The sacks of meat felt disturbingly squishy on his head as he tried to go to sleep, but it was better than the rock hard ground of the cave. He stared into the fire, comforted by its warmth after being out in the cold, and soon enough, was able to drift off into sleep.<br/><br/>He awoke in a cold sweat the following morning, just as tiny vestiges of light were creeping in through the cave's entrance. It was a pale light, meaning the sun was not yet out, at least not completely. Perfect timing, he thought. He was surprised to see the fire was still going. Could have been magic, or it could have been the good insulation from wind inside the cave. He grabbed a stick, took out a slab of meat from one of the sacks, and put it over the fire.<br/><br/>As he watched it sizzle, he began to think of home. Of course, it didn't exist anymore, but he would often have fond memories of his father, who had taught him so many of the things which shaped the man he became. At least, that's the way he liked to think about it. Sometimes, he wondered if what really shaped him was what ended up happening to his father.<br/><br/>The smell of the cooking meat began to permeate around the cave. Mesaraih blew on it a bit before taking a bite. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he smelled it, and even though he had no salt or herbs of any kind on him, his hunger fooled him into thinking it tasted delicious.<br/><br/>He looked up to see Valehna watching him. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" he asked, his mouth still full. She shook her head and turned away.<br/><br/>"Oh come off it," he said, tossing her one of the sacks of meat. "You can have some if you'd like."<br/><br/>She caught the sack of meat with one hand, showing surprisingly fast reflexes. She wrinkled her nose as she examined the contents inside. "Deer," she said. "You hunted for this?"<br/><br/>"How else would I have gotten it?"<br/><br/>She nodded and took a knife from her side pocket. Then, she cut the slab of meat into finer pieces, drew a pouch from her belt, and sprinkled it with some dried herbs. She put the small pieces of meat on a rock, then made the rock hover in place in the middle of the flames.<br/><br/>"We shouldn't dally around here too long," she said. "This whole area is infested with those creatures."<br/><br/>Mesaraih nodded. "I think I heard some blight wolves howling last night. They didn't seem too far. But then again, they could have just been regular wolves. It's kind of hard to tell."<br/><br/>He glanced over at the other elf, then scooted the last sack of meat in her direction. He felt out of sorts interacting with her, feeling as if anything might offend her. "You can have some too, if you want," he said, focusing intently on looking at anything that wasn't her.