[i][[u][b]E'nasha Williams[/b][/u]][/i]

"Sir! Return!" Just as always, when E'nasha shouted the command, The large Raven she kept as a pet and trusted companion, Sir Ithslala Ra'vin (Sir for short), circled back through the trees to land on E'nasha's shoulder, not bothered at all by the rain that fell quietly around them. "What direction?" She asked the bird, ignoring her other companion's sigh. 

"Are you seriously still asking the [b]bird[/b] for directions? We might as well go back to Granny." The speaker was El'kan, E'nasha's friend ever since they were children. He was good-looking, if you liked dark brown eyes and blonde hair on a guy you know well enough (and get along with well enough) for him to be your brother. El'kan was not the sharpest knife on the rack, and liked to state the obvious. E'nasha rolled her eyes at him and waited for Sir's answer. 

Sir tapped three times on her shoulder and turned to the left. "West. 30 paces." E'nasha said to El'kan. He sighed again, but followed her as she carried Sir through the trees. They walked as quickly as they could, trying not to slip on the thin layer of mud covering the ground. “At least mud is better than ice.” E’nasha muttered to herself under her breath. She could imagine Sir’s response in her head as he took flight to go on ahead of them again. [i]’Yep, and i’m not sticking around any longer for you to slip and get my feathers all dirty!’[/i] “Stay close!” She called after him, his light croaking caw answering her not too far ahead.

El’kan managed to slip-slide his way to her side, struggling even more than she was to keep from tripping over the tree roots and small plants that had started popping up since the snow started melting. The little patches of green made E’nasha feel a bit less gloomy. It had been an unexpectedly long journey through a very confusing wintery landscape for them so far, so the splashes of color she saw in the towns along the way greatly contrasted the monochromaticity of the landscapes around them, keeping E’nasha in an almost unending cycle of depression. 

The statement, ‘they live for the colors’, could be said for every member of their little trio. E’nasha normally seems happier when she’s surrounded by the vibrancy of the colors of the living forest, and Sir likes to play around with paints and such whenever they have free time. El’kan likes to try and teach Sir how to draw pictures of specific people and things, although it usually ends pretty badly.

As they got through the last few trees into a clearing, they saw a large stone wall on the other side of the clearing that stretched on farther than they could see in either direction. Sir returned to E’nasha’s shoulder before she could give the command, and turned his head to the right and giving a short croak. “I suppose we should go left then.” E’nasha said as Sir took off again, circling around them as they walked. 

“Hey, E‘nasha?” El’kan said after a few minutes. “Do you think this is it? The college?” She glanced back at him for a moment, not really wanting to get his or her hopes up. They had been following every map, direction, and instinct they had to try and find the place, and they had messed up so many times before that E’nasha just felt like they were going to keep messing up until- El’kan interrupted her hopeless thoughts with some of his trademark optimism. “We are actually in the area where it’s supposed to be. Maybe someone in this town could actually lead us there.” He finished by nodding his head to the wall they were walking alongside.

“El’kan… First of all, we don’t even know that this-” She pointed to the wall as well, “Even IS a town. Second, what the heck is Sir staring at?” E’nasha and El’kan’s attention was drawn to a dark, hazy figure in the distance. Sir had landed while they were talking, and E’nasha had almost tripped over the large bird, which was how she noticed that all his attention was on something else.

“El’kan, the trees.” She whispered quickly as the shadow seemed to get closer. They both climbed the branches of a large pine, hoping that the prickly leaves would hide them. “Sir! Natural!” E’nasha hissed at the bird that was still staring down the shadow. As soon as he heard the command he flew up to the top of another tree so he was partially hidden from her point of view. [i]Oh lord Ren, don't let us be found![/i]