[Cookie]

My lucky scarf ✓
Bread ✓
Water ✓
Cloths ✓

Looking over the list as she stalked around, placing items in her bag and trying not to wake the others. It was time to get away from this place and make her own clan, with her own rules and her own people. The young girl had no idea where to even start, but she was going to do it.

"And what do we have here?" a soft, weak voice came from the dark corners of the room. Almost dropping her bag, Val paused for a minute and squinted to make out the figure. "If you are thinking of running off..." This time she recognized the voice, and the figure moved out of the dark shadows of the room.

With a sigh, Val stuffed more bread into her bag. "Grandfather, you know I don't want to stay here. With all the fighting and bickering..."

"I was only going to say that you might want to pack more than that." The old man chuckled quietly, patting his granddaughter on the head. "Its about daybreak, you might want to get going."

Nodding quietly, she gave the old man one last hug and a kiss on the cheek goodbye. Scurrying out of the room and one of the many pathways that lead into the nearby woods, Val started her journey.

[Pio]

Leather rope ✓
Rolls of dried herbs ✓
Small pot ✓
bread, cheese, and dried meat ✓
Soap bar  ✓
That knife... where...

Now where did her knife go? She just recently used it. Getting up off of her old cot, it fell right off of her lap. running away as it nearly chased after her on the sandy rug, Anica sighed, "voilà." After she picked up the sharp thing and cleaned the sand off of its oiled blade, she sat back down to finish packing her things.

"Mama!" a little girl's voice cried as the curtain to Anica's tent moved slightly and she could hear her youngest sister run off to tell their mother what she just caught Anica doing. The young french girl rolled her eyes, she knew her fib well before she started packing. Well, she was ready to go. Right as her frowning mother silently pulled the tent's curtain open.

She just stood there, with that deep set frown, looking down at her daughter."Your sister says you are throwing your knife and running from it like a game. Your father did not sharpen it for such athing. You will give it to me." Her mother just frowned and held her hand out. Anica  tried to protest but gave her mother the knife with a growl to her litter sister who was peeking from behind her mother's side. "And where are you going so early in the morning? The sun isn't even awake yet." her mother asked with out seeming to care as she wrapped the knife with a rag. Children were often up before the sun, look at her youngest daughter, tattling to her mama in the dark of night.

"Out for sage from the cliff side, I'm running low." she replied. That was her fib. She purposely threw out her sage the night before.

"Make sure your lantern is out before you go, and be sure to pack your furs and some silver." her mother said as she scanned Anica's appearance and sneakily handed her back her knife as she turned away saying, "come along Jebella."

After she grabbed her winter furs and two silver pieces, Anica knew her mother didn't except her to come back. And leaving the camp, she could hear the ranting of some of the families that were either still awake or just waking up for the day, all on the same topic. The brother clan. No one called it that any more. They just hated them. Not to say the Brother clan didn't feel the same way, but it drove her crazy!  So this was good bye. Really this time. She wasn't going to be back after a camp in the woods again. She was leaving.

[Cookie]

Val made her way through the woods with her pack, navigating through it better than most would. The young girl had many adventures in this woods with the other children, and would always see how far she could wander off. Uncertain of where she wanted to go, she picked a direction and stuck with it. She was far from quiet though in the woods, the bells in her hair jingling and her footsteps letting everything near know exactly where she was. Val was a great explorer, but she was the worst at remaining unseen and unheard.

As daybreak neared and the sun peeked its head through the trees, Val yawned and set down her pack to rest on a rotten log. She remembered the loaf of bread she had brought along and opened her pack, breaking off a small bit of it and chewing on it slowly. Eventually she would need to make it to one of the local markets to get more food and supplies for a longer journey, but she was content here in the woods for right now.

Not too much later she gathered her things back up and moved on, heading in the direction she believed the nearest market was. While she wasn't entirely sure if it was this way, or the opposite way, she headed towards the rising sun.

