[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus made his way out of the City, following the path he thought they had taken when they arrived. Very few people were out at this time, and he wished he had some way of disguising what he was carrying. He felt paranoid, watching over his shoulder for anyone who was looking his way, but what few people there were deemed to pay him no mind.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The rainforest was little more than a day's travel away, but Cassus felt the loneliness in every step, as he got further and further away from all that he held dear. It seemed like his solitary life was a dream, a different time in a different place, and he found it difficult to imagine how he would have gone on alone if Borealis hadn't stumbled into his life.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As he reached the little town with the inn where they had stayed, he found himself being stared at by the innkeeper, and he hastened on not wishing to linger under the hateful stare. He supposed part of it was that he was seen alone and was clearly travelling without his companion who, last they had seen of her, had been heavily pregnant.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

His thought turned over the innkeeper's scowl in his head; in truth, he would not care if they though badly of him, but he could not bear the thought of them thinking ill of his mate. She had been so sad when he left, so resigned but so lost, he had hardly been able to tear himself away.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He closed his eyes for a moment and forced himself to take deep breaths,  pushing thoughts of his mate and their pups out of his mind. It dawned on him then, that he had become very used to companionship and would need to be much more alert, as for the first time in a long while neither Borealis nor Ebele were there.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He squared his shoulders, and forced himself to keep walking, feeling the cobblestones underfoot give way to plain dirt roads.

The sun was high in the sky when he reached the outskirts of the rainforest, and as he entered the shaded undergrowth he was embraced by the familiar sounds of the creatures who hid in the canopy.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He paused beside a fallen tree, little more than a stump, and listened carefully, only relaxing when the noise of the rainforest continued undisturbed. Carefully, he seated himself on the stump and pulled out the rations he had packed, just enough to cover him for that afternoon and the next morning, and the waterskin which he hoped to refill.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Refreshed, he began to search for his ingredients, using the small knife he had brought with him to cut them small enough to fit into his jars. I'm truth, he did not think he would have enough jars for a full re-supply, but he hoped what he had brought with him would tide them over until he could do a full run, hopefully with Ebele and the cart.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He worked diligently, until the shadows lengthened and he realised the light was fading. He made camp for the night in an old hollow tree, gathering leaves to make a bedding pile and missing his warm bed at home with Borealis and the pups.

He dreamed of them that night, of being welcomed home, and when he awoke the next morning alone his eyes were wet.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He ate a light breakfast, leaving the majority of his rations for the afternoon - his gathering efforts were not proving quite as abundant as he had hoped they would, And he knew he would need to travel deeper into the rainforest to gather the rarer ingredients if he wanted to avoid having to return for as long as possible.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As he ventured deeper, the light grew dimmer and the sounds around him deepened in intensity. This was a realm of danger and predators could be heard high above earning their meals, the screeches of their prey carrying for miles across the canopy. Cassus was careful to avoid being too loud, and kept his ears and eyes open as he hunted for the plants he sought.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Here, he had better luck, finding a selection of shroomcaps which would go for a decent price, and a rare moss which glowed in the dark that could be used for pain relief. His bags were beginning to weigh him down, though they were not yet half-full, and his waterskin held less than a quarter of its capacity in water.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He was relieved when he found a small spring bubbling out of the ground, which seemed to feed a nearby pond. He drank what was left in his waterskin and refilled it, taking care to catch only the water which rose above the ground so as to avoid any contaminants which may be in the rest.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The day wore on, and by nightfall Cassus was very pleased - the jars were almost full, and the space between them was packed full of various grasses which he had braided into bundles, ready to be dried, ground up and sold. He was tired, and hungry, and starting to feel very dirty, no longer used to going without bathing for more than a day.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As he settled down that night in the low branches of a large tree, he held the hope in his heart that one more day would be enough for him to return to his family and the home they had found. He shivered in the dampness which only the rainforest could cause, and tried to sleep, alert nonetheless to all of the sounds around him.