Lauren woke with a gasp as the wind struck her and she sat up quickly to see what was going on, but was quickly blinded by the burst of fire. She blinked rapidly when the light dimmed. She saw Garrick standing close to the fire and two figures running into the forest. She felt more then saw the shield being cast around their camp and wondered why that wasn't the first thing they had done when they had gotten to the small clearing. Garrick laid down and seemed to fall asleep, but Lauren was wide awake now. She spread the warmth from the small fire all through the bubble of protection and pulled out the book Tarkin had given her. She laid back down and scooted a bit closer to the fire instead of making one of her one and risk waking Garrick. She finished the first chapter before her eyes began drooping with sleep and she marked her page as she laid her head down to sleep once more...

In the morning she woke up and saw that Garrick was still asleep. She smiled then stretched and dug into her clothing pouch. She pulled out a dress and vest that would be easy to travel in and retreated into the dense woods to change. When she returned, Garrick was just waking up. "Morning," she said with another smile. "Did you pack any breakfast? I completely forgot... How soon do you want to leave?"

"We should leave as soon as possible. No I forgot to pack any breakfast food but I still have my bread. You should be rationing your food, who knows how long it will take for us to reach the next town," Garrick said. He ate a piece of his bread. He packed up his bed and tucked it into his bag.
"You didn't eat all of your bread did you?" Garrick asked. If they came by a river he could get some fish for their dinner but that was not extremely lucky to happen.

Lauren checked her pack, "nope, I didn't finish it. Just forgot about it." She took the bread out and broke a piece off to eat. Once she was finished, she stood and packed up her bed as well. She placed the shrunken blankets and pillow into the case before standing and slinging it onto her back. "I'm ready."

They set off again and pretty soon they had left the left the woods. Lauren smiled up to the sky and sighed, "well this is a pleasant surprise; I can't believe it's so warm in winter! I expected to be a portable heater this whole trip." She grinned over to Garrick and laughed, "so, did Master Tarkin end up having a map for us? Or are we going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers?"

((these may be short today my writing brain is kind of dead today x.x))
Garrick rummaged through his sack. He pulled out a big scroll. " Master Tarkin gave me this before we left," Garrick said. He opened the map up. Leola looked like it was about a day and a half away. "Leola doesn't look too far up the road. We should be crossing a cross roads before the end of the day."

Lauren peeked at the map and nodded. "Sounds about right." They continued down the road chatting.

~
~~
~

Once they reached the cross roads Lauren stopped to sit at the bench. She slung the pack of her back and stretched her sore body, "ehh damn all this walking." She grumbled, "I wish we had an easier way of transportation." She leaned back against the bench with a sigh as Garrick looked at the map. She pointed towards the right, "if I remember correctly, Leona should be that way." Then she pointed towards the left, "but there should be a town about ten minutes up that road where we could rest for the night if you want." She watched as the sun slid closer to the horizon...

"I'm all for that," he said taking a bite from his ration. "Let's rest here for a few minutes before we set off. The town doesn't look far," he rolled up the map and place it and the ration in his ruck sack. A few minutes later he stood up. "Alright let's go," he said helping her up. They began to walk down the road.


((I assume the make small talk it's just be awkward walking next to some one all day and not saying anything to them. ;>.>))

((lolol alright xD I didn't mean the whole way, but I'll change it to making chit chat or something :) ))

Lauren was starting to doze off when Garrick said they should start walking. She nodded sleepily, the night on the forest floor was finally getting to her. She yawned and followed Garrick to the left.

~
~~
~

They got to the small town soon enough and found that it was still busy, even though the sun had already set. "I think the towns name is... Giana or something..." She shrugged and glanced around for an inn or a trading shop. At an inn she could either try to bargain their way directly into a room for each of them, or hope that the inn was owned by a family friend and they could get in for free. But with a trading shop she could sell some items and still have money left over. "Straight to finding a room? Or should we look around a bit?" She asked glancing towards Garrick with a smile...

"I think we should find a room first then look around once we have one," he said. The y walked around some streets busy with people. Garrick saw an inn up ahead. The Cat's Fiddle. He always wondered where these kinds of stupid names came from. They walked in and Lauren rang the little bell on the desk. An old man came out.

Lauren grinned widely as she saw the man, "William!" She said excitedly as she waved. The old man stared at her in surprise and it took a minute or so for recognition to dawn in his eyes, "Lauren?" He sounded startled but smiled when she nodded. "How have you been dear?" He asked as he walked around the counter to hug her, "you left for studies correct?"

Lauren laughed and nodded, "kinda," she agreed then as he released her she held her hand palm up in front of him and a small flame sprouted from it, "not in the traditional sense though." She waved her hand through the flame a few times before letting it fade. She grinned at the awed look on Williams face before nodding to Garrick, "this is Garrick, we studied under the same master, and now we're traveling to Asad to continue our training under a new master. We're only in town for the night... do you think we could get a room? Maybe two? We don't have much money, but I'm sure we could get some..." The old man waved his hand as if in dismissal, "no need. The rooms are on the house." He walked back around the counter and fetched two keys, "one second, I'll have Sara show you to your rooms." He turned and called, "Sara! Front counter!" Seconds later a girl about Lauren's age walked into the room. "Welcome, I'll show you to your... Lauren?" There was more hugs and explanations before Sara finally showed them to their rooms.