[Pio]

The cliff was a long walk down the beach line, but Anica decided against saying good bye to the ocean just yet. They would meet again. The early morning was always the coldest part of the night and she could feel its bite on her fingers. Pulling her fur shawl out of it's folded place, she swung it over her shoulders. Anica couldn't help wondering how long she would be alone. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy some quiet but she was never alone for more than a day or two with how bustling and nosey her family and clan was. Her shawl smelled of warm lilac, mostly because that's what it was tucked next to for travel. Anica loved the sense of smell, more than any other sense. Sometimes more than common sense as her mother would sometimes say.

Soon the ground began to become rockier and more sturdy as she began to enter the forest area. This thin treed forest was the only thing that separated the clans. It was always rather odd to her that the Brothering Clan always insisted to travel parallel to her Clan. Then again, maybe her clan was just as much at fault. It once served as protection if one clan might befall trouble, but now it was like the clans did it to annoy one another and ruin their trades. Some night birds were sleepily chirping as bats silently dove about the still forest. There was a strange darkness just before sun up, the sort that makes shadows hold their breath just before they jump out as far as they can reach.

A loud crack suddenly jolted the silence from a ways into the forest. Anica could hear bird's wings fluttering in surprise before settling, then the forest fell silent again. She told herself the trees were just waking up and cracking their backs but something in her was making her touch the knife she tucked under her belt. Standing there, she listened as close as she could. No crickets, not peeping birds, it was like the whole forest was listening too. Then bats came back to dive for bugs  and a couple peeps replied to one-another which put her at ease and she started walking again, silent as still air, she worked her way deeper into the woods.

[Cookie]

Val's once sturdy pace became more hesitant as she traveled further and further through the woods, taking quick looks behind her and stopping to listen if anyone else was there more often than she had before. The thought of getting lost was one that pained her, but the thought of someone she didn't know finding her was even greater. 'Maybe I should have stayed home,' she thought warily.

The many stories of creatures that lived in the forest ran through her head, but she knew they were just tales told by the fire at night. Pops would tell stories of wild men who lived in the forest and ate the flesh of children, and demon dogs that could smell you from a mile away.Telling herself that made her feel slightly better, and she continued on following the rising sun.

Just when she thought she had gathered he composition again, a loud crack panged through the forest and her heartbeat began to race. Crouching down out of fear, she waited and watched silently. Squirrels and birds took off in different direction from the loud sound that must have scared them as much as it had her. "I-is anyone there?"

Maybe letting herself known wasn't the best idea...

[Pio]

Anica's ear twitched, did she just hear a voice? If there was people out in the forest she didn't want to deal with them. If she could avoid strangers or worse, relatives, until she was out of the territory then she would do her best to. Picking up her pace. it slowly dawned on her that she wasn't sure where the voice was coming from. What if she was walking straight for them?Paranoia started getting to her and she decided it would be best to just sit down and clear her head.

Picking the base of a tree, she untied her scarf bag and pulled out a wrapped chunk of bread and soon followed the meat and cheese. She was doing her best not to eat all of it, but her nerves had the best of her. Some time passed before Anica finally started to put her rations and fur shawl back in the bag to begin on her way agin when an unexpected harsh, hollow breathing caught her ears. Her heart began to pound, it was coming from the other side of the tree and judging from the musky thick scent wafting from the breather, and the heavy sound of its movements... There was a bear behind the tree Anica was sitting against.

Frozen, the young gypsy wasn't sure if she wanted to see how close she was to death. In fact, she was considering keeping her eyes closed, but a thought then grabbed her, the food. Shuffling quickly through her bag, she produced the wrapped up cheese, did bears like cheese? Sure they did, they ate it when ever they snuck into the camps, but she wasn't sure if it was enough. A shadow apeared to her right, growing taller with the dawning sun. Shoot! Was she discovered? No, the sniffing was still investigating the area behind the tree.

"O! for the love of the saints." she mutely whispered as she just pulled out all of her food. She stood up, and threw the food behind the tree and then blindly threw her large lump of meat as far as she could beyond the tree. The bear let out a deep growl as the cheese pelted its side before a dismissing or hopefully, a pleased grunt told her it was safe to run for her life. The built up anxiety of the situation slowly lulled into a full on shriek of terror as her legs carried her into a full sprint, "OOOUUURSS!!!" this meaning "bear" in French.
If she was concerned about getting past the forest, maybe now her chances were improved.

Little did she expect the encounter she was running straight for.