Willow almost reacts when it first appears that Yin is about to renew his onslaught. When she saw his grin she feared that perhaps he might have taken leave of his senses, certainly not unbelievable after his maddened growl, but she gets the sense that he is within his own control.

As he begins to laugh helplessly, Willow takes her swords in the same hand, held backwards. Yin's own weapon slides and falls out of his grip as he collapses to his knees.

"You win again! Of course," he says, still laughing.

Willow hoped he had not grown bitter in defeat, for such emotions were rarely healthy for oneself. It didn't seem that she had much to be worried about, for he exhibited no further regrets of his loss.

After a moment, Yin stops laughing, and then he sighs, "Ugh, I need more practice... but first, I have a present for you. I'll give it to you in your room after I give my body a slight rest. Give me an hour I guess."

Yin jumps to his feet, sheathes his blade in the practice sheath, puts it away where it came from, and limps slightly as he walks away.
Willow considered saying something to him, but she realized that she had nothing to say at the moment. She remained quiet in about the same position until Yin had nearly left, when she began to seek the sheaths of her practice blades. A gift? She could not think why he would feel the need to give her one.

She planned, as she took care of stowing the gear, what she would do for the remainder of the day. Her adrenaline levels were not quite suitable for returning to the contemplation of her quarters just yet, so she decided to stretch her legs and take a walk down by one of the many riverbanks that made up the Aqinarr regions. It was among the warmest hours of the day so maybe she would see fit to dip her feet in the water, though first she would have to pop back to her quarters to deposit her armor. She would return to her quarters before the hour given by Yin was up, though, at least that much was certain.

Aqinarr City
Side Road
Five and a Half Hours before Twilight
Willow wanders towards the southern riverbank, probably not as pretty as the northern riverbank, but definitely less crowded. Her mind wanders as she herself walks along the busy city streets. Suddenly, she is nearly knocked over by a woman that seems to be in a hurry, carrying a large package in one hand, and protecting it while she runs with her other. It is also this side that had bumped hard into Willow. The woman then stops, clearly having been running from being slightly out of breath.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" The woman asks of Willow.

(Willow's response)

"I'm sorry but I can't talk; I was supposed to deliver this half an hour ago, so I have to run!" The woman quickly returns to running, weaving through the crowd and nearly knocking over several other people as well, stopping to apologize and then running again.

Willow resumes walking to her destination. However, at the riverbank she suddenly feels as though something is missing. A single glimpse at her hand tells her exactly what happened. Her ring, the same one she was pondering over earlier, is gone.

Dusk's eyes met briefly with his predator before he stood quickly. The emaciated tiger pounced, or tried to. With a low and weak growl, it stopped a few feet from the elf and turned away. Dusk watched it as it moved off. The great cats, along with most other predators of their size, were not stupid and usually attacked humanoid creatures only when very desperate.

Dusk was surprised to see that it had come at him. The desperation he had glimpsed was incredible.

"What has the state of this world come to?" he said aloud, almost as if asking the poor beast. He had no rations of any kind in his pack to give the creature. If nothing else, he still retained most of an elf's love of flora and fauna.

((Dusk will watch the tiger leave, making sure it is a decent distance away before turning his back on it and leaving. He will continue to make Spot and Listen checks.))

Willow's walk by the riverbank is for the most part undesturbed, being in a less crowded area of the city. The warmth of the midday causes her to pause as she passes into the shade conveniently located within her path. Unbeknownst to her, slowing down suddenly made her body an obstacle to be triumphed by a exceptionally hurried woman.

As it were, this sudden cease in forward momentum on the statuesque girl's part was unanticipated by the frantic deliverer, causing her to collide with Willow, forcing the girl to stumble forward to regain her balance. She glanced back over her shoulder alertly to see what the matter was, spying the woman with the oversized parcel.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" The woman asks of Willow.
"Oh, uh yeah, I'm fine," Willow responds, "Why are you in such-"

"I'm sorry but I can't talk; I was supposed to deliver this half an hour ago, so I have to run!" The woman quickly returns to running, weaving through the crowd and nearly knocking over several other people as well, stopping to apologize and then running again.
Willow watches the retreating form of the package-carrying woman for a moment. Her nerves tingle for a second as the thought of theives enters her mind. As soon as it appears however, she shakes her head slightly to dispel the notion.
Thieves don't stop to apologize, she thought to herself, and carried on her way.

As she approached the riverbank, her thoughts helplessly fall upon her upcoming leave and of her fiancé. She longed to visit him, but she knew that he was on a visit to Wanqir at the present, due to be back soon from a trading expedition. With an absent mind, her hand drifted over to fiddle with the ring that was there. All the while, her a nagging in the back of her mind grew more urgent, until the familiar touch of the ring was found missing.

