Slave To The Light Pt1

Slave to the Light Pt1

A Baldur's Gate Fanfiction

Keep moving forward, just keep moving forward. Over and over, she repeated that same phrase over and over in her head. She couldn't stop, she wouldn't stop. No, she didn't want to think what would happen if she stopped now, or worse, if she turned back. So, Lorelai kept moving forward, tripping over roots, kicking up pebbles, and weaving through the long shoots of grass.

Her throat felt like it was coated with sand, every breath was beginning to hurt. She could feel her feet aching, having become numb to the cold and the constant abuse they were being put through as she made her way bare foot through the forest.

Just... just keep moving she pleaded to her body.

Just a little further... just

She sucked in a great breath of air, cool and crisp. It felt so good, so good to breath fresh air. So much of her wanted to stop, to breath it again and again, to enjoy the feeling.

No, just keep going she berated herself.

Don't stop... don't... don't....

She stopped. Not because her body wanted her to, she had already won that argument several times. No, she all but froze when up ahead she spotted light. Her fingers twitched anxiously as she slowly moved a few inches closer. With the little faith that she had, she pleaded with the gods that it wasn't what she thought it was, that it wasn't-

"Hey! give that back asshole!" bellowed a voice.

Lorelai jumped, clamping a hand over her mouth. Her feet began to inch away as the voice continued to argue loudly.

"And why should I?"

Damnit! damn it all! why, of all things why did she have to stumble across a big folk camp. She let a small whimper of frustration, running her hands through her tangled raven hair.

What was she supposed to do now? both options laid in front of her filled her with dread.

"You don't even need it!"

Lorelai groaned, staying put wasn't an option either. Sooner or later, an animal would come across her bloodied scent, and she shivered at the thought of what would happen then.

Begrudgingly, she could only think of one way forward: to go around the camp and get some distance between her and it quickly. Though she wasn't sure she would be able to do anything fast in her current state.

She inched forward, peering around the towering trees, trying to gauge where to go. This would have been so much easier if she could just make herself invisible, then her only worry would be to stay silent. As she slowly got closer, the arguing voices got louder.

"What? so I can't simply indulge myself?"

"But that's the last one! and I'm starving!"

Maybe this was a blessing. the two seemed very preoccupied so maybe this was a sign that this was her opening to sneak past. She began to quicken her pace, keeping her path heading northwest. Through the tree line, she caught glimpses of the big folk's camp. It was a rather large one, she could make out the outline of several tents and a large campfire. She shook her head. Stop, who cared what it looked like? what mattered was leaving it behind.

"Just hand it over Astarion. We all know you only want it because she wants it".

Great, another voice, and this one was trying to deescalate the argument that had been acting as a distraction. She began to move a bit faster, still taking great lengths to be as silent as possible.

There was a loud scoff, "Fine, now why don't you all leave me alone while I go look for a proper meal."

Lorelai slowed as the camp went silent. She ever so meticulous maneuvered her way over and around roots and twigs when something happened that nearly made her heart stop.

The ground beneath her feet quivered and she could hear a great deal of rustling. She began to back away. The quaking continued, only getting more violent and louder by the second. Someone was coming. One of the big folks was making its way closer to her.

Panic now seeping back into her, she whipped her head around feverishly, every second the footsteps getting closer and louder. She let out a low whimper as she desperately looked for somewhere, anywhere that would conceal her.

Just when the being could only be a few feet away, Lorelai's eyes fell upon the roots of the nearest tree. They were decorated with webs and decaying moss, but she didn't care. She sprinted towards them, moving quickly to bury herself deeply within them. The approaching footsteps caused little bits of dirt to fall from above her and pepper her hair and face. Then, they stopped.

She dared to poke her head out from behind a root, the sight of two huge dark leather boots making her instantly duck back into hiding.

Please, oh please, please go away she pleaded.

Whoever stood mere feet away from her began to sniff the air, like some sort of animal.

Lorelai clasped a hand over her mouth as she heard a satisfied exhale. Her heart began to pound loudly in her ears, her body trembled with anticipation.

go away, just go away!

There was a thud that made Lorelai pounce where she sat. She wanted to let out a yelp, but she knew that would instantly reveal her.

For what felt like an eternity, there was an unnerving silence. She couldn't even hear any breathing other than her own.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.

