Hideout

Lucas's first impression of Rua's hideout was a good one. Everyone there greeted her with smiles as she came in. There were a lot of children however compared to Adults.

"Miss Rua!" A small child said excitedly as she noticed her coming in. Soon the rest of them greeted her just as excitedly, like she was a caretaker who'd just come home. It was clear that she was really well liked around here. Adrian went off to talk with the children, being a lot more joyful than he'd been outside the hideout. They all welcomed him  happily.

"Were you successful?" An older man asked Rua. He approached behind the kids and had a tired look on his face. "We've been taking from our own portion to feed the kids but we can only stretch it so thin."

"Yeah," Rua told him as she set her bag down, showing the contents inside. "This, along with our hunts, should feed us for a few weeks if we ration it. Adrian also has some in his pack." The old man's tired eyes lit up.

"Thank you Rua! I don't know what we'd do without you." The man thanked her graciously.

"It's the least I can do." Rua said somewhat bashfully. "Anyways, where's Stephen?'

"He left earlier today to go hunting." The man told her. Hearing this, Rua bit her lip slightly. 

"That idiot!" She said in clear displeasure. "He wasn't supposed to leave while I was gone." The man remained calm.

"He had no choice. We didn't know when you'd return."  The man said, defending the one called Stephen. Rua calmed down, realizing the situation. She then led out a relieved sigh.

"Well let's be thankful no monsters attacked then." Rua began to move past the man but then he spoke up.

"Who's this?" He asked, referring to Lucas. 

"This is Lucas. He's a knight." Rua said quickly introducing him. "Lucas, this is Gerald."

"Nice to meet you." Lucas said, extending his hand for a handshake. Gerald however did not reciprocate. Instead he gave Lucas a suspicious look.

"You're not a defector, are you?" Lucas frowned, lowering his hand. But before he could respond Rua jumped in.

"He's not." She said assertively. "He saved my life."  The man held his suspicious gaze for a moment, before shaking his head and dropping it. He then extended his hand.

"Sorry Lucas. It's good to meet you too." Lucas shook his hand and he went back off to the kids. He didn't blame the man for harboring suspicion. He too held the same sentiment about himself. The fact that he was standing there meant he hadn't given his life to fight the demons.

"C'mon" Rua gestured for Lucas to follow. She led him down a tunnel portion of the cave that was nearest to the entrance. She stopped in front of a wooden door built into the cave near the end of the tunnel.

"This'll be your room." She said, opening the door. Inside was a simply made bed and rows of shelves, each containing a multitude of paper scrolls. Lucas couldn't help but notice that the bed was a little small for him but he decided not to mention this. Rua then pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. "That's my room so if anything comes up, ask." 

"Got it." Lucas told her and with that she left him alone. Lucas took a tender step into his new room. What was he even doing? He really didn't know. He'd been a knight of Carmek for as long as he could remember. Now that Carmek was gone, who was he? Lucas took a seat on the small bed and turned to the shelves. He took a quick peak at one of the scrolls. It was a map. Lucas couldn't quite tell where it was meant to be mapping but it looked hand sketched. Lucas set the scroll down. He wondered just who had put them here. Just then a boy opened the door to his room and ran at Lucas.

The boy charged Lucas with a knife drawn. His eyes were wild and it was clear he didn't even know where he was stabbing. Lucas immediately recognized the boy as Adrian. With minimal movement Lucas caught his wrist and wrenched the knife from his hand.

"What are you doing, kid!?" Lucas nearly screamed. 

"Lucas!?" The boy said in surprise, recognizing who he just tried to stab. "I-I'm sorry!" The teen stammered out. "I thought you might be an intruder." 

"You must have seen and recognized me." Lucas expressed rightfully before letting Adrian's wrist go.

"Umm, I actually sensed your mana in this room." Adrian said timidly.

"Sensed my mana?" He'd heard Adrian talk about that before when they uncovered him but he didn't really take notice of it.

"I can sense all the living mana around me." Adrian explained. "It's a mana ability I developed a few weeks ago. It's the only reason big sis takes me on her missions." 

"A mana ability." Lucas said as he went into though. For such a young boy to develop a mana ability. In the past, even if he was a noble it would have been thought extremely improbable. Even Lucas who spontaneously developed a mana ability didn't quite know how he did it. Not to mention that he seemed to be able to absorb the mana of the monsters he's killed. But before he could ask Adrian about it, the boy sprung his own question.

"What are you doing in my room?" Lucas paused, unsure of how to respond. His room? Lucas took another look around at his surroundings. The small bed. The shelves. The hand drawn maps. It was suddenly obvious that this room belonged to someone. Just then the realization dawned on him. There was no way that everyone got their own room. They were living in a cave after all.

"Oh."

*****

"Most of them are my students from the academy." Rua explained. Currently she and Luas were sitting at the edge of the common room watching the children play. As they watched Rua was sewing up one of the kids shirts which they had torn. "We were the first ones to evacuate and we all made it out of Yerva together."

"You sound like you regret it." Lucas noted. He wasn't a mind reader but there was something in the way she said it. Rua let out a melancholic chuckle.

"Yeah, I do sometimes. Everyone else went off to fight and I left them behind." Rua shook her head. "You know we didn't even have a day's warning. All of sudden we were either running for our lives or fighting for our lives." She paused. "The head instructor, he told me...he ordered me to escape with the children." Her jaw began to clench tight and her sewing hand started shaking. Lucas knew what she was feeling but didn't know what to do. He knew she'd done enough by saving the children but didn't know how to tell her that. He wanted to help but didn't know how to. 

"These kids, they all seem to love you." Lucas managed to say as he looked out at the children, all seeming to enjoy themselves. "I think what you've done...it's more important than giving your life away." Although he said that, he felt as if the words rang hollow coming from someone like him. Despite him feeling that way, Rua was obviously eased by his words. Her hands began to settle down and the tension went away. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could the children interrupted her.

"Stephen!" They cried excitedly. Lucas looked over and walking through the doorway was a young man donned in leather armor and a furry wolf like monster slung over his shoulder. He recognized the name as the person that went hunting earlier. Rua stood up and walked over to meet him. Lucas followed behind.

"Stephen!" Rua said somewhat angrily. "I thought I told you not to go hunting while I was gone. We can't leave this place without protection."

"We were running out of food." Stephen explained. "We haven't had an attack in weeks. I would only be out for a day." Rua led out a frustrated sigh but resigned herself. She knew chewing him out wouldn't get her anywhere. She turned to Lucas.

"Lucas, this is Stephen. Stephen, this is Lucas." She said introducing them the same way she had him and Gerard. "With Lucas here you'll be able to go on all the hunts you want."

"Good to meet you." Lucas extended his hand. Stephen paused for a moment. Lucas could see his resistance, but unlike Gerard he took Lucas's handshake. His hand was firm and his smile was friendly enough.

"Good to meet you too." Despite his words Lucas could see he didn't quite mean it. He still looked at Lucas with a suspicious glare, except he seemed to hide it.  Stephen then turned to Rua.

"Rua, we need to talk."