Tale of the Outcast Warrior: Baths, and Declarations.

Tyler was slightly overwhelmed at the barrage of information that had just been thrown at him. He sat there sorting out the various layers of knowledge imparted to when when Kaori spoke up,

"So if we use a spell from the direct opposite path from our own it will damage our souls; the source of our mana supply, and run the risk of Shattering our souls, thus becoming one of the Broken?"

"That's right"

"So what will spells that are Not direct opposites do to us?"

Lyrica explained patiently, knowing that in their world magic didn't exist.

"Well if you were to use, say a green path spell, such as Enhance, which increases the amount of power a projectile like an arrow will do when fired, it would cost slightly more mana then a green path person, but it will not do any damage to your soul, you just end up working a little harder to cast spell. As long as you don't stray into Pure Blue territory you don't have to worry about soul damage. It's mainly the idiots who think magic is a toy, or a means to absolute power that mind up becoming Broken. Now then, as you two have demonstrated such raw power and rare Colors I have never seen before, I will gift you one spell from your respective color each, on top of the spell books, which usually have a variety of spells with in them."

The pair were understandably excited at this prospect, so they eagerly chose their first spells; Kaori went with a straightforward flame spell, called Inferno, which set a target aflame at the cost of ten mana, Tyler went with the surprising choice of a healing spell; called Divine care, which could, based on the skill of the caster, heal most minor injuries and wounds. It cost about fifteen mana, and could also cure minor ailments like a cold or fever, it was small in scope but Tyler figured it was better to have some form of treating wounds then nothing at all. With their new spells and licenses, which were little enchanted cards which showed the number times the spell had been used its level and allowed the spell to be upgraded when certain thresholds of experience with that particular spell had been reached. The excited duo were strongly cautioned about their spell licenses, as if they fell into the hands of an enemy mage, could both steal their experience with the spell and add it to their own, sell the card and the pair would lose the right to upgrade the spell along with any improvements they had made to it along the way, and/or learn the spell for themselves and do any of the previous choices. Since the cards of other mages were so highly sought after, most stored them in a hidden location on their person, only took the corresponding cards for the spells they intended to use during their adventure, or stored them in a card vault at the church in each town. The church offered this service to all mages for a flat fee each month, of course with their prior encounter with the church having left such a sour taste in their mouths, Tyler and Kaori both opted for another option altogether, they put their spell license on a strong chain and wore them around their necks, hidden beneath their clothing. The chain was a magical metal known as Mentite, and whose strength came directly from the souls of the mage wearing them, thus given the pair's extreme soul caliber, rendered the chains virtually unbreakable. The chains were expensive though, setting the pair back two entire gold coins for the pair. though both Tyler and Kaori agreed it was money well spent, both had aspirations to both acquire new spells and upgrade them. The chains themselves reflected the pairs soul types, with Kaori's turn a deep crimson, looking like she was wearing a necklace made from blood. whereas Tyler's chain with it's mixture of Blue and White looked as if he was wearing a piece of the sky around his neck. The pair selected the previously offered spell tomes, which came loaded with several different spells and the corresponding licenses for those spells. The books were bound with black leather and held together by a metal spine. Tyler chose a Pure Blue tome, loaded with low-medium powered spells, while Kaori chose a tome christened in her blazing color. Her's had more lower end spells then Tyler's did, but came with a bunch more spells because of it. Normally the books would have cost a resounding seventy-five silvers apiece, but since Lyrica didn't have a death wish, she had given the much sought after spell tomes away for free. Tyler also rolled up the map they had purchased from her for ten silver. She had also taken the time to write the chant for activating the enchanted navigation item upon a card used for creating licenses, since the maps would update with relative information on it's own based on where it's owners were at that time. In short, a well-detailed map was worth it's weight in gold to cartography and adventurer guilds the world over. In fact it was common practice to visit the local adventurer's guild to not just join but to compare map data; good information in this world was often the difference between a safe and enjoyable journey, and an unpleasant end. The phrase to activate the map was rather straightforward and easy to remember, I CALL TO THE FOUR WINDS AWAKEN AND GUIDE THIS TRAVELER, With that the map would glow faintly and then the details of the area would flow over the surface of the map like a flood of street names, significant locations such as the Tower or the palace, rivers, streams, and lines denote an increase or decrease in elevation down to the last inch; an important detail in earth{Lectis?}quakes where a rise of several inches indicates a imminent quake or other such problem for the people. If you wanted to zoom in on a specific spot, pinching the image of the spot you wanted to see would zoom the map in and increase the detail in the process. all in all a valuable tool for anyone about to set out on a journey.

