The Sweet Escape |Part 1| The Carja

Chapter 10 - Rough Night

Meridian. Four months after the Battle of the Alight.

"Another one of those," Erend said in a loud voice, tapping the bar with his large hand and pushing his empty tankard towards the bartender.

His men were around him, bantering and drinking together. "The Captain is in top form tonight! Woohoo, cheers to that!" And they all toasted with their tankards, spilling half of the ale on the dirty floor.

He replied with a grunt. That would be his... How many pints? Well, he had already stopped counting. He was floating in those light clouds, where feelings were not that painful.

He hadn't seen Shirin since the training session that went sideways two days before. He really felt horrible about it. This girl was lovely and he really liked her, he didn't want her to be hurt. He knew she had faced a lot in the past couple of years, and Erend felt like he was just adding to the pile of shit she had already been through.

Things would just be so much easier if Aloy wasn't still taking so much space in his brain and in his heart... But there was nothing he could do about it. He allowed himself to speak a bit about the Huntress with Joruf; his second sometimes had some flashes of insight between two tankards, and he wisely told him that only time would fade the feeling away. And other women, eventually.

He sighed heavily and drank another mouthful of Scappersap.

Suddenly, everything went quiet in the tavern. That startled him, and he looked around, trying to understand what was going on. His eyes went wide open as he realized what —or who— was capturing everyone's attention.

Shirin was there, dressed in a red and black outfit covered by a black hooded cloak. She was definitely a sight in this boorish downtown Oseram tavern, and all men and women alike were in awe as she started making his way to him. She had her honey-glazed eyes locked on him and he couldn't do anything else than just watch her, completely dazzled.

When she was just a couple of meters away, one very drunk —and very dumb— Oseram grabbed her by the waist and tried to pull her closer, displaying a carnivorous smile. In the blink of an eye, she gripped his hairy arm and twisted it behind the poor man's back, entangling him in a strong armlock. She whispered something in his ear and the man nodded frenetically, before she released him by pushing him violently against the bar.

Everyone around took a step back, as if she was going to attack somebody else.

Erend couldn't help but chuckle and raised his voice so that everyone could hear, "She's with me!" He winked at her. "Come on boys, give us some space." And everyone obliged in a wave of murmurs.

They sat on two stools at the end of the bar, in a dark corner, to get some privacy, the rest of the Vanguard naturally spreading in front of them, like a protective wall.

"You can't help but be noticed everywhere you go, it seems," he smirked.

She grinned back, "Apparently."

His smile faded as he turned his eyes back to his tankard. "Why are you here? It's not a place for someone like you."

She grabbed his hand without hesitation. He brought his gaze back to her, brows raised.

"Erend, listen..." She lowered her voice to ensure he was the only one hearing. "I am sorry for what I said to you the other day at the end of the training. I was just... sad. I really didn't think you would push me away."

He shook his head. "Shirin, don't be sorry. I am the one who ought to be sorry. I feel that I may have misled you. I really like you, you are..." He paused and gauged her suggestively from head to toe, "Well, look at you. You know you are amazing and you deserve better than a guy like me. I should have been clearer from the start."