“After I heal him.”

An odd surge of blue burst forth from the hands of the giant man, as Rupheus immediately stabilized, as the titanic monster began bounding to slay the cowardly figures at the mouth of the cave.

All the while, the woman was watching Rupheus begin to wake up, as he looked around, his weapons nowhere to be seen, as he was merely in the home of the terrifying figure.

All the while, the beautiful woman who was the main figure of terror, the one who controls the absurd figure who’d just left, leaving the quaking ground behind their steps, and she was just staring directly into his eyes.

“How are you? I’m so sorry I shocked you earlier, but you DID break my stick. Well, what’s your name?” The figure asked.

“My name is Sir Rupheus Meddleguard Rorikstern, Knight of the Gretesteel Kingdom.” He said, as confidently as he could.

This only brought a bout of giggling from the figure before him, “Okay silly, my name is Lalani Dragnavaris Everburn. But you can call me Lala. All my friends do.” She said excitedly, before a gloomy expression overtook her, “But I don’t have many friends. They never want to stay, and papa just takes them away. I’m not sure where to…” She trailed off, before she looked back at him, “You’re not gonna leave me too, are you?”

With the intense gaze beseeching him to stay with all her heart, he heard the booming steps of her father returning, and more importantly, he saw his figure, coated in the blood of countless knights far stronger than him.

“Sorry dear, two of them escaped… But I got the rest.”

As Rupheus heard that, a chill ran down his back, as he boldly assumed where the previous ‘friends’ of his daughter had gone.

“That’s okay, Daddy, I still have this one…” She spoke innocently, while bragging about having him as what Rupheus could only assume would be a pet.

Then, the hulking figure spoke in turn, as the booming voice resounded once again, “That’s good dear…! Well, will you be behaving while in the care of my daughter?” As the hulking figure spoke this, he glared at Rupheus, drawing his heart to his chest as he nodded away to the request, affirming his agreement, “That’s good…” Before walking away.

This left the ecstatic Lalani to stare at Rupheus in awe, for a few seconds, before grabbing his arm as she dragged him to another portion of the cave interior, as he was pulled into an oddly pink cave room, as she nearly threw him to her bed, in a shocking display of strength, landing gingerly upon the super soft bedding, as she guffawed at his flailing, before leaping onto the bed as well.

As Rupheus was on the bed, he was quite fearful of his situation, as he saw nothing but **** in his path if he broke any rules, even though he didn’t know what those rules were.

“Well, come on, talk…” She asked softly, as she stared at him.

Rupheus was confused, what should he talk about? “About what?” He asked innocently.

“Anything, really…” She still stared intently, as she waited patiently.

“Okay, well..” As Rupheus was thinking to himself what he should talk about, he merely started speaking about his past, crappy as it was, “Well, when I was kid, my eldest brother, Delmond, had always pranked me with my other siblings… And one day, when I was in the midst of returning home from my schooling, they’d all gathered atop the balcony, awaiting my return… And then, they dumped about three buckets of water onto me… Yeah, it was… It was really funny…” He looked on at the wall listlessly, as he continued, “Then, another day, they’d all gathered, having fun, playing games and such, but they’d locked me out… I don’t know why.”

At this point, Lalani was looking on at him with pity, a look of abject sadness on her face, as he continued, once more, “Then again, when I was just a bit older, our parents had finally gifted me with a practice sword, and then, my elder brothers challenged me to many a duel, until, my cherished sword snapped under their strikes… Yes, it was quite hilarious to them… Then, again, the day that marked the sixteenth year of my life, they’d all gotten together with the neighbor girl,” Rupheus was laughing baselessly , as he went on, and on, “They got her to pretend to like me… Oh, what a hoot that was. For them…” Rupheus was exasperated, as he was nearly seething at Lalani, as he kept going, “And then, hahah… Just the other day, when I FINALLY got away, when I was chosen as a knight, they teased me, but I was headstrong… For the first time in my entire life, I was sure I was going on to something greater, so why should I care what they think… But then…”