Renar stared at Baldivar's offered hand, visibly uncomfortable. He nodded once, stiffly.
"Yes, you too. I have to scout," he replied quickly.
And that was all he said before swiftly turning on his heel and silently disappearing into the undergrowth around the camp. It was a lie, of course, but such details were best kept to himself.

He returned half an hour later with a fistful of wild onions and accidentally spooked one of the cooks with his sudden and soundless appearance from the trees directly behind him. There was a mumbled apology before Renar took a bowl of soup and sat down away from the rest of the party in the shade of a tree. He didn't say a word as he shoveled soup down his gullet between mouthfuls of onion stalk. As he ate, he observed the rest of the party from a safe distance and took mental notes of who and what they were. No bit of information that reached his eyes and ears was too trivial to forget.

[center]==========[/center]

The trip to the keep had been uneventful, at least for the sorceress. Her feet were sore, and she was starting to tire of the days events. Life in the courts of Lyria had left her unprepared for work such as this. The woman gave a light shrug of her shoulders as she thought over the whole situation. She’d been observing the others too, thinking each of them over - from what she could gather of them so far. The Aen Seidhe had been conversational, but he had been the only one she had formally introduced herself too. She kept an especially fair distance from the Witchers - both, she felt, had regarded her immediately with distrust and one of them had a spectacularly heavy energy about him that she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Still, there was work to be done, and the sorceress set about to the courtyard at Balidvar’s command with her gloved hands held at her sides, fingers positioned and ready to form a spell should the need arise. Her steps were stealthy, but confident, and if everyone else had apprehensions about the place, they were not shared with Avery. She simply wanted them to get on with it, so that she could settle in for the rest of the day.

“Well, Winnie… Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” she breathed out with a shake of her head, placing a hand on each hip as her eyes tracked the sight of the yard. Hay strewn everywhere, weapons abandoned. As if on cue, the small, hairless cat hopped out of the satchel down onto the ground, performing a long and regal stretch and hissing viciously as she did so. “Oh stop it, ungrateful beast,” Avery mumbled with a smirk before reaching down a hand to rub the top of Winifred’s head. “We’re to wait for Renar so don’t you-” before she could finish the sentence, the cat had scarpered off and away on her own accord. Avery merely sighed and shook her head, waiting for the scout to join her in her exploration. 

No sooner than the sigh escaped her did he make his presence known from just outside her peripheral vision.
"The cat looks sick. Don't eat it," He warned with a voice, low and coarse from lack of use.

The scout reached into a pouch under his cloak to retrieve a sling and a rock half the size of a fist. He chewed his lips nervously as he loaded the sling. Best to be prepared. With his free hand, he reached up to stroke the hawk perched on his shoulder with two fingers, gently running them along the top of its head. The raptor pressed its head up into his hand as he pulled away, seemingly wanting more attention. The scout refused and rolled his shoulder once with a single word.
"Away."
The hawk took flight without protest, disappearing over the tree line with a quiet flap of its wings. He'd rather it stay with him where he could protect it, but who knew what dangers lurked in the darkened halls of the castle? On his own, Renar avoided large, abandoned structures at all costs. Experience told him that bandits and highwaymen are some of the [i]least[/i] terrible things that shelter in crumbling, forgotten towers.

"Well I don't think I'll get quite so hungry for a while," Avery answered, turning her head to glance over the cloaked individual. "I'd sooner eat the bird," she added with a wink, implying that she meant no malice or anything serious by it. She chuckled under her breath before placing her hands out in front of her. "Feels rather safe to me, no signs of life in this courtyard except for you and I," she said with a sigh. "Renar, was it?" 

"My mother called me that and not every threat is alive."
He believed whatever magic she performed, but still his eyes never left his surroundings. His mind conjured images of bear traps, trip wires, pitfalls, and arcane runes under every pile of leaves and attached to every rusted sword. Then he moved on to ghouls, rotfiends, devours, and more. None of them truly alive, but all very, very dangerous. People often spoke ill of paranoia, but Renar found it to be a commendable trait indeed. He'd seen far more paranoid soldiers survive perilous situations than reckless ones.

Avery blinked in his direction, at the clipped tone that carried his words. He was a quiet one, but perhaps less so on the inside and she regarded him in that moment with curiosity  in her eyes. 

"The dead are not silent to my ears," the sorceress said softly before heading further through the courtyard, paying attention to what she could [i]feel[/i] around her, fingers twitching in response. 

He nodded in approval. Hearing was one of the best senses in his opinion. Sight only revealed what was immediately in front or just to the side of oneself. Ears can observe things behind the listener, obscured by obstacles, or even what's cloaked in darkness. He was quickly lost in his thoughts and the work of scouting for danger. Had he seen the curious look she gave him, he likely wouldn't have known what to make of it anyhow.

"From where do you hail, Renar?" She asked, busying herself with idle and polite chatter. It was also simply a way to learn more about the man, of course, already she had ascertained that he was the quiet type and that perhaps he stayed away from conversation but she wondered of the conversations he had with himself. His internal monologues. "You seem far from a city dweller, or a village dweller in fact. Why, I wouldn't even bat an eye if you told me you were from Brokilon forest!"

"I never asked where," he replied, stopping to use a broken board to nudge a suspicious pile of rotted fabric. "You ask many questions."

Perhaps she wanted something from him? Probably not, most who wanted him to do something for them asked simply and paid fairly. If she wanted to hire him she would've asked by now in all likelihood, but she was employed by his employer as well. Where was she going with this line of questioning?

"And you're a very suspicious man," she answered, slightly perturbed at his lack of an answer, and more so by his comment. "I'm just curious," she explained with a nonchalant wave of her hand. "If I'm to spend so much time on this mission, it's nice to know who I'm with but [i]fine[/i]. I'll be quiet," she murmured while examining part of the wall of the courtyard. 

He couldn't help being relieved at her temporary vow of silence. Still, she almost seemed upset by his question. Why would she be? But was she? He couldn't tell. Every time he interacted with others he found himself wishing everyone would just say how they felt rather than using arbitrary combinations of facial expression and voice.

That vow was soon broken as Avery's fingers traced the wall, as if she was following a trail of something only she could see. Something beyond the brambles that had grown wild around it. "This courtyard was once a happy place," she commented. "Parties… Celebration," she continued. "Nothing like a city ball of course, but, people were happy here," the sorceress said with a sigh before removing her hand from its place on the stone. "[i]Were,[/i]" she repeated delicately - the implications clear as crystal before she stepped away entirely, almost timidly, and off in the other direction. 

Renar tried his best to filter out her idle chatter as his eyes swept over the grounds once more. If anything lurked here, it was hidden from both his eyes and ears.