The wheels of the empty [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/b4/14/bcb4141a61773b6a5a7a10667414d17e.jpg]cart[/url] rumbled faintly across the beaten dirt path through the camp as Asher lead the tall [url=http://41.media.tumblr.com/0f6392ef6fbf9d1f9095e163f3c564c5/tumblr_n1obmjD3UX1s9n2k7o1_1280.jpg]draft mule[/url] back towards the Healer's tent. It was still light out, but the shadows were lengthening as the sun dipped towards the horizon. The change in the campsite was more than obvious. Carts and packed bundles littered the area, many of the tents and pavilions already uprooted and turned into rolls of leather and canvas with support polls bundled in the centers. Children and dogs ran screaming with laughter through the walkways that seemed wider than usual.

Verissa wasn't at the Healer's tent, but Shenzi pointed him in the right direction after spending some time complimenting the woman not only on her skill, but her confidence in spite of her tragic change in circumstances.

The grey-eyed Swordmaster nodded, glad to hear Shenzi report a good first day for Verissa, and then offered to stay and help pack the Healer's Tent with the other young men and women. But Shenzie waved him off, her canine teeth glinting with her foxy grin.

[b][color=8882be]"I'm sure you have your own tent to pack, Ash. Verissa should help you with it."[/color][/b]

As he passed by a group of Shenzi's unofficial acolytes, he couldn't help but hear a wave of whispers and turned to look. His scar-bisected eyebrow twitched up and apparently the woman named Briea took his attention as an invitation. While the others watched, she wandered over from where she and her friends were organizing something for Shenzi and she smiled warmly.

[color=f49ac2]"Hello Ash,"[/color] Briea greeted him, moving in front of him so that he was forced to either stop walking or knock her down. When she spoke, her fluid hand motions were accompanied by a saucily-cocked hip, and he couldn't help but notice that the pretty dyed wrap accentuated her shape. 

[color=707070]"What do you want, Briea?"[/color] he asked, grumpy and even slightly suspicious. He knew that she was interested in him, but something about her seemed ingenuine, though he'd never been able to put his finger on it. As a sly grin spread across her face while she contemplated the answer to his question, Asher felt his brow scrunch with a frown.

[color=f49ac2]"I can think of a few things,"[/color] she replied thoughtfully, her white-blonde hair falling perfectly straight over her shoulder as she tilted her head to regard him. He had to admit, she was very pretty. [color=f49ac2]"But I was wondering if you wanted to share a tent with me once we all reach the Gathering? A handsome man like you shouldn't sleep alone."[/color]

Normally such a suggestion would have instantly made him think about Wren, but while he did think of her, the jab of outrage in his gut had less to do with his dead wife and more to do with Briea's assumption that he would be alone. Squaring his shoulders a bit, the young Swordmaster tightened his grip on the mule's lead rope.

[color=707070]"I won't be alone. In case you hadn't heard, my tent is a bit crowded now after the raid last night."[/color] His words were stoney, but Briea either didn't get the hint or refused to give up so easily. She pressed closer and even lifted an arm to rest her palm on his shoulder, her hip nudging against his. She was warm and smelled good.

[color=f49ac2]"Haha, you know as well as I do that slaves can just sleep outside with the dogs,"[/color] Briea giggled hatefully, and Asher decided he had had enough.

[color=707070]"I don't have time for this,"[/color] he growled, pushing roughly past the woman, not noticing the daggers in her eyes as she stared after him, the look fueled by the wicked giggling of her friends.

When Asher finally found Verissa on what was left of the training pits, he paused to watch for a while, crossing his arms over his muscled chest and leaning against the massive shoulder of the mule, who busied himself cropping at the dry grass. He didn't smile a lot, but an amused smirk loitered on his lips as he watched the woman attack the ground and the air with the weathered stick. He had spent enough time training to know when someone was genuinely training or just getting out their anger, and Verissa definitely appeared to be doing the latter.

Eventually he decided to speak up, leaving the mule and cart to wander around a bit while approaching Verissa with his hands lifted in a peaceful gesture. His boots crunched on the cracked sandy dirt.

[color=707070]"You have a lot of power behind your swings, but you're too stiff. If you actually did hit someone holding a staff like that it would jolt it right out of your hands."[/color] He kept his distance, waiting to see how she responded to his presence before getting close enough for a good hit. Asher wasn't ignorant of the possibility that she blamed her kidnapping entirely on him and might wish to punish him for it in a very direct and skull-cracking way.

[color=707070]"I could show you, if you'll let me."[/color] He watched her eyes the way he would watch a startled cat or a sketchy camp dog, not making any motion to take the staff from her, his eyes stormy and soulful at the same time.