Druid Girl did her best, both to allow Steppe Archer to re-align her legs, and to listen to what the nomad was saying. Honestly though, she didn't really get it. Nor did she feel entirely convinced that standing a specific way would prevent you from not being toppled by a much larger and stronger opponent... But then again, she knew virtually nothing about martial combat, so perhaps the lioness and lizardman were correct and this little bit of practice could actually be immensely helpful!

Big Red commented about the value of repeatedly doing physical labor to improve one's strength... A notion she was already aware of, being a farmer's daughter and all.. And even more reason why she didn't feel like doing sit-ups and push-ups for a single day would net them anything except exhaustion... It wasn't like they were going to have days like this for a long period of time. No, more than likely, they'd find a new quest tomorrow morning and set off on the road or in a wagon or some-such. But perhaps the lizard wanted her to start a rigorous and daily training regiment? ... That was a bit much to to ask for...

Regardless, once she was in the appropriate stance, well, as good as she could manage at least, she looked to the others. Apparently, they were now going to demonstrate how this all worked... By having Big Red smack Steppe Archer with a branch... While the giant stated he wouldn't be using his full might, Druid Girl still worried that his hulking arms would just cause Steppe Archer's stick to snap and land a blow right on her face...

Big Red also tried to explain his actions as he moved in to strike... But, honestly, such a thing was futile. Druid Girl couldn't really pick up on anything about how to move your legs and arms in tandem, or how to sync your limbs... To her, Big Red's lunge looked just like any other lunge by any other fighter... Human, goblin or otherwise... Her untrained eyes and lack of knowledge when it came to fighting made the entire 'lesson' more of an 'in through one ear and out the other'-sort of experience for her. Which showed on her face, as she simply looked at the pair and tilted her face, looking as if she wasn't sure how to respond once the branches clashed.

"... I .... See...?" She stated, uncertainly. When the question about having her try it out though, she wrinkled her forehead. "... I'm.... Not sure exactly what I'd do... Or how to do it... I honestly really didn't get any of what you just said." The black-haired girl said, bashfully scratching the back of her head.

It would seem that if her compatriots wanted to teach her anything about battle, they'd have to spend a lot of time - and effort - in order to bring the poor lass up to speed.

"... But sure. I can give it a try, I think? Maybe it'll be easier to understand if I try myself! ... Maybe..." She added, not wanting to seem ungrateful or unwilling to learn.

The day continued to be a lazy and uneventful day, with the sun shining and slowly travelling across the sky, while silky and slender clouds sailed above without a care. Birds sang and chirped from the nearby woods and the noises of the town could be heard, even out here - though they mostly came from the gate's direction. It didn't seem like anyone was going to come and bother them though, so practice could continue without any interference or meddling - at least for now.

"See!? Big Red's holding back a bit, but its way harder for him to try and knock me down when I'm in a proper stance." The nomad girl was hoping the lesson would be obvious, but it seemed that their druidic friend would need more instruction than just showing. "You have a point. Learning the rights and wrongs of proper stances is better by doing it yourself. Here!" she said, handing over her stick to the girl before going to find another one.

"The staff you carry would be really good at blocking bladed weapons since its sturdy, but we can go over that another time. For now, take your stance and I'll hit your stick. I guess while we do this, Big Red can be our referee. He's way better at fighting than I am," she said, looking to their lizard companion. "That is if you don't mind, and all."

The girl seemed very enthusiastic about getting to teach a little bit. That and, it probably made more sense to not have the physically weakest member of the party start off sparring with the strongest one.

Big Red gave a low sigh before stepping back from Archer Girl. It seemed like Druid Girl wasn't a visual learner, and despite moving slow she hadn't followed what his feet had done. He rubbed the back of his neck while watching he two girls interact. "Focus on the foot work. Upper body can come later since weapon fighting is mostly edge alignment. A staff has no edge." He said as he moved off to the side away from the two. She was willing to try and that's what really mattered, with proper footwork she could actually move away from danger without exposing herself to the pointy bits of it.

He watched the two with a critical eye to correct mistakes on both girls. "If I were human sized I'd just put your feet on my own and teach you the movements that way...but I'm just a little too big." He mused as the day progressed. Learning the sweeping footwork wasn't hard until you started to go faster. Hell maybe if they got higher ranked and got more money he could hire a proper monk to teach them all. He was basic and instinctual, advanced things were beyond him.

"Alright then, let's do this! Wooh!" The druid girl exclaimed, in very obviously forced-out excitement that sounded particularly fraudulent.

The following minutes, she would suffer defeat after consecutive defeat, having her branch smacked out of her hands, failing to properly block the incoming strike or not standing in the proper state. Her offense was even worse, not managing the footwork very well at all, as she couldn't quite seem to grasp the the concept and way to move, making communication between her feet and brain spooty at best... Which resulted in rather hilarious unfortunate situations, such as the poor girl tripping over herself, looking like she was about to take a huge dump nose-powdering break while approaching her opponent, or just genuinely looking like the most amateurish of amaterus.

Moments became whiles and whiles became hours. Although she earnestly tried her best and, as well as she could, followed the instructions of her two tutors, the girl only made marginal progress. This isn't to say she failed ot take any steps forward - not at all, her stance at the very least was improving and becoming more in line with what was being taught, but by no means was she close to beomg able to put it into practical or actual use in a life-or-death scenario. It wasn't like she was a star fighter with latent, hidden potential in martial prowess. Back home, at most, she'd only ever swung a hatchet in defense of the homestead, and that was only against wild beasties or much lesser variety.

