Brinn was stunned by his tone. Her hand darted out, snatching the root from the air, and she simply watched him. She couldnt understand what she'd done. All she could feel certain of was that she had caused this. It was something she'd done. Quietly, she stepped forward, lowering herself onto a rock and faced him. After another moment, she sighed before speaking in a quiet tone, "I owe you my thanks, Caedrin... and never properly gave it. Without your aid, i would surely have perished. My actions thus far have been brash and my mannerisms poor. For that, you have my apologies, though I am sure they are worth as little as my thanks."<br/><br/>"It's not thanks I'm after, Brinn," he started, sighing and placing a hand on his temples. "I am concerned for your wellbeing, after the incredible amount of stress you put yourself through in the last 24 hours. I can't stand people going through pain when they're standing right in front of me, but you just keep pushing yourself further and further. Sooner or later, it's going to snap."<br/><br/>She sighed, nodding as understanding dawned. Without moving, she watched him, "You... are not like other knights i have met... you know that? Others have never showed the genuine concern you display. I am used to life this way. I do what I can... ALL I can... because if I don't, it wont get done. I look out for myself because no one else will. I am sorry if I was overbearing. I did not mean to be. My wellbeing has never been a concern to others."<br/><br/>Having set the knife down a moment ago to rest his chin in his palm, Caedrin responded with a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, get used to it, that's just the way I am. I care about the people of my land, from the lowliest beggar to the highest of royalty. There's not a soul on this earth that is undeserving of compassion."<br/><br/>She nodded, sighing once more. Drawing her own knife, she gestured back toward the unskinned hare. "If you'll help me with the hare, I'll finish the roots. I'm afraid I don't think I could haul the water for the stew..." She smiled, trying her best to make peace.<br/><br/>"If you insist," he said with a smirk, picking up the knife again and making his way over to the hare. It didn't take long to finish; even in that short time, Brinn had managed to cut off a large amount of its skin, and he was finished with the rest in a matter of minutes. "Well, got anything in particular in mind for carrying the water? The river<span style="font-style: italic">is</span>right there, but in my experience, liquid doesn't tend to stay in one place for very long without a vessel."<br/><br/>She chuckled, working to peel and dice the roots nicely, dropping them into the pot beside her. "There's a pack stuffed into the front of the cart. Inside it, you'll find the tanned stomach of a cave bear. It will feel like odd leather to you. It forms a perfect, waterproof, carrying pouch."<br/><br/>He stopped moving for a moment to look at her. "...A cave bear? When, and how, did you kill a cave bear? ..more importantly, do I want to know?" he asked hesitantly. "And where should I be depositing this water for the stew?" he added after a moment, as he walked over to the front of the cart to look for the pack.<br/><br/>She laughed, "That's an interesting story I will tell you over dinner. First, get several large rocks and put them in the fire. When they are hot, we can use them to drop into the waterskin, and boil the water that way, then we can make the stew."<br/><br/>"As long as the rocks come out before we eat, sounds like a plan," he joked, soon after finding the pack and, subsequently, the carrying pouch. "Gotta admit it's a little awkward though, cooking in a bear's stomach." He stepped over to the stream and filled the pouch about 3/4ths of the way, leaving enough room for the rocks to hopefully avoid it spilling over. "Mind getting the fire going while I grab a few rocks?" he asked, scanning the side of the river for suitable ones.<br/><br/>She chuckled, nodding as she worked ont he last few roots. "Make sure and rinse off the rocks so they dno't have moss or anything..." tossing a root into the pot, she looked up to watch him go, "I never have trouble with a fire."<br/><br/>Caedrin nodded silently at Brinn's suggestion. He was already considering it, but it was still good advice all the same. After placing the pouch next to the bundle of sticks, he began pacing up and down the riverside, his eyes searching scrutinizingly for suitable stones. He gathered each as he found them, rinsing them off thoroughly before carrying them over to the twigs and placing them to the side. Before long he had 5 rather large rocks gathered, and took the opportunity to swipe the mossy remnants from his hands. He ignored Agaue's offer of help, deciding instead to let Brinn handle it, as she had more of an idea what needed doing than he did.<br/><br/>She finished with the last of the roots and looked up to chuckle, watching the knight engaged in such menial chores. It wasn't every day she saw something like that. Looking to the girl, she shrugged, "we've just about got it, unless out want to go see if there is something else I the area we can add."<br/><br/>"Well, if you want to get this fire going, I'll get the rocks heated up," he suggested, stepping over to the cart and retrieving the gauntlets he had removed earlier. He decided they would provide better protection from fire than his bare skin would, which might just be a blessing considering he would be carrying heated rocks from a fire before too long.