8 A Chance Encounter

Heading deeper into the forest the sun begins to set. Jayson dashes through the forest on his horse noticing the sunset. Even through the dense foliage the bright reds and oranges peer through the trees giving off an ambient feeling of serenity and peacefulness contrary to how events earlier in the day unfolded. Noticing a small clearing Jayson heads towards it figuring it'd be the best spot to rest for the night.

"Whoa!"

Jayson says, pulling on the reins. The horse comes to a sliding stop entering the clearing. After dismounting and tying it to a tree, Jayson takes his bag off and surveys the limited provisions Misrurri had gathered for him.

Rummaging through his pack he comes across some bread, dried out meat, filled water canteens, flint and steel, and rope. Standing up he heads near the treeline and pulls a blade from his waist and hacks down a few branches. Further cutting the branches in half he returns to where his pack and the horse is.

Going back to the bag, Jayson pulls out the flint and steel and attempts to light the fire, failing spectacularly. Looking closely Jayson notices his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

After struggling for a few minutes Jayson finally lights the fire using the flint. Sighing to calm his nerves he mindlessly tosses a few more branches on to the fire as he sits in front of it.

"I-I can't believe I did that, but it had to be done, right?"

Wracking his brain all over the place thinking of his actions from this morning. Starting with the murder of the guard, watching Misrurri set the stables fire, and her subsequent capture by those in control of the compound.

Feeling sick to his stomach, unable to cope with all that transpired, Jayson turns his head to the side puking again. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve afterwards he grabs the bag and rummages through it finding a little bit of tobacco in a small container and a wooden pipe and his lighter which got taken.

"Well, I can only imagine how this world's tobacco is, and I haven't really smoked since I lost my pack of smokes so may as well see how it is. If only my smokes and phone weren't still in the camp…"

Sighing at this thought Jayson takes some of the tobacco and pipe and packs the tobacco into the pipe before lighting it. Inhaling deeply as he smokes from this wooden pipe, Jayson coughs violently before taking another hit, albeit shallower than the first from the pipe again.

Exhaling the smoke Jayson looks over at the horse tied up to the tree. Jayson never really learned this horse's name, or anything like that, all he knows is the bare minimum to care for the horse taught to him by Misrurri.

"I don't even know what to do from here on other than try to become better and rescue Misrurri, but I don't even know where to start."

Sighing at his own helplessness he sees an outline of a person approaching from his left. Jayson drops the pipe and lighter as he stands up and reaches down and pulls the daggers from his waist holding them with a reverse grip.

The silhouette approaches revealing an alluring figure. A woman. Long flowing red hair, and a somewhat short build covered in exquisite chest armor, greaves and boots accompanied with green pants.

"W-who are you?"

Jayson asks while raising his daggers up taking a stance.

The woman raises her hand and mutters something. The ground around the makeshift fire descends as a pit a meter in diameter.

"If you keep a fire like that, it'll burn the entire forest if it's not kept properly. Are you a dense human? Well judging by your uneasy stance, and shoddy armor, you're just an uncouth bandit or something so should I just eliminate you now?"

She says as she takes her hands and pulls two longswords out from behind her back. The swords have a slight curve to them.

Jayson drops his daggers and puts his hands up.

"I-I'm not a bandit or anything like that! And I wouldn't burn this forest down!"

With his hands raised in the air, he takes two steps back drops to his knees.

Looking down on Jayson the woman sighs with disgust at his appearance and sheaths her swords. And walks towards him keeping her vigilance up as she kneels down and picks up his daggers.

"If you're not a bandit, what are you doing here? These woods belong to the Vernal family. You'll have more to worry about me if you set this forest ablaze. So what are you doing here?"

"I-I'm heading south, I was told if I cut through these woods I would reach the Empire quicker than if I took the roads. I'm trying to get to Erandali in the Empire."

"Erandali huh… Why would you go there?"

"Well I want to leave this nation and I was told to head there or Aleluvaga in the Empire, and honestly, I'm not sure which is closer…"

He says with his eyes downcast. The woman sighs again as she drops the daggers by his feet.

"If you're heading to either of those, I recommend Aleluvaga. To go there you head east until you hit the river and follow the river south, you'll reach it eventually. If you want to reach Erandali, you'll have to cut through the forest heading southwest, but I advise against that. The Vernal family doesn't like trespassers, especially humans like you."

"Humans like me? Aren't you human too? Oh, my name is Jayson by the way. What's your name?"

Jayson says looking up at the beautiful young woman.

"Do I look human to you? I'm a high-elf, and my name is Alysane Vernal."

She says as she pulls her hair back and turns her head to the side revealing long pointy ears.

"Whoa! I've never seen an elf before! I-It's nice to meet you. W-wait, you're a princess?!"

"Correct, so I'll tell you once, after the sun rises, depart this forest and head east. Oh and smoking that tobacco will kill you, I wouldn't have come across you if the wind didn't carry that awful smell."

She says pointedly as she walks away.

Left with his thoughts Jayson puts the daggers away and hits his pipe again with his mind reeling due to the fact he could have lost his life for a moment there.

Resuming his spot in front of the fire Jayson tosses more branches on the fire and continues to smoke into the night.