Simone had finally reached the border to the lost land. At last. It hadn't been an easy journey; on more than one occasion, she had found herself in unsavoury situations and had to talk herself out of a lot of trouble (including even being arrested, at one point) but it didn't matter now. She was here.<br/><br/>She pulled her hood down over her head and proceeded forward. Darkness was beginning to fall and though she didn't exactly want to continue on into the night, she was too close now to stop herself. The gold could be just around the corner. The thought made her smile and her stride became a little more enthusiastic as she hoisted her bag higher on her back. The vials inside clattered slightly.<br/><br/>It seemed too quiet. Wait! No, she could hear voices and marching. In the distance, she could see a group of figures huddled by some trees and though it was hard to make out what was going on, a hostile commands suggested that it wasn't a group of close friends. She spotted a young boy in the arms of the soldier, kissing him quite obviously and she faltered. What kind of gathering was this?<br/><br/>She slowed and quietened her footsteps, edging towards the bushes to cover her movement. She could hear two men talking about the gold, though she couldn't pick up much apart from 'riches' and 'knowledge' - so did that mean they knew where it was? She grinned to herself; maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she'd originally thought it would.