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One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

Flicking over the deer hide, Taya scraped it in long, slow motions,
"Do you dance?" She asked, looking up this time and keeping her eyes on Erik. One of the things Taya enjoyed most was dancing, it was like she was in another place far away from the village.

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

"No," She said, shaking her head before laying the finished fur to one side. It would later be cut up and tanned by someone else and then used for a wrap. Knowing that Erik didn't have a partner made Taya feel oddly happy and she smiled down at the deer fur in her lap. This was the one that Erik had killed,
"But yes, the feast will be good. I think my mother is cooking some of the deer you brought in."

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

"Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it," Taya said, sinking down to sit across the fire from Erik, pulling some fur across her lap to start cleaning it. Grabbing a scraper, she carefully began the chore,
"You all came back with so much food! We'll have a good feast tonight, probably dancing." At the mention, Taya flicked her eyes up for just a second to see Erik through the smoke before going back to work,
"Do you have a partner?"

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

The process of skinning and gutting the meat was a messy process that Taya didn't like but she didn't complain. Their village had been running low on food and with some new babies on the way they needed to make new swaddles for the children. Once the furs were removed, Taya was excused by the older women to take the furs to the village to begin cleaning them. Gathering them up, Taya trekked back to the fire. Seeing Erik by her stew made Taya feel a strange sense in her chest, it was warm and made her smile. Approaching Erik from behind, quietly and hoping to surprise him, Taya leaned over his shoulder,
"Enjoying it?" She asked.

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

"I'm Taya," She said, moving so that Erik could go past her and into the village, looking over her shoulder to where the other young women were gathering to prepare the food.
"I should go..." Taya said, taking a step back,
"There is some stew over the fire that you will want to try... I made it myself," The offer was one many single women made to men, hoping to impress them with their cooking and domestic skills. Smiling at him again, Taya began dragging the kill to the cleaning site.
"It was very nice to meet you Erik."

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

Taya looked up when a shout echoed through the village, she was huddled with a group of women around a small fire, trying to keep warm as they sat with their bone needles and sinew mending skin boots and sewing together furs to sleep on. Now they all abandoned their work and stood, hurrying to greet the hunters coming back from the kill. Everyone in the village knew there was a chance that the hunters may not bring anything back, but from their forms the villagers could see the hunters were laden with food. Taya joined the cheer that went up in greeting.

The women, including Taya, walked out to greet the hunters and relieve them of their burden. They would do the messy work outside of the village and downwind so that any animals that came to investigate would stay away from their homes. Going over to one man, Taya raised her hand in greeting then held out her hands,
"Hello! I'll take that, you go get warm." She said, smiling at the hunter. He was familiar, but Taya couldn't quite pin down his name. She wondered why, he was very attractive.

One is The Lonliest Number [Namelessjake and WhiteLily]

Okie dokie!

The Adventurer(Jones Sparrow and WhiteLily)

"As long as I'm with you," Aria said, hugging Ben's arm to her as they walked,
"I will go anywhere." The city wasn't crowded, it wasn't tourist season, but Aria marveled at the buildings and huge stone ruin sitting atop the largest of the cliffs. She could imagine this place being filled with people during the tourist seasons, it was a beautiful place that was close enough to Rome if visitors wanted to see it they could, or if they wanted to stay away from the hustle and bustle this city was perfect. As they made their way to the train station, Aria couldn't help but wonder as she looked at a train schedule, one route taking them to the south-eastern most part of Italy. She pointed to it,
"Will we be traveling on a sleeper car? That train would take us to Leuca, from there we could take a ferry to Greece."

The Adventurer(Jones Sparrow and WhiteLily)

"I don't know," Aria said, turning into Ben's chest as they floated across the straight and to the mainland. The journey took a couple hours in all and not soon enough the buildings of coastal city of Terracina, an hour south from Rome, rose out of the ocean on the hills. The white and red buildings practically shining in the morning sun.
"It's beautiful," Aria breathed, leaning on the railing at the bow of the boat now as Paolo steered the boat into the marina and docked. Aria hugged her long time friend and grabbed hr bag, eager to get off the boat. As soon as her bare feet touched the wooden dock, the young woman began shaking, a huge smile and tears filling her eyes.
"I can't believe I'm free..." She whispered.

The Adventurer(Jones Sparrow and WhiteLily)

"Nervous," Aria admitted, snuggling close to Ben as the boat set off from the dock. Aria looked over her shoulder back towards her home and gasped when she saw a familiar figure on the beach. Her long brown hair lifting and falling in the wind, Catarina Giovanni stood motionless as she watched the boat holding her only child float away from her. Aria quickly stood up and ran to the stern of the boat, trying to keep her mother in view for as long as possible. The young woman lifted her hand and blew a kiss to her mother who only stood, not reacting at all. Feeling her heart break, Aria kept her position at the back of the boat until long after the shore disappeared from view.