[Moofius]

Once she'd cleared a large enough area she started to build her fire.  Building an actual pit would have been better, but by the looks of the suns position and the chill that was seeping in she didn't have time for that. Rocks from the river (pants rolled up high.  She wouldn't do that in public but then she was just working now.  Whatever the snake thought, or even saw, was not something that concerned her) were placed in a circle, still leaving some of the cleared area out of the circle for the stray sparks to land harmlessly.  One rock, especially picked, was flat and pushed a bit further into the circle.  This would be her frying pan of sorts.

But to cook the fish she needed fire.  She sent Led out to get bigger bits of wood while Moofius gathered kindling and found her lighter.  Long, dry grass went towards starter balls.  Fast burners. The gallizar returned with wood.  Some of it dry, some of it... not.  Well the gallizar didn't know how to make a fire so Moofius just kicked those logs and sticks away.
Led took offense but didn't say anything as she let her master work. Why build a fire?  The cold helped her sleep better.  To warm the night was foolish.  The earth had a natural cycle and the master was messing with that cycle.  Humans were strange creatures.

It took two tries (damn stray wind off the Tengel River) but the fire was started and turning to something healthy.  Ash smudged her face as she'd had to help the fire into life which had flared up with some ash just for her.
She got up off her stomach, coughing a little.  The smoke wasn't so bad but not perfect either.  The Tengel was rather damp so perfectly dry wood was harder to come by then she liked.  Hopefully it would calm down and become more manageable.
"If the fire tries to spread, just call for me, alright? I need to get some herbs so the food is good!"

Moofius had always liked cooking.  It seemed all of the Chaos back home had no hope of being passably good cooks.  They were always adding to much of a spice and they never seemed to notice when they burnt the food.  No the Chaos were absolutely bizarre in that respect.  So, from a fairly early age, Moofius had had to make her own food and was thus had perfected the skill.  It was really fun, really.  To make something delicious from all sorts of bits and pieces.  Some combination were bizarre to think about but the outcome...?

Her passion for cooking wasn't a secret and she loved to learn new things.  A few years back she'd been in the Tengel area and had spent a good amount of time in an old mans herb garden.  She didn't remember much from that but two herbs she remembered well.  Very specific leaves.  She wouldn't touch other spices but those two she knew well and knew how to use them, too.
It took a bit of time and the darkness was awful but she finally figured out where to find them (One was under the low lying leaves of a plant with bright red leaves, the other found among mosses).  She brought them back to the fire, sorted out twigs and plants she'd mistaken for the herb in the dark, tossing them aside.
"Going to have to be a bit skimpy..." she murmurred to herself.  That was a shame but they'd started late and she was hungry now.

She ripped up the herbs as finely as she could trying to spread them out evenly on the inside of the raw fish before laying them on the flat rock.  The fish sizzled happily, the noise rising to a din as the last fish that could fit was placed on the rock.
She got herself a good poking stick so she could flip the fish over and check to see if they were done along with a long, thin stick that she sharpened the end of.

Another fish was deboned chopped up into cubes and skewered along with the mushrooms she'd food.  The stick was stuck into the ground, the fish and mushrooms cooking over the fire.
"Ugh... Led, I wish you were more helpful," The gallizar hissed and clicked in protest.

"Yah! Well... It's cooking, anyway!" She wished the snake was more helpful... But then she hated people helping her cook, anyway.  So in all reality she would have shooed him away even if he did ask to help.

She still needed to build a shelter of some sort.  The Tengel was prone to sudden, violent, rainstorms being a rainforest and all.
"Damn it..."

(( FEAR! For Moofius is cooking! XD;; Enjoy the post? P= ))

[Moofius]

Moofius sighed.  Too bad Led hadn't been trained for more then fighting and a fast mode of transportation.
"Yah, it's not Led's fault though... But thanks," Ugh, thanking him again.  That was a trying process in itself and he was hard to be around.  Damn it she hated big snakes.  Small snakes she could handle but... Ugh...
Subconciously she scooted away from him, wanting to keep her distance.