Tyler and Kaori had spent several hours in the Magic shop and it was past nightfall by the time the tired and dirty pair left.

"Agh, I feel sticky and gross. That's it! I'm getting a bath tonight if it's the last thing I do!"

Kaori was complaining in a disgusted voice, while Tyler smiled at the sight of the blonde trying to wipe imaginary grime from her hands,

"Alright Kaori, let's get a bath, but first i want to secure a room for the night at the Inn Okay?"

"Fine, but I get to soak first, got that?"

"Yes Barbie, as you wish barbie, anything for you Barbie...ouch"

He had of course started teasing her and she had of course wacked him for his idiocy. The two Companions reached the ADVENTURER'S RESPITE after walking for thirty minutes. The seedy Tavern was of course just as lively the second time as it was the first, with insults, jeers, mugs both full and empty, and the occasional fist all flew through the air. It was only the pairs second time staying at the inn but the noise already felt comforting for some odd reason. Although this time the pair weren't starving or on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, so they were more aware and better prepared to navigate the throngs of rostering men and women. Kaori though, had to angle her katana, Dawn so as to not hit someone with it by mistake. This time the pair were far bolder then the previous night, and so approached the bar with the massive, scarred bartender standing behind it. The man recognized the pair as the neared the counter, the experienced tavernkeeper always made a note of those who caused trouble, prevented trouble, paid well, and kept their rooms clean, and this duo had checked off three of the four boxes on their very first night; despite being half-dead from lack of food and rest. As the Young man, the same one who had saved Burlock; a close friend of the keeper, reached the counter he spoke in a polite yet firm tone,

"Hello, is there a single bed room available for the night?"

The man, stopped wiping his glass, and peered closely at the bold kid with the sword hilt poking from his right shoulder. the kid appeared to be the same age as the man's own son of fifteen years, although both his son's and this kids demeanor were like night and day differences; his son was a gentle soul who got pushed around by everyone, and this kid gave the impression that trying was to take your own life in your hands, with no promise that you'd live to tell the tale. This kid's dangerous, The man finally spoke, "Yah, we got one room open, costs one silver a night here, paid up front, and any damage to the room comes outta yur skin, got it?"

He had used the same avalanche growl that would cause most drunken patrons to immediately sober up, but this kid just nodded and placed two silvers on the counter,

"I see, well my companion and I are planning to hit the nearby bathhouse, as such we'd like the room to still be waiting for us when we get back. sound fair?"

The burly man eyed the young man's gorgeous blonde companion with a little envy that this chubby excuse of a man got to spend such time with a peerless beauty like that. As the man's gaze return to the me, he realized that there was a dark light hiding in the depths of his brown eyes, as if he had caught the man ogling his girl and letting the bigger man know not to try it,

"Very well, the front door's always open so just come back and ask for Skilly, she'll show you to you room, if i'm not back here that is."

Tyler, the kid in question, nodded as he and Kaori, the beautiful blonde, left the money on the counter and headed to the bath house.

