Chapter Eleven; Leanunyu

Leanunya yawned, waking. They had been traveling for at least two weeks and should be arriving in Rynion tomorrow morning or by tonight. They had fairly nice weather as they had traveled. Although today was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. If it rained they wouldn't reach Rynion until tomorrow morning or even later. If it didn't rain they would make it in this evening but she was unsure if she wanted that. Although the rain really couldn't slow them down she disliked walking in the rain but would do so if necessary.

She stood up and stretched out telling Nagos to get up. Leanunya gathered her stuffed and ate some jerky after she finished waiting for Nagos to finish getting his stuff gathered. This was another thing she disliked about Nagos. He was very messy. She knew he was still a child but he would take everything out of his bag just to grab his blanket to sleep. She had tried to stop him from doing this but to no avail; she finally gave up. Leanunya watched eating a slice of jerky before he was finally ready to go and we started to walk.

They walked in silence til about midday as it started to rain. She looked around before finding a cave to take shelter in. She spoke, "Let's wait the rain out in that cave". She didn't wait for Nagos' reply as she went to the entrance of the cave with him following, saying he wanted to continue. She said no to him to continue as she entered the cave. "I am not walking in the rain." She barely heard his reply as she saw the cave was not empty.

She looked at the people already in the cave and was glad she had put her cloak on this morning. Although she was unsure if there was more danger to be had in the cave or if there was more danger from walking in the rain. She heard one of the people speak.

"Um.. hello?" Leanunya nodded softly "hello" as she was on guard. A large man stood and spoke with a surprisingly soft tone of voice "need a place to shelter from the rain?" She nodded tightly but before She could speak Nagos spoke up loudly.

"not really, but she doesn't want to walk in the rain. What are you all doing here?" Leanunya sighed softly knowing Nagos often had no tact when it came to asking questions. The big man spoke again "We are resting from our travels while also sheltering from the rain" Leanunya nodded, "do you mind if we intrude until the rain stops?" The man spoke, "not at all you are welcome to stay. Have a seat and rest up."

Leanunya nodded and sat against the wall by the entrance while Nagos introduced himself to them. She adjusted her position to be comfortable with her wings being leaned on and partially sat on. She could tell something was off about these people but Nagos seemed oblivious to it. She glanced around the cave and took inventory of the stuff there and knew these people were not travelers. Her first thought was they were bandits but that didn't seem right.

Although she could tell the people had been in this cave a long while. She looked at the people as Nagos talked to them. She took note that they actually relaxed as they talked with Nagos. But she also noted they had calloused hands, a clear sign of weapons training and use. Leanunya just couldn't figure out why they were here or who they were. She then noticed the big man had his eyes on her and she looked at him.

The big man spoke "What's your name?" Leanunya spoke "Nuluna, and yours?" The big man spoke "I'm Drake, what brings you out here? With a kid no less" Leanunya spoke even as she noticed the others looking over at her "I'm the kids trainer. We were training in the forests and now I'm returning him home to his father in Rynion" she mostly told the truth even as she watched their reactions.

Drake spoke, seeming to relax "Really? How long, you been training him?" She spoke "A year or two now I believe" Drake frowned "why for so long?" Leanunya replied "that was how long the training was needed. And how'd you end up here?" Drake looked at her, "we are traveling and went through the forest for a short cut."

Leanunya nodded and fell silent even as she heard Nagos say she was just a grump. She could tell something was going on with this group but even though she was curious she wasn't going to interfere or ask at least not yet. She wanted more information and letting Nagos chatter away with them was the easiest way to get that. She looked up as Drake came over and sat against the wall next to her. She looked at him suspiciously, not even attempting to hide her look.

Drake held up a bottle speaking "Care to share a drink or two?" She looked at him "maybe…" she saw him smile before he spoke quietly so only she could hear "I see your eyes are sharper than you let others see. It is safe to drink, no worries there. I want to thank you for not asking questions even though I can tell you know we've lied. Strength sees strength"

Leanunya looks at him, flicking her tail as he takes a drink from the bottle before passing it to her. She took the bottle and looked at him closely. Her guard was up but knew he spoke the truth.

She spoke after sniffing the contents of the bottle "good whiskey I see." She then spoke softly "you see much. You're a warrior then" she took a sip of the bottle. Drake nodded slightly, speaking softly "I am, you see even more than me as I can't tell what you are exactly though I know you are someone not to make enemies with." Leanunya passed the bottle back to him, speaking softly, "I'm something of a mystery to everyone."

She heard him chuckle as he took the bottle and spoke softly "You sure give me a lot of face here" Leanunya spoke softly "I never give face to anyone" Drake chuckles "you are harsh. Definitely mountain raised" She flicked an ear, "And you city raised"

Leanunya already knew Drake was the leader of this group by the way the others accepted that he was talking with her and didn't want the others to listen in. She noted a few looked at them but looked away, not trying to listen in. She could also tell Drake knew more than he said. Leanunya could tell Drake wanted to tell her something but could tell he couldn't. It was then she realized he was a soldier or knight. She found her answer to why he and the others were here and decided not to investigate further as they talked.