She wouldn’t really. She had only been walking a few moments, and as long as she continued in a straight line, she would be able to find her way around the thicket.
Or, no, that wasn’t it. It would be a curved line, hugging the edge of the thicket.
Bianca frowned, glancing around. No, she had lost the edge of the thicket too.
Oh no.
It was so dark. If only she’d thought to bring a torch and flint earlier. She turned around in circles frantically, looking for any bit of campfire light to peek through the treeline. It was dark in every direction. She could barely see her hand before her.
Worst came to worst, perhaps she could curl up in a tree for the night if she had to, and find her camp in the morning.Though that heavily depended on whether she could actually climb a tree.
She turned around again, hoping she was headed back where she came from. She kicked through the undergrowth, trampling one plant after another as she made her way forward. Finally the first glimpse of a flickering light caught her eye in the distance, and she hurried towards it.
Normally the Hyphae circled their camp in fallow fields barely off the main road when there were no nearby towns to find a bed at. There was no such open space here. When she’d last seen it, trees stood even in the middle of the camp, and to fit the circle some caravans were awkwardly placed almost flushed against trees and rocky outcrops, some angled drastically against the tumultuous landscape.
Her relief was short lived, however, as she drew nearer and realized the light was from a single campfire tucked against the underside of a small cliff.
Bianca stopped short, hiding partially behind a tree as she looked on.
The orc from before.
Finally she let herself exhale, just a bit. There was a fallen log he had made his seat at as he turned a skewered giant rat over the fire. The rat looked almost normal sized next to him.
His cowl was pulled back, revealing the little tuft of tied back hair, the shaved sides of his head, the pointed green ears, little tears and piercings decorating the edges.
The fire crackled and popped. Every few seconds a bit of fat melted from the blistering rat and dripped, sizzling onto the fire. It was making her stomach grumble just looking at it, and she’d never liked eating charred rats.
He looked up from the skewered rat when she approached. He said nothing, but regarded her cautiously. Of course.
“Thank you for…earlier. And sorry for um, any inconvenience right now,” she whispered, eyes downcast to the fire. She went ahead and sat down on the fallen log next to him.
His frown deepened. He didn’t say anything, just grunted. “Hm.”
Bianca swallowed to get her fear under control. She needed to show a brave front. “Scared me half to death with that silent act of yours. Coulda let me know we were allies.”
“We’re not,” he said quietly, and Bianca suddenly felt that she was far too close to him for comfort.
She pleaded with her eyes silently, hoping that whatever reasons he had spared her in the woods would also preserve her now. Maybe halflings were more trouble than they were worth to orcs. She didn't really know, being only a traveler through these parts.
“W-we could be allies,” she stuttered, trying to think desperately for anything. “What’s your name?”
He was quiet several long moments, to the point she did not think he would deign to answer her further. At last he sighed and nudged the campfire with the tip of his boot, rolling a log deeper into the flames. “Tanis, son of Dhane the Bloodthirsty, son of Dhullen the Unwise, kin of Garac the Bonecrusher, daughter of Res—”
“Bianca,” she interrupted him before he could trace his entire lineage and their exploits. She was half afraid he would list someone in his ancestry named ‘Halfing-Eater’.
After a long moment of staring, he prompted her, “…Kin of?”
“Just, um, Bianca Chanterelle,” she shrugged. She could try to name her parents to him but it wasn’t like he would know who a couple of random Halflings were.
Tanis lifted one quizzical, near judgmental eyebrow. Oh, so the weirdos that don’t do second names at all will judge her fora perfectly common Halfling name? She wasn’t about to let that pass.
She dug through her basket until she found the particular orange floret she was looking for.
“Chanterelle,” she said, waving the mushroom that shared her name.
Tanis’ eyes followed her hand as she waved it. She tore the chanterelle in half and offered one to him, biting into her piece.
He took it, and tried a nibble. She watched as he contemplated it, then added it to the long thin skewer with the singed rat.
