Another pause. The word heroic clung to him like a thick slime, but to say so meant saying more than he wanted to say, and being far more vulnerable than felt safe.
She could tell from his tone in that moment that she'd said something wrong but she wasn't sure what, and instead of pressing him to figure it out, she decided to fall silent and look for her dog.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
The rest of the ride was spent in predictable silence as James tried not to dwell on his failures. So naturally, he was relieved when they finally approached their old camp and saw Bane waiting for them. But only so much so - the camp still bore the marks of being torn apart by the baboon disturbance, and there were no signs that either Amy or Ari returned to it.
Tasha smiled as she saw her dog and dismounted. The canine ran over to her and sniffed her, licking her face. She chuckled and petted the beast. Bane looked healthy enough - none of the baboons had gotten her, that was for certain.
"Just one more thing to do and then you can have a break, alright, girl?" she said to her. "Werewolf. Female. Amy. Remember her? Yeah? Alright. Go hunt, Wolfsbane!"
The beast wagged her tail and put her nose to the ground, casting out and circling the camp for a scent.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Eventually she let out a short yip and started going in more of a line.
"She's got it," Tasha said.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
She swung up on her horse and let him get on behind her, then urged the beast into a trot after her dog.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
James held on, eagerly hoping that Ari and Amy were alright.
In the meantime...
Amy and Ari cuddled by the edge of a pond, with her leaning into his lap. They'd spent the whole night running around, fighting off baboons, and searching for James and Tasha, but as morning came, they were exhausted. The two rested with Ursuku beside them, nudging them with his head every now and then.
Ari petted Ursuku with one hand and put his other arm around Amy, watching the osprey plunge into the lake after fish. So far, the beast had been unsuccessful, but it reminded him of home. He'd always liked watching the sea-hawks pursue their aquatic quarry. He knew someone who'd trained one, once, and he'd always thought it was super cool!
"I wonder if James is alright."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"I mean, Tasha seems like she won't hurt him," Amy said softly. "She sounded like she almost wanted to be friends, I think. Maybe not with me, but... you guys. I think together with her horse they would've made it out. We did hear gunshots, so I think they probably shot some of 'em."
"I think you're growing on her too. After all, she did go out of her way to help you when we were fighting!" Ari pointed out with a smile.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He smiled and held her close before the thudding of hooves jerked him out of his peaceful reverie. Tasha reined her horse in as she came through the trees.
"Either of you get burned?" she asked instead of greeting them.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
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