Arainthe was a practical sort. With her mind made up, action was the logical next step. She raced through the forest, streaking past Hruine’s chalk-marked trees. Once she had caught sight of her target -- his red tunic was awfully visible -- she slipped behind a tree, and began waving her way ahead of him.

Hruine was the only acolyte in this forest who made no effort to hide his own presence. He was very audible, and it was very foolish. Arainthe could track him by sound alone. Clearly, the boy had little clue on how to navigate the woods. That he made it this far without beasts or danger was a miracle, although Arainthe wondered if Taiu imparted more than just directions the day before. Probably. The thought left a sour feeling in her mind.

Her priorities, however, were straight. Darger was more dangerous than Hruine. While typically an aloft, icy bastard who bested her in every way within the Temple, Hruine was still a honorable sort. He had no friends, but he made no enemies. Mostly, he was just very good at practical magics. That would be useful to her now.

When she judged that she was sufficiently close to him, she dropped her hood and stopped trying to remain quiet. Instead, she blundered through the trees, signalling her arrival with all her might.

No one stayed so silent without an ulterior motive, after all.

Then, seemingly accidentally, she stumbled through a bush of ferns and dropped directly into his path.

---

His brows furrowed upon seeing her, and he took half a step back. Otherwise, he made no overt actions.

“Ah.” She smiled peevishly and picked herself up, patting twigs out of her hair. “I think I’m ah… a little lost.”

She looked like it, too. Stumbling clumsily through the woods for the past few minutes garnered her a few rips in her cloak and muddied her leggings. There were small twigs in her hair, and a thin scratch on her cheeks. She looked harmless, mostly, with that smile and sheepish demeanor, and just a tint of fear in her eyes. Hruine must have thought the same, because outside of watching her, he did nothing else.

“Are you… ah, also looking for the Temple?” she asked. He looked larger up close, and his hands were clenched tight around some sort of compass.

He nodded once, and eyed her suspiciously. Cautious.

“Follow the marks,” he said coldly, nodding towards his chalk marks. “Should bring you back.”

“I… I came across a few others at the back. They were carrying swords,” she said, pulling her arms close to herself. Half-truths worked better than whole lies. She was slowly reeling this fish in. “Doesn’t feel it’s safe to go back, even if I knew how.”

She saw his frown at the mention of others and swords. His eyes passed over her from head to toe searchingly. She flicked open her cloak to show that she carried no weapons. His stance relaxed slightly at that.

“Can I…” she wetted her lips. “Can I follow you for a bit? At the back. I won’t go into the Temple, promise.”

There was long stretch of silence before he finally nodded.