For the next few days, Kaym walked, Dawn always right beside him. Kaym tried to start a conversation with Dawn, but she never said anything. It was very hard for the man, since he didn't know the girl's name. Kaym simply talked about his life and what he did for a living. He told her that he was part of a warrior's guild in a city called, Tribiandale, though most called it Tribdale. Kaym spent a lot of time talking about his past missions in the guild and how dangerous they were.

Dawn didn't look interested in anything that Kaym had to say. She just followed his commands to eat, drink, and follow him. The only words that Kaym had ever heard the girl say were numbers, and she always stopped at sixty-one, though each word seemed to be forced out. She only said those in her sleep, so Kaym always wondered what kinds of dreams the little girl had. Were they why she was always awake before the sun rose, or did she just like to watch the dawn. She seemed to be mesmirized by the twilight of sunrise.

One particular night, Dawn screamed out halfway through her counting and looked around, then she curled back up and tried to go back to sleep, though she didn't feel tired anymore. Kaym, slowly walked over to Dawn and sighed. "What's wrong? Bad dream?" he asked, though he didn't expect to get a response.

Dawn slowly looked up to the man, then quickly looked away. "Bwoked. It bwoked. I no do it." Kaym looked shocked at the sound of the girl's voice. He half expected it to be rough and hard to understand, but her voice was very soft and cute. "I pwomise. It bwoked befoe I here," she explained.

Kaym sat down beside the girl and took her hand in his. "I believe you," he said, though he had no clue what the girl was talking about. Kaym just wanted to make Dawn feel at ease. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?" Kaym asked as Dawn sat up, realizing that Kaym didn't want her to sleep. "When dawn?" she asked.

Kaym thought for a minute then shrugged. "I'm not even sure what time it is now, but we still have hours before dawn," he explained. "Why are you so interested with dawn?" the man asked while a soft breeze picked up irritating Dawn's burns a bit. She grabbed at them for a moment then looked back to Kaym. "It pwitty. Make me think of why mommy call me it."

Kaym thought for a moment then laughed softly to himself. "So your name is Dawn?" Dawn shook her head. "What name?" Kaym once again laughed while the wind got stronger hitting Dawn's burns even more intensely. She grabbed her upper arm again, this time not letting go. Kaym softly took Dawn's arm into his hands and tried to use his body to block the wind. "It's getting worse. We really need to get you treated, but I don't have any supplies, and I'm not very good at treating burns." Kaym explained.

Dawn looked up and whimpered, scared that she had done something bad. "I in trouble?" she asked, suddenly afraid of how close Kaym was to her. Kaym slowly shook his head and sighed. "No, Dawn, you aren't in trouble. We just need to get you taken care of so that your burns don't get much worse," the man said while he tore some of cloak off to cover Dawn's burns.

Dawn looked back down and pulled her arm back the moment Kaym was finished wrapping it. She tested it out for a moment, trying to see if it was still the same, then pulled it to her chest. "Why no sleep?" Dawn asked as a stronger gust of wind hit, making Kaym's exposed arm colder. He pulled it into his cloak then looked down to Dawn. "Why aren't I asleep? Well...I just didn't feel like sleeping yet. I wanted to make sure you were sleeping soundly before I tried to do the same."

Kaym then picked up Dawn and held her close, making sure that the wind had little effect on her. Dawn, instinctively curled up against Kaym's chest, not even realizing what she was doing. All she knew was that she was a little warmer and that she wasn't as scared anymore.

Kaym slowly started to walk on, while Dawn was in his arms. "It's too cold for you to be out like this. Lets find a cave or an inn, or something." Dawn nodded softly, her eyes already closed. It wasn't long before the small child was resting peacefully, but Kaym's night had just begun. Kaym walked for hours trying to find a good place to rest that was out of the cold.

When Kaym had finally found a nice cave that was not in the wind, Dawn slowly opened her eyes and yawned. Kaym sighed and set the girl down. "Sleep well miss twilight?" he asked as Dawn looked up to him. The girl shook her head and frowned in confusion. "I no know. What well mean?" she replied not knowing what he was asking of her.

Kaym looked down to Dawn and smiled. "It means the same as good." Dawn whimpered softly and shook her head. "I no know then. I no know if good or bad," she explained, truly unaware of what it was like to have the freedom to express herself. Kaym sighed and walked out of the cave, having Dawn follow behind him.

Just as they stepped out, the sun started to peak over the horizon. Dawn suddenly stopped to look once again in awe of the morning twilight. It had been almost a week since she had lost everything, but each time she looked at the origin of her name, Dawn felt at peace with the world.

