Tryst with the Ocean (Mal)

[Anonymous]

It had been an outstanding journey from Hyoite for the elven woman. She had begun her task at her home town and followed the mountain chain the whole way down to Adela, where she restocked in Ketra.  It had taken her quite some time to get from point A to point B, so much so that she had nearly run out of supplies. Thankfully she managed to keep her arrow usage to a minimum and was able to keep her stomach from eating itself.

Adela was a nice place, even though she had only been there for a short time. The huntress in her roved over all of the skins that were available in the shops--which meant the hunting around the area had to be good. It crossed her mind to relocate to the more  interesting city, but she'd always long for the colder, more harsh and testing environment.

Absynthe's deep green hair fluttered in the wind, happy to have some time to relax.  The ocean's song calmed her stress, and she closed her eyes momentarily before remembering she was in a foreign place. The water's spell was slightly broken as she began to twirl her dagger in her hand. It was a graceful rotation of her wrist that made it seem like a dance, not to mention her fingers tossing it up by the blade only to have it fall back down into her open palm to restart the process.

The hair on the back of her neck pricked, attempting to alert her to a passer by, but she ignored it. Her ears told the tale of a couple walking the beach, and her heart smirked at them. A few memories tickled her mind, and she fought them off without much effort. The past was not what she was searching for. She was still on the earth only because she was interested in now.

[Anonymous]

the tides were low by this time of day,   and the sweet aroma of the seaside wild grass and wheat hung thick around him,   the mingled with the smell of the salt in the ocean.  The call of gulls and the lapping of the ocean waves battling endlessly with the shore was a sort of justifiable symphony,  serenity and calamity mixed together.   Malious tended to find things so poetic while he worked,  and as it stood he was basically freelance.   He no longer had the tools of his old group but none the less he still worked with a brutal efficiency.

Malious took stock of the surroundings.   A woman had been meandering along the shore for some time now but by her look she didn't seem the type to interfere,  if nothing else she looked like she'd take some kind of amusement in what was about to happen.   This was not something he was certain of however so he still readied himself for the possibility of interference.   His ear twitched as he picked out the sound of the couple.    There was his mark.  

He had paid off the mans consort a not insignificant amount of gold to carry out her end of the bargain,  which was to isolate him and give him a proper distraction while Malious came out to do his end of the deal.   It was a short time before she walked into the water wading out to hip depth and calling him out.   Then came the real distraction,  she fell in and started to thrash as if she were starting to drown.   Then came the "valiant" hero of a man rushing out to save her.  

Often times in situations like this,  people don't pick up on small details.   Like the depth of the water,   though it was hip deep for the woman and she was edging closer to the shore to a point where it would come to about the shins on her.  It's depth would be little hindrance to a man at malious' height and size.  It was at this time he decided to move.  Springing up from the wild grass and rushing across the sand.   If the man took notice of him he would think he was doing nothing more than attempting to help him save the woman....

Oh how wrong an assumption that was.   Malious sprinted along the sand  wearing simple green cloth breeches and was sans boots and shirt.  He didn't want everything he had to get wet and wet leather boots means no comfort.   So far as on lookers would be concerned he would look like nothing more than a simple beach goer.   There was but one flaw with that observation though.   It was the wicked looking Damascus scimitar that hung on his hip, one couldn't get much detail out of it now but the blade itself was very distinct.

Before he knew it his feet touched the cold water of the ocean and his hand slid to the handle of the wicked blade.   His hand seating neatly under the custom hilt as he gripped it and unsheathed the blade.   Time seemed to slow down in Malious' mind's eye.   Everything slowing down as reflex and instinct took over.  Adrenaline pumping keenly through veins as the heat of the moment took over.   His left arm moved up and slid around the mans neck,   with the tip of the wide curved blade entering the mans back in the center severing the spine, intestines and cutting through organ and flesh simply enough with little to no effort considering Malious drove it home with his weight and momentum.  The blade tilted slightly and cut down to the hip and out as the blade came free from the man.

Blood poured from the gaping wound and spilled into the water tinting the usually green-blue of the ocean a deep red.  Malious' foot came up kicking the man and shoving him into the water letting the riptide and current drag him out to sea.   He flicked the blade free of blood and re-sheathed it as things came back into perspective and regained its normal speed,  adrenaline causing him to hear his own heartbeat and feel his heard thumping in his chest and along his temples.  He extended his hand to the woman  to pull her on shore nodding to her.   Deadpanned as if nothing ever occurred.  "The rest of your money is waiting in the place we discussed."  