"Oh, er... Well the Tengel is... a rainforest so... I'm worried it might start to rain which would in turn soak me and put out our fire.  I might get sick and, if not taken care of die,"
Okay so it was drastic but she was kind of annoyed at the moment because she had to make sure the fish didn't burn.
"Ah... Well I don't know if you can cook and I don't really want to chance it right now," Being brutally honest was what she did best, "but I still need a safe spot for me to sleep tonight.  Preferably close to the fire.  If you'd be willing to maybe work on that I'd be... grateful,"
She'd suck up her snarky comments and dislike of huge snakes long enough to get a shelter out of him.  It was hard, though, but her survival came first.

[Moofius]

Whenever Slithian returned Moofius' ears followed him around as she cooked and Led didn't bother to stealth watch him, her head swiveling around this way and that as he worked.  Sometimes she would hiss or click at him but Moofius smacked her on the nose and she'd calm down again.  She could tell Moofius didn't like him much and thus shared the sentiments.

As for Moofius she was getting use to the sound he made and the way he moved and that he wasn't trying to kill her... At least right now he wasn't.  She was still useful to him so he had no reason to kill her which meant she had no reason to be scared right now.
Still she was wary.  Moofius couldn't help it I mean Chaos outside the family were not to be trusted and... It was just... scary...  Think had conditioned her whether she realized it or not.
She flipped the fish over, really checking it to make sure it was cooked all the way through.  Course Slithian could eat raw fish (that's what he was use to) this was more for a chefs pride.  Limited tools were no excuse for burned or under cooked fish.  It looked good. She flipped the fish off the hot rock onto another leaf, one after the other.  Led chirped and clicked, looking hopeful.
"No Led, these are Slithians," Moofius said not even looking up at the gallizar as she the last, smaller fish onto a different leaf for herself.

Led drooped a little but didn't complain further, turning her attention to Slithian again.  A quick check on her skewered fish and mushrooms and Moofius snapped the stick and set that down on her leaf aswell.  Well her dinner and Slithians was done and there was a fire.
"Alright, you can stop ... now... Hey, Slithian, that's not half bad,"
Her attention had been on dinner and even though she'd been listening to Slithian move about she didn't look over much at him.  The little shelter was kinda' awkward but for a first time it wasn't half bad.  The way he had to move things around though?  That was just funny and explained some of the awkward angles.
"Thanks for helping.  But you should stop before the fish gets cold,"

[Moofius]

Moofius sat by the fire and ate her dinner of fish and mushrooms.  It wasn't too bad considering what she'd had to work with.  She mushrooms and the skewer in general were over cooked a little but that's how she liked her mushrooms because, well, mushrooms were gross!
Having nothing better to do while she ate she watched Slithian eat.  It was weird to be around an extremely large lizard that wasn't a Chaos by any means.  Weirder still to be sitting with a giant serpent instead of running from one.  But Slithian wasn't Think; he may not have been godly good and righteous but he was nothing compared to Think.  She'd have to learn to stop being scared of Slithian; at least not as scared as she was right now.

The dinner itself passed without a real conversation, though Slithian finished faster then she did.  Moofius knew herself too well to eat quickly; hiccups were a pain.
"The plan is to rest, then follow the river.  Against the current," she said, pointing in the direction she had been headed originally.
"If we keep right up against the river I think it will be easier to find the library.  It's hard to miss, at least that's what Hanone said.  I'm sure we'll find it by tomorrow.  Depending on what time we'll get to the library we'll either set up camp or start an exploration."

That was her plan.  She wasn't sure if Slithian felt they should do something before hand or what.  She had her sword and her own fighting skills.  Hopefully that would be all she needed along with a bit of luck.
"I usually become aware of something unwelcome when it gets close to me.  Thank you for the concern," a quick, try to attack me at night and I WILL know about it, message.  She trusted him minimally.  For the most part she didn't trust him; the girl hoped that this fine line of trust and mistrust was something healthy and not something that leaned to far to either side.