Long, pale fingers, maybe even paler than her own, began to snake their way closer. She sucked in a breath and pressed herself against the dirt and root wall, pleading that she would sink right into it and away from the approaching hand.

When one touched her ankle, she couldn't help but scream as the rest quickly ensnared around her legs and began dragging her out into the open.

She kicked and clawed at both the fingers and the ground, trying to get away, but to no avail.

"I knew I smelled something peculiar".

Lorelai froze at the ice laced voice. Before she could stop herself, she turned her head upwards.

She felt a scream lodge itself in her throat as her eyes met two huge red ones. She had only heard tales and stories about humanoids who had red eyes, scary stories meant to keep children well behaved, but she never thought that such a creature was real. She believed vampires to be nothing more than a scary story.

It seemed she was wrong.

The creature that used to haunt her nightmares as a child now had her pinned against the ground and was staring at her with a hungry glint in its eyes.

She watched as its lips parted to reveal two fangs and it began to speak once again.

"Although, you look a bit odd for a pixie. if that is what you are".

Lorelai began to struggle beneath the pressure of the fingers holding her down, releasing desperate whimpers.

"Suppose it doesn't matter, I'm sure you'll taste just as such".

Her eyes became so wide she feared they would tumble out of her skull. Her heart threatened to burst right out of her rest as the fingers grasped around her legs once again and began to lift her off the ground at an almost purposeful slowness.

No, no,no,no,no.no No! As she dangled upside down, she felt all hope leaving her. She watched as the ground began to shrink away and began begging for it all to hurry up and be over.

She felt something slide within her pocket and something reignited itself within her. She wasn't going to die, not today, not if she could help it.

Lorelai plunged her hand into her pocket and withdrew a small but sharp shard of glass. Without a second thought, she heaved herself upwards, towards the log-like fingers, and plunged the point as deep into the vampire's icy flesh as she could.

A little under a minute of my cat being his wonderful self

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 2

(Name may be subject to change)

“Y-you… You’re the only one outside?” 

“Far as I can tell, yeah.”  

“Outside the Grounds and Sounds cafe?” 

She waited with bated breath for his answer, that last damning piece of evidence, “Yeah, looks like it. Are you sure you’re alright?”  

No, no she was not alright. She was anything but alright! The person outside was Garret, the giant outside was Garret! This whole time she had been talking with a giant! The giant outside was waiting for her! 

Her heartbeat echoed in her ears as she sat there curled up on the floor. What was she supposed to do? Out of all the things that could have gone wrong! 

“Uh hey, you still there?” 

She jumped at the sound of his voice, this time knowing the owner was looming right outside the door. Did he know? Did he know she was human? He couldn’t have. He sure acted like he was expecting someone… someone more like him. 

What should she say? Did she really want to let him know? What would happen then? She shivered as hundreds of scenarios entered her mind all at once, all of which horrified her. But she had to say something! If she didn’t he’d remain standing out there and get more and more suspicious. 

“Garret” she muttered, “I’m a…. The cafe you're standing in front of, that’s the cafe I work at.” 

Silence on the other end.  

“Wait what?” Cecilia couldn’t think of anything else to say, she was… she was-

Suddenly, the ground jerked so violently it catapulted Cecilia from her seat with a yelp. She caught herself before she could smack her head on the floor, releasing a shaky breath as everything went still. Her phone had been knocked out of her hand and was now lying on the floor, cracked.  She grabbed it before rolling over and backpedaling back to her spot pressed up against the cabinets. After a few seconds of more silence, she slowly straightened her legs and pushed herself up, turning around as she did so.  

Her heart nearly stopped. Outside, practically taking up the entire glass wall, was a face. A face turned sideways trying to peer in with two blue eyes the size of dinner plates. A massive hand was holding something that looked like a phone the size of a car against the side of his face. Garret’s face.  

His eyes widened when they fell upon her. Cecilia watched his mouth fall open in shock, revealing massive teeth that she couldn’t help but imagine morphing into sharp fangs.  

Just as soon as she had stood, she fell back to the ground, trembling, “Wait!” the shout reverberated through the walls. She snapped her eyes shut, clasping her hands over her ears. Just go away, her fingers clawing into her head and grabbing bits of her curly red hair, “Wait come back!” 

She winced, squeezing her eyes even more shut. Just go away! She pleaded. 

“Cecilia?”  

