'Not the peace of a cease-fire, not even the vision of the wolf and the lamb, but rather as in the heart when the excitement is over' Wildpeace, Yehuda Amichai (1971)

The sight of Shura on top of the bull looked like nothing short of something out of a war movie. Weary and covered in blood Shura stood there breathing heavily staring at Minnow. The look on her face was similar to the looks that Minnow had seen from mountain lions during hunts. It was almost as if she was deciding if he was prey or not.

Minnow stared back, unsure of what to do or what to say. Completely entranced, he was unable to remove his eyes from this sight. Unsure of how to feel, after all just today, mere moments ago he had saved her from a monster just like this one. His perception of her being something that needed protection was instantly shattered by this sight.

"Shura...?" He asked, surprised at the sound of his own voice, he didn't realize that he spoke. He was sure the lump in his throat would've prevented such a thing from happening. When he did speak it was tad awkward, his mouth was suddenly dry. This made his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. Looking into her eyes Minnow slowly saw the wild look fade away and it appeared that Shura was coming back to reality.

Once he saw Shura's eyes turn back to normal or at least what he assumed was her normal. Shura looked to her hand and saw the sword, she seemed stunned. She instantly dropped it as if the blade had been red hot to the touch. The sword slid off the back of the beast and clattered onto the ground out of sight.

Slowly backing away, Shura almost fell off the top of the monster. "Shura!" Minnow exclaimed in worry that she'd fall. While no serious injury would happen, it was still a rather large fall.

With a few waves of her arms, Shura steadied her balance and then slowly climbed down. Her decent was awkward and not anywhere as graceful as she was when climbing onto the beast. Once down Minnow rushed over to her side.

"What happened?" he found himself asking despite knowing clearly what happened. Shura looked over at Minnow still seeming a little dazed. "I took care of it." She said softly, Minnow didn't really hear her right due to how soft her voice had been. In the background, he heard the voice of one of the superior knights making his way over through the crowd that had gathered.

"What?" he asked, Shura then repeated herself, "I took care of it." She said louder now, she stumbled away from Minnow towards the knights surrounding the two of them. They looked surprised and stunned as they backed away from Shura. Unsure of what she could do, all things considered, she just had taken down a monster by herself. A feat that only a few in the camp could manage on their own.

Mako, on the other hand, was not intimidated. They walked up to Shura just barely catching her before she collapsed some twenty or so feet away from the monster and Minnow. It seemed having a near-death experience, watching a man die and then killing something all in one day took it out of Shura.

With ease, Mako picked up Shura and carried her off. Minnow Standing there near the monster Shura had slain was approached by a superior. "Dragoon." His superior said getting Minnow's attention, Minnow looked over, "Yes sir?" He asked. "Do you know that person?" The superior questioned, their hands on their hips.

Minnow opened his mouth and then closed it. Unsure of what to say. Finally, after a moment of watching Mako's form carrying Shura disappear he settled on an answer.

"If I don't, I'd certainly like to." 

With Shura and Mako, Shura was passed out by the time Mako got back to the tent with her. Chuckling as Mako looked down at Shura in their arms. "Definitely an orc's spirit," Mako said to themselves. 

Once in the tent, Mako took the time to clean Shura up once more. Though, they were sure that the girl would've preferred to do it herself. Mako wasn't about to let Shura sleep in bloody clothes. While it wasn't uncommon for an orc, it did tend to attract unwanted attention and accusation with humans.

So, to save some time and a headache, Mako cleaned Shura up and dressed her in a new outfit. Though this time, Mako took some of Minnow's clothes. They were sure that Minnow wouldn't mind. Mako chuckled to themselves remembering the look Minnow had on his face seeing Shura standing victoriously over her slain prey. 

Had they been orcs he would've asked her to marry him on the spot. The sign of a good spouse for an orc was always efficiency in battle. But humans were strange creatures. Taking far too long by hiding feelings and courting one another. Those were things that an orc had little time for. When an orc saw something they wanted, they went after it. Without question or thought. 

As Mako finished up, they laid Shura down on their bed. Not wanting to embarrass their poor student by laying her down on his bed. Watching as Shura curled up under the covers Mako decided then and there. That they wanted Shura as a student. Passing up a person with that kind of raw killing talent would be a foolish move. 

