Long Travel Home

[Myra]

Kayne might be giving Myra a little too much credit here. She'd know their names and ambitions, but it wasn't to heart. Several years down the road, there's an off chance she'd remember anything from today. Myra stared at Kayne quietly for a moment. "Actually... we just met. Even from what I do know about you, it's not enough to really say you are or aren't those things. After all, some people are different on the surface than deep down. Some slay with a smile and weep for the wilting.", she said as she watched the kids play guards and bandits with each other. "Buuuuuuuut.... Your upbringing sounds rough, so you never got to really explore yourself. I mean, even not being allowed to have sweets? That's pretty cruel."

Myra just watched the exchange with Kayne and the kid, just watching both of their faces. "Well, I'm not really a jeweler or anything so I can't read it for magic but, I think they like it. There's something about you that scares the kids though hmm..." Myra got up and leaned in real close to examine Kayne, even going as far as squinting her eyes and rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she slowly circled him.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    The warrior supposed that was a fair assessment. Though most people seemed to be able to make snap judgments far easier than Myra was. Still, the boy seemed happy, showing of the pretty crystal necklace to all his friends like a prize, and all their eyes sparkled in turn. The young man had held onto that pendant for long enough to know it wasn't cursed, and no ill effects came from wearing it. It was simply a pretty piece of jewelry, that hopefully the child would treasure.

    Unlike Myra, Kayne tried burning it deep into his memory. If he ever came back here years from now, he'd want to be able to remember them. See how they'd improved. If they still held that stone. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Still, the idea of this moment being important to someone oddly felt... nice... warm, in a sense. At the mention of sweets, a very slight blush came to his cheeks as he glanced towards Myra, ready to argue.
    
    Only to blink in surprise when he found Myra's face close to his. 

    Confusion was obviously plastered all over his expression, wondering what she was trying to see about him. The young man didn't exactly have any idea what to think or feel when Myra began to orbit him either. Confusion wasn't even enough to describe. It was just odd. A sigh escaped his lips and he tilted his head towards the faunus.

    "What exactly are you doing right now?" Anyone looking at this from the outside would likely know less than Kayne about what was happening, which on it's own was a legendary feat. It didn't help that Kayne didn't even know if this was normal or just something out of the ordinary. The young warrior's arms folded across his chest as he watched her, patiently waiting for her to finish up. 
    
    Myra's search would likely be fruitless, though. Aside from the deadpan stare and expression, or Kayne's build and stature, he was pretty plain. Maybe it was his attire? Maybe it was the big ass sword? The girl would have to ask the kids themselves to know the answer for certain. There were so many maybe's on the list right now that it was hard to tell what was the real cause. So unless she wanted to drag him around and point at his face to every passerby for their opinions, it was probably better to just let sleeping dogs lie. 

[Myra]

After circling Kayne a few times, Myra straightened her posture, nodding sagely to herself. "Hmm hmm.. Yes I see..." She widened her stance and pointed at him,"You don't know what you're doing!", she proclaimed rather confidently. Now as silly as this whole bit may seem, she had a point. She lowered her voice back down to a normal level. "You really lived in a secluded lifestyle didn't you?"

The faunus settled back down on the grass, stretching her legs and little before folding them in a criss-cross fashion. "It's more than obvious you didn't really grow up with other people.", she said, giving him a kind looking smile and then looking up at the sky. Her entire body followed, leaning back to where she was now laying down and looking at the clouds.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Kayne hesitated. Then slowly lowered himself down to the grass beside her. One leg was popped up, left arm resting on the boy's knee. His right leg, however, was extended slightly. The boy looked towards Myra with a hesitant stare as she pointed out his seclusion. She was right. He couldn't really argue against it. The young warrior sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the sky with her. "I  told you I used to be in a combat class when I was younger." Kayne stated, quietly. The boy's expression didn't change, but inside his was screaming. His innards felt as though they were churning and ripping themselves apart. "It wasn't for long, but my mentor wanted me to experience combat with others."

    Clouds drifted passed, filling Kayne's dull blue stare. What came next in his story was... unpleasant. And it could make and break any potential comradery he could share with the Faunus. After everything so far... she may hate me. Maybe she'll be disgusted and leave? Kayne resisted the urge to sigh. Perhaps... that would be for the best? 

    "My mentor had always taught with an iron fist. Hammered his lessons into my head with every bit of force he could exert without killing me. So already I was on uneven footing with my fellow classmates. Always the top of the class, never taking a single punch." Kayne's  right arm sunk down, hand resting upon the soft, green grass. It was lush and vibrant, full of life. "I already told you how I got kicked out of that class. Taking the life of a fellow classmate. How proud my mentor had been of me..."
   
    "After that, he threw me out into the wilderness alone. He told me to not come back for a month. Then once the month was over, to pick my way back home myself." A slight tug was all it took for Kayne to pull free a blade of grass. He played with it between his finger tips. The young man couldn't seem to look away from it. "The area he dropped me in was bandit territory. So he told me to be on guard. Of course, I did what I had been trained to do."

    "I killed. I survived."

    "In my mind they were just bandits, of course it was simple, easy." The young man sighed and dropped the blade of grass, allowing the wind to take it away. His hand instead combed through his hair, fingers massaging his scalp. "Until one day near the end of the month, I was looting a corpse for supplies and found a scrap of paper. A bounty sheet."

