Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[EinRaikou]

Ein sighed as he laid the girl back onto the ground, resting her head on a patch of moss. "Alright," he grinned, and yet glared, at Ari. " I'll go get her stuff. You watch over her, or take her back to camp. Whichever you think is best."


'The walk upstream will be good for the healing process of me leg anyway.'


Before turning away and heading upstream Ein looked at Ari. " By the way, Skrye wants to go and find some girl him and Des ran into last night. They want to know who is going to go with them, and who is going to stay behind here at camp."


And with that Ein turned and began to walk away.

 

[Cookie]

Ari sighed at the unconscious girl. "You're beginning to be more trouble than you're worth." Since the jolting slap hadn't been enough to keep her awake, Ari had to settle for more...magical measures.


Healing magic would be the obvious choice, but Ari didn't trust herself to heal this kind of injury at the moment. Besides, thunder magic came more naturally to her.


"This might sting a little more than that last one." Ari said to the girl. She gave the unconscious woman a weak jolt of electricity near her heart. Not enough to kill her or even stun her, but just enough to kick-start her heart with a lasting boost.

 

[IceQueen]

"OOOOWWWWWWW" were the only words to escape Lapis' mouth as a jolt of electricity went though her heart. She sat up looking around her surroundings only to find herself in the same place. She sighed in relief to find that the man had gone to retrieve her stuff. "Sorry." Lapis added sheepishly looking up at the girl who just shocked her.

 

[Cookie]

"Alright, get up. We need to get you to camp." Ari outstretched her hand to the girl again. "I'm not strong enough to carry you, but I can support you if you need it." Being one to offer help was more likely for Ari than being one to accept it, but it was still uncharacteristic of her. Yet these were dire times, she reminded herself. There were going to be things to compromise, and Ari's solitude would be one of them (much to her displeasure).

 

[IceQueen]

Lapis took her hand, not used to being on the receiving side of generosity. She stood, realizing her legs were still weak from passing out a couple of times. She fell against the girls side, unable to move. She was freezing, and the fact that she only had a light undershirt on did not help. She tried to stand, but in her state it was impossible.

 

[EinRaikou]

Ein walked alongside the river for a little over 10 minutes. Just ahead of him, within distance upstream, he saw the most beautiful stag he had ever seen. In the river alongside him, fish were jumping and ducks were swimming. He could hear birds singing in the forest and even the chirps of grasshoppers.


'It's hard to imagine all this survived the fall. I guess the Shadows were only after us humans.' Ein, without his gauntlets would be in trouble if he was attacked, but he had little worry. The rest he had gotten last night had brought most of his magic back to good levels. He focused his magic into the palm of his hand, and with a quick force into the ground a coldsnap sprung forward and sealed the feet of the stag in place. "I'm sorry my friend," he said to the majestic beast, while patting down it's back. " I just wanted to test my magic. " With the next focus, the moisture dried from the ice, the stag broke free, and ran off.


Ein continued for another few minutes until he came to what looked like a shabby campsite. He saw the girls equipment, and rations. 'She must have been trying to fish and fell in,' he thought as he examined the little food she had left. He packed her camp, and began his trek back to the others.


(Peace out folks! I'll return back to camp in the AM before I go to work..)

 

[Cookie]

"Oh. My. Dear. GOD." Ari said, struggling to keep the girl and herself from falling. She was nearing the end of her patience with this girl. "Ein! Where are you?" Ari called out, hoping that he would hurry if he was in the vicinity, though she rather doubted it. Shifting the girl to a more comfortable position, Ari began to drag her body as she would a corpse back to the camp.


This girl had better be a useful fighter when she heals up! I don't want to regret having put so much effort into saving her. Ari grumbled selfishly in her mind. At least the encampment wasn't far off. She was beginning to see the trails of footprints (and now drag marks) leading to and from the river.


This was not how she wanted to spend her first day of recovery; it certainly did nothing to help speed the natural healing process. Neither did not eating since...when? She couldn't even remember her last meal. But what was that smell? Had they started cooking? Reinvigorated by the thought of food, Ari pulled on with new-found strength.


