Private Tales End of the Line

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana hadn't been entirely paying attention, if she was honest. She was finding it rather difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time. Jerky didn't sound appealing, but she knew that she needed to each something.

Bread would be nice, right about now. She thought idly to herself.

Then she heard the mercenary look at her and offer an apology for something he said. She blinked, playing through the conversation again in her head before she connected all the pieces that he'd been talking about mainland elves -- of which, she knew almost nothing about.

She cleared her throat softly, suddenly feeling a little awkward.

"None taken." She mumbled, shaking her head. "Can't say that I've... ever really encountered them before."

 

[Kasim Areth]

"They're alright." It was an odd thing for an Anirian to say, and the Sell-sword might catch that fact, but it hardly mattered.

"Probably nothing to worry about." Kasim pointed out. "The Falwood is thousands of leagues from here, and the chances of meeting another elf?"

Pretty low.

Astronomically really. The Wilds weren't exactly known for it's population of Elf folk. Briefly he wondered why since it was just another forest. He reminded to ask that question to the next elf that he saw, though he'd probably end up just getting that silent mute look. "Let's worry about something else for now."

Like running into more damn monsters.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

They moved on, better than getting into an argument about elves when the Falwood might as well have been on another continent. "This morning I wondered what my chances of meeting bandits were" he grumbled, "I'm not even sure where I'm meant to be on the map".

He didn't know if Aviana was going to be able to ride in the morning. And they only had two mounts for three now. "What do you know of them? Do they hunt at night? We can't hide here forever".

 

[Aviana Sabel]

"Bandits?" She asked with a puzzled expression, then realized a little too late that he was probably talking about the harpies.

Just how hard had she'd hit her head when she fell off the elk? Her nose wrinkled slightly and she reached up to run her fingers through her hair. She winced when they brushed against a considerable knot on her scalp.

 

[Kasim Areth]

"I think he means Harpies." Kasim commented dryly, though he couldn't help but smile.

"I only know things from the stories." His shoulders rolled in a shrug. "And those aren't usually all that detailed...or true half the time."

Chewing his inner lip for a moment he continued. "I say we stay here for the night, we can move again in the morning."

That would be enough time for the Harpies to move on.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

"The bandits who shot my horse, then made for ye" Kjaran explained, "The harpies came after".

Staying put sounded better. Not as far as he'd hoped to get today but better than being torn apart by rabid bird-women. "Time to light the fire then?" he asked, rummaging for his own flint and steel striker. "Do ye have food? I'd rather a rumbling stomach didn't bring the whole flock down atop us".

 

[Aviana Sabel]

"Uhm... I've a ration pack or two in my bags. I think. Haven't had a chance to resupply yet..." She explained weakly, frowning a little. The sound of her voice felt off, but perhaps that was just the remnants of the ringing from the Harpy's shrieks. It was difficult to tell.

Slowly, she turned to the saddle and rummaged around through one of the emptier bags. There was enough food for one of them to have a full meal. Splitting it three ways would render it to more of a snack than dinner.

Smiling a little, she broke a piece off and handed it to the mercenary, then handed Kasim the other half. Even if she should eat, that didn't mean she had an appetite.

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim pushed the food back into Aviana's hand and then curled her fingers around it, shaking her head. "We can hunt for something."

Or go back to the road and take whatever pieces of his horse the Harpies had left. The idea floated in his mind for a second, but he quickly decided to not bring it up. He had no idea how Aviana or Kjaran would actually feel about it, and he didn't want to start an argument.

"Fish maybe." He jerked his thumb towards the stream. "But don't worry about us for now. Just eat."

He and Kjaran would be fine, Aviana was the one that would need to eat.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Dried trail rations. Kjaran had had his fill of them in his campaigning days. He mimicked the jester and handed back the proffered food. It wouldn't do good to steal them from one of the wounded.

"Sprats if we find any in that small thing" he said, his expression gloomy. They'd be nice when cooked though. "Though that harpy might have tasted nice once roasted" it wasn't clear if he was joking or not.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

She glanced down at the food in her hand, Kasim forcing her fingers to close around it. After a moment, she gave a faint nod and pulled her hand back into her lap.

