Master and Servant [Zane]

[Scythe-Nova]

The golems attention were focused on her surroundings as she listened to everything around her, learning and understanding her surroundings and also the words that everyone said. Once they got into the inn she perked her ears as much more information in the form of words, she were almost overloaded with information but she did not shut down. She hopped up on the chair that her master pulled out for her and looked around on the many people in the inn, but something felt wrong for her she felt empty, hollow something was missing and she looked at her master and tugged at his shirt softly to get his attention.

-"N... n... na..."

She had trouble speaking but she swallowed and took a deep breath and looked directly at her master with an almost begging look.

-"N... Name"

[Zane]

Marth felt a soft tugging on his shirt, looking over, he gave the golem an inquisitive look, getting one word in return. But at that exact moment, one Rokha Sevanskii made her way out of the back room.

"Marth! Johan!" Miss Sevanskii was a younger woman about two years younger than Marth , she had inherited the inn from her late mother. She had a young child which Marth and Johan had saved from wild dogs. Rohka walked over to the table. "Well hello there You two, what brings you to La'marri?"

Marth placed his on the golem's shoulder. "She does."

Rokha raised her eyebrows slightly. "And what is her name?"

Marth looked at the golem for a moment, "her name is Serenity."

Johan interjected, "Miss Sevanskii, we were wondering if you have any rooms available for the night. As you know the nights aren't safe for us."

"Aye, I have two."

[Scythe-Nova]

The golem's attention was kept on her master even when the woman came to the table to talk with them, until she heard her master utter her name she held an almost expressionless face. But when he said her name was Serenity she slightly opened her mouth in supprise before her mouth formed a wide overjoyed smiled, A unimagineable joy filled her body Serenity, Serenity, Serenity she repeated her name in her mind filling to the brim with joy. Her Eyes Beamed with joy as she absorbed her new name.

-"Serenity"

She repeated and looked at her hands with Joy before she looked up at her Master for clarification that the name truly were hers to wear. it was as if an important piece fell in place in her soul, she truly felt she actually were someone now like she actually had a place in this existence. Her joy truly beamed from her smiling expression and her tail wagged happily back and forth as she kept repeating her name in her head.

[Zane]

Since Johan held Miss Sevanskii's attention, she didn't notice that overjoyed expression crossing the newly named golem's face. She and Johan started talking about a town to the north, who apparently were having problems with monsters of various sorts. Marth gripped the golem's shoulder tightly.

"Well now you have a name, hope you like it cause you will be using it for years to come." Marth turned his attention back to the conversation.

"...I highly doubt that the town was attacked be a dragon Miss." Johan simply stated.

"No, of course not, this is too far north for a dragon. Besides, dragons are mainly dovish creatures and will only kill for food, rarely killing humans too. No it's far more likely to be a dragoon, apex predator all the same, but dragoon kill for sport and rarely eat what they kill and tend to be highly aggressive, they are known to lay waste to forests with little regard for who or what lives there. So in a sense they can be regarded as human." Johan and Rohka just stared at him.

"By the gods Marth, you scare the hell out of someone then confound them with philosophy."

Marth just shrugged, "I try."

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity smiled widely as her master confirmed that the name was truly hers to bear and she looked at her hands again and cleched them with newfound confidence and spirit, She paid no attention to Johan and Rohka as she was absorbed by the happiness of her new name.

-"Nya?"

When her master spoke she quickly turned her attention to him and listened to what he had to say and tried to learn of what he said. She did not understand the meaning of the words she heard but she learned the words quickly, and in the middle of this a rather large loud rumble was heard from her tummy as she suddenly felt really hungry and a small blush crept up on her face showing through her thin fur. She put one hand on her stomach and looked down on it before looking at her master and tugged at his sleeve again.

-"Master... hungry.."

[Zane]

Marth nodded to Serenity, then brought his attention to Rohka. "My dear Miss Sevanskii, would it be at all possible that we could get some food in this fine eatery?"

Rokha popped him on the arm, "Cut the crap Marth, and learn to talk like a normal person" pulling out a piece of parchment and charcoal, motioning for Marth to go ahead, "What do ya want dear?"

"I'll have some wine, cheese, and bread." Rohka wrote this down then turned to Johan.

"Cut of beef and any brew."

"And for her?" Rokha had noticed that so far Serenity had only spoken to Marth, even then it was just a few words, she was half curious what her story was, but she was curious about everyone's story and it wasn't in her nature to press for details.

Marth looked to Serenity then back to Rokha, "She will have a little bit of everything."

Rohka's half smile was suddenly gone, replaced by a bit of seriousness. "That's a tall order Marth."

"So I will owe you one?" came his reply. The two locked eyes for a moment, then nodded.

"Deal."