With that he turned and walked casually towards the place where he was camped up at before.   Passing a glance to the other woman on the beach to get her reaction to the situation.   He didn't really pay too much attention and for all intents and purposes didn't care she was there unless she felt the need to avenge the man for whatever reason.  Ultimately he completed his task and was finishing his procedure before collecting on the debt owed him.

[Anonymous]

As opposed to widening in surprise, Absynthe's vision narrowed as he lids left only a sliver of sight to be had.  Her hand tightened on her dagger at first, but it was easy to see it wasn't a madman on the loose. It was merely a contracted murderer fulfilling his duties. From the looks of how he moved she could gather he was quite skilled with his job.

She inwardly smirked as the body was soon impossible to see, and would probably be eaten by some water dwelling creatures relatively soon. Icy grey orbs turned then on the other woman, who obviously was happy with the work the assassin did. Her eyes finally trailed back up to the killer, catching his eyes on her. The thought of turning him in played across her mind, and she kept herself from smirking outwardly.

She slid her dagger back into its metallic sheath and began her way following the mysterious man's footprints. She kept a respectable distance from him before starting the confrontation. "Hey," she called with a light voice, "nice job back there. You've obviously got a couple heads hanging on your wall at home."  Whether she meant it as a compliment or was being facetious was something for a detective to figure out.

[Anonymous]

Malious paid this newcomer no mind at first,  reaching into the grass and pulling up a small black bag.   He disrobed completely obviously not in the least bit shy.   and withdrew his dry clothing from the bag.   He pulled up black leather breaches and put on a deep green cloth artisans shirt.  Soon he was pulling on the black boots and standing back up putting his belt back on with the wicked scimitar hanging from it,  he then reached into the bag again withdrawing another weapon,   a dagger with a special sheath so that the squared off teeth on the back of the blade wouldn't get hung up.  He attached that to his belt and finally looked at the woman with those greenish blue eyes mirroring the environment he had just walked out of.

"I do not delight in taking another life.   It is simply my calling."   His voice was even,  no emotion or even so much as a rise from the receding adrenaline.   He reached into the bag and pulled out a small strip of sugarcane.   He looked at it and popped it into his mouth chewing on it.   From his experience the sugar would help return his body to its center without a pesky headache from the adrenaline high.  

"Is there something I can do for you?"  To this he watched her carefully  awaiting her stance to change to either that of a hostile one or remain in what she currently was.   Body language was a big thing in his line of work and he often used it to his advantage.   This was one of those times,   it was easy for even the most experience individual to telegraph their actions through body language.  His arms crossed over his chest as he looked to her and awaited her answer.

[Anonymous]

A thin brow matching her hair's color rose slightly at the assassin's lack of  giving a crap as he changed right before her. As tempting as it was to watch, she attempted to keep her eyes from keeping watch for too long.  Her hand would have like to grab her own dagger and...

"Well you don't dislike killing others." She broke her own train of thought with her own voice. Absynthe shrugged, not particularly caring that he didn't take joy in his occupation, though it was probably a good thing.  A bloodthirsty killer often had to be killed himself.

She thought about his second question for a moment before giving an answer. "You can entertain me. I certainly don't need anyone killed. I'm not so feeble that I can't do that myself."  She imitated the man before her, crossing her arms as well and shifting most of her weight to one leg. "I'm Absynthe from Hyoite. I just finished traveling from there to here not too long ago."

It was an attempt at a conversation at least. Getting to know other people wasn't something she usually did, but since she knew little about the area she was in, Absynthe figured acquiring some connections  couldn't be too bad... though conversing with a murderer probably wouldn't be very good on a record, but if no one knew then who could write it down?

[Anonymous]

"Entertain you?"   he didn't seem affected so much by the patronizing woman,   if she was looking for some kind of brash reaction then she was coming to the wrong place.   "I do the killing as my job,  I'm simply an instrument."   He picked up the bag and hitched it over his shoulder then got the wet cloth pants and threw them into a pre-dug hole nearby.  Kicking the small pile of sand next to it over the pants to cover them up.  

When he shifted there was the noticeable jingle of various unknown metal goods in his bag.  He peered at her and started to walk away from back through the wild grass.   "I know the land well enough.  What is it you are looking for here?"   He was obviously walking to a specific place and was doing so slow enough that she could follow with little effort.  

