Nich watched Rowan with a confused expression when she suddenly stopped walking, and he paused as well. "Ah? Oh, no, I don't need to do that. I've got no reason to ask you something that might make you uncomfortable. It's fine, really, don't worry about it. If you want to share anything, you're welcome to, but I'm not going to force you to tell me anything." He replied, holding his hands up again. "Honestly, don't feel bad. It's not your fault."
Rowan frowned a little but shrugged anyway. She didn't exactly know what to tell Nich anyways, at least anything that wouldn't make him not concerned. She tapped her fingers on her leg as she thought for a moment and started to write to Nich once more, I wouldn't be that uncomfortable, I am offering after all. But you can't make me not feel bad about it. I thought it wouldn't be as bad as it was.
"It's fine, honestly. I'm not upset, I promise." Nich insisted with a soft smile. "I probably overshared anyway. Just got caught up talking and such. And you didn't know." He closed his eyes for a moment and scratched at his ears again, which was evidently a pretty frequent habit of his. "You're welcome to share anything you like; I won't stop you, but don't feel pressured to share anything you don't want to."
Rowan hesitated a moment as she thought. It wouldn't be awful to share something with Nich, the question was what. She had to think of something that wouldn't make Nich concerned, but was at the same level of personalness that Nich had shared with her. There was a moment of hesitation before she began to write to him, I don't have parents, at least any that I know of. Ash, my brother who I don't consider a brother, was the one who raised me.
"Mm?" Nich read the words closely, his expression growing more curious rather than sullen and uneasy. He considered for a moment how to respond. He didn't exactly know Rowan very well, after all, so he had no way of gauging how she felt about the information she'd shared. He blinked a couple times as he searched for the right words. "Do you… like Ash?" He asked awkwardly after a few seconds. "I mean… uh… I'm not sure what it's like to be raised by a sibling, of course."
Rowan paused a second as she watched Nich's expression. She wasn't surprised to see the curiosity on his face, but she was expecting something else. Then he asked his question and she froze for a moment. She took a deep breath in and out before deciding she could at least do him the courtesy of responding, No. He she hesitated for a second, He was a lot like the witch from Rapunzel. You know that story right?
"Ah, I see… yeah, I'm familiar with Rapunzel. I'm sorry." Nich replied, his tone sincere. Although the town he lived in was unsafe and unpleasant, he did still like his parents, and he was raised well enough for the most part. He wasn't sure what it was like to grow up without parents, or to be raised by a sibling that he didn't even like. So, he was sorry that Rowan had to experience such a situation. "Well, however you got here, I'm glad you made it." He smiled softly at Rowan.
I'm glad I made it too, Rowan smiled softly back at him. She was honestly happy Nich was being sincere in his apologies. Others had been insincere in their response to finding this out. Then again, she hadn't told that many people. She tapped on her leg as she walked along as she began to write out, Sorry for bringing the mood down. Um, have any happy stories to tell?
"It's fine, really. I've got lots of fun stories." Nich hummed as he searched for a story he wanted to tell. He really had adventured quite a bit, so it was far too figure out which stories were the best. He supposed it didn't really matter. "Hmm… oh! Once I had to wrangle some guy's sheep back home after they'd escaped their pen—some jobs don't involve fighting, after all—and he lent me his horse so I could chase them. I don't really know how to ride a horse, but I managed to stay on well enough for long enough to get the sheep back. As soon as we got back, though, the horse threw me off into a fence. I broke a rib and I had a nasty bruise on my side for weeks." He laughed, putting one hand on his side where the injury had supposedly been.
Rowan smiled at that and resisted the urge to laugh at his little story. She wanted to, but she knew it would be far too painful and ruin the mood. Instead, she smiled brightly at him and showed her amusement through her eyes. Rowan quickly wrote out, Sucks that you broke a rib, but hey you got the job done! Either way that was a good little story.
Nich smiled brightly as well, glad that Rowan had liked the story. "Yeah, I've had way worse than a broken rib, so I consider myself lucky. Horse related injuries can get pretty bad too." He hummed softly and tried to think of another story he could tell. "Trying to remember what my first job was… that one was pretty early, but it wasn't my first. I remember fighting some kobolds with a small group of people around my age a few years back. They were an aspiring group of adventurers. I hope they're doing well."
Did you not keep in touch with them? Rowan wrote out to Nich. Curiosity had now taken over her features as she waited for his answer. He seemed at least a little close to whoever these people were, especially since they did do some jobs together. She assumed she did more than one job together. And if he didn't, then Rowan probably wasn't going to do another job with him. Which was fine with her.
"I do write to them sometimes, but it's been a little while." Nich shrugged. "They had to go off and do their own thing. I would've gone with them, but I figured I should stick around here instead. It was a nice, balanced team. I think their ranger was my favorite." He laughed softly, smiling as he reminisced.
Why did you stick around? Rowan didn't quite understand. If he found a good group of people whose company he enjoyed, then he should have stayed with them, right? That's how most normal people worked, then again what did she know. She was isolated for 19 years of her life. She shook her head, Sorry, you have your reasons. Maybe you should write to them when we get back from the job?
"Well… I felt like I was needed here. I've got the guild and the town… this place is my home. I love those guys, but they're doing great on their own." Nich shrugged, still smiling softly. "I'll definitely remember our time together fondly. But that sounds like a good idea; I'll try to remember to write to them after we're done." He stretched a bit and kept walking.
