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How long had it been since she had last seen him? A few weeks? Couple months? It was hard to tell as time seemed to speed up until this day. Aldara bent over a pair of saddle bags as she packed for a journey. She wasn't sure how far this venture would take her, but something was pulling her away from home. From her comfort and safety. Glancing towards the window that sat in the wall across her bed, she sighed rubbing her face.

"Why am I doing this?" She groaned as her hands rubbed at her cheeks, "All I have ever wanted was to just remain home, become a housewife for someone local and... Not venture too far from home."

Turning around she flopped across her bed to stare up at the ceiling. Her hair fell around her shoulders as she did her expression moody. She wasn't sure if this pull was to see that strange man again, or something else. The need to find that strange bird, the Chiavi, he had called it?

"This is going to be such a pain, I just know it." She fussed flailing slightly before bouncing back to her feet to pace her room. "I have to figure out these feelings. I hate them, but... I just have to know..."

Aldara glancing out her window again as a fully grown Scorra pecked at the glass. She smiled at the bird as she picked up the saddle bags and slung them over a shoulder. She had packed a couple days worth of clothing and the dagger her father had given her when she was younger. She didn't know if it would be of much use now. But it would be a comfort to have a long for the ride.

"Coming Soran," She called to the Scorra as she left her room for the kitchen. There Aldara gathered up some supplies for the trip, she could restock at the next town over. Before she left she wrote a message to her parents, letting them know that she was going out for a little while and would be back when she could.

"This is the right thing... I hope." Aldara muttered as she placed the message on the kitchen table and exited the house where Soran was waiting, prancing from one foot to the other. It seemed that he was itching to leave as well.

"Alright, alright. Hold still while I strap this on and we can get going." She laughed as the Scorra darted around her before coming to a stop and stood awaiting.

Securing her packs to the Scorra, Aldara gave her home one last look before the pair started down the road towards Sauti and the last known direction that the strange man, she could never remember his name and the Chiavi had gone...

"Soran, I think I got us lost..." Aldara muttered to the Scorra beside her as she looked at a map she had borrowed from home. She was sure they had followed the roads quite well. Well... That was until there was a bit of a wind storm and they took shelter in the trees. "I was so sure that this way was the right way?"

The Scorra tilted its head to one side as it peered over her shoulder in a curious fashion. While the bird wasn't able to talk to her or communicate in a means she could understand. Aldara enjoyed the company on these long "walks" as she liked to call them. "Perhaps we're close to here?" She pointed towards the small dot on the map labeled Iory. "Lets keep going in this direction and see if we can make it there before the night falls again."

Aldara looked upwards towards where the sky was, the branches of the trees blotted out the most of it. She supposed they might have a few more hours until the sun was to set? Truding forward, Aldara pushed aside some of the taller ferns and stumbled over whatever was sticking out of the ground. It was at times like this she had listened to her father about surviving in the wilderness.

It seemed like almost half the day, the sun was just starting to reach for the far horizon when Aldara and Soran stumbled out of the ruffage and back onto a road. "I think we have found the road again." Panting slightly, Aladara looked at the Scorra who had leaves stuck in its feathers. Heck she had leaves in her hair from everything that had happened.

"Lets try and find a village with an inn so we can get cleaned up." Soran gave a squawk flapping its wings, this dislodging some of the leaves. "Yes I packed your brush, I wouldn't forget."

Petting the Scorra, the pair headed along the road once more, hoping to reach their destination... Or at least finding a place they could rest...

Aldara was more focused on the map in her hands then her surroundings. She didn't see the large crimson beast and rider until Soran let out a shriek and she looked up. The heavy pawed feet of the beast stomped the ground just a couple feet from where she was walking. Stopping she turned to stare at the mounted person, her fist raising as if to shout at them. Her action ceased as she saw who was riding the beast, who had also stopped and reigned their mount around towards her.

"You!" She shouted, pointing towards the rider, "It's you again!"

She eyed the beast that Draven was riding, unsure if it was safe to even get closer. She hadn't encountered something like it nor really as big. Aldara turned to calm Soran down as the Scorra was still bouncing from foot to foot, unsure if it was safe or not. "Where'd you get that creature?"

She looked back towards Draven, slowly making her way closer to the Janarim. She knew she was learning to get closer to other beasts, there were some that still frightened her. Specially those that hare large teeth and claws..

