The moon was bright tonight, the stars shining alongside the beautiful, pale sphere. Nelanna and Kohaku were camping outside on the outskirts of Virens, using the trees at the edge as extra shelter with a tent set up, and a small fire. Ensarrian was with them, sitting across the fire from Kohaku and Nelanna with one knee raised, arm resting atop it and the other arm supporting his weight from the side. His flaming eyes were locked on the fire, avoiding Nelanna in particular. Kohaku was looking at a map, using the fire’s light to help him see in the dark. While Nelanna sat next to him, holding her knees up close to her chest. “Anything yet?” She asked Kohaku. He hummed to show he’d heard her, but offered no other response. Which was fine with Nelanna. They were on an important mission, so she needed Kohaku to concentrate as much as possible. It’d be helpful if Ensarrian was cooperative as well, but he seemed to have no interest in doing anymore than tagging along.
She took a stick and prodded the burning wood in the fire, mind thinking over their mission. Recently a group of bandits had been attacking and robbing people traveling through the plains. The three were to capture these bandits and bring them to justice. However, the bandits didn’t seem to have a specific spot of presence to attack. Most sit and wait in the same spot each time; these ambush in random areas. It made it difficult to predict where they would attack next, as well as who they’ll attack. And so, they decided to do some investigating to find answers to these questions. They had been in nearby towns all during the day, asking around to see if anyone knew anything. They learned that there are about five or six bandits in total, and they don’t care about the time of day when attacking, but not much else.
Nelanna sighed, leaning back and using her arms to hold herself up, eyes gazing up at the sky before yawning. She was so tired…and bored. “I think I’ll turn in for the night,” she said, heaving herself to her feet and entering the tent. Kohaku and Ensarrian continued with what they were doing, only the fox replying with a quick “goodnight”.
It felt as if she had only gotten a few minutes of sleep when Kohaku’s alarmed voice suddenly waked her, along with his hand placed upon her shoulder to shake her gently. Her eyes blinked open, raising to look up at him with a questioning hum. “Shhh,” she placed a finger over his lips, then pointed towards the opening to the tent. She turned over and sat up as quietly as she could, noticing that Ensarrian was also inside, but near the entrance as he peeked out.
“There’s someone outside the tent,” Kohaku said through their psyche, Ensarrian’s eyes briefly turning on them to show he’d heard it too, then looked back out. Nelanna was now more awake, and alarmed. She slowly crawled across the ground until she was crouched next to Ensarrian and took a gander outside. And, just as Kohaku said, there was a person out by their fire that burned out a while ago. They seemed to be rummaging through their bags, looking for something. “What are they looking for?” Nelanna asked through thought to Ensarrian, but received no response.
Since their fire had gone out, Nelanna couldn’t see the person too well under the dark sky. They could be a homeless person searching for food or blankets, or someone who’s lost and looking for a map to borrow. Whoever they were, Nelanna took up Fenrir and Garm, and waited for the right moment to make her presence known in case they were dangerous.
