Darin woke up miserable. She was cold and wet. At least the rain had stopped. She automatically searched for the sun. It wasn’t too late but it wasn’t early either. Darin stretched out. She was very careful not to fall out of the tree. She had forgotten to strap herself in. So, it was a good thing she hadn’t fallen out already. She carefully moved out of the tree. She hadn’t realized that she had picked an apple tree to climb last night. So, on the way down she picked several of the almost ripe ones to have for breakfast. Eating while working was something she mastered via practice. Even climbing could be done either one handed or while she held the apple between her teeth. She took of her cloak and tied it into a makeshift bag. It would be bad manners to return to the group empty handed. She felt a little better now that she had slept and eaten. She felt stiff from spending the night in the tree; or maybe it was the horseback riding. She wasn’t sure.

Darin dropped to the ground. She was holding the core from the apple she had just finished. She was about to just toss it when she had a thought. She carefully knelt down and using her hands dug a hole about six inches deep. Darin dropped the core down the hole and recovered it. She supposed she could consider it practice. She wasn’t sure it counted or was the same thing, but it was close enough. Darin would take it. Then she started back to the cave.

Only to stop about halfway though her second apple. She had no idea where she was in relationship to the cave. That hadn’t been her primary concern last night. She was more concerned with getting away as quickly as physical possible. That meant she now had no idea how to get back to Talbot and Ridahne. The odds of the Elf finding her completely by chance were slim to none. At least the warrior would know who she was looking for this time. The question was; would she look. Darin wasn’t so sure. They hadn’t been very happy with each other last night. Would Talbot look for her? Darin just didn’t know. She spent a lot of time not knowing. Maybe that was part of where her frustration last night had come from; not knowing things she felt she ought to know. She wasn’t sure how to address those feeling though.

She decided to call out, “Hello! I’m lost! Talbot! Ridahne! I’m sorry! I’ve got breakfast! Please come find me.”

The odds of it working were slim to none. However, back at the cave, Talbot’s ears picked up. He would reach out to grab at Ridahne’s shirt, but he would only tug once. It was supposed to be an invitation. The horse would not force the Elf to come. Then he would start walking at a brisk trot in a seemingly random direction. Still, he moved with a purpose. He knew that he was going somewhere. He would only pause for a minute to make sure he got his new person’s pack and weapon between his teeth. He didn’t want to leave behind anything important after all.

Darin started walking in the direction she hoped the cave was in. Occasionally she would let out another shout of “Hello!” She really was a mess. She could get lost going from her farm to Lively, and she had done that countless times. Why a girl who couldn’t keep a map or a compass in her head had been picked to do this seemingly impossible task was beyond her. Maybe that was one of the reasons Ridahne was sent to her by whoever sent her. Darin knew that she wouldn’t get this job done without the Elf. By The Tree! Darin had been hanging from a cliff the first time they meet. Was that really only three days ago? It might have only been two depending on how you counted. Darin had only slept twice since she meet the warrior. Was counting sleeps a good way to keep time? Next thing she knew would be falling over a gorge and there would be no vines to catch her.

Of course, that would be what promptly happened. Thankfully it wasn’t a deep gorge, but the apples went tumbling and Darin bruised her shin pretty badly. She let out a his of pain as her had cam up to her injured shoulder. She had hit it with the ground as she went head over heals on her way down. She hoped she didn’t tear the stitching. Darin looked up at the clear sky only for it to be blocked by what looked like her pack and sickle. Both fell. The sickle hit the ground, but Darin let out a groan of pain as the pack hit her face.

Then she saw who it was, and leapt up, “Talbot!” She wrapped her hands around his neck, “I’m so glad you found me!”