Chapter Text
Somehow, Martyn should have known this kind of expedition would have been a mistake. He had never had the best track record for these kinds of outings, but even if he had to think about it, none of them had ever gone down this bad. At least, not as far as having him worried about his life in such a short amount of time.
He really, really should have known. But this was still a new area to him and the rest of the South Landers, so the usual precautions taken when navigating the old place they had stayed in didn’t really matter anymore, new habits having to be formed. So when Martyn had insisted on scouting the surrounding area by himself, the others hadn’t really minded, used to the way Martyn liked to work on his own. He was never one for helping them settle down anyway, so he might as well make himself useful that way.
So he had gone out, travelling north without packing much, just a bit of water, and had walked down the path his feet had chosen for him.
The forest he had found himself in was pretty dense, but nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. With how long he and the others Southerners had been doing this, he had grown used to many different climates and terrain. So a simple forest wasn’t going to bother him, even more when he looked like the average man going for a stroll.
No one knew him here, even more when he was alone. So in his mind, there was nothing to be worried about.
He was wrong, of course he was. Having been so used to the dangers coming from others that he had forgotten man’s biggest adversary ; Nature itself.
At first, the snow had simply caught his attention, the words ‘Snow fort’ getting the forefront of his mind in an instant. After all, this is why all five of them were here in the first place.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence that his feet had taken him here, so what was the danger of just taking a quick look around ? Maybe he could get to know the owners of the place before robbing them dry when the others decided that it was time to act. It could make it even funnier, and Martyn was always one for fun.
So he simply walked towards the fort, oblivious to how unprepared he was for it. After all, the snow wasn’t really high, and it was still the end of spring, the temperatures already dropping. So he wasn’t that underdressed for a bit of cold.
What he was underdressed for though, was a proper snow storm.
At first, it had been a few flakes, Martyn ignoring them, just wanting to get a proper view of the snow fort first. He was lost in thoughts, his mind already imagining what role he might try to play when meeting the owners of the fort. He thought of playing the lost traveler needing a place to stay while the weather stabilizes. He had done it before, so he really didn’t mind a replay of it, even more with how comical this last time had been, when the person they had stolen from had recognized his face the next time he was back, this time to steal from them. The surprise in their eyes had been everything Martyn could have wished for, so he didn’t mind having to see it again.
So he kept pushing, ignoring the cold slipping in his body, only paying attention to it once it was too late to go back. The few flakes around him having turned into a proper storm once he finally had paid attention to it.
That left him two ways out of this now that the snow fort was still nowhere in sight ; freezing to death, or finding a place to hide while the storm passed. And with death not being really in his cards for the time being, he looked around and found a cave opening. He didn’t hesitate at all before entering it. It might have been full of danger, but it was that of death, so it wasn’t really a question in his mind.
The cave itself was pretty dark, but thankfully empty. It was deep enough to keep the snow and cold wind away from Martyn, giving him a good shot at surviving the experience. It was a bit of a Hail Mary, but it was working well enough for him. So he didn’t really care about being comfortable in between these rocks.
The darkest area of the cave did what it needed to anyway ; giving Martyn a respite from the outside mess and a good view to the only other entrance of the cave without being visible from it. That’s how he managed to see the other person entering this place before the stranger was able to see him.
In all honesty, it wasn’t really that surprising to see someone else in this scenario. After all, if Martyn had fallen for it, anyone else could. So seeing a man carefully enter the space, making sure to get a good look at the places still illuminated by the sun and fully missing Martyn hidden in the dark, wasn’t that much of a surprise.
A few choices were now presented to him, and which one he was going to go for depended on the way this stranger was going to act within the next few seconds.
The man stood a bit taller than him from what Martyn could see. He wasn’t too armed either, only having a small dagger strapped to his thigh. But if Martyn still managed to get that dagger out of the equation, and they had to go for a hand-to-hand fight, he wasn’t really sure about winning. Martyn might have the element of surprise on his side, the stranger did have the element of having claws.
Of course this man wasn’t a human, because Martyn was never lucky enough to have a proper chance in the mess that this day had turned out to be.
The next possible option was to book it out of there and hope the stranger wasn’t going to try to catch him. But with how cold it was out there, the snow still falling in bucketfuls, it wasn’t going to end well for him whether he got caught or not.
