Travel (Finished)

[nestor]

Thoven had acquired his needs for the trip to Ordona. There was a long road ahead of him, but he was ready for it. He got his fish, he got a couple nice cuts of meat, and he was on his way. He didn't have to purchase any drinks for himself, all he needed was an empty bottle.

He was looking over his texts as he was walking down the Eldin field trail. He didn't see anything particularly of interest, a couple of merchant caravans, a traveler. He knew he looked like a prime target, a solitary figure with not much physical prowess. Despite all this, he appeared nonchalant, putting up an air of confidence.

[Mabari]

Mabari yawned wildly, his pearly white teeth being exposed in a single movement. He lay in the middle of the trail, drinking out of a small puddle of water. The Hunting Dog wasn't even that thirsty, but he was mildly hungry. The need to hunt just wasn't great enough yet...

As Thoven made his way down the road, Mabari perked his head up and stared. He was surprised by the single man moving down the road with no company. That was a dangerous move, and even the more skilled warriors still perferred moving in groups. It warded off unwanted trouble. Mabari barked once, happily, at the site of the newcomer. Hopefully the man wasn't violent, otherwise Mabari would have to steal all of his food.

[nestor]

Thoven didn't even notice Mabari in the road as he walked ahead. If the dog hadn't barked, he might have tripped over him, or worse. Even though, he jumped to attention when he heard the bark. He looked ahead of him, and saw the hunting dog, who appeared to be pretty happy. Which was good, since Thoven didn't feel much like running today.

He waved to the dog, still a bit nervous. He couldn't help it, hunting dogs had the potential to be fierce, and strong. "Hello there. You're a bit far out to be on your own, aren't you?" He continued to stand, but showed no sign of violence. He wasn't exactly an animal lover, or had the best track record with them, but he wasn't about to be bad to this dog.

[Mabari]

Mabari stared at the man, then continued to take a few drinks of water from the small puddle. Standing up, he faced Thoven for a few moments before sniffing slightly and catching wind of the food he had on him. Inching forth, he sniffed more, his white tail wagging. Normally Mabari would simply steal the stuff from him later tonight, but then he would have to follow him all day. For now, he'd try to get some free food through sheer begging.

"Uuuurrrr.."

He let out a small, high pitch whining noise and looked up to Thoven with eyes of desire. The dog could run over 40 miles per hour, so if Thoven could manage to outrun him, he would be primarily amazed.

[nestor]

Thoven looked back at the whining dog, evidently he had gotten a whiff of the food being held within Thoven's sleeves. He would have tried to cast a spell to mask the scent, but that would probably end just as badly as any other spell he tried to cast.

Reaching inside his sleeve, he pulled out a piece of meat, wrapped up in the package he got with it. He took a seat at the side of the road and unwrapped the meat. Tossing a piece of it to the dog, he thought about whether or not he was ready to eat right now. He decided it was a good time to do so. He pulled a small red bottle out of his sleeve, putting away the rest of his meat for now, leaving a piece for himself. He opened the red bottle and poured some of the liquid inside on the meat. Immediately the meat caught fire and Thoven set it on the ground.

"Enjoy."

[Mabari]

Cooked meat, a delicacy not usually known for the dog. Wagging his tail more, he laid back down and continued to slowly eat the food, enjoying the delicious taste of the juicy, swell meat. Placing his paws around certain parts, he pulled and tugged to tear off the most tender spots before moving on to the rest of it. When he finished, he stood up, walked over to the small puddle, and drank once more.

Looking back to Thoven, he moved over off the path, and grabbed a white bag that was laying there. It read his name, Mabari on it, and he carried it over to the traveler, showing the man the word to indicate that his name was indeed Mabari. If the mage took the hint, then all the better, if not, then he was prepared to be called any assortment of names as usual, such as mut or whatever humans called dogs.

