Part Two: Into the Ruined Lands

[Jered Taikith]

Sen blushes at Tuk's words and lowers her eyes for a moment before looking at him once more, something imponderable in her expression. Kneeling down, she hugs him to her for a moment and when she draws away her eyes are soft and glistening.

Standing up, and obviously embarrassed by her display of emotion, she says harshly, "Come on. The day is wasting and our rations aren't getting any more plentiful. Best we all keep our eyes and ears open for forage and game."

With that she turns and continues making her way cautiously through the forest.

[-1warrior]

The forest seemed to stay fairly peaceful as the companions traveled along. As evening drew near, they reached a point where the Old Path forked in two different directions, one path going northwest, the other one heading northeast.

[Metroknight]

Tuk returned the hug and wiped the moistness from below one of her eyes before she pulled back out of his reach "Sen, you reveal many things that the Goddess placed in each of us when you let yourself. You show that the Goddess knows that kindness and love can can live inside someone that thought they were hard and cold as stone. All it takes is a small crack to have life blossom out of a rock."

Tuk follows Sen while quietly prays

"Oh Goddess Mother
You are the mystery of Night
Your radiant shine is the Day
Infinite realms cascade within You

Abundance is Your essence of Being
Blessings flow from You Limitlessly
Your Universe is harmony and tension in Balance"

Within each of us, You are Alive"

then calmly starts another prayer

"Thank Thee Great Goddess
For the bounty you will provide us
A gift of thy great abundance
Thank you for sustaining our lives
We receive your gift of food in gratitude"

[Jered Taikith]

Sen looks uncertainly about as they come to the fork. Turning, she looks at the party and says, "The sun is going down and it might be dangerous to travel any further. On the other hand I don't like the idea of setting up camp close to a fork in the road when danger might come at us from two directions at once."

[Metroknight]

Tuk just turns and points his small staff at the nearby woods "Just make the camp on the edge of the woods or just inside it where we can see out but they might not see us if any come through."

[Jered Taikith]

Sen smiles at Tuk and nods. Leading the party a bit deeper into the woods where there is cover she looks back to make sure they have a vantage point that will allow them to see down all three directions of the fork. Satisfied, she takes off her sword and bow harness and leans over to place them on the ground, her tunic falling open for a moment before lying against her chest again as she stands, her fingers guiding a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. Then she eases her pack off her shoulders and places it on the ground as well. With a sigh she sits for a moment's rest.

[Nightwulf]

"Should we risk a fire?"

[Jered Taikith]

Sen nods to Caesar. "That should be fine as long as we dig a pit for it and keep it small. A little warmth and something cooked might not be bad."

[Metroknight]

Tuk was about to gesture to Sen about the brief view he was given by accident but instead his attention was caught by Ceasar's question and ponders briefly before replying "If it is smokeless and small, we can probably get away with it before dark but after dark, unless you had it hidden where it would be hard to see, we might want to go without it".

[Metroknight]

Tuk moves away from the group slightly and sets to pray to the Goddess for her bounty then starts to search around the camp for even he knows the Goddess doesn't just drop her bounty in one's lap.