Way.

Lena followed back her footsteps to the rundown dock hoping the old man stayed. As she reached the dock she noticed a light coming from one of the dock's shacks, she moved towards it and when she got close enough someone opened the shacks door and waved her to come in. She entered the shack to find that it has been prepared for an overnight stay, there was a double bunk bed, a little fireplace dug through the wooden floor to the dirt, and a candle on the side of the window. The old man immediately gave Lena a towel and told her to wipe herself, she was completely drenched from walking under the rain with her lower parts being covered in mud. She thanked the old man, straightened her and moved the towel in all types of ways, the old man gave her a little chuckle and then sat down next to the fire place.

"So... how did your visit go?" the old man said as he moved the firewood around with a little metal stick. Lena stayed silent not knowing how to reply. who is he? what is he? all of those questions blinded Lena's anger, she would've never expected her reunion with Octan to end that way. The old man notices her silence and awkwardly says "sorry I shouldn't have asked that." Lena quickly replied to the old man "n-no no don't worry about it.... it was just that... I wasn't expecting the village to be like that." the old man raises his head from the fireplace towards Lena with a concerned look "you didn't know? Ohh I'm so sorry I should've said something about you." flustered by the man's concern Lena replied "No no no it isn't your fault, you couldn't have known whether I knew about it or not, plus I got to do what I wanted to do so all is fine." Lena said to the old man with an awkward grin. The old man looked at her with his concerned expression for a bit then turned back to moving around the firewood, Lena stared at the ground as she thought back to those questions. The old man steals a gaze at Lena to see her face is back to its depressed look from when she entered the shack which made his own mood flip.

Some time has passed, the rain is still going strong, thunder can be heard every so often, and the shack was completely silent. Only sounds of the fire's crackling and rain droplets hitting the window could be heard. The old man thought of striking up some conversation with the young girl so he said "would you like to know about what happened to the village?". Lena's train of thought quickly stopped as she replied "yes, please." the old man straightened his sitting pose and started talking. "well you see. the main cause for the villages destruction isn't really that uncommon it was just the usual monster raid, but since its basically in the middle of nowhere with the closest kingdom capital being a 4 day horse raid from it sending help was kind of hard, but you see. It would be hard, and not impossible. They were not sent any type of support nor were they notified of the attack, which is a necessity for the survival of the people at least, So the people of the village didn't even know what was coming for them. Living their everyday lives without a concern, but out of nowhere one day a huge amount of carts entered the village with a messenger onboard one of them. They had came from the neighboring kingdom warning them of the raid. they had been on a 1 week trip all the while covering their tracks so that the king of this land wouldn't find out. they were disguised as a group of merchants that moves from one place to another opening their own little market for a couple of months then moving. A lot believe that the king didn't see any danger in them so he allowed them to move freely, though I believe there was something else that probably guaranteed the king's safety from those travelers. The messenger told them about how their own king has betrayed them and that how he had left them to die from the raid that is happening in the next 2 days, and that they came offering them help and shelter at their own kingdom straight from the king. At first no one believed them and just left them be. The messenger said that he would be staying till the last hour before leaving with all the carts back. They stayed for the first day mostly just around the edge of the village for a full day without anyone approaching them, the 2nd day the first person to talk to them from the village joined them scared for his and his families life, he said that he wouldn't want to take any chances and that even if they were a group of bandits at least that would be better than getting smashed to bits by monsters some followed alongside while others stayed on their own will. The day after that as soon as the sun raised the group started preparing for their leave while making sure the families who joined them were comfortable. The messenger announced that they will be leaving in an hour and that anyone who wants to get onboard is free to. People's doubts quickly grew, but they still stood their ground. At the last half an hour the first hint of the raid was shown. multiple trees were falling from the distance with a lot of loud sounds coming from the same direction, and with that all of the village scared for its life joined them. The messenger welcomed them with open arms, every single person in the village escaped alongside the group of "merchants" through the borders of their homeland to a more than welcoming new land. They had bribed the guards at the border with a lot more than enough leaving them with no choice but to accept.... actually... now that I think about it there was something interesting but kind of sad that I heard. Apparently, one of the villagers didn't escape, but instead he stayed back. The reason for that was because he wasn't responding to any of the villagers and just sat down on one of his house's chairs without giving out a single response. Poor man he was probably very heart broken to reach that point, but still to the point where he wouldn't even run to save his own life? well, his probably dead now so no-way of knowing huh..."

the old man sighed and shrugged as he ended his long story and finally put down the metal stick Lena with an expression of shock, surprise, and relief quickly said to the old man "how long ago was this?". "abouttt... 6months? or 5? mostly 6 months I would say." he said with deep thinking face. This had Lena even more confused. Did Octan really just sit there for 6months? And did he even fight any of the monsters? or did he just accept the beating? she then snapped back and asked the old man "wait so did all the villagers live?". "yeah, everyone left alongside the messenger except for that one person I told u about." said the old man with confidence. "do you happen to know where this, town, village, capital, or kingdom whatever it is, they are staying at is?" Lena asked "yeah although it is far I do know how you can reach there." the old man said while staring at the window. "can you please. draw me a map or something like that?" Lena asked the old man "sure, but for now how about we head to sleep young woman I'm getting pretty tired here, I will give u a map tomorrow morning when the rain calms down so you can adventure safely how about that?" said the old man as he stood up from his seat and put out the fire. Lena nodded. "which bed fits you better young lady?" the old man asked lena who was putting away her sword. "oh, I will take the top bunk thank you." lena replied. "haha... thank you young lady, and goodnight." the old man got himself into the bed and quickly fell asleep, and lena followed.

The next morning Lena was woken up by the smell of something good. The old man was already awake and was preparing for himself and lena. Lena quickly shoot up to help the old man but he just laughs at her over-reaction "haha... you were sleeping so soundly I couldn't muster the courage to wake you up. You should take rests every so often haha..." the old man said with a cheerful tone. Lena smiled at the old man and climbed down the bed's stairs. "sir, please let me help you." Lena requested. "no, you sit there and wait. I won't let you steal my credit now." he said while looking at the opposite side of where he is. Lena smiled at the man's kindness and did as he said. After enjoying a delicious breakfast Lena prepares for her leave. "will you really be going there young lady?" the old man said with a tone of concern. "it's better than any other option I've got sir.". The old man sighs at his powerlessness to help her in this situation and just smiles encouragingly "well then go where the world takes you young lady, but remember if you ever need something please don't hesitate to ask me I shall be where we first met." Lena returns his smile and says "I won't!" and heads on her way to the kingdom slowly disappearing from the old man's sight.