Southern Jurial Plains/Northern Umbridge. A small farmstead.

Caine sat beside a babbling brooke under an apple tree. The man bore no scars, his eyes were softer, and he looked younger... However, the starkest aspect was that he was smiling... Smiling not out of blood spilled, not out of dark humor, and not out of a twisted sense of irony... But because of genuine joy. His eyes held a gleam, a cheerful gleam that had yet to be replaced by a murderous one. His lips was eternally in a cheerful smile and a soft hum emanated from his throat.

The armor and swords of the legion were conspicuously missing. Instead, a light brown tunic cut off at the sleeves and a pair of muddied farmer's breeches hung at his waist. A hoe laid beside him, gleaming in the sunlight. Then, a voice. A soft, feminine voice gently rolled through the sunlight. "Caine!? Caine! Where are you... Are you hiding from me?" It called. Caine shifted his body to meet the owner of this voice. A young woman of her twenties in a feathery white spring dress. Her hair was raven, her voice honeyed, and her eyes a deep brown. She was, for all intents and purposes, breathtaking...

"Hiding from you? Now love, why would I do something like that?" Caine asked, waving at the woman to call her over. The gleam in his eyes, it wasn't only just good cheer... It was love. The woman finally laid eyes on the man and sat her hands on her slender hips, trying her best to look mad... She was failing of course, smiles fracturing her determined angry face. Finally, she relented and hefted up the dress and began to stride towards Caine...

About halfway there, Caine saw the Hoe on the ground and threw a hand up to try and warn her, "Wait! Lie-" WHACK. She had stepped on the hoe and the thing flew up and bashed her on the forehead. Caine was up in moments and at her side immediately, holding her against him. He stammered and stuttered, "Liera... I-I'm sorry. I-I tried to warn-" Pop. Caine was interrupted by a slap to the face. "Why do you have to leave your junk laying about!" She yelled at the man, rubbing her head, nursing a new bruise and mouthing the word 'ow'. Caine, who was also rubbing his face took a step closer to the girl and began stroking her cheek.

"I'm sorry.. Can I do anything to make it up?" Caine asked, voice devoid of everything that made him the berserker and instead replaced by care, love, and tenderness. The woman smiled coyly and began to rub his wrist, a sensation that almost felt real. "I can think of something," She said playfully. Caine immediately picked up on the hint with a warm smile. In a flourish, Caine picked the young girl up in his arms, her dress fluttering as he spun her, "I think I can do that," He said, happiness tugging at his heart. And with that, he strode off towards the nearby cottage, with the girl in his arms, in a loving embrace.

North-Ridge

"What the hell is that racket!?" He shouted as he shot from his cot. A scream- no a wail. A death wail echoed throughout the camp. What was causing that horrible noise? Was it the Children? No... They would have seen them coming from the ridge... Punishment more than likely... But who? Caine hung his head, eyes still sleepy from being jerked awake. His upper body was completely bare, save for the numerous amount of scars. His chest leather was in a heap beside the cot as was his new armor... He had been tinkering with it, as well as using some of the services of his fellow comrades. His knew swords were hung up beside the cot. His legs were still wrapped in the old leather from the first batch he received. He wore those instead of mussing up the new ones.

Then, he noticed the elf at his side. She had been touching his wrist... Like in his dream. He stared at her for a moment before, "Who in the hell-" He cut himself off. He was being rude and sending the wrong impression could not be tolerated in times like this. Who knows, in the next couple of days either of them might die.

"I'm sorry..." He forget Mikana's name for a moment, still embattled with sleep. "But why are you-" He cut himself off again. Her scarred throat. He had forgotten that she couldn't speak either... That would make communicating... Difficult to say the least. "... here," He decided to finish. He looked into the eyes of the elf for a moment and just stared. Who was she? They had exchanged many glances over the last couple of days, but Caine had yet to place a finger on who she was. Yet, he held an sense that she was important... He didn't know why, or how... He just did.

Caine then swung his feet off of the cot and just sat, rolling his shoulders and arching his back, stretching. He had made enough room on the cot just in case Mikana wished to sit. Caine didn't say much for a while and finally, just decided to make small talk... Or try, "Is it morning already?" He asked, wishing for only a couple of more minutes to dream...

---

Lily was making herself comfortable in the camp, being awake from her trance-like state the elves used instead of sleep. She had been awake since the first rays of sunlight drifted over the ridge. She had begun the earlier morning honing her archery skills, using the crudely set up range, found adjacent to the sparring area, that she herself had helped to set up with, along with a couple of the other archers from the Legion. It was more or less five wooden targets set up at least fifty yards away... Small stuff for the elves. She was consistently tagging bulls eyes at something between one or two seconds a pop. Of course, these targets weren't moving, weren't defending, and weren't trying to breath fire down her neck.

