The Fellowship Grows, the Journey Continues (RP)

Lille holds on gamely as Ezme ejects the toxic sludge, but the larger woman’s spasms make it a difficult job. She manages to prevent it from getting *everywhere*, and Lille’s arms only have a few splatters, which she ignores. Once Ezme is through, Lille reaches a hand over to squeeze her shoulder. "We are going to clean up," she announces. When Ezme hesitates, Lille nods her head insistently towards the closest part of the stream, which can just be heard gurgling in the night.

The two standing up is a bit of a tangle; each woman struggling through tiredness and trying to help the other without touching her too much. Eventually they make it to standing, and Lille grabs up her staff, towel, and half-empty water skin as they pass her gear. At the edge of camp, Lille stops and casts a warning glance back at the others. "Nobody go to sleep before we’re back." She then rejoins the reluctant tapper and they pick their way under the light of the waning moon.

Before leaving camp, Ezme manages to limp over to her backpack to grab a fresh top... her last now. (The other got ripped up and turned into garlic compresses.) Now she sets it on a boulder under the shelter of a tree and weakly sits to rest, momentarily contemplating the rushing stream. It brings to mind the one they'd crashed into just moments ago in dreams. She frowns uncertainly. Unless...

"Did you have dream about stream, crashing wagon into it... The... clay pot?" the trapper asks, casting a quick glance the druid girl's way. With some difficulty she removes her top, moving with care around the long line of stitches down her chest. She sets the soiled blouse aside.

Lille looks up from where she’s crouched beside the water, finishing splashing off one arm. "It wasn’t a dream," she says slowly, as if partly convincing herself of it. "There’s no way we’d be this tired after sleeping," she adds with more confidence. Her eyes widen at the sight of Ezme’s chest. "Did you get *that* in the.. place?" she asks, pointing to the wound.

Albert goes to warm up by the fire, he helps Roald pick some more firewood before sitting down. "I don't feel the same, Roald." He says. "I'm not sure what happened in my dreams exactly, but it was intense." As usually happens with dreams, the memory of it is already starting to fade.

"I remember that I lost Raynor in that dream." He looks worried and exhausted. "This is scaring me more than those skeletons. You can't fight a dream. What if it's an omen?"

Roald thinks for a minute, staring into the fire.
"No, I don't think its an omen. This dream was more like a nightmare, it confronted us with our fears, but we fought back, we were stronger than this ... shadow. You couldn't remember Raynor, I lost my physical strength, I couldn't help anybody anymore and was in need of help myself. "

In a way Roald is convincing himself, he too still has his doubts.
What if the events that happened there still linger on in the real world?

"Don't worry my friend, everything will be just fine, I'm going to check on the others"
Roald pats Albert on the shoulder and stands up.
In the east, the sky is getting lighter.

Ezmaray shakes her head. "No. This was from mist creatures..." She supposed that, technically, the wound was self-inflicted, but she didn't feel like going into that right now. Lost in thought, Ezme eases down toward the stream to gently splash the water on herself and wash away the scent of bile.

If that hadn't been a dream, then what did that mean? What force had brought them to that place? Could it have been that being she had met, or was he just another sort of prisoner or puppet? She replays the whole encounter in her mind. What had he meant when he said he would catch her "on the flip side"? The joyful, victorious ring of his laughter... that was certainly worrisome.

And then there was the matter of what she had experienced with Daryl... She felt her heart swell with warmth toward him, but the unsolicited nature of that memory sharing made matters ... awkward. And she wasn't entirely sure how much of herself she'd shared with him....

Reaching for her shirt to start rinsing it off, Ezme glances toward the young woman washing off nearby. Lille, herself, looked preoccupied. Recalling the girl's worried cries earlier, Ezme softens. Lille was a sisterless child. She had no clue what it was like to have that sort of companionship, and yet she clearly longed for connection as much as the trapper did.

All of Ezme's siblings were raised "female." What would it be like to have a sister like Lille -- wild, unrestrained, and forceful, but also kind? ... Is this how Ezme came across to her own siblings??

Ezme shakes her head to clear it. "It is all behind us now," she says to the girl, trying to sound reassuring.

"Creatures..." Lille seems to have difficultly comprehending why any creatures would be in the terrible mists, much less an adventurer. She finishes washing and takes a swig from her water skin before refilling it with the cool water. "If this is what adventuring is like, I think it may not be over yet." She glances down at one of her sting sites suspiciously. "Especially for Albert," she adds, leaning on her staff as she waits for Ezme to come walk beside her. "I think there is still some bear in him."

