The Unicorn's Forest

Beth wished that she could just talk with Hesha or Feon about everything that she would want to know about this world, even before she could think of the possibilities, but she knew that wasn't feasible, especially since she couldn't be confident that they would know everything about this culture that there would be to know.

Beth wasn't sure how long she waited, but it didn't feel like it was very long. Which she could only assume meant that the person the woman had gone to get had been close by and hadn't been busy.

"I hear you might be interested in the slaves that didn't sell," the woman who approached Beth said.

Beth looked at her and could tell that she was older, though, aside from her striking violet hair, she hardly seemed much different than the others who seemed to work here. However, Beth was confident that she'd need to treat this woman respectfully if she thought that she'd be able to save some of the others slaves.

"Yes, I was thinking about it, but I didn't know if that would be possible," Beth answered. "So, I thought I'd at least ask."

The woman nodded, motioning for Beth to follow her as she started walking towards the pen where the slaves that didn't get auctioned off were. "How many were you thinking of? Keep in mind that even now I consider what they might sell for later on if they get put on the auction block again."

"Fair enough," Beth acknowledged. "I just thought I'd at least see if I could get a deal made for some of them."

"Well, which ones were you thinking of?" the woman asked, as she stopped in front of the door to the pen of the slaves Beth was inquiring about.

Beth didn't say anything right away. She merely looked through them, wanting to make sure that she could identify the ones that she had noticed when she had been waiting for Hesha's brother to be brought out to get auctioned off. As she looked, she could see a few others who had the same kind of desperation in their eyes.

Beth ignored all the slaves who looked resigned to their fate. She wanted to save them too, but she also knew that she didn't have the time or patience to help them heal from any trauma they'd experienced. Either as a slave or whatever had led up to them being here.

In regards to the ones who had a more desperate look in their eyes, Beth had a feeling that they might not be as far gone as those who seemed resigned to being slaves. Which also meant that if Beth could convince them to helping her and her friends, that they might be willing to agree. Especially after having saved them from being slaves.

In total, Beth pointed out seven she could see. She felt like there should be more, but she couldn't really complain, since she hadn't a clue of what they had gone through up to this point, nor did she know how common those eyes on these slaves were.

When Beth finished, the woman looked at Beth, looking like she thought Beth might be crazy. Of course, Beth wouldn't be surprised to find out she was in fact crazy. Though, it wasn't like it mattered right then.

"I hope you know what you're doing," the woman said with a sigh as she put a key in the lock of the door to the and opened it.

"I hope I do too," Beth replied, feeling like she might be able to get a bargain already, since the woman wasn't even waiting to see what Beth was willing to offer for them. Though, it wasn't until this moment that she couldn't help but wonder if these people would actually try to work with her rather than either sabotaging her ideas or just running away the first chance they got.

Yet, if they wanted to leave after Beth had freed them, she wouldn't complain. After all, her main priority was that she would be help them, but they would need to agree to that themselves rather than having Beth force it on them. Or at least beyond her paying for their freedom.

The catch was that she couldn't say how far they'd be able to get on their own if they did that. After all, it wasn't like they had any money of their own to work with in regards to getting food or any of life necessities.

Which meant that she was confident they'd go with her, if only so they didn't end up back in some place like this. Although, she wouldn't deny there was a possibility that some of them might have other ideas that didn't quite mesh with reality.

Then as the seven that Beth had pointed out were being moved out of the pen, another girl caught Beth's eye. She looked to be around four and while she didn't have the desperate look in her eyes that the others had, she didn't look resigned either. As far as Beth could tell, she merely looked like this was 'normal' for her. Something that Beth knew she could let stand.

"Uh, would it be possible to add her to my selection?" Beth asked the woman as she was closing the door to the pen, indicating the little girl.

The woman looked at the girl and sighed before entering it and pulling her out as well. "Not sure what you'd want with this thing, even at half a tish as an opening bid at the auction for her, no one wanted her. First time I'd ever seen that happen for one who looked so healthy."

Beth didn't really care about the reasons, just as long as she could help. Though, she felt she should at least look over the people she'd selected. She wanted to make sure that the woman hadn't made a mistake in which ones she'd tried indicating.

