Gallus gave a nod to one side. He had suspected that the Orcrest clanhome was as Meesei explained. As for the soldiers, Gallus pulled a tight smile. "We'll see, Meesei," he responded, "I just hope that no one gets too curious about the behaviour of our makeshift desert tribe here."

The next few days of skirting around the city of Orcrest itself came up with no further sightings of soldiers. The distance they kept meant that no one saw the city, but the trails of caravans heading in and out along the sands gave evidence of its location. During this time, the the true sigh of relief from leaving the soldiers behind left the clan very slowly. There were no sandstorms over those past days, only isolated pockets of wind that shifted the sands around and bit into uncovered eyes and mouths. Thankfully, it was all they needed to cover their tracks.

During this time, Tzirret had shifted his focus in learning healing such that he learned first aid from Irenya rather than forcing magic. He had a much easier time learning the easy techniques to save or preserve a life, while at the same time began to scratch the surface of anatomy. Again, it was a lot to learn, but it felt better to have tangible progress rather than pursuing something that required as much time and focus to break into as magic. It helped his learning immensely to also be able to revise what he had learned with Ma'tanza during the day.

As for interactions with Ma'tanza, Tzirret had been slowly getting over an awkward apprehension brought about by the start of their relationship, but the mix of breaking the ice with talk about healing and the sheer amount of time they got to be in contact meant that he was feeling much more comfortable around her again. Tzirret only regretted not really having much of any time alone with her, as it was only then that he felt completely open in expressing himself. There was always either M'ibasa, or S'nishi, or one of her friends around. He thought perhaps the Orcrest clan might be different, if only he knew what to expect.

After learning of Kaleeth's state, Janius decided to try something risky and experimental the next day. Normally, after setting up camp, they would spend a short time under Ra'kalesh's instruction, practising the techniques he had taught them. Most of the time, progress was slow, as precise drills were required to learn the proper movements. However, after their lesson, instead of going straight to dinner, Janius offered a short bout of contact hand-to-hand sparring. He kept it brief, unlike the ship fights, if only for the sake of not being beaten to a pulp. However, he hoped that regular little releases of energy and aggression might help Kaleeth's situation. At the same time, he got to try out and home his own attempt at Ra'kalesh's techniques, to varying degrees of success.

As the clan travelled, they came into sight of a ridge of low, red-brown, rocky hills. Hills and mesas such as these were common while they travelled the desert. Gallus was glad for the sight of them as landmarks of progress, as he had imagined the never-ending sea of dunes south of Orcrest to be a disorienting nightmare. These hills, however, were special. As they came close, in the middle of the day, Meesei ordered the clan to stop and set up camp. She recognised the formation as close to their destination.

"So, are they in caves up there or something?" Gallus asked Meesei, nodding up at the hills. Everyone else was excited to be so near the end of their journey, but Gallus was keeping himself contained, standing with one hand on his hammer and squinting at the hills ahead. "If they are up there, why have we still set down here in the desert? We have time to get closer." Gallus turned his head to Meesei, "Are we going to be part of an advance party to check the place out?"

Gallus honestly wished he had thought to discuss what Meesei had in mind to do upon their arrival earlier.

Sabine had kept up a busy routine these past few days; waking, eating, travelling, mixing balm, sleeping, and so on. This began to change two days after the soldiers left; there was a creeping worry brewing over her, but she had yet to tell anyone why. Her anxiety made her terse in speech, visibly stressed, and apparently on the edge of her temper. This was especially bad today - as soon as they set up camp, Sabine retreated into her and Peiter's tent and just laid down, out of sight.