A/N- I'M BACK
(EDIT) I DIDN'T NAME THE FUCKIN CHAPTER
As the weeks went by, I felt more certain that Lucius and Rose knew that I knew about Thorn. I didn't mind obviously, but it was pretty hard not to notice how they stuck a bit closer to Thorn when I was around helping.
On a positive note, Rose's new barn was coming along and was almost finished. I did more work on the house than the barn since Lucius needed help to get the stones in place for the fireplace, but he kept me working so I couldn't complain.
Thorn was what surprised me though, anytime she saw me she would look at me with a strange look in her eyes, as if she was looking at my soul. I didn't like it so I kept my distance from her, despite her being the reason I was here in the first place. Other than that, there was always a quiet tension whenever Lucius and I were alone at the Barrel Haven, and it had finally reached the point of no return.
"Closing early today?" I asked him when he walked over and closed the door to the bar, "No, just have more pressing matters." He said as he went around and closed the windows as well before he sat down across from me. "What's your deal stranger?" he asked and I raised an eyebrow faking confusion. "Stranger? I've been here a whole year, I live here Lucius." I said but he cut me off.
"What are you, are you a Veni-yan Cari?" he asked. I wasn't familiar with that, "What that?" I asked him and a new voice answered "A dream walker." Rose had entered the bar, quietly.
"I am not a dream walker." I said as I readied my quirk, just in case things got out of hand. "Then are you a stick eater? I have seen the sword you carry, though you stopped swinging it some time ago." Rose asked as she sat beside Lucius. Deciding not to focus on the fact that she had been watching me I tried to lighten things.
"Now what kind of person eats sticks?" I said but they were far from amused, "Who are you, and why have you come to the valley stranger." Lucius said again and I sighed 'might as well get this over with' I reached into my robe that I had bought a while back and pulled out a pouch and set it on the table. Lucius and Rose glanced at the pouch but shot up once they saw what I pulled out, "WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE?!" Rose demanded as I presented them the crowns of Lunaria and her husband, one broken the other intact.
"Calm yourself, I mean no harm to you or the child." I said as Rose ripped the sword off Lucius belt as she unsheathed the blade with deadly intent. "Are those-" Lucius started but Rose cut him off "The crowns of the kingdom, yes." she said as she glared at me and Lucius just stared at the crowns in shock.
I slid the crowns over to them slowly so as to not rile up the crazy woman anymore, "An act of peace." I told them but Rose looked anything but peaceful. "How did you get these?!" she demanded again and I sighed "If you would put down your sword, I would tell you."
Finally Lucius managed to get Rose to calm down slightly, but it was enough for me to explain. "I was up on a mountain, when I heard the sounds of fighting and went to investigate, it had grown silent by the time I arrived but there was plenty to go off of." I explained how I had found snow thrown around like a wild beast had thrashed about, before I found the dead body split in two, as well as the dead King and Queen.
"The woman in two was my sister, Briar. The other two were King Arlin and Queen Lunaria Harvestar, my daughter." Rose said quietly and I nodded, "The queen was still alive when I arrived, she told me to find Rose and Thorn." I said as Rose's head shot up. "I watched her die." she said firmly but I didn't back down. "I was told to find someone named Rose, and someone named Thorn, after almost six months of being in this valley I found you." I said before adding "I buried Alrin and Lunaria in the snow together, the last body was gone." That got Rose's attention "What do you mean it was gone?" "Gone, I turned and both halves of the body as well as the sickle that separated them, were gone. No tracks, no blood trail, nothing."
We sat in silence as Rose and Lucius thought about what might have happened with Briar's body, and what to do with me. "You probably got that sword from the King, didn't you?" Lucius finally asked and I nodded no point in hiding anything right now.
"What are you going to do now that you've found us?" Rose asked and I shrugged, "Protect you, though it seems Lucius has a bit more knowledge about the dangers you face than I do." I said and he nodded "I am the one sent to keep them safe, you assistance is not required." he said but I shook my head, "I'm not here to protect Rose, I'm here to keep Thorn safe, when she is old enough I'll train her as well so she can remain safe after I leave."
Rose didn't seem to think so however as she fought the idea of Thorn training, though Lucius considered it for a moment, "Rose, we won't be around forever and Thorn needs to be strong enough to take care of herself one day." he tried to convince her but she refused to budge. Eventually they reached an agreement, Rose would raise Thorn with Lucius and I kept an eye on them with me training Thorn once she became older, IF she wanted to.
After that long exhausting talk I finally got Lucius to explain a bit more about the valley and what to expect. The biggest threat it seemed were the rat creatures, feral monsters that followed a brutal king named Kingdok. They were the ones responsible for the war that had broken apart the kingdom and killed Thorns parents. There were also various factions in the valley that they informed me about, the 'stick eaters' for example were warrior monks that lived out in some cave, they were the enforcers of the regional religion the 'Vedu'. Most of the Vedu were dead however, having been killed during the war with the rat creatures.
I also learned about the dragons of this world and how they were connected to 'the dreaming' and that they sought out and trained humans who had a special connection to it as well, these people were called the Veni-yan Cari, the dream walkers.
I also got them to teach me their language, both written and spoken as I'd rather not rely on the necklace, as it could be a liability later on. I learned alongside Thorn as she grew older and started to develop. She started talking to us and stared at me less but as all children do she had tons of questions, it made me consider leaving, but I stayed and continued to help Lucius at the Barrel Haven and just like that, 18 years passed by.