Children will be children

The sun was setting as Arthos headed towards the village. There were a group of children running around the village entrance, playing tag with each other. A smile unconsciously crept up his face as he heard the joyous cries as one child ran after the others. From their tattered clothes, Arthos thought these may be children from the orphanage.

A little to the side, there was a young girl standing in the shade of a tree cheering them on. Arthos approached her with a smile, "Why aren't you playing with the others?"

"Oh, I got tired so I'm resting. Mister, are you an adventurer? " Eyes sparkling. "Do you have any magical items? Sister Anne says that adventurers carry stuff that can do amazing things and like... go 'whoosh-whoosh' "

Yup, a child's vocabulary had it's limitations. Thinking of what he could show her, he looked through his inventory. The only thing that stood out was the corrupted squirrel carcass. Wait, was that an appropriate item to show?

Perhaps it was those eyes, the deep eyes of a child who knows no darkness. He really did not want to disappoint. "Alright, this may be a little scary. Stand back a little."

He took out the corrupted carcass. The dark aura permeating the corpse. The girl looked on with wide eyes, " Wowee, you really can make things appear out of nothing! You are an adventurer? "

"... " Arthos coughed sheepishly. Well, that was not meant to impress but the inventory was pretty magical supposedly..

Before he could stop her, she reached out and started to touch the carcass. Arthos had not felt regret for a very long time. In an instant, the curious mischief froze, and her eyes rolled up, Arthos barely caught her before she fell.

Immediately putting the carcass back into his inventory, he shouted at her, "Hey! Hey, are you alright?!" Her body was frigid, cold and lifeless. He tried to feel her pulse and checked for breathing, but there was no sign of life.

"Hey! Something happened to Layla!" Immediately the bunch of children ran over, staring at Arthos, not sure if he was good or evil. However, Arthos did not give them time to think, "Quickly, take me to a doctor, a healer, or any adult?!" The children had differing responses, some started crying, some stood blankly. Thankfully a couple of older children beckoned. "Follow us, we will take you to Sister."