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Ven gave her an equally displeased look. "I wasn't trying to get anyone killed. They starved me, you know. They made me sleep in three inches of scummy water. And for what? They never had any use for me. Their leader's insane, I think he forgot I was even out there in that cage."
"Hey, everybody calm down," Bernon said, guiding Ven over to the fire. "We're not trying to accuse you of anything, Ven. That must have been a terrible experience." He glanced at Tanrial and Mike meaningfully, as if warning them to at least mind their manners. "We have food to spare, you're welcome to eat breakfast with us if you need to."
"Thank-you," Ven replied, sitting down wearily. "But I caught a rabbit earlier, on my way here. I'm very full now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Honestly…..what I really need is some rest." Glancing around, his eyes stopped on the door leading to the bedroom. "Is it all right if I sleep for a bit in the other room there?"
Dystopian Fantasy RP aw yeah (Private)
"You can stay on the couch." Tanrial nodded to where she had stayed the night before, "Warmer there." And it meant that her and Mike could keep and eye on him, since Bernon seemed to not care if he potentially stole something or blew them up as well.
Ven paused, eyeing them, then sighed. "All right. I understand, you still don't trust me. If we're being honest here, I don't trust you either. I couldn't if I tried, after all I've seen." Walking over to the couch, he collected a blanket and lay down wearily. Despite what he'd just said, he seemed to have no problem closing his eyes and acting like the others weren't there.
"Poor kid," Bernon whispered, dishing out the breakfast soup for everyone. "Listen, I get it if you guys want to keep an eye on him. For all I know you're right and he is dangerous. But try to at least act polite, okay? Innocent until proven guilty, and all that."
Mike accepted his meal and began to eat. "I'm not saying he's a huge threat. I just wouldn't be surprised if he's unstable after living as Ryker's captive for so long." He glanced restlessly at the door. "I suppose you'll want to stay and make sure he's okay before we move on today."
"Yeah," Bernon admitted. "Sorry, I know we're kinda on a time crunch. He's just so pale….I'm worried he'll get sick and have no one to take care of him once we leave."
(Sorry for disappearing! Was very sick and then went right back to work)
"After everything that happened with Ryker, I'm sure the boy could take care of himself if he was sick." Tanrial dug into her own soup, "I dunno, I don't trust it. And we really should get moving as soon as possible but I get you don't wanna leave 'em here."
(Aw I'm sorry to hear you were sick! I hope you're feeling all better now? hugs)
Bernon took a breath. "I know you guys think I'm being stupid right now, but look at it this way: that's why you're here to save my life if he does turn out to be dangerous."
Mike rolled his eyes. "I'd rather it didn't come to that, but…..I can see you're determined on this one. Tell you what, Tanrial, let's wait an hour and see how the kid's doing, then decide based on that. While we're waiting, we can finish our meal and maybe do a little scouting of the area. Fair enough?"
(Yeah, just stressed. School's nearly over for the year but they decided to give us three assignments and a test in two weeks :)))) I wanna cry)
Tanrial shrugged, "Suppose that's a fair deal," She sighed, "What if he tries to attack you while we're gone? I know you can hold your own Bernon but still, can't help but worry."
(Aw, that sucks. :( Take care of yourself, okay? At least it'll be over for a while once you get all that stuff done!)
"What if Mike stayed here while you and I went out?" Bernon suggested. "I'm not the only one here with medical knowledge, I'm sure. And there's no question that Mike can take care of himself."
Mike nodded grudgingly. "I would be able to defend myself from that kid without a problem, yeah."
"Then let's do that. I'm always the one that stays home, I'd like to stretch my legs and explore this time, if you don't mind." Bernon drained the last of the soup from his bowl and set it aside. "In fact, Tanrial, I'm ready to do that now. What do you think?"
(I'll try, just want it to be over already. This school year has gone on for too long)
Tanrial nodded, quickly finishing off her breakfast before tying her hair back into a low ponytail, "Ready to go when you are." She cracked a smile, "Let's hope we don't run into any trouble while we're out."