So the third secret option it had to be, talking. And Martyn had always been the best at this out of everyone in his group. Lying through his teeth has become a habit that both strangers and friends alike had always been subjected to.
So once he had picked his poison, Martyn cleared his throat in hope to catch the stranger's attention while he was still on the other side of the cave and away from him, and spoke up.
“Hey, welcome to my cave”, he opted for, hoping the joking tone would put the stranger at ease, not wanting to end at the end of a blade if he was seen as a danger too early on.
But if the goal Martyn might have had with these words was to not scare the stranger half to death, then he had instantly failed. The man had quickly taken out his dagger and raised it in the direction of the sound that he had heard, and thankfully enough, Martyn was standing far enough in the cave to not have been slashed immediately. At least, it reinforced the knowledge that the stranger was a fighter, if the build of the man himself hadn’t been enough to already confirm that. From the broad stature to the way he was standing, it was certain to Martyn that he couldn’t take him in a fight.
So the best bet he had if he wanted to stay alive was to keep talking. Any sudden movement and he made might end up with a dagger in his neck, so he did what he knew best and kept his distance while ignoring the weapon still held towards him, “I can’t really show you around to be honest, I just got there, but we can look around together if you want”, he continued, hoping his calm tone would be enough to not end up dead.
“Who are you ?”, was what the stranger immediately landed on. To be fair, it wasn’t a surprising first sentence when accidentally bumping into an unknown man in a cave, but still, the way he had said it felt a bit harsh.
And anyway, Martyn didn’t know the guy, and with the kind of reputation he had in other parts of the country, telling this stranger who he was wasn’t the best option possible yet, “Alright, kinda rude. You can’t just enter a man’s cave and ask that”, so he landed on another joke, hoping it might be funny or disturbing enough to change the atmosphere a bit.
Instead of a laugh, the stranger looked a bit taken aback by the statement, looking perturbed and a bit disgusted. But the effect itself didn’t really matter to Martyn, because what he wanted was that dagger out of his face, and with this joke, that’s just what he got.
“I just didn’t think I’ll come across anyone in here”, the stranger muttered, as he lowered his weapon, still keeping it in his hand, but not threatening the other man directly anymore. The glistening metal being now out of Martyn’s face was a bit of a relief. Now, if the cold didn’t kill him, he might be able to get out of this situation alive.
“Yeah, me neither, but look at us”, Martyn shrugged, finally feeling safe enough to leave the unlit part of the cave, showing himself to this stranger fully for the first time, “So, I’ll return the question, but a bit kinder this time. Hey man, nice meeting you here, what’s your name ?”, he asked, taking a quick look outside, only meeting the quick movement of white snow falling. He still couldn’t leave, and with the way it was going, the both of them were going to be stuck in here for a while.
“I asked that first”, was what the stranger answered, sounding a bit offended at the question. Alright, one more thing to add to the mental list Martyn was making about this man; dense.
But the thief had to remember his number one goal here; not end up with a dagger in his throat, so he had to agree with this stranger, at least on this once, “Well you said ‘who are you’, but you know what, fair”, he told him, extending a hand towards the stranger in hope to look a bit friendlier, “Martyn and you ?”
And as the man accepted his handshake, he quickly cleared his throat and spoke up, voice a bit more confident this time, echoing on the walls, “I am Ren Thedog, knight of the fairy forest”
The more this man talked, the more Martyn seemed to understand things about him, and this stranger introducing himself with not only his name, but last name and occupation made more sense than it had any right to. It was like someone fully uncovering a painting even if the hidden part was already so easy to guess; not surprising, but still somehow entertaining.
But Martyn only returned the handshake, laughing lightly at the situation, hoping he wouldn’t sound like he was making fun of this stranger with a weapon, “Alright, full title, I see how it is”
“Is there a problem with that ?”, the man now known as Ren asked as their hands separated, crossing them as he seemed to take a better look at Martyn now that he was not hidden in the darkness anymore.
“No, not really. Some of my boys might, but I don’t. You can serve who you want to honestly, even the fairy queen”, Martyn calmly answered, trying his best to mirror Ren’s body language, calm and self-assured.
