Lob looked down at the long black blade, a magnificent weapon in the hands of any warrior. The brute scoffed and scratched some dirt over it like a cat trying to bury its droppings. He had a bone.

Moving over to the hell hound, he approached with caution and put its head upon his lap as he pet it down. He started singing songs of the winds and the plains while he rocked and pet the beast. He sang for this magnificent, if infernal, dog. He would have made it his own and taught it to be a good dog, not the hellish mount of this one. HE sang for this dog, he sang for the slavers dogs he was not allowed to bury, he sang for the dogs of his gone tribe. He sang for the old grays, he sang for the young pups, he sang for every dog that ever died not in its masters arms.

Tears came freely from the brute as he gave all forgotten dogs a name and a voice to let them chase the stars. When the song was done, he took up the horse sized animal as easily as Sana took the child and walked to Wylsen shop.

"No, use all. All skin. All bone. All meat. It-..." Lob takes a moment to check between its legs. He good boy, he help more. Lob help you."

If the silver haired man allowed, Lob would use all his skill as a hunter to skin and dress the helhound on the half orcs poncho as a 'clean space' to work with a surprising practice for the song he just sang. The spirit had been sent to the stars, now the body was needed to heal and help the others. There was more to the animal than just its blood, there was the heart, the lungs that breathe fire, the bones and skin itself to make armor that was immune to fire as well.

Sana sat there, resting with Ariana in her arms. She really did not want to get up and move right then, she was exhausted from the day the group had but she knew eventually she would have to scramble to her feet. She was hungry since she had not eaten since morning and her skin still burned some even with the nuns healing. She would be scarred from today but looking down at the little one in her arms she felt it was worth it. Sana had a lot of questions about what had happened while she was tending to the camp alone but now was not the time to ask. Her fathers death was still on her mind as well as the knowledge of her family being gone. She needed to push that to the back of her conscience for now though, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Turning her head slightly she perked a brow as she heard Lob singing to the Hell Hound. It was odd to her but she wouldn’t fault him for it. Everyone in the group seemed to have their own way to deal with things but at least they were able to come together when it mattered. It put her at ease some with the journey ahead. Vaeri had managed to collect some of the claws, so at least sticking in town for the day had yielded the first ingredient they needed. She hoped the rest of them wouldn’t be as difficult to get but with their luck she braced herself for a lot more hardship over the next days and perhaps weeks. Sana looked over to Hugh and smiled to him, he was safe and seemed uninjured from the fight with the Anti-Paladin. She had a lot to tell him and was probably going to get an ear full for throwing herself right into the middle of the fight and getting as injured as she did.

Sister Agnes came back of out of the Inn and walked passed Sana, retrieving her bow for her and resting it next to her. “Thanks,” Sana said in a tired voice and the nun nodded.

“I have a place for her to rest and the inn keeper said he set up the same room you and your husband shared last night,” Sister Agnes said with a smile. Sana looked at the woman surprised and shook her head quickly.

“I… no, he isn’t my… well husband,” Sana said as she stumbled over her words. The sister looked at her and then over towards Hugh.

“Could have fooled these old eyes,” she said before walking off to see what Wylsen was up to. Seeing Lob come over to the Hell Hound she held the door open for him. Wylsen was inside the shop, behind the counter gathering up what he would need to preserve the claws until the rest of the ingredients were gathered as well as to get the blood from the beast. He looked up as the bell above his door dinged and motioned for them to come on in.

“Yes, that would be good,” Wylsen as he stepped out from behind the counter and laid out a thick cloth on the floor. “Once I get the blood we can take care of harvesting anything else you think may be of use,” Wylsen said as he sat down on the floor near the cloth. “Can you set him down here on the sheet for me? Then we can begin.”

When Fiona had first looked out on the hell hound and its rider, she had expected the fight to leave them battered and bloody, wounded and exhausted. But as she pulled her blade free from the beast, which had been felled by her strike, she found herself entirely uninjured, even her fatigue not weighing so heavily on her anymore, due to Sana's song. It was a remarkable end to a remarkable day, and Fiona was glad to be a part of it. They now had the first of the ingredients they needed, and the village would hopefully be safe for the time being.

