[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Aventon — Forest Outskirts[/h3][/center]
Before she could even attempt to batter away at the giant boar's hide, the green-haired shrine maiden watched as the half-ghost gardener cleanly dismantled any semblance of an attack from the boar—and the boar itself on top of that. Sanae couldn't help but grimace as blood spurted out of the boar's neck as it's charge slowed to a stop just a few steps away from where Youmu had cleaved through, and the bleeding corpse of the beast did the gruesome scene no favors in terms of palatability.

"Eugh. Remind me to never fight you without spellcard rules," Sanae remarked as she floated back down to ground level, taking care not to actually step on the ground lest the blood soak into her shoes. "But, well, that's that settled, I guess? Pretty huge boar, though; I don't think I've seen any ever grow [i]that[/i] big, even on Youkai Mountain. Maybe that hermit might have one, but..."

As the young woman trailed off, lost in her thoughts as she was, Joker's question caused her to reconsider the situation once more instead of reminiscing about her new homeland. Certainly, if it was boars they were talking about, there was no reason to think that there would only be one or two present; doubly so if this one was as aggressive as it was, given how it charged at them a few seconds after noticing their presence.

"Uh... Maybe, maybe not?" she responded, unsure if any response she gave would be meaningfully helpful in the least.

Thankfully enough, someone with more sense about the world than the three of them did seemed to have chosen to follow; strength in numbers, perhaps?

"Oh gods, that's a [i]big[/i] earthmane boar," spoke Derek as he finally caught up with the group. "Why the heck's one all the way out here?"

"Out here?" Sanae asked, raising an eyebrow at the hunter's comment. "Are they not native to the area?"

"Er... No, they're native, but I've never seen one all the way out here. They're usually solitary creatures, but they rarely come anywhere near this area. Usually they're deeper into the forest, closer to the mountain than not. Does explain what I saw, though..."

"Huh. Would it be worth checking further out, then? This one had some blood on it's tusks when we met it, and judging by the looks of things, that blood was pretty fresh," Sanae replied, crossing her arms as she glanced at the tusk that had been sliced clean off the creature. A once-over of it would indeed confirm that there was (somewhat) fresh blood layered upon it.

"...Yep, definitely recent. I don't think I'd be surprised if the others ran into a boar or two, too."

"Well, earthmane boars are [i]definitely[/i] out of my comfort zone, so I'll leave figuring out what exactly is going on to you. In fact, I'll do the smart thing and head back to town so we can grab some people to haul this thing back; heavens know we're going to need the food, and it'd be a waste to leave this beast to rot," Derek responded before turning back around.

Once he had departed, Sanae turned back towards the boar's corpse for a moment before refocusing towards the other two others who were still standing by. The 'what' of the situation had been answered, but the 'why', less so.

"So... Either of you two want to follow the trail of destruction this thing left, or should we try and regroup with the others before doing anything?"
[hr]
Remilia's approach towards Lewa immediately drew a more cautious response from the boar, almost as if it smelled the blood upon the wind that emanated from her—not that such a scent was easy to escape from given her nature, of course, but it was likely that she would have elicited such a response from the injured creature simply because she was yet another unknown creature appearing in front of it.

Uncertainty still gripped the creature's heart as it let out a half-huff, half-snort and adopted a slightly more aggressive stance. But Lewa's own actions, undeterred as they were by its posturing, caused the boar to briefly ready itself for combat——

Only for the strange green being to begin to breathe in and out. Such an action was confusing to the boar, of course, but whether or not it seemed to be consciously aware of what was happening, the animal began to breathe in tandem with Lewa. The tense and taut muscles in it's body slackened ever so slightly, and though that sense of unease never truly faded, the creature seemed to calm down enough for the Toa of Wind to reach out and touch it.

A wild beast was not so easily tamed, but it seemed like the animal wasn't going to lash out unless someone or something attempted to attack it now.

[@VitaVitaAR][@Izurich][@Lugubrious][@EchoWolff]
[hr][center][h3]Aventon — Hunter's Lodge[/h3][/center]
"Whoa, hold on, I can only take in so much at a time," Kendrick replied, holding his hands out ever so slightly in front of him so as to keep Anne from speaking far faster than he had a chance to figure it out. Once the woman had finished her hasty explanation as to the circumstances behind their presence here (and by extension what had happened to the two children the day prior), though, the guard could only take a while longer to fully process what he had been given.

"Right, well... I don't remember any goddess with the name Lavielle, and I'm not all that well versed in religious matters, so I'm not exactly the best person to ask about this. Unfortunately, the old man who ran the church here passed in the attack, so you won't have any luck with that here..." he said as he looked at the note that she seemed to be panicking over.

"...Honestly, I don't even know what this thing says. How can you even read this? I've never seen any script like it."

Shrugging his shoulders, Kendrick put the note back in the box where it had been initially before picking up the necklace in turn.

"But putting that aside for the moment... You're saying that this was a planned thing? Kidnapping Millie for some unknown deity? How would they even know she was—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, a faint glow would envelop the necklace, and the amulet dangling at the end of the chain would begin to subtly pull itself towards Millie's still-slumbering body.

[@Drifting Pollen]
[hr][center][h3]Aventon — Town Streets[/h3][/center]
While the others were busy on their own little sidequests, Rayne was at liberty to speak with those still willing and able around the town. While saying that they were in high spirits would have been a bald-faced lie, the townsfolk seemed to be able to at least converse with her about what had been before this whole incident had transpired.

Aventon was, as would be fairly evident, a frontier town. It was somewhat more developed than one might have expected from a settlement so far from any centers of transportation, but being situated near water [i]and[/i] close to national borders meant that it was more something between an outpost and place of interest.

Not that the townsfolk really understood [i]why[/i] this place was so important, though; most of them had been here for a generation or two at most, which meant that though they cared for the land upon which they were born, it was more sentimentality than any sense of geopolitical importance that they wished to remain.

But maybe that was for the best?

Either way, conversations would drift from one topic to the next as Rayne continued to help clear away all of the rubble and debris impeding any chance of timely repairs. From the occasional trade caravans that went to and from the town through the southern gate to the odd ruins that were scattered throughout the forest (that nobody really desired to look into given the other matters of import throughout the years) to the inevitable lamentations about those who would rest in eternal slumber and many others beyond that, there was no shortage of things to speak of.

The first point, of course, might have been the most interesting in it's own right; apparently, a trade caravan was scheduled to arrive some time in the next few days. Whether or not it [i]would[/i] arrive remained to be seen, but if it did...

Well, expecting merchants to part with their goods for free was folly in and of itself, but maybe there was something to be gained in bartering with them.

[@DracoLunaris]