The Gypsy City, Saul.

[skysu]

She smiled vaguely. "I'll hold you to that." she promised shifting the pack on her shoulder.

[Leonardo]

Leo held his hand to his chest as his heart raced. He jumped a short distance on impulse and it appeared to be enough. Why was he so worked up though? He said he was going to Saul so it wasn't like he was stalking.... He waited a little while for them to get moving and when they where a good distance away he set out again, this time to the heart of the forest Rather then Saul. He picked up his pace for lost time and reached the heart of the forest. It looked just like the rest of the forest but Leo couldn't mistake the original tree for any other, even if on the outside it looked the same, each tree gave off it's own magic energy he knew this one like it was the back of his hand. He gave the tree the simple message of 'good times' from the tree of destiny. Tree's really where more laid back then people, too bad people can't be that simple. Then nothing would really change...... would that really be for the better though?

Leo gave up that train of thought sense their was nothing he could do about it and after giving a quick offering and prayer, headed to Saul. When he turned around though he saw a kender spirit that he was familiar with, and always took the form of a cat. Leo picked her up and she jumped onto his head. "You always like to be the one looking down don't you." She 'nyaa'ed and then Leo looked around, noticing he was surrounded by several spirits, most of them kenders. "You've got to be joking right? Look, I got to meet up with my friend in Saul before he leaves so I'll play with you all later!" With that he took out a stone that was used to augment his abilities, allowing him to make further jumps at the cost of the stone. He preferred not to use it but he had to escape the eyes of the spirits of only for a few minutes.

Drawing out the last of the stones power, Leo jumped as far as it would let him. The actual time of the jump was very short, but it was long enough that a bit of ice formed in his hair and on his cloak. When he reemerged he almost bumped into Skye not too far off from Saul, the cat kender still on his head. Leo froze not sure what to say and the cat kender nya'ed to Skye, holding up a paw.

[skysu]

Skye spun around the moment she felt the brush of cold air and the sounds, she paused there a moment her eyes narrowed, with one dagger pressed against Leo's throat, the other hand held a knife towards the cat Kender. She looked at him a moment longer before very slowly lowering the knife at his throat. "What... are you Doing here Leo?" she questioned sharply, "DO you realize I could have slit your throat?" she asked noticing a very thin line of blood from a tiny cut on his neck.

[Leonardo]

"Well, I did say I was planing on doing escorts to Saul for extra money. The Vangaurd just brought some people to Saul though and they will probably be their a day or to before doing an escort back so I decided to meet up with them in Saul. As for this.... my accuracy with non-line of sight, distance enhanced jumps isn't really the best and pining people locations is hard enough if their close let alone half a forest away." Leo rubbed his neck, then rubbed his hands till the bit of blood was gone. The bleeding already stopped. Leo was a naturally fast healer. The cat kender then jumped off Leo's head and he caught it mid jump. "Your with me till I reach Saul, don't need you telling more spirits I'm here." The cat kender didn't try to run anymore and said still as Leo held her in his arms. "Still, what are YOU doing here? If coming here was part of your mission I could of escorted you to Saul at least."

[skysu]

She shook her head as she sheithed her knives. "We don't need your help Leo, you know I've got no qualms with the forrest, there is no reason for her to not let me through, and... we really do not need a kender around us." she added looking at the cat for a moment. "It'd be best if we parted ways... again." she said with a sigh, glancing over her shoulder at Morrigan to see how she was taking the events.

[Hotaru]

After a nap and changing into clean clothes, Hotaru left the inn, grabbing her pack as she passed the door. "Looks like its camping from here on out....alright, now to earn some cash. Dancing is out, least till I can get a new costume. Stupid spirits broke my tambourine too. Looks like potions it is." Walking to the edge of the forest, Hotaru paused to check her stuff once more. Pulling out the leather straps that the caravan leader had given her, she swiftly braids them into long ropes. Walking around, she bends down to pick up some of the rocks lying around, wieghing and switching rocks as she moved. Finally satisfied, she ties them to the ends of the ropes with a skilled hand. Once done, Hotaru swings the bolas around, testing them for balance. Spotting a thin tree trunk 30 yards away, Hotaru swings one of the bolas over her head and releases it, watching it gracefully spin until it wrapped around the tree. Walking over to the tree, Hotaru saw that the bola had wrapped itself around the tree securly. "These should do until I get some new daggers. Now to find some herbs" Quickly unwrapping the bola from around the tree, Hotaru gathered her stuff and began to move into the forest.

