Cornered

Raven's heart pounded against his ribcage, his breath stuttering as he came to a stop in the hiding place he had dug out for himself at the base of a large tree. It was much like the space that had been at the base of a tree back when he had initially left his village seven years ago.

'Someone... found me?'

This was the first time that something like this had happened to Raven, so to say he was shocked would be an understatement.

Raven was scared, but also curious. After living on his own for the past seven years and wandering from place to place, he had grown incredibly lonely. The man from earlier had offered for Raven to follow him and for a moment, Raven was taken aback by the show of concern, but in the next moment, he had snapped out of it.

'Back then, the villagers also acted as if they cared about him, only for them to turn around and murder his mother while attempting to do the same to him before he had killed them all.

Raven sighed and let his mind settle down. He would remain in hiding for the next few days to let things cool down. He had been able to get enough supplies from the burnt village that would last him for a while, so hunkering down was not something bothersome to him.

Like that, four days passed. The only times Raven left his hiding place was when he needed to relieve himself.

"Things should have calmed down now." Raven sighed as he stretched. For the past few days he had not taken his bath because the only source of water close by was the one where he had crossed paths with that girl and subsequently met the man.

Raven crawled out of his hiding place and breathed in the fresh forest air before turning away. He was going to distance himself from this place in order to be on the safe side. As he packed his things a strange feeling suddenly dawned upon him.

"Who's there?" Raven spun around, unsheathing a small dagger he had on his hip.

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy, kiddo. Didn't mean to scare ya!" A voice that Raven did not want to hear again rang out and Raven's spine went cold.

"You!" Raven stumbled back when he was met with Ronald's face.

"Hey! It isn't nice to flinch at peoples' faces, you know. Makes them thing they are ugly." Ronald feigned hurt.

"What do you want?!" Raven was scared. This was the first time he had felt this way in a long time. He was scared of how Ronald had found him twice and the man was so casual about it.

Ronald immediately picked up on Raven's fear and apprehension. The smile on his face slipped off.

Over the past four days, he had stalked out Raven's hideout. For a veteran adventurer like himself, tracking people was child's play. While Raven had indeed done a good job at covering his tracks, he had not been able to fool Ronald.

"Alright, kid. Calm down. I don't mean you any harm." Ronald sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He felt a bit awkward, as if he was bullying a child.

"So you say..." Raven murmured and slowly inched away.

"Best if you stayed in place, kid." Ronald said with a warning tone and Raven froze. "Come with me, I promise not to hurt you. I know you use Dark Magic." Ronald went straight to the point and Raven's heart froze.

Raven was already contemplating just attacking the man. Normally, he would have already blasted the man's face with fire, but his intuition told him not to, for some reason he did not understand.

"Look, I know that you don't trust me. I know you don't trust anyone. For you to be on your own, it probably means that you went through some nasty shit in the past. But I want you to give me the benefit of doubt." Ronald said sincerely and Raven believed him. With his chest heaving with adrenaline, he slowly lowered his dagger.

"Yeah, just like that. You can trust me, just this once." Roland said slowly, holding up his open palms.

Raven did not know what had overcome him. He felt his heart palpitate in his chest, beating rapidly like a battering ram. When he put away his dagger, he could have sworn that he was going mad!

But despite his warring thoughts, he found himself believing in the words spoken by the man. Unknown to him, Ronald had actually used something special to convince Raven, but that did not matter because he had actually been speaking the truth. He meant no harm to Raven.

"I have a place in a village not far from here. With me, no one will ask much about you. You can come with me and tell me your story, okay?" Ronald said, a reassuring smile on his face.

"...Okay. But, promise me you are not tricking me." Raven's eyes flashed with a light that took Ronald aback. He felt a strange power wrapping around his heart and he realized Raven had likewise, used something on him to ensure he was telling the truth.

'Who is this kid?!' Ronald was secretly shocked but tried to maintain his cool.

"I promise. You can trust me." Ronald said in his most sincere tone, holding his hand out for Raven. At the same time, he felt the tight feeling around his heart lighten up and vanish.