Plopping down n her butt and letting out a sigh after their little sparring and training session, the raven-haired girl looked both pouty and upset. Branch lying next to her while both hands were planted in the grass next to her so as to keep her upright, she seemed a bit upset that she hadn't managed to make as much progress or grasp these basics very well... The sun had moved a fair bit and it was safe to say that noon and midday had come and gone and soon evening and dusk would be here.

"It's... A lot trickier than I thought..." She said, hands closing to tug at the starws of grass in her palms. "It's a lot to keep in mind... Your posture... How you move your limbs and body.... I always thought fighting was just, y'know, swinging the sharp end of something at the baddies. Didn't think it was this much... Technique... involved in beating others up." She mused, obviously contemplating the implications of her own underestimation of the art of melee-combat. Her goldne eyes lazily sacanned the sky above, before looking at each of her compatriots.

"Thanks for the lesson, you guys. I learned a lot of things I didn't know... And things I didn't know I didn't know." Her words were kind and sincere, although she did look a bit upset still - at her own lack of skill. "Anyway, who taught you guys how to fight? Did you have an instructor or learn on your own? Or by watching? Back in my village, the only fighters we had were the local militia, and they were just some of the bigger, brawnier fellows who volunteered to act as guards... Doubt any of them had a single day of actual fighting-practice in their entire lives."

OOOOoOooOoOOoOOOoooOOoooOOOoOOOOOOooOOOooOOOOoOOoOOOooOHhHHHHhhHHhhhHH~!!

Druid Girl's face turned beet-red and her eyes went wide as saucers... And were moist for some reason... It seemed she had grown rather famished due to all this rigorous practice... Her mouth was also shaped into a rather humorous squiggle-like configuration and she didn' seem quite sure what to do with herself, as she sat on the grass, frantically moving her hands and arms in an indecisive fashion that swapped between trying to cover her stomach and her face...

A kindly smile slipped onto the nomad girl's face as their druidic friend spoke. Its true, most people just kind of assumed swinging something sharp or heavy was enough to win a fight, but skill was what won out in the end. "It is a lot to think about, but its one of those things where you hammer it into your body until it becomes second nature. Kinda like...an instinct, I guess?" Steppe Archer posed this answering question while looking confused herself, not really having to think about this...like, ever. Tapping her knuckle against her cheek she pondered if that was the right phrasing, since an instinct was more something you were born with. Reaction? Maybe its reaction. But there was also the phrase "fighting instincts", and it wasn't like babies were born knowing how to fight.

While stuck in her pondering she narrowly missed the question of who taught her to fight and, before she could answer, the druid girl's stomach roared its own answer. It sounded like it learned to fight from not being fed enough. A snicker escaped the nomad's lips before she held her own gut, trying not to laugh at the grumbling stomach. "My...snort sorry, my father was the one who taught me. Oh, and my grandfather. And uncle. And Aunt. And other Aunt. And cousins...oh, and I sparred with my clansmen often. Its not too uncommon for women to grow up learning to defend themselves on the steppes, what with the bandits and all. Aaaaanyways, let's get some food and fill that stomach. Sound good?" With her hand extended and back bent forward, she offered an easy way for the embarrassed druid girl to bring herself up.

"You did good today!"

Big Red ignored the forced excitement and just instructed the girl. Very few people actually enjoyed training from what he had seen in his village and during his travels. Still he observed and used the stick to help correct her footwork or how she held herself. Gently nudging her limbs in a specific manner. Despite her 'defeats' she was learning. It took a good bit of time to get good at anything and there wasn't much of a rush to bring up her fighting capabilities.

"The good thing is you know nothing about melee combat. So you have no bad habits to break, a clean slate to work with." He said as her stick was knocked from her grasp again. Time passed as the pair trained her. She was progressing but probably not as fast as she'd like. Even natural born fighters didn't progress despite tutelage. After some time and it was clear Druid Girl was done. She was clearly tired so they'd stop for now.

Her comment made him let off a brief laugh. "Yes there is a lot to take in. Not just yourself but also your opponent. But that's a lesson for another day." He stated as a casual flick of his wrist sent his stick flying off into the woods nearby. She asked who taught the pair how to fight. Archer Girl mentioned quite a few people, most of which seemed to be family members. "Hand to hand I taught myself, every person in my tribe has their own way of fighting with their body. But I learned weapon fighting from my great-grandfather. He was the weapon master of the tribe before he passed away." Big Red continued.

Then the growl from the dark skinned girls stomach came. Which apparently embarrassed her to no end. He never understood why the females of the pink races got embarrassed by their bodily noises and functions. A gesture towards the town with a slight shrug followed. "Lets go then before she decides we'll be a fitting meal." He stated before turning towards the town and started to walk. The two girls might want to bathe after food, but he hadn't worked up any sweat. He was the cleanest of the bunch today!

The various comments, and compliments, of her companions amde the girl smile a bit bashfully. It was nice of them to encourage her efforts, even though she was aware herself that she probably still wasn't ready to go toe-to-toe with a real enemy using these techniques and what-have-you... The comments about her stomach she could've done without though... And when Big Red mentioned the possibility of her trying to eat them, the girl's face went beet red and she let out an indignant gasp.

