[IC] Ruins and Runes

[Houndstooth]

The dog padded alongside Morgen, his steadfast companion. Her eyes were on the two strangers, as watchful with them as they intended to be of the children. Perhaps she fed off the boy's mistrust, or perhaps there was a certain smell or sound to them that made her wary. Whatever the case, she kept her golden eyes on them, her pointed ears pricked and alert.

The northern gate they departed from was unmanned. Either they didn't bother to post watchmen overnight, which was unlikely, or the guards had been drawn from their position courtesy of the fire. Indeed it seemed the five of them barely missed the crowds that formed in their wake, drawn not unlike moths to the flame. They would wonder what happened, gossip among one another, make and take bets on if anyone died in the inferno.

Morgen was being stubborn, and refused to answer the hunter's question. If Morwen wanted to be so friendly, let her chat him up. He kept his head down, one filthy hand perched on Spot's back to help guide him as they walked.

Even after only a short time of walking, the sounds of the outpost faded into silence. Although the rain had stopped for now, thick clouds obscured both star and moonlight. Without the lanterns of the outpost to illuminate the path ahead of them, they were soon cloaked in a heavy darkness, making travel rather trecherous. Scores of splintered petrified wood littered what packed earth passed for a "road". Spot navigated the near-pitch-blackness with ease, her eyes able to pick up on the very little natural light that was available. Morgen kept pace with her, oblivious to the perils of darkness the others were subjected to... Until someone might produce a lightsource.

[Lyrax]

She moved closer to her brother as it got darker out. The two didn't have a light source. When it got this dark, Morwen would simply make camp and keep watch. But they were so close, they needed to push on.

Morwen look up at the question. She paused a moment, to see if Morgen would answer. "Her name is Spot." She answered finally, "She's been traveling with us for about a year or so..." Morwen rubbed her arms.

The twin looked over to her sibling, eyes narrowing a bit. She could tell he wasn't happy. It wasn't hard to see why. They made it so far on their own, why risk traveling with the hunters now? The answer to Morgen was simple. The Miraculum was near. For two years they have avoided the group, either by careful planning or luck. But the night they were closest to home, they not only ran into the group, but the specific recruiter that knew them. It could of ended badly for them. Morwen shuddered slightly at the thought.

"Just a few more hours." Morwen whispered to Morgen, "You don't have to like them, just...just don't give them a reason not to like us."

[Jakunen]

"Spot." Johannes repeated to nobody in particular, then fell silent again. He was grateful the children were not the talkative yappy kind. He much preferred the sound of his own even breathing and any occasional huff from the dog.

Moving far enough from the outpost to be out of everyone's sight didn't make him relax. He trudged on and on through the dusk, and only once it was completely pitch black did his pace slow. He didn't stop entirely, only slowing enough to make quiet conversation with the others.

"We should make camp for the night."

Finally Johannes stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath. Everything smelled like petrified wood, dust, and dampness. Sliding his backpack off one shoulder, he swung it around to his front and unzipped it. Pulling out a folded cloth tarp with a quiet rustle, he zipped the backpack back up and slung it over his shoulder again. He held the tarp out to Ezra, smacking him in the chest with it so the boy could grab it in the darkness.

"Hold this. Don't lose it. That's our cover." Johannes dug in a pocket for something, and shortly thereafter was a scratch, then sudden flame! He had struck a match, which barely illuminated the area. It wasn't until he held it to a wick inside a small folding metal lantern did the group have much light to see anything at all.

"Hurry now. We'll find something to string this between. It doesn't have to be fancy, just enough to keep the wind and the rain out."

[maiitsoh]

“Spot?” Glances towards the dog in question, pitch colored, matted fur. “Did you name him?” The question was clearly directed towards the blind one as the animal had no spots in sight. Shaking his head he choose to fall back into silence as well, listening quietly as the girl whispered to her brother.

As the night enveloped them in a nearly impenetrable darkness the young scribe could not help but deeply frown. The wide open area of the Wastes was eerie in its own right with the expanse dotted by petrified trees, living well up to its name. Light-brown eyes stared out into the sunless distance, what stood casted bizarre shadows across the ground, darkness mingling with darkness.

“Oof!”

