The Rising of the Fisticuffs Hero

Chapter 6: The Slave Girl (Part 2)

That night at the campsite, Naofumi offered to take the first watch. Cadver knew he couldn't get Naofumi to change his mind, so he agreed and went to sleep with only a blanket for comfort.

He was woken up by crying. The campfire had gone down quite a bit and all the logs they had gathered had been used. He saw Raphtalia crying while Naofumi hugged her and told her everything would be alright. Eventually she settled down again and went back to sleep.

Cadver came over to Naofumi, who had gone back to grinding a bag of something with one of the logs. "So what was all that about?" He asked, sitting next to the hero.
"Nightmare. It seems as though she saw her parents die in front of her."

Cadver looked down at the tear stained face of the young girl. She had been put through so much.

"I guess it's my turn to go on watch. You catch some shut eye."
"Sure, don't let us be eaten in our sleep."
"You got it."

Naofumi equipped one of his various shields, then went to a fallen log and slept against it. Cadver threw his blanket over him before sitting at the dying fire and looking up at the stars.

It wasn't long before the suns rays cut through the thick foliage of the trees around them and Naofumi got the two of them moving.  He grabbed various leaves as he walked and wrapped the powder he had grinded last night into each, forming leafy pouches of the substance.

Once they were in town, Naofumi disappeared into the medical store. Raphtalia stood with Cadver outside, but she was focused on several human children playing with a rubber ball made from Balloon material.

"Do you want a ball like that?" Cadverus asked her, a smile slowly forming on his face. He considered Raphtalia to be like a younger sister to him, so he felt like he should spoil her every now and then.
"No! Why would I want a stupid thing like that!" She answered, trying to look away from the children. Cadver noticed, however, that despite her words, her tail was wizzing from side to side in excitement. He sighed, then walked off for a bit.

Naofumi came out and Cadver returned at roughly the same time. Cadver handed Raphtalia an orange ball exactly like the one the kids had been playing with. Her excitement was evident as she grinned happily up at the two guys. Naofumi raised an eyebrow, basically demanding why he had done this.

"Oh come on, she's just a kid Fumi. Let her play every now and then. Once we've farmed for today, she can play while we sort food and camp out." Cadver neatly deflected the silent question, but Naofumi just sighed and accepted his explanation wordlessly.

The next few days went quickly. Farm monsters, gather herbs, Cadver makes lunch while Naofumi makes medicine, gather any new plant they find, head back to town to sell the made medicine, go to the inn to get a good nights rest and a decent meal.

The only deviation was when Naofumi suggested Raphtalia got a hair cut, where Cadver held her down while Naofumi cut her hair. She was very happy with the results, yet still resisted having sharp utensils so close to her head.

Cadver was sweeping the fallen hair away when a stray strand accidentally landed on Naofumi's shield, which absorbed the hair immediately. Naofumi and Cadver then shared the hair between them, yet neither unlocked any new forms for their weapons. Neither of them suggested trimming more of Raphtalia's hair to find out if they could.

Several days of grinding, and Cadverus unlocking the final Mushroom gauntlet, finally convincing Naofumi that they were ready to enter deeper into the forest. They hadn't gone far when a new monster jumped out of the bushes. It was a Rabbit, considered quite rare near the capitol since it was hunted to near extinction by the other heroes.