With all of that cleared up Moofius started disposing of most of the lesser tools. The leaves used for cooking went down stream so as not to attract unwelcome predators, the skewer jumped into the fire along with many other wooden tools. All of that taken care of the cow anthro slipped into the shelter.  She tested the sides and felt that the structure, though a little unorthodox, was secure.  The gallizar joined Moofius under the shelter, coiling around the girl and clicking softly.
Three taps on the gallizar's neck meant that the creature should stay awake three hours, then wake Moofius and she would take a shift.
With that settled the girl curled up, the scales a comfort that allowed her to fall asleep without a worry.  Led may not have been as warm as her father but the texture was enough to put her out like a light.

The light of the dying campfire danced, the light reflecting off the gallizar's eyes as she scanned the area for any predators... or any surprise attack/visits from the enormous serpent in the trees above them.

[Moofius]

Led, though not overly intelligent, had a built in inner clock.  Three hours after Moofius had fallen asleep Led roughly nudged the girl.  She awoke, looking startled and tired.  Wiping the drool from her mouth the girl sat up and shifted away from Led.  The gallizar yawned and stretched, curling in on herself quickly falling asleep.  Led squirmed and wriggled until she felt comfortable, clawing at the ground a little before settling in.

Now awake Moofius scooted a little ways out from under the shelter, towards the fire to get warm.  Her ears were already searching for Slithian in the tree tops above.  Good, good, there he was.  Now that Slithian was firmly located and the area around the camp (she scanned the surroundings quickly) was safe; all was well.
She had three hours before she would be allowed to sleep.  With a soft sigh Moofius popped at the fire, bringing forth a wave of warmth.

With the silence of night and nothing to do came thoughts she didn't want to have, past memories she didn't really want to remember in this current company.  Led was iffy just because she had to remain the dominant in the relationship and didn't need to show any weakness.  As for Slithian that was just not an option.  She really wished Alice was still around... Alice was somebody she could just... She was herself with Alice (and Mooflea, princess of Glassphere when they'd played).

After another moment of two of deafening silence besides the crackle of the fire and some far off creature calling out a lonely cry.  Moofius would have replied but... Slithian, Led...
She dug around in her pocket, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper.  It was folded up small and it looked old.  One corner was dark instead of light.  Was that... Was that blood?
Moofius didn't seem to notice, she just opened the piece of paper and looked it over.  It was too dark to really see what was on the piece of paper unless you were the one holding it, looking at it.  But, maybe if you squinted close you'd see... a map?

(( Dun dun dun.... ))

[Moofius]

Moofius heard him as he hit the ground, looking over towards him, her ears twitched nervously and her hand lingered by her sword. But the snake approached cautiously and Moofius relaxed a little watching as he settled. Her usually silver/grey eyes were now reflecting a sort of red colour.  It could be blamed on the fire light but... It seemed there was something lurking just under the surface.

"To chat?" he seemed to stumble over his words, like the idea of chatting was something he'd never done.  Maybe he hadn't as his master of sorts sounded peculiar at best.
"Well... Ah...." she looked down at the piece of paper in her hands, "When you were younger... Did you ever... Play?  Any games that you can think of?"

It seemed unlikely but, well, you never know.
"What do you do for fun?" her attention flipped between Slithian and the sheet of paper.  She rarely if ever spoke about herself.  Her past was her past and a secret at that.  She didn't talk about it willy-nilly.  But she could hint around some things, lie about some things...

[Moofius]

Admittedly, yes, the story was pathetic but in all actuality her story wasn't much better.  She first saw other "children" at the age of six.  She'd taken to them rather well, Nose said.  That's when she'd made her first friend, Alice.  Her first friend at the age of six!  But maybe that was normal.
Because of this, fairly similar story she could not bring herself to laugh at him, or make fun of him.

"Mmm.... I'm an... Only child and I was... kept at home, mostly," she'd never found it boring when she was growing up.  "Home" was bigger then most peoples, a huge castle and she hadn't been confined to any one room.  Moofius had the right to every room in the castle besides private living quarters and, for the most part, she was welcome to be there when the occupants were there.  Everyone seemed to know her, there.
"I was a big fan of puzzles... I had a friend though, for a few years... We would play all sorts of games.  We'd play make-believe it was... It was really fun.  I wish adults played make believe more often... Silly as it sounds," she laughed, now feeling lame herself.  It was fun to pretend to be something you're not.  Right now she was pretending, it was a fun game of "lets pretend to be human".  She was rather good at it, for the most part.  Some things still confused her a little but she would adjust; she would learn.

