Leodrisa lightly yawned as she finally settled down against the trunk of a larger looking tree. She winced softly, looking over her injured shoulder. "You just had to do the right thing, huh?" She scolded herself before swinging her larger traveling pack off of her other and uninjured shoulder. Last thing she needed was to open it the wound too much to bleed through her clothing. Then, she could pretty much be considered dead. After all, a newly opened wound could attract all kinds of trouble. 

She looked around once again before she carefully set her bow against the tree trunk beside her. Thankfully, if any trouble did come knocking, she could grab it and properly protect herself. She opened up the camp and worked to build up a makeshift camp. It looked like a safe place, settled down in the grass with the shade of a larger tree. 

It was already coming close to dusk by the time Icarus finally reached Nisshoki’s Menomori Bamboo forest. From what he had heard, it was fairly expansive, but could be crossed without much difficulty if one meant no harm toward Nisshoki. To that end, he fit the bill perfectly, given his entire purpose had been to visit the city as he had not spent much time in Parvpora. 

The mist that permeated was supposed to be significantly worse, based on prior information he acquired. It seemed that noble intentions made the trek much easier. He was thankful, given the nature of aura sight being obscured by magical mists. If Icarus had tried to use it, he would likely be rendered temporarily blind due to the magic permeating the area.

”Now… let’s see… Which way do I go?” he glanced around, roughly estimating northwest from his current location. As he chose the relative direction, placing his mask on once more.

She was drifting off to sleep when she heard the slight sound of footsteps. She sat up and looked around, feeling tense as she became aware that there was possibly some company in these woods. Sometimes, she truly hated her elevated hearing. It just made her paranoid and she felt like she had to overwork on every possible aspect. She reached for her bow, grabbing an arrow from her quiver and sliding it into place. 

"Easy there Girl. It could just be an elk or a raccoon, bringing you some new food." She scolded herself. Or…it could be a stranger, going to rob or kill her.  OR, a wolf or bear, bringing an injured woman even more of a struggle. She pushed herself onto her feet, starting to look around the camp. She straightened up, favoring her uninjured side. On top of the difficulties, the mist somewhat limited her sight, making her depend on her other senses. 

She took a small series of pebbles from her bag and threw them ahead of her. If it was a human, then she could get some kind of response. If it was an animal, things could remain to be quiet.

After a couple short hours, Icarus had not noticed any sort of animals in his travels. He was thankful, considering wolves and other predators didn’t require sight to be effective hunters. Facing them in the mist, despite it being less severe than he had heard, would place him at a significant disadvantage. 

As he continued, he heard what was unmistakably a series of dull thuds, the sort that didn’t occur naturally due to erosion. He was no longer alone. Within a scant moment, he secured his mask to his face with the buckle. Using his right hand, he summoned dark fiends, sending them to scout the area with a whispered: ”Seek” in common Londorian.

It was a tongue foreign to this world, though not far separated from a mix of more common tongues of this world. He had learned it once, from a fellow that crossed into the Void from a truly dark realm known as the Abyss in Londorian. He was on some sort of quest to light some manner of primordial fire, but sank into the Abyss, separated from his comrades in arms. 

Icarus had to ponder it for a moment. The man had mentioned something about some legion of folks he served with and were bound to rise again when the fire began to sputter. It sounded terrible to Icarus. After all, he had spent some time as an undead when his soul was separated from his body, and being bound to rise as some undead legion was something he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Another moment or two, and Icarus would figure out just who was in the forest with him and what their intentions were. His summoned fiends were nothing if not skilled reconnaissance tools. So long as he didn’t order them to skirmish, the other person wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked, maybe frightened a bit if they spotted one of the ghastly apparitions. 

She had perched herself up into the tree and was looking down at the stranger curiously. She tilted her head, wondering what he was up to when she heard him faintly mutter something. 

It was something she couldn't quite understand. And that was something that raised her attention and definitely made her cautious. After all, she wasn't certain of this man's abilities or if he had company coming behind him. If she chose the option to try and pick a fight, for all she knew another man could pop out and cause some problems against her.

When she saw the shadows, she straightened up. Her jaw had dropped in shock and she nearly let out a small squeak. Thankfully, she stopped herself and recovered just in time. 

Now to hide. But as she moved and tried to cover herself up, she accidentally dropped her bag. The bag fell out of the tree and landed on the ground with a small thud.