Lack of contact

I realize my lack in posting for the past few days is slightly inexcusable, but I hope you will anyway. I have fairly good reasons for it, even though I'm not going to share them with you. You'll just have to be content to know that I am back (if only for this week), and better than ever! ... Or not. Anyhoo, here's some more of Rina and Wylma!

We entered the forest promptly at dawn, glancing around warily at every sound. There weren't too many creatures in the forest, but the ones that were there were vicious. Some said the creatures in the Kogen Forest had enough bite for 10. Others said they were tamable if you knew exactly what to do. Either way, none of us were going to take any chances. Well, apart from the dwarf. She could take all the chances she wanted.

It was midmorning before we came across any of these creatures, and when we did, it was just a little one. You have to understand though, that when I say little, I mean a blood-thirsty monster the size of a grey hound. The adult monsters could get up to the size of horses. Our monster was undoubtedly still in it's youth. Leonard Stone was the first to spot it, and before any of us could even think he had his bow out. With a skill that I'd only ever seen in elves, he shot the monster right in between the eyes (they're most vulnerable spot). The monster went down with a thud, and we kept moving.

We didn't come across another the rest of the day, and when it became too dark for the humans, we stopped. There was a brief argument about who would sleep, but at last the Dwarf and I convinced the humans to sleep, using the logic that we didn't need as much, and more than that the creatures wouldn't go after the dwarf, giving her an advantage. Once they were out cold, I turned to the dwarf and asked without warning, "Who's Cronan?"

"My would-be betrothed. Why?"

"You muttered his name last night. I was just curious."

"Aw damn. I thought I'd gotten over sleep-talking."

"What is he like?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm curious."

"Fine. He's built like a god, has a ridiculously hilarious sense of humor and can make the most beautiful swords you've ever seen."

"And what's your sister like?"

"Petty, selfish, and ugly. And believe it or not, I would have said the same thing about her even before she betrayed me."

"What makes her ugly?"

"She's fat, even for a dwarf, and doesn't take care of herself."

"That's enough to make someone ugly?"

"In dwarfin culture, yes."

"Huh. What are your parents like?"

She said nothing, and through the gloom I could see that her lips were pursed. Finally, she said, "I'm feeling fatigued. Wake me up if you hear ANYTHING."

I wanted to pursue the issue, since she was obviously against talking about it, and people were only like that when there was something juicy going on, but I knew better. I'd seen similar looks from a lot of the Brothers of the Order, and after watching James get yelled at enough times, I finally caught a clue. When people looked like that, the only way you were going to get the information from them was through torture. So I left it, focusing on protecting the camp. Admittedly I wouldn't be able to do much against the monsters, but if I knew they were coming I could wake everyone else up at least.