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Maren listens to Iskra and the detailed account she gave of hunting, and quietly regards the smile. She was glad that Iskra looking and feeling better... infamous bandit and hunter aside. It was clear to Maren that a sense of integrity was present within the human, especially with what happened last night. She quietly hoped this amiable relationship would last even when the circumstances no longer forced them to have a truce of sorts.

The unicorn trots over to Iskra then, seeing how the fruits were still in her arms. And with her soft snout nudges her forearm gently; a small sign of trust. Her eyes lift to meet the human’s for a reaction, and says, “Thank you, Iskra.” Before tilting her head a little to eye the savory looking snacks.

The sleep-deprived mason grinned more broadly than he ever may have awake. He got up and clumsily moved outside, returning seconds later with a broad, flat-topped rock in his arms. He moved back to his original spot near the fire and set it down, scratching his chin for a moment. He seemed to have some idea of what he was doing but mid setup he realized something. "...Maybe I should get this dirt off before I handle the meat."

More impulsive than before, the mason unwound his belt and then started undoing the buttons of his shirt. "Where was the pond again?"

Iskra's face flushed red and she pointed off towards the trees, averting her eyes, "Just walk forward, don't turn and you'll find it. I'll uh....cook. I'll do it. Don't get lost." The bandit King obviously wasn't used to men just casually stripping but then again who in the world would be. She pushed him by his shoulders towards the trees, "Go, jeez, you can get undressed there. Creepy old man."

Maren looked back and forth between the two as she munched down on the fruit, oblivious, (the shameless unicorn!) and looked up to the sky and asked, “Do you think the water will be warm? The clouds seem to be parting over there.”
She looked down to her muddied and disheveled coat, though she didn’t bathe often, now might be a good time. “I might join you, Amaury.”

Amaury laughed when Iskra looked away, moving with the inevitable push and chiming, "Ok, ok!" But when Maren mentioned an interest in joining him at the pond the creepy old man saw an opportunity to bother the bandit king just a little bit more. "What's wrong, Iskra? Bet the water's fine. Don't want to get wet?" He didn't need a warning to trot out of immediate reach.

"I'm. Clean." She growled at him; the bandit king had washed off before gathering the fruit, "But if you'd like me to gut you I may just have another reason to wash myself off again." Despite her harsh words, the Iskra had a deep flush across her cheeks: she was embarrassed. And more than that, she was actively resisting going to strike at Amaury. Hell, she didn't even look like she planned on doing it, hoping pure intimidation would be enough to scare off the mason.

Maren tilted her head at the exchange, thinking it was quite silly. Her tail flicked to the side in amusement before she began to amble away in the direction of where Iskra said the pond was.

Although she wasn't fond of getting wet, a quick dip and a splash around a pond would be tolerated if it meant her coat would be cleaner...as long as she got to sunbathe afterwards of course. She walked with a slight bounce in her step, the nice breakfast made her feel more energetic.

Amaury called back, "I'll see you in a bit!" seeming friendly despite his previous pestering. The two walked in the direction Iskra had indicated; since the mason had unbuckled his pants he had to slow down to pull them up here and there. "I feel like I didn't really show my appreciation to her well, Maren. Been covered in mud all morning... but I didn't know she was so afraid of underpants." He grinned, as if it were a punchline. Dad jokes.

When they seemed out of sight he have up trying to keep said pants up, grabbing them under his arm once they were off. It wasn't much different afterwards, as he was wearing a pair of braies underneath.

Iskra just sat down by the fire, dusting off the large rock he had gotten and then setting it into the fire. Thank god he was gone, she could finally enjoy some silence.

But of course, sitting in the silence for a few moments, she sighed a bit and hung her head. Yeah, this was boring.

Maren kept a steady pace so Amaury wouldn’t be left behind. “I think it’s quite silly how humans are so particular about their layers of clothing” She answered earnestly, not at all minding that he was now only wearing his inner clothing, and looked unaware of any joke made. “Perhaps you can give her something we find along the way to show your appreciation?”

When the pond came into view the unicorn wasted little time in wading in and splashing around; at one point she went to the deeper end and tried to do a sideways roll so as to get her whole back, though that proved to be difficult to do.

She submerged for a moment before bursting back to the surface and exclaiming “Oh! What about flowers? Though I guess a bandit king would have little use for them.“ She splashed around as if she were a water kelpie, briefly forgetting how she disliked rain and water. The brief rays of sunshine that peeked through the clouds caused her horn to glimmer happily.

"Something about modesty. I don't get it either." The mason listened to Maren along the path, still smiling all the way. "Maybe, if we find something." Then the pond was visible; he hesitated to enter only by hanging his clothing on a branch near the water. He'd have to go to the river in a bit and wash them too.

Then he stepped into the water, shivering and making all the appropriate noises for someone awkwardly adjusting to cold water, inch by inch. Then he grew tired of the stiffness and submerged himself as well, if only for a few seconds. Once emerged he heard the suggestion and shrugged. "I was thinking maybe something more deadly. Like a bow. But I also can't make a bow... and she probably has the right sinew for a bowstring after killing that deer..." He scratched his chin. "I wonder if she's working on a new one, or if she's waiting for a town."

