A cripple. That's what Ash was. If they were attacked by a group of equal size, then it would be practically confirmed that they would perish. The chance that they would be followed by a goblin was, in Ash's head, unlikely. What was a bigger risk was wild animals. Bears and wolves had acute senses of smells, Ash thought. Especially bears. Her mind kept wandering. It kept the pain off her mind. She was used to it, she told herself. She didn't know why she kept on telling herself this, but it was what little warmth she could find in this cold, cruel situation.

Ash understood where she was going, more or less. They headed west, towards the mountains. To return, they needed to head east. AKA, their backs to the mountains. The biggest issue was the waning daylight. It was dangerous at night. She had to keep it in her mind on where the moon rose and stars appeared. They would be their guide at night. Andeave was on the coast, so as long as they could reach the sea, they could find the city.

Matteo opened his mouth to mutter whatever that concussed brain of his was thinking. Ash would have preferred to listen to the suspicious sounds of nature, but the stress of an odd noise every so often made her want to avoid listening to the forest.

[b]"They... were more experienced,"[/b] she quietly uttered, [b]"but we beat them with numbers and dumb strength."[/b] The win, Ash had thought, was completely hollow. Pyrrhic, even. But she learned something. Matteo had muttered something about how adventurers worked. [b]"The issue is us. None of us did what we were supposed to."[/b] Recollections of the fight fluttered in Ash's mind as she tried to analyze what had happened. [b]"I have a bow, but had no room to use it. You have a dagger, but you were caught by a goblin. Thief isn't... isn't just a fancy name. I'm not sure what a Blade Dancer does, but the point stands. We all did the same thing there. What I'm saying is, we need more people. In MMO terms, we're running a ranged DPS, a melee DPS, and an assassin as melee DPS. We'd need a tank to take the heat off of us, an off-tank to protect, and - most importantly - a [i]healer[/i]."[/b]

She delivered the final word in a sardonic tone. Not out of malice, however. It was more because she was in pain and having a healer would have abated it. Matteo continued his comments, this time about getting home. [b]"Rivers don't just flow to the sea. They flow into lakes and other rivers too. As long as we have the mountains behind us, we should reach the sea."[/b]