Their talk was productive. As much as you can call a one-sided conversation a productive talk that is. Before meeting her, Dave would have never guessed someone was able to convey that much emotion without saying a single word.

He felt it was almost eery with how well he understood her through her body language, gesticulation and rarely some sounds.

Understanding aside, Dave confirmed some of his theories. The main quests and side quests were the same. Personal quests were as the name described, personal.

They were made to fit each person in a unique way. When he mentioned his personal quest involved helping others and asked her if hers was the same, he got a tense head shake in return. He saw her clenching and unclenching her fist and wondered how personal quests can get, if it affected her that much.

"Is your personal quest really that awful?"

His words snapped her out of her funk. An excited head shake met his question, followed by rapid fist blows as she shadowboxed the air in front of her. Dave could almost see her enemy as she bounced on her toes, elegantly dodging imaginary blows only to step forward in a slight crouch and finishing off the ne'er-do-well.

Her personal objective was in line with the side quests to beat the hunter. He could already imagine her beating down her opponents in a systematic fashion.

Dave had an inkling that she actually knew more than she let on, but he just didn't know how to ask her. Directly asking her for everything she knew was rebuffed by an eye roll and exasperation.

Even with the short amount of time they had together, his first impression of her was that of a good person. She would have to be an amazing actress if he pegged her wrongly and it would be well deserved if she turned out to be an evil mastermind stringing him along for her malevolent plans.

Dave decided to help the others and to point them towards the chapel if they didn't find their way around a class already.

It would be logical to raise the strength of the group, so he would be less likely to be in harm's way. Additionally his whole skillset synergized well in groups. He thought himself to be a decent strategist and his buffs would raise their chances of winning substantially, while his companion should be a force to be reckoned with in close quarter combat at best and another wall between him and the hunter at worst.

"Come to think of it, have you noticed anyone else around here? Any wildlife?"

"..."

"Then we don't have to be worried about getting discovered yet, we still have a little time to prepare if Edmund kept his word." He said while pulling out his lute out of the satchel.

----------------------------------------

Her ruby eyes gleamed with curiosity as she watched him pull out a lute.

He was a weird person. He spoke in a guarded way, keeping his own thoughts close while radiating comfort and safety at the same time. His actions and questions seemed abrupt and out of sync at times, sometimes they didn't even have a connection to the topic before.

'Are all artists like this?'

She thought he seemed a little off.

Evergreen watched him strumm his lute and listened intently. She felt herself ease up and as he started humming along to his song, she felt her high strung rabbit ears melt against the side of her face.

It was soothing, relaxing. 'When was the last time I was able to feel this relaxed?'

Her thoughts slowed down as her posture subconsciously loosened up.

She lost herself in the gentle lull of his melody, only coming to when the music stopped.

She felt her whole body become invigorated. Muscles which were overused and abused felt as good as new. His tune felt like a gentle massage, removing all the little ailments she didn't notice she had before.

Staring at him in a daze, she saw him give her a gentle smile as he exchanged his lute for his stiletto and signed for her to keep quiet as they came close to the campfire. Her eyes filled with mirth as she suppressed a snort at this silly gesture, quickly jumping up the nearest tree.

----------------------------------------

After buffing his newest team member, he gestured for her to be quiet as he put his focus towards their front. He saw her hop on a tree out of his sight, while he crouched low with his dagger poised and ready to strike. Slowly getting closer to the clearing, he saw all but two stone seats vacated.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

His eyes flashed with recognition as they moved over the closest person. Dave remembered how the energetic teen introduced himself as Ray.

The positive youth was reduced to a jittering mess, jumping at shadows, while his eyes never left the other person sitting languidly on his throne.

Barely recognizing the other person as Edmund, Dave looked over the inhuman features gracing his visage. His sturdy overgrown nails caught his eye, as they glinted with sharpness in the flickering campfire.

Dave watched in morbid curiosity as drool slid down the unresponsive Edmund's chin, as his long grotesque tongue lapped at delicacies only imagined.

He looked around and saw his partner close by on a tree. Their gaze met and he nodded, walking towards the campfire in the most unassuming way possible.

"So.. why are you still sitting here? Didn't he say we have a couple hours to prepare?" He said as he gently looked towards the panicking youth.

