Til's hands worked feverishly at the dense plant that she knelt beside, feeling the wet moss seep moisture through her pants where her knees rested the forest floor. Twigs snapped and her head snapped up, eyes darting from shadow to shadow. Stupid plant, having medicine-like-stuff to it. Stupid woods, growing it more than a day's travel outside of town.<br/><br/>One of the thick stems finally gave to the sawing of Til's knife, which was really made for cutting flesh and not wood, and the teenager gave a grim smile. Just a few more branches to take back, and then--<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Snap</span><br/><br/>Til stopped her work and her breathing, listening with her whole body. A breeze moved the tops of the trees far overhead, and she could feel the vibration of movement where she and the woods touched, able to distinguish the rustling of creatures stirring from the wash of air. Something moved under the cover of other sounds.<br/><br/>Til cursed softly and reached down, yanking the plant up by the roots. Eva might be upset, but who knows? Maybe healers could heal plants as well. Til stuffed the thing, roots, dirt and all, into the sack that was tied to her belt. A few leaves stuck out in defiance of her attempts to contain them all.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Crunch, rustle</span><br/><br/>The knife made dark streaks on her thigh as Til wiped the sticky sap from the blade, not willing that it should lose effectiveness over a damn plant. A deep sound came from the trees to her right and Ti'l heart leapt into her throat. Could it be, at last...?<br/><br/>"Graaaarrghh," groaned the bear as it lumbered out of the tree trunks and into view, eying Til as if she were an unwanted guest at a dinner party. Til's shoulders dropped and she glared back at the thing in irritation.<br/><br/>"What, really? Getting my hopes up like that?" Til huffed, picking up a dirt clod from the forest floor and chucking it at the animal. "Stupid bear. Go away!"<br/><br/>The dirt hit the bear's shoulder and crumbled ineffectively. It swept a paw over the site, smelling as if hoping Til had thrown something to eat. Finding nothing, it stared at the teenager with a deeply offended expression.<br/><br/>"Come on," Til rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do? Wrestle me or something? You're a giant furry.... furry thing! I bet you've never done anything more aggressive than rub your back really maliciously against some trees."<br/><br/>The bear looked at her as if weighing it's options, then lowered it's head and charged.<br/><br/>The next morning Tilasra started home with a black eye and quite a few new scrapes, much less prone to throwing things at bears.<br/><br/>-------<br/><br/>Tilasra did not appear. Til<span style="font-style: italic">materialized</span>.<br/><br/>One moment there was nothing in the grass, and the next there was a tall, lanky girl in a dirty gray shirt and brown trousers tucked into hunting boots, her bow slung over her shoulder opposite her quiver and one hand on her knife. She couldn't have been more than nineteen, her long, unwashed blonde hair hung in a braid down to her mid-back, bangs oily from travel and sweat and tucked away from her face unattractively. Her eyes were the color of summer honey and would have been beautiful if one of them was not ringed in an ugly bruise. It told of her temper as much as her open-legged stance and sharp glare--she was between the party and the woods, frowning severely, her fist clenched around a burlap sack out of which stuck bits of foliage. She stared at the knights and bled disapproval, eyes flicking to the healer now and again as if she was deciphering some unspoken code.<br/><br/>She took a step forward towards them like a wild animal, each foot forward ready to turn and flee into the woods. Inch by inch she approached, closing the distance between herself and one of the knights--Deidrich if she had known, her eyes narrowing intensely as she inspected his face. She was almost right against him, hand on her knife tightening momentarily as she measured him up in the misplaced confidence of youth.<br/><br/>"The hell are you?" she asked, her voice hoarse as if she hadn't used it in a few days. "Nevermind, move."<br/><br/>She slid around Deidrich and shoved shoulder against Quinn deliberately as she moved past him in a beeline, shooting him a glare over her shoulder as if it was his fault. "Mistress," the teen addressed Eva, offering her a slight bow as her focus shifted. "I found the plant you asked for. I tried to preserve the leaves but... Stuff happened," she shrugged, offering the sack to Eva. "Who are these muscle heads? More idiots hoping to catch sight of the monster?"<br/><br/>The clothes she wore smelled heavily of the forest, as if she'd spent days in the brush. Resin stains darkened her palms, elbows, and knees. "Why are you going with them? Don't you have patients that need you?" she moved to Eva's side. "Everyone knows the whole damn place will fall apart without you."<br/><br/>Her head whipped around, her braid sliding over her back as she turned her eyes on Holt as if to ensure that he knew that she was aware of him. "What're you lookin' at?" she snapped, casting glares to each of the party members in turn and moving closer to Eva almost imperceptibly. "Who the hell are these people? What's wrong with his hands?" she nodded to Sydney, flicking her fingernails against the hilt of her knife. "Who are these...." she eyed each of the other women in the party in turn. "...girls?"<br/><br/>Til's gaze wandered again and her body followed it on pivot as she inspected the paladin distrustfully. "Are you being kidnapped," she said in a comical stage-whisper. "Why is his armor so flippin' shiny."<br/><br/>Til was not really one for socializing.