Everything seemed to freeze once again. Her name rang in her ears. Garret’s voice rang in her ears, only not the thunderous one she’d heard moments ago, but the one she had gotten to know. Slowly, she let her hands slide off her face and into her lap, still shaking. 

That had reminded her that this… this was Garret. 

What difference does that make?! One side of her screamed, get out of here now! 

She glanced to the door leading to the back and the back exit. If she was quick about it, she could slip out and run for it. But…. she looked at her phone, laying on the floor next to her. She couldn’t just do that, giant or not, he at least deserved an explanation. 

But what if he got angry? She felt herself cringe at the thought of those huge features twisting into a visage of rage.  

She hit herself, shaking her head. Stop it! Stop thinking like that! If you are anything close to a decent human being you will say something! 

Her phone felt ten times as heavy as she picked it up and lifted it up to her ear. 

“G-Garret?” she managed to mumble. 

“Hey” his voice responded sheepishly, “Didn’t mean to scare you there, heh. This is just a little unexpected”  

Cecilia let out a mumble of agreement. 

“But uh hey, I could stop blocking the door and you can come on out and-” 

“No!” 

Cecilia slapped a hand over her mouth, looking down horrified.  

There was an audible pause on the other end, “Is something wrong?”

How is he being so cool about all of this?! 

“I uh….” she racked her brains for what to say, “It’s uh…” 

“It’s not what?” 

“It’s not your fault.” she blurted out. 

Garret fell silent. Please don’t be mad, please don’t be mad. 

“What’s not my fault?” 

“That I’m… that I’m-” 

“I’m going to stop you right there” Cecilia went still, “I know this isn’t what you were expecting or what we had planned, but hey, I haven’t much experience being around humans but have always sort of wanted to”  

Can’t say I feel the same way. 

“There’s a restaurant a couple miles from here that’s got some of the best burgers I’ve ever had. If you want we could go and hit it up.” 

She cringed, clearly he had no idea what she had meant before, and now she felt like she had dug herself into a deeper hole. Her lips were dry as she tried to come up with the right words, “T-the thing is, I’m…. not really….” She knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. What if he got offended? That was the last thing she wanted to do, for more selfish reasons if she was being honest. 

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, I just…. Your…. Your-” Just spit it out dammit! “Your kind make me feel uneasy”  

Uneasy seemed like the most harmless word to use, but it didn’t at all really describe how she felt at all. She didn’t really even want to think of the words to properly describe it in case it just made those feelings worse. 

“Uneasy?” Garret still sounded confused. Sheesh, he really hadn’t spent much time around humans. Uneasiness was said to be quite common in many folks when first interacting with the other kind, though they seemed to always get over it quite fast. Not Cecilia though, for some stupid ass reason that she didn’t know. 

“I-I haven’t much experience around…. your kind either.”  

“Well like I said, neither have I. It would be a fun first for both of us.” 

Fun?!   

She wasn’t sure what to say without the possibility of offending him. None of her words had really landed and he still seemed to have no idea what she was getting at. The hallway leading to the back and by extension, the backdoor was starting to look really appealing. 

If she was careful… if she was quiet…. Her bike was chained up to a pipe right out back. If she could make it out there without being seen, she’d be out of this mess. She’d be able to ride back to her apartment, explain herself to him over text instead of…. Instead of… right now and…. Right here. 

Pocketing her phone, which was still on the line, she unfolded her legs and began to crawl towards the back. A couple of cups and bottles of flavoring had fallen and shattered to the floor, she maneuvered past them so as not to get sliced in the knee and cry out. When she made it to the back hallway, she pressed herself against the wall. She stiffened when she felt her phone vibrate and the vague sound of Garret’s voice. Ignoring it, she continued to crawl the length of the hallway, the backdoor always in front of her, teasing her.   

After what felt like an eternity of slinking along the tiled floor, her nose was inches away from the door. She looked over her shoulder before standing up and fumbling with the door knob. The creaky old door seemed louder than ever as it hinges squealed. She cringed, pushing it all the way open and stepping out. Her bike was on the left, chipped blue paint looking more beautiful than ever before.  

She scrambled over to it, grabbing the bike lock and frantically clicked in the code. The lock snapped open and she didn’t hesitate to pull it away from the building and mount it. She began to pedal, her eyes fixated on the thin alley across the street that she had always used as a shortcut to her complex. 