Everyone seemed to be alright, even Sana, who had taken such a powerful blow to start the fight. The anti-paladin had been beaten, and the hit landed by the warrior atop the white horse had not gone unnoticed by Fiona. Though she remembered seeing him after returning to the village, this was the first time he'd really caught her attention. It was an impressive entrance, to say the least.

Wiping off her blade on a small cloth at her belt, Fiona sheathed it, and allowed Vaeri and then Lob to begin their work on the beast she'd slain. They were far more adept at that sort of thing than she was. Instead she made her way over to the body of the antipaladin, to where his sword had fallen. It was a long, heavy blade, and would probably require both hands for Fiona to use it effectively... but it looked much better than what she had. Her current blade was light and swift, but not effective enough at heavy strikes. This one looked like it could cleave through armor if she put enough weight behind it. She picked it up, held it in both her hands. Perhaps it was a wicked weapon, but only because it had been used by a wicked thing. It had a sort of dark beauty to it, she noted, with the gleaming black blade and elegant handle and crossguard. She would put it to better use.

Coming to stand back in front of Tobias, she noted her appearance, specifically that of her clothes. "Ugh... I need to clean up." A fair amount of the dark blood had splashed from the hell hound when she'd killed it, spotting her clothes, gear, and skin where it showed. She sighed, setting the point of her new sword into the ground and looking back up at Tobias.

"Just thought I'd let you know that it was really brave, what you did. You didn't have to stand up to that thing." A small smile came to her lips. "If you're not careful, you'll start doing heroic things on a regular basis. Couldn't have that, now could we?"

The golden eyed stranger reared his horse and turned to the group, lifting his long lance to point at the sky above. He observed them for a while, taking in their activities with his sight and hearing their words behind a muffling helmet. The horse’s stamping hoof caught him from his eavesdropping and he smiled, hidden behind the face of his helmet.

He watched the others pick at their kills and loot the dead man, forcing a small head shake from the stranger as he trotted by, eager to get out of his seasoned armor.

Before he let his horse trot completely past the scene, he laid a hand on its neck and the beast halted so it’s rider and friend could witness the dark knight at a closer level.

He leaned on the white horse and from behind his helmet, a hollow voice broke from his throat, “friend of yours?” he asked to no one in particular.

Vaeri gathered the claws she had collected and held them in her two hands cupped together, like how one would collect river water to drink without a waterskin on hand. The claws were fairly large, too large to easily carry the half dozen she'd harvested from the hellhound in one hand. Lob had taken the body of the beast into the apothecary. He was an odd one. Perhaps he identified more with beasts than he did with people. There had been a few people like that in Lianyu, but they would disappear to become druids rather than mimic the beasts themselves. They were also far less fun to be around. Anytime you'd eat meat around them they would begin lecturing you on ethics and the value of all life.

Fiona decided to take the anti-paladin's sword for herself, a decision Vaeri didn't approve of, but wouldn't discuss. If it were up to her, everything about that man would be left in a ditch and forgotten, but she could understand the use such a weapon would be to someone like Fiona.

"I am not familiar with him. Perhaps Sana knows who he was. She did stay behind to work out some personal issues." This armored man on a white steed was mysterious, he reminded Vaeri of a few human stories she heard. They would sometimes feature a knight in shining armor coming to save the day. It was an odd fixture, but this man had an obvious appearance of nobility. She turned from the armored man and entered the apothecary. The claws were deposited at an empty spot on the counter were hopefully Wyslan would see.

Sana looked over towards Vaeri as she heard her name and shook her head. “Your guess is as good as mine. I found Ariana in a hole that was hidden outside of the camp thanks to Hughs steed. Had just gotten her out and was about to head back here when he showed up demanding I give her back,” Sana said as she ran her fingers through the little ones hair. The words reminded her of Rodger and she placed her fingers to her lips, giving out a quick series of whistled calls. Rodger came trotting over from a dark alley and Sana let out a sigh of relief; one less thing to worry about.

Sana glanced over towards the man on the white horse and perked a brow. She hadn’t seen him before but he had helped during the fight; which she was grateful for. “Thanks for the assistance,” she said in a tired voice before turning her attention back to the little on in her arms. She was still a bit too tired to get up and walk back to the inn but figured it didn’t hurt to just sit there for a while.

