Closed Supposedly Alone in the Woods (Andruen)

[Letixia Raigner]

Winter 90, 513 Letixia slumped down on a rock, loosening her pack. This was the clearing she was told to meet her Patron at for her next training session. She'd been told to pack anything she might think she'd need for traveling, but to leave her armor behind. Her pack contained her waterskin, flint and steel, her eating knife, toiletries, and coin pouch. Her sword was strapped to her hip, her shield on her left arm. She ran her hand back through her hair, fluffing it, shaking it out, which felt nice in the cool breeze. She could see signs that Spring was just about here. Plants had buds waiting to bloom, animals were beginning to return. Even though the wind was still a bit chilly, it didn't quite have the bite it had a while back. Thunk. Right where Leti's eyes had been staring, an arrow stuck itself into a tree trunk. At first she was confused, then her training began kicking in. She immediately crouched low, raising her kite shield to cover as much of her body, particularly the vital points, as she could. She drew her sword with her right hand, and studied the arrow. She could see that it's tail was pointing west, so it must have traveled from there. She turned, slowly toward the land of the setting sun, glancing around the side of her shield, trying to find her assailant. Another arrow buried itself in the ground right next to her right foot, causing her to flinch. But this arrow had a note tied around its shaft. She sheathed her sword but kept her shield raised, expecting this to be a trick. She snatched up the arrow, and with some difficulty, extracted the note and unrolled it. She read it quickly, then sighed loudly. Letixia, your training has begun. For the next two days and nights you are to stay out here in the woods. You will fend for yourself, learn to survive. I, and others, will be around to ensure you're actually being proactive in your training, and if you do not take this seriously, will distribute punishment as we deem fit. Your Patron, Ser Ranqor She dropped the note to the ground, cursing her luck. This meant that she needed to find a more defensible position, a clearing was terrible when an unknown assailant was upon you. She snatched up her pack, and moved slowly out of the clearing, further into the woods, shield held up, eyes ever watchful for her Patron.

[Andruen]

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you."

Andruen had long since been in the forests, well past the breaking of dawn over the bronze mountains nearby. He had spent the vast majority of the day lounging about in a river nearby, the cold springs invigorating to him. After the short bath-like swim, he had made camp on the shore of the river with a small fire to warm himself. Hypothermia would have been a bad thing to get on such a beautiful day. The sun was rising over the mountains by the time he picked up his things and began to wander the woods with his bow in hand in search of something to hunt. But as luck would have it, he only stumbled upon the girl throughout the three hours of wandering. No deer, no rabbits, nothing. It was depressing, really.

He had hidden himself behind a tree when the girl had first entered the clearing, oblivious to several others that were around. It was quite easily distinguishable, their muddled camouflage against the wooden background. He could see two, but he was quite certain there were more. He really only spotted them because of the bows they had fired at the girl. He wasn't wanting to get into an all-out battle with people he didn't know, especially if the girl turned out to be one of them. He was a bit weary when the girl got up and, still unaware of the others' presneces, stomped off into the woods.

It was only then that he chose to speak up, but not reveal himself. His voice was ambiguous to her, due to the fact that he, too, wore camo upon his cloak to blend in easily. He watched from beside the tree, waiting. "There's a bear's den up that way." He stated, despite his want for remaining unseen.

[Letixia Raigner]

Letixia's head snapped up when she heard a comment about a bear's den. She assumed this voice belonged to one of her Patrons fellow Knights. She recalled her Patron saying once, 'Treat every exercise as if it were a worst possible scenario.' She decided that she was in Rhysol controlled area, and therefore to not trust the advice of any unknown, untrusted persons. She made her way northward, slowly, eyes and ears searching for anything out of the norm. With the clearing at her back, she started thinking about what would be an ideal situation for her to find. While caves were nice, they would often be known by the enemy scouts. She followed a small rise, passing through the trees, and relaxed her shield. She could hear the river flowing nearby, and decided to make her way over to it. When she could see it, she stayed within the treeline, walking parallel to it. She was looking off, away from the river, when she felt a misstep, and she slid down an embankment. She lost her footing, and ended up on her knees in the mud. She sighed loudly, annoyed at herself for not paying attention. She assessed her situation. She was down a steep embankment, with no real easy method of climbing back up it. She looked up and down the river, noticing that there was a decent, albeit muddy, shore she could walk along until she could find a way out. She did make a make a note that this could be good to know if ever needed to escape temporary detection from an enemy. But the deep, easy to follow footprints in the mud would also be an issue. For now though, she simply continued along the bank. A few chimes of sloshing through mud, she finally found something of use. A tree and its roots had created an overhang. And it was far back enough from the river that the soil wasn't mud, but soft dirt. It was out of sight for the most part, access to escape via swimming if absolutely necessary. She smiled, this was to be her home for the next couple of days. Was just a shame that she didn't have her fishing gear. She set her pack deep into the cave, and sat down to rest, keeping her shield next to her for comfort.