After a couple of seconds of low rumbling, a stampede of men and women wearing various types of armor bust out of the tavern door, with some of the more impatient ones breaking open the windows to get out faster. And while everyone else were getting somewhat defensive, or ready for a fight in Heracles case, Diana and Vita were the only ones who weren't surprised. Vita wasn't surprised, simply because the adventurers weren't a threat. Sure, with their mana being used to fuel their bodies, instead of fueling spells or similar effects, and giving them physical abilities far superior to most humans. Vita could just hijack their bodies or assimilate them fairly quickly.
Diana knew them from sneaking out of her home. It was somewhat of an open secret in Wolfheart, that the young lady would sneak out to observe the people and their day-to-day lives. None took any real offense to her presence, and none could get too close, as she was rather skittish. Except for the adventurers, who with their very LOUD personalities had made them one of her favorite groups of people to seek out. To the battle-hardened warriors and dashing rogues, Diana was something adorable to look at after a long day of work. And while all knew to not directly interact with the girl, that didn't stop them from making her their mascot. And seeing their usually anti-social mascot have not only friends surrounding her, but even a wendigo, was simply amazing to them.
They almost had the poor girl surrounded until one of them shouted out “the rule!”. They all quickly gathered their senses, muttering about the rule over and over again as they all went back into the tavern. Leaving the teens and monsters standing outside with the scarred man. His smile was a bit smaller, showing less teeth, but with his scars the intimidation factor had not gone down at all. Diana stepped forward and gave a courteous bow before speaking.
“It's good to see you again, Scars.” It was short, polite, but Scars did not take any offense or show any annoyance. To people like him, having nobles talk with long-winded words was the worst. He chuckled as he touched a scar that was running across his throat, that looked much more recent compared to the other scars littering his skin. His choice of armor did show off a surprising amount of skin after all, but less like a pervert and more like a wrestler.
“Good to see you, too. My boys and I heard what happened to ya and did some shoveling to clear off some roadside dirt. Heh. But it is good to see you're doing better!” His analogy was quickly picked up by both Beatrice and Earl, who started pondering over what that could possibly mean. Heracles was not one for pondering.
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“Wait, what happened to you, Diana?” She looked away, reaching out for one of Vitas vines. Scars was quick to notice her discomfort and changed his voice from somewhat warm to ice-cold, with his eyes piercing into Heracles own. Heracles, caught of guard by the sudden change in tension, swallowed his spit.
“She doesn't have to tell you anything. Who are all of you, anyway. Including you, wendigo.” Vita spoke up quickly before Diana got to say anything.
“I met Diana in the World's Tongue while wandering around, and I took pity in how miserable she looked. And for what happened, Heracles, apparently someone had dug up the paths snaking around the outskirts of the forest, which caused Diana to get lost.” Vita spoke, moving the vines around to stop Diana from braiding them together. Heracles wasn't too happy with how the stranger acted, but let it pass with short nod. Scars rubbed his chin for a moment, looking Vita up and over.
“Ya'know, every myth and legend about wendigo claims they're these all powerful monsters. You're surprisingly tame.” An almost childish glint was in his eyes as he said this. Diana stepped up with an almost serious look on her face, which even children would find childish.
“That's because Vita is strong! He, uh, she? Doesn't need to act like a monster to prove how strong it? Is!” She said with a tone of finality and her arms crossed. Scars facial expression softened somewhat at seeing her stand up for others and let out a sigh. He put one hand in a pocket and rubbed his head with the other.
“Sorry, sorry, everyone is just worried about you. When everyone heard that you went away to study, a lot of innocent rumors started popping up about you and that wendigo.” Diana puffed her cheeks and frowned, which Beatrice had to actively hold back a giggle at how childish she is acting. Scars did not have the same self-discipline and let out a short laugh, even going as far as to wipe a false tear away. He said a short goodbye before Diana or anyone else could get a word in and entered the tavern, picking up the broken door after him and propping it up.
Vita, using the many eyes covering its head, looked at the group to see their reactions. Heracles was annoyed by the fact someone managed to scare him like that, looking down on the ground with a frown like that. Beatrice tried to hide her shock by pretending to be tired, but such bodily things could not be hidden by Vitas extensive understanding of flesh. Earl, surprisingly enough, was trying to hide a laugh behind a cough. Even turning around to hide his face from the others too, but Vita knew. None of them could hide their emotions or expressions from Vita.
After all, Vita had sent a small amount of Vita to all of them a long time ago. Of course, with nothing malicious in mind. That would be extremely cruel and distrustful to them. But who knows what could happen in the future, what if one of them got hurt while fighting out in the forest?
Vita simply couldn't let such an opportunity go.