As Vaeri went into the shop, the bell dinged above the door and Sister Agnes looked over, slightly glad to see someone come in. She had stayed in there to see if Lob or Wylsen needed any help or for her to retrieve anything but she had seen enough blood for the day. Walking over to the counter she took the claws and began to place them in wide mouthed bottles. “Thank you so much,” the nun said in a kind voice as she looked over towards Vaeri before she began to seal the bottles so the claws could be used when the group returned with the rest of the items that Wylsen needed to take care of the orphans.

Wylsen leaned back and popped a cork into the forth bottle of blood he had been able to drain from the Hell Hound, thanks to Lobs help and smiled to himself. Picking up a rag he cleaned his hands off somewhat and patted the half-orc on the shoulder. "Good job, I think that will let me make something very useful for you and your group by morning. What else did you want to get from the creature?"

Tobias was staring at nothing in particular, flipping a coin across his fingers to try and quell the shakiness in his hands. He was distantly aware of a great many events transpiring around him - Lob and Vaeri carving up the Hell-Hound, the apothecary bustling to and fro, the man on the white horse observing the scene, and Sana sitting with the child in her arms (any other time, he might have worried about that, considering the woman's demonstrated propensity for violence - at the moment, Tobias couldn't be bothered to kick up a stink about it).

He snapped back when he heard Fiona's voice speaking to him, and her sarcastic comment returned a trademark cocksure grin to his face. "Oh, you should know not to worry about that. Spineless weasel's in my blood - besides, I'd hate to make my angel of war look bad."

Tobias's smile faded. He smelled the hell-hound's hot breath on his face, the tempest of smoke and blood. He heard the screaming, the gurgling, the terrible sucking sound of a stabbed chest cavity. He saw the corpse of the man he'd killed, reddened and defiled. He watched Sana plunge an arrow into a screaming man's face, the zombie crack a man's skull open, the dark knight rise from things no man could possibly survive.

"I'm... glad you're okay." Before he knew it, the rogue had awkwardly wrapped his arms around the girl in front of him and drew her forwards to bury his forehead in her shoulder. "I... I had a really bad day, Fiona."

The contact lasted just a moment before the rogue broke it off again just as suddenly. "Eh... heh. I should, I mean, I've got to go... steal something."

Mortosh sat next Sana his hood lowered and Zam had placed herself back in her hidey hole Mortosh who was staring at the child deep in thought ("What Did That Paladin Want With This Child") "Mortosh says hes sorry for not being much use in the previous battle" Zam said to Sana still in her hidey hole "So whats going to happen to her? are we going to take her with us?" she asked trying to start conversation with the Gypsy.

Mortosh rose from his seat and took Zam out of her Pocket ("Zam Will You Be fine With Staying Here With Sana and the Child For Tonight?") she nodded but she was a bit confused at the request"sure but why?" Mortosh turned of Chatter so he could speak to her naturally which sounded muffled "I Am Going To Clean Up the Corpses Before We Leave Tomorrow Morning I Will Be Able To Get Rid Of Them During The Night For I Don't Need Sleep But You Do. So I Am Asking You To Ask Sana To Let you Stay With Her Tonight" He Said to her as he left for the door.

As Hugh stared down the enemy on its knees, he felt no remorse, only rage and the overwhelming feeling to rip him apart. His wrath was unrelenting when coaxed out, but something seemed to quell it.

He heard a voice, a soothing one, giving him relief and causing his rage to dissipate. The best part was that he knew the voice, but it was more beautiful than he heard before. A smile seemed to come across his lips, as his features smoothed out. He had to turn and look to see her, Sana, still alive. Not as well as he, but far better than when he had first saw her.

Here she was, the woman he adored and whom he had taken for deceased, now standing up and singing a beautiful melody. He didn't see any need to care about the anti-paladin, as the bastard was on his knees, and was soon beaten to the ground by the others.

A character Hugh hadn't anticipated was the knight, charging in on steed with lance in hand. The man destroyed the anti-paladin. Unfortunately, the anti-paladin was still alive, but barely. It gave Hugh some peace of mind to see him suffer the same way he had made Sana suffer.

Then, the man was lit on fire and burned to death. Hugh was more than just content at the perfect end. He was rejuvenated, as the woman he adored was still there and still his. He had a charismatic smile glued to his face, as he walked over to her.

