For several long moments after Lydia and the group disappeared down the dirt road, silence slowly settled across the surroundings, while cold evening winds continued blowing through the nearby trees.
Then eventually, Riven groggily opened his eyes again.
The side of his face throbbed painfully while his ears still rang faintly from the punch he had taken earlier, as for a few brief seconds, his mind remained too disoriented to properly remember what had even happened.
However, the moment his gaze landed upon the two battered girls lying nearby, everything immediately came rushing back.
And with it came a hot, powerless rage, as he clenched his fists and slowly stood back up.
’Those disgusting animals....’
Riven thought while slowly dusting himself off, as for one brief moment, he genuinely wanted to chase after Lydia and the others.
He wanted to grab a rock.
A stick.
Anything.
And smash their heads open until they stopped moving.
However, the moment he tried moving even slightly, his legs nearly gave out beneath him from the pain still lingering throughout his body.
As immediately, reality returned.
He was weak.
Pathetically weak.
Weak enough to get dropped onto the ground by a single punch, and hence, even if he did chase after them, there was not much he could accomplish as he was.
Meanwhile, only a few feet away, Mary still remained barely conscious while her younger sister lay completely motionless beside her.
The sight made Riven’s chest tighten uncomfortably.
Because now that the fighting was over and he could finally look properly, the sheer brutality of what had been done to them became clear to him.
Mary’s lower lip had split open badly enough for fresh blood to cover the lower half of her face.
One side of her cheek had already swollen heavily while dark bruises spread across her arms, shoulders, and neck in ugly patches beneath her torn clothing.
Meanwhile, Stacy looked even worse.
Her right eye had swollen almost completely shut while blood matted sections of her hair together near the side of her scalp where somebody had likely struck her with a rock earlier.
’Poor girl....’
Riven thought, as he felt a heavy sense of pity slowly spread through his chest, while he carefully approached them step by step.
’I should help them if I can...’
Riven thought, however, the moment Mary noticed that a stranger was slowly approaching them, fear immediately entered her eyes, as her face contorted, while she instinctively shifted closer to her sister.
As although she said nothing, strangely enough, Riven recognized the expression on her face instantly.
Because it was the exact same look countless girls inside Hagrid’s brothel often carried whenever drunken men approached them late at night.
’She thinks I’m a threat.’
Riven understood, as he quickly raised both hands above his head to show he meant no harm.
"I’m not going to hurt you."
He said at once while stopping several steps away from her.
"I just wanted to ask... how can I help?"
Riven continued awkwardly while trying his best to sound calm despite the anger still boiling inside him.
"If you want, I can carry you both back home."
For several seconds, Mary simply stared toward him silently while breathing unevenly through swollen lips.
Then eventually, after slowly closing her eyes briefly, she finally gathered enough strength to respond.
"No...."
She muttered weakly.
"Help move us beside that tree nearby instead.
And... help build us a fire."
Mary requested while glancing weakly toward the forest surrounding them.
"I don’t know what lies Lady Lydia plans to tell her father after this....
So I don’t want to risk going back home tonight."
Mary explained, as Riven could not help but instinctively wince at those words.
Because suddenly, he remembered his own situation too.
Hagrid would absolutely not react kindly once he returned late looking bruised and battered like this.
At best, the cripple would scream at him for hours.
At worst—
Riven quietly pushed that thought away.
Still, despite knowing punishment waited for him back at the brothel regardless, he ultimately chose to help the girls anyway.
Partly because he pitied them.
And partly because after watching what happened earlier, abandoning them alone out here simply felt wrong.
As without wasting further time, Riven carefully lifted Stacy first before carrying her several meters away from the dirt road toward a large tree nearby.
Even while unconscious, the younger girl occasionally winced weakly from pain whenever her body shifted too much in his arms, and hence, Riven tried to move her as gently as he could.
*Thud*
*Place*
Once he carefully rested her against the thick trunk, Riven immediately returned for Mary next.
This time however, when he tried lifting her fully into his arms, she quietly shook her head.
"I can still walk a little."
Mary muttered weakly.
So instead, she slowly hobbled beside him while leaning heavily against his shoulder for support.
And strangely enough, despite both of them having trained brutally the entire day and despite the blood staining her torn clothes, the first thing Riven noticed while helping her walk was that she still smelled oddly pleasant.
Sweet.
Metallic.
Warm.
At least compared to the foul smell of sweat, alcohol, and vomit that he constantly associated with Hagrid and the brothel, as the realization itself immediately made Riven feel awkward for even noticing.
’This is not the time for thinking about this stuff.’
Riven told himself before quickly pushing the thought aside, as he carefully helped Mary sit beside her sister beneath the tree as well.
"Stay here, I’ll find firewood."
Riven assured, as after that, he quietly began gathering dry branches, dead twigs, and loose bark from the nearby surroundings before eventually managing to build a small fire.
For several minutes afterward, Riven remained crouched beside it silently while carefully feeding the flames until they finally grew large enough to survive against the cold wind properly.
As only then did he finally stand again.
"Are you sure you’ll both be okay here?"
Riven asked hesitantly while glancing nervously toward the darkening forest surrounding them.
"There are wild animals nearby....
And the night isn’t going to be merciful."
He reminded, as Mary slowly shook her head.
"We’ll survive."
"But thank you....For helping us."
She said, as Riven awkwardly nodded before slowly turning to leave.
However, just as he began walking away—
"Wait...."
Mary called out weakly from behind him.
"At least tell me your name before you go."
Riven paused briefly before turning back toward her once more.
"I’m Riven."
He replied quietly, as Mary gave him a faint nod.
"Mary."
She said while weakly gesturing toward herself, before slowly moving the finger to the unconscious girl sleeping beside her.
"And that idiot is Stacy."
Despite her battered condition, a faint smile still appeared briefly across her swollen face while saying those words.
"Pleasure meeting you, Riven."
She concluded, as Riven quietly nodded once more before finally turning around and hurrying back toward the village beneath the fading evening light, as although the cold wind blowing across the dirt road made his bruised body ache painfully with every step, none of that compared to the silent satisfaction of making his first friend, and the uncertain fear of Hagrid’s looming beating.