However, she prided herself on the speed she had established, having been using a bow since she was a small elven child (Elflet?). Tagging a child in the face was no use if it took a minute to do and his buddies were already upon you. Feeling well enough about her skills, she continued through the camp, seeing her new captain, Wrath something or another... The captain was beginning to... cop and attitude. It seemed that he was letting the rank get to his head. Lily found nothing wrong with taking a little pride in ones place, and merely waved it off.

The next on her sojourn were the human twins, Turha and Gurgen. Sid had already moved on when Lily had arrived. They were still scuffling about the paint job on the hulking Darkgard beast... Or would be hulking if the thing wasn't eviscerated. Lily listened contently with a mild sense of humor as the twins continued their back and forth... Finally, she spoke up innocent and cheerful tone as clear as ever, "I think it should have the flames. I bet they would look neat on the golem!" She exclaimed in what seemed to be an inexperienced tone... Though, she proved it wrong by her next admission, "Besides... If we are to fight the dragons, then what better defiance than fighting wearing your enemies' own weapon... For decoration. Taunting them by using their hellfire as a reminder, 'we are not frightened, we will not surrender..." She paused for a moment, "We will not relent." She said, speaking with such pride and defiance that belied her age.

Then a scream, a piercing wail. Using her elven speed and agility, she raced to where it emanated from. Within moments, she arrived to see the last screams of a dieing deserter... And the subsequent man being split in half... The sight disturbed her greatly. She had never seen such a... display of sadism and horrid torture. She had to avert her eyes from the mess. As she did, the skies opened up and cried. How could such people do this to their own? She shook her head in disgust and left. Quickly, she made her way away from the massacre.. She both wished to be alone, but not alone at the same time... He gave up and decided to the dining area, a place full of people no doubt...

There, she found a bench and sat. She began to rock back and forth slighty, mulling over the sight... Was this the horrors of the war?

Caine's eyes locked with Mikana's as the elf leaned in. His head was shaky from the alcohol coursing through his veins, but he managed to collect himself enough to see what the elf had in mind. Caine merely tilted his head and awaited her lips. However surprisingly, she suddenly stopped and only stared into his eyes... The stare was empty, as if Mikana was lost in thought. Caine smiled, entertained by the girl's hesitation. however, his smile disappeared as the elf came back from her thoughts. At first she seemed to be confused... Maybe even frightened.

The human opened his mouth to ask what was the matter, however he was silenced by the elf's own seductive grin. A grin that instead of seducing him, set Caine on edge... As her finger began to trace his jaw and lip, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Mikana didn't used to act like this, what happened? What brought about this change? Caine opened his mouth again to ask the same question, but was interrupted as the elf forced lips against his, her hands wrapped up in his hair in the back of his head... It was slightly painful.

Then the kiss was broken and the elf was gone, leaving Caine sitting in the chair, dazed and confused. What happened? From the time he had known the elf, she had always been kinder and coy... What he had just witness was a drastic change in the girl. He leaned back in his chair, feeling a bit more sober from the strange encounter and began to rub the back of his head. The elf had a hell of a grip on him. His hand went from rubbing the back of his head to his mouth, sticking a finger and running it across his lips. He looked at his finger and saw blood... She had bit him!

He hopped up from the chair, using Mikana's now empty chair for balance and scanned the bar... She wasn't here anymore. She had disappeared. "Dammit," he said, scowling. He wanted answers. Why had see ran away? What had changed? What was wrong... Why the hell was he getting pissed? Had she been toying with him? Using him? "Shit," He grumbled as he picked his way through the bar towards the door. He was a mix of anger, of confusion, and a hint of grief and sadness. Was she only toying with his heart? Did she plan this from the beginning? Dammit. He just realized he didn't even know much about the elf.

He finally made his way out of the door and into the street and cold rain. The rain was a shock and further brought him to his senses. He looked both ways... Nothing, he didn't see the head of blue hair anywhere. He cursed again and picked a random direction and began walking, starting with a stumble. As he walked, he began to think. Was he really that emotionally invested in the elf? The hell did he have to go do a fool thing like that for?! He knew things around him never turned out right. Why did he think she would be any different? Dammit, why did he have to choose her for his anchor, the damned mute elf who couldn't even tell him her own name. What game was she playing with him? Why was she playing it with him? He told her his story, why did she run off? He trusted her and now she was gone. Dammit...

"Dammit," He said continuing to walk down the street. Unbeknown to him, he was walking towards the center of the town, towards the unspoiled park... Caine didn't know where he was going, nor knew what to expect to find. He just walked... and thought.

