Lt. Dan Got New Legs!

[Seloine]

"There are boats," Morgaine said, running a hand through her hair. "We... Even if the ones moored are too damaged, one of us could retrieve one from further from the bank."

"But you can't swim," Colton said, giving a small sort of hiccoughing sound which might have been half a sob. "Everbody knows satyrs can't swim, their hooves don't work that way."

"I... Well, no, but somebody else must be able to swim?" Morgaine said, fidgeting uneasily. Wolfgang shrugged.

"I can," he said. "If it comes to it, I'll swim to get a boat, so long as the river's not too clogged up."

[DrifterUK]

''We have a plan then'' Simone said, setting her bowl down. ''We'll get moving in the morning, see what we come up against.''

''For now, we can get some sleep.'' Kara said, laying down. 'Who's taking first watch?''

[Seloine]

"I'll take first," Morgaine said quickly, sitting up a little straighter as Colton quietly helped himself to a little extra broth. "I need to meditate tonight anyway, so I'll wake whoever is taking second when I begin with that. It's easier at night."

[DrifterUK]

Kara rolled over and made some sort of agreeable noise, before presumably falling asleep. Simone looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and laid down.
''I'll take second I guess'' she said before closing her eyes.

[Seloine]

The others settled quickly enough, although it didn't escape Morgaine's eagle eye that Colton was uneasy. The boy fidgeted and sniffed quietly, trying hard not to disturb anybody else, but after an hour or two he got up and slunk over to settle himself in the gap between Kara and Wolfgang. Kemp, who'd been asleep at his master's feet, lifted his head and huffed at the boy, but didn't cause a fuss. Morgaine politely pretended not to notice this little reorganisation, and after a few hours, she got up and walked over to Simone, touching her shoulder to wake her, before settling down herself to meditate.

The burnt out trade quarter was far quieter than other parts of the city, and the few screeches and snarls that were heard came from far off.

The sun clawed its way up into the sky behind a wreathe of clouds, but Morgaine still woke with the dawn out of habit - her nonhuman nature disguised once more - and she looked over to Simone.

"All quiet?" she asked, as Wolfgang started to stir and reached vaguely for his pack.

[DrifterUK]

Simone let out a long yawn, before nodding.'
'Nothing happened all night bar a fox that wandered in briefly'' she said casually, before getting to her feet.

Kara woke up slowly, and briefly wondered where Colton was, before realising he was now behind her.

Simone headed over to group, stifling another yawn, and nudged Colton with her foot to wake him up.
''We should get going soon'' shesaid to the group. ''Cover as much ground as we can while it's light''

[Seloine]

Colton curled up a little more tightly, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. He hadn't slept well on the nights he'd been on his own, surrounded by his little candles. Wolfgang, yawning and stretching before starting to roll his blanket up, looked at the boy sympathetically, then looked up at Simone.

"Let him have five more minutes," he said, as Kemp shifted over to lay against the boy's back. "We can pack everything up just fine ourselves, he doesn't have much of his own."

[DrifterUK]

Simone yawned again, then went and sat back down.
''Five minutes'' she said, sympathetically but sternly.

Kara got to her feet and stretched.
''Morgaine, how long to get to the bridge, assuming its still there?''

[Seloine]

Wolfgang nodded his gratitude, then began packing away a few extra bits that had been left the night before, before retrieving the end of a loaf of bread from a different bit of his pack.

"We might as well eat this before we move on," he said quietly. "It won't last much longer, and I've got a tiny bit of butter we can put on it." He produced said small piece of butter and a knife.

Morgaine, swathing herself in her cloak and adjusting her various possessions, looked up in surprise at being spoken to.

"The bridge? Perhaps... It is hard to say, it would've been an hour's walk before, perhaps an hour and a half, if traffic were good and the roads not too crowded. With everything so badly damaged, I'm less sure, but at worst, perhaps three hours, if we are where I think we are," she said. "This district is.... Sprawling, at best."

[DrifterUK]

Kara declined the bread for herself, but took some over to Simone after noticing the captain looking more alert at the mention of food.
''We should stick to open ground where possible. Less things to... jump out at us'' Kara said quietly. ''We should move quickly regardless though''

After quite a long five minutes, Simone got up and nudged Colton with her foot again.

[Seloine]

"We'll need to move carefully though," Morgaine said, wrinkling her nose. "There are a lot of cellars and underpasses in this district... If they're too burned, they might not be stable anymore."

Colton made a small sort of grumbling noise, but then sat up and rubbed his eyes, shoulders hunched forward. He adjusted his hood slightly, hiding a little deeper inside it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, getting up with a small wince, hugging himself and clutching at his lute. "I... I-I'm just so tired..."

[DrifterUK]

''We all are'' Kara said softly. ''Don't worry''

Simone got to her feet and headed out the door into the early morning air. It had stopped raining and the remnants of the pyre smouldered slightly. A thin mist hung over the district, making some of the futher structures appear ghostly, giving the market an eerie feel.

The others had followed her out, Kara bundling herself in her cloak more than usual in the cold air, and she turned to Morgaine to ask which way to head. Simone hadn't visited the market district very often. One of her lieutenants had control over the guard here as Simone's work mostly focused on the housing quarters and external defence.

[Seloine]

Colton took the last bit of bread that Wolfgang pressed into his hand, nibbling at it quietly, and followed the group demurely. He shivered when they stepped outside and squinted, his eyes ill adjusted to daylight after so many hours spent in the dark.

Morgaine breathed in deeply, her eyes scanning the ash-clad street sadly, and she stayed quite still for a moment.

"I... This way," she murmured, starting off down the street, climbing carefully over fallen rubble and timbers where one side of a building had outright collapsed. "Watch your step, the ash... It's slippery."

Kemp, on the other hand, trotted forward happily enough, bounding up over the rubble with ease, his tail wagging slightly, nose up in the air.

[DrifterUK]

Simone clambered after Morgaine, her armour making it slightly difficult going, but ultimately manageable. Kara gracefully hopped over and around bits of rubble almost as easily as Kemp.

The street was clearer beyond the collapsed building. Patches of ash mostly covered the flagstone streets, and the groups footsteps echoed though the silent town. Partially collapsed and burnt buildings lined the streets, and a collapsed street lamp lay across the road further down.

A few less than human looking footprints were here and there in the ash, mostly leading inside. Kara crouched to examine some.
''These are recent, a few hours old at most. Whatever left them probably headed for shelter when the sun came up.''

[Seloine]

Wolfgang, still sore from the hits he'd taken, climbed just a touch slowly, but he managed with a bit of careful route picking. He frowned when Kara stopped to examine the marks.

"Ghouls?" he said, walking over to crouch beside her. Morgaine, up ahead, stopped and looked back.

"If it's ghouls, we should be alright so long as we stay in the light," she said. "But we should be out of here by sundown, and well out of here at that. They can track scents worryingly well."

Colton, on the other hand, was tailing behind the group, slipping and scrambling over the rubble rather than climbing.