Tsugi looked around the barn, and saw Ruzo licking one of the little boys in an attempt to wake him from a nightmare. The boy squirmed and screamed as Ruzo continued his attempt to wake the boy by nudging with his nose.
Tsugi put away his daggers and sighed in relief, grabbing a damp cloth and walked over to the boy. He knelt down beside the sleeping child and slowly wiped away the sweat from the boy's face, and attempted to calm him with soothing shushing sounds.
The boy eventually calmed but continued to profusely sweat, breathing rapidly. Tsugi placed a hand on the boy's forehead, he felt hot to the touch, indicating he had developed a fever. Tsugi glanced around and checked on the others, they all were feverish too. Tsugi boiled some more water and made some basil tea to try and bring their temperatures down.
***
The barn door creaked open. Tsugi quickly opened his eyes and grabbed his knife.
An old lady had entered the barn carrying a pot. Tsugi quickly put his knife away and groggily rubbed his face. After nursing everyone all night and bringing their fevers down, Tsugi had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"Oh dear. Did I wake you young master?" The old lady smiled and placed the pot down by the burnt out fire.
The old man came into the barn carrying an armful of firewood and proceeded to add more to the pile of charcoal.
"No, I was already awake." Tsugi lied and stood up to stretch his stiff muscles.
"I came to collect the dishes this morning and noticed that there was still quite a bit of the stew left, so I figured I should make some rice porridge as it may be easier to stomach." She glanced around at the wet towels he had placed on everyone's forehead.
"Ah, thank you." Tsugi lowered his head politely.
"I will go bring some water for you to wash up." The old lady politely nodded and turned to leave the barn.
Tsugi opened his mouth and was about to stop her, but he looked back at the sleeping victims. He didn't want to leave them just to go wash up at a nearby stream, so he closed his mouth and slumped back down, leaning against the stall. The old lady walked out and closed the door behind her.
"There you go, it should be warming up soon." The old man got the fire going and placed a kettle on it.
"Thank you."
"If you need anything else, please let me know." He bowed his head and left.
Tsugi got up, removed the cloth from everyone. Their fevers were broken but they still showed no signs of waking.
A light knock at the barn door. "We have brought your water."
"Come in."
The old couple stepped in and placed the big bucket of water right outside the stall with some soap and left.
Tsugi grabbed a cloth and wrung it out in the bucket of warm water and proceeded to wipe his face and neck. The cloth had turned a dirty red-brown color, horrified, he looked himself over. His clothes were covered in blood and dirt.
"Ugh." Tsugi sighed in frustration and rubbed his head furiously.
Ruzo lifted his head up to look at Tsugi. "No wonder why they looked at me like that." Tsugi chuckled looking over at Ruzo. Ruzo just laid his head back down on top of the little boy's chest with a deep sigh and closed his eyes again.
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Tsugi took off his cloak and the thick top layer of his tunic wearing only a thin shirt with his trousers and boots. He gathered all the dirty clothes and placed them into the bucket of water. After washing the clothing, Tsugi wrung them out and hung them on the wooden stalls to dry, and drug the bucket of water out to dump it.
He returned to the barn, closing the door behind him, dusting off his clothes as he headed back into the stall where he was greeted with fast panicked breathing and shrieks. He glanced up from patting his clothes, Ruzo sat quietly wagging his tail by the entrance to the stall.
Everyone had woken up and were huddled together in the far corner. The two women wrapped their arms around the sobbing children with fearful eyes.
"Down." Tsugi commanded and Ruzo promptly dropped to the floor. Tsugi slowly raised his open hands into the air and slowly stepped into the stall into a low crouch slightly lowering his head to show he meant no harm. "It's alright, it's ok." Tsugi said calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured them.
Their eyes glanced around the barn trying to grasp where they were.
"Wh-who are you?" The young woman's hair was orange and filled with knots and tangles.
"My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Tsugi, I was sent by Lord Peylo to bring you all back home." Tsugi bent at the waist into a respectful bow.
"M-my father?" Tsugi looked up and saw the other young woman staring at him. She looked to be in her late teens. Her hair was sky blue, it too was tangled and knotted.
"You must be Aylin." Tsugi said, glancing at her. She slowly nodded in response. "Forgive me for not realizing sooner My Lady." Tsugi bowed again. "Your father had black hair..."
"My mother's hair is blue." She interrupted. Her eyes glanced back and forth on the floor, afraid that she may have spoken out of turn.
"I apologize for my rudeness. I will return with a bath and some clothes for all of you." Tsugi stood up and gestured an open hand toward Ruzo. "This is Ruzo, he will protect you while I am gone."
He placed the porridge on the fire to warm up along with a kettle of water. "Please take your time eating so you do not throw the food back up." He grabbed his bag, swung it over his shoulder and left the barn.
"Is there something you need, young master?" The old man was chopping wood. He and his wife seemed old, but they were not as fragile as they looked.
"Could you please prepare a bath for them? I will be going into town really quick." The old man nodded in response.
"I will have it prepared right away. My wife and I will be heading to the rice fields soon and will be back later today. If you need anything, please find us there." He lowered his head and went inside his house.
***
The village was quiet and not lively like it was the night before. There were still people roaming the streets but the energy didn't match the cheery air from the previous night.
As he wandered around he saw that the villagers were hard workers during the day. Smoke rose from the blacksmith with the clanking of metal that rang through the village. The farmers had already started working the fields and vendors were cooking and preparing food.
Tsugi went from stall to stall and picked out a few pairs of clothes for each of them before heading over to the blacksmith.
"Where may I find a carriage for hire?" Tsugi asked the blacksmith.
"Oi! Lugo!" The man called out in a deep voice, wiping his red hair from his eyes. From behind the stone wall, a young teenage boy popped out from around the corner, his silver hair covered in soot, his shirt drenched in sweat, he was taller and his shoulders were broader than Tsugi's.
"What?" He exhaled and wiped away the sheen of sweat on his face with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Someone wants to hire you." The blacksmith scratched at the stubble on his jaw line.
"Yeah?" The boy glanced from the blacksmith toward Tsugi.
"Lugo, this is..." The blacksmith gestured a hand over to Tsugi and paused.
"Tsugi." Tsugi responded and politely lowered his head.
"Ah, Tsugi. He needs a ride...uh...somewhere." The blacksmith waved his hand in the air and continued his work.
"Where to and when did you want to leave?" Lugo approached Tsugi wiping his soot covered hands on his apron.
"As soon as possible, to Thandeur."
"It will take five day's to get there by horse." He wiped the bead of sweat off his nose, he hadn't wiped his hands well enough and ended up leaving his nose smudged in charcoal.
"I have seven passengers, we will also need a carriage."
"Twelve days then. If we take a carriage, we can't take the fast route. Either way, there's only one town between here and there, so prepare what you need and meet me by the gate when you are ready to leave. I will have everything ready in a few hours." Lugo turned around and disappeared behind the wall.
Tsugi stopped by some more vendors and purchased some food, medicine and supplies before heading back.
He returned and walked into the barn, closing the door behind him. "I brought cl..."
"Aaahhhh!"
Tsugi dropped the sack onto the floor and opened his palms.