Ares woke up with the same feeling of embarrassment from the night before. He woke up to take an extra shift in order to dwell on his thoughts. He looked out to see that the world was dead and still. The darkness kept him company, though soon he bid it away by lighting the start of the campfire for breakfast. Then the flickering embers painted the walls with their yellow and orange, his armour was licked by such colours as well. Ares stared in those embers deep in thought about everything. He hadn’t been able to think like this for some time, there were a great many worries that had plagued him, and though he still have a great many worries that continued to plague him, they were less immediate. Ezak hiccuped and then awoke, taking Ares away from his thoughts. Ares turned back to look at the youngsters who hopped onto his feet, squat a few times and then grabbed onto his bident and thrust it upwards, forwards, then behind him before he planted it into the ground and marched over to the pot that was currently warming up. “Good morning,” Ares whispered as quietly as he could. “The sun will be coming soon, let us welcome it together,” Ezak said in response. Ares nodded and then looked out to the first rays of dawn as they swallowed over the camp, soon bringing it’s warm light across the plains. “We will eat well this morning,” Ares said raising a finger and summoning a mass of meat. Ezak smiled and then pulled out his herbal pouch as well as some salt, covering the meat in it. He also sprinkled a little of the chili flakes and allowed it to soak into the meat before he looked to Ares. “Can we use the slate?” he asked innocently. Ares smiled. The Elegant Eight then were welcomed by the delicious smell of drake meat that soon wafted over to the buffalofolk village. “Uwa!” exclaimed Uta as he awoke, staring at the others who had awoken with his exclamation. “It is time to eat!” The others threw him queer looks, but Ares just laughed as Uta sat down and waited patiently, his hands on his knees as he sat cross legged, eager to eat. Ares went off to workout as everyone was ready, doing just a light routine. He returned sweaty and warm. “Can we use the lake to bathe?” Ares asked. “We may, for the water was blessed to be as clean and clear as it was when it was first gifted.” “Cool,” Ares said as he ate the first slab of meat that was about the size of his forearm. He tore into the seared meat which began to fight back with it’s toughness, though it was soon a pile of delicious mush before he swallowed. The others ate in peace too, though Ares gave a quick look to Orndu. Orndu seemed fine enough, it seemed as though the sleep had taken away the stress that he had accumulated the day before with his feral form. “Are you feeling alright?” Ares asked. Orndu nodded with a bow. “I am well, Ares-kin.” Ares nodded and then continued to eat before he made his way to the buffalofolk village. Lailina met him there. “Morning, I was just coming to ask whether or not I could use the lake.” Lailina bowed her head. “You may, we will be taking some water from it soon and bathing as well, then we will make our way to Rivea.” “I wish you the best of luck,” Ares said as he shook her forearm. She tapped her horns with the sides of her fists and she was off. Ares dove into the water and swam inside it before he emerged once more. The water tingled through his entire form as he smiled. Rivee was about. “It’s good to feel you again,” Ares said with a chuckle. “How is everything there?” The water the water caressed around his body meant it was going well. Then after a small while the water around him shifted and rocked him. He could feel some of the water falling across his wound and Ares reached down to brush along it. It did not pain him, but the dull ache was constant, as though there was a light head ache that followed him about his day. “What?” Ares asked. The water repeated the movement, rocking him and then splashing against his wound before the pair pulsed against one another. Ares winced. “Are you telling me I need to work on healing the wound?” The water continued to move and sway gently as Ares looked down at the wound that had yet to heal. He really did need to deal with it, he had put it off for too long, but he was sure Lana would never give him the end of it if he delayed his trip for so long. He would need to sort all of this out, and then of course there was Rivea. Rivea was still fairly precarious, as much as he wanted to think otherwise, he’d need to be far more careful. Plus Rivea was going to swell with all the new foreigners that were coming, those that wouldn’t understand Rivea. The Reptai were large enough to be a threat, but Rivea was fortified to the point they should be doing fine and Ares had left enough for the Reptai to be fine with in terms of their pay. He should probably return sooner than later, but he really did want to continue to explore. He was torn between both sides. He wanted to do so much more for Rivea, to be there and to watch it grow, but he also wanted it to flourish without much of his touch, he needed it to be independent. It needed to be strong and grow without much more input from him as it become too dependent on his touch and then it would crumble without him. Perhaps he should