Finally reaching the camp, Ari wordlessly set the stranger down (albeit not too gently) near the fire where she could warm up. Ari took up a stick of meat and trudged back to the tree under which she'd fallen asleep the previous night. Thoroughly exhausted by the whole ordeal, she reclined against the tree. The pain of all her injuries and her own muscle and magical fatigue returned to her as she chewed on the meat, not tasting a thing.

 

[Effervescent]

Rederik's red eyes slowly looked up from the cooked rabbits to Desiree as she addressed him, though her attention was quickly torn away from him. He had no opportunity to respond to anyone or contribute to any conversation without butting in rudely, and thus he remained content in listening and watching the orange flames flicker upward from the wood. While he looked rather odd, he was often overlooked by his peers. He always felt it was for the best that no one gazed upon him for too long. His fingers toyed with the tattered fabric of his hood, and he slowly threw it over his white-blond hair.


Before he found the opportunity to offer the rabbits to everyone present, Skyre began carving into the meat, preparing it on a plate to serve out to the rest. It relieved him to be released from the announcement. There were so many people at the camp. He hadn't seen a group this size since well before the fall, and it began to unnerve him.


Naraya finished off her meal by licking and gnawing on the bones she'd picked nearly clean. Her ears perked up at the distant sound of Ari's call, and Rederik looked over his shoulder following the sound. He rose as he watched the short woman drag in a rather weak looking stranger and placed her next to him at the fire. His gaze followed Ari, expecting explanation though receiving none as she plucked a half-carved rabbit from the fire and retreated to a far tree. Ari did not look well to him, but she gave off an aura that portrayed a desire to be left alone.


Rederik instead looked down at the brunette beside him and crouched back down at the fire. He poked the embers with the end of a stick to stoke the flames, glancing at the woman occasionally. "Would you like some rabbit?" he asked quietly. "There's plenty to go around."

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan finished the treatment of the two knowing they would be find on the journey to retrieve the other. Rederik had put his hood up as he was tending to the fire, he kept quite as the others mingled and discussed their decision. Wanting to speak Ethan was interrupted when Ari came in dragging a girl behind her. The look on her face didn't look pleasing but frustrated. Her rush to the food and back to her corner of the camp showed she didn't wish to be disturbed. Still looking over the young woman she dropped near the fire it was apparent that both where exhausted. Checking on the young woman who seemed disoriented he ensured her breathing was steady, removing his blanket to cover the maiden Ethan began to wrap the cuts she had received. Rederick was looking her over and with a smile Ethan looked to him "She looks to be in good shape there are no major injuries, keep her near the fire and when she's able some food would do her some good." as he placed the bowl of ointment near him "Thank you for bringing me here, its been awhile since I been able to enjoy the company of others.". Looking over the group was a mixture of different talents but in Ethan's eyes it seemed they where all at the very least earnest in their survival. The orb hovered over to Ari as Ethan prepared his satchel, walking to her to see if she was uninjured not knowing what to expect from this group of misfits.

 

[IceQueen]

Lapis sat there, her breathing hindered from trying to walk. She took labored breaths, trying to relay oxygen to her blood cells. She tried to speak, but her thought betrayed her, making a raspy sound instead. She tried to turn her head, and succeeded, with great pain. She spit out the remaining water from her mouth and tried to rest.

 

[SkyGinge]

FREE POSTING is now Active


A little later that morning...


The sun was steadily rising behind the canopy of the valley foliage, shining bright in the clear, blue sky. It was a glorious spring day - a decent, warm temperature, sunny and with the occasional gentle breeze to cool down any travellors in the forests. The bright lights cast dramatic mountain shadows across the valleys, and the scene was truly dramatic and beautiful; Skyre was glad that the Shadow King hadn't harmed the island itself even if he had destroyed its people.


In the troughs of one of the valleys, Skyre lead Desiree through a forest path. They had initially headed upstream in the direction that Clara had left the previous day, but scanning the mountains, Skyre had used his directional skills to hopefully lead them west. For some reason, Skyre had always had a good sense of space and bearings; perhaps it was because of his avid studying of the map of Valia his family owned. He had used to dream of exploring the entire kingdom one day, especially the mysterious north, where his map, like all other Valian maps, simply faded off. He had loved the idea so much that he had practically memorised the kingdom map enough to know how to pick out some of the key southern mountains that surrounded them now, mountains that is true Valian style remained unnamed. The cruel irony of it all was that now Skyre had to live up to his dream in much more tragic circumstances.


