Not only going the way the little girl had pointed we're also following the ever so often tracks she had left behind to make sure we're going the right way.
"What's you're name?" Sanzu asks the girl
with his sweeten voice, her hair was in a ponytail but now had fall to the base of her neck with few strings sticking out as the simple dress she wears had a few small holes from it getting snagged on things and her feet were covered in mud though we had washed them with some water before they could get Sanzu's clothes dirty.
"Lilith" she speaks softly into the shoulder her head is laying on.
"Such a beautiful name for a little girl!" Sanzu's coo while giving her a smile but quickly frown when she trys her best to hide herself in his hold after the group had travel half a mile or so, taking the signs of her fear that we're getting closer to where her group is and the first evidence we find are the girls footprints on the ground that had turned to mud after being soaked in blood she had track on the bottom of her feet which we quickly figured out when seeing what's on a worn out dirt road. Bodies are scattered and bleeding along the road with a few carts flipped over on their sides, not wanting the girl to see this Sanzu stays with their belongings in the tree line while Hanma and Draken search though they had to take a moment or two to get themselves together every so often from the smell and the sight.
"Hanma! This one is still alive!" Draken had found one of the people barely breathing as they sit against a cart and hearing a voice the man open his eyes
"My daughter! My wife! Are they..." He gasps as he grabs onto Draken's arm with amazing strength when he kneel on a knee next to the man.
"Found three women but.... they didn't survive." Hanma kneel next to Draken by the man before he continues speaking.
"Though we did found a little girl a little ways in the forest...." The man interrupts Hanma with a cry.
"Lilith! Oh, my sweet Lilith! Please, return her to my Mother in Sparrow's Tongue!" He weakly hands over a bow with some of its wood wrapped in white fur to Draken.
"May that vil creature burn in eternal flames...." He spit before taking his final breathe as he succumb to his wounds.
"What you think happened?" Hanma asked Draken when they stood up again.
"Let's look around a little more before following the road, Kesor! Which way is Sparrow's Tongue?" She points ahead of us though she stayed beside Sanzu in the tree line.
"Do you think we should grab what we can?" Hanma gestures to the things the group was carrying on the carts.
"We'll return what we can and give them a burial." Draken shook his head no at Hanmas question before mentally 'tell' Sanzu the plan so he started fixing camp while getting the girl to help which he praises her on her work once they got done before sacrificing Draken's other shirt to make it into a makeshift dress for her with a blue ribbon around her waist to get her out of the destroyed one. Draken and Hanma clear a place out on the other side of the road before using the shove they found in a cart to start digging which Hanma removed his vest to keep it clean along with the bow, they spent the rest of the day digging and moving bodies well into the night which they use a torch for light so wild animals can't take a bite out of any of the bodies.
"Here" Sanzu hands them one of the filled water pouches of the many the group had which they decided to keep four of them when the two found them while putting things into the carts and also hand them each a large leaf with food on it, Lilith had fallen asleep in Sanzu's arms at sun down. In silence they eat and drink around the small fire Sanzu's had made before laying down for the night which as soon as the sun rise in the sky the three are up and getting everything ready to move, to have his hands free Sanzu's use a long piece of cloth to strap Lilith onto his back before using dirt to completely destroy the fire.
"Ready?" Not many things are left after the attack which fit into one cart that Draken will be pulling and leaves us wondering where the rest want to but we quickly moved on from it as we get start traveling to Sparrow's Tongue by following the dirt road. Half a mile down the road we hit a fork in the road but it's quickly solved when asking Kesor which it takes us a day and a half with few breaksto finally made it to the village but we're stopped by a guard in fronts of the village open gates.
"Stop! What..." He trails off after recognizing the cart, little girl that's strapped on Sanzu's back, and the bow which caused him to shout at another guard to get the chief as many others guards surround us pointing their sharp weapons.
"Where did you get this cart and child from?" The chief ask after arrive which isn't too long as we all hold our hands up the whole time.
"We were camping near by when Hanma went to go hunting but he saw a infected wolf trying to get the girl which he quickly put down, we ask her where her parents are and she pointed in a direction that we follow until finding a group as been attached on the road with only one still surviving but he didn't last long after telling us to bring the girl to her grandmother here and we decided to bring what was left of the carts after giving the dead a burial." Draken takes a small step forward before explaining the situation which the chief takes a moment to think.
"Arrow, take the girl to her grandmother along with her son's bow. Peter and Paul, take the pink with the one called Hanma to my home as this one takes some of my men to the site he speaks of." The guards which are actually just hunters protecting their home move into action as chief said, in a short time Sanzu and Hanma are sitting in the chiefs home as Draken is taken away.
"What are your name?" He ask after taking the head of the long table as a women sits on his left and his three kids on the right which leaves us at the end and the last to be able to fill our plates.
"Hanma, this one is Sanzu and the other is Draken. You have our gratitude for feeding us and allowing us into your home." Hanma answers the question.
"You have done anything wrong to us but that might change on what my men said once they're back." After that he goes silent and started eating himself once his family got their first bit before we even started ourselves which I turn my focus in Draken that's leading the way with eyes staring holes in the back of his head which lasted a day when he show them the graves, they immediately become sad.
"Did he say what did this?" One of the guards ask after approaching me once we got camp set up which I shake my head.
