Young Writers Society

James took a bite of the jerky, and felt as if for a moment he was transported to another world. It was so... tasty. He hadn't had jerky in a very long time. However, he quickly was yanked from the feeling when he looked over to Tasha. Though he too felt terrible - like a walking bruise, essentially - he knew Tasha got the worst of it. Open wounds always stood for risk of infection.

"Do you want help?"

She shakes her head. "Thanks, I've got it." She patches herself up pretty quickly; she's done it enough times before. He might notice a large scar on her shoulder as she does. It looks like some large animal bit her on her there, and the puncture wounds were obviously very deep. More run down her back, disappearing under her shirt before she puts it back up after tying the bandage.

James pursed his lips into a pout of disagreement but remained silent, eating and waiting for her to finish. He didn't want to stare, but he took note that it seemed she'd survived similarly traumatic wounds evidenced by her scars.

She wolfs down her food like there's no tomorrow, taking a drink from her waterskin before turning to James. "You ready to go?"

"Yep." He responded in agreement, hopping off the fallen tree on which he'd sat, and mounting Nightmare. "Off we go again." He said, leading them once again through the forest. As they travelled, slowly, the landscape began to change. The population of glowing plants seemed to decrease, and more familiar foliage and plant life increased - in other words, less glowing, but more green.

She picks up pace a bit, pain receding as the thought of returning home seems less of a fantasy and a near reality. New scents are carried by the wind, and now that the grangor is gone she can hear the birds singing delicate melodies in the canopy.

As the day passed and they made considerable progress in their travels, finally night began to fall, and the sky darkened. As the sun was setting, James slowed, picking out a spot for them to camp for the night. The forest was still thick with trees, so there was plenty of shade from above.

"Ready to call it a night?"

She nods and changes back to her humanoid form. "I hope that that was the only oversized kitten around here," she comments as she surveys their campsite.

"As do I." James replied, with a small laugh - just a puff of breath through his nose. "To be on the safe side, we could always sleep in shifts, just to be sure."

"It's probably best." She glances at her dog. "She can watch, too."

"Your dog?" He asked, as if to clarify, but more just because he was surprised that it seemed her dog was that well trained. "...Well, alright."

The dog gives her a baleful look.

"Don't give me that," Tasha tells her and pulls out her bedroll.

"...Sorry." James said with an apologetic grin to Wolfsbane.

The dog gives him the dejected puppy look and sighs, plopping down with her head on her paws.

James came over to Wolfsbane and knelt beside her and gave her a pet on the head. He was sure she was a great watch dog, especially if she was Tasha's.