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