Plus maybe by having Shura around Minnow more they would work faster than most humans getting together. Mako often grew tired a the sight of snail-paced romances that these humans around them often had. It was like watching grass grow or paint dry. Boring with very little happening at once. 

Shura was asleep for quite some time, however, this time around her dreams was nonexistent. Not unusual for her, most of her dreams as she got older were usually just nothing. Just a blank void of darkness as she slept.

When she did find herself back in the waking world, she had no idea where she was. The first thing she saw was a sheet of white fabric, as her hearing came back to her she heard the sound of horses and voices.

Groggily she slowly sat up, still processing everything around her. Her first half-awake thought was that this wasn’t her room. But as memories came back to her she began to understand what was going on. Taking a shaky breath as she remembered everything, she experienced she tried her best to stay calm. Though, it wasn’t helping.

“You’re awake!” A cheerful voice sounded out, Shura looked over and saw Minnow on the other side of the wagon. Judging by the book in his hand, he had either been reading or journaling. Shura then spotted a quill-like pen and decided on the latter. Minnow sat the book and pen aside scooting his way over to Shura. Though he struggled a bit moving around the supplies that were in the back with them.

“How are you feeling?” Minnow asked once he was next to Shura. Shura hugged herself a little bit, pulling the blanket on her shoulders around her a little tighter. Unsure how to feel about Minnow getting so close to her. Minnow noticed her discomfort and moved away a couple of inches without a word.

“Fine… I guess.” Shura replied after Minnow moved, relaxing just a bit. She couldn’t stand the feeling of someone being so close to her right now. Especially with her still processing everything that’s happened. Which was a lot. 

“That’s good.” Minnow said with a small smile, “I was really worried there for a while. Taking down that bull mammoth took a lot out of you!” Minnow exclaimed clearly impressed by Shura’s kill. Meanwhile, Shura wasn’t too sure how to feel. She wasn’t much for killing, despite growing up in the countryside near farms where killing animals was common. 

But on the other hand, she had saved someone’s life. Which was a plus… She supposed. The flash of the dead man in her mind made Shura wince. She glanced at Minnow seeing that he was waiting on some sort of reply and she said.

"I did what had to be done." She decided on that sort of response rather than feeling proud of herself. She had always felt strongly that the loss of life was nothing to be proud of. Minnow's excitement died down at such a dutiful response, "Right." He said sheepishly, clearly feeling ashamed of himself. "it is a knight's job to protect the weak and all that." he mumbled twiddling his thumbs.

The remark about knights was not lost on Shura. She wondered how it applied to her. She was not a knight after all. As far as they knew she was a survivor from a burned and ruined village.

"A knights job? What's that got to do with me?" Shura asked getting to the point, Minnow was silent for a moment clearly lost in thought before processing that she had said something. "Oh! Um, well, you see..." Minnow trailed off as if deciding whether or not it was a good idea to say this.

"My superiors and my mentor were very impressed by your... Actions. That they've decided it was only fitting that they offer you a position among the ranks of our fine country's knights!" Minnow said carefully choosing his words. He seemed fearful of upsetting Shura once more. 

Seeing Shura's unsure reaction to this news he back-peddled just a bit, "It's not official yet and it's your choice. Afterall you just lost your home!" Minnow added quickly before Shura could formulate a response. 

"Uh..." Shura started to say but Minnow cut her off by rambling, "it's just that, you showed so much potential that it was only natural to offer you a chance. Then again you're probably still recovering from the trauma! But at the same time, you lost everything and probably could use the structure!" Minnow was nervously rambling at this point. 

A characteristic Shura had been unaware that he possessed. In the books, Minnow was seen as a strong wise male figure. But in reality, or whatever this was, Minnow was a hot mess.

"Dragoon." Shura said plainly as Minnow ranted, "Dragoon..." Shura was starting to get annoyed by now. "Minnow!" She shouted effectively cutting him off. Minnow froze with his mouth hung open, "Okay." Shura said after taking a breath, she decided it was best to agree to train to become a knight.

After all, she almost died because of those things. If she was stuck in this world, it was best that she equipped herself with the skills to defend herself.

