A silence followed the group as they made their way back to the Good Fortunes Tavern to pick up Murton. Teryn and Devin had both tried to pry more information from Griff, but they did not even receive his customary grunts. He walked ahead of them, eyes lost in the thoughts of something he was not willing to share.

Shia walked beside Devin, a smug smile on her face nearly the entire time. When he started to ask her about how she knew that about Griff, how she could possibly get so much information from someone she knew so little about he was met with simply:

“I just know.”

He had stopped pressing her after that and Teryn had little luck with either of the party members. They each were lost in their thoughts as they followed the riverwalk back into Darkmeat District, then made a right turn along the main road to find themselves at the tavern once more.

“About damn time! My grandmother could walk faster than you lot and she doesn’t even have her legs anymore!” Murton called out to them as they approached.

“What's with all the glum faces? Did ya find a contract for us to do or not?” he asked.

“Two actually,” Devin held out the two stubs for their contracts. “We will be delivering some goods to a town and also seeing if we can rid that same town of said bandits.”

Murton frowned, “I thought we weren't allowed to take on double contracts, some unwritten code of conduct or some crap like that.”

Before Devin could answer Teryn leapt in for him. “Devin used his wiles on the poor, helpless maiden behind the counter and got us the two for no trouble!”

“Did he now?” Murton’s eyes twinkled mischievously.

“And that is not all! He got the orc girls name and will likely be paying her an after contract visit,” Teryn gave Devin a small nudge in the ribs.

“An orc huh? Oh boy lad, you are in for a wild ride. When I was younger, I met one and we- ahem,” Murton stopped short as he caught sight of Shia. She was watching him expectantly.

“Don't stop on my account,” she said.

“Well, the details are not important, I suppose. But anyways, I hope she works out for you, Devin. You need yourself a lady. It's been far too long for you, it's starting to make you a grump.” Murton said.

“You know, I don’t normally agree with the dwarf but he’s right. How long has it been? Like two years? What was her name anyways? I think it started with a T..” Teryn said.

“Who are we talking about?” Shia asked.

“Devin’s last fling,” Teryn answered.

“Ooo and she was a doozy. She had him by the nuts and would drag him everywhere. Oh, and he followed like a lost puppy too!” Murton laughed loudly at his own comment.

“Oh what was her name?” Teryn asked again.

“Can we drop it? It’s not important who it was and anyways, she's gone now.” Devin interjected.

“What happened? Did she die?” Shia covered her mouth after asking, her eyes wide.

“No, she's not dead. She is just… elsewhere,” Devin finished lamely.

Murton leaned over towards Shia and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “She's in another man's bed is what he means.”

“I think you mean ten other men's beds,” Teryn whispered, just as loudly.

Devin sighed and shook his head. Is this really where he meant to find his life at this point? Surrounded by an asshole of a paladin and a drunkard wizard, trying their damndest to corrupt their newest member into teasing him like they do?

“Evelynn.” Griff grunted. Devin flinched as if he had been struck when he heard her name.

“Evelynn! Thank you Griff! I must say, you have been remarkably talkative these past few days. First with Gideon-”

A chorus of shushes met her, leaving Teryn slightly red faced and Shia looking bewildered. Before she could question who that was, Devin decided it was time to start moving.

“All right group, we are losing daylight fast. Everyone grab a pack and let's head out. Murton, I assume the packs are equally divided and properly outfitted?”

“You better believe it, got everything we need for a weeks worth of travelling.” Murton beamed proudly.

Devin frowned, “Murton, we will be gone for the day, maybe two at most.”

He shrugged. “It can never hurt to be over prepared. You’ll all be thanking me for the extra weight when something goes wrong and we finds ourselves in the wilderness with adequate supplies.”

“Very well, onward we go with ‘adequate supplies’ as our dwarven friend calls them. If you suffer any back injuries please direct all complaints to Master Murton.”

Griff snorted as they grabbed their packs. Devin shouldered his, surprised that it was not quite as heavy as it looked. For all his faults and dickishness, that dwarf could pack like no other.

The group travelled toward the southern gate, making for Helven’s Forge. The crowds were less packed than they had been yesterday during the parade. With Griff leading, they made quick time towards the forge.

Devin had the group wait outside as he stepped in to claim the delivery. He showed the young man behind the counter his ticket stub and the man nodded, disappeared into the back. As he waited, Devin started to wonder what in the hells they were delivering. He had not read the paper well, or at all really, and started to concern himself with transportation issue if it turned out to be something heavy or huge.

Lucky for him, the item in question turned out to be neither. The young man came back with a tiny horseshoe, the size of a small child's hand at most.

