Noting signs that indicated that they were drawing near to the village, Ward almost let out a sigh of relief. He barely managed to hold it back at the last moment so he didn't irritate Miss Willows. Although she was walking quietly next to him at the moment with a thoughtful expression on her face, her emotions had flared wildly all over the place earlier. Not that he blamed her, being stranded in the middle of nowhere with no idea where you were would be a trial for anyone. Even he would be rather put out at such a turn of events, although his time as a guardian had somewhat inured him against the unexpected.

He glanced at her again from the corner of his eye. He had offered her carte blanche on her questions, but she had asked surprisingly few before falling silent. Her questions about jobs and skills had been good and thoughtful. However, he was a little concerned that she hadn't asked any questions about the inhabitants or the planet itself where she'd found herself. It would be different if she was so overwhelmed that she couldn't think straight. But she carried herself with an unconscious dignity and poise that undoubtedly made some people find her intimidating. Still, after she had seen the menu, her aggression had settled, so hopefully she wouldn't start altercations with the people of Audrilandre. The star travelers who were overly aggressive never settled well, often disappearing into the Outerlands, rarely seen again.

He picked up his pace slightly and saw that she had no problem matching his increased pace, good. He just wanted to make it home, talk with his mother and sister for a little while to catch up, before trying to untangle this giant knot that had been dumped into his lap. Heavens knew that he had enough problems as it was without an unscheduled traveler to throw into the mix. As his thoughts drifted towards home, he realized that it was mid-week, which meant that they would be making stew out of whatever Sunday's roast had been. His stomach rumbled quietly at the thought and he was about to apologize when there was an echo of the sound from her.

She flushed and wouldn't meet his eyes even as she offered a quiet apology. He mentally kicked himself, he had offered her water earlier but hadn't even thought to offer her food. Well, she had already thought that he had drugged her, so she probably wouldn't have taken food even if he had offered it, but he still should've at least offered it. He asked quietly, not wanting to offend her, "When was the last time you ate?"

She frowned at that and he braced himself for her outrage. However, she simply shrugged, "I'm not sure? I think I ate dinner, maybe, so probably around seven yesterday. If the time is even the same here or not."

Having had Earth travelers before, he actually knew the answer to this one. "It's close. Audrilandre has a 26-hour day versus the 24-hour day that Earth uses. However, the time measurement is the same, seconds, minutes, hours, all that. There are different terms in the native language, Audri, but you'll most likely pick them up quickly."

She perked up at that. "The planet has a universal language?"

Pleased that they were finally having a rational conversation and that she was showing interest in at least the culture of Audrilandre if not the people, he nodded easily. "Yes, Audri is the official language and it's universal, with only slight regional variances. There is also a trader pidgin that varies, sometimes heavily, from region to region. Star travelers are a diverse lot, but some areas call to certain cultures more heavily than others and the traveler communities can sometimes reflect that. There are thousands of star traveler languages scattered across Audrilandre, but they tend to stay localized between very small groups of people. However, the translators know every language on Audrilandre and then some, so you should never run into the issue of not being able to communicate with someone at need."

She merely nodded, returning to her earlier quiet. Still, it was a promising sign at least. Not only that but her questions had proven to be very intelligent, what few of them there had been. However, she had only been here on the planet for a few hours at most, so an adjustment period was to be expected. Speaking of which... He flicked open his guide and found a single message from a fellow guardian, one that patrolled to the west of Ward's sector. It was brief to the point of curtness, surprising from the usually chatty man. All it said was: Similar situation here, more info later.

Curiouser and curiouser. He closed the screen, wondering if there had been random drops all over Audrilandre and if that were the case, why wasn't the system notifying the guardians about it? The village came into view at that moment and he felt the tension in his shoulders ease. Even if she wasn't officially a guardian, his mother had always been clever. She could help him sort out this situation and even if she couldn't, she could at least help him figure out a place to settle Miss Willows temporarily.

He had paused unconsciously to allow Miss Willows the chance to observe the village and to ask any questions that she might have. Her keen gaze soaked in the view, undoubtedly dissecting every last little detail with her analyzing skills, but she didn't speak. Her silence was starting to grate on him a little, having undoubtedly become accustomed to the barrage of questions that he was always bombarded with whenever there was a new drop. Not only that, her serene expression made it impossible to decipher what she might be thinking. It made him uneasy not being able to decipher her emotions or thoughts, to assess whether or not she might be a threat to his family. While star travelers were world changers, they weren't all pacifists. Change could be a bloody and violent thing and he didn't want to endanger his family because of his guardian duties.

Their interaction in the clearing had made it clear that the purple-eyed woman was a fighter, her grasp on the tree branch and fire in her eyes indicating that if she was going down, she'd do her absolute best to take him with her. However, she managed to calm down and respond appropriately when things were explained to her. That and her soft-spoken questions argued a keenly intelligent mind that had just been doing what she had thought necessary to survive.

Her voice broke into his internal dilemma, "Didn't you say that you're visiting your family? I don't want to keep them waiting because of me."

Ward resisted the urge to run his hand through his hair in frustration, abruptly coming to a decision. He would go ahead with his original plan and if she presented a threat, he would remove her immediately. Even if his family had come from the slums and had been used to dealing with much worse before they came to Audrilandre, he didn't want to make them remember their pasts and bring up trauma that was best left forgotten.

Instead, he offered Miss Willows a small smile and started walking again. "It's a surprise visit, they don't know that I'm coming so a small delay is nothing to worry about."

She reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a hint of hesitation there and gone on her face so quickly that he would've missed it if he hadn't been watching her so closely. "Are you sure it's all right for me to accompany you? I don't wish to impose. I can go to a hotel instead. You said that there is a traveler's stipend for me, so it shouldn't be a problem."

His worries eased a fraction at that. "There isn't an inn here in Currena, the nearest one is a full day's walk away. Besides, Mother loves to feed people, so you won't be an imposition at all."

She still seemed unsure but gave him a slight nod, following him as he easily navigated through the streets. It was just a brisk two-minute walk from the gate to his family's residence and before he knew it, they were standing in front of the cheerful red door, the flower boxes on either side filled with an abundance of colorful blooms. Whereas normally he would walk right in, he had a guest, so he dutifully knocked on the door instead. Hopefully, his mother would answer the door instead of Lynne, allowing them to skip over any awkwardness entirely.