Skyre had wished that Desiree hadn't decided to come along with him; hadn't she done enough damage that morning? On the other hand, he couldn't deny her reasoning, nor the fact that he enjoyed her company. As always, he lead alone up front, feeling the breeze ruffle through his cape. He had calmed down a little now, and knew that conversation would help detract his mind from the journey further - he wished she would come and provide banter for him now.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree followed Skyre who had set a blistering pace along the forest path. He barely gave her time to get dressed before setting out toward the archer girl's location. Her pants and underclothes were still quite damp, but she was thankful at least for the new cotton shirt even if it were several sizes too large. Her cloak, as always, was on and she had pulled up the cowl to cover her slowly drying hair.


They followed the river for a bit and then turned west toward the direction the girl's camp. Even as the air began to warm with the rising sun, Desiree felt a slight chill of foreboding as they turned away from the river. She shook it off as being overly-dramatic and chided herself for even considering it to be jealousy.


Jealous? She admonished herself as she silently chuckled. Of what? That girl? She looked at Skrye's back where he walked before her. And him? He's just a kid. Oh, sure he commands air better than I, but that's about all there is to be jealous of. She trailed her thought off as she tried to convince herself that she was right.


She changed her train of thought. What's his big hurry, anyway? she wondered as she deftly swatted aside a branch with her quarterstaff that Skyre had let snap back as he passed. Even if the girl and her friend had already left, they can't have gone far. We could track them easily.


After a fashion, his stride had dwindled to a less fanatic speed. Desiree sighed as she slowed her steps to match the new pace. She looked down and pulled the front of the voluminous cotton shirt away from her body and tried to inspect the wounds to see if any had ruptured. "Hey, fly-boy," she called to him from behind. "If any of my cuts tear loose from all of this exertion you're causing, I'll tell Ethan it was your fault," she said in an obviously sarcastic voice. "I don't think he has any more shirts if I end up bleeding all over this one."

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre smiled and slowed his pace to walk alongside her. A flock of birds flew overhead, chirping happily in the morning sunlight. "I'm terribly sorry," he feigned apologetically, "but the morning doesn't wait for anyone. I'd hate for us to miss out on meeting another survivor, especially as there's a decent bunch of us now." A pause, then a return to light-heartedness. "Besides, don't you think a splatter of red would suit that shirt?"


Skyre wondered what the others back at the camp were doing; in the end, only the two of them had headed off after Clara. He also wished he was better at coming up with small-talk; he could sustain a conversation fine, but never knew how to initiate one. The wildest part of his heart noted that for the moment it was just the two of them once more, and hoped to capitalise on that a little, although he was still very confused.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree regarded Skyre from beneath her hood. Blue eyes twinkled in the morning light and he could see just a hint of a grin from where her face was mostly concealed. "The next time I need a splatter of red on my shirt, you are more than welcome to donate," she replied.


His mood certainly seemed lighter than earlier, but something was still amiss. Clearly, Skyre wasn't the same lad than before her teasing at the river and even though he had accepted her apology, she wasn't convinced that he had completely forgiven her for it.


She sensed his unease with the conversation, so she decided to change the topic. "What do you think we'll find there when we catch up to her? Another arrow aimed at us? Not like that's much of a threat to either of us; we should be able to easily re-direct the flight of a single arrow." Desiree contemplated for a few steps before she continued, "It's her companion that worries me. Right now, he is an unknown."


She turned her head more fully toward Skyre, and asked, "What's your plan when we get there?"

 

[SkyGinge]

"Oh, I think she'd have softened a little to us after my words yesterday evening," Skyre smiled gently, "and provided we don't jump out at her I don't think we should end up with an arrow pointed at our heads again." She had picked out an interesting point though - they knew absolutely nothing about her companion at all. "Either way, I'm not worried about the encounter. I'd imagine this companion is at least partially immobile given how far she travelled just to hunt yesterday evening, and even though she was aggressive, it was out of youthful stubbornness I think, rather than malicious intent."