[nestor]

Thoven had his share of the meat. It was tasty, but he preferred fish. Either way, food time is good time. Then the dog went and got some bag, with the name Mabari on it. Mabari wasn't anything he'd heard before, must have been a name. Perhaps his former owner's name. Oh perhaps it was his name. Either way, this Mabari wasn't attacking him, so all the better for Thoven.

"You're a smart one, you know that? It's surprising to see such intelligence in dogs." Typically even the smartest dogs weren't known to understand human speech, but this one seemed different. It had knowledge enough to point out human text characters, which made Thoven wonder.

[Mabari]

It was unique indeed for a Canine to have the intelligence he had, but it was not all that uncommon for Mabari's point of view. He came from a different type of Canine's, the type that was associated with the Monsters by those who studied his race. While they were nearly extinct now, they once roamed the plains as a predator to be feared. That was all stories from his parents however, and not anything he could communicate to Thoven.

Circling around on the pathway, he looked down it and awaited for the man to finish his meal and carry on his way. Mabari was having a relatively boring day, and so he would accompany his new friend on the Journey to...wherever he was going. On the ill situation that raiders or orcs or whatever threats could possibly assert themselves to the man, Mabari could give some aid. While a thief at times, he was still an honorable dog.

"Ruff!"


[ooc: I have no idea how to say bark or ruff without literally spelling it.]

[nestor]

Thoven caught the message that Mabari was going to accompany him for now. He certainly wouldn't turn down the offer, having a traveling companion was nice.

"Heading to the Ordona Province? Then let's not waste more time. If we're lucky, we'll make it before the sun sets." He began to walk, trying to keep up a decent pace since he didn't want to be out in the field when the sun set.

[Mabari]

Barking once more in an upbeat fashion, the dog carried his bag with him as he ventured on down the road with Thoven, walking alongside him and perfectly matching the mans pace. Mabari couldn't talk, but he was a great listener. Whenever his old master had problems, he talked it out with Mabari. The dog missed that quite a bit. It was what it was though, and Mabari could only go on with his life.

Pulling a little ahead, Mabari sniffed the air as he walked, trying to pick up a scent that he had caught a very minor whiff of. It smelt like dead flesh, but it was distant. He put it off, figuring he would just be weary from here out. It could just be more of Thovens meat, but he wasn't sure.

[nestor]

Thoven kept pace with Mabari, as the dog seemed happy about traveling again. His old master must have gotten him used to traveling, which was good. Thoven liked to travel, but he didn't stay anywhere very long. They didn't like him after a while, so he couldn't stay. After Mabari got a taste of Thoven's magic, he'd probably leave too.

Thoven noticed Mabari sniffing the air. Dog noses were sensitive, and Mabari was probably picking up something. "What is it? Danger?" Thoven pulled out his grimoire and gripped it tightly. It was his best weapon, and given his magical prowess, his only weapon.

[Mabari]

Mabari looked around a bit more, observing the surrounding plains. It was open and empty, with nearly nothing in it but the few occasional trees. He still caught a bad smell though, like freshly salvaged meat. Grunting silently, he slowly continued onward, glancing back to se Thovens response.

"Grrrrrrr...."

Unlike most dogs, he let out a small chirp at the end of his growl. Chirping was a tool that the Painted Dogs, his race, used to communicate danger and threats, as well as signals to strike and attack. As he gazed around, in the distance, still a good distance from them and definately not posing any immediate threat came two Orcs riding Hogs, with a few Goblins behind them.

[nestor]

Thoven saw Mabari looking out towards something, but couldn't make out what it was. In any case, there was nothing within his vision that was dangerous.

"Keep a sharp eye. Your senses are better than mine. The intelligent dog probably already knew that, but it never hurt to say again. "Let's keep moving. We won't get to Ordona any faster standing here, and we're exposed out here in open field." He began to press on, still determined to make Faron by nightfall.

[Mabari]

Mabari agreed, and continue onward. If it all ran good, they could hopefully avoid the small group over yonder. Keeping on the trail, he continued in front of Thoven and kept moderate pace. After awhile, he started picking up the scent more and more heavily, however he mantained the same pace, only more alert, and closer to Thoven.

