Falcon awoke to see Isla awake, she obviously had not found the beds as comfortable as Falcon had, else she would have fallen asleep when he did. he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and propped himself up with his arm, "What are you thinking about?" Falcon asked, "Sometimes it is helpful to get troubling things out of our head if we talk about it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Calix sat at the table where he had been with the strangers. A lot happened in those few moments than had happened in the past few years of Calix's life.
"I need more of this." Calix said to himself.
"You would like some more stew?" Waitress asked.
Calix looked up to her, then back at his empty bowl, he had been obsessing over what had happened so much that he had eaten stew and not even tasted a single spoonful of it. "No, though I'm sure it was good stew and I would like some more, but I'm afraid I don't have much time! I need more of that, I need to get me some adventure!" By now Calix had jumped up with excitement and had grabbed hold of the now stunned waitress's arms. When he realized what he was doing, Calix dropped his hands down, and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, do you know where the others who were sitting at this table have gone?"
"I-I-I-" The girl stumbled for words, but the shock was blocking her mind.
"I know where the Girl and the man went." Tabitha said from behind the counter. "I gave them a place to stay."
The girl and the man. The girl and the man? Calix's mind was now fuzzy with confusion, except instead of the waitress's reason of her mind going blank was do to Calix's outburst of excitement, his was blank because of sheer excitement. "The girl and the man?" Calix asked, voicing his question.
"The ones you were sitting with." Tabitha said.
"Great flaming spheres!" Calix said with a snap of his fingers. "The girl and the man!"
"Yes." Tabitha said, "I think you got hit a little hard by that chair."
"Thank you for you assistance!" Calix said, then he ran out the door. "I shall wait for them tonight, and in the morning I will pose my question to them directly!"
An old man that happened to be sitting outside of the tavern looked at Calix as though he was a lunatic, then got up and ran down the street.
"Good night, old man!" Calix shouted out. The man ran faster, and Calix watched as he disappeared into the darkness of the night. "Strange fellow."

Telwyn had laughed in that silent way of hers as the fugitives filed silently and fearfully into the woods around her. They gazed at her with what she knew to be, generally speaking, a mixture of distrust and curiosity. But she only grinned, said nothing and watched Micah closely, waiting for him to come back to the woods. Her manner was tense, in a thrilled sort of way and when the wind kicked up and blew her cloak slightly away from her, she did not even seem to notice, so intent was she on watching the clearing.

She was waiting for him when he came back and she listened to the suggestions given to him by the thief. She made a sound that was half a laugh and half a snort of disdain, "Across the river... If she wants to meet there that's fine. But with me, you folks would be safe from these ruffians on this of the river." She shrugged though in a manner that seemed to mean she was acquiescing to the arrangement. "As for moving through the woods without a trail, that can be done," her eyes glittered in a strange sort of way. It was almost as though she took a fierce pleasure in trail-less jaunts through the woods. "But in order to be efficient, you folks need to follow my instructions."
She turned to the little group, "OK, just follow me and listen while you trot- we don't have time for any more than a few pointers." She spun on her heel and plunged into the thick of the trees.

Her pace was brisk, but not overly difficult to keep up with. After a few minutes of walking she turned and began to walk backwards, strangely avoiding any trees behind her.
"Walk lightly! I know that sounds obvious, but put some effort into it! Be conscious! Be aware of how much weight you're setting into each foot!" She ducked a tree branch and faced forward again for a little while. A few moments later she spun back around, "Don't put all your weight in your heels! Put your feet down at an angle, so only the outward side of your foot touches the ground at first," she demonstrated with her hand, tilting it from a palm down position to about a 45 degree angle up to the side. "Roll your foot forward softly, keeping it at the angle until the last minute; you can let your foot down to it's natural angle as your motion reaches your toes," she added, hopped backwards over a protruding tree root and made an about-face again. After a few moments she turned around and continued again, "Walk in single file! In this thick brush it's better that way, but it isn't always. And most importantly! Don't break off any branches if you can help it!! Not even tiny ones! Oh, and be careful of tree roots: Stubbing your toe hurts." This odd last piece of advice was apparently a joke, because she laughed cheerily as she turned around. That was the end of the "lessons". After that, Telwyn said nothing. Occasionally, however, she would turn around and grin at someone, as if she were letting them know they were doing a good job.

