Chapter 5: Pleased to Meet You

Coreene continues to eye the beast, but nods to Wil. "You're welcome. You did well, standing tall against that creature." She gives him a small smile. Hearing Yelnar, she begins to pull her hair up with a leather cord, "I've butchered my fair share of beasts. I wouldn't recommend eating its meat, but it's skin might prove useful if we handle it correctly. But first," She strides over to Uelten, and looks him over. "How are you, are you hurt?"

Verrian bends down to look more closely at the monster's tail. "These spikes might make good weapons, if someone's inclined to remove them."

I would like a feather for my hat.

What?

I think it would look jaunty

"I think that would look very good on you Wil." Pip chirps a few times in protest. "Pip does too." She grabs and holds him in her hands to keep him out of trouble. Also as an excuse so she doesn't have to help with the skinning.

Are they poisonous? We've seen some weird things here. The last thing you need is another obscure disease, Wil. But....

She steps closer, trying to decide if this counted as a "really" sentient being or not.

I wouldn't mind a spike, too. If we shouldn't just bury her. How does that whole thing work?

She finds herself wishing Epwrath were here so she could ask a cleric.

"We can drag it far away with the horses. I don't think we should try to dig a hole that big." Swan smiles crookedly.

Verrian stares at her companions with a mixture of amazement, exasperation, and fatigue. "Let me remind you all that we are meant to be sleeping right now. I don't think a complex, light-less butchering operation is a healthy or practical use of the dead of night. It's a lot more sensible for all of us to go back to bed and resume the watch schedule. We can do what we need to do with the body when it's daylight."

Coreene looks at Verrian, a little lost at first, but then nods. "You're right. I think we're all just a little... caught up in the excitement."

"Yes'm. Now, I don't mean to be contrary, but dead flesh attracts predators. Leaving this here between the cabins is just asking for more visitors." He gestures back at the cabin. "This is a one person job, you go get some rest while I finish up this watch."

Ember realizes how tired she is and yawns. But, before she collapses in her bed, she crouches down. Tracing a small pattern in the dirt, she makes a guttural sound like a string being stretched. She raises her hand as if she's pulling something out of the ground, and smiles.

Oh, good. It worked.

She pats the air on the...head? and directs a nonexistent mass to face Uelten.

Listen to him. Wake me up if someone comes. Thank you.

She watches it go to his side, though there's nothing there.

She should keep you company for a couple hours.

Coreene watches Ember cast her spell with interest, not sure if it's the young woman just tiredly playing with Uelten or real magic. She smiles at him, though. "Nonsense, Uelten. I'm already up and the next watch is mine. Let me help you get this thing taken care of."

Swan will do the man thing and pretend to know what he is doing. He fetches and saddles two horses, and ties the manticore by the front feet to the saddles, and leads the horses outside of the camp, dragging it slowly. He'll take it a hundred yards away, off the tail. Then, exhausted, he unties it, leads the horses back trying to calm them. "That's nothing there, settle down," he repeats, unsure what had spooked them so.

Swan thanks Coreene for helping. It was definitely easier with two people leading the horses.

"What do you think of these strangers we've been sent to? Not the likeliest band of freedom fighters."

"Probably the best freedom fighters we can hope for. Each one is more than they seem." Coreene muses, a wistful smile on her face. "We have Wil. Not the most intimidating man in the world, but I saw no fear within him as he faced down that beast. Same with you," She smirks, nudging him playfully. "Ember's nice. I can tell she has a good heart, if a bit of a sharp tongue. Elora seems... unsure. But she seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and one can never scoff at that." She sighs deeply, more to alleviate some tension in herself from all the excitement than anything else. "Then there's Verrian. I can't begin to express how good it feels to be around another Naucan, not that you aren't good company. There's just a bond that's hard to explain to those who haven't felt it..." Her face shifts, looking a little more concerned. "Her temper worries me. Not that her rage wasn't understandable, but even in my darkest moments, I don't know if I've ever felt something as powerful as her anger was earlier this evening..." She's quiet for a moment, clearly dwelling on that, but she shakes her head and smiles once more. "And then we have Yelnar. He seems incredibly quiet, but I find that the quiet one's usually have the most to think about." She ponders for a moment, making a show of looking around as if trying to collect her thoughts.
"Did I miss anyone?" She asks herself aloud.

"Yelnar, right. I thought I misheard his name." He scratches his back. "I think you got them all. They do have friends elsewhere, Epwraith and Adaye? Maybe more. I don't know if they'll be sent our way, too. But I'm a little confused, too. Are they joining our mad quest, or are we joining theirs?"

That may must be a rhetorical because he continues on. "But Coreene, how are you really doing? It's been a lot for you these past few days."

Coreene shrugs and rubs her arms. "I'm... coping. You know my feelings better than anyo-... better than most." she corrects herself, remembering her conversation with Verrian. "I just want to get back to Hara as soon as possible and help those people... then, I think, I might start to feel better."

"I hear that. Part of me doesn't want to go back. It's stupid, but if we're not there, it isn't as bad as I fear it is going to get. That sounds even worse aloud than in my head, and I don't mean it. I suppose I'm saying that I'm afraid that it is worse than I imagine." He shivers.