“Is that it?” Devin asked.

“That's it,” the smithy nodded.

Devin started at the man's outstretched hand holding the tiny horseshoe in it for a few moments before taking it gingerly.

“You’re absolutely sure there isn't a box of horseshoes somewhere?”

“Listen man, the order said one horseshoe, gave me the tiny ass specifications, and had me engrave it with some initials or some shit. I do what I am told and I do it damn well.” The young man started to raise his voice.

“Whoa, easy there, buddy. I just wanted to make sure. I hate getting somewhere and finding out some dipshit messed up the order.” As the words left his mouth Devin wished fervently he could reach out and draw them back. He could nearly see them float away and smack the smithy’s face, turning it a beet red.

“Oh gods, that came out before I knew-”

“Some dipshit? You know, I am sick and gods damned tired of you damn guildies and adventurer types coming into our town, thinking you own the place, and shitting on all of us normal folk!” The smith’s voice kept rising with each word. By the end he was shouting, small flecks of spittle flying from his mouth.

“We are here, busting our asses everyday to keep this town running and you people come in here and just trash us. I mean seriously. ‘Some dipshit?’ How dare you shit on us at all! Take your stupid wedding gift and leave!”

Devin nodded, mumbling a half apology, and fled out the door. He found his crew waiting for him. Murton was snickering, Teryn had a raised eyebrow, Shia’s eyes were wide, and Griff had a ghost of what might've been a smile on his face.

“So, what happened in there, Devin?’ Murton asked, suppressing his laughter as best he could. Small chuckles still came out, choked between each word.

“Nothing to worry about, I have our delivery and we can get the hell out of this town. It was just some overly sensitive young man unsure of his place in the world.” Devin put the horseshoe in his satchel. As he did, he heard a shout from the building.

“Overly sensitive?! I’ll show you how sensitive your face is to a damned hammer, you son of a gnoll!”

“Time to go,” Devin said as he set off at a brisk pace. His guild mates followed behind, mingling into the growing crowd with him. After a short walk, they found themselves at the Southern Gate and were able to pass through with no problems. The guard liked to check near everyone coming in, but going out they could care less about.

The sun was shining overhead, bright in a cloudless sky, as the group began their trek south. They did not talk at first, each enjoying the views on a fine autumn day, still tinged with summer's warmth. The trees on either side of the road were mostly green with the occasional splash of yellow or red as they began their transition into fall.

“So, who’s Gideon?” Shia asked, shattering the silence. The other members of the group glanced towards each other, avoiding Shia’s inquisitive gaze.

After none of them offered an answer, she furrowed her brows and stopped walking, placing her hands on her hips.

“If I am going to be a part of this group, I feel I should know a bit more about you all. And if I remember correctly, you need five to operate on contracts,meaning if I walk away, you're all SoL.”

“Ess oh el?” Murton leaned toward Teryn.

“Shit outta luck,” she whispered back. He nodded.

“Well?” Shia asked. “I’m waiting. You all love to drop conversations halfway through it seems. I’m tired of it.”

Devin stepped towards her, “Ok, fine. We won't hide anything from you. Fire away with your questions, we will answer them the best we can.”

“Ok, that's better,” Shia nodded. “First, who’s Gideon?”

“Gideon was our previous ranger,” Murton answered. “He uh, well, he died in a goblin raid.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Shia said. “When did he die?”

“Well,” Teryn started counting on her fingers, looking as thoughtful as she could. “Yesterday,” she finished lamely.

“Wha- Yesterday?!” Shia sputtered. “How are you ok with this? How are you walking around with a freshly killed companion?”

“Well it’s not like we knew him very long. He went on one mission with us.” Murton shrugged. Griff grunted in agreeance.

Shia stood there with her mouth agape, turning between each of them. They met her gaze with the callous indifference of a group that had seen their sheer number of fallen companions.

“How many of your fifth members have died?” Shia finally asked.

“We aren’t too sure. It has been quite a lot. Maybe two dozen?” Devin said.

“Two dozen?! How long have you been operating?”

“Two years now.” Devin answered quietly. “It’s not like we intend them to happen, they just seem to, well, die.”

“And Gideon’s was kind of his own fault. Stupid shit didn’t fall back when we told him to. What kind of bow user goes to the front line to fight?” Murton added.

Shia stood there for awhile, saying nothing. She stared up into the sky and did not look at any of them. Murton watched her, shifting from foot to foot as if eager to start moving. Griff stood as impassive as ever, while Teryn and Devin kept glancing at each other then back at the young woman.