Out of all the people he lived with, Ren might have been lucky to end up with Martyn, though. He seemed to be quite a proud man when it came to the person he served. And good for him. In all honesty, Martyn didn’t care at all, he was a free spirit, not one to criticize other people's decisions. But that wasn’t the case of the other Southerners, most of them being here due to unworthy leaders and monarchs grown tyrants.
But the line about Martyn’s friends seemed to pass right above the other man’s head. Ren, apparently catching on to how familiar the name of his queen seemed to fly out of Martyn’s mouth more than anything else, “Do you know my queen ?”, he asked, sounding a bit defensive.
Martyn did know her, but only through reputation. After all, before he and the rest of the Southerners landed on their next destination, they always tried to know the most they could about the place. From the villages to its leaders, “I mean, I know the name, but I doubt she knows who I am”, he told the other man as casually as he could.
That seem to calm him down enough, the man finally putting his dagger back in his holder to Martyn’s relive, “Alright, and you, who do you serve ?”, he asked, looking Martyn up and down in the process, probably trying to find some kind of ensign on him.
But Martyn knew he didn’t have anything that could lead back to the South Lands on his person. That could very early be a death wish in certain places, “Just myself”, he answered, observing the way Ren reacted to that information.
“And are you some kind of royalty ?”, the other man replied, somehow a bit intimidated by the possibility of being in front of a proper leader. The change reflected in his shoulders feeling a bit more closed off.
But Martyn knew he didn’t have the making of a leader, no one in his group did. That’s why they were here and together in the first place.
So Martyn decided to be honest. Part of him wanted to lie to this man just to see the way he would have acted in front of some kind of king, but he didn’t know how long he could be capable of holding that act up. And with the way the snow outside wasn’t calming down at all, he decided to tell him the truth, “Nope, just a guy honestly, not much else going on”, he told him with a shrug.
“Do you just live by yourself then ?”, Ren asked, the tone in his voice a bit less formal since he now knew that the man in front of him was just that, a man.
That question came as a bit of a surprise, “No, I just talked about my boys a few minutes ago”, he told the other man a bit confused. Had Ren just been ignoring what Martyn had told him not too long ago ? On top of being a bit dense, he was apparently one to be easily distracted too.
“Your boys ?”, the other man asked, looking confused at the term Martyn was using for his teammates.
“Yeah, my friends, I live with them”, Martyn corrected, hoping a more proper term might be better for the knight in front of him.
“And is there a leader I might know ?”, Ren asked again. This obsession with having a leader was driving Martyn up the walls. What in the ‘no leader’ part he couldn’t seem to understand ?
“No, not here”, Martyn corrected, “We just live by ourselves”
The concept of not having a leader seem to still confuse the man, but he ended up relenting nonetheless, “Strange way of living, but I shan't question it further”
Other than his presence, this man’s way of speaking was also a bit strange. It felt way too proper for someone trapped in a cave, even if it was with a complete stranger. But it made sense for someone working so close to a monarch. It made Martyn wonder how was that queen he was serving, and if this was similar to the way she was acting or wanted the others around her to act.
“Yeah, I’m not the kind of guy to serve a king, queen or whoever else. As soon as one of them becomes power hungry, you’re the first one on the chopping block”, Martyn explained, recalling experiences his friends had had with their own authority figures. From the insane to the inexperienced, it was never a good idea in his eyes to let your entire existence rely on the shoulders of someone else.
Martyn knew that, if the rest of the Southerners decided that it was his time to go, he could still move on without any difficulties. He had his own money, his own belongings, and more importantly, he was his own person.
But the last remark, meant mainly as a joke, a small jab from Martyn’s part, didn't seem to be taken very well by the other man, “My queen would never do something like that”, Ren retorted, looking back at Martyn in disgust.
“Yeah, well, wait a bit and come back to me then”, he replied, doubling down on his assumption. If the guy could talk about his love for authority figures, then Martyn could talk about his hatred for them, it was only fair game. And anyway, it was more of a joke made out of a gross generalization than anything really serious.
But just as proven before, the concept of this joke seemed to fly above Ren’s head, the man looking more offended than anything else, “I’d rather you not speak about her that way”, he replied, once again protective of his queen. He was either the most devoted and stupid man Martyn had ever met, or this queen of his was really the most benevolent woman on earth.
