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INVESTIGATE EURIA AS A TEAM

Throwing the investigation to anyone else wouldn't have felt right to Theokritos in the first place; if they had been more alert, the militia may have prevented her beating from even happening. For the first time in years, Theokritos has a responsibility and planned to uphold his duties as seriously as possible. Diaras watched while his partner stepped forth and raised his free hand's palm to both Ronias and Theben, clanking it off his breastplate.

"Diaras and I will handle the investigation; since our patrol just started, we'll have plenty of energy and time to handle everything. Everyone else has been working diligently; it makes little sense to thrust the responsibility on them when they can handle the lighter load in moderate comfort."

Ronias' hand sank into his beard before he nodded in approval. Theben looked to Diaras for a moment before finally returning his attention to Theokritos. The gravitas the man commanded made his presence plenty intimidating but the new recruit held his ground as the captain approached him. Theben grabbed Theokritos' wrist and slid his hand higher -- rather than directly in-line with his heart, it now sat above it.

"If you're going to act responsibly then you should do our salute right. Both of you are tasked to locate Euria and question her. Identifying any contacts within and from outside of the village she has had would be ideal but if she isn't breaking any laws then report back immediately. Don't take any risks; both you and Diaras are a tad green to get into a scuffle with a seasoned adventurer regardless of how weak she's become."

Theokritos nodded and Diaras saluted before Theben mirrored the salute. They both had to wait until his hand fell before turning and distancing themselves a few feet away from the elder and their boss. Diaras circled and faced Theokritos head-on, ensuring his discontent was obvious before he rested his spear against his shoulder and sat the other hand on his hip.

"You're not doing either of us favors volunteering." He tapped the end of his spear against his head lightly. "What makes you think this is a good idea? You sure you didn't inhale too much smoke in the aftermath?"

Theokritos scowled and waited until Diaras finally sighed and closed his eyes, raising his crossed fingers. Crossing the middle and pointer fingers was a simple way for the empire's people to ask forgiveness or express good intent. Theokritos returned with an acceptance gesture -- touching his pinky and thumb together -- before letting his scowl vanish. "It's a good idea because Euria is dangerous to everyone if she is involved in the raid. Debt could be one reason but why wouldn't she have stepped forward during the raid to help? I never saw her during it and certainly haven't heard from anyone that she helped defend the village."

"That does sound suspicious but risking our necks to find out her reasons is a bit foolish." Diaras looked over his shoulder and down the road at the many civilians. His concern no doubt rested in what might happen to his woman if something bad did happen. Above anything else, Diaras was no doubt loyal to the family given how many siblings he had. If it came to choosing between Theokritos or staying alive, the shorter of the two men knew he'd be on his own.

"I'll make a promise then. If we're put at risk, abandon me." Theokritos waited until Diaras looked back before raising his hand and patting Diaras' breastplate. "Defending the village is important and we are a part of it even in uniform. If you get away, you can at least warn the others and we'll have a good chance of stopping more harm from coming. Sound good?"

Hesitation was a strange thing but it didn't last long before Diaras nodded and took Theokritos by his shoulder. The vow was set and both young men released one another before Theokritos took the lead; it was a short walk back to the scene and down the path through Burolo's fringes. Most of the damage in the outer reaches of Burolo was more severe and had cost handfuls of families to lose their entire houses. Firefighting efforts had been slow enough within the city that anything that burned outside of it was outright burned to the ground. It also meant that those in the outskirts were trying to pick up visages of their former life by creating temporary shelters and pitching tents. Theokritos had been a vagrant long enough to know that many of the homeless that failed to find a new home would take to becoming refugees and leave in search of a better future that was almost assuredly not there. Even with possessions of his own, traveling had been difficult -- anyone who wasn't talented in a similar facet or skilled in a trade would feel the same gnawing hunger. Many of them simply wouldn't make it through the year.

