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The jagged mountain crumbled before Karu, giving him a breathtaking glimpse of the lands in the distance farther than possible from below. The long journey through the continental range was at its climax and the young lynx had found it a good moment to grant a short reprieve for himself and his horse, Epona.

Sandwiched between another smaller chain of mountains, the valley below him had grown into lush plains with grass waving in the wind." This is amazing!" Karu spoke out against the light gusts, taking in the scenery as far as he could see. His destination still rested on the horizon, though not much farther, from what he could gather." I'm sure we're getting close now. If only someone hadn't eaten the map!" He glanced at Epona who lowered her head embarrassingly. Karu grinned playfully, meaning nothing of it.

" Come on. Let's keep moving." Karu placed a bag on one side of her saddle and an odd contraption onto the other side, four long boards wrapped up in a large bundle of string. Another backpack on his own shoulders and they were ready to continue their journey.

He stayed alongside her, knowing the ground might be too treacherous for her to follow with him riding. He was more adept to the terrain though and went ahead to ensure a safe footing. Further towards the bottom, grass began to spring up. First in sparce sprigs, but later in thicker groups. As the ground leveled out, the grass grew in full and tall with both The lynx and his horse now having to wade through it. The plains now lay out in front of them. In gentle rolling hills, the grass played out like an ocean shimmering with the spring wind.

" Glad we're early. Any later in the year and it would probably be too hot." Karu ran his hand through the green stems, feeling how lively it was. Epona whinnied in disapproval." Fine. As soon as we get out of here, we'll find a worn path to walk... I didn't realize that this would bother you more than it does me."

Journeying away from the common trails proved quite an adventure for Karu. It might have isolated him from the common traveller, but it also protected him from thieves and other dangers. Not that he could not fend for himself. A short sword hid between his back and the bag he carried. Also in his arsenal was a small, but powerful set of spells at the command of his hands. He didn't spend much time learning further as he only stayed so long in each city he visited.

The wind died down. A strong silence filled their ears as they came to a momentary stop. Curious and almot fearful as to what allowed this occurance, Karu looked around for any signs of trouble. Nothing moved besides Epona." Come on." He spoke with concerned disappointment.

" Stop!" A voice echoed out in the distance." Come back here this instant!"

In the distance, the lynx could make out a tigress approaching them quickly. He could tell she appeared angry as she got closer. " Stupid lizard monkeys!" She was dozens of yards away, and Karu understood her clearly.

A grey blur leaped up out of the tall grass next to epona. In an instant, the bundle of string and boards were missing." Hey!" Karu shouted, but the creature had already disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

The grass rustled where he moved, zipping off into the distance. Karu threw a fireball at the movements but was interrupted after his first cast. The weight of his bag suddenly vanished and with it, another trail of rustling scurrying through the grass." Epona!" He angrily shouted as he climbed up onto her saddle." Follow!" He pointed at the swaying grass for her to track. With his feet locked firmly against the saddle, he stood up above her to get a better view.

At first, his balance was shaky, but he immediately stabilized and prepared to attack. He threw a fireball at the grass, igniting it and scaring epona as it flared up. He missed. He tossed another one with his other arm. He missed again.

" I don't get to fight moving objects too often!" He grinned. There was an excitement he gained from the chase. Something that wasn't in a simple hunt. There was more preparation involved than simply killing prey for food. Karu planned ahead, predicting where he needed to fire. A strike! a hoarse cry called out from beneath the grass. The rustling lost its straight path and took on a more jagged appearance. His enemy was injured, but now would be harder to hit.

Another fireball. Another miss. His target weaved madly, unseen but easily traceable." I've got you!" He grinned even greater now as he cast with all of his energy. The beast whined with its dying breath as it was engulfed in flames. The grass was eaten away, singed along with the charred, scaly skin of the lizard monkey he was after.

His horse had overshot the area and returned at the same time that the tigress arrived. She finished extinguishing the fire as he jumped from his saddle to examine the damage he had done. Surviving beneath the corpse was his bundle of string and boards along with a small pouch he couldn't recognize.

" umm... that's mine." She spoke up nervously as Karu ran the bag across his nose. It had the strong scent of catnip and he could tell the tigress was embarrassed to admit it was hers.

" Doesn't bother me." He handed it over to her and proceeded to reattach his possessions to epona. He was still missing his backpack, but by the time the thought came to him, the wind had returned. it was impossible for them to continue following after the other lizard monkey." Is that the only thing they took from you?"

" No." She turned to a distraught look." A collection of heirlooms... but it looks like it's gone now."

" Not entirely. That damn thing was unlucky enough to take my backpack." He tried to reassure her.

" And why do you say that?"

" That bag has an eldritch stone in it. I-"

" you have an eldritch stone?" She was quite surprised to hear of it." That must have cost you dearly."

