It wasn't long after the rising of the noon day sun that Ainsley was sent off on another task, this time to gather more wood for the fire to cook lunch. Quan offered to go find the food, considering Ainsley had no experience hunting for food and they were currently a bit short on change because of his excessive purchase at Peddler's Rock. While Quan had scolded him for it afterward, he added that it'd be easy enough to get more money after he was more adept at things that travelers and wanderers did to keep themselves afloat. Alchemy was one of those things, hunting creatures was another. At present, since he was too young (at least according to Quan), they were sticking his training primarily to alchemy and getting physically stronger and not necessarily skilled with any weapon in particular. Morning jogs, a few sparring sessions, strength training, and then books. Lots and lots of books, much to Ainsley's delight. He'd always been a fan of the written word, be it textbooks or storybooks.
In any case, his current task was rather difficult for whatever reason. Perhaps because others had also been gathering firewood, as it was nearing lunch time, or perhaps his luck was just bad, but whatever it was he had only managed to gather five sticks and he knew well and good that they needed plenty more if they were going to be doing any cooking.
"Come on..." he muttered, a frustrated expression all over his face. He bent down with a grunt and picked up another small twig, counting six sticks and still far away from the amount they needed. "Firewood should not be hard to find, for the love of Serene," the boy continued with his muttering, bending down every few minutes to pick up another small twig. By the time he came to his tenth he saw another stick, sticking out of a bush. It seemed familiar, but he ignored that voice at the back of his mind that told him not to touch it, so as soon as he pulled it out of the bush there was a nasty squelching sort of noise, and from the edge of the stick hung a large helping of a green, sticky looking slime.
"Gross!" came his reaction while dropping the stick. And then he heard it. A growl from behind the bush, and slowly but sure he watched as an Ysali dragon raised to the fullest extent of its height, snorting the uncomfort from his nostril once again being disturbed, and setting its sights on Ainsley. The glare followed almost immediately, and it didn't even think twice to attack. Ainsley, in all his bravery, dropped the sticks and ran - again. Those eyes were familiar, and he didn't need to think about it to know that this was the same Ysali dragon as before.
And, again, he wasn't ready to fight it.
So he ran at first, finding that he wasn't as quickly winded as before thanks to his training, and made a sharp turn into a small brush and gathered a few stones. When he heard the dragon getting closer, as it had stopped when it lost sight of him, he quietly climbed up a tree and threw a rock at a tree towards his right, as far as he could. The soft rustle of trees caught the dragon's attention, and it turned its head and narrowed its eyes. Ainsley threw another rock in the same direction, hoping the dragon would take a hint. It didn't budge, so he grumble he threw two more in succession, finally convincing the creature that its target was elsewhere. The Ysali dragon roared again, sending shivers down Ainsley's spine, and went after its prety in the distance.
When it was gone Ainsley slid down the tree and hurried back to camp, hoping that he wouldn't run into another one along the way.