The ironic thing of the situation was,  he wasn't known and as it stood,  didn't want to be known,   his face plastered all over the place wouldn't be good for his business or his life,  and he made it a point to not be known by much of anyone. Never-the-less  he knew well enough what information to give that was safe enough to give.  "I am Malious.   I reside in La'marri so needless to say I'm a long way from home as well."  He wouldn't add that he refused to go into cities unless given a target inside of one.   Unless there was a inn along his route to and from where he was going he lived outside and survived on what he came across.   He was damn good at it too.

[Anonymous]

Absynthe merely smiled when he repeated the words she had spoken. It was a meager reaction, but it would do. As long as she could see he wasn't completely soulless, she was fine. This man seemed fine with the fact that he defined himself as an instrument rather than a person. She wouldn't object,  seeing as she was using him as such at the moment just like the woman who was back on the beach.

"I'm not really looking for anything at the moment, just exploring. I followed the mountain chain until I arrived here."  Her feet began to move as she followed him, not content to be left behind. "I'm just looking for something to do, that's all... besides admire nature." Even though just by admiring nature she had been introduced to a killer. That in itself amused her.

"Well, Malious, I can't say it's a pleasure yet, but it's nice to meet you." A slow smile appeared on her face. If anything came from this, she had someone to bribe if she ever needed assistance with removing annoyances. "Where is it you are wandering to now?"

[Anonymous]

Malious continued along,   what she wasn't aware of was that the woman of earlier had nothing to do with the contract,  and the fact that she was there was proof alone of the influence he could hold over people.   It was a simple enough task to manage to get a person to do as one wished,   but Malious had it down to an art form.   There were times when he would talk a person who just saw their family die into helping out the killers in order to feed him information,  and they'd do it smiling.

"Home." that was a simple enough answer to her question.   He stopped at a small dip in the grass pushing it aside.  He had set up sand hare traps over the last few hours of him being here and was checking on them before heading along on his way.  He was lucky today having caught three hares which strangled themselves on the trap.   The knife came from the sheath and one could see the detail of the blade,   it was three inches wide and had the squared off teeth on the back designed to catch a blade and snap it with a skilled twist of the wrist. The blade itself looked to be made of iron and lined with silver and was honed to a razors edge.   The hilt was a little more elaborate curved in a way to deflect blows away from his hand with leather wrapped around the grip which was contoured to fit his hand.  It had a small dragons head at the pommel.

The knife sliced easily through the tough grass fibers of the home made traps and he lifted the catch up and started on.  "If you want to eat you are welcome to,  but it will be some time before I stop to cook these.   In the mean time if you are tired I have sugarcane for energy."    It was more than obvious he was used to this sort of thing taking everything around him in with a veterans eye.   "What else would you know of me?"  For as even as he sounded he seemed to be very candid about whatever information she wanted.  What he would tell her was absolute truth but he would never give away too much damning information.  It was a 'give/take'  sort of method he tended to use when speaking with people,  and more often than not he would get the information he wanted by the end of the conversation.

[Anonymous]

Home... well, if he intended on going all the way to La'marri she would have to hop off the train and find someone else to pester, or maybe she'd just hang on until she was chased away. She didn't know what she was going to do now that she'd found the end of the mountain chain, but she didn't plan on going back to Hyoite anytime soon. Not without having a story or two to bring back first.

"Thank you for the offer, but my stomach is fine for now."  Absynthe wouldn't accept food from another so soon, especially if it was hunted.  She still had a few arrows she could spend if she needed to, but for right now she was content to follow Malious and continue their meager conversation.

Absynthe pondered the question Malious had thrown into the air. There were many, perhaps infinite, topics she could choose from to throw at him to answer. The problem was choosing one of the multitude to ask. In the end, she picked one that seemed obvious to her and was perhaps a little personal,  but spicing the conversation up wouldn't hurt. "Have any family? Any pets?" A brow was raised as she inquired. "Friends, maybe?"

[Anonymous]

Malious continued along weaving a small patch through the wild grass, "No i have no family,  Nor do I have any pets.   my life forces me to stay fairly solitary I had at one time a hawk that would spot for me when I was much younger but time passes and I set him free."   He continued along the wild grass to the slowly receding sounds of the ocean.  "Friends are also a think I lack,  I've many contacts and acquaintances but no friends perse."  

