The falling of darkness found the defenders of the Red Boar still in that wearied state of readiness. The corpses had, for the most part, been taken care of-- for the time being, at least. They waited outside in a veritable mountain of reeking flesh, coloring the snowy ground.

Inside, the wounded were being tended to by the women who had spent hours ripping bandages, boiling water, washing sullied clothes, cooking food, and keeping the community members from going thirsty. For the most part, it was relatively quiet-- everyone had their job to do and they did it, by now too tired to do much else.

Kaia, like the others, hadn't taken a moment for themselves since the end of the battle; all she had done was swipe at the blood still covering her body and that was only so she might have clean hands with which to stitch a wound. The light was low when someone tapped her on the shoulder and she leaned up from one of the wounded. Turning around, Kaia saw and vaguely recognized a young girl from the village who had been flitting in and out all afternoon and evening. Her father had been working at their nearby farm when, this morning (was it only this morning?) a few Vandals from the main party had had a little "fun" with the old man before running to catch up with the now-very-dead group. One of the latecomers to the battle had found her struggling to pull him inside and saved the girl the trouble by bringing them both into town and to the Red Boar for aid.

"Go on," the girl said, smiling softly. "Take a while. Wash up. Drink and eat something. I'll watch him." Smiling her heartfelt thanks, Kaia touched the hand of her young savior and went off to the main hall. There, she was pleased to note, someone had been thoughtful and set up a spot with things for a quick washing. Just for this sort of occassion, she thought contentedly as she grabbed the cloth and plunged it into the cold water, relishing the bite. After cleaning up as best she could, Kaia went to replenish the water but cursed when she started to pick up the trencher. Gods, that hurt! Only then did she remember the cuts along her arm and side. I didn't even think of them, there were so many more important things to do.

With an apologetic glance at the bloody water and a promise to remedy the situation in a moment, Kaia headed to the back room where she had stowed her packs, grabbing a few bandages and a wet rag along the way just as the newcomer made his entrance.

A few minutes later, cleaned, wrapped, and in fresh clothing, Kaia went back to the common room after first checking on her substitute. "Oh no, go on!" the girl scolded her. Chuckling, Kaia did as she was told without reservation. Her conscience appeased-- particularly after she changed the cleaning water previously sullied-- she went to sit by the fire in order to wolf down a quick meal of meat and bread. Ah, not too fast, girl, she thought. Or you'll make yourself sick. Although the noise level was slowly increasing as tensions relaxed, Kaia sat in her own reverie until the newcomer's voice broke through. Then she simply turned and stared, not unkindly but as if to say, I've heard all this before.

Turning back to a cup of shockingly cold water-- the better than a mead, she thought, to clear the head for a long night's watch-- Kaia was startled again by a loud thud. Snapping her head around, her eyes grew big. Dallas is on the floor, unconscious!! What is going on? Was he wounded? Oh... I see... I wonder how THAT happened!!