Chapter 12: Chapter 12: A New Party Member(?)

For such a little pup, Size could move. He dashed through the forest, disappearing behind trees every few seconds. We must have covered a mile in about five minutes just trying to keep up with him. I'm pretty sure he was having fun. Not going to lie, I was enjoying myself a bit too. I even managed to throw a stick around a few times.

Yusha wasn't so happy though. I could tell by the look on her face that she really wanted to get to training. Every time I paused to pat Siza on the head or chuck the stick as far as I could, I could see her sigh. Again, I felt guilty for not acting very Champion-like but getting to play around with Siza for a few minutes was the most relaxing experience I had ever since I died. But after I made eye contact with her after the sixth or seventh session of fetch, I dropped the stick to the ground.

This is part of the reason why I flunked that math class. I have a hard time not getting distracted. I always think to myself "just five more minutes." Then I'd look at the clock and three hours had passed. No more of that. I decided to quit cold turkey. I dropped the stick to the ground beside me, much to SIza's dismay. I looked at Yusha and she stared back at me, her eyes blinking away her confusion.

"Sorry about that," I said confidently. I straightened out my back and looked forward to the forest. Siza came prancing along and rubbed his head against my shin. It took all of my willpower to not look down and pat his head. "I promise to remain focused from now on."

"Don't worry about it. It must be terrifying having been thrusted into an unknown world. I don't blame you for wanting to relax your mind a bit and enjoy the finer parts of life."

"But you seemed frustrated," I said. She looked startled by my words. Yusha opened her mouth, a word lingering on the edge of her tongue but unable to escape.

"No... not at all," she muttered.

"You don't have to pretend that you're not bothered." I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I wasn't."

"Just because I'm one of Govessa's champions doesn't mean that I can't make mistakes too. You're the one that's familiar with this world, especially this village. I need you to take charge."

Yusha's face turned red. She turned away from and held onto the side of her arm and hung her head low. "I'll try my best."

I put too much stress on the poor girl. She was just a teenager in a village in the middle of nowhere. And I had essentially told her that the safety of one of Govessa's chosen warriors lies on her hand. I really do have a way with words.

"Wait. Maybe that came out wrong. I don't want it to seem like I'm pushing all this responsibility on you. I just... need help is all. A lot of it. And you..." I looked down at Siza. He was rubbing his nose against my shoe. "And Siza... are the only help I have right now."

I am not good with words. Nor am I good at saying things to make people feel better. But at least I'm honest. I hoped that my words would get through to Yusha. She took in a deep sigh and stared further into the dense forest, her hands over her eyes as she scanned the trees.

"I understand," Yusha said. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders before turning to face me again. She looked a bit relieved, which made me feel the same way. "I think everything is starting to kick in, you know? We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to get you strong enough to take on Zahnte and his Army of Order."

Nostalgia kicked me in the back of my head. And not the good kind of nostalgia, either. It was the kind where you remember a harsh memory that makes you physically wince. When Yusha said 'a lot of work to do,' I was immediately brough back to when I nearly flunked out of math class and my tutor said the same thing. 'A lot of work to do.' And all I could think of were the long hours spent after school going through pages and pages of math books and worksheets only to have to repeat the sixth grade all over again.

I felt sick. There was a very real possibility that all of this could be for nothing. Yusha could risk what little she had to protect and train me. Govessa could have used up all those resources to send me here. And after everything everyone has done, I could get steamrolled by some jerk from Earth fighting for Zahnte. The thought made my stomach churn.

"How are you feeling, Adrien?" I heard Yusha ask. She placed the back of her hand against my forehead, presumably to see if I had a fever. I really must have zoned out because it took me a solid minute to realize what had happened. I blinked a few times and came back to reality.

"Oh. Sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. I guess... everything just hit me all at once. Reality just hit me like a truck."

"A truck?" Yusha said all confused.

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Right. I need to be smarter with my references.

"Think of it as a big metal carriage."

"Oh."

"But yes, I'm fine. Instead of focusing on potential failure, maybe we should focus on the first step of our journey. I've got a lot on my mind right now and falling short of everyone's expectations is something that I don't want to get caught up in at the moment."

Yusha then nodded her head. "Right. That makes sense. My father always talked about taking things one step at a time. It's easy to become overwhelmed if you're always focusing on the bigger picture." After her statement, Siza wanted in on the conversation. He was hopping up and down, making this loud yet endearing growl as he looked to the right. He stretched his front legs out while balancing on his rear, like he was ready to pounce all while letting out his adorable little howl.

"We're near some Entities?" I asked.

"Must be. Siza only does that when threats are nearby."

I turned to Yusha who was still looking in the same direction as her dog. "Threats? I thought those monsters weren't a challenge to anyone with even just a shred of competence."

"That is what I meant. They're a threat to everyone else in the village. Hopefully there aren't too many to overwhelm us. But I've never seen more than a dozen at once, so it's unlikely that they'll have a numbers advantage."

Siza's growl turned into a bark. Yusha crouched and picked him in her arms and shushed him with one finger. "Quiet, boy. You'll scare them away if you keep barking like that!" she whispered. The dog quieted down but maintained a low, monotone snarl.

"How are we going to approach this?" I asked.

"I'll take lead. Just in case it's something other than Entities, you'll stay behind me. That way, I might be able to talk our way out of a tough situation in case it's the Army of Order. I doubt that's the case, but you can never be too safe."

I nodded my head. Sounded like a reasonable plan to me. I felt my muscles tense up and butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. The possibility of having to deal with real people had me both anxious and excited. "I'll keep a low profile," I replied. "And I won't take my eyes off you."

Yusha put Siza on the ground. She stroked the back of his ears with one hand while pointing at the ground in front of him. "Now stay, Siza!" she ordered in a soft yet commanding tone. The dog stood up straight, his tiny teeth visible through his snarl. He was quieter now as he stared straight ahead. I was surprised. The dog obeyed Yusha as soon as she gave him an order. I don't think I've ever seen a pet that obedient before.

With Siza keeping watch, Yusha crept towards the heart of the forest. Each of her steps was deliberate as she dashed through the foliage in near silence. She paused after a few yards and turned towards me before waving her hand, indicating that she wanted me to follow. I looked down at the grass and then back at Yusha. I took one long step with my right foot and lowered it slowly. Despite my best effort, I still managed to make some loud crunching noises. Trying to be as stealthy as Yusha was futile, so instead of making a whole lot of noise for a longer period of time by taking slow and sloppy steps, I just darted next to her.

"Sorry about all the noise," I whispered to Yusha once I caught up. She was standing behind a tree for cover, gazing into a vacant patch of grass a short walk away. I could make out some familiar purple glowing among the shadows cast by canopies.

"It's fine. Looks like it's just a few Entities in the distance. If it was the Army of Order, then we'd be in serious trouble." She looked over her shoulder at me and winked. "Because they would have heard every step that you took!"

I sighed in silence. I took solace in the fact that my lack of grace didn't get Yusha and me into some serious trouble. With my deepest fear squelched, I cracked my knuckles.

I was eager to see some action.

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