The evening found the party curled up in the inn, which had evaded the fires alongside much of the poorer side of town. The inn was full of survivors tonight, swarming the alcohol supply to ease the passing of loved ones or the loss of homes. Without leadership, much of the guardsmen had fallen away from their posts and were either fleeing Fort Strade or staying behind as civilians. This left the town in disorganized chaos, with its citizens unsure whether to stay and rebuild or to move on.
Shay had followed her new friends into the inn, where they made sure she was fed and warmed. She was now sitting beside Aylin at one of the tables, sunken into a pile of blankets with a steaming mug of tea. Her eyelids drooped as the party laughed and cheered about their adventures - save Oswin, who seemed to be in a very odd mood. He sat in his place, staring a hole in the wood of the table. He looked a different shade of green than he usually was, but no one seemed to pay much mind.
Finally noticing that the child was drifting off to sleep, Aylin slung her onto her back and waved goodnight, taking Shay up to her quarters. River followed, and slowly everyone returned to their rooms to wash, dry, and collapse into their beds. The sleep was good and long that night, accompanied by the incessant cricket song and the rush of water around the town, which brought morning birdsong in with the sunshine the next morning.
The party awoke to the scent of fresh bacon and eggs mingled with mince pies and coffee, swirling up from the floorboards to lure them out of their beds. Each of them dressed, all but Oswin electing to leave their armor behind, and met downstairs over their steaming breakfasts. Oswin, who was regaled in all his glorious silver armor, left the inn quietly, seeking out the local chapel. Nobody saw him for two days.
Aylin, meanwhile, was on a mission. "Morning, all!" she called as she plopped into her place at the table.
"Where's the kid?" Aera asked, sipping his morning coffee.
"Still asleep," Aylin said, "I think she's pretty well exhausted. But more importantly - check this out!" She whipped around so her back faced her comrades. Corus gasped, and the others looked on in shock at the sight - a set of small, white wings had sprouted from her back, popping slits in her blouse. She fluttered them, giggling like a child, and whipped back around to face her friends. "If that isn't the weirdest shit you've ever seen, you've seen some shit!"
"The Kuo Toa!" Corus exclaimed, "They believe you're winged?"
"Evidently so," Aera said, "It's nice to have somebody else to understand the delicacies of feathers!"
Aylin pulled out a chair, flopping into it, "I know! So I've been thinking... if we're going to stick together, we should probably know more about each other. So it's time for-"
"I'm not participating in another one of your stupid team building exercises," Corus interrupted.
"Oh, come on, it's just a support group. We'll work through our issues together!"
"No," Corus said, pushing his chair out of the table and walking away, "I feel that our own selfish desires fall behind the needs of this town which we've come to love."
"Love is a strong word," Bromash grumbled.
Corus hadn't heard, and he exited the inn without so much as a wave. He couldn't believe his friends were more concerned with their own needs, than the needs of these poor individuals whose homes were nothing but cinders. He walked around for a time, helping here and there to clean up the fallen homes and trinkets. Everyone he came into contact with was quite grateful for his aid.
Soon he found himself at the lower town center, which had been mostly left alone. He looked up into the intensity of the sky, trying to think of something he could do. It was so hard to think without water. And then a thought occurred to him. He made a beeline for one of the last remaining stands at the market, spotting herbs and dried meats inside.
