The carved wooden bowl was comfortingly warm against the inside skin of her palms and fingers as Kaylia wrapped her hands around it, The smell of the soup curling up from the surface of the liquid in tantalizing curls of steam. She found herself taking several deep breaths of The fragrance, the combined use of her senses somehow giving her an inexplicable feeling of comfort. Scooping out a mouthful of broth and potato, The young woman then savored the flavor of the vegetables and rehydrated meat on her tongue, focusing once again on working the tension out of her shoulders that had crept up without her noticing. Cainmere's suddenly bounding off alone into the forest quickly shattered that attempt however.

Eyes widening with surprise, Kay cast A questioning glance to the man sitting across from her, noting The way that his hand gripped the hilt of his knife tightly long after he had spoken words of reassurance at the unexpected behavior. Needless to say, she didn't feel the least bit reassured. Feeling almost as if something inside of her stomach was thrashing about in an attempt to escape, The young woman slowly lowered her bowl to the ground in front of her folded legs, swallowing against the taste of acid at the back of her throat. She almost missed Garris's next words as she struggled against the unexplained feeling of panic, though she focused just in time to catch his offer of traveling together.

"I wouldn't say no to the company." She admitted with a sheepish smile. "All the stories I've heard about this sickness going around has me spooked." And for good reason it seemed. A shiver of apprehension ran the length of her spine as she then listen to the Ranger recount his experience with the deer earlier that day, putting truth to the rumors that she had hoped had been nothing but superstition.

"so the stories are really true then..." Kaylia whispered, unconsciously rubbing her hands up and down her arms. The idea that the farmers and travelers hadn't been making up tall tales was rather frightening. ... What do you think is causing this to happen?" She asked, turning her head to focus on Storm as the stallion lifted his head from his grazing, ears swiveling this way and that as he listen to the sounds of the forest.

Somewhere in the darkened woods, a creature moaned unexpectedly, the sound low and mournful, resonating for only a few seconds, but seemed to take an eternity to finish. The sound made the hairs all along Kaylia's arms and the back of her neck prickle uncomfortably, her head instinctively jerking around as she searched for the source. But nothing moved other than the flames and her horse, the stallion tossing his head nervously. "do you think that Cainmere is alright?"