"Damn right I want one!" Caine said, gesturing euphorically at one of the dragons, "I'm going to bloody tear it's head off!" He said, with murder in his eyes. "Fuck. Dragons! I'll kill them all!" Caine howled. Only the appearance if Mikana beside him managed to rein the berserker in... Somewhat. He still had murder on the mind, and his eyes flashed with an oozing treacly hate. The visage of the Berserker made the Paladin hesitate, but only for a moment, as the elf quickly followed the human behind Talae to an impromptu charge at the dragons. Sure, most normal soldiers would run at the sight of the Dragon. But they weren't normal soldiers. They. Were. The Legion.

Lily above caught Talae's nod toward the beserker, hate and anger fueling his pumping legs. It took all the agility the elf had to keep up with the mad charge, now being led by the Frenzied Berserker. It was like the dragon flipped a switch in the human's mind and sent him into a deep blood rage. Lily hopped across alleyways, fell through windows only to exit the other side of the building and swing back to the roof. All the way, She put arrows in the stragglers that deemed it necessary to try and impede Caine or Talae and her charge. Before long, they had made it to the Dragons, While Talae and her ten diverted to take on one Dragon, Caine... And Mikana it seemed decided to take out the remaining dragon by themselves... "Dammit Mad-Brother! You're a fool!" The huntress cursed under her breath.

Caine never missed a step. The white dragon was in front of him. And Mikana was behind him. He did indeed want the Dragon by himself, but there was no one else he'd rather share the kill with than Mikana. He tilted his head and nodded his thanks to the Paladin who then returned the gesture with a... Unsure shrug? Had to be. Mikana was as fearless as any other in the Blackguard, but it was damn near foolishness to challenge a dragon by themselves. The only thing that kept the dragon from killing them with a off-handed jet of flame was that it was occupied with another elf- Lily, who was pelting it with stinging arrows. Arrows poisoned by Talae. Too bad the poison was only barely numbing the dragon. The white beast snarled at the girl and raised a wicked claw to end the Huntress's life. Mikana grimaced. Fuck. That. Dragon.

The Huntress felt no fear as she planted arrow after arrow into the thick scaled hide of the dragon. It wasn't doing anything but annoying the giant lizard, and the poison only seemed to slow it down for a moment. As the dragon raised a claw to wipe the elf off the the face of the building, Lily stared into the huge eye of the dragon. She showed no fear, the Huntress would not give the beast the satisfaction of her fear. Then she spit at the dragon, and followed up with another stinging arrow into the dragon's shoulder. The Dragon roared in irritation and growled, "You insect!" as his claw began it's deadly descent.

But the claw never reached her. Instead the dragon was thrown sideways down the narrow street, Caine and his swords laying into the side of the beast. The bricks of the buildings were flying as the head and tail of the scaled monster ripped into them. Caine himself was awash in a golden glow, and a quick glance at the Paladin saw that she was the cause of the berserker's momentary increase in strength or weight or whatever it was. Then it finally registered... Caine had just tackled a dragon. A human had just tackled a dragon five times his size into the ground, never mind the fact that it was Paladin assisted... That took courage. Or blinding madness.

Caine never hesitated. He saw the dragon begin it's descent on Lily, his.. Clan-sister in her words. This awoke a rage in the berserker, a fiery hellfire within his being. He never let up. His legs pumped harder, faster, driven by anger, by hate, by a need to save his sister. He lunged, never mind how futile it might have been. He raised his blades and smashed into the dragon. He smashed into the dragon with a greater force than even he imagined, but the golden hue he had taken on explained it. Someone was looking over him- no, not him alone. All of them. The Dragon laid on it's side for only a moment and then it kicked Caine off and back down the street. The human flew through the air and when he hit the cobblestone street, he slid. He could feel the gravel through his armor, and he knew one of the talon's had pierced the armor. The pierce wasn't deep, but it did draw blood from his skin.

Caine slid all the way until he stopped right in front of Mikana, the elf finally stopping him and drawing him up into a sitting position. The dragon was back on it's claws, now sporting a pair of thin gashes along it's shoulder, and it roared into the air. The white beast then leveled it's gaze to the elf and human and narrowed it's eyes. The hate Caine had in his eyes reflected back to him in the Dragon's. The Dragon snarled and spoke, "You... Puny.. Ant! I will enjoy killing you!" It growled, seething. Caine finally made it to his feet with the help of Mikana and returned the glare the monster had leveled at him. Caine only spoke a word...

"Try."

Laeral, Jurial Plains

Caine strode into the town after "Captain" Wrath had assigned him to his squad. A frontliner no less, not like he was surprised. Caine didn't speak at all during the squad assigning, although he did pick up on the hollow tone the Captain had with him. He merely nodded and entered the city. Of course, distancing oneself from Caine was natural, seeing how the Captain had met the Berserker. Blind to all but bloody fury, he had the brilliant idea to try eviscerate everything that even deemed slightly hostile. Caine's anger was a brutal mistress, to enemies, to allies, and even to himself. The scars that adorned his face attested to that fact. The only thing that had stopped Caine's bloodlust was Wrath. Of course, this had bound to put a sour taste into the man's mouth.

