Chapter Text
She was able to stop by the merchant’s square before leaving. Normally this area would be deserted at this time of night but there were several people who must have heard of the accident. Most attended to their own stalls, packing up goods and valuables lest the worst occur. Leonie slowed to jog, eyes scanning the crowd in the dimness.
“Clive!” She shouted, jogging up to the man’s stall. He was the farmer she worked odd jobs for. He waved at her.
“Didn’t expect to see you ‘round this of night, Leonie. You’re not here to help pack up the stand, I take it?”
“There’s something I need your help with. I have a friend who lives out by the woods and I think she might be in trouble because of the beasts.”
“What are you talking about? No one lives out in those parts, it’s too dangerous.” The man frowned at her in confusion.
“I promise I’m not lying to you,” Leonie pleaded. “But I need to get out there quick to check on her and pass along the warning. Could I borrow one of your horses? Please?”
He regarded her for a few moments before sighing. “If anything happens to my animal, you know that price will be on your head, right hun?”
“Of course!”
“Fine, fine,” he waved his hand lackadaisically. “Take Samarah. She’ll get ya there fast.”
Leonie bolted from the merchant’s square, thanking Clive over her shoulder with a shout. In less than ten minutes, she was riding out of town on Samarah’s back with her bow in hand.
Because the terrain sloped sharply upward, Leonie had to take a less direct route to Bernadetta’s tower. In the darkness of the woods, she felt sharp pricks of fear along her neck. Each noise felt like a threat, the whisper of a demonic beast around the corner. She pushed past the paranoia, kicking her stirrups into Samarah’s side.
As she rounded the tree line, Leonie spotted the tower and was horrified to see large shadows moving near its base. She sped towards the building desperately, all thoughts of caution flying out of her head. There were two demonic beasts near the tower. She quickly knocked an arrow and took a wide angle for her first target.
It was a giant wolf with thick matted fur and massive teeth. She aimed for the creature’s hindpaw, hesitating to catch the right angle in the dark. At the last moment, she let the arrow fly and heard it sink into its mark. The creature yowled in pain.
Leonie glanced up at the window and was relieved to see Bernadetta staring below, dressed in her dayclothes.
“Bernie! We need to get you out of there!” She shouted from horseback, riding closer to the tower’s base while maintaining some distance from the monsters.
Bernadetta glanced down at Leonie. “I can climb down in a few moments. Do you have rope?”
Leonie answered by tossing up the grappling hook. She hardly had to aim, knowing so well where and how it would land. She gave it a quick tug before hurrying off and knocking another arrow. “Get down as quickly as possible!” She shouted upward.
While Bernadetta rushed to leave, Leonie focused on drawing the attention of the beasts away from the tower. She poked them with arrows, garnering their ire and leading them further towards the forest. She checked on the tower window, seeing that Bernadetta was now gently lowering herself down the building’s side. Leonie pulled another arrow from her quiver, aiming behind her. Both monsters were tailing her now. She dug her heels into Samarah’s side, hoping to spur her on and reduce her chances of spooking. In the darkness, she could just see the moonlight glint in the eyes of her targets. She drew her arrow back sharply and let loose. A yelp in the shadows confirmed her hit.
It seemed the other monster grew rageful at its companion’s wounds. It loped towards Leonie, growing closer with each bounding step. As it reached to swipe at Samarah’s thigh with its claws, however, an arrow shot from the dark, lodging in the middle of its paw. The wolf cried out, halting its advance towards Leonie.
She turned back towards the tower. Bernadetta stood on the ground, waving with her bow in hand. Exhaling a harsh sigh of relief, Leonie raced towards her on Samarah’s back.
“Thanks for the support back there! Your aim is sharp.” Leonie pulled up beside Bernadetta. She noticed the slight backpack slung over her shoulder. “Is that all you want to bring?”
“When faced with a life-threatening situation, I got my priorities together pretty quickly.” She said this lightly but the fear in her voice was still present. “Let’s get out of here.” Bernadetta climbed onto Samarah’s back, sliding behind Leonie. “Can I, uh—”
Leonie grinned. “Make sure you hold on tight.”
Bernadetta obliged, wrapping her arms around Leonie’s thick waist. They rode off into the night, avoiding the woods filled with creatures.
At the inn, Leonie was not surprised to learn that all of the rooms were full. “A few people’s homes got destroyed apparently.” She explained to Bernadetta. “You can take my bed. I don’t mind.”
When they arrived at the small room, though, Bernadetta wore a grimace. “I can’t just let you take the floor.” Her gaze flickered before landing on Leonie hesitantly. “I would be okay with sharing. So you don’t wake up with a hurt back or a crick in your neck or something.”
Leonie shrugged. “Sure.” She had shared beds with others often in her mercenary company. However, none of those individuals were people she had been nursing a crush on. So, when she laid next to Bernadetta expecting to fall asleep easily, she was instead wide awake. Each point of contact that she shared with her lit up her mind like a spark to tinder. She imagined the possibilities of such a touch, before realizing with a jolt that she was overstepping some unspoken boundary. She sighed and rolled over, hoping that Bernadetta wouldn’t realize her discomfort.
In the morning, Leonie woke at dawn as usual. She rose with the sun, as Shamir liked to say. She first felt the ache in her arm, as she realized it was deprived of sensation because of the weight upon it. It was then that she recognized the weight and remembered who she was sharing her bed with.
Bernadetta was laid out beside her, arms wrapped around her waist. Her head rested on Leonie’s outstretched arm. She was still asleep, exhaling in light puffs that tickled Leonie’s nose.
