A Hand-Woven Universe 92 92. Duel War-Axes

Tobias and Raelith were the first to recover, followed by Sally. Sally couldn't help but frown. Unlike the rest, Sally had always maintained an understandable distance from Noone. She was a cleric in the Order of Life. She was a healer, and fighting was just something she had to do sometime. She had no desire to get to know Noone or become too involved. In her mind, when she returned to the grand-temple she would leave this whole mission behind her and focus on advancing her status within the order.

In truth, something about Noone made her uncomfortable. Even after he recovered from the seal within the pendant, she felt as though there was something dangerous about Noone. He seemed harmless enough. He did not train in weapons, or even hold any malicious thoughts against them that she could tell. She even believed Noone that he came from a society of peace, unlike anything that existed in the common world.

But being around him always left her with the feeling that she shouldn't turn her back to him. Not because he might attack her, but because she didn't trust herself to not attack him. He put her on edge.

And now, as Noone stood in a pool of blood, as calm as the moon in the night sky, she couldn't help but feel her fear was completely justified.

She was an existence which was meant to heal. Even if she had to fight, her god was one of life – when possible. Noone's existence did not have an ounce of healing light to him. Just under the surface, she couldn't help but feel there was a void waiting to suck in the world around him.

"Are you injured at all?" Tobias asked. Something about his voice betrayed his state of mind. Not a scratch could be seen on Noone. He wasn't even breathing heavy. His clothes weren't torn or even scuffed.

The only blood on him was the tribesman's which pooled onto his bare feet.

When they had given Noone clothes to wear to replace his disintegrating set, they realized that they had no shoes to give him. A change of clothes was a given, an extra pair of shoes though? Hardly necessary in normal situations. However, Noone did not seem to mind and walked on the course stone earth with no problem. It seemed he was completely at home with it.

Noone took a good look at the group. He couldn't help but notice that they had rushed here to assist him. Despite his dominating appearance, a warm smile broke its way onto his face. The whites of his teeth showed a good-natured smile.

"I'm fine. A little shaken from the fight… it's a lot different than I imagined it would be." Noone scanned the group, noticing every slight scrape and bruise on their bodies, the subtle shiver in the muscles from fatigue. As he walked towards them, a trail of bloody footprints was left in his wake leading back to the corpse like a red string of fate.

Tobias nodded. "I'm glad you are okay, we can talk about it later if you would like… this is your first time after all." He nodded towards the corpse. Everyone knew what he meant. As far as they knew, this was Noone's first time killing someone.

Noone didn't say anything, thinking about it for a moment. Did he need to talk about it? He glanced back at the corpse, unsure about his own feelings.

"I'm not sure." He said honestly. "The tribesman attacked me, so why should I be worried about it? I was just doing what had to be done." There was no trace of remorse or dishonesty in his voice, Sally furrowed her brow and the rest shared a look except for Sarah who nodded instinctually as though completely understanding. Tobias said nothing.

"In this surface world, you all fight and train and battle and kill. If I am going to survive…" The words carried off in the wind and his eyes glossed over momentarily as his mind boarded his own train of thought. But the message was clear: This is the world I live in now, so I will survive, and thrive.

Tobias nodded at Noone. Like Sally he devoted his life to the Order of Life. His god was a god of healing and light. Every time he took a life, no matter how "deserving," he felt a pain in his chest. But unlike Sally - he was a paladin, a warrior meant to exist on the battlefield. He had seen and encountered many good men and women, most of whom did not share his god or belief. But that did not take away from them being good people. He felt they merely had different paths to follow.

When he saw Sarah and indeed Noone, he couldn't help but have similar thoughts. Fate is cruel, and the world plays games with lives as chess piece pawns. To expect someone like Noone to think exactly the same way he did would be absurd.

This was something Raelith understood as well. That was why they were able to overlook all the things which put Sally on edge.

"Alright, lets grab the cart and move out now. We will walk a few hours into the night just to get away from this area." Tobias already turned to start scouting out their next steps. Before he could get far though, Noone spoke out.

"I want a weapon" Noone said, unsure whether or not he should have voiced his thoughts. "I know I am technically…" He held out his hands with his wrists overtop each other. A prisoner. Without needing to voice the words, Tobias was already prepared with a response.

"If you look by where we fought the other two tribesmen, you will see a pair of war-axes. Those will be a good fit for you. We are moving out now though so be quick." Tobias did not pause his steps or hesitate at all. Noone nodded his head and dashed towards the location they had seen the first tribesmen.

Sarah, Raelith, Feylin, and Sally all looked at Tobias shocked. Did Tobias really just agree to give weapons to him? Sarah and Feylin said nothing, ultimately, they were only acolytes and not in a position to question such a thing. But Sally had no such qualms.

"Are you sure that is a good idea, Tobias?" She said. Her brow was furrowed and the displeasure in her voice was obvious. Tobias stopped and looked at her. He was obviously aware of her feelings about Noone, but in his mind Sally was far too rigid and zealous about the Order of Life. She made a good cleric, but it caused her to be too untrusting of those who don't hold the same belief as herself.

"We are going to be traveling with Noone for a long time, we aren't going to be able to guard him the whole way." The paladin said casually.

"But you saw how deadly he is, even when he's not possessed by some demon!" She said, she couldn't help but look back at the corpse, there was no visible damage on it except for a crushed neck and a broken arm.

"I also saw him turn and hold off a tribesman alone, saving us from being picked off by a third assailant." Tobias understood Sally's viewpoint, but for better or worse, he found himself wanting Noone as an ally more than a hostage.
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Silence creeped into the air, and no one said anything. A minute passed and the patter of footsteps against stone floor grasped everyone's attention. Noone returned, carrying two war-axes which hung from a belt he removed from the corpse of the tribesman.

Each one weighed a considerable amount despite their size, but Noone had no trouble with their weight. To him it wasn't even worth mentioning.

Noone couldn't help but notice the extremely palpable tension in the air, but at that moment his head throbbed from exhaustion and he was honestly just hoping to arrive at their next camping spot. He didn't want to waste the energy thinking about it.

Throughout the entire encounter and then some, Noone maintained his extended awareness. Finally though, he reached his limit. He couldn't help but feel a loss as his 360-degree sight reduced back to just what he could see through his eyes. Even his heightened senses seemed to exhaust themselves back to normal.

No one said anything, and soon they continued their journey. Noone couldn't help but feel weird about the sudden addition to his attire, constantly being reminded of the weapon's existence by the sway of the axes at his waist.

Chapter end