Mutiger sits outside of Ruby's room. He'll only sleep if someone else is there. He'll only eat if it is brought to him. His sword will be easily accessible so he can dispatch enemies who get too close.

Ruby rests for two days straight, recovering from the experience. When she can finally start walking around, she opens her door to find Mutiger sitting there like a sentinel. He looks at her. "You're awake."

She jumps as he speaks. "Oh! Y-yes... I suppose I've been out a while, haven't I?"

He nods. "We were worried." He then holds out his hand, in it is her ring.

She takes the buffalo ring with reverence, tracing the markings with her fingers. "Thank you for finding it for me." She looks embarrassed. "And for finding me, too." 

She gingerly sits down beside him, rather dwarved in size. "My apologies for worrying you."

"No need to apologize, you're worth worrying over."

At that, Ruby looks shyly down and fiddles with her hands.

After a few minutes of silence, she asks quietly, "I heard you faced Mephistopheles... Is that true? Are... Are you okay?"

Mutiger looks stoic for a second. "He was there. He... attacked me. Stronger than before." He then clenches his fist and looks at it. "He won't get away with this." He looks over at Ruby. "Any of this... He must pay."

She nods in agreement, looking concerned. "I'm okay with stopping him and these people too. Did he... get into your mind, as well?"

He nods glowering. "He got into yours?" His voice revealing his anger. His fists tighten.

She fidgets, seeing the change in his demeanor. Her sparse dreams had been mingling her recent memories with nightmares.

"I think so... I..." She looks away. "He spoke to me. You're stronger, though. My mind couldn't handle it..."

Mutiger shakes his head. "I had help." He fingers his ring. 

Seeing Mutiger hold up his ring, she glances down at hers again than back to his. She is confused by his statement, and seems to be mulling things over in her mind.

A faint clattering sound and footsteps can be heard approaching, getting louder accompanied by a somewhat odd tune being whistled. Rodrick appears around the corner, pushing a small toolcart laden down with food and drinks. 

Before she can inquire further though, Rodrick's appearance causes Ruby a new flood of emotions. 

As he sees Ruby, his face goes through a cacophony of emotions, starting with a broad smile and ending with a father-ish scowl as he rushes over, leaving the cart for now, and wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

She tries to smile reassuringly. "Hiya, Rodrick... I--" She sheepishly cuts off and can only manage to half stand before he tackles her in a hug. 

Startled, Ruby embraces the fatherly little gnome and pats his back comfortingly. Looking between Rodrick and Mutiger, she's rather speechless. Her mouth opens and closes a few times. She feels unsure of how to respond... Nothing seems adequate.

"If you EVER scare me like that again, young lady, I will never let you forget it." 

He holds on to her for quite some time before finally stepping away, his cheeks tear stained. "Please don't scare me like that... ever again." He chokes out.

She almost folds at the sight of his tear-stained face though. Deep down, it reminds her of her own dad. Ruby practically looks like a scolded child... Guilty, apologetic, and meek. Unable to swallow the emotional lump in her chest, all she can accomplish is a very sincere nod.

Rodrick looks at her and then to Mutiger. A look of remembrance flashes across his face and he dashes back to the cart and pushes it over to the large tiefling. "I know you haven't eaten much, and I wasn't sure what you'd like... so I brought a little bit of everything." 

He pulls the small linen cloth off the cart, revealing all different sorts of meats and cheeses, preserved vegetables, a few fresh fruits and vegetables, a small platter filled with jars of fruit spreads, and many other things including a number of different drinks.

Mutiger helps Ruby to her feet. "You should eat and rest."

Ruby looks sheepishly between them both as she stands too. She takes an orange from the cart with eager shyness.

"Mutiger, have you... Been here this whole time? What have you both been up to?"

Rodrick nods slowly. "He's hardly left, and when he hasn't been here I have."

Mutiger looks at her. "As I said, we've all been concerned. We each show it in our own way."

"Oh..." she trails off. "Thank you both for keeping an eye on me this whole time."

