(wheezes I forgot what it was like waking up at 7am)
"Just make sure you don't slip and fall if you try," Tanrial warned, "If it rains the ground will be slippery and you could easily loose your balance trying to make on too much water at once. I've seen it happen before, kinda funny in all honesty."
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(oof girl T.T Sorry I'm late, my cousins were visiting)
"Heh, thanks for the warning. I'll try not to get too carried away."
Mike found a worn path through the woods and started down it, keeping an eye on their surroundings just in case. "By the way, assuming we get back here early enough, I was thinking it might be a good idea to visit Snatch and her mom one last time. I doubt she'd appreciate it if we left without saying goodbye."
(All good. School was hectic and notebook messed up for a while)
Tanrial chuckled, pushing away some tree branches to get through easily, "I think Snatch would hunt us down and make us say goodbye before saying hello again."
Bernon laughed. "That she would. I'd really like to see how she's doing–good idea, Mike. And Fear too, of course."
"Yeah." Mike frowned at a weird noise in the distance, then decided it was a bird and moved on. "But that's only if we get back early, so let's not drag our feet."
"We were just being optimistic Mike," Tanrial held her hands up in defense, "We know we might not get to but we're hoping."
Mike shrugged. "I know, I'm just reminding us."
Bernon kicked a stone ahead of him down the path as he walked. "So, do we want to visit the map-maker first when we get there, or the market?"
“Well… depends. The map maker might be expensive so do we want to spend more on the map or the supplies?” She shrugged.
"Hmm," Bernon said. "The way I see it, if we have a really good map, we can find other towns to buy supplies in on the way, or find good places to forage for our own stuff. And like Mike said, not all the stuff on our list is essential, but a map's really worth splurging on. Does that sound logical?"
“Yeah, sounds logical to me. And I’m sure Polla might be able to spare us a few things before we leave.”
"Hopefully. Oh, that reminds me. Have either of you seen or heard from Ryker's kids since the meeting? I know they're around, but I was wondering if they'd decided where they were going yet."
“No I haven’t. Did you see them the other day, Mike? They haven’t been into the tavern since the meeting so…”
Mike shook his head. "I saw them last night when I came back, all talking by one of the campfires on the shore. But they must have still been asleep when we headed out this morning. I hope they've come to a decision….how long to you think Thranion and James will wait around for them?"
Tanrial shrugged, "James will wait around for a while, maybe him and a couple others while the rest of them go back. Thranion… well, he'll wait for one more day or so before leaving, I'm sure James will contact him about the situation at some point."
"Sounds good. I'd guess the kids will decide before much longer, if they haven't already." Mike slowed down a little as the path started to descend sharply into the valley. His voice was slightly quieter when he spoke again, but stayed casual. "And just so both of you know, I see a trap at the bottom of the hill. I'm gonna hop the path here in a minute and go around, so follow my lead and act natural, but keep an eye out in case there's someone watching us."
"I have no doubt that whoever or whatever laid the trap is waiting around to see it's prey ensnared, but got it boss." Tanrial smiled like normal, though it was slightly strained this time.
"You're right," Mike muttered. "But if they laid a trap instead of an ambush, that probably means their alone or too weak to take us down themselves."
The trap was hard to spot from the path, but from the side it became quite clear: A large tree, loose at the roots, was leaning against a stake attached to a tripwire stretched across the path. If triggered, the tree would have definitely crushed at least one of them if not more. Bernon gave their surroundings a nervous glance. "Maaaaybe we should talk about that once we're well out of range, hey?"
"Probably a good idea," Tanrial eyed the trap for a moment, frowning, "Come on, let's hope whoever laid the trap doesn't suddenly jump out or something."
(growls weakly Guess who got sick AGAIN)
They made it past the trap without incident, although they did hear someone or something hastily retreating through the undergrowth as they returned to the path. Mike looked up sharply and reached for his knife, but the sound faded and nothing tried to stop them.
