<span style="font-size: 15px"><b>Round Primary</b></span><br/><br/>Eleyan floated along, enjoying the rise and fall of the waves near the shore. Eventually she had had her fill and swam back to shore, standing into the shallows and drudging back out of the lake, water cascading off her. Her pants threatened to slide off her hips and she waded up out of the water, and she had to grab hold of the waistband with one hand to keep them up.<br/><br/>She walked through the soft sand, splaying her toes and enjoying the soft sand between them as she walked. She found Naomi at the camp, working on the fire, a shower set up a short distance at the edge of the field. She approached Naomi, asking,<span style="color: blue">That brush offer still good?</span>Her hair had been weighted and waterlogged, but was no less a mess.<br/><br/>Eleyna fished through her pack, finding the rest of the dry ration she had started last night. She stuck it in her mouth, nibbling on its end. She mumbled a thanks to Naomi when the brush at last arrived. Before she made any effort of taming the beast on her head, she pulled the map from her bag, unfolded it and laid it out before her at the camp at the edge of the fire pit. She dropped clumps of sand on the corners to keep it in place, then, still nibbling on the bit of food in her mouth, looked at the map, and began digging the brush into her hair, fighting through the swathe of knots. Her hair was the most stubborn thing on her, and Eleyna had long ago resigned that she would never truly subdue it, only achieve varying low levels of controlled chaos.<br/><br/>The map had their previous course roughly marked from Saisho to the lake, and now the general location of the grotto marked should they need to return for the water or thunder stone within. The next town Utsumi, to the north, would be a much harder trek no matter their route.<br/><br/>Eleyna leg go of her hair for a moment and set the half eaten block of food on her knee and looked at Naomi, returning to her work with her hair.<span style="color: blue">I think we'd probably be able to get to Utsumi faster if we tried to stick to the edge of the mountains. What do you think?</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>