Suddenly, she heard movement. The rustle of fabric and a low grunt right before a growing shadow appeared feet in front of her. She had but a millisecond to turn her bike harshly to the left before something bigger than a decent sized car crashed down in front of her, the impact throwing her off her bike and sending her skidding across the pavement. The ground rocked once more before everything stilled. 

Cecilia groaned, her elbows and calves burning from being dragged across the ground. 

“Shit!” she froze as that same deep voice rumbled from far above her. She didn’t want to look up, but her body at that moment seemed to be on autopilot as her neck strained to look upwards.  

Her eyes widened, a mountain of mass stood before her, reaching at least forty meters in height. Her mouth went completely dry when her eyes met with two familiar blue eyes, staring down at her.  

She quickly looked back down, only to be met with the sight of those massive shoes only about two feet away from her.  

“You alright?” Cecilia flinched at the voice, “That looked pretty rough.” 

“I….I…” her lips quivered. 

“Why’d you come out this door? I could have moved out of-'' he paused, Cecilia tentatively looked back up to see the eyes of the giant before her narrow. “You cold or somethin’? You’re uh…” he chuckled, “You’re shaking.”  

To her horror, the enormous body before her started to get closer, bending down and taking up more of her vision if that was even possible. Her arms shot out in front of her, instinctively shielding herself. The movement around her stopped. She looked up to see Garret straighten back up, his eyes wide before something seemed to click in his brain. 

“Is it me?” 

Flower petal fairy dresses by Momotsuki of Kagoshima, Japan

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Slave to the Light Pt 4

A Baldur's Gate fanfiction

"There, I'm sure that feels better." Lorelai's eyes were drawn away from her shoulder by the female voice. She narrowed her eyes up at Shadowheart, shocked to find an almost apologetic look on her face.

She shook her head, hardening her glare, no, it had to be some sort of trick. Yes, that was what it was. They were simply luring her in, not just this Shadowheart but all the big folk that surrounded her. They wanted something, and the fact that they wanted her intact only enforced her theory that he had sent them.

"Do you feel any better- uh small lady?" chimed in the human.

"Quit bullshitting me." she snared, yet she couldn't stop her voice from quivering.

The man paused, "Sorry, what was that?"

Lorelai stiffened, anger and fear both simultaneous coursing through her, "Drop the act!"

The man's eyebrows knitted together, "Act?"

"I know he sent you." her hands clinched into fists, "Well you can tell him, tell him I'm of no use to him now!"

"What are you on about?" Lorelai only responded with a knowing glare.

"Who's he?" asked Shadowheart.

"You know damn well who I'm talking about." Lorelai growled, her voice beginning to quiver as her resolve faded.

The two big folks shared a look of confusion with each other before turning to look back down at her, "We don't."

Lorelai studied both their faces. Either these two were very good actors or were genuinely confused.

"Look uh..." the human gestured to himself and Shadowheart, "We weren't sent by anyone. We have no idea what you're talking about, but seeing as you are better, you are free to leave and we-"

"We can't do that!" Lorelai flinched as the Tiefling, Karlach she believed they called her, came stomping over, "Fangs over here will try and eat her again."

The human's sympathetic expression dropped, turning to Karlach with a dumbstruck look on he's face, "What?"

The Tiefling pointed behind her, "That's how I found her. Astarion was yelling and I came over to see what he was shouting at, and I see her right next to him" she shot a disgusted look over her shoulder, "And then he goes and tells me that she was supposed to be his next meal!"

Lorelai let out a quiet whimper as the human man suddenly shot to his feet and was now towering over her more than ever. Luckly and to her relief, his focus wasn't on her, having his back turned and seemingly staring at the vampire who was out of her line of sight.

"Is this true?" there was a pause before the man continued, "You told us you wouldn't feed on thinking creatures and-"

"I hardly think she counts!" Lorelai flinched as the vampire yelled, "And why do you care?"

There was a moment of silence, all of the big folk had turned to look away from her and at the vampire. All eyes were off her; Lorelai saw her chance. As quietly as possible, she slowly began to crawl to the edge of the pillow, never taking her eyes off the back of their oversize heads.

"How exactly does she not count?" Lorelai paused as the human continued, before resuming her slow escape. Her bare feet touched the ground as she lowered herself down, slowly falling into a crouch.

"Oh, come on, look at her! how can you look at that little insect and say that she counts?"