She was joined by a little child, but Hugh's attention was drawn somewhere else. He caught a glimpse of the thief, a person Hugh hadn't been given the best impressions of, but that was subject to change at that very moment. Hugh perked a brow as he saw the thief let himself dissolve into the embrace of the other fighter. A little smirk came across Hugh's face, "Hm, what a softy." He said the words with a little chuckle, before turning his attention back to Sana.

"Hello. How are you, my darling, today?" He had a stupid grin smeared across his face, adding to his infectious happiness.

Sana looked over towards the unique pair as they came over to her. Sana was humming gently to Ariana and running her fingers through the little ones hair. At Zams words Sana smiled slightly and shook her head. "No worries, I wasn't either. Well other than being a wonderful rag doll that got tossed away," she said in a light hearted voice and then cringed slightly in pain. "Oh, don't laugh, reminder to self."

When Zam asked about the child Sana sighed deeply. "No, it would be too dangerous for her to go with us," Sana said sadly. Ariana looked up at Sana and pouted, clinging tighter to her.

"No, I go with Sana," the girl protested. Sana felt horrible when she saw the pout but she couldn't let the little one come with them. Kissing her brow lightly and sighed.

"It is too dangerous but I'll make you a promise. When we are done I will come back and see you," Sana said in a firm but caring tone. Taking the chain off her neck, that held her parents wedding bands, she placed it around Arianas. "These were my parents, I'll come back for them. You keep them safe okay?"

"I will!" Ariana exclaimed as she looked at the rings. Sana giggled and rest back once again. As Hugh came over she reached over with one hand to take his and lace her fingers through his own, keeping the child cradled in the other.

"Well, we fought off slavers today, you nearly bled out, we got to the camp, took care of some there. Dog bit the crap out of me, had a whip slash my face, got burned," she said pointing to the scars that now dotted her form. "Then my dad died in my arms, found out my family is dead, buried bodies, found Ariana here," she said as she squeezed the little on in a hug gently. "Then got chased down by a mad man, knocked around like a rag doll, find out I can apparently cast magic and now am sitting here feeling like Rodger ran over me a dozen times. So all in all, I am peachy," she said as she laughed sarcastically and then cringed again in pain.

"Another note to self, don't laugh," she said as she weakly pulled Hugh over to her and kissed him softly. "And you?" she asked softly as Ariana smiled at the two.

"Ooooo," the little one said with a giggle. Sana looked at Ariana slightly stunned at the reaction and gave her a mock stern face. Ariana grabbed Sanas cheeks and smushed them together playfully to which Sana stuck her tongue out at the little one. Ariana responded in turn by sticking her tongue out at Sana which caused Sana to bust out laughing between cringes of pain.

The stranger idled on top of his horse for a moment as he stared intently at the small child. The innocent youth softened the corners of the stranger’s heart as he stared, and yet an itching intuition bit at his heels.

This wasn’t his mess, nor was it his business to get involved, but at the very least, he could make sure the child lived safely from this point on, and being abandoned into the arms of a place that was just nearly sacked didn’t seem to be the best place for a child that which a dark knight was after to hide in. To the stranger, he thought, it seemed like an inevitable way to run into a problem down the road, whichever road that may be.

After his quick pondering, he felt his golden eyes tug back onto the image of the youth, and he sighed a tired exhale, but not one of physical exhaustion, but rather of exhausted experience.

The stranger swung his leg over his horse and dropped to the dusty road with a poof. The white stallion grunted curiously and the armored man laid an idle hand on its muzzle as he turned to the child.

He took a few steps forward, blurring all others out of his sight, and out of his mind as he squatted to reach eye level with the cradled child. He lifted his gauntlets and slowly removed the heavy helmet that had caged his head. The thick nauseating smell of sweet lavender permeated from a thick and strange leather mask that was strapped to the inside of the helmet’s facemask.

The stranger blinked his golden eyes that sat on his spiderwebbed scarred face, and caught the gaze of the child. A soft and fatherly curve practiced on his ruined lip’s and he spoke gently through a rough throat that had the salt of a commander seasoning his voice, “how old are you little one?”