The importance of finding Euria may have been in the air but it didn't take long to find a clue to where she'd be. Diaras' pace slowed and he moved off the beaten path into one of a farmstead's many fields. The rotation of crops had been interrupted with the destruction of a few of the steads but in this case, it was beneficial to their task; Diaras knelt down and pushed aside clover to reveal a set of tracks. They were barefoot and about the size of an adult, leading off toward a burnt down stead nearby. Diaras' whistle drew Theokritos' full attention, both of them readying their spears and cutting out through the clover. Even in a field, the cool brushing dewy clover had benefits for someone running around barefoot like Euria.

Crunching their way across the field, Diaras stuck close to Theokritos' side and whispered to avoid startling whoever may be hiding in the burnt out house ahead. "We need to keep calm -- it might not be Euria in there."

No arguments from Theokritos -- rather an agreeing nod -- impeded their progress. Both of them stuck together and slowly rounded around the building surveying it for an entrance. Yet by the time they passed fully around and found the door, there had been nothing; the tracks led inside but there wasn't any noise or any views into the half-collapsed home. Based on the damage it was likely only the front room was still intact but torched of anything within.

A scuffle sounded from inside startling Theokritos but Diaras shed away fear so he could push the door open with the end of his spear. The roof of the building had been oozing smoke but now the doorway leaked a fine trail. Someone was definitely inside and both of the militiamen shared a look to determine who'd move first. Theokritos' lack of inherent courage didn't need much of questioning though before Diaras scoffed and pushed through the doorway and pointed his spear at someone within.

"Freeze!" He was looking down at someone before advancing inside. "We're with the militia! Show your face!"

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Theokritos carefully wormed his way into the doorway while Diaras pushed inside, letting him see someone sitting by a small firepit. The walls and floor were covered in soot and charred debris but they had been squatting regardless? Theokritos didn't understand why but he did know that the person's hooded tunic kept them from being seen. Diaras slowly side-stepped and made his way around to see the hunched over figure's face... finally cursing beneath his breath and letting the spear fall slightly. Theokritos waited, watching Diaras shake his head before using his spear tip to push the hood back. Euria's trademark blonde hair spilled back but she kept still.

"Can't I even grieve in peace?" She groaned, looking at Diaras for a moment before turning her cold gaze on Theokritos. "Or do I not deserve that, either?"

"You deserve what you get for being a bitch to everyone." Diaras spouted, keeping his spear aimed at her even in its low carry.

Theokritos let his spear dip even further, resting its tip against the floor before interjecting. "Why are you here, Euria? What could you be grieving?"

Euria's eyes hadn't left him until he asked that question. Her attention shifted down to the fire and she gently pulled free one of the cindering twigs, stoking the flame as best she could.

"This was my house. I told you that both of my parents died; both of them are buried outside if you want to go look. I forgot to mention my little brothers were killed too. All I wanted was to finish burying all of them in peace but those brats chased me and stole my replacement spade. That is why I'm here and that is why I'm grieving; satisfied?"

Theokritos paled in sympathy but Diaras had none to spare. There had been rumors that Euria badmouthed his family so it wasn't entirely unexpected -- it was simply harsh. The young Martell looked out the door and examines the small clearing that had been put down to act as a yard and saw many mounds. All of them looked fresh but not quite as much as one; the last, partially-filled grave had a broken shovel sitting at its side. It was a gruesome truth but it wasn't the only instance of families being destroyed within Burolo thanks to the raid. Euria drew his attention back abruptly however, Diaras cursing as she grabbed his spear beneath its piercing tip.

"Come on! Kill me too!" She brought the spear to her chest and took on a manic grin. "It's a perfect revenge isn't it, you Artiosi fucker? You get to send me to my family and shut me up for good! Don't you want that!?"

Her growing hysteria had both of them wrestling for the weapon and Theokritos knew if he didn't step in that something bad would happen. Even with the sickened look on his face, Diaras pulled and weaved the weapon so that she couldn't get too close for long or brush her back with the flat of its metal. Some would argue it was a mercy killing but Theokritos didn't want to stain his reputation nor see Euria die. Even after she had treated him so poorly over the years, she wasn't thinking clearly and needed help.

