Medieval Fantasy

The early morning twilight settles over the forest as the dull orange sun rises in the early hours of the morning, peeking gently over the horizon. A light dew makes the dull green grass glisten, and the long-died out embers of the fire pit filled the air with the scent of smoke and flames long since extinguished by light rain.

Yawning to herself quietly, Young Elizabeth Scarlet pulled the blanket she had draped over her shoulders tighter around her as she stared into the fire pit. Dark circles hung under her fiery red eyes, evidence of the knight-in-training's long night of keeping watch. She yawns once again, reaching up and pushing a thick strand of bright red hair back behind her ear.

The rising sun strikes his face, and he grumbles slightly before turning over to face away from the morning light. A few seconds later, though, Luse Cadmus reluctantly pushes himself to a seated position, rubbing his eyes with his other hand.

A quiet yawn reaches his ears, and he gives a soft smile at the sound. "Good morning, my dear Elizabeth," he greets, stifling a yawn of his own as he turns around again to face her. Seeing her posture, however, his smile falters slightly as he realizes how tired she must be.

Elizabeth turns her head, her tired eyes gazing upon the waking man. Without so much as cracking a smile, she turns her gaze back to the dead firepit, before pushing herself up to her feet. Clad only in a thin red dress that sufficed as sleep wear and a rough leather coat that hung to her knees, she pulled the blanket around her, yawning once more.

"We need to be on the move within the hour..." she states, wasting no time with morning pleasantries.

"You could have woken me," Luse says, rising out of his blanket to his feet. He stretches his limbs for a few seconds, then sets about getting himself ready for the day. "I'd rather sacrifice half a night's sleep than let you go entirely without." He gathers his clothing together, then begins dressing back by his mat, keeping himself faced away from Elizabeth for modesty's sake.

"Having one person be greatly tired and the other alert is better than having both perform poorly." she reasons, yawning once more, picking up a large stick and poking at the charred logs.

Luse finishes dressing himself, then steps up behind Elizabeth and gently places a hand on her shoulder. "Very well. I'll stand watch tonight, then, and you get some rest."

She nods, yawning, her loose, waist-length red hair bouncing up and down slightly at the movement of her head, as she sets the stick down and turns her gaze upon him, her fiery red eyes half lidded.
"I don't think we'll make the next town by nightfall, but we may if we can leave soon. It all depends on when the others wake up..."

"Shall we begin waking them so we may move sooner, or would you prefer to get changed, first?" he asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He glances down, and rakes his eyes back up over Elizabeth's form for a second, a cocky smirk growing in place if his smile. "Neither would be particularly objectionable to me, my dear," he says, pitching his voice lower to keep it from carrying to any potential listeners.

Her expression unwavering, whether from sleep deprivation or by a conscious decision, she shakes her head.
"Let them sleep. One more night of camping wont harm us." she muses, turning and slowly striding over towards the still packed up bedroll farthest from the fire, letting the blanket drop to the ground and bending down to rummage through a pile of cloth and metal that lay next to it.

At the denial of waking the others, Luse deflates slightly, but follows Elizabeth to carry on conversation. "So long as you remember that you're getting rest tonight." He stares for a few seconds when Elizabeth starts rummaging, but shortly turns away. "It will be nice to be in a proper bed again, though. Beautiful as everything is out here, I can hardly call the sleeping arrangements comfortable..." he muses, a wistful tone in his voice as he imagines it.

Elizabeth shakes her head, a small smile forming on her tired lips,yet she keeps her light-hearted prodding to herself. once she makes sure everything is still in the pile, she nods, and straightens. She first discards the coat onto the crumpled up blanket, before shortly gathering up her clothing and armor, and taking it with her as she makes her way behind a large bush.

"Hey, I got dressed out here. If you don't want me looking, just say so..." Luse calls, watching Elizabeth head off for a greater sense of privacy.

No response came from behind the bush. Nothing but Silence for a good while afterwards, until Elizabeth emerged. The most noticeable portion of her armor was the large torso piece, being waist length on the sides with the front portions hanging low to her mid thigh. The cloth was a brilliant red, a staple of the knights of her family, and beneath it she wore a dark leather tunic. On her shoulders she wore rounded pauldrons of polished steels, and the dark leather sleeves of the tunic covered the rest of her arm. Her hands and wrist were covered in Black leather gloves, on the back of which was steel that guarded the back of the hand and the wrist. On her legs she wore loose fitting male trousers of black color, tucked into steel greaves that reached up to her knees, with a piece that reached up over them up to an ornate point to provide extra protection. Around her neck, she wore a scarlet red wrap, much like a scarf, that spread out over her left shoulder, and hung down her back to her waist. On this was the crest of her house, a shield with a single flame engraved into it.

