Grimacing slightly with a delicate wrinkle of her nose, Vanessa grimly used a square of cloth to clean The blade of her sword, the white material coming away red in her hand. She tried not to breathe too deeply as she did so, uncomfortably aware of the hazy smoke drifting from the pile of burning corpses even as she resolutely determined not to think of such things. A distraction came easily a moment later in the appearance of a stoic looking dwarf who's beard and braided hair was just as flamingly vivid as her own. He sighed as he collapsed onto the top of the crate next to the young woman, retrieving another cloth like hers to begin cleaning his own ax blade.

"Greetings Tholonbard." Vanessa lilted amiably.

Tholonbard grunted out a soft laugh, glancing sideways at the young woman. "Evening Lassie." He rumbled in return in a deep baritone of a voice, his beard twitching with a smile. "How did yer first Battle as a captain fair?"

"Well enough." Vanessa shrugged One of her shoulders, tilting her head to one side as she examined her sword. "I don't think it helped any win a few of the novices in my group ran headlong into the corpse mountain." The memory had her sighing heavily, A small scowl puckering her fore head. This was perhaps the reason why she threw The dirty cloth with unnecessary force onto a pile of similarly discolored squares.

Tholonbard snorted his distaste and agreement. "I don't think any of us saw that one coming."

"No..." The young woman grumbled, finally getting to her feet and sheathing her sword. "I'm going to go help bury the bodies. I'll catch you later for a drink.," she waved one hand as she walked away, disappearing into the night.

[Center]-[/Center]

Rubbing his face briskly with both of his hands, Leodin finally released the breath he had been holding in one great woosh. His eyes, angular and the palest of blues, were bright with unshed tears that he flatly refused to let fall. His young elvin features twisted with pain for one moment longer before he pulled a passive mask into place. There would be time later to grieve for the loss of his wife, Lost in the battle after being separated from his side by a mere human soldier, but he would not show that weakness in front of his companions. He was new to the Ebon Hawks, had only been counted in their numbers for three months, so they had not earned that amount of trust from the warrior yet... Pulling is long black hair back from his face, the elf quickly plaited his hair into a long braid of mourning, letting it fall across his left shoulder before collecting his bow, Quiver of arrows, and the hand and a half sword his wife had forged for him for their wedding. Gaze distant, Leodin purposefully walked away from the place he had buried Eilorin's body, moving on to the next pile of corpses to be buried, ignoring the ache of his own wounds as he stepped into place beside a redheaded woman, reaching out automatically to help her lift the body of a man who's face he did not see.

"What a mess..." He heard the woman sigh heavily.

"indeed." Leo agreed darkly, collecting the broken body of a teenaged girl. "Quite the bloody mess..."