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"Traveling" (Near Radat) The trio had set out early in the morning, much to Hannah's insistence…and had left the shelter of the forest behind many hours ago. It was sometime in the late afternoon when Richi, panting, dropped to the ground on his knees. "I'm tired!" the small boy complained, causing his sister and Hannah to take notice that he had stopped. The woman sighed and glanced from the boy over to Sudda. Both of them had very little traveling experience, and were looking rather exhausted. Pushing them forward at the moment would be too much of a strain on their bodies… She nodded and stopped walking as well, "We can rest for a little while." She told Richi, although the girl standing nearby also looked quite relieved at the notion. Carefully sitting cross-legged on the grass, Hannah cast a wary look at their surroundings. So far, there hadn't been any monster attacks, but she wasn't taking any chances. Often enough, fields were the favorite hiding spots for all sorts of creatures, as well as some of the more troublesome types of humans. She didn't want to spend any more time here than necessary, especially considering that they might be able to make it to Radat Town today. "Are we almost there?" The blunt question caused her to turn her head back in the children's direction, only to find Richi looking at her questioningly. Sudda laughed at this, wrapping an arm around her brother's shoulders, "Richi! Tinto City's really far away…" "I know that!" the nine-year-old looked up at her in indignation, "I meant…are we almost near that one place? What's it called…Raa…" "Radat Town." Hannah told him, "It's still a good ways off, but we should make it there by nightfall." "Is that the place with the bridge?" dark eyes gleamed excitedly. When his sister made no response to this, Hannah slowly nodded her head. "And…are we gonna cross it?" Again, she responded with a slow nod. "Cool!" Richi jumped up at this, forgetting how tired he had been just moments before, and jostled Sudda's arm. She looked a little surprised and lowered it to the ground as she watched the boy jump up and down, once again filled with youthful energy. The brown cloth wrapped around part of the upper arm made Hannah remember something. "Sudda…" she said, "How has your arm been feeling?" she had meant to get the girl checked up on earlier in Ryube, but then… The girl looked down at the cloth for a moment and shrugged, "It's all right. I haven't moved it around too much, so…" "Do you want to have someone check on it in Radat?" Surprisingly, Sudda's eyes widened at the comment and she shook her head, "I…uh…I'd rather not, Miss Hannah. I don't want to be a burden to anyone…and besides, I think it's going to be fine." "All right. If it gets any worse…" The girl smiled nervously, "Don't worry, Miss Hannah, I'll tell you." She nodded, saying nothing else. The wind blew past them, and Hannah's eyes traveled down to the grass. As the blades moved rhythmically in the breeze, memories returned to her…of when she had been a small child, and her father had taken her out hunting… A yelp of surprise caught her off-guard and Hannah quickly got to her feet, her hand moving instinctively to the sword hilt at her waist. Sudda was also up, her eyes wide with fear, "Richi!" The boy was running towards them now, tripping and falling onto the ground, then getting up and running once again. He ran over to his sister, wrapping his arms around her waist, "There's a…a deer over there and…and…" his words became incoherent, and he shuddered, holding onto Sudda tightly. She said nothing, glancing over at Hannah nervously before trying to comfort her younger sibling. Quietly, Hannah removed her sword from its hilt and headed off in the direction Richi had been going in. Her brown eyes narrowed as she moved through the grass, keeping her gaze low and at the ground. It didn't take her long to spot the faint traces of something wet against the dirt and the almost purplish tinge that covered the shorter blades of grass. Blood, as well as crushed in grass and snapped twigs. Some kind of struggle had gone on here…and she was certain that the end result of that struggle was something she had seen before. Flies were converging on a spot several feet away, and, as she approached, the smell of rotting meat filled her nostrils. The blood that was dripping from the creature's ripped open stomach, however, was just now drying. 'A fresh kill…' Hannah grimaced, bending down to get a closer look. There were several cuts running across the deer's body. But the wound that had caused its death was definitely the stomach one. Something had cut open its belly in a very jagged fashion (so she knew it wasn't a sword, which would have made a clean cut) and then the animal had been gutted. Bits of entrails were left on the ground that the attacker had forgotten to finish off or take with him. Her gaze traveled up the slender throat of the creature, to its face. Its eyes were open, glazed over with a frozen look of pain. She felt a twinge of sympathy for the deer…it had not been a pleasant way to go, especially after putting up what had probably been a huge fight. 'But what can an animal do against a monster in the long run?' she thought, reluctantly turning back around to go to the children. As she approached them, she still kept her sword gripped tightly in her hand, "A monster killed the deer," she told Richi and Sudda, "And it was a recent attack too. We should get moving again." Sudda nodded and her brother reluctantly let go of her. His face was a bit paler than before, but he swallowed and followed his two older traveling companions as they started their walk again. Hannah kept her sword out as they walked, her eyes glancing in any direction she thought she saw movement in. She was NOT going to let what happened to the deer happen to either herself or Sudda and Richi. They would stay on the move until they reached Radat Town. …And, with any luck, they would end up getting there without incident.
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