"Right. Break out the gear, boys. Serg, Al; you're on dinner. Get lost, go on. Watch the skies, keep to the south." The low, grunted orders, half-muffled by the fur of a thick coat filtered from the leader of the small group, a bear of a man swathed in layers of fur that very well may have come from an actual bear. His tone was relaxed and quiet but held an air of authority that stifled any dissention before it started. The band of seven men stepped swiftly into action, breaking the monotony of slow-paced travel. Two of them merely grabbed some extra ammunition and a coil of rope before marching off, east of the rest, while the rest busied themselves with unpacking.<br/><br/>Liliana stopped with the rest, setting the back of her hand on the tip of Legko's beaked muzzle. The massive tortoise came to an immediate halt, exhaling a blast of breath over the woman that momentarily cloaked her in a warm, fungus-scented blanket. He groaned loudly and began to lower his hulking form into the snow, ignoring the brace of men that were delving into the packs strapped to his shell. The young woman slipped a hand into her satchel and retrieved a braid of vine, half deep green and half royal purple, and tossed the bit of food into the waiting maw of the mutated reptile.<br/><br/>"Strap me in, will you Lilishka?" One of the harvesters turned his back to her, and without thinking she slipped off her gloves and deftly fastened his gear. There were several straps and buckles, not all being the original components to the armor, but she was more than familiar with all of the makeshift bits and her smaller hands made it easy. Much easier than waiting for the new harvesters to figure out how to get dressed, anyway. He turned back, nodded her a thanks through his mask, and headed off to join the rest of the crew.<br/><br/>Liliana watched him through glassy lenses for a moment longer, then turned back to the beast of burden. Such savages, these men. They only unpacked enough to grab what they immediately needed, leaving poor Legko's back holding empty boxes and rucksacks. She removed them slowly and set them in the snow beside the beast, taking the last one over to the cleared area beside the pit. The harvesters frequented this spot, due to the slight hill that offered cover from some of the wind and discouraged ambushes, and it had developed a permanent cleared area and charred ground beneath the snowfall. She set up a small covering over chopped wood, absently brushing the snow from it so that it would dry, then filled two metal buckets with some of the fresh powder. The heady smell of the Redwoods blanketed the entire clearing, and while it was commonly viewed as less than pleasant by most, Liliana and the harvesters had long since grown used to it. The smell of them wasn't usually toxic unless one was within three meters of the tree, and even then only for prolonged periods of time. The closest trees to her now were almost ten meters away, the huge cylindrical trucks stretching high into the hazy, fogged sky, crimson branches extending like tendrils that gradually became lost in the atmosphere. She could hear the sound of the men's axes and saws, the whir of a mechanical tool and various shouts of command or comraderie. For a moment, she stared upward, lost in the fading vermilion streaks.<br/><br/>"Squee!"<br/><br/>A porcine snout edged its way out of the top of her tightly-bound coat, followed by a short head and a pair of ears much too large for the rest of it. A few grunts of effort accompanied the emerging piglet as it clambered upwards, ridge of smooth bone along the center of its back gliding smoothly on the woman's shirt. Finally, he squirmed his way to freedom, only to find the way down to be much quicker. "SQUE - !"<br/><br/>Liliana allowed him to fall a couple of feet before catching him a few inches above the icy powder, one palm cradling his pudgy belly. Thoroughly ungrateful, the Razorback baby bucked free with an indignant grunt and promptly began inspecting the ground beneath the new snow, chuffing and grumbling. The blonde woman watched him without expression from the recesses of her hood, straightening her legs once more and returning to the packs.