A short and somewhat surprised "oh" escaped Fiona when Tobias hugged her. Her hands had been on the hilt of her sword in front of her, so she couldn't even really return the gesture. She didn't have the time anyway, as he broke the contact almost as soon as it began. It left her a bit confused, though she began to understand well enough when Tobias struggled to return to his usual demeanor.

"I'm fine," she assured him, "and you're fine, too. We made it. What we went through today will make tomorrow better. For these people, certainly." She also wondered if Tobias hadn't learned something about himself today. That he was capable of things like this, perhaps. He was a lot stronger than he thought. Fiona couldn't be the only one who thought that.

"How about we get some rest instead, hmm?" She put a hand on his shoulder and gently guided him towards the inn. "We'll need the sleep. Got a long day ahead of us, I'm sure." Releasing him once they were just about inside the inn again, Fiona bid Tobias a good night, and began making her way towards the room she'd purchased for herself for the night. She was already unbuckling the straps holding her armor to her on the way up the stairs. Sleep was going to come easily tonight, that was for sure. Fiona was exhausted.

Recovering from the blow Hanzo had inflicted to the anti-paladin, the monk considered himself lucky to have struck when he did - the sinister figure had been prepared for another attack, and his sudden intervention had knocked him out of it and likely protected his allies fighting him. Another battle waged behind them, between the hellhound and some of the other, but Hanzo couldn't divert his focus. This devil seemed strong, and even with a new wound in his head he would not be stopped.

However, something suddenly happened. A heartfelt singing voice from elsewhere in the village. Hanzo barely managed to spare a glance... Sana? What was happening? As if on cue for an answer, several serpentine streams of light flowed out from the gypsy woman, targeting and engulfing each of her allies. The monk felt himself surging with courage, his lesser scars and scratched healing themselves fully. Some sort of secret power, of the bardic kind, perhaps? Hanzo would ask about it later. Now, it was necessary to finish the fight, while everyone seemed to be in greater spirits.

As the martial artist faced the anti-paladin again, the damned figure decided to vent some range, selecting Hanzo to be the target of a swift execution. It would've been too close to avoid, a clean cut-off of his head, but he was saved by yet another intervention - the wild orc from long before, bringing a bone club down to break the man's arm at the elbow. A cry of pain followed the sound of cracking, and the fiending warrior dropped to a knee, growing hatefully with his sword clattered on the ground.

Once more, however, yet another interruption ensued, this time from an individual Hanzo did not recognize. Or rather, he had noted the presence of him before, but knew nothing else. The cavalier, charging with lance in hand, speared the anti-paladin hard, carrying him through the air some to send him sprawling out on the ground. And then a yell from the elvish caster to stand back, and then a beam of divine flames struck the struggling man, searing through his armor. And then, again, a thrown knife from the rogue, complete with a furious insult. Battered and broken, the fiendish knight desperately reached out...

Their foe's life was finally snuffed out by a whip from seemingly nowhere, lashing around the throat and bringing a blooded head crashing to the earth. Wylsen, the old man accompanying Agnes, revealed himself, pumping an arm in victory.

Hanzo had to blink several times and look around. It had all happened so fast - the cry for help, the charging demonic paladin, the adventurers running out to confront him, and a stream of moves that combined together to slay rider and mount with extreme prejudice. Hanzo turned back to Sana, now with a small child aside her. The anti-paladin's words... He must've come looking for that child.

With pained breathes, Sana explained everything. While the others had returned with the wagon to bring the slaves to safety, the gypsy woman was mourning the loss of her father and family, separated before but now dead at the hands of the slavers. In the meantime, she had found the child, Ariana, hidden in a hole, whom the anti-paladin was somehow looking for, for some unknown and hopefully now irrelevant reason. Now, at the end of the day, everyone who deserved to be alive was so, and it seemed at last the hard day was over and all could rest well. Even the stranger, having come long after this all began, found some sympathy to share with the young girl at Sana's feet.

Mortosh announced he would take care of the bodies again while the others got some proper sleep. As an undead himself, the animated skeleton didn't need sleep, though he did implore his fairy-like companion to accompany the group to the inn. Hanzo glanced back to the south, a faint pillar of black smoke still making itself apparent in the pale light of the moon. Hopefully, the fire and everything within it would be gone tomorrow morning, and they could bury the pit of bones remaining.

