DnD-style roleplay!

[Nail Strafer]

As Augustine packed up his own things, he kept looking at how Chadin was doing. The trembling hand and the ears nervously flicking around worried him. Was it just in his species' nature to be more jittery about picking fights, or was it something else?

"Chadin... I've got to ask. You ever killed anyone before?"

Geoffrey suddenly whirled around at that sentence, looking at Augustine with his mouth slightly ajar. He supposed it wasn't surprising Augustine or Chadin would do something like that, with the weapons they carried. However he simply never thought of the two as killers, until Augustine asked that question.

Meanwhile, Augustine continued putting things in his pack as if he'd just asked a question about the weather.

He looked confident in the thick of it, but the post fight guilt could be a problem later if Wolfie's prediction turns out to be right.

[Chadin]

"I have, only a few times mercifully, but I killed them only in self-defense. I've been in several fights before, but it never gets any easier to deal with. My parents knew that as a guide I'd likely find myself in a fight, so they made sure I'd be prepared to defend myself. My father taught to never hesitate. If the situation demands greater force, then I use greater force; no hesitation. Mother always told me that if I or those around me are threatened with violence, then I am absolutely justified using violence if no peaceful means to resolve the fight exists. They both drilled those lessons into me well, but even so, I've never really had a stomach for fighting. My parents both saw this, but they taught me to put those feelings aside in the heat of the moment; such emotions are unnecessary distractions so long as your life is in danger."

[Nail Strafer]

"I can see why your parents felt that way. It's like you're two different people. I don't think I've run into anyone who switches on and off like that when it comes to fighting."

By this point he'd finished up with his sack. Augustine started heaping dirt on top of their fire to put it out, since they didn't have very much water with them and they needed to conserve it.

"For a minute, I was worried that was the first time you came close to killing anyone. But as long as you don't act like that during a fight I'm okay with it. Like you can see I'm a bit more casual about the whole violence thing, but well...that's what my ancestors had to do to get their food. It's business as usual."

Now they were standing in darkness as the fire spluttered out, but it didn't bother Augustine that much. He had the eyes for this kind of darkness after all. However, he saw that Geoffrey looked a little timid as the light died down.

"Don't worry Geoffrey," Augustine said, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be light soon. As long as we stick to the highway we shouldn't have to worry about bandits. They're cowards after all, and hate witnesses."

[Rampage]

"Yes, for my kind, killing isn't in our nature. We fight until our enemy is unable to continue attacking, then we leave. Killing is generally only a consequence of chance or desperation." Chadin nodded his head at Augustine's statement. Chadin may have been raised to be cold and calculating in a fight, but such an attitude didn't suit his personality outside of fighting, nor did he have any stomach for a more combat-orientated career. He preferred to compartmentalize his warrior's side, allowing him to enjoy a peaceful life, while keeping it close at hand when needed.

"We should get moving, hopefully we'll be able to put a few miles behind us by morning, then we can stop and rest a while." Chadin urged as he hefted his small ruck sack over his shoulder and clutched his bow in his free hand.

[Nail Strafer]

"OK, everyone ready?"

Augustine looked over to Geoffrey, who nodded in the darkness. Chadin looked ready too, as he had his ruck sack over his back and his weapon in hand. With that, Augustine took the lead on the pathway, with his night vision showing him the way. Up ahead, they could see the sky at the edge of the horizon starting to change from dark blue to a lighter shade. Sun rise would be coming along in a couple of hours.

It was then that Augustine realized Geoffrey hadn't said much of anything since the fight. He'd gone very quiet. Maybe now was a good time to have a little chat with him. The hybrid allowed Chadin to take the lead, while he slowed up a bit and offered a hand to the human. Even though it was dark, Geoffrey apparently could still make out the gesture in the darkness and took it.

"Are you okay?"

Geoffrey looked down at the ground as he walked. "I'm...I may be a doctor and I see horrific injuries, but I've never been on a battlefield or in the middle of a fight before. It's different seeing what causes the injuries in the first place."

"I suppose so. But don't feel too bad about those guys. They were bad people." He gave Geoffrey a reassuring pat on the back.

Geoffrey stayed silent for an uncomfortably long pause, as he looked at Augustine before turning his eyes back to the road. "I think it's more like misguided."

"Misguided?" Augustine scoffed, smiling incredulously. He was glad the expression on his face couldn't be seen by the human in the dark. Augustine still wasn't over the fact that he still tried to help that Wolf even after directly threatening his life.

"They were probably just raised that way to hate humans. If they'd been raised the same as you two, I bet they'd have no problems with me. Don't you agree Chadin?"

[Chadin]

"Perhaps." Chadin answered curtly from his place at the lead as he brushed aside a high branch over hanging the path that threatened to become entangled in his prominent antlers.

"It is possible they were raised in an home that festered such bigotry. It's equally possible they have personally witnessed such acts of bigotry upon themselves or another of our kind and become bitter and intolerant. They could also be desperate parents seeking food for their children. But such thoughts matter little when you or another's life is in danger. They are distractions. Empathy clouds the mind and slows the body. I'd just as soon not speculate upon the path that brought my assailant down upon me; at least, not until the danger is past."

