Quintus gazed at the girl that sat down next to him. She was young, far too young to be out on the battle field. He wondered why she was with the group. The only reason he could think of was that she was an exceptionally powerful mage prodigy. Despite whatever skills she may have, her age showed when she declared that introductions were in order. Quintus looked away from her, bringing his gaze to sweep over the others before landing it upon the fire. Getting to know the people in the group was simply asking for trouble. Many of them were sure to die over the next months and asking to become friends was an invitation for heartbreak.
The old elf kept his gaze on the fire as people obliged in answering the girl’s question. He continued to fiddle with the string of the pack, his thoughts wandering off. Quintus absently listened to the names of people. He had already written down the names of the group on a sheet with basic information he had gained from the Wardens before leaving. Knowing names and simple traits were important in battle for numerous reasons; needing to warn another in battle of an impending attack, letting the group know who was missing, etc. Beyond such things though, there was no need to actually know any personal information on the members of the group.
He did glance at Hilda, vaguely recognizing her from the night of the Joining. When he had seen her, his vision had been blurry, but the curves and accent were clearly recognizable even so. Quintus leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees. He stared at the ground between his legs blankly before lifting himself up to a standing position.
The man surveyed the group with a disengaged glance, “My name is Quintus. There are pastries in the pack, please eat them as there are too many for me,” He gestured towards the pack that was leaning against the seat next to Ashya. “Excuse me, I need to take a walk.” Quintus nodded before walking away from the fire and away from the camp. He wasn’t going far, he just had to remove himself from the ‘bonding’. As he walked, he pulled out a flask from his belt.