Although it takes a frustratingly long time, even the eldest residents of the village were safely escorted back to their homes. The rest of the night passed uneventfully. After first light, the Lumberjacks enjoyed well earned rest augmented by tequila.

By early afternoon, everyone was awake again -- with slight hangovers possibly. The villagers despite their age and seeming feebleness had already made surprising progress in repairs to their home. The weather was overcast with a thunderstorm brewing.

Conversations with the villagers are encouraging. The people here believe that by entirely wiping out the vampire raiders, the Lumberjacks have bought them months or maybe even years of peace. Their village is too remote for most predators to bother visiting, so it was primarily this same gang of bloodsuckers which visited them as a part of their monthly migration. Humans and other mortals tend to stick close to the river while traveling north or south, but the monsters tend to travel west through the forest from here toward the vampire kingdoms.

Ana has some insight into the manner...

"Nights before you came this here, other travelers came through. They rode metal horses. They were not the feral dead which raid our walls but the type which pass for living. We know that they were dead from the way they traveled at night and towards the kingdoms -- and by how our own animals ran away from them."

"If you double back to the north, you may be able to find the nymph's tree. She may be able to tell you more. If you want to use the cover of the rain to move through the forest quickly, the weather will keep vampires hidden. There may be other threats in the deep forest. Due west and not far is the next village: the Hollow Hill. We think it may have been some type of bunker during the Golden Age which was settled by refugees during the Dark Age. The residents there are short and strange and hate strangers, but they will accept you. Even Reid's Rangers visit the Hollow Hill no more than once per year, and they have not been this way for over two years. Do not judge the hill people too harshly for their lack of hospitality as they are the last mortal outpost between the living and the dead and suffer even more frequent attacks than La Cuidad."

"May Saint Christopher guide you."

Calista made notes on the advice in her armor computer memory. It was her blessing that finally got the cyberknight to speak. "You know the saints? Oh bless you, do you have a priest among you? I do not remember the last time I confessed."

Doc grinned, "You can tell me all your dirty little secrets Kalista," he gave her a wink.

Polk sleeps sunning himself on top of Samuel's robot.

At his brother's frank teasing of the night, Nyx laughed. He certainly had not met any of these saints, but the thought that the austere woman might confess to such men intrigued him and he idly wondered what kind of men - or d-bee - they might be

"If the elders are comfortable that this threat has vanished, so be it", he offered, "But it makes it all the more imperative that we seek out these figures, in my mind"

The villagers express enthusiasm that their new friends display an interest in the saints. The villagers explain that the saints are religious figures from times before the Dark Ages. Saints are defined as those figures who died in a state of grace and were promoted in the afterlife. Every saint has his or her own patronage, an area of specific interest or responsibility. The saints aid the living in subtle and invisible ways. For example, Saint Christopher protects travelers. He does not drop out of the sky to fight banditos on the road, but he might grant luck and blessings upon the traveler.

Characters with Lore: Religion will immediately recognize that these are the saints of Roman Catholicism and would have been inherited from the Pre-Rifts religion. These contemporary worshipers, however, have added a few new figures to the traditional roster.

Other saints of local interest are Saint Rosalinda, patroness of Psi-Stalkers; Saint Angelo, patron saint against supernatural predators; Saint Lyra of Rio Grande, patroness of rivers; and Saint Rozzo, patron saint of professional vampire hunters.

Senora Maria Anna directs Lady Kalista to the tall figure hidden under robes and a gas mask until now. Padre Roberto is the village's priest. Surprisingly, Roberto's face isn't all that old looking, more like a twenty year old. Roberto quickly explains that when he was a child, a traveling vampire hunter left him here while tracking a particularly devious target through the forest. The vampire hunter never returned, so the old priest of the village took in little Roberto and apprenticed the youth. The old priest died a few seasons ago, leaving Roberto to inherit the job and the respect of a village elder which comes with it. That was fifty winters ago. Roberto thinks that his youthful visage is a mutation, but only heaven knows for certain.

