He muttered out a welcome, sitting against the cell wall besides her and staring at the ceiling again. As he sighed, the girl capped the bottle and set it aside, staring at him curiously. He was fairly tall, and tanned from days out training in the Scorupion sun. His wide hands had probably killed hundreds of innocent animans simply because he was ordered to. She wondered: had they ever met outside these cell walls, would he be this nice? 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcIfWcl67D
She turned away, the thought unsettling her empty stomach. Despite being hours away from dying, he showed her unnecessary kindness knowing he would gain nothing in return. And his face never held disdain as he looked at her, not even an uncontrollable flicker of it. Was he really a Scorupi soldier, trained to cut out animan hearts without remorse? 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqfNaKGEOh
"So, ya were caught stealin’?" He broke the silence with a raise of his brow, seemingly impressed. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXxAC3VuQh
"It isn't what it seems. Someone was stealing from me, you see, but...” she let out a heated breath, already too exhausted from the scene at the baker’s stall to explain it again. “Well, I guess we both ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time." she shrugged away shyly. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4YBUl0DNj
He chuckled. "Life must be difficult for people like ya, always accused of the world's darkness. Must be tiresome. Sorry." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uiy7aWF2z
The girl turned to him with a questioning stare of disbelief. "Why are you giving me your condolences? Shouldn't Scorupi warriors be preaching about how all the evil acts of the world are the faults of my people?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuE6d0hpv0
"That was what I have been taught since I was a child, but I found no honest reason to slay innocent people. It was somethin’ I didn't understand." He shrugged, looking back at her with that puppy smile. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJMqXWc7jp
She relaxed the knot between her brows, calmed by his passive warmth. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyl1iSMD2k
He beckoned her with a hand before crossing his arms behind his head as if he here basking in the afternoon sun. "Continue askin’ your questions. I quite enjoy them." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNA11bHjztW
She shook her head at his conceited behavior, catching it by surprise, though something about his being in a prison cell still bothered her. "Scorupi can follow a vocational path, can't they?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqOQcTgFmn
His smile disappeared, his gaze suddenly lost. "Yeh, we can," he answered after a moment. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoid4YyMWns
"Then couldn't you have escaped by now?" She looked at the metal bars. Even a weak spell or ability could break them. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46CifmiOwG
The boy shook his head. "It's a bit more complicated than that..." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3IiLtR724
"Oh..." she responded, but asked nothing more of it. It didn't seem as if it was something he would want to explain. She turned to the barred window where the sunset clashed with the twinkling night sky, leaving the clouds a monochromatic, blurry mess, reminding her of the mess she was in only a few days ago with the priest boy.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLbvLzWnRE
Her heart fluttered in her chest at the thought of the boy and his smile. She clutched onto the cardigan around her narrow shoulders, and she pulled it further over her body as if it would help her retain the image of his unwavering, kind gaze.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1kRvyysKT
"How old are ya, then? Since you've stopped askin’ me questions." She turned back to her prison mate who was smirking at her. It unsettled her, how perfectly fine he was with dying in a few hours. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHd7zJgmNy
"A human of my age would call herself eleven, I believe," she answered anyway. "And yourself?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVTqmxk3zk
"How old do ya think?" He asked with a wink. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t9oMYPL7L
She pressed her lips together, thinking it over. "Sixteen at least. That's my guess." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLDvehqd2w
The boy hummed in triumph, leaning back against his arms without answering. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelSVYpPRtD
She pursed her lips. His cocky attitude wasn't what she expected from a stereotypically sly Scorupion. "Are you eleven as well, then? You aren't acting much older than that." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeBHTLYVOl
"I'm fourteen!" He hissed, flames spewing from his mouth in rage, nostrils flaring. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3br92y4yY
The girl smiled back, proud in having figured out his quirks so easily. But then, she finally registered what he had said, and she gulped at the morbid realization. "Scorupi soldiers are... I mean, do they usually start at your age?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1qcqe9nXl
The boy chuckled, his eyes twinkling as he sat back against the wall. He was obviously excited about what he was about to say. "No. I started my trainin’ the moment I could walk. My grandfather is a very famous general, ya see. Maybe you've heard of him: General Thervesen?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFiKbzXHbq
She shook her head. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo71KvmLg6T
"Grandfather had high hopes for me, taught me everything he knew about followin’ the warrior path. We trained every day, and I think I dropped out of school by the time I was seven. I never even got to see my parents much." He smiled as if that were something to be proud of. "My grandfather said I would become a great General like himself one day soon, and that I would be promoted to captain or even lieutenant in a week or so with my abilities. I was excited to join the ranks. I wanted nothing more than to become one with Madam Lord's personal guard.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLDpNQa6kB
“I was eligible to join the Scorupi military by your age, and was already doing as well as those who had been in for a couple of years. I could see that, with my advanced trainin’, my promotion should be a sure fire thing." Then he sighed, his proud chest deflating. "Yet here I am, still the lowly soldier. And it's the fault of that bloody jealous Captain Sike! He can't stand watchin’ me show him up, so he's kept me at the lowest bloody rank, that rat!" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IvHjJLHDd
As he huffed and puffed from his rant, the girl scooted a bit closer, handing him the canteen. He looked at her in surprise look before taking it. "Ta..." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8kND9n60U
She hummed in reply before sitting back, taking it all in. "I don't....I don't think your grandfather had any right in telling you those things."778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXe1eGinr9N
He turned back at her, his expression twisted with offense. "And why not? Ya don't think I could become a great general like him??" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ptggQp5aR
"No it isn't that! I'm sure you could become a...a great Scorupi General...some day." She truly meant it, but saying it felt like stabbing her own chest. If he were to become a Scorupi general, then he would have to kill innocent animan like her. "I just don't think he should have told you those things unless he was going to see to it himself. He is a famous general, isn't he?" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjVG3O7gT2
"The most famous in Scorupi history." The boy answered with a thoughtful expression on his face. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSS3mF7PB9G
"Then why didn't he promote you himself? It might seem biased at first, I'm sure, but if you've proved your worth-" 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBoW6FIefO
"And I have!" He interrupted proudly. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdx9AUEd08
"Ok, since you've proved your worth, he should have no problem promoting you to higher ranks. The way you explained things was as if he had left you on your own once you joined the army. It seems unfair to guide you for so long, and then suddenly pull the carpet from beneath your feet." 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOAhv5PG03
He stayed quiet, his hands over his tussled hair, before biting at his fingernails again. "I suppose you're right," he grumbled to his disliking. 778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRJbg663J4
She watched anxiously as he bit at his nails. Was he angry or disappointed or exasperated? She couldn't tell while he gnawed his hand. Instead, her eyes trailed back to the window. The world had gone cold and the stars were twinkling brightly in the night sky. It must be a new moon.
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