The End of the Beginning

Lenora kicked in the wooden door which shattered into small bits as she drug Ichiro behind her. Blood spouted from the many holes that riddled the young man's chest. Shocked, the couple inside the small cabin jumped up.

"We don't have any money!" the man called out.

"I don't need your money." the grizzled adventurer proclaimed as she laid Ichiro across a table.

"What happened?" the young farm girl asked as Lenora began stripping the armor off of her young apprentice.

"He was trampled by a spindle pig." Lenora said as she ripped off Ichiro's chest plate. "I already took the quills out."

"Emiko," The man started as he stood and walked over to Ichiro's mostly lifeless body lying on the table. "Go get the bag from the closet."

Emiko, the farm girl immediately ran down the hallway. As the man got closer to Ichiro, Lenora instinctively leveled her hammer toward him.

"I'll do what I can for him." the man said as he moved slowly toward Ichiro in hopes of showing that he meant no harm.

The girl ran back into the room carrying a medium sized leather pouch and called out, "Here papa Ryo."

The man grabbed the bag from the young girl and began to examine Ichiro. He fumbled around in his bag before he pulled out a long thin knife and moved back to the boy. He cut into his chest to which blood began to bubble out.

"Now, turn him on his side!" Ryo shouted.

"Lenora dropped her hammer to the side and rolled Ichiro onto his side just as the old man commanded.

Ichiro let out a deep gasp for air. Lenora looked up at the elderly man.

"His rib pushed into his lung so he has blood gathering in his chest." Ryo said as he continued to work. "Emiko, go stick a poker in the fireplace. It won't be pretty, but he'll live and hopefully recover after enough time."

Emiko once again did exactly as the man commanded and placed the metal fire poker into the fire.

"Next time, leave the quills in." The man chastised Lenora. "Taking them out just let the blood flow."

"But the quills are poisonous." Lenora rejected the notion the man purposed. "If I'd left them in he wouldn't have made it this far."

"Speaking of, there aren't any spindle pigs around here." Emiko questioned. "Where did you come from?"

"It would normally be a two day walk from here." Lenora answered. "This was the closest place I could see so we came here."

"This doesn't look like it's two days old." Ryo said as he continued working.

"I said normally a two day walk." Lenora responded. "I'm Lenora the Breaker so it took a lot less time for me to get here."

Emiko was stunned, "You're The Breaker?"

"This is Ichiro, my apprentice." Lenora stated. "Thank you for your help."

"Did you already give him antidote?" Ryo cut in.

"Yes." Lenora answered.

"Good." The man said as he began stitching closed the open wounds where the quills had been. "Once I'm done here, keep him on his side for several hours."

"Understood." Lenora said with conviction as she held Ichiro in position.

…

…

…

The night stumbled along slowly as Ichiro clung to life through the night. After hours of Lenora holding Ichiro in place with quiet determination, the pair from the wooden farmhouse grew tired.

"Would you like something to eat?" Ryo asked Lenora.

"I don't want to impose more than I already have." Lenora responded. "Thank you for everything you've done."

"Don't want to impose?" Emiko chuckled lightly gesturing to the missing door.

"I'm truly sorry for that." Lenora sighed. "I didn't know what I was coming into and..."

"It's fine." Ryo said cutting off Lenora. "Your friend was hurt and you needed shelter."

"I'll fix it." Lenora affirmed. "And I will compensate you for this."

"So what were you doing out here?" Emiko asked.

"It's not polite to ask adventurers of their quests Emiko." Ryo said to the young girl. "Sorry about my daughter. She hasn't ventured far from our farmland."

"It's okay." Lenora smiled slightly as she considered the aid that the pair had given them. "We took a quest from the town north of here. A group of spindle pigs have been killing all the wildlife surrounding the town."

"And you can't eat spindle pig because they're poisonous so they were basically killing off all of the food in the area." Ryo surmised.

"Exactly." Lenora confirmed. "They severely underestimated how many there were though."

"I see." Emiko understood.

"He was under my charge and I let this happen." Lenora lamented.

