Ernest decided she officially hated troopers. They were so arrogant, and they told terrible jokes. For a moment, she entertained the idea of getting some people together and coming back here someday, but she realized that would be a bad idea. No one would listen to her anyway. 
Now, for the problem at hand - getting out of the forest. She knew there was nothing else she could do. She couldn't survive here for very long. But if the troopers didn't know where they were going, either… There was nothing for it, other than to pick a random direction and walk. But she could confuse a few troopers on her way.
"Well," she said, "I know where I'm going. You guys… have fun." She grinned and set off, by pure coincidence, heading south.

"What a coincidence, she´s going the same direction as us." Whispered one soldier to the others. The soldiers, who already had their armors and equipments on, walker south, of course keeping a distance from Ernest. Who would have guessed? This was her lucky day! If the girl kept going at the same direction, she would get out alive, or would she? Why didn´t the soldiers simply throw a javelin at her back and laugh as she struggled to give her last breath? It was not easy to answer that question; Sometimes even the most ruthless people feel compassion.

With their spears on their right hand, and their large shields on the other hand, the soldiers marched steadily and in silence. There seemed to be nobody else in there, no natives or tribesmen and luckily, no wild animals. It is well known that the animals of this damned forest are not very friendly. The exit seemed to be near, which also meant that Ernest would find it. For some reason, they hoped that something happened to the girl, for she was the typical ungrateful plebeian. They kindfully released her. If it weren´t for them, the tribesmen would have skinned her alive or who knows what; what a thankless pleb. 

If they could make it out before night, they´d be very thankful. But if night came, their life would be at a high risk, for everybody knows that in this unmerciful forest, man-eating things lurked when the sun was hidden.

The crack of branches, the howls, the growls, the heavy inhuman breathing, the steps… There was a creature stalking them, perhaps even more than one. A pack of four huge wolves! What a great way to start the night…

Their fancy battle tactics and formations would not work against the wolves, for those beasts could jump twice the height of a human being or charge as strong as an outraged boar. Normally, they would throw a spear or javelin at them, but unfortunately the Fratians had already used them.

Silanus could lighten his sword on fire to scare them, or cast a spell to defeat the wolves, however he could not. The general was merely an adapt battlemage, so in order to cast a spell, he requires much concentration, something that seemed impossible to have right now. Silanus was well known for his great fear of wolves; how unlucky he is to find these ones.

While the soldiers formed a tiny line formation, the wolves prepared to surround them. Silanus would fight, of course, but not at his full might. Smelling, hearing and seeing a wolf made him doubtful of his moves, it made him want to leave his fellow men alone and retreat. But of course, he's never do that. The wolves were ready to attach without hesitation, while the troopers prepared for the worst.

Watching from a tree above, Ernest was shocked. To her eyes, it looked as if the general looked almost… scared? She raised an eyebrow. Wolves. He didn't like wolves. That was good to know. Even the bravest men had fears.
But, to the problem on hand. The troopers were probably doomed. Even Ernest, who was no explorer, could tell that these were not ordinary beasts. They might even be able to smell her from here. Despite that, she had two options. She could run, and hope, if they did see her, that they would be distracted by the troopers and not follow her. Or, she could stay put, hope they couldn't climb trees, and maybe help the troopers out a little. That seemed to be the better option. Wolves, her uncle told her, would always attack a moving target. If she stayed relatively still, maybe they wouldn't notice her.
Ernest stayed put, waiting. She did not have to wait long. One of the wolves near the end of the line pounced. In that fraction of a second, Ernest threw a rock. She wasn't sure why, or what she hoped to accomplish, but she did it anyway. The wolf paused and looked up, searching all around for the person who'd thrown the rock. She was sure it had seen her, but it had no time to attack. The troopers all around it surrounded it and stabbed it into submission.
Behind her, Ernest heard a shout. She turned, but not quite quickly enough. Bearing directly down on Silanus was the largest of the four wolves.

An unexpected event happened, right in front of the soldiers' eyes. A stone hit one of the wolves, giving them the opportunity to slash it to death. However, while his fellow troopers fought, Silanus was there standing in front of what seemed to be the strongest, biggest wolf.

Instead of casting a spell or waiting for the wolf to make the first movement so he could counterattack, Silanus went berserk, something really unusual on him. To fight, you must have your mind calm, yet aggressive; ready to attack fearlessly, but at the same time waiting for any opening or opportunity to strike. This was not the case for Silanus, not this time.

For the first time in years, Silanus made the mistake that was letting his inner rage consume his mental state. The general charged mindlessly against the wolf, then bashed his shield against it. The giant creature flinched, so Silanus slashed the area near it's neck. The thick fur saved the wolf, so it jumped and brought Silanus to the ground.

