Derrix frowned, not expecting such a question, “the reasoning behind the analogy remains the same. Every event is only a memory of what we choose to remember about it, and therefore our displeasures are more in our control than we realize. Should we choose to allow ourselves to be consumed with negative thoughts, our emotions will also be consumed with negativity and utmost displeasure, that can likewise be remedied by switching our thoughts to positive matters, and in turn our emotions will follow.”

“Of course, I say these things as if they are easy, Derrix added quickly, looking back to his revealed companion. At a quick glance, she almost even looked familiar, but such a phantom image was dissolved quickly, leaving only an itch in his thoughts, not able to put his finger on it.

"Thoughts and feelings are two different monsters," Sana said as she sat there, reaching up and patting Epona a moment to encourage her on. "Even when the thoughts of hardships and negativity are pushed away or even forgotten the pain can remain. Like the phantom feeling of a limb that was lost long ago," she added before taking a breath, letting the cool air enter her senses.

"One cannot seek logic in the chambers of the heart," Sana said lightly as she glanced over towards him. "If we could there would be no need for such discussions."

Taking a moment and deciding to change the subject. "I know why I cover my features but why do you cover yours?" she asked motioning towards his helmet. "Or is the answer the obvious? Just in case of attack."

Derrix opened his mouth to retort her observation, but she had already changed the subject, so he felt it wise to drop it. He tapped his helmet once with the brim of his shield since his hands were full, “protection.”

“And your hood?” Derrix reciprocated the question.

"So the obvious," Sana chuckled slightly to his answer, shaking her head a bit with the response. "As for me, multiple reasons. The most obvious is the chill in the air. I suppose the second clearest option is to keep expressions hidden when I chose, so my own type of protection," she said before she rose a thin brow, it arching as she glanced towards him out of the corner of her eye.

"I wonder if I need the protection right now," she mused out loud before continuing on. "Final is this," she said as she reached up to the collar of her shirt and pulled it to the side a bit to reveal the fresh burns that dotted from one side of her chin, down her neck and disappeared under her shirt over her shoulder and down her back. They looked to have been healed somewhat but as if what ever magic used to heal them had been faulty or even just unfinished. The sister had tried her best the night before but Sana had so much damage, the burns were the last to be tended to and as a result, there was just nothing left the nun could do other than seal them and stop infection. Sana could handle the scars, she had never been one to care about her appearance. Sadly though Sana would have to learn to live with one other element of the burn that had not been tended to, the pain of them remained.

Lowering her hand, she adjusted her collar and straightened the hood of her mantle slightly. "Having to get used to these may take a while," she said in a soft voice as she took a hold of the reigns once again.

Derrix looked over at her burns and his eyes flickered like candles behind his helmet’s visor, “whether or not you think you need to hide expressions from me is up to you, either way, I won’t judge.”

“As for physical scars,” he said plainly, as if he had thought it over many times, “I like to think everyone has them, to the point there isn’t much use in hiding them.” He paused for a moment and shook his head, “you know what I mean.”

Sana laughed slightly at his words, not towards him but at the situation in general. 'Yes, I know," she said in a light hearted voice, the truly first one she had spoken with in sometime. "The scars don't bother me, the pain will take sometime to adjust to. That or perhaps I will get lucky enough and it will snow," she said looking up at the clouds that had been rolling in since morning. They grew darker and darker as each moment passed, the sun now being completely blocked out by them and a shadow fell over the lands.

"Granted, my luck hasn't exactly been in my favor as of late," she said looking back towards the path that lay before them. Rain was coming, she just hoped it wouldn't last long. Finding a camp site was one thing, finding a place to stay dry in over night was another. Sana had a tent and she figured some others did but she doubted each person had one and then there were the horses to think about as well.

Mortosh had gotten himself in a comfortable position in the wagon with his hood up and his head resting against the backs of driver's seats Zam was resting in her hidey hole moaning in pain thanks to a stomach ache from eating to much "Told You Not To Eat So Much Zam" Mortosh said as he looked down into the pocket that Zam resided in she just looked up at him and Said "Fuck Off Mort" "Languages Zam You May Be Two Hundred Years Old But That Does Not Mean You Can Use That Kind Of Language With Me" Zam just nodded her head in disinterest this is not the first time that Mortosh has criticized her for swearing