Maybe you could start a draft for the letter while we're on the job? So you don't forget to write to them when we get back, Rowan suggested to him. If Nich started writing the letter while they were traveling, Rowan would be able to take her potions in private a little more easily. Speaking of which her throat was starting to ache and it felt like acid was gnawing at it. Was it really time for another dose already? She looked at Nich, We've been walking for a while. Want to take a little break right now?
"Yeah, I guess that might help." Nich tried to think of what he should put in the letter to his friends. He scratched behind his ears again, and looked back over to Rowan when he caught writing in the corner of his eye. "Mm? Yeah, we can take a quick break if you want to." He looked around and found some smooth rocks to sit on so he could pull a notebook and a writing utensil out of his bag.
Thank you, Rowan gave a quick bow of the head as she glanced around. She turned away and as she walked she made a small spell circle and murmured a spell beneath her breath fighting for every word to come out. When she was done an image of her walked and sat down on a nearby log, and Rowan, her actual self, was invisible. She then made her way into the forest coughing up blood as she went. Rowan was trying to stay as quiet as possible, so she could take the potion and then replace her image as unnoticeable as possible. She pulled out the glowing violet vial and downed it in one go causing the acidic feeling to disappear.
Luckily for Rowan, Nich seemed to be pretty preoccupied and distracted for the moment. He scribbled down a few lines in his journal, writing ideas and rewriting things to try and figure out what exactly he wanted to write before he started on an actual draft of the letter. After a few tries, he started writing out a proper letter, which he planned to transfer to a nicer piece of paper when they returned to town. While he was distracted, he didn't seem to notice Rowan.
Rowan coughed a few more times, no blood coming up, and then walked over to where her image was on the log. She then released the spell circle that was on the image and replaced the image easily. She pulled out an old worn leather book from her bag and opened it up to her notes on the potion she had just taken. She summoned a quill from seemingly thin air and began to think up ways to increase the potency of the potion. There wasn't a lot she could do on the road, but she could do some thinking to improve it on the road.
Once Nich had written most of the letter, he closed his journal and stuck it back in his bag. "Alright, do you want to get back on the road soon or rest a little longer?" He asked Rowan, looking over to her curiously as he toyed with his own pen. He spun it idly between his fingers and lay back on the rock he was sitting on, humming softly to himself. "I'm good to go whenever you're ready."
Rowan looked up at him. The quill in her hand vanished and she put the book back into her bag. She gave a little nod as she stood up from the log smiling. She wrote out in the air, I'm ready to go! Let's try to make it to a town before nightfall? She knew they wouldn't make it to Aurelius before nightfall, but they could at least sleep in a bed.
"Yeah, I've been through here before. There's a town a few miles from here in the right direction." Nich pointed in the right general direction and then started to lead the way. "There should be some places we can stay for free or cheap. And… I think we'll be close enough to get to the right place by tomorrow, yeah? As long as we keep good pace."
We definitely should be able to make it, Rowan wrote back to him as she followed after. She hadn't been this way many times, but she had gone through it enough times to have a good sense of pace. After all, Aurelius was some sort of home to her. She stayed on its streets for the first month or so after she escaped from Ash, And if we need to pay I have a bit of gold on me.
"I've got a bit of money too, so we should be alright. And it's possible that the innkeepers like me enough to let us stay for free." Nich shrugged and continued on. Although his calves were prosthetics and couldn't feel strain, his thighs were starting to ache after a while, although he didn't show it. He was definitely looking forward to taking off the prosthetics and being able to lay down and rest once they got to the town.
That would be really nice, Rowan nodded with a little smile. She didn't know how far out he had connections from the initial town and guildhall. She figured it wouldn't be that far, but given his seeming popularity, it made sense for him to have more connections than she thought. Rowan tapped her fingers on her thigh, which was definitely a habit, as she kept walking. Her legs did hurt quite a bit, but otherwise, she could walk for a while longer.
Nich nodded, smiling softly. "I try to make friends pretty much everywhere I go. It definitely comes in handy in situations like this, and it's generally helpful while traveling." He subtly rubbed at his leg with one hand, starting to feel where the prosthetic connected to his thigh. "We should be there pretty soon."
I hope so. I'm exhausted from all this walking, Rowan wrote making sure the word exhausted was overly large and funky to emphasize exaggeration in tone. Writing had some benefits over speaking, but not many. She kept her head up front looking out for any signs of trouble, or a town. A town would be great, I'm glad we didn't run into any monsters today.
Nich laughed softly and nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting tired as well… these things start to hurt after a while of walking." He shook one leg from side to side a bit to display it for emphasis. He could see the town, but it was still a ways off. It wouldn't take much longer to get there, but it would definitely feel like a while. "Mhmm. I tried to stay to more open areas so we'd be less likely to be ambushed. The vast majority of attacks around here are in the forest."
I would think so, Rowan wrote back a humorous smile on her lips. She would think the metal legs would eventually hurt, even if he didn't get the muscle pains she was currently having. She spotted the town in the distance and felt the humor fade to gratefulness, And I thank you for that. But I think we should try to take the most direct route tomorrow, even if it's not exactly the safest. The sooner we get there the better.