"You actually surprise me, Geoffrey. Most humans I meet that frequent the roads are as... neutral as you. Most are hardened, weathered individuals. You are still smooth and polished. For your sake I hope we can avoid any more encounters like the last that would... weather your out look on life."

[Nail Strafer]

Geoffrey smiled with pride at Chadin's remarks.

"I'm glad you say I try to maintain neutrality. It's not as hard as you think it is. Most people, human and beast alike, usually stop insulting you once they realize that you really are trying to save their life. Even for a moron it's hard to insult and argue against that. Of course you do run into the odd stubborn one. That wolf's probably set a record for stubbornness out of all the patients in my career. But this old man is pretty stubborn too and set in his ways now."

He laughed as he beat his own chest. They walked on for another hour.

Looking far off into the distance, the trio would see the twinkle of small fires in the distance. Outlines of buildings came into focus as the sky turned brighter and brighter behind them. Geoffrey squinted and held a hand over his eyes to see farther. "Is that Provenan over there?"

"Yeah...I think it is," Augustine said, as he too stopped to take a long range look. "If I knew we were this close, I would have just kept walking instead of stopping to camp."

A large forested hill loomed over the small hamlet. However, someone had cleared away the trees on the side facing the town to make room for a large yard and garden. Over all of this stood a grand two-story manor, built in brown stones and with a crimson-tiled roof. No doubt that was the Lanigiro Manor.

"What do you think?" Augustine turned to the other two. "Want to rest in the inn for a bit before we go to the manor? Assuming anyone's awake to take us in and there's space, that is."

[Chadin]

Chadin gazed at the scene before him and chewed on his lip in thought. After a moment's pause, Chadin shook his head. "Hmm. No. I'm not sure I'd like to risk any more confrontations if that thief was right about this town being so anti-human. You know this place better than I do. Head up to the manor and see if anyone there is awake and inform them the doctor is here. We'll wait for you here, just off the road. With any luck, we can rest there instead of a more public place like the local inn."

[Nail Strafer]

Nail mulled over the plan.

"Okay, I'll go do it then. I just hope no one up at the manor minds if I wake them up so early. See you after while."

And with that, the hybrid hurried down the path towards Provenan.

Since it was so early, the town was fairly quiet. Aside from some farm laborers on their way to the fields outside of the hamlet, he didn't see any people out and about. It looked basically the way he remembered it from before. Huge trees towered over most of the buildings. If people hadn't lit fires and torches for light, the town would largely blend into the forest at night time. In fact it still felt like night as he strolled down the streets, because of the shade.

While it was too far off the beaten path to call home for him, Augustine imagined it'd be a great place to raise a family. Most beast folk loved the woods since that's where most people's ancestors came from. It just felt right to be out here, and it blended the best parts of being in the forest with civilization. Alas, Augustine needed to live closer to human towns to find work with humans. A pity, really.

He passed through the town without much incident.

---

Meanwhile, Geoffrey waited with Chadin beside the road. The silence made him uncomfortable, so he pondered subjects to talk about. However, the thought of being in what was puported to be the first beast folk settlement raised a question in his mind.

"Chadin...I have to ask. Have you ever wondered why your kind appeared? Why some of the regular animals decided they wanted to stand up and act like humans? Why they decided to build a town like this? It's just about as puzzling as where regular humans came from, really. We have religions to explain the origins of mankind of course, but in the end they're still man-made constructs and I don't think they're adequate explanations."

[Chadin]

Chadin leaned up against a tall birch tree as his eyes and ears kept wary vigilance against any unseen threats. He pulled his cloak tighter to his chest as a chilly breeze kicked up.

Quote:"Chadin...I have to ask. Have you ever wondered why your kind appeared? Why some of the regular animals decided they wanted to stand up and act like humans? Why they decided to build a town like this? It's just about as puzzling as where regular humans came from, really. We have religions to explain the origins of mankind of course, but in the end they're still man-made constructs and I don't think they're adequate explanations."

Chadin snorted a hot blast of air out his nose and cast a hard gaze at Geoffrey. "Why we chose to walk like humans? Who is to say we did not walk on our hind legs first and you copied us!" It was an old bit of prejudice that Chadin had never fully grown out of. All too often in his dealings with humans they believed themselves superior to the beast-folk because they were 'The First' to do this, or "The First" to do that. It was an old prejudice, and one that knowingly contradicted his current outlook.

Chadin's gaze softened as he realized his own out burst and sighed, puffing out a small cloud of steam from his mouth and nostril. My apologies. I didn't mean to lash out like that."

Chadin looked out towards the flickering torch lights of Provenan as he contemplated a more significant response. "I hardly think it was as simple as we decided one day to stand up and walk on our hind legs, Geoffrey. If that were so, than I imagine every hind you hunted and tried to kill would stand up and bring you low instead. We are all shaped by those who came before us. My parents gave me the skills to survive to another day, and their parents before them did the same. Who's to say when or how it happened. It merely did. It makes no difference which of us was first, it is already done. Listening to some humans, though, you'd think that your kind were the first to achieve everything, and that somehow it makes you more important than any other who are capable of the very same feats. Those humans... irritate me. But I should not have taken it out on you."