Francis awoke to the crashing of waves and a huge intake of air filled his lungs with salty air. It tasted like sea and Francis coughed uncontrollably. His body felt tired and he laid back down in his exhaustion. He’d swam a ways away and probably passed out from the exhaustion of doing so. It was a miracle he hadn’t drowned. He struggled to prop himself up with his arms, then his extremely shaky legs. He fell back to his knees with a grunt before struggling back up and taking a few steps. He hadn’t gone five steps before he realized there had been small [i]piffs[/i] in the sand the whole time. He looked back to the source of the sound and his eyes widened at what he saw. His legs started moving at a wobbly paced run. His breathing turned to panting, panicked, he limped as fast as he could away.

“Francis, you Gods damned fool!” The voice behind him screamed.

Francis didn’t have any time to yell back before his head was whipped back and he was tackled to the ground with a pained groan. The Breton and the Nord wrestled in the sand for quite some time. Francis was doomed from the start, not being able to use any of his strength to try to fight off this ravenous barbarian. Instead, he only managed to slap away the Nord’s hands before his right hand became pinned under a knee and his left secured in the tight grip of his assailant. The Nord cocked back a fist and Francis snarled with wild eyes and bared teeth. The two men stayed like that for a few long moments. They stared at each other, both with wildly angry demeanors about them. After a while, the fierce faces melted away as the two regained their breath.

Vendel was the first to shake his head in disagreement, his long golden locks shaking with him from beneath his helmet. Francis shook his head in turn and Vendel got up from being over Francis, backing away slowly as he still didn’t trust his friend not to run. Francis, while keeping his eyes locked with his friend, managed to get to his feet and dust himself off, slowly, making no sudden movements.

“Why?” Francis asked, finally, after several long moments of silence.

“I should be asking you the same, you gods-damned fetcher.” Vendel spat, his arms akimbo.

“You couldn’t just let me go?” Francis asked.

“Of course not,” Vendel said in an exasperated tone, “We’re friends. We left Wayrest together and we’ll return together.”

“I’m not letting you take me back, Vendel. I already made it clear enough that-”

“I’m going with you.”

Francis stopped in his tracks, his trail of thought totally torn to pieces. He needed a few moments to think about what his friend had said, but Vendel continued.

“We’re friends, Francis, and friends don’t abandon each other for anything. Friends also don’t force friends to do something they don’t want to do. Friends also know what’s best for friends. We should return to Wayrest, Francis,” Vendel held a hand up before Francis could speak, “but I know how much you want to do this.”

“You understand?” Francis asked.

“Of course I do. We’ve been friends long enough, I suppose. I’ll keep being your friend for as long as it takes you to get your head straight,” Vendel smiled, “and then some.”

Francis chuckled, putting his hands on his hips as he clapped his friend on his chainmail’d back. The two of them began to walk. It wasn’t long before Francis realized that they weren’t close to any cities. There weren’t any villages or people around. Francis cocked an eyebrow as he looked to his friend, “Where are we, exactly?”

“Quite a ways from Rihad, friend. It took me all night and all morning to find you there, on the beach. Odd, if I do say so.” Vendel said.

“Odd, indeed.” Francis echoed.

The two friends continued on. Francis guessed that it wasn’t too bad a thing that Vendel decided to follow him. He couldn’t blame the Nord, though, as brave as he was, the two were a team. Partners, and they had been the same for many years now. It just wouldn’t be right for them to separate now. Francis punched Vendel in his shoulder, receiving a punch in his own in return. The two laughed and continued walking the long walk to Rihad.