Like a drowning man being thrown a lifeline, Ray teared up and babbled incoherently, pointing at the stone seats and his seat.

"..and and and they just all left, leaving me alone with this monster. Something about being bait? Why make me bait? I'm not tasty I swear!" Big pearly drops of salty water rolled down his cheek as he cried.

Dave noticed clothes or parts of clothes were stuck to the stones and looked between Ray and Edmund. Not a single sound escaped the beast as if it was in a trance.

"It's okay, it's okay. Shh.. don't worry you aren't bait. Everything will be fine." Dave soothed the youth while walking slowly towards him. "Have the others said which way they went? Or do you remember the direction they disappeared to? What happened to him?" Dave pointed at Edmund while gently poking holes through Ray's jeans.

"T-they.. they just left.. I don't know. Maybe they went together? I think a few went together.. please don't leave me alone," he said as he took deep breaths and gripped Dave's shoulder. "One of them took a big stone and threw it at Edmund's head while he gave a terrifying laugh.. he went silent all of a sudden and then this! They couldn't hurt him at all.."

Dave hummed in acknowledgement and pulled the youth up in a swift motion. A ripping sound shocked Ray and he looked back at the stone in his befuddled state.

"Did.. you.. what?" A cold breeze passed by and made him shiver, as he looked at a huge chunk of jeans stuck on the stone.

"Imagine you wore a miniskirt, it would have been hilarious." Dave chuckled as he moved towards Edmund. He poked Edmund's arm with his stiletto only to strike against a firm wall before his skin. He hummed once more as everything Ray said about Edmund seemed to be true.

Turning around to face the rescued youngling once more, Dave noticed that Ray was gaping at him like a fish out of water. Raising an eyebrow, Dave watched as his newest companion's brain crashed then rebooted which finally stopped him from stuttering and making more weird noises.

"So.. which direction did they go?"

"They went this way!"

Dave nodded and walked towards the direction Ray pointed towards. Faint lights lit up the ground in front of him, gently tracing trails left behind by the others. Turning back once, he waited for Ray to catch up.

"Catch."

Pulling out one of his old sharpened sticks Dave threw it towards Ray, who flailed around to catch it, only to pick it off the ground in embarrassment.

----------------------------------------

A youth and a youth, one taller than the other, walked side by side through the moonlit night. The shorter one was visibly nervous, whiplashing his head in directions whenever he heard a sound.

Dave wondered if enhanced vitality would make him less likely to break his neck, as he watched Ray looking around.

'I feel like this is what a bunny should..' his thought was interrupted by a cold shiver going down his spine. 'Got it, no bunny jokes because the furry has mind reading abilities or scary intuition.'

He gave himself a quick once over and found himself whole and stab wound free. 'Scary intuition it is.'

As Dave looked around he saw the little motes of light surrounding Ray and further up, in the trees he saw a few more flitting around.

"Hey Ray, who was the one screaming a while ago?" He asked, glancing towards the path they took and where he thought Evergreen was hiding.

"..was.." he heard Ray mumble from the side.

"Hmm?"

"That was your imagination.."

Dave threw a glance at Ray, noticing slight redness creeping up his face. Deciding to distract him from his embarrassment, Dave nudged him as if he didn't ask the question in the first place.

"Ya like stones?"

Dave felt two flabbergasted and one slightly judgemental stare as he pulled out Rocky from his satchel.

"Meet Mini Onyx Egg The First."

".. that.. is a rock."

Dave heard a soft whimper from the treeline, as he continued on to proudly present his first friend.

"He is the bravest of adventurers, and has already saved my life once. I don't know what I'd do without him and Ropey."

"Ropey?"

Gently petting Ropey at his waist, Dave nodded. "Ropey. Even braver than Small Onyx Egg The First. It braved danger multiple times and even scouted new untreated paths. It deserved some tasty treat so I shared some sweet syrup with it and then it went to sleep."

"Is it alive?"

"Of course it's alive! Ropey just deserves some well needed rest." He said as he continued petting his most trustworthy ally.

With the ice broken and the panicking youth distracted from his fears in a forest at night, they continued their banter until they heard faint voices in the distance as trees started thinning out.