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SOMEWHERE IN THE WILDERNESS - AFTERNOON
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Cavro pushes through the bushes at the bottom of a hill, chuckling excitedly before pausing to look up and down the wide divide in the trees, before turning to poke his head back through the bushes. "It's clear, Erika! Come on." He turns back to the trickling stream, mostly calm and shimmering in the sparse speckles of light through the canopy. He carefully steps over the edge of the bank, sliding the two or so feet to the edge of the water, though he stops to wait for Erika, keeping an eye out for any wild critters.
Erika follows Cavro for a change, not sure if she's that excited: "Clear? You sure?" She follows regardless, because her hope trumps her fear as it usually does.
Cavro nods, offering a hand to steady Erika if she should want it down the embankment. "Mhm! Nothing about... and and and the water looks so nice..." He takes another look up and down the stream, running fairly straight in this stretch.
Erika holds Cavro's hand as she follows his lead: "Not sure I want to swim, I'm not the best swimmer..." Regardless, she follows Cavro with a smile, not sure where they're going but that's not honestly much better than what they've been doing so far anyway.
Cavro hadn't had much in mind when he asked to take the lead a couple hours back, other than just wanting to lift the burden of stressing over their direction from Erika for a little bit. He turns to Erika at her words, humming. "Well... Yeah, you you you're right. Not much time for that, and a bit cool. Can take a drink, though, and and and rinse a bit." He glances about again before kneeling next to the water and tasting a palmful, humming happily.
Narrator: A short distance away, somewhere not far from the pair, a great roar rises up out of the woods. The sound shakes the trees, and the smaller animals around them fall silent. Moments later, that sound is joined by a terrible, chaotic din, as two... something's are clashing not too far from here, straight along the path.
Erika jerks up at he numerous sounds: "What the-... what is that?"
Cavro nearly falls into the water before he manages to scramble up, his snout dripping as he steps closer to Erika, partially in front of her. "I I I don't know... But it's... That way?" He points not quite toward the noise, but toward the opposite bank where they could scramble up and see. The other option being turn back...
Narrator: The noise continues, definitely two very large somethings fighting. The first roar repeats, followed by a few heavy 'thuds', and a third roar, this time sounding a bit muffled, in pain.
Erika looks towards the sound, barely standing up next to Cavro and holding her hand on his shoulder: "T-that... we should hide." Something in her words doesn't sound entirely convinced though, albeit wary.
Cavro shudders as they listen to the apparent combat, the badger nodding, turning partially back, though his eyes stay on the opposite bank. He speaks up after hesitating for a few seconds. "There's a a a thicket over there... It was mostly open on the way down here from from from where we came."
Erika looks towards the thicket, then shakes her head: "J-just get down. Whatever that is, it likely already has scented us or will in three seconds, if we move more." She gets down on the stream bank, trying not to shudder and mostly succeeding.
Cavro crouches down as Erika instructs, setting his favorite chunk of marred flint on the bank and taking two good sizes stones into his hands instead.
Narrator: The sounds end a moment later. There is certainly a victor. A deathly calm falls over the forest, and a moment later, the winner emerges, walking towards the river bank. A very tall, figure, in a dull-bronze colored metal skin. The features of their face are all sharp, jagged edges, and raised over their shoulder is slung a great scythe-like claw... at least, this is what the armored figure might first appear like as it approaches the water.
Fiora walks towards the river, then lowers her axe towards the water, rinsing off the spattered ichor from her fight with the Ahnkeg. She takes a moment to inspect the blade, catching her breath at the water's edge.
Erika looks at the scary figure way too close to them, shaking in fear. She looks for a few moments more until she starts to see some... familiar traits in the way said figure moves and their stature: "Is that...?" She whispers, not quite daring to making a movement out of her maybe-revelation.
Cavro makes a light grunt as the figure appears, lowering himself further for a moment before he seems to tense in a different way, raising his head slightly. That shape is familiar... He had run his paws along the edges of that face once. "Fee fee fee fee fee FIORA!" He jumps up, laughing as he waves at the figure across the way.
Erika blinks in definite surprise: "F-iuh? Fiora?!" She looks up, somewhere between confusion and a grin.
Fiora blinks, tilting her head up at the sound of her name being called. She tenses at first, preparing to fight, only to shift into confusion, "The... hell? Cavro?"
Erika gets up to standing and waves at the armored figure she's now reasonably sure is her Sister: "H-hi, Sis."