"Then when we arrive we'll just explain about our camp and group, and hope that they decide to join us. I haven't thought too much into it." He raised his hand and felt the refreshing breeze against his fingers. "What about you, did you have any plans?"

 

[Kharmin]

She listened to Skyre's opinions of the girl and had to admit that they were probably accurate – or at least accurate enough. His thoughts on the matter seemed reasonable, but during these times things weren't always so.


She stepped over a rather large root from a rather large oak tree, many of which guarded their passage along the track like silent, brooding sentinels. Squirrels darted amongst their branches and several birds chirped their mating songs. The normalcy eased Desiree's mind a few degrees for had things been unnaturally quiet – like they had been several days ago when the wolves had finally tracked her down – then she would have been on a much higher alert.


Skyre, too, seemed more at ease with their current situation which helped her try and re-forge the tenuous friendship they had started less than twelve hours earlier.


"I see," she replied as she snapped out of her mind's wandering. She then realized that he had asked her a question, but she hadn't heard it. Slightly embarrassed at her lack of focus, a problem her instructors at the university constantly railed against, she turned her head away to hide within the confines of her hood.


Desiree hoped that things went well with this new survivor and her companion. She hoped, too, that they were well supplied. She tried with little success to quell the noises from her stomach as it continued to complain over the less than meager fare from the last several days since she lost her haversack.


As she walked in silence next to Skyre, she remembered when the wolves had found her four (or was it five? she wondered as things had become such a blur) days ago. She had been caught un-aware as she traveled openly along one of the main roads that crossed the island – something she knew was risky, but gave her the best chance to extend the distance from the university, civilization and the destruction that had been wrought there.


She had seen them from a distance of about a quarter mile, and they howled in victory at having seen her. She darted off of the road and ran with no idea of where she was going. Her only thought was to evade the wolves and hope to find a place to hide.


They pursued Desiree with wild abandon. As they closed, in a desperate act, she dropped her haversack and hoped that it would occupy them for a much needed minute or two. The loss of weight helped her flight, but the wolves continued to close the distance. Within moments, it was clear that they had ignored the haversack.


Desriee's reckless flight through the wood channeled her into a steep ravine that, without warning, came to a dead end at a steep cliff. She knew that she would never climb the cliff in time, and even if she tried, the wolves merely had to circle around and wait for her at the top.


She had only one, viable option remaining. She dropped her quarterstaff, the only weapon she carried (not that she was all that good with it anyway, especially against such superior opponents), climbed the nearest tree and poured all of her focus and concentration on the air around her.


Desiree bent the air to her will and it refracted the light that passed through it in such a manner that rendered her unseen. It was a talent she had discovered all on her own, and was forbidden at the university. Rules there never stopped her, which was one of the many reasons she was forced to leave before her fourth term.


Having never fully mastered the air magic, her ability to bend air and light for invisibility was extremely limited and took every ounce of her focus, concentration and energy.


She sensed first, then heard, the pack of wolves as they snuffed around the base of the tree in which she was hidden. Several of them barked at each other; they knew she was there but they simply couldn't see her.


Desiree prayed that her energy would hold out long enough for the wolves to lose interest. As her focus started to falter, another wolf called out from a distance. The beasts around her tree perked their ears and turned their heads toward the sound. A few, desperate heartbeats later, they left her tree and took off in the direction of their caller.


She waited as long as she dared, lest she completely drain herself to unconsciousness and tumble out of the tree. Finally, Desiree released the air around her and held fast to the broad trunk of the oak tree that had saved her life. Desiree lacked the strength to descend safely through the branches, so she made the best of her perch and prayed that with slumber she wouldn't tumble to her death.


Hours later, she awoke refreshed. She climbed her way to the ground and retrieved her quarterstaff. Going back for her haversack simply was not an option as she had no idea where she was.


For the next few days, she played cat-and-mouse with the same pack of wolves, using her air-bending talent each time to elude their capture until the fateful night when she stumbled into the clearing with the hut and the other survivors, each locked in their own personal struggles against shadow hounds.