But no matter which one it was, Martyn didn’t want to pick a fight with that guy if the two of them had to stay stuck in that cave for an unknown amount of time. So he had to be the spineless one in that interaction, no matter how much he hated to bend over backward for someone he didn’t even know.
“Yeah, no, you’re right, she wouldn’t”, he conceded, rolling his eyes, an act that didn’t seem to be caught on by the other man to Martyn’s relief.
“Of course she wouldn’t, I trust her with my life, and so does everyone in the Fairy forest”, Ren replied as a matter of fact, sure of his queen.
Blind trust was something Martyn had never and will never understand. He still had a hard time trusting his own friends, but that might have been due to his own tendencies as a chronic liar too. It only made sense to fear things that he himself did to others.
But all Martyn wanted right now was a change of subject before he found a way to dig himself into an even deeper hole, “So, are there a lot of people in that Fairy forest of yours ?”, the thief asked. Martyn was trying to land on a subject that Ren would be more interested in, at least that what he came up with due to how proud he looked to be of his own place.
“Why would you want to know that ?”, Ren answered.
God, he was frustrating to talk to. Martyn understood being on the defensive, they didn’t know each other at all, but still, this was becoming annoying, “Can’t a guy try his hands at small talk ? Where going to be stuck in that cave for a while, so might as well fill up time with a bit of conversation”, he hissed, turning around and walking around the cave to calm himself down.
That display of emotion seemed to finally hit Ren over the head. So with an audible sigh, he spoke again, this time sounding a bit more gentle, “There are a few people if that’s what you want to know, but I couldn’t give you a proper number”
“That’s nice. It’s just the five of us back home”, Martyn shared, happy to finally get something to talk about that didn’t end up in him wanting to hit his head against a wall.
“If it’s not too private of a matter, where do you come from ?”, Ren asked.
“I'd rather not answer that one”, Martyn replied, earning a questioning look out of the other man, “I get to keep some mystery, don’t I ? So when you come back home and your folks ask you where you went and you start talking about this beautiful stranger you met in a cave, you can’t answer every question they have. It makes me sound kinda cool, mysterious”, he replied as he tried to justify himself.
What he had told Ren wasn’t much of a lie, more a partial abstraction of the truth. Sure, he liked the whole mystery man act, but he didn’t know how much the other man really knew about the South Landers as a group. God knows how many people wanted to kill all five of them and would do so as soon as they were given the opportunity. And Martyn didn’t know if Ren was one of them yet.
So he didn’t want to let too much be known until he knew for a fact Ren wouldn’t harm or rat him out to people who would.
“That’s one way to put it”, Ren replied, a hint of a smile adoring his face. At least he seemed to be a good sport about it, probably more amused by Martyn's attempt at a clumsy justification than anything else.
“So, what were you doing out in the snow ?”, Martyn asked, changing the subject once again to something that suited him more. Something else able to get him found out.
But Ren had other plans, “It’s a bit confidential”, the other man hesitantly told him, looking back at the snow storm behind him.
“Really ? That’s my thing”, Martyn exclaimed, though part of him wasn’t surprised to get his technique used back against him.
“Well I get to keep some information to myself too, don’t I ?”, the other man replied with a teasing smile, clearly messing with him now.
So Martyn took it as his opportunity to joke back now that he wasn’t seen as a threat, “Says the guy who started his introduction with his full name and title. I know who you work for, I know where you live. But the reason why you’re here is apparently too much to ask ?”, he told Ren with the same teasing smile he had been given.
“Well, kinda ? I still don’t know who you might be working for”, Ren replied, somehow circling back to the subject they had started with.
“We are not talking about that again. I already told you, it’s myself”, Martyn replied, frustration slipping into his voice. They had managed to talk about something else and have a proper conversation, but no, we had to go back to that.
“What about these ‘boys’ of yours ?”, Ren asked, eyes squinting as he looked at the other man with suspicion.
“Oh, come on, they’re as harmless as they come”, Martyn laughed, “Well, except G, he can get a bit heated when he wants to, but I don’t think he’s ever had anything against your queen anyway. You can tell me anything I swear”
Which was true. None of them were here for his queen. And knowing them, Martyn knew they would rather stay away from her as long as they could. They were here for the enchanter, that was it. As soon as they stole it, they would pack their bags and head to the next destination they decided on. Nothing to do with the harm and death of a monarch for these parts of the woods.