"I would never!" She stated quite seriously... As if she actually believed that the lizard fighter were under the misgivings that she would... At least, for a bit, before she started laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of that possibility.

Heading back into Palisde Town, the guards at the gate gave them lazy glances and wordless nods. of recognition The streets had died down in terms of bustle and hustle, with now only a few pedestrians milling about still. It wasn't a big settlement to begin with, so what constituted 'busy' for the frontier settlement was probably what residents of a bigger city would consider a slow day.

As they came closer to the area where the market stalls for groceries - and street foods - were located, the trio could spot a gathering of people. A lot of murmurs and low, whisper-y chatting was going on, as all eyes were focused on a single point ahead.

Druid Girl, more concerned with stuffing her face than with whatever ruckus was going on in the local market, was quick to by-pass the crowd and zip straight to a stall selling freshly cooked beef skewers... And she ordered quite a few of them... Like, a lot. Her eyes sparkled like gemstones as she watched the savory meats fry on the grill and get placed on a small ceramic plate. The young girl could barely contain herself, like a vamished puppy ready to leap and grab its food before it even landed in the bowl.

That aside, if either of the other two adventurers were to go investigate the scene with the small crowd, they'd soon learn the reason for its formation. One of the local nobles were petitioning at the market, trying to get people on-board with signing some kind of coument that was to be submitted to town hall. Apparently, this form would allow the town gates to remain open at all hours - even during the night. The noble aruged that sealing the town off at a night was not only inconvenient for locals who had planned to travel, being unable to go at whatever time of day they so desired, but also a hindrance to travellers and visitors from out-of-town.

The noble preached that by allowing the town to stay open at all hours, commerce would increase and so would the flow of both merchants and potential new residents, which would help the town flourish and grow. Some people seemed skeptical and disinterested, but there were also a few that seemed genuinely swayed and supportive of the proposal, eagerly lining up to sign their name on the dotted line of the coument.

Perhaps this was a good thing for the local adventurers too? It would mean that if the bill was passed, they could go on adventures any time of day and not have to worry about getting back to town too late and being locked out! Of course, it also meant that shady folk could more easily move in and out of Palisade Town, and the town guard would need to hire more guardsmen to stand watch at all times.

"Mmmmmmmmmm! Scho guhd! Omno-noms-noms-nom!"

...

...

...

... Some individuals seemed more interested in stuffing their face full of foood and mimicking a hamster though...

Politics were never the strong-suit of wanderers and nomads. Usually it was a simple matter of getting people to agree on a course of action, but there were hiccups sometimes. Usually those ended in duels and wrestling, but Steppe Archer had to assume that out here that fancy thing called a "petition" was the equivalent. It took a fair bit of peeking around the sides of people and getting yelled at to get off of a fence before the nomad girl got the situation, and decide that this might be a pretty good idea!

Sure, there were negatives, but the pros seemed to greatly outweigh the cons. Orderly enough, Steppe Archer waited her turn to sign the petition with her surprisingly neat signature, before returning to the Druid Girl's side. Paying for a meat skewer, the archer would happily nom upon her kebab, amazed that for someone that didn't seem to do a lot of intense physical training on the regular, the druid girl had a huge appetite. Maybe being a magic caster meant burning a lot of energy for magic?

She had no idea, but it made some sense. Giving the stick her meal had been on one final lick, the girl beamed at her companions before asking: "Soooo...river bath again? Big Red didn't break a sweat, but we might start stinking if we don't take care of that soon." It was starting to concern the girl that they were bathing so frequently. Not because she disliked it, but because she'd heard folk tales back home of women so vain that they washed and washed and washed, scrubbing so hard that all their skin fell off and left them as skeletons with beautiful hair.

...It was definitely just a children's story, but still. She liked her skin.

Big Red glanced at Druid Girl with a cocked brow. She was such a serious girl sometimes, but her brain caught up with the non-seriousness way he said it. Although her incredible blush started putting his own red scales to shame in intensity. Still they went back into town and went towards the market area. He was hungry himself but he could seem to control it better than their magically gifted companion.

Were magic users more hungry than normal? Or was she just a food hound always wanting to eat? How was she not fat? Or did everything go to her...mana tanks? Only the most knowledgeable of sages would figure it out. But they did pass a rather large crowd with someone exclaiming in the middle of it. So while the busty one of the group went for food the other two listened in. Well he listened with a clear berth before him. Archer Girl performed some acrobatics and maneuverings to get closer.

Politics, mostly about keeping the gates open so people could come and go as they pleased instead of being locked out for at minimum, eight hours. He thought for a moment, the cons of doing jobs whenever and having no need to rush to get back was appealing. Giving the guards more work to do than just patrolling empty streets at night was also appealing. Honestly he didn't have much sympathy for guards, their jobs were easy enough to do in his mind.

Honestly he saw no real cons. Oh no shady people might try to get it, that's what guards were for. At most he could think of were more sentient creatures trying to rush into the town. Goblins seemed to be a sneaky sort, but who knew. Still he moved through the small crowd and took up the pen to write his name upon the piece of paper. Hell since Druid Girl's discovery of the vent he had been thinking of just using that as an entrance and exit whenever he wanted. He wasn't afraid of a bunch of rats or bugs!

