Hugh sentit la pluie rendre sa peau tendre au toucher, la rendant rose et ridée. Il sentit les gouttes d'eau se recueillir dans ses cheveux et s'égoutter sur son visage. L'eau ne l'a plus fait trembler, comme il se tenait là avec Sana. Il ressentait le désespoir d'avoir à faire face à ces visions qu'il allait souffrir, mettant une telle distance de Sana et lui. Il s'est souvenu de la difficulté de se réveiller dans les sueurs nocturnes des cauchemars qu'il ne pouvait échapper assez vite.
Il aurait fait n'importe quoi pour être libre de son esprit chargé juste pour avoir une relation pleine et entière avec Sana et vivre comme si tant de mal ne s'était pas passé. Il pourrait toujours sentir cette séparation, mais c'était quelque chose qu'il n'arrêterait jamais de se battre pour s'assurer qu'il et Sana étaient ensemble.
C'était une chose de combattre les démons qui sont venus causer des dommages physiques, mais quand ils sont venus de l'esprit de Hugh et l'ont mis dans son propre enfer, ce n'était pas une bataille si simple.
Ses mots le piqueraient comme des milliers d'aiguilles. Il voulait juste qu'ils n'aient pas à se battre dans ce vide. Il ne voulait pas qu'elle vive dans l'ombre de son passé, mais il n'avait pas choisi tout ce qui lui était arrivé; tout s'était passé, qu'il le voulait ou non. Tout ce qu'il pouvait faire, c'était décider quoi faire du temps qui a été donné.
Il ne faudrait pas beaucoup de délibération pour comprendre ce qu'il fallait faire de ce temps; il voulait le passer avec Sana, même s'il y avait ce fardeau qu'il apportait. Il continuerait à se battre. Bien que cela ait affecté ses habitudes, l'alcool lourd, au point où cela ne l'a plus affecté et il n'a même pas senti un bourdonnement de quantités d'alcool qui battraient d'autres personnes. C'était en soi une étrange bénédiction. Il avait commencé à boire il y a longtemps, avant de souffrir de ses chutes.
Fumer avait été une autre habitude qui l'a aidé à faire face, mais il fumait pour le plaisir, pas seulement pour effacer le stress. S'il faisait plus de choses pour effacer la douleur, il serait faible. Il devait s'en occuper et l'affronter.
Hugh a serré son corps contre le sien, absorbant tout ce qu'elle a dit. Tout ce qu'elle a dit était vrai, mais il l'aimait profondément et se souciait d'elle. Il n'allait pas laisser une chose stupide comme des cauchemars du passé l'éloigner de son côté.
Il n'y avait rien de plus qu'il ne pouvait dire en se tenant contre lui. Il voulait qu'elle sache juste par ses actions qu'il l'aimait et qu'il ferait ce qu'il fallait pour combattre devant ses démons. À ce moment-là, il y avait une douleur à Sana que Hugh ne savait pas guérir.
Quand elle s'est retirée, elle a laissé tomber une énorme surprise sur lui; la nouvelle qu'Ariana était en fait liée à elle. Il ne pouvait s'empêcher d'être d'accord avec elle sur la façon dont ils ne pouvaient pas forcer Ariana à les considérer comme des parents. Il ne voulait pas non plus qu'elle les voit comme des parents, car c'était cruel pour elle.
"Je suis avec toi là-dessus. Elle devrait savoir qui tu es pour elle." Il a dit, hurlant, et montrant son accord.
Name: Hugh Van Halder
Age: 45
Alignment: Neutral Good
Race: Human
Class: Fighter, Ex-Paladin
Appearance/Clohing:

He stands at 6'2", a tower of years of built up muscle. He wears a dark earthen blue tunic over a white linen three button pullover shirt. He wears a pair of black shorts(under his pants) and a pair of dark gray hosen(medieval style pants). He'll wear a chain mail shirt and these pauldrons

additionally he'll wear leather knee and shin armor.
He wears a small gray hood and a bear fur cloak.
Skills: He is a good brawler and can fight with anything he can get his hands on(He's used bed rolls before). Horseback riding. Swordfighting, throwing axes, and two handed weapon fighting. He's been able to use crossbows before, but despises them, as they are delicate and take a lot of work just to reload. Bushcraft and survival stuff. Smoking(if that qualifies as a skill). Some cooking.
Natural Abilities: He's strong and durable and can take a lot of beatings. He's pretty much a tank. He can drink a lot of alcohol and only get buzzed. Otherwise, he's just a normal human.
Magic Spells: N/A
Additional Information: He is in a relationship with Sana Rawn. He has a draft horse, named Rodger.
Weapons: He wields a large crude looking battle axe and a falchion. Additionally, he has one small crude throwing axe.
Possessions: A rucksack with jerky, bread, cheese, rags, spark rocks(basically one is made of magnesium), rope, ladle, cooking knife, two plates, and tobacco. He also has saddle bags on his horse, which he stores his pipe, more tobacco, sugar cubes, a brush, a stick and bow(which he uses for lighting his pipe), and a few salt licks. He has two water skins. One he keeps on his horse, and one on his person or in rucksack. Additionally he has a pot and a frying pan strapped down to the outside of his rucksack. He also wears a ring on a little chain around his neck and he never seems to take it off, as it was given to him by Sana.
Personality: He is a more contented man, liking simple things in life, especially enjoying smoking his pipe with a wonderful scenery, usually in the form of a beautiful day and his love, Sana. He has a more realistic attitude towards the world, not being an idealist, only doing things to help. He has great respect for the natural order of things, and you won't find him trying to seek out revenge. He still has a fiery temper when it is stoked enough to come out.
History: Hugh was once part of a great order of paladins. They had much land and ruled with wisdom. Their lands were prosperous and fertile. Many were jealous of their lands, but no one had the courage enough to take on the great and Noble order. Their paladins were fierce and formidable fighters. They all stood higher than 6' and were towers of muscle. They were truly terrifying men. But they were brought down under scandal. Fabricated accusations about them stealing their riches and enslaving other groups of people for labor. The scandals kept growing until they were set upon by every surrounding nation. They stood no chance. Many were killed, only a few escaped.
They have been long since forgotten, after being hunted for almost two decades, and killed off, until it was concluded that they were finally extinct. Hugh hid among tribes of barbarians to survive. The tribe was good to him, making him one of their own. He had built a life of simplicity. Some warring between other tribes would often end with them being brutalized and then integrated. Hugh had found love in a woman taken from one of the defeated tribes. He had a few sons and lived very happily with her, until they were set upon by a purge of the "savages".
Hugh's tribe was wiped out and he was orphaned once again. He had brutally killed all the "civilized" army he could, but it was too late. His tribe was all gone, along with his family.
He became a wanderer, and left to find life as a mercenary. In that life, he found an adventure awaiting him in a tavern. The tavern was filled with life, when he came in and joined up with a questing group. There he met a gypsy woman by the name of Sana. He got to know her going on this random little adventure with this party. It was all rather simple and jovial at first, until they were all taken captive by a lich. This lich tried to take Sana from them, and in that moment Hugh only felt desperation and rage.
He had slowly begun to realize that he had fallen in love with Sana, and that if he lost her nothing would change about his existence as a wandering mercenary, and he would simply keep losing people he deeply cared about. So he took a chance at love, and broke out of his cage in a fit of rage. He fought like a lion to get to Sana, finally winning out(love triumphs over all!) against the hordes of undead after his party came to his aid.
Since then, he's been a contented old soul, taking care of Sana and showing her his love for her, even though he has never said the words.