Polk dreams of becoming king of all lumberjacks. His army of flannel-wearing dragons on blue oxen chop through forests and vampires alike. His subjects bring him a dragon's hoard of silver ax heads.

So where are the Lumberjacks headed next?

She sneered at. Doc, "Such jests will only earn you my enmity," she started at Doc, waiting for an apology.

Polkitain kicked his leg a bit and smiled.

"Thank you, good people, thank you."

 Arulas merely chuckles at Doc and Kalista. "So chasing the shapes in the forest is the plan now guys?" he asks to deflect the subject. "My gut tells me it means something, but what exactly I have no clue."

"We should seek out this Hollow Tree", offered Nyx, "And then see if we can track down Saint Christophe or Saint Rozzo; they sound like they would be able to share many useful techniques for hunting these leeches"

Ethan listened to the exchange between Kalista and Doc and he frowned. He had not thought the man's jest was all that egregious but then what he thought really didn't matter. What mattered was that Kalista felt her faith had been mocked.

Part of him wanted to intervene on her behalf but he quickly realized that would be a mistake. This was no delicate flower of a woman that needed her man to fight her battles...any battle, no matter the form it may take. A partner sure, someone to fight with her but never for her.

So the medic remained silent, standing close enough to let her know he was there but not so close as to seem like he was trying to 'shield' her and watched to see what would happen now that she had asked for an apology. "In the meantime..."

"Actually Nyx, the lady said 'Hollow Hill' and 'Nymph Tree'," he said with a grin. "Given the choice between the two, I would say Hollow Hill could be interesting. If it really is a bunker from before the Rifts, I might have some insight on it that the new residents, the 'short, strange' people would find valuable enough to give us some in return." He shrugged, "It's worth a try anyways."

"All your axes are belong to me."

Polk was still dreaming.

Like Ethan, Nyx said nothing at the cyberknight's demand for an apology, though his mouth twitched in a hint of a smile at her unyielding displeasure. Instead he nodded at her husband's correction and admission, hearing the man's past confirmed in a fashion he could not dismiss. He was cool and collected, cold even, but he was curious too and so he asked, "You think there will be echoes of your own past there too?"

Doc shrugged, "Enmity, fancy word darlin', what's it mean?... and like you said, it's a joke. Get some thick skin. If I meant to offend your delicate sensibilities... I would." he rolled his eyes, no sense of humor anywhere, it seemed he was doomed to die of boredom.

"We can check out the bunker, sounds good enough for me. Ethan, you take point when we deal with the short people?"

Kalista extended her psi-sword. "I challenge you to single combat. Apologize for your blasphemy or accept my challenge."

Doc grinned his hands sliding close to the handles of his pistols, "Lady, you gotta be shittin' me. This is the dumbest damned thing I've ever seen. You wantin' to kill a fella for a joke. Fine, sorry I upset you and your imaginary friends." The grin disappeared as quickly as it appeared, his hands didn't move, "Ever pull that sword on me again, I reckon you better not let me know it's happenin'... cause it won't end well." Doc slid a cigarette in his mouth, "Now that the dick swingin' is done, can we get a move on, I need to shoot somethin'."

Nyx raised an eyebrow to Ethan at the knight's zealous challenge, but made no move to escalate the situation. If needed his own 'slinging powers required none to be effective, after all, and his twin knew Nyx would be covering his back

Kalista saluted and allowed the weapon to vanish. "There are only two things I will not allow in my presence. Insulting faith of any kind or insulting my husband. YOU should do well to remember that." She nodded to the others. "I must take this opportunity to confess. I will return shortly." She moved to the priest and indicated she would follow him.

Doc grinned, again, "Mockin' faith been goin' on long before us sister, gonna continue too. You believe what you believe, and good for you. We all gotta think somethin'. Don't mean we can fly off the handle and kill folks over a joke though." he tipped his hat, in what passed for a polite gesture. "Handle yer business, we'll be here waitin'. And Ethan ain't done nothin' to get mocked for, yet. Boys will be boys after all." Doc took a long pull from his flask and waited for Kalista to return.