fake his death? Ares shook his head. The thought of that was too much for him, he felt a deeper pain within his heart when he thought of such a thing. What would happen to Lana? His children? No, he wouldn’t think of such nonsense. Rivea needed him for now, but one day it will be able to grow without his touch, and that was when he would be able to retire in peace, to set a precedent of not ruling for like as George Washington had done for America. Ares wondered what other precedents he would need to set and codify. A Rivea Constitution would need to be drafted sooner or later, that which would be clear and concise, but also would allow no arguments upon the meaning and the intentions behind the words. He would do what the self-proclaimed world’s greatest country could never do, though he did wonder if perhaps he needed to spread the democracy elements a little further. Was he too authoritarian? Perhaps. He would need to be cognisant of such a thing. Ares sighed as the water splashed across his body and he smiled. “Sorry Rivee, I’ll pay attention to you,” Ares laughed and then he began to splash the water around. “Is all well over there? Rivea is doing pretty good right now, but what about you? Are you feeling lonesome without me?” The water began to sway around him and Ares nodded, understanding the intention behind the movement. Rivee was not lonely because Ares was using his powers enough and there was a connection between them in such a manner. Ares then dipped out of the lake when the rhinofolk began to appear, waving at them and then wishing them a good journey as he returned to the Elegant Eight. “Wash up and get ready, we will be making great haste onward.” “You seem so eager,” Torak replied with a smile. “I am! Let’s get onward and try to get some more buffalofolk to join us, if they don’t want to, we’ll just head back to the boarfolk and convince them to.” Ares wondered about the pair of rhinofolk children he had found, he was hoping they were fine with Heria and Saykkera who had returned with them back to Rivea. With that the group began to pack up. Ares made sure they took a dip in the lake because the connection with Rivee seemed to be quite special and he wanted them to be reminded of Rivea, at least some of them as others weren’t quite so familiar. “The water was similar to that of Rivea,” Torak mentioned. Ares nodded. “They are almost one in the same,” he said. “Not quite the same though.” “I agree,” Ares said with a large smile on his face. With that the group began to trek further onward, Ares didn’t want to say another goodbye to Boranran, but also he wanted to foster the sense of urgency within his own group. So they marched through the beautiful bronze plains, with the sun especially harsh around them as they continued. No longer was there a body of water nearby that could cool them down, the area became much more arid and the heat fell across them heavier. Again he wore his styled scarf around his head to stop the heat from abusing his body, though his armour was beginning to grow uncomfortable so he shifted it away from his body, leaving bits and pieces around himself just so he felt like he was still protected. Ares wondered if whether or not the armour did actually do anything. His regeneration was quite powerful, wouldn’t it be good enough? He wondered if perhaps his armour was reducing the effectiveness of his regeneration, for the more he was hurt during a day, after a rest he became so much more powerful. He wondered if perhaps he should stop wearing armour entirely whilst he was in relative safety in order to train and then use armour alter on in order to stop himself from dying when he was in battle. His thoughts were pushed away as he looked deep off into the distance as he saw something. It was as small as an ant, and yet Ares could see it as clear as day. “There’s something up ahead!” Ares exclaimed as he motioned with a hand and then he began to march the group towards the area where Ares had pointed to. He couldn’t help but wonder if what he was seeing was real, for it looked so familiar, and yet so weirdly different than what he imagined. The being was short, and shout, and heavily bearded, which he assumed meant that it was male. He was wearing a bronze coloured sheet around themselves as if to blend into the background, and it was waddling with great confidence through the plains, seemingly unaware of the people following him now. Ares looked over to Torak and then asked, “Torak? What is a creature that looks like a man, but is quite short, stout, heavily bearded?” “You are speaking of one of those earth dwellers are you not? Is that what you see?” Torak replied with a level of assuredness that implied he was far more certain than what his words implied. “I’m not exactly sure what I’m seeing, I’m just making sure.” “If you were to describe such a thing to me then that is what I would say, it would be one of those, wouldn’t it?” “I agree,” said Beor as Ares smiled. “So it’s a dwarf?” “It’s a dwarf.” “It’s a dwarf,” Ares whispered quietly and then he became filled with a deep giddiness. A dwarf! It’s a dwarf! Dwarves are so god damn cool! Ares sped his group towards the being who had by now noticed that others were following it and soon began to dash away.