The fire crackled as the two enjoyed a thoughtful, or perhaps it was an awkward, silence.  Moofius was comfortable with it, for awhile anyway.  After a time it was annoying.
"So this is your first time away from that treasure?"

[Moofius]

She smiled, "Adults are just children with bigger toys, really.... You want more treasure, right?" she pursed her lips thinking.
"Well... Maybe you're slightly," she put a bit of emphasis, wanting to be clear that she knew he was no... whatever she was about to say, "bored of your treasure.  You want more, right?  Maybe to play with, to have... It's a very child-like behavior but you hide behind being an adult and make it something else.  Maybe you're not a treasure collector or hunter..."

The girl shrugged, prodding at he fire again.
"I don't want to pretend... I have to, for now... And... Maybe I'm not... It's rather confusing..."
She couldn't help but question whether or not she was a real chaos.  She didn't have an element like the rest of her family, she couldn't jump between the human and chaos plains, she couldn't take on a larger, scalier form.  All in all she seemed rather human, and even that was iffy.  The ears, the tail, the hooves; all of it were far from human.
"I like to play games.  I like to have fun.  I've allowed my old game from when I was a child to grow ito something more; as have you,"

[Moofius]

He didn't seem to get what she meant.
"Not bored... Maybe dissatisfied, or at least interested in having more. I mean... Daemon, right?" she looked to him to make sure she had the name right.  She continued forward, "He's had you play with treasure as a child, all alone. Now you're big and obsessed with treasure and happy with what you have. Daemon tells you, 'There's more where this came from' and you want more. You have a goal. Not only do you want more treasure you need more treasure. Right? You're obsessed, you want it all," the girl shrugged, looking more... at ease. She was talking; thinking out loud. It was good.
"It's not a bad thing... or a good thing.  It's just who you are... At least, from what I've seen,"

Moofius yawned, rubbing at her eyes as he spoke.
"I look like I'm carrying a heavy burden because I am," she said rather bluntly, starring into the flickering flames.  Eating, devouring the wood it was fed.  Merciless; the flames didn't care what it was fed.  Flames devoured everything, much like the Chaos and their destructive ways.
"But there's a method to the madness..." her voice a soft whisper.

"Hmmm... I guess... Well... Slithian, you're a carpetfang, right?" she kicked her hoof towards the fire, spraying dirt into it, dousing it a little.
".... Species wise.... I don't know what I am... I mean, I'm not quite human," she laughed, trying to make the conversation light as she wiggled her ears.
"I... It's not fun... It's not fun not knowing what you are..."

Another shorter stretch of silence, "hahaha, I bet your curious now, right? It really is something I shouldn't talk about to openly... I d'unno... I'm in a very... thoughtful mood, I guess..."
Her attention shifted back to the map in her hands. She missed having real friends, friends she could keep and enjoy.

[Moofius]

Being in that thoughtful mood it was almost automatic for her to take what information she could on the carpetfangs master and file it away. She had very little information but Slithian felt his master was powerful, a force to be feared. Perhaps it was just conditioning or perhaps it was something worth looking into. So whatever she could learn was stored away in a file marked "Daemon (Name, Not Creature)" and left there until she could research him further.
A quick nod, again, when he mentioned he wasn't altered in any specific way. He'd been raised to be have an intense love of treasure.
"Everyone gets a chance, I guess... I still can't... Well I can't completely trust you..." the girl shrugged, the fire throwing her shadow in crazy directions.
It was strange for her to every really... talk with anyone outside her family. It had taken her a long time to connect with Isaku; the two having come to a mutual understanding and a want to share knowledge of one another. He'd learned about her family and she now knew about vampires; inside and out.

