”We don’t have parties. We just join the Shepherds and start workin’.” she told him, yawning widely as she looked at the floor. The woman caught sight of a nice thick branch and bent down to pick it up. She held it tightly in her hands as if it would prevent her from falling over, like a short cane. Lumara shook her head and glanced over at Tihlas. ”Though, we sometimes have parties. I remember that it was someone’s birthday and everyone was happy and crap before I passed out. This was before the shit that Darrian did, though. There was a wedding quite a while back. I wasn’t invited but I still went because I had nothing better to do.”
Caius grunted in agreement and continued to follow. Lumara walked in silence, bending down, staggering a bit, and picking up sticks for the fire. Why it was so cold here, she didn’t know. It was supposed to be scorching hot in the desert, and here she was, trembling and wanting to be by the fire! It made her frustrated. She had to be the one to go and gather firewood with this hunk of metal and this blondie. She looked up and tried to remember exactly why she joined the Shepherds. It wasn’t out of boredom, no…
”I joined the Shepherds because my other family, the Riders of Dawn, were slaughtered in a battle against another bandit group. I joined them because, believe it or not, I used to be a noble. Yes, I used to wear dresses. I dare you to go and mention it to someone.” she glowered at the two men and scowled deeply. ”My father was going to offer me up to someone in Ferox. Why he wanted to send me so far away, I have no idea. But I was not about to become someone’s trophy wife. No way. I rather put my head on Darrian’s own pike.”
Talbot blinked when Neo told him to set down his tomes. Oh? So they weren’t learning magic? He turned back to the rock that he had set his lightning tomes on and did the same. Thankfully, they were in his satchel, so no sand would get in between the pages. He made the bag lean carefully against the rock, paying special attention to, which was for him, the line between life and death, the many tomes in the satchel. He stretched before walking back to the stream, curiosity streaking over his face. Well, what was this? This was something he hadn’t seen before…
It was a modified fishing net. There was a wire spanning the length of it, and he gave one to Vellia and one to Talbot. He took it and did just as he was told. His hands gripped the net tightly and he watched the stream to see what would happen. Mmm, fish would be nice for dinner. I mean, better than the thought of eating rattlesnakes or lizards. I hope that they bring a nice, plump quail as well. Their eggs are delicious… he drooled openly, blanking out for a moment or two.
Or maybe a good steak. Medium rare, of course, leaking out only the slightest bit of blood. They were so tender… back in Ylisse, he would be able to eat them if he had enough bullions. But now, there was no cow in sight, and the only animals they had around them were wyverns and pegasi and horses. He wondered how they would taste like. From the look of it, the wyvern would have tougher meat and the pegasi and horses would be easier to slice open. Grunting, he shook his head, regaining his focus and looking at the net. No, he couldn’t think like that. It was inhumane!
”What’s the point of this?” the question came out blunt, but Talbot really wanted to know. This was no ordinary net. ”I mean, I haven’t seen a fishing net like this before.” maybe it had to do with something magic oriented? ”… does that wire conduct electricity?” he guessed, a frown on his face. If it wasn’t true, oh well. At least he could prove he had imagination. He blew a piece of hair out of his face and gazed at Neo, wondering what they would do next.
