It wasn't until around dusk that she woke up.
Chris was sitting on a rock nearby, chewing on dried meat and watching the light fade over the ent wall. The red gympie flowers were just beginning to open and let their sweet smell fill the air, while the mobile vines slithered over the wall, intent on making their patrols.
Hearing the world tree telling him that the guest was awake, he turned to look over. Watching as she hesitantly stumbled out from the hut. She seemed to look around the area before seemingly resting on him. Her helmet that he had placed on the floor next to the bed was missing, allowing her long red hair to flow out behind her and for him to notice wary eyes locking onto him before growing hard and suspicious. Her hand was already reaching for a sword that wasn't there anymore. Having been pried from her grip and placed in the storeroom for his own safety.
"Where am I?" Her voice sounded rough, scraped raw from days of screaming or dehydration or both.
"Right now, the middle of the Barrens in my village. My name's Chris, by the way. I brought you in after you had collapsed and kept you from dying." He paused, gaze wandering over to the shadow berry vines who snarked in his mind. "Well, helped keep you from dying."
His words had her looking around, seemingly expecting to see someone else but instead only now noticing the plants, the walls, and the vines that seemed to watch her from the hut next door and the pair of massive cacti somehow swaying in an unseen breeze. The large patches of grass with faint blue tints and the three massive trees.
He noticed how her hand kept searching for the sword. She tried to be subtle, but he could easily notice it. How she seemed nervous and on edge without it. Clearly it was more than just a sword; its weight and presence had possibly become a means of comfort for her.
"This place isn't natural." She finally managed to say, her gaze falling back onto him.
"Neither is surviving the Barrens or surviving with the wounds you had, yet here we both are." Chris said. He tossed her a water skin he had taken from her earlier. "Drink up first, and then we'll talk."
She caught it with ease out of the air, making him note that she had good reflexes even in a half-dead state. How as wary as she seemed to be, she still drank deeply, clearly having been without for a long while. When she finally lowered it and wiped her mouth, he could see some of the hardness had faded from her eyes, but she was still clearly wary.
"You're not what I expected," she remarked, making him roll his eyes. "What did you expect then?" he asked, causing her to go quiet for a long moment before answering. "I don't know. Something worse? Something easier? Definitely not, well, this?" She remarked, waving her hand towards him and then around her. Chris didn't have an answer for that, instead just letting out a sigh and walking over slowly as she seemed to be looking herself over.
"Sera," she finally said, looking at him as he now stood in front of her. "My name's Sera."
"Chris." He replied before laughing a little. "But I already said that." He continued before softly muttering under his breath about needing to work on his people skills.
"I know." She told him with a weak smile, unsure what else to say before growing serious. "How long was I out for?"
"Few hours or so. The sun was higher when you showed up, and now it's getting its own rest." He tried to joke, only to wilt slightly as she just nodded and processed that. "The bandits I killed... Their camp was near here, and a group got away while I was clearing them out. Are you one of them?" She demanded, taking a step back before raising a fist.
Chris went still at that, raising his hands in surrender and ordering the plants to stand down, the vines specifically wanting to 'play' with her and paint the ground red. "I'm not a bandit. If I were, would I be looking like I do? Would I have bothered saving you?"
His questions caused her to pause and look him over with a frown before lowering her fist. "No, you would have probably tried to finish the job. The bastards tried to burn me alive to give the escaping party a chance to flee. I hit their camp a few days ago hoping to find some food or water." She watched his face carefully, trying to note any kind of reaction to her words. "They were gearing up for something. I thought it was to move to a different location, loading up water and supplies. Instead, what I got was oil jars breaking against me and being burnt by fire while they attacked me... A few calling for me to be kept alive for later, how the burns wouldn't matter when they…"
Chris's jaw tightened at that. She didn't need to continue as he knew what she meant and who she had seen flee. It was the second raid group and their leader. It made him realize she was the 'armored monster' their leader had told him was slaughtering his men.
"That camp," he began slowly, "was more than likely preparing to attack this village. They hit us two days ago with a small number of men and only having a rickety cart. We killed them all, but I guess you're to thank that there weren't more of them, or more fire to burn my plants."
Sera stared at him for a few tense moments. Then, unexpectedly, she started to laugh. A short, hollow sound with no humor in it that he didn't expect. "So I just stumbled into something and helped make it easier for you to finish it? And then you saved my life when I stumbled onto you while hunting the stragglers?"
He couldn't hold back his smile as he shrugged. "Well, it definitely looks that way."
She stopped laughing now, looking at him strangely. "And that doesn't bother you?"
Chris actually thought about it for a moment. About the bandits who'd died, their leader he'd buried in amber, all the other things that had happened before giving his reply in a measured tone. "It bothers me," he admitted. "But not for the reasons you'd probably think."
Sera studied him for a moment longer at that. "My sword," she finally said. "Where is it?"
"I put it in my storeroom. I didn't know how you would react or what you would do, so I made sure you didn't have a weapon that could be used against me. For my own safety." He told her, making her frown. "I want it back." She demanded. "If you're not a bandit and mean no harm, then you would no doubt be fine with returning what's mine."
He weighed her words for a few moments before nodding, telling her to stay where she was before walking to the storeroom and bringing it back out. As he walked over towards her, she stopped him. "No, just press it into the ground and leave it there." She ordered, hints of trepidation coloring her face. But he didn't question or argue, instead doing as she wanted before walking over to the strangle vines, taking extra care just in case she turned around and tried to attack him.
Instead, she simply picked it up, looking it over before giving a small nod and walking out of the village, before taking a seat facing the Barrens. No further words being said by either of them.
As the sky began to darken further, the little world tree's root found him later, curling around his ankle as he sat beneath the cloud tree. Telling him how she was extremely loud, that she was like the plants but different.
"Different how?" He eventually asked, slowly walking towards her, wanting to warn her about the beasts and that it would be better if she stayed in the village for the night. The little world tree seemed to be thinking over his question before giving its reply, telling him that she was loud because she was trying not to feel. That the plants are loud because they feel everything, but she was the opposite.
Chris considered that for a few moments, but somehow it sounded right. She did seem to be someone who had survived far more than he could even begin to imagine and chose to build walls around herself rather than letting herself feel and realize the weight of her actions.
After sharing a few words with her and managing to convince her that it would be best to stay the night, tempting her with food and water while explaining about the beasts and their recent activity.
When she had finally seen what he meant and went into his old hut, the world tree asked if she would be staying. "I don't know." He told it honestly. He wasn't about to force her to stay. He wouldn't be forcing anyone. If she did choose to stay, though, then she would need to pull her weight.