" Long story. pretty much gave my soul to it. With a mortal tie to it, I can sense where it is."

" great. How far is he?"

" That way." Karu pointed ahead of them, towards the forest in the distance." But we won't be catching up to him for a while. He's got a head start on us."

" then let's hurry!"

Karu followed her as she began to run off and Epona followed after him through the thick grass. Although the sun now rested in the afternoon hemisphere, there was plenty of day left.

• -

" my name's Sarah, by the way." The tigress spoke up after they both had stopped to catch their breath.

" I'm Karu." The lynx replied as he retrieved a leather waterbag from Epona and removed the cork. He took a small drink from it, but left it open." You need any water?" He offered.

She took the canteen and drank from it as well." Thank you. I've been following the river for the past few days before those simians ambushed me." She handed it back for him to close up." I hate getting caught off guard like that..."

" so how did you go about obtaining an eldritch stone?" Sarah suddenly questioned such an oddity thst had put them in this favorable situation.

" it's a long story..." karu didn't want to explain as it would involve going into a part of his past he didn't want to recover.

Sarah didn't take his hint." We've got time."

" Drop it." Karu replied sternly.

Sarah cocked her head back with a small amount of fear that she had hit a bad area of discussion. Karu noticed, returning his stone cold gaze back to a relaxed setting." ... I didn't actually give my soul to it." He admitted." But I did suffer quite a lot for it.

" was it worth it?"

The lynx nearly winced at the events tying into his possession of such a cursed object." I didn't have much of a choice." He knew he was leading her along and he would've been willing to continue had he known it would only hurt more for both of them.

• -

The forest came into view below the falling sun. There wasn't much time left before they would have to stop for the night. It was a thinned out forest. Trees were spread apart and only the topmost branches reached far enough to connect to eachother and form a reasonable canopy, but it was dark underneath. Their trip would have to end there until morning.

" this is a good place to stop and sleep." They had reached the edge of the forest alongside the mountain range and stopped, finding a small cave along a steeper inclined area.

" Why are we stopping? There is still daylight!" Sarah was worried that the other lizard monkey would escape in the time that they rested.

Karu knew better, and added with the senses connected to the eldritch stone, was completely sure that it was safe to stop for the night." You don't travel much, do you?" He began to unpack his belongings from Epona so that she could wander around freely.

" Not really. This is the furthest I've been from home." Sarah admitted, standing around not knowing what to do.

" Pretty much everything goes to sleep at night. The eldritch stone in my bag hasn't moved for the past hour, so I am assuming he has stopped like us." Not involved in their conversation, Epona wandered off back into the field to graze in the last rays of light." Besides... with no light, we wouldn't be able to prepare ourselves for the night. We still need food, fire, and a place to sleep."

" ... Alright." Sarah still didn't want to give up the hunt, but seeing that Karu was more experienced at this than she was, she had given up arguing.

• -

The mouth of the cave glowed in the orange light of the campfire after the sun had disappeared." There." Karu had fed the logs some of his magic to make the fire grow stronger before putting a freshly skewered meal to cook above it." I hope you like rabbit. I'm not sure what your preferred food is, but there's not much else around here really."

The crackling fire for the moment was the only sound while they waited to eat. Karu had wondered about his temporary companion, seeing as she had barely fed him any information other than small details." So what are you doing wandering out in the wild like this?"

" I couldn't stay where I lived anymore." Sarah answered sorrowfully.

" They forced you out?"

" No... Too many bad memories."

" Of what?"

" ... Being by myself..." Sarah seemed reluctant to speak of it." ... Why do you travel then?" She redirected the conversation.

Karu sat up with a sudden accused look." It's part of my work." He answered innocently.

" then what do you do? Couldn't be anything lighthearted it it involves an eldritch stone."

" I'm a mercanary-"

" You're too young to be a mercanary."

" Not by choice." Karu furrowed his brows. The meat sizzled on the fire. It was time for them to eat.

Food wasn't enough though to distract either one from digging into eachother's lives. Between bites, they continued in an argumentative battle.

" What's forcing you then?" Sarah asked between bites.

" I'm looking for someone."

" And your job doesn't involve that normally?"

" This guy's special." Karu wanted to detract from himself again." What memories are so bad that you leave your home?"

The fighting ceased as their meals we're finished. Karu threw the bones he had saved into the fire and left the ring for the cave.

" My old mate left me there." Sarah replied, following him to his belongings." Not that it matters why... I didn't want to live in the same city as him any more, so I left and thought I would find another place to stay."

Karu avoided looking up at her. Instead, he picked up the boards with strings and began to unwind them.

" What is that?" Sarah asked, wondering what it was he was assembling. One string turned into several which turned into dozens, layed flat and magically kept organized.

