The words from Red’s mouth didn’t faze Aaerynn in the slightest. She didn’t look at him, and didn’t even turn around to acknowledge him. Instead she tried again, this time heeding his words as she changed to underhand form. The horseshoe still landed far from the stick. She paused momentarily, holding another horseshoe for yet another try. She didn’t care if any of them hated her. They should. Then they’d leave her the hell alone. That’s all she wanted. Aaerynn frowned as she threw the horseshoe and missed. The wood elf only stopped at the interruption of Serna and to eat the bowl of porridge. By this point, Red had taken Rudolf to bed and there was no way she was going to get her money. Even so, she didn’t care; she just wanted to do it once. --------- Setna smiled softly as he was hit in the back by the red headed warrior. "It gets better over time." Tirian told him. It was a little hard for the Syndarean boy to believe. It was still haunting him, the memories of killing still unfurling beneath the corners of his mind. After hours on end, Setna just didn’t want to think about it anymore. He had one person that was depending on him to be strong. He had one person to protect, and it left a bad taste in his mouth to think about it, but he would put his sister’s life over others. If he had to kill in order to keep her safe, he would do it again. He smiled though and replied, “Thanks.” Setna just needed to stay wary over how much pleasure he got out of driving his blade through another man’s skin. His eyes found his sister’s, who smiled as soon as he looked at her. Serna had worked hard to keep him safe. It was even their birthday, and all he had done was made her worry. So he gave her the best grin he could muster. “Shall we play?” Setna was surprised however as Elrithos approached and tried his hand at it…and over shot it underhand. [b]‘’This really is harder than it looks."[/b] Setna’s eyes widened as the desert elf began to laugh, and he too burst into laughter. He looked over to the wood elf, who seemed unamused but she had to be glad that she wasn’t the only one to have trouble. Setna grinned as he picked up a horseshoe and in one easy toss, hit the stick and watched the horseshoe ring around until it hit the ground. He pumped his fist in excitement and looked at Serna, who had picked up a stray horseshoe. Setna puffed his cheek a bit as he watched his sister come up to try. “Don’t do it that girly way Serie.” Serna just gave her brother a look and he shut up. The girl took the horseshow in two hands, and then lobbed it. It flipped once in the air before hitting the stick and Serna stood up straight with a smile. She turned to her brother, her smiling growing bigger. “It’s girly, but it works.” She giggled as Setna stuck his tongue out at her and he went to go pick up the rings. In the meantime, others took turns and Serna shyly went up to Caelis and Faith, asking if they wanted to play. Eventually, almost everyone was taking turns at pitching, and laughter had filled the air. Setna noticed that Aaerynn had moved into the background and he approached her with a horseshoe in hand. “Want me to teach you?” The question came out a bit too bluntly, and the boy felt his spine shudder at the absolute disgust and annoyance that came off of the wood elf’s face. He didn’t give up though, as he held out the horseshoe toward her, much like his sister with the flower. Aaerynn paused, her cold eyes looking into the face of the teenage boy. Setna felt like his face was being scanned, so he just grinned, hoping that she knew he wasn’t judging her for sucking. Eventually, the wood elf reached out and slowly took the horseshoe. Setna took that as an invitation, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. Aaerynn immediately tensed up and froze, allowing the twin to set her up at the proper distance from the stake. “Now, you just lob it. You have to be really gentle though. Uh let’s see…it’s kind of like….like…” The boy paused, rubbing the back of his head. Aaerynn just stood there, looking awkward and out of place. This was stupid, so incredibly stupid. The wood elf nearly turned to get away from the situation but the girl twin appeared and smiled. “It’s l-like trying to throw an egg without cracking it. Or a b-baby bird without injuring it.” She finished the sentence for her brother, although it was filled with her shy stutter. Setna smacked his fist against his open palm. “Right! You just want to barely hit the stake. Father always told us that it should flip in the air just once, before hitting the stick. He was the best at it…he could probably explain it better than we could. But try it anyway!” Aaerynn just stood there, feeling out of place at