Alone in the woods, once again, Dorian sits under a tree. Gibbs, finally out of his shadow, nuzzles him playfully but the boy stays unresponsive. After a minute of unrewarded efforts, the shadowy dog goes to his master's lap and licks his hand. Absent-mindedly, the teenager pats his companion's head with his gaze lost in the distance. With a sigh, he takes the dog's toy before throwing it, with Gibbs following the ball to fetch it, its tail seemingly alive with how much it moves.
— Well, time to go now. Thanks again, both.
Dorian stands up and plays some time with his friend before beginning to walk. He summons his shadows and instructs them to search for a shelter, since the night is coming and he isn't able to know if the rain will follow. Only Garm was able to after all. Another sigh escapes him.
Later, long after the sun disappeared, the boy finds a cave toward which his shadows lead him. With their reassurance that nothing inhabits it, he goes inside without care, but before going to sleep, he has to assure that he won't be ambushed once again. For this, nothing better than the bandit's shadows seconded by his heavy hitters, understand the horse and both oxen. When he summons them, however, the latters miss the call.
— Huh ? Where are they ? Oh.
Of course. In his haste, he forgot to recall them from Garm's and Isa's shadows. Now, they are far enough that he can't sense nor call them. Well, at least his new family still has some guards and he'll know where to flee if they come near enough for him to sense the oxen. With this knowledge, the boy decides to keep only the bandits and the horse as watchers, despite his paranoïa. Afterwards, he stays in the cave for a full week, alternating hunting, playing with Gibbs and training against his shadows.
As the week nears its end, Dorian is now sure that Garm couldn't, or chooses not to, track him. With a new lease on his shoulders, the boy now walks out of his temporary home in order to find any village. His flying shadows high in the sky, he rides his mount for hours before finding anything, the only choice he makes before going is to continue away from where he came.
Unfortunately, but also unsurprisingly, they couldn't find any sign of civilization. As such, they had to find another cave, once again empty, before night. While the bandits' shadows are out hunting, rain begins to fall until it becomes a heavy downpour, locking Dorian inside. Trapped in, the boy sees one of his little shadows, a hare, come back panicked. As his instructions were clear, to stay out unless danger, he unsheathe his sword and steps back in the cave's darkness.
From his spot, the boy sees a lone figure slowly appear in the rain. Its height and width let him know that, at least, it's no human being. When the animal enters the cave, Dorian's whole body tenses. It's a Bear. Remembering his previous weak self, the need to call all his strong shadows arises in the teenager, but he can't. Now, he needs to prove himself able to fall this foe without help.
As the bear sniffs audibly, Dorian steps out of the darkness, he knows that the beast is able to smell him. Already fully focused on the animal, the boy sees when its muscles contract, when the feral eyes lock on him. His nose assaulted by the wet fur's stench makes him frown while he walks to the beast, sword at the ready.
When the boy arrives near enough, the beast jumps on him. Dorian, ready to act, rolls on the ground to evade. Standing again, he slashes at the bear, cutting its rear leg's fur. As his opponent tries to turn back to face him, Dorian follows his rear, unleashing attack after attack on it. At first, the fur easily protects the beast, but finds itself trimmed at a quick pace. Once the steel finally hits the animal's flesh, it roars and launches itself back to pin the human against the rocky wall.
Dorian isn't fast enough to step aside, he finds himself rammed and lets his sword slip away under the impact. As he tries to regain his bearings, the beast turns to face him and stands up. Dorian can only launch himself on the side, a second before the bear's paw falls where his head was. Now, the bear stands between the boy and his weapon.
His breathing hitching and wheezy, with a metallic taste in the mouth, Dorian frowns. This opponent is strong. Stronger than him. He can't continue like this, or he'll meet his end right here and there.
— Help.
The bear uses both paws, at the same time, to hammer the boy's head. When the hit is about to connect, ripples act in his shadows and a horse shoots up from it, ramming the beast's torso. As the bear falls, Dorian lunges to his weapon and grabs it, before shoving its blade in the animal's skull. At the same time, his horse stamps heavily on the beast's belly. The boy keeps his body pressed against his weapon until the bear's last spasm is minutes away, before sitting near it. He stares at the corpse.
— You were strong, but not enough. Now come to me.
