Tonya
The horse-drawn carriage pulls its way up to the Astorian gates, the entrance to the city heavily guarded by the men whose job it is to keep the city safe. A noble and worthy cause for anyone inside the city walls, protecting ones home and territory is a commendable endeavor after all.

Danico, however, couldn't care less. He had more important things to attend to, the task at hand that is to follow would require a lot of preparation, a lot of time and energy to bring to fruition. Even though it is a job he can perform without question of his ability or his.. *Personal thoughts* On the situation, keeping someone's trust after showing you are capable of necromancy isn't an easy feat to accomplish. Danico simply hoped that the duchess would keep her side of the deal, keep it professional and not hold his questionable talents against him. 

The guards watched as the boy who drives the carriage *'ya's'* With a whip of the reins, ensuring the horses continue on route into the city, out into the city proper where he was supposed to meet a man, a man by the name of Eric, if he remembers correctly. Hopefully the escort would know to find Danico in the city proper. The Carriage should stand out just enough to draw attention to the Alchemist who stands at it's side, arms crossed. It is a week later, after all, on the day. 

At this point the inscence he put in his mask was beginning to run low- he had forgotten to grab some more and he didn't know if there was anywhere close by that sold any, so to say his mood was a little lackluster would be an understatement.
Daniel
22 visits to the Taemarian forests teach you a thing or two. One of them is that people actually don't need that much to survive if they put in a little elbow grease and a willingness to get your hands dirty. Of course, some things are needed to maintain one's concept of civility and humanity, but books can help with that.

"Back again? How many times is it now? 21? 22?" Asked a tanner as he allowed Eotum to step into his home. On his first visit here, it needed some adjusting especially when a tanner's workplace wasn't exactly the most pleasant places in terms of smell. Then again, 22 visits to the forest certainly teach you a thing or to, and it's that people can adapt; just give them time.

"23, actually." He corrected him, setting down his traveling bag on the other unoccupied bed that the tanner had. Luckily for him, no one stopped by this little village, so people were more willing to offer hospitality to the irregular traveler, but Eotum might be defying that statement as he is a common sight at this time of year.

"Well, I currently don't need any help at the moment, so just take a rest, yeah?" Said the tanner, wiping his hands on his greasy apron. "And how's your search for the Black Swan?"

The scholar could have sworn he heard an inkling of sarcasm as he asked that question. He didn't bother bringing it up as time has proved again and again: people will still think he's a kook until he finds them their proof. 


He's also learned that it's vital to keep connections open, but to only a few and far in between. So it would be in his best interest that he... Entertain the tanner's question, should he wish to have accommodation in the future for more expeditions. If anything, his presence alone was had increased the tanner's popularity in the small village as people would run to him when Eotum had left and pester him with questions over what the 'mad scholar' had said during his stay. 


He then supposed that people would be interested in a supposed lead. A red herring. Not that people would bother to debunk it either way, so they'd have to take his word for it.
Leon
The metallic smell of blood brought a deep concern towards Rekkan's well-being. She knew that his chances of surviving the state he was in decreased significantly the longer it took them to reach the village, so Marsila was forced to take the main paths. If she had detoured through the forests, the ride would have gotten rough on the wagon they rode in, especially on the two injured men. 

To their fortune, they encountered no Bandits nor bounty hunters on what was left of their journey to a small village. The trip was made possible when Priscilla began directing Marsila once they began to reach multiple fork paths until the shifter caught onto multiple scents, belonging to a large group of people. That was when she knew they were near. It didn't take them long until they reached a clearing with a small village settled into the middle.

Marsila tugged the reigns towards her, forcing the horses to halt in their path before resting the ropes beside her lap. Priscilla opened the door to the wagon and began to step out as Marsila made her way inside, immediately kneeling by Rekkan's side. She placed her hand against his bleeding wound, pressurising it as Priscilla left to find supplies and a possible place they could recover in. As she studied his appearance, her stomach dropped and she began to feel nauseous from the guilt. "Hold on in there."
David
Rekkan could hear it. He heard the sound of Marsila's voice and reacted with fluttering lids and pressure on his lips. He tried to reply, but his body was still strained and his conscience exhausted. There was but the slow regeneration of his soul through the gentle flicker of a faded flame, the kindling of light that was burning stronger, smoothly so, but it would recover. It was the first step of a long process, especially because he had been weakened greatly by the Frankenstein monster. He was lucky to have somehow survived, even if at the cost of a lot of spent energy.

The village wasn't very remote, used as one of the secondary checkpoints before crossing the borders of Astoria and North Feyshore, along with Ibethiel and Terresol. There were some traders and craftsmen passing by or using their services for travellers. Priscilla would have an easy time finding the goods and asking for help pertaining the wounded in the wagon. She would return with good news and some alcohol and bandages to apply on the spot for Rekkan, the worst looking one of the two.

"There is an old lady whose sons have left the village. She has the bedding to spare." She explained, overjoyed by sharing these news. It was just a matter of carrying the men there, but soon enough a group of farmers was enlisting themselves for it.
Daniel
"What's going on now?" Eotum asked, scratching his beard as he yawned. He had lied down and closed his eyes, but his slumber was interrupted by some voices coming outside.