(I feel that. Just keep treading water a little longer, you got this more hugs)
"Agreed," Bernon said, getting up to grab his shoes. "We'll be back in about an hour, Mike. If Ven wakes up, tell him he should probably keep resting a while."
"All right." Mike settled closer to the fire and got out his knife so he could sharpen it. "Good luck. Don't go too far."
Bernon led the way outside and took a deep breath. "Whew. That cabin's pretty musty, huh? 'S nice to get some fresh air again. So what do you think, should we go further down the path to see where it goes, or scout the woods a bit? I'm kinda curious about the woods, personally."
(hugs back thank you, just over a week to go)
Tanrial stretched her arms with a sigh, "Damn it feels nice to breathe fresh air again." She chuckled, "I feel like there's going to be dust in my nose for days. Let's head into the woods, maybe we'll find something interesting on our little exploration."
"Who knows, right?" Bernon cheerfully set off northwards, admiring the large old trees at the edge of the woods. "Let's try to be at least a little careful, to spare Mike's nerves. Who knows, there could be other occupied cabins around here." He paused, then added, "By the way, now that we can talk in private—do you really get such a bad vibe from that kid? He just seems grumpy and tired to me, but then again, you're the magic-user. Does that give you some kind of extra intuition? Or are you just guessing?"
(Kinda love going back into lockdown for the start of the summer holidays)
Tanrial shrugged, kicking at a rock on the path, "Possibly. I just…" She paused trying to find a polite way to word her thoughts, "He was with Ryker for a very long time. Manipulated by him. I just don't think we should let our guard down so easily just because he's a kid. You might be right, he might just be grumpy and tired but there's also a high chance he could be hiding something from us."
(Oof….yeah, that sucks. My state might be going back into lockdown too, pretty soon. People here keep spreading the disease for no good reason >.< )
"No, I understand where you're coming from," Bernon replied. "Ryker did a lot to hurt and deceive us. Well, not just us, everyone. It makes sense, after all that, to hold back a bit before trusting people. But if anything, I think Ven feels the same way about us. He wasn't raised kindly like the kids Ryker adopted. He was kept in a cell and probably experimented on–we know that because Wren told us. It seems to me that he'd see anybody who rescued him from that life as a friend, or at least an ally." Bernon paused by a tree, noticing an edible plant he could grab for later. "If I'm wrong, I'm sure the three of us can defend ourselves from him. The poor guy's skin-and-bones. And who knows, maybe if we're friendly, he'll change his mind about killing us or whatever he might be planning to do."
(Welp, nevermind, we're going out of lockdown.. geez as much as I love the fact that they're taking action here come on man, it's been three days and they pulled a 180 on us. Stay safe man, I dunno what it's like for you over there but stay inside as much as you can!)
"Suppose you're right there." She said, "I think everyone is on edge. Us and Ven. We all have the right to be that way after everything that's happened." The trail that they were following split off in two, Tanrial taking the road that seemed to be passed on the least, just in case they ran into anyone else out here, "Let's just hope we don't have to worry about him. Hopefully his entire plan is to just find a place to rest for the night and that's it."
(Will do. You too! Seems like nobody quite knows how to proceed TvT)
"Yeah, hopefully." Bernon followed her down the narrower path, tugging off his shoes so he could walk barefoot and enjoy the soft grass under the trees. "On another note, I think we'll be out of bandit territory once we cross these hills. I had a look at the map last night, and it really does seem like that bandit chief's advice was good. This secret path is a straight cut to the other side of the Mississippi, and if I'm reading it right, there's even a safe bridge across. So after we're past that, we should have much smoother sailing for a while." He grinned. "I'll be very grateful for that."
(Can relate)
"Me too." The path leveled out not too long after they ventured down it. It widened, opening up into a large, lush green field surrounded by trees on either side. The path seemed to stop there however on closer inspection there were other trails leading out of the wide area, "I wouldn't get your hopes up though. Always best to be cautious."