In her hand she held her night dress, and she walked back to camp.
"I know how....mischievous you can be." she says in response to his earlier statement, choosing her word carefully, a small grin on her face as she made her way back towards her bedroll, stuffed the dress and coat into a leather rucksack.

Luse sees the grin Elizabeth gives him, and mocks offense at the insinuation. "You know I'm a man of my word, love," he says, placing a hand over his heart, as if hurt. "But I see how it is, with your words so cruel..."

"You are well aware I jest..." she says, straightening up. She turns to face him, a look of vague curiosity on her face.

"Would you mind helping me with my braid? I'm a tad too drowsy to do it alone..." she asks. Her hair, when done up properly, was usually tied back into a long, thick braid that reached her mid back, with a few strands parted to the right of her face, the rest of her bangs pulled back behind her left ear.

"Hm?" Luse is momentarily caught off guard by the question, then nods as it finally registers in his mind. "Of course. Let us take a seat, then," he says, walking toward his bedroll and beckoning Elizabeth to follow him.

The young woman follows, her armor clanking about as she walked. Assuming what to do, she follows Luse up to his bedding, before sitting down with her back to him, her legs criss-crossed, her hands resting on her knees.
"Thank you..."

Luse follows suit to Elizabeth's actions, and sits down behind her, already threading his fingers through her hair before being fully on the ground. Several times he runs his hands through, separating the locks as best he can before setting himself to work on them. "Such lovely hair..." he comments, gently stroking the long locks being kept separate by his fingers. He then leans forward, placing his lips near her right ear, and twists his hand while clenching it to gently tug. "I like how I can get a good grip on it, too," he whispers, ghosting his breath along her ear for a moment before loosening his grip and returning to stroking the fiery strands, as if he'd not been doing anything otherwise.

After placing a gentle kiss on her neck, he leans back, and begins setting Elizabeth's hair into a snug braid, making sure to guide each bundle with precision and care.

The young woman shuts her eyes, enjoying the feeling of fingers running gently through her long hair, dragging ever so slowly through the strands, before a small, surprised gasp escapes her lips, as Luse takes a loose grip on her hair. Her eyes open, but stay fixed straight ahead as he whispers to her, a small, coy smile on her face. Yet, her usual composure remained.

"See? Mischievous." She says as he finishes up.

At Elizabeth's statement, Luse looses a bout of hushed laughter before draping his arms over her shoulders in a loose embrace. "If that's your definition of mischief, I certainly wouldn't mind causing more with you," he whispers, his lips once again behind her ears. Luse then begins nuzzling Elizabeth's hair, closing his eyes as he does so.

Slowly, one by one, his bodily senses begin making their way back into his conscious, awake mindset; and, just like every other day before this, once his senses had settled, they began to heighten, amplifying to a level further than a normal person should have. Feeling the warmth of the sun, and the gentle, cool morning breeze brushing against his face, the man, Ulfric Blackburn, roused from his sleep.

And just like every other night before this, Ulfric's sleep wasn't as... Restful, as one would hope. Still, the early twenty-something year old man made no effort to grumble or moan; he'd realized by now that doing so was useless. It wouldn't suddenly bring back hours of lost comfort. From where he lay on his bedroll, Ulfric looked to his right, and spotted a few articles of his clothing; mainly, his boots, black-leather, and padded with light-weight steel plating, along with his finger-less gauntlets, also reinforced with steel, and his black-leather vest, medium thick, and plated with only a single steel pauldron on the right shoulder. Ulfric had slept with his worn, black-ish grey trousers on that night, as was his custom.

Sensitive hearing picking up movement, and his nose catching the faint smell of charred wood, Ulfric quietly turns on his left side, and spots first the dead fire-pit. Eyes traveling off a bit more, Ulfric then sees two of his camp-mates, up and about, and..... Sitting rather close together. Now, Ulfric makes a noise; a light, barely audible growling as he turns back onto his right side, and with a bit of a huffing effort, pushes himself into a sitting position, still facing away from the two. "A few nights together, and they've already forgotten there's others with 'em." The now fully awake Ulfric mutters in a low tone, quietly stretching away his bodies stiffness.

Elizabeth sighs, tilting her head every so slightly to lean against Luse's own.
"Other times, your advances would be welcome, but missing family has a way of killing mood." she whispers in a hushed tone, her eyes shut gently.

At the noise behind them, her head straightens once again, though she makes no move to turn or stop Luse.

"Good morning Ulfric..." she coos, using position of the noise to determine it's maker.

Stretching his right shoulder to its limit, Ulfric rotates the joint, the popping noise it makes bringing some form of relief to his grumpy, morning demeanor. "Hrrmm... Morning." The rather bestial man growls in reply, with a slight wave of his hand, the whole time still facing away from the two.