Kaori giggled, happy to finally get a chance to freshen up, while Tyler walked beside her, enjoying her happiness as if it was his own. The Bathhouse wasn't too far down the alley. The dirty pair reached after about ten minutes and marched straight in. The house itself wasn't anything special, just your average two story wood and stone building, though it had a pillar of steam rising from the back, exposing it's purpose. Once inside Tyler paid the madam who owned the house for two buckets, towels and soaps, reaching a grand total of twenty-five coppers, as he had secretly paid an extra ten for someone to help wash Kaori's long beautiful hair as a surprise for her. When he had whispered this to the madam, she had smiled wide and promised to help the young lady herself. Tyler and Kaori both went in to the separate stalls, Tyler went into the men's side and disrobed, removing everything except for the license chain around his neck, all his possessions going into a locked container that used a spell that was released by the finger of the one closed it. As Tyler climbed into the steaming pond, he heard a gasp of shock from a corner. Turning he saw the lead boy of the group of street kids he had mugged for the four silver coins that had gotten them the food and lodging the previous night. Tyler just shrugged and settled into the water, and started cleaning himself. As he did so he kept a close eye on the boy in the corner who was staring at him with a look of absolute pity in his eyes, as if TYLER was the worse off of the pair. After cleaning his arms and torso, Tyler realized why there was a look of such pity on the younger boys face: Tyler's scars. They crisscrossed his torso, upper arms, upper legs, all across his back, and all the places they couldn't be seen when wearing normal clothes. They were the roadmap of a fucked up childhood at the hands of a fucked up family. Tyler was used to seeing the evidence of his past that he often forgot how he must appear to the less informed. Only Kaori knew of the extent of his scars; as she had helped treat some of them herself after Tyler had finally managed to escape his mother. Tyler glanced over to the boy in the corner,

"Watcha think? Impressive right?"

The kid was shaken back to reality at the sound of Tyler's voice,

"What happened to you?"

Tyler chuckled as he scrubbed his hair,

"Well, kid my mother's a monster, and the rest of my hometown helped add some lines of their own." Tyler spoke matter-of-factly as if commenting on the weather. The streetkid lowered his gaze, he had been left to fend for himself and the other kids for a several years now, and thought he had seen it all, but the sheer number of scars this guy, combined with how nonchalant he was about the pain he now doubt suffered to accumulate a collection that would make even a hardened soldier wince, humbled the poor boy. He immediately forgave the older one for his mugging the girl, With what he's been through, it's a miracle he can even get of the ground in the morning, if those scars are anything to go by. Tyler ducked under the surface of the water and scrubbed the soap from his hair, coming back to the surface clean. With the work down Tyler moved over to the wall that divided the men's and women's parts of the bathhouse, where he sat down against the wall and trying to see if he could hear Kaori's voice from the other side. He was on edge since she wasn't in his sight.

Kaori was at that moment enjoying the ministrations of the older lady washing her long flowing golden lockes. She had just dumped the bucket of water on herself, rinsing the soap off her delicate frame, loving the feeling of warm water rushing over the surface of her flushed skin, dripping from her soft nipples, running down her flat stomach, and finally racing down her long, toned legs to rejoin the water around her ankles. Her lightly tanned skin was refreshed from the soak, and seemed to give off a slight glow in the moonlight. She was about to start on her long blonde hair when the matron of the house had approached her with shampoos and a fine-tooth comb, claiming that TYLER arranged for her to have her hair done. Kaori was pleasantly surprised at the gesture, since she had never heard him once complement her hair. As the beautiful blonde sat down on a wooden bench and the matron got to work on her hair, Kaori quietly reflected on the crazy last few days. Hard to believe that not even four days ago all we had to worry about was studying to pass tests for a classroom. I was surrounded by people obsessed with my looks, and Tyler was being beaten up by everyone including his own family for god'sake! Now we walk around a city that thinks were murderers, we share a room at night to save coin, and Tyler is a terrifying man who will even mug streetkids for money! And here i am following him around like a lost friggin puppy! I mean it's not like he treats me like a pet or anything and I THINK I want to stay with him, even if only for protection, but still, doesn't mean he isn't scary as hell sometimes.!" She was shaken from her thoughts by the older woman, who had asked her a question,

"OHH I'm sorry I was lost in thought, what was that?"

The woman chuckled as she ran the comb with the younger girls thick mane,

"I said girl, How long have you and that fine gentlemen been together for?"

Kaori started a little at the older women's question,

"Ohh we're not together, ma'am we're just really good friends traveling together is all."