There was scattered talk about harvesting some of the hellhound, and the Lob spoke up with the insistence to use everything - bones, fur, blood, all of it. That was right, Hanzo thought; his old family has also held the tradition of using every piece of every animal they hunted, so that the sacrifice of the animal's life was never senseless or forgotten. It also reminded him that one of the ingredients they were collecting was something from a hellhound. What a happy coincidence, then, that would save them the trouble of having to scour one out elsewhere.

Hanzo simply stood, half-meditating, rather overwhelmed at today's turn of events. He had entered this group unsure of what would come of it, but ultimately it seemed like they were all proving to come together. Their decisive battle against the anti-paladin proved that much.

Sister Agnes glanced towards the window and out onto the street, seeing Sana still sitting there with the little girl in her arms. The scene caused her to raise a brow. Several others had come over and while she felt their intentions were good, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea for so many people to gather around the child. Looking over towards Vaeri she smiled slightly as she stepped around. “Might be a good time for you to get some rest, I think these two have things here under control,” she said before she stepped out of the door and made her way over to Sana.

Ariana tightened her grip on Sanas clothing as more and more people came over, having dropped her hands from Sanas face. The newest arrival caused the girl to pinch her nose from the overwhelming smell that seemed to come from him. “Blech,” the little one said and Sana smirked slightly at the reaction. It was a rather strong aroma and children were not known to have a filter on what they said. Resting her head against the childs Sana let out a small chuckle.

“Well I think we all stink right now,” she teased before she caught Sister Agnes out of the corner of her eye.

“Okay people, we can get answers in the morning. I think right now food and sleep are most important for the little one now, not questions from people she doesn’t know,” the nun stated in a protective voice. Sana nodded in agreement. Sana didn’t know the child but she had the childs trust at least.

"Hugh, can you help me up?" Sana asked softly looking over towards him.

Hugh's smile turned to a look of confusion after hearing what Sana had to say. He now had one of those awkward smiles where one is left wondering "What do I do?"

"Okay." Came his squeaked out reply, before she pulled him into a kiss. He squeezed her hand and wrapped his free arm around her, his hand careful to keep the sword blade from bumping into her.

"Well, after you left, I killed two hyenas and three men armed to the teeth. That's really all." He said, his charisma coming back to him. "And all I've been waiting for is to kiss you again." He said, before hearing the little giggle of the child. Hugh's eyes went downwards towards her, and a cheerful grin coming across his face.

Seeing a happy child made him happy, and he couldn't help but grin ecstatically. Before he could really interact with the little one, the knight from before came over, and lifted his helmet to reveal his features. From the looks of it, this man hadn't been as fortunate as Hugh had been, and had seen his share of suffering. Though Hugh had suffered much in his life time, he hadn't been inflected that much on the side of facial scarring, nor had he marked his face with anything permanent, like the tattoos revealed to be on the man's face. Hugh could find himself respecting this man. After all, he had come to their rescue.

Hugh felt a little empathetic uneasiness as he saw the crowd grow larger around the child, giving a scowl as more showed up and stared at the child like she was something foreign. Hugh growled a little towards the faerie as she was the one whom had been told to stay with Sana. "You're not needed, here." Hugh said, his disdain clearly visible.

He turned and looked to Sana as she spoke to him, asking for his assistance. "Yes, of course." He said, dropping his sword and wrapping the other hand around her waist, scooping her up and setting her on her feet. He kept his arm wrapped around her, as he dropped his other hand from hers and reached for the scabbard on her back, "I'm gonna need that." He said, quickly before taking it off her person and putting it over his own body. With that, he picked the sword up with his foot, and kicked it up into his free hand. He dropped his other hand from Sana and put the sword in the scabbard on his back, going back to his previous position of holding onto Sana.

"Alright then, will you take my hand?" He said, looking down towards the child and offering his hand out towards her, his smile still apparent.

"Thank you for your concern Sister, but I've had enough rest to last me awhile." After she said this, there was a loud gurgling from her Vaeri's stomach. She paused for a second, a rose tint slightly coloring her scarred cheeks. "Maybe a small meal would do me good. I will leave you be. Farewell." Vaeri turned and left Lob, Wyslan and Agnes to their own devices. She estimated that sleepiness wouldn't begin to affect her again until just before dusk. It suited her just fine. After all, the likelihood of tomorrow being as eventful as today was rather slim.

