One would think that the people they were escorting were being held against their will by how rude their exchanges with Lionel became. Adrianna kept her own mouth shut initially while the group complained about not taking more breaks. She wondered how long they had been making their way to Mutebo, and looked back a few times to try to gauge whether any others were injured. She was pretty confident they were all fine, albeit tired, and had her attention drawn to Lionel as he demonstrated a new side of himself, sparring verbally with one of the women.

He had a point about attracting beasts, but he certainly could have said it more eloquently. Adrianna sighed, and turned to step in and diffuse the situation a bit, when one of the other escorted people began to rant and rave. When he grabbed Lionel and the man continued to patronize the larger, stockier man, Adrianna rolled her eyes.

The two began to tussle, and Adrianna let them duke it out, but drew her staff in either hand as she stared down another man who nearly leaped into the action. The last thing they needed was a loud brawl in the forest. She was putting them away again when the other took the hint and Lionel finished putting the man back in his place. He insisted that the man apologize to the trees for wasting oxygen, and Adrianna couldn’t hold back her opinions any longer. “Now you are wasting time and oxygen, Lionel.” She said, shaking her head as she turned to the man rubbing his arm still. “Don’t go apologize to the trees. Or if you want to, do it while we walk. We are wasting time and daylight.”

Adrianna turned from the men and began to walk off. She heard Lionel insist that the man continue with the apologies, and she tensed, debating leaving him behind. Taliya told her to go and get him back, but she had made sure he was still alive. Couldn’t that be enough? She only took a few steps, but could hear that no one was following her. It made sense, really. Even though the people they were escorting wanted to move along, they trusted Lionel. He had kept them alive this long, though she really didn’t know how. Still, she would have loved to wound his pride by having all of them just walk away and leave Lionel waiting to be appeased. 

She weighed her options for a few moments before stopping and waiting for Lionel to determine that they had wasted enough time and could continue. “Are you finally done lording over these people?” She asked. 

"I don't know...Being a lord might be fun." He replied with a snarky grin.

"You may act entitled enough, but you have to be at least a little responsible." Adrianna said, holding her fingers a few inches apart. She shook her head at the thought of people actually relying on him for anything. Why Taliya had entrusted him with this was beyond her. 

With that, she began to walk once more, silently grateful when she heard footsteps behind her once more as the others began to follow. They went another mile or two before Adrianna heard something up ahead. It sounded like a cart and horses. She stopped, holding up a hand to indicate that the others should pause, and then turned to Lionel, mouthing “Do you hear that?” as she pointed in the direction further up the path.

He indicated that he had, and she gestured to the trees. “I’ll go check it out.” She whispered, and then drew her bo staff once more. Once they started to move off of the path, she darted to the other side and moved between the trees, then turned and quickly made her way to the direction of the cart. Surely enough, only a short distance later, Adrianna made out the cart, and its two drivers. One she recognized from Mutebo, and so she stepped out of the woods and waved. The driver brought the cart to a stop, and Adrianna spoke with them briefly, letting them know she was traveling with a group up ahead a little way, and to expect them shortly thereafter. They appreciated the warning, and mentioned something about Taliya being eager for their return. 

Adrianna jogged back to the place where she had indicated for them to go off and take cover, and waved them out. “It’s just some folks delivering supplies from Mutebo. I told them to expect to see us so no one was spooked. Let’s keep going.” She said to the group before turning her attention back to the path. Going ahead to scout had slowed them down further, but hopefully they would get back soon, and Lionel wouldn’t pick any more fights with their charges. “So who are these folks?” She asked Lionel as they began moving once more. “Mages? Inventors? Protestors?”