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Kerik took the opportunity to wink when Katja grabbed his jaw, chewing on the gag when it was pushed between his teeth to secure it there. He looked up at Drake when the knight turned away and nodded his head up, as if urging him to proceed.

Tara fully expected that turn of events but gave the knight a wary look before turning to leave the tent. She could tolerate some cruelty but she didn't need to like it. Perhaps the look was not as sharp as she'd thought, though, as she was thinking of alternate ways to make Kerik speak. "Assuming he survives."

When they had left the tent, Drake let out a sigh and walked away from the outlaw, sitting down on a crate; it creaked beneath his weight as he stared at Kerik, "You really gotta make my life hard, huh?"

"Drake knows not to kill him. He's going to get a shot at redemption." Katja nodded a bit, "Until then he lives. The doctor will heal him."

Marcello didn't look too pleased either, his tail sticking close to his legs as he followed them.

The bloodied brigand shrugged at Drake, quirking an eyebrow at him. He was a bit more restless when the half-orc sat down than when they were interrogating him but couldn't comment on it either way. The man folded his legs up against his torso while he waited for the militiaman to continue.

Tara looked at Katja while she spoke, fidgeting a bit. "...Odd man." Part of her wanted to supply that the captive bandit didn't seem to care for his own life but with the tongue incident that seemed to be obvious. Then she realized there was an opportunity to do something she'd wanted to do earlier but didn't have a chance to do. The warrior turned to Marcello and started with a small, "Hey. I'm sorry about what happened last night."

Drake...really didn't look like he planned on doing much of anything, really. He just folded his hands in his lap, and watched Kerik. It was mildly creepy.

"O-Oh, it's fine!" Marcello laughed a bit, rubbing his neck, "Really it was all my fault, Had I not put so much effort into concealing my identity when we crossed the circle, there wouldn't have been such a violent reaction."

Kerik watched Drake for a while before lowering his head onto his raised knees, shutting his eyes. He didn't intend to sleep but was hoping to rest a bit; despite his blatant defiance he still felt unwell. In the following quiet he listened to his heart and the painful echo it sent through his head; the noise softened but the pain didn't. To soften the feeling he thought a bit about his seemingly inevitable demise and how much booze there might be in the afterlife.

Tara smiled when Marcello laughed; it helped to break the ice she'd perceived. "You had reason to be nervous. We're both visitors in this camp. Didn't really know what to expect but... it was a familiar feeling, when I brought your hand across. Reminds me of someone else I knew."

"Is that a camp ahead?"

"Looks like it...."

" ...... Shall we visit it and see if there is anyone there?"

"There is a camp there... why wouldn't there be people there? Do you really think someone would just set up a camp then just leave it all alone?"

"Well someone like us could have already visited."

"After all this time travelling how can you still be under the impression that the population of psychotic murderers is that high?"

The first voice spoke with complete youthful innocence "Well everyone I came across mostly tried to kill me."

The second voice when it replied was terse and impatient "How many times do I have go through this... you were a lich... What did you think they were gonna do?"

The first voice laughed merrily, "Oh Tom come on! You should know by now that I'm teasing you. I know we are easily more deadly than them."

Slowly the little child approached the camp, his slow measured step becoming a hobbling limp as he approached the collection of buildings. A stick quickly transferred from the ground to his hands and became a crutch for the boy to put his weight on as he limped along on. A few seconds later and his face and clothing became stained with grime and the mud of travelling a long distance on foot.

Hoarsely and with a voice on the edge of breaking in pain the child began calling out. "Help! Please!" This was all he managed to get out before breaking down into sobs. Soon bitter tears were trickling down his cheeks, staining the grime and dirt which covered the youthful face. No tears escaped the left eye however which was thickly covered in badly applied bandages .

Katja turned when she heard the voice, the woman putting a hand out, "Hold on, ill handle this." She jogged towards the child, stepping through the protective circle that encased the camp and kneeling in front of the boy. Her eyes were full of concern as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Here, is everything okay? What're you doing out here in these woods, this is a dangerous place for a child. Are your parents around?" She looked around for a moment, trying to see if she could see anyone else.

Marcello would've responded, but he was turned in the direction Katja went. The cambion was wrinkling his nose, his tail no longer swishing around behind him; besides for the occasional twitch, it didn't move. He felt like something was off, he didnt like the feeling in his stomach.

Tara gave the knight a nod and watched her jog to the boy; she didn't have the specific intuition that Marcello had but felt anxiety at the sight of the seemingly injured child regardless. Since she couldn't see Tom well when Sauer closed the gap she chose on a whim to glance at the Cambion, noticing his posture shift and frowned. She didn't have the exact same suspicion but it put her on edge.

"You've got one coming for you already... you have got good at this."

"Why thank you, we have been training to do this for a while. Besides it's not all that hard to fake."

"I know, the last opponent was a little bit too much ... even for us."

"It's my punishment for allowing sentiment to get the better of me."

"So... what now?"

"....... let's play along for now. See what's going on."

The young boy looked up at the woman who had come to help him, the only visible eye was tinged with fear as another tear trickled down his face mixing with the rest of the grime and dirt. Little arms stretched outwards and wrapped themselves around Katja, trying to pull her into a hug. "Parents...? They.... they didn't make it..... Papa told me to run and I did....."

The voice trailed off as they young boy's voice faltered and cracked. The tears overwhelming him for a second. "It ... it hurts..."

