The inquisitor took a couple of stumbling steps backward, his face twisting with confusion as he took in the woman before him. "What are you doin—

"Well, wel, well~," slurred Kathren, her upper body somehow able to rotate parallel to the ground without falling as it pivoted around her waist like a flail. It was kinda impressive that she was still standing… It also spoke to many occasions where she got this drunk and developed a knack for it, but that was depressing, so I focused on the amusing side. "Look wh' finally arrived."

Raising a hand and sticking it out mid-rotation, the intoxicated woman no doubt intended to poke it into the man's chest, but she miscalculated the effect that her upswing would cause. The result was her arm shooting into the air between the reaper's neck and right shoulder. Not having the anticipated wall to brace herself against, Kathren stumbled forward into the man's chest, left arm draped over his shoulder. Standing still for only a second, the woman started whipping her head backward and forward, pounding it into the large half-elf's torso.

Without seeming to realize he was doing so, the inquisitor's arms rose to wrap around the scout's shoulders, holding her steady, though he didn't prevent her from hitting his chest. The inquisitor didn't have more than a second to take in the events before a group, quite literally, hit the doors of the tavern and were stopped cold. The three men were each fighting to be the first out of the door, resulting in none of them being able to exit.

It wasn't until the man on the far left managed to squeeze his way past the rest and fall face-first onto the ground that the other two quickly joined the pile outside the building. A couple of seconds passed, during which the men were attempting to pick themselves up, and a more orderly string of figures began quickly filing onto the street, most of whom I recognized. "What is going on?" The reaper asked, his voice far too controlled and cold to be anything good.

"Sorry, Boss," said one of the large men, dusting himself off as he stood. "As you know, Kathren showed up with some of her friends last night during the party. After you told us to watch her, she continued pounding them back, before deciding to go find you early in the morning… We didn't want to hurt her or sleepin' in a ditch, so we barred the door and barricaded it with furniture, hoping she would settle down."

Closing his eyes and slowly breathing out a controlled breath of air, the reaper said, "There was no other way you could think of to do that?"

The man, who had to be close to six and a half feet tall with all the muscle and broad shoulders that went along with that height, looked at Kathren contentedly nestled within the reaper's arms with more than a hint of trepidation and fear.

To me, it was a fear only reserved for the rabid, snarling beast you spotted in the forest. The one you were uncertain of handling before it managed to bite you. Haltingly, like he had to force out every word after triple-checking that it was the right one he wanted, the man said, "She doesn't… Handle… Being touched… well."

Looking down at the woman who had stilled and began collapsing into his arms, the reaper quirked an eyebrow at the man. "Hey!" The accused snapped back, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "Don't look at me like that! Any time anyone got close, and she was starting to nod off, she whipped a knife out and tried to gut them! And we couldn't trap her because she has a surprisingly large psy reserve and strong willpower! That girl is a menace!"

That last comment earned a scowl from his boss, and the man chose to snap his mouth shut before he said anything that would get him into greater trouble. Maybe something along the lines of, "Who continues to drink through the night and halfway into the next day while in an active legion?" A reasonable and important question. I didn't think that the scouts would be called on today, but she was playing a dangerous game taking such a chance. If the situation was serious, she would be sent out regardless of her condition, and that would most likely mean her death.

An idea that was probably running through the inquisitor's mind, if the scowl creasing his face as he stared down at the woman was any indication of his thoughts. His upper body tensed, his arms slightly shaking, then with a surprising gentleness, he pushed Kathren from his chest. "It is past time you found a bed and slept."

"Hmm?" Kathren slurred, her head falling back, saliva dripping down her chin as her eyes blinked owlishly, "Found ya!" She shouted a moment later, then pushed herself out of his arms, "Bastard! How dar' you try to hold me after what you 'id!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Like they would get burned to a crisp at the slightest touch, those behind the woman scrambled to get away from her as she backpedaled. In exasperation, the reaper chased after the woman, attempting to grab her arm before she smashed her head against the ground.

A smile twitched on my lips as I watched the overly serious inquisitor's actions. The two ended up with Kathren's back against the tavern's wall and Keeper's arms pressed to either side, preventing her from escaping. "Calm down! What has gotten into you?"