So he tossed his spear outside and stepped forward, kicking ash on the flame and over Euria to disorient her. Diaras withdrew his spear with a hard tug and she collapsed forward, snuffing the flames but not quick enough to avoid screaming in pain from the intense heat. Theokritos pushed her off the fire and dropped onto her, taking her wrists and pinning them while Euria's pain turned to distraught.

"Let go of me! Help! Help! I'm being raped! Help!"

Theokritos flinched and Diaras cursed, turning his spear around and hitting Euria's burnt tunic directly in the center of her gut to knock the wind out of her and cease her screaming. Theokritos wasn't trying to rape her and being accused had him off-guard while Diaras kept a level head. Unfortunately, Theokritos' weakness let her slip one of her hands free, grabbing the shaft and shoving it. The wood struck Theokritos across the face and made him fall over, his hands completely releasing her and moving to clutch the injury. His left eye's vision blurred and he felt dizzy, the oozing feeling of blood slicking his fingers. Diaras yelled profanities and struck Euria again, pinning her by the throat with the end of his spear while Theokritos struggled to stay conscious.

"You dumb bitch! We're not trying to rape you! We came to ask you questions but it's clear you need to be arrested!" Diaras met her squirming flawlessly, finally stomping a boot onto her chest and forcing her to go still. Her wheezing breath signaled she had likely inhaled quite a bit of smoke and the strain was forcing her lungs to work hard beneath his boot but Diaras didn't care. Instead, he looked over at Theokritos. "Get up! Don't pass out on me Theokritos! I can't drag both of you back to the village on my own!"

"I-I won't," Theokritos answered feebly but fought through the pain as best a scrawny ex-beggar could. It took everything in his power to keep balanced with one hand tight to his head but he managed it. Using the wall to balance himself, he slowly got to his feet and looked at the pair knowing that they had to bring Euria in. Assaulting him was a crime regardless of his sympathy.

But the true issue was that he wondered if she could survive without an elder looking her over. It weighed against his conscience; anger welled inside of him and wanted to abandon her but her situation was one he sympathized with. Even if his parents had treated him poorly he was distraught for a day or two after seeing them dead. Euria may be ill-mannered to others but her effort to bury her family meant she was close to all of them. The idea of burying a large family alone would have likely broken him if he were close to even half of them.

"Take your foot off her... she's not going to fight back now." Theokritos waved his free hand at Diaras and waited until his partner reluctantly sighed and did so. True to his thoughts, she was still gasping for air with ragged breaths. Diaras watched Theokritos for a few seconds before walking around the collapsed woman.

"We need to look at that wound. Drop your hand."

Theokritos weakly complied, watching Euria while Diaras drew his hood back to examine the wound. Apart from some moderate pain and his blurry vision, it was impossible to determine how hard he was hurt; even Diaras lacked proper experience apart from some injuries that no doubt happened during work.

"It doesn't look too bad... you definitely will have a neat scar though. It looks like a scythe poking out of your hairline but the blood flow is weak. Give it some stitches and you'll be okay in no time."

Diaras slapped his shoulder and turned, dragging Euria up to her feet and gently pushing her against the wall. Her cry was much weaker and her breathing seemed to worsen, sputtering and freely letting tears race down her cheeks and cleaning streams of soot away with each teardrop. Theokritos righted himself and pulled the hood from her head, carefully tearing it and fashioning a makeshift bandage. Regardless of what they did with her she owed him at least this much for giving him his first wound on duty. The wrap was done tight and partially blocked his already blurry left eye's vision, staunching the blood flow and letting him throw his own hood up. Getting Euria help first would side-track them and delay getting his own wound looked at but it was likely that delaying her treatment and punishing her would sign her death. Diaras watched for his choice and was likely to be content with whatever he chose.