Somewhat disappointed with the brevity of the fight and that she was useless in it Nestasha retrieved her dropped weapon and sheathed it as she walked towards the farmer, "Well ssome were more incredible than otherss." She reached the man and said, "Are you alright?"
The young man shakes his head. "No, I'm not--those bugbears carved my leg up good. I can barely even move, let alone walk."
He starts trying to crawl out from under the wrecked wagon, but stops with a hiss of pain.
Gilbert's face returns to normal as he stands next to the wounded youngster, carried by Ikoma. "Bah! Stay there! I'll help!", as he sheathes his bow and moves next to the samurai. "This will only hurt for a moment!", he says, as he starts muttering something in an unknown tongue, sounding like falling leaves and quiet whispers.
"So, what's your name, young man?", Gilbert asks as he stands away from the boy's injuries.
The farmer coughs as Gilbert heals his injuries. "...Ian. Thanks for the help."
--------------
The party comes back around the bend, carrying the injured Ian to Koya's wagon. Sandru and Ameiko look on with interest, while Shalelu sits off to the side, restringing her bow.
"We heard a ruckus earlier--is everything alright?" Ameiko moves to help Ikoma carry the injured man. "What happened?"
Gilbert sits on the side of Koya's wagon as he pulls out a brush. "Bah! It'll take me ages to clean the blood!", he says to Duchess, before turning to Ameiko. "This young man's wagon was attacked by the biggest goblins I've seen! Bugbears or whatnot. Phrmph! We taught them good, all of us, and brought him here to check his injuries and put something warm in his belly!", he says, interrupted by a whimper as he tears out a tuft of Duchess' hair. "Better that than fleas, girl!", he mutters to the dog, tossing a piece of jerky in her mouth. "Do we give the boy a ride? Or should I just ferry him to his town and come back?", he asks Ameiko.
Ameiko looks at the farmer. "Well? You want a lift home?" She asks as Koya emerges from the wagon and looks him over. He wearily nods as Koya starts healing his leg.
"Y-yeah... I was returning to Roderic's Cove--it's a couple days away from where you found me. I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me ride with you."
Sandru nods and claps his hands once. "It's settled then--I'll see if I can't free up a berth for ya."
He then turns to the rest of the party and beams at them. "Thanks for helping this one out--merchants gotta stick together on the roads these days."
Nestasha veritably preened at Shandru's praise and went with him to learn about how one finds a birth for unexpected guests.
Gilbert raises his fist in the air. "Bah! It's decided then! We'll give the man a ride!", he nearly shouts. Giving the samurai a glance, he nods, and pokes him with his elbow. "Ha! You Tian people always had a way with words! Well said, well said!" Standing up from the wagon, he motions Duchess with a hand gesture and mounts his horse. "No use sitting around, though! I'll go and see if those big, fat goblins left some animals in the forest for us to hunt! We'll depart in the morning, I presume, Miss Ameiko?", he says, shouldering his bow.
Ian's relief is palpable. "Oh, thank Desna for your help--I promise, I won't make trouble for anyone here."
"Sure, let's get a move on in the morning. It looks like some of you need some bandaging up anyway." Ameiko nods.
"Let's see what awaits us!", says Gilbert.
Before the night falls, Gilbert returns to camp with a fat stag over his shoulder. Duchess trots merrily alongside him.
The evening passes without much incident...
-------------------
The days drag on as the party follows the old road. It twists and turns through forest and vale, meadow and hill, with sunlight and warm spring breezes brushing alongside them as they walk. Oddly enough, the young Yui appears to be less inclined to cause mischief than usual--perhaps it's because of the pleasant weather, or the fact that being stuck in a caravan with a bunch of people means that she can't get away with much.
15th of Gozran, 4715 AR
Around noon, the party reaches a fork in the road. A signpost with two signs is mounted at the fork in the path. One sign pointing to the west, with the words 'Roderic's Cove, 115 miles' scrawled on the west branch and another sign points to the northwest--this one saying 'Riddleport, 315 miles'.
Sandru looks back at the caravaneers. "Well, Roderic's Cove is just this way, sir. Unless anyone has any objections, I think our path is clear."