The Unicorn's Forest

So, as she reached the young woman who was only standing upright because of the people holding her, Jenn reached out to touch her rapidly swelling eye. First Jenn planned on doing what she could to heal the black eye before using her magic to scan the young woman for any other injuries. She hope bruises would be the extent of the damage, but couldn't be sure that nothing serious had happed as the young woman had been beaten.

What she found felt rather surprising to her, as not only was there nothing worse than bruises, but there were hardly any of those. In fact, there was only one other significant bruise, and that was on the side of the young woman's breast. Jenn couldn't help but wonder if they'd just started beating this girl.

So, as Jenn put her hand on the breast to heal the bruise, she had to resist the urge to squeeze it as she felt her own heart start to pick up. She wasn't sure why she was acting this way right then, as nothing close to this occurred while she was a slave with plenty of other naked young women around her. Yet, she could feel her own body reacting to this young woman before her.

It made her wonder if her time as a slave had changed her in ways she didn't yet understand. Though, she at least was certain that her time with the Lost had changed her in ways she was still discovering. Which in turn made her wonder if some of the things about this entire situation that almost felt natural was a result of that rather than part of who she had been before all of this started.

Jenn took the time to heal all of the other scrapes and smaller bruises of the young woman. She did her best to soothe the fear she could tell the young woman felt, with her wide eyes and shaking body. Jenn also peeked into her mind, if only to make certain that this just wasn't a massive misunderstanding.

What she saw let her know that this young woman wasn't a danger, though Jenn couldn't say if letting her go was also the best idea. However, she doubted that letting the young woman stay with them would help her out with what she needed to do. Especially if as she could tell the young woman already had her mind made up to reach the destination that they had been heading towards. Especially since she seemed to think that there should be another caravan heading this way that would take her in, as it was essentially run by people loyal to the same person: Duchess Versith.

However, as she finished healing the young woman, she came up with an idea that would allow her to let this person go as well as to ensure that no one would be looking for them as runaway slaves. Of course, it would take a little convincing, she was sure, of the people who had been attacking the young woman.

Taking a deep breath, Jenn looked at the people holding the young woman in place. "What I want you to do is put her clothing back on her and then let her go," Jenn said, not surprised to see mixed reactions of confusion, outrage, and surprise. "Unless any of you wants to sleep with her, I don't see the purpose to bringing her along. Nor do I feel like adding to those who've already died so far."

Jenn wasn't sure that last bit was necessary, but she at least was confident that her choice was the correct one. If they were going to look at her as their leader, then they would need to respect her stance on things like this. Although, she hoped that by the time she was done with helping the Lost, that they'd have found someone else to be their leader. So she wouldn't have to deal with everything that went along with it.

Jenn looked at the people holding the young woman captive, meeting each of them in the eye. She didn't expect any real resistance, but felt like it was better to let them know that she wasn't going to budge on this.

"You're just letting her go?" one of them voiced a protest, though their tone indicated they weren't going to push too hard on the issue. At least Jenn hoped that's what it meant.

"Once she's dressed, she'll go to sleep and we'll be gone before she wakes up," Jenn replied, already tweaking the young woman's memories to make this whole thing feel like a dream in the hopes that she wouldn't be sure if all of this actually happened.

"How…?" another person started to ask, but clearly thought better of it.

"It doesn't matter," Jenn replied anyway. "Just know that if you meet someone else like this under circumstances like this, treat them better next time, okay?"

When she heard murmurs of assent, Jenn felt satisfied. Though, she still stuck around as the people put the young woman's clothing back on her. Which, aside from the dirt that had gotten rubbed into it when she'd been mobbed, was still in very good condition.

When they finished putting the tunic and leggings on the young woman, Jenn adjusted the chemicals in the young woman's brain so she'd feel tired. Jenn wasn't honestly sure how long they'd have before she woke up, but with how Jenn planned on having everyone else move out immediately, she didn't see how that'd be a problem.

When she finished, she had the young woman's captors release her and watched as the young woman walked over and crawled under one of the wagons before going to sleep.

"Alright, let's each take something and we'll head out," Jenn said, turning away, feeling like she might actually be able to pull this off long enough until she had to go help the Lost again.

What surprised Jenn the most as they all got ready to leave, was how compliant everyone was. Even at the best of times in her life, people only every looked at her like she wasn't really in charge. Such as when she was a 'junior counselor' at the camp Heathcliff set up. The 'campers' would always get a 'second opinion' on anything Jenn said to them. Unless it was to reinforce something that had already been made clear.