"No, just that whatever was it to burn in eternal flames." The guard stare into the small flame of my camp fire that's a few feet away from the others.
"I'm Doug Smallhill." He holds out a hand which I shake, the family of the chief keeps their distances from the two strangers that will be staying their home for the seeable future.
"Is there anything we can do for you? To earn our keep I mean?" Not wanting to witness the chief rage Sanzu talking the wife with respect, she gazes at him with fire in her green eyes which seem to make them glow with power.
"You know how to skin an animal? To hunt?" Although she kept her distance from us but we can tell she won't take anything bullshit from us, authority leaks into her words from the years of practice of being a chief wife.
"No ma'am, though we were going to learn from trial and error before we found the group." She hums.
"You did not look like seasoned Hunters! You go hunt and bring it back, I teach you how to skin!" The way she speak clue us in that this isn't her native tongue, She turns from us and walks out of kitchen.
"Well, you hunt and I skin." Sanzu looks up at Hanma before walking to the room the chief let the two sleep in which he rolled his eyes at the shorter man and follow behind him to hit the bed so he can ries early tomorrow morning to hunt.
"Ooff, why you do that for?" Sanzu groggily spoke after Hanma had dragged him out of bed with his leg.
"I didn't say you're not going! So get up, we got hunting do to!" The sun isn't even fully up and with a sigh Hanma started tugging off the PJs the family had kindly let us borrow off of the sleepy Sanzu which because harder to do so when he started to resisting.
"Leave.....me." Sanzu mumbles as he continues to resist but immediately stops when Hanma gives him a dark look which reminds them of the look Tanjiro give Zenitsu on the road in Demon Slayer which is terrifying to see in real life so to make him stop doing it Sanzu goes limb on the ground and let him underdressed him, once done Hanma basically throws his clothes in his face.
"You want me to dress you too, baby!" Sanzu gives him what the fuck expression which Hanma just rolled his eyes at and leaves the room to head to the kitchen where Yara, the chiefs wife, is surprisingly making our lunches.
"Thank you Ma'am Yara" She just gives me a nod after handing me a small bag with our lunches in it right when Sanzu finally made he's way into the kitchen dressed in his clothes.
"Let's get going." Yara hands us our weapons that we handed to the chief yesterday and made our way into the forest.
"First, we need to try to learn how to track." Hanma kneel down to get a closer look at the forest floor.
"I'm the only one in the group that can track but that's only monstrosities, things we can fight." Sanzu kneels beside him.
"Yeah but that's good as it'll help us become stronger, you'll need to read up on them when you can." Sanzu nods in agreement with Hanma which he stands up again when finding nothing and continues to walk on with Sanzu following behind as they try to be quiet as they can, slowly the sun gets higher in the sky as the two continues on hunting.
"We've have gone far enough from the town and we can sit in the tree." They start climbing the large tree they stopped at and perch on a thick breach each though Hanma will be the one to hunt from a far as Sanzu only have daggers.
'Sanzu: I wonder how long this will take?
Hanma: as long as it will, why?
Sanzu: well, I'm sitting here doing nothing and you're the only one in the group that can use a long range weapon!
Hanma: will take a stick and start craving something! Get a better handle on the daggers!'
Sanzu rolled his eyes at Hanma but does as he suggested, breaking off a nice thick stick of the tree and start craving until a shape forms. Hours pass with Hanma searching for any signs of wildlife until finally a buck appears around four in the evening, it's antlers large holds five points and slowly Hanma notch an arrow in his bow before pulling back. He waits knowing patience will reward him instead of immediately shooting only to miss so he waits for the prefect shot, without experience knowledge is useless but to learn that experience you must have knowledge. Once Hanma had a perfect shot he still waits wondering if this is the shot he needs to take to end it's life instantly, for something to give a sign to take it. Suddenly a bird calls and I immediately let go with a breath, the arrow rips through the air with a small sound and into the heart of the buck as it instantly end it's life. Hanma gives a deep breath after seeing it fall to the forest floor and send a mental prayer thanking for letting them have the buck. The two of them climb down the tree and quickly approach the fallen buck, Hanma look for any sign of life but found none which he's thankful for and both begin to pack the large animal back to the town which it become midnight when we do make it back.
"Mother Nature give you large deer! Impressive! You must be in Mother Nature's favor!" Yara said once she saw us coming through the tree line and show us where to put it which she covers with a tarp to keep everything away until she teaches us how to skin it tomorrow.
"Your tall blond friend inside!" She gestures to the house which we quickly thank her before heading inside already knowing that Draken is back but want to keep up appearances that we don't have one mind. Draken is sitting at the dinning table with the chief and a guard, Draken stands up from his seat which Hanma and Sanzu quickly bring him into a hug before sitting with him at the table.
"Doug has confirmed that what you have told us is true! We thank you for what you have done for us!" Yara and her kids help her bring food to the table which we thanked them for and waited for them to start eating before we do ourselves, once dinner is over Yara excused us to bed since we have to get up early in morning with her.
"Don't like being separated." Hanma and Draken agrees with Sanzu's statement after changing into their pj's which Yara had handed Draken a pair of pj's before coming to their temporary room, they cuddle into one bed but with their big frames they somehow make it work on the small bed along with knowing that this isn't going to be the first time they'll be separated.