Desiree's attention returned to the present and she realized that Skyre was still waiting for an answer. After a pause, with her head still turned slightly away, she spoke and hoped it was on-topic with whatever the question had been. "I think that we made a pretty good combination back at the hut yesterday evening. For this encounter, I suggest that you take the lead and speak with the girl and her companion. I'll hold back a pace or two and be on your guard against any ambush or trickery. How does that strike you?"

 

[Effervescent]

Back at the camp, Rederik took the opportunity to wash at the river. No one else had expressed the desire to do so in some time, and the newest edition to their crew had made him somewhat uncomfortable. Once exiting the forest to the downed oak on the beach, he traveled further downstream to insure his privacy. Unlike the rest, his bare skin was near translucent and often unsettling by those unfamiliar with his condition. The mid-morning sun glistened and danced over the flowing water as he first washed his undershirt and laid it out on a rock to dry.


He couldn't spend too much time exposed as he were to the sun before it began to burn his skin, so he quickly undressed and waded into the cold water. Bruises blotched the white skin in deep purples and sickly yellows. The skin in some areas had broken along the bruising to add a tinge of red. Naraya wasn't particularly fond of getting wet and chose to groom in the shade of a leaning maple. She placed herself close to Rederik's armor as if to guard it, her head occasionally scanning the area with mild interest. The morning appeared to be rather uneventful so far, but the two didn't seem to mind.


Feeling refreshed, Rederik exited the river and dried off as best he could using the cloth hood. Being damp never bothered him, and so he dressed himself in his current state, his pants sticking to him and his somewhat dried shirt now saturated once again. He at least wasn't sopping wet, and that was enough for him. He then placed the wet hood on top of his head and pulled it over to cover his face before sitting down in the sun to dry. It was the only way he could manage it without damage from the sun's rays.


It would likely be some time before he would be dry enough to be presentable to the group, but he did not mind. The trickling water as it moved downstream was soothing, and he didn't mind passing the time observing the world around him. This gave him the opportunity to think and reflect on all that has transpired.

 

[Cookie]

Ari was still soaked from her rescue swim. The cold of the water had finally begun to set in after the adrenaline left her. Shivering, Ari pulled a spare cloak from her pack and retreated towards the fire. She drew the cloak around her to hide her shivering as she warmed up.


Ethan was patching up the new girl, so Ari still had some time before she could talk to him. And the newbie didn't look well enough to talk either. Ah, well. Ari could sit for a while and enjoy the fire and the sunlight.


It was a beautiful day. It had been a while since Aurelia acknowledged something like that. Since she'd been on the run, it seemed only appropriate to curse at the sun, the sky, even the stars. The grand openness of this unfamiliar landscape after she'd live indoors at the universities and within the walls of Aliak. It made her feel exposed initially. This was the rugged forest, there were no hiding places where something could not spot you.


Ari was uncomfortable with the thought, and yet here she was. Part of a group. Where she and everyone else were being watched all the time. It would take her a while to come to think of it as 'having each other's backs'. But she would warm up to it just as steadily as she warmed up by the fire.

 

[SkyGinge]

"Thank you, I thought so too, though it was mainly you," Skyre returned the compliment. His emerald eyes were beginning to shine with charming enigma once more. "That plan sounds good to me too, though I wouldn't want to deny you from taking the 'femenine approach' you mentioned earlier, whatever that may be." Skyre noted that her answer had had very little to do with his question, and with ears trained to hear through the wind had noticed her stomach rumbling. "When was the last time you have a proper meal?" He asked caringly, though also a little curious. She certainly sounded like she could have done with a little more to eat; Skyre regretted eating even the little breakfast he had now because of his lack of appetite.


The pair had begun a slight climb up one of the many nameless mountains. The trees broke away into rocky fields of bracken and heather, and now free from the obscurity of greater foliage, the pair could see most of this particular valley; waterfalls cascading down distant mountain cliffs, the dramatic troughs of the valley masked by countless greenery, several crystal clear rivers and streams flowing down the mountainsides and through the forests below. Though they would not reach a peak for the sake of avoiding too treacherous of a climb, they could still grasp the incredible beauty of Valia's untouched nature, and once again Skyre felt very lucky to live in suh a beautiful place.

