Following Vim up the mountainside, I tried to keep my breathing relaxed… and knew I wasn't doing a very good job of it.

The worst part was I only had a small bag on my back. Probably twenty odd pounds at most. Nothing compared to the large packs Vim was carrying. Each pack he had on was nearly twice his size, and he had three of them… plus a bunch of smaller bags and pouches all tied to them. I wasn't even sure how the leather was even holding together on those things.

As far as I was aware we were still several hours from the village near the top of the mountain. The dense woods kept our surroundings quiet and cool, even though the summer sun was beating down on us, but I was starting to question if I'd made the right call or not.

It felt good to be needed… but by the gods dead and alive this was tiring. At least I'll not need to do this again anytime soon, for now.

"Take a moment, Tosh."

I glanced up and found Vim staring at me. He had stepped back a bit on the game trail, nearly bumping into a nearby tree with the huge packs as he did so. I nodded, thankful for the moment of reprieve as I went to stand near him… and simply stood there.

My legs were burning. My lungs hurt, and I felt slightly dizzy. I knew it was a combination of factors. I was exhausted, since I'd not been so physical in years. I also knew we were very high up, far higher than I'd ever been. Air was different up here. The kind that made one… weaker. Vim would be able to tell me the science of it, but I wasn't in the mood to hear it. Right now I just wanted to hate it.

Then of course, probably the biggest factor, were my old injuries. Although they were long since healed, I could feel the slight tug of tightness around the scars and throughout the rest of my body. Maybe I should have rested for a few more months, and not have relied on bravado…

"You doing okay?" the protector asked.

I nodded even though I knew he saw the truth. "I feel… exhausted. But I'll be okay, I think," I said.

"It's the elevation. It's been a slow incline, all things considered, but we're still pretty high. If you were a normal human you'd be on the ground, unable to breathe right now," he said.

Sure felt like it.

"Are we going much higher?" I asked. The trail we were on kept going, for some distance, and it looked like a massive hill to me. One I was doomed to climb.

"A bit, but then we'll head back down for a few hours as we round the mountain. We're actually above the village right now, but it's the only path there," he said. "Well… other than clambering over sharp rocks, at least," he added after a moment.

Right. He could do that, even with his great luggage, but I couldn't.

Taking some deep breaths, I sighed them out as I tried to get the tension in my lungs to relax a little. They felt… itchy, almost. As if I'd just swam underwater for a long period, and had strained them. I was going to sleep good tonight, as long as I didn't catch any weird illnesses or anything. Hopefully I don't start coughing, because it felt almost like I wanted and needed to… Wouldn't do well for my reputation if I showed up sick to my new home. Doctors weren't supposed to get sick, at least so said Flarish.

"Do you ever get sick, Vim?" I asked, both to know and to fill the air as I caught my breath.

"Sure I do," he said.

"Really?" I asked. I'd never seen him so, or heard such a thing happening before.

"Indeed. By the way, Sally told me you've recently found a penchant for nuns?" Vim asked.

I stuttered a bit, shocked at both his outrageous attempt at changing topics and the wild accusation he did so with! "Sally wouldn't lie like that!" I said.

He smirked at me. "No, which makes it all the more serious. What's up with you, hm?"

Groaning at the protector, I took a deep breath since I felt a little hot all of a sudden. I was going to give her a piece of my mind next time I saw her! "It was just a small fling…! It's your fault for leaving me in Telmik so long!" I said, defending myself.

"It was only two months, Tosh."

"That's a long time!"

"I suppose," Vim said with a grin.

Gosh! I knew that rumors and gossip were powerful in the Society, but this was terrible. "How'd she even know…? We were so secretive about it…" I groaned. Hopefully nothing bad happened to her, then. She was a part of Celine's little sisterhood… I wasn't outright sure if remaining chaste and pure was a requirement, but it'd not surprise me if it was… if she got banished or excommunicated because of me…

"You're fine, Tosh. You mistakenly thought those like her are so secretive and pure about it. They're as bad as the rest, if not worse, in some cases," Vim said.

"Kaley didn't want anyone else to know!" I argued.

"Because she's weird like that…? I don't think there's a man in the Society she's not sunk her teeth into… Hm…" Vim frowned as he thought about it.

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"What, you too…?" I asked. I'd been traveling with Vim for a few years now, on and off, and I had genuinely thought he avoided indulging in members. He made a point to not get too close to anyone, on purpose.

"No. I'm not her type. Not that I would anyway, I've never cared much for fish," he said.

"It's not like she actually tastes like fish, you know," I said, though I knew he was just making a silly joke. Vim wasn't the kind to ever judge or make comments about one of our traits or bloodlines, he was above such things.

"Still you're turning into quite a playboy aren't you? What happened to that innocent young man who blushed at even a glance from the girls?" Vim asked, teasing me.

I wasn't going to mention I had just felt my face grow hot a few moments prior, maybe Vim hadn't noticed. "Turns out being a doctor is quite a perk," I said.

