Chihiro, once in the caravan, sat beside Hilde, one hand stroking the girl's hair idly as she waited for the return trip. She knew Hilde would live, but a bit of comfort and a chance to pamper the girl was not something the naga would pass up. In the past, if Hilde was sick as a child, suddenly Chihiro would show up with treats and a story to cheer her up. Now, she could be a bit flirtatious with the woman and also a bit more affectionate. After all, it wasn't often you got to do so as an ageless wanderer.

[color=ec008c]"If anything could take down your father, I would give it a medal. I swear, he could duel down a mountain if the thought took him. I imagine you will get to that point soon enough. You take after him a lot in that regard. You are just cuter at it than a jolly giant of a beefcake."[/color] The naga's eyes never left Hilde. She had decided to essentially work through the stress by channeling it into teasing and taking care of the half-varuk. [color=ec008c]"As for your fight, that was no normal opponent. Kistal did something to it, said something about purification I think. That body was probably more puppet than person at that point given how easily it hurt itself and also ignored major injuries. Perhaps our friend will enlighten us on what he did later. For now, he seems caught up in his own inner demons. Slavery seems to hit him harder than most."[/color]

Kistal, meanwhile, had been working at the other shackles. Some were so gritty and mediocre that he had to break the locks or joints to get them open. His frustration was audible in his quiet growls. Once he had freed the slaves, giving them the same direction to work out the numbness before moving, he looked over at Nix. She had obviously been following him but acted like she wasn't actually paying him attention. He figured it was her way of trying to find someone to be comfortable around. So, he simply let her do as she wished and looked at the cluster of chains in his hand. He tossed them to the sands and ground them into the grains with a hoof, his brow furrowed and a somehow simultaneously sad and angry frown on his face. The nearly spent mana left in his body reacted with his mental state as he was once again confronted with bad memories, his hair raising a bit in the air and dark wisps flowing up from his body. The moment soon passed as he calmed down again, making his way to the skiff.

On the skiff, he took a seat and planted the butt of his spear on the deck, spinning it between two fingers as he let the adrenaline crash come and begin to run its course. [color=f26522]"Good thing I have a bunch of alcohol finishing at Kalla. I am going to need a long night of drinking after dealing with all this...degeneracy."[/color]