Ein woke up to the sounds of Jack tearing down camp and all of their equipment being packed. She got up and began to help finish up in silence. Once everything was packed and ready to go, they proceeded back to the main road and began to walk along it again towards Arinvil.
As they were walking they overheard a little girl talking to her mother who was holding a baby in her arms, you could tell it was a newborn because of how small it was and the mother still had the baby weight on her.
"Mommy, where is daddy and uncle Gar?" The child asked in concern.
The mother attempted to feign reassurance "I'm not sure honey but I'm sure they are both fine and they're going to find us".
Jack kept walking, ignoring the conversation. Ein was following slowly, shaking from holding in her tears. Ein knew exactly who those men were the girl was asking about. She felt so empathetic for that family and the loss of what looks to be the only men in their life. But Jack was unfazed by the entire situation.
Ein felt horrible, to the point where she began to get upset with Jack.
"You know, that mother and those kids probably won't survive now".
"Not my problem"
"Not even if the kids die, you still won't care?"
"No"
Eins face began to get somber. She never thought she could feel so conflicted about the man she loves more then even herself but he seemed so heartless.
"You are cold, Jack, that poor mother and children will suffer because of you"
"I have made countless other families suffer in my lifetime, I have no issues with adding to that list" Jack responded with a finality that said the conversation was over.
Ein looked at him and decided to keep walking in silence. There was no point in arguing she figured. She kept her silence and did not argue with him on the matter again for the rest of the day.
Night after night they would make camp, cook food and sleep. Over time, Ein began to understand Jacks methods and why he was the way her was. He would tell her stories of his life in his world. She began to understand his caution and the callousness of his heart.
Every morning they would keep walking only to stop for bathroom breaks, or to eat lunch. Otherwise all their time for the next two weeks were just walking without stopping. They passed through many towns and villages, offering to do some work for a place to stay at some farms.
After two weeks had passed, they stumbled upon a small open circle of blue light. In the circle looked like a completely different area, as if it broke up the road. It almost didn't look real in their eyes. There was a small crowd of people stopped in front of it, just as curious and Jack and Ein were.
Then it all happened in a flash, there was a long, green, sword like shape that protruded from the hole and punctured a man right in the chest. People did not have the chance to react before a small group of human sized mantises came through the hole. The mantises were stabbing people and killing them one by one as the crowd ran away. There were only three of them and the hole closed like it was a door.
Jack grabbed the M4 that was slung over his shoulder and shouldered it, aiming down his sights. He shot at one of the mantis over and over again until it fell, it took more then seven bullets to put it down. Jack was frustrated, he needed to conserve as much ammunition as he could since he was limited but he couldn't help it.
Just as Jack was aiming to take down another, he realized that one had already creeped up on him and went to send a pincher through his chest. Jack, out of pure instinct and reaction went to catch the arm as it came to his chest and to his surprise, he caught it right before it hit him. Jack was shocked and surprised but he didn't have time to marvel at it, he grabbed with with his other hand and broke the mantis arm in half, throwing one end down and then jumping up on it to grab its head in his arms. When Jack had the mantis head secured in his arms, Jack put his legs on the shoulders of the mantis and pulled the head clean off the mantis.
Jack saw the other mantis corner Ein by a tree, she had no clue what to do. Jack was far away and was afraid he wasn't going to make it, and it takes too many bullets to bring it down. Jack set his feet hard on the ground and concentrated as hard as he could to get there quickly. Jack started to run and before he knew it, he was already right by the mantis
He grabbed the mantis by its leg and dragged it away from Ein. Jack pulled his combat knife out and stabbed the last mantis in the head, green blood spilling out and onto Jack. Ein was still afraid, not knowing if it was over or not, until Jack put all his weapons away and stood there for a moment. Ein started to walk over to Jack and then broke out into a run directly for him. She hugged him and professed her love more deeply then ever before.
"I knew you would never let anything happen to me! I love you more than the sun and stars!"
"Please get off me, there are people watching" Jack said, slightly embarrassed by her behavior.
Ein did not listen right away, she was overflowed with emotion and love for Jack. She held on tight to him for a while before looking up, her face was flush and red and she was breathing heavily.
"As soon as we get to Arinvil, we need a room at an inn. As soon as I get a proper bath and a good bed I am going to make you see heaven"
Jack's face went red as a tomato. 'How can she be so forward out in public like this?'
As more and more people gathered back around Jack, there was a loud cheer and rumble of applause. They were cheering for Jack, the man who saved all of their lives. Shouting praises. Jack waited for everyone to quiet down before asking if anyone knew what that was. Everyone looked at each other shrugging. Nobody seemed to know what those were nor the weird circle door that brought them.
Jack gave up, nobody here had the information that he was asking for.
"Well, can anyone at least tell me how much further it is to Arinvil?" Jack asked to everyone
"On horse and carriage it is less then a weeks ride away, sir!"
Jack looked around for the man who responded and saw a rather large man with hulking muscles in a suit of armor. He had a sword on his hip and a shield on his forearm. He stood even taller than Jack who already stood at a height of 6'4" therefore this man had to be about 6'8" at least.
"Well, we are walking so how far on foot is it?" Jack asked again more specifically.
"Absolutely not sir! You will ride in my carriage with me! I am returning home to Arinvil anyway, it is the least I can do for the hero that saved everyone here".
Before Jack could decline, Ein had already emphatically agreed and began to walk towards his carriage. Jack decided he might as well go with the flow and accept the ride too, no sense it prolonging his journey for no reason.
They all hopped into the cheap, open backed carriage that was pulled by two mares. The driver snapped the reigns and the carriage began to move. As the carriage began to move so did Talons mouth, asking Jack a million question about him, from his gear to his clothes to his training and childhood. All the things that didn't make sense to a man like Talon because He had no idea what guns were, or what the US Army was or anything like that. One question Jack couldn't seem to answer though, as he didn't know the answer himself, was how he made it to Ein so quickly and how he was strong enough to break the mantis arm the way he did.
It took approximately six days before they arrived at the gargantuan gates of Arinvil. In that time, there were no more glowing blue circles but plenty of other dangers to be had regardless. Once they were attacked by ravenous wolves and another time a group of bandits attempted to rob them. Unfortunately for them, Jack wasn't very merciful and made sure to have killed every single person that tried to rob them, even if they surrendered. This bothered Ein a little, but she understood the necessity of what Jack was doing. Instead, she began to respect and look up to what he did.
Time after time, during these attacks, Jack would be the one to take charge and lead the fight. He was a natural born leader and Ein could see it clearly and so could Talon. Talon was shocked and impressed by Jack's knowledge of tactics, warfare and fighting. Talon had never seen someone so versed in the art of war such as Jack. Merciless, but you could not say that Jack was a bad guy, just that he had some questionable morals. But a leader nonetheless.
The large gates at the entrance of the city opened up revealing a large city. Nothing like New York or Chicago but it was definitely impressive for this kind of world Jack thought. As they went through the doors, the gate guard tipped his head to Talon.
"Welcome back to Arinvil, Captain"