[b][u][center][color=forestgreen]Galen Derricson[/color][/center][/u][/b]

Galen smirked, heading off in the way Alph pointed without noticing the boy's glazed eyes. [color=forestgreen]"Come on Freya, we've got a bit of ground to cover."[/color] They didn't really, their destination wasn't far, it would just seem like it because of the flooding. He didn't pause that time, even though he was once again surprised at his thoughts, but he frowned at himself as he led Freya through the knee deep puddle still at the base of the bridge from the previous night's rain. He had no reason to suspect there would be any flooding on the eastern side of the river, actually he couldn't recall ever seeing what was on that side of the river, but he felt rather firmly that flooding would be a problem for them.

Their timing was perfect, stepping off the other side of the bridge just as a new face entered the town. Dressed in dark leather and capped by a wide-brimmed hat, a young woman with bright red hair strode into the village with straps holding her many weapons, concealed and otherwise, and perfectly shined chain mail sparkling in the morning light beneath her thick coat. The chill was fading fast under the hot sun, but the woman didn't show the slightest hint of discomfort about the heat despite the many layers of her thick clothing. She gave the villagers dirty looks as she passed, peering about the town and scrutinizing every action made nearby. The boys had vanished into the sparse treeline by the time she came anywhere near close enough to see them.

A single metal pendant hung around her neck, dangling in full view of any who saw her. A half crescent moon under a pentagram, the symbol of an unknown organisation.

[hider=The Pendant][center][img]http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/images/Product/large/DD-343-SCMPV.png[/img][/center][/hider]

Galen was a bit off put by the hill they immediately began climbing as soon as they entered the treeline. He knew the east was hilly, but he didn't think hills meant mountains! Then again, if these were hills, he didn't think he ever wanted to see what a mountain looked like- imagine climbing one! He grimaced at the thought. He fell into a comfortable silence, eyes scanning the forest floor for anything to put in his mother's herb bag and largely left the critter watching to the others. Freya was perhaps the most quiet of all of them, not making a single sound as she easily kept up with Gale's admittedly slow climb of the incline. It was a good thing too, because now that they were beginning the start of their hunt silence was important so they didn't spook anything. Not that too many creatures ventured so close to the river, that being where the village was, and the children loved to go swimming in the shallows. If there was one thing that could be said about humans, it is that they were not quiet beings, that was especially true of their young.

Their passage didn't seem to disturb too many forest dwellers; the birdsongs were uninterrupted and annoying dragonflies faded into annoying butterflies as they left the river behind. None of the usual prey revealed itself however, no rabbits or groundbirds, and definitely no deer. Perhaps further in they'd have some luck? There were plenty of tracks, and considering the rain would have washed old ones away, they all must be rather new.

Gale didn't stop to track them however, moving forward in a straight line and barely granting the tracks a single glance. Indeed, the only thing he stopped for was to pluck a single Loivissa flower from the base of a tree and place it in Freya's mane for his mother, and even then, it only took half a second to accomplish the task.