The Corpse
It was a dark night, the tall, dark figure decided as he peered up into the sky. Most nights, he could just barely make out faded, distant points of light in the sky - he wracked his mind for their word for a moment. Stars. Most nights, when he looked up, they were up there, quivering out of the blackness. But not tonight, so tonight must be an exceptionally dark night.
It must also have been raining. Yes, that was water falling on his grey skin, soaking his clothes, running in rivulets down his limbs. He could feel it, when he focused on it - the pitter patter of raindrops on his head. It reminded him of something lost to the ages. From when he was alive.
He took a step, then another one. He'd paused his pace for a moment, as he'd been weighing the limited sensory information from the outside world. He wasn't blind, or deaf, or anything like that. Everything was just... muted. Like he saw the world from the end of a long, dark tunnel, and half the color was drained out of it. His hearing was like his head was submerged with water, and he felt things as though through several layers of... something. At least, that's what it seemed like, compared to what few memories he had of... before.
Gradually, Oscar regained the shambling gait that defined his existence. Always walking.
There was something in the distance, a pale, flickering light. Like a star. But stars were always way up there, and this was down here... not a star, then. A fire? The corpse began to move towards it without really knowing why.
As he drew closer, he began to hear noises. Voices. There were people, and they were saying something - but their words were still too distant for their meaning to penetrate the numbness in his brain. Closer.
Before he knew it, he'd stepped out of some bushes and into the cave, making quite a racket as he did so. He jerked his head around, trying to study each figure in turn. An elf, a shirtless man, a goblin, a girl with strange, bright hair, an angry woman, a dwarf, and old grey man...
They were armed. Oscar hoped they wouldn't try to hurt him. He hated when people tried to hurt him. His efforts to stop similar situations had never really worked but it might be worth trying. He cleared his throat loudly, and rumbled through broken teeth. "I... am... Oscar. I will not hurt you."
The Thief
Tobias rose and handed his shirt to Sana, doing his honest, level best not to eye Fiona as he did so. "Tie this up too. I'll keep the pants - wouldn't want any of you ladies to be too tempted." He was just turning back to sit by the fire when a racket exploded into the cave.
Two things were instantly clear about the figure - it was a dwarf, and it was loud. A second later, Tobias became pretty sure it was a woman, judging by the lack of beard. Sana and the dwarf instantly went off on each other, and Tobias felt compelled to intervene before any eyes ended up on arrows.
"Easy, Sana," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder (hoping neither she nor Hugh would stab him for touching her as she was undressed). "We've got plenty to go around, right?" He tried to make eye contact with the woman, hoping to stare a silent message into her. The dwarf might be dangerous, and pissing her off won't make her less so. "You're a traveler, right? Isn't there some sort of... road hospitality rule?"
He turned to the dwarf and bowed sharply. "Apologies for the roughness, Lady Dwarf. We are the humble adventuring band known as the... Cinder Seekers. My name is Tobias, the group's pretty face. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Just then, a new figure arrived. It walked like a person, but one glance at its gray skin, white eyes and tattered clothes made the thief certain it was not one. The monster said something, but Tobias wasn't listening.
The rogue sprang back and grabbed Fiona, interposing the girl between himself and the new arrival. "It's a zombie! Kill it, kill it with fire!"
