``Out of the way :: Open

[.::rumor]

It had been day's since Rumor had left Veridan, the last village she had come by. It was much like the rest of the villages she had been through. A few farmhouses, growing nothing but bushes and dry herbs. A square, set in the center of it all, and a schoolhouse. Schoolhouses weren't common in these parts, or any other as far as she could gather, but Veridan had been lucky enough to have someone patient enough to open one recently. Like every other village of the north, Veridan had more children than it could handle, so the schoolhouse was well worth it. Rumor had taken to dancing in the square to earn her way. There was no one in Veridan that would board her, even if they needed work done. She ended up having to earn what coins she could in the square, and hope that someone in the village would take payment in exchange for a floor to sleep on.

Rumors feet were growing tired, and her eyes heavy. The sun was starting to set, and there was still no village in sight. A woman in Veridan had told her that Filian was only around four days in this direction. Today was the sixth day, and still nothing. She slowed down, wondering if it would be worth it to keep walking until dark, and hope that the village was just out of sight. If she did that, then she was putting herself in more danger than it was worth if she didn't find the village just around the corner. It was always safer to stay still at night in the mountains.

"What do you think Ros?" The glass woman peeked out from the pouch around Rumors neck. "How far do you think Filian is?"

Ros seemed to think for a while before answering. Rumor knew that she was thinking back to the few maps they had found in the Veridan schoolhouse. "We should be able to see it from around that corner up there," she answered finally, "But we wont reach it before halfway through the night. It's better to stay where we are, or just go as far as the turn up there."

They went for the turn in the trail. It hardly took them any time at all to get there. It was almost dark now, and Rumor took the shabby fabric they used as a makeshift tent and blankets out of her bag. She swung the shabbiest of the blankets over the branch of a bare, dying tree, and made as warm a bed as she could underneath. She knew better than to go too far off the track. The creatures tended to stay away from the roads, as little traveled as they were, hardly roads at all. She too her brown jacket out from her bag, and lay it over the makeshift bed. A bunch of shaggy holey blankets, and no pillow. She needed new ones, but she rarely came by any village where they could spare blankets. It was a poor place in the north, and Rumor couldn't understand why people stayed here, or even why she stayed. They'd never make it in Ombra, she thought, as she seated herself outside of the tent, placing Rosmerta gently on the ground next to her, and began working on a fire. She didn't need to move to find wood, there were twigs all around. They weren't big, but her fires never got big enough to need anything larger than twigs to keep it going. She had never been very good at this part of surviving. Filian, if it was really there, was invisable in the distance, as a few sparks came to life in the pit.

[Jacqueline]

Jacqueline peered into the darkness, brushing her messy hair back from her face. She was exploring the mysterious north once more, though she had been staying near Ombra for some time now. However, she had never liked the city, and so, she had left again. Kamikaze, her marten, did not like the city either- he liked, instead, to be free and to weave through trees- and apparently, jump out of them, as well.

"Kamikaze, wait up," Jacqueline said, running after her marten. The girl was almost drunk on her feet with exhaustion. She had not slept for days on end, almost three now, but she couldn't, either. She was a bit afraid of the north, and all the creatures in the middle of the night. They weren't any different from the rest of the world, at least not that she noticed, but it seemed much spookier to see a snake in the middle of the day in the north than in the middle of the night anywhere in the south.

Kamikaze slowed down at Jacqueline's voice, turning to watch her. She came level with him and scooped the small animal up in her arms, his warm, soft fur brushing against her cheek when she put him on her shoulder, brushing her own hair out of the way. Then she continued on, looking for somewhere to pitch her 'tent.' Sadly, all she had were two old blankets, but it was getting warmer, and she wasn't as concerned as she would be in the middle of the winter. She had warm enough clothes, anyway, with a heavy traveling cloak over her shoulders.

Up ahead, she noticed a glow of light- a fire, perhaps. "Are there any villages around here?" she wondered aloud. She had not had time to look at a map recently, and wasn't even completely sure where she was. She only knew which direction she was heading, and even then she only knew when the sun was up.

