exactly is the big difference?"

The woman's husband ran up to her.

"Dear, what are you saying? They have saved us. They have saved our town!"

"After stealing from us for years! How quickly you forget!"

It was just then that the small girl released herself from the grip of her mother and ran up to Leon. The woman called after her.

"Wait! Honey, no! Don't go there!"

But the girl did not listen. She walked up to Leon, who crouched down to her level. She simply extended the daisy she was carrying towards him. He looked at it and then took it. She smiled. He smiled back, and stroked her hair.

"Thank you," he said. He stood up and looked around at the townsfolk. "I suppose I ought to explain, if only to simply allow the truth to be heard. What you do with it is up to you, and I will not blame you no matter what."

He nodded and told everything that he had previously told Emmanuel. He explained the Storm's carnivorous nature and how he felt as if he never belonged in the human world. He relayed how he felt that he had no other way of getting food. Then, as quickly as he began, he ceased talking and bowed his head, looking at the ground. Silence hung in the still air for a while before Emmanuel emerged from the crowd of humans and spoke up.

"How can we treat them like this? Answer me! They are not like the bandits! They have never hurt us, and now we owe them our freedom! They are our saviors, not our enemies!"

Another man spoke up from the crowd.

"Will we never see Raoul again?" he asked.

"Never again!" responded Emmanuel.

"We can live in peace?" asked a woman.

"Yes!"

"It is a new day!" cheered a man.

"It is thanks to them!" echoed another.

"Our heroes!" exclaimed a woman.

The crowd erupted into cheers and jubilant yells. Strell smiled, but then he looked at Leon. Leon beckoned him forward. Strell looked puzzled, but walked towards Leon. Leon spoke towards the people.

"I thank you for your generosity, but it was Strell here who convinced me to come at all. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened."

Strell looked shocked and did not know what to say. A man in the crowd picked up the slack.

"Three cheers for Strell!" he yelled

Again the crowd cheered and chanted. Strell looked around at the crowd, feeling overwhelmed. They were all happy. They were all free. And it was all because of him. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt truly alive, and as if his life truly mattered.