Instantly her heart felt as though it had been turned into a cold stone that now descended to a new position in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes fell to her left hand, confirming what her other senses had known already. Her eyes locked onto the path that she had just travelled, her thoughts singling out the delivery woman who had crashed into her. Willow didn't want to believe that it was the woman who seemed so apologetic over colliding into her, but at the moment she had no other leads to follow. At the speed of thought Willow raced back down the path by the riverbank. Her great strides and powerful legs carried her swiftly through the crowd, as her towering size allowed many to anticipate her arrival; the expression on her face giving most the idea to get out of her way fast. Her mind worked frantically, deciding which way her memory believed the woman had run off in while trying to formulate a description to use any time she lost the trail.

However far she got in the last three minutes, I will get there faster, she promised herself.

Armand listened in as Renshiir explained what characteristics of the crystal javelins she could, and truly it was far more than Armand could have hoped to have unveiled with his limited knowledge of such things. “You certainly are knowledgeable on crystals and things miss.” He turned a javelin around in his hands looking at the light reflect and refract from it.

As Armand took a look around to the fading daylight he spoke.

“Well, perhaps we can have them looked at more thoroughly when we reach the nearest town come morning. There, you can start your life anew. We an make some more headway now, and rest for the evening, come dawn, you’re free to accompany us to the city, or head off and pave your own path.”

Somewhere Between Wanqir and Aqinar
Plains of Tiancann
Three hours before Twilight
The tiger doesn't make it ten feet away from Dusk before it collapses. Its legs had just given out, and its breathing as seen through its deathly thin chest is laboured. Its eyes are closed; it is not long for this world. A soft meowing sound is heard, and another, smaller tiger paws at its mother. It, like its mother, is rather thin, but not nearly as starved. Apparently, its mother was strong enough to perhaps provide a few meals for its offspring, but not enough for the both of them, and it is clear which life it valued more.

The tiger is young, but there's something peculiar about it. The way it looks at its mother, as though there's far more understanding of her sacrifice, and the way it glimpses at Dusk, with a bizarre look almost like recognition. Perhaps it doesn't recognize Dusk, but it definitely knows that Dusk is an Elf, and its golden eyes seem to show an intellect that is more than of a mere tiger.

"Finally, its mother has fallen."

Stepping up towards the tigers in the same direction they came is a human. He is dressed with the likeness of a hunter, and his eyes look upon the tigers with indifference and unkindness. The man pulls a glinting silver longsword out of its sheath.

Seeing Dusk, the man says, rather businesslike, "You might want to stand back. That lycanthropic spawn there," he points at the younger tiger with his blade, "is going to die."

The tiger in question looks back and forth, from the man to Dusk, uncertain what to do. The mother tiger's breathing stops, and a slight gentle breeze blows through the area.

Aqinarr
Side Road
Five and a Half Hours before Twilight
Reaching the same place where she had been nearly knocked over by the rushing woman, Willow meets up with a band of searching people. With a bit of regret, Willow recognizes many of the people as people whom the woman had also run into, who appeared to be searching the road of the street itself for things they had missed. Their voices jumble together to form incoherent noise, but a few voices can be distinctly heard by Willow.

"Has anyone seen a purse?" One person in the crowd asks.

"While we're at it, let's try to find my daughter's present I bought for her." Another person says.

"I could have sworn I had fastened my amulet."

"Hey! The inventory's not right! There's a couple items missing!" A vender along the side yells at his employee.

A man just to the left of Willow sighs, "This seems to be the road of lost items these days, ever since this road became a delivery route."

There is a substantial number of people searching for things, but not in a direct line. A few are likely still looking from previous days. It seems finding the delivery woman might be harder than it first appeared.

Outskirts of Hylon Forest
Unmapped Area
Three Hours before Twilight
Renshiir, completely lost in her own world examining the crystal javelin, is suddenly jolted back to reality in being directly addressed.

Renshiir smiles, "Thank you. I might have been a spy, but that doesn't mean the only thing I spied on was what I was ordered to do. There was one very very bizarre place I always felt intrigued at in Hylon. It isn't a common place, and with little wonder why. The man who works there charges far too much for his work, although, admittedly he does do very unique things. What he does is he takes crystals, and actually forges with them. Mind you, I still think he's charging far too much given that the person has to supply the crystals as well as pay him a price that might as well be as though the crystals weren't supplied and that the result is magical (which it is not; I could tell right away). I didn't like that, so I spied on his work (he never lets people watch), and..."

Renshiir's voice drops to a whisper, as though she's confiding a huge secret, "I think I actually know more than he does at his own profession."

Renshiir gives an uncomfortable laugh, "Of course, I haven't been able to make anything yet, but I suppose that's what I'll finally get to do now."

Renshiir looks at the crystal javelin in her hand, "Actually, if you wanted, I could make something for you with these. We'd just have to 'borrow' that guy's furnace."

"You might want to stand back," said the man. "That lycanthropic spawn is going to die."

Dusk watched the final breath of the elder beast sigh into the gentle breeze. The cub looked back and forth between the humanoids.

"Hold. Who are you to cast such judgment?" The elf called as he took a step forward, gesturing at the cub with one hand while slipping the other to the hilt of one dagger. "This is but a child."

Renshiir looks at the crystal javelin in her hand, "Actually, if you wanted, I could make something for you with these. We'd just have to 'borrow' that guy's furnace."

