"To be prepared is the first step to being a good adventurer. Yes, plans will go awry. Yes, there will be many unexpected factors. Yes, you will be derailed and then realize life is futile when stuck inside a terrifying ruin or wasteland as monsters try to eat you. But with a good supply of food, weapons, and water, you’d be surprised how many people have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. So best bleed your budget now, and bleed less life later.” - Emil Castimir, Senior Pathfinder/Historian, Arterian Exploration Guild, “Tips for the New Adventurer” Tip 15: Being Ready

In a sad twist of fate, the storm petered out the further they rode out of the city, a grim relief as they realised that though the danger was larger behind them, their sanctuary was most certainly the target. The winds still buffeted the trees and the aggressive rustling of the forest brush signalling a large-scale migration of creatures, an ill omen if there ever was one. The skies however, still crackled mightily, as if the storm was just waiting for the moment to embrace the forest in a veil of death. The mist of the forest itself stretched and yawned as it blanketed everything in a hazy gray, darker and grittier than even the first few days Sophie had spent in the forest.

Concerned whispers flowed back and forth between the horses they rode on as the party tepidly continued their push. It had been a non-stop journey of almost five straight hours of hard riding. The horses, the people, and the mood had deteriorated long before, with only a slight uptick in morale when they left the city and found no opposition outside the gates, they still had a chance. Yet, Sophie could care less about their good fortune or poor situation, she wanted to die.

To speed up their journey, the guildmaster had managed to procure a herd of horses for the party and after exchanging some terse words had sent them on their way. Fortunately, because they had no supply wagon or in fact, any extra supplies, their momentum was greatly increased and finishing the journey in a day seemed surprisingly possible. Unfortunately, no one had ever thought that perhaps a maid might never have had riding experience or any riding skills whatsoever. She had watched Eva ride every once in a while, but she herself had never got the chance or turned the opportunity down due to some other obligation to the household.

She wasn’t just motion sick, she was horrifically sick. Thankfully the lack of breakfast or food meant that her stomach churned in empty agony even as every lurch, hop or movement from the mount threatened to push anything within back out. She wanted to apologize to Annalise, her caretaker and compatriot since the start, Anna had transferred Sophie onto her horse due to Sophie’s lack of skills. Since then, for the past five hours it had been a repeating series of gasps, moans, groans, and near vomiting as she dry heaved almost every twenty minutes. Her head pounded in pain, everything turning into a painful blur as they pushed on and she swore that she could feel the other girl flinch every time she made a noise. Bracing for the eventual moment a stream of internal materials would land on her back. Sophie could only silently apologize as she wrapped her weak arms around Annalise’s waist as they pushed forward, her eyes clenched shut, hoping that this torture would soon be over.

Strange orifices flapped up and down as a dull buzzing invaded her mind, a jumbled mess of noises that wracked her brain with more pain. Whatever anyone might have said next quickly vanished as the most recent dry heave turned out not very dry at all.

“Blegh.”

Irony tasting acidic bile spilled forth onto the ground as Sophie desperately clung to a nearby tree, another gestating irritation building up in her stomach and the back of her throat.

“Bleh!”

She nearly keeled over onto her own mess but fortunately a stray hand steadied her from behind as more buzzing echoed from behind her.

“Bleh-ack!” She gasped as the feeling returned, but nothing exited. A stinging pain lingered and she felt blank for a moment before a louder buzzing finally got her attention.

“...pie…Sophie! Focus…ocus!”

Adventures suck, horses suck, life sucks, uh oh, please no. Sophie teared up as something welled up inside of her, another lance of pain shooting through her as she desperately tried to hold it back. Dammit. A brief respite before she broke into a coughing fit and hacked up another bit of unidentifiable substance which soon joined the rest of its sorry brethren.

“How…an elf…this bloody…”

“...watch…treeline…”

“Are…okay?”

“By the saints!”

“Steady…try…focus!”

One last voice in the cacophony of hell finally broke through and she swayed around to find Sara supporting her. The fresh but decadent scent of elderflowers provided brief relief to her nostrils from the backwash of unpleasant odors and she glanced up to find a concerned, but strangely seductive face staring back at her. Mmmm.

“She’s coming…to us. You okay?”

“Mmmm.”

