Rohl's body was both battered and exhausted from his travels so far, but fortunately, he didn't have much longer to travel before he could finally rest for the night. The sky was already beginning to dim above him, and his new travelling companions already seemed to be scouting potential camping sites as their keen senses kept watch on the forest either side of them.

Perhaps it was because of the latening hour but his new companions weren't as talkative as Rohl had expected given their entrance. They kept a tight formation as they walked along the road, with each of them taking turns keeping one eye on him as they proceeded forward together.

How they managed to corral him into the centre, keep a formation and make good progress towards Elmon without saying more than a few words to each other was beyond Rohl, yet they did it.

More than likely, they would become their usual selves once they found a safe place to rest for the night, and soon enough it seemed Rohl would find out as Quinn gestured for them to leave the now dirt road and careen into a lightly forested area.

"Bedtime, everyone needs to get their beauty sleep, well apart from me that is. I'm perfect as is."

Despite his rather jovial attitude, the ranger had clearly chosen the spot well, they were modestly sheltered from the weather, close to the road and within one of the few circlets of Vishnu left within Offa. Whilst the circlet's power had likely long dwindled, it was possible that the withered stone structure still held enough power to keep away many of the weaker monsters that lived within this area.

It would do nothing to ward off anything particularly powerful or determined but Rohl could at least be glad that the abandoned site of worship would reduce the chance of any night-time monster attacks.

Well, they are rangers, I'd be more surprised if they didn't know where the safe campsites are.

And with that extra added level of safety and reassurance, Rohl felt much better about spending the night within these woods, the wolf attack had in a way both spooked him and pointed out his previous foolish actions. But that was in the past and only something Rohl could swear not to repeat in the future. For now, there was little for him to do but find a comfy spot on the forest floor.

This idea was clearly not one unique to him if Quinn's hasty sprint to steal a spot from Mimi was anything to go by. The fae didn't seem particularly surprised and instead hastily turned to take another possibly better spot.

Soon enough the entire group was sat within the circlet of Vishnu whilst Quinn worked to put together a small cooking fire. Within moments, the first embers were beginning to smoulder within the dried kindling. Given the slight chill in the air, a warm fire was something Rohl was greatly looking forward to, its heat combined with the rabbit that was cooking above it was surely to be the highlight of what was already a pretty miserable day of a very unforgiving month.

I'm assuming they caught it before my rescue, if not they are very impressive rangers.

It would take a short while for its meat to fully cook and with it taking only a few minutes for everyone to put together their sleeping arrangements, there was little else for the group of five to do but talk. And given the events of the day, there was clearly going to be one topic that Rohl likely couldn't prevent the rangers from bringing up.

"So Rholly Rohlson, what were you doing wandering these roads alone? As you may have recently found out, it can be a tad bit dangerous," Quinn asked as if he'd managed to magically sense the topic Rohl wished to avoid.

"I'm heading to Elmon and well I don't have the luxury of waiting."

Despite Rohl's answer being rather vague with an added tone of disinterest, it did appear that the ranger was able to pick up on something. But instead of allowing the short conversation to fall into an awkward silence, the lead ranger instead seemed to take it as a challenge to turn the conversation towards a more light-hearted enjoyable topic.

"Cooleo, I noticed the instrument that saved you from being wolf chow, is Rholly an inspiring bard? Will you regale us with songs of our heroism in saving you? I feel like I deserve a song written after me for that."

It did take a short moment for Rohl to finally decide on an answer "After today, I really don't have the energy." However, his short reply was at least met with rather understanding nods from the assembled rangers.

Stolen story; please report.

"Ah don't sweat it, just means that next time, you better blow us away with the songs of our heroic deeds."

With that sentence left hanging in the open air and Rohl too engrossed in his thoughts to do anything but fiddle with the contents of his pockets, an awkward silence once again conquered its way into the conversation.

And whilst Rohl's lacklustre replies were understandable to anyone in the know, that didn't stop him from feeling bad about not engaging with the ranger. Not that seemed to stop the man's attempts, however.

"Gods, this is harder than I remember conversations usually being. Usually, newbies like you are always chattering on about their adventurers." Quinn's fumbled mutter was somewhat lost to Rohl, but it did however seem to light a spark in the ranger.