Feeling as though she should at least make an effort, she broke off a small piece for herself and nibbled at it. The mix was dry, but the moment it hit her stomach, she realized how hungry she actually was.

The runes had left her weak, fatigued to the point of delirium, and ravenous. Her stomach growled obsinately, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment; but that was impossible to see through the dried blood that covered her face.

She ducked her head down slightly and took a few more delicate bites of the food, before she picked it up with both hands and practically inhaled the small meal.

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim perked an eyebrow at the man. "You could go back, pretty sure we left one or two dead on the road."

It would be hard to tell whether or not the Jester was actually serious either. He had never tried Harpy, but he knew that going back would very likely be foolish. Unfortunately, most of his supplies had been left on the horse he'd slaughtered, a fact that he now regretted.

"We'll find something." He told them both. "I can set a few traps, and..."

He shrugged. "We've gotten lucky so far."

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

The optimism about foraging already had Kjaran's stomach rumbling. He hoped they found something though at least he had stuff in his saddlebags. "Anything's better than nothing".

At least their casualty had perked up, she was much better than she had been lying on the road. "Should we risk scavenging what we can from the road? It's gotten quiet and there might be some gear left there".

They'd know best. He had his few belongings with him but if there was something there worth salvaging, he'd take his chance. "One of us should probably stay here though". Aviana didn't seem strong enough to fend for herself yet.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana glanced up from the crumbs in her hand as she was licking them off her fingers. Her eyes darted between Kasim and then Kjaran, awkwardly clearing her throat.

"No... you both can go. You'll cover more ground. I should..." She glanced down at herself, and her ruined clothes. "I should probably try to clean myself... and get changed into something... not ripped to shreds."

Weak as she was, she didn't feel comfortable with the blood plastered to her skin and caked into her hair. All she wanted was to wash the gore from her face. If the two of them ventured off, she should be able to use the coming storm to her advantage.

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim raised his hands. "I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here."

The Jester said with a slight smile, trying to defuse the two a bit. It had really only been an hour or two since they'd run from the Harpies, and most of that time had been spent watching Aviana be healed.

"We won't starve in one night." He pointed out. "I don't think we have to be in a huge hurry to head back to the road either."

Especially that in fact. "I think looking for game is a better option. Less danger and if we don't find anything..."

He shrugged. They wouldn't starve in just one night.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

"The road is the only way out of here" Kjaran pointed out, "We could spend days stumbling through the forest trying to find a way out". He did have a fair point of waiting a while before they went looking though, it hadn't been long since they'd had to flee it.

"Are either of you hunters?" He'd no bow but he'd hunted in the past. "I can forage a bit for something edible. Can't guarantee it'll be tasty though". They wouldn't starve to death but Kjaran liked sleeping with a full belly.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

As the two men started to contradict one another, Aviana resigned herself to sleeping in the mess that she was. She didn't like it. But she didn't see much other option at this juncture. She was too weak to venture off on her own in search of a stream.

Even she was a hunter, she was in no condition to go traipsing through the woods in search of game. She wasn't even sure if she had the energy to walk, let alone draw a bow back to full length.

Instead of giving a verbal answer to the question, she just shook her head and curled back up against Erodin; nestling her head against the creature's fluffy shoulder. With every breath the elk took, Aviana was lifted up a few inches; only to sink back down as he exhaled. It was a steady rhythm, almost like being rocked to sleep.

Her eyes drooped somewhat.

 

[Kasim Areth]

"I'm not against going back to the road eventually, just not right now." Kasim explained himself a bit more, glancing over towards Aviana who was clearly falling asleep.

His tone lowered a bit.

"I'll carve a few trap runes." He suggested to Kjaran. "We might catch a Rabbit or...some large lizard, I don't know. We have an hour or two before sundown."

The Jester glanced up towards the horizon. "We should be able to get something in that time."

At least he thought so.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

The half elf had gone silent and when Kjaran turned his head it was to see her dozing against the comforting bulk of the elk. The jester saw it too and dropped his voice to let her rest.

"If the runes work as well as they did on the road, that works for me" he agreed, "Anything is better than something". He looked skyward and seemed to concur with his assessment, "I can gather more wood while you do that?" he offered, "Catch us something and I'll gut it and clean it out".

