A Brief Investigation

Avery was grinning again as she stood up from the table and moved towards the door. Even her brief conceding to the pair going down to the village and asking around was evidently enough to cheer him up. As Anya strapped a well worn dagger to her belt and opened the door to go out into the surrounding forest, she saw Avery's grin simmer down to more of a self satisfied smile as he went about preparing for the day.

Anya took a deep breath of the mountain air, before taking a glance around the immediate area. The cabin itself was constructed entirely of wood, with an A-frame roof. It was fairly small, only a few rooms, with an empty stable -- the horses had vanished when Anya's parents and Avery's father had -- to the east, and a small herb garden at the western side. The forest itself was sparse enough that there was a fair amount of shade, with the early morning sun dappling the spaces between the leaves with light. Anya smiled slightly, content, and strutted off into the forest to reset the traps and snares she had set previously.

She got back to the cabin a few hours later, a decent amount of dead rabbits and other small game held in an bag. The traps she set were one of their main sources of food, while Avery tended to do odd jobs in the village for some income in case they ever needed it. Luckily enough, they hadn't. While the Mad King was... well, absolutely raving mad, he also tended to be incredibly lax. There hadn't been a census or any tax collectors through the village in at least four years; as far as authority was concerned, Avery and Anya were not old enough to be independent, and as such, didn't exist. Nor did their cabin, income, or what was technically Anya's poaching. Avery was currently just outside the cabin, gathering firewood. With a slight wave to the half elf, Anya went inside and prepared the rabbits to be dried. They still had some stew leftover, so it would serve best to have something that would last.

A bit later she left the cabin to find Avery leaning against a tree, looking impatient.

"Ready to go?" He stood up as he asked.

"I suppose." Anya was dreading going down to the village. It had been a few months since she'd last been, to help Avery with a couple of odd jobs, but she was generally more comfortable in and around their cabin.

Avery smiled, and started down the barely worn path. Anya sighed, and reluctantly followed.

By the time they got to the village, it was a bit past noon. The village looked about the same as it had the last time Anya was there. The main thoroughfare, lined with small stalls, mostly selling a variety of the things people in the village might need. There were places in Terin's domain that flourished on tourism; the village of Manot, on the western slopes of the mountain that the village was named for, was not one of them. Anya could see farms in the distance, struggling to grow anything in the harsh climes. Bored hunters and trappers sat in their stalls, skinning and preparing meat as they waited for anyone who might need hide or the meat itself. Beyond the main thoroughfare, spread out huts and houses. It was not a happy place, but it was better than many similar villages under Terin's rule.

Avery was looking at Anya excitedly, seemingly waiting for something. She sighed softly.

"It'll be faster if we're separated. Be able to ask more people that way." She told him. With that, he took off down the main thoroughfare, asking anyone walking along and every shopkeep he came across. Anya sighed again, and moved towards the fields on the outskirts of the town. Considering how rarely people came through, and how much time the farmers spent out of the house, they'd be most likely to take notice of strangers making their way through the town. Sern was also on that side of town, and she wanted to verify if he'd actually seen what Avery claimed he had.

Before long, she had reached the outskirts of the village and started approaching one of the fields there were visible figures in. Before getting too far, she stopped walking, her breath getting shorter and her heartrate slowly accelerating. How was she supposed to ask people she'd never met before if they'd seen family members who'd run out on her years ago? She took a deep breath and kept walking, assuming she'd figure it out. She had unconsciously started biting her nails. As she got closer, the people in the fields took notice and called out to her.

"Need something, lass?"

"Oh, um- no, I'm sorry. Sorry to bother you." Anya yelped, ashamed at the fact her voice had raised at least an octave. She turned slightly, hoping they didn't notice the color rising in her cheeks, and continued down the road, figuring she'd try again at the next farmhouse. As she walked, she chastised herself. Avery talked to people so naturally, and seemed completely without shame when he did. Why couldn't she do the same? And why had she apologized? She noticed that she had started biting her nails again and dropped her hand to her side, shaking her head slightly. This was why she stayed in the cottage. Next time though, she'd be prepared. She recited what she planned on saying in her head as she approached a house along the road. Hopefully someone was home. Hopefully someone wasn't home, actually.

She hesitantly knocked on the door. She heard a lilting, sing-song voice coming from behind the door.

"I'll be there in a moment," the voice said. The door opened a moment later, and Anya looked down in surprise at the halfling woman who had opened it. She seemed about three feet tall, with a cheerful face someone who cared more about semantics than Anya might have called "ruddy". She was wiping her hands off on an apron she was wearing. Anya must've interrupted her in the middle of preparing lunch. "What can I do for you, dear?" The woman asked.

Anya blinked a few times, shaking off the surprise. Races besides human weren't uncommon, but Avery was the only one Anya had seen in Manot in a few years. Of course, actually coming to Manot more often may have remedied that. "Oh, um, right. Terribly sorry to bother you, but-"

"Not to worry, not to worry, always happy to help." The woman interrupted.

Anya's plan was already pretty off the rails, but if she left now, she'd be cursing at herself for it every night for the next month. "I was just wondering if you've seen anyone pass through, heading south. Three people, two men and a woman. One of the men would've been a little over six feet tall and an elf, the other two would've been human and just about..." She gestured to a little taller than her own 5'6". There, she'd done it. That hadn't been so hard, had it?

"Sure, I seen 'em."