Druid Girl popped up, carry a good deal of food. Which got a shake of his head before he went to go get his own. Where did she put all that food? That was enough for two days for him. Maybe it was a human thing as well? Meh, he purchased four and promptly began to eat them while Archer Girl asked whether they needed a river bath again. "You could just not bathe. A little sweat won't kill anyone." He rumbled out, he had only bathed because he kept getting covered in blood and guts. Decomp and filth.

The nobleman at the square seemed pleased, as many were lining up to sign his little document. An eyebrow was raised when he saw the little lion-maned foreigner step forth and scribble her own signature on the parchment, but his surprised quickly faded - replaced instead with a content, smug expression. His face went a bit more pale and his eyes got a lot bigger when a certain, gargantuan lizardman lumbered over though. Towering over the scrawny but much more well-dressed man, the poor fellow seemed unsure what was about to happen. Even the noble's bodyguards looked uncertain about what to do, half-resting their hands on their weapons, half shambling to position themselves inbetween the red hulk-creature and theirn sire.

A sigh of relief left the well-to-do upper class citizen though, as soon as the red reptile signed the paper. A visible bead had formed on the man's otherwise immaculate face, and was quickly removed by the dab of a small hankerchief - which looked far too expensive and embroidered with details to be used for such a thing. Seriouslyy, that thing looked more expensive than all of Big Red's, Steppe Archer's and Druid Girl's clothes and weapons combined. Who paid for something that lavish!? Druid Girl, who had just been standing about - stuffing her face to the point of resembling achipmunk - watched the spectacle. The rich really were something else, spending money on fine clothes and little extravagances like that... Meanwhile her own family barely had enough money from their back-breaking labor to afford food and necessities from season to eason...

She was brought back to her senses though, the caramel-skinned girl, when both of her companions rejoined and spoke with her. It seemed Steppe Archer wanted to go river-bathing again, whereas Big Red seemed to feel he wasn't in need of such things. Honestly though, while the thought of being somewhat sticky and gross was unpleasant, the nature mage didn't exactly feel like washing up in a rather chilly river twice in a single day. On the other hand, paying for a trip to the local bath house would cut into her funds, of which she had already used a fair portion today... It was a tough choice...

To be potentially smelly, or to not be potentially smelly... That was the question!

"Hm, well I'd rather not be all gross and stuff when it's time for bed... Though bathing in the river again is a bit..." She mused loudly. "... If we wanted, I suppose we could duck into one of the alleys that have a well and just rinse ourselves off... Though, someone might try to peep..." She suggested first. "... Unless our fearless and valiant Knight in Red Scales would be willing to stand guard and protect our virtues while we do so..." She added, casting a glance over at Big Red, while putting on puppy-dog eyes and doing her best to look like a frail and delicate maiden in distress...

... It didn't look quite right...

"Ohm! Maybe I should sign that thingy too! It'd be real helpful if we could just come back at any time of day." She said, mouth-now-full-of-a-new-bite-of-skewer. And no sooner said than done did she trot herself over and get in line to sign the nobleman's petition too. Her friends had both done it, so she should too, right?

Meanwhile, the crowd at the market was beginning to disperse, now that most present had already listned to, and decided to sign or ignore the nobleman's appeal. As people began to move about and head in every which direction though, a group of - or rather a pair - of individuals stood out. They were a pair of rhea - two young lads to be precise. One had rough, unkempt shoulder-length black hair, while the other had short and smoothened light brown hair. Both were dressed in a similar fashion, simple clothes of no particular make or quality. They had some equipment though, which signified that they were ither fellow adventurers, travellers or otherwise in a career that required personal protection and survival tools or resources.

So, what was noteworthy about them then, considering they sound quite generic and non-descript? They were keeping a very sharp eye out, observing passer-by's with discreet glances and peeks - the unobservant and careless would easily pass them by and not think twice about it. While others might just think they were looking for someone in particular. However, a more careful and astute individual may notice that they weren't looking at peoples' faces, but rather somewhere else on the body... Particularly around the midriff-area. Of course, that could all just have eben vivid imagening! After all, people were quite prejudiced against the rhea as it were, often painting them up as thieves and rogues. It might just be a harmless case of people-watching or trying to spot something they liked and wanted to get for themselves, from a shop. Totally legit, by paying for and everything!

"Whoo, I'm back!" A ratheer frazzled Druid Girl stated, as she reconvened with her fellows. "I still don't get why that noble dropped the pen on the ground and asked me to bend down and pick it up... Three times! He didn't drop it when anybody else was writing down their names... Oh no... Do you... Do you think it's because I smell? I ... I didn't think I got that sweaty...!" She was obviously not catching on to the actual reason...

Steppe Archer tutted, wagging her finger back and forth. "For girls, being stinky is unbearable. We could just use some herbs to hide the scent for now though," the archer girl said in response to Lizard Fighter's statement. Bathing was common in the mornings and nights at her home, and done in rivers colder than the one in Palisade. At least, Steppe Archer thought it was. Maybe a few too many cold nights traveling and camping meant that she was just getting numb to chilled temperatures.

The nomad girl's eyes focused on the druid girl for a moment, imagining the specific scenario of them bathing an alleyway before a sour look crossed her face. "With how much that drunk the other night kept mentioning your chest, that sounds like a terrible idea. Besides, wasting well-water doesn't sit well with me." At her own stupid, terrible pun of a joke the girl's cheeks inflated like a frog's, as if she was struggling to contain laughter at the most comedic thing ever. Except it was...a pun. That she made. "Heh...anyways, yeah, signing sounds like a good idea. That way we aren't stuck outside the gates if we're back too late."

