She thanked Saith kindly for the firewood although there wasn't enough to keep them warm whole night, immediately setting to dry some of it so it could serve as base that would burn easily and dry the other branches on top. At least Mae wouldn't have to worry about kindling - her bag and saddle bags were quite waterproof and so, the little fabric pouch where she stored some dry grass and bark would be as dry as the moment she put them in there. She frowned deeply when he left again, since the man hadn't even paused to draw breath, but there was little she could do about it now, especially with so many tasks on her hands.

Soon, fire was crackling homily, shadows flickering over the stone walls of their shelter. It was amazing how much it could brighten one's mood and sense of security. Still singing softly, elven woman hurriedly set about brewing some tea. At least finding drinkable water would be no problem in this downpour. For ingredients, she chose nettle and peppermint - both helped greatly with various fewer and inflammation issues, boosting immunity and preventing cold, and peppermint would balance out the rather unpleasant taste of nettles. On top of that, this drink would replenish her and Saith's energy as well, soothe their nerves. Not to mention, warm them up and that was something priestess was definitely looking forward to. Although her friend's generously lent vest had shielded her upper body nicely, sleeves and skirt of her dress were still soaked and the wind had not been kind to her either. Wasting energy to dry them with her magic was not a good option right now.

Suppressing sigh, woman knelt down to Kevlar again, removing the metal armor from his body and placing it in corner. It would do him no good now, he couldn't sleep in it. Her fingers fumbled with some of the buckles, but finally it all was off, leaving him in his underclothes. Mae adjusted the blanket around the human again and threw glance at the entrance. To be honest, she was growing worried where the dark elf had wandered off, since it had already been a while since he left. She would like to think that Saith was adult and knew how to take care of himself, but their sick friend was clear proof that man were far too proud and short-sighted when it came to their own health. She had seen many cases when hunters and farmers found their ends or came very close to them, merely because they refused to seek help and treatment. "It is merely a scratch." "Eh, so what if the wound turned black." "There is constant pain and squeezing sensation in my chest, but I will go about my work without a care." It aggravated her, for the effort that had to be put into helping them later was much larger and often, even that didn't help, and then she had to be the one comforting crying widows and add yet another family in the long list of those that needed temple's support.

Finally, Saith returned and interrupted these thoughts. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of log. "Thank you," she said, her gaze now focused on the man. Over these days, she had gotten used to how dark his skin was, but now the pure black color had turned dark, ashen gray. It was not a good color on him. "Saith, you do not look so well," Mae spoke and frowned when he took his weapons and dismissed her comment. "Going hunting at this time is both unwise and unneeded, we have rati-" but of course, he didn't listen - they never did, did they? - and moved towards mouth of the cave.

"Saith, wait!" she called after him, but he had already disappeared in the darkness like a ghost. She closed eyes for a moment, fighting frustration. She couldn't follow him and explain that they had plenty of food and his heroics were absolutely unnecessary, since someone had to stay and keep a watch over the fire and their sick companion. Besides, what were the chances he would get anything, anyway? Mae knew he was great hunter, but to get something during night, with this rain and very little energy left... At thought of food, her own stomach grumbled indignantly - it had been a good while since they ate last, rushing to get to the city so, and she had used quite a lot of energy up already.

Thankfully, the tea was done now and after short while, it had cooled enough for the woman to take few wonderful sips and give some to Kevlar, although getting him drink it was a bit of challenge (but she had had much, much worse ones). When that was done, she had to resist urge to pace around the cave, but years of having to always look confident and in control forbade such restless action, so Mae went to stand by the water-curtain that divided them from the wet, cold night. After a short while of 'standing watch' she caught a red glint in darkness, like someone's eyes, and it took her just long enough to recognize their owner as Saith for chilled shiver run down her spine.

When she realized that he was hauling something behind him, she rushed out of the shelter and helped the man to pull the doe inside. It wasn't like most of her clothes could get much wetter and it was just a short moment anyway. Soon, the pair had settled down on the floor with Saith's game in front of them. Seeing his unsuccessful attempts to make use of it, Mae took out the knife out of his hands, putting it down and took them in hers. Although hers were not yet very warm, his felt like ice and so it took her few seconds to focus her magic, but then heat spread from her skin, as if she was something like a portable heater. It was simplest magic, channeling her inner energy to her palms and turning it into warmth. Despite dark elf's magic resistance, this heat was just like that from fire and his body would have no reason to rebuke it. There were scratches on him that she slowly would try to heal at least a bit, after all he had done it all for them, this was the least she could do.

"So, tell me, Saith," she spoke, looking up from their hands (she somehow keenly noticed that his were so much larger, but elegantly shaped, with long, nimble fingers, and also rougher, although hers had seen hard work as well) to his face, with tone a little teasing and a lot scolding, "are you naturally this reckless or is it just this journey awakening such side in you? If only you had waited, I would have told you we have enough rations to last us a few days after we reached the town. But I must admit you are remarkable huntsman." How had he managed it, she wasn't sure, perhaps it was connected to those flashes of red in his eyes she had witnessed every now and then? Perhaps Saith possessed some magic after all?

As the conversation weaved forward, Mae did not even notice his hands had heated up, although warmth from hers slowly lowered so she would not burn him without need of her conscious control. When she realized there was no need to hold his palms anymore, slight blush crept in her cheeks and she let the man go. It had felt strangely nice and natural, to touch him like this. "There, now you should be warm enough to change into dry clothes easily. You do have some with you, right?" Woman stood up and moved to her bags and pulled out a towel out and tossed Saith. It smelled like flowers and inexplicably, like sunshine itself, just like everything about the priestess. Scent of flowers came from the dried petal bags she kept among her clothes and belongings, they kept moth away. She used the other one to rub out some water out of her own golden locks. Due to wetness, wisps around her face had become even wavier now. Mae pulled her hair up in loose knot then and gestured at the tea: "drink that, it will help you warm up and regain energy." Then, she set to work on the doe.

Although gutting and skinning should be one of the last skills for high priestess to have, this woman had led much different life style between her escape and becoming priestess in training and despite her current life style, she never let herself forget these skills. Mae disliked hunting and taking another's life in general (her memories of prison haunted her in sleep now less rarely than faces of those who she had had to kill in self-defense over the long years), even now she could feel the last threads of sun's and life's energy fading away from doe, but some evils were necessary. Quite masterfully, elf skinned the animal without piercing poor thing's guts that she would later take out of their cave. Soon enough, the first pieces of meat were already cooking over the fire and again, her stomach grumbled rudely loudly, but she ignored it. Just like she would do her best to avoid looking in Saith's direction in any way if he did go and change.

Liver would make good meal for Kevlar when he would come more to his senses, easy to eat and rich with things he needed now. "Too bad large pot remained with Geron, or I would make us some venison stew," Mae commented, but even without that, worked to make the food more appealing by seasoning it as the meat cooked. "A lesser known bonus for having a healer: the group always has some good seasoning," woman joked slightly. It was true that she not only had vials of rosemary, thyme and more oils, but also small pouches with them dried. Since they also had bread, dried fruits and a bit of cheese, their meal would indeed be quite good.

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