"Big sis, can they do tricks?" One of the children asked. The kids paused for a moment and started to shout similar words. Rin thought for a moment and walked into the coop. However instead of the unusual flightiness they had, the chickens were still and cocking their heads to eye Rin closely. Rin whispered a few words as a hen jumped up onto her wrist, flapping to keep its balance on her arm. The kids shouted in joy as they had been chasing the chickens for a couple days now.
"Speak" Rin commanded at the chicken. The hen let out a single bawk and the children laughed, everyone had smiles all around. The noise had attracted the caretaker as no one had turned up for the meal which was unusual since the children had a voracious appetite. The caretaker saw the children surrounding the pair they had met once by fate, watching the chicken do odd gestures and tricks while in the girl's arm. The caretaker was smiling but kept her tone sharp.
"Children, if you're not back by the time I count to five there will be no dinner" the kids froze for a moment before scrambling themselves back to the outer courtyard that had already been setup for food. The kids helped each other serve as they begin to eat. Rin and Leon chuckled as the children determined food was better than pet tricks. They still kept their eyes glued onto Rin with the hen on her arm. The caretaker cane up to give her greetings.
"Greetings madam. We are very thankful for your help over the past week." The caretaker gave a bow with those words. Rin felt a little uncomfortable from the greeting and patted the chicken to avoid it.
"It's no problem, you've helped solve a headache when it came to dealing with the herbs I have to gather." Rin said. The chicken gave a click in approval as it jumped down and joined the hens in the coop again. The caretaker was confused but had long stopped wanting to ask questions with this strange benefactor.
"We've just made dinner and wondering if you happened to be able to join us" the caretaker invited them to stay.
"Unfortunately we have to head back home for some small matters. We just wanted to come by to check how things arebgoing" Rin said. The caretaker looked a little sad at the thought but was happy to show them around the fields that were growing. Rin had given additional instructions over the last days to keep the fields plentiful. Rin would kneel down and inspect some of the plants every so often and give some point era to the caretaker. The caretaker nodded forcefully as she tried to commit to memory as much as possible.
"As well some of the plants are excellent for the children to keep healthy. That small root plant when in slices or ground and boiled is excellent for the stomach and general healthy if the kids. Alternatively you can use it to roast with food." The caretaker's face was confused at the mention of the plants. Medicine could be used with cooked food. The caretaker did hear once from some travellers that had stopped by the orphanage that in the capital it was more common to use medicinal ingredients for food use. The caretaker nodded I thanks for the advice.
"As well I'll send over some mixes for the food and that should help the children out and make the food taste better" Rin said excitedly. When it came to the topic of herbs and medicine it was hard for anyone to calm her down at that point. After chatting a little more Rin and Leon took their leave as the caretaker and the children waved goodbye to the pair. Trundling away they headed home.
Brother Aaron poked his head around the tree. Watching as the pair disappeared form sight, Brother Aaron sneered as he rubbed his nose from the slowly encroaching cold of the night. As he looked over the orphanage he felt the urge to inspect the orphanage but an odd feeling held him back. I should tell this to Father Malik he thought to himself. As the night drew closer he started to walk back to the chapel. Despite shivering under the almost freezing temperatures he had a better foot in his stop. His eyes blazed with renewed vigour. Laughing to himself he disappeared from sight.