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And so Tal showed Eron how to skin a deer, using the same process but keeping the deer tied to the scaffold so that they could use two hands to pull the skin off.

Time passed, and the storm grew in intensity until at least even Shoneah couldn't sleep through it. She appeared suddenly at the fire, blanket still around her shoulders, her hair mussed from sleep.

"Good even, Silverbirch," Talmon greeted her from across the fire. He had busied himself with caring for the weapons, sharpening and oiling blades and checking arrows.

Shoneah blinked and looked at Talmon. "How long did I sleep?" she asked quietly.

"Keep it," Shoneah said tersely. "Even if it doesn't do you any good here, hold onto it. In hopes of getting back home."

If they did manage to get back home, he would need it again; and if he ever gave up on needing it, it would mean - to her at least - that he was giving up on returning home, and that was something she couldn't handle.

Even the thought of not making it back home was too much for her. Especially now that she was sitting by the fire and doing nothing, it reminded her too much of home where, if she were there, she would be with her family, her brother probably climbing all over her ...

She set her jaw, determined not to cry again. Yet despite her determination, she felt her eyes moistening.

Shoneah didn't respond to that. She could understand him wanting to keep the massive books, but there were two problems with that, in her mind. First off, they were heavy, and while the rolling case would be helpful on flat ground, she thought it doubtful that they would encounter many such areas in this world. The second problem was that of kindling - they might very well end up needing the paper from those books to start their fires once they were traveling again.

Still, she didn't want to discourage him. Anything from home would give them hope of one day returning, even if it didn't look very likely from where they were now.

She let out a sigh. "Is there anywhere I can wash up?" she asked the men quietly, looking at them. "Something I can use to brush my hair, perhaps?"

Her blouse of course was still full of blood, and she had doubts that it would ever come clean again; but still, if she could even wash out some of it, that would help.

Talmon nodded towards the skinned animals that were hanging. "Feel free to carve a comb if you'd like." He rummaged around in a bag at his feet and pulled out a knife, a round file and a flat file. "Here."

Shoneah took them, nodded a thank you, and went to the deer to look for a bone large enough for her to use.

Having slept for the entire afternoon, Shoneah found it difficult to get back to sleep when the others turned in for the night, and she ended up spending half the night awake and talking with the men who took turns keeping watch at the cave's entrance.

By dawn, the storm had ended, and while the gorge's depth prevented the sun from shining directly into the cave, light made its way in anyways.

"Good morning," Jabek greeted Eron quietly. He had drawn the dawn watch, and was sitting near the cave entrance, though when he saw Eron waking up he came further into the cave and sat near the remains of the previous night's fire. "Hungry?"

Jabek smiled and knelt next to a large pack. "I'd say eat hearty, we've a big day ahead of us, but as I recall you're not going to join us on the hunt," he commented as he opened up the pack. He reached inside and pulled out a package wrapped in thin, supple leather. "Do you plan on staying in the cave all day, then?"

He held the package out to Eron. Inside it were elven wafers, a boldly flavoured bread-like food that was filled with nutrients and more filling than it seemed.

Jabek nodded and set the package on the ground between himself Eron.

"What do you do with your magic?" he asked curiously. "I know yesterday you spoke of changing a workspace to prevent fires, can you do more?"

"That sounds very much like our magic," Jabek nodded. "Sabor is the most skilled in manipulating the earth, and Uri is most in tune with the earth, to sense when something will happen. And trust me, living in volcano country, it is important to know when something is going to happen."

He chuckled softly. "We've lost more than one home to the lava."

"Well I hope that you can get used to it," Jabek said dryly. "I haven't traveled outside our borders, but Tal has, and according to him there's no more active area on the continent when it comes to volcanoes."

As if to punctuate his point, the ground began to vibrate and dust drifted down from the ceiling of the cave. Over in the sleeping area, Shoneah jerked awake, though the rest of the men remained fast asleep.