Fourth Wall

Twelve: Another Stray

Chloe finally shook herself out of her stupor enough to speak.

"Halsin. Pleased to meet you, I'm—"

"Chloe. Yes, I recall." He smiled down at Chloe, and she felt herself blush.

"If you could hear me, why didn't you respond?" She asked, curious why he would risk remaining captured. Halsin straightened a bit, looking over at the huddled prisoners.

"In truth, I thought you were another enemy. The goblins were awful to us, of course, but I didn't know any of you, and I doubt anyone from the Grove would have come to our aid. My aid." He shrugged, genuinely unbothered by the thought. It was simply a fact. 

"I saw the goblins lose the key to my cage down that crevice in the rock," he said, gesturing to a cragged hole in the dirt floor.

"I thought I'd likely be able to free myself after you'd given up, if I didn't have my goblin captors to worry about. I was waiting for you to give up, but then you refused to leave me behind when none of the keys would work. Not me, Halsin the Druid, but me, a silent wild bear in a goblin dungeon." He laughed, and the sound felt incredibly welcome in the tense space.

"Then I thought you couldn't possibly be a foe with such a love for animals," he winked, his eyes practically twinkling. "Even if you did threaten to turn me into a rug."

Chloe didn't know how it was possible to be so at ease given his situation, but she understood that traumatic situations could produce unpredictable responses in people.

Chloe smiled sheepishly. She looked over at the others. Shadowheart and Wyll were still at work consoling the freed prisoners, Astarion was turning the room over for any useful information: logbooks, orders, etc. and Lae'zel was still a few feet away from Chloe, staring at Halsin.

Chloe cleared her throat.

"Well, Halsin, we actually did meet someone at the Grove who wanted us to find you. Shit, what was the dude's name, Lez?" She squinted as if trying to see the memory better.

"Zevlor," Lae'zel immediately answered, before her own eyes narrowed at the realization that Chloe had given her an unwanted nickname. Chloe plowed onward before she had a chance to say something.

"Thank you, yes, Zevlor. But for the record, I would have saved you even if you were just an antisocial wild bear." She clarified, earning another laugh from Halsin.

"My thanks to Zevlor, then. We're short on time now, but perhaps together we will have an easier time dispatching of these goblins. Shall we stick together?" He inquired, and Chloe could see in the millisecond that his brow creased with concern that he hoped her answer would be 'yes.'

"Of course," she assured him. "At the very least until we can get you to Emerald Grove, right?" His green eyes shone with relief, before they turned to find Astarion suddenly standing before them.

"Oh good, you've picked up another stray," he offered snidely, glaring at Halsin.

"And we have to waste time holding his hand all the way home. Hopefully we'll still have hands to hold by then, they might just be tentacles!" He stomped, crossing his arms as he looked back and forth between Chloe and Halsin before storming to the other side of the room.

Halsin looked to Chloe confusedly, but she just waved her hand.
"Yeah he's like that, don't take it personally." She advised, and Halsin gave a nod as if to say, 'Fair enough.'

The two of them walked over toward the huddled group of prisoners and the rest of the party gathered as well.

"Time to hatch a really good plan in like, less than seven minutes." Chloe clapped her hands together, wringing them anxiously as she began to take stock of their little army.