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After putting his belongings in his room, Kirtok headed back downstairs. He had ditched his guild vest in his room, feeling that it wasn't necessary to broadcast his affiliation to the Ebonwolves now that he was getting settled in Mullead. Mercenaries did have a tendency to make people uneasy for all the wrong reasons, at least as far as Kirtok himself was concerned.

He found Elsa behind the bar, giving the counter a thorough wipe down with a dirtied rag that she wetted from a bucket. The varnished wood sparkled in the light coming in the window. It was one of the cleanest looking establishments he had ever been in.

Elsa looked up when she heard him approaching the counter. "Eager to start, aren't you?" she remarked playfully. "I won't be opening the bar for a couple more hours yet. Why don't you go upstairs and relax until then?"

"I get restless when I'm sitting around," Kirtok replied, casually stretching his arms to loosen them up. "I wanted to go for a run around the village and take a bath in the river. Will that be alright with you?"

"Sounds like a good idea. We can go over your duties when we get a few customers tonight," Elsa said, then went back to cleaning up.

Kirtok thanked her, then headed outside, his exit marked by the jingle of the bell overhead. The village was quiet, though not without life. The wide streets that separated the homes and businesses allowed for large, ox-driven carts to get through. Flocks of birds could be seen populating the trees all around him, and pets that people kept were allowed to roam freely. As Kirtok walked towards the edge of town, he saw a few people who greeted him warmly, though they shirked away from him ever so slightly as he drew near.

The minotaur gave a nod of his head and kept going. He didn't like that he intimidated people so much. The Freehorn were scattered all over the region, but it seemed as though Mullead saw few, if any, of his kind in the area. Coupled with his large build, Kirtok was an imposing sight for most to behold.

He picked up speed and began to move at a light jog. It was harder to finish a good run in Swifthaven due to the sheer number of people packed into the tightly built city, but here in Mullead, where the streets were wide open and the population was much smaller, Kirtok thought he would finally be able to enjoy a solid sprint through town.

Kirtok continued to accelerate as his mind wandered, his thoughts drifting to his time back on the farm. His family owned two hundred acres of land, which had originally belonged to his grandparents. He remembered racing his sister around the property, both of them crashing through the tall fields of grass and wheat. She was smaller than he was, and he always kept an even pace to make sure she could keep up. When he was really trying, he could clear a lap around the farm in only a couple minutes.

The memory of his sister's smile filled him with a moment of grief and anger. Grief for his loss, and anger at the Gods who could allow such a sweet, innocent girl be taken from the world in such an agonizing manner.

The village passed him in a blur as Kirtok started to charge down the street, his eyes fixed on the edge of town ahead of him. He pumped his arms, his body leaning forward as he tried to outrun his thoughts.

The minotaur were known for their speed, being one of the fastest creatures capable of running on two legs. Few humans truly understood how quickly a minotaur could run until they saw one in action, and it was both mesmerizing and terrifying for them to behold. The villagers that Kirtok passed as he charged past them stared in wide-eyed wonder as the thunder of his hooves sent plumes of dust behind him in his tracks.

Kirtok was grateful that no one was in his way, and as he finally broke past the last house, he felt free of their looks and their stares. Across the grassy field, he could see the Last Stand, and he wondered how long it would take him to reach it and return to Elsa's inn.

_Perhaps another day,_he thought, taking a wide turn and veering left to head towards the river. He could feel his legs beginning to cramp, not realizing that it had been a long time since he'd last pushed himself to such speeds, and began to wind down.

Upon reaching the river's shore, he shucked his kilt and sash off. He folded his clothes with reverence and set them down on the grass. His heart raced from the sprint, and he panted to catch his breath.

It really has been a long time since I've done that.

Stepping into the cool waters, he shivered as a chill ran up his body. The water was freezing, and his teeth chattered. He took a deep breath and leapt forward, submerging himself completely in the waters to acclimate his body to the temperature. He could feel the sweat, dirt, and grime washing away from his skin as he swam through the murky waters.

Still exhausted from the run, he couldn't hold his breath for long and had to ascend to get some fresh air. Diving into the water hadn't had the desired effect of making the cold more bearable. In fact, he was shivering even more now. Usually he bathed with hot water, and this was the first time he could remember in recent months that he washed in a river.

Is it always so cold this time of year?_he thought. Kirtok swam around to try and warm himself up, but he found that no matter what he did, he could not get warm. _It's just like that time in the prison.

His scar began to itch, and that's when he decided it was time to get out. He brushed his short brown hair out of his eyes and swam towards the shore, climbing out over the sand and laying down on the grass next to his clothing. The light spring breeze caressed his body as he lay beneath the sun. He could already feel his body warm up as the light touched him, and he closed his eyes.

He wasn't sure how long he napped, but he was awoken sometime later by the sounds of footsteps approaching from the town. Quickly grabbing his kilt, Kirtok threw it on before turning his head to look at who was approaching. He saw the small girl walking towards him, and he wracked his brain to recall her name.

Crossing his thick arms over his chest, Kirtok said, "Long way to follow a big scary minotaur, kid."