Armand turned to Renshiir as though the notion was absurd, if he had read into the meaning correctly. “Perhaps we can borrow a forge indeed, I’m sure there is a way to pay for the use of ones furnace for a spell. Besides, anything forged on our behalf will undoubtedly be used for the benefit of all good creatures on this world. Who would deny such a simple boon to the cause of justice and righteousness?

Caduceus quipped at that remark. “Not everyone has the same black and white view of good and evil as you do Armand. If the man’s reclusive enough to not allow any to see his work, what makes you think he’ll let you into his private workshop and borrow anything?”

“Faith” Was all Armand replied with, a serene smile splayed across his lips.

“So, where is this craftsman?”

Somewhere Between Wanqir and Aqinarr
Plains of Tiancann
Three Hours before Twilight
"Child or not, it is still a lycanthrope." The man says coldly, "and all lycanthropes are evil things. If I leave it, it will take that as weakness, and then it'll consider everything inferior to it, and then it will kill other people. I cannot allow that to happen."

As he speaks the man slowly advances. Taking tentative steps, the young tiger backs away from him, but it still carefully considers Dusk as well; it tries to remain in the middle between the two humanoids.

"If you're going to defend it," The man says sharply, having noticed Dusk's reaching for his blade, "Then you too are an enemy. Take that into consideration before you go too far."

Now that the man is getting closer, Dusk can see that he also has a bow upon his back, and glinting silver shafts poke out of his quiver. He is clearly a lycanthrope hunter. The young tiger watches the two humanoids, uncertain what to do, and uncertain which way to run.

Outskirts of the Hylon Forest
Unmapped Area
Three Hours before Twilight
Renshiir's lip curls in disgust at the notion of actually paying that craftsperson anything for what he does.

"Well, he is in the northern district of Hylon, but I think I'll just say, just to forewarn you, he wouldn't care if you were an angel giving a divine command or a demon with their hand at his throat. He will severely overcharge everyone, for no real reason other than he is extremely greedy. I'd even bet that trying to get him to lend us his workshop would cost us even more than these crystals are worth."

Noting how Armand and Deunan look at her to elaborate, Renshiir quickly adds, "And they are worth quite a bit, this one for instance..." She says, holding up the one she was examining, "Is at least worth eight hundred gold crowns as it is, being in a raw and somewhat unusable form. If we cut it into stones so as to be able to be set in jewellery..."

Renshiir looks at the crystal in her hand, counting and speculating, "I'd guess it'd be worth at least twice what it is right now; three times if the cuts are very well done."

Shaking her head to refocus on the present rather than any work she could do, Renshiir finishes by saying, "In any case, we could wander back to Hylon, but chances are that pig likely is already asleep."

"I have had many experiences with evil and death," Dusk said coolly, taking another step forward but letting go of the dagger's hilt. "Enough to have a good understanding of the former and with the latter. Though you may have been devastated by a werebeast before, you mistake a mortal race for a demon."

Dusk looked from the cub to the hunter again, standing easy but prepared.

"A child is innocent of its birth, no matter the crimes of its parents. Evil is not inflicted by race anymore than by gender," the elf said to the human. "I do not believe you to be evil, either, and either death would solve nothing. Simply misinformed. Leave the child. Whether it lives or dies is not up to a human."

((Dusk will wait. If the hunter makes a move towards the cub, Dusk will use his Ghost Step:Ethereal ablility and intercept him with the Adamantine Ninjato and a Ghost Strike.))

Somewhere Between Wanqir and Aqinarr
Plains of Tiancann
Three Hours before Twilight
"A child is innocent of its birth, no matter the crimes of its parents. Evil is not inflicted by race anymore than by gender,"
The man visibly snarls, "Yes, if it were a newborn born just now. It has already learned things from its parents no doubt. In any case, I will not take that chance."

With that, the hunter charges forward, but he does not get more than a step before Dusk vanishes before his eyes. He tenses, much like any predator does when the predator becomes the prey. From out of nowhere, Dusk strikes the man easily, jabbing his blade into the man's shoulder joint and withdrawing the blade in a fluid motion.

"I see now, of course. That's why they went to you, demon!" The hunter hisses accusingly.

In the meantime, the young tiger, glad it has somewhere to back up to, walks backwards, keeping its eyes on the two humanoids.

The man tries to counterattack Dusk, slashing the air in front of him with his blade, but failing to meet anything with it.

Seeing that nothing can be done with the materials at hand, Tristan decides that it is time to head on.
"We need to make our way now, If we come across a settlement tomorrow, we will come back and do what we can about that sign." Tristan and the urchin then head off in the direction Tristan had been initially going in.

A couple hours later, Tristan decides it is time to set up camp for the night. He directs the boy to gather fire wood, and then nods off to sleep by a tree. It was going to be a long night, and he knew that he would probably be a little rowdy, but he would be more then ready to protect the boy if anything were to happen. After all, his amazing bottle of infinite booze would see to it that he had the constitution and strength of a bear. And so, Tristan slept, getting ready for the night's blessings of ale.