"Do You Think You Can Fly And Tell Tobias Something For Me?" "Not the flying but i can tell him but you will just have lift me up to him" Mortosh Nodded his head and took Zam and gently placed her Tobias's Shoulder "Uh Tobias was it? Uh Mortosh says he can take over driving the wagon during the nights for he doesn't need sleep" Zam explained to the twitchy thief "Also would you mind if i rest here? it get a bit stuffy in Mortosh's Pocket"

The sun rises, the sun set and is replaced by the moon which follows suit. The days, seasons... Time goes on. Melvus recognized the hallowing from the day before, he hadn't realized it at the time, he still doesn't know who it originated from. It was the sound of loss, he had heard it enough while he fought for Aesil to know what it was. It could've very well been a villager... But it ran the risk of being one of his companions, that would be most troubling. Who would they have lost? And why did I fail to recognize it sooner...

The vagabond had already finished his meal and made his way outside of the establishment, the other members of their group seemed to be ready to leave the village and finally set out to find the rest of the ingredients which may save the children from their cinder sickness, before they burned at least. We have acquired the hellhound’s fang… That’s one item we will not need to bother with... Melvus had his list from the shop, still tucked away in his cloak.

Tear of Eyewing
Feather of Pegasus
Claw of Hellhound
Whisker of Gnoll
Blood of Mist Dragon

The wizard crossed the fang off of the list. Hmm… Sana likely has already mapped out which items we’ll acquire and where- His thoughts were interrupted by the innkeeper. The man grabbed Melvus’ hand and shook it furiously in thanks for his service to the village so far. Before he could reply the man was onto the next party-member. He took notice of the wagon after Sana had left. Everything seems to be happening so fast… Not a chance to ask about things… I suppose I’ll go where the wind takes me… That was about when he noticed the wind, his cloak and robes staving off the cold but his face was uncovered.

Stifling a yawn he found his horse, tied to a post near the inn. He walked the beast to the simple, yet large cart and tied it to one of the back rails on the cart. He then climbed aboard, the man, Tobias, took the reins of the cart and as everyone mounted and climbed they set off. It didn’t take long for Melvus to feel drowsy, but he didn’t want to fall asleep, he rather wanted to speak with his companions and get to know them better - they should know each other if they’re going to fight alongside one another. Sitting on the bench near the front of the cart, his horse trotting along behind, Melvus spoke up. “Vaeri, was it? An elf assisting humans? I mean no disrespect, I’m simply curious.”

"Of course, of course, my dear lady elf," Tobias responded as Vaeri sat down next to him. "Where to? Shall we visit the emerald woods of the far east, where fairies dance in the twilight? Or the snowy plains of the north, where it is said the skies themselves may nightly open their veins for our wonder? Shall I esquire you to some far southern desert, and dress you as an exotic princess in ill-gotten silks and jewels? Or perhaps the sapphire seas, where I will outwit sirens and slay great leviathans in your honor?" The thief chuckled. "Sorry. City girls love that shit."

Tobias spurred to horses to follow Fiona, and the journey was begun. The rogue was no great traveler - he had never felt the calling of the lone road in his bones. Over the past week, however, he'd found an antidote to the boredom of the road; namely, talking Fiona's ear off. With the rest of the party all around, it seemed only fair that they share in the diatribe. Maybe company was good for something, he thought brightly.

"So. Did anyone catch horse guy's name? He kinda freaks me out. Like he's not telling us something. I bet he's a secret spy - maybe he's working for the mist dragon? What even is a mist dragon? Is it a dragon that lives in the mist? What happens to it on dry days, then? Or maybe it's a dragon made of mist? But then how would we kill it? It's probably just a dragon the color of mist - people are always so poetic about monsters, they just didn't want to call it 'light blue-gray dragon'. I spoke to a dragon once, you know. It was while I was burglarizing his horde - standard adventures for as enterprising a thief as myself. He was really a pretty charming fellow, aside from trying to eat me. Turns out, the trick with dragons is to appeal to their ego - they're hugely narcissistic creatures, naturally. Not that you'd know anything about that. So, what happened to the kid? We should have brought her. I could have raised her with good, wholesome virtues, like selfishness! I could have taught her how to climb things, lie to people, steal things, Vaeri could have taught her forest magic, Hanzo could show her his weird punchy-thing, Fiona could show her which end of the sword is the pointy one, Hugh could do... something... When's lunch? I knew I should have taken more food with me. I could get used to that, just lining up and choosing what free food I want to eat. What's that called? A buff-et? Maybe after we become rich and famous adventurers, kings and queens will invite us to buff-ets at their palaces. I love palaces. Reminds me of the time I stole an evil king's golden emerald-studded crown by pretending to be a fortune teller! Ah, memories."

