Ri'vashi finally released her grip on Gallus to allow him to swim freely. "Well, seeing as we're already in the water, we should just keep swimming for now. Maybe we can talk about something besides fighting and business. This one rarely talks to you about anything else. So...what kind of hobbies do you have, other than sparring?"

---

The journey to the forests southeast of Corinthe was long, and thankfully, dull. The walk through the desert and into the forest took two thirds the time as their entire journey from the Senchal clan to Orcrest, since they did not have a boat to expedite their progress. Though, they moved comparatively faster on land than they had before. The transition from desert to forest was a reminder of home for the warriors of the Senchal clan, and brought about a sense of awe for some from Orcrest. For those who had lived in the desert their entire lives, a forest was something they had only heard of in stories. Some of the officers even had to go as far as reprimanding a few of the sentries who were a bit too distracted by the massive trees towering over them to keep watch on their perimeter. 

True to her word, Ri'vashi made an effort to socialize outside of a professional setting, though it was almost always with Gallus. When not working or training, she was outside of her element, and turned out to be surprisingly awkward for one in her position. While she was not as bad as Tzirret, she sometimes became nervous enough to almost be amusing. 

Eventually, the warband drew close enough to the enemy stronghold that they were forced to remain at constant high alert for any enemy patrols. They made camp mere hours away from the enemy in order to send scouts ahead to scan their path through both magical and physical means. Miranor once more led a group of werevulture scouts to gain updated information on the fortress itself. Unless they learned something which would make the attack impossible, they intended to launch the assault the following evening, so tensions in the camp were understandably high. It was already past nightfall, though many intended to remain awake so they could sleep through the next day, and be well-rested for he attack. 

Once the scouts returned, Meesei called together a meeting of the same group that had formed their original plan. If there was no new information which would be helpful, this meeting was likely to be much shorter.