As they walked Lauren turned to Garrick, "my family knows just about everyone in the area who houses guests. Be it just a rented out room, or an inn such as this one, my parents like to know the 'competition'," She rolled her eyes, "I've known Williams family since I was small... too small to remember exactly when I first met them. Our families have always been close." When they reached their rooms Sara quickly opened each door, handing a key to both Lauren and Garrick. "I can show you guys around once you're ready if you'd like." Sara offered as she smiled first to Lauren then shyly at Garrick. "Sure, sounds fun. I'll be out in a minute." She left into the room and shut the door to change out of her sweaty travel clothes, choosing a red dress with long sleeves to protect against the cold...

"Must be nice," Garrick said looking around the inn. He took the key for his room. The girl from the front counter, Sara, offered to show them around town. Garrick wasn't sure. He was tired and it's not like they were staying longer than the night. He wasn't used to relying on the kindness of strangers. Master Tarkin had taken him in for five years but that was different, some how. Still it would be nice to find a book shop. Garrick had recently become entranced by the thought of a familiar. Garrick placed his things down and took off his traveling cloak. He returned to the hallway, Sara was standing there waiting. Lauren had not come out yet.
"So," Sara said nervously,"you can do magic?" Garrick nodded he held out his hand palm up. A small flame, no larger than a candle light flickered into existence. Sara looked on in awe. She moved to touch it.
"I wouldn't do that. It's very real and very hot," Garrick warned. Lauren came out of the room and Garrick quickly extinguished the fire and put his hand back behind his back.

"Ready?" Lauren asked when she walked out with a smile. Sara nodded and turned back towards the stairs to lead the way outside. They walked out onto the crowded street. Sara turned around and looked at the two of them, "where do you want to go first?" Lauren shrugged, "I don't care. Garrick?"

"Well we should get some more food. Those rations won't last us forever. I'd like to drop by a book shop and maybe pick up a new set of robes. Two sets tend to get dirty fairly quickly," Garrick said to Lauren.
Sara led the way down stairs. Garrick thought she was cute but most likely because the only other woman he had been in contact with in the past 5 years was Lauren. They made it to the market. There were still stalls open. The bustle was dying down a bit but it was still crowded. Garrick found some bread loaves. Tomorrow night would be stew if he could find a river with some fish in it.

"Alright," Lauren agreed with a nod, "sounds good too me. I'm fine on clothes, but I think I'll grab a book or two once we get to the store."

When they got to the store Lauren turned to Sara and asked about good books. They left Garrick with a wave and headed towards the section of the book store that Sara was pointing to.

After a few minutes of discussion, Lauren picked out two books and brought them up to the counter. She pulled out a set of earings that her mother had sent her during her first year with Master Tarkin and the clerk eagerly made the trade for the books. Laura grabbed the bag and followed Sara to the door to wait for Garrick to finish his own shopping...

Garrick browsed through the shelves. There weren't a large number of books here. He picked up 'Getting Familiar with your Familiar' and realized it was an intermediate guide instead of the begginers guide he wanted. He decided to buy it anyway, he quickly looked over the shelf one more time. It seemed like he had been in here for weeks. He found a book wedged out of place in the Young Witches section that read 'Unfamiliar with Familiars?' the title seemed to be mocking him.He picked it up anyway. After he had purchased his books he rejoined Lauren at the entrance.
Their next stop what a tailor. The tailor measured him up, if a bit awkwardly, and sent Garrick on his way saying that the robes would be done in the morning. "I think that's everything," Garrick said," Did you have some where you wanted to go?" he asked Lauren.

Lauren thought about it for a second, "not really. I'm hungry though."

"Dinner is provided at our inn." Sara said with a smile.

"Okay, thats good. But other then that I'm just tired." She yawned and shook her head, "the most Master Tarkin had us doing was our weekly trips through the forest. This trip is getting old fast." She laughed and grinned over at Garrick as they approached the door to The Cat's Fiddle. Sara walked in ahead of them, "you can always pick up whatever else you need in the morning before you leave. I'll go check on dinner, you can go up to your rooms." She disappeared into the door behind the counter.

Lauren shrugged and ascended the stairs, "so where should we end up tomorrow night? Do you think we'll be able to reach another town or will we be sleeping on the ground again?"

"Well," he said as he followed her up the stairs," we aren't that far out from Leona so if we're lucky we might make it there by nightfall, if not we should be there the next day pretty early."
They arrived at their rooms. "I think I'll go read for a bit before dinner," Garrick said. He entered his room and sat his books on his bed. He began reading "Unfamiliar with Familiars" when Sara knocked on the door with his dinner. He thanked her and shut the door. She had had a weird look in her eye since Garrick had shown her the fire spell, but women were just odd in general.

"Sounds right to me." Lauren said with a smile and a wave as Garrick retreated into his room.

She went into her own room soon, but stood in the hall way for a bit just looking down into the greeting room. She got a few stares and a couple smiles, but other then that most people ignored her. She saw someone walking up the stairs and quickly darted into her room before he reached the landing. It was a few minutes later when a knock came to her door and she peeked out the peephole before opening the door for Sara who had food.

They stayed up pretty late, talking and laughing. Just catching up and enjoying each others company. Finally Lauren yawned and shook her head, "I'm sorry Sara, I'm really enjoying talking to you, but I've got a long day tomorrow. Gotta wake up early so that we can make it home to Leona before nightfall." She hugged her friend and promised to say goodbye again before her and Garrick left in the morning.

Lauren fell right into a heavy sleep and didn't wake until morning...

Garrick awoke the next morning. He yawned, the night seemed to drag on for a long time. He had stayed up longer than he thought. Well at least he knew now how useless the books he had gotten were. He rolled off his bed and grabbed his pack. Garrick wasn't sure if Lauren was awake yet or not. He decided to wait down stairs and eat some breakfast. All he had to do before they left was pick up his new robes.
He passed Sara on his way down stairs and he waved, at her. He took a seat by the door and waited for Lauren.