The tease Théadan might put mismatched shoes on her feet or tickle them when she became too pregnant to see or reach her feet made them both laugh. He joked about it, but she knew he would be sweet to her when she reached that point, simply because he understood her. He didn’t like relying on someone else anymore than she did and after the injury he’d sustained from the Beast, they both knew it. Instead of commenting on it, Navia chose to instead close her eyes and enjoy how it felt to have Théadan combing his fingers through her loose black hair. It was so soothing and after such a long day, only for her night’s sleep to be disrupted, Navia was lured toward falling asleep just from his touch alone. “We’ll make it through all of it together,” she murmured when he mentioned all the things they would have to work through and how their lives were not boring, “I don’t think either of us would be very happy if we didn’t have a little adventure in our lives.” With a hum of a sigh, Navia turned onto her side, facing Théadan and curling up to him more, her face adjust to rest more against his abdomen, “Wake me in an hour,<i>kamin,</i>and we can trade.”<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The rest of the night went with little issue. They did not have any other jungle visitors and the horses remained calm throughout the rest of the night. After throwing dirt on top of the remainder of the fire, they’d packed up their little camp and moved on once dawn had fallen upon them. It was a long morning and their travel down the abandoned Khluri road to the one they should have taken was done mostly in silence. Navia found it difficult to keep up a conversation when most of her energy was going toward staying awake after such a chaotic night’s sleep. She could only imagine how Théadan felt; she was certain he’d gotten far less sleep than she had. She was also sore from Varinata throwing her around, her shoulder tender and hindering the movements the rest of her arm could make, leaving her in a grumpier mood than usual.<br/><br/>Once they’d made it to the correct road, signs of civilization were more common. Hoof prints and wagon wheel lines could be seen in the dirt and they even passed the occasional travelers. They even managed to pass through a small village where they stopped to get a meal, but so many people were eying Théadan warily that they did not linger in the village, choosing instead to eat while they road. Seeing people act suspicious toward Théadan only worsened Navia’s mood, partially because she could not fault her people for being upset by his presence. His had hurt them so much that she could understand the wariness, but her love for him demanded she strive to protect him and show others how good he was. She had let it go though; the opinions of a tiny jungle village were not worth the confrontation, especially when she was convinced Théadan would be welcome in Mandira.<br/><br/>They came upon a large field in the early evening and it was there Navia suggested they make camp. They had not come across many breaks in the jungle since leaving the spa and looking at the map showed another town was not close enough to reach for the evening. It was early to stop, but they were tired and staying in a field where they might get a breeze and a nice view of the stars at night was too tempting to pass up. There had even been a single large tree a few dozen yards off the road that made a good spot to set up a camp. After setting their gear down at the base of the impressively large tree trunk, they removed the horses’ saddles, but Navia kept hold of Vari’s reins. Then she removed Wyndagar’s from his bridle and tied one end to an end of Vari’s, creating a long lead. The tree seemed to create a sort of natural separation of the vegetation making up the field, with half of it covered in tall grasses and the other side thick with green plants with large closed buds. After giving the thicker side a brief smile and glance, Navia led Vari out to the grassier side.<br/><br/>“I want to try to work with Vari every day until we can reach Mandira,” Navia explained, figuring Théadan would want to know what she was doing, “I figure if we both build up some trust with her and teach her not to rear up like she was, we stand a better chance of keeping her calm if she spooks again.” Making sure there was enough room, Navia left the silvery horse to stand in the grass and graze while she walked backwards until the long line of reins was taut between her and the horse. Then she gave it a gentle tug, the pressure on the bridle urging Vari to begin walking. She did so at a lazy pace, which Navia was fine with after a day of riding, the horse making a slow, wide circle. “I wish we could recreate the leopard somehow,” Navia frowned, looking in Théadan’s direction to see what he thought, “Or figure out an alternative to desensitize her to it. I don’t think we’ll know if this is effective until we put her in another stressful situation.