Druid Girl followed her big, red and scaly comrade as he made way into the exterior of the brush on the northern side of the road. There was nothing particularly noteworthy, apart from a few specks of brown that shouldn't have been present on some of the greenery. However, once they came upon the corpse of the poor
unfortunate woman, the dark skinned girl let out a surprised and horrified gasp, quickly clasping her hand over her own mouth to silence the outburst - in case whoever had done this was still nearby.
The little pixie on her shoulder sprung off and flew down to the body, circling it overhead at first, then gently touching down on the cold body. It was a horrific sight indeed. The poor woman's clothes had been ripped and torn in numerous locations, her body was covered in cuts, bruises and puncturings, while her face was distorted into a horrible, frozen mask of fear, pain and despair. Her rather ample busom was also spilling out of her torn shirt, and would have been rather impressive, were it not for them too being covered in small wouds and dried blood.
The druid turned her head away and stifled a slight gag. She had seen dead humans before, both at funerals and otherwise... But
this, this was the first time she had seen someone in such a wretched, mangled state. Not only was it horrible and upsetting, but also frightening and unnerving to think someone, or something, could do this sort of awful, atrocious thing. When her lizard friend began to walk back to the road though, she almost called out to stop him... But the girl resisted the urge.
They had no tools on them, or in the wagon, to dig a grave, nor did she know any earth-moving spells as of yet. Gathering wood to build a pyre would also take too long and waste a lot of the day, not to mention risk drawing the attention of who or whatever had originally done this back to their location. As cruel and sad as ut was, they could do nothing for this poor, mid-thirties woman. Well, except the very least of things. Stepping over to the corpse, Druid Girl knelt down and gently closed the dead lady's eyelids, as well as pushing her agape jaw shut. She looked at this person, who she had never seen or met before in her life, and felt her eyes water a bit.
Eventually, after what seemed like a long time but was actually less than a minute, she rose up and started following after her burly companion. As they returned, they would find that Stppe Archer had been good on her word, keeping a watchful eye over both their wagon and their employer. Speaking of their employer, the farmer had a twitchy, fidgety air about him once they came back, as if he was sitting on neeldes and his skin had started crawling.
"W-well, wha'cha find?" He asked nervously.
"A ... A dead woman." Druid Girl replied.
"Whassat ya say?" The farmer asked, eyes going wide with surprise.
"There was a dead woman... It looked like she'd been... Tortured... And possibly violated as well." The druid's head sunk a bit and her face became full of sorrow.
".. But ya didn't find anythin' else? No signs of them who what did it?"
"No, nobody showed themselves, and I didn't feel like looking around there, after seeing the sorry state she was in."
The farmer let out a long breath of air, as if he had been holding it in up until now. Leaning back in his seat, he looked up at the sky above, scratching his chin and cheek in thoughtful contemplation, or so it would seem at least. The man then looked down from his seat at both the lizard and the druid, a strangely concerned look on his face.
"Ya alright leavin' her like this then?"
"We don't have time, or the tools, to give her a proper burial. And building a pyre might lure back whoever attacked her in the first place."
"So, you just leavin' her here to get eaten by wolves'n maggots?"
"
It's not like I want to!" The druid replied, uncharacterisically angry and loud, before her shoulders slumped and she put a hand on her own forehead.
"Sorry, that was a unfair o' me." The farmer apologized, sincerely too.
"No, it's... It's fine... Can we just please keep going?"
As she said that, the girl climbed back into the wagon, her eyes having a certain shadow cast over them and her usual bright smile and sunny eyes replaced by a melancholic and saddened expression that wasn't quite her typical disposition. Still, the girl was young and seeing something terrible like this was as good a reason as any to be both upset and sad, even if it had nothing to do with her personally. The farmer made sure to ask Big Red if he was ready to go as well, before cracking the reins and ushering the old mare to once again start on the path.
The rest of their trip would feel like it took forever. A gloomy silence hung over the party as they slowly rolled along the countryside. Eventually though, they could begin to spot the outline of buildings in the far distance, as well as notice fields of golden wheat stalks spring up alongside the road as they got closer and closer. The sun was yet high in the sky, although past noon at this point, and though some clouds came and went, the weather was still nice and fair. As the view of his home drew ever closer, the farmer let slip a toothy grin.
"Ain't far now, youngsters!" He called, a peppy cheer that seemed to have washed away his somber attitude from before. Then again, anyone who managed to get home safely would likely react in a similar fashion, right?
From here on though, there'd just be a straight, albeit bumpy, shot straight to the farm. A series of wooden buildings, a silo, a fence and a shack. The typical things for a farm to have. Simple, rustic and largely unimpressive. Still, it seemed they would be able to complete the first quest without any unpleasant hic-ups from here on.