It had been four days since they left town. Flora was using her new fabric to make a cloak for herself, one that would be large enough to hide her belly, and would keep her warm. Trace managed the camp, trying to stay busy and keep everyone happy, while Keith and Natani sparred. Zen grabbed his bow and went out to hunt for food. Rations would only get them so far, they would need to eat fresh food too. An hour after leaving camp, he found his quarry: a young buck standing in a clearing. Too easy. Pulling the bow back, he steadied his breathe. The deer's head shot up and it's ears swiveled, and a low whistle filled the air, followed by a dull thud and a squeal as the deer fell over. Zen stayed at attention. It was not his arrow that felled it.

He hadn't fired yet.

Walking into the clearing from Zen's right side was a tall figure, a cloak over his head. The hunter carried a short bow, no quiver hung on his back, but he strode into the clearing calmly. As he approached the felled deer, he pulled a knife out and retrieved his arrow. Zen watched from the bushes, and the man pulled back the hood of his cloak. In the evening sun, Zen saw black and silver scales gleam as the man began tying the deer. Smiling, Zen walked out of the bushes. "You took my dinner."

The man's head flew around and his eyes landed on Zen. "Oh! It's you! Fate has a strange sense of humor, no?"

"Indeed. I never did get your name. Mine is Zen."
"Barret. I'm sorry I took down your target, but if it's any consolation, I'm not actually going to be able to use all of it. I'd be happy to slice my portion off, and give you the rest. Though I will need the antlers and as much of the hide as I can."
"Perhaps a counter proposal? Would you like to join my camp for dinner? Fate seems to have brought us together a second time, it seems to be a shame to leave without knowing more about you." The man worked for a moment, pondering.

"You really mean that? I wouldn't be a bother to anyone?"

"Well, as long as you don't make trouble, I'm certain no one would really care. Though I do have to know: what are you? I've never seen a Lizard Keidr-"

"I'm not Keidran. I'm not a lizard. Please, never call me that." Barret was stern. "I hate when people call me lizard." Barret hoisted the deer on his shoulders. "Lead on." Zen walked through the woods, pulling branches aside and clearing the path ahead. "You have others in your camp? Well, perhaps I should wait and tell you when everyone can hear so I don't end up repeating myself."
"Understandable." In silence, the two wandered back through the woods. Keith was tending the fire when they got to camp, and he merely glanced up and nodded before stoking the flames.

"Thought you were just out hunting for dinner." Natani said. "This seems like more that just dinner."

"This is Barret. He felled the deer I was after, but since he wasn't going to use all of it, I invited him to share dinner with us tonight." Barret set down the deer next to the fire, and with expert skill started slicing the meat from the bone. "We met in town a few days ago, and fate seems to have brought us together."

"I hope I'm not going to be a bother. It's been a very long time since I've had anyone to have supper with."

"No bother at all." Trace said.

"That's Trace." Zen said. "Keith is over there, this is Natani, and that's Flora."

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Barret took off his cloak as he carved the meat, and everyone got a good look at him. Scars covered his forearms and legs, and everything about him was well toned. Obviously he had been on the road for a very long time, and was used to a wandering lifestyle. Even his clothes were worn out, the hardened leather tunic was cracked and fraying at parts, and held together with rope and twine. His pants were likewise worn at the knees, and didn't even go down to his ankles, as though they were made several sizes too short. Instead of a belt, a rope hung around his waist, and several small pouches were set there. One was clearly filled with coins, but the rest were most likely filled with other small trinkets.
His bag clanked with a dull thud as he set it down. A few knives in sheaths hung from one side, a few cast iron pots and skillets on the other. Tied to the back was a bedroll and several rolls of pelts. The frame of the backpack was roughly made and like everything else held together with rope and twine. Mud, dirt, and grime clung to the underside of everything. Three coils of rope were strapped on top of everything. This bag carried everything Barret would or could ever need in the wild, but it had clearly seen better days. His bow was not a proper weapon, but was just a piece of twine tied to a particularly bendy stick, and the three arrows he had were just as crudely made.

As he worked, everyone looked with strange curiosity. His scales were mostly an shimmering black, with silver hints on his fingers, wrists, shoulders, knees, feet, head, and most of his chest. His tail was likewise mostly black, with the very tip being bright silver. His eyes shone with the same silver as his scales, but there was a sadness in them, and everything about him seemed to be pulled down, like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

Finally, he sighed, and looked up. "I'm not Keidran."