Slowing her pace and stepping carefully, Jacqueline approached the glow. As she inched closer, she saw that, sure enough, it was a fire. She could see one body near it, but that didn't mean there was only one person there. Perhaps one was in the trees, collecting fire wood. Perhaps they were scouting ahead, or maybe the person at this fire was the one in the lead. Was there a possible threat behind her? Turning to look, Jacqueline made one basic mistake- she forgot to watch where she was going, and heard the sharp crack of a twig, beneath her own foot. She winced, drawing her knife, just in case, and froze. The slightest movement, she knew, could and would alert the person at the fire.

[.::rumor]

The fire caught easily onto the dry trigs after the first few sparks sprang to life. Rumor rubbed her dry, calloused hands together, trying to get rid of the feeling of the wood spinning between them. Her palms burned from the effort of making such a small fire. Rosmerta pulled herself closer, and huddles, shivering against her leg, something she did rarely, and only when there was something wrong. She poked a few twigs into place in the tiny excuse for a fire, trying to listen for whatever it was that Rosmerta sensed in the darkness. She heard nothing right now, but Rosmerta's ears were much more keen than hers.

"What is it?" Rumor whispered, not wanting to tempt any wildlife nearby to come any closer to the fire. Even a small pit such as this one was capable of keeping animals at bay, Rumor knew from experience. Few times she has stared across a fire at a wolf, or some other wild creature, safe in knowing that it would come no closer to the heated glow she hid behind. She was brave at times, when there was no one around to witness it. Rosmerta was silent, after only a few seconds, there was not reason for her to reply. This time Rumor heard it too. There was the sound of a cracking twig not to far away, back along the way they had come.

She paused in sticking a twig into the fire, feeling the heat on her hand, but ignoring it. She listened for another sound, but none came, and Rosmerta kept shivering, hiding in the shadow of Rumor's leg.

"Probably just an animal," she said calmly, her stomach knotted, anxious. All the same, she tried to peer out of the corners of her eyes in the direction the sound had come from, moving her head only slightly. It was too dark now to see any further than the small ring of light afforded by her pitiful fire would allow. No animal would come much closer than that. Neither would someone following you if they were smart, she thought, becoming increasingly paranoid after the thought crossed her mind. She couldn't see anything, but she was in the light. They would be able to see her. She pulled her hand out of the fire as the heat became too much for her skin to handle, her fingernails feeling strangely tight against her sweating skin. Her hand gripped the twig tightly, burning on the end, as she began to whistle to calm herself. Night had a way of playing games with you.

[Jacqueline]

Jackie, holding her knife in front of her, slowly approached the small fire. She had little choice. Her options were clear: one, stay where she was, frozen still, the entire night. No patience, antsy, not to mention exhausted. It certainly wouldn't help her if she fell down asleep in the middle of the path with a possible hostile in sight. So that option gets a 'no.' Two, sneak quietly off the path and sleep just inside the woods, with no fire, no warmth, no food. That wasn't going to happen either. Three, try to sneak past and hope she wasn't noticed. Jacqueline wasn't always great at passing by silently, as proved just a moment ago. That left four, approach the mysterious fire and observe- maybe even approach- the person there.

Carefully, still holding the knife in front of her, Jacqueline slinked closer to the fire, noticing for the first time that the person there was looking in her direction. But thankfully, she couldn't yet be seen, with the contrast between the ring of light from the fire and the area around it. So she moved ever closer, quite until she realized this might be a bad move. What if she were to surprise the person at the fire? So the girl straightened up completely and walked closer to the fire, not watching her step. There were several more cracks of twigs and the rustle of leaves, and Jacqueline lowered her knife, but still held it in her hand, ready to use if need be.

She stepped into the ring of light made by the fire and looked at the person there. Now that she was so close, she studied her for the first time. A girl, with bright red hair, not at all neat, and much shorter than Jacqueline's. A wanderer, then, in all likeliness. She had green eyes and was very pale. "Hello," Jacqueline said, her voice cautious. She noticed a glass women against the girl's leg, and Kamikaze peeked his head over her shoulder. He had been in her backpack, though he preferred the night to day to begin with.