<br/><br/>Brinn nodded, sitting up straight as she retired her knife to the sheath hidden in her boot. The fire was at this point, a pile of dead branches. She began working to break smaller twigs free and create a pile of them. Next, she arranged sticks around the pile of dried twigs to create a sturdy, square structure. Finally, she used the larges of the branchest leaning them against eachother in triangular fashion all around the square. Through all of this, she left an opening that would expose the twigs at the center. When all of this was done, she leaned back against the rock, satisfied. With a flick of one finger against another, she sent a sudden spark shooting at the kindling at the center of the fire and watched as it began to burn.<br/><br/>After putting his gauntlets on, Caedrin made his way back over to the fire, just in time for Brinn to be finishing up. He had expected her to use a spell of some sort, so it wasn't entirely surprising to him, but the ease at which she cast it, even after all she had gone through, still managed to impress him. He gave her a quick nod in thanks and set about moving the rocks, a job which was done before long at all, and spent the better part of the next few minutes simply watching the flames. "How long should I leave these to heat for?" he asked finally, having never used this method of boiling water before.<br/><br/>She smirked, nodding in return as he came back. He didn't speak, so she simply watched, enjoying the silence of the moment. Her thoughts were still humming with a faint tint of giddiness, and she found herself greatly enjoying the sight as she watched him toil. She relaxed against the rock behind her, gazing thoughtlessly at him. It wasn't until he turned to look at her that she realized that she had been staring openly. Blinking to clear her head, she struggled for a moment before managing to answer, "I... uh... Well, the rocks? they... they shoudl stay in there until... ummm... well till they're hot..." she shrugged lamely, trying to keep her gaze off him.<br/><br/>An eyebrow raised as Brinn started to respond, which gradually evolved into a grin, until eventually, Caedrin couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. It was pretty obvious that either the fireball sent her recovery back a few steps, or she never quite recuperated as much as she acted like she had. Either way, that - accompanied by her apparent embarassment - was hilarious enough to bring the knight to his knees, struggling to catch his breath as the laughter continued. Perhaps it was the tiredness from the last few days catching up to him; or, perhaps, it genuinely was this funny.<br/><br/>She blinked in surprise as she heard a noise from him. She struggled to keep her gaze averted, but couldn't help but look up at him to see why he was making such a strange noise. When she finally did, she saw that he was trying to choke back a laugh. Just as she looked at him, he lost the battle and began to chuckle... and then chortle... and then laugh. Before long, she was chuckling along with him, watching as he fell to his knees, roaring with laughter. She couldn't help but laugh with him. His laughter was contagious.<br/><br/>After a while, the group laughter started to die off, and Caedrin was finally able to form a sentence again; barely. "Sorry, sorry, just.. Oh,<span style="font-style: italic">God</span>that was brilliant," he said through gasps, trying to get his breath back as he wiped away the tears that had formed from laughing so hard. "I think I needed that," he added after a while, leaning back against the cart and staring at the fire again. The rocks were probably ready about now, but he needed a minute to recover first, and he wasn't sure if Brinn was done with her work yet either.<br/><br/>With just a few tremors of laughter causing her to shake, she sighed, finally leaning back against the rock. Looking up at him once more, she chuckled, nodding. "Laughter is the best for healing, it is true... that, and it is fun." She sat up and peered into the fire, checking the rocks by sight. She held out a hand near the flames, and finally nodded. "I'd bet they are hot enough. If you put the rocks in first, and then the food, it'll work best."<br/><br/>Nodding in response, Caedrin stood up and made his way over to the rocks. Using a foot, he rolled each stone  so that it was no longer directly in the flame, at which point he picked it up and dropped it into the pouch of water; it proved effective at protecting his hands from getting<span style="font-style: italic">too</span>hot, as they never had to directly touch the flame. When all 5 rocks were moved, he sat down against the cart once again, exhaling in relief. "How are the rest of the ingredients looking?" he asked after a moment, turning to Brinn.<br/><br/>She leaned forward once more and picked up the large leaf she'd been using to stack the roots and vegetables she'd been chopping. Very careful to avoid spilling them, she began allowing them to tumble into the water. "these are done... what about the meat?"<br/><br/>Caedrin's eyes immediately shot over to the rabbit he had left, unskinned but still whole. A palm made its way to his face as he groaned in frustration. "Apparently I'm not as on top of things as I'd like to think I am," he said, offering her a half-hearted apology grin. "At least slicing it up won't take too long; hopefully the meal isn't<span style="font-style: italic">completely</span>ruined," he added, slumping down next to it as he picked up the knife he was using earlier and set to work.<br/>She chuckled, nodding her head as he walked away. "I'm sure it'll only be slightly delayed, and the roots will need to stew so they aren't crunchy. you've got time. Rabbit meat cooks rather fast. Its hard to ruin stew." She  used a long stick to stir the vegetables a bit, then relaxed again.