She gets embarrassed, feeling like such a burden to these fellows. 

Glancing at the ring on her hand gives her strength though... She is stronger with her family here. Just like a buffalo would be with its kind. She tries to shoo the uncomfortable thoughts away.

"Have... Have there been any cultists trying to get back in?"

"The cultists seem to have fled. We've seen no sign of them."

Ruby nods, relieved at that. She looks between them again. The seriousness feels like such a weight in the air.

Ruby tries to smile and be a little more cheerful. "Absolutely! They ain't coming back with you two around. They know better." She grins. 

"I warned em, ya know... I knew you guys would find me. They didn't stand a chance."

Mutiger smiles then suddenly scoops her up in a gentle, yet powerful hug. And whispers, "We missed you." His eyes glistening as he lets go and steps back.

Ruby is completely surprised by the hug, and feels dwarfed by Mutiger in his arms. The gesture is touching...all of them, from everyone.

As she's set back down, she sniffles and wipes her eyes on her sleeve. "I... I really missed you all, too. It felt like an eternity. Especially when..." She trails off, thinking about what she saw.

***

She takes a walk much to the protests of Rodrick and Mutiger. The latter insisting he accompany her if she wished to take a walk.

At the beginning of their walk, Mutiger and Ruby travel in silence. She realizes she was resting in one of the upper cultist rooms, which was much nicer than the dungeon rooms down below. 

Seeing the crumbling stone and piles of refuse, she looks downcast. "I bet this place was once rather fine... Many years ago."

"It probably was." He looks at her. "Maybe we can make it that way again."

She nods. "You don't see many places like this in Alwyn."

Some blood smears on the floor make her a tad queasy. "It'll take time. What have we done with the... The bodies?"

"Don't worry about that. We took care of it." He took her gently by the shoulders and gently steered her around the blood stain while supporting her with his hands.

Ruby observes the place with a more critical eye. Now that she's aware of it, things do appear neater. Refuse has been piled up, drag marks in the dust from people or objects being moved... 

"Mutiger, how long was I asleep for? You all seemed to have done a lot in that time."

Mutiger was silent for a while. Then said, "Two days."

Ruby looks a bit shocked. After a minute or two, she says, "Thanks again for... for keeping an eye on things. And me." 

Rubbing her arm, she mumbles sheepishly, "I don't fancy the idea of becoming a liability again." She trails off. "This whole 'adventure', I've... Ugh. I need to keep practicing. I need to get better."

"You are not, nor have you ever been a liability." He grabs the hand with her ring. "I would never give this to a coward. You have great strength."

She blushes and mumbles shyly, "Thank you, Mutiger."

She takes her hand and looks at the symbol of the buffalo on the jewelry. "I plan on training soon though... As soon as I can."

Mutiger looks at her and says, "Then I will help you."

"That would be appreciated." She smiles at him.

***

After seeing the others, Ruby takes a walk to get some fresh air. As fresh as it can be, anyway... The broken keep feels errie and ominous, a threatening reminder of what transpired. She walks past the crumbling stone in the great hall and out the front doors, eager to see the green forest again.

Irritated that she's already tired again, Ruby passes the outer wall to look for a place to catch her breath. As she looks around, she sees a figure sitting next to Firelord. Her heart catches in her chest.

Mutiger steps back to give them privacy, but close enough he could easily be fetched.

"Mornin', Mr. Luther."

Briar Luther, at hearing a now-revived Ruby approach, starts and hides something away quickly. As he stands up, he impatiently swipes at his eyes, brushing away the tears. 

"M-miss Pennington...I-I wasn't expecting you to be awake for a few more hours." He does his best to smile through his pain, but fails.

"Ruby, I-I thought y-you were d-," but he can't quite finish. "Tarj Almighty, but you're alive! When I saw those...those bastards drive a knife into you, I lost all reason and rational thought...Rodrick's machine gave me the impetous to slaughter! A-and so I did. I killed them... I-I...I killed!" He can barely contain his emotions. He smells of hard brandy.