As she left the Apothecary, Vaeri looked at Sana cradling the child, surrounded by a surprisingly large group of people. Vaeri walked past without breaking stride. She was bad enough with humans, let alone children. She'd probably frighten or upset the girl further. Of note among the crowd was the armor stranger from before, now with his helmet removed. Coincidentally, his face was scarred like hers, but whereas her scars were each rather small and compounded into a large network of disfigured skin, his were much larger and easily noticeable. What an odd man. From her bag she pulled out a package of travelling rations and small book. Vaeri walked over to the front of the inn and sat down in front of it. There she read her book, enjoying an impromptu picnic in the twilight.

The stranger’s smile evaporated into a face of seriousness, and he slid the helmet back on, trapping the lavender of the mask underneath.

He looked over at the old nun for a moment before flickering his gaze over to the entrance of the tavern and standing up. Without a word he slowly walked past the group and over to the entrance to the tavern, then shifted his sights to the apothecary and back again.

He measured the distances between the two with his eyes as he laid his hand on the pommel of a strange ashen grey metal sword that hung from his hip in an old scabbard. After a few moments of arithmetic he wandered over to a wooden beam that was used to tie horses to and leaned against it, directly center between the two buildings.

He folded his arms and the white horse slowly trotted over to him, lance dragging behind on the end of a quickly tied knot. The stranger shook his head and propped the weapon up against the beam before flipping open one of the leather satchels on the side of the horse.

After a few moment of rummaging, he produced a full feed bag, which he quickly equipped over the mouth of his energized stallion. The horse started to munch, and the stranger smiled behind his helmet before letting a broad shoulder fall onto the wooden beam, where he decided to lean.

He inhaled deeply, ready to start his self ordered duties as a sentinel. He turned his head slightly to the woman who sat by the entrance of the tavern, eating and reading. He squinted his sun irised eyes at the book, but the words were too fine to be read completely at the angle he stood at, so he shrugged and continued to scan the area diligently.

Sana felt a wave of relief wash over her as Hugh seemed to take charge of the situation to help her and Ariana get away from the rest of the group; had it just been Sana alone she wouldn't have minded so much and would have tried to stay and answer as many questions as possible but the child had already been through enough and was obviously not feeling at ease around the rest right then. Letting Ariana slip from her lap, Hugh slipping his arm around Sana and lifting her to her feet hurt somewhat but she didn't mind; just feeling his strength again put her at ease.

Leaning against him weakly she slid one arm around his back and rested her head on his chest, letting out a deep sigh of relief as she listens to his heart beat while he secured the sword and scabbard. Ariana stood next to Sana, holding onto her pants leg as she waited. When Hugh offered his hand the child looked up to Sana for a moment before nodding slowly and reaching up slowly to wrap her tiny fingers around Hughs index finger. Sana figured she would walk with them into the inn but she was wrong.

What happened next was completely unexpected as the child took Sanas free hand as well and used her grip on both Sana and Hugh as leverage and then quickly placed one foot after another on Hughs legs, scaling him quickly and ending up with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. Sana perked a brow slightly as she watched the little one and gave her an approving and impressed expression. Ariana smiled as she held herself in place and Sana turned her attention back over to Hugh.

"Okay then," Sana said with a light voice. "Let's get her some food," Sana added before her own stomach growled. Sana let out a slightly bemused sighed. "And me something as well," she said softly as she waited for Hugh to help her back to the inn. Sister Agnes grabbing Sanas bow from the ground and helping the archer sling it across her back before they managed to go on their way. "Thank you."

"Of course, I'll have the inn keeper draw a bath for you and the child so you can clean up once you are finished eating," Sister Agnes said in a kind voice before walking off and into the inn to take care of task at hand. Sana leaned against Hugh as he helped her towards the inn and smiled over towards Vaeri as she noticed the woman was enjoying a much deserved relaxing moment to eat outside.