[.::rumor]

Rumor continued humming off-key, and kept listening for more noises. Rosmerta kept shivering against her leg, even more now that Rumor had shown that she knew there was someone there too. "It's just an animal," she repeated, trying to comfort herself as much as the glass child. The silence following for moments after the statement seemed to give some truth to her words, until the rustling and cracking of twigs became closer and more pronounced. Intentional. At least we know they're not trying to sneak up, she thought, but didn't say anything. Being sarcastic would only upset Rosmerta even further, and rumor had no intention of doing that, until she knew they were safe at least. She turned her head fully to face the noise now. If this person, or perhaps creature wasn't going to be shy about their approach, she wasn't going to be shy about watching for them.

Finally she could see them. A Girl, presumably around her own age, blond haired, and looking worse for wear to say the least. Perhaps she was a performer, or a wanderer like herself. She didn't fail to notice the knife in the girls hand. "Hello," she said in return, then turning to Rosmerta, "it's a girl. Chicken." This had not effect at all on the girl, and she kept shivering against her leg. Looking up, Rumor noticed the marten that had poked its head out of the strangers bag while she hadn't been looking. "Ah, so that's what you're on about."

She looked the girl over again, looking for any more surprises, before turning her attention back to stoking the fire. "If you're going to sit, then sit, and tell that creature to leave the glass woman alone. It's the only way she'll calm down." She told her. Being polite was never something she was very good at. Something told her the girl didn't have violent intentions, but she was armed. "On the other hand, if you're going to put that knife to use, do so quickly. If I have the chance to run, I doubt you'll catch me."

[Jacqueline]

Jacqueline smiled. The chances that she was going to be killed by this wanderer weren't good, if she had been invited to sit by her fire. On the other hand, it could just be Jacqueline, as she still trusted too easily. "Kamikaze, leave the glass women alone," she told her marten, and he slid out of the backpack and into his master's arms. Jacqueline looked up, across the fire, as she folded her legs under her and sat down.

"I'm Jacqueline," she said. Then, holding her arms out a bit, she introduced the marten. "This is Kamikaze. He's a very strange marten, so if he seems crazy, it's not just you. He won't hurt you or the glass women, though, he's very peaceful." Realizing that she was still holding the knife, she put it away in her backpack. "I have no doubt you could out run me. I'm not very fast."

Digging through her backpack, Jacqueline smiled at the memories the items in it triggered. Many were simply strange-shaped leaves or sticks with odd patterns carved into them, carefully put away so the back remained clean for food and clothing. Now, Jacqueline removed some bread from her pack and tore a chunk off, which she stuck in her mouth. She put a large, flat stone near the edge of the flames and put the other piece of bread on it, to warm it, then moved to her right a bit so she was leaning against a large rock. Once again, she picked up her bag, bringing out more bread. She passed a chunk of it across the fire to the other girl and gave the smaller piece to Kamikaze, who nibbled it happily at her feet, though she knew he would rather be hunting, and would be if she hadn't forbidden him to away from Ombra. There was no need for him to give her away in the north, and she had no intention of letting him.

[.::rumor]

"They call me Rumor," She told the girl, watching her out of her peripheral as she tended the small fire. "This is Rosmerta," she motioned to the glass woman, who was still hiding behind her leg, watching the marten with an awed expression. "He's tame," Rumor assured her, before softening, and picking her up, and placing the tiny girl back in the sling around her own neck, exposing her wounded glass legs momentarily. "Is that better?" Rosmerta nodded, and relaxed into the fabric, peeking over the top of the folds to watch the other girl, now that she was safe.

Rumor did the same, placing her poking twig(it could hardly be called a 'stick') back on the ground in front of her, and turning to the unexpected guest. Now that the girls knife was away, and she had admitted that she could not run fast, Rumor had to admit that she too felt more at ease. "Where do you hail from?" She asked out of pure curiosity. It was a rare feeling for her, due to it being a rare thing for her to communicate with someone outside of a village. There was no need to ask where one was from when you were a guest in their house.