Edmund was a little leery of Telewyn and Eweyn, but followed them as Micah seemed to trust him. Telewyn caused him to let his guard down when she laughed. He rolled his foot softly, careful not to step on any stray branches. Next, he got across the river and turned to help the others.

Isla jumped as Falcon spoke. She hadn't heard him until he spoke. "Oh...there's nothing really to talk about, Falcon."

Isla shifted in her chair. "May we travel to the sea tomorrow?"

~~~

Lady Shyanne was exasperated and annoyed with all of the instructions. She tried her best to follow the instructions, but may have failed quite a few times.

She looked at Susanne, who walked just behind her. "Do you know where we will go?"

~~~

Evewen mounted her horse, but stared at her camp. She knew she would never be able to return and that she would be considered an enemy of the clan. With a sigh, she dismounted and stomped toward Tristan's tent.

While she was here, she might as well take a few more expensive treasures, considering she would be living on them for the next few weeks.

She made sure he was still out cold before she entered. She grabbed a sack by his door and filled it with necklaces, bracelets and other things. They were small, but they would all fetch a good price.

Evewen tied the sack, ran toward her horse and quickly mounted. Kicking it, the stallion moved into action. She didn't worry about leaving a trail; once she got to the river, her trail would be hidden.

Micah allowed Telwyn to take the lead, since she was the expert at wood travel, and he took up the rear of the group. He did his best to follow her tips and techniques to avoid leaving a trail, and found that it was much harder than he had expected. Still, he did his best, knowing their very lives could and would depend on it. Telwyn seemed to be enjoying herself; despite the dark and the distance between them, he could almost see her face contorting in that silent laughter of hers that he had witnessed plenty of times that day.

While part of his mind focused on the rigorous travel, the other part of his mind wandered. He began thinking of Evewen, and wondering what would happen after he gave her the ring. Most likely, she would disappear, having gained what she wanted in the transaction. He couldn't help wondering, though, exactly what the ring was worth. Perhaps it was foolish of him to give it away to a thief so easily. Then again, it had paid for the freedom of his friends; that was certainly worth any value the ring could possibly have.

Susanne followed the instructions as best as she could, but she found herself stumbling and trying in her attempts not to. Her feat were dreadfully sore from all the running and walking she had, had to do recently, and even the couple hours rest hadn't instantly healed the blisters between her toes or the sore on the soul of her right foot. She held up her tattered skirt so she wouldn't step upon it, and tried to avoid an out-jutting root. Shyanne spoke to her and she looked up, her strands of disheveled hair flying around her face as the wind caught them. "No I don't know where we shall go. Where can we go? Where is safe...." she muttered with a sigh. She gave a violent shiver as the sharp cold nipped her skin. She hadn't gotten a chance to get the blanket Evewen, the bandit, had said was there, so she rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to stay warm.

As they walked, Micah recalled a question that had arisen in his mind when he first helped the others out of the pit, but until now he hadn't had a chance to ask it. Upon dropping into the makeshift prison and surveying the faces of his friends, he saw one face there he didn't recognize: a girl of about fifteen or so, with slightly pointed ears and long brown hair. He figured she might just be another unfortunate victim of the bandits, but his curiosity begged for more information; especially since she was still traveling with them even now. Micah tapped on the shoulder of the person walking directly ahead of him, which was Susanne.

"Who is that girl?" He whispered, "The one walking behind Edmund?"

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

"That's Brendlyn" Susanne said, remembering her name from when she had introduced herself. "When you were gone she came to our hide-out. She said she could offer us much help if we let her in. Jarien didn't have much choice since she had a weapon so....there she is" she took a deep breath, rubbing her shoulders, then turned back to watching her steps.

The quiet crunching of steps could be heard ahead of her, though miraculously, known of them had blundered to badly and made any loud noise. Susanne tried to follow Shyanne's steps as an example for quiet walking, but it was hard since it was dark. At one point she couldn't see the path ahead at all and stopped to feel around so she would not stumble upon a root. She crept forward slowly, until she was almost sure there was nothing that would trip her up. Then she took one bold move ahead, and made the mistake of stepping too far. Her foot landed upon an out-jutting tree root, which threw her off balance and tipped her backward. She suppressed a frightened cry as she groped for something and caught only air.

