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Avian was silent as they made their way towards the cabin. He was carrying Martini and walked with a pronounced limp, but it seemed as if the pain constantly shooting through his ribs and up his leg wasn’t the reason behind the gray pallor over his face. 

They began their search although at first it seemed like there was nothing to be found. Harper asked about the possibility of there being a secret room somewhere in the cabin, and if there was one then where could the entry point be? The other guides agreed that there might be something more to the rickety old shack- Martini almost slammed her tail against Avian’s face as she blurted out her opinion but he barely noticed- and he set the mermaid down on a chair to help with the investigation.

Riley suggested burning the house down.

“Uhhh, don’t do that. You all fought so hard to defeat that hag just to die in a house fire. Right, beefcake?” Songbird rapped on the shoulder where Brandy leaned against as he turned towards the soldier, who gave him a bland, disinterested nod before turning his broad back on them. “Is he okay?” The item hunter nudged Leila and pointed at the dark-haired nobody. The two of them chose the same place to search so Songbird decided to strike up a conversation with the girl- somebody once told him that social interaction, at times, has the power to soothe nerves- but it was a bad move seeing that not only was he a poor conversationalist, so was Leila, as it seemed. Fluffy and Stuffy, cute little darlings that they are, circled around the human’s legs while squeaking in turn. 

Songbird’s hat, if anyone read my last post, had been petrified by the wisps and he left it back in the battlefield. His face was in full view of everyone who dared to look, heterochromia and the odd, slightly circular marks that trailed up from the bottom of his left eye and ended barely an inch from his hairline included. He didn’t seem to mind though, or perhaps the current nonchalance was due to the fact that he was busy digging around in the tool chest for a key.

Also, for someone who got thrown around a lot, Songbird seemed to be just as energetic as Ace. Maybe it was because of his vocation that he didn’t seem that shaken by the fight they’ve all been through? Truth be told, his two fluffballs seemed to be in worse shape, judging from the overall beaten look the orange and pink duo had, not to mention the matted pieces of fluff on their round, plush bodies.

Ace suggested burning the house down.

Songbird sighed.

Jasper approached Avian and compared a piece of metal to the one on his arm. The dragoon was startled enough that he turned to look at the human, despite being in a gloomy mood. Victoria really should’ve been the one on this mission. Not only was she skilled with ranged attacks, which could’ve helped earlier, but he had no doubt that his wife had more skill and would have possibly prevented Lesley’s hand from reaching its current nonexistent state. He wiped his hands on his pants and took the chunk from the white-haired girl, turning it over his palm before returning it to Jasper. 

Ah.

“57th Training Corps, Guardian Sect. Whoever owned this was training to be a part of Aven’s city guard, see those three dots on the edge?” Before he could properly hand the armor back to the girl, she snatched it away and jumped up and down energetically. Oh well. Avian’s dry lips cracked into a faint smile. Glad to see her morale was boosted.