Ezme's brow quirks with surprise as she sets side the newly cleaned shirt and slips on the new blouse. "Oh? Why?"

"He smells a little like a bear," Lille explains. "But also like a man." She seems quite confused by the existence of this impossible state. "Another bear might notice, but only if they were close."

Not entirely sure what to make of Lille's comment, Ezme merely grunts in response. She collects her damp shirt and the two of them start making their way back toward the menfolk.

Albert smiles at his friend before he's left with Daryl and Theo. His stomach rumbles and his thoughts dwell to a nice meal. He could really go for a chunk of bread slathered with honey right now. It's been so long since he's had a truly sweet meal. The thoughts only make him more hungry. "Do we have any food left?" He asks Daryl who is sitting not far from him.

"Hmm?" Daryl replies, obviously lost in thought himself.

"Are you alright, Daryl? You look a bit pale." Albert asks him. The response is not what Albert had expected. "Oh yes, well maybe... Or maybe not." Daryl tells him and continues to talk about what happened in the dream with Ezmaray and himself. "It's just a nightmare, Daryl. I wouldn't think to much of it if I were you. Or if you really want to know, ask her." Is Albert's conclusion.

Daryl nods, self-reflecting that he needs to work on his bravery.

"We don't happen to have anything sweet to eat, right?" Albert asks, changing the subject. "Yeah, didn't think so. A shame, really."

Roald hastly walks through the forest and almost bumps into Ezme as he rounds a thick bush.
"Oh, sorry, I was, yeah, errr, ... we're thinking of breaking up camp and getting back on route. If that's ok with you guy.. ladies of course?
And maybe hunt for some small game."
Roald said that last remakt more as a question, knowing very well who was the better hunter in this company. He turns around and joins the women on their trip back.

"Yes, Lille agrees, "I think it’s best that we move on from this place. And taking a longer stop to hunt later would be good." She walks in thoughtful silence for the last bit back to the camp.

"Perhaps we can take a longer midday break today," she suggests to the group, surveying the tired faces of all her companions. "If you check your traps, she says to Ezme, "hopefully there will be some breakfast for this fire." Squatting down to warm her hands beside Albert, she suddenly switches to Wildspeak. "Albert, could you pass me that stick?" Lille points to a small branch on the other side of him.

Albert agrees witthe sentiments of the group when they are conveyed to him.

While Lille is tending to the fire, she looks at him a bit strangely. Her eye movements and a few heavy breaths make him realize why. Ah, she needs some more sticks from over near that stump. he thinks, picking up on the signals. He turns to do just that and a low huff escapes his lips without realizing it, followed by a click of the tongue. "On my way."

Nobody but Lille seems to notice.

Lille arches an eyebrow and looks satisfied, but doesn’t say anything. She receives the wood with a normal spoken, "Thank you," and returns to poking the fire and preparing to eat and break camp.

Ezmaray is not sure what to make of Theo's latest display. His terror had made sense to her... mostly... (though now she doubted her prior insight regarding his feelings for her). But now that everyone had come back safely, the lad seemed oddly grumpy and morose. And poor Daryl! What could he have possibly done to deserve such ire??

It made no sense to her whatsoever. Of course, Theo still acted uncomfortable around her, so the trapper didn't feel well positioned to resolve whatever issue had arisen between the young men. Instead, she did what came most naturally: pretended not to notice and focused her attentions on feeding the group. She knew how to care for the crew's basic needs; hopefully someone else would step up to the task of being peacemaker.

Gazing off toward the town, Ezme wonders idly to herself if Wankle was still following them. She'd seen neither hide nor hair of him since the night he'd come to her aid, but her secret nightly offerings continued to be appreciated by somebody. It might be slightly harder to leave him that offering in town, but she liked the idea of a night in a bed. (Though she could never remember them in the morning, Ezme had the feeling that her dreams had been troubled. Certainly her sleep had not been very restorative....)

"Shall we approach with caution...?" she suggests, glancing back at the crew.

Roald too notices the change in atmosphere. He wants to talk to Daryl, but is afraid his friend won't speak up with everybody in hearing distance. To his left he sees the glinstering of the sun on what has to be a small stream, he waits a minute or 2 to execute his idea.

"Hey everyone, I think I heard a waterfall a few steps back. Daryl and I will go and fill everybody's waterskin and catch up later"

They gather the skins and reach the watersource with ease. On their way back to the group, Roald tries to talk to Daryl.

"You're not looking quite yourself my friend, is everything ok? Is there maybe something you need to get of off you chest? You know I'm always here for you if you need a listening ear"