"It's good to be happy and set... It's good to know what you're doing,"
She herself knew what she was doing she just... didn't like it.
"I could talk... But that's dangerous for... a lot of people..." she stood up, stretched and slipped away from the fire for a moment, returning with an arm load of larger branches.  Mostly dried out.  She set them down, near the fire and put two into the fire. Greedy yellow tongues of flame lapped at the wood, darker grey smoke rising as the fire started on it's latest prey.

Moofius returned to the fire, looking quiet and... confused perhaps... undecided?  Undecided on what, now, that was yet unknown. She lowered herself to the ground, sitting close to the fire, starring into it's depths for a time.  There was a lot of thoughtful silences from her. When she did, finally, look up at Slithian her eyes were red.  Not from tears; the irises of her eyes were a blood red.  That didn't mean she wasn't upset. The light of the fire danced brilliantly in her eyes, the unshed tears catching the image more easily.
"It's just... It's really hard sometimes. I don't know if... It's... I came out here originally to th-think a-and now I'm stuck o-on that... That thr-thread of thought a-and... I'm s-s-sorry,"

She really hated to be emotional infront of others.  Her family was different but Slithian was barely a friend, she couldn't trust him.  This, this crying was a sign of weakness she really couldn't afford to show.
But, then again, she was crying now and when Moofius cried it took a lot to get her to stop.

[Moofius]

Led remained nearly comatose, twitching a little in her sleep, jaw working a little.  She was dream hunting and enjoying herself greatly, completely oblivious to the emotional display going on just a few feet from her.

To a degree Moofius was also oblivious; she didn't see too much of Slithians reaction as she was trying to stop herself from crying.  On the other side she'd caught his words loud and clear (plus his own hasty, nervous retreat, but the sound he made when moving had distanced himself from her, not brought him closer so she hadn't looked up).
"Y-Y-You did-didn't do a-anything... N-nothing wro-wrong..." she said, her voice shaking, hands working at wiping away her tears as they spoke.  It was hard because her hands were quickly made useless.  To many tears, not enough hands; this was the problem Moofius faced at the moment.  She wiped her hands on her pants, the fire doing it's part to try and rid her face of tears through forced evaporation.
Then she started to talk.  Slithian, idiot snake that he was, had said that talking helped.  Yah, well, now she was going to kind of... talk.  She wasn't sure if he was listening, to be honest she didn't care.

"I don't know what I am. I-I've lived with the Chaos forever... B-but I'm nothing like them, I don't fit.  The-the se-seraph told me... They to-told me... Th-tha-that I-I shou-should live wi-wi-with humans..,. But they s-said I wasn't hu-human... And... I don't know wha-what I am, S-Slithian, I don't know!"
Wait, what? Chaos? Seraph? What was that suppose to mean? Not human? Well, maybe not but then what could she be?  She was mostly human, right?  But her eyes... They were red... Earlier they'd been silver, try and explain that, huh? What in the world could she be talking about?

[Moofius]

Her brain, though fizzling dis functionally with her emotions, was still taking in any information of this creatures "master". He wasn't a dweller or seraph or a god, then. Something else entirely, some other, darker, creature. Well that was fine, a more interesting, different, enemy... or potential usable ally. It really would depend but... She wasn't working, damn it! Maybe she would tell Nose next time she spoke to him.

Right, back to a mini mental break down.

She giggled. She couldn't help it. She'd always, personally, found carpetfangs to look weird and... mis-matched. Fur on a snake? Weird, weird world. Though there were a lot of weird things carpetfangs had stood out for her. She hadn't said anything, having grown use to them; but to have Slithian bring it up so blatantly..? The cow anthro could honestly not help herself. Besides, tears and emotions that were powerful made sadness an easy transition to happy (or hysterical).
"Hahaha... A-ha... B-but you ah-are a-a spec-cies. I'm not hu-human,"

Led snapped, growled and rolled over onto her back, looking too much like a puppy who wanted a tummy rub.

