Janno turned the options over in his mind a few times. It probably wasn't wise to travel with one of their teammates injured, and especially the one who knew the most about the surrounding region. Plus, the goblin trail was old, and they weren't really known to double back on their tracks, so he surmised that they'd be as safe here as they were anywhere else.
"We'll stake out camp here tonight," he said, finally, "I don't give those goblins much chance of passing by here again, and it's no good proceeding with a teammate injured."
Dalia attempted to stand up and put on a brave face. "There's really no need for that, I'm perfectly alright, and..." she winced, and sat back down again at Timmius' urging.
"We could readjust the loads on the horses and carry her on one of them," suggested Kassi, glancing around before looking back at Janno.
"We could," Janno said, regarding the horses carefully, "but they're pretty heavily loaded as is and the trail up ahead could get rougher. If one of these horses got hurt we'd be forced to leave a lot of equipment behind."
Kassi rolled this thought over in her mind for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I see. Well, you're the leader, anyways," she gave Janno a reassuring smile, "we'll pitch camp for today."
"Alright," Janno nodded back, taking one of the horses by the reins, "but we'll take proper precautions. We'll guard in shifts during the night. C'mon," He looked around the surrounding terrain for a moment before spotting a small glade not far off from the trail. "Timmius, follow me. Kassi, can you help Dalia?" Kassi moved to help the druid up onto her feet and support her as Janno lead the party through a small stand of trees to the clearing, and then moved to tie up the horses. He and Timmius unloaded the tents and some supplies as Kassi went off to collect firewood. As night started to fall, the camp had been well established. The tents had been set, and after a small meal Dalia had gone to bed after a few embarrassed apologies. Janno had tried to reassure her, but it hadn't seemed to do much good. Now, he, Timmius and Kassi were left sitting around the fire, nursing their own thoughts.
"I'll take first watch tonight, if that's alright with everyone," Janno said at last, poking the fire with a stick to get a more even burn.
"Fine by me," replied Timmius, who had brewed some strong-smelling tea for himself. Kassi but nodded, before straightening up suddenly for some reason. She stood up, and Janno stood up with her. "What's the matter, Kassi?" he inquired.
After staring out into the growing darkness for a moment, Kassi turned back toward Janno and flashed with a smile. "Oh, nothing. You don't mind if I take another look around before turning in, do you? It's not that I don't trust you or anything, but it's sort of a habit of mine."
"Good habit," Janno said, "I don't mind. Can't be too careful. Are you sure everything's alright, though?"
"Everything's fine," Kassi replied, before casually making her way towards the edge of the clearing. "I'll be back in no time." With that, she disappeared into the darkness surrounding the camp.
Janno sat back down, and stoked the fire for a few moments before turning towards Timmius. "So, what set you on the path of adventuring, anyways?"
"Hmm?" Timmius lowered his cup, and thought for a few moments before replying, "it's more of a means to an end, you see. In my profession, if you stay in one area for too long, you run out of flora to study."
"You mean... you're looking for new plants?" Janno scratched his head.
"Quite so," replied Timmius, taking another sip of tea, "I go into an area and catalogue all the useful plants I find. I was quite excited to learn that we were going to Sangasio, as I had not had an opportunity to go there previously..."
Janno nodded mutely along, occasionally providing a sparse comment here and there. Overall, though, the field of herbalism was mostly over his head. Eventually, though, he came to realize something. "Where's Kassi? She should be back by now."
"Come to think of it, she has been away for rather a long time," said Timmius, looking about himself, "do you think she met any trouble?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to check things out. You stay here." Janno sprang to his feet, and started out into the woods, trying to follow the vague direction he remembered her as having gone. He stumbled around in the dark wood for a while, trying to find his way in the moonlight that filtered through the treetops while mentally cursing himself for having been too mentally preoccupied to think of bringing a torch. Not that being so conspicuous would have settled well with him either. Nevertheless, he pressed on, and soon found himself near the goblin tracks Kassi had spotted earlier in the day. Up ahead, he could dimly perceive some movement against one of the large tree trunks, as well as some muffled noises. Carefully, he crept up on it as silently as he could before ducking behind some bushes and waiting for his vision to adjust to the darkness before proceeding. When they did, what he saw surprised him.
Kassi was pressed against one of the large tree trunks, her dim form partially obscured by a black shape roughly her size that seemed to be pinning her against the tree. Her leather armor was stripped away on the ground, and the tunic she wore underneath was lifted to reveal her flat, tone stomach. Strange shiftings in the crotch of her trousers and her tunic told of probing hands fondling her nether regions and chest. Kassi herself didn't seem to be struggling, her moans muffled by the black shape.
Janno was bewildered. Was Kassi getting raped by some horrible beast? If so, why didn't she cry out before? He didn't see any wounds or signs of a struggle on her, but what else could it be? In fact, it sounded like she was moaning in a sense of passion? Was she even enjoying this?
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