“Well, you said it yourself, I get to keep a bit of mystery to myself, don’t I ?”, Ren recalled, looking back at Martyn with a playful smile.
But maybe this guy wasn’t as boring as he first looked then, “You know what, fair enough”, Martyn replied with a shrug, letting himself fall on the floor and sit with his back to the walls of the cave.
“Anything else about these friends of yours you might want to tell me ?”, Ren asked, coming to sit on the opposite wall, still keeping his distance. But the cave wasn’t that big, and Martyn was glad about that, not wanting to yell during the entire conversation.
“Only if you tell me things about some of your folks as well”, Martyn replied, putting one of his legs above the other and crossing his arm.
That answer seemed to amuse Ren a great deal, the man laughing as he spoke, “Bartering, I like that”, he exclaimed, “Why not, go on”
Martyn smiled back, happy to have found a middle ground and to be able to talk about the other Southerners while still keeping their name to himself (just in case), “We all met a different point in our travels. Just a bunch of folks who didn’t want to serve any gods or royals, so we naturally banded together, and it’s been like that for a few years”, Martyn mused, thinking back on their early days as a group, when none of them really knew each other and had to learn how to work together
It had been a bit of a mess, nearly getting them caught a lot. From Jimmy’s loud mouth and impulsivity contrasting with Mumbo’s fear of decision-making. Even Grian’s plan always going against Impulse’s. It had been complete chaos but god it had been fun.
“Now we go from one place to another, sometimes as a group, someone on our own. That’s why I ended up here”, Martyn added, making sure to keep the reason for their travels to himself.
“So, you're here as a simple act of travel ?”, Ren asked him, pointing to the forest as he spoke.
“Kinda. I just like to go around I guess, see what’s up in the neighboring places and the kind of faces I might come across”, Martyn nodded. Right now that’s what he was doing, just a simple walk around the forest. Ren didn’t need to know about the rest of his intentions at all.
But the other man didn’t seem to be worried with how vague Martyn was being, “So, I guess you’re quite the social one then ? Do you think some of my people might even know about you ?”, he joked.
The answer was yes, a few of them might with the kind of reputation him and the other Southerners had. But that was by far the stupidest thing he could tell Ren right after the man had started to trust him.
“I’ll doubt that, but it’s only a question of time if I’ve made a good impression here”, Martyn landed on saying with a quick wink towards the other man, “But I’m gonna be there for a bit though, so get used to seeing me around”
“I don’t think I’ll mind too much”, Ren mused, somehow matching the look Martyn was giving him. At least the other man was a good sport. Martyn knew oh too well how some men might react when he was doing his usual joke flirt with them, too many not catching the joke and ending up pissed at him. But Ren seemed to be smarter than that, playing into it to Martyn’s delight.
“So, what about the folks around here ?”, Martyn, returning the question in hope to get more information about the people he might come across. While he wasn’t really here to make friends, that didn’t mean he couldn’t do it as a way to pass the time or help the others with informations he had gathered while wandering around.
“Right”, Ren nodded, remembering his end of the bargain he had just made, “Around here there's only two main places worth visiting; the Fairy forest and the Scottage”
While he had heard of the Fairy forest, even before Ren went on his monarchy-loving rant, the name ‘Scottage’ didn’t ring any bells. So this little walk in the forest was kinda useful after all, even if it had not been in the way Martyn had expected, “Never heard of that second one”, he interjected, hoping Ren would elaborate.
“It’s a small village, you probably should go there if you’re the social type”, the other man explained, “There’s a bar if you want to get to know the people there”
“Adding that to the list”, Martyn said as he made a mental note. Maybe he could drag one of his boys there if they needed some fresh air away from their usual illegal plans.
“I’m way more familiar with the Fairy Forest though, if you couldn’t guess”, Ren added with a joking tone, the remark making Martyn roll his eyes again, “I was born there and don’t plan on living anytime soon. I’m one of the two people ordered at the personal protection of the Queen herself”, he said, pride lacing his voice.