He was part of another squad before being conscripted to the 40th. The outcast legion it seemed. They had been set upon and they had fought back valiantly. Though, not without cost. Caine was not sure of the losses, as he had devolved into the signature Berserker rage and lost all thought except kill or be killed. Dodge that attack, strike out with the sword, Kick at the assailant. Kill, kill, kill. He only snapped out of it when Wrath had shown up. That was when he was conscripted. Perhaps they saw something him. More likely however was that he was deemed too dangerous to be in a proper legion.

"Put me in front sir, I'm bound to get killed killing things," Caine mocked in a dark, low voice. Although he spoke the words, there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He wasn't expecting to get killed anytime soon. The sole reason he fought was to survive, to live. Hiding in a hovel isn't a way to live, and one is just as likely to die there as on the battlefield now-a-days. His true motivations to fight? He didn't completely understand them himself. A twisted sense of revenge perhaps? He was one of the dying breed of humans. And heavens knows what the man had experienced in his past. Caine shrugged, as if throwing all of these thoughts off of his shoulders.

He then moved further into the city, just to be moving. He had nowhere to go, he had nothing to do, and he didn't have any money to do it with. He was just there. Caine chuckled to himself. The story of his life. Then he stopped the laughter and grimaced. He was being dark and broody again. That never worked out. Pity for oneself is a sign of weakness. He was a warrior, a proud son of the dying human race. He shouldn't show weakness. He shook his head and try to cheer up. As cheery as the human berserker could get, which was very.

He decided to give up on the sight seeing and immediately found and entered the Boulon Brother's Inn. He found himself a unoccupied table and sunk into the uncomfortable chair. He grumbled about this fact, but didn't try to escape it, instead removing the blades strapped to his back and sat them beside him. Someone came up to him asked if he wanted to order. Caine did and ordered, "A bottle wit' a bite." As the person went to fetch his order, Caine drew a sword from one of the leather wrappings that was a sheath and looked over the blade. It was a grimy, low quality steel sword with flakes of dried blood on the blade. He licked his thumb and rubbed the flakes off. By now, the waiter had returned with a dark colored bottle.

Caine received the bottle and gave the waiter whatever coins he could fish off of his person. He bit the cork at the mouth of the bottle and spit it to the side. The bottle wasn't going to survive the night. He took a long drought, the bitter liquid sliding down his throat, burning. Perhaps it was bad form to drink while one's captain was so close, but honestly. Caine didn't give a damn.

Moments later, Talae returned, with a sword... For Caine. In mock excitement, he leaned forward, "A present? For me? How ever did you know?" He said, accepting the sword with his left hand. Probably the hand he was going to use it with. He stood and rolled the sword in his hand a couple of times, gauging the weight, the feel, and the way it cut through the air. It was satisfactory, standard fair and nothing completely fancy. Just like the sword he had lost, this one would do to cleave a couple of children in half.

Then his attention turned to Talae's sword, a larger, hand-and-a-half sword. "That'll carve a Child real nice," he said without a hint of a joke. "I suppose it'd be a lot more flexible to use than a big-ass claymore or a tiny shortsword." He said, inspecting the sword. He was going to have to do a good job of guiding her on the nuances of the blade and what he learned in Legion training, otherwise, she might be the one to not make it out of the next conflict.

He then looked up at the sky again. It was still raining and didn't look to let up soon. "Right, let's go ahead and get the basics out of the way now... Never know when we may be thrown into the next ambush," He said in a raw tone. He strode out into the open, in a clearer space and spoke, racking his brains for the right words. Most of this was coming from common sense and combat training. He wasn't the most... refined person in battle and didn't often think strategies in battle. He just did what came naturally and tried to kill his opponent.

"I help you out on what to do when you are beset by conventional means, but.." he interjected for a moment, "About the Children's ability to conjure fire out of their hands and throat? Get the hell out of the way and don't let them grab you." He said, holding up the scarred and red arm. "If you have to get close to one and fight, then end it damn quick. Aim for the throat, and if you're lucky, their head will melt before your eyes... Always an amusing sight," He said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, never stop and keep moving. Use your assassin skill set and underhanded tactics and always try to keep an advantage." He then looked away from Talae for a moment and into the sea of tents. "I can't teach you what to do when under fire," Clearly, he had an arm to testify.

"But, I can give you a fair shot of martial skills," He said, tossing the longsword to his dominant hand. He was tired from his fury and his injuries, but he was well enough to do this. "I never been the one much for words. So, we'll try this the old fashioned way. Come after me with that sword. See if you can't best me," he said with a mischievous grin. Always a man of action, Caine.

Perhaps the little activity will also take his minds off the ones that were lost today.