Orynne awoke, naked and shivering. The fire had died out hours ago, sucking all the warmth of last night away. She rolled over to where Blackwall was to find empty space. Sitting up, Orynne rubbed her eyes, and searched the cave for Blackwall. Her throat sunk to the bottom of her stomach. Blackwall, his gear and the courser were no where to be seen. She allowed herself several minutes to gather her thoughts, but couldn't afford to take too much time. She dressed and packed. None of her items had been taken, so there was that, and he had left her the pony. The pony was sturdy and would be able to carry her if need be, but not for long. She decided to keep him as her pack animal and sell him in the next town.
Orynne finished dressing, armoring herself and securing her swords to her belt, and walked down to the stream. As she splashed water across her face, so many emotions threatened to spill over, but she couldn't allow herself that. This was reality, and like it or not, fate deemed she would never be happy. A voice came on the other side of the small stream. "Well, what do we have here? A little damsel out for a morning stroll?" The voice was rough and held something sinister deep inside. Her head snapped up and before her were small band of what appeared to be thieves. The gear they had on was worn and well used. She had to be careful how the next few moves went.
Slowly her hand moved to her dagger, as the apparently leader sent two men around to flank her. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Her eyes caught where the two men were. She could roll away and possibly get behind one to hold him hostage but that wouldn't stop the other one from getting behind her. But she couldn't give up that easily. "Get ready to run, Orynne!" Tero's voice whispered in her mind. "NO!" she thought, but it was too late. Tero launched himself at the man closest to Orynne with a loud screech, latching onto the man's face, claws and teeth flying. Orynne quickly drew her swords and tumbled to the side, putting herself halfway behind the other would-be flanker. In a flash she was up and behind him, her sword slicing cleanly through his neck as her dagger punched in and upwards between a set of ribs. The man crumpled to his knees and then to the ground as blood gurgled and foamed out of his mouth. The man Tero had attacked slumped dead on his back, where his eyes had been were now bloody caves, and Tero bounded over to her, his pristine coat soiled in crimson.
Several men behind the leader gasped, but he seemed un-amused. "Those were two of my finest men you just killed." He said, his voice changing in anger. "This won't be the last you see of me. Mark my words, girl." He signaled to his few remaining men and they turned with him and left. Once they were gone, Orynne's hands began to tremble and she quickly cleaned her weapons, sheathing them, and went back to the stream. She washed her shaking hands in the water, watching the blood change the water color as it washed away. Tero padded over to her, jumping in the water and rolling around, washing himself.
"What happened to you?" She asked, gaping at him as he came out of the stream. He appeared to have doubled in size and was now about the size of a small dog, where before he had been cat sized. Tero shrugged, in his own way, and shook his body, water flying from his once again white fur. "I'm not sure, but attacking that man felt right." he smirked. "Serves him right too, surrounding a poor defenseless lass like yourself. I did what any chivalrous man would!" Orynne scoffed. "Lets not talk about chivalry please, and defenseless my ass, you would have been a wine skin if I hadn't saved you." They both began to laugh.
Once they had cleaned up, Orynne walked over to the two deceased men and searched through their belongings. They didn't carry much, but she found a dense sack of coin on one and a few survival items on the other, a water skin, flint and steel, and a compass. The compass alone looked expensive and must have been stolen.
Packing up what remained in the cave, she turned her back on the night she had felt was a dream, letting it wash away forever. She couldn't afford sadness or grief in a time like this. She was alone and had no one to count on but herself. In the end that's all anyone had, she thought. She made her way south, keeping in the forest, using the compass as her guide. If she calculated correctly, she could be close to the town they had been making for in a day or two. She lead the Pony over to a smoothed out path and they made their way.
A day later she found herself in Lothering, a small town still recovering from the Blight of several years past. There wasn't much to behold here, but she was able to sell her Pony, acquire some rations and get a gelding to ride. The Warden had left her a pouch of coin, the one, she realized, that the Templar had given to the Warden when she first left Kirkwall. She had to ration it, in case of emergencies. And Orynne was confident, with all the books she had read, that she could do just fine out in the wilderness.
Once Lothering was past, she made her way south, into the Kokari Wilds. The FrostBacks and Hinterlands would be close enough if she needed towns they were but a few days away. Feeling sorry for herself was the easy way out, just like giving up.