He looked up at the sky and gauged how the weather would be on his travels for the day.   "I plan on passing along the southern ridge of the mountains around Zantaric,   across the Serha Plains and to the western coastline. Its a fairly direct route and not too inhospitable.    If you are exploring this is one of my frequent paths when I have to come to the eastern coast."   He walked along shrugging his shoulder to flip the bag around,  where he opened it and put the hares.  

"What gave you the wanderlust?"   He was referring of course to her want to explore,   generally people didn't just up and leave a familiar surrounding just cause they wanted to.   Not in this way at least.

[Anonymous]

Absynthe unconsciously smiled as Malious mentioned having a hawk as a pet. She'd had her own bird of prey has a faithful companion a few years back as well. Her feathered friend, however, fell to a cruel joke by some of the neighborhood bullies. She'd taught them their lesson though, with a few swift stabs to the hands. The lead bully was disabled from using a weapon since she severed an important tendon... but she never gave it much thought and credited it to karma.

The elven woman withdrew her dagger, giving it a quick flick before beginning to twirl it again, something she did when her hands grew bored. "Hyoite is nothing but white. Living in a world without color, definite color, is sometimes depressing." Absynthe gave a quick jerk of her head to clear some of her bangs from her face. "I also wanted to see what there was to hunt down here. From what I've seen in Ketra, there's an abundance of things in the forests of Adela."

Her frame stopped for a moment so Absynthe could stretch; vigorous exercise from traversing mountains had made her muscles slightly tense after resting. She caught back up easily enough before speaking again. "Is there anything interesting over in La'marri?"

[Anonymous]

"you have the nihai woods out there and then the tuor ocean,   beaches  and the sort all over the place,  theres the wildlife from both of those locations and La'marri as well,   you can also catch a boat to the Yoreiq Islands."  he meerly shook his head as he heard her talk about hunting.

"Theres much to be found all over the place here, it's all in how you look for it."  He continued along   walking west along the grass and stony areas with little effort.  While he normally would have taken a trip like this by himself the company was helping burn the time away.  

"You are certain you are not hungry?   I dont mind setting up a fire if need be"  It was obvious to him that she had been traveling for quite some time and needed the rest anyway   so he didn't mind having to stop.

[Anonymous]

"So there's no shortage of places to hunt... that's good. I won't have to worry about starving." Absynthe said with a small smirk. Hunting wasn't just an occupation, it was how she amused herself when she wasn't socializing with people. Finding new spots to keep her sport going was also high on the list of things to be doing.

Absynthe rolled her grey eyes when Malious mentioned food again. "I'm fine. If I really needed to stop I would have just sat down." She tried to appreciate the concern he was showing her, if you could call it that, but as far as she could tell she felt fine. She had a decent night's sleep the day before and a decent meal that morning. She figured she'd be okay until dinner or later.

"You just worry about yourself and going where you're going." She nodded as she glanced around, taking note of her surroundings in her head. "Well, I've had my turn of asking you questions, why don't you ask me a few?"  The woman couldn't really find it in her heart to care if Malious was curious of her or not (and she imagined he really wasn't), but she couldn't think of anything else to ask to keep the words from coming to a halt.

[Anonymous]

He continued walking along with nothing more than a simple shrug.  "Very well.   Though I wasn't worried." There wasn't much he cared to know,   and he stated as much.  "Honestly, I couldn't care less about who you are or what your business is here.  not to give offense but unless you have something to do with my objective goals I don't care."  Then came those observational attributes of his mixed with a little occupational paranoia.  "Granted,   considering you walked up to me after I so blatantly carried out a goal,  I would think either you do the same work just are from a different organization or that you wanted to get information on me to turn me in or use it against me."

He again shrugged and looked back to the sky.  "In any case,   if that were the case,  you'll find you will be sorely lacking in information.   Very very few people know i exist,  and those people either want me dead and not in a prison,  or very much alive and working for them.  As for you taking me in,  I don't think you have the physical strength to subdue me,   in which case you'd have to kill me,   and we are close enough that I could have my blade out and split your bow like a twig before you could string an arrow."   He seemed rather unmiffed about all of this considering the circumstances.   but there was something about that even,  matter-of-fact, tone that he used that showed he meant every last word he uttered.  "Granted I wouldn't kill you in retort,  you'd simply be acting on greed at that point, and you aren't one of my targets.  I would however make it very difficult for you to make it back to civilization easily."