" It's my bed." Karu replied, unwrapping the end of it. It was an unfinished tapestry, only half of it was completed.

" That's part of a loom." Sarah bit her tongue as she noticed details that pieced together in he mind. It was a lot shorter than a standard machine table. one end had scorch marks, charred up to where it broke and was repaired. The ends of the strings were frayed with age.

" What happened to the rest of it?" She could only consider one event that would cause that.

" It's all that I could salvage." Karu replied. She knew it must have been important to him, or else he would not carry it with him.

" What happened?"

" it caught fire." Karu didn't want to answer further. The memory was so long ago, but it still hurt to remember." ... Along with the rest of the house... and the village..."

With each corner set on rocks, the frame sat high enough off of the ground for a comfortable rest. The strings were pulled tight and resisted him pushing with a soft bounce." Come on. It's strong enough for two people." The lynx realized the size difference between himself and the tigress. She found enough room to join him by curling up to a smaller size while he did the same. Boards creaked under the weight of them both, but was built of sturdy materials and didn't give.

" I'm sorry for having you bring that up." Sarah looked across at him as they faced eachother.

" It's probably better that I say something than keep it pent up." Karu sighed deeply with remorse." I've been hunting down the men that destroyed my home."

" Why did they?"

" I don't know. I was a kid then. I only remember them slaughtering everyone and then burning what was left..." His face revealed a distant rage, but he turned to hide it from Sarah." Their faces are all I have to go on, but I believe I've been closing in on them under the guise of a reckless mercenary."

The thought escaped him and he faced her with a grin again." Then again, I've got nothing to lose, so I can afford to be reckless."

" Alright, alright." Sarah chuckled." Just don't get yourself killed until we get that lizard monkey."

" I'm not that reckless."

" I can see you're good at what you do."

The fire began to burn out, leaving them in a quickly darkening cave. Neither of them bothered to restock it.

" Do you think I could go with you?" Sarah hated to ask, worrying she would get in his way." You know... until the next city?"

" Of course." Karu didn't have a problem with having someone travel with him.

He didn't move much more beyond those words. Sleep tried to take him, but he fought it off as well as he could." It's not too often that I get company to talk to."

" I'm glad I found someone to talk to too." The two fell asleep, waiting for tomorrow.

• -

" Go that way!" Karu shouted as they ran through the forest. The lizard monkey leaped from tree to tree, his spiked tail flicked the air with each jump. Sarah split away from the Lynx. Running parallel with him, they flanked their target from both sides. He was forced to continue a straight line.

Karu threw several fireballs at him, missing and continuing through the canopy." He's moving too wildly!" He complained. Sunlight poured in through the fiery holes he had created, getting closer and closer towards the creature.

His eyes tracked ahead, but there were too many options. He could make any turn and his attacks would fail yet again." Bring him my way!" Karu ordered Sarah to run ahead.

The tigress turned wide, guiding the lizard monkey to move into Karu's path. His selection of trees had narrowed, granting him a better chance of success. One arm followed the other as he threw a fireball from each hand. Each one aimed at a different location.

The throw was true. The lizard monkey was struck by one of the fireballs, knocking him out of the tree." Gotcha!" The creature recovered and scrambled to get back up the nearest tree, but it was too late. Karu already targeted him and was throwing any energy he had left. He was hit with so many fireballs that his scales began to turn crisp and crunch under his own movement.

" You can stop now!" Sarah came up to Karu, putting his arms down.

" Sorry. I got carried away." Karu was out of breath. They walked over to retrieve their belongings from the burnt remains." ... And sorry if I might have burnt anything too much."

" It looks like most of it's in great shape still." Sarah found another small pouch attached to Karu's backpack now lying on the ground.

" Your heirlooms are in there?" Karu considered the bag sloppily tied to his backpack rather small for anything important. More important than catnip anyways.

" Nothing much I care to hold on to really. Just jewelry. Only thing good about it is that I could get a good coin for it." She opened it up to check that everything was still there. Nothing was disturbed inside.

Karu had opened up his pack and was quick to pull out a stone block. A rectangular prism large enough to escape the full grasp of his hand, etched with otherworldly carvings." Can't lose you." He spoke to it. Power seemed to draw to him as he inhaled deeply. Nothing further occured and the stone was returned to his pack and placed back around his shoulders." Nothing else missing now?"

" Hehe. I pack light." Sarah tied the pouch next to her other one hanging from her waist.

" If it works for you..."

Back in the distance, Epona called out. Karu whistled for her to return to them, now that their hunt was over." It's not too far until the next city. A day's travel probably, but my friend here ate the map."

They looked on through the forest, but their sight was limited." Hopefully you'll find what you want there. Until then, we've got plenty of time to talk."