Tynan looked up from the fire where he was cooking, a little surprised at the sugary sweet and unusually polite side of Feather. He frowned slightly, confused. Which just went to show that Tynan knew next to nothing about the opposite sex. He felt the master's eyes on him, the old man eye-ing him speculatively as Feather sat down next to Arumshade, talking idly. He found that rather bizarre, not to mention incomprehensibly annoying.

"Fancy that, a strapping lad like you fussin' and cookin', that's a woman's job, you know," Ransik said, his voice like the snapping of tough old leather.

Tynan smiled. "That really depends on the woman in question," he replied blandly as he seasoned the stew with some wild parsley.

Ransik snorted. "It's the nature of women to submit," he pontificated.

"It's also the nature of man to try as hard as possible to live till the following morning," Tynan chuckled. "Have you finished with the Sendings, Master Ransik?"

"Mm," Ransik nodded, puffing his pipe. "Good thing you and the boy escaped."

Tynan glanced at the Master, who looked at him with shrewd eyes. 'You and the boy'. Tynan realized that the man suspected alot of things... but he didn't actually know. "Yes, we got out just in time to escape whatever it was that destroyed the Araawans and the camp." he lied easily. "Adam, get me the jar and the stopper and fill it with this stew, will you?" The boy nodded as Tynan turned back to the priest. "If it's alright with you, could we accompany you back to whichever town you came from? I wouldn't want to live out the rest of my life in this cave of wolves."

"Mm..." came another nod and puff from the Master. "Funny that, the wolves not biting our heads off and all."

"I've a way with animals." Tynan simply said.

====

The town was called Trickle, and sat nestled by the forest and the many mountain streams that trickled down into the shallow valley to later become part of the River Tharn. It was a somewhat rowdy town, where miners and goldhunters gathered once in a while for trade, provisions and socializing before returning to their secluded lives amidst the peaks. Socializing, in this case, involved the tavern which therefore also involved alot of alcohol.

The sounds from the taproom leaked up through the floorboards of the room in which the innkeeper had pressed on 'you and your poor family, good sir'. Tynan had insisted Feather keep her head hooded, and she had refused adamantly up untill Arum offered the opinion that it might not be a bad idea, at which point she simply agreed. Tynan stared distastefully at the bed. "I'll bet there's lice." Adam sighed.

"Look on the bright side," Tynan snapped, dropping their packs onto the dusty floor. "At least you don't have to pay for them." He was in a nasty humour, the travel from the den to the town, watchng Feather and Arum had gotten on his nerves.