As Aiden gets them into the room and closes the door, Emma lifts her head off his shoulder and pulls back slightly from him, so she can look at his face.
Putting her hands on the sides of his face, her brow furrows slightly as she thinks of what she wants to say, "Do you really think we're gonna be able to do all this stuff that we need to do, and find the carriage in time to return everyone to normal, and stop it from ever happening again? Eleanor seems like she's been around a while, and she said we have a difficult task ahead of us. I'm determined to stop this from ever happening again, but I don't....I can't lose anyone else." She finishes a little more softly with a slight catch in her voice, as she breaks eye contact with her love and looks away.
"I don't know if we can stop it from ever happening again, but I believe we can stop it now, and find a way to bring everyone affected by it back." Aiden replies honestly. "After that we'll figure out whatever else we need to."
He runs his hand through his wife's hair, gently massaging the back of her neck to ease the tension and stress of the ordeal that had become of their recent lives.
Emma sighs softly as he eases the tension from her neck, "Okay, I know we have to take it one step at a time, and I shouldn't get ahead of ourselves....but I'm just feeling like we're on this huge clock and time is running out for all these people." She says, the tiredness very apparent in her voice.
The night passes peacefully and you awaken to the smells of breakfast coming from the main room.
Once Aiden puts her down, she takes the pouch out that the Elven woman gave to her for her family, and adds twenty more gold to it from their money pouch, before closing it up and putting it in their bag.
She stretches and yawns as she sits down on a chair to pull off her boots.
Stretching and rolling his shoulders, Aiden sets aside his weapons and gear, before beginning to remove his armor. ["The only thing we can do is keep moving forward, and trust that we'll beat that clock."
Emma nods as she starts taking off her travel clothes, and putting on her warmer sleep things, "I know, that's why I'm hoping we can find the herbs we need in the marketplace, so we don't have to spend extra time trudging around crocodile infested swamps to search for them." She says, sounding tired and grumpy.
Once ready for bed, Emma stomps over to the table and drags one of the chairs over to the bed. She climbs up on the chair and jumps up on the bed. Letting out a little sigh, she pulls back the covers and flops down in the bed.
She stretches while letting out another yawn as she lies down, "I just don't want to completely lose the trail of the carriage. It has to stop somewhere eventually."
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Emma tries to distract herself by watching her husband removing his armor. Giving him a coy smile she asks, "Need any help with that handsome?"
Wondering if Aiden heard her or if he's just as distracted by everything going on as she is, Emma sits up in the bed a little more and gives her husband a concerned look, "I'm sorry if I'm acting grumpy or whatever....I didn't even ask how you're doing with all this, or if you had any thoughts about it. Are you doing okay?" She asks, concern filling her tone as she can't seem to take her eyes off of his form. Her emotions had her feeling somewhat like a piece of leather that was being pulled this way and that, but she didn't want him thinking that she was upset at him, or that she didn't care about his feelings.
Once ready for bed, Emma stomps over to the table and drags one of the chairs over to the bed. She climbs up on the chair and jumps up on the bed. Letting out a little sigh, she pulls back the covers and flops down in the bed.
She stretches while letting out another yawn as she lies down, "I just don't want to completely lose the trail of the carriage. It has to stop somewhere eventually."
"Maybe...if what’s driving it responds to hunger or tiredness or anything normal." Aiden replies, setting his armor on the ground and pulling his shirt off over his head.
Emma tries to distract herself by watching her husband removing his armor. Giving him a coy smile she asks, "Need any help with that handsome?"
”Heh…I just might, at least to give you something else to think about.” her replies with a smirk, noting her appreciative gaze that he always enjoyed so much. As she sits up though, concern evident in her expression, he lets out a deep breath. ”About as well as can be I suppose. I have no idea what it is we’re up against. I know we’ll hunt it down and fight it with everything we have…even if we don’t really know how at the moment. I just hate being unprepared.”
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Emma kind of sighs and shrugs slightly, "I don't know if whatever it is gets tired, but I was thinking more like it follows a specific path or road, and doesn't seem to deviate from it, so I was thinking it has to eventually reach some kind of destination? I don't know, that probably sounds stupid. I don't like being unprepared either, but even though we don't know everything we need to yet, we've found out a lot of useful information that will go a long way towards helping us stop it, so I am confident we will succeed. Besides, I have you and Shadow with me to help me get through this, so I know it'll be okay. With Rosie and Clyde helping us, and as long as we remain positive, I believe we can make it through anything."
Looking at her beloved husband, she tries to give him a reassuring smile, "Come on luv, let's try not to think about what we're up against anymore tonight. It's just us in this room, and I want to enjoy this time with you and just forget about that awful carriage for a while. Okay my love?" She says, wishing she hadn't brought up so many burdens right before going to bed in a nice clean place for once.
Rosie knocks on Emma and Aiden's door. "Miss Emma, Mister Aiden, it's time to get going."