Aldara frowned as the man spoke her name. The realization dawned on her that this was Draven. She had had him on her mind for a while. Speaking of him made her blush and her mother had the impression that she liked this man. She could scarcely call him a boy as he seemed a few years older than she was. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she glanced back towards Draven as he spoke of the beast he rode upon.

"One? Oh yea, the Chiavi. No, I haven't seen it since that one day." Aldara frowned, it seemed that the bird had gone truly missing? "I'm going on a longer trip than before."

She looked at him, remembering the truth or dare game. Her face growing hotter before she tried to clear the memory from her thinking. No, he wasn't going to fluster her in that manner again, though just the thought was enough to get the emotions stirring. She was a sheltered home body! She wasn't meant to be traveling the outside world, she liked just staying in one spot. Inner turmoil was going to kill her early, she was sure of it.

"I want to find that Chiavi as much as you do. I feel like I should find it, I don't know why.: She was still suspicious of Draven, feeling that mist of this was his fault. "Why is all this happening after I met you?! It was just one walk in the woods and now... I feel like my world, my cozy home life is just crumbling!" She wanted to cry as she suddenly became overwhelmingly emotional.

This was punishment she was sure of it. The gods didn't want her to be stagnant, in one place for too long. They threw him into her path to get her moving. Was it working? Sure as heck it was, but she didn't like it. Not one bit!

There was a bit of huffing and puffing on Aldara's side of this conversation as Draven mentioned that being stuck at home could be suffocating. What would he know? He was always outside, traveling around. Meeting many people and possibly making more friends than she was. Temper subsiding, Aldara looked away, her tanned face growing darker as everything turned to embarrassment. Was she really that shallow?

"How do you survive without a place to go back to?" She asked before looking back towards the man who was turning her world upside down. Was this the reason her father wanted her to get out of the house more? Would she have met someone like Draven if she had just remained home? Perhaps her parents would have just arranged someone for her.. There were too many questions that she couldn't answer herself. Perhaps there was a chance she could ask her parents?

"I am sorry to have yelled at you that time, during the pollen storm. It was my first time out of the house." Aldara turned away from Draven as he had dismounted by now, Soran was still pacing beside her. She reached out and petted the Scorra to try and calm him down. The Scorra calmed beneath her touch, though it was still nervous around the Jenarim that was much closer than before.

The mention of going after the Chiavi pulled her attention away from her past misdeeds, she looked at the mount before at its rider. "I don't know if Soran could keep up with that if we had to move faster than a walk." Looking at the Scorra she knew they could move quickly, but probably not THAT quickly.

"What did they want you to do that was so bad? Surely it wasn't as bad as you think." Aldara says as she watched him, backing up a little as he pulled closer on his mount. "Though living with a caravan does sound like an adventure itself. Did you live in the wagon or something?"

She looked at his extended hand then back at the Scorra who was trying to hide behind her. She pet it on the head, speaking to it softly. The bird seemed to calm down a little before staring at the Janarim. "He won't try and eat Soran will he?" She was sure that the large carnivore would try to eat anything that moved.

After another few minutes of thinking, Aldara patted Soran again before taking Draven's hand to hoist herself up behind him. The feathers of his cape tickled at her as she shifted on behind the saddle. Sitting on the Janarim's flank, she grasped the saddle a head of her. "You sure Regale was it? Can carry the both of us?"

"And what was so wrong about that? Sounds like it would have been an interesting life." Aldara voiced, though she started thinking of her own lifestyle. She was a homebody. She loved just staying in one place and not moving around too much. Could she have done the same if her parents been like his father? These were things that she pondered before the Janarim beneath her started moving and she had to clutch the saddle as to not slide off his flank.

"I am glad that Regale is so well trained." There was some sarcasm in her voice as she turned to make sure that Soran was behind them. To her surprise, the Scorra was keeping up easily with the Janarim. Perhaps she was fearing for nothing, thinking that the long legged bird would fall behind. "So do you have any idea on where your Chiavi might have gone?" She asked looking forward again, staring at Draven's back.

Her mind had been filled with thoughts of him when they had last met. Her mother had pressed her for answers and she had grown as red as ever. Really it had been embarrassing that she had to try and distract herself. Now that she was here, with him, she couldn't help just blushing for no reason at all. She didn't understand these feelings and she wasn't too sure if he had feelings for her... She hoped that this wasn't a one sided thing, she would simply die if it were to turn out that way.