She could see wariness in the eyes of several of them, and confusion in the eyes of a young man who looked to be nearly nineteen. At least from Beth's estimation, which she wasn't completely confident about. Though she knew that he was at least older than her, if nothing else.

When she tried giving them a friendly smile, a few looked rather afraid while others narrowed their eyes suspiciously. Which Beth took to mean that they weren't sued to anyone being friendly towards them. Not that she was really surprised.

"So, how much were you going to offer for them?" the woman asked, her gaze looking like she was skeptical about what Beth might have in mind.

Beth looked at the bodies of the people in front of her reluctantly. She felt like she had to, if only to look like she was appraising their value, while inside she only felt revulsion. If any of them wanted to get naked in front of her, she wouldn't object to it, but she didn't like the idea of them not having a choice about it.

Many of them had several scars that Beth could only assume had come from a whip, but without a frame of reference, she couldn't be sure. The only one that didn't have a single mark on her was the little girl. Which Beth felt at least a little happy about. She hoped that she'd be able to do something to keep the girl from ever having to experience whatever had caused the scars on the others.

After a few minutes, Beth turned to the woman and nodded, as if she was pleased with what she saw. "How about five hesh?" she offered.

While she was confident that it was far more than the woman had expected, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised at how surprised the woman was.

"F-five!?" the woman gasped, her eyes bulging. "I thought you were a little crazy for wanting slaves that didn't get auctioned, but for that amount? You'd be able to buy a low tier fighter for that. Not slaves of their level."

Beth nodded, as if she agreed. She didn't want to get the woman to withdraw her agreement to let Beth sell her these people. She felt like she might be walking a fine line here, but she also had an idea that would solve a few other problems for her as well.

"That would be true, but I also don't want to deal with a few other problems buying them would give me," Beth remarked, looking back at the woman while having to resist the urge to punch her in the face. "Such as getting clothing for them, and maybe a week's worth of rations for them."

Beth wasn't sure how much all that would cost, but she at least was confident that it would explain why she'd offered so much in the first place. Though, on the other hand, she wasn't sure how much would be an acceptable amount to the woman. Especially since she couldn't remember right off hand how many tish went into a hesh. If they had a base ten system, it would make it a lot easier, but since they didn't, she had to work with what she could merely bluff her way through.

The woman looked at Beth for a minute before bursting into laughter. "Now that's my kind of deal."

Inwardly, Beth breathed a sigh of relief. She was sure she'd dodged a bullet there, though she hoped it would be the only one she had to deal with right then. Especially since she knew that Ralph and Wes weren't going to be expecting her to bring so many people with her. Not when at most they'd be expecting her to have merely bought two slaves at the most: Hesha's brother and the girl that Beth was confident was in fact Charlie.

However, they'd gone into it knowing that it wasn't likely that they'd be able to get Charlie. So if Beth had gotten her, they'd have been surprised even then. Yet, now she was bringing eight with her, not counting Hesha's brother.

"If you'll wait here, I'll go bring you a set of clothing for each of them, but I can't guarantee the fit," the woman said after thinking for a few minutes. "I'll also include a leash for each of them, since you look like you're by yourself. It'll at least make it easier to keep them from running if you already have them clothed."

Beth nodded, like she expected that. She pulled out the coins from her pouch, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake with this. Not just from buying these slaves in the first place, but also from trusting this woman in front of her so much.

As far as Beth knew, this woman might try to take Beth and all she had with her and see what she could sell Beth for. Beth wasn't sure if it was just her imagination or not, but she didn't want to find out the hard way that she'd been screwed over royally.

Beth wondered if she should keep the leashes after they reached the inn or if she should dispose of them. She was certain that she'd at least be able to come to an understanding with these people she was purchasing so they could make an informed decision on their own. At least in regard to accompanying Beth and her friends or trying to survive on their own.

Although, on the other hand, she wondered if it might take them some time to realize that they would be allowed to leave if they wanted to. Rather than having it dangled in front of them without the intention of actually letting them have it.

As she thought about all of that, Beth felt a headache coming on. One that she didn't especially appreciate. Not when it came to this subject. Where she would need to consider how much it might take before these people would actually believe that they really had the freedom that she would be giving them when they reached the inn. Whether or not they decided to leave Beth and her friends or not.