Walking through the forest, Hotaru found that the area was full of herbs and mushrooms that she could use. "With these I can get enough cash to get a new tambourine and some really nice daggers. I think I might get some of that really nice fabric I saw while I was walking too." Hotaru exclaimed happily. Walking along, it wasn't until later that Hotaru noticed that she had walked into the forest deeper than she had planned to. Turning around, she realized that she was unsure of which way led back to town. "Oh..this could be a problem." Still trying to figure out which direction to turn, Hotaru heard a rustling in the bushes to her right. Reaching for the bolas tied to her hip, Hotaru moved herself into a fighting stance to prepare for whatever came out. When the rustling continued and nothing came out, Hotaru walked over to towards the bushes, still ready to move into action if necessary. Pulling the branches apart, Hotaru spots a black fox lying in the bushes."Hey boy, what are you doing out right now. It wouldn't have been good if I was a hunter." Inspecting the creature, Hotaru notices that its back leg was a torn and bloodied mess. "Looks like something got a good hold of you. Lets see we can patch you up." Reaching into her pack. Hotaru pulls out her pestle and mortar, as well as some of the plants she had gathered in the forest. Tearing off a piece of fabric from one of her shirts, she methodically makes a healing salve that she had learned from her father's wife, feeling the foxes eyes on her the whole time. When it was done, Hotaru spread a thin layer onto the makeshift bandage and began to approach the fox. "Easy now, I'm just gonna help you get a little better." Reaching her hand towards the leg, she flinches as the fox reaches back and nips her hand. "Ouch," she hisses as she draws her hand back, watching the wound already begin to draw blood. Reaching back into her pack, Hotaru pulls out a bit of jerky. "Guess you'll want a bit of sweetnin before I can help you huh?" Tossing the Jerky towards the fox, Hotaru waited until the fox was focused on the jerky, then swiftly bound the leg. Almost as soon as she finished, the fox had grabbed the bit of jerky and run off, fading into the bush like one of the many spirits of the forests. "You're Welcome!" Hotaru shouted. As she gathered her items, Hotaru noticed through the small spots of sky peering through the trees that there was little sun left in the sky. "Looks like its time to settle down for the night." Grabbing a bundle of firewood, Hotaru buikt a small fire , being careful to keep it far enough from the trees. Pulling out her hammock, Hotaru securely ties it between two sturdy trees that were closer to the fire than the others. Sitting down by the fire, Hotaru pulls out a few of her rations. "Sigh, looks like its jerky tonight." Settling down next to the fire, Hotaru hears a twig snap behind her. "What is it this time?" she thinks as she gets back on her feet, grabbing her bolas in one fluid motion. Already swinging her bolas in a circle, it takes Hotaru a second to realize that it was the same black fox she had just helped, only with a dead rabbit in its mouth. Walking up to Hotaru, the fox set the rabbit in front of Hotaru and then sat down, looking up at her almost expectantly. "For me? Strange little creature aren't you? Still, I guess I can't talk, being a strange one myself and all." Grabbing the rabbit, Hotaru pulled out her skinning knife and quickly had the rabbit skinned and roasting over the fire on a stick. When it was done, Hotaru, cut off a big piece of the rabbit and handed it to the fox."You caught it so I figure you deserve a good portion of it." Grabbing the meat from her fingers, the fox curled up next to her and began to eat it. When it finished, the fox licked its lips, jumped into Hotaru's lap. Looking at it, Hotaru mumbled "Wild animals shouldn't be so tame, its almost unnatural." Inspecting the foxes leg one more time, Hotaru gently picked up the fox, and walked over to the hammock. Placing it in the net, hotaru doused the fire and gathered the remains to bury them. "The last thing we need is a bear." Walking back over to the hammock, Hotaru slowly climbed in, being careful not to disturb her guest. Staring up at the trees, Hotaru allowed her mind to drift into nothingness, until the rest of her body followed along.

