The old man hummed the continuation to the tune as the time passed outside, overhearing a loud "BLEHHH!" coming from a familiar elf in the tavern behind him. Eh-heh... Aeryn must've tried some of the hogwash that was the ale of the tavern, or at least, she had similar opinions of it to Ursaren. The elder didn't mind those who drank religiously, he just didn't like drinking himself. The only thing he partook of in terms of alcohol happened to be wine, and even then it was normally at social events. He didn't drink it when he was alone like this, nor did he when he was preparing to get back to work once again. This town had a lot of injured, and someone had to heal them up. Still, he was enjoying his small break, be it that it wouldn't last much longer than this. Especially with a guard hastily stepping towards the man.
"Cleric." The guard had an official tone to his voice, despite looking rather too young to be a guardsman for this town. Poor kid must've been hardly older than sixteen.
"Guardsman."
"We have, uh, gathered the wounded from the barracks. We're ready for you to come and work your holy magic."
"Hm. I'll come along now, if you sit a while and listen to this old man's lament."
The guardsman rubbed the back of his neck before sitting down in the rocking chair besides Ursaren, elbows on his knees, looking at his elder with a straight face. Ursaren simply smiled before looking out upon the hustle and bustle of the town. "Guardsman, tell me. Are you simply doing what you have to in order for the best of your town, or are you sitting there just to get me off of your back?"
"W-wha-?"
"Heh, don't be hard on yourself there, comrade. I've been in your boots before." Ursaren chuckled for a moment before looking to the guardsman, leaning back in his seat. "I'm asking for a reason, of course. Not just to stump you. There are no wrong answers here."
"... to get you off my back. Why?"
"I knew a elven girl back in my youth. Absolutely beautiful, but there was a catch, as she was raised by this real beast of a man. I heard tales of him, too, and they really showed. Tall, brawny, hairy, just a real bloody monster of a man her father was. He walked through the lands scaring all that he came across, no stopping to care for anyone's desires or wants. He felt like the world rejected him, turning him bitter and cold to everyone he came across. Rumors said he was even a cannibal for a while, or at least, that's what she told me!" Ursaren let out a hearty laugh to mellow out the situation.
"The girl told me about the day the two met. She told me he wasn't her real father, as her real parents had died in a carriage accident very early in her life, far earlier than she had been able to remember. Apparently, the crash was on the day that the beastly man found the wreckage, and he was rather hungry that day. He found the girl as a fine meal, and he found himself faced with two choices. The choice to do what he needed to survive, as he hadn't eaten in a few days, or another option." Ursaren raised his finger to the guardsman. "Leave her alive. Find another meal. Of course, I wouldn't be telling this story if he had eaten something right then, no. He fought back the instincts to eat and survive as he found another thing to do. He lifted the girl up and carried her with him, back to his cavernous home. It wasn't much, not at all, but it was certainly a better home than an orphanage would be for the girl. Have you heard of the rumors around those places? I've heard terrible things."
"Good man, where are you going with this?"
"Sometimes, son, we must do what's best for the masses. That elven girl changed my life more than she could ever realize, and she wouldn't have been able to lest her father did the unthinkable." Ursaren let out a sigh, smiling afterwards before nodding to himself and standing up from his rocking chair.
"Well, a deal is a deal. Come, guardsman. Lead me to the wounded, if you would so kindly."
Crimson Flame
Skinner35
PlatinumSkink