While their druidic companion wandered over to get her pen on the page, the archer eyed the suspicious Rhea boys with a slight tilt to her head. It was obvious they were looking for something, given the way they weren't staring ahead, or at the ground, but squarely at the belts of passerbys. She had nothing against Rhea at all, it was just...obvious. What was even more obvious was that the nobleman was liable to get his coinpouch nicked if he walked by them. She didn't wish such a fate to fall on any innocent, and was about to walk over and warn him before-

"Three times!"

"Three times!"

"Three times!"

Whatever goodwill the nomad girl had evaporated in that instant, clenching a fist and saying: "Druid, if anyone EVER asks you to bend down while they're still standing, tell me." The girl looked absolutely furious, to the extent that now, she really didn't care if the lechorous noble found himself suddenly missing his coin. With her fury subsided, the girl would place her hands on the druid girl's shoulders, taking a deep breathe, and asking:

"Druid. ...Did...anyone ever explain to you where men's eyes wander? Especially weak-willed ones? Our lizard friend here is strong, and doesn't care a bit about our bodies. But...erm...some men do...and some men may ask you to do things to trick you into getting to see more of your..."

The girl's eyes fell squarely on Druid girl's frankly huge badonkers, before she whispered: "...Breasts."

HOW DID STEPPE ARCHER HAVE MORE COMMON SENSE THAN HER? Steppe Archer grew up in an entirely different nation!

Big Red had hardly noticed the noblemens eyes widening, or the sweat coming off him. The guards scooting closer to their charge barely registered a flick of his gaze. Mostly because he had no desire to fight them, he was just signing a piece of paper. The other reason is because...well with that level of fear and caution just from him walking made him label them as incredibly green. Humans and their overly cautious nature when it came to other races was a bizarre reaction in his opinion.

Whatever, the paper had his signature and he returned to his party. The girls wanted to bathe, but Druid Girl didn't want to go into the river again. She mentioned the wells of the town which got a shrug from him. That water was just as cold as what was in the streams and rivers. Did she think wells just popped out water randomly? It needed a source and the town was built near a good table of water.

"If it'd make you feel better I can keep watch. I doubt there's going to be too many peeping eyes at this time of day." He stated before she ran off to go sign the paper as well. Judging by his lack of a reaction, trying to look cutely adorable didn't work on him. Then again...swamp, what was cute in a swamp? Not a damn thing. Well snakes could be cute, but they were good food too. The mention of herbs got another shrug from him, honestly he couldn't tell if he ever stunk. His mostly reptilian physique didn't even seem to allow him to sweat so could he even make body odor without gas expulsion?

Watching the bubbly girl dash off to sign his gaze went to the dispersing crowd. People going their own way and bustling on to their next task. Except for a pair of Rhea who were dressed in an Adventurer-like fashion. How they were watching people made his eyes narrow slightly. What they did wasn't his business, so long as they didn't go for either of his party members. So he kept his eye on them until Druid Girl returned.

Her 'report' made an eyebrow raise up slightly. His gaze also cut towards Archer Girl for a moment. "The man was looking at your breasts, hips, and rump, girl. You're...what's the word...incredibly voluptuous by human standards." He stated, giving her a major not-so-subtle hint that a vast majority of men want to see her jiggly bits. "Although Archer is incorrect, you're both attractive to me but I don't focus on such things when on the job and I've heard inner-party relationships end badly. He rumbled out. He did find them attractive, but there were multiple reasons to not pursue them. The reason he mentioned, and because he doubted his kind could breed with humans. Either way.

"So well, or river? Either way it's cold and wet and clean." He continued, he didn't plan on bathing that evening so it was up to them.

"Jeez, you two! I know the well's water isn't any warmer! But with a well, all you need to do is rinse yourself off and that's that. You don't have to walk all the way out of town, get undressed and wade into the river to get cleaned up." She explained herself, putting both hands on her hips. It was clear these two hadn't grown up wwith such 'traditions'. It was common back in her village though - going out to the river, especially by yourself, could be dangerous and took a lot of time. Time that could be better spent helping around the farm or in the fields. Thus, you'd typically just go behind your house, get nekkid and dump a bucket of water over yourself, and that was that!

It wasn't like it was an uncommon practice elsewhere either. If you couldn't afford to go to the local bath house, this was as good as it got for many people - especially in the larger towns where you didn't exactly always have easy access to rivers or streams. Still, it seemed like her friend from the stepps wasn't keen on the possibility of being sneakily observed - even though most wells in a town like this were located in the back-streets behind buildings, with very few ways and angles for someone to peep on you. But, if she prefered the river then that was just something Druid Girl would have to go along with.

And then came a bit of a slapping wind to her face.

Apparently, both the Steppe Archer and the Lizard Fighter were very, very aware of her physique it seemed. This made the druid stand silent for a while, unblinking and motionless. Then a tinge of red spread across her cheeks and she averted her eyes to the side, raising her arms to wrap them around her exposed midriff and her bandeau-covered chest.