"Thank you for your help today," Sana said in a kind voice as they passed Vaeri. Seeing the new comer stand there made her curious but she was far too tired to ask him any questions right then and needed to make sure Ariana got settled in for the night. Once they were inside and Hugh helped Sana into a seat, Ariana scrambled down and slid into the chair next to Sana. Food was brought over for all three of them and Ariana looked at it strangely for a moment as if she wasn't sure if it was okay for her to eat.

"Go ahead," Sana said softly as she picked up her fork and took a bite of her own food. Ariana giggled with a curt nod and then tore into her meal; eating like she hadn't in days, which Sana figured was the case.

Hugh was actually surprised by the sensation of the child's tiny hand wrapping around his one finger. It was a warming sensation, much different than having a woman as your own. The small touch of the child was causing him to melt, inside, and he felt so happy.

It brought him back to a time when he supported children and raised them up, loving them as much as he could. The sudden unexpected turn of having her climb up him and cling to him was slightly familiar and extremely therapeutic. He felt like he had a family again, and he could lay the old one to rest permanently.

Hugh would turn into a savage beast to protect this child at any time, but for now, he would settle for being something to hug tightly.

After a few moments of interaction and short travel, Hugh found himself setting down next to the child, after having let both Sana and Arianna down to sit. He gave a contented smile as he looked both of them over, and turned his attention towards his plate, beginning to eat slowly and methodically. Usually he might devour it, but from some habit acquired long ago, he always ate slow when he had children with him. The idea in his subconscious mind was so that if they got hungry for more, he would be able to offer them more.

He remembered so well, how he had given his own children his food when they started whining about it. He would end up doing the same for any child that ended up in his care.

Sana looked over to Hugh and smiled softly as she watched him. He seemed very comfortable around Ariana but that didn't surprise her, she knew of his children and his past. It was something he had told her about long ago. It was nice to see him like this and it did her heart good. Resting back in her seat after she had eaten some Sana found herself feeling much better. The spell cast had taken a lot out of her and she knew she would need sleep but at least now she felt she could walk without assistance. Glancing over towards Ariana she laughed a little as she watched the one reach over and steal a piece of salted pork off Hughs plate and devour it.

Standing up she ruffled the child's hair a moment. "Ariana, I want you to stay with Hugh. I need to grab somethings," she said gently. Ariana looked up at Sana with a mouth full of food and nodded quickly as she swallowed the piece of meat she had snagged before wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Okay," she said quickly before snagging a strawberry from Sanas plate and stuffing the whole thing in her mouth. Sana chuckled before walking off and exiting the inn. Rodger needed tending to and Sana needed to check on Epona; as well as grabbing their bags so they had some clean clothes. She didn't have anything that was child sized but she had an idea. As she left the inn Sana whistled and Rodger came trotting over.

Patting the draft horse she took his reins and led him to the stable, putting him next to Epona before retrieving their bags. Inside Ariana kept eating what was on her own plate in between snagging food from both what Sana had not eaten and what was on Hughs plate. She seemed to be a bottomless pit but she hadn't had a full meal in weeks so one couldn't blame her. She'd smile at Hugh, point off behind him and whether or not he turned his head she would snatch another piece of salted pork and shove it into her mouth giggling.

By the time Sana returned Ariana was full and just sitting there making silly faces at Hugh. Sana stood in the doorway for a moment just watching the little one, she was amazed by how resilient the little one was. Taking a breath she walked back over to them and set Hughs bag down next to him.

"So, everything go okay while I was gone?" she asked with a soft smile on her lips.

"Yup yup," Ariana responded in a gleefully.

"That's good, ready to get cleaned up?" Sana asked. Ariana nodded but before she got a chance to answer Sister Agnes came over.

"Looks like she is, which is good. The innkeeper set up a little surprise for your wash," the nun said kindly. Sana perked a brow and shrugged. Stepping over to Hugh she gave him a soft kiss and ran her fingers down his cheek.

"I'll be back in a bit, just gonna get us girls cleaned up. Your pipe is in your bag," Sana said in a caring voice before turning her attention to Ariana who giggled at the kiss once again. Sana just rolled her eyes playfully before taking Arianas hand and leading her upstairs to their room and closing the door behind them.

Sister Agnes watched the two with a thoughtful look on her features before sitting down across from Hugh. "I don't think we have been properly introduced. I am Sister Agnes and you must be Hugh," she said extending her hand out to him.