[center][b]Antioch, northern forests[/b][/center]

In the middle of the forest, straddling the long river, walked Avery, tired and hungry from the long days walk. It had to be afternoon by now but the lack of any sundials. “It’s so hot.” Avery concluded, even after a long nude dip in the river. She had long passed the rapids and fish were quite abundant. However, her lack of knowledge in the field of fishing led to frustration at her failed attempts. Not long had passed before she decided to try and find a road, which reached fruition in the form of a dirt game path. 

Her stomach growled and vision began to fade as the heat strained her already exhausted body. It persisted and eventually overcame her attempts to remain focused. She yawned, and yawned again until her vision faded and her body fell to its knees, and finally onto the ground.

    Leaves crumbling up ahead, three bodies marched through the woods, a sense of direction and purpose in each lively step. The faint chatter of a small woman could be heard, with the light grunts and small sounds of disinterest replying. Dog feet pattered behind, a soft pant slobbering.

    The group crunched on a few fallen twigs as they came to the light clearing of trees, where the vegetation was just sparse enough to be called a natural path alongside the river bank. Immediately the red eyes of Gwenyver caught sight of the hunched over figure settled in the forest shrubs and river grasses, pursing her lips she seemed intent on continuing, unsure if her companion had seen.

    Amyntas certainly had seen the fallen figure and had promptly continued walking, intent on ignoring it. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who was asked, Ludda also noticed. “Oh what’s that? Is that a woman?” She asked. “Is she napping? What a terrible place to nap!”

    “Hush!” Gwenyver hissed, her eyes darting cautiously around, “it could be a trick, we should just keep moving, our destination is further still.”

    “Oh! You mean that place with the bunch of.. Eeer- Heffers?” Ludda asked.

    “Heathens.” Amyntas quietly corrected. She had clearly been working on masking her accent. With each word spoken it seemed that she was closer to perfectly imitating an Ascainian accent. Even so she clearly wasn’t there yet.

    As the group drew nearer, Avery’s senses seemed to kick in, bringing her slightly from her dreary state. Her head slowly turned towards the group, “Help.” she said calmly. “Food.” She tried to gather the strength to pull herself upright but her body didn’t have the energy. She simply laid there, frustrated. “Please. Help.” 

    “AAAAAAH! It’s a zombie!” Ludda screamed.

    “Shush” Amyntas whispered. She brought a hand up to her hood and ensured it hid her face from view. She turned her gaze to Gwenyver, a question in her expression as she tilted her head towards the woman.

    “This ploy would be too weak for a Bannik,” Gwenyver simply stated after seeing the look Amyntas gave her. After a second of silence she added, “throw her food if you want, but I don’t have a good feeling about this, every second spent wondering is a second taken from our journey.”
    
    “You are so meer… me… dramatic!” Ludda said.

    “Melodramatic” Amyntas corrected as she reached into her cloak. After a moment she pulled out a piece of jerky and tossed it to the unidentified woman.

    “Oh! Oh! Can we keep her?” Ludda asked.

    “No.” Amyntas shot her an icy glare.

    “Please! I promise to feed her! And bath her!”

    “You can’t have humans for pets.” Was all Amyntas said in response.

    “Well I mean,” was all Gwenyver added idly, “no, this is getting a little dark.”

    Avery’s eyes opened wide as the jerky landed at her. It was like a feral animal as she quickly dove for the food. Her bites were vicious and the look she gave the group was that of an angry mother protecting her child. After the jerky was devoured, Avery leaned back. 

    “Would you want [i]that[/i] for a pet anyways?” Amyntas asked as she gestured at the woman. “I suspect it’d bite your hand off every time you tried to feed it. Simply dreadful.” Amyntas shook her head.

    Avery stood up and dusted herself off though she was still sweating from the heat. She slowly walked towards the group and spoke softly, “Thank you for your generosity.” She seemed to examine the three before speaking once more, “Praise to Aketa?” as if testing their faith.
    
Gwenyver slowly kept moving, hoping the others would follow her, a grave stare peeking out from her dark robes. Walking almost as if tied to the others by an invisible rope, it was clear she wasn’t going to leave without the others, despite a clear and intense desire to continue her quest.

Amyntas grunted and turned to leave as well, but let out a long sigh when Ludda jumped out from under her hood. “Yay! Not a heathen!” She exclaimed as she pointed at the woman. She paused before adding “Right?”

    “Perhaps” Was all Amyntas said as she turned an icy glare on Ludda. Ludda was oblivious to the look, however.

    Avery yelped as the faery made itself known. She jumped back and pointed, “What is that!” she said. Her fear slowly faded as she examined Ludda, “Wait.” she paused and took a deep breath and knowing she had no reason to hide anything, spoke softly, “I’m searching for Ethea.”

    Ludda opened her mouth but was cut off when Amyntas said “Good luck.” Ludda glanced back at Amyntas and, seeing something in the woman’s expression, decided it’d be best for her to take cover on Gwenyver’s shoulder.

    “I think she’s mad” Ludda whispered after setting down on Gwenyver’s shoulder.

    “We have a task to do, the woman is fine, and we are not needed here any longer,” Gwenyver looked at Ludda, her eyes scanning the small figure, “I understand your compassion, and I respect it, but I can’t spare my attention away from our task. Our destination is a ways away, and we need every moment of daylight to get there.”

    Avery huffed and looked around, “Well, Unless you’re Eleutheran, the direction you’re heading isn’t very forgiving.  She looked into the sky, seeing where the sun was and then pointed north. “You’ll want to go that way, especially due to the new ‘inquisition’ that antioch is doing.”

    Gwenyver tilted her head towards the mystery woman, “And what do you know of Antioch?”

    “Well, where should I start.” Avery said grinning. “It’s my home.”

    “Fascinating” Amyntas dryly commented.

    “We are a long way from home too!” Ludda exclaimed. “Oh! Oh! What kind of food do they have in Antioch?”

    “That depends on where in the nation you go.” Avery replied plainly. “The most common is bread and deer meat. And ‘kingsbrew’ Ale which is always cheap.” 

    “I love ale!” Ludda exclaimed. Amyntas actually groaned, implying there was a story to be told at a later date.

    “Bring us to your capital,” Gwenyver stated simply, “walk in front.” Her eyes peered out with dominance, and a sense of persuasive command leaked from her words. The words echoed and bounced around the forest, as if the trees were in agreement with her demands.

    “Well, that’s going to be a bit of a problem. That’s where the inquisition against Ilinucists sort of began.” She sighed, “They are good at what they do.” She sighed again, “But if that’s what you want, I’ll lead you to the capitol.”

    “Walk in front,” Gwenyver’s words were adamant, yet very convincing. 

    “What makes you think we’ll have an issue with the inquisition?” Amyntas asked. She held her hand out towards Gwenyver, palm up. After a moment Ludda jumped off Gwenyver’s shoulder and landed on the palm. Without saying anything else she put the little faery back under the folds of her hood.

    Avery shook her head, “I suppose you’re right. Well. Let's go.” she said, turning around and walking.