Elariel's  breath caught in her throat at Tae'loren's offer. Despite the fact that she had jumped on him and dragged him back to her camp, despite the hostility with which he had been treated, he was offering his assistance to them. He was in this forsaken place for a reason, and was clearly passionate about his own mission, but he was willing to delay that to aid them with theirs. She gave him a nod and a grim smile, restrained from doing more due to the presence of the others.<br/><br/>"That is a generous offer, thank you. However we must discuss our findings further as a group before making a decision on the next step. We will keep your suggestion in mind," Elariel said with a respectful tone. She looked to the others who also seemed intrigued by the Night Elf's offer. "We can talk tonight when we get back to base. Once we are clean and fed we should have clearer minds."<br/><br/>With that Elariel gave her colleagues a nod before turning and making for the cove of bushes that she used to disrobe with privacy. Removing her blood caked clothes and unbinding her hair was a simple pleasure that made her sigh in release. She made quick work of getting into the river, eager to let the lukewarm water lap at her skin and clean away the horrors of the day. There was a sheltered offshoot of the river that she used to get into the water before swimming around the  bend at a leisurely pace to join the others. No one in the group had ever seemed to mind being bare together once they were in the water, but they had always had separate areas for males and females to disrobe and then dry and dress once finished.<br/><br/>The short swim to join the others was enough to lift the down turn in the corners of her lip and ease the creases of tension in her forehead. There was something about the water that she had always loved. With the soap in her hand she found a place where she could reach the river bed with her toes and begun to clean herself thoroughly with her scented soap. She slipped under the water for a few moments and then resurfaced with a sense of refreshment. When the others were settled in the water Elariel took a deep breath and turned to Tae'loren.<br/><br/>"A month or so before Katrin was killed she begun a tradition. The outlook for our mission has been bleak for a while, but she was always one to raise spirits again. So she asked us to name something about the day that we were grateful for," Elariel gave a shrug as the novel concept, but could not deny how helpful it had been for them in the past. "Today I am grateful for help from unexpected allies, and for being able to help those in need."<br/><br/>"I'm grateful for answers," Solarius added as he ran his fingers through his lustrous hair. "We may not like what they mean, but we have them nonetheless." He looked at Aidyn with eyebrows raised.<br/><br/>"Me? I suppose it is for the fact that we all entered and left the Temple safely." Aidyn's comment came with a grateful nod towards Tae'loren.<br/><br/>There was silence for a few moments before Teirn rolled his eyes and spoke. He had never shown much fondness for this concept. He looked at Tae'loren and grinned with false bravado.<br/><br/>"I always end up going last and they have already said what I'm grateful for. Today that leaves me with being thankful for this river. If it wasn't here we'd have no way to clean ourselves of the stains of this land."<br/><br/>Aidyn, Elariel and Solarius rolled their eyes.<br/><br/>"He always says that," Elariel explained with a faint smile. Had she been in a better mood she would have splashed Teirn in the face. She quickly turned her eyes from Tae'loren, not wanting to be distracted by his form in front of her colleagues. She yearned to touch him, to steal some selfish comfort from him, but she held back. Instead she settled herself by wading out to deeper water and distracting her mind by treading the water.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>