The one thing she wished she knew right then was how long it was going to take the woman to get a set of clothing for each of these people, as well as gather up enough food to feed them for a week. Beth hoped it wouldn't take much time, since she really didn't want to just wait around twiddling her thumbs right then. She'd rather get the surprise from Wes and Ralph over with so they could figure out what their next move would be.

Such as to continue looking around here more for whatever they could find out about a griffin canyon or if they should return to Marquis Denshia's march to regroup with their other friends and share what they'd learned so far. After all, as far as they knew, Tim had found something for them to take a look at already. Chances of that happening weren't likely, but since they didn't know where that canyon was in relation to them, it was at least possible to happen.

_

Ralph couldn't say what he had expected to have happened to Beth when Hesha returned with her brother without Beth. Wes had gone to see what they could do about getting Frolla something to wear with Hesha and Feon accompanying him, but Ralph wasn't optimistic about finding something quickly. Frolla naturally had to go as well so they'd be able to figure out the sizing issues. He hoped he was wrong, but he figured with the luck they'd been having lately, it wasn't going to be so simple. Or fast.

Yet, when Beth returned with eight more people she's save from being slaves at the slave auction, he wasn't sure what to say or even how to respond. If he was told that it was just a prank, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to process that at that particular moment.

"Yo, Ralph!" Beth snapped as the newly freed slaves took a seat around the room that was quickly becoming rather cramped now with the new additions to their party. "If you need me to reboot your brain for you, I will."

Ralph blinked, feeling like his brain hadn't so much crashed and needed rebooting, as it felt more like it was an engine that suddenly needed an oil change. Which Beth's words seemed to act like the oil to get it going again.

"What did you do?" was all he could think to ask Beth. "I admit I didn't expect you to be able to get Charlie, but I certainly didn't expect you to get anyone other than Hesha's brother from that place."

Beth merely shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. Which Ralph couldn't argue. The problem really wasn't that Beth had save these people, it was more that it hadn't been part of the plan. So it wasn't something that he'd expected to happen in the first place.

"Well, it was more of a spur of the moment kind of thing," Beth answered, suddenly looking a little sheepish.

Of course, now she acts like that," Ralph thought to himself, struggling to keep from rolling his eyes.

Out loud he said, "What're we going to do with them? I admit we'd probably be able to make enough with our performances to at least stay at these inns and always have something to eat, but I don't think we should just let them sit around all day, either."

Beth shrugged. "I really hadn't thought that far ahead. I only saw them and when I couldn't save Charlie and we were getting Hesha's brother, I suddenly realized I could try to at least help them."

Ralph sighed. He accepted that and didn't have a problem with it, mostly, but even the little girl that Beth had brought with her were rather quiet. To the point that he wasn't sure if they didn't need more help than they were capable of giving them.

"Look, maybe when we go to the church tomorrow as Feon suggested, we can figure something out there," Beth said, sounding as honest as Ralph had ever heard her be. "I just couldn't leave them there. Not with how they clearly didn't want to be there. I mean, if they want to go their own way, I certainly wouldn't stop them, but I couldn't just leave them there when I could at least try to help them."

Ralph nodded, not sure what else to say himself. He understood what she was getting at, but he wasn't sure if they should be indulging in things like that right then. Not when they had so many other problems to deal with. If they took on every problem that came up, they'd eventually get crushed under the weight of it all, which would then prevent them from being able to accomplish anything. Which would in turn make it so where they'd have been better off not having done anything in the first place.

"Well, what's done is done," Ralph said, not wanting to debate what they couldn't change. "At least let me know what their names are."

Beth blinked, looking like he'd short circuited her brain this time. "Names?" she echoed like it was a foreign concept.

Ralph couldn't help but groan. The fact that she hadn't inquired of what they're names were was baffling to him. If they hadn't cooperated and told her their names, then he knew she'd at least be able to say that. However, it was clear that she hadn't even thought to ask in the first place.

"What're we going to do with you?" he asked rhetorically, shaking his head in amusement. If nothing else, he was sure that the others were going to get a kick from this later on when he was able to tell them about the failed efforts to save Charlie.