"I-it's Nia..." she whispered, trying to correct him. "And I don't live in town." She pointed down the river, and he followed where she indicated. A squat farmhouse sat in the field about half a kilometer from where they presently stood.

"Still far for a little kid," he huffed, easing his head back down. "Why did you come out all this way?"

"You were running," Nia replied, still standing as she fidgeted with her blouse. Kirtok could see her constantly moving out of the corner of his eyes, as though the child feared to sit still. "It looked like fun."

"So you came over here... to talk to me?" Kirtok asked incredulously and propped himself up on his elbows.

"You don't bite," Nia said. "Ms. Brede, she's a good teacher. She said you wouldn't bite."

Kirtok thought to point out that there were worse things in the world than a biting minotaur, but he kept his mouth closed. The minotaur wasn't sure why she would think to come out to talk to him, especially when she stood several arm lengths away and couldn't seem to sit still. Further, she must have seen how fast he could run. Didn't that scare her?

Kirtok picked up his sash as he stood and draped it over his shoulders. She watched with eyes as big as saucers as he rose, his body casting a deep shadow over her.

"Why do you wear a skirt?" Nia asked.

Blinking in disbelief, Kirtok's ears flicked in annoyance. "It's not a skirt, it's a kilt."

"What's the difference?"

"Kilts are for boys," Kirtok replied. He began to wonder whether all human children were prone to bouts of stupid questions. He could barely figure out the adults as it was, but children were an entirely different beast.

"It looks like a skirt. Why do you wear it?"

"All minotaur wear one. All of them." Kirtok was sure that some, obviously, did not wear kilts, but he didn't feel like explaining that. Certainly most did though, due to the fact that kilts were breezy and didn't shred like pants often did when minotaur were running. That happened more often than not considering most minotaur traveled on hoof. No horse could support their weight for a long journey and carriages could be expensive depending on distance.

Something caught Nia's attention behind Kirtok. He looked behind him, expecting something to be there, but all he saw was more grass. He tilted his gaze lower and saw his tail flicking side to side.

"Doesn't that lift up your skirt when it wags?" she said with a small hint of a giggle.

"It's. A. Kilt." Kirtok spoke more sternly and frowned. "And it doesn't lift up because of the tail sleeve here." He twisted to the side to show her, only then realizing how lecturing a small child on minotaur fashion senses was likely a massive waste of his time.

Before Nia could open her mouth to ask more questions, Kirtok said, "I have to go back now." He turned towards the village and started walking.

"Can I have a piggy-back ride?"

Kirtok whirled around in surprise. He knew this girl was a child, but he was still unprepared for the audacity to ask him for a ride. No human would dare ask that, but in her youth, Nia was completely ignorant of how to interact with beastmen.

Not that most adults know better, Kirtok reminded himself.

"Please?" Nia asked.

"No one rides a minotaur," Kirtok said, his brow furrowed in irritation. He kept his ham-sized arms crossed over his chest. "Don't you have anything else to do?"

"Maybe," Nia replied evasively, "But you were running fast, and it looked like fun."

"So you came out here to talk to the big scary minotaur because you wanted a piggy-back ride?" Kirtok asked, and Nia gave quick little nods of her head. He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Gods help me," he muttered quietly, wondering what it was he was about to get into. Don't people look after their kids anymore? "Where did you want to go?"

_Why am I doing this?_Kirtok thought, repeating the question over and over in his head to find the answer, but finding nothing.

"We could go to town!" Nia said excitedly, but stopped when she heard a sound in the distance. It was the voice of a woman calling her name, and Kirtok looked towards the farmhouse. Someone was looking for her. "Or I could just go back home..."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Kirtok kneeled down as low as he could go. "Climb on," he said, exasperated. He couldn't believe he was actually going to give some human child he didn't know a piggy-back ride back to her house. It was stupid. It was demeaning.

Yet he recognized that to Nia, it was fun. She didn't know or care that he was a mercenary with more blood on his hands than most. She didn't see him as all that scary like most did. And Kirtok had to admit that there was some small part of him that wanted to play with her.

It reminded him of happier times. He quickly dismissed whatever reservations he had about giving Nia a ride back home, and gave her a boost.

He felt her little hands as she crawled up his back and onto his shoulders. She sat perched behind his neck, and she swayed a bit as he stood back up. He made sure to keep a firm hold of her ankles until she was stable.

"It's so high up!" she giggled with unrestrained glee, looking this way and that at the world that seemed to shrink beneath her.

_Please don't make this any worse than it already is, kid..._Kirtok thought.

"Giddy up!" she said, her tiny feet kicking out in front of her. Kirtok groaned, feeling the skin on his cheeks grow hot. He was glad he wasn't in the middle of town for other people to see him in such a position. It was beyond demeaning. If any Freehorn saw him giving a ride to a human, they would likely exile him from the clan out of shame.

"Hold on to my horns," Kirtok warned. "I don't want you to fall off."

The minotaur took off, and he was soon deafened by the excited squeals of a six year old girl as he bolted across the plains once more to take her home.