[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]??? — Razed Town[/h3][/center]
Sanae let out a sigh of relief as she watched the injured girl slowly come to, and with the clarity that she seemed to have so soon after waking up it seemed that the most pressing issue had passed. The immediate concern that the girl had after waking up, though, seemed to quickly take it's place; Saria's own directions to keep the girl from immediately overreacting and pushing her still-injured body seemed to be enough for the moment, but she still deserved an explanation of [i]some[/i] sort.

"We've forced the Raven Heralds to retreat; you're safe now," the green-haired girl began to say, before the feeling of a drop of water falling onto her cheek caused her to stop for a moment. Then another. And another.

With concern rather evident on her face now as she turned back up to glance at the sky, Sanae could see that it had indeed begun to rain. Though continued rescue efforts would have been [i]ideal[/i], doing so with low visibility and while soaking wet seemed like it'd be more likely to leave her sick and without much else to show for her efforts. On the other hand, leaving someone trapped or injured in the middle of the rain wasn't exactly going to do them any favors... But maybe the others had finished their sweep through the town to check by now?

"Mmm... I don't think I'm going to be able to help much with clearing the way for rescue, so it might be best if I head over to that lodge to see what I can do there," Sanae concluded, rising to her feet and glancing at the others before scratching the back of her head. "Though, uh... Don't think I'm strong enough to carry someone all the way there, per se. Can you help me bring her over?"

[@VitaVitaAR][@Raineh Daze][hr]
[center][h3]??? — Hunter's Lodge[/h3][/center]
Once Anne's voice broke through the din of injured cries and groans of pain to call out for Millie's family, a fleeting silence seemed to pass over the room before the same man who had guided the group of four to the lodge walked up to the group in awkward silence. He glanced briefly at the two children—particularly towards Alvin, who was the only one cognizant among the pair of children—before pulling Anne aside to speak with her privately.

"...I'm sorry that I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name's Kendrick; I'm the second-in-command of the town's defense corps. Those two kids... They're the children of the commander, Ywain, who was... Killed during the initial raid on the town," he told her as quietly as he could to not let Alvin overhear. "Their mother died during childbirth, but Ywain did his damn best to raise them—and a lot of us under him did our best to follow."

Kendrick glanced off to the side in silence before sighing.

"Sorry, but... Could you not break the news to them quite yet? Alvin's a bright kid—he'll figure it out if we don't tell him, I'm sure—but I don't think right now is the right time for that. I'll take charge of the kids for the moment if you want to help, but I really think you should rest, too. You and the others have done so much for our town, so it's only right that we try and do what we can, too."

All the while, Alvin seemed to be looking upon the carnage with a look of quiet sorrow. Seeing so many familiar faces twisted in pain or gripped by anxiety left the young boy at a loss for words—not to mention how his sister, though still comparatively unharmed, was still lying unconscious.

"...I..." he trailed off before he looked around at everyone present with a concerned look on his face. It seemed to make sense that not everyone was there, but that didn't do anything about the concern he felt about the one person whose face and voice were missing from the crowd.

[@Drifting Pollen][@EchoWolff]

[center][h3]??? — Town Outskirts[/h3][/center]
Though the man didn't seem particularly inclined to stop, enlisting the apparent help of his rescuers (even if that [i]had[/i] been unsolicited) at least gave him more motivation to press ahead. If the Raven Heralds had retreated, then there was a chance that his family was still alive—or so stood his reasoning, at least. It seemed that more than a few civilians had taken to fleeing into the forest to escape the Raven Heralds, but if the encounter at the church was anything to go by, their safety was by no means guaranteed.

Not that the villager would know, of course. Or maybe he did, and was simply turning a blind eye to hold onto the faint hope that his family was still alive and was just waiting for everything to have blown over.

"Elaine! Elaine, are you okay? Hello? Anyone?" he shouted out, voice hoarse as the feeling of raindrops meeting his skin spurred him on with even more fervor. "The town's safe now! Some heroes came and fought the Raven Heralds off!"

With the rain beginning to pick up, though, it remained to be seen if shouting into the forest would remain effective, if at all.

[@DracoLunaris][@Lugubrious]