“Misa,” she prompted, although it wasn’t necessary, the llama was already taking the necessary steps to allow her to retrieve her spear from where it rested against the wall of the inn. Year of fighting together had given them each a good insight into each other, and they could work together almost without communication.
It was pretty clear to her who it was, a courting couple had passed her not long ago, the expressions on their faces had told her how little they understood the importance of Misa to her. They had passed her and whispered to themselves; no doubt about the strange looking girl hugging her llama, as they entered the wooded path. Now one of them lay bleeding, just in her view, the woman dividing her time between staring at the wounded man and glancing anxiously in the direction the perpetrator had gone.
The elven boy all-but flew out of the door behind her, “Boy,” she called, removing a pouch from the saddle, containing various bandages and tools she kept for the unfortunate circumstances when she found herself injured, “They are on the path to the city,” she threw the pouch to him and Misa took that as her cue to move.
Again, without the need for words, the llama took her rider into the woods where the woman directed her glances. The pair of them moved as one between the trees, the llama almost dancing between the trees and obstruction, the rider keeping a tight hold on the llama and her spear.
Within moments of entering the forest, they came across a crude path that ran almost straight in the direction they were heading, obviously caused by the Kirin, which was barely visible up ahead.
The Kirin’s progress was slower than theirs, perhaps due to its method of charging headlong through the forest, as opposed to Misa’s rather terrifying methods, and they caught up relatively easily in the trail it left.
Without an awful lot of notice, the Kirin swerved to the left, which Misa followed with a small deviation that threatened to lose Hikaru on a low hanging tree branch.
“If you can get me through this without killing or losing me, I’ll get something nice cooked for you,” she offered the llama, “but otherwise, you can find your own damn food!”
They followed the Kirin for a few moments more before Misa was forced, once again, to make another swift diversion to her course, avoiding an unwanted collision with the Kirin, or a trip into the river.
“If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking,” she warned, “then you’re eating grass for the next month,”
“If you’re wrong about this, then I’ll make sure you’re on the menu tomorrow,” she muttered to the llama, shaking the worst of the water out of her braids.
As she pulled herself back onto the llama’s back, water continued to run down both inside and outside her armour.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she had so much to do, and indeed so much that should have already been done by now, she would have welcomed a few of the day’s diversions. But not only was it the truth that she was running greatly behind in her duties, but also many of the diversions were unpleasant for those involved.
Now there was a woman screaming for help in the vicinity of the inn, which could not, under any circumstances, be a good thing.
She couldn’t really ignore the cry, when her immediate duty was tending to a broken bottle, and so for the second time, she abandoned her little pile of glass.