[mizcryptic]

Morrigan had been staring, mouth a gaped, at the little cat kender spirit. The cat's edges were blurred, as it was a mist and whole at the same time, yet proved to be tangible when Leo caught it. She and cats usually didn't get along. Not on her part, though. She thought cats were adorable, but her friend, Lin, once had told her that she seems like a clumsy dog-like person. That must be the reason cats were always terrified of her.

Then she realized that this was a kender spirit. She froze, but the kender Nyaa~-d again. She blushed and very slowly reached a hand out to pet it.

She realized the conversation had stopped and both parties were looking expectantly at her. She put her hand back down "Wh-what?! I love cats." Her face and ears were burning. She coughed and shook her head.

"Skye, we're so close to Saul now, it'd be stupid not to just finish this journey together." She spoke quickly, trying to change subjects. "I'm sure there's only so many ways to get into Saul, even if you are a friend of the forest."

[skysu]

She looked at morrigan for a moment, before she suddenly turned and walked away from them. "Whatever." she said as she moved her pack to the other shoulder and had her dominant left hand available in case something came out. Four was an unlucky traveling number, and it didn't look like Leo was getting rid of the kender any time soon, if they weren't careful the forest might deside that their back luck was worth fixing.

[mizcryptic]

"W-wait!" Morrigan flailed and jogged after her.

[skysu]

"Hurry up!" she said without turning. "You have a meeting to get to don't you? The Forest is kinder to pairs, and four is not a good traveling number, things are going to stop being so peaceful." she muttered more to herself then the woman as she kept her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

[Hotaru]

Hotaru cursed loudly as she landed on the forest floor. "Can't a person get any peace in this godforesaken forest?" she muttered as looked around, trying to figure out just what exactly had woken her up. Looking up, she saw that the fox was still in the hammock, staring down at her like it was almost amused by her situation. "Glad to see you find this funny," she said as she got up, brushing herself off. As she heard the loud noises to her back, hotaru realized that they were footsteps. Grabbing a bola and her skinning knife for good measure, hotaru moved into a position that allowed her to be ready for whatever was coming.

[skysu]

Skye paused a moment in her step. 'what now?' she thought as she slowly drew out her knife and stepped lighter, she looked at Morrigan and signaled for her to continue down the path, Skye then slipped into the forest silently and flanked her in case she was attacked.

[mizcryptic]

Morrigan had sighed, trotting along side her guide, glancing back at Leo and shrugging. Then Skye tense and gave her another motion to keep moving, as she disappeared. "Great." She muttered, drawing both of her bayonets this time and continued on.

The smell of smoke was slight, but there. She tensed as she noticed a clearing ahead. "I hope these aren't gypsies." She entered slowly, and barely overlooked the small girl beside the hammock with the fox. "Oh. Hi, there." She said cautiously, shuffling around. The girl looked ready to kill. "Easy, now."

[skysu]

Skye carefully moved through the trees until she was behind the girl and the fox, from behind she did not recognize her, but very slowly moved out of the brush and drew her gun, pointing it at the girl she cocked it. "Don't move." she said coldly, staring at the back of the person.

[Leonardo]

Leo fallowed in silence, though a bit back from the others. When they stumbled upon Hotaru's camp, the first thing he noticed was the fox. It may not be a spirit but it could still inform other spirits and Leo readied to rift walk to catch the fox if it tried to leave.

While keeping track of the fox Leo noticed Hotaru. "Hotar....iu?......miu? u! Hotaru! It's a surprise to see you here. Why are you camping with a native fox though?"