The walk back to the village felt very long to Braelyn, with the weight of what had happened that afternoon weighing on her mind and the soft weight of the tiger cub sleeping in her arms as a reminder that it was all real and not some elaborate daydream she had somehow had. Ethan walked at her side with his hand resting possessively at the small of her back, neither of them spoke much most of the way home. When they were almost back to the village and it was full dark outside, with them relying on Braelyn's wisp lights to see, Ethan finally broke his silence.
"Are you alright?" He asked her again, it was the first thing he had asked her after hugging her in the clearing next to the dead beast.
"Yes, I'm fine, just tired." She said quietly.
"You don't seem tired. You seem sad and perhaps overwhelmed to me."
"That's probably part of it, but I am tired, mentally at least. I never expected something like that to happen, not here in our quiet little village."