The tanner looked out of the glass-less window and saw the commotion. He looked out for a moment before shrugging. "Looks like some people on a horse. And I think some of them got injured. Won't go out though. The others can take care of them. But I suppose I'll meet them tomorrow. They'll need to rest for a bit, from what I see."

...

Eh, why not?

The scholar stood up and grabbed his coat from the wall before pushing the door and stepping outside. Hands in his pockets, he walked over to the group and watched a woman help a man walk over to another house.

They did look quite battered and bloodied. Their clothes were singed and... Blackened, as if they had touched ash. Not to mention, he saw some burn marks. This promoted him to remember that he had some homemade ointment in his bag. Being a scholar does help in learning what is useful for medicine... Or poison. He wondered if the bird he was looking for was susceptible to poison.

Nonetheless, he went over to the tanner's home and got the small metal jar which contained the ointment. He then walked out again and saw them being carried over to some old lady's house. Pushing through the small crowd, he knocked on the door.
Leon
Marsila was thankful for the help they received, knowing that if she had attempted to move Rekkan alone, she could have made his injuries worse. The old lady who had so kindly welcomed the group into her home brought to Marsila some pants for Rekkan as he was still nude from the previous event. Priscilla and the shifter had no clothes with them as they rushed out of town so they were unable to do anything about Rekkan'a nudity. 

"Thankyou." The gratefulness in her tone hadn't been missed as the elderly woman gave the shifter a warm smile and replied that it was no trouble. The shifter was curious as to why the woman was being so hospitable to four strangers, especially since two of them were in an injured state.

"She's lonely. I don't think she was ready for her sons to depart from their homes." Priscilla explained as she strode towards the two beds the men laid upon with medical supplies in one hand and a bucket filled with water in the other. The confusion must have been detectable in Marsila's features. The shifter gave a simple nod before sitting herself besides Rekkan. She knew this man had placed himself in the danger they were in without any persuasion, but she could help but feel the guilt that flooded through her. As Priscilla handed her a soaked cloth from the bucket, Marsila didn't need to be told what was needed to be done as she immediately began to clean the ask and dirt from the Warrior's body.

Once she was finished cleaning his body, Marsila returned the cloth to the bucket before she wrapped her fingers around Rekkan's hand as it laid limp by his side. She did not care about his nudity, they wanted to avoid dressing him until the wounds were stitched and patched. 

"We are somewhere safe for now. This way you can rest and heal before we continue our trip." She wasn't sure if the male could hear her or not but she did not care. This was more for her peace of mind than anything as she spoke to the unconscious male. "At least since you're knocked out, you can't go injuring yourself some more."
David
With the help of the villagers, Rekkan was successfully carried without more pressure to his wounds. Once inside the house of the old woman, he was taken to the largest bedroom, which had two beds and plenty of space for Priscilla to do her work, contrast to the shack she lived in the town they had been previously at. The man's wounds started to be taken care of and, the more they were cleaned and mended, the faster the smaller blisters would heal. Water cooled him off and allowed the edges of his core to restructure the inner that had been damaged, thus granting an increased level of regeneration. It was far from being akin to that of a shapeshifter, but the medical treatment was helpful in bringing his consciousness back to the surface, if only a tiny percentage at a time.

Marsila had been a pillar that, without truly knowing, the wanderer leaned against. It was not his body that did this, but the spirit that burned chaotically so, only to find some peace in her voice and the soft skin of her hand. His ears indicated that his conscience was rousing. His eyes opened and pupils rolled up before being knocked right out. This would occur for a time until the man finally managed to resurface and see the world around him for the first time in what would have been too many hours for his body not to feel the stillness of his skin and stiffness of his muscles. The first thing that came to his mind was to squeeze the interlocked fingers that felt so warm and welcoming on his callused palm and rugged digits. His phalanxes clasped around the back of Marsila's hand. He remembered something about being safe, about being able to recover, but a headache rang hard in his head still. Rekkan raised his right hand to his forehead and rubbed the right flank, its temple. He clenched his eyelids and turned his head to the left, opening them to see Marsila.

"Did... I win...?"

Idiot. His lips barely able to stretch into that haughty smirk of his, Rekkan would try anyway, only to feel that pain of his seared flesh. He gazed down to see his nude body and everything that it entailed and raised his left brow. "Clothes... I need-" He was interrupted by Priscilla, who stood then at the other side of his bed and placed a wet and warm rag on his chest. "Rest, warrior. You need rest." She smiled gently at him. She was very sweet and still looked at him with the same shimmer of admiration, just like she would when looking at Marsila. They were her heroes, after all. The man did try to be stubborn, but his judgment had the better of him, influenced by the two girls at his sides. If anything, wasn't he lucky to have such attention? Such silly thoughts kept an aching smirk plastered on his face. It was only a few moments later that he looked down and to his left to see his hand and Marsila's intertwined. His thumb had been rubbing and gyrating on the back of her hand for some time, then stopping as he felt a slight embarrassed. "Huh... S-sorry.." He tried to pull his hand away, gently so, the first time to be seen in this state.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, in the living room, the old woman was walking to the door after it was knocked on. She held the handle and pulled, gazing at the man that probably visited the village more times than any other traveler. She gave Eotum a soft and elderly smile with a welcoming and wrinkled expression. "Hello. Is there something this old lady could help you with?" She asked with such a soothing, yet raspy voice of old age.