The Becoming

Trails smiled again at Breeze's observation. "I like being an open book. Never did like the tall dark and mysterious gambit, much more fun to get to know somepony and share a laugh." He wrapped foreleg around Breeze and gave her a friendly squeeze. "Don't worry about upsetting me or anything like that, I may act easy to piss off but I like to think I'm one of the more amiable ponies."

Breeze didn't say anything at first, but then she grinned and gave him a big hug. "I was worried more about making you thad. Not angry. Hell, I'll pitthh you off if I feel like pitthhing you off. But I don't like thad ponieth."

Trails couldn't help but break out in a wide smile as Breeze gave him a hug. "Hungry yet? I'm not gonna deal with you whining on the road."

"Yeah, I'll eat. I'm feeling a bit better now," she replied, finishing off her coffee.

Trails smiled again and went back to making breakfast. He decided that some lentil soup was in order. It was simple, filling, and tasted better than some scavenged bananas or three day old gecko. He dished out a bowl for himself and Breeze, grinning hungry at the spicy aroma.

"Back in Grad I promised myself I'd never eat as bad as I did there again. Except for a few nights where I couldn't be damned, I've kept to that."

Breeze smiled again, beginning to eat the soup. "Gah! Thpithy..."

Trails laughed again, this time at Breeze's freak out. He calmly pulled out some hardtack and broke it into small pieces, dropping them into her bowl. This was definitely the best morning he'd had in a long while, better than the last one with a mare in it even more so. He was glad that he ran into Breeze yesterday, he'd never imagined himself and the nurse meeting or spending time together like this, but he wasn't going to complain.

"That should cut back on the spiciness."

Breeze laughed at her freakout. "Thankth," she smiled, and practically drank the soup down. "That wath good."

"Well it's about time we got to it then, eh?" Trails said, rising from his comfortable spot and dumping the leavings of his coffee onto the fire. "Our destination's only an hour or so away. We give the ponies there some face time, let them know what kind of muscle comes with having the Khans as protection, and we should be home for dinner. Sound good?"

"Thoundth great," Breeze grinned. "And if they underethtimate me, they'll be dead wrong!" She playfully kicked the air, making sure not to actually kick anything.

Trails led Breeze out of the canyon and back onto the road they'd walked the day before. This time, however, they turned left at a fork he'd simply ignored earlier and started heading north. This was the heart of fiend territory, and one of the more dangerous parts of the desert because of it. Even though the Khans and the Fiends had an understanding, well, the fiends outside their vault were outside for a reason.

Any nervousness the stallion had felt turned out to be unfounded, thankfully. The pair didn't encounter a single soul until they made it to the gates of the refugee camp that called itself a town. They were greeted by suspicious looks and hushed conversations. Clearly this protection deal was a new one.

"Breeze, let's try and keep from spooking these folks." Trails said, looking around for somepony to come and greet them properly.

Breeze nodded, keeping her mouth shut. She looked around curiously at all the suspicious faces looking back at her. She tried her best to hear what they we re saying, but it didn't much matter. It was just her curiosity.

After about five minutes of standing in the center of town, making awkward eye contact with the inhabitants, somepony finally got the balls to come up and say hello. It was a slight unicorn mare who kept from looking too straight in Trails' direction when she addressed him. Apparently the town was still terrified of their new protectors, despite what Start had promised them. This suspicion was only reinforced by the mare jumping when he extended his hoof for a shake.

"Easy now, we're here to show you our commitment to keeping your town safe." He said in his best 'reassuring tone'. "Breeze, can you go with this mare and check the town for easy ways in, I'll meet you after I go see with the problem more directly."

Breeze nodded. She looked over to the unicorn without expression, doing her best to keep her emotions out of the way for now. She followed the mare around the town, looking for easy entrances, as Trails had told them.