"I suppose." Bernon shaded his eyes and inspected the view. "Huh….well these trails look fairly used. I wonder if people really do live around here." He glanced at the sun, then at Tanrial. "Think we should risk going a little farther? We have plenty of time before we need to head back."
"Could just be animal tracks," Tanrial suggested, wandering further into field, "Or maybe it could be that bandit tribe. If they knew of this secret path then surely they use it when they need food or new resources, it's the smart thing to do anyway." She turned to Bernon with a grin, "Just a little further, for the hell of it."
(Do you have an idea for this part, or shall I figure something out? I'm good either way)
"Well all right, if you're sure." Bernon started off around the edge of the field, watching his surroundings carefully. "I don't think the bandits live here, though……or not right now anyway. Their chief said they used this area as a winter refuge, I think. But I guess we won't know until we find out, huh? Do you smell any woodsmoke or see any chopped trees? That could be a sign of human life."
(sorry for disappearing! shit got crazyyy. I hope you've been okay! as for plot maybe we could introduce another set of magic users? Like another race or clan or something along those lines?)
The field in front of them was void of human life. No footprints, no burn marks from fires or makeshift shelters. The surrounding areas seemed to close to the main field to tell if any other sentient life form had crossed these parts days before them. One track seemed to be more worn down than the others, "Over here!" Tanrial called, "Could just be animals using this track more than the others but it's a sign of life."
(Eyyy no worries fam! Glad to hear from ya! More magic-users sound fine to me ^^ While we're on the subject of plot, I'll go ahead and let you know that Ven is also a new kind of magic-user. I won't yet say whether he's evil or not tho ;) )
Bernon trotted over. "I'm game to check it out. If nothing else, maybe we'll find some delicious wild berries to bring back to Mike, as an apology for making him wait." He grinned. "And at best, we'll find something so cool, he'll thank us for poking around out here."
(The tensions riseee)
Tanrial grinned back, nudging Bernon with her elbow before heading down the path, "Let's just hope we do find something then, otherwise we're never gonna hear the end of it. 'You can't just disappear' and 'you should have come back before heading further, you could have died.'"
(Lol yesss XD)
Bernon laughed, following her. "He would say that, wouldn't he? You know, it's funny—for a guy who acts like he doesn't care about anybody, he sure can be a worrywart. I mean, I know it's the end of times and all, but after everything we've been through, I bet it would take a lot to slow us down." he elbowed some branches out of the way and came to walk next to Tanrial. "Hey, is that another clearing up ahead?"
The trail widened the further they walked. The trees became denser however it didn't stop another clearing opening up in front of them. This one was smaller, more shaded. There were less signs of animal life around but more signs of what could be human life. Small patches of burnt grass from fires and tracks that could not have been made by any animal in the area, "We might have to be quiet around here.. just in case there's other human life."
Bernon blinked in surprise and curiosity, slowing down so he could take in his surroundings. "Huh…..does look like there are people living here. I'll be honest, I didn't expect that. Do you…..think we should keep going?"
"I don't see why not," Tanrial headed towards the clearing, stopping where the trees ended and the clearing opened up, "As long as we're quiet and careful we'll be fine."
"Definitely….." Bernon didn't seem too certain about that all of a sudden, but he didn't argue either. "It's probably good that we scout these people out, actually. You know, in case they're planning to sneak up on our cabin later and cause us trouble."
"I feel like whoever is here," She said, taking a few cautious steps out into the open, "Would have already scouted us earlier. But I didn't hear anything in the night, did you?"
"No, I didn't. And Mike would've spoken up if he'd noticed anything." Bernon crouched down to examine one of the old fire pits and the trampled ground around it. "Looks like quite a few people, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe it's a traveling caravan, or maybe it's a whole village somewhere farther down the path." Regaining his bravery, he straightened and started off around the edge of the clearing. "C'mon, let's see if we can catch up to them."
The path they followed trailed deeper into the undergrowth. Even though by this point it was nearing mid-morning, it felt al lot later than that. The tracks grew more noticeable, easier to spot and signs of life became more obvious the further they traveled. It was clear that whoever had been camping near them were close, however still could not be spotted.