Tibaut jumped down from the rooftop, (which hurt a lot more than he expected) and greeted the people of the village.

(“Ah shit, my knees.”) He stumbled before turning to the village chief. “What the hell is going on here?” He asked.

“Mr. Adventurer you couldn't have come at a better time, those brutes from a village were trying to blame us for their folly. The next time I see a guard, I'll tell them about their behaviour.”

“Yeah, fuck those pricks.”

The village chief quickly turned to the man who shouted the phrase and shushed him. “Don't you dare use that sort of language around our guests here.”

“Guests?” Tibaut said. He looked around to see Tina beside him. “When the hell did you get here?”

“More importantly, how do you know these guys? This is the first time I think I've ever been to this village.” Tina asked.

“Well…” Before he could answer a few of the children around had decided to crawl on her. While a vein did form on her forehead, she did begrudgingly allow them to continue in peace.

(“I can't tell if she has a soft spot for kids or holding herself back from throwing them into the crowd.”) Tibaut thought.

With the altercation over, the people gathered around slowly started to dissipate with some coming over to pat Tibaut on the back and thank him before leaving.

“How the hell are you so popular?”

“The fight with Ezekiel.”

“Tch, really? I know I should have taken him up on it to replace him. So what, these guys give you free meat or something.” She asked, trying her best to ignore the children on her.

One of the children jumped off her shoulders and onto Tibaut which left a smirk on her face.

Another child decided to sit on her shoulder. “Hey big lady, are you his girlfriend?”

“What? No. (Especially with how much of a twig he is now. Now that I think about it he wasn't so bad-looking before.)” She answered, sounding almost insulted.

“Way to bruise a guy's ego.” He commented.

“Don't worry lad, I can tell ya, you probably wouldn't want a lady taller than ya.” The village chief stated. “You'd bloody feel like a child walking around with her, innit.”

Stolen story; please report.

Tina seemed to take great offence at what the village chief and Tibaut quickly changed the topic.

“Right… I'd like to say I'm interested in those guys that were just here but how immediate of threat are they?”

“Oh, don't worry about those guys, they're just a bunch of scallywags that have nothing better to do but blame their mistakes on us.”

“Are you sure? It sounded a bit serious earlier.”

“Well, I suppose I can tell you what those basta-” he stopped himself. “Annoying people are on about. Now I'm not sure whether you believe this or not but not too many years ago the rabbit problem wasn't anywhere near as bad as it currently was. I'd say the rats were way worse back then.”

“Huh? Are you telling me that stuff out there happened overnight?”

Tina seemed to have accepted the children and was flinging those that lined up to her, in the air.

(“Let's just hope she doesn't drop any.”) He thought to himself.

“In a strange way, I suppose. They just suddenly increased numbers one day and the thing is, you hear they're a problem all over the parish, then you start hearing how they're a problem in the nation. It was bloody ridiculous.”

“Over the nation?”

“Right, you ever notice how no matter what part of the country you're in, as long as there's some green, you find a lot of rabbits. Can't go a stone’s throw without finding them.”

Now that Tibaut had heard this, there was a substantial increase in rabbits, in his last few weeks of travelling. He thought it might have been the climate but it seems he encountered a nation-specific problem.

“That's crazy, Do you have any idea what's the cause?”

“Well, I have an inkling it's those bastards over the river but I won't bore you with our theories. Anyway, those bastards believe it's us who did it but I frankly believe they're trying to cover their asses.”

“Why? I don't think it's reasonable to assume a single village can cause a nationwide problem like this.”

“Well, we've always had our suspicions but they were confirmed when some smart folk from the capital came by. They sent them around this area and said this is where the rabbits most likely started to spread. And honestly, I think it confirms that's them.”

“Um, isn't it more likely they came from somewhere else?” Tibaut asked.

“No way. They said it had to be here and no other parish. The news would have spread quicker in other parishes. And certainly couldn't have come from the Green Hell.”

“(Green hell? Wait a minute, I think I did see a place called that when I looked at that map Elizabeth had but what sort of place would be called that?) But why do you believe it's them?” He asked.

“It has to be them with how adamant they were blaming us when those fine folk came by.”

(“That doesn't sound like solid reasoni-”)

Before he could finish his thought, something tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see Tina looking impatient.

“Tibaut, why did we come here? I sure as hell don't see any meat in sight.” She commented, looking ready to fight.

The children had backed away a concerning amount of distance.

“Oh shit, that.” He said while scratching the back of his head. He looked around from her eyes and smiled awkwardly.

Before he could turn back to the chief she threw a punch and the onlookers started cheering in excitement.

“What the hell Tina?” Tibaut shouted. He dodged her blow but as it grazed against his skin he felt a shock.

“Providing the people here some entertainment. (More importantly, beat your ass in front of a group of people.)”

The village chief started stepping back.

“Really, well isn't that kind of you lass.”