"W-well... I didn't think everyone was like that... Back home, in the village, the boys I grew up with did that too... But I thought that was just because they were boys, y'nkow?" She said, voice a bit more quiet and demure than usual. "I mean, we'd seen each other naked lots when we were kids and bathed together and stuff, so i didn't really think much about it... And everyone keeps saying that nobles are supposed to be well-mannered and gentlemen, so I... Uh... Wait, have you been looking at my chest too, Red!?" Druid Girl explained, before realizing taht Big Red had just called her, and their lioness-archer, attractive! Something you could only call someone if you'd actually taken a good look at them.

This caused the Druid's face to grow even more red, and she looked a bit conflicted, somewhere between embarrassed and wanting to run away, along with angry and wanting to slap the lizard across his non-protruding ears. Luckily, she did neither of these things, but instead opted to let out a long, tired sigh.

"Pops always used to say I was the prettiest girl in the world... But he's my dad, so of course he said stuff like that, right? Fathers are supposed to call their daughters things like princesses and all taht." She shared an embarrassing fact about her dad. "Usually, people don't even spare bumpkins and country-girls like me a second glance, or so some people I met told me." She was pouting now. "Well, whatever! Let's... Let's just gog et washed up in the river! Away from prying eyes!"

With that, the nature-mage turned on her heel, still trying to cover herself with just wo arms, and began marching off. At a much brisker pace than she usually had. It appeared this little bit of conversation had made her feel a bit self-conscious perhaps. As they would walk though, she turned a head to Big Red and addressed something he'd said earlier.

"Inter-party relationships are fairly common, y'know? A lot of adventurers actually get married to someone they've worked alongside with for a while." She paused, then gave the lizardman a once-over, from head to toes, before going on. "... Sorry though, you're not quite my type, Big Red." She added on, with a slightt, good-natured snicker.

The group would now have to go back down the street form the market, out the eastern gate, down the path in the woods and finally get to bathing in the river, before making the trip back to Palisade Town. There wasn't any rush of course, the sun was still up and the gates weren't closing and locking up for a good few hours more, plenty of time to dget themselves cleaned up and make it back inside the walls.

Meanwhile, the nobleman who had gotten a rather large number of signatures on his petition seemed extremely pleased with himself. Rolling the scroll up and tying a silken strap around it, he safely pocketed the documet and ordered his cadre of four bodyguards to come along. The group of goons formed up, two infront of the man and two behind, before setting off at a leisure pace towards the northern parts of the settlement. No doubt to deliver the document to the town hall before nightfall. If all went well for him, the gates might be left open on constant as little as a week from now!

On the other hand, the two Rhea-youngsters who had been keeping an eye on folks around the market were now gone. Having scampered off or perhaps more likely snuck off, somewhere during all this time. It was unclear if they'd actually done anything other than watch and observe, but if they had it certainly didn't seem like anyone had noticed, since no shouting about thieves or missing personal bleongings were heard.

Steppe Archer gently patted the druid girl, feeling bad for her. ...Well, not especially, since this was common sense but...poor girl. She had more boobs than sense. The walk to the river had a discussion about inter-party relations, and the druid girl denying any chance that Big Red had. ...Idly, Steppe Archer wondered if that meant she was okay with the potential of being romantic with her, or if women mating was something uncommon outside of the steppe. It wasn't exactly common, but it wasn't all that unusual, she supposed. Either way, Steppe Archer didn't exactly go blushing at the thought of either of her companions.

With their bathing completed, Steppe Archer would soon be drying herself off, having managed to catch a few river fish while she was at it and waiting for the others. She figured a bit of dinner was nice as long as it was free, and heartily dug into her grilled fish, organs and all. The best part was the guts! One would be forgiven for mistaking her for a wild animal, with how she brutally mauled her fish and spat out bits of bone after, leaving her fish clean save for its tail-scales and horrified looking head.

Throwing the bones into the fire, the girl would stretch her legs and look towards the sky. ...So many things were different from home, and in so many different ways that it was hard for her to keep track. Would she ever even see her home again? Not that it mattered, so long as that all-brawn idiot was in charge, it was no home of her's. Sitting up again though, she asked: "Do you think people think we're up to something, always coming out here to the river?"

Big Red just shrugged in response to Druid Girls tirade about the well and river. He was fine without a bath tonight to it was up to the pair on where they went. Archer Girl had a good mindset on not being peeped at even with a well in the back portion of buildings. There were still windows and more than one way in. Especially if the wells were communal to their little neighborhoods and districts. Then she spoke about nobles which got a raised eyebrow from him.

"Just because they're nobles doesn't mean they don't have eyes...or a libido." He said with a shake of his head, then a snort at her exclamation while she covered her clothed self up. "When we first met I gave you a once over. But there's a time and a place for oogling and that isn't at this juncture." He continued on, an almost lazy drawl to his tone. Hell were their species even compatible? He had never heard of a half lizardfolk, not even in legends and stories.

As they moved through the town to the east entrance she spoke up about inter-party relationships. "Those are the successes. But I imagine if there was a break up the party would crumble." Big Red stated, he hadn't heard it but he had seen many a human break up during his travel to Palisade Town and it was never particularly pretty. But maybe adventurers were different? It was doubtful but hey he had been wrong before. Her last comment and snicker got a single brow raise and a bored look. But otherwise no actual reaction to her teasing.

Arriving at the river the two went to bathe and he made the fire. Archer Girl even nabbed a couple fish and just cooked them whole before mowing down on them. Then she asked a question. "I highly doubt it, a set of Adventurers going to the river probably isn't that uncommon for new Porcelain classes." He mused while doodling in the dirt with a stick. If either cared to look he was drawing up designs for weapons, a few of which looked abnormally painful to be hit with despite their weapon classification.

