Long Lost Leaves

[feawen]

"To the hunt we go!" Nami said happlierly as she lead the way. Eyeing Quickleafs new arrow she smiled as she pulled a few of her own arrows out of their quiver and handed them to Quickleaf, "On loan!" She laughed, "Until i teach you how to make proper arrows!" As they made their way deeper into the wood Nami walked in time with Quickleaf. Nami smiled and begain humming a little tune as she walked. Nami was glad to have some company, someone who agreed with her and thought the same kinda things, which helped, Nami could be very studden if she wished to be. Quickleaf made her smile, which also helped as she thought about the dark underground they would soon be going down.
In the coolness of the evening Nami smiled and bounced along as she walked and the slight wind played with the loose ends of her hair.

[Aikanáro]

'It is nothing,' Tabrîl muttered to Nami, suspecting she had again been misunderstood, but not bothering to correct. There was nothing to thank her for, she had not offered to help.

Perhaps she should have, she thought then, for at least it would give her something to do. Abasi clearly wanted nothing to do with her right now, after the way he had stormed off, and she did not know how long she would be constrained to travel with these people.

To be alone, though, for now, was no great hardship to her, and so as Nami left with Quickleaf she simply sat and watched the others go about their business.

[Curufin]

Abasi raised an eyebrow imperiously.

'Excuse me?'

[orithil]

"Just the hostility you seem to have against everyone" Hedrim replied

[Curufin]

Abasi shrugged.

'I do not know what you are talking about.'

He turned his eyes back to his weapons.

[orithil]

"Well, you did seem to have a problem, you know storming off a couple of minutes ago" Hedrim continued

[Acalewia]

Midnight nuzzled Ellysa's hand.
"It's alright," Aelfwine said when Ellysa stiffened. "She's thanking you for the complement," She smiled and slowly took her hand away, leaving Ellysa's on Midnight's muzzle.

[Mari]

Ellysa looked a bit panicky, but when Midnight didn't bite she relaxed somewhat and even made a small stroking gesture.
The horse seemed to like that, so Ellysa continued stroking Midnight's muzzle and a small smile appeared hesitantly on her face.
A bit triumphant she looked at Aelfwine.
"I think she likes me!"

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl had not sat there long before it occurred to her that she was going to have to go back into the forest to gather more food. Her own supplies had run out, and she was not about to ask any of the others if they would share. She would not find herself beholden to them, even for the slightest thing, she had decided. All that she needed, she either carried with her or could find.

Still, she would soon grow hungry, and under other circumstances she would not have hesitated to leave the clearing and search for what she needed. To do so now, however, would require a little more effort on her part.

She stood, and walked over to Haldis, who was speaking with the dwarf. Tabrîl could not remember his name. 'Haldis,' she announced, interrupting them. 'I need to gather provisions in the forest. You will follow?' The woman's earlier warning that she should stay close had not been forgotten, and although Tabrîl would rather have gone alone, this seemed now the only solution to her.

[Willow Oran]

Haldis broke off waiting for the dwarf's response to her rebuke and stood, sheathing her knife, "I will come with you, Tabrîl. We started with many provisions, and still have enough, but I had not expected our party to grow larger so quickly."

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf stopped, knelt down and tapped Nami's shoulder as he made ready his bow whispering "Look, down the hill, behind those trees on the right"
A bit further down the hillside stood a deer feeding on a few short, evergreen trees. The deer had powerful legs, fur with a golden touch and several white spots tinkling in the moonlight. It stood peacefully chewing, not knowing of its faith.

By the look of it the deer was no more than 50 meters away, well exposed in this part of the forest, it being less dense and lit up by the glowing moon.
"Do you want to make the first shot?" Quickleaf whispered to Nami.

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl nodded, and set off at medium pace towards an area she had noticed earlier, where edible plants, roots, and wild fruits and berries had seemed abundant. She would be able to collect enough to last her a few days at least, if she had room enough in her bag to carry it all.

Only a few minutes after they had left the camp, Tabrîl stopped, and turned to Haldis. In truth, this was partially to make sure the woman could keep up with her, as Tabrîl did not intend to walk too quickly and leave her trailing too far behind. There was also, however, something she needed to ask.

'Do you know what to look for? If you do not, I will show you.' A reassurance of sorts, that Tabrîl would not look down on her for not knowing. She had no reason to assume Haldis was familiar with this sort of work, and there were many plants in the forest. Not all of them were nourishing.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked up when Tabrîl returned, followed by the strange uwindi woman. He frowned, then stood in one fluid movement, and joined them.

'You should have told me you were looking for food. I would have helped.'

[Curufin]

'We do not participate in farming. We hunt and gather, but that is done by the m'haid, and the m'haid alone. Why does this seem so odd to you?'

He crossed his arms and looked at her for a moment, uncomfortable, as was Tabrîl, of elaborating on the structure of his society.

[Willow Oran]

"You hunt?" Haldis wrinkled her nose, "We rarely hunt. Only when there is no other choice. The skin-changers do not approve of it," she paused as a horrible thought ocurred, "You do not hunt bears, do you? I know some think their meat is good," this last was said with obvious disgust.

[Curufin]

Abasi looked at her with something very close to disgust.

'We do not eat warm-blooded flesh. We hunt snakes and fish. That is all.'

[Willow Oran]

Haldis relaxed, "That is well. Bears are sacred and our warriors often take their shape. Fish are good to eat and when we cannot get them we eat bread, eggs, milk, honey... and often little else."

[Aikanáro]

Tabrîl did not answer further. She was not comfortable, talking about those who ought to be protected from uwindi and their incessant questions. Let Abasi deal with what Haldis asked them, if he would. It would not be right for her to say more, to speak of her own people. She folded her arms and listened.

[Coffeehouse]

As Nami let the silver-tainted arrow fly off into the darkness time came to a still, birds and beasts of the forest held their breath and only the shimmering from the moonlight let the watchful eyes of Nami and Quickleaf know its speeding arch down the hill and across the forest floors.

Just as Nami had made her shot, Quickleaf held up his bow in anticipation, waiting to make a second shot in case the deer did not die immediately.

The arrow hit. The deer's throat was severed and the sudden lack of air put its short life to a sudden end, with the legs stumbling, its golden fur drowning in the leaves and grass beneath it.
"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea! Lle naa curucuar Nami! By the sea and stars! You're a skillful bowman Nami!" Quickleaf exclaimed and smiled warmly. "Excellent shot. You see, now you spared us my shot and several hours of tracking down another deer" he said self-mockingly. The two walked over to their catch.

[feawen]

Nami smiled and turned to follow Quickleaf.
"I am sure you would have made the shot Quickleaf, we both have good eyes!"
The night suddenly darkened, Nami looked up as the moon was covered by rolling clouds, the clouds passed and the silver light was returned. As Nami looked back a head of her she felt a wet drop land on her nose, Crossing her eyes to look at her nose, more big wet drops followed it.
Nami turned smiling at Quickleaf as she pulled her hood over her head, "Oh i do love the rain!"