Luna paused when she heard him, her eyes widened slowly, the type you had when you were pleasantly surprised. She had heard Ken say the words "need," that immediately spun her mind like a spin top, she didn’t care for what it would take anymore. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A bright smile formed on her face, like a child receiving that very gift they wanted, the light of the moon did well to shine on her as well. It made her glow magnificently in that moment, so much so that Ken found himself staring in shock.

She leaned forward and grabbed his hands, her eyes still locked with his, she moved fast and eager.

"I’ll do it, whatever I can, I promise I’ll do it," her tone gleeful, but then it shifted slightly to a bit of worry as her brows furrowed. Ken caught this and immediately spoke.

"If it’s not possible, then I can find another way."

She heard those words and her eyes snapped to him, her pupils dilated, she grabbed his hands even tighter. "I can do it, I promise, I’ll just have to convince my mother and the elders of the tribe that there is actually a human that does not fear us and we can trust you."

Ken noticed her reaction, she was speaking not from the certainty of what she knew she could do, but rather from the angle of fear that if she failed to deliver what he asked, he would stop caring for her. He hated that her mind worked this way, it was a dangerous route to move on, it could be useful at times for the manipulation of people, but he had no interest in manipulating or using her, other people? Sure, but not her.

He flipped his hands and grabbed hers instead, looked her in the eye in a way that made her feel safe, he smiled like he knew everything was alright.

"I hope you know that my care for you is not so weak that it will be shattered just by anything.

My pride does not allow me to be that petty."

She heard his words, and what followed was a deep, calm breath, like she had let go of a massive weight that pressed down on her. She looked up, a smile on her face and her eyes glowing. "I know, but I’ll still give it my best."

That response was all he needed, people tend to work the best when they are not forced but rather feel happy doing it. Ken knew that, and he needed her to work at her best and get him the opportunity that he needed.

"Thank you," he responded.

She let go of his hands and then looked into the forest, there was a pause, as though even the wind and the sounds of the night crawlers all stopped for a moment to give her clarity, her eyes twitched at the tip a few times, then it stopped and she turned around.

"It seems my mother is calling for me, I’ve been out for a long time now," Luna said, but her face showed no excitement, her eyes drooped and her tone flat.

Ken stepped forward, he gave her one pat on her head, that alone caused her to look up with more spark in those eyes.

"You do this every day, you have to go back, there is no way you can stay with me all through," he said in a way that made it seem like he had said this line many times over.

"I’ll see you tomorrow," she responded, then turned to leave, but then she stopped, looked back, and then rushed at him, throwing her hands around him in a hug, her normal smile returned to her face and she finally let go, her pale cheeks were flushed red, so she turned around and ran away, leaping into the branch of a tree and then vanishing into the forest, leaving Ken alone.

"I’m pretty sure her mother must already know about me," Ken muttered, he had observed a few things over the last month that brought him to that conclusion.

Luna consistently left her home every day for a month, and never had she been questioned about it, and the time when she was called back every day was also around the same, like a curfew of sorts. In over a month there had not been one day that she was called back early for any reason.

He found it hard to believe that they would allow her to wander around that much and not keep even a little tab on her. The main issue now was why they knew about him and still allowed her to come meet him, were they not scared that he would hurt their daughter? He wanted to know. He was curious.

"Sigh, I don’t know for now, so I’ll let it be," he muttered to himself and then turned around, it was time to get back to what he did best, train.

He walked to the tree, it stood there, a natural pillar, thick as two people stacked beside themselves. To the common man, they saw a tree, Ken saw his next training regiment.

When he engaged with the attackers, his strength and memory of fighting from his past life was what carried him through, but this body could barely execute the proper forms, and was forced into it by memory. That was an issue that would only cause trouble in the future and not now, but he could not live with the fact that his fighting form was bad, he needed every blow to land with the intended force and the intended power.

He stared at the tree for a while, then he placed a palm on it, his body slowly shifting into form, left foot behind for the best balance, right foot forward, he twisted his body back, a deep breath rushed through his nose and left through his mouth, then he swung.