She adjusted her pack, then the two large rabbits hanging from her belt before answering. "We'll probably find a town tomorrow, but whether we stay or not .. that depends on if we like it there. I'll find us a good place to camp tonight and see if there is any game near here to add to these, while Berya sets up camp. You and Lenvac can decide who gets to get firewood and plan what we need to get when we get to the next town. especially if we decide that we don't want to stay." Falvani looked at the sky, noting that the sun was fast approaching the horizon. She handed the rabbits to Rynar and ran ahead to scout for a campsite. Rynar watched her go, and tripped on a tree root. He caught himself, but not before the other two noticed the mishap. They both started to laugh.
"Rynar, you need to pay more attention to where you're going, and less to watching girls," Lenvec laughed, as Rynar's face turned red.
"Come on, Lenvec, you know he only has eyes for her. He's been in love with her since she first moved in with her aunt and uncle a few years ago. She just hasn't noticed yet. I think her elf blood makes her a little oblivious to some things, but he does hide it pretty well." At Lenvec's slightly surprised expression, Berya continued, "You mean you didn't know? We've all been friends for more than ten years, and you can't tell that your best friend is in love! I guess men really aren't very observant." She looked back at Rynar, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but to me it's pretty obvoius. I don't think she can tell though. If you're not ready to say anything to her, we'll keep quiet about it. Won't we, Lenvec?" She shot him a pointed look.
"Of course, I won't say anything to her." He swallowed hard, then looked back at his two best friends. "I promise. Now, should we catch up to her? She should have found us somewhere to camp by now. She might wonder what is taking us so long." he still looked rather sheepish, but he was quickly returning to his normal, joking self.
Berya nodded, saying, "You're right. She's an excellent scout and hunter; she should have found us somewhere by now. Rynar, you didn't hurt yourself when you tripped, did you?" When he shook his head, she said, "Good, I'm glad. I'm not sure Lenvec's in any mood to be healing anyone right now. That and we're low on herbs, too. We can look for some around our camp, but more than likely we'll have to wait until we get to town to buy some." She glanced ahead and pointed.
Rynar and Lenvec looked in the direction she indicated. A few hundred yards ahead, Falvani sat on a rock at the edge of a small clearing, the setting sun glinting off her golden brown hair. They had only taken a few steps towards her, when she jumped to her feet and came to meet them. "This is a good place to camp. I am going to see if I can find anything larger than those rabbits. Rynar, you and Lenvec make sure to get plenty of firewood. I think this area gets very cold at night." She smiled at them, something she didn't do very often. Then she took off into the woods.
The other three took off their packs , and Berya began setting up camp, taking items from all four packs as she went along. Rynar and Lenvec took their small axes, and headed into the trees. After returning with two armloads each, Berya had finished setting up the camp and started the fire. They sat to wait for the half-elf's return, and Rynar beagan to skin and clean the rabbits. Falvani would appreciate having the skins removed properly, in case she wanted to make something from them. When he had removed the skins, and cleaned the carcasses thoroughly, Berya took them and put them over the fire.
About a half hour more passed, before Falvani returned, carrying a yearling mountain goat across her shoulders. Rynar helped her gut and clean the carcass; then helped her skin it, while Berya and Lenvec looked for a branch or something to support it over the fire. While it cooked, they talked about what they needed to buy at the next town.
"Well, what we buy really depends on whether we decide to stay there or go someplace else, doesn't it? If we leave we'll need to buy more travelling supplies, but if we decide to stay, we will need to find a place to live and places to work. I'm not sure I am ready to settle in anywhere yet. I still haven't seen any dragons." Falvani's green eyes flashed. She had only heard stories from her friends about the dragons they were used to. Her mother had been from a planet that had a very different sort of dragon and she wasn't sure she believed in the friendly, bondable dragons of this planet.
Rynar and the other two hadn't seen many of the dragons, at least, not in a long time. The town they lived in was almost in accessible for most of the dangers the dragons here guarded against, so there was little need for them to go there, unless there was a search for possble bonds?. But that hadn't occurred for many years, and Falvani had arrived to the land of her father's family too late to have seen the last search. So she was on a search of her own. And of course, Rynar couldn't let her go alone and Berya and Lenvec weren't going to miss out on their friends' adventure. The problem was, none of them actually knew where any of the dragons were. They were hoping to run into someone who did know soon. They had traveled for a week without coming across any towns or even any travelers.
"Earlier you said there is a town nearby. How do you know? You've never been here before; none of us has." Rynar's brown eyes showed a bit of confusion as he looked at his friend.
Berya and Lenvec hadn't heard this earlier and looked at each other in surprise. They looked back at Falvani for her explanation.
"It was easy to tell. When I am hunting I can tell by the way the animals react, if they are used to people. Food animals like those rabbits and deer are more skittish from being hunted; they run away more quickly when they live near towns. The hunters and scavengers, like foxes and raccoons, don't run as quickly and will stay nearby longer, waiting to see if you drop or leave anything they can take. It was a lot harder to find game today than it has been. That's how how know we are close to a town. It's really not that difficult." She looked a little stunned to have talked so long, but she got over it quickly.