Leonie’s eyes widened as she realized how close they were cuddling. She could see the individual spaces between Bernadetta’s eyelashes. This is far too close for comfort and she grew more embarrassed with each passing moment. She considered extricating herself but dreaded waking her companion. Her heart was pounding from a mixture of stress and yearning. Some part of her wished she could just relax and enjoy being so close to Bernadetta. But she felt bad, like she was taking advantage of the situation. So she decided to slowly pull away from her grasp.
With the precision she learned in training, she carefully angled her arm from beneath Bernadetta’s head. At the loss of support, however, Bernadetta pulled Leonie’s waist closer, resting her head on her chest.
This is not going to work, Leonie realized. Her last ditch effort was to fall from the side of the bed and play it off as an accident. She managed to slip from Bernadetta’s grip by twisting away, but she wasn’t able to break her fall lightly. She thudded to the floor, banging the back of her head on the side of the bedframe.
“Ow!” She cried, biting back a curse. She sighed, rubbing her head. Behind her, Bernadetta rolled over in bed. From peeking over the edge, Leonie could see that she was cuddling the heap of blankets with the same proximity. It seemed she was just a cuddly person.
That’s adorable, she caught herself thinking and bit her lip, willing the thought away. She couldn’t get caught up in feelings over this girl. She wasn’t even sure if they were traveling together. Leonie quietly stood and began getting ready for her day.
Bernadetta woke up a few hours past dawn and the two grabbed breakfast together at the local marketplace. In the early morning, food stalls offered pastries and dried meat. Leonie bought some cheese danishes for the two of them to split. They sat together on a bench, elbows brushing as they shared their meal.
Bernadetta suddenly stiffened halfway through a bite. “Oh, I have something for you!” She placed the pastry down, balancing it on a napkin before turned to rifle through her backpack. Leonie recognized the bright orange fabric as it emerged from her bag.
“You finally finished mending my shirt, huh?”
“I—” Bernadetta gulped. “I finished it a while ago actually.” She laughed nervously. “I uh, didn’t want to say goodbye yet. I’m sorry, that was kind of awful of me huh?”
“I’m not upset.” Leonie said kindly. “I had a feeling it was something like that. I don’t mind though. I wasn’t ready to leave you either.”
Bernadetta stared at her for a moment, a flush of red rising to her face. She quickly diverted Leonie’s attention, and Leonie graciously let her do so without comment. “I-I uh, made it special! The embroidery, look!” She thrust the garment at Leonie, lowering her head in a slight bow.
The previous tear was expertly mended. A few inches away from where the tear once was, Bernadetta had carefully embroidered a falcon with its wings spread in flight. The stitching was done with a keen attention to detail.
“Bernadetta,” Leonie traced the thread lightly with her finger. “This is amazing! It must have taken a lot of effort.”
“Oh it was nothing, really.” She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “I uh, chose a falcon because it’s fierce like you. Strong but also quick. And really good at dealing with heights,” She laughed. “I wanted it to reflect you, you know?”
Leonie met her gaze with a sincerity that burned. “I love it. This is absolutely perfect, Bernie.”
“Ah well, I’m glad!” She squeaked, eyes flitting away from Leonie’s honest stare. But something between them shifted, as if words unspoken began to take shape in the space between them.
Bernadetta broke the silence at last.
“Also, I’d like to travel with you.” She exclaimed, her face tense. “If that offer still stands.”
“Are you sure?” Leonie asked. She folded the shirt carefully in her lap. “You won’t be able to bring much more than what you’ve already packed.”
“I’m certain! I almost died back there with those monsters.” She sighed. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would probably be crushed in the ruins of that stupid tower.” She took a spirited bite of pastry and chewed thoughtfully. “Thanks, by the way. For coming to help me.”
“Of course.” Leonie was steadfast in her reply. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“So, you’re okay with me tagging along with you for a bit?” Bernadetta asked shyly.
Leonie gave her a bright smile. “I’m more than okay. I’m really happy, actually. Though, before you commit to anything, there’s something I should tell you.”
“Hm?”
“I’m pretty sure I have feelings for you.” Leonie said it straightforwardly, as if commenting on the weather.
“Ah-” Bernadetta gripped the sides of her face, which had grown tomato red. She glanced back at Leonie in shock. “Uh, you think that way about me?” Her voice was panicked.
“I just want to be honest.” Leonie admitted. “I would feel bad if you got stuck traveling with me, only to realize I’m hiding my feelings from you. It’s okay if you don’t reciprocate.”
“N-no, just!” Bernadetta waved her hands around for a second before gathering her breath. “Just give me a moment okay!”
“Okay.” Leonie angled herself away from Bernadetta, giving her as much privacy as possible from their shared seat on the bench. She ignored the urge to glance and get an appraisal of the situation, instead focusing on eating the rest of her pastry.
Finally, she heard a gulp from Bernadetta, followed by her call, “Okay! I’m ready.”
When she faced the woman again, the blush was still present on her face. She was tense, but it was not anger that glinted in her eye. “Leonie!” She almost shouted. “I think you’re great! You make me feel excited! In a way that none of my suitors have made me feel. You listen to me and actually treat me with respect and courtesy. And also you’re really cute, so I was just thinking –”
She paused to catch her breath. Apparently, she had forgotten to breath. “I think we could be, uh, romantic!”
Leonie met her gaze, trying not to let the full force of her happiness show on her face. She always was bad at hiding her feelings. “You mean it?”
Bernadetta nodded quickly.
“So, if I leaned in like this…” Leonie closed the distance between them hesitantly, watching Bernadetta for her reaction. She did not withdraw, but instead looked nervously at her. “Is it ok for me to kiss you?”
Bernadetta faltered for only a second before pressing her lips to Leonie. The kiss was brief but full of emotion. In it lay a promise that they would see many different sights together, that they would travel the world hand in hand.
And that morning, they left together, excited to depart for the future ahead.