First Adventures ((Dryden))

[Zasha]

The smell of the salt in the air was strong. And yet in the same breath it was quite refreshing. The wind blew off the water, and carried the scent over and through out the entire island. This was not the most inhabited of islands. But it was quaint and beautiful none the less. A good portion, almost half was covered with a dense forest that stretched from beach to beach in some portions, and this was her current destination. To be honest, a life in the forest had been wonderful for Zasha, she had never been happier than in the smithie that her father had handed down to her when he passed. Not only was she able to be close to him when she worked there, but she was able to do something that she loved, and working with her hands had always given her a sense of accomplisment.

Curently though, the pair, Zasha and one Dryden Amos, were walking through the woods, otherwise known as the Brokenthorn Forest. Which, in Zahsa's mind was quite aptly named. It was going to take her an hour or more when they made camp at sunset to get all the thorns and burrs out of her long hair. Even though it had been tied up and back like it always was, there was such a mass of the sable river that fell from her head, she was unable to keep it untainted. Even Flake, the little flying squirrel refused to come out at this time, because his fur while not long in any normal means was still prime candiacy for the burrs.

Zasha, was tired, though an elf, she had not been traveling long, and still her legs had not grown used to such exertion. Her arms and torso had always been the very height of her strength. Even now, she could carry her pack, and hack through a jungle and feel nothing more than a slight burn at the end of the day. But give her a bit of hiking, and trapsing through the uneven ground of an evil forest filled with creatures, and you were asking a lot from the tiny petite elf. They had been here for hours, the sun had come and gone past it's peak and it was nearing the evening hours where they were beginning to look for a place to camp. Zasha had her sword ready, ready for anything that might come out, already a few times they had been attacked here and there, but nothing too great. But she knew, either by sinking suspiscion or by the villagers comments in the last city, that told her that the deeper they went in the more dangerous it would become.

"We should begin looking for a place to camp for the night. Something either high, or flat." she said looking over at her partner. She was not the only one drenched in sweat. There was little air that traveled through the forest that was so dense. "I'm not sure how much further the river is, we've been hearing the water fall for a long time now, and I know from the villagers it feeds into a river. It might be a good place to stop for the night."

Little did she know the river seemed to be prime ambush land. But then again, Zasha felt as at home in a tree as she did on ground and so sleeping up in the sky was no little feat for an elf such as her. Many of nights were spent back home where she had lived with her family, sleeping under the stars in a giant bough of a large tree. One of the ancient trees that lay sacred in her home land. The ones that Mother Nature had given them. Regardless, what she said was true, it was time to begin to set up camp, or they would have to do it in the dark, and with the dense forestry around them, the moonlight would be sparse and it would be a difficult task. But if they could find the river they might be able to have fresh fish for dinner.

"What do you think?" she asked her companion.

[Nightfire]

Dryden had let her lead the way with his own person without any swords or sharp objects to hack his way when needed. Granted he used his staff to push things out of the way when he was making his way through so he wouldn't get anything in his hair. Traveling and exploring the island sounded like a good experience and Dryden agreed to travel with Zasha. Mostly because the two got along well enough. The fact that she was a pretty girl was an added bonus. Though really it was important that you got along with whoever you traveled it be it cute girl or burly guy.

With his own year of traveling he was far more adapted to doing this and wasn't as tired as she was. He carefully adjusted his pack briefly as he listened saw her hair starting to become a mess. The poor thing was probably going to need an hour or so just to untangle it and get out that evil stuff. Still Dryden and Zasha's travel hadn't gone unhindered a few common wild animals in the way nothing dangerous yet as he brushed his hair away from his face in thought.

Of course he heard the rumors of this place and he knew that they were walking into something. What it was exactly even he wasn't sure of. He thought about it for a moment as he looked at her.

"We can't be too close to the river. Bugs at night tend to stay close to the water which means it'll be an added annoyance of fending them off when we're trying to settle in. But, I'd rather settle in within a short walk of the river so we can catch fresh fish rather then dig into the supplies," Dryden replied to her inquisitive question having heard her comments as he brushed his hair aside. True he didn't know that rivers were prime ambush spots he just knew that bugs tended to be closer to water. He thinking about it for a moment.

"About twenty or thirty paces from the water should be enough I think probably thirty just to be on the safe side," Dryden commented he was sweating but, air didn't necessarily move in a dense forest like this he smacking a branch with his staff to keep it out of his way as he followed up behind her.

[Zasha]

"Allright, fair enough." she said softly.

Though they had known each other a little over a week now, she still didn't speak very much. It wasn't that she couldn't or wouldn't it was merely that she found a nice gentle companion in silence. In her mind there was nothing wrong with not saying smething every few minutes, without trying to talk someone's ear off. Now Flake on the other hand was the opposite. Flake, now that he was used to Dryden the little bugger would flutter all over the place. Zasha looked up checking on her little flying squirrel. His full winter coat had come in nice and thick, giving him a nice warm body, espcially when he burrowed into her pocket to take a nap. She could always feel his warm spot there. Flake fluttered above them swooping and chattering and flyig through the air happily, he loved flying, and though it wore him out easily he did it a lot.

They continued to walk through the forest, their boots crunching on the vegetation that was thick and sparse in some areas covering the floor like a blanket where the sun shone through and was barren in parts that were too shaded. The waterfall was getting louder now, and she knew they couldn't be too far from the river. How wonderful it would be to take a bath, to allow her to just wash all the dirt and grime that she knew was collected upon her pale milky skin. She couldn't stop itching and it was driving her nuts all she wanted really was a little soap and some nice river water.

"Perhaps we can bathe." she said after a little while. "One could stand watch perhaps while the other quickly bathed. I'm not sure about you, but I know that I do need and more so want it." she chuckled. She looked over at Dryden. He was goodlooking, he was probably going to be even more so when he wasn't covered in as much gunk as she was. But he seemed like the kind of man that wouldn't really be into an elf, though she could be wrong.

It wasn't long before they broke into a small clearing that had obviously been used before by campers. She smiled looking around. The area would be just big enough, and there seemed to be a few berry trees that Flake could get his food from. speaking of the little devil he alighted on her shoulder and burried himself in her hair. Zasha took her pack off and set it on the ground letting her shoulders relax, but kept her sword close and still on her belt.

"You want a bath first? Then we can fish and set up camp before dark?" she asked curiously.

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another staff member and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.