[center][h3]Relica[/h3][/center] [@PaulHaynek], [@Rezod92], [@The Irish Tree] [hr] [color=Lime]"Who're you calling a [i]shortstack[/i] you muscle-brained bumble-bimbo?!"[/color] Had this been a certain saturday cartoon by a certain company, this would've been the point in the episode where Relica would've leapt onto kerry and caused the two to end up in a distrubingly localized cloud of dust, while the sound of honking, clammering, bopping and other nonsensical sound effects were emitted from their tussle. Sadly, this is wasn't an episode of that particular brand, and instead the gremlin just glared at her companion with a large, visible vein on her temple and her hands on her waist while tryijng to look inttimidating. Y'know, despite being like, half of Kerry's actual size... At the comment from Eula though, regarding the composition and usefulness of the defeated Varjans equipment, Relica simply frowned and shook her head. [color=limee]"Don't think those refugees would have much use of this stuff, even if they [i]could[/i] use it. From what I hear, these Zipanguese have this weird hierarchy of who gets to throw a sword around and who doesn't. 'Sides, not sure I'd wanna arm up people who might stab us in our sleep."[/color] The little gremlin stated, still quite aware and vary of the locals, as they had spent their past few hundred years of pseudo-isolation hating monsterkind. And she didn't really feel comfortable entrusting a mob of them - desperate, homeless and full of emotions - with pointy and sharp things. Who knew if they'd actually use them against the [i]right[/i] side? Then Mister Monk wanted to leave, and so they did. Relica was a bit annoyed that the man had more or less ignored her question about how he was so well-informed about the situation in a place he supposedly hadn't been to, but she opted not to press the matter. After all, it really wasn't any of her business and, if worse came to worse, she could always level the place by releasing some of her magitek bombs should this moonk and his plight prove to be a sinister and elaborate trap. The walk to the village was rather uneventful, apart from the random bickering and snide, verbal banter between the gremlin and the hornet, and Relica periodically checking over her back to look over how Eula was doing. Though, to call it a village was a bit of a stretch... It was more like, a hamlet... Or a settlement... Or... a handful of lone houses in the sticks... Yeah... She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it certainly wasn't this. It looked like all the sick people were at least staying indoors and not shuffling about outside, so at least that was go-- ... And there it was. A maiden in distress. Coming out of her house and running up to them without a shred of doubt that they were here to do good. Not at all phased by the fact that this travelling healer was flanked by no less than three monsters. Perhaps the woman's love for her child had made her blind and hystericcal enough to not notice them? Oer perhaps the local fear of monster didn't extend to eceryone? Or maybe it was something else entirely. Regardless, the outcome of this interaction was already as clear as transparent glass. Without hesitation or asking for their opinion, the bald bastard pulled his entourage along with him as they went to inspect the home of the distressed mother. As the humans talked, Relica only paid a minute amount of attention to their words, but it seemed that the son of this household had eaten something he shouldn't have. [color=lime]"... Idiot... Who goes and stuffs unknown fungus into your motuh just 'cuz your hungry..."[/color] Relica murmured under her breath. She wasn't wrong though, out of all the things you could eat when desperate, mushrooms were pretty low on the list of candidates. Bird egs, reptile eggs, insects, plant roots, nuts, wild vegetables... There was a whole bunch of things one could stuff in their gob that [i]wasn't[/i] a dice roll on getting poisoned or not. Then again, these people probably didn't know the different between an acorn and a pine cone. She sighed. Eventually, the mother and the monk departed the home, leaving the care of this young male boy in the hands of three complete strangers. Who were monsters. Relica felt a twinge of annoyance. [i]Babysitting? Really?[/i] She, a war-veteran and battle engineer, reduced to watching over some random kid in the boonies? What the hell was this, some kind of sick joke? Yeah sure, they were meant to improve relations and prove to the populace they weren't a threat, but how was helpign [i]one[/i] random kid and his mother, in a [i]village[/i] with five homes, that they weren't actually baby-eating abominations of doom!? ... ... ... Then the boy piped up, knocking Relica out of her own head-space. She looked over her sohulder at him, lying their on a straw mat, clutching his gut as if he'd been impaled by a spear. She then shifted her gaze to look around the rest of the house. [color=lime]"Dunno, boy. Different people like different things and types, true for monsters and humans alike. But if you don't wanna look like a loser, make sure you live through this and flash her a confident smile. Nothing makes a girl happier than seeing their love pull through a crisis and come out on top smelling like roses."[/color] The old soldier grunted most of her words. She wasn't an expect on the topic, of course. The only relations she'd had was with fellow soldiers, and those hadn't been more than casual flings and heat-of-the-moment type escapades. Perhaps the bumbling bee-bimbo could offer more sagacious and useful advice. She looked at Eula. ... No... A clinical explanation of the hormonal, psychological and pervasive chemical reactions that formed the foundation of 'love' was probably not what the boy needed right now... [color=lime]"How's your arm, Eula? No worse from all the walking I hope."[/color] She asked, then looking at Kerry. [color=lime]"Why not regale the boy with tales of your romantic exploits, Curry?"[/color] She sneered.