On The Run|Clan Beleg, Beastlands

[Skittlebug]

A while later Suri returns with a fair sized quail, pleased that her burns were diminishing enough to ignore now. She had surprised herself by deciding to come back at all, but she had found herself curious about the strange beast and, not that she would ever admit it, she didn't really want to be all on her own.

"Hey," she smiles a little, making an attempt to be friendly, "you beat me back here."

[Kender Bard]

"I'm a quick runner," Aelwine explained. He looked at her catch and grinned. "That'll go well with my rabbits. Now let's see if that fat ol' cat brings anything back."

"I'm quite certain that my catches will always surpass your own," the panther rumbled as he snuck back into the camp. "In fact I took down a doe. And because I'm a 'fat cat' you can go get it for me." The panther flopped down and began washing a paw.

"Well I'll be right back," Aelwine sighed and dropped the rabbits he was working on. "Feel free to finish skinning those if you want."

Nighthunt watched him disappear back the way the panther had just came and then turned his gaze back on Suri. "Well young one, now that we are alone, would you tell me how you came by those wounds?"

[Skittlebug]

Suri's expression becomes sullen, and she picks up one of the rabbits to continue skinning it, partially just for something to keep her hands busy.

"A small army of Fires invaded our lands, I was with the group who went to get rid of them."

[Kender Bard]

"Ah, a territory fight," Nighthunt concluded. "Well, you're alive. So that's good news. Were your kind able to expel the interlopers?"

[Skittlebug]

Suri pauses what she's doing and hangs her head a bit, "I'm...not sure."

[Kender Bard]

"Ahhh," the panther responds knowingly and drops it at that.

Aelwine did not take long to return--the doe that Nighthunt brought down had been a young, small one. Panting, he dumped it down nearby. "Well its your kill, friend, so once I dress it, I'll give you all the good parts."

"Liver," Nighthunt growled in anticipation.

Aelwine dropped some long sticks down as well. "I got these to spit our meager morsels on. Would you rather dress the doe or cook the catches we have?"

[Skittlebug]

Glad that Nighthunt didn't press the matter, Suri eyes the rabbits and quail, her mouth water by now, if she'd been on her own she would have just eaten the bird raw "it''s probably for the best if you take care of the doe, you sound like you know what you're doing."

[Kender Bard]

"I've gone hunting a number of times back home," Aelwine explained as he set to work. "Fishing is the primary trade, and land is expensive, especially for anything 'wasteful'. But my father happens to own a bit on Celentia and I slip off there to hunt the animals and wild creatures. It's quite a bit of fun, actually."

[Skittlebug]

Suri sets to the smaller game and the spits, this at least she knew how to do. She puzzles over what Aelwine is talking about. "That sounds...very different from things around here."

[Kender Bard]

"What do you mean?" Aelwine asked, glancing up. "Or rather, I should specify, what part do you refer to? I've noticed that there's no lack of land on this continent. How terribly lucky of you all."

[Skittlebug]

"Well, fishing more than hunting for one, or 'slipping off' to hunt, you don't hunt for yourself?"

[Kender Bard]

"I'm looked after by my father when I'm around," Aelwine explained. "True, I'm not allowed to live in his home but he looks after his ill-begotten children. So I'm never left to starve. I hang around Grandisle but it does get tedious and tiring after a while. That's when I hoist sail and go off to Celentia for some adventure or Second Hope to hang about the less fortunate."

[Skittlebug]

Suri considers this quietly as she continues her work with the spit, not entirely sure how to respond. After a few moments she turns to look at him, "what brought you to the beastlands then?"

[Kender Bard]

"Adventure of course," Aelwine laughed. "A whole new continent? A new land? Different people? Supposedly a whole nation of people who are exclusively Beasts? There was no way I could pass up the chance to see that. Of course I wasn't welcome with the queen's group since I'm not a legitimate nobleman, but there were plenty of other ships willing to head here and not for bad prices if you could find a captain as keen to sail as you were."

[Skittlebug]

Suri purses her lips at that, "You mean you live with people of other signs? How do you put up with them..."

She couldn't imagine mingling with those of inferior signs, other beasts were the only ones worth living with. She entertained for a moment the idea that all the beasts from Aelwine's homeland were a bunch of pushovers, not having other beasts to challenge them all the time.