(Aww, poor baby, hands over blankets, tea, ice cream and medicine)
It was silent for a while, and there were no other mysterious sounds that could indicate something readying an attack. There were no other traps that could be seen from where they were which was lucky. Tanrial released a breath.
(thanks uwu)
They walked in silence for a while. It was still overcast and quite dark under the trees, and after a while there came the distant yet ominous sound of thunder. Bernon glanced at the patches of white sky visible between the branches and adjusted his backpack slightly. "I hope this isn't gonna be one of those huge storms I've heard about that plague this region in the summer. We may have to turn back or find shelter if it starts to really get bad."
"Maybe there's like a cave or something round here," Tanrial shrugged a shoulder, looking up at the sky with Bernon, a frown slowly forming, "If it gets bad we can hide in there if we need to."
"The terrain here does seem pretty rocky," Mike agreed. "So there's a chance we could find a cave if necessary. But the main danger with that is it might be already occupied."
Bernon nodded. "That's true, but we might be able to share with them for a while." Ignoring Mike's quiet snort, he continued. "Either way, we need to find high ground if it starts to rain, right? Landslides seem like a pretty major risk around here."
"That's true. And I'd rather have us stand on top of a massive hill getting drenched from the rain then buried under mounds of dirt."
"Yeah. For now, though, let's just try to get to the other village as fast as possible." Mike picked up the pace a little, careful not to slip on the steep path. "We may be able to wait out the storm there, if we're quick."
(Not gonna be active tomorrow, got the Jetty Classic all day)
"I'm sure there's some pub or something along those lines that we could stay in for a couple hours until the storm passes." Tanrial grabbed onto a tree branch to help her down a steep bit of path.
(Sounds cool ^^ Hope you have fun!)
They followed the path down into the valley where it merged with a larger path and ran parallel to the slopes. They walked unhindered for most of the journey, and the storm seemed to be holding off for the moment. Around noon, Bernon broke the silence. "Does anybody remember when their birthday is?"
Mike blinked. "Where'd that come from?"
"I was just thinking about how long it's been since I had a birthday celebration. I think it's April twenty….first or second for me. Somewhere along the line I got it confused and now I can never remember."
Mike frowned. "That's….a good question. Mine's in December, I know that, but I have no idea when. What about you, Tanrial?"
(Scratch that, I will be active for a few hours later today)
Tanrial shrugged, thinking hard for a few moments, "I… honestly don't remember. I stopped celebrating it years ago because it reminded me of how old I am. And it's not that important anyway."
(Oof, sorry I missed ya, I was napping most of the evening yesterday)
"I guess that's fair," Bernon said. "Hey, maybe we could all celebrate at the same time someday! Like a three-way birthday!"
Mike glanced back at him. "What would we even do?"
"Well, you know, the usual stuff? Give each other presents, and–"
"We couldn't do much of that since we have to travel light. Unless you like commemorative birthday matches or something."
Bernon wilted slightly. "Well, then, we could at least have cake!"
"How are we supposed to make cake out here?"
"It's possible! I made a map once that shows every spot in the country where the ingredients for cake are reliably found!"
Mike gave him a look. "A cake map? That's…..kinda sad, Bernon, not gonna lie."
Bernon huffed. "It could be useful, you never know," he muttered. "Anyway, it was just an idea."
(Lol, I wish I was able to do that yesterday)
"Well, I think it's a great idea. And I agree, a cake map could be useful, like for our situation," Tanrial crossed her arms and smiled at Bernon, "We should do it. At some point we should have a three-way birthday celebration."
Bernon straightened, looking pleasantly surprise. "Yeah! See, Mike? I knew Tanrial would agree with me."
Mike sighed. "Fine. If you can think of a celebration that doesn't involve any of the usual birthday stuff, I'm down."
"We will," Bernon said cheerfully. "I've got no doubt of that."