<strong>Eshalu - at the Quartermaster's Post</strong><br/><br/>Eshalu took a moment to examine her surroundings. She had never seen such an accumulation of goods and supplies packed so tightly together. It was a far larger storehouse than any she had ever seen. She gave the quartermaster a nod of acknowledgement, aware that she had entered into his domain. Some of the items seemed familiar to her - dried rations, blankets and knives - but others looked decidedly superfluous: bedrolls and large sheets of fabric that seemed to serve no discernible purpose.<br/><br/>"You are right," she told Aeryn, "we would be wise not to hunt in this place - I do not trust the land here." She examined the items to which Aeryn was pointing, "We would be grateful for some dried supplies - fruit and nuts especially if you have any and a little meat." Human-made dried biscuit was unpalatable and for a race that spent so much time on water, away from foraging grounds, they seemed to put little emphasis on dried fruit, which was at least as important as meat or fat.<br/><br/>While she spoke, she noted Aeryn's pensiveness. It concerned her to see her companion caught up in her own stream of thought and it troubled her that she could not intuitively identify the source of the problem. "Is something on your mind?" She said, softly enough for Aeryn alone to hear.