Worn out after their night together, Emma sleeps later than usual and awakes with a start at the knocking on the door, "Okay Rosie, we'll be down in just a few minutes." Sitting up in the bed, she rubs her eyes before leaning over and giving her husband a good morning kiss, "We had better hurry, I didn't mean to sleep so long." Scrambling out of the bed, she kneels on the floor and quickly says her prayers, before getting dressed quickly.
Sitting down to pull on her boots, she looks over at Shadow, "You need to go outside boy?" She rubs his head affectionately while waiting for Aiden to finish getting ready.
Awakening to the knock on the door and the far more welcome, good morning kiss, Aiden rolls out of bed, taking a moment to center himself, feeling the energy of the world around him as he always does while Emma prays, before beginning to get dressed and gather up their gear, smiling as Shadow stands up and walks over to Emma, his tail wagging with affection.
"Who knows when is the next night we'll spend in a comfortable bed?" he replies with a shrug. "Clearly we needed it."
Watching Aiden with an appreciative eye, while giving some much needed attention to Shadow, she smiles, "Yes my love, of course you're probably right. It's been a stressful few days, and we've had to deal with quite a bit already, but I'm glad we've gained the information that we have." She stands up after making sure her boots are securely on her feet, "Are we all ready to go? I know someone that would probably like to go outside." She says, running her hand through his dark fur.
Nodding, Aiden picks up the rest of their gear, opening the door and chuckling at Shadow's eagerness.
Emma puts on her cloak after grabbing her bag and walks out the door, Shadow hot on her heels. She goes downstairs with Aiden and Shadow, and goes to the door to let him outside.
Emma's stomach grumbles as Shadow goes outside to do his business. Her cheeks turn a little pink as she looks up at Aiden, "Do you think we can take a few minutes to eat something before we head out to the marketplace?"
"Of course, love/" Aiden replies with a grin. "I could use something to eat as well."
Emma leans into Aiden slightly as they wait for Shadow to finish his business outside.
As soon as he lumbers back inside, Emma closes the door behind them, and heads back into the tavern area of the Inn to find Rosie and Clyde.
Emma looks up at her husband after taking a glance around the Inn for their companions, "Do you see Rosie or Clyde anywhere love?
Aiden quietly scans the inn's common room for their companions.
Emma and Aiden see their companions at a table, being served breakfast by Eleanor.
Emma takes Aiden's hand and goes to the table that Rosie and Clyde sit at, "Sorry it took us a little bit to get here, we had to let Shadow out first. Mind if we join you?" She asks with a warm smile.
"Of course you can join us," Rosie says. "Two more plates, please, Eleanor."
The dwarf nods and goes to get some more food.
Giving thier companions a smile and a nod, Aiden pulls out Emma's chair, pushing it back in once she's seated, before taking a seat himself as Shadow lays down at the side of his chair.
Emma gives them as smile as Aiden helps her with the chair, "Thank you love."
Looking at their companions she says, "I think we should visit the marketplace before we leave? I want to see if anyone there might have the herbs we need for that spell, before we go fighting crocodiles for them. I want to make sure we're as prepared as possible before we head out of town, and into more dangerous places."
"Fair enough," Clyde says, taking bites of his meal.
Eleanor returns with two plates of hot food and two tankards of juice. She sets the food in front of Emma and Aiden before departing.
"Thank you Ms. Eleanor." Emma says, before Eleanor leaves.
Emma digs into her meal, and takes time to enjoy it, knowing they may not have another meal like this for a while.
"Thanks." Aiden adds, settling in to devour his meal.
Once all of them are finished eating, Emma looks at her husband and the others, "Do you think we should go back to the stables and get Smoke hitched up to the cart so we're ready to leave town as soon as we're done in the marketplace?" She asks, thinking it would help save time.
"I think so. If we hit on a lead or have to leave immediately for some reason, I'd rather we be ready." Aiden replies after considering for a moment.
Rosie brushes some crumbs from her pants. "The road awaits."
Eleanor bids you farewell and you find Smoke and the cart ready to go as you approach the stables. One of the men comes out and pats Smoke's flank. He looks over to Emma. "He's been brushed and fed, ma'am."
Nodding in agreement with Rosie and Aiden, she thanks Eleanor for her hospitality as they are bid farewell, and heads to the stables with the others.
Upon seeing Smoke in such fine condition, she gives the gentleman a smile, "Thank you so much for taking such good care of him, we really appreciate it." Emma let's Aiden help her up into the cart, and as they pull out, she gives him a wave and wishes him a good day.
"Alright, let's see what this marketplace has to offer." Emma says, as they head back down into the main part of town.
With a nod, Aiden gets them underway, headed toward the market.
As they head towards the marketplace, Emma keeps an eye out for herbalist, or anyone that might seem to be selling something useful.
Unfortunately, the marketplace is so crowded with different vendors selling different goods, that it's almost impossible for Emna to pick any one certain type of vendor out of the crowd. The general noise of the place, makes it difficult to hear what they're selling.