Her heart sinks down to her stomach seeing him like this. "Oh, Luther... Luther, it's okay." 

Ruby comes up to him and hugs him tightly. Reassuringly. "Sometimes we lose control. Sometimes people get hurt. You..." she rubs his back, smelling the hard liquor and feeling queasy. 

"...Y-you were stopping them, keeping them from hurting anyone else. Killing is... Hard, for people like us." She tries to show she's okay for his sake, but she silently cries along with him.

"This...This is precisely why I hired adventurers like this lot...I-I'm a coward, M-miss Pennington! I k-killed those cultists like a brush fire through dead wheat..." He stops, looking Delilah in the eye. "I killed them because I was afraid..."

She bites back her tears, struggling with that same horrible dilemma in her own mind.

"We... We are all afraid. This world is getting scarier every day. W-we do what we have to, to survive, Mr. Luther."

Briar parts from her embrace and pulls out a handkerchief, blowing his dribbly nose noisily into it. He wads up the handkerchief and stuffs it away. 

Sniffling loudly, and swiping impatiently at his eyes, Briar shakes his head morosely, and dusts himself off. He doesn't look as comely and neat as he usually does, his fine clothes discarded for a simple tunic and traveling trousers, but nonetheless, his familiar, buoyant aura returns, albeit more somber. 

"Ahem, you'll have to excuse me, Miss Pennington. I'm...I'm Not in my best of mindsets right now. I'm just...trying to process it all. I..." he looks over at the fancy bottle of hard brandy laying discarded on the ground near Firelord. "I have had my fair share of that stuff, I think, and really I'm only a social drinker, if you catch my drift."

He takes a step back and retrieves the brandy. "For another, happier time, I suppose."

He turns to Ruby and presents a dashing but saddened smile. "I'll be alright, Miss Pennington. I'm sure this will all blow over in the end..." He trails off, his mind wandering for a moment. His eyes light up with epiphany. "Say, how did they bring you back to life?"

Ruby watches Luther pick the brandy up, a pained look on her face. "Yes, yes this will all blow over. I..." She tries to contemplate Luther's last question, but can't find the words before Mutiger approaches them.

Mutiger comes back with a scowl on his face. Then almost like he's repeating something someone is telling him. He says, "To take a life is not wrong. To help another is a lofty goal." He cocks his head before continuing, "To take revenge is dangerous. For if there is no danger to others. The punishment may be too severe. Your actions were not evil as those who died would have burned children to achieve their goals." After a long pause he looks down and to the left. "Happy?" Then walks back out of earshot.

A little taken aback, Ruby listens to his whole statement before the tiefling leaves. 

Luther turns sharply to Mutiger. Acknowledging him, he says "No, I am not happy, sir. I watched my friend and co-worker die helplessly to the hands of evil, and was powerless to do anything about it. I'm still reeling from that my good friend. So no, I'm not happy."

She glances between Luther and Mutiger. "He's not usually so... Talkative. But he's right, I suppose." Her shoulders sag a bit, yet she straightens up trying to harden her resolve. "You and I aren't... We aren't evil, Mr. Luther. We stopped evil. Even if it's... It's hard to take a life. It SHOULD be hard..." She trails off at that.

Ruby glances back at Mutiger again out of the corner of her eye. She mumbles to herself. "...Happy? Who..."

Shaking her head, she turns back to Luther. "To answer your question, my... my return to... to here." She struggles with the thought. "I guess I really did go somewhere... Mr. Karu said the others had some kind of item that could resurrect..." 

She looks up at him with a sheepish half smile. "...Magic."

He turns away, his sharpness waning fast into sadness. He turns back to Ruby, his eyes wan and sad, yet a spark of hope remains there. "Magic, huh? I thought you all were averse to magic."

She looks between the two, torn and confused at the little cyclone of emotions. 

"Y--yeah. About that." She gives Luther a little half smile. "Some of us more than others, I suppose. It's not all bad, really... Broken, it is. But... We hope to help someone fix it."