"Okay...?" Minnow asked unsure what she was getting at, "Okay I'll become a knight." Shura clarified for him. It took only a couple of seconds for Minnow to realize what she had said, "Truly?!" Minnow made no effort to hide his excitement. 

Shura grimaced slightly at the use of such formal language. It seemed cool in the books, but in real life, it was kind of stilted.  "Truly..." Shura repeated slightly grimacing. "Wonderful!" Minnow cheered before pulling Shura into a hug. "Oh, I do look forward to working together with you!" He exclaimed hugging her tighter.

"Space... Space... I need space!" Shura exclaimed unable to keep herself calm. "Oh! Terribly sorry!" Minnow apologized letting go, "It's fine." Shura grunted tightening the blanket around her once more. She looked down and finally noticed that she and Minnow were wearing matching outfits. Something she didn't remember changing into...

"Who changed my clothes?" She asked hoping that it was someone at least female. "Oh! Mako did!" Minnow said, "It's a much better fit than the clothes you had on before if you ask me. Who knew we were just about the same size?" Minnow added in his usual manner. 

"Yeah, who knew," Shura remarked staring at the insignia of a lion with a crown. Deciding to change the subject Shura looked up at Minnow catching him staring at her, his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink at being caught. Quickly he looked around the wagon trying his best to look casual. 

Shura frowned at this, Minnow was quite the weird guy. Definitely different than from what she read about in the Mid-Knight Saga books. Deciding to ignore this, she spoke up. "So where are we headed?" She asked Minnow's gaze snapped back to her quickly. "The capital of course!" Minnow exclaimed Shura cocked an eyebrow. 

This certainly would be a chance to get some information she never got from the books. In the Mid-Knight Saga books, the name of the country or its capital was never stated. She guessed the author wanted to keep it vague as possible. Some guessed that the country in Mid-Knight Saga was supposed to be France or England. But no one was ever sure. 

"Can you remind me what it's called again?" Shura asked as Minnow jumped at the chance, "Of course! Our great capital is called Vloria! The first king named it after his beloved wife! Quite romantic isn't it?" Minnow answered with a smile, he seemed to be expecting some sort of response from Shura over this tidbit of information.

"Huh. Well, that's neat." Shura said only slightly disappointed that her favorite theory about Mid-Knight Saga being from her world was ruined. But it was a relief to finally have some answers after being a fan of the series for so long. 

"So what's Vloria like? I've never been there." Shura said deciding to continue on with the conversation due to having nothing to do and it was better than sitting here trying to ignore Minnow's obvious stares. She had no idea what he was up to, maybe he was trying to decide where she was from. After all, she looked quite different compared to the run of the mill villager. 

"Well, the road from Olisvine to Vloria is quite long, so it's not surprising you've never left your village before." Minnow said thoughtfully, Shura didn't bother correcting his assumption that she came from Olisvine. It was easier this way, saved her headache of having to explain the fact she was from a different world and all that. 

"Well Vloria is a very beautiful city, it's said that it inherited the king's wife's beauty through their shared name!" Minnow explained with a clear fondness for the city. "Near the royal palace, there's a lamp that's lit right outside of its gates! It's said that the king lit it and said that when his love for his wife died than the lamp would go out! It's been three hundred years and it still hasn't gone out!" 

Shura listened closely to Minnow ramble on about different fun facts about the capital city of Vloria. Though most of them retained to love, marriage, and romance. Vaguely Shura wondered why Minnow kept bringing up these points. Certainly, there was more to Vloria than just being a city of love. But then again, maybe Minnow was just one of those guys that couldn't wait to fall in love with someone. 

That would explain why he jumped at the chance to marry the King's daughter Princess Tetra despite hardly knowing her. Though before meeting Minnow Shura thought it was for political reasons alone. But now that she was getting to know him it was clear that it was from a desire to be with someone and less about politics. 

Minnow continued on as the caravan of knights slowly but surely made their way back to the capital. During this time, Shura spent most of it by asking Minnow questions about being a knight and the city of Vloria. It was less boring that way.

"Oh, I can't wait to show you lock bridge!" Minnow exclaimed, but before Shura could ask what lock bridge was, she was cut off by a voice nearby.

"City of Vloria spotted!"