She was surprised when the girl handed her a chunk of bread. She had no food of her own left, having only taken enough supply for half as many days of travel, thinking the journey would be shorter than it was. It wasn't like she would have offered a stranger her food anyway. She wasn't very good at meeting people. It wouldn't have occurred to her as the proper thing to do. She nodded in thanks, instead of saying anything and took a bite of the hard stale bread, before deciding to follow Jacqueline's lead, and warm the rest of it by the fire. Unlike Jacqueline though, she was not 'dainty' enough to bother placing it on a stone, and instead just dropped it on the ground. She had bigger worries than a little bit of dirt. She felt a nudging on her chest, and looked down to see Rosmerta smiling sweetly, and eying the bread. "No," Rumor told her sternly, instead shoving a twig with bark still attached into the sling. The girl gave her a sour look, before disappearing into the sling.

[Jacqueline]

Jacqueline chewed on the bread thoughtfully for a few moments, watching the girl. She swallowed, then felt the bread by the fire, though she knew it would take a little while to warm. She wasn't patient, however, and would probably end up eating the bread cold anyway. "Well, I was born up here somewhere, I don't know exactly where. I usually stay near Ombra, but I hate the city, so sometimes I come up here, to the mountains."

Kamikaze finished his bread and darted off into the woods. Jacqueline watched him go and sighed. "I am going to kill that marten," she said, turning back to Rumor. "I told him not to hunt up here, just by cities and towns- it's safer. So what does he do? Ignores me. That marten has a death wish, I swear."

[.::rumor]

Rumor watched the marten run away. She didn't mind his leaving. It actually made her feel more at ease, and she was sure that Rosmerta was probably a lot more amiable now that he had left too. "He's an animal," Rumor told her, like she didn't already know, "he will be fine. It's his place in the wild." She shook her head, and started rummaging through her own bag, looking for her flask. She couldn't remember if there was anything left in it, but she was thirsty. "The creatures around these parts have more interest in human victims anyway." She didn't stop to think about the fact that this was probably the opposite of a comfort to the girl.

She finally found her flask, and pulled it out. She gave at a hopeful shake, and was glad to hear water swishing around inside. She took a measured sip, too used to saving supplies. It was warm, but it was still relieving. Just as she was about to screw the top back into place, Rumor spotted the girl out of the corner of her eye, and looked down at the bread.

She shoved the water toward the girl, not even bothering to look at her while she made her offer. "Just don't drink it all," she said, in a tone that she hoped sounded more generous than she felt.

[Jacqueline]

Jacqueline didn't mind the comment about human victims- she certainly knew that already. She was a bit of a coward, though, and she looked over her shoulder, hoping not to see any eyes behind her. She then pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees, and closed her eyes. They opened when Rumor spoke next.

"No thank you," Jacqueline said, putting out a hand. "I have water." She rummaged through her pack, bringing out her own water and holding it up, then taking a sip of it. "Thanks anyway, though." She put the water back, then leaned her head back against the rock and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest around them.

[.::rumor]

Rumor shoved the flask of water back into her bag. It didn't bother her any at the girl didn't accept. More for her. Rosmerta popped her head out of the sling, seeming more confident now that the animal had run off somewhere. She was still chewing on a piece of bark she had pulled off of the twig Rumor had given her.

"What's Ombra like?" She asked Jacqueline. "We've never been further than the outer wall. Mum's scared of big cities."

Rumor glared down at the glasswoman. "I'm not scared. I just don't trust crowds." She looked back to Jacqueline, with a forced smile. "You might as well answer her," she said loudly, countering Rosmerta's argument with her by blocking it out, "she can get annoying."

Rumor reached down and touched the piece of bread she had thrown down near the fire. It was still cool, but warmer than the last piece she'd bit. She tore off another small piece and bit into it, leaving the rest where it was.