Ethan had been about to ask the subtle though pointed question that Nyx had asked when things between Kalista and Doc escalated to the point that the Cyber-Knight felt compelled to fight a duel over the gunslinger's words. "Doc might have been thoughtless," the words flashed through Ethan's mind, "But I don't think they were meant to be malicious." He readied himself mentally to intervene in order to prevent any bloodshed, even as he remembered his thought from just moments ago; that regardless of whether or not Doc intended insult, Kalista obviously felt insulted.

When his wife dissipated her psionic sword after getting something of an apology from Doc, Ethan let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He watched Kalista as she moved to stand near the priest and follow him to the confessional. The medic heard Doc's words about him but they scarcely registered.

"Hmm?" he said, taking his eyes off Kalista. "Oh right, the 'Hollow Hill'. I don't know about any 'echoes' but I'm fine with trying to talk to the short people. Its been my experience that most folks are friendly with doctors or at least not immediately hostile at any rate."

Ethan was reluctant to come right out and say he was from Earth's past. He had learned enough of this time to know that places like the Coalition States or Northern Gun would be very interested in whatever he could tell them about his time. Ethan didn't believe that anyone of the Lumber Jacks would deliberately betray his existence to such nations but all it would take would be a few careless words, spoken where they would make it back to the wrong ears. Then not only would one 1LT Ethan Hawthorne, Combat Medic of NEMA be on their radar but all of his associates. "Its obvious they have their suspicions about me but suspicions are a long way off from confirmation. I'm not happy keeping it a secret from them but it is better than placing them in danger, just to make myself feel better by opening up. I'm not a saint but I'm not so selfish as to risk other lives just so I can have some sort of talk it out group therapy."

Once the fiery knight had strode off to her confession, Nyx returned his attention to the words that Ethan had spoken. His countenance was hard, with a hint of irritation in his eyes, "Let us hope for the opportunity for that kind of introduction, Mister Ethan. And not another overabundance of zealous religious fervour"

Samuel parks his Behemoth at the tree line and surveys the local fauna, working out the best way to move his bulky transport through the thick flora. Suddenly, a random rift opens up directly underneath him. Sam and his robot both fall through the rift before it immediately closes. Just like that, Samuel is gone until his player returns. A quick survey reveals that all equipment and personal items which were kept in the Behemoth were unloaded already in order to make room for the villagers. Samuel vanished with only his own stuff. The remaining lumberjacks may need to navigate the rest of their journey on horseback, even if that means doubling up on some of the mounts.

Polk jaw drops when Samuel's big robot gets sucked into a rift.

"What how ?" He runs over to look things over before hurriedly rejoining the others and whimpering a bit. "Do you think he is ok ?"

Doc shrugged, "Tough to say Polk Depends on where he went."

Polk nods sadly.

"I wish I could have done something."

Nyx clenched his teeth, face full of frustration as the blue backwash of the rift washed over the Lumberjacks: here was a threat he could not fight, could not face, and that had taken one of his companions. Rage flushed through his features for a moment, unexpected in one whose moniker among 'slingers was Hoarfrost for his calm.

And then his features settled into cold impassivity once more

He let his brother speak for him, nothing more he could say

Ethan watched in amazed horror as the massive bulk of the Behemoth, with his friend still inside it, was swallowed whole by the random rift. There was no time to react for there had been no warning. Not even a chance to call out to him, let alone for him to attempt to get clear of the giant walking machine before it just disappeared.

He heard Doc's comment about where it and Samuel could possibly be and he murmured softly, "Or when". After all, he had been taken through just such a rift and had found himself transported not through space really but through time. In a way that had been more upsetting than if he had been deposited on an alien world.

The combat medic just stared at the empty space but his eyes weren't really seeing the landscape. He knew there was nothing he could do, no skill or power he possessed that could bring Samuel back or even locate him. That knowledge, that feeling of helplessness, settled on him like a heavy weight pressing down on his shoulders.

He stood like that for a couple minutes, just staring off into space before taking a deep breath. He turned away from spot where the rift had been and walked back to the town's bar. "I need a drink," he said as he walked past the rest, the remaining members of his new team.