Head snapping up, Kathren's cheeks were streaked with tears while they burned with anger, and she said in a harsh hiss, "I chose life! When the cavern collapsed, I chose to save us both! And then when I woke up, where were you?! Where have you been all this time?! Oh, that's right, you have been avoiding me, only coming around when a task requires you to be within my company. Like I'm nothing to you…"

The reaper's face twitched and distorted, his jaw clenching, a grimace slowly making it onto his face despite his best efforts. "I… Know you chose to live. And I'm… That… wasn't my intention."

"Oh?"

"Look, we can talk about this later. For now, we both need to prepare to head south. I am taking the new scouts with me on a mission."

Kathren's face went blank at the response. "I see." She said while pushing past his arm, "I will be back at the barracks waiting for your call."

"Kathren." The man said plaintively to her back, but she didn't look back as she continued to stumble forward.

Giving me a small, tired smile of greeting from where she stood off to the side with the other scouts, Sathera darted off to walk next to Kathren, throwing an arm around her shoulders. I wasn't sure if it was out of comfort or to help support the other woman's drunken walk.

Glancing to the side, I eyed Jim, who was coming to a stop next to me, his arm sticking out to stop Joxin. "Aren't you going to go back with them?" I asked the men.

Jim shook his head, a solemn expression on his face, "No one is going to hassle a pair of legionnaires here. Besides, it's best those two have some alone time."

I opened my mouth only to slowly close it without saying a word. He was probably right. Already, I felt way too uncomfortable with the seething mass of emotions that was burning behind me, having seen the start of a conversation that should have happened in private.

Agreeing with me that dealing with an emotional inquisitor was not a good prospect for his future health, Lun appeared next to me and started a conversation by asking. "Are these fellow scouts?"

"Hmm? Yeah. They're new, but they have gotten a lot of hands-on experience recently, and they have more than proven themselves." Turning to look over my shoulder, I noticed the other scouts swell with pride at my comment. Then I looked at the reaper barking orders for his gang tribunes to gather. I felt sorry for whoever the last man to arrive was… and anyone who had to give him bad news before he left.

"Oh, excuse me." I said, focusing back on the discussion, "This is Centurion Lun. He and his men were the ones I ran into while in the Northern Cradle. This is Jim, Joxin, and Bellous, new scouts of the 15th legion."

"What~!" Shrieked Jim like a little girl as he pushed me to the side in his rush to approach Lun. "His name is Lun?! Really!? Oh, praise be to the Elementals! My prayers have been answered!"

Looking at the shrill man, then to the uncomfortable Lun, my brow wrinkled in confusion, before I realized what was happening, and I sadly shook my head. Reaching out, I grabbed his shoulders and forced Jim back a step. Stepping around the man, I blocked Jim's attempts to embrace Lun and made him look into my eyes. When he saw the expression on my face, he went white, and Jim started preemptively shaking his head in denial.

"If I'm not mistaken," I said, glancing to the side to make eye contact with the centurion, "Lun comes from a heritage that has a naming convention similar to that of elves in that he has a single long name which he shortens to the first word?"

Jim's eyes snapped to the centurion, his eyes filled with desperate hope. Like the word was reluctantly pulled from his throat, Lun answered, "…Yes…" Not knowing what was going on but feeling the need to justify himself at the devastated look on Jim's face, he continued, "Many of the tribes that live in the Weeping Mountains name their children with a unique first name, their father's name, followed by that of the clan. My full name is Lun-Der-Axe."

"Nooo!!!" Jim screamed in despair, his arms raising to the sky as he fell to his knees.

"Is he okay?" Lun asked, but I just shrugged.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Joxin said as he walked up and kneeled next to Jim. "He just never met anyone with a name as short as his before. He just got a little excited. But you'll be fine, right, buddy?" Jim mumbled something as his head moved in a mix of a nod and a shake. "At least you got a couple free drinks last night by telling our adventure. It worked once, and it will again." That got a more positive mumble, but the scout still looked devastated. "How 'bout we go back to the scout barracks and get some sleep."

Nodding his head like nearly all of the life was sucked out of him, Jim let Joxin pick him up and move away. Honestly, I couldn't tell who was more devastated over the recent revelations, Jim or Kathren. I also didn't care enough to think about it, so I sat back to listen to the inquisitor shout at his men to relieve his stress while giving the occasional command on what to do in his absence.

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