He paused for a moment.   "That, however, is not the path I'd like us to take.   As a matter of fact you seem like quite the nice person....  which leads me to my last observation.   If you are indeed in my field of expertize you would likely not attempt to attack me by any means out of professional courtesy.  Not to mention you'd recognize my skills to a fine point and would more than likely not still be here talking to me."   He stopped and turned looking at her with almost no interest showing in his features.  "So which is it?"   To which he turned once more and started walking slowly along the direction he was in before. Awaiting her answer.

[Anonymous]

Absynthe smirked as Malious confirmed her suspicion of him not caring who she was. Perhaps that was for the better so she didn't have to worry about him divulging any of her secrets... like she had any to keep under wraps, besides knowing this man.

As he listed off the possible situations that would happen should she attack him, she sheathed her dagger with a metallic click. He was right for the most part in the fact that she wouldn't be able to subdue him or maybe kill him. The only way to truly know would be to try, and she didn't intend for that to happen anytime soon.

"I can be an assassin, but that's only rarely." Absynthe spoke. "I'm not here to take your life or to try and drag you in to the authorities... although it would be a lie if I said I didn't think about it before I began this conversation with you." She shrugged and rolled her eyes with a quick smile. "I'm merely following you because I'm curious of who you are. Allies like you would be helpful, and by ally I mean a mutual agreement."  Even if that didn't happen, the little time she spent with the stranger had been entertaining to say the least.

"I will not attempt to attack you if you do not attack me. And seeing as I am not one of your 'goals', I don't think you have much to worry about." She finished, cracking her shoulder. "Is that a decent enough explanation?"

[Anonymous]

He continued walking with a simple "hrm"  as his reply.   There wasn't much else to expand on in the exchange.  "Well mutual agreements are fine,   if you need my help I'm at your disposal,  It's very rare that I find someone with enough courage to walk up to me as you have done right after what just took place."  He once again looked up not liking the slow churning of dark clouds on the horizon.

"It may rain tonight.  This close to the coast with the mountains to the north and the open plains to our west will likely make it a deluge.   It would be wise to look for cover for the night before it hits."  He once again flipped the bag around him like before by shifting his shoulder.   He withdrew a treated wide burlap cloth  folded neatly into a rectangle,  it was clear that alone took up much of the space in the bag.  It was a wonder he got anything else into it.

He started to look around and headed North west instead of due west at this point heading for the rocky foot hills of the mountain.  "You'd best come along, lest you wish to end up washed away by the torrent."

[Anonymous]

Absynthe couldn't help but snicker aloud at Malious and his comments about her courage. A lot of people probably would freak out and go tell someone and then be called crazy without any proof of what event. People dying didn't bother her... at least, people she had no connection to.

Her nose tilted slightly to the sky she took some quick breaths and nodded at what the murderer said. "I can swim, but I'd rather not get these clothes wet if I don't have to." Absynthe said with a tiny frown. "Should we gather firewood on the way before it rains, or don't you plan on making a fire?" Her eyes immediately began darting around looking for specimens.

[Anonymous]

He kept walking soon finding a small outcropping of rocks shortly ahead.  All the while he was pulling bits of the long wild grass and wheat as he walked and by time they had arrived at the out cropping he had a fairly large armful of the plant life.   The burlap sheet was around his shoulders to allow him to carry the grass as well.  The clouds were rolling in at a rate that was bothersome to Malious terrain like this was notorious for catching people off guard with its sporatic weather and this was another of those times.

Upon reaching the outcrop  he surveyed around the area moving around the rock until he found a slight slope leading away from it.   soon he flattened down an area just away from the rock about six feet away from it with his boot,   then dropped the small pile of grass.  He pointed to a lone tree on the rolling grasslands a little over 200 yards away.   "Well need three sturdy branches about six feet long a piece.   If you grab those I'll set this up here."   He didn't seem to leave a choice about it,  nor did the weather.   The wind was slowly picking up to become more constant causing the long strands of grass and wheat to roll over the hills like the waves on a vast gold and green ocean.

"We wont need wood for the fire so don't bother with that  just need three long branches that are sturdy."   He threw the pack down at the foot of the large rock and removed the burlap tossing it onto the pack.   Soon he was to clearing a small circle around where he dropped the grass earlier by uprooting the grass and wheat around it.  he piled it into the center,  until he had a good clearing set up.  The pile left there was fairly large,  and was enough to get a modest cooking fire set up.

