Despite having asked about her combat abilities, Ethan didn’t seem to care much about her answer. Turning back to Ethan after she posed a question of her own, she found that he wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. Though she was a little annoyed that she was putting effort into socializing with someone that was clearly only being polite before, Adrianna reminded herself that it was better to form less ties with these people. After all, they weren’t going to stick around when things got tough. They were merely people with whom she could share space while they went in the same direction.

Adrianna went her own way after the meal, thanking Ethan for treating her as the man went off with the others to train. She didn’t much understand the point of it. There was only so much they would pick up in the few days they spent here in Mutebo—it wasn’t like a few short days would turn them into hardened soldiers, ready to face whatever challenges they expected to encounter. But she barely knew these guys, and whatever was prompting them to put a crossbow in an 8-year-old’s hands instead of leaving her with responsible adults to raise was not her business.

When she was asked to go find Lionel and bring him back, along with his charges, Adrianna was less than thrilled, though she kept the majority of her complaints to herself. She didn’t know why Taliya would have trusted Lionel with such a task, or why she cared so much about him returning. She asked, but Taliya reminded Adrianna that she was owed a favor. “For what?” Adrianna challenged, crossing her arms. She hadn’t been in dire need of Mutebo when she arrived. She had come initially because she had helped one of Taliya’s men, and he wanted to return the favor. They should have been even. 

She could have just left, and she seriously considered it as she wandered near the path from Mutebo in the direction Taliya had indicated. If she simply never returned, Taliya wouldn’t have to know why, and if their paths crossed again, Adrianna could have easily stated that she had been spooked by some armed travelers, and didn’t want to lead them back to the mage safe-haven.

As she walked, Adrianna kept her eyes and ears out for signs of Lionel, or whoever might have intercepted him, but her mind was coming up with elaborate reasons why she could get away with never returning. The sound of shouting tore her from her thoughts. She heard the word recklass, and moved closer to the yelling, keeping herself largely hidden until she verified that one of the voices belonged to Lionel, and he wasn’t actively fighting.

Adrianna emerged into the clearing where the group was situated, earning some gasps from a few of the people nearby. “It’s okay.” She said, putting her arms up defensively. “Taliya sent me.” She looked from the closest person to Lionel, who was sitting on a stump and eating an apple. He was also covered in blood and looked a bit bruised. She could feel how worn out he was, and though his injuries were not extensive, she had a feeling that he had already been healed a bit after…whatever altercation transpired.

Looking from side to side, Adrianna felt for any other injuries among the group, but didn’t sense or see any. Whatever trouble they had faced, Lionel had been the only one to look the worse for it, though the others hardly looked like fighters. “She said you were taking too long. I figured you probably got distracted fucking with people’s livelihoods. Seems I was right. Who’d you piss off this time?”

Lionel responded noncommittally, and no one else seemed to want to add anything to enlighten her further. He asked if she wanted to fix him up, and Adrianna stared at him for a moment before letting out a deep breath and walking over to him. Even though he had already healed himself a bit, she could still tell that the blood on his clothing wasn’t his. Interesting. Perhaps he was more competent than he let on. “Sure. That’s my job.” Adrianna placed her hand on his shoulder, the one he had just put back in place, and took a few long slow breaths as she concentrated on sending her energy into his body to take away the aches and bruises. There wasn’t anything life-threatening to heal, but he was going to be a lot more comfortable for the rest of the trip. For his own magic, though, he would need to rest, something Adrianna was sure that he knew.

“Need to sit and rest for a while longer?” She asked when she was done. She wanted to get back as soon as she could, but she didn’t want to escort these people back herself to get the task completed sooner. As much as she didn’t like it, that meant working with Lionel for the time being. 

Lionel, fortunately, seemed eager to get moving again once more anyway. Adrianna shifted her pack as Lionel rounded up the group, and moved to the front to lead them. If her magic had been something combat oriented, she might have moved to the back of the group, to help respond with magic to an attack. Since most of her magic was healing, and her actual combat skills were close combat oriented, she moved up front with Lionel to lead the way back to Mutebo.

If he had complained and wanted her to go to the back, she would have, but he said nothing, so she figured it was fine. Still, she didn’t exactly have anything in mind in terms of small talk with the man. She could chat with some of the people they were escorting, but they had already formed their own tight-knit group. [i]You don’t need to constantly try to make friends.[/i] Adrianna reminded herself, walking quietly beside Lionel.