Hugh hoche la tête à Fiona, son attention étant détournée vers le ciel, observant les épais nuages bulbeux qui se forment, tout un gris foncé qui rend le jour plus sombre. La lumière s'estompait lentement et les gouttes ont commencé à tomber au-dessus.
Hugh a senti qu'ils reprenaient lentement le rythme, alors que la pluie a commencé à devenir plus forte et plus forte. Leur vision fut bientôt entravée par la pluie qui devint si épaisse, que tout le monde se mouille en quelques minutes. Hugh regarda tout simplement le sol, regardant le chemin au fur et à mesure qu'ils marchaient vers l'avant.
Il a toujours ressenti qu'il était étrangement thérapeutique de se tenir sous la pluie pendant qu'il se lava sur lui. Leur voyage fut bientôt aidé par un chant, puis un faisceau de lumière devant eux. Cela amenait Hugh à développer une vision de tunnel, car il se sentait légèrement plus chaud à l'idée que Sana serait là pour les attendre tous.
Il commençait à se soucier de moins en moins du fait qu'ils avaient un peu de mal à se parler, ou ce que ce sentiment lointain était. Il voulait juste regarder son visage à nouveau et sourire. Il voulait juste prendre ses traits et écouter sa voix pendant qu'elle parlait et chantait.
À mesure que leur chemin vers la lumière s'amenuisait, Hugh pouvait distinguer la forme qui les guidait. Ses traits semblaient se détendre plus ils se rapprochaient, il poussait vers l'avant à un rythme régulier. Il sentait un peu de morsure et un frisson du froid de temps en temps, mais il l'ébranlait et ça ne le dérangeait pas jusqu'à l'autre léger frisson.
Enfin, ils s'arrêtèrent tout comme le chant et la lumière, et Sana parla, ses paroles les réconfortant tous.
Là, Hugh s'assit debout sur Rodger, la pluie les imprégnant tous les deux. Il garda le regard sur Sana alors qu'elle lui donnait un sourire qui le rendait plus heureux. C'était le sourire sincère qu'il aimait. Il n'a jamais pu prendre un faux sourire, et ce n'était pas un faux sourire.
Hugh a tapé le cou de Rodger, "Merci encore, Rodger." Il s'est glissé du cheval, atterrissant avec une éclaboussure et un bruit, se penchant légèrement les genoux. Il s'est détourné de son cheval pour affronter Sana, un regard calme sur son visage.
Pendant un moment, il sourit, mais ça s'estompa alors qu'il commençait à penser à la douleur qu'elle traversait. Elle avait tout perdu; Hugh connaissait le sentiment bien trop bien. Il ne souhaite jamais ça à personne.
Il n'avait jamais connu ses parents, ni même s'il les avait eus. Il ne connaissait que la camaraderie de l'ordre, mais elle lui avait été enlevée en un instant. Sa seule famille. Quand il pensait avoir trouvé refuge et une vie paisible ailleurs, cela lui a aussi été enlevé.
Il connaissait la douleur et le désespoir plus que la personne ordinaire et avait vécu une vie qui se sentait comme une malédiction; une malédiction pour revivre encore et encore toute la douleur, comme la plaisanterie de Dieu bienveillant.
Il ne voulait pas que Sana le sente. Il ne voulait pas qu'elle traverse ça, mais il était trop tard. Elle était là, debout devant lui, lui montrant un sourire sincère et juste à quel point elle était forte.
"Je..." Il s'arrêta, son cœur battit un peu car il n'était pas sûr de ce qu'il fallait faire. "Je suis désolé..." Il a commencé, s'arrêtant à rassembler plus de mots. "Je suis désolée que tu aies dû tout perdre." Soupirant, un sullen glum regarde à travers son visage alors qu'il réfléchit sur la façon dont il avait complètement manqué comment elle lui avait dit hier au sujet de sa famille mourant. "Je suis désolée de n'avoir rien dit hier. C'est impardonnable et j'aurais dû le savoir mieux que de l'avoir laissé dans la poussière, et juste..." Pausant, son visage devenant plus sulten et déprimé regard, "...a ignoré votre douleur."
Hugh s'avança, mettant sa main sur son visage et traçant doucement les cicatrices sur sa joue et son cou. "Tu es belle." Il a dit, un sourire de contenu apparaissant soudainement sur son visage.
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.