 

[Kharmin]

"You give me too much credit, fly-boy," Desiree smiled with a short nod of her head. "Still, our tactics complimented each other even if you had the upper hand with your flying trick." Remembering back to her sheer terror at the time, she laughed uncomfortably.


She regarded Skyre from the edge of her hood once more and noticed a brighter gleam in his green eyes. She hoped that his last reservations about the river-incident were fading.


"Let's have you start things with the girl and I'll only chime in with any 'feminine approach' I think might help sway her in our favor," she said as she returned her attention to the path ahead of them. "After all, she seems closer to your age than mine."


At Skyre's question of her appetite, she responded with her more usual musical laugh. "Define, 'proper meal'," she said and laughed lightly again.


"Skyre, I've been on the run from these shadow wolves for several days," she said as her tone became more somber and quite uncharacteristic of her. "I lost all of my supplies – well, I don't know when – except for my art and this ridiculous staff. I've subsisted on whatever berries I hoped wouldn't kill me and a few varieties of fungus that didn't kill me."


Desiree sighed heavily as if the weight of the world settled upon her. "I haven't been able to hunt for any game as the wolves kept too close of a proximity to me. They kept surrounding me, almost as if they were trying to chase me toward a certain direction. Each day, before I stumbled upon all of you at the hut, I eluded their net only to be ... well, hounded for lack of a better word, back again. I have no idea to where they were trying to drive me; I only knew that it couldn't be good and that I had to avoid that at all costs."


"I've been using small bursts of air to keep myself upright and moving, or at least as much as I could dare since I needed to save as much of my energy as possible for hiding. Last night was the first time in days that I was able to actually sleep, but I feel that I slept the sleep of exhaustion and quite frankly am not fully recovered from my trials."


Desiree waved her hand as she shooed away her words, "But listen to me prattle on. I'm not the only one with such hardships. I'm sure everyone else has had their problems, too, many of which are worse than my meager diet over the past few days." She sighed again and stood a bit taller as she appeared to accept the heavy mantle placed upon her.


"I am a survivor," she concluded. "I have to be. There is no other choice."


She stopped as they broke cover from the trees and viewed the beautiful landscape before them. Her eyes danced as a visage of hope came over her shrouded face. "Oh, Skyre," she said in a sweet whisper as she dared break the silence of the wondrous spell before them.


Desiree cast back her hood and allowed her long, blonde hair to fall free. Now cleaner than it had been in days, it freely cascaded across her shoulders, over the downcast hood and flowed down her back like a soft, golden river. It glowed in the morning sunlight as it casually drifted across her back in the wake of a gentle breeze. She turned to Skyre and her lively blue eyes were filled with life.


"It's wonderful," she said. "Who ever knew such beauty existed?" Desiree faced back toward the scene before them, raised both of her arms so that her cloak fell open. She eased her head back as she closed her eyes and drank in the warmth of it all. "Mmmmm," she said with a smile of pure contentment "You can smell it on the wind."

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre nodded politely at her rendition of the plan; it sounded good to him, although he doubted they really needed too much consideration into what they were going to do; it wasn't as if they were facing enemies or anything. He then listened respectfully to her tale with sorry eyes. He was about to sympathise with his own tale when they reached the mountain path and he glanced around in silent admiration of the landscape.


"You like it?" Skyre enquired with a grin, stopping beside her and crossing his arms, his eyes on a different beauty to hers. "I grew up on the very edge of a valley like this. My village was at the base of one of the smaller mountains in the far west, perhaps one of the last larger settlements before... Well, before this!" He raised his arms up into the air in appreciation of the scenery, a larger gust of mountain wind launching his cape into the air behind him. "As such I've seen similar sights but none as dramatic as this. I hear they're even more impressive the further east you go; maybe we'll have seen even more impressive sights by the time the sun sets tonight."

