The remainder of the day passed by quickly and peacefully, as did the following night.
Bryran and Kellindil again slept in shifts, both grateful that the night passed uneventfully, and both woke up feeling refreshed and rested – with the exception of Kellindil, who muttered very unkind words towards the rock he had apparently slept on during the night. The elf's bruises were beginning to heal, but that also meant that they were more sensitive as they mended, which resulted in the elf leaning heavily on his walking stick as he walked and wincing when he swallowed too hard and strained his throat.
The warrior packed up what little supplies they had used to set up their quickly-made camp and within the first few hours of dawn they were continuing their journey towards Coldwood, and instead of the amiable chatting of the previous days a comfortable silence hung over the two companions and neither felt the need to disturb it by speaking. There was a smile on the lips of both the warrior and the elven archer, both recalling the humorous tales that the other had told, and remembering the hilarious stories that hadn't been said.
Bryran couldn't suppress a small chuckle at the memory of some of his more…embarrassing escapades that he hadn't gotten around to sharing with his traveling companion, and from the corner of his eye he saw Kellindil's lips twitching, obviously remembering some funny stories of his own.
The elven archer's lips twitched again at another funny memory before he composed himself and glanced over at the warrior walking beside him. He was truly grateful to have run into Bryran, as he sincerely doubted that he would have escaped from the two orcs alive were it not for the human battling the larger orc while he dealt with the second, smaller orc. Plus, he was able to fall into reverie during the night while Bryran kept watch, since he wouldn't have been able to do that if he were alone for fear of not being able to wake come morning. Yes, he was truly grateful that Bryran had noticed the small cave he had taken shelter in during that rain storm…
Kellindil brought himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention to listening closely to make sure that there were no enemies about. Hearing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned part of his attention back to Bryran and felt it safe enough to strike up a conversation with his traveling companion. He leaned on his walking stick as he turned his head slightly towards the warrior and, almost as if they hadn't stopped talking in the first place, launched into another anecdote as they walked side-by-side through the Pass.
Soon Bryran was chortling along with Kellindil at some of the tales that the elf wove, and they even had to stop several times in order to get their mirth under control so they wouldn't fall over. Pretty soon the amusing stories tapered off into more serious tales of adventure, and Bryran proved willing and able to match tales with Kellindil in that arena. For the next several hours the elf and the warrior took turns telling stories of their adventures, and it soon turned into a sort of friendly contest to see who had had the most amazing adventure.
The elven archer told of the time he and several other elves had ambushed and killed an entire encampment of orcs. The human warrior spoke of the time he and a wizard had snuck into an orc camp and stolen the shaman's staff. Kellindil told of when he and his friends had gone to Memnon and tricked a high-ranking merchant out of several fortunes. Bryran spoke of when he and two acquaintances had snuck into the lair of a dragon and stolen a bag of gold coins while the beast had slept mere yards away. Kellindil told the story of how he and the human warrior Gabriel had outrun an orc hunting party wearing only their boots and helmets when the green-skinned monsters had spotted them bathing. Bryran spoke of how he and the aforementioned two acquaintances had outrun an enraged dragon after the beast had woken up and spotted them sneaking out of its' lair while holding the bag of stolen gold coins.
Kellindil wound up winning the impromptu competition when he told the tale of how he had single-handedly escaped the grasp of an orc chieftain and his shaman with only a dagger and his wits, and Bryran conceded defeat, since the warrior didn't think the elf would believe that surviving three hours alone with one of his acquaintances counted as an amazing adventure. The human smiled as he began playfully joking about some of the more outlandish stories that Kellindil had told, and laughingly accused the elf of making some of them up, and he chortled when the elven archer gave as good as he got and turned the accusation back on him.
The two companions walked for a few more hours, playfully jesting back and forth as though they were old friends, until the sun began to near the horizon and they decided that it would be best to start looking for a place to set up camp for the night. No matter how peaceful the day had been, it could all change in an instant the second night fell, they both knew, years of experience having been a very good teacher in that regard, so the elven archer and the human warrior began looking around for an easily defensible place to set up camp. Which was no easy task, they both knew, and so both of them kept their eyes and ears open as they searched.
It took almost half an hour, honestly a much shorter time than Kellindil had expected, but they eventually found a small alcove in the side of the Pass that would serve them well as a temporary camp since they were only staying there for the night. They wasted no time in setting up a very rough camp, though Bryran had to do most of the work – much to Kellindil's chagrin – since the elf's injuries had begun to pain him even more now that he had stopped moving. The elven archer grimaced as he sat on a large rock, holding his walking stick loosely in one hand, and watched Bryran get a small fire started. He was embarrassed that he could help his companion in even a small way, but both veteran adventurers knew that with injuries as bad as Kellindil's it was best to rest as much as possible and allow them to heal as much as possible.
The elven archer admitted to himself that he had been pushing himself to his current limits and that had probably set his recovery back by any number of days, but his urgency to get to Coldwood and his kin overshadowed his common sense at least somewhat. He thanked Bryran absently when the warrior handed him some dried rations, still lost in his thoughts as he absently ate the simple but filling fare, his throat stinging slightly every time he swallowed, but he had learned to put that small discomfort out of his mind.
Kellindil's mind was still turning when he and his traveling companion bedded down for the night, and the elf was even more grateful to Bryran when the warrior noticed his obvious distraction and volunteered to take the first watch of the night. The elven archer thanked the human again, this time more empathetically, and laid on the hard ground, using the wolf pelt from Bryran's pack as a blanket and closing his eyes in the effort to get at least some rest in spite of his myriad of bruises and cuts that began stinging and aching anew.
Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this up, but I was besieged by plot bunnies and got distracted from this story. -_-; So now Kellindil has acknowledged that he's pushing himself, and his body is aching something fierce, I wonder what will happen next...^_^ You can guess all you want, but I'm not going to tell you! I'm hoping I'll be able to write a more exciting chapter for the next day of Kellindil's and Bryran's adventures, but that's all I'm going to say on that subject! ;)
Quick Poll: Who here has watched Devil May Cry: The Animated Series? No real reason why I'm asking, I'm just curious. ^_^