It took a little bit, but in no more then fifteen minutes, Marth had his food, Johan had his, and before Serenity was a little bit of everything the inn had to offer. There was small cuts of beef, pork, chicken and fish. There were at least five different breads, three different cheeses, various fruits and vegetables. Then there was the drinks, there was a very weak honey wine, grape wine, a few different brews all of varying strengths. Before they started eating, Marth placed his hand on Serenity's shoulder, "Now remember, not every meal will be like this, in fact most won't be. But this is your first meal and it should be remembered. Now, Lets eat."

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity felt that she had gotten her message to her master and paid attention to him as he talked to the woman and she also flinched as the woman lightly hit her master on the arm, she would have reacted very agressively to this but she felt the innocence of the act through the expression of both her master and the woman.

-"Mrrr..."

She looked at her master when he said something about her and then looked at the woman who seemed to change expression and exchanged some words with her master before dissappearing through a door, Serenity's stomach rumbled again and she rubbed her stomach with her hands looking around for something to eat. Then she felt it, the strong smell of meat and cheese and her attention was captured when the food was placed in front of her, her eyes figuratively sparkled as she looked at the food almost drooling from the great smell and her tail wagging back and forth in excitement.

-"..."

She looked at her master as he put his hand on her shoulder and listened to what he had to say, she understood him but she did not respond untill her master said "Let's Eat" to which she responded with a wide smile before reaching for the bread with one of her hands, She pulled the bread into pieces and putting some of them in her mouth before stopping and looking at the fork and knife that were beside her plate, she looked around at the other patrons of the inn and observed their technique for using their tableware. She picked up the fork and knife as if she had used these tools before and used them to put many things onto her plate, she still held the fork and knife a bit akward like a child would.

A bit later she felt thirsty and reached for one of the brews and took a sniff from in before recoiling a bit at the smell from the alcohol, she then began to go through the brews sniffing at them to find one that did not smell that bad and when she came to the bottle of Honey wine. When she took a sniff from it she stopped in her tracks and looked into the bottle before pouring some into her cup and took a swig from the cup, It was as she had found her ambrosia she drank the rest of what was in her cup before she went for the bottle again and drank straight from the bottle. She could not drink all of it though but there were not much left in the bottle and Serenity looked like a cat on catnip, she were full and resting her head on the table with a wide smile as a thick purr came from her chest as she rested a bit from this great experience of food. In short she had eaten almost all of her food but all brews but the Honey wine were untouched

[Zane]

Johan grabbed the untouched brews, he loved his strong liquors. Marth grabbed the grape wine, himself preferring the gentle smoothness of wine. Marth took great notice in the fact that Serenity had only had any of the honey wine, Was it the remarkable sweetness or the smoothness that the golem found interest in? Only time would tell, though he would be sure to grab a bottle or three of the wine before they left.

Rohka returned once they had finished eating, chuckling softly as she heard Serenity purr. "Enjoy the meal miss?"

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity looked up at the woman when she asked and gave her a wide smile as she nodded and looked at her with sparkly eyes. She thought Rohka was amazing how could one person make so much food in such a short time it was something she just had to learn.

-"Mrrrr..."

She looked at Rohka with a somewhat troubled expression as she wanted to express her gratitude to her but she knew not how, so instincts told her to look to her Master for guidance. She looked upon him with the same troubled expression and her tail swayed a but uncertain as she hoped she could convey her message to her master.

[Zane]

Marth looked to Serenity, wondering how she would respond to Rohka. Marth found that she had yet to find her voice and so, when she looked to him, he stepped in. "Rohka, Serenity can't really talk yet, as she just came into being today, few hours ago actually. You see she is a golem, made from an organic stone found in sea caves along the Hivan coastline. But the greatly enjoyed the meal, she especially loved the honey wine."

Rohka seemed a bit shocked, after a long moment she bowed to Serenity, "Thank ye for allowing me to serve you your first meal, I'm glad you enjoyed it." With that, the innkeeper left the table and went into the back room, that was the last time she would be seen that night.

After a few moments, Johan stood and stretched, "I'm heading to bed, Rohka said that your room was on the first floor, end of the hall. Sleep well you two." Marth just sat there, trying to move his left hand, it flinched slightly. A healer told him that if he could not get the hand to move within three months, there was little chance for a recovery.

Eventually, Marth turned to Serenity. "Are you tired?"

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity looked back at Rohka when her master spoke and looked at her with a slight smile but something still bothered her, maybe she wanted to use her own voice to express her gratitude to the innkeeper but she had to wait till she knew the words of gratitude.

-"..."

When the innkeeper bowed and expressed her own happiness for being the first to feed her she smiled and nodded at her and as the innkeeper had gone away she realized that the first word had been what she searched for "Thank".

-"Thank you..."

She whispered looking after the woman before returning her attention to her master and then to Johan who stood up and spoke, she understood what he said and learned as she did whenever anyone spoke. When her master spoke to her she turned to him and listened.

-"...No"

She said still uncertain with her word and softly shook her head and looked at her masters ill arm with concern born from her nature as golem.

