After my cuddle attack Leo seems to be completely out of energy and is in no shape to walk back to the camp by himself so I decide to help him. Nice of me, right? At first he is a bit reluctant to accept my help but after... convincing him to let me he seems a lot more eager. How jolly.

I help him up and support his weight by letting him lean on me. He is a lot taller than me so I've got to support him by holding my arm around his waist and walk really close. Leo seems uncomfortable with this but he doesn't complain. What a good boy. After reclaiming his swords we head back towards the camp. We don't talk with each other the whole way back.

When we see the camp Leo, who seems to have replenished part of his energy, releases himself from my grip and heads as fast as he can towards Gret.

"Master!" he shouts.

"Oh, there you are Leo! I was starting to get worried" Gret replies. He drops whatever he is doing and stands up in order to greet Leo.

"Master, I'm sorry! I will never do it again!" Leo exclaims and hugs Gret, which seems to surprise him.

"Oh, it's ok Leo, I'm not angry at you about earlier" he says while patting Leos back. When he sees me he smiles. "Ah, thank you Ruth for bringing him back, I appreciate it".

Leo suddenly freeze up and stops hugging Gret. When he turns around and sees me his face grows pale and hides behind Gret with his tail between his legs.

"Leo, is everything alright?" Gret asks with a worried voice.

"Everything is fine Gret, don't worry" I say "we just got to knew each other a little bit better". I end the sentence with my sweetest, most innocent smile. Leo starts to shake as I do so and in the middle of this bizzare situation stands a confused Gret.

"Todays youth, sometimes I don't get them..." he murmurs as he accepts what unfolds before him.

------------------------------------------------

Leo slurp down the bowl of stew and take another. It's his fifth bowl and I am amazed by the speed he can eat. I am still on my first bowl myself. Philomena and Bastion solved their "dispute"shortly after I left and are currently sleeping. According to Gret they solved it quite peacefully but if I remember correctly there wasn't a large crater in the middle of the cave when I left. Gret also went to bed after we returned and asked us to put out the fire when we were done

Leo has yet to mention what happened before and seems to be in some kind of daze. I don't get it, I just cuddled a little. What's the big deal? I just... I just... Oh dear god of anime what have I done? I don't know much about this world and it's inhabitants yet but what if I just did something terrible.

I glance at Leo. He seems really shaken when I think about it and who wouldn't be? I gotta solve this somehow or else I wont be able to live with myself. I gotta do this right, I don't wanna do sound crazy or anything!

"Uhm, Leo..." The moment I say his name he nearly drops the bowl out of shock. He looks away and continues to eat, ignoring me. "Leo" I say once again but he just ignores me. "... I'm sorry about earlier". Ignored. "I don't know what came over me, you just reminded me of something (*cough*cat girls*cough*) and wanted to touch your ears..." Oh god I do sound crazy. "I mean I don't usually do it! I am not an ear-fetishist or something! I just thought your ears were cute. No wait! Forget that! I, I, I-! Urgh!" I'm done! He's never gonna forgive me now!

"... Quiet down or master will wake up" Leo mumbles.

¿Qué? He talked to me? And he didn't curse, shout and/or cry! This smells like progression! Ok, calm down, don't wanna screw this up now. I gotta say something. I take a deep breath. "Ok!!!"

... Wow real cool me. Good jobb. "Sorry" I whisper "I'll be quiet". Leo doesn't answer. After we are done eating I put out the fire using water beam.

//Water Beam reached level two!//

Yeah, yeah, I don't care right now. But yay. I head towards the sleeping back I prepared earlier and tuck myself in. Ahhh, this has been a long day and I am pretty darn tired. Haahhh... Well then, good night!

*Leos POV*

I knew it from the moment I saw her. She was different. I had never seen anyone like her. Gray skin, silver like hair and an eye as red as a ruby that seemed to see right through you. Luckily her other eye was covered by bandage, if not I might actually have doubted my sanity.

But there was something more if one were to look deeper. Her aura... It was imposing, subtle, but still imposing. When she talked she acted like a child but something about her seemed off. I don't know what but whatever it was it scared me.

Right next to her stood Philomena the Crimson Inferno, known across the lands as a destructive force impossible to tame. Many countries wants her power but she refuses to join any of them, no one knows why. Except for my master of course. My master and Philomena, or Phi as he likes to call her, are old friends and they have known each other for a long time.

According to him the reason she doesn't join anyone is because she enjoys freedom. If she were to join a kingdom she would be bound by her duty and now allowed to do as she please.

I were surprised when I saw her fighting. She obviously didn't have much experience, even I could see that. But she were stronger than one would expect from such a young child. To have magical powers to such an extent that she could cast healing and sealing magic without experiencing any sort of drawback were simply amazing. How large were her mana pool?

After Philomena pulled that "prank" on me I needed some time alone. I could feel how my hunger grew but I was not ready to head back. What if master were angry? He is the only one I have...

Then she arrived, holding a hot bowl of stew. At first she appeared kind, just offering me food. I denied of course, I didn't feel safe around her. But when I did she showed another side of herself. She forced be to accept the bowl but just as I was about to eat it she flushed it out of my hands! She started talking about dirt and how I would get sick, then she used a water spell on me, causing me to become drenched like a rat.

I lost all reason and attacked her with the intention to kill. Now that I think back to that moment it scares me. I've never lost control like that before and to think I actually tried to kill her is... Absurb.

I were sure I would win but it ended with me being defeated. And then she, she.... I don't even wanna think about it. She helped me back to the camp where I ended up covering behind master like a coward!

Later when we ate she apologized for her actions. She seemed... flustered. I decided to forgive her, just a little. There's something about her after all.