TtOW! - Side Story 31.1: The Girl Left Behind (Patreon)

Twelve years ago…

Two individuals rode on a covered wagon, wrapped in cloaks to ward off the rain.  One, an adult man.  The other, a young girl.

The young girl had a frown on her face.

“I don’t like it here, Daddy.”

“Why not, Ateia?”

“It’s raining.”

He let out a chuckle at that.

“Well, that’s a valid criticism of Turannia.  There's a reason no one wants to come here, after all.”

“Then why are we coming here?”

Her father looked up and forward.

“That’s why we’re coming here.”

Ateia tilted her head but her father said no more.

And so Ateia and her father moved into a tiny hamlet at the very edge of the Turannian frontier, about as far from civilization as one could get within the Empire.

***

“Ateia, this is your father’s friends, Artair and Malmhìn Sutharland, and their son, Taog.”

Ateia stared up at the two adults, her eyes wide.  In front of her was a wall of a man, the largest person she had ever seen.  And next to him, what appeared like a wolf standing on two feet.

“Wow, you’re furry!”

Everyone paused for a moment, before Malmhìn burst out laughing.

“I suppose that’s true, little human!”

“Can I touch your fur?”

“Ateia…”

Ateia’s father held his head and groaned.  Malmhìn’s eyes narrowed and she grinned at the little girl.

“If you can catch me.”

Ateia walked forward but Malmhìn took a step back.  She tried again but the wulver pivoted around, dodging once more.  Ateia frowned and crouched down, then leapt at the wulver.  She spun around.  Ateia landed on the floor, turning around to glare at Malmhìn.  The wulver just grinned at her.

A young half-wulver boy just peeked out from behind his father’s legs.

“Um…”

Artair just chuckled.

“Looks like you won’t be alone in your mother’s training anymore, huh Taog?”

And so Ateia began her new life in the hamlet.  The rest of the town was wary of the newcomers at first, but they quickly began to appreciate having a veteran Exploratores around.  And Ateia grew accustomed to her life here, growing especially fond of her neighbors and their son, Taog.

Little Ateia would spend the next few years trying to catch Malmhìn.  She did not succeed, but she did gain the Physical Combat skill out of it, much to her father’s amusement.

***

But not everything was good in this new little town.  More than once, she found the neighborhood kids picking on her new friend.  She got into more than a few fights over that.  And so she ended up with few friends besides Taog.

And then six years later, Taog lost his parents.

That…was when Ateia started to hate this place.

She could handle it before, when Taog’s mom would laugh it off and challenge her enemies to face her.  But now?  When they continued to hate Taog even after his family gave everything for them?  When Taog cried himself to sleep and they repaid it by beating him in secret?

There were days she wished Taog’s parents had left this place to its fate.

But her father was a steady rock for them at that time.  He took Taog into their home, looked after him like his own son.  He helped them both process the loss, and shielded Taog from his enemies in town.  Taog started to heal, and so Ateia started to calm down.

Until her father left them, that is.

***

Three years after Taog lost his parents, Ateia clung to her father, tears in her eyes.

“What are you saying?!”

Her father frowned, rubbing her head.

“I’m sorry, Ateia, but there’s something I need to take care of.  If it were anything else…I would stay…but this is something I must do.”

“When are you coming back?!  We need you here!”

“I’m…I’m sorry…but I can’t say.  As soon as I can.”

“You don’t even know when you’re coming back!  If you’re going to be gone that long, then take us with you!”

He shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous.  Please, Ateia…I can only go if I know you’re safe, here.”

“We aren’t safe at all!  We need you!  Taog needs you!”

Her father moved his hand to her shoulder and bent down so that he was at eye level with her.

“He has you.  And Quintus will help you both.  So please…take care of each other, and wait for me here.  I will return to you, once the job is done.”

And so her father left.  Her only family, since she never knew her mother.  The one who had been there when they traveled to this far corner of the Empire.  The one who had been there for her through tragedy and danger.

She had been left alone.  She had been left behind.

And not just her.

After he left, Taog withdrew into himself.  He put on a brave face, swearing he would protect her to her father, but Ateia knew.  She saw as Taog’s heart broke, one of his last lifelines vanishing.  It was the day Taog started to build walls around his heart.

