The man shrugged in response, but stopped after a few steps, sensing something was amiss. Sure enough, when he turned around the boy seemed to be on the verge of tears, no longer moving.

Great, not only is he a wimp, he's weepy as well.

But his better judgment told him to be patient--the boy had just lost his home and family, after all. And he really didn't feel like carrying him all the way there.

"There's no sense dwelling on what might have been. If it makes you feel better, I came here as quick as I could." He frowned. While he had no doubt he could have survived the attack, protecting an entire village was a lot of work for one man. So long as he was fighting, others would have been able to hunt the villagers while he was busy.

Gah, that's what I get from accepting a job from someone like that...

Wanting to try and get things moving along, he asked, "So what's your name, kid?"

It took a few moments for Elric to compose himself. He had never faced such hardships before, and it would take time for him to grasp control over his grief. He took a strong, deep breath and looked up at the man, his face now one of grim resolve. He'd need strength to go on forward, and he knew his family would want him to live rather than wither himself to death.

''It's Elric.'' He answered, pushing himself back on his feet. His eyes locked on the warriors' for a few moments, trying to search in the man to see if he was kind, or was it just part of his task? He still wasn't sure.

''I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break down.'' His voice was calm now, mostly flat. He figured his best option at the moment was to keep things to himself until he learned more of the monsters who had massacred his village, his life.

"What would be yours?"

That was a quick recovery. Maybe he has more spirit than I thought.

"Suzaku. Some call me Suzaku the Firebrand." Despite the name, he didn't appear Cizokian in the least. If anything his skin tone made him seem Xexorian, but it was difficult to say whether it was his natural color or if he'd just tanned.

"So, any idea why someone wanted your village and everyone in it wiped out?" It was insensitive, but he wanted to be prepared in case they were attacked. He almost hoped they would be--taking out the bitchy girl hardly counted as a fight. Though fighting while protecting someone was a pain in the ass...

Elric shook his head at the question, which was one of the reason he was so distressed with the situation.
"Nobody ever comes here except for some merchants once in awhile, or some nearby town to buy some of our crops. We were farmers, and we used our abilities to help out in the fields." Elric did his best to keep his composure, and so far it was working.

"They were foreign things, much taller than all of us. I only saw their back as they were leaving... They had broad bodies, but I couldn't see their faces."

He pondered a few more seconds, trying to remember some details about the murderers. His nose wrinkled, for a second.

"There was... A stench in the air, though I don't know if it was them, or something they did when they destroyed the village." He looked up at the man, his eyes ablaze. Telling this tale had brought a flame in his chest, he wanted to do something for his lost family and friends.

"Could you teach me?" He suddenly asked, his voice resolute. "To fight them? I don't want to stand idle by while they are surely commiting atrocities elsewhere..."

His gaze was firm, and his mind set. If he did not teach him, he would find another mean to. He could, also, put his negative feelings into a productive use rather than just sitting around and boiling until it would explode.

"Teach you?" Suzaku stopped, surprised at the those words. Here just a minute ago the boy had been cowering for his life, and now he wanted to learn to fight?

He looked Elric over. He was certainly in shape enough to fight, from all his time spent outside tending to the fields. "Hmmm..."

After a few moments consideration, he said, "Look kid, I'm a mercenary, so I can't do it for free. So how about this: I'll teach you when we have time on the way, and in return, someday when you get nice and strong, you have to come back and fight me."

He'd never taught anyone before, so he wasn't sure how well he'd do, but so long as it didn't set back this job anyway he saw no harm in it. Moreover, he thought Elric had the potential to be a worthy opponent someday if he trained for it. And there was nothing he loved more than a good fight.

He nodded as an answer, releasing a quick breath of relief. That would, at least, occupy his mind while they traveled together. Since he had never been out of his village, he couldn't quite fathom the distance they had to travel and thought it best to just not think about it. He wouldn't stress about it as much, and his mind was still fragile after the ordeal.

"It sounds fair."

He looked around for a moment, realising that he didn't even know the pathway towards the next village, or sign of civilisation. He hoped that Suzaku would have some idea to where they would be going next.

"What do we do now? Do we head to that person who sent you here?" Elric asked, although, he would be quite eager to meet the man who foretold of this massacre. Maybe he could learn of the origin of his new enemy.

enemy...

He thought of the word, finding it weird and alien to his mind. But, that was all that he had left to strive for now, even though it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Do.." Elric cleared his throat, sounding clearer and louder. ".. Do you know what it was who did this?"

Suzaku nodded--his job was to bring any survivors to his employer if he didn't arrive in time to save the village. And as Elric's tracks were the only they'd seen heading away from the place, he surmised that the kid was probably the only survivor, short of someone being very stealthy.

But that itself was odd; they should have found tracks of whoever attacked the village as well, but there were none.

"'Fraid not," he replied to the second question, sighing. He liked to think the person or force that demolished the village would put up a good fight, but he wasn't too hopeful. He didn't see why anyone with any real strength would bother with a little out of the way place like that. "But my employer might have some idea."

I guess he's just all muscles after all.. He knew asking the man again would not provide any answers, and that he wouldn't be a chatter box either throughout their journey to-.. Wherever it was they were heading to.

Unfortunately for him, this silence gave way to darker thoughts in Elric's mind. Plotting for vengeance, he could not yet feel the darkness that had seeded in his heart. Hopefully enough, he could gain enough knowledge to lay waste to those who destroyed his life.

"What are we going to do about her?" He asked suddenly, remembering the woman who had wished his death. "Are we just going to leave her out here?"

In all, he couldn't stand to look behind his shoulder at every step in fear of seeing her run up to him. She had given him quite the scare.

"Yep. Even though she's a bitch, it'd be a waste of effort to kill her. She can try tracking us, but unless she wants me to hand her ass to her again I doubt she'll bother, and we'll be long gone before she can hire more muscle."

Elric's impression that Suzaku was all muscle wasn't far off. He cared about fighting first, survival second, and everything else was a distant third. There was a loose code of honor that he followed, but other than that he didn't think too much about what he was doing at any given time.

Squinting up through the trees, he tried to gauge how much daylight they had left. He wasn't sure, but he could only surmise "less than he'd like."

"C'mon, let's pick up the pace--I'd like to get out of the forest by nightfall if possible."