Cavro laughs when she looks toward him, turning to Erika. "It's her, that that that armor is hers! She's in it!" He hugs Erika quickly in his excitement before turning back toward Fiora. He hesitates, wanting to cross, but instead turns away and drops the two defense stones, grabbing the flint. Just in case.
Fiora watches the two figures a moment, completely unsure what is going on. She reaches up, unhinging her helmet and ducking her head to slide it off. "Erika, too? What the heck are you two doing this far out of town? No wait, first, how? How did you get this far out of town?"
Erika shrugs and gives a sheepish grin at her Sister: "First one, we don't know. Second one, we don't know. Wait, which one was the second? Or does it matter? We don't really... we just woke up one morning like... maybe a week ago?" She looks at Cavro for confirmation.
Cavro looks toward Erika, shrugging. "I I I stopped keeping track, I think..." He shakes his head, unable to get rid of his grin as he starts to lead the way again, though this time just in carefully crossing the deep, but calm stream.
Fiora cradles her helmet under her arm, searching the river for someplace she can cross, "Um, first thing, No? And second thing, Nuh-uh! I literally just spoke to you lie, two days ago! Still naked though, uh, so I guess that checks out. And Cavro's been running the forge like, non-stop. You've not even given me a chance to try to reshape my handguards the way we talked about... and actually uh, you two out here alone and naked, nevermind I uh... I'll just... go that way?" She points away from the couple. "Didn't mean to interrupt your... you know."
Erika blinks in confused surprise: "But uh wha? We've been out here for... a while."
Cavro waves his arms, shaking his head in a slight panic. "No! please don't, we we we didn't come out here on... Ah..." The badger pauses to catch his balance on the rocks, sighing.
Erika sighs and looks at Cavro, then at Fiora: "We didn't come here for sex. We're lost, Sis."
Cavro blushes, but nods along. "We we we didn't come out here at all, really... Just sort of of of... Appeared."
Fiora turns back to consider the pair, "You've been acting awfully weird the past week, Erika... kinda been freaking me out, to be honest. I just... I don't get the whole change here... or if this is just what you're always like and I never really saw it..." She looks at Cavro and nods, "Well, I'm not gonna leave you here. You're marching right into an Ahnkeg Warren, for starters."
Cavro freezes in place, between two rocks. "A a a what where?"
Erika blinks: "Weird? I've been uh..." She looks down: "I'm naked, okay, but do you mean that?" She looks at Fiora with a smile: "If you know the way home, we'd uh... appreciate a lot. My sense of direction had us mostly okay, at least we're in the same continent still...?"
Fiora nods, "Yeah, I needed to blow off some steam, and I keep getting dirty looks from that Captain when I smash her training dummies, and honestly, there's some folks at the guard grounds I really don't wanna run into right now, so I've been running looking for something to kill. Found some Ahnkegs just over the rise, big bugs. Really big. But damn if an exoskeleton doesn't make a satisfying crack when you punch it. Mrph. Keeps my mind off..." She frowns deeply. "NEVER MIND. You two have... like, for real been lost out here for a week?"
Erika shrugs with a wry smile: "More or less. Has it been a week since that bear, Cavro?" She looks at her no-longer partner.
Cavro is still frozen in place, staring at Fiora with a bit of awe, and a bit of fear. He completely misses what Erika asks, "Big big big bugs? Over there? Did did did you get them all?"
Fiora shrugs, "I killed a few of the scouts yesterday. Got one of the big warrior drones today. They're testing me as much as I'm testing them, but guess we'll skip the tour of the warren and start getting you two home." She frowns at Erika, face growing serious, "Sis... if you're telling the truth, then whatever it is back home in your garden sent you here and took your place..."
Erika blinks dumbly: "Whatever is... back home...? Is there something in my garden?"
Cavro shakes his head, looking toward Erika. "Wait... You mean Erika is still at at at home, too?"
Fiora nods, "If you're not lying and you've seriously been out here over a week... someone or something has been tending your garden, and running your forge." She cracks her knuckles, mentally kicking herself. "I knew something felt off, I just... I don't know. I felt like Maybe I just didn't know you as well as I thought I did."
Erika blinks again, just as dumbly: "Wait huh what. Someone's... in my garden. And it's... off? Like me-off?"
Cavro shakes his head, scrambling the rest of the way across the rocks to Fiora's side, though giving her a bit of room. "What do do do they do? Are they... Ruining things? Hurting people?"
Fiora sighs, balancing her helmet on her palm, "Well... no... they're just... uh... maintaining the garden? And you've been running the forge? Well, however 'he' is if it's not you."
