Open Spaces, Strange Places(Nizzy)

[Looshi]

Jon had been on the road for days. The cool wind of winter was settling in and chilling his bones, even with the many layers of clothing he donned. He shifted his pack on his back, moving the weight to his other shoulder. The sun was high in the sky, and clouds were drifting from the horizon. Maybe it would snow, he thought, and swallowed back a lump in his throat. He didn't like roughing it out in the snow; it was cold, damp, and difficult to navigate. He could see his breath on the air, and he shielded his eyes with a hand to try and see into the distance.

A windmill. His heart jumped. That could possibly mean a farm. His walking pace quickened with new hope. The safety of a barn would meet him. Although he didn't look forward to smelling the animals, or maybe finding an ornery horse. He didn't really want to be trampled on. At least not before he came back to Home with the news he was able to hear.

Jon walked further down the road, his feet starting to ache with the day's long journey. Farmland was coming into view; bare of the crops of spring and summer. It looked empty, sad, and his heart wished for the mild summers of Connlaoth. But that was not going to happen, so he kept walking.

[nizzy]

Olwen felt uncomfortable out on the road, but with travelling through farmland, there was no way else to travel. She kept one hand on her knife, even though if she was attacked, she would probably do no better with it than waving it in the hope that it would scare the attacker off.

She shivered violently.

Her fur helped her stay warm, but it stopped at her waist and she did not have nearly enough layers on her top half to be warm. She was not looking forward to the prospect of a freezing night out in the open. It was times like this when she would consider spending a night around people if it meant warmth, but the little money she had was running out, so she had no option but to face the cold. But at least she had several more hours before it would be getting dark to hope that it would warm up.


She shivered again, even more violently.

On the road ahead she noticed a figure moving towards her. It was just another traveller, who would most likely pass her without even speaking a word to her, but she still glanced round for some place to hide, but there was no where.

[Looshi]

Jon stopped once he spotted a fellow person down the road. His heart caught in his throat, and his first thoughts went to Mordecai. They always did. And once before he did have the pleasure of passing them while they were on patrols. They paid him no mind. Perhaps not even recognizing his face from a noble family. Was his family even looking for him?

No time to dwell on that.

He steeled his courage and continued the way he was going, his face flush with anticipation. As he drew closer, his eyebrows raised. She was a girl in a skirt. His features scrunched up - she must live nearby. Skirts weren't exactly good travelling wear, but neither were they common amongst the working class.

As he came closer, he gave a small wave to the girl, showing that he was friendly and meant no harm.

"Are you all right? It's awfully cold out to be wearing that. You live nearby?" He said. "Hi, I'm Jon."

[nizzy]

He had spoken to her. Olwen's heart beat faster and her mind prepared itself to run should he show the first sign of being like some of the people she had come across before. Looking at him, the man didn't seem to be aggressive, and his concern for her warmth did seem real, but she had no way of knowing if it were simply an act.

As she answered him, she tried her best not too shiver too much, so he had no more reason to stay, "I-I-I'm fine."

Unfortunately, just as she had spoken the words, a cold breath of wind caused her to shiver in a way that could not be passed off as anything else. She cursed herself for choosing this path, and not one where she could have hidden from the eyes of anyone who crossed her path.

[Looshi]

"You don't seem fine." He said, frowning. Jon wasn't a heartless sort of person. In fact he took whatever advantage to play the hero.

"Do you live around here?" He continued, looking over to a house and a barn a little ways down the road. They didn't look lived in, and that was a problem.


((OOC: So short, sorry!))

[nizzy]

"N-n-no... I-I-I don't live anywhere." Olwen shivered. It didn't look like there was going to be anyway to get out of Jon's help, but at least she could get a warm night out of it.

Accepting the situation, she tried to squash some of her fear, Jon seemed nice, and to genuinely wanted to help, but part of her couldn't trust him, and was scared stiff of what he could do if he wasn't all he seemed.

[Looshi]

Didn't live anywhere? That was terrible! Even if he was out on the road, he still had a home to go back to. But, but this girl didn't? He felt real bad about that.

"How are you even surviving?" He asked, it was a rather rude question, but that didn't occur to him before it left his mouth. Jon didn't see a pack, or even warm clothing in her possession. He looked to the barn a little ways away, and pointed.

"Nevermind, I can ask you all sorts of questions when we're out of the cold. There's a barn over there, if we can sneak in, we might have a place for the night." He said.

[nizzy]

Until Jon's question, Olwen hadn't even realised how hard her way of life must seem to others. It had only been 2 years that she'd been living like this, but she'd almost forgotten how it had once been. Not that she had forgotten the others, just how it felt to have others and a place to stay.

Once they were inside the barn, and her chattering teeth weren't almost drowning out her speech, she answered Jon's question, "I guess I get by with what I can forage, I sometimes have to steal a bit of food from fields, sheltering in groves of trees and the odd ruin of a building in the worse of weather. I've been living like this for quite a while, so I guess it's just become normal for me. It's okay though."

That last comment was mostly for Jon's sake, she didn't want him taking pity on her and sticking around, and she especially didn't want him inviting her to stay with whatever family he had. But it wasn't completely untrue, she got by okay, she coped with how she was living, and that was all that was needed.