(( Sorry! It's so short. Dx;; ))

[Moofius]

She shook her head, trying to calm herself down, "Chaos... Not a pl-place... Species..." She was tired of being weak like this in front of Slithian. She hated being weak in front of loved ones, for crying out loud. No, she would have to stop crying now even if it killed her inside. She'd just wanted to think and cry and then Slithian showed up... Damn reptiles had the very worst timing.
She forced herself to stand, brushing the dirt off her pants. Daemon not human, think about that. Let your mind chew on that for a bit, Moofius, that's right. Be someplace else, think other things.

She needed to be up to keep watch, she wasn't going to allow herself to be lulled into a false sense of security. Not when he'd seen her being weak.
"My shift is up, anyway," she muttered, her voice still wavering with unshed tears. What an awful sound; at least it was too Moofius. It was the sound of weakness. Trudging back to the shelter she gently nudged Led with her hoof, the gallizar waking up sharply, snapping her jaws like a person would smack their lips.
"Your shift," Moofius said quietly, Led perking up at the sound in the girls voice. The reptiles attention turned to Slithian, the strange protrusions on her neck raising and falling unhappily or maybe more questioningly? 'What did you do? Is she alright? What did I miss?' being the just of what she would ask had she the ability to speak.

All of what happened between Led and Slithian didn't matter to her, not really. She was already curled up against Leds side, sleeping soundly as she dreamed of being back home with her family; her true home in the Original Thought Castle with Nose and Ioma.

(( If you'd like you can blerb a bit about the night and then jump right into tomorrow morning? Up to you. Or jump to where ever the next day. Up to you though. ))

[Moofius]

The sun light brought a relieved sigh to Moofius. She'd had bad, bad dreams last night. She'd been starring into Leds rising and falling side for at least an hour now. She missed her daddy and her family. But... Think... She couldn't go back to Think.

Oh, right, no more weakness and emu feelings. She had to be tough, bad ass. Last night hadn't happened as far as she was concerned (besides what information she'd gathered on Slithian. THAT had happened.). Uncurling from her position against Led she noticed the soreness of her muscles. She should be more use to this "sleeping outside" thing, considering how long she'd been traveling around.
Led took this as a sign that she could stand. She stretched out and hissed, clicking her teeth together. Ugh, being a bed for Moofius sucked eggs, especially when she had those bad dreams. When Slithian had been sleeping Moofius had almost killed the gallizar.

The cow anthro followed Led in her stretching, getting dirt on herself but, ugh, she was just so tired! After a good minute or two of stretching she stood up, legs shaking. She'd be alright soon.
"Breakfast first. I'm not cooking. It's a 'fend-for-yourself' breakfast, okay?" she said, pulling out the food she'd packed for herself. Was that beef jerky? A cow eating beef jerky. Quick, grab your camera and snap some photos. Kodak moment.

"Led? Go... hunt or something," Moofius said, dismissing the over sized lizard. Yes! Dismissal! Led made that strange clicking sound in her throat, nodding her head on her long neck and then running off into the deeper pats of the Tengel.

Moofius watched, listening as the crashing of the under brush dimmed and then disappeared.
"...Slithian?"

(( Ew, sorry. Dx Not rereading. Dx ))

[Moofius]

Okay, so maybe she should have let him get his breakfast first but... Well this would be quick.

"Last night? ... Didn't happen," One hand on her hip, lips pursed; yah, she was back to her usual smart mouthed, sarcastic, easily pissed self. Which was what Slithian had been hoping for last night, right? Well, maybe he would learn to regret that wish. Careful what you wish for, right?

She stood there for a moment just... watching him. Right, well, message carried on.
"That's all. Once Led gets back we can go," she turned away to let him get his breakfast. Wait, was she trusting him not to attack her with her back turned? Maybe she didn't want the weakness she'd shown remembered but... Well, maybe things would be less tense between the two. At least a little bit.

Sitting in the comfort of the makeshift shelter Moofius went about thinking and plotting their course. She'd never been there personally, so it might be harder to find. If they just followed the river, up stream, they would find it... probably. She had her sword so there was no reason for her to worry about the moonlings. At least... not too much.

Meanwhile Led was running about the woods, hunting. She was a bright swash of red, white and black in the woods. Maybe she wouldn't blend in well, but her speed was enough for her.