The Western Expanse

Raena gives a bemused smirk. "Good job," she says, a touch of sarcasm to her voice, "you are clearly very good at rationing. You've only had to use a single scroll."

Raena signals for the camels to stop and dismounts, unlatching the tent kits from the camel's saddle mounts. She carries the two kits to a place that seems clear enough, with the least amount of poking thistles. As an added bonus, a large mesa blocks the wind from one direction, likely giving them at least a small reprieve from the icy desert night's gusts. She starts to set the tents up, asking to the side, "Wendy, could you go gather some kindling for a fire? It's going to be getting very cold soon."

Raena obligingly pretends she doesn't see Wendy fall face first into the dust, smirking behind a hand as she completes the first tent and turns around, covering it up with a cough. "Ahem...once you're done with that, I'll hunt us down some food. Our non-perishables should be saved for an emergency," responds Raena, setting to work on the second tent, a few feet away from the first. She seems to be experienced at setting up a camp site, her fingers working with a mechanical deftness, muscle memory doing most of the work for her.

"You may, if you wish," answers Raena, "though if you complain about the cold I may have to ask you to stay back in camp. I hope to catch some meat tonight and I do not wish to scare all the creatures away." She finishes the last tent and sits in the entrance to her own, pulling her knees up to her chin as she waits for Wendy to finish. "Truly, you need not come if you don't wish it. I would be okay with your staying back at camp with the warmth of the fire."

Raena bites her lip to hold back a smile, standing up and nodding at Wendamari. "Of course you can. Leave the firewood here. We'll light it up when we get back; no point in burning it now," responds Raena, walking over to her camel and retrieving the pouch containing her throwing knives, wrapping its leather belt about her waist and securing it. She beckons to Wendy as she starts out into the dark of the approaching desert night.

The night out in the Expanse is beautiful and free of light pollution, stars sparkling brightly in the cloudless sky. Perhaps Wendy's ancestors are looking down upon her from up there, Raena muses. The light of the full moons is more than enough to illuminate the pair's path, casting soft shadows across the land with every cactus and brush, the dusk broken by its warm glow. Despite the beauty the night brings, it also brings danger. The heat of the day has nothing to hold on to as the sun disappears beneath the horizon, and so the nights are freezing cold, heavy gusts of desert wind scouring the land. Hypothermia is a real danger here. Raena, however, seems frustratingly unaffected, walking through the desert barefoot as she slowly sweeps her gaze back and fourth, keeping an eye out for any tasty meal. She is worldess as she goes, completely focused on her objective.

Suddenly, Raena catches something out of the corner of her eye, and quickly spins to face it, pulling a throwing knife out and tossing it at the shadow, the knife almost miraculously scoring a hit with a sickening thud. Raena blinks surprisedly at her own accuracy. "A lucky throw," she mutters to herself as she moves to where her prey has fallen.

It appears to be a large bird of prey, its crimson feathers hiding the blood dripping down breast from where the knife hit, dead center between the bird's shoulder blades. A very lucky throw, apparently. Raena pulls the knife from the bird and cleans it deftly, before retrieving the fallen hawk and stuffing it in her rucksack. "The next kill is yours," she states to Wendy.

Raena's brow raises in surprise at the utterly violent nature of the rabbit's death. For a moment, she wonders if non-sentient creatures are united with The Void upon death, but she quickly turns her attention back to Wendy's effortless kill. "That was...impressive," she says, her voice slightly less neutral than usual, a tinge of legitimate sincerity to it, which for Raena might as well be bouncing up and down in excitement. She slides her throwing knife into its holster and nods at Wendy, stating, "This should be enough meat for the time being. We aren't feeding an army, after all. Shall we return, then? I would suggest we forage for vegetation to go along with it, but..." she gestures to the barren landscape around them, "...we aren't going to find much here but cactus-based hallucinogens and poking thistles. In any case, it's your choice whether we continue on our hunt or return to camp. You are clearly a more proficient hunter -- or at least, certainly a more proficient trapper -- than myself."

Raena gives Wendy an odd look, but doesn't broach the subject further. She figures there have been stranger things than bags that are bigger on the inside than the outside. She starts off back toward camp, beckoning to Wendy and calling out over a sudden gust of icy desert night wind, "Come on, Wendy. We'd better get back to camp before we are stricken by hypothermia. You can look for your potatoes when we return." Wendy might even see a tiny shiver from the stoic woman, goosebumps rising on her exposed arms.

Assuming Wendy follows, the journey back is thoroughly uneventful and fairly boring. It might even be yawn-worthy if the cold weren't so permeating. Cold like this tends to keep one awake. When they return to camp, they find it just the way they left it, the camels standing around looking bored as they eat from their food bags, the tents rustling with the winds. Luckily, the kindling hasn't blown away, and Raena moves to collect some rocks in order to set up a fire ring.

Raena sets up the fire ring and stacks the kindling, before jogging over to the camels and unpacking a fair bit of firewood she had had the good sense to bring along, dried out by the heat and perfect for burning. She sets it up in a teepee formation, pulling a throwing knife and flint from her satchel, crouching down as she strikes the flint, sparks flying toward the kindling.

Her head turns to Wendy as she speaks, and if her hands weren't already occupied with striking the flint, she would've facepalmed...hard. "You had a coat this entire time and you forgot? How do you forget something like that for an entire week?" she asks, incredulously.

Raena smiles at the sentiment, but shakes her head. "No, thank you. It is far too small for me, and I do not wish to damage it," she says, seconds before the sparks get a foothold and the kindling starts to glow orange. Raena devotes her attention to it, then, leaning in close and blowing on it gently. Before long, the kindling slowly begins to burn, a flame licking up at the underside of the logs, until the logs begin to catch fire as well. Raena smiles at her accomplishment, and places her knife and flint back into her satchel, pulling the bird from her rucksack and laying it out on a small cloth so as not to get sand on it. "Well, I wish I could help you, but you are likely a far more proficient cook than myself. I only know how to cook for sustenance, and I doubt it would taste near as good as food prepared by a seasoned cook such as yourself," says Raena as she moves back a bit from the flame, pulling her knees up to her chin as she stares into its depths.

If nothing else, Raena's looks make up for her stony personality. In this moment of relaxation, she has a stunning beauty about her, her snowy hair fluttering lightly in the breeze as her soft blue eyes shine with the light of the fire. She looks almost happy; even though her full lips are in as flat an expression as ever, her eyes twinkle with a muted joy. And she is, indeed, happy. It has been ten years since she has had any sort of long-term companionship, and she had almost forgotten how nice it is to have someone to share her journeys with. She runs her fingertip slowly over her scar as she contemplates. Finally, she asks, "Wendy, why is it you deigned to travel with me, of all people? I am certain the King would have accepted you into his kingdom after your bravery in the Undercity."