"As I told Luse, we likely won't reach the next town within the day. she says, before a light yawn escapes her lips.

".... Should I make another hunting trip into the woods for tonight's dinner, then?" Ulfric ventures, well aware of the answer he'd receive, just barely looking over his shoulder at them; but only because he was stretching his back now, twisting his upper body from right to left.

If you please. I do believe you brought enough last night to sustain us tonight as well, however." she states, nodding slightly, though she knew he couldn't see.

Ulfric's only response was a rumbling huff; his wordless, vocal equivalent of "So be it." Looking to his own pieces of clothing, Ulfric leans forward, and grabs one of his boots, starting the process of getting himself dressed. The grizzled mountain man would probably go hunting tonight, anyway. He kind of enjoyed the feral rush it gave him.

"Thank you Ulfric..." Elizabeth concludes, returning her gaze to the far fire, waiting for Luse to decide to move his head so she could stand.

Luse merely listens to the brief conversation between Elizabeth and Ulfric, content in his silence as he holds himself close to her. When they finish speaking, however, he briefly lifts his head and gives the knight in training a quick peck on the neck, then stands up, keeping a hand on her shoulder in offer of assistance.

Elizabeth stands soon after, allowing Luse to assist by taking his hand and letting him "lift her." She didn't need help, but it was a nice gesture in any case.

"When we get to the next town, we will need to buy new horseshoes. The trek through the mountains all but destroyed the ones we have..." she says, nodding simply to Luse.

"Very well. I'll keep that in mind, Elizabeth," he says, starting to gather up his own items and pack.

"Should've used the lower paths...." Ulfric's voice rumbles out, speaking up now that he'd finished getting dressed. Securing his vests' two front buckles, upper chest first, then mid-abdomen, the large mountaineer turns around, crouching to gather up his own bed roll and remaining items. "Might've been longer, but'cha would've saved coin on new horse shoes."

Elizabeth nods, looking about the camp momentarily, trying to remember where she left her weapon and shield.

"I am sorry, my haste has made things inconvenient. I should have taken your advice..." she apologizes calmly.

"If need be, I shall cover the expenses," Luse says, taking a short break from packing everything to wave his hand dismissively. "While I don't like giving credence to the stereotype of nobility flaunting money, I think it may be forgiven, in this instance. Wouldn't you agree?"

Elizabeth gives Luse an accusing glance out of the corner of her eye, a small, displeased frown playing on her lips.

"I told you to bring only enough to cover living. We don't need to draw attention to ourselves..."

"Only enough to cover living doesn't factor in anything that may be unexpected," he counters, going back to packing, "like the horseshoes."

He looks into his pack, then takes stock of the campsite, ensuring he's not forgetting anything.

"I accounted for that. People will be concerned if they see the Baron-in-waiting traveling with a Knightess-in-training, a mountain man, and said knightess' squire. We can't have anyone suspicious." she says, her voice, while not raising or lowering in volume, taking on a scolding undertone.

"Okay, so now we have a slightly larger emergency fund," he says, shrugging as he closes his pack. In an effort to appease Elizabeth, though, he adds, "I'm not going to go out and waste it on something frivolous, or go about flaunting that we have it, if you're worried about that."

The young woman sighs and shakes her head, walking back over to where she had set up her things, they having been undisturbed through the night, and begins shoving the bedroll into the remaining space in the rucksack.

"Just try to remain inconspicuous." she mutters. She had taken a guess that having the Baron's son, soon to be baron himself, along would only bring trouble, and while it had yet to happen, she had a bad feeling. Still, she ignored it, and finished preparing by walking over to their weapons stockpile, a few feet from her squire's site, retrieving a standard issue trainee Bastard Sword, and a kite shield bearing the same crest as her armor. The sword rested in a red-dyed leather sheath that rested on the back. She quickly slung the weapon onto her back and fastened the shield to her forearm in silence.

Ulfric, mildly aware of the spat his two traveling companions were having, decided not to add in any words, or speak up for either side. Focused on matters at hand, the Mountaineer finished packing the remainder of his belongings into the moderately sized, expedition rucksack he'd brought for himself. Before slinging the sack onto his back, however, Ulfric realized that he was missing something. Quietly, he began to scour his sleeping area for the only weapon/tool he'd brought; an aged, silvery-steel hunting knife. At near a foot long, and two inches wide, the knife wasn't something someone would miss.

After a few quick seconds of searching, Ulfric spotted his knife, and was quick to retrieve and hook the blade back onto his belt. As he wandered back over to his pack, he muttered in an even, rumbling tone; "There's an Eastern wind approaching.... These woods are rife with all manner of beast--" the Mountaineers keen ears pick up a snapping off in the distance. His head snaps in that direction, lips curling into the slightest of feral snarls. ".... S'not safe to stay for much longer...."