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Quests had become something important to Hollandaise even in the short time she'd been at Camelot. There were things knights were expected to do and one of those things was going out on a quest. It strengthened the body and the mind and tested survival skills. She did not expect to succeed, not really - she was only a knight-apprentice, after all, and somehow it was very important that she not strive too hard above her station. But she could and would try, within the rules, to uphold the glory of the knightly order. It was only right.

She quickly stocked up on supplies, figuring that traveling lightly might make for a quicker trip. Hollandaise counted her arrows, restrung her bow, and saddled up Hunter, her horse. She nosed him out onto the path, food stowed safely away in the saddlebags, Hunter was a pretty buckskin quarter horse, perfectly suited to her size. Unfortunately, he was a bit feisty... And there were other horses on the road. He tossed his mane and sidled up next to a black-haired boy riding nearby. Hollandaise breathed deeply and tried to angle his head away, but Hunter merely flicked an ear back and continued.

He slowly, deliberately lipped at the other rider's knee. "Hunter!" Hunter snorted and did it again as Hollandaise felt the tips of her ears pinken. This was not knightly behavior! "Ah... Ah... I apologize, my horse seems to... like you. I am called Hollandaise and if you just bonk him on his nose, he might leave you alone." Her voice was moderately hopeful. As she spoke, she looked curiously at the boy, noticing that he, too, held a bow and that he might just be...

"Oh, are you questing as well?" A thread of interest wormed in her voice and she blinked up at him.

"Hunter-" She patted the horse's shoulder with a measured degree of both exasperation and fondness. "-is not the best of companions." And he was large - she liked large things, and fluffy things, and green things, but Hunter made her nervous when he was ill-behaved. It was a little better having someone there.

They rode into the forest and Hollandaise's mouth popped open. In the late afternoon sunlight, the forest looked as though the leaves were made of gold. She hummed creakily for a moment. "I do not know why, but I like the forest. It is comforting, although someone told me this forest was frightening. I think I could live in a tree." She reached out a hand and scraped her fingers along the bark.

"Questing, though, is a knightly duty and I think it is very important to act just as you are expected to and n-" Something smacked into her face. Suddenly, a small deluge of bees swarmed her. She shrieked and Hunter reared up, tumbling her off of his back. With a pained whinny, he was off, leaving Hollandaise in the dirt, surrounded by a few crushed bodies of bees. Welts were forming on her arm and one right across the bridge of her nose.

She gave a watery sniff and touched the welt on her nose. It didn't feel like the bee had left his stinger in the bump, which was just as well - she hadn't liked getting them out. Accepting Chaya's hand, she smiled gratefully at him and bounced onto her feet, ignoring the creak of her bones. Normally, she would have gotten up on her own, refusing most help, but Chaya seemed exceptionally nice. Maybe it was all that fluffy black hair.

Hollandaise blinked and realized she'd been staring at him for quite some time. She coughed awkwardly and looked at the ground. "Yes, thank you, I am mostly fine. T-this is terribly unknightly,,, My nose hurts," she blurted. Knights did not blurt out random things. She busied herself dusting off her clothing. "Did you say your horse's name was Bird?" Her head tilted, a lock of hair sliding down to curl around her collarbone. "Does he fly?" She turned a critical eye to Bird, noting that he had, in fact, no wings. Humming lightly, she reached into her bag and offered an apple to the strangely-named Bird.

And then, a spider skittered across the path. Well, perhaps skittered was not the most accurate of words - galumphed, perhaps. It was huge. Hollandaise had dropped the apple she was holding out to Bird and it rolled slowly, dramatically into the forest. The spider paused, turning red eyes towards her, and chittered softly before scuttling off.

"C-chaya - did you see that? It was so large!" Her voice was excited and her golden eyes sparkled with interest. If not for the quest, she would've followed it into the forest. Her toes curled in her shoes.

[player is using a reroll]

"They got scared, so they'll go home to the stable," Chaya said, nodding. "They'll be okay there. We'll find them when we go back and brush them down properly."

The question made him pause, squinting in the dim light as he thought about it. "I don't remember either," he said. "But I feel like it was important too. Like it was something I had to do." He didn't mind her hand on his sleeve; it felt natural.

The hissing made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and he broke into a run, more than willing to be dragged along. They fled down narrow passageways, up featureless stairs. Eventually he slowed down, trying to catch his breath. "I think ... we lost them. Hey, is that light up ahead?"

He straightened up and took a few eager steps forward. Something clicked under his foot, and as he threw himself forward to escape whatever would be behind him, a pair of blades swung out of the walls, slicing at him.

[using reroll]