“Who’s the other one?”, Martyn asked. Part of him liked to see the way Ren talked about what he knew, no matter how little it was actually helping him at all with what he had been wanting to do today.
“A close friend of mine, BigB”, Ren replied, a smile forming on his face as he mentioned this friend of his.
“Good to know”, Martyn nodded with a smile of his own.
“What is ?”, Ren asked, looking a bit confused.
“That you do actually have friends”, Martyn jabbed with a wide cheeky smile, wanting nothing more than to make the other man laugh again. Because other than being a renown criminal, he had always been one for laughs, liking to see the effect his words could have on others, for the better and for the worst. And right now, he was aiming for the better.
But Ren only rolled his eyes with a smile that looked a bit held back, “You’re quite a funny one, are you ?”, he replied as he leaned forward on his folded legs.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me”, Martyn laughed, letting their voice die down in the cave as they both waited for the time to pass in each other's company.
As the far away light of the sun started to die down after what felt like an eternity, Martyn had hoped that it would have brought the end of the never ending snow storm. But when had he even been that lucky in life ? So even when the outside light vanished, replaced by the low dull of the moon, the sound of snow hitting the ground could still be heard melting with the loud wind helping it travel. It was still a miracle that the only entrance of the cave hadn’t been covered yet, and sadly, the only thing Martyn could thank was said wind.
With how busy and tiring the night prior had been, moving into a new place doing that to you, Martyn did feel his eyelids grow heavier fast enough as the moon replaced the sun. And with how little he had to do right now that Ren had stopped talking, taking a nap did feel like a good way to pass the time.
So he changed his position from lazy-sitting to fully lying down on the rocky ground.
“Hope you didn’t have anything planned for tonight”, Martyn said with a yawn, closing his eyes and letting the comfortable darkness of the cave overtake him, “Otherwise it might be time to cancel”
“Well, nothing too important, though I’m sure at least a few people might be worried about me right now”, Ren said, now fully out of Martyn’s point of view. He sounded out of it too, probably as bored as the other man inhabiting the cave did. The sound of his dagger sharpening a piece of wood coming out in a rhythmic interval.
Only then did Ren let his eyes wander to Martyn, only to be met with the man lying flat on the rocks below them, “You can sleep on the ground like that ?”, the hybrid asked, sounding more than a bit surprised.
“I can do way worse than that”, Martyn said with a chuckle, ignoring the slight worry in the other man’s voice.
When it came to sleeping, Martyn liked to think of himself as a master in the subject. Spending more of his life moving around on foot meant uncomfortable nights outside. From nowhere comfortable to lay or the weather deciding that it was finally his time to die, he had learned to sleep in weird places and in strange positions too long ago. This skill had never been forgotten even after he had met the rest of the South Landers and they had given him better places to spend the night.
So the ground of a cave was far from the strangest place where he had fallen asleep. At least he had a roof over his head and was protected from the freezing wind, so what more could he ask for ?
“That’s concerning”, Ren replied, the sound of wood cutting slowing down, as if his attention was now shared between the man lying down and the blade of his dagger.
“But practical”, Martyn retorted, curling onto himself a bit further in order to generate as much heat as he could, “Even more if we have to stay here all night”
“I can stay awake”, Ren told him, though Martyn could hear the slight unsureness in his voice, droning out the syllables a bit more than usual.
“That makes only one of us”, Martyn conceded, letting his mind fall out of the conversation and slip out of conciseness for the time being.
But even if he had learned to fall asleep quite quickly, Martyn had also learned to wake up at the smallest noise that his mind had categorized as unusual. It might have been a footstep in a place where he had been sure he was the only one in. The cries of an animal hinting at the presence of its predator nearby. Anything and everything could be the trigger that would bring him back awake and aware.
So when the unusual noise of what sounded like bones hitting each other echoed in the dark cave, Martyn was up and awake as soon as his mind allowed him to. From what he could see with the small opening giving a place for the moon to shine, Ren was still somewhat sitting on the opposite wall of the cave, just like he had been when Martyn had fallen asleep. The main issue is that, he too, was sleeping, the slow up and down of his chest assuring Martyn that he was still alive at least.
And from where the cave was opening up to the outside world, the long shadow of a skeleton painted the rocky ground around them like an omen.