However, as Jenn showed everyone a quick way up the cliff, that was something everyone was able to manage to climb, no one tried to argue about what she said. In a way, it made Jenn feel like she might be in a dream right then. She wasn't sure if that was the case or not, but it certainly didn't help how she was feeling at that moment.

The things that most carried were food supplies, water, and clothing that had been in the other wagons. A few other items were there that Jenn wasn't sure why they'd been in the wagons in the first place, while others made sense. The items that made sense to Jenn were a few swords and even a couple battle axes. The items didn't make sense to her were a couple saws and smaller hammers.

She could only assume that those last items might be used in some way for maintenance on the wagons. Such as maybe to get lumber if needed and hammers to do whatever needed to be done with those, but she didn't feel like trying to think too much on that. She had enough to keep her mind occupied at the moment.

As they walked along, Jenn kept the pace relatively slow, since she had a feeling some of the people might not have actually slept the night before. While they'd all had plenty of rest in the caged wagons, she couldn't say that meant that they didn't really need any sleep. Yet, if she let them nap even an hour, she wasn't confident that they'd be able to reach the gate before the Lost returned for her.

There were a few times she called for a rest, such as about mid-morning and when she was pretty sure it was around noon. She didn't want anyone to drop from exhaustion, as she knew that would only slow them down even more. However, no one seemed to push for a rest. She gave the order on her own, making her again wonder if she was still under those blankets in the bed that had been made up for her and this was just one fantastic dream she was still having.

The time was around mid-afternoon, by Jenn's estimate, when they reached the gate. While she couldn't be sure what the weather was like on the other side of the gate, she was confident that even if anyone tracked them to this location, going through the gate would likely put an end to any pursuit. That they'd be able to go through and create a new life for themselves and not have to worry about being a slave anymore.

"And we're here," Jenn announced as she stopped in front of the gate.

"Uh, mother?" Cithis asked, sounding rather tired. "We're still in the middle of the forest. What is it that makes you think this is where we can rest?"

"This," Jenn said, stepping through the gate. As she came out on the other side of the gate, she felt a little put out to find that the world wasn't as hospitable as she had thought it would be. While she had expected some ground that they'd be able to cultivate into farmland, she had forgotten that it was in mountainous terrain. So while they could create plots for food, they'd have to work at moving some of the terrain around so they could accomplish that.

Jenn took a few steps away from the gate so no one would run into her as they came through, but as she waited, no one followed. Which she figured meant that they didn't understand exactly what had happened, like she had hoped they would. Or at least no one who had seen her walk through the gate, that is.

So, she walked back to the gate and stuck her head through it. "Anyone else coming?" she asked, hoping to spur others to come and take a look.

If nothing else, she was certain that she'd help the others realize that there was a way for them to come through as well. That it wasn't just Jenn who could travel through it.

"Mother…?" Haln started to ask, but trailed off after that one word.

"Don't worry," Jenn assured them. "It's safe."

Jen motioned for them to follow her and she pulled her head back through the gate. She'd hoped that there wouldn't be any reluctance to pass through the gate, but at the same time, she couldn't blame them for it. After all, she'd been that way the first time she'd gone through a gate. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if the gate above the griffin canyon had originally been opened so high above the ground or if the canyon came hundreds, if not thousands, of years after.

However, she didn't have much time to think about it as the others started to walk through the gate. Which meant that Jenn's assurances had ben enough for them. Though, it gave her a warm feeling inside that she couldn't quite explain. She wasn't sure exactly if it was because of their trust in her or if there was something else behind that feeling.

"So, if you come over here, I'll show you where I think would be a good place to get some lumber and maybe even start to plow to get some food growing," Jenn said, leading the people out of the cul-de-sac that the gate was housed in.

Jenn hoped that whoever stepped forward to be the leader while she was gone with the Lost would be able to figure out the best way to get things done here. Such as where the best location to grow food would be as well as where to build houses. Especially with how dark the clouds above them looked. Jenn wasn't sure if it was going to rain in this spot soon, but she wouldn't doubt that there'd be rain and maybe even blizzards at some point during the year.

Jenn could feel the wonder of the freed slaves behind her as they followed her out of the cul-de-sac and to where Jenn was thinking to grow food. If the would-be leader of these people had a different idea, then Jenn would be happy to let them work with that. She just wanted to ensure that these people would be able to be self-sustaining once they were able to get things going. Or at least as likely to be self-sustaining as possible.

