True to their words, in the days that followed, the party took exceptional care of Hestra. Halsin, who often times set the pace for the rest of the group, made it a point to turn back and ensure that he could set eyes on the small healer often throughout the day. Gale and Shadow Heart made continuous attempts to engage her in conversation as they walked. Even La'zel, who kept herself at an arm's length from the rest of the party, offered her water when they stopped to rest. Hestra felt as though her face might tear from smiling. She did not particularly like being the focus of such intensely undivided attention, but they were all being so sweet and kind that she felt as though she could tolerate it, if only for their sake. They followed the brook to the outskirts of a small village, where Gale hoped that they might be able to trade some of Halsin's furs or perhaps their varied talents and services for magical items that might help them along their journey. As the village seemed to be mostly comprised of humans, the group thought it may be best to conceal and disguise the less...human members of the group. La'zel donned her cloak silently, stalking off to the marketplace on her own, seemingly uncaring as to whether the rest of the group followed her or not. Astarion, however, was not nearly as agreeable. "Really? Again? As long as I keep my mouth shut, these country bumkins won't have the slightest idea. La'zel is green; for god's sake, I look like a human." Gale laughed and threw the cloak at his vampire companion. "The trouble is, you can't keep your mouth shut. Now put this on and be about it!" Astarion hissed but donned the cloak, and the party was off. Hestra had long since lost sight of La'zel in the crowd, but Gale and Halsin kept her very close to their side. Accompanying her and strolling down the various brightly colored stalls and booths of the marketplace. Pausing occasionally to ooh and awe over magical items of various sizes, shapes, and colors. Once, Gale even purchased a necklace that was the same grass green as Hestra's eyes. "Now, would you look at this beauty!" He exclaimed, holding it up to her cheek and admiring the match. "The stone or the healer?" Halsin laughed. Hestra found herself laughing alongside them and playfully batting Gale's hands away from her face. She found that the more time she spent with them, the closer to them she felt. She was an only child, but felt as though these two burly men had quickly become something akin to her brothers.
Suddenly, a shout emerged from someplace behind them. Rising above the general noise of the marketplace and shattering the peaceful atmosphere the three had cultivated through their stroll. It was a pained sound, and it rang out once more. "Hesra!" came a secondary shout, and she was finally able to register the sound as Astarion shouting for her. Without so much as a second thought, she ran towards the sound, weaving through the crowd until she found him. Leaning against a stone building, hunched over his injured hand, which seemed to have a gash cut through the palm of it. He cried out in pain as she took his palm to examine the injury. His lanky form was nearly bent over completely, and his head, normally towering above her own, hung so low that it rested upon her shoulder. "All right, now, come on, come with me; we'll get you all patched up." Hestra all but dragged the vampire, who moaned and groaned with increasing intensity with every step they took. As they approached a clearing just beyond the marketplace, where Hestra felt as though she could tend to the injury without a very great risk of being seen by the native villagers who might catch a glimpse of his less... human characteristics. Hestra leaned the vampire against a tree, and he sunk down the length of it until he was seated upon the grass clutching his injured hands that steadily dripped thick, viscus, burgundy blood. Hestra opened her satchel to attend to the wound. It would need to be cleaned first, and so she pulled out her antiseptic solution. "What is that? What are you doing?" The vampire leaned away from her, holding his hand to his chest protectively. "It is a cleansing solution to stave off infection," Hestra explained while reaching for his hands once more. Pulling them once again towards herself and finding that the vampire did not resist. She poured the solution over the injury, and it bubbled in response. Astarion hissed. "Gods! That stings!" He yelped. He did not, however, pull his hand out of hers. Now that Hestra could better see the cut, she could see that it was quite shallow; it ran from one end of his palm to the other. She dug into her bag to grab her soothing balm to rub it into the skin to keep the swelling down. She applied it to the palm of the whimpering vampire. "What are you doing now?" He groaned. "This is just a healing solution to keep your asking from swelling and also scarring. Next, I'll be using infused gauze to wrap the injury to keep it from getting infected." Hestra narrated her actions as she did them as the curious vampire watched. As she wrapped the injury, she asked, "How exactly did this happen?" Astarion would not meet her gaze. "I don't know; one moment, I was walking through the market, and the next, I was bloody attacked," Hestra noted that the latch to the pouch on his belt where he kept his dagger was unlatched. "Hmmm...interesting. If there is an attacker going about the marketplace, then we ought to find them, shouldn't we? Not you, of course, since you're injured. You should stay here, and I will find Halsin or Gale to wait with you while Shadowheart and La'zel, and I can hunt them down and bring them to justice." Astarion groaned. "Noooo, don't leave me! What if I get attacked again? What if you get attacked on your way to find them?" Hestra sighed deeply. She sat beside the vampire, who made himself comfortable. Stretching as languidly as a contented cat. Smiling smugly as if he took her silent resignment as agreement. He rested his head upon her lap and reached his uninjured hand upwards to clutch the necklace Gale had bought for her. "Ugh, what an ugly ornament. It's so gaudy it's almost offensive." Hestra huffed. Batting his hand away from the gift. "Gale got it for me because it matched my eyes, see? Just as green." Hestra swallowed the words she wanted to say, which would point out the less practical elements of the dandy vampire's clothing, which more than bordered on gaudy if one was being kind. Of course, there were other choice words one could use if one were not feeling particularly unkind, but brutally honest. Not that she would say such a thing out loud. Astarion pouted. "Gale knows nothing of beauty. That polished glass does nothing for the brilliance of your eyes." Hestra rolled her apparently brilliant eyes. In the distance, she could see Halsin waving to them as he approached. He would be upon them in a few moments. She was glad for that. She smiled brightly at him as she waved back. "Even so, it was a gift, and I treasure it." Astation's frown deepened as he followed her gaze. "For God's sake. I hate sharing." Hestra stood and turned to help him to his feet in turn. Halsin shouted a greeting as he approached, and Hestra responded in like and never did get around to asking what exactly he had meant by that.