The only thing Martyn really understood at that moment was that he needed to act. Despite how dark it was, he could see the monster was holding a bow, and that it had started to take an arrow out of the quiver he had strapped to its skinless back. In a matter of seconds, it was going to place in on the side of the bow, the sharp edge of the arrow aimed at Ren, it was going to retract the thin string, and finally let it go, letting the energy transfer to the arrow and hitting Ren right in the head.
Martyn wasn’t armed, nothing in the situation he had been thrown in hours ago had been thought about in any amount. So he still didn’t have anything on his person and wouldn’t be able to reach for Ren’s dagger before the man was dead. But sharp weapons didn’t do anything against creatures like these. There was no skin to slash, no blood to bleed and no muscle to tear.
It was only bones.
So without thinking any longer, the time not allowing him to do so, Martyn charged full force at the beast.
The loud sound of two being hitting the floor seemed to quickly awaken Ren, the man scampering backwards, deeper in the cave and further away from the now perceived danger.
Skeletons aren’t much of a threat once they are up close. They didn’t try to hit you and didn't carry any form of close range weapon. It wasn’t hard for a person to stop it in its movement before it could draw another arrow. So once Martyn had his hands on it, taking it apart with ease, the danger was out of the way for both men.
“Martyn ?”, Ren exclaimed as he quickly got up to his feet, hands instinctively reaching for his dagger.
“Yeah, don’t worry mister ‘I won’t fall asleep’, I got this one under control”, Martyn replied finally standing up, the adrenalin swimming through his veins finally letting go now that the danger had been taken care of.
Ren looked a bit speechless when Martyn finally turned towards him to make sure he hadn’t been harmed before the two of them awoke. Some kind of injury would have normally woken him up, but Martyn didn’t know the man well enough to know how deep his sleep was.
“Are you alright ?”, Martyn asked once he failed at noticing anything on the other man and Ren not telling him anything either, only staring back in what seemed to be a mix between shock and wonder.
There wasn’t the sound of anything else coming their way, and when Martyn looked back at the entrance of the cave, the snow had stopped falling. So it allowed him to see that there was nothing else coming for them.
“I think I am ?”, Ren ended up answering, sounding a bit out of it and still quite confused.
“You think ?”
“Well it was quite the sudden awakening”, the other man told him, finally letting his guard drop, his shoulders coming down at the same time his hands left his dagger alone. He looked relieved that the danger was gone, but that didn’t stop a look of confusion from forming on his face.
“Yeah, well it was that or no awakening at all”, Martyn shrugged as the pile of bones of the ground turned to ash, the monster now dead for sure.
It took a few seconds for the other man to speak again and stop looking at Martyn like he had grown a third eye, “Thank you”, Ren told him, his voice akin to the one Martyn had grown to see used when someone was talking to a loved leader.
“You’re welcome”, Martyn replied, a bit surprised with how formal Ren was being with his thanking, “To be fair, if it wasn’t you it was going to go for me anyway”
“But still, thank you”, the other man reiterated, looking like he was seconds away from bowing down.
“No need to say that twice”, Martyn waved him off, not wanting to make this a bigger deal than it really was. They probably should have been more careful falling asleep in a place exposed to the outside without any light, but they had both made that mistake, so there was no one to blame.
As he took one more look to the outside world, the sun coming up in the distance, Martyn knew it was his cue to leave. The rest of the South Landers were probably worried sick (at least Martyn hoped), so he didn’t want to leave them hanging longer than he had, “Well, no more storms huh”, he pointed out.
“Indeed”, Ren nodded, the both of them not knowing how to end this unforeseen first encounter with one another.
“So, I guess I’m gone then. See you around”, Martyn said, waving Ren off as he passed the threshold of the cave and stepped into the snow now crunching under his boots. Even if the storm was gone, it didn’t mean the air had gotten much warmer. So Martyn still wanted to go through the snowed in part of the forest quickly enough, not wanting to linger more than he had to.
“I hope so”, he heard Ren replying from somewhere being him, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the opposite direction, “Goodbye Martyn”, he shouted.
And with a quick wave without looking back, Martyn was back on his track, wanting nothing more than a warmer place to properly sleep in.