Private Striving for Goodness While Cruel Men Win

"Nina? I don't understand. Who is Nina?"

A fierce protective energy came from Shoyna then. He could feel it, hear it in her voice. It was a thing that held the power to defy any odds, face any barrier for those you love and care for.

"So, someone tried to hurt Vojin and you stopped them. Is that right Shoyna?"

@Lucero

The harpy was still for a long time, save but their dark brown eyes that seemed to bore into Horoth's face. If she wished to memorize his every feature then she was doing a good job in taking her time of tackling such a task. Finally, when she was sure that she would remember his face anywhere, even in a crowd of people, Shoyna nodded her head with a slow deliberateness.

"Yes." She said.

It was then that Lucero stirred, fingers twitching, a pained look on her face before she bolted upright. Shoyna gave a squawk of surprise, beginning to flap her wings as if considering to fly away. The strong breeze ebbed away as the harpy stilled herself once more. Lucero's dark brown hair was a mess as she turned her head frantically until finding Syr Horoth's much calmer presence.

"What happened?" Lucero asked with a voice that cracked and creaked like a old, beaten wooden step that cried beneath any foot.

At Lucero's sudden revitalising Horoth almost fell back himself. The tension was cut like a hot knife through fresh butter. He could have scolded her.

"Agh... Lucero... Someone made to attack Vojin. Shoyna was hurt protecting him. I do not believe Vojin knows else he would have said I think."

Somewhere in the back of his mind a penny dropped and he remembered none speak of a body found.

"Maybe we should hasten back. There may be others who mean Vojin harm."

@Lucero

Lucero didn't quite understand everything Syr Horoth said. Sure, she understood it, but why had Vojin left out the part about being attacked? And why had Vojin almost sounded certain that Shoyna might have been dead? What did the village elder know? Lucero wished she had spent more time talking to him but the request had seemed simple enough. Now she felt unsure about what was the right step forward.

She trusted Syr Horoth and that he believed what Shoyna had said. She trusted his interpretation of it, too.

"But," Lucero said softly, as if not wanting Shoyna to hear, "What if whoever hurt Shoyna is there, and if I can't identify them quick enough, I mean, do we interrogate everyone?" That was part of the mission or the original request. It was hardly a good look for the Knights either.

Leaning back on his haunches, Horoth huffed to himself and thought.

"I take your meaning."

It was one thing to return a wayward person but to throw accusations was another matter entirely, they were knights not judges the difference was lost on some but in essence if this was a matter of local crime they had no sway beyond bringing it to the relevant authorities.

"I see no way but to go back with Shoyna and speak with Vojin."

His expression admitted bewilderment or at least, a loss of other options. Horoth could fight any foe but he had no experience against a hidden one.

"Can you both travel?"

@Lucero

With a solemn nod of her head, Lucero began to up without the aid of Syr Horoth. She trusted his opinion, he was older than her, after all, he surely saw something that she couldn't see since he had heard the story from Shoyna's own lips. The blind knight was unsteady on her feet, vertigo making her dizzy when she stood up straight but she could manage it. Her milky gaze went from her fellow knight to the harpy who glowed a bright and happy yellow at the thought of seeing Vojin again.

"Yes," Shoyna said, nodding her head, eager as she became volant once more, her large body as light as a feather with all her hollow bones. The tiny hurricanes she created easy with her snow white wings ruffled Lucero's dark brown hair, having tendrils fly about all her face. She reached out to hold onto Syr Horoth, the only anchor she had right now.

"Some of the trees might be too close together," Lucero warned, remembering how hard it had been for her to navigate throughout the forest, thinking how Shoyna would struggle her. The harpy shook her head, shooting up into the green canopy, breaking through the branches and trees with a speed that was frightening.

"Shoyna meet you at barn!" She said from above, form mostly hidden from the overarching branches of the forest, too excited to go back home, to see Vojin again.