[Zane]

Marth found himself looking at her looking at his broken arm, he put on an affected smile, fake though it was, it was based in truth as all good lies were, he was happy, today had been a good day. The only reason he could not bring himself to smile truthfully was the deadline with his arm, near about ninety days, to most that would indeed seem like a long time. But to Marth, his arm being broken in several places and he couldn't even feel it, every day was only a collection of twenty four short hours, "Don't worry about my arm Serenity, it will be healed before you know it. How 'bout we go for a walk?" With that he stood from the table and went to the door, undoing the bolt and opening it, standing aside it waiting for Serenity.

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity observed her master with a carefull gaze as he talked to her and when he got up so did she and she walked with him to the door, she felt the breeze of the night hit her face and she pulled the cloak she had closer to herself for more warmth. Even though she had fur it were not thich enough to protect from the coldness outside, and after all she had nothing but her cloak on her.

-"Mrrrr"

She shivered a bit and kept herself close to her master as she felt it bring her a feeling of security and warmth. Her tail swayed slowly back and forth as she were close to her master and looked up at him with a cute smile.

[Zane]

Marth shivered himself as a crosswind hit him, stepping out into the cold he pulled the inn door shut behind them. "It's a bit chilly, watch this Serenity." Marth inhaled deeply, the cold air stinging his throat. He held the breath, holding out his right hand in front of him, palm up. As he exhaled, a small, hot flame ignited over his palm, warmth from the fire washed over them, a stark contrast to the cold dark night.

"I can keep this up for about an hour, let me show you the town." He then started walking off in the direction of the town square.

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity looked at her master when he inhaled and as she were a creature of magic she could almost visually see the magical energy cullminate in Marth's hand and then burst into a flame. She seemed very intruiged about the magical act, She looked at her own hand as she saw the magical energies flow around the crystal bracelet around her wrist and studied it for a bit before looking back at her master as she followed him obidiently.

-"..."

She Kept close to her master mostly to partake in the warmth from the flame and also just to be close to her marster.

[Zane]

And so , Marth led Serenity around the town, pointing out several places. Such as the bathhouse and the best three taverns and the tailor's as well as some of the better and more aesthetically pleasing areas of town. Finally ending up at the town square fountain. There was a thin layer of ice prevalent on the surface of the fountain, though it hadn't stopped up the small jets of water that geysered out fron the center of the fountain. The aerial stream of water hitting the ice broke through it was that thin.

"Well that is the town, Not much of a tour guide but I hope this serves well." Marth sat down at the edge of the fountain. Leaving room for Serenity next to him.

[Scythe-Nova]

Serenity were listening closely to her masters words and took them in with great care, because to her the words of her master were what would shape her life and she would follow those words no matter where they led her such is the way of a golem. Serenity sat down next to her master and did not waste any time and leaned onto him affectionately.

-"Mrrr"

She smiled and purred as she snuggled against her master, but then she directed her attention to the flame that her master held in his hand. She looked at it curiously before gently reaching out with her hand and she tried to touch the flame, She thought since her master could hold the flame as he did maybe she could too.

[Zane]

Marth smiled as Serenity snuggled into him, "You are mighty affectionate aren't you?" Though he took immediate notice of the golem's interest in the flame. As she reached for it, he stopped the flow of power and the small flame blinked out.

"Fire is something very powerful, and very dangerous. I had to train years before I could summon a flame. I would suggest not trying to touch it when you have been just introduced to such a majestic element. Come on, lets go back to the inn and get some rest. We have a long day." He took up Serenity's hand in his, his hand being exceptionally warm from where it held the flame.

[Scythe-Nova]

She were a bit dissapointed when the flame were going out but she then saw the magical energies that dispersed from the flame, but instead of simply spreading out in the area they were sucked into the crystal bracer on her wrist giving it a warm red colour. She looked at the bracer as she could feel the already formed magic swirl around in the bracer before being absorbed into her body making her body heat up a bit.

-"Fire..."

She mused to herself as she felt her master take her hand and she looked up at him with a smile as the magical energy subsided inside of her, For some reason though she felt herself blush as she realized she had just absorbed a piece of magical essence from her master. She nodded and held her master hand gently and let herself be led by him.

[Zane]

The next morning came as it always does, early. Marth awoke with the sun, looked over to see Serenity curled up next to him on the bed, atop the covers in a way very akin to cats. Marth smiled and slide off the bed and laid his portion of the sheet atop her, not wanting to wake her. Making his way he went into the back room, which doubled as a kitchen, and started up a fire in the iron stove with a quick flourish of his wrist. Next he set on a pot of coffee and went back to the sitting room to study a map out of his pack.

Not long after Rohka came out of the hallway, Marth just had to pester her. "If you will remind me Miss Sevanskii, is that not the way to Johan's room?" The inn keeper's cheeks reddened and she went for the kitchen post haste, leaving Marth to wonder just how much sleep she hand Johan got last night.