"Can't make them myself, I've just seen others do it." Amaury spotted the glimmer of her horn and smirked, associating that sort of light with a healthy energy in his new companion. "Maybe I've been laying on the 'blood and guts' shtick too much. Maybe she's a practical person..." While washing clinging mud from his face, occasionally splashing water onto it, the mason pondered his options. "Well, she definitely is practical."

Iskra sneezed back at the camp, sniffling a bit, "Those idiots are talking about me..." She most certainly wasn't going to make her own bow; she would wait to find a crafter with good products, perhaps she would get one with metal pieces this time.

She quietly cooked the meat, nibbling on the berries as she worked and watching the forest that she could see. Eventually, bored of watching the grasses move, Iskra stepped away from her cooking to inspect the hut Amaury was building, and then to drape the deerskin over the hole in the tent on the other side, and then to gather more sticks from beneath trees, to dump them into the fire.

“She certainly is self-sufficient...” Maren thought of the strips of venison she saw by the grass hut and shivered a little. She looked down at the water till her snout was just below the surface and exhaled, blowing bubbles absently. She looked back up to Amaury, “I don’t know how far it is to the next town... but I am certain I can find the main road, perhaps I can lead us there once the both of you are prepared?”

The Unicorn paddled out of the deep end and back to Amaury, sopping wet. She shook off vigorously before trotting to what she determined was the sunniest spot of grass nearby. She folded her legs and settled until he was finished.

The man had still been working on removing crusted dirt from little places, such as his armpit or the space behind his ear when Maren mentioned leading them to the road. He perked up visibly at it, peering sidelong at the unicorn curiously. "I've been stuck in these woods for weeks, but I know where the road should be. If you think you can take us to it I'll not complain, but if we end up lost I hope we at least find or way back to the fire."

He continued to watch the unicorn as she stepped out and shook the water away, smiling. Predictably the motion reminded him of a large dog. "I'm not ready to leave just yet." The mason withdrew from the water, his loose shorts clinging to his legs awkwardly. Amaury plucked his clothing from the trees and inspected the water. No, he didn't exactly have everything he usually used but perhaps if he scrubbed the fabric enough it would work?

The man took to doing just that, cleaning his clothes. Meanwhile he continued thinking about gifts. "It'd be a lot easier to think of a present when we get to a town, I think... Around here all we could find are plants, animals and ro--" He tapered off. "Huh."

Iskra had gone back to sit in the hut, the impatient king huffing at how long it was taking her... travel partners, to come back. She wondered shortly if perhaps Amaury had been seduced by a Kelpie or Fae, and snickered at the thought. He seemed like the kind of man to be so easily tricked by something like that (Iskra herself had nearly fallen prey to an incubus as a young woman, prior to the death of her husband; she was much warier of handsome strangers after that).

With the first bit of venison done, Iskra set the stone back into the fire to heat it back up, and since they were taking a while, just took a piece of the meat and began to nibble on it quietly. She looked out towards the trees again, wondering if she could see her mountains from the treetops. The slender branches would make for a dangerous climb, but perhaps it was worth a shot.

“This forest holds quite a bit of magic, I’m not surprised that you got lost.” Maren said as she did her best to groom the stray tangles out of her fur; it was drying and fluffing out considerably well. “Sometimes you need to counter magic with magic; we will find the road once I begin looking for it.” She continued, feeling confident in her innate abilities.

Her stomach rumbled, having had only eaten a meager amount of the fruit that Iskra brought. The unicorn got back to her feet and decidedly trotted to Amauray as he spoke of gifts and plants. “The sooner we return to Iskra the sooner a gift will be found I am sure. Come come! Iskra has surely eaten all the food by now, we should go before it’s all gone.”

She bent her head down, and with her teeth she snatched up a rather soggy shirt he had finished scrubbing, and began to trot away with a playful prance to her steps. Its sleeves shifted in the air like damp streamers as she moved.

Maren's reassurance caused the mason to smile. He could be a cynic at times but this was not an offer he was going to deny. He became quite focused on his work, hearing the distant rumble of the unicorn's stomach and feeling empathy but not ceasing in his work. It felt as though the world was returning to normal again--

--until the unicorn urged him to return and grabbed his shirt. Amaury flinched as some of the water from the shirt splashed in his direction, grabbing his pants firmly in one hand, grabbing his belt from a tree and calling, "Hey! I wasn't done!" at her. If Marenithiel didn't cease her prance back to the hut the mason would, as planned, follow her all the way back. He realized this a little too late, suspecting the sight of the half-nude mason would provoke Iskra.

So he held out his drenched, half-muddy pants in front of him and looked at them, certain that trying them on would be quite uncomfortable.

Maren stopped and turned around to look back at Amaury, and let out a huffing sigh through her nose. She didn’t want to tease him too much and trotted back him when he had stopped following and held out the article of clothing carefully to him to take.

When her mouth was free she asked, “Did you bring any extra clothes? Perhaps I can bring them to you.”

Amaury jogged up to Maren while folding his drenched pants. "Actually, yes... but they're dirty too." He chuckled awkwardly. "I kinda got lazy after a while. Didn't realize I'd be running into more people, heh!" The mason fidgeted a bit and then shrugged. "Maybe if I just keep the shirt on it'll be ok?"

Maren nodded kindly, looking apologetic. “You can finish washing if you’d like, I can ask Iskra to save you some food.” She began to walk back to get his bag for him, perhaps he could wash the other ones too; she thought it was understandable that one would tire quickly of washing clothes all the time, and looked thankful to have fur.