The fairy flapped up and brought a message to the thief. "Oh. Tell our dearly departed friend that he most certainly may drive the cart, just so long as he promises not to eat my brain. Or any part of me. And, uh... sure, you can nap up here if you want, little... thing."

Melvus wasn’t sure if the elf heard him over the driver’s rant. Something about dragons and thieving, at any rate - the wizard didn’t understand the man. “I too have met a dragon, it didn’t try to eat me. Well.. not me in particular - it was a village. That village burned though… there wasn’t much I could do, frankly I’m not accustomed to fighting dragons. But yes, I did briefly speak to him, rather narcissistic, everything seemed to be about himself and anything I said, he didn’t seem to hear or care about. Though that could be that my voice couldn’t really overpower his.” He took a breath, assuming that he may ask the elf again in the future if she had indeed not heard him. “But yes, a mist dragon is made of mist. We may want to find some water-breathing potions or something similar before we face it - it could easily drown us.”

"I Am a Petal" Answered Zam who was a bit miffed at Tobias for thinking that Mortosh would attempt to his brain "You don't have to worry about that Mortosh wouldn't do that even if he could i don't think you notice but he lacks a lower jaw" she said before she stood up and put her ear against Tobias's head tapped on it then pulled back and said with a cheeky-grin "Besides it sounds to me like there isn't much there for him to eat"

she then laid back down on Tobias's shoulder with grin "Does either of you have an interesting story to tell?"

Derrix looked up at the sky and strained his eyes, “I wish it would snow too.”

He looked down at the white Charroux, whose ears twitched at the moist air forming. Naturally he sucked in a breath to test the air himself, but of course all he retrieved was thick lavender. His nose tickled and he frowned, lifting his great helmet up over his chin and resting it on the bridge of his nose as he let out a sudden sneeze. His nose wiggled at the freedom and as the air rushed back into his nostrils after the sneeze, the rich flavor of rain danced in his senses.

"Bless you," Sana said in a kind voice as he sneezed, glancing towards him for a moment before looking away again. They had been traveling a good part of the day already, passing the time with conversation and moments of silence. It had not been a bad experience and thankfully other than the incoming storm it seemed that things were rather quiet. Taking a breath, Sana noticed the smell of burning and turned her head; seeing a a white tower of smoke well off in the distance and slightly behind them. It was left over from the fire she had started the day before, looking like it had burned out finally. They were now down wind of the remnants of the fire so the scent of ash swirled with the on coming rain.

"Guess we are about half way to our goal for the day," she commented as she pulled back in the reins and brought Epona to a halt in the middle of the road. Reaching back she dug through her pack that she had attached to the rear of her saddle for a few moments before righting herself once again. Pulling out a few items she extended some dried meats to Derrix. "Might not be a bad idea to eat a little something as we continue," she said in a kind voice.

Derrix lifted his helmet completely off and rested it on his lap. He blinked his golden eyes a few times, adjusting to the wider and brighter view that was previously restricted by his helmet's visor. He hooked his shield onto a metal hook on the saddle, resting his shield arm as he extended to receive Sana’s gift. He popped the food into his mouth and quickly chewed it before swallowing. The salt seasoned his dry mouth, and gave a kick to his slowly emptying stomach.

“Thank you,” he contently nodded. He reached back, straining his shoulder as he reached into a leather bag tied to the rump of Charroux. He pulled out a skin of water and took a shallow swing of still cold liquid before extending it to Sana silently.

"Oh, please don't ask him to tell a story," Fiona groaned from the front, glancing back at the little thing, the Petal as she called herself, on Tobias. "You have no idea what you're in for." She didn't think she would be at first, but Fiona had actually gotten used to the thief's near constant talking on the road. Only the first few days did Fiona feel like she was required to say something in return. At some point, she began to figure it was just a mechanism of his, a reflex that kicked in when traveling, and many other times. Somehow, it had stopped bothering her.

"We'll be camping for the nights, so no wagon driving in the dark. Safer that way, and even if some of us don't need rest, the horses do." Hopefully Sana and Derrix would find a decent place for them, before they reached the next village.

Glancing over at Hugh, off to the side and keeping to himself, Fiona opened one of her packs and retrieved the best-looking apple she could find, of the few she'd grabbed. Trotting her horse slowly over to arm's reach of Hugh, she pulled up alongside him, holding out the apple in her hand.

