Doctor, surgeon, hair stylist. I wore many hats, but today I needed to Don a new one. It had been quiet at our camp, as day had given way to night. We had heard some wolves howling in the distance when we noticed a shadow of a man creeping towards our camp. Though bold on his part, he approached with nothing more than a sword drawn and the clothes on his back.

It only took a minute in total for my entire team to be completely overwhelmed. Dormit lay with a neck Injury so severe he'd be lucky to be in any working order, Shana lay in a pool of crimson so large she woild be lucky to still be breathing,, and dirk was currently holding his severed leg as life left his eyes. It was just me and our attacker, and although I was definitely not a fighter, I had one distinct advantage.

He leveled his sword at me with a malevolent smile. I reached behind me, pulling out a kukri. It's not my usual tool but a little leverage if I can get close enough.

I took a deep breath as he began to lunge at me. I was not swift as he was, nor nearly as experienced, but I made do by making sure if he was going to hit, it was only a glancing blow. I had to strike his elbow just once, and he would never grip a blade again. Throughout our flight, I never swung, only reacted defensively. Our fighter, dormit, had taught me to wait for an opening, then plunge.

Time seemed to slow down, and I felt a sharp pain in my side as he managed to stab his sword into my stomach. Instinctively, I grabbed his wrist and yanked him as hard as I could, stretching his arm and laying down a swift blow on the tendons on his elbow, severing them. As his grip failed him, I chuckled and left his sword embedded in my side. Judging by the amount of pain we both are experiencing, I must have broken his elbow, too. He did embed the sword in me, but it didn't hit anything vital.

He is holding his elbow as I level my kukri at him. "You can still walk away from here. I suggest you do so with haste. Judging by the stain on that lovely shirt, you're going to need to find a doctor. Quickly or become Carrion for the bottom feeders." The man growled at me, as if a one armed unarmed swordsman who's bleeding like that could somehow be intimidating. I smirked, and I put my kukri away. "Last chance. Bloods got you on the clock. If you pass out here, you ain't waking up."

He took one step towards me, balling his remaining fist and swinging it.

The next morning, there were three graves dug. All in memoriam for each of the fallen. I smiled as I bid farewell. I'd come to retrieve them and give them a more proper burial in their home cities.

The bounty for this man was quite high, and the courts were shocked to hear a meager healer had managed to bring him in without much help. I had patched him up, sure, but he was never going to use his hands ever again.

It had been a long time since I was able to look at something an experience something akin to pity. Though this one was gravebound, I had decided to take the lost child under my wing, guiding him to the nearest patch of water with naught but a breeze. Though he never saw me, he always felt my prescense.

When was the last time i had the opportunity to thoroughly watch a human grow and suffer? To that end, I do not recall, but I always enjoyed seeing its triumphs, no matter how small they may have been at first. A kinder god would have revealed itself and taught the child. However, that is not the way i work. For every passed test, his food got easier to hunt the next day. A hapless deer here, a half blind rabbit there. He needed to keep his strength up. But woth every gift comes a test. To the child's credit, it learned rather quick.

He felt the seasons change, and moved with those that migrated. It learned to feel my prescense and began trying to communicate via offerings like the old way of worship.

But what could a child offer a God that had everything?

Adaption is king when it comes to surviving out here, and over the last few years, the child has grown considerably. One might even call it an adult. Lanky, fast, with a keen sight and very sensitive hearing. It's sense of smell has grown immensely and it's ability to run long distances to run its prey down was borderline astonishing for a human. No bear, wolf or jaguar I sent it's way could best it. It learned quickly how to survive in almost every single circumstance.

There is a part of me that is proud of the little hunter, but the other part of me knows that one day, that human will need to part this earth. Would it be fitting for it to die in a gruesome way? A part of me dwelled on this for quite some time. Being torn apart by jaguars and bears is... painful. Is this what sympathy is? Maybe.

It was time. The human has been wandering my lands for too long. It is turning out a lot like the others of his kind. Greedy. He is now leaving bits of the animal unused and hunting way more than it needs to. It is not replanting what it reaps. Most of this forest has been cut in an attempt to settle and farm. This is not what I taught it. This is not why I kept it around. I tried warning it by making its farm fallow. It kept trying to replant and drained the soil of its precious nutrients.

I needed to do something, if only to save what remains of the Forest. It started seeing me in the form of a large scarred bear. It was startled at first, but it noticed something off about me. I didn't smell like bear or sound like one.

"It is time for you to go, little one."

It didn't respond, as it had forgotten speech a long time ago. It's emotions, however where clear on display. Bared teeth, trying to make itself look bigger. I couldn't help but feel agitated. The wind began to blow, and I felt the other side of me begin to come out.

It wasn't time to run. It was time to hunt.