The food was finished by this point, so they ate. Then they cleaned up the remainder of the meat and tied up where wild animals couldn't get it while they slept, after which they decided to go to sleep. They would worry about the town in the morning.
Falvani woke suddenly to a warm red glow on the horizon. She started to get up, thinking it was dawn, until she realized she was facing west, and noticed how thick the smoke hung in the air. Their campfire wouldn't give off that much smoke. She looked towards the trees, and noticed the flickering effects of a forest fire rapidly approaching their camp.
"Wake up!" She yelled, as a few deer raced through the clearing nearly trampling Lenvec, who was starting to sit up. He started, then jumped up and shook Berya, who had always been a heavy sleeper. "Come on, we gotta get out of here. Help me pack some of this stuff."
Falvani was putting as much of her stuff back in her bag as she could cram in it in a short time, while Rynar, who was the first to get from her yell, had finished putting his small amount of things away and had been packing up the food and helping the other two get somewhat organized. The fire creeped closer as they finished grabbing their things and stopped, very briefly to decide which way to go. Falvani clambered up a nearby tree to get bearings of their surroundings.
"The fire looks like it's coming from the west and is starting to circle north a little. To the east looks like there is a town, just past a small river, then there are some mountains, but I can't tell how far away it is for sure. To the south, and slightly east, the trees end and it looks like there might be a lake or something. The moon is shining off something." She dropped back to the earth. "Which way do you want to try? The lake didn't look too far away. That's my vote." She looked at the others, waiting.
They quickly agreed with her selection and started to run. They all wanted to get away from the approaching fire as quickly as possible. Berya and Lenvec ran together, as usual, and Rynar tried to keep close to Falvani, who seemed to be running slower that usual. They soon outdistanced the fire, and made it to the edge of the forest without any problems. The clearing did not hold a lake, though; just a wide section of the small river that flowed past the town to the northeast of their current position.
Rynar looked at the others, and said, "I think we'll probably be safer on the other side of the river. Then we can head towards that town, too." By now the sun had risen and the four companions began looking for a safe place to cross the river. They found a suitable crossing within minutes, and continued their journey for about an hour, before anyone realized that they hadn't eaten anything.
Falvani stopped, causing Rynar to stumble to a halt. Since they were behind the other two, Berya and Lenvec didn't even realize they had stopped until she called to them. "Hey, you two, none of us has eaten anything this morning. This a good place to stop for breakfast. Are you hungry?" She watched with one eyebrow raised as they suddenly realized they were hungry and hurried back to the others.
Rynar pulled out the cold meat from the night before and they all dug in. Then they decided to rest for an hour or so, before finishing their journey. He watched as Falvani stretched, flinched, then start to look through her pack. He stepped over to her. "Are you okay? You flinched." He caught her eye as she was about to deny it, then she looked away.
"I am fine, it's just a minor burn on my leg. While we were rushing around the campsite, I tripped over one of the long sticks we left by the fire. The other end dipped into the fire and knocked a few of the coals against my leg. I think I have some salve in my pack, but I threw everyting so haphazardly, I'm not sure where it is." Falvani looked frustrated. She was proud and wasn't used to admitting mistakes to others. She started to look through her pack again.
Rynar looked through a small pouch in the top of his pack. He pulled out a small jar. "Here is some burn salve. I put in the top of my pack, in case the fire got too close, too quickly, and someone got burned. I only brought it because I knew that if we were going to be camping, and using campfires, it was only a matter of time before one of us got burned, namely me or Lenvec because neither of us can start a fire without fighting about how to do it. We've each gotten burned before because of it." He showed her a scar on his left arm. "That's from the last time."
She loked at his arm, then down at the side of her left leg. He followed her gaze to the red burn stretching from just above the top of her mid-shin height boots, to the lower part of her knee. It was nearly an inch and a half wide at the widest point. It resembled a lick of flame. "That'll be a nice scar. Definitely better than mine." Falvani smiled at that. "I guess so. I think I'll be ready to go as soon as I apply the salve. Can you go tell the others to get ready? I want to hurry up and get to that town."
Rynar went to talk to Lenvec and Berya, and shortly they were on their way again, Falvani moving at a pace much closer to normal. They arrived in town fairly soon after, which was good, because it began to pour, putting out the fire in the woods. There were no dragons there, much to Falvani's disappointment, but they were told that the nearby Enzan Shi Deragonray had recently held a frenzy flight and was host to numerous dragons and their eggs. They were also looking for candidates for the clutches. Falvani looked at the others with a gleam in her eye.
"This is exactly what I have been looking for! What do you say? Do you want to apply there?" She looked at her friends hopefully, but there was also a resolve in her eyes. If they didn't want to go, she would go by herself.
When she got to the Deragonray, she was not alone. Rynar, of course wouldn't let her go alone, and the other two thought it would be a great opportunity for new adventures.
Falvani, Rynar, Berya and Lenvec are standing at the Fiery Fall Festival