And so Ateia and Taog were left behind.  Quintus came to check on them every day, helped them with whatever they needed, but he had his own affairs to take care of.  He was sensitive to the gazes of others.  So he would take care of her and Taog…but he also wouldn’t take Taog into his family, fearful of the public’s gaze.  He helped them…but he was not family.

No one was, save for each other.

***

Ateia heaved a sigh as she left the butcher’s.

She hated this place.

Oh, everyone was all smiles to her.  Loved her even, or so they would claim.  But Ateia wasn’t blind.  She knew how they treated Taog when they thought she wasn’t watching.  She caught the glances, the whispers.  And of course, the bruises Taog tried to hide from her.  She knew Taog kept a wall between them because he was afraid that it would spill over to her.  But she also knew that ‘protecting her’ was important to Taog.  So she closed her eyes and pretended nothing happened.

And she had to keep going.

Right now the townsfolk’s ‘love’ for her was the only thing holding back their hate for the wulver.  They’d likely have run Taog out of town by now if she hadn’t made it clear she’d go with him.  Those who did quietly support him wouldn’t be enough to stop it.  This close to the frontier, everyone had lost someone to the tribes from the Forest of Beasts.  She got that.  But Taog had nothing to do with that.  His mother had died defending these people, for goodness sake.

She wanted nothing to do with them.  But she was stuck with them, until she found a way out of here.  So she put on a smile, played the cheerful girl they all loved, such that they would tolerate Taog whenever they knew she was listening.  The more she smiled, the more they would restrain themselves, so smile she did.

And above all, her smile was what enabled Taog to carry on.  So she had to keep smiling, for both of them.

And that was why she refused to give up on her father.  Why she dreamed of joining the Exploratores.  Because she had to.  If he would return or if she could find him, then everything would be ok.  She needed that last spark of hope, that last dream that everything would work out in the end.  That both she and Taog would have a family again, that they could leave this place to follow after him and protect the Empire by his side, forging a new life.  That was the only thing that kept her smiling.

And that hope was quickly fading.

They had been rejected from the Exploratores.  Her father had told her many stories, even trained her in self-defense, but he had never taught her how an Exploratores actually works.  He had not trained her for that job, or taught her how to even apply for it.  In fact, he hadn’t prepared her to leave town at all, emphasizing the dangers of the road.  It was Malmhìn who had taught her how to travel the forest and track down prey.  So Ateia and Taog had been entirely unprepared when they applied.

Which meant they had very few options left to change their circumstances.

Join the Legion?  They had hamstrung themselves by their desire to join the Exploratores.  Ateia and Taog had gone and spent their initial boons from the Aesdes, trying to gain some skills she thought would be useful for that role.  The Legion, on the other hand, has a strict policy on available boons for new comitatenses, ensuring they can be fully tailored for their roles.  The only exceptions to that rule were proven specialists, which Ateia and Taog were not.  So the Legion would just shove them into the limitanei and leave them exactly where they were, manning the borders.  In fact, they wouldn’t be allowed to leave anymore.  They would be trapped at their posts for the rest of their careers.

Leave on their own?

And do what, exactly?

They had some money left over from their parents, and the Legion was still sending Ateia part of her father’s salary.  And that was enough here, where they already had a home and knew where to hunt and gather in the surrounding area.  There were also a handful of people on their side who Ateia was grateful for, the pair wouldn’t have survived at first without their help.  But if they left?  They didn’t have enough for a new home.  They weren’t educated enough to get a job in town.  They didn’t know any trades.  They didn’t have any connections.  Heck, they didn’t even know how to farm, not really.  Maybe they could make it work but it would be difficult.  And hate for the wulver was universal across Turannia.  Their lives wouldn’t change unless they managed to leave the province entirely.

Joining the Exploratores was still their best bet.  They would be trained, leveled, and prepared to travel across the Empire.  They would have access to resources and connections to aid them in their travels.  They could stay in Exploratores facilities, gain access to Exploratores intel.  They would have peers and mentors to guide them along.  They would have the authority to move about and would have access to the bounties if they needed money.

And most of all, they might be able to find out where her father went, why he left in the first place.

But how?

What could Ateia do, now that they had failed the test?

Life would go on, even if this last spark of hope died.

But Ateia couldn’t keep smiling if it did.

It was around this time that Ateia noticed an Imperial mage walking by.  Curious, she followed him into the local tavern, listening to the group complaining about their latest job.

Her heart began to pound.

A fire grew in her chest.

There was a chance.

A small chance.

