Day 04 - Camping

The news hadn't spread fast, exactly, but Minoth had a nose for it. He never ended up too far behind.

Scores of Indoline soldiers decimated. The attack point: somewhere in Ciesias Grove. No one knew who had cleared them out.

Taking stock of who'd been on Spessia at the time, Minoth figured he had a pretty good guess.

Check enough caves, and there the Paragon was, back bent in an insalubrious lurch, more chillingly reticent than ever.

Finding him had been the easy part. Straightforward, even. Mere exposition. But this, now, would be difficult.

Minoth found himself debating how to announce himself for long enough that eventually he tabled it. There was forage on the ground, mounted atop a patch of grass apparently meant to keep it cleaner than dirt would render it.

Gallium Garlic, Cattail Root, Thrush Chokeberry.

Not much to nourish oneself with; likely, Jin had gathered the supplies on habit, and out of a morbid curiosity that he might need them, now. No energy to go fishing, eh? Minoth tried to think of an easy roasting protein that he might be able to find, but could only come up with Aura Chickpeas - indigenous to Coeia, now virtually unobtainable.

"I don't have a knife."

It was Jin's voice, alright, but markedly more hoarse, even shrill.

"I've got two?" Minoth winced when it came out a question.

"Lora..."

"You saved her?"

Forget about keepsakes like fine cutlery. Now Jin was Lora's, and Lora was Jin's.

"Let me-" And here Jin began to reanimate himself, a classical zombie, but Minoth stayed his movement by the clutch of a bony knee.

"I've been taken care of enough, and...conversely."

He built the fire as close to the mouth of the cave as he could without exposing it to potential smothering winds.