“Any more aches?”

Sophie assumed the annoyed exasperation evident on her face would serve as an ample reply. But either deliberate ignorance or unawareness carried the day as Sara merely gave her a light patting on her shoulder, as if fearful of another stream of liquid.

“Good, good. Here.” Sara ordered.

Sophie looked down at a bowl of water with an assortment of crushed herbs and powders, a few of which she could identify such as the mint and cloves. Ahh noo, I probably smell like shit, Sophie cried out internally as she visibly slumped ever closer to the forest floor in despair. My dignity, my image. She cringed at the thought, she never really cared much for perceptions back at the manor, enough to be able to be with Evaline was all she needed, but this situation was a bit much. She never got sick, that was something that never happened, yet as she took a furtive glance at the mess behind her, she was horrifically motion sick. Kill me. End this.

“Sophie?” Sara asked and wiggled the bowl in front of her.

Annoyed, tired, pained, and absolutely exhausted, Sophie chose the only possible response she could think of. She groaned and limply pressed her face into the bowl. Water, herbs, medicinal powders splashed, stung, and entered her eyes, noise, mouth and even a little on her left ear as an immeasurable sense of regret washed over her. Unwilling to back out now, with a pained gasp she huffed the biggest mouthful of the concoction as possible and sloshed it around her mouth to freshen up before downing it all in a big gulp.

As she forced it all down she pulled herself away from the bowl as the mixture left a mess dripping down from her face and turned to face the others. Concern and surprise were present in equal measure as her barbaric actions took everyone off guard. A small gurgle escaped from her stomach and she leaned back against the tree with a groan and watched as Annalise burst out laughing, followed by Arnold and Riza.

Sara’s sigh caught her attention and she tilted her head to look at the healer who only looked back disapprovingly.

“You’re... not meant to drink it like that.” Sara said as she stared at Sophie with wide eyes.

“Urrgh.”

“But at least you did drink it, might leave a foul taste, but gargle and spit some out to clean your mouth. Here.”

Sophie looked at her with tired eyes before she obediently did as ordered, taking careful sips like a normal person, acutely aware of the cackling in the background. She tried to glare at the others but only succeeded in disrupting her own rhythm and choking on some of the medicine, sending her wheezing as another bout of laughter exploded from the crowd.

“Shush nurp.” Sophie growled, or at least she thought she did.

Thankfully it seemed as if Gil had gathered everyone’s attention as he tried stifling the giggling bunch and gestured towards the horses. No, no more horses, Sophie paled at the thought.

“All faculties seem functional again, you alright?” Sara asked as she looked her up and down.

Sophie grumbled a small yes and Sara gave her another apprehensive pat on the back, as if repulsed by the sheer presence of touching her, honestly, understandable. Sophie watched as Sara retrieved her bowl and began cleaning it out, walking back to her horse and rummaging through her packs and giving Sophie some breathing room to move to the other side of the tree. She leaned back and felt her head loll to the side as she slowly tried to recover her vigor, watching over the group as they did their various tasks. Arnold and Riza recovering perimeter alarms, Thulgrim kicking dirt to smother the campfire, Gil looking at a map and Annalise, where did she go? Didn’t she also set up the perimeter traps?

“Boo!”

In her mind she jumped from the fright and fell, but gravity told her that the surprise had merely tensed all her muscles and caused her to let go of the tree and just fall to the floor. Sophie crumpled in a heap from equal parts exhaustion and fright.

“Sophie! By the saints are you alright?!” Annalise’s panicked voice boomed over her ear.

“Yeah.” She whispered a soft if pained reply, wincing from the noise.

“Oh by the goddess I didn’t mean to hurt you, can you stand? Wait here, I can help…hup you go.”

Sophie felt light as the ranger propped her back up against a different tree, its bark slightly smoother than the last and a little less damp.

“Soph, we’re almost there, just another hour or two okay?” Annalise pleaded, using perhaps the cutest look Sophie had ever seen from the girl. Eyes wide and glistening from what little moonlight pierced the mist, like an angel. "You just have to endure riding with me a little longer."

The illusion shattered into a million pieces, heartache, headache and stomachache. She would’ve followed her anywhere in that moment, would’ve done anything, but she refused to ride a horse for a moment longer, angel or not.