"Hungry?" She'd noticed his... gloomy, perhaps it could be called, demeanor, and since the others seemed to be making conversation well enough on the wagon, she thought it would be prudent to check on him. "You know, if you're worried about Sana, I'm sure she'll be fine. You two have good horses, and she's very capable, as is Derrix." The invitation to speak his mind to her was left unsaid, but there all the same. Again Fiona had no desire to pry where she wasn't wanted, but she was nothing if not a friend and listener, especially to those she suspected needed one.

Sana watched him remove his helmet, for the first time taking in his appearance. He looked nothing like anyone she had dealt with in the past but that did not matter to her. One in the group she looked at as a friend and he perhaps was the oddest looking out of all of them. Thinking back to the group, she altered her opinion some what. Perhaps not the oddest but surely one of the more different looking characters in their band of adventurers. She nodded slightly to his thanks as he took the food and ate it quickly.

"Of course," she said as she sat there before taking the water skin from him and rising it up slightly in thanks. "And thank you," she said in a grateful voice before she took a drink, letting the cool liquid wash over her palate before lowering it once again and handing it back over to him. She pressed her heels into Epona and continued on her way; one hand on the gathered reins and the other holding her own food, taking small bites here and there as they traveled.

"So, where do you come from? If I am not prying by asking," she inquired. He seemed to be an interesting person on some level and since they would be traveling together through out this adventure she wanted to learn a little more about the one that rode next to her.

“You’re most welcome,” He smiled.

As the horses started to move once more, Derrix slipped his thick helmet back on, immediately missing the smell of the rain. He licked his tongue across his teeth, taking in the last of the salt. He looked over at Sana as she questioned his origin.

“A very far far away land,” Derrix said with a hollow voice, “and you? Do you come from a place of snow?”

"Well isn't that mysterious," Sana said with a gentle voice and then shrugged lightly. "As far as where I come from, I don't know," she answered as she thought back to her childhood. "I come from a roaming troop of gypsy known as The Rawn," she admitted.

"We traveled from town to town and city to city for as far back as I can remember. Sometimes we would be where the snow fell deep and the winds cut through to your bone. Other times we would be where the sands ripped through your skin as it burned due to the heat. We never stayed in one place too long. My kind have never been looked at favorably by what is known as civilized society," she said as she remembered many times when her family was driven out of a city just for their mere presence.

It did not make for the most stable of conditions to grow up in but it was one that she found exciting as a child. That was until she educated herself enough to know what her place in the troop was to be and then it seemed that no matter how far they traveled or what sights they saw she was imprisoned to a life that would never be truly free.

"I left that life long ago, but it is odd how no matter how far one travels they always seem to come back to where life decided long ago they should be," she added in a slightly somber tone.

"So, man from a land far far away, what brings you so far from it?" she inquired as they pressed on.

Derrix nodded carefully at Sana’s words, taking in what she had to say, up until she asked how he ended up here. A small laugh so uncommon to Derrix rippled from his throat, “sometimes I wonder the same thing. I suppose the best way to put it is that I got the short end of a long stick, and coincidentally it got me thrusted so far from home.”

“Sometimes I feel homesick, but as you put it, life has our journey mapped out for us,” Derrix said shifting his voice from a light and thoughtful tone to a concluding baritone, “besides, for now my only concern is completing my duties to this quest.”

Sana nodded in understanding, not so much understanding is past or what brought him there but perhaps a little bit of clarity to who he was; which seemed to her to be a rather complicated person but then again, weren't most if you took long enough to get to know them.

"That is does," she remarked in reference to life having a mapped out path for us. "No matter what we wish of it, it seems." Rising a brow to his words that followed she looked over towards him. "Being focused on the current task can be a wise thing but have it be your only concern? Does that not leave you feeling empty at the end of a task before another is presented to you? A gap in ones very existence? Nothing to bridge one task to the next? What do you do then?" she asked slightly perplexed.

Sana had lived her life since she left her troop wandering from place to place, with not much guidance or purpose other than to live and enjoy life but for her that had been enough. The people she had met, the adventures she had had, they all contributed to who she had become; as much as those that raised her, perhaps even more. Even though her main concern had been at the time to finish a task, each one was woven together with another by looking forward to the travels in between and seeing something new. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to only have one concern at a time, perhaps it was liberating not to have focus on more than one thing at a time.