_Jerrick was right, all I needed to do was talk to Eli calmly. I told her what I felt, how I believe a relationship should be treated. I asked her why all of this happened. She just told me that at the time, she had different views of the situation… but after speaking with Thorn and myself, she knows better. She feels ashamed.
I don't want her to feel bad.
We worked it all out, made up, and headed back to the gate. It was rather quiet, other than a quick playful sparring match between Vash and Dana (Who was in bearform at the time.) It may not have started so playful, with a lot of growling and anger being shown. I stepped up, for the first time in I don't know when, and told them, as a member of the Circle, that we are all family, and if they are to spar then do it and be done with it. There was to be no hard feelings afterward. They actually listened to me. That felt good.
Vash hits like an Oak, and made rather short work of BearDana. After smiling and picking her up, he insisted she get healed up. This made me happy to see. We have enough godsbedamned fighting to deal with, our family needs to work on sticking together.
I challenged Vash to a sparring match. I was expecting to get knocked cold.
It was a very close fight. He hits much harder than I thought, and I think that I was harder to hit than he expected. In the end, I was able to take him down... but hells, I could barely stand afterward. If he had gotten just one more hit in, my ass would have been on the ground.
Eli was watching the whole thing, and made me go to the healers with her at my side. I love when she takes care of me.
After getting all healed up by the healer's abilities, and a short run into Master Z we decided to head back to the gate.
That's when I ran into him.
A man with short dark hair... and one eye missing. Apparently he saw my fight, or something, but he made it a point to run into me. Asked what I do. I told him that I am a hunter and a protector, Warden of the Rawlinswood. He scoffed, and said that nothing that is weak enough to be protected should be allowed to live. He called himself a hunter. I knew almost immediately what he was... but I let the conversation continue. I need to quit jumping to conclusions, after all.
Eli grabbed my hand, and whispered not to do anything. I squeezed tightly, and nodded. Letting her know that I wouldn't do anything stupid, and that I was just talking to him. He said I should go on the "Great Hunt" with him, and then I could be a true hunter. I explained to him I had already been on a Great Hunt... hunting his brethren when they attempted to hunt and kill an innocent gnome in my woods. He seemed a bit shocked about this, but just kept speaking.
Honestly, I can't remember much of the rest of what he said... my adrenaline was pumping, but I was staying calm with my fiance by my side. Without warning, he leaped at me, and began to claw at my face.
That was all I needed.
My fists came smashing down into his face. He clawed at my eye, damn near took it out, and I followed through with a shot to the kidneys, bending him over... and sending a hard right to his jaw. This went on for a couple minutes, him clawing, and me blocking and punching... until finally he lunged forward just a little too much, and I caught him with a strong right uppercut underneath his jaw, which sent him on his back.
I took a deep breath. I could barely stand again, and damn was I tired. But I wouldn't let the Malarite see that.
After Eli dragged him off to jail, I leaned against the wall of the crafthall and spit some blood. I remembered the old Malarite hunter who said that Malar made him stronger than me... apparently, that just wasn't true.
I went to the jail and spoke with the man afterward. He actually seemed somewhat receptive to hear what I had to say. I told him that protecting someone does not make you weak. It makes you stronger. Not only do you rely on your own natural abilities, but you push yourself even harder when you know someone else is relying on you.
I told him, if he was ever sick of just feeding on blood and hatred, that he should find me.
To be honest... I think there's a good chance he will._