Ryo, feeling the weight of Lenora's regret, consoled her with, "He should be fine eventually. I'm sorry I didn't have the herbs needed to heal him quickly."

"How did you learn this medicine?" Lenora asked the man.

"Oh." Ryo chuckled rather deep. "Well, I adventured for a few years and then became a farmer who had to keep his livestock alive through the worst of it."

"Why did you stop adventuring?" Lenora asked cautiously.

"I had a daughter." Ryo stated looking to Emiko.

"And the girl's mother?" Lenora continued to question.

Ryo got a saddened look in his eyes as he stated, "Childbirth took her from us."

After a short pause, Lenora responded embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I should have pried into your personal life."

"Oh, it's fine." Ryo said while barely believing it himself. "Since I had a daughter and she didn't have a mother at home I took a step away from adventuring and bought this farmland with my savings so I could spend time with her in a safer environment."

"I commend you." Lenora stated. "Not many people can step away from adventuring once they start. Most of us die in this lifestyle."

"Do we?" Ichiro coughed as he sputtered out the words.

"You're awake!" Lenora said surprised.

"How are you feeling?" Ryo asked.

"Well, I'm still alive." Ichiro jokingly answered. "That's about as good as I can say right now."

"Well, you've made it through the hard part." Lenora stated.

"Stay on your side for now." Ryo cautioned the young man. "We had to stitch up some injuries and burn others closed."

"I can tell." Ichiro said as he muscled down the pain before seeing Emiko by the fireplace and continuing, "Am I still pretty?"

Emiko chuckled slightly.

"Very manly Ichi." Lenora boosted the young man's ego.

"Oh, manly you say?" Ichiro continued. "Tell me more about how great I am. Just say it loud enough that that pretty girl over there can hear it."

"Now, you might want to calm yourself young man." Lenora cautioned. "The guy who patched you up is her father."

"Then I have two reasons to thank him." Ichiro muttered in his delirium before passing out again.

Emiko blushed hard as her father looked over at her. Ryo then looked to Lenora who shrugged slightly.

"Leave it to the ladies to all be against me." Ryo exclaimed as he threw up his hands slightly and walked away.

Emiko and Lenora chucked to each other.

…

…

…

Morning had come and Ichiro had managed to climb to his feet and walk semi-normally again. Standing just outside of the small cabin, he looked out across the pasture and farmland as he took in the morning's beauty.

"I'll have to commission a door to be made once we make it back to the town." Lenora started.

Emiko, who was sitting on the porch stated, "Don't worry about it. Dad will want to make the door himself anyway. He's particular about things like that."

"There must be something we can do." Ichiro chimed in.

"My dad was an adventurer." Emiko stated. "Stay alive and don't let the work that he did go to waste and we'll call it even. Maybe when you get some time off from adventuring you can come back and have dinner with us. Sound good?"

"That sounds wonderful to me." Ichiro lightly flirted with the girl.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to make it back already, Ichi?" Lenora asked with concern.

"Yea, I'll be okay." Ichiro confirmed. "This isn't as bad as the howlers were."

"I don't know why you stay with me Ichi." Lenora stated. "I keep getting you almost killed."

"I'm the one who is sorry." Ichiro stated. "I'm still a fledgling adventurer after all this time. I need to get better."

Ryo stepped out onto the porch behind them and asked, "Have you had the 'end of it all' talk with him yet?"

Lenora shook her head as Ichiro asked, "What's the 'end of it all' talk?"

"You can tell him if you want." Lenora said to the retired adventurer as she dug through her bag.

Ryo let out a sigh and tapped his food lightly before looking Ichiro in the eye and said, "Adventuring is hard. Lenora said last night that we either retire and do something else or we die while we're adventuring. That's an honest assessment of what it's like. Lenora is a legend because she's the only old adventurer, but no matter how strong or powerful or smart you are as an adventurer, one day will be your last. When that time comes, you can't be afraid. You have to fight and struggle and make whatever it is that kills you struggle just as hard, but understand that when it's your time then it's your time and that's the end of it all."

Ichiro looked at Lenora who simply nodded at the young man.