Big Red's comment about break-ups got Druid Girl to raise an eyebrow. Of course those would be unpleasant, why wouldn't they be? Two people who'd been intimate with each other and spent time together, learning about one another, were going through an emotional conflict where the outcome was their mutual seperation from each other. It'd be far more bizarre if they weren't throwing fits and being angry at each ohter... Who ever heard of two lovers just breaking up, shaking hands, smiling and going their seperate way? If they did that, they obviously weren't very close to begin with.

"Don't you lizardfolk have spats between couples or marital issues?" She asked curious, since it seemed Big Red was - when she thought about it - a cold, calculating creature who valued logic and pragmatism over anything else. Maybe all lizardmen were like that. And if they were, did they even have concepts like love, romance or even marriage? Maybe they just copulated for the sake of procreation and preserving their species? ... That was a sad thought.

Regardless, after their bathing and their archer stuffing her face full of freshly foraged fish, the druid had to stifle a laugh at what the lion-haired lass had said. Big Red beat her to responding, but she felt there wouldn't be any harm in chiming in.

"I agree, I don't think most people even pay enough attention to one another to notice things like this. Folks are usually too busy with their own lives to notice what their neughbours are up to, even more so when it comes to strangers. Out of sight, out of mind, or so they say. Well, except for those cases where people hold grudges against one another, then they might pay attention to the comings and goings of people." She psaued and stretched, yawned and rolled her shoulders a few times to soften up after the cold bath. "Still, I doubt anyone in town actually pays much attention to where three adventurers go once they leave the walls." She smiled reassuringly.

Once they were dry and clothed once more though, and the fire had been safely extinguished, it was time to get going, again. The walkj back to the settlement was just as uneventful as their jaunt to the river. It really didn't seem like many villagers or travellers came down this way... Which was probably a good thing for the local bath-house, since if people washed up for free then they wouldn't be able to stay in business. Thinking of this, Druid Girl made a silent internal vow to stow away some of her reamining coins so that she could actually go and spoil herself with a luxurious, hot bath after their next outing. Bathing in a river was fine and all, but sometimes you just wanted to relax and take your time soaking, rather than jump in, freeze your nips off and then run back onto land and slow-dry near a fire... Fluffy towels may be man-made, but they were a lovely invention!

Once back inside Palisade Town, the three would spend the remaining hours of the day in a lazy, sluggish state. Druid Girl visited the local bank and put some of her earnings away, then did some leisurely window-shopping in the commercial district of town. The advbenturing guild didn't really hve any worthwhile jobs, aside from verming-clearing in the sewers, so there wasn't really much of anything to do for now. The sun crept along the sky, and eventually the two moons began to slowly rise. Day turned to evening and with evening came the undeniable draw of promised dinner! The skewers from earlier had been a tasty snack, no doubt, but the nature-mage couldn't wait to eat a piping hot, hearty and sizable portion of actual food. it was written all over her face as they passed along a street, where the smell of cooking wafted out through open windows and doorways.

Returning to the inn where they'd rented rooms, the trio would be greeted by a small gathering of patrons, having assembled in the establishment's main area. Seated around tables, eating from plates or bowls, drinking tankards and mugs of beverages, it was a more lively and energetic mood than their early morning and late-night home-coming from the previous day.

"Hey, we're back!" Druid Girl called out to the inn-keep, who was busy behind the counter, doing his usual work.
"Can see that. You gonna eat?" He replied and asked, at the same time, in his usu8ally brusque tone.
"What's on the menu?" The caramel-skinned girl asked, eyes aand smile wide.
"Pork sausage and 'taters, vegetable soup, grilled goat haunches and bread."
"One of each for me, please!" The girl blurted out, without hesitation, while raising an arm excitedly, as if she were answering a question in class at school. The innkeep snorted and gave a small, wry smirk, before returning to his more dour expression and looking at the other two in their group.
"Wha'bout you two? Gonna eat?"

Druid Girl, meanwhile, gingerly walked over to a vacant table and sat herself down. There were a bunch of different customers around though, a couple regulars and other guests who were staying at the inn - she'd seeen some of their faces before. There were also a handul of other adventurers, from the guild, sitting down and having a nice supper and drink... There were also your usual, dirty tavern-drunks and road-weary travellers present, making the scene a little less merry by their sheer presence. Still, the girl with raven-black hair seemed happy and oblivious enough, waving for her compatriots to come sit and join her, while flashing them a large, sunny smile.

Steppe Archer pouted, wondering if they really looked so harmless as to not warrant a little caution. She was a trained warrior! ...Being told nobody cared where they were stung a bit. But, oh well. Back to town.

The talk about break ups and divorces didn't interest her in particular. Back in her home, it was commonplace for women to be the only ones with the power to divorce from their husbands, and it wasn't uncommon for that to come with a large amount of public shaming for the man. Something about how men are ruled by their wives in all things...Steppe Archer didn't have much experience in it given that her grandmother and mother married once and stayed married.

The day languished on as the archer relaxed with her group, glad to have a moment of peace after the rather nightmarish last mission. Now, it was time to settle down and catch some dinner before bed. After their druid's comical hunger routine, the archer would smile at the innkeep, saying: "I'll have the vegetable soup with some bread.

