Broken Haven

Chapter 8

The trio made their way back to town, checking behind them for peering eyes in the bushes, or peaking heads from behind trees; nothing of the sort was spotted, which relieved a little tension.

After a tiring walk home that left leg pains like no other, the group decided that Hans most likely needing medical help, given his condition, so ran off into town to talk to Jethro. 'The large building at the end of the street was most probably where Jethro would be', Hans thought to himself, and sure enough, he was right.

The three knocked on the door, leaving Jethro to answer with a greeting smile. "How was your trip?"

"C'n we come in? We need to talk." Hans struggled to speak.

"Are you OK?" Jethro asked to Hans.

"Let's talk inside."

And with that, the door slammed shut and the three followed Jethro to the dining room. The grand centrepiece of the room being the dining room table; Oak wood meticulously carved, each leg had enough detail to write a whole essay about them. As you might presume it didn't get much use. What a total waste of effort.

With Jethro stood on one side of the table, and the three stood on the other, conversation began. "What seems to be the problem?"

Rosalie spoke up, "A group of those men we saw-"

Jethro butted in, "The Madnight?"

"Yeah, at that abandoned town a week ago. We saw them up near the cave. We got into a bit of a fight and then a lot more appeared, and we fled back here. I don't think anyone followed us but you never know; and even if they didn't, they know we're in the area, and it looks like they're in the area too."

"But what reason do they have to attack us?" Jethro asked in a frustrated tone.

"One mentioned that they think the NPCs won't be around much longer." Ethan spoke up. "They might want to steal everything we have so that they can sell it and buy food."

"Maybe it had something to do with you, Ethan." Rosalie remarked.

"Rose, they're evil. I did what I had to do."

"Shut up. What's gotten into you?"

"C'n we d' th's sometim' l'ter?" Hans mumbled.

"I guess they could be stealing stuff for money but surely there's easier ways of getting Gold." Jethro suggested.

"Well let's be honest, we're loaded. They might have seen the gear we've got and realised that. " Ethan mentioned.

"My jaw r'lly 'urts." Hans chimed in. "I's mush worse."

"Oh, and Hans got punched in the face." Rosalie added.

"Oh lovely, I've been looking forward to this." Jethro unsarcastically threw into the air. He headed for the doorway, raising his head and informing the Hans. "I need you to get on that table and lie the heck down." He ordered. "It's cool, I'm a student doctor! Well... Was. ALSO, HOLD YOUR JAW!"

"I told you Hans." Rosalie added.

After a minute, Jethro arrived back holding with a case. He slammed it down on the table next to Hans's now laying body. "I've been hesitant to use this, but seeing as you're jaw is near enough screwed, I might as well." Jethro opened the case to reveal medicine equipment. "No one else knows about this, it's not much, but it's enough for some stuff." Jethro pulled out a needle and a small pot; taking off the lid, he stuck the needle inside and filled it up. Hans noticed, dreading the pain he'd experienced many times before, from visits to the dentist.