Katja hadn't had children of her own, nor did she ever want to. But she certainly had maternal qualities, and sympathy. She picked him up, patting him on the back; it was good she wasnt wearing her armor now, it made carrying the child much easier as she brought him through the circle and into the camp, "Hey its okay, lets get you cleaned up, yes? My name is Katja, Im a Knight." Her smile was gentle, "You're safe now, we're here to stop those bandits." She assumed he was from the village that had been overrun.

Marcello stared in their direction as they approached, his wings spreading wide behind him, in front of Tara too. He could tell there was something off with the child, "He smells like two people," the cambion mumbled, frowning now. He was puffing himself up, attempting to make himself seem bigger; almost like he was marking his territory, "How come that circle didnt expose him though?"

Though Tara understood Marcello's words warned of a potentially dangerous problem the spread of his wings surprised her; not enough to be afraid but enough to awkwardly re-align herself to his near-front instead. "Two people?" She was very curious as to how he could tell but wanted to leave that question for later. Instead the warrior peered back over at Katja and the child, uncomfortable.

"Well it seems like that creature suspects us.... "

"He seems magical too... It's a relief we are still completely human on the outside..."

"I'm going to retreat inwards, take one of my rare sleep periods. It should reduce nearly all presence my soul gives off and besides, it's been too long since my last beauty sleep"

The child looked around as he was picked up by the knight, giving a half smile from under a face encrusted with mud and tears. There was a momentary pause from the sobs and he buried his head in her shoulder, letting her warmth sink into the tired limbs. Eventually, the little head looked up and into Katja's eyes. A voice barely there spoke up, "My ... name is... Tom...Tom Jones."

"Well its nice to meet you, Tom. Now lets get you washed up, yes? Im sure we can find some extra clothes for you, though they may be a little big. And then we'll have a doctor take a look at you, and fix whatever he can." Katja gave him a smile and carried him into a new tent, where a water basin sat, "Ill leave you here so you can wash off, and ill go find what i can for you to wear."

Marcello's wings folded up once he realized they had spread out, his face burning red with a blush, "Ah, jeez. Sorry." Still, he seemed wary, "Hey Tara... I wouldn't trust that kid. Whatever I felt was gone now, but I can still smell it...he's hiding something."

Tara's hand impulsively hovered over the sheath of her blade. She didn't have any reason to disbelieve the cambion (except what he is, but she wasn't going to do that) and found the absence of her sword to be more disconcerting. Even if the child was normal, his arrival could mean that there were brigands in the wood, perhaps looking for this very camp. The warrior replied with a small, "Alright. One moment." before heading back to the tent Drake and Kerik were in.

She didn't enter, instead calling inside after the orc. "Drake. Do you still have my sword?"

Tom looked up with his one thankful eye towards Katja and gave her a minute nod of understanding. All before managing to get one small sentence out, "Thank you, miss"

The grateful child turned and with heavy, tired limbs moved himself over to the water basin. There he carefully scooped water using cupped palms up and deposited over his face, the liquid washing away layers of grime to reveal the youthful face underneath. Now more than before Tom looked smaller and more vulnerable as if the dirt had been a layer of armour surrounding him. Slowly he managed to wash his arms and legs, taking care to use as little of the water as possible and as the mud washed off his legs it revealed an ugly bruise which had been causing the limp.

Katja came back in with small clothes and a short, deep blue cloak, setting them down near Tom. She saw the bruise, saddened by what he must've gone through, "We have a very skilled doctor here, he's an elf. He can use magic to heal you."

Drake grumbled something under his breath, opening the tent up and holding her sword out to her, "Here." He was glaring, not looking too pleased with having to see her.

Despite Drake's clear irritation upon seeing her Tara gave him a small but genuine smirk and said, "Thanks. Good luck." Before taking her sword and sheathing it. The warrior turned away and returned to Marcello's company, shuffling her feet a little and looking around the camp. The woman's apprehension regarding the child's appearance hadn't abated but she did feel somewhat more comfortable with her sword where it belonged; after a while of tending it she'd even been thinking of a name for it, though she'd hardly admit that.

Tom took a long look at the clothes being presented before him and look back up to the knight with a big round eye, full of wonder at the set in front of him. Gingerly he peeled off his mud-splattered rags and without with fingers trembling with excitement slipped into the clothes being presented for him. The cloak when the time came to wear it was handled with reverent hands, the child savouring ever second of his new apparel.

Upon completion of the change of clothing the child suddenly swung round, acutely aware of having not answered the knight. "You... you would do that for me?" He paused before adding in a manner almost as if trying to prove he could be allowed it. "I managed to leave quite a lot of the water still! I only used a small amount!"

Marcello seemed uncomfortable now; he had pulled his cloak on over his wings, keeping them tucked against his body, and he seemed to be listening to the area around him before walking carefully towards a tent; weapons, it seemed, based on the crates outside it.

Katja smiled at the young boy, holding her hand out, "Come, lets go get you to the doctor. You'll be good as new in no time at all."

Tara peeked back over at Marcello while he walked to supposedly retrieve a weapon of his own. She didn't want to assume that he was incompetent but wondered just what he knew about fighting; it seemed as though it'd be difficult to find a willing trainer when one was disabled, especially blind. She stayed put for a moment, wondering if she should approach him or Katya. Thinking that if this was a trick Sauer might be attacked first eventually swayed her to check in on her.

_

The warrior had some cause to believe that miscreants might be nearby, though Tom's presence was not really an indication of their presence. A pair of amber eyes watched the camp from their owner's perch on a tree branch.