He laughed at that. "Right?"

Smiling at him, I realized something important. He had been teasing me this whole time, of course, but I had heard the way he had spoken of Kaley earlier. He had, like always, teased with a pinch of truth. He had mentioned I had grown to have a penchant for nuns.

Once again he, even if indirectly and offhandedly, had brought up his distaste for religion. So it wasn't just a rumor.

"Not to uh… change the topic, Vim, but can I ask something? Before we get to the village?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"I've been meaning to ask… you don't care much for faith, do you?"

The Protector of the Society visibly calmed a little, his grin turning into a soft smile, as he nodded. "I don't mind faith, Tosh. I mind those who abuse it. Just as I mind monarchs who abuse their rule, politicians who scheme, warlords who spark wars on purpose and so on and so forth," he said.

"So it's part of your view of freedom. You simply hate anything that tries to influence someone," I said, understanding.

"If you wish to sum it up in such a way, yes. Basically," he said with a nod.

"Hm… but do you deny the gods?" I asked.

"You're asking the man who has killed gods if he denies them…?" he asked, and I could see the smirk tugging behind his placid frown. He was teasing me again!

"You know what I mean! The real gods!" I said.

"Real gods…?" he asked.

"The ones who made us! Obviously the ones you killed weren't actually gods, right? They were like the monarchs, creations and whatnot," I said, gesturing lightly behind us. Not that there was a monarch behind us, but we had recently met one. We passed through one of the Society locations that was guarded by a monarch a few days ago.

Vim sighed gently at me. "Where's this coming from? You ask of my stance on faith… are you trying to understand it, or do you want to just poke holes in it?" he asked.

Shrugging lightly, I decided to just say it. "I guess I've always thought you to be very scientific… being so knowledgeable. So…"

"So…?" vim asked, since I'd gone quiet.

Taking a small breath, I nodded. "So why deny the gods their right to their claim? It's not scientific."

"How so?" Vim asked.

"They were real? We have proof. We," I pointed at us. "are proof! The monarchs, the saints, their magic and powers… How can you deny the gods their decree when such obvious signs of proof are all around us?" I asked.

"Right. Very scientific," Vim said lightly.

"Vim…" I groaned, this wasn't a time for him to tease me! I wanted to hear his actual reasoning!

He nodded, obviously hearing my discontent in my voice. "I get what you're saying. And for the record I never claimed gods weren't real, or that their powers weren't real either. I just disagree with… everyone's interpretation of them, is all."

"So…"

"So what? Are you asking if I believe the gods existed?" Vim asked.

"I'm asking why you don't subscribe to any of their faiths, when out of anyone you should be the first to do so," I said.

"Kaley wouldn't have filled your head with this. Where's this coming from?" he asked.

"Don't change topics!"

He smirked and nodded. "Fine. Caught me. So you're now a believer and you're asking why I'm not?" Vim asked.

"Well… no. I'm not either, but…" I hesitated, since now I felt like I should be the one wanting to change topics.

"What…? You're not either? Then why are you grilling me like this?"

Grilling…? What a term. "Because in my perspective you should be either the leader of such faiths or a staunch supporter of them at least. Being who and what you are," I said.

"Thanks," he said with a scoff.

"You know what I mean, Vim!"

"No. I don't. How do you reason your own lack of faith yet don't excuse mine?"

"Because it makes no sense…! You've walked amongst them! You yourself don't deny they existed, or exist, yet at the same time don't worship them? It makes me… question," I said.

Vim sighed as he stepped forward, forcing me to join him. I didn't feel as winded as before, but as I followed him I realized he had likely returned us to walking as to avoid us from talking about this much longer. He knew I'd eventually start to wheeze after a bit of walking, and thus be less inclined to speak.

I didn't say anything about it as I simply followed him.

"So? What is it you actually want to ask, Tosh?" Vim asked after a moment.

I took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I've learned so much. About the world. People. How our bodies work…"

"How a woman's body works, maybe," Vim teased.

I ignored him and continued. "Yet I can't help but feel like I'm neglecting another part of life. If gods made us all, and for a purpose, how am I doing it? Should I be doing it? Is there even a purpose…?" I wondered.

"Maybe I did leave you in Telmik too long…" Vim mumbled.

I smirked at that. "I'm just trying to understand my place in the world Vim, that's all."

"Hm… and that's a lovely thing indeed. The entire point of the Society, to let those like you do such a thing. But if come back and find you in a clergy robe, bald head and humming hymns I'm going to throw you off a cliff," he said.

"Lucky for you I can't see myself going that far. I'd throw myself off a cliff if I had to vow off women, I think," I said.

"Careful now. You think doctors get attention? You'd be shocked the kind a priest gets," Vim said.

Although I knew he was teasing, I also knew like always he had done so with truth.

And as such I couldn't help but frown and ponder such a fact the rest of the way to my new home.

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