Erika tilts her head: "So it's... us, but not us, running things? What?" She feels confused, worried and in a very weird sense, relieved her garden has not been left alone. She doesn't voice this last bit, though.
Cavro shakes his head, just as confused as Erika. "But... What. Why? Why replace us with with with... And just... Keep on... Someone has a a a lot to explain!"
Fiora sighs, nodding. "I... have no idea. I just thought..." She glances at Erika, giving her a somewhat sad smile. "You know what. Doesn't matter what I thought. I... I'm glad I found you, Sis."
Erika steps closer and hugs Fiora, armor be damned: "I'm glad you found us too!"
Cavro also joins the hug, chuckling in relief. "Yes... Finding is important... Other thinking can happen later..."
Fiora chuckles, setting a hand on each of them. "Oof, hey. You know, give me a sec and I can get out of this thing and give you two proper hugs."
Cavro lets go of the hug, stepping slightly back and looking about. "If if if there might be more bugs, maybe not?"
Erika giggles: "Hugs are great! But maybe surviving is more great." She pauses, musing: "Yeah, let's get outta here then we can hug when we're camped? We're far away from Respite still, right?"
Fiora glances back the way she came. "Well, if you want to avoid the warren... maybe a day longer. And I uh... sorta ran down this far. Doubt you two are feeling up to sprinting home? So it's a few days from here, yeah. The good news you've got me now!"
Cavro nods, looking between Erika and Fiora. "Yes, I I I mean... I'll run if you both want... But I got short legs."
Erika shrugs: "I can run, but let's go with Cavro's speed, yeah?"
Fiora grins, "I could probably carry you both, if you wanted."
Cavro gives Fiora a look, but doesn't speak up against the idea...
Erika looks at Fiora and grins, sticking our her lenghty tongue: "You sure, Sis?"
Fiora shrugs, putting her helmet back on and hinging it back together, then slings her axe across her back. She reaches down and scoops up Cavro in one arm, then lifts up Erika and lays her across her shoulder. "You've been on your feet long enough, eh? C'mon." She starts to walk down river.
Erika ackps! "Augh! I mean, yes but not but auugh! What. I'm okay with this, I think." She settles on Fiora's shoulders, feeling both saved and confused and somewhat embarrassed too.
Cavro squeaks, only flailing for the briefest moment until he's been hitched under her arm. "Well... Yeah, I I I guess this is luxury." He can't help but start to giggle.
Fiora chuckles, "This armor cost more than the most luxurious carriage you could imagine. Maybe not as cozy, but eh, whatever. How many carriages could kill an Ahnkeg? Well, probably most if they ran them over or something. But not unaided."
Erika frowns at that, looking at Fiora from her awkward position: "...you have a lot of experience with this, don't you Sis?"
Cavro continues his intermittent giggling as Fiora rambles, looking across at Erika. "She she she probably brings brings brings her prey back back back like this this."
Fiora giggles, "They're usually unconcious if I'm carrying them like this. I usually have to make some big speech about 'you're worth more to me alive' or whatever. Gareth is better at that kind of thing, so I just stand by and look all menacing. But for real, you two... you're uh... you're worth more to me alive."
Erika giggles, waving her free hand while the other holds onto Fiora: "I'm glad to hear that! I'd be an awful Sister if I wasn't worth saving from the Ahn-whatevers!"
Cavro blushes, his giggles subsiding for now. "Yes, thank thank thank you, Fi Fio Fi Fiora."
Fiora sighs slightly, her serious expression hidden beneath her helmet. "I... I'll give you both tight hugs once we make camp... You both seem like you need it."
Erika giggles tiredly: "You have no idea, Sis. Or maybe you do, but if we have doubles or something going around, maybe you don't? Or you do, but like... ugh, best not think about it right now. Let's get to safety, yeah?"
Cavro nods silently in agreement, trying not to think of the state of his forge. And the orders. Oh gods, the orders!
Fiora nods as well, trying not to think about what the doubles actually mean, or about any particular elephants, and especially not about the angry swarm of Ahnkegs she left behind. Probably best to just make a fast track away from those. "Yeah, safety. Love you sis... you too, Cavro."
Erika smiles at Fiora: "Yeah, sounds goo-uff. Good, I mean. Sorry, bouncy."
Fiora does her best to keep up the pace, keeping the bouncing to a minimum as she runs along the river, happy and relieved to have found the pair, even if it's very, very confusing.