Welcome to Gaia! ::

BarAmal shifted his pack and reached over to grab a translucent pod. Popping it in his mouth he was careful not to crush it but squeeze it off to the side until his teeth wore into it and released the water it held to him. It was a childish thing to do and silly to see done but no one else was around so BarAmal didn’t feel the desire to show how adult he was all the time. It was something of a game his father had shown him when he was young to see who could be the one to keep the pod whole the longest. BarAmal never knew that his father never pressed the pod to the side like he said to for the game until much later and many rounds of chores that BarAmal had to do. He smiled thinking about it before he started to chew the pod itself for the nutrients it provided.

He was feeling pretty good today since it wasn’t his first day of traveling again. Yes the sands of the forest floor were soft, but up by Isd the ground was harder and sleeping on the ground the first night had been nearly torturous. He was out looking for wood and feathers while on his way to deliver a few goods to Vers because if he was out traveling he might as well be of use to his town as well right? The bag was heavier than he thought and he never bothered to unwrap the parcels he was told to deliver. They had nothing to do with him only gave him something else to lug around on his trip. Maybe his mother had asked the shaman’s to give him this burden as a training task of some kind? Wheeling the idea over in his head made him feel more important and made the parcels feel a little less weighted.

Marching along he noticed how hot it was heading south. A fine sheen of sweat began to form and it didn’t matter how much he tried to cool himself it simply didn’t seem to help at all. Soon he had to stop and figure out a fix of some kind which ended up being a few leaves in his hand so he could walk and fan himself at the same time. The waning sunlight warned him there was no way that he would arrive at his intended destination before dark. Looking around the twisted trees he tried to pick a good one to spend the night in or near. While tree bark wasn’t as comfortable as the sand below it would do to not be on the ground in an area he didn’t know well. He was so much farther than he had been so much of his life.

The forest had gone strangely quiet and so he stopped and listened. Silence in a forest was never a good sign. Looking around he didn’t notice anything. At least he didn’t drop into a ridiculous draw like he had before. He was too tired from walking all day for that. “Hello?” Calling out he tried to sound nice but was feeling a little less than charitable at the moment. Why couldn’t all of Tale be as comfortable as his home town?

A scream made his head whip around so fast a pang of numbness shot from his shoulder to the middle of his head. Clasping a hand on it he was reaching for his bow striding in the direction when the question drifted back to him. He blinked not sure if he should rush in or talk his way through. He decided on the later due to his mother’s advice of prudence in the past when practicing his chosen craft. “Hello. My name is BarAmal. I hail from Isd.” Really what else could he say to those he didn’t even know? “I’m traveling to Vers. Who might I be talking to?” He decided that a certain amount of caution was for the best. He kept his bow in hand but didn’t have an arrow out. It would only take seconds to pull on if had to. While a rushed shot would miss it might give him time to get away from the other if they were dangerous. He hoped he wouldn’t have to lose an arrow that way though. It would chafe him until he got a new arrow or made one. He moved as quietly as he could but the soft hiss of sand from his steps seemed so loud to him in the silence of the woods around him.

(Your post made me laugh so hard it was tough to type out a reply. Betoto just threw BarAmal for a huge loop.)

Yera? This Betoto was also of Tale. That made BarAmal feel much better about his continuation toward the unknown, or rather semi known. He was even smiling when something hard hit him right in the face. The pain and surprise played equal parts in the oath he decided to use at the moment that even his father would have been surprised to hear part of it was muffled by his hands. He dropped his bow at some point though he wasn’t quite sure when. He only noticed when he tried to keep his balance stepping back and tripped over it landing on his behind. Rubbing his face he looked toward the figure that was responsible for the assault. A bare slip of a girl who looked more scared than anything else. Blinking he wished he took more of his mother’s looks that his father’s this time. Perhaps the fact that he had a shifters dark skin contributed to the surprise. Frowning at her he really wasn’t too sure what to make of all this. A good chunk of him was still angry and yet he couldn’t just yell at a girl who was so scared. “I’d say you’d throw like a girl, but that hurt more than most girls from home.”

He did want to yell at her but her swift apologies made him angry at himself for being mad. Using her helping hand up he listened to her mumbling and hastily took his bow back. He disliked it being in someone else’s hands but his own. “It’s fine. I think most would have that kind of reaction to a surprise.” He used his free hand to rub his face. It still stung and he was pretty sure he was gonna have a bruise from all this. He didn’t know why she had been talking to herself and wasn’t going to touch on that issue and make her uncomfortable. He tried to salvage some of his pride. “So shall I take your bag as well to prevent another assault or just to be gentleman?” He smiled at her but it hurt. “We are headed the same way after all. It makes sense to travel together.” And if the girl was this timid over meeting someone then letting her travel alone was a good way to have her heart stop in fear.

She was smiling which was a good sign. She seemed less skittish then. There was something about her that made him think of a little moracker. Small and ready to flee at a moment’s notice. He nodded but when her stomach decided to make its self known which lead to her embarrassment he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Hey it happens I’ve been on the road a long time so stopping for food would be good.” Honestly he was hot and sweaty and being able to have a nice cool bath sounded better than food, but he knew he would have to eat soon or risk making himself weak later on. “Since you’re kind enough to offer to set up a hammock for me why don’t I dig through my pack for trail rations tonight and keep an eye out for game to replace it tomorrow? I’m not really looking forward to hunting this late in the day. Too good a way to lose arrows or miss a shot.” He shrugged like it was inconsequential but loosing an arrow vexed him to no end. He was also trying to be nice and keep this little mouse from being too scared since she didn’t really know him after all.

Riffling through his bag he made certain the parcels he was responsible for were alright and once that was confirmed he dug out a good portion of his trail rations. He divided it up between them with a slightly larger part going to the girl. She was a wisp of a thing and clearly needed looking after even if she didn’t know it. He wasn’t even looking when he heard a yelp and a thump behind him. Swallowing he turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. The girl was a jinx to herself in ways he clearly had never seen before. Getting up he moved to her side still holding the two meals for the two of them. Mentally sighing and knowing the sane was going to be a pain to shake out latter he simply pivoted and plopped down right next to her rather than pointing out she was lucky she didn’t hit her head on the way down. “Looks like you found the best spot to eat is all. Not such an unlucky thing.” He offered her the larger portion and was watching her carefully to see if she could move comfortably or if the fall had damaged her in some way. He wasn’t sure if he should take the top hammock so she didn’t’ have as far to fall or the bottom so if she fell she would likely hit him before she felt toward the ground. He decided the later because then she had a chance to stop sooner rather than later. “I call the bottom hammock.”

He looked at the food and started to hand it back but it was clear the girl would have none of that. Sighing mentally he realized she was just as stubborn as his mother. He decided he’d likely just make up for it by offering her snacks during the day tomorrow. He smiled at her. “Thank you it was a recipe my father fixed up. How did he put it? Traveling could be a tedious enough ordeal why make every travel meal the same?” He winked at her. “Personally I think that’s one of the reasons my mother didn’t shoot him after a few days of him trying to woo her.” It was true his father was a good cook. Eating his meal BarAmal tried to think of ways to still be polite but take care of his current new companion, because left alone he was fairly certain she would be dead in a few days if not by her own ill fortune then by coming across something she had no idea how to deal with. It was true he wasn’t too much traveled himself but he didn’t go falling out of hammocks all the time, or possibly angering someone dangerous by hitting them with a very hard bag. “Must be nice to have siblings. I have only my parents for family, and of course the rest of Isd.” He smiled at the thought of his home. “I do tend to stick out with my father’s skin though.”