Colin's posts

'Alan' raised an eyebrow when she said all that, and then paused a moment, clearing his throat briefly.

"Right." he said.

"They tried to steal some clothing from you, so you took them in." he said. "Well... they must have been desperate if they were going after clothing." he admitted. "And I can tell that they're not just ANY old street urchins." he went on. "...but I digress from the most interesting thing you just said." he then continued, pausing again for a moment.

"Demon hunters?" he asked.

"Do you know how many?" he asked her. "Even roughly, whether it be a travelling pair, or a larger group?"

"Oh, Alan." the man responded. "That's what the people of this town know me as." he told her, making his way over.

He looked at her... and then sighed.

"I can tell your arrival here isn't one that should be... celebrated." he commented. "I can see that you'd rather not be here... or in the circumstances that BROUGHT you here." he went on.

"Care to confide?" he asked her.

"What's weighing on your mind?" he asked further. "And who are the boys you're travelling with?"

She was sitting there, pondering her and the boys' future for about 10 minutes, before she heard a knock on her door.

"Hello?" the man from the front desk's voice said.

"You in?" he asked.

She got up and made her way over, opening it, and saw the man there.

"Got a bit of a break from the desk." he commented.

"Wanted to come see you."

The boys looked at the spider and nodded.

"All right." they said in unison.

"We'll see you later." Ashley told her, as the two stepped into the room.

They then waved to her, before shutting the door, and Anya could hear them start to unpack their things, and they sounded to be getting settled in for the time being. It seemed like they were safe.

For now.

Ashley accepted the key, and when he unlocked the door it went to, he looked inside to see that there were, in fact, two beds in the room. Which was nice, seeing at the man hadn't actually told them which room was which.

However, that hadn't been a big deal. If this one had had just the one, they would have simply swapped rooms.

The boys then looked at Anya, and nodded.

"Is there anything you want us to do or anything?" Lindsay asked.

"If nothing, then odds are Ashley and I will simply stay in the room until it's time to eat."

He shook his head.

"No worries." he said. "This inn is welcoming to all kinds. Especially to you." he told her with a small wink.

"Anyway, you want to head up the stairs, take a left, and then another left, last two rooms at the end of the hallway." he directed her. "Rooms 15 and 16." he specified further.

With that, Anya and the boys took their leave, with the man waving to them, and the boys waving back a little hesitantly.

"...do you know him?" Ashley asked when they were heading up the stairs.

"Duly noted." the man responded, before taking out about half of what was in the bag, and giving her two keys in exchange.

"I think I shall pay you a visit later." he told her.

"And as for any homes available..." he went on, thinking about it, before snapping his fingers.

"Ah! There actually are." he remembered. "3 or 4 in this town, actually." he said further.

"I can show you them tomorrow, before I start work." he offered her.

He thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, we can do that." he said.

"And things haven't changed." he told her. "Still the same price as ever." he said further... before chuckling. "For you, anyway." he added, shaking his head a little.

"Also, 2 centuries." he corrected her, before noticing Ashley and Lindsay.

"Seems a lot's changed since then." he commented.

The one behind the desk had been organising the keys, and seemed to tense up for the briefest of moments when he heard her voice, but she knew it would only be because he was still adjusting to her presence here. It had been a sudden appearance, after all.

He then turned around and looked at her, before smiling back.

"A bit." he responded.

"And two rooms, side by side?" he asked, before checking the records book.

"...does it HAVE to be side by side, or can they be across from each other?" he asked her.

The boys were silent for a moment, and then followed her in the direction she had gone. As they walked with her, and into the town proper, they saw that it really was a bustling place. A lot of people were milling about, doing their business and such... and many were looking at the trio and whispering amongst themselves.

The boys wondered if it was just because they were new, or... something else.

Regardless, they tried to not let it bother them, and continued along their way.

They kept walking until they saw the Inn come into view in the distance, and the boys smiled.

"Looks welcoming." Lindsay commented.

The boys nodded.

"That'd be nice, yes." Ashley agreed.

"...is something wrong?" Lindsay then asked.

"You seem worried." he commented, having picked up on it. "Why?" he asked her.

As he asked, Ashley looked around, scanning the area.

He was wondering if she knew something THEY didn't.

The boys just nodded, and started to get ready to sleep.

They'd been on the road for weeks by this point, and had managed to cross the border as well. It hadn't been the easiest, but they had managed it, and were now putting serious distance between them and that travelling band of hunters.

After another night in the woods, they saw a small town in the distance, and approached it. Stepping into it, they saw it seemed like a close-knit place, but large enough for some commerce. Overall, a nice place to live, it seemed.

"...maybe here?" Ashley suggested.

"This looks like a place where we can find a new home."

They nodded in response.

"Okay." they said in unison.

"Guess we need to get ready and actually bed down." Lindsay then said further.

"Yeah." Ash agreed.

"And odds are we'll be on the move a lot." he added.

"I... well..." Lindsay mumbled, before Ashley spoke up.

"You trust Anya, right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Lindsay replied.

"And you trust ME, right?" Ashley then asked further.

"Of course. I always have." Lindsay stated clearly and definitively.

"Then trust us when we say that testing her venom on me should be fine." Ashley told him. "Remember... they tested a LOT of bad venoms on me." he reminded him further. "The worst being when they had a Quill-back Cobra bite me." he went on. "Took a few hours, but I was able to eventually ignore the pain and my body fought it off." he finished.

This was... distressing for Anya to hear. That particular snake's venom was as lethal as it got, and had a 95% mortality rate for those that were bitten by it, unless they had an antidote on hand to use within 10 minutes. And once that 10 minutes had passed, the victim was dead, due to their internal organs rapidly failing in quick succession.