The small group had kept moving appearantly, for when he looked to where he saw them last, they were gone. Perhaps they moved off the trail. If they set up camp tonight, he would go scout the area for them.

[nestor]

Thoven kept himself wary, his grimoire out and ready for anything to come out and attack. He could tell that Mabari was picking up something, and before long Thoven could smell it too.

"Ugh! Smells like death" he announced, probably too loudly. Reminded him of the smell he created earlier in the village with a botched masking spell. He stayed much more cautious, hugging his grimoire now, hoping that the smell wouldn't come out and attack them.

"I don't like this. Not one bit. He thought to check the map, but it was fairly large and bright and therefore would draw attention. And that would cause untold horrors to swoop down upon them.

[Mabari]

Sniffing the path, his tail lowered and his movement stopped. He scanned the ground, noticing small brush marks scattered about. Looking back to Thoven, he let out a small, quiet chirp, and nudged the mark with his nose. It was appearant to even the untrained eye, once noticed, that something had grazed the trail with a branch to cover tracks. Why though? Why was anyone here covering tracks?

Following the scent, he stepped off the trail into the surrounding field. The smell that Mabari was picking up was masked by the dead meat, yes, but under all of this was a light hint of humans and orcs. Why would Humans be with orcs? Mabari wasn't sure, and he wanted to communicate this to Thoven but had no way. Looking back to him, he whined softly and nodded away from the path. Sunset would be hitting soon enough anyways, and moving off the path into cover was most likely the best idea.

[nestor]

Thoven picked up on the same thing with the tracks, but the stench of rot still overpowered his nose. Mabari was much more in tune with what was going on.

"What do you think? Something's not right here. And the sun is setting fast. Ok, I got it. We'll set up for the night, and worry about everything. Lead the way." Thoven looked around nervously, following Mabari wherever he would go. The dog had a much better nature sense than anything Thoven would be able to muster. At least he still had some food left.

[Mabari]

[ooc: Figure I'd throw a twist in there]

Mabari knew that under normal circumstances an animal like him wouldn't be given much trust in a situation, but these roads were dangerous, and while it would be easy for him to escape danger and hide, he couldn't leave a new friend behind could he? Besides, he needed to repay him for the food.

Moving a small distance off the pathway he found a small flat opening in the tall grass which consisted of dirt; it had been used previously, but not recently. The grass had died from the fire used here before, and some scorched firewood lay smoldered to almost near ash, softened by previous rains. It had been approximately a week since this was used; the luck was good. Sitting down, he looked to Thoven. A fire was a bad idea, it attracted attention. Thoven knew this hopefully.

[nestor]

Thoven was very uncomfortable in this scenario. He was in a territory as the sun set that he was very vulnerable in, with a companion who he could not converse with, and who he had only met earlier in the day. However, his options were few and the animal had more than proved himself during the journey.

Thoven took refuge under a nearby tree. He sat down and leaned his back against the tree, trying to relax under these circumstances. He couldn't light a fire either, since the forest could get dangerous and it wasn't nearly cold enough to justify a fire. He curled up and looked to his animal companion as the light of the light faded away. "Good night.

[Mabari]

As Thoven closed his eyes and fell to sleep, Mabari laid down and watched him, awaiting him to pass out for the night. When he seemed completely out, Mabari stood up and quietly dipped off into the field, scouting the surrounding area. He spent a short amount of time outside, creeping through the tall grass and searching for the stenches source. It still held strong over the fields. Reaching a small opening, he approached something that would shock him.

A couple of cages sat behind a pile of dead bodies, and the people held within the cages lay asleep with metal collars cast around their necks. Slowly backing up, he took notice that no one was around. He needed to go awaken Thoven and lead him here; they could save these people and make off before the slavers returned.

Quickly heading back to the campsite by following Thoven's smell, he slowed down as he grew closer. He was catching the smell of Orcs....the ones he saw earlier. The Slavers. Laying down almost flat, he listened for a sound or something; being captured was not in his days agenda.