The tent felt empty. Like most of her moments in life felt whenever they were apart, an absence that she felt more and more each day. With the trying times that they faced, the maiden worried that her chance to tell Barth how she felt would never come and that the Goddes would take her in the heat of battle. If that were to be her end Ausan wished for it to happen at his side, just so that she could spend the last moments in this realm with him. To think that this was her father’s plan all along, to have her want to be more than just his friend and companion. No, he wanted more from the pair, the only downside was that he made her too rough. Like the hard steel, she wielded, Ausan was not the delicate flower or cute thing that most men enjoyed in their beds. At her current time in her life, there had never even been the chance for any kind of intimacy or physical encounter of a romantic nature.<br/><br/>If fists counted, though she knew they did not, then her love life was just grand. The only one who ever got this part of her, this yearning for more was gone now. Lost in the fires of battle by the betrayal of a coward. Even now, though Ausan had managed to get revenge on the bastard life felt empty. Hollow and absent that light. Barth was off being the leader his father always feared he would become. Adored by all. Worshiped almost. Whereas she was no more than the last maiden. The Lord Slayer. The fire of Justice. Murderer.<br/><br/>The names were many and each stung in their own way because they all suited to remind her of the moment when she was weak.<br/><br/>Bloody bandages and dressings were gathered up. Cameron instructed to leave her be for the time being, Ausan went out of her way to bring order to her life in a more physical sense. Emotional turmoil ran rampant through her heart, her mind nothing but a mass of memories and thoughts filled with<span style="font-style: italic">what ifs?</span>. She felt like a ship lost at sea, the warrior tossed back and forth between moments where she felt at peace and where she longed for the feel of the blade across her skin. The sensation that right amount of distraction.<br/><br/>An armload gathered, she strode outside to dispose of them when she spotted a man and a wolf slinking about the camp. Were it not for the familiarity of the wolf, she might have left it be. However, the wolf had been with the God of the Hunt. Therefore, this man was not someone of interest. Sword retrieved from where it had been within the tent she slipped off after the man to see what he could possibly be up to.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF4000"><span style="font-weight: bold">Alistair was beginning to have second thoughts, the closer he got to the edge of camp. Once he was there he became rigid. His heart was racing, his feet refusing to move, and his mouth felt dry. He grabbed a flask that had been set aside on a table along the way, which didn’t have much in it to begin with, and completely drained it. The contents gone, he tossed it aside and took in a deep breath.<br/><br/>When he started moving again, he looked over his shoulder and noticed the wolf had not followed right away. Instead, he seemed to be looking at something. He tried to call him, “Hey, wolf, I’m not backing out if that’s what you’re thinking… Now, let’s get a move on before I do change my mind.” But the wolf remained. “Oh, rats… What is it then?” Perhaps the wolf wanted him to stay a moment longer? But… why?<br/><br/>Alistair sighed and turned around, “Look, I…” He paused, seeing someone else approaching. Well, great, he thought to himself, things had been far too easy to not get caught. Even in the lack of light, he vaguely recognized her… Yes, she was the one who had ordered that man to be burned. This was just his damn luck... <br/><br/>He straightened himself, trying his best to put his nerves aside. “I... You're Ausan, yeah? At least that's what I've heard... Can I help you?”</span></span><br/><br/>“Can you help me?” she asked with a smirked. “Small man there are few in this world or even the next whose help I need. But you,” she pointed and poked him square in the chest, “Look like you are up to something that is either no good or worthless. So, which is it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF4000"><span style="font-weight: bold">Alistair winced at being poked, “Right… My bad.” A long pause, “Oh, you know, just out for a stroll. Nothing bad about that, right?” He should have stopped there, but his mouth kept running, “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d exhaust some energy.”<br/><br/>If that wasn’t worse, he probably dug his hole deeper when he added, “So, in that case, maybe ‘worthless’ isn’t too far off.”</span></span><br/><br/>The maiden sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I know the wolf that accompanies you,” she stated finally. “He belongs to the God of the hunt. The fact that he is with you would mean that you have some worth…so why waste time? This place needs help. People to help with bandages, to help with weapons, food, supplies. Guard duty, anything really rather than skulking about and being worthless.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF4000"><span style="font-weight: bold"> “Fine, fine…” he said, sighing heavily. Casting a glance at the wolf, he straightened up a bit more, cleared his throat, and continued, “If you must know, what I’m actually doing is… Well… I’ve been tasked by the God of the Hunt to bring back the head of a Tutar or two. Maybe… Maybe it’ll boost morale around camp… Oh and... I guess I'll look for some supplies while I'm out.”</span></span><br/><br/>If she thought that this man could get any dumber he surprised her with the words that came out of his mouth next. A glance about their area, Ausan wanted to make sure that they were indeed alone and that no one else had overheard him being so….stupid. “You? A lone man and a single wolf would go out into the wilderness? The wolf I can see surviving, but you?” she scoffed and shook her head. “There is nothing about you that screams warrior or any such thing. The notion, is….admirable, if fool hardy and I would ask that you not waste such time and possible resources doing such a thing.” Then, after a moment of sizing the man up Ausan asked a question that was probably the most important one between them. “Have you killed a Tutar on your own?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF4000"><span style="font-weight: bold">“Haven’t you?” Alistair’s lips formed a thin line and he shifting his stance a bit, moving the sword on his shoulder to a more comfortable position. “I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much. Hell, I have a God by my side, watching over me.” He glanced to the wolf at his side and nodded. <br/><br/>He shifted again, then opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. For a moment he was quiet, as if contemplating. Then, after another quick glance at the wolf, he finally continued, “But does it even matter? E-Either I come back alive, or I don’t.”</span></span><br/><br/>Ausan sighed and shook her head. The man stunk of weakness and uncertainty, but he had the heart to at least try something. “We are a dying people. Our homes have been taken from us, our land has been ravaged and all that we have left now is to band together and fight so that one day. With hope, blood and our hearts that one day not us, but our children’s children will have their land back again,” she gave a bitter laugh and looked out at the land. Burnt and soaked in the blood of both ally and foe. It was a long call from the green and prosperous lands they once were. “Let’s face it. No matter what we do, even when we win, we have already lost and we can now only think about the future. To do our best to ensure it. You are not a coward like others, but you are a fool to think that you can win this on your own. No one man…or one woman is an army on their own and we cannot win this unless we band together and face the darkness as one. There is no glory on a foolhardy mission. There is no honor in such a feat. So, do yourself a favor and return to your tent. Pray to the Gods and let them know you still believe because there may come a day when you need their aid and their wolves will not be around to save you.”<br/><br/>An unintentional remark in regards to his past that she was unaware of and more of a stab at the fact that he with the wolf might be a formidable team, but the wolf could leave his side one day and he would be on his own.<br/><br/>“Take care,” and the maiden gave him a final wave before she slipped back to her own tent. There were plans to be made, a heart guard bitch to gut and a mountain of a man to punch. With her hands healed he would feel her wrath and then they could hug it out again. But first the punching, always the punching first.