The young girl then looked up to Kaym and smiled. "Pretty colors." Kaym looked towards the dawn and sighed gently. He then looked around at his surroundings. The man started thinking on how long it'd been since he just looked around and took in the scene. It had been too long. Well he wasn't going to let his chance slip by again, so the nineteen year old man sat down next to Dawn and simply looked around.

To the east there was a lush forest, filled with animals that Kaym had more than likely eaten on more than one mission. Suddenly a deer jump out to drink at the small pond that seperated it from Kaym and Dawn. Dawn noticed it as well and slowly got up to walk over to the creature. Dawn was not even ten feet animal when it finally realized that it wasn't alone. The deer quickly picked its head up from the water and took off back into the forest.

Kaym finally got up and walked over to Dawn. The man sighed as he got to the girl, he noticed that she had a few tears on her cheeks. Dawn whimpered and looked up to Kaym. "Why it run? I no hurt it. I want to hug it," she told him. Kaym shook his head and wiped Dawn's tears away. "Deer are very cautious creatures. They don't trust a lot of people, so it's rare that they let anyone get close to them."

Dawn simply whined and looked down. "But I no people. I just Dawn. I no hurt. I pwomise." Kaym picked the girl back up into his arms and sighed. "I know, but they don't understand that. They think that everyone is the same, so they hide from those that look like the ones they think will hurt them." Dawn shook her head and looked back to where the deer ran off to. "They mean."

Kaym nodded and started to head north again. He was trying to get back Tribdale to get his reward for completing his mission. Dawn curled up in the man's arms and sighed. "What you mission?" she asked. Kaym smiled and shook his head. He had waited almost a week to get a conversation with this girl and the first thing she wanted to know was why he was in her hometown. "I was tracking down a dark mage. He had to be taken care of, since he had killed hundreds of people, and injured even more. His grandfather is the reason we're as free as we are. Him, his wife, and his best friend all defeated an evil king, ending his reign of terror. The mage's mother was and still is a very kind woman. Though she didn't have much choice in having him. She was 16 years old, when she was forced to...well I won't get into that. She married four years later, and some of her children work with me, and some of them have kids too," he finished and looked down to see that Dawn was sleeping. "Her oldest son has been taken care of though, so there's nothing more to worry about."

After a few more hours, Kaym had finally reached Tribdale and walked into his usual pub, The Liquid Desert, and sat down with Dawn still sleeping in his arms. It was still early in the morning, so the place was pretty quiet, save for a few men from the guild who had just gotten back from missions as Kaym had. One of them walked over to Kaym and laughed when he saw Dawn. "You really are pathetic, Kaym. How long ago was it again, five or six months? Who's this?"

Kaym growled and looked up to the man He was well known in the guild. Most called him Reaper, since his weapon of choice was the scythe, but his build was that of a tall muscular man. "Eric, what do you want?" Kaym asked, using Reaper's real name.

The man was a bit taken back by Kaym's blunt comment. He glared at the younger warrior and grasped his fists. "What are you doing with that girl? Do you think she'll make up for the one you didn't have with Daniella?" Kaym started to get up, but he felt a weight in his arms and stayed down to let Dawn rest. It was the first time she had slept without counting, and Kaym didn't want to mess it up.

Reaper smiled darkly and let out a sinister laugh. "And that is why I don't have brats. You're not going to be able to keep on being the pride of the guild when you have to take care of that little monster. How did you find it anyway?" At that exact moment a bird randomly hit the window to the pub, making a huge crack on the previously perfect window.

The pub owner got out from behind the bar and grumbled. "That was my last uncracked window. What's up with those birds? They die on impact, and I give up. The bird can just rot this time," the man said as he put a glass of blood berry juice. "You know, your grandfather liked the junak better than the juice."

Kaym nodded and started to drink with his free hand. "I know, Karl, but you know that I don't like alcohol." Karl nodded and looked to Dawn, smiling at how peaceful she was sleeping. "How'd you get the cutie?" He asked.

Kaym looked down to Dawn then back up to Karl. "I was leaning up against a tree waiting for dawn and then Dawn came to me. Her father was just killed and burned in a fire. She somehow got out though. Nobody in town wanted her, so I have her, for the time being anyway. That was maybe a week ago, probably less. I didn't really keep track."

Karl nodded, slowly taking everything in. "Has she been hard to deal with?" he asked, knowing that his wife had children on her mind lately. Kaym shook his head and laughed softly to himself. "Not at all. Well, to be honest, at first she felt empty, as though she had emotions. Last night she finally talked to me. She seems to have a lot of sweetness and I think she can be pretty cute."

Reaper grunted and walked away, not very pleased with Kaym's description of Dawn. "Only men are worth anything in this world," the man said as he left the pub.