A shrug. "And come what may in the morning". With luck it would be a night of little incident.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

The elk turned his head, sniffing at Aviana in confusion. She didn't seem to be hurt, but he could smell the blood that covered her. His muzzle nuzzled against her face, breath washing over her in heavy bursts.

Aviana moved unconsciously back a few inches, scrunching up her nose. "Mmnn..." She made a soft, sleepy sound without actually opening her mouth and curled up a little more tightly.

She could hear that the men had lowered their voices, what they were talking about in particular she wasn't sure. It was like trying to listen to someone while her head was under water. Eventually, she gave up that struggle and relaxed against the elk entirely. The blood would have to wait.

 

[Kasim Areth]

”Sure.” In truth Kasim didn’t seem all that excited about the prospect of going out and carving trap runes, but he would do it all the same. The process was a boring one, and generally something he didn’t do unless he was in absolutely dire straits.

Taking up his sword and slinging it onto his back, the Jester also scooped up his dagger. The sword would make carving difficult.

Without another word Kasim headed out of the camp, glancing back to make sure Aviana wasn’t trying to get up to do something stupid. Once he had confirmed that he wandered off towards the west, in the opposite direction of the road. He figured the Harpies had come from somewhere in the east, and thus he would be least likely to encounter them there.

The next hour was spent doing exactly as he said he would do, cutting large, yet simple, runes into the ground and fallen trees.

There wasn’t much effort to the task, in fact Kasim probably could have done it without half of his brain. Still, he knew they would probably need the food eventually, and as he carved the last rune he turned on his heel and headed back to check the first.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Kjaran kept closer to camp. He rarely strayed more than a couple of hundred yards from it in any direction. He busied himself with gathering wood. The larger branches and logs he used to make a crude wall along the open part of the boulder, sticking the ends in the dirt and leaning them against the stone. As an afterthought he threw leafier branches on top to give some attempt at concealment.

He built up the fire slowly, from a small smokey piece of tinder to a bright flame that was thankfully shielded by the boulder. He added larger sticks to it as the flames grew higher and began to give off warmth.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

While both men were gone, Aviana jerked awake with a sharp intake of breath, as though she was about to cry out. Her eyes darted around the small campsite and she pressed her hands to her face, though she flinched when she realized that she was still coated in blood.

She sighed and struggled up onto her shaking legs, staggering slightly once she was on her feet. The large elk snorted and got to his feet a moment later, following along after his rider as she shuffled out from underneath the rock with a flask of water in her hand. At the very least, she wanted to get her hands clean. Her face too, if there was enough water in the skin.

She leaned against the elk for support to keep herself steady; pouring small splashes of water over her hands, and furiously scrubbing at them with the torn fabric of her sleeve. While she tried to clean herself, the elk grazed contently in the tall grasses.

 

[Kasim Areth]

The first of the traps bore no fruit. Neither did the second and the third, but the fourth? The fourth saw him get lucky.

Trap runes were perhaps the easiest function of Rune Magic. They were in a way exemplary of how useful it could actually be. All you needed was a basic understanding of the runes and then an ability to carve. Then once something stepped on the rune the trap triggered and set off whatever it was you put in place. In this case, the victim was a large and rather fat rabbit.

Kasim scooped up the small creature with a smile. ”Sorry.”

He told the bunny as he slung it over his shoulder.

He'd been gone from the camp for nearly an hour and a half now, and it would likely be another hour before he would return. The sun was beginning to set in the distance, and he would have to make the last of the journey in the dark.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Kjaran came back with more wood and dumped it. The fire crackled away happily as more dry wood was added. "Are you feeling better?" he asked the half-elf, still a little unnerved how the runes seemed to have brought her from death's door to being able to move around unaided. She wasn't one hundred percent but by all rights she should have been bedridden at this stage.

He put down his sword and sat with a grunt. "Your jester friend has gone to find dinner. With luck we won't be sleeping hungry tonigth".

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana managed a weak smile yo Kjaran, splashing some of the water over her face in an attempt to wash the grime free. She was only partially successful.

"I'm weak... Don't think I could pick up my sword if it was required. Definitely couldn't sit a saddle..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced up at the tall elk.

"I uh... I wanted to thank you. For your help." She added a moment later, splashing another bit of water against her face.