"Well then, seems I'll just have to regale you with heroic tales of our own adventurers. The life of a ranger is filled with danger, bravery, legendary deeds and most importantly the power of friendship."

At Rohl's somewhat confused stare, the lead ranger continued his tale.

"Us four weren't always such a dream team if you can believe it, we were actually two separate teams, obviously me and Mimi were the better team, and the other two, stragglers at best."

"That's not how I recall-" Terrance interrupted before almost immediately finding himself being cut off.

"Shush you, how would you know?"

"What do you mean how would I know, I was there."

"Quiet Terrance, I'm trying to tell a story here." With Quinn continuing to prevent Terrance from correcting him, the wizard finally just sighed out a laugh before allowing the ranger to continue.

"Both our teams had accepted a contract on a ground troll and well as it turns out nature wizards like Terrance are surprisingly good at sensing their burrows. But those idiots hadn't thought to bring a weapon like Mimi's that could pierce its hide. So, like the kind brave souls we are, we agreed to aid them and share the bounty. Given their dependence on us, we decided to stick together since then, help teach them how to be true adventures and all that crap."

With his story coming to an end and his fist bump left hanging by both Terrance and Thaddeus, the ranger quickly turned his attention onto the rabbit which had finally finished cooking.

Why do I feel he just cut that story short so he could get dibs on the rabbit?

After hastily cutting away a few chunks of the meat for himself, Quinn soon passed his blade around the campfire, allowing each member to get their fill of the rabbit for the night.

Despite the day he had suffered, Rohl's appetite was as large as ever and there was no chance, he was going to turn away any of the delicious-smelling rabbit when his only other option was his rather bland rations. After doing his best to maintain a semblance of good manners by thanking the ranger one last time, Rohl finally tucked into his meal.

This is so good.

It was clearly a thought not limited to just Rohl if the quiet feasting of the entire team was anything to go by. Not even Quinn was attempting to lighten the mood with another tale and was instead happily devouring his own piece of the rabbit.

And with the entire team's almost rabid feasting, it wasn't long before there was little but scraps left of the late-night meal.

Having been both the first to start eating and first to finish, Quinn was the first to begin happily stretching out and carving a somewhat comfortable sleeping area amidst the wolf furs that he had likely harvested himself.

The entire adventuring party had clearly had a successful wolf hunt if the vast quantity of furs they were able to laden the ground with was anything to go by.

"Here."

Rohl hadn't quite been expecting the wolf fur to have been thrown his way at such speed, but then again for Thaddeus the power behind the throw was likely a fraction of what he was capable of. Still, that knowledge didn't help Rohl as he struggled to prevent the force of the throw from knocking him onto his back.

"Thank you." Despite the rather unexpected attack, Rohl was still incredibly grateful for the gift, sleeping on it and using its fur to keep him warm was easily better than attempting to find a comfortable position amidst the twigs and leaves that carpeted this area of land.

Thank the gods they've cleaned these ones.

Unlike his most recently harvested fur, the ones handed out by Thaddeus had been thoroughly washed and cleaned of any meat scraps, in truth, you could barely smell any trace of the animal that had once worn this fur.

Soon enough they had all taken their spots around the fire, either speaking softly towards one another or staring up at the night sky as they wrestled with sleep.

As much as Rohl wanted to join in, his mind was far too dominated by his own thoughts for him to do anything but stare blankly at the dirt next to him.

Shouldn't be too much longer before we reach Elmon, I'll make it. I have to... Then what, I have to kill that thing, I can't let this happen again. But how, it's so far out of my league, it's probably not even ranked on the adventurer difficulty charts. One step at a time, see my family, join the guild, find accommodation, get stronger, get experience and discover my blessing. One step at a time.

"Oi Rohleoo, we're making good progress, we'll be in Elmon before you can comprehend it. But you know being rangers, we don't tend to hang out in cities, not exactly many dangerous forest roads in them. But whenever we stop by Elmon, make sure to visit, yeah, let us know how you're getting on as a simple farm boy in the big city."

Despite the somewhat mocking humour behind Quinn's words, Rohl could tell it was an offer born out of concern over anything else and that Quinn just had no idea how to phrase it as such.

"I will, thank you."

And with those last few words left hanging in the air and his fingers gently rubbing the edges of his ukatar, Rohl finally found himself drifting into Morpheus' realm and with it, some hopeful shelter from what his life had become.