An incredibly risky chance.

But a chance.

One last chance to keep her hope alive.  To find her father.  To set things right.

She ran home.

If this failed…if it was too dangerous…if they couldn’t handle it….then she’d give up.  She’d let that last spark of hope die.  She’d figure out how to make a life in this town she hated, or else find some other way to leave it.

But she couldn’t make peace with it unless she took this last chance.  If she had done all she could, if she had exhausted every means, if there was truly no way, then she’d try to move on.  But as long as that single spark of hope remained, she couldn’t let go of it.

Because then she could go home and greet Taog with a smile.  That even a little bit of the pain and tension and loneliness might fade from them both.

And who knows?  Maybe by some miracle, they might actually succeed.

***

Ateia closed her eyes as she lay on the bed in the inn, now completely dark save for the dim glow from Seero’s eye.

…Ateia was pretty sure eyes weren't supposed to glow.

Ok, if she was honest, that wasn’t even close to the weirdest thing about Seero.  Taog was more than within his rights to be suspicious of her.  In fact, everyone would probably warn Ateia to be suspicious about someone like this.

But for Ateia, that didn’t matter.

Because Seero was her savior.

The strange wandering knight…ok Ateia was also pretty sure she wasn’t a knight but she didn’t really know what else she could be…had taken Ateia’s last, dying spark of hope and breathed life into it.  Right when Ateia was about to give up for good, right when she thought she had killed both herself and Taog, this girl came in and lent her aid.  And now…now all of Ateia’s dreams were coming true.  She and Taog could join the Exploratores, and leave this place for good.  And they could find out what happened to her father, why the last member of their family had left them behind.  And maybe one day…they could make that family whole once more.

And all because of this strange, confusing, and incredibly powerful girl who had stumbled into their lives.

That was why she leapt into the contract.  She knew a magic contract couldn’t be easily broken, and it seemed like Seero had just been asking for help with her search.  And that sort of request was something an Exploratores might help with anyways, so for Ateia it was a bargain to secure the guaranteed help of such a powerful ally.

And that was why, for as long as she could, she would give Seero the benefit of the doubt.  She would believe in and trust her, unless it was proven that she couldn’t.  She owed the girl that much, even if she was just fulfilling their contract.  It may have been just a bargain to Seero, but to Ateia it was so much more.

And…

She may have just been imagining things but she couldn’t help but feel a bit of kinship with the strange girl.  Her search for these ‘persons of interest’, her complete lack of basic knowledge…well it seemed to Ateia like this girl had been cut adrift.  Lost.  Left behind.  Still trying to figure out what to do…and why.

Just like Ateia.

Just then Seero’s eye began to glow bright.  Ateia froze.  Seero’s head turned, light from the eye scanning across the room before fading once more.

That seemed to happen every hour or so whenever the strange girl was ‘sleeping’, or so Ateia observed from her night watches when they made camp out in the field.  If sleeping was indeed what she was doing.  When Ateia had asked she had just said something about ‘routinely scheduled sentry scans’.  Seero always answered her questions but to be honest Ateia didn’t understand even half of the answers.  She just assumed it had something to do with the reason why Seero couldn’t remove her armor.

Ok, sometimes Seero was kind of weird.  Unsettling even, if Ateia was completely honest.

But that didn’t change Ateia’s mind on her.

Both in gratitude for what Seero had done for her…and because she knew the pain of being left behind…

She would not let Seero wander alone.

Author’s Note:

Etly on Royal Road asked if I was ever going to write from Ateia’s perspective and then I realized wait I never did that, did I?  So congrats Ateia, you get the first side story of the novel!

…again not entirely sure I got her completely right but eh, still want to get this out today haha.  Ended up longer than I expected to, so summarized some parts.  We can always have more flashbacks later if we need them, after all!

For names, I debated this since ‘Seero’ isn’t really a name per say, but since this is a full side-story from Ateia’s perspective (who also doesn’t yet understand that ‘NSLICE-00P’ is a serial number) decided it would be weird not to use it here.  I think I will stick with NSLICE-00P in main story chapters, but any full on side-character POV chapters we can go with whatever they call her.

Anyways!

What’s next for the group’s journey?  Why did Ateia’s father leave them behind?  Can two kids who barely left their little hamlet successfully guide this strange, incredibly powerful, and maybe slightly trigger-happy girl?  Tune in next time, to find out!