He goes inside the bar whether or not anyone comes with him. He drinks whatever is brought to him. If no one is there to serve him, he grabs a bottle of whatever alcohol is present.

 "I dios mía." Arulas says in horror at Samuel's abrupt departure from this plane. "Beg pardon Senor and Senorita, but I need a drink as well." he follows after Ethan and pours them both some whiskey. "Never an easy thing, but a matter of the world we live in. He may yet return to us. Regardless we need to get a vehicle and load up and move on. I will go ask Senorita Anna if they have anything for purchase. If not this Hollow Hill might. Drink remember Samuel and pray for his safety." he downs his shot and leaves 20 credits on the bar. He goes to find Anna and ask her if she knows of anyone selling a vehicle.

Kalista is still confessing...it has been years so she has a lot to unburden herself from.

Kalista makes the most of her time with the priest and confesses in detail. She finds the priest be both  good listener and professional. On the other hand, he is very ignorant of the outside world. For penance, he instructs her to pray one rosary.

The village has tequila exclusively, but it has a lot of that. They provably even use tequila in place of wine during mass.

"Mmmmmm is this like cocoa ?!?"  Glug glug glug glug.

Tail twitches... Gah... spits our worm.

"Ahhhhh this is horrible, not like cocoa at all."  Wipes at mouth.

"We have no land vehicles like you describe, only boats for the river. I do have something which may help you though. We keep a herd of a dozen burros and packs. We use them for pulling logs when we fall trees and we used to plow fields with them. We duo not need them for either task right now. You may take a half dozen too keep our all if you can return then later."

Ethan quietly accepts the presence of Sir Arulas, drinking as much whiskey and tequila as is poured in front of him. He knocks back five in rapid succession, pausing only long enough to refill his glass. After the fifth one he sets the shot glass back down on the table and begins spinning it in a lazy kind of way. “You know coming here changed me,” he said flatly. It is difficult to tell at first which ‘here’ he was referring to but as he continues it becomes clear. “After I got swallowed up by that rift and dumped here, I figured all sorts of things had been changed in my body. I even studied the ones I discovered, I am a doctor after all. It gave my mind something to work, a problem it was familiar with and knew a set of processes to use to solve the riddle.”

Then he becomes quiet again. He pours another five shots, slams them home and starts spinning the shot glass again, his hands as rock steady as ever. “Like my liver for instance, its functioning is literally off the scale. I’m sure it has a limit, everything does, well everything mortal at any rate. I don’t know about all these demons and monsters.”

Ethan begins his little ritual of pouring five more shots again but the bottle is empty by the forth. He sighs and starts talking again. “My liver, along with a with other system supporting the process, are functioning at a level that makes it impossible for me to get drunk or even tipsy.” He looked up into Sir Arulas’s eyes, “I’ve never been much of a drinker to tell the truth. Sure a soldier is supposed to be able to drink but I was never more than a social drinker. It was actually useful because it meant on those fortunately rare occasions when I did want to drink until I hit blackout drive, it didn’t take much to get me there. Now though…when I would really, really like to get drunk, I can’t.”

Doc shook his head, "Damn shame a fella can't get drunk. You have my sympathies there Ethan." he grinned tipping his shot glass back, "Course I can get drunk enough for us both."

"Wait, you like this worm juice ? Yuck you can have mine. I will take cocoa..." His words just trailed off as his thoughts turned to Sam and he pouted.

Dog laughed and patted Polk on the shoulder, "You'll understand when you're older Polky, just wait."

"Maybe this is so. I miss Sam, I know he hasn't been gone long but he was a good friend. He made me my saddle bags and a radio that works for me."

Polk looked to Ethan, "Isn't being drunk problematic for humans ? Why would you want to be drunk ?"

Doc just laughed more, "Fighting vampires is problematic, but we just did that, right?" Doc lit his cigarette, took a long drag off of it, "Being drunk can be good or bad. Depends on why you're drinking, and who you're with buddy."