Kaori's voice sounded sure enough, but her heart seemed to be on a different page altogether,

"we've been friends since we were little, but we only started traveling together about a week ago."

The matron sighed,

"I see, then that young'uns still up for the taking eh? That's a shame, he seemed to like you quite a bit when he paid for your hair,"

Kaori didn't move as to not disrupt the woman's combing,

"He...Did? Did he say anything?"

The woman chuckled at this young beauty,

"My dear, all he said was if He could have someone help you with your hair, and when I said you were capable he just smiled and said that while yes you were capable, he'd figured it would make you smile, and that was what he was after. I agreed and he paid with a smile on both his lips and in his eyes as well."

Kaori sighed,

"that's it?"

"That's it?! my girl that's plenty enough if a man is willing to go out of his way just to make you smile, and enjoys putting that smile on your face then what else do you want?"

The older woman had finished combing the thick mane of golden hair, and ended her service by dumping on more bucket of clear water over the younger girls head. Kaori thanked the woman, who promptly replied,

"If anyone deserves yur thanks it's that young lad who paid for this."

she said she would and dried off, admiring the shine that both her skin and her freshly cleaned hair gave off. Kaori exited the bath, redressed and went back into the room that split in to the entrances for the men's and women's sections.

As she left she spotted Tyler, Already dressed and ready to go, giving a handful of coins to the streetkid he had mugged previously. When the curious blonde got close enough to hear their conversation she heard Tyler apologize for the cruel act, and she realized he had given the boy ten silvers, the boy had looked at the glittering coins then back at Tyler and back to the coin,

"Thanks mister, I guess your not all bad, spose not if your running with a beauty like that there girl o yours."

Tyler chuckled as he ruffled the younger boys hair,

"Yer right on that, she is a real beauty, and an even better friend. now get lost before i change my mind."

The kid sped off, eager to share his haul with the others, Ohh So I'm a REAL beauty eh? For some reason hearing him refer to her as such little a flame in her heart she didn't fully understand. She approached her friend, greeted hum and together they left the bathhouse, Tyler leading the way with Kaori a step behind him as always. Neither of the pair noticed an older woman with a massive smile on her face near the curtains,

"Awww, I hope the future's kind to them young'uns specially that lad, well i'll be lookin forward to yur return an I'll pray for your safe travels."

Tyler and Kaori returned to the tavern, and had ordered a meal. As they sat waiting for the food, Tyler couldn't help but notice the newfound glow Kaori's long blonde hair was giving off,

"Wow, Kaori your hair is practically glowing, I kinda like it,"

She froze looking up at him, what THE HELL, did he just complement me? He NEVER does that! She stammer a reply unused to getting complements from him,

"AWW...well thank you its cause that woman at the bathhouse used special shampoo...soo thanks"

She looked down at table, the tips of her ears burning. Tyler smiled, completely unaware of the effect his words had caused in her,

"Well I'm happy you liked it so much, how bout we make that a regular thing? If we visit a bath house someone helps you with your hair? What do you think?"

Kaori was at first embarrassed, but that quickly turned to concern as he continued to speak, she had never known him to show such kindness to anyone else before,

"I guess that'd be okay, But Tyler? Can I ask you something?"

She was speaking softly, clearly concerned that something was wrong with the ordinarily cold, unfeeling rock of a person. Tyler looked her in the eyes,

"Sure Kaori wassup?"

She held his gaze,

"Are you feeling okay? You're being unusually....kind"

Tyler leaned back, with a thoughtful look in his eye,

"Well I feel fine, but I understand your concern, I'm not exactly known for my tenderness am I? I guess I just wanted to show you in my own way that I do value your company. Since it can probably seem like I treat you like more of a follower then a friend. I saw that streetkid again at the bathhouse and he saw my scars. An' it got me thinkin, you have always been there for me, even if I treated you like dirt, you were still there, ready and waiting for me to turn up battered and bloodied."

