Gathering and planning

"Tastes bad."

"It may taste bad but it still gives you everything you need. I've found that taking a sip of water after swallowing helps."

The little oni Eva was now eating. Her meeting with Liz was a bit odd since she was scared at first and tried to hide behind me. Apparently she had heard a tale of an evil talking lizard before and got scared. It took a few minutes to convince her Liz was a good lizard and this seems to have done a bit of damage to Liz as a result. She likes children.

Now after that little episode Eva was eating while John and Liz watched over her. While she ate they decided to discus what they had learned together.

"So now a bunch of the questions we had have been resolved and a few new ones added."

"True. Now we now that the reason for that battlefield was because two forces were fighting over Eva. Two questions remain though first; why do those two forces want Eve and second, are they still in the area?"

"Considering how we didn't find anyone that seemed to be of a leading positions we can probably assume that besides those who led those forces, no we are the only ones out here. Should we help her?"

"Liz I'll be honest. I think that it will cause a lot of trouble but I really don't want to leave her here to die, or worse be found by those that are after her. This will defiantly make the journey harder and add extra danger but I feel that if we don't help her we may come to regret it."

"I didn't know you could be this kind."

"Its not being kind but more of a gut feeling. Sometimes I get these gut feelings and they usually happen right before something bad. I think this has gotten stronger ever since I got here, maybe it has something to do with my affinity for fate maybe not. I just think we should take her with us."

"I agree but first we need to make her something to wear. Her clothes are damaged badly right now. I can fashion some basic clothes out of leaves and bark. The next thing we have to worry about is that those after her have probably sent out a search warrant or even a bounty for her capture. I have a technique that she can use to disguise herself."

"Good that should make things easier. Should we alter our course?"

"Not for now."

With their plans now decided all they needed was for Eva to come with them. John decided that it was best to be up front with the girl.

"Eva there is something we need to talk to you about."

The little girl stopped eating and looked up towards John with a bit of nervousness. She put her food and water down and seemed to get ready for something.

"Um is something wrong?"

"Actually me and Liz were talking and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us?"

"Eh. I...is that really ok?"

"Well we would feel bad to just leave you out here alone."

"But what about the bad people?"

"You don't have to worry about them. After you ran away most of them had died and only their leaders seem to have survived. I doubt that they would stay here to search for you. So just to be safe we want you to learn a disguise technique and Liz will make you some new clothes."

"Um. Thank you."

The oni's face had turned even more red once again and she quickly began to eat again.

After they finished eating Liz immediately started to teacher Eva the disguise technique and asked John to go and collect some big leaves and grasses. Before he left he asked her to teach him as well later and Liz naturally agreed.

After searching for a little he came to a tree with a lot of bid leaves. He grabbed a bunch of the lower one and searched for some grasses. Those took a little longer but were not hard to get although some of them were higher on the mountain. He turned back to deliver the leaves and grasses.

When he got back instead of a little oni girl a normal human one was in her place. Her face had become a bit more round and her hair and eyes were both the same brown and blue as Johns.

No horns and red skin could be seen. She was sitting and seemed to be meditating. It seems that she got the hang of the technique rather well.

"Oh. John your back. Bring the grasses and leaves here so I can make some clothes."

Liz was on the other side of the cave and had made some strange lines on the ground. After looking at them John could tell that they were rune markings but with his limited knowledge he had no idea of what they corresponded to. He did as Liz said and brought them over.

She began to inspect them and soon started to place them in the lines at certain parts. After she did this she injected some energy into the runes and a green light shown for a moment. When the light went down in place of the leaves and grasses were to sets of green clothing. One was at the right size for Eva to wear but the other was much larger. John gave a questioning look to Liz.

"I thought it would be better for you to wear similar clothes so you and Eva could put on an act of siblings to draw less attention. A man in a white robe and little girl in leaf cloth would be an odd pair."

"OK but just where did you learn to make this leaf cloth?"

"Leaf cloth is the most common clothing used by the elves and is also used found commonly among most commoners. It's affordable and breathable."

"Well tell me about the plan you made."

"Glad you asked. First you and Eva will play the part of siblings who are moving to find a better life and are thus travelling to find a home. Second while we go we will place a dungeon instance near a relatively big town. We can stay there for a while and grow stronger. After that we will continue to travel while also looking for Eva's family. This should be good for now."

"Good but we should also add in gathering information in there as well."