Through the fire and the flames.

[ShadowLadyRaven]

Alden chuckled at that, glancing over to his sister as she wolfed down the meal. "My sister always seemed to be good at finding trouble. Nothing big like hunters, but I'm sure you can guess considering how she is now. I always had to bail her out."

At that, Nicole flicked him off, shooting him a glare as she swallowed the meat from her most recent rib. "Oh and you're completely innocent? What about when those bullies were pushing you around? Who helped you out then hm?" She raised an eyebrow, noticing him flick her off in return. "In any case, should we go to a larger city or no? It would be nice to actually have access to some better equipment and such. I know that it runs the risk of more hunters though. Up to you guys."  

[Maya Freana]

"I don't know. I've managed larger cities before, but we need to be very careful..." Amaya murmured as she took a big swig of the wine. "Still, it shouldn't be too hard. Acting like a moronic human is easy enough." She giggled.  

[ShadowLadyRaven]

"Hah, moronic. They don't ever seem to learn do they? Some do though." Nicole agreed, personally having mixed feelings upon them. She noticed the look her brother gave her, but she just gave him a small smile, downing what was left of the gin.

"Careful sis, I don't want to have to treat you for alcohol poisoning." Alden said softly, still mulling over the thought of going to a city. "I agree that we must have caution. But it would be nice to see what kind of medical equipment they have, or to see if things have progressed any further than the last time I was in a city. I do have to keep up on my abilities without using my powers." He added softly, tilting his head as he looked at the two women. "Besides, there are three of us. And if we do stick together for the most part, we should be fine against any hunter. Well, unless they band together..." He sighed, finishing off his glass of wine.  

[Maya Freana]

"It'll take an army of hunters to take us down." Amaya joked. "And Alden, you think you would have more in life to be excited about than medical equipment." She laughed, shaking her head before taking another large swig of wine.  

[ShadowLadyRaven]

Alden just sorta shrugged off the comment, finishing off his glass of wine. "It's my profession, and it's something I care about. I think Nicole's is professional alcoholic." Alden murmured, dodging as a bottle went flying towards where his head had been moments before.

Nicole glared at her brother, pointing a finger at him, somehow having found her way to the vodka bottle within the short span of time while the two had been talking. "Look here, just because I go out and have fun means nothing. I'm a merc and you know that. Just because you couldn't save-" She stopped herself, suddenly looking very guilty and ashamed. How could she attack him with that? "Alden-"

Alden held up a hand, his expression seeming to remain it's ever calm as he pushed himself up out of his chair. "Don't. I could lash out with a similar comment, but I won't." He said softly, taking up his plate to the bin to wash them. Or rather, he just sort of left them by the sink, the water seeming to clean it for him and then place it aside to dry. He then went outside with a bottle that was something similar to irish whisky, the door closing quietly behind him.

Nicole lowered her eyes, seeming rather subdued as he left before her fist came down on the table. "God dammit how could I be so stupid?" She growled at herself, her forehead slamming down onto the table.  

[Maya Freana]

"What did you bring up this time?" Amaya sighed as she walked over and sat down next to Nicole, leaning back in her chair as she looked at her friend. The two usually got along fine, but sometimes when Nicole was drunk, she said things that were pretty out of line. The female didn't know everything about the brother and sister, then again, they didn't know everything about her.  

[ShadowLadyRaven]

After a moment, Nicole raised her head, a small trickle of blood rolling down her nose from her forehead not that she really seemed to mind it. "While we were growing up and traveling around, we went to a village just like any other. Though, there had been a kinda illness going around the humans. It wasn't a visible one apparently, it was something no one was familiar with. They even had a doctor from the city nearby. We didn't know since it wasn't obvious. He met a girl, the two started hanging out a lot."

Sighing, she shook her head, running a hand through her hair, inadvertently getting her blood on her hand as she did so. "Over time, it became obvious she was ill and she died. He never left her side once, not even when they put the sheet over her face. He couldn't save her, and he couldn't save the town. But he felt her death the most. He had shown an interest in medicine before that, but he plunged head first into it after that. He's never quite been the same since that." She finished, looking up to Amaya then. "So forgive him if it seems like thats all he is focused on. I tease him about always having his nose in a medical book, but he knows I understand and encourage him."  

[Maya Freana]

Amaya sighed as she got up and began treating the wound on Nicole's head as she listened quietly. It was a sad story, but humans were not that resilient, and things like death happened everyday for them. Unfortunately, that was the sad truth for humans, while dragons only had to worry about being killed at the hands of hunters, or sometimes their own kind. Amaya herself had lost her family to the hunters twice, and after that, she just stopped trying to get close to people and make a difference in the world. Yet here she was with two dragons, after she'd sworn to stay alone to the end of her days. "Death is a sad thing...at least he is able to move on in life." She murmured with a small smile.  

[ShadowLadyRaven]

"Thanks Amaya." Nicole meant for treating her tiny wound, her eyes turning towards the door, wondering where her brother was wandering off to now. "Indeed, and he has moved on rather nicely I should think. Still a sore spot though.... Even though humans are short lived and kill our people, not all are bad. And he just has that damned need to want to help everyone. Human or no." Sighing heavily, she shook her head again, smirking at the thought of something but she remained quiet. She knew he'd rather she not say anything so she wouldn't. "I should probably go find him. He's hopeless when drunk. He's actually more vicious than me." She stood up, grabbing a couple of ribs to take with to nom on the way around town. "Care to join me? Or did you want to hit the sack? Up to you."  

[Maya Freana]

"Humans don't manage to live very long, and they are quite fragile." Amaya agreed. "Go ahead and find him, I have to go do something at the moment. I'll see you two tomorrow morning at the town's main gate." She said as she smiled to Nicole, then left the house, disappearing into the streets of the town to go off and tie up some loose ends.  

[ShadowLadyRaven]

Nicole nodded, not bothering to pull on a light cloak. She could heat herself and claim to just be resilient to cold. "Alright, understandable. I'll see you there. Sorry you had to witness the little tiffy." She said apologetically, but she gave Amaya a warm smile before she left. Taking a deep breath, she gulped down the rest of the bottle of vodka, placed the bottle down and then strode out the door. Ok, time to find a drunkard fighter... She began to make the rounds, starting at one end of the village since he never seemed to follow a pattern of direction.

"You want my money? Think again punk." Alden grumbled smashing the empty bottle against the mans cheek in front of him. He aimed a precise kick to the ankles of the man behind him, ducking down as the two next to him sliced in a similar manner which caused their blades to crash together. "Buncha idiots.... The hell you fighting like that for? YOU FAIL!" He snapped, breaking what was left of the bottle on the head of the guy to his right, growling when he was grabbed from behind. Gripping the mans shirt, he purposefully bent down and jumped forward, throwing them both off balance. THe man lost his grip and groaned as Alden fell on top of him, the remaining guy making a break for it. "YEAH YOU BETTER RUN YA BLUMBERING FOOL!"

Pushing himself up rather clumsily, Alden looked at the neck of the bottle in his hand, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Dammit all." Throwing it aside, he made for the tavern to get another drink, stepping out from between the buildings, not seeming to hear the groans coming from behind him.