The food arrived at that point, a cooked chicken with potatoes and bread rolls, all washed down with pitcher of ale for the pair, as the hungry duo fell upon the food, Tyler continued speaking around mouthfuls,

"I guess, seeing that kids reaction to my scars, it made me realize just how long you've been there for me, and how little i' ve been there for you. So I guess I wanted to change that if only for a single time you know?"

He finished talking and focused on eating. Kaori was blown away by the revelation that he actually valued her as much as he just stated. wow, Tyler I had no clue you were capable of such a tender thing, And your wrong, you HAVE been there for me, as my strong stable rock to cling on, even if you irritate the crap out of me sometimes, I know you always have my back, and that is more of a comfort then you could ever know.

"Well, Thanks for always being there, even if I never could return the favor back in our old world, I promise to make it up to you in this one."

Tyler raised his mug of ale toward Kaori, she lifted her own mug,

"Well let's get one thing straight, Tyler I'm not some damsel in distress for you to rescue, I'll watch your back as much as you watch mine, understood? Because we're a team now and Gods' help the poor bastards that dare stand in our way!"

"To us!"

"TO US!"

They banged their mugs together and chugged them in toast, banging the now empty mugs on the tabletop, they promptly received a hearty cheer from the other patrons of the bar who had listened to the impassioned toast between the lifelong friends. Tyler threw his head back laughing, while Kaori blushed a deep red. It was the end of one life and the beginning of another.

After dinner Tyler and Kaori returned to their room for the night. Tyler closed the door, locked it, and prepare to take up the position he had held the previous night; that of sleeping against the door as a form of defense. He had just laid out his sword, Oblivion beside him when Kaori stopped him in his tracks with a single question,

"Hey you wanna sleep together?"

Tyler froze. Did she just seriously just ask that?! She did not just ask that! After a few seconds he found the freewill to look over at the girl. She had sat on the bed, removed her forest green tunic, which was neatly folded on the table before her, leaving her clad only in her light pants and a thin white shirt she had bought at Lyrica's shop. She had her arms crossed over her chest as if to hold herself together in the wake of her question. She also had trouble looking him in the eye, preferring to look across the room, only turning to glance at him before jerking her gaze away, he also noticed in the thin light that she was blushing kinda hard as well. Tyler finally recovered the power of speech,

"I'm sorry what?"

He was offering her a way out by pretending to mishear her, while at the same time trying to get clarification. She looked at him, flustered, and embarrassed, she knew he had heard her the was no way his sharp ears at missed it,

"I asked if you wanted to sleep together, you know share the bed? I feel bad with you sleeping over by the door and there's plenty of room for you here."

She trailed off, now looking at the floor. Tyler was stunned, but retained enough sense to look for the signs of drunkenness of which there were none.

"If you want me to, then I'd be happy to."

he got up, picked up Oblivion and walked over to the bed. As he sat down next to Kaori, she moved over nervously, Tyler laid his blade next Kaori's Dawn, along with his bow and other weapons with the exception for the little Sgian Dao dagger, which he put between the bed and the wall. He went and removed his tunic, along with the light chainmail shirt he wore beneath his other clothes, and hung them on the back of the chair. He removed his boots and looked to see Kaori watching him with a surprisingly timid expression on her face. She looked so vulnerable in her thin white shirt which clung to her frame, showing her nipples through the thin cloth to her light brown pants. She seemed scared to share a bed with such a mean looking man like him.

"Are you scared?"

He asked in a gentle voice, she shook her head,

"No I know you won't try anything, it's just the first time I've shared a bed with anyone before, that's all."

Tyler chuckled. She laid down on the part nearest the wall, he took the outside just in case someone barged in he could react with all possible speed. As he took his place beside her, he heard her breathing quicken for a moment then slow as she relaxed, he rolled over to face the nervous girl. She looked into his eyes and placed her hand in the space between them. He took the silent invitation and took her soft hand in his rough one.

"Good night Kaori"

"Good night Tyler"

He blew out the candle and they both drifted off to sleep. Tyler with the sound of her soft breathing in his ears, and Kaori with his scent in her nose.