If she left they would be shit out of luck as she so eloquently put it, they couldn’t technically complete the contract without their fifth. Sure they would lie about it and say she was there, but if she disputed it they would be disbanded and probably jailed.

Finally, she spoke. “Ok.”

“Ok?” asked Teryn and Devin in unison.

Shia nodded. “Ok., I can accept that. It isn't necessarily your fault those other died. I’ve seen my fair share of streaks of bad luck, I won't hold you to yours. I don’t plan on dying and signed up to be an adventurer. If this is what it takes, then, ok!”

“Well, all right then,” Devin said. Murton shrugged at him and started to turn.

“I do have more questions though.” Shia said as the group began to turn with Murton.

“We are happy to answer them lass, but we really should be moving. We have a couple of hours to the town and can walk and talk at the same time,” the paladin called back over his shoulder and kept walking.

The group turned to walk with them and Shia jogged a short bit to catch up.

Devin turned to her, “What other questions do you have?”

“What's my split? I don't recall ever discussing that.”

“After all dues and expenses of the guild are paid, you receive one fifth. Everyone does.”

“Really?” She asked. “You don't take more as the leader?”

“Nah, that doesn't seem fair to me at this level. We each pull our weight equally, though in different areas. So, we each get equal share,” Devin said.

Shia nodded toward the hulking man at their front, “Why doesn’t he talk much? I don’t want to sound insensitive, but is he capable of speaking more than a few words?”

Devi shrugged, “I’m sure he is. I’ve never heard more than a few at once from him. The amount you’ve heard him since you joined is actually quite a lot. He’s spoken more these past couple days than the past few months.”

Shia shook her head as she watched Griff walking, his large ironoak shield strapped to his back. “I just don’t get him.”

“Do you get the rest of us?” Devin asked.

“Hmm,” she started, squinting at him. “Not all the way, but I’m starting to build pictures in my head of who you all really are.”

“Who we really are? What do you mean? We are adventurers, mercenaries, guildies, whatever you want to call us trying to make a profit making the world a better place.”

“No, that is what you do. I am building who you really are deep down. The person you hide from the world, the person in your third heart.”

Devin laughed out loud, prompting a glance back from Teryn. She slowed and came up on the other side of Shia.

“What's so funny?” she asked.

“Shia is trying to figure out our third heart, whatever that means. As if we had more than one! Utter nonsense,” he started chuckling to himself again.

Teryn looked at Shia and nodded, “Do you think you've found them yet?”

Devin stopped laughing.

“No, not yet. Not even close to the third. I think I’m starting to put together the second heart though.” Shia said, now turning away from Devin.

“I’ve been trying to discover their hearts for awhile now too. I think I have Murton's and I’m getting close to Devin. Griff though,” Teryn sighed as she looked toward the man, “That man is an enigma.”

“Excuse me, but that's real? What are these multiple hearts?” Devin jumped in.

Teryn gave Shia a half smile and sighed, “There is a theory that every person has three hearts.”

“Like, beating inside of them?”

“Are you going to listen and learn, or keep interrupting?” Teryn chided him. Devin fell silent.

“Good. Now, they are not physical hearts, that is just stupid. Every person has their three hearts. The one you show in public, the one you show to your close family and friends, and the one only seen by yourself and whatever god or deity you believe in.”

Devin digested that for a moment. “If the third one is hidden to all but themselves and their god or gods, how can you hope to discover what it is?”

“That is the big question, is it not?” Teryn said.

Shia nodded, “As much as people want to keep their absolutely true selves to themselves, little bits of that person always slip through. Whether it's in a moment of crisis, a moment of passion, or a moment they find themselves in absolute control, their true self will come through.”

“And you think you have my second heart figured out?” Devin asked.

“Would you consider us friends? Do you find yourself saying more to us than you would a random person? Or, and no offense is intended, Shia?” Teryn gestured to the young woman walking beside him.

“None taken,” Shia said.

“Yeah, I would consider you all friends,” Devin said.

“Then I say we are privy to your second heart. Now we wait and see for the glimpses of your third heart. I think revealing your true, most inner self is the most vulnerable and human thing anyone can do.” Teryn stated.

They walked for a bit longer in silence. Devin was thinking about this theory of multiple hearts and back to everyone he knew. What heart was he being shown by everyone in his life? He knew he had seen his mothers third heart. Seeing her true self was one of the most terrifying moments of his entire childhood.

He turned towards Teryn, “What about for elves and the like? You will live a lot longer than us, does that affect your hearts?”

She smiled. “Now you are starting to think like a philosopher. We have four hearts.”