Nettala had never really been good with children, which seemed a tad odd since kids always seemed to like her, crawling all over whenever she gave them the chance. She didn't understand it, but in the back of her mind, she was glad that her presence had given the little girl some sense of comfort. Anna was her name and she was silently snuggled up next to the ranger as they sat on the porch of an outlying cabin. It had belonged to Anna's father, giving a beautiful view of the forest and the castle walls, reflecting a certain beauty in the mixture of civilization and nature.

Netta ran it through her mind more than a dozen times and at the end of each day, she just didn't get it. He had seemed like such a friendly sort and who honestly kills a man to leave his daughter alone? His wife had passed away about a year ago and now Anna was dealing with both parents dead. The ranger corp was generally thought of as a close-knit family and even if Nettala didn't fit into it so well, they all took it upon themselves to raise the little girl. It had been Netta's turn this week.

They both continued to sit in complete silence. The ranger's elbows rested on her knees, using her palms to help support her chin as she stared into the horizon. Anna's small head gently resting against the ranger's side. Anna was so quiet since her father's passing that she in fact hadn't said a single word since. She didn't shed a tear, cry out in anger, or acted out - just kept quiet and to herself. Maybe that's why Anna seemed to like Nettala the most - they shared those traits in common.

The current state of affairs didn't help either, but it wasn't like the ranger could make much sense of it. Besides the plague - which she wasn't a healer - all the politics of the nobles went right over her head. She just wanted to help people and she enjoyed her walks within the forests and creeks. Perhaps she was simpler than most who had opinions about nobles, kings, and queens, but in truth Nettala had always been an idealist - wanted to help people because it was the right thing to do.