Barefoot, no socks or shoes to protect her feet as Paisley trudged her way towards the wall surrounding Iron Keep. She already knew Stellan and Roland had been pestering her to wear 'proper' boots, and now she had no choice. The worst part of it all being how she was going to explain what happened to them. Should she be honest? Declare she threw one of them at a boar to protect her precious bow? Stellan would understand, or so she thought, but what about Roland?
Then to top it off her socks, discarded with the stench of skunk permanently soaked into their fabric. "Best to test the waters with Stellan" she thought, knowing eventually she would have to report to Roland about the Templar she had encountered on her failed 'hunting trip'. As she made her way through towards Stellan's tent Paisley ignored the eyes baring down on her. At least she wasn't injured, and despite her lack of footwear didn't look half bad.
This did not stop the whispers and laughs though as she passed, and Paisley found it almost impossible to keep her own opinions to herself. Rather proud for not completely destroying another Legionnaire verbally Paisley pushed back the opening to Stellan's tent, stepping in as she looked around for him.
"Stellan?" Paisley had not really even talked to Stellan since they arrived, only seeing him passing by a few times and giving a friendly wave. It was clear that he was not there, an eerie silence falling after she called his name. Setting her bow and quiver down Paisley walked around the tent, taking in the sights of Stellan's latest projects. He truly was talented, something she clearly saw when he repaired her bow.
Even still Paisley considered what he had done for her the most memorable act of kindness ever displayed towards her. Not only did he fix her bow, but he improved it. Not with beautiful and expensive details, but with the heart of his father's bow. And then to top it all off he personalized it, carving a symbol of her catchy nickname into it along with every arrow she now carried. Paisley knew none of this was necessary as Stellan could have easily saved himself time by handing her the basic bow most of the scouts carried.
"Rothsfeild?" another voice breaking the silence as Paisley turned around. It was Private Bricker, the renowned sleepwalker from her old unit.
"He seems to be out" she laughed, scratching the back of her head as she stood embarrassed with no boots.
Bricker's eyes trailed down Paisley's body before resting on the very thing she was so embarrassed about. "I won't even ask"
"Best not to."
An awkward silence fell between them as they lacked any real connection outside of being tent mates not so long ago. Paisley could never look at him the same way after the night she awoke to him sitting on his matt shoving horse feed down his throat as if it were dinner. In an attempt to break the silence Paisley finally spoke up...
"Anything interesting happen while I was away?" By this time she had begun to make her way towards the stool that always seemed to be in Stellan's tent.
"The Mordecai Grand Master came! It was quite exciting! There was even an attack while she was here. It all ended rather quickly though, long before most of us could come to the Commander's aid. She ended up leaving the next day... don't know what will come of all of it."
Paisley's brow raised at the statement, this truly being a significant detail indeed. "And the Commander? Is he okay?"
"Seems to be" it was clear Bricker was ill informed on the subject, something she herself would probably look into later. As of right now, Roland was alive and that was all she really needed to know.
"I will tell Rothsfield you stopped by." Her words clearly stating that she didn't want Bricker to stick around any longer. Thankfully, he got the hint and left with a nod.
Once again alone Paisley sat on the stool staring at everything inside the tent, already growing quite bored with the loneliness she demanded. "Maybe Bricker should have stayed..."