 

[Shura]

The forest was quiet as the morning sun started to peek its way over the horizon. Many of the forest critters ventured out of their homes to father food making it the perfect time to hunt. Rusar hid among the shrubbery an arrow notched in her bow but not yet drawn as she silently scanned for a new target. She spotted a few birds fluttering up in the tree tops but the meat really wasn't worth the arrows, neither were the squirrels since most were still small. Her primary targets were smaller animals since large once took a long time to gut and clean leaving time for other creatures to catch wind of the smell of a fresh kill. Plus she was just one person a few rabbits would last a few days. "Perhaps I should try fishing again...." she thought to her self but decided against it, this was holy a short reprieve from being hunted her self by the damn beast of the shadow king. Movement broke her thoughts as she quickly drew her bow and took aim, she spotted a rabbit emerging from a bush and fired her arrow with out hesitation killing it instantly.





"And that makes five" she smirked rising from her hiding spot to recollect her arrow and prey. Four other rabbits rabbits were already tied to her belt awaiting to be skin and gutted. Rusar tried to use as much of the animals as possible from skin to bone. Rusar tied her newest catch to her belt before cleaning her arrow with a rag and placing it back in her quiver. The sound of splashing caught her attention and she quickly ducked into the cover of some bushes unsure what could have caused it. She used to curse her small stature but ever since the shadow kings rein grew to enjoy it since it allowed for easy hiding. She peeked from the bushes spying someone leaving a river and raised an eye brow at the uncommon site. Rusar debated weather or not to follow but figured it would be best to determine of there was another threat aside from hounds which lingered in the forest. She silently followed the person back coming across a sizable camp with several other people. They all looked worn, tired and fairly beaten up. Survivors? Possibly. Rusar remained hidden as she observed the camp.

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan walked back to the river to clean his hands noting Rederick departing further down stream. Not worried of his condition as the man looked well enough and had declined further assistance, add that with his beast companion watching over it felt okay not to question anything further. Cleaning the bowl Ethan checked the reset of the camp. With Desiree and Skyre now off the rest seemed quite, his wisp was still pulsing letting him know that they where still in range but with each trek they made the light would grow dimmer as it was not easy to use long distance. Small images of mountains could be made out, but not wanting to disturb the two in their travel he left communication to them if they wanted to reach the camp.


Drying his hands and the wooden bowl Ethan turned back to the fire removing his hat and cloak. The morning sun was beginning to rise and the cool air was now a bit warmer. The heavy boar cloak fell on top of his pack with his hat laying lightly on top of it. Running his fingers through his hair he reviewed his supplies and organized a bit more then before, considering how most was tossed without care. He would have continued if not for the sight of the short hair woman now sitting near the fire, she had cloaked herself and seemed taken back by her travel from the river. Recalling it was her who brought the stranger to the camp it felt only best to make sure she was in good standings compared to yesterday's meeting.


Grabbing his kettle and filling it with the river he laid a flat stone on the hot embers of the fire then set the pot upon the stone. Keeping a portion of the fire going on the side he used the heat to bring the water slowly to a boil. As Ethan waited he sat across the girl taking a deep breath "Normally you catch fish in rivers never people." trying to break the ice of the silence as he looked over the passed out stranger still calm and breathing "...How are you fairing this morning madam?" as he watched the stone and pot slowly heat up. The wisp was pulsing slowly but grew dimmer, Ethan was unable to use it for surveying the camp so long as it was tied to the other party traveling, still it kept itself close to his shoulder hovering slowly occasionally fluttering down then back up as Ethan tended to the fire.

 

[IceQueen]

Lapis lied there, listening to the conversation around her. Oh how she wished she had her kimono. Then again, it was seriously heavy. Feeling a little better, she attempted to sit up. It worked. She sat facing the fire, looking deep into the flames, every once and a while blowing small gusts of air onto it.

 

[Effervescent]

Naraya rose and lazily stretched as she completed her grooming. Rederik looked back at her where he sat on the pebbled beach to make sure nothing was amiss. Everything appeared quiet and normal, and he turned back to look across the river where a brown bear emerged. He'd never liked encountering bears, for he knew fighting one would be far too damaging for both parties. The bear dipped its head to the water and began to drink from it, eventually maneuvering into it until submerged.


Rederik rose taking the bear's closeness as his cue to leave. He mad his movements slow and quiet so as to not draw any attention. One by one he reassembled his armor and creeped back into the woods undetected.