Truly this day was a glorious one thought Anja to herself - everything from the very scent of the churned up earth around them, to the mingled sounds and noises of straining 'soldiers' and their equipment present on every side of the 6th Dragoons as they rode - the country-raised and lowborn rider even being somewhat able to ignore the ache in her lower back from both the poorly maintained road and her own [i]relaxed[/i] posture atop her mount.

Deep in conversation with Trooper Yannik, she only started paying proper attention to her surroundings while watching Captain Kraus speak to their own Sergeant Hecht, a handsome man who she was told had been given his rank almost purely by mistake; both he and their Captain were people she personally believed she could rely on, one a former horse trader and the other, more reltably to her own situation, being previously a farmer in his civilian days.

Thoughts like this prompted Anja to give a curt excuse of silence to her townsman and glance across the dishevelled ranks to Trooper Ulmer - her uniform as well kept as ever even on campaign it seemed - the slender young lady from Neuben having given her many bouts of laughter during their initial training, although claiming to be as much of the soil as herself there was nevertheless something distinctly patrician about the dark-haired waif of a Rhaetian...

The shout of her immediate superior snapped Anja from her reverie, the entirety of D Squadron following him off the road (thank the Lord!) And into terrain much more beneficial to Anja, her mount, and to their role overall.

It was unfortunate therefore that they had to come across that old fossil Sergeant Paulsen, her lip peeling back beneath her brass helmet and its bedraggled crest as the two leaders exchanged words, but quickly relaxing again as Hecht made his verbal retort. This prompted a somewhat louder-than-helpful snigger and snort of air from Anja, the farmers daughter unable to hold it in, a smirk replacing her grimace as C Squadron rode past and disappeared back toward the main body.

Moments later and the order was given, the order that Anja in particular had been waiting for, an order that allowed somewhat of a degree of freedom to each Dragoon. Some feeling tried to make itself known in the pit of her stomach, it could have been fear, excitement, or something else, in any case she quickly squashed it into being as small as possible while concentrating on her orders.

A swift check of equipment, just as they had been shown not so long ago, made Anja feel a little better - her sabre was loose but no [b]too[/b] loose, her helmet was secure on her head, and her carbine was within easy reach - the only thing that bothered her beside the entire situation of this war was that her jacket still fit quite snug aboyt her frame; it had obviously been made for a man, a young one, but not for a woman of her stature and she hated it.

In a rather odd turn of her mind she looked to Trooper Schuster, or 'Teddy' as he was affectionately known, and caught his eye before giving the shortest of their scouting party a full-toothed smile, her feelings for him and his general uneasy state a fraction motherly - though she would never admit to this - and a portion more... not so. Something about the way he acted around the female soldiers, the easy jibes and teasing that could be performed in such situations, never failing to make Anja smile.

"Good hunting," she said to her fellow scouts, perhaps a little more loudly than was prudent, digging her heels in and giving a click of her tongue to the dappled grey mare between her thighs, pulling on the reins strongly enough to direct the stubborn lass toward the thick band of trees marking the rivers course.

Halfway toward the trees and she paused, still as still could be, finally turning about in her saddle and looking back toward the others.

"I plan to follow this until we reach the village, into the woods and off we go," once more she was probably a lot louder than was safe, but she wasn't dead yet and that gave her a burst of possibly misplaced bravado, "I would feel much safer with a strong young man by my side.... and Simone can come too, if she wishes."

The last comment was clearly an afterthought, but it did not do to upset others [b]too[/b] much.