suddenly being thrown into the center of attention. The two twins were beaming at her. She looked at their faces and felt her chest grow tight. They were children still. The boy had killed his first enemies today and the girl had to watch it, even had to stop her brother from continuing to desecrate a dead body. Yet here they were, smiling and laughing and looking at this game like it was the most important thing as of this moment. They were stupid…and perhaps she was stupid too. She did as they instructed and lobbed it underhand. Her throw was gentle and finally it hit the stake with a ping. Setna threw his fist into the air as he whooped, and even the shy Serna jumped a bit, her face lit up with happiness. Setna grinned wide and looked up at the elf. Aaerynn had displayed no outward sign of happiness, no outburst of excitement. But the teenage boy could see a sign of peace there. It was like her body had finally relaxed, as she bathed mentally in her own success. Setna’s smile turned into a soft one. The wood elf had displayed nothing but tightness and annoyance throughout the past couple of days, but the teenage boy could see there was more to it than that. Aaerynn finally turned and retreated to a tree and the twins let her. She had only wanted to do it once and feeling accomplished, she moved out of the attention of the group to be on her own for the rest of the night. The rest continued with the game, the twins eagerly helping whoever wanted to learn more, and finally their seemed to be happiness within the group as a whole, instead of the usual tense silence. ------ As the hours went by, one by one the group began to disperse and ready for bed. A few members stayed up as watch while the others went to sleep. The twins fell asleep side by side. As the hours passed though, it was obvious that both were being tormented. Setna’s face was strained, his limbs flopping around in a nightmare while Serna’s face was pained, her body curled up into a ball. Yet it wasn’t until the morning light that Setna jolted, sitting up with wide eyes and sweat beading across his brow. It took him a moment as he realized that it was morning and that the others were getting up and beginning their morning routines. It took him even longer to realize that this wasn’t a part of his dream, and as he wiped his forehead, his shoulders finally relaxed. It had been a dream, just a dream. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief. He turned to get his sister up but all relaxation left his body as he saw her face. She was in obvious pain, her body tensed up and her small hand tightly holding onto her cloak pillow. Setna got on his knees and gently shook her shoulder. “Serie? Are you ok?” He mumbled, watching as an eye opened and his sister looked at him. “Mmm…” She mumbled back and gave a tight smile. That just made Setna frown and he placed the back of his hand against her forehead. She was burning hot. “Shit!” Setna got to his feet, rushing over to the spring. He ripped off a piece of his tunic, submerging it beneath the water then he came back to his sister who was already sitting up. “Stay down Serie, you’re sick.” He tried to place the wet rag on her forehead but Serna just took it instead. She gave him a smile and shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s just a headache Set. Besides we can’t stop, right?” Setna clenched his fists as he looked around the camp, at the others who were getting ready for another day of traveling. She was right. They couldn’t stop just for her. They had to keep moving. Setna’s eyes came back to his sister who had already got back to her feet. She wiped off her face with the rag and gave it back to her brother. She smiled gently as she said. “It’s ok.” Setna took it, but his shoulders slumped, his hands tightening into fists. For Serna, the presence of magic had always been inside her. She had always felt it. It just had never been strong until she had grown to a certain age. Now she could feel it flow through her veins on a constant basis, tingling her skin, always trying to find a place to settle. Usually it would stop, winding itself within her gut for a moment. But as the years went on and she kept it bundled up inside, the larger it grew. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. The more she tried, the more the power grew agitated. It beat against the back of her head, made her neck tense and her stomach churn. It was an instinct that she had to hold back on, on a daily basis. When the bandit had grabbed her the day before, it had only made it worse. It had raged within her, pulsing along with her heart, begging to be unleashed, to be used. As her body had gone into fight or flight mode, her magic beat against its container, begging to help, begging to protect. Touching the sword had only made it even worse. For some reason, just touching the steel made the magic in her spike as if it was reacting to something. Now she was left miserable, and shaking. Her head was aching in pain. She had been able to ignore it for most of the night while playing the game, but now it took out her ability to focus. Her brother helped her onto Deetri, and she slumped forward a bit as looking at the sunlight made the pain unbearable. She closed her eyes, hunched forward, her only thought was to just hold on and bare it. Setna looked at her worriedly, frowning as he took the reins of the horse and began slowly leading it forward. ------- The group had a very short breakfast and was soon off traveling once more through the forest. The day was peaceful, not too hot nor too cold. The breeze shifting through the branches kept it comfortable for everyone. Aaerynn, for the most part, had kept to herself since succeeding at horseshoes. She had slept very lightly, still distrustful of others taking the watch besides herself, but even so, she felt rested. She ate an apple from her own pack as breakfast, still unwilling to get close to anyone else. Then she mounted Baineth, preparing for the journey like everyone else. As the caravan began to travel for a few hours, she stayed to the back like usual, but she was interested to see that the twins had as well. They were lagging behind, moving slowly and as Aaerynn looked at the female twin it became obvious as to why. The girl was obviously in pain. Aaerynn’s eyes took in the girl’s expression. A sickness perhaps? It didn’t seem likely; she had shown no symptoms beforehand. There had been no mucus spewing out of her nose like typical human colds or flus. But something was wrong, and it wasn’t until the girl suddenly brought a hand to her head that Aaerynn understood. Headache, but it was more than that. That wood elf searched her thoughts. Some humans received headaches worse than usual, they were unable to take in the brightness or loudness of their surroundings. Her cold eyes returned to the girl once more. Those types of headaches made the person vulnerable, unable to deal with what was around them. The wood elf searched her pack for some ingredients. Perhaps she had something that could help. She’d make Rudolf pay for it. But as her hand reached a specific vial, the wind shifted, bringing a scent to the elf’s nose. Aaerynn stood up straight, sniffing again. Her eyes widened in horror. The female twin would have to wait as Aaerynn dug her knees into Baineth. “Asca!” She cried hurry in elvish and the mare immediately burst into a sprint. She passed by the rest of the caravan, leaving Rudolf to call out to her. “Aaerynn?” The wood elf ignored it, rushing forward until Baineth burst out of the trees and into a clearing that had been burned to ash. Aaerynn forced the horse to a stop, as she looked around with wide eyes. It was nothing more than a clearing made of charcoal and ash. The trees around the clearing were destroyed, some had even been pushed over and others were left dead and leafless. Aaerynn dismounted, looking around. The smell was what was getting to her. It smelled of burnt flesh and dead bodies and as she walked around her feet kicked into something. It was a leftover limb, a human’s arm that looked like it had been halfway eaten and spit out. It was then that the caravan came through the trees and stopped. Rudolf got off of his cart and put a hand to his chest. “What in the Gods...” Aaerynn picked up the arm and tossed it over so he could see. “An animal didn’t cause those bites.” Rudolf immediately back stepped and looked down at it. He grimaced and walked around it, bending over to touch the ash that had piled up all over the ground. “Who would dishonor the wood elves in such a way? To cut down and burn their ancestors?” Aaerynn felt her chest growing tighter and tighter until it was hard to breathe. The wolf god’s words came rushing to her mind…Darkness growing… She continued looking around, running into bones and even the remains of a horse. It wasn’t until she found the half eaten remains of another body that she noticed a puddle of black goo. The wood elf crouched down and touched it with her fingers, she brought it to her nose and immediately flinched away. It smelled rancid, like rotting vegetables and burning hair. She flung it off her fingers, wiping her hand in the dirt. It had felt sticky and wet, like saliva, and Aaerynn frowned as she looked at the body, whose neck looked as if it had been bitten through. “What isn’t an animal but has taken to eating flesh?” She called out to the group.