    Those clear blue eyes closed slowly. The young man remembered the day. The crisp, hot sun. The cooling blood. He was hungry, needed the food. Of course he'd had supplies back at where he was camped out, but the more he could scavenge, the better. He remembered snacking on a tough piece of jerky as he looked over the bounty page. 

    "It had been put on my head..." He remembered seeing his face. Feeling confusion. Seeing the name of the man who placed the bounty. "... by my own mentor."

    "For the past week, it turns out that I had already cleared out all the bandits, so my mentor hired skilled bounty hunters to keep it lively. The men I had been killing were warriors like me, who just wanted to fight for a good cause or some food in their belly. And they were being used as fodder." Kayne continued to rub his scalp gently. "And I felt nothing about it. Just... indifference."

    The boy remembered tossing the page on the ground without a care in the world. It wasn't his problem anymore. All he had to focus on was getting through the night. His trial was almost over. He was almost done. Soon enough he could go home, and have his bed to sleep in again. The whole time, he had no idea his mentor was secretly watching his progress. The whole reason for the hunters being sent towards him was a separate test in it's entirety. In some sense, he had succeeded one trial. Surviving. Thriving. But in another, he had failed completely. Kayne just didn't know it yet. 

    "When I returned home covered in blood and still alive, the remaining bounty hunters were called off. My mentor, however, apparently didn't know how to feel. I followed his teachings to a T. I killed everything that came for me. I never backed down. Never ran. Never wavered or cried or broke down. But I wasn't supposed to kill those hunters. Supposedly I was meant to use diplomacy or evasion. Regardless, I passed my trial. I got my reward. But my mentor never really cared much about me past that point." 

    "I didn't feel guilty about it. I still don't, to be honest. What I do feel guilty about is my lack of empathy towards that situation. I guess that's part of why I still don't like dealing with people."

[Myra]

The faunus stayed quiet as Kayne told his tale. She stayed quiet a while after that, smile long gone and eyes trained on the ground in front of her. When she finally spoke, her tone sounded the most serious Kayne would have ever heard. It almost sounded dark. "Some people are just absolute monsters." How was he supposed to know what his mentor wanted if all he was taught was nothing but kill? Especially when there were killers assigned to hunt him down?

He was trianed so hard to do nothing but kill and survive that any social skills he had were just...nonexistant. And it showed, it really did. It wasn't even indifference, it was just the matter of thinking that his mentor had him go through. "Even though he had expectations that you would use other means for the bounty hunters, it's insane he'd think teaching you just one thing this whole time wouldn't rig the situation against you. Part of me thinks he did that on purpose to label you as a serial killer, and it worked." What a terrible person.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A sigh escaped the young warrior's lips. Maybe Myra was right. It was like he could really argue in favor of his father. Kayne hated the man with every single fiber of his very being. Every cell screamed with rage just picturing his dour face. Every nerve recoiled when he remembered that sickening smile. His blood boiled when he remembered those cold, dead eyes, showing no hint of love or compassion towards his own flesh and blood. 

    Kayne worked his hands, clenching them tighter and tighter until his gloves strained against the force he was exerting. And Myra had a point. His father only taught him how to kill and survive. There's no way he would have, should have, expected Kayne to suddenly switch it all up. No, no more than that- the one thing that had ever gotten pride out of the wretched son of a bitch was when Kayne killed another classmate, what would suddenly rewrite Kayne's mind to make the young boy think that the one thing his father wanted was the opposite of what he'd taught?

    "He trained a weapon, and when he got one he hated it." Came the final response. The tone was one of bitter agreement. Of resentment. Armor shifted and Kayne suddenly stood up. His blue eyes were locked to the ground. "I'm gonna go let off some steam..."

    The boy didn't even wait for a response.

    Not good enough. Never good enough. His thoughts were angry. Frustrated as he gathered up his gear. Have to be better. Have to try harder. Can never fail. Never budge. Not even a little bit. But even when I do exactly what he asks of me, exactly what he trained me- suddenly I'm a disappointment. Maybe Myra's right. Maybe he just wanted me dead from the beginning. 

    Maybe he hated me from the very beginning. 

    "Now you're catching on." When Kayne turned, the man was looking him dead in the eyes. Kayne stared him right back, unflinching. The boy remembered those violent amber eyes. Remembered the blood pooling behind them. 
   
    "Haunt someone else." Unbowing to the will of the ghost before him, Kayne walked through it. Ignored it. His hatred was stronger than it's malice. "Before I kill you a second time"

    Metal boots thudded hard into the stone path. The warrior avoided others like the plague. He didn't want to be near anyone. Didn't want to see anyone. Didn't want anyone to see him. A foolish request, and he knew it. But what more could someone ask of him right now? The boots only stopped when they reached a bounty board. Papers putting marks on monsters and bandits alike. Kayne looked at it.

    And tore off the most difficult one he could find. 

[Myra]

"Oh... O-okay..." Myra watched Kayne go, not even bothering to stop him. She barely caught a glimpse of his face. He shoudn't be stopped right now. He needed to be alone. Maybe she touched a nerve. Actually, she definitely touched a nerve. But it looked like it was also something Kayne might have been actively denying this whole time to justify his monster of a mentor. She stayed with the village a while longer, unsure if Kayne was still around or if he just left. That was no longer her business, if it was any part of her business to begin with. 

Though, judgements and mixed thoughts aside, Myra did hope to cross paths with KAyne again to see where he was.