He then pulled about half of that loose grass off and set it next to the rock. Then went to retrieve some of the very abundant rocks around the outcropping placing them in a small circle around the grass that lie in the man made clearing to establish a little control field.  After this was all set up he went back to his pack and pulled out a flint and tender and went to work on the grass which soon lit and started to smolder.  within a few moments of it being aided by the winds it was soon alive and dancing in its little circle giving off a good amount of heat.  

After this he picked up the burlap cloth and his bag,   which he started to load down with fairly sizable rocks.  when he had about 8 in the bag he hoisted it over his back with some effort.   It was heavy but not too bad,   it still took some effort to move with it.    He slowly made his way to the shorter side of the rock and climbed up the side using the dips carved into it by the winds of the plains.   it wasn't steep,   it was more a pain in the ass because of the weight and the wind but, never-the-less he made it.   he dropped the bag  and set out the burlap cloth straightening it out and unfolding it.

The cloth looked well used but sturdy and well taken care of.  It was about eight feet wide and when he further unfurled it, it came out to be about ten feet long.   It was obviously made to be a lightweight easy to transport shelter for the field.   He placed the sizable rocks down about every foot making sure to place them on the edges to prevent slapping cloth.  after this he slung the pack again and hopped down off the side of the rock tugging on the cloth side that now lie on the dirt below to test how the rocks held.   When Malious was satisfied he dropped the pack and waited for Absynthe to return with the pieces of timber.

[Anonymous]

As soon as Malious stated her part in setting up camp, the elven woman dashed towards the tree. By the time she got there she had an idea of what three branches she would choose for their makeshift camp. One leap landed her on a lower story branch, and she withdrew a different dagger from her boot, one what was better prepared for severing wood. She quickly cut around the circumference of the branch and when she thought she'd done enough, she grabbed a branch just above her head and used her feet to break it off.

When the branch was finished bouncing on the ground she picked out her other two branches and broke them off with the same method. She shaved off the excess twigs and glared at the sky, thinking that a droplet had landed on her forehead. Feeling the need to hurry, she attempted to carrying all three branches back to the campsite, and though it slightly strained her already tired muscles, she persevered and dropped them near the site.

"Anything else you need?" She huffed as she rested her hands on her knees so that she might take bigger breaths. She looked at the fire and smiled, knowing they wouldn't go cold for quite some time. "To tell you the truth, I've never seen a camp or slept in one. I'm used to lodges and caves." Her breath caught, she stood upright and waited for her next task as the wind ran its fingers through her lengthy hair.

[Anonymous]

"In my pack,   there are three pouches,   pull out the green one and the green one only  pull out the little framework from it and put the two triangles in the dirt on opposite sides of the fire.  make sure you unfold the legs before setting it in."   It was his cooking set and if nothing else it would be wise to have food cooked before the downpour.   He took the branches Absynthe brought over and began to whittle down the tips of them into fine sharp points.

Soon after he dug small post holes and fastened the sharpened branches in place by filling in dirt around them and placing small rocks around each of the three.   They all stood in a way to start about a foot into the edges of the burlap leaving a slight overhang for water to run off and down the slope.   Thankfully the cloth was set up in a way that it maintained a slope as well so none of the water would collect overhead and simply run off the sides and front onto the surrounding earth.

He pierced the burlap with the sharp ends and pulled off some of the cloth strings on his artisans shirt which would normally close off the cuffs and neck line.   With these he laced it into the holes and around the branches and proceeded to tie it off in a way to make it not slip and stay sturdy.   When he was satisfied with the integrity of the small shelter he surveyed his work for a moment.  There was a good six foot by nine foot area for them to stay under,  so it would be close but no uncomfortably so.

He looked at her then and turned to get the three hares and the small red pouch from the bag.   Malious then brought them to the fire and promptly used his dagger to gut and clean the hares  taking special care to make sure the blood fell into the fire to let it burn off and not attract the predators seeking a meal over the night.  He then opened the red pouch and reached in pulling out various herbs, pre-prepared most likely as he gathered them over his travels, and sprinkled them on the meat.

"Sleeping with only the stars are your ceiling is a good feeling.  It allows you to learn where you are in the world and understand your place in life."   Still he spoke with the same neutral tone,   his inflections wouldn't betray how much he enjoyed this part of his travels.  "Often times we forget what we are by staying in homes and shelters like that.   It is usually better to be out in the elements and experience the world as it is."