Aeyona drifted in darkness. No visions came to guide her, but no nightmares haunted her either. Just silence. Endless and still, until she heard a sound. Faint and distant, like something small falling far away.

  A drop hit her skin. Small. Cold. Then another. And another. Each one pulling her closer from the void.

  Groggily, she opened her eyes to dark grey clouds spilling rain. The storm had just begun, but she'd already been lying in it long enough to be nearly soaked.

  She wondered why she was outside. Looking around she saw an expanse of dense trees to her right. A dead campfire in front of her.

  To her left, a blonde man in beat up silver and dirty blue armor was beginning to grab her shoulders. She sprang up, pushing him away and backing towards the trees.

  A single flicker of flame sparked from her hands before fading in the rain. Aeyona anxiously looked around regaining her bearings. She sat up slowly, scanning the muddy camp. Beside the dying fire, a small alcove of earth and roots gave the startled group some shelter.

  "Hey, it's ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Come get out of the rain." The man said, holding his hands in the air as a gesture of peace.

  As he stepped back into the alcove to get out of the rain himself he misjudged how low the ceiling was and cracked the back of his head on root and dirt. He cursed quietly.

  There was a boisterous chuckle from the mostly uncovered dwarf sitting in the back. Followed by brief applause.

  “She lives. “ said a dark elf, his tone calm and apathetic.

  Aeyona looked from face to face before the realization of what had happened the day before came barreling through her mind. She hurriedly got into the alcove, and sat against the wall near Lillyth and marvel.

  Al, still rubbing his head and wincing, let out a sigh of relief and said "good to see everyone is up now. Hopefully the rain settles and we can get back on the road."

  Horren retorted with "how about some food eh? Anyone got something left in a bag?"

  Aeyona looked through her backpack and then shrugged at finding nothing to eat. She was unsurprised, having been a week since she'd stopped anywhere to buy some.

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  "Damn shame," Horren said before a drawn out yawn, "well, how long till we reach this town, pretty boy?" He asked, looking towards Al.

  The young man only chuckled, "it's barely a village, let alone a town, short stack. But if the rain lets off soon we can be there before dinner."

  With a pointed glare, Horren replied "I'm not so short after I've knocked ya on your ass, Abba Zabba."

  "You're welcome to try," Al said with a tired grin, though his body had no energy left to prove it.

  Horren stood, mumbling something unsavory under his breath, before Aeyona interjected.

  "OK, while you boys are busy measuring dicks, I need a bath, but the rain will have to do." She muttered as she stood back up and began walking out of the alcove. The boys stopped short and gave her an insulted look, while malastare stifled a chuckle under his breath.

  "Gods that sounds wonderful." Lillyth let out a sigh of longing. She suddenly, desperately, missed her bath. Only slightly less than she missed her own bed.

  Her sore muscles ached from the day before and sleeping on the ground. As she got up to join Ayeona they began removing anything they didn't want to soak in the process.

  She looked over to an equally exhausted looking Marvel and gave her an inviting nod. Marvel responded by shifting into her small feline form and began

  giving herself a much needed cat-bath.

  "Rub it in, why don't you." Aeyona chuckled towards her. To which she got a feline smirk and a content purr.

  Al backed up a step, nearly running into the ceiling again.

  "You're the cat?" Al blurted out, bewildered at the connection in his brain.

  Marvel only tilted her head at him before carrying on.

  "Sassy lil' lass that one." Horren grumbled, as he sat back down.

  "You're not much better," malastare noted with mild humor in his voice. "And yes, she's quite the natural shifter. Keep up, faithless."

  As the girls walked off into the morning rain, Lillyth spoke up first.

  "Earlier, you said you were watching me.."

  "I swear, it's not like that!" Aeyona blurted out, suddenly flustered.

  "Like what?" Lillyth stopped and looked at her patiently.

  "I wasn't spying or anything, I just have dreams sometimes that are.. weird. And I saw you in the blast and I woke up and had to help.." Aeyona began to ramble on before lillyth chuckled and interrupted her.

  "I was going to say, thank you. If it weren't for you or your.. weird dreams.. I wouldn't be alive right now. So it's fine. Just try not to dream of me in any more explosions alright?" She chuckled again.

  Aeyona let off a half sure chuckle as well as she tried to shrug off her embarrassment.

  After a brief time showering in the morning rain, in the dense foggy forest, lillyth broke the uncomfortable silence again.

  "I hope this town has a real bath, and food."

  They both laughed as Aeyona replied "I haven't been to a city in a while, I could use a nice inn."

  "I haven't left Varidia since I was a kid." Lillyth replied quietly.

  She didn’t know where she’d been born, or to whom. Whoever her parents were, they’d left her in Varidia as a child. The orphanage she grew up in never gave her any information either.

  There were quite a few times growing up she had asked about them, and if they would come back for her. For a while she would receive a sad smile and some non answer to not hurt her young feelings.

  The last time she asked anyone they told her that her parents probably wandered too far into the woods at night and never saw another sunrise. It took her a few years to run out of imaginative nightmares on what may have happened. Since then she had been worried about being too far from the city and its safety.

  As her mind dwelled back on these memories she realized she was in the woods. Far from any form of civilization, with potentially dangerous strangers. Her nerves began to tense as she craved safety and comfort even more.

  She was yanked from her thoughts as she caught something moving out of the corner of her eye. Startled, she made a nervous gasp as she stepped back, nearly tripping over grass and roots under her.

  Then she saw Marvel sitting on a branch a few feet away with her feline head cocked to the side giving her a questioning stare.

  "Dammit Marvel, don't scare me like that" she panted as she caught her breath. Aeyona let out a small chuckle after she turned to see what happened.

  "I hope you're the only one joining us." Aeyona said, a little louder. Only the sound of rain replied. She decided she was as clean as she would get.

  Lightning abruptly cracked the sky, startling them both.