Without sword or shield, the only thing keeping the beast's jaws from Silanus neck was his arm, which was, in what seemed to be an useless attempt to save his life, strangling the wolf. The wolf got each time closer to his face, so Silanus finally attacked. Grabbing the Pugio dagger he always carried, the general stabbed furiously and multiple times the wolf, finally killing it. The other wolves were dead, and the soldiers safe. They looked up to see what was throwing the stones; of course, the girl from before! With a hand gesture, one of them told Ernest to come down while the rest was helping the injured ones.

Ernest poked her head out of the branches just in time to see one of the men gesturing for her to come down. She briefly considered ignoring him, but discarded the idea. She was almost certain they wouldn't hurt her.
Nonetheless, she was cautious as she slid down from the tree and into the forest glade, stone in one hand. She had her dagger, but she decided to keep it hidden, her little ace in the hole. 
"Are you all right?" she asked the troopers in general. It seemed a polite thing to do, and several of them had been hit hard by the wolves. And, to be honest with herself, she cared. Just a little bit. 
It was an odd feeling to her - she almost never honestly wished someone well. She usually was content to see them go on their way, neither their enemy nor their friend. But she had been in several fights now, with the troopers there, and she sort of knew them. They weren't strangers anymore, and that felt odd.

While Silanus was being helped by one soldier to stand up, he, thankfully smiled and said: "You, Ernest, are now officially an honour-citizen of ours. Back in the Steppes, with enough dedication and following the clues, you"ll find it…" He stopped for a brief moment now that he was finally standing up without the soldier's help.

Silanus continued speaking: "You will find our city hidden in the plains of the Steppes in the Highlands. Follow the dirt roads, the fallen trees, eventually you will find it. We have caused enough trouble already, but even then you decided to help us with the little you had." The general whispered something to one of his soldiers, then the trooper walked towards the stuff they were carrying.

Among the stuff of the Fratians there was a bag filled with food, maps of different regions and then a second, smaller bag, this one contained three big pouches of silver coins. The soldier picked one of the pouches and gave it to Ernest. It was what seemed to be a gift. Silanus said to her: "Being captured and sold into slavery is one of the most humiliating things I can imagine, for that we apologise. Accept this as a gift. Do visit us one day, if you find your way. We"ll be leaving, farewell." and so the men picked their objects and walked, heading the same way as before. One of them lit a torch so they could see at night.

Ernest stared after them for several minutes before realizing that she should probably get out of sight of any beasts that were lingering after the wolf attack. She pulled herself up into a tree, and then just sat there, staring at what they had given her. She almost didn't believe it. The troopers, who had tried to enslave her and sell her off, had accepted her as one of their own. 
It took her very little time to decide to follow them. She wanted to see this village that she had been invited to. Follow the dirt roads, the fallen trees, eventually you will find it. 
Early in the morning, she set off, wondering at the change in her fortunes still. She followed the trail left by the men, and presently, the trees began to thin out until Ernest was standing on an endless plain, the way she had come from, she thought. She could just see the troopers far ahead of her. They seemed to have stopped, which she found odd, as they were nowhere near lunchtime yet. What had happened? Were they lost? Was she lost? Ernest pulled out a map, squinting at it before realizing that she couldn't read it. This should have occurred to her. Now, she was lost on the endless plain with no idea where she was. Finding herself without options, she hiked off toward where the troopers had camped. It was a lot further than it appeared.
((OOC: I had made it so they stopped because they were going south the entire time, and the Steppes are in the north. Sorry if it's a bit gmod-y. You can say she saw it wrong if you had something else in mind.))

Finally the troopers were out of the damn forest and arrived the main road. There were some people walking by and a carriage transporting goods; the path had more people than usual. The soldiers then realised how exhausted they were, for they have been walking for hours with very little rest. Perhaps a quick slumber might help.

The soldiers walked past a few trees and placed their fur blankets there, where they laid and slept for around 2 hours. They would have appreciated to sleep more, but probably the people of Amiternum, the heart of the Fratian civilisation, would be troubled by them missing out. The looting expedition Silanus was leading should have returned yesterday.

The Fratians continued to walk, this time north following the road until they found a sign. This sign indicated that if they continued north they would cross the border with the Steppes, excellent! The soldiers, as exhausted as they were, continued marching further, even if they would have loved to lay down and sleep once more. Finally, after 3 long hours of walking with some constant, quick rest stops, they crossed the border. 

Silanus knew it was the border, for he was most familiarised with it; the trees were mostly pines, the weather colder, the grass darker and the terrain started to turn into a big hill. The soldiers smiled in relief, they knew that now, having crossed the border, some scout, patrol or border guard would see them and safely escort them to Amiternum.