“Grrr.” She growled.

“Sophie.”

“Grrrrrrr.”

“Sophie.”

“Grr-eep!” Sophie yelped as the other girl nonchalantly wrapped her arms around her and pulled herself closer.

Too close, too close, Sophie thought as her pulse quickened and a strange pressure gripped her chest. Too close, smells good, too close, very good, her mind raced to process all the information at once, a subtle hint of lavender, dimples, brilliant hazel eyes that stared back into her own.

“You know, I never realized how strange your eyes looked.” Annalise stated matter of factly and a different feeling sliced its way into Sophie’s chest. It’s me, I’m gross, I’m weird, always was.

“But you don't have to worry, I think they’re kinda pretty.” Annalise finished with a whisper and Sophie shrunk further into herself, what?! But gross! Too close! Smell! Eyes!

But before she could slink away from Annalise’s grip the other girl dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Heheh, jokes teasing aside, just bear with it a little longer, please. We’re almost there, so bear with us and I’ll…” Annalise tilted her head and met Sophie’s gaze once again and Sophie felt the other girl’s expression soften, “I’ll treat you to a lot more meals and desserts when we get back okay?”

Sophie was admittedly caught off guard, this was not the expected tactic or words she thought would come next and her brain careened into a standstill as she tried processing the offer. What did I want? What is happening? Too close? She could only give a quiet nod as emotions threatened to spiral out of control.

“Deal.” Annalise giggled and quickly released her grip on Sophie, giving the half elf a quick ruffling of her hair before she rang her fingers through the ponytail, smiling at the red ribbon still present. “Come on then! The faster we make it the faster it’s over!”

Sophie could only watch wide eyed at how suddenly the ranger hopped back to her horse and blinked a few times to recover from the ordeal. Her stomach still hurt, her headache was massive, now her chest felt tingly and she wanted to die. But if I gave up now… she grimly thought before looking at the misty forest around her, might as well keep going.

She took in a deep breath and gingerly stumbled her way back over to group a physical and emotional mess. Still, there was a potential to answer some questions and the promise of food so if anything she could only stand to benefit if she did not perish in the ride over. She huffed and steeled herself one last time, certain that she would see this through, but what the hells was that even, and why does my chest now ache thinking about her. Ugh stupid stomach, focus for a little longer and we’ll be done…by the saints what about the ride back?

In Astralis’s name please dear goddess, mercy. Sophie clutched at her stomach as they finally dismounted. As if the pain and threats of vomiting weren’t bad enough, the smoke trails from up ahead further sapped away what willpower she had left.

“Hold steady, Thul, Sara, you two on our asses. Riza, you keep our sick safe with the horses. Arn, with me. Ann, take point. Keep quiet and in the shadows, something feels very wrong about this.” Gil ordered.

A silent flurry of activity quickly took place as a few traded nervous glances at the plume of smoke from up ahead but they got ready nonetheless.Though Riza seemed to protest at being excluded, everyone else fell into line, the expression on Gil’s face invited no disobedience. Sophie watched the five take their positions and advance as a cohesive unit, cutting through the underbrush as they head towards the ruins, an increasingly despondent cat pacing back and forth as they disappeared from view, Annalise flashing one last wink at her.

“It’ll…urk…be okay…” Sophie mumbled her reassurances, trying to distract Riza as much as herself.

The cat stopped her pacing and turned to face Sophie with a curious look on her face, and try as Sophie might to read her expression, she did not succeed before an icky feeling welled up inside her once again. Horse riding sucks.

“Ack…” She held her mouth shut as the levees threatened to burst and even the nearby horses seemed wary, her own mount long since turned into a pack animal as she rode with Annalise instead, glared at her with dissatisfied eyes.

“Sophie!” Riza piped up in concern, skittering over to quickly prop Sophie up against a tree.

“Ugh…I’ll..be,” She gulped down the nasty feeling and doubled over, “I’ll be fine.”

After what felt like an eternity battling her body she finally let loose an exasperated sigh and slumped lazily against the tree. A part of her was disappointed she wasn’t sicker, if she was she could just huddle up and wait until it was all over, they wouldn’t drag along a grievously sick person right?