After their meal, the archer would retire to the room she shared with the druid, settling down for bed, and hoping tomorrow would let them wake early and find some good jobs.

Big Red blinked once before shaking his head. "In my tribe we do not mate for life, or even a portion of our lives. The strongest males breed, the weakest do not. Granted if a female doesn't accept your advances then that's the end of it. Rarely does that happen though, and sometimes it does give others a higher chance when before they had none." He explained, it seemed his people were still more or less survival of the fittest and might makes right.

The day progressed very lazily after their chats and baths. Druid Girl went off to do something in the market area and Archer Girl went with her. He didn't feel like the pair needed a chaperone to do their stuff and he felt like giving himself a light work out. So he went to the inn they stayed at, paid for his room in advance and went to a quiet corner to do various exercises. By the time the two girls had turned up he was doing a handstand and lowering himself before pushing himself back up.

There were a few people observing him, mostly because he was a lizardman, the rest because handstand push-ups were quite difficult. Even more so when your weight was heavy. A quiet mumble came from him, one hundred and something while Druid Girl announced the pairs return. "Where do you even put all that food away?" He questioned as he went down then back up in a controlled manner. Archer Girl ordered a more normal amount of food. "Goat haunch." Came his grunted reply to the inn keeper.

After a moment he flipped and was on his feet looking at the pair of girls and came over. Despite exercising, he wasn't sweating at all. Probably just a reptile thing. He was noticeably warmer to be around though.

The various guests at the inn had various reactions, or lack thereof, when it came to the lizardman's sudden and seemingly random decision to train. Some looked on with befuddled confusion, while others glared in annoyance, some looked rather impressed and a few even cheered him on in their drunken stupor. A handful even applauded and whistled, shouting things like 'Way to go, scaley!' or 'Impressive, big guy!' once the big red hulk was done.

Upon hearing Big Red's comment about her seemingly unnatural large calorie-intake, the Druid puffed her cheeks and turned her head away with a cute 'hmph!', folding her arms under her chest.

"I-I just burn a lot of energy, that's all." Thoguh considering she was far less active and energetic than their Archer-friend, taht probably wasn't the case at all...

After receiving her meal, and with eyes alight with the joy of a child who'd just received a piece of candy, the nature-mage proceeded to scarf down her meal like a starving wolf. Upon finishing, she gave thanks to the innkeep and helped clear the table of her own and her friends' dishes, before finally going back to her room - which she now shared with her fellow female adventurer.

After a bit of girl-talk and less notable chit-chat, she eventurally went to sleep alongside her companion and would rest soundly and undisturbed for the entierty of the night. Apparently, the day's training had left her exhausted enough to not even need to wake up once to go use the bathroom. Then again, that was really more of an old folks-sort-of thing, right? Right!?

The night at the inn passed quickly, being quiet and uneventful as usual. No burgalrs tried to break into anyone else's room, no drunks came stumbling into the wrong place, and no fights broke out in the hallways. Just another nice, peaceful stay at the inn. Come morning, the druid was awake early as usual, just after the sun had begun to rise in fact.

"Morning, you." She said to her friend, quiet and softly, as she got up and began getting dressed for the day. "Let's have some breakfast before we head over to the guild. I'm sure they won't have posted any new jobs just yet."

Such was the casae. The Adventurer's Guild didn't put up new requests until a bit later in the morning, so as to give any adventurer present in the town the chance to wake up and have just as fair a shot at taking a certain job as someone who awoke early. It was a policy of fairness. Of course, many adventurers still didn't wake up until around noon regardless, especially in a sleepy, rural frontier-town like this. There weren't really any high-paying or particularly glorious quests, so most members tpok a relaxed and laid-back approach to their work.

... Except for the try-hards, or brand new recruits, of course... Those types would rush on over to the guild as soon as they got up and sit and wait until the postings went up. Probably in an attempt to get the pick of the litter. Luckily, Palisade Town didn't have that many adventurers to begin with, so there would always be some quest to do... Even if it was dull or had a low reward.

In any event, Druid Girl was now fully dressed and ready to face the day! With a smile on her face, she gently unlocked the door to her room, stepped outside and carefully shut it behind her - so as not to be rude to the other guests. She'd pass by Big Red's door, give a quick knock and half-whisper through one of the cracks along the side.

"Hey, big guy! I'm heading down for breakfast! See you there, okay?" Once her gargantuan crimson friend had been properly informed of her intent, she proceeded onwards, down the stairs and into the main inn-area.

Taking a seat at the counter, she'd wait. Just wait. The innkeep didn't seem to be up and around just yet, so there really wasn't anything else to do. No other guests seemed to have gotten up yet either, as the place was completely empty and void of patrons. Another slow, quiet morning in Palisade Town, yup.

The night was nice and so was the sleep, and the archer would awaken just in time to hear her companion say good morning. Or, maybe she would say that at any time. Anyways, up-time!

With not much to do save for go down and get some grub, the archer would wipe the sleep from her eyes and get dressed. Sleepily making her way down the stairs after locking their door. Wouldn't do to have someone snooping around while they weren't home. All kinds of creeps in town, as she'd learned from their noble who couldn't keep his pen where it belonged.

Plopping down beside the druid girl, she would yawn while covering her mouth, before saying: "If you want, we could go pick some fruit outside town. Might save us some money."