Glacia

Cerwein picked up the young girl are her head drooped onto her knees. Laying the girl under the branches she had prepped earlier, Cerwein took up a spot against a tree where she could watch the fire and the young girl. Cerwein's response the child puzzled her. Motherly notions did not linger typically in Cerwein's head. In fact most elves were not nurturing. So, what was it about this little girl that compelled Cerwein to mother her so?

"Maybe it was watching the woman burst into flames, the sounds of her pain and then seeing this young girl emerge from the ashes? Yes that has to be it..." Cerwein pondered this notion as she fell asleep.
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Early the next morning Cerwein woke and quickly gathered some berries for breakfast. She laid out some of her dried meat and the berries for Soren.

While the little girl snored softly from under the brush Cerwein set about finishing the arrow she had been working on. Finishing the arrowhead, Cerwein stopped for a quick bite to eat and then returned to mounting the new tip to the arrow shaft.

Soren woke up. She enjoyed the silence and peaceful birds chirping. She could hear Cerwein's knife scraping on wood to make a shaft. She could hear the arrowhead being attached. And Cerwein chewing. Sighing, she opened her dark, green, cat-shaped, eyes. Instead of looking down at her knees which was the position she fell asleep in, she looked up from under the bush. Being tired from the kind of body she was in, she got up, and crawled out. "Good morning," She said cheerfully to Cerwein, joining her for breakfest.

Cerwein looked to where the little girl was crawling out from under the bush. The girl sat and started on the berries and dried meat that Cerwein had left for her.

"And a good morning to you. I hope you slept well. You seemed very tired. Given your change yesterday I am not surprised. No sign of Artemis so far today so if you would like we can start searching for acceptable branches to turn into arrows and perhaps do some searching for some rocks for shaping."

Cerwein finished up the arrowhead she was working on. It was now securely attached the shaft of the arrow. All it was missing now was the feathers for the end. Cerwein placed it off to the side.

"We can also gather some things for food for the next little while. We need to watch for the knights who are in training in the forest. They seem pretty contained and easy to avoid but you never know. Sometimes the younger knights lose their way when in the trees. They panic and think it all looks the same." Cerwein chuckled.

Soren grinned, the forest was all but nothing the same. Everything is completely different from everything else. If you actually looked, every single tree, branch, and even grass was different from each other. Nothing was completely and totally the same. Words are said differently each time, writing could never be exactly the same as another. She laughed, "Well, I suppose if you are human, a viewpoint is different. Usually they think that they're the center of the galaxies." Soren said, wondering if there was even another galaxy. "So... What kind of wood do you make your arrows out of? Birch, maple, pine, whatever... And what kind of rock? Or do you just test the rocks...?" Just a buyer, not a maker, Soren had no idea on how to start.

Cerwein smiled, "Yes humans tend to lose their way in the forest. Can't see between the trees so to speak. Funny most would say elves think themselves the centre of the galaxy. Perhaps that is true of every race."

Cerwein set about cleaning up from their meal. As she stood she stretched out. "Well, what wood, and rock and feathers for that matter all depend on what you can find and making the best use of them. Yes, I have preferences but at times one cannot be too picky and must learn to work with what they are given. Come we will gather wood for the fire and we can see what we can find in the way of rocks and wood.

Cerwein led Soren into the woods. She avoided the area where she knew the knights were most likely to be. Cerwein's first thought is that she was concerned they would think she and the little girl were an animal. Now, Cerwein realized there was a chance if they saw Soren, they would try and take her to the city to locate her parents. Cerwein marveled to herself that the girl had been out on her own for so long and hadn't had trouble. "You don't know what Soren has been through. You think this because you saw the change and are now protective. But Soren has been changing and adapting for 600 years this isn't as new to her as it is to you." Cerwein's mind was going while her eyes looked this way and that for suitable material.

Cerwein stopped often to show Soren how to judge if a piece of wood was strong enough to handle the impact of a bowshot. She spent a great deal of time picking through piles of rocks with Soren as well.

After a few hours of walking, talking and gathering they were hungry. Arms full of firewood, suitable wood for arrow shafts and pockets laiden with rocks and even a few good feathers they returned to their campsite. Cerwein deposited her finds into piles and set about laying out lunch for them. Her supply of meat was running low. Cerwein began to reason out that if they were going to be together like this for a while perhaps they needed a permanent structure to keep their things and sleep. Maybe Artemis would hare his roof. If not maybe they could find something.

"Soren, we will need to hunt soon. Tomorrow we should take care of that. I have enough to last us a few more days." Cerwein looked up as there was the rumble of distant thunder. There would be rain. While the castle sat in a barren ice valley, the mountains boasted forests such as this one on their other side. It made travel in and out of the castle difficult but for the rest of Glacia the mountains provided all they needed. "Soren, I was thinking. While I don't mind being outdoors perhaps if we are going to work on arrows for any length of time we should find a more permanent housing situation."

"A house?" Soren said, surprised, "Well that would do, but for some reason, I've been in stores all over town, I've went in and out of restaurants and bars, but I've never actually been in a house." Soren said, laughing. Cerwein was treating her like an apprentice. Although she was okay with that, she seemed to be more protective, and Soren again realized about her small body. "So, I suppose we could live inside a house. It would be pretty nice. Seeing I've lived in nothing but trees.