“Jeez Sophie, rest up a little and make sure to drink some water like Sara told you otherwise you’ll be dehydrated. Kinda ironic if that’s what gets you inside of this damp as hells mist right?”

“Yeah…water…” Startled that Riza was watching her, she could barely mumble out a reply.

“Oh, oh! Here you go!” Riza quickly handed over a canteen from the pack horse and Sophie snatched it to steal a few greedy gulps.

“Ugh…”

“Better?”

“Guess so.” Sophie lied, motion sickness sucks, vomiting sucks.

“That’s good, I mean, we gotta watch out for all the animals after all. Besides the umm undead and magical stuff we need to watch out for mistraptors, wolves, and other things that prowl around looking for a quick meal. Seven horses would be like a feast, and that’s not to mention our rations, if only we didn’t need to be part of an expedition we could eat more of it now, I’m dying to just nibble on something.” Riza babbled

“Can have mine…” Sophie gestured to her horse.

“Nah better save it,” Riza shook her head, “Besides who knows what they’ll find over there? Maybe loads of treasure or just a whole lotta nothing. But something bad definitely happened right? I mean that doesn’t look like campfire smoke, it almost feels like a controlled burn if anything. Do you think the expedition team tried to use fire to ward off the fog?”

Sophie squinted at Riza as her mind tried to process the barrage of information, concluding that a simple answer would be the best. “Maybe.”

“By the saints I hope nothing happened to them, but Gil and the others will sort the monsters out, and I’ll protect you too. So no need to worry about anything besides feeling better okay? Just keep steady and we can all get through this together, it’ll be tough but think of it like…learning on the job. You get a free ticket to watch some veteran adventurers at work heheh.”

Sophie opened her mouth to comment when the sudden noise of a blast echoed through the eerie woods and the two quickly turned to look at each other. Magic, but who? And what? Sophie chugged the rest of the canteen and stuffed it back inside the saddle bag holding her stuff.

“That was magic.” Riza noted, her tail and ears standing straight up.

“Magic.” Sophie echoed nervously.

“But they don’t know magic,” Riza whispered, “Sara knows a few healing ones but…”

Riza paused, unwilling to finish the sentence and the two traded a brief glance before turning their gazes back at the direction of the ruin. As if hoping the trees themselves would magically part and give them a clear shot at getting closer without trouble. Yet the forest only bristled against the wind unhappily and the mist felt even more oppressive than before, the dampness casting a heavy hand over her shoulder almost like a shadow that was watching their every move.

They stared nervously at the forest for uncomfortable minutes as their horses began braying in concern. Trying desperately to ignore the growing sense of foreboding, they strained their senses to try and uncover any other signs of combat or action from the direction of the ruins only to be answered by silence. It wasn’t until Riza quietly jumped onto her horse and looked at Sophie that their stupor was finally shattered.

“We have to go help.”

Sophie wanted to retort at how stupid the idea was, with a single fighter, a sick person, and seven horses anything could overwhelm them. There was simply too much for Riza to protect and Sophie wasn’t even sure she could fight alongside the cat if it came down to it. But deep inside, even her turbulent gut seemed to know that they had to go forward, they had to know, they had to make sure their friends were fine no matter the cost.

“We have to go.” Riza repeated, and this time Sophie pulled herself together and began drawing the horses closer together, ending up with a bouquet of leads that sprouted out to six uncomfortably cramped together horses.

“Sophie, what are you doing?” Riza’s nervous exterior broke into confusion at the half elf’s actions.

“We’re going to help.” Sophie replied.

“Yeah, but aren’t you going to ride…”

“No.”

Riza seemed shocked at Sophie’s firm refusal at first, a look of incredulousness wound itself onto her feline face. But perhaps upon truly seeing Sophie’s pallid and sickly appearance decided to drop the matter and silently started trotting ahead.

Sophie glanced back at the herd behind her and could feel the rising resentment, but they had friends to save, and she’d be damned if she showed up just to vomit more and be a burden. Not that I could do much else anyways, she glumly thought as she ran her free hand over Wilfred’s sabre, but it’s better than nothing. Taking one last look at the horses and their annoyed neighing, how uncaring they seemed of the pain they caused her, she could only come up with one comforting thought as they likely marched towards death with her, horses suck.