Xaviers!

Ashlie looks confused for a moment but then settles on a tentative "Yes." Without access to her full database she's lacking some finer pop-culture points.

Noticing her expression, he made a mental note to try to avoid pop-culture references. Medieval people would be even more confused.

They were Legion of Doomed.

"Well, let's see how this goes." she says and heads down the hill towards the settlement.

As they would get closer, they would see that the bonfire was ~quite~ large, and a bunch of burly, armed men were the ones drinking and...celebrating? Arguing? Both?

It was kind of hard to tell, as both probably involved a lot of shouting and grunting.

"Oh my..." Ashlie says before stepping closer, into the edge of illumination from the bonfire. She politely clears her throat in an attempt to gain some attention. This isn't falling into any of her social parameters. She's literally not made for this.

"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Tosh said nervously behind her, examining the surroundings closer.

Silence fell, as a bunch of the warriors turned to look at the newcomers.

"And what does a woman and a lad think they're doing out here at night?" one of the larger, painted-up men said, approaching them.

Ashlie quickly considers their options. They would need shelter and food and they were unlikely to just be given these things. They had skills to offer in exchange but the closest equivalent here would be smithing and the kind of work they probably wouldn't believe her to be capable of. She suspects that trying to disabuse them of that notion likely wouldn't go over very well.

"We're refugees. The lad is a gifted smith and artisan and I'm his patron. We mean no harm."

Tosh stepped up beside Ashlie and tried to look confident despite suspecting the men weren't villagers.

After a Japanese-style bow he said, "Masamune Shirow, at your service."

...nerd.

"Masa...what? And where be ye from?" the man said, eyeing the strangers dubiously.

"We're from a land far in the east." she says, deciding to just commit to Tosh's choice of going with an even more Japanese name. "We were stranded in your land."

"A land to the East? Romans?" he asked, confused, with murmurs among the rest of the warriors.

"Beyond even that. We're from the land of the Rising Sun."

"Never heard of it. You're a long way from home."

"Very much so. We're hoping to return eventually, but it's not a journey to make lightly and without preparation. We were hoping to find a settlement to call our own for a while."

"And how did you GET here, from oh so far away?" he said, taking her measure.

Ashlie's movements are still a bit robotic, although she's trying hard to hide it. Mostly by not moving too much.

"Trade caravans, mostly. Until the ship we were on sank in a storm and we washed up on an unfamiliar shore."

"The storm was most terrible," Tosh provided, then tried looking embarrassed, "... it also caught me in my bedclothes, as you can see."

"Well, we can offer you a little meat and a little warmth, but it is not safe out here at night."

"Not safe? What kind of threat would be out here? Are you at war?"

"There be dragons in these hills, lady."

Ashlie glances at Tosh, then back at the man. Had someone spotted Tosh when he'd righted the jeep? Or the jeep itself? It seemed unlikely that word had somehow spread ahead of them.

"Dragons? Are you certain?"

"Yes. We lost three men last night, and four the night before."

Tosh fought back modern skepticism as he asked what was probably a dumb question, "Is it responsible for this fire?"

"Lad, you've never seen a bonfire before?" the leader asked, as everyone else erupted into laughter.

He blushed a little. "Yes... r-right."

"The boy gets excited about tales like that. If you provide us with food and shelter we might be able to help you."

More laughter.

"Help? Help us HOW?" the man said, between laughs.

"Weapons and armor. Things that might withstand a dragon's bite or pierce it's hide. It was the truth when I said Masamune is a skilled artisan and craftsman."

Our own creature if things really go south.

"I am very very clever," he nodded.

"We have some of the best men in Ireland here. What makes you think a boy could match their skill?" the ma laughed again.

"I've seen his work. Give him a chance and you won't be disappointed."

Meanwhile the earpiece in Tosh's ear quietly crackles to life. "I'm fairly certain I can implement better refining and smithing techniques even with their antiquated technology and instruct you."

"Just allow me a place to work and by morning I'll show you I'm no mere boy," he said confidently, secretly praying to actually pull that off.

"You'll have to WAIT until morning, boy. It's getting dark, unless you're planning to work blind."

Shit! No lightbulbs! Damn modern conveniences.

"It appears I am too tired and hungry to think straight anyway," he chuckled uncomfortably. It was one-hundred percent true.

"Sit down. Have some meat, have some drink. If you've travelled as far you say, you'll need to regain your strength."

"You have my thanks kind sir," he said, acting on the invitation to join in the ingestion of mutton.

"That's very generous of you, thanks." she says her voice not betraying increasing concerns about how to est explain the fact that she can't eat. But she figures there's a decent chance these people would take offense to such an offer being turned down.

"As I was saying," the man said, turning to the others at the fire. "We'll set out tomorrow again. I don't know where these beasties have come from, but they will not outwit the Fianna."

"The Fianna?" Ashlie asks, sitting down some distance away from the fire. She glances around the camp to see if the group has any animals with them just in case. Dogs and horses tend to be weird around her.