"I figured that." Flora said. "I've met lizard Keidran before, and they look nothing like you."
"I'm not sure you have heard of my kind before. I'm what is called 'Ishtaer' [Ish-ta-er]. Unlike Keidrans, we age at the same rate as humans, but have significantly longer lives. Elders of my kind live up to 150 years, some even longer. We aren't common these days. I've only ever met a few others, and that was years ago. As far as I have heard, there are less than 800 left. It's been… challenging. I feel like an outcast everywhere I go, and I'm usually treated as such in towns and cities. I keep to the roads, forests, plains, and anywhere else my feet take me."
"Why are there so few left? I've heard Ishtaer mentioned before, but I didn't even think they existed. Thought Clovis was just trying to make fun of me." Natani said.

"Well, I'm not actually sure why. I know that our population can't recover quickly from anything. Strangely, while humans, Keidran, and even Basitin have short… gestation periods of only a few months, Ishtaer have gestation periods of almost two years." At this Trace, Flora and Natani choked and spit out water.
"Two years?!" Flora gasped. "That's awful! I can't imagine having to wait that long, or carry a child that long!"
Barret laughed "Well, then be glad you aren't Ishtaer. Though at this point I'm not even sure if I'm going to ever have a family. While not common, other races can have children with other races, but not Ishtaer. We can only have children with our own kind. It makes things… sad. But at the same time, it's also wonderful to see an Ishtaer child. It gives hope, a reminder that we are not entirely gone yet." He pulled a pot out of his bag and put it over the fire. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a waterskin and poured it in, before putting in a slab of meat with a small bit of salt. "On a brighter note, dinner won't take too long to cook, though some veggies would be a nice touch and would make it a proper stew…"

"Here." Zen walked over with some wild peppers and onions he had been slicing up. "Grabbed these on the way back from hunting. Figured they would add to the flavor."

"Ah, nice. I picked up some oregano in town, that'll cook nice and well." Barret was smiling for the first time as the smell of stew quickly filled the air. Leaning back against a tree stump, he rooted around in his bag for a minute, pulling out a whetstone and a few of his hunting knives. Keith and Natani went to their bags and retrieved several wooden bowls for dinner. As the evening passed, the rumbling of stomachs grew ever louder, broken by the sound of sharpening metal, birds, and the forest creaking. Finally, Barret set down the knife and grabbed a ladle, stirring the pot of meat and veggies well, before saying "Who's hungry?"

A clamor of feet and paws and elbowing commenced, as Flora was pushed to the front. Barret served everyone in turn before settling in for his own meal. "This is fantastic! If I didn't know better, I'd say this was fit for a king." Flora said as she finished her first bowl, already reaching for seconds.

"You've also been eating hard tack, dried fruits and nuts for the past 3 days. Anything tastes better than that." Keith said with a chuckle. "But this is rather nice. Thank you."

"My absolute pleasure." Barret said, putting another scoop into his own bowl. "It's been wonderful having someone to talk to. I enjoy my time alone, but this is nice, almost like having friends."

"Where are you headed after this? You said you don't go town much these days." Flora asked, after she drained her second bowl. There was nothing left in the pot when she went back for thirds and she frowned.

"Well, I'm not sure. I have been looking for some friends of mine for a few years, but the trail went cold several months ago. I've tried to think they they would and figure out where to go next, but everywhere they would go is somewhere I've already been. Now, I was thinking of going to Lyn'Knoll. If there's a place where I would feel welcome, that most likely would be it. There might even be a few Ishtaer there."
Trace and Keith exchanged glances and started chuckling. Then Zen also started to laugh. Flora and Natani tried to hold it together, but burst into a fit of laughter as well. "Fate, oh boy! It really does have a sense of humor!" Zen laughed. "We are headed there too!" For several minutes they laughed, and Barret chuckled with them.

"Ah, sorry. Well, if you're headed the same way as us, why not travel with us for a while. It's a rather long journey, after all. Safer to travel with a group." Trace said.

"I'm not sure…"

"Why don't you spend the night here?" Zen suggested as he carved the remains of the deer for preservation. "It's already dark, and no one should be hiking through the woods alone. You probably don't have a camp set up, or you wouldn't have been so quick to join us for dinner."

"Well, you're right, I don't have a camp. But, why not? The fire is still warm, and my belly is full, so staying here seems like a good idea. Though I will have to think about traveling with you all. It's… not something I've done in a long time."

"Well, we won't be moving on until morning. Join us if you want." Natani said. "I, however, am quite tired. I'm heading to bed." As they all dispersed, Barret took his bag a short distance away from the camp, and climbed a tree. Zen and Trace watched as he used two of the ropes to create a net between two large branches, and tossing his bedroll over it. As he settled down, his tail wrapped around the ropes. Sighing, he slowly relaxed. Trace went to his tent with Flora, but Zen stayed up late into the night, keeping watch, and eventually waking Keith to take his place. As Zen went to his tent, he glanced up at Barret, sleeping soundly, light snores coming from the tree, and he smiled. Perhaps there were still good people after all.