Ethan didn't look at Polk, keeping his eyes instead on the shot glass that he was idly spinning on the table. "Sometimes a person just needs time to process emotionally overpowering events. Alcohol can help buy a person some time to deal with a painful event. Its actually therapeutic so long as it doesn't become a dependency."

Then he stopped spinning the shot glass, picked it up and set it down on its bottom. He put his hands on the table, palms down and pushed himself away from it. "Sitting here not getting drunk and waxing maudlin isn't going to improve my mood or bring Sam back," he said to no one. "I'm going to go for a run, then hit the showers before bed. Thanks for listening to me complain."

After Ethan had gone Polk leaned closer to Doc,"I may never understand humans but I know the world is dangerous. I am going to watch over him while he gets his run in."

Polk waits till Ethan leaves and the follows him in the perfect guise of a flamingo.

Ethan doesn't look back as he sets off at a jog. He didn't bother to stretch or warmup, he just started jogging. He jogs until he reaches the wall surrounding the town and then turns to follow it, picking up his pace. It is a fast pace for a human, topping out just over 20 MPH. He runs like that, doing endless circles of the wall, for an hour. If he noticed a flamingo was following him, he didn't acknowledge it. The combat medic just ran, his arms and legs moving in a efficient, piston like way.

Sweat broke out on his brow and his pace of breathing increased but both plateaued at a point far below what they should have been. He listened to the rhythmic thumps of his booted feet as they struck the hard packed dirt and tried to think of nothing else. He was successful enough that after an hour, he headed back for the inn. He approached it at the same fast run right up until just a few meters before the door. Then he slowed to a walk and let his breathing return to normal, which it did with an inhuman quickness.

He noticed the flamingo nearby and reached out to its head. He patted it gently and said, "thanks Polk," before walking into the inn.

"Uhmn I just wanted to make sure none of us were alone. How did you know it was me ?"

Despite his still sour mood, Ethan chuckles as the flamingo starts talking. A dozen responses flash through his mind. He pauses for only the briefest of moments before saying, "All the real flamingos have flown north for the summer." His voice is absolutely sincere, something he normally couldn't have pulled off but his sadness at Sam's disappearance helped in that regard.

"Oh well I guess. I must confess I don't know much about them."

Polk fluffed up his feathers.

"Your a good man Ethan I am glad your with us."

Returning to the others she began to pack her mount for egress. Whoever is nearby (other than Doc) she will ask "Where did you all decide to head to next?"

 "I think the Hollow Hill will be next. For a couple of reasons the more obvious one being that we need better transport than burro pack train for all the gear." he says with something close to exhausted resignation. "Samuel is not coming back anytime soon I think and well the loss of the bot and pilot hit us rather hard."

"It's been a strange kind of day, Lady Kalista", drawled the elf from where he sprawled against his robotic Arabian. He shuffled a deck of cards relentlessly, occasionally letting his telekinetic or ectoplasmic 'hands' take over the work as he honed his burgeoning skills

"But Sir Arulas is correct. When the drinking and fighting is done, the Hollow Hill sounded like our best bet"

Kalista nodded. "I agree it is the best course of action. I will be meditating, if Ethan comes back or I am needed. Thank you both."

It is at that point that Ethan walks back into the inn. His brown undershirt his damp with sweat as is his exposed skin but his breathing is completely normal. "It's a nice night," he casually remarks and moves to stand close to his wife. "So its off to the Hollow Hill we go," he says, clearly making a statement and not a question. The combat medic had sensed the mood of the group and no objections had come to him while he had been running.

"I think I am going to call it a night guys," he says. "I'm going to take a shower and get some sleep." He looks at Kalista, "I'd say have fun meditating but I don't think you're supposed to have fun doing that so um...successful meditating?" he says.

She smiled and stood. "I was waiting for your return, beloved. Perhaps you have room for another in your shower."

Despite his somber mood following his friend being swallowed by a rift, Ethan felt his lips curving into something resembling a smile. "It might be a tight fit," he said to her, "so as long as you don't mind that..." He held out his hand to her.