They both stood there looking at each other for a second, tears running down Jamie's face. "I had a sword up to your throat and you are asking if I'm ok?" She said with a skeptical tone. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Aren't you worried about yourself?"
"Not really," he replied, "you seemed to be in a lot of pain since I first saw you. I honestly didn't think you would kill me right away anyways."
"Oh no, if you even sneezed I probably would have killed you." She said in a snarky tone. "You were inches from death."
"Oh, well," the man stuttered, "you didn't kill me right away which means you have some good in your heart." Hearing that made Jamie stop for a second as it wasn't something she's heard for a while, and it brought a small smile to her face.
"I wouldn't say it's good, more like curiosity." she said as she pulled her sword from the tree and put it back in the sheath hanging from the back of her hip. She then walked to the side of the tree and sat down with her back to it and him. "And don't think you could kill me now, I'm much faster than any magic you could cast. I will give you a break though, since you made me laugh." She wiped the tears and rain from her face and looked up into the rainy sky. The man looked down at her then sat down on the other side of the tree and looked into the sky as well. They sat there for a moment listening to nature. The sound of distant thunder rolling in occasionally and the rain lightly falling was calming. It was occasionally interrupted by the sound of sniffling coming from Jamie. She eventually broke the silence between them. "So are you going to tell me who you are?"
"I'm not too sure," he said softly, "I know you won't believe it, but it's true."
"Well, you're right," She replied, "I don't believe you. But let's say I do, what do you remember?"
"The only thing I can remember is a bright flash of light, and then thunder coming from all around me." The man solemnly replied. "When then the light and thunder was gone I was laying here in the woods with a massive headache. I can't remember my name or where I'm from, or even how old I am. But I do remember I can't see without glasses."
"Is that why you've been squinting at me this whole time?"
"Yeah, I've been trying to make out your face."
"That's a relief, I thought you were just trying to get a glance at my body or something." she said with a smirk while wiping more tears off.
"No!" he quickly stuttered with a red face. "No, I wasn't trying to do that. I promise."
"You wouldn't be the first guy to say that and lie." They sat there a while longer in silence taking in the rain and watching the clouds roll over. It had been a long time since Jamie sat down like this and actually took in the sounds of the world. She had always had racing thoughts in her mind and things to stress about, or her mind was altered by some sort of drug or alcohol. But now all she was thinking about was how peaceful nature was.
"You know," he calmly said to break the silence, "I do remember that when I felt down or sad, I would listen to the rain and the thunderstorms. They always cheered me up."
"I agree, I've always felt calmer when it rains." She replied with a small sigh.
"So," he said hesitantly, "what's upsetting you?"
"Why would you really care, and why should I tell you?" Jamie said softly
"Because you seemed stressed and need to vent it out." He said with concern in his voice.
"If I need to vent my stress out I could just go find a man at the tavern, not some half naked guy in the woods." she snarkily remarked.
"But would they listen?" He shot back. She paused after hearing that. She knew the answer, she knew it well because she's been on the other side. They wouldn't, and at this point no one else would either. Not her parents, not her prideful brother, and certainly not the renegade brother either. No one at her guild cared enough about personal problems, and most tavern goers just wanted a piece of her. No one truly knew her or her problems, or simply cared.
"I've done a lot of bad things to get where I am." she sighed, while crossing her arms and burying her head in them. "I've done things I'm not proud of and no one else is proud of either. I've hurt more people than I can count, and I've been addicted to just as many things. I've disappointed not only my parents but probably my whole family, and if my ancestors could talk to me now they'd probably shun me and tell me I don't deserve my family name, not that I know who they are." Jamie began to cry hard this time as she opened up, and the man just sat there listening. "I did all these horrible things because I thought that's what I needed to do to survive. That I was the only one left to rely on, but then I found out I was lied to and could have done something other than this, that I didn't have to suffer like I did. I never wanted to do this, I never wanted to have to kill to eat my next meal. I just wanted to be a priest and be pure like I thought my father was, but that was a lie too. Instead of living this wonderful life I was dumped into a village of vile people and forced to kill to survive at the age of 13. And then I had my purity ripped from me at 16 when I was abused by every man in that bar. Then I had to join this guild to get a roof and a meal. I had to do the only thing I was good at. I could have been good at something else if I was given the chance, but all I know is how to kill. That's all I'm good for."
"You didn't kill me." He said softly with his head turned to her. "You could have, but you didn't. That means you can do other things than kill." She lifted her head and looked over at him with teary eyes. "Instead of taking people's lives, why not protect them?"
"Protect them?" She scoffed loudly while rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, you can't bring back those that you've taken, but you can try to keep the ones still around safe." He said to her with a small warm smile." If you are good at fighting, fight for them. Save twice as many people as you've hurt."
"That's the stupidest thing I've heard. Most of these people aren't worth saving, or wouldn't pay me." She said shaking her head
"I don't think it's about payment, it's about doing a good deed." He told her bluntly
"Good deeds don't put food on the table." Jamie quickly retorted.
"But good deeds can always come back around. If you save them, they may come back and save you one day. You said you wanted to be a priest right?" He asked calmly as he looked her in the eyes.
"Yeah, because I thought my father was one. It just turned out he was an Exorcist. Violence runs in my blood I guess." Jamie said while rolling her eyes again and looking away from him.
"But you wanted to be a priest to help people like you thought he did right?" He asked again with a bit more conviction in his tone.
"Yeah, but it's way too late for that, I've lost my purity and any right to be a priest." She softly said as she put her head back into her arms.
"But you still can help people, in your own way. I think you still have good in your heart. You just have to find a way to let it out" He said while staring up into the cloudy gray sky. She looked up at his face and could tell he was saying that with sincerity, and she had not heard that for a long time.
"Do you rea-'' Jamie began to speak when suddenly a large bolt of lightning struck the ground across the river. A loud thunderous bomb filled the air and startled Jamie. She looked over at the man but he seemed to be passed out. "Hey, are you ok?" She asked while leaning in closer to him, but she got no response. "Hey man, you didn't get scared to death did you?" She sat in silence looking at him as his head laid against the back of the tree. She began to get worried from the lack of response. She scooted closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder and began to lightly shake him. "Don't tell me you're serious man…" When he still didn't reply she began to panic. She hopped over to him and grabbed both his shoulders and shook him harder. "Come on man, you can't just leave a girl hanging like that!"
She continued to shake him when he suddenly hit his head on hers. She leaned back and grabbed her head and he held his. "Shit man, that's not funny!" She scowled angrily, getting ready to hit him.
"I remember!" He shouted while looking up at her with a smile on his face.
"What do you mean?" She asked while rubbing her head. "What's so exciting that you had to hit my head?"
"I remember my name!" He shouted. 'My name is Tynan, Tynan LightBarer!"