Narrowed eyes fell upon the hunter as he was jostled from his thoughts by the sudden thwap of the tarp against his chest. He was half tempted to just drop it on the ground in response yet held on to it, much rather would deal with his annoyance than the rains that washed over the Wastes. With the lighting of the lantern he felt a small sense of relief and that pushed him to search around for something to secure the tarp to. “Do you think we will get any rainfall tonight?” Glances towards Johannes for a moment before stepping up to a dead tree, giving it a swift kick with his boot to test its strength.

[Houndstooth]

"Yeah, I named her." His tone was sharp, a if daring Ezra to be a smartass about it. He knew Spot didn't have the markings of her namesake; he had seen her before, after all. Of course he couldn't exactly explain to them why she was named what she was, so he said nothing more.

Even Morwen got no response. He knew she was just trying to reassure him, but he didn't care. Didn't she realize that traveling with these two was probably more dangerous than if they just went on their own? It the Miraculum caught wind of a hunter in the area -- and there were liable to, with what just happened -- they'd be doing some hunting of their own. Not something he and his sister needed to get caught in the crossfire of.

He stopped when everyone else did, though understandably didn't quite get why. They'd made it maybe a mile from the outpost; why were they stopping already?

"We hardly even walked... What's the point of stoppin' so soon?" Not realizing Ezra's inquiry was directed at Johannes, Morgen responded: "It'll rain again. P'rolly another hour or two. Plenty of time to keep walkin'."

[Lyrax]

Morwen took a deep breath too. It smelled like home. On these kind rainy nights, their mother would be cooking a hot stew. The bubbling soup with fill their small home with various fragrant aromas harvested in their own gardens. Garlic, parsley and the geese that their father killed that morning. There would be chattering among the children, Morwen trying to get everyone ready for dinner. Her mother humming a song.

Tomorrow. It'll be like that tomorrow.

A soft snicker escaped Morwen's mouth at Erza's comment, which she quickly covered up with her hand. Morgen seemed to not be in the mood for his usual quips. She looked to Morgen, "It's around the time we stop." She said with a shrug, she then frowned looking to Johanness, "Wait...you have a lantern...we can walk before the rain comes."

[Jakunen]

"Yes, we can walk before the rain comes, and then get caught in the downpour, or we can set up camp now and stay dry." Johannes paced around with his lantern, picking out two trees sufficiently close together. Digging in his backpack again, he took out a length of rope and circled it first around one tree trunk, then stretched it over to the second tree. Once the rope was sturdy and in place he grabbed the tarp back from Ezra and draped it over the rope.

"You kids are welcome to continue walkin'. I'm staying here till sunrise." Johannes made no mention of what Ezra should or could do, likely assuming the scribe wouldn't just walk away now.

Holding the lantern high, Johannes peered around before stalking off in another direction. With a grunt, he dragged back a heavy log and used it to weigh down one end of the tarp, pinning it to the ground. He circled the camp again, looking for some other heavy object for the other end of the tarp.

[maiitsoh]

Stares at Johannes as the tarp was suddenly yanked from his arms and with a sigh, he lowered the scarf from over his nose and mouth. “I’ll be sticking around the camp myself. There is no point in continuing on for the night and with how dark it has gotten. Plus.. I think all of us got to eat a lot of jack and shit before Cinders back there decided lighting a fire in a wooden building was a good idea.” Throws his pack near the ground before rolling a piece of fallen log towards Johannes with his foot. “Here. To hold down that corner.” Kneeling down he searched through his own rations and sighed. “Got a lot of that bland travel shit they saddle us with. “ Throws two packets to the kids. “Ain’t much but it’s better than tryin’ to sleep on an empty stomach.”

Straightens himself up after fastening the pack shut once more, a hand lifting to fully lower the scarf from over his head. Ezra’s expression didn’t speak much for him, keeping a neutral look into play as he once more scanned the area around them, stepping out towards the dark a little as something caught his eye. A hand went to his shoulder briefly before he stepped close once more keeping the layers of his clothing tucked tightly around him as night fell.

“Do you think that Miraculum’s buddy is gonna track us out this way?” His tone suggested that he was asking about the weather or whether Johannes’ mother was well and not that some fanatical loonies could be hunting for their blood in the darkness of the Wastes.