Y/N took another deep breath as he walked through the tables to the back, where he spotted the Traveler and Paimon talking with a blonde man wearing dark clothes. Familiar clothes. The Traveler heard footsteps and turned, waving as he spotted Y/N. "Hello, Sir Y/N!" The Traveler called, smiling, then the man turned around in his seat, revealing his face. He was a fair skinned man, with bright blue eyes with star-shaped pupils, half of his face covered with a dark mask with bright blue veining. Trying to hold back the shock, Y/N sighed, smiling. "Traveler, you know how I feel about people calling me sir." "Ehehehe, sorry Y/N. How've you been?" Paimon asked cheerily, bobbing up and down. "I've been well, thank you. And who's this? A new friend?" Y/N asked, gesturing to the blonde man. "This is someone we heard about from word on the street, they say he might have information about the Traveler's sister!" "Really now?" Y/N looked at the stranger, a warm smile on his face, hiding the nervousness in his mind. "And might I have the honor of knowing this man's name?" The blonde looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected to be included, before resigning his bad luck. "Dainsleif."
"Ah, a beautiful name," the man said, a smile on his face, but Dain could sense something was amiss. Yet, he was also familiar in a way. He knew his memory wasn't the best, but he was sure he had seen this Y/N somewhere before. "Anyways, Dain, is it okay if Y/N comes with us on this trip? He's really trustworthy, and a good fighter!" "Wait what-?! Why am I being dragged into this?" Y/N looked startled at Paimon's suggestion. "What is it? Didn't you come to help us anyway?" "Not really, I came to get a drink when I heard about this mysterious man, but-" Paimon bobbed up and down in front of them, a wide smile on her face, and the man threw his head back in resignation and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'll help." "Yay!!" A sigh.
A few hours later, the unorthodox group is on their way, Dainsleif leading the group on the trail of an Abyss Herald. Dain was surprised by the tracking skills that the young man Y/N had under his belt. It was hard enough to track normal things like animals and people, but to track supernatural creatures like the Abyss took special care. But there was still that feeling of familiarity that Dainsleif just couldn't shake. The way he moved, talked, everything about him set off alarm bells in his head, but he just couldn't remember where he'd seen this man before. But one thing was clear to him; he had to find out who this man was and where he'd come from.
Y/N glanced back at Dain as he scanned the ground for traces of Abyss activity. The tall man seemed apprehensive yet curious as he watched Y/N's movements. Alright, let's see how much you remember, Dainsleif, so I might determine how to help you. Y/N took a deep breath, then stood up. "The Abyss Herald went that way." His bow materializes in his hand, and Y/N raises it to his eyes and pulls back the string, firing an arrow in the direction the tracks led, planting the arrow's tip into the center of a knothole on a distant tree.
As Y/N slings his bow across his back, Dainsleif's eyes widen slightly as a familiar memory resurfaces. A young man with h/c hair with a bow and arrow in his hand laughs, then raises the bow and fires, the arrow whistling before hitting the dead center of the target and splitting the arrow that Dain had fired before. "Good, good —- !" Dain smiled and nodded, then quirked his brows. "But your form isn't quite right, let me show you." He approaches the young man and gets close to him, guiding his hands to the right places on the bow, adjusting his grip and posture. Dain glances at —--'s lips before backing away and nodding. "Alright, go ahead." The boy releases the bowstring, and the arrow again flies perfectly straight and hits the target dead center, the only sound being the twang of the bow and the cracking of splintering wood. "Good!" Dain praised again. "Thank you, but what was the point of that, Dain-xiong?" "The way you had it before, the arrow whistled when fired. If you're going to be a soldier of the royal guard, you have to be as silent as possible," the blonde nodded towards the third arrow. The young man's face brightened and he nodded with determination. "Yes sir!" "Please, no need to call me that, we're only a year apart!" Dain sighed, and the boy laughed again.