As he talks, he feels a strong pull on his power, proof of its activation. This extracts a smile from Dorian's lips, as the strain needed for the little games which he killed while with the family were so faint that he could miss them. His smile widens, then, when he doesn't feel the dreaded feeling of rejection, the same one that this other bear gave him so long ago.
Despite his breathing difficulties and the taste of blood lingering on his tongue, Dorian shows an ecstatic face as he can see the shadow forming a bear silhouette over the corpse. With this one, he has another heavy hitter to replace his forgotten oxen at least. Less than a second later, he sighs. There were so many bandit's corpses at the time, he could have built an army if he didn't flee so quickly. Alas, the past is done, Dorian will have to be more careful about this in the future.
Afterwards, once his breathing steadies itself, the boy calls back all shadows that he can sense before beginning to prepare the bear's meat. One by one, his thralls arrive at the cave and go to his shadow. Only the bandits stay out, instead helping him with the chores.
The following day, before sunrise, everyone but the horse and some birds is back in Dorian's shadow, ready for departure. He rides once again all day long, trying to keep a steady direction, until one of his birds begins to do some back and forth between a point in the distance and himself.
Following his flying scout, the boy sees traces of civilization. He calls back all shadows and has them hide in his own now that he can continue alone. He did not want Garm nor Isa to discover his powers so of course he won't take the risk to let some strangers see them.
Entering, he finds himself under the same scrutiny that his group faced before, but now that he's alone, he has to make all choices himself. At first, he can mimic what Garm did, walk calmly to the center and wait for anyone of authority to come. However, once waiting, he clenches both teeth and fists. Why didn't he listen to what Garm said at the time ? Why had he chosen to play with Isa near the well ? Now he doesn't know anything that has to be done or said.
Before the teen can change his mind, a lone figure approaches. Younger than Albert, this man still exudes the same aura. He is the one that Dorian was waiting for and, after a look around showing only the boy, lifts his eyebrow.
— You're, alone ? Where did you learn those customs ?
Dorian curses inwardly. He knew that mimicking his mentor without thinking would cause trouble, but he can't back away now. He can't lie, either, as this could be a liability if he misremembers the lie afterward.
— I saw it, once, when a group entered another settlement. Since the one doing it is a warrior, a path that I am now taking, I thought it should be the correct approach.
The boy feels cold sweat gather on the back of his neck, as the man calmly strokes his hands together.
— I see. Beware, then, boy. You acted like a mercenary now, and those folks usually aren't as welcomed as you seem to think.
— I… Yes, the man did receive a cold treatment by the elder, but I don't know what to do otherwise.
A subtle smirk appears on the man's face, pushing Dorian to shivers. He now feels like a lamb in front of a wolf.
— Suppose that I believe you, boy. What do you want from us, and what will we earn in exchange ?
He… Doesn't know. Sure, Dorian knows what he needs, what he wants, but not a thing about what he can give. His desperate flight didn't let him time to gather his belongings, nor ask Garm for travel funds. All he has is his body and, for what it means, his little experience with the sword.
— I can… I can do miscellaneous tasks and… If there is no one to do it, I can try to… To give pointers about fighting ?
Seeing the other's lack of rebuttal, Dorian's nerves relax slightly before continuing.
— For what I nee… want, it would be somewhere to sleep.
The smirk widens, before transforming into a smile.
— Not arrogant, nor imposing. Not bad, boy. And good save too, with your demand. Never, ever, say that you need anything. You'll give too much power to the other.
The man's eyes loose a little bit of warmth, while his face reverts once again to its smirking appearance.
— Too bad, I heard it. You need things, but we don't need you.
Dorian gulps as he hears this. His previous feeling comes back at full speed.
— We don't need you, but we can make use of what you offer. Everything you offered, you'll do. But don't think about asking for anything but a sleeping place. You won't receive payment for what you offered, since it's already your way of paying us.
Dorian, feeling that he fell into a trap of his own making, can only nod.
— How long will you stay here ?
Dorian fights himself in order not to shrug. He has to give an answer, long enough to give enough pointers for it to be helpful, but not too long as he doesn't want to develop habits nor bonds here. He had to go, after all, and the separation with Garm and Isa was already hurtful enough.
— A month, two at the maximum.
A nod later, the man shows him where he'll stay for his duration here.