Evewen splashed into the river, her horse nickering and stepping gingerly in the cold water. It was obvious that they other hadn't arrived. She nudged her horse out of the chilled water and dismounted. She leaned against a boulder that rested by the river's edge.

"Brendlyn. Interesting," Micah said in response to Susanne's explanation. Then, he remembered that he had made a new acquaintance since he left this morning as well. "I don't know if I mentioned it or not in the rush, but the woman leading us is Telwyn. She claims to be an expert tracker, and says she can help hide us from the Hunters. Frankly, I'm not sure I fully trust her yet, but she seems to know what she's doing."

The group walked on in silence. Micah noticed Susanne rubbing her arms to fend off the cold, and wished he could do something to help. Perhaps if he had a coat himself he could lend it to her, but since he didn't, the idea was useless.

Telwyn's path soon led them to a part of the forest that was particularly shrouded by a thick canopy of leaves above, cutting off what little moonlight and starlight was available. Micah was just thinking to himself that it would be easy to trip in this light, when he caught sight of Susanne stumbling in front of him. As she started falling backwards, he instinctively moved forward and caught her in his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad he had been able to rescue her from hurting herself in the dark. "Um, watch your step," he said, somewhat awkwardly, unsure of what to say in such an unexpected situation.

Vayond: The Shadowed hunters

Susanne smiled up at Micah, hoping he didn't notice how she blushed at his arms being around her. "Thank you Micah" She whispered breathless, as she slowly stood back up. She took a deep breath, and rubbed her shoulders again before stepping forward, careful this time not to trip. She heard Micah start walking behind her, and a shiver went down her spine. How awkward that had been, but she couldn't help but admit how warm he was. She risked a small glance back at him, but because of the darkness she couldn't see the expression on his face.

Shyanne turned around as she heard the commotion. Her eyes widened as she saw Micah's arms wrapped around Susanne. A pang of jealousy swept through her and she lifted her chin, turning back to face forward.

She sniffed haughtily and lifted the hood of the cloak.

Jarien listened to Telwyn's orders, and took them in, but didn't worry to much. He and Adi had plenty of experience hunting in the woods. Not that he disregarded them, he just added them to what he already knew. He saw that some of the others were having trouble, but was having enough difficulty keeping his footing and helping Adi to be able to do much.

His girlfriend stuck by his side the entire way, occasionally hopping over a tree root, or leaning on him to sidestep a particular patch of mud that cropped up. They both turned at the sound of someone falling, and in the slight moonlight, they could just see Micah holding Susanne. Evidently she had fallen and he had caught her, though Shyanne evidently thought it was more than that. Adi giggled quietly and pulled on Jarien's arm, and they both turned away, continuing on.

During the brief moments where Micah was holding Susanne in his arms, he noticed Shyanne turn and look at them. For the moment, he thought nothing of it, and simply helped Susanne back to her feet. He thought he may have seen her smile, but he wasn't sure. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You're welcome, Susanne." Then, just a moment later, he was back to walking again, as if nothing had happened - only now he couldn't think of anything but the incident. He knew Shyanne had seen it, and that sort of embarrassed him. He tried not to consider what she might be thinking about the situation; he focused instead only on walking, and trying to judge how much further they had to go.

Yet, try as he might, he couldn't seem to remove from his mind the memory of rescuing Susanne from her fall. He grinned slightly at the thought as he went.

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

Susanne had noticed Shyanne's glance when Micah had caught her, and now felt bad for having caused the incident. But I didn't fall intentionally....I would never do such a thing! she thought, looking at Shyanne's back, hoping she would not be angry with her. She could not deny that she had enjoyed those few moments his arms around her, and she also could not say she did not feel greatly indebted to Micah, for in the beginning it had been he who had rescued her. But Shyanne and Micah...I wonder....do they love each other? Am I interfering? she had noticed the way Shyanne seemed to try to be close to Micah. And how she had embraced him when he had came for them...but....

She tried not to think of it, and just remember the moment of warmth. After a little more walking she looked ahead and thought she saw water sparkling. "Is-is" she shivered "That the river?"