Cresting the hill, Rin could see the two small cottages hiding behind a wooden fence and gate. The faint scent of herbs and other plants faintly teased at Rin's nose as she was already beginning to identify a number of plants while they were coming in. Taking the cart to a halt, Leon let off the horse as it lazily walked and grazed on the large patches of grass. Although the cottages were in reasonable condition it was still in a state of being abandoned. Rin wandered around the outside as her nose led her towards the garden and planted shrubs. Leon's eyes followed as Rin had wandered off leaving him to chuckle to himself as he unloaded the goods from the cart. Rin had quickly picked herself up from her down state over the last couple days leaving him reassured.
Rin wandered around as the backyard of the new place was filled with herbs. What made her surprised however was a number of them were medicinal herbs, touching the leaves that were slightly yellowing she reassured herself they could recover and who knows what else she could have going. The wafting smell of flowers being bloomed also caught her attention as Rin wandered around naming the pklants in her head and felt as comfortable as when she walked between the trees of the forest. Leon having finished putting away their goods watched as Rin wandered through the garden, weaving between a number of the trees that were bearing fruits for the mid spring. Before Leon had reliased Rin had already tried to climb one of the trees, putting her new cane to the side, as she reached for aa fruit that was hanging off a low hanging branch. As Rin was already reaching out from the main trunk she grasped the fruit but lost her balance. Leon already predicting this would happen had already dashed over, Rin falling into his arms with the freshly picked fruit. Rin surpised at ending up in Leon's arms again tried to avert where she was looking.
"I feel like you are determined to end up in my arms" Leon said, a grin on his face. Rin shoved the fruit into his mouth and shoved her way off his hold walking away in a huff. Taking the fruit out of his mouth, Leon let out a hearty chuckle as he took a decent bite out of the food. Rin had already run to look inside the cottage and was surprised to see the house was still furnished, albeit with a layer of dust over everything. Pushing open one of the windows the air caused the dust to rise up in a cloud causing Rin to cough as it caught in her throat. After collecting herself, Rin closed her eyes and her brow furrowed in concentration. A slight breeze begun to pickup as the window clattered slightly from the wind. Following quickly the breeze became strong as it coalesced in the room, sucking the dust into a small whirlwind as the room had its dirt and dust stripped clean. The now created dust devil blew out the window as Rin looked over the newly cleaned room. Sitting on the bed in the room Rin was quite happy with the new palce. The setting sun had already warmed the bed and caused Rin's eyes to droop and quickly fall asleep. Leon watched from outside at the strangeness that went on in the cottage. Shaking his head Leon thought to himself, What did that Dryad drag him into.
The scent of a fresh dinner roused Rin from her sleep. Rubbing away at her eyes she let her nose direct her towards its source. Grabbing the gifted cane from the corner of the room as well she walked out into the open courtyard. Leon was tending to the campfire as he was stirring an odd assortment of vegetables however the smell made her stomach growl. Hearing the noise,
Leon looked up and made a chuckle.
"I've already made something from the stuff we brought over" Leon said, pulling out the ladle and gestured for Rin to try it. Rin although felt awkward from the intimate gesture sidled over and sat with Leon as she tried the soup. Suddenly after trying some of the food, Rin begun huffing and cupping her mouth as her eyes started to water.
"I forgot to mention its hot" Leon said whilst laughing. Rin shot a venomous glance back as she quickly swallowed the food. Although the taste was great, from the high heat of the meal her mouth had long lost a sense of enjoying it. Angrily Rin slapped Leon's back as he kept chuckling at her as the two of them started to chat again about what would happen at the new place.
"I want to start a proper herb garden over there." Rin pointed over at a patch of dirt in the corner of their new lot. Her legs were already waving back in forth in excitement and Leon could finally see this girl acting her age.
"And hopefully I can fix some of the garden in the back. It had already been dying off but there's some valuable medicines still in the back"
"Well you are supposed to be a medicine lady. If you didn't start might as well leave with our story"
"Yes but its never been a thing I've been an expert at. I've only ever healed the animals injured in the forest. Humans aren't my specialty" Rin said giving off a tone that she was still lost in thought over how she would deal with her new 'customers'.
"Well I'll spread the word around. You never know how this will help you out" Leon said reassuringly. Rin felt surprised as he sneaked his arm around her waist. Causing her face to burn up at the touch. Although it was a lot to deal with, truthfully it was quite comforting. Relaxing in his hold the two of them ate quietly, neither speaking up about their situation in case it would break the steady calm. Rin relaxed as the night was already out and the stars were softly settled in the sky.
"Look over there" Leon pointed at a specific point, Rin followed his direction and looked at the stars.
"I've been told by many a traveller that the gods look down on us from above. Though I can't tell you who they are since I haven't bothered to remember" Leon chuckled evily. Rin watched on as Leon begun naming constellations and stars as he traced out the images accompanying them with the stories of heroic tales of old were they ascended into the heavens as a reward for their legacy. As Leon continued on, Rin could feel herself getting drowsy as Leon droned on, unable to keep her head she slowly fell to sleep. However Leon his conversation stopped immediately as Rin had lowered her head on his shoulder, breathing rhythmically Rin looked entrancing to Leon. After enjoying the moment, Leon picked Rin up in a tight embrace and walked her over to her cottage. If this was a wedding I'd love to start the honeymoon Leon smiled to himself. Placing Rin back under her covers he stay to watch over the strange girl he had picked up. Over the last couple weeks it wasn't a matter of not liking her, it was just she was too surprising for words. Leon sat on the ground as he leaned his arms on the bed, watching the girl sleep resoundly. Before too long he also fell asleep at the side of the bed, the soft fragrance from Rin was hard to resist.