"Is there anyone else here, my lady?" the woman with silver-blue hair and grey eyes asked.

"Not that me or my friends saw when we came through here before," Jenn answered. "Oh, by the way, I don't think I caught your name from earlier."

The woman bowed her head towards Jenn. "My name is Laer," she answered simply.

Jenn nodded, not sure if she really needed to have asked that, but at least wanted to know names of people she was talking to here. Though, at that moment, she realized she hadn't gotten the names of anyone at the meeting. Or at least none of the names that she hadn't already known before going into that meeting.

Not that she really cared at the moment. As she was confident that she'd get replaced by someone while she was gone, so she didn't feel the need to try and collect those names. As it wasn't anything that she'd really need to begin with when she returned to collect Cithis and Haln.

"So, I'll be heading back, Laer," Jenn said, suddenly feeling like she was turning a page in her own history. That no matter what else happened, she wouldn't be able to go back and changes things that she'd already done.

"We'll wait for you here, my lady," Laer replied, this time kneeling on the ground with her head bowed.

Jenn sighed. At least she wouldn't need to deal with that again after she got back from helping the Lost. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to handle it if she did.

As she then tried to push that thought out of her mind, she went to look for Cithis and Haln so she could tell them good-bye before she left to head back to wait for the Lost.

Regardless of how it happened, she still couldn't understand why she was so willing to care so much about them. If anything, she would have expected that she'd have let them just treat her as they wanted and not let it go past that.

Not that she felt like she should complain. If nothing else, she felt happy to have them look at her as their mother. Even though part of her was still complaining that it should still feel like a foreign idea to her.

_

Embris wasn't sure what to have expected as they travelled across the plains of Shareis over the past week. First, there was the wide open spaces that extended as far as she could see. Then there was the single mountain on her right that seemed almost to have a presence of its own. She recognized the mountain, but this was the first time ever seeing it this close.

She had expected that they'd be taken back through the forest of the Lost, so she was more than a little surprised when the course change had been announced. Though, as a mercenary guard, Embris knew it wasn't her place to ask for a reason. At least so long as it didn't fall outside her normal duties as a guard.

However, what caught her attention the most was the animals she saw in the plain. She'd never seen so many large animals at once before. The closest was when she'd see soldiers of a lord marching down the street, but even then there was only a small fraction of what she saw before her now.

While most of them were only able to be seen from a distance, occasionally she'd be able to see some closer. Like they hadn't noticed Nuem's caravan coming down the road. Even though Jenn knew they weren't hiding the fact they were there. Especially with all the noise the wagons made that certainly weren't common on these plains.

Though, she had swapped out her borrowed sword for a bow, since Jueniaes had said that they wanted these more than swords, since the greater danger came from predators who might decide to make the donkeys pulling the wagons their next meal. Embris hadn't realized that Jueniaes had been out this way before, though no one else seemed to have anything else to say about it, so Embris just let it be.

Part of her was on edge, while another part of her was trying to hold down her excitement. This place was new and full of possibilities that she hadn't ever thought of before. Which also led to her getting dressed down a few times already by the other mercenaries who apparently didn't care so much for Embris' excitement and how it made her act sometimes.

Still, Embris couldn't stop that sensation. It was so intoxicating to her that it almost made her forget about what she had essentially been running from when she'd become a mercenary: the thought of the rest of her family having been killed. Where here she could at least hope that they were still alive. Regardless of what actually might be true.

While they were in a plain, Embris was surprised to see so many hills around them. From what she had known about the Stone Mountain was that it didn't really have any hills surrounding it. Almost like it just merely grew out of the ground without anything else like it to be seen.

However, as they were passing by one such hill, as the sun was getting close to the horizon, she heard a loud noise that she hadn't heard before. She couldn't quite place it, but a moment later something gray ran out from behind the hill. As it came in sight, it let out another sound that let Embris at least know the source of it.

The animal was gray and didn't really have any hair. It looked maybe a little bigger than the wagons and had a long distinctive nose that was where the sound seemed to come from. Then a moment later a big cat sprinted out from behind the hill, its path heading straight for the gray animal.

Embris wasn't sure why, but she had an arrow nocked almost as soon as she saw the cat and had shot the arrow before she could even think of whether she should have done that or not. Her arrow took down the cat while it was in mid-stride, pretty much right next to the gray creature.

Whether she should have taken the shot or not, she felt numb at that moment. Not because she'd killed something, but because of how fast it had happened. She had never thought that she'd be able to react so fast to anything like that before, so it was a moment before she could even start processing what had happened.