Lorelai clenched her hands into fists. So, this Astarion wasn't just a vampire but a high elf, judging by his attitude. High elves alone were awful beings, especially towards anyone who they viewed as lesser than them, which happened to be anyone other than themselves.

Keep moving! she berated herself before turning on the arguing big folk and began creeping away in the opposite direction.

"I'm not getting your point, care to elaborate?" no response, and then a sigh, "You honestly think that she- where'd she go?"

Lorelai froze, only having made it a foot or so away. Her eyes darted around, looking for cover.

"There!" suddenly, the ground began to tremble so much that it felt like it was purposefully trying to knock her off her feet. She looked up to see a horrifying sight, three pairs of lumbering feet quickly making their way towards her.

She wanted to run, but she couldn't with the rumbles of the earth tossing already around just standing. There was nothing she could do, nothing except watch as their shadows darkened the world around her, as the sound of their footfalls echoed in her ears making them ring. She couldn't do anything, except fall to the ground, shield her head, close her eyes as tightly as she could, and pray to whatever god would listen that this would all just end.

Lorelai was standing in complete darkness. It was cold, freezing even. She whipped her head around, only to be met with the same inky blackness in every direction.

Then she heard it. It started faint, but slowly grew louder as if it were drawing nearer. Screams. Screams of what had to be hundreds of people, screams that teared at the throats of those of issued them, screams of terror, screams of agony.

They kept getting louder and louder. Lorelai tried to run, to get away from them, but they always followed. Every direction she took only led back to them, and they only continued to grow louder and louder. She was surrounded, surrounded by screams of torment.

Lorelai joined them, falling to the ground and crying out. She was terrified, the screams terrified her yet for some unknown reason, she dreaded the moment when they would stop.

Right on que, everything fell silent. The darkness closed in with the absence of it.

Then, she saw a light, a light illuminating something in the distance. Lorelai didn't have to move; it began moving towards her. She squinted at it, only to have her heart drop at the realization.

No, no not that.

It was a lantern, a big folk lantern.

She ran, only to feel as if her feet not going anywhere. She ran harder, still she didn't budge from where she stood. She thrusted her legs forward with so much force it felt like they would snap off and yet she still wouldn't move.

Turning, she saw the lantern approaching fast. With a click, its door flung open like a gaping mouth. It was getting so close now, it was practically on top of her. Before her eyes, the dark opening morphed, morphed into a mouth framed with fanged teeth.

It lunged towards her, before with a sickening sound between a clank and a crunch, it closed down upon her.

Lorelai awoke with a gasp, as if desperate for air and was sitting bolt upright with a cold sweat running down her face.

Slave to the Light Pt 7

A Baldur's Gate fanfiction

Lorelai stared up at Gale, shocked and confused, "What do you mean under different circumstances? what possible circumstances are there that would make you travel with a fucking vampire!?"

The vampire, or Astarion as the others seemed to call him, merely scrunched up his nose at her remarks. Gale's eyes fell away from her, clearly pondering something.

"Well, you see" he started, "All of us here happen to be dealing with the same problem that we are all in dire need of rectifying".

She raised a brow, "What kind of problem?"

Gale pursed his lips, as if debating whether he should continue, "All of us.... currently are hosts to illithid parasites".

Lorelai's eyes widened, "What?"

"We basically have these worm-like fuckers swimming around in our brains" chimed in Karlach.

"No- I know what an illithid parasite is, but...." she looked the man before her up and down, "Shouldn't you have.... transformed?"

"Now that, is something we are all wondering about" said Gale, "None of us have shown any real signs of... well, turning into tentacled monsters. So, since we have seemingly been blessed with spare time, we're looking for a cure. Hence the give of us being together."

Lorelai stiffened, "there's more of you?"

"Yes, but you'll meet them later, that is... if you decide to stay." over Gale's shoulder, she saw Karlach grinning down at her.

"You're offering to let me stay? Why?"

Gale chuckled, "Well you're clearly in need of some assistance, and I dare say your presence wouldn't cause much of a hassle" he leaned in closer, lowing his voice, "And to be honest, I don't completely trust Astarion to not.... forget himself."

"I can hear you; you know." grumbled Astarion.

Lorelai looked down. Being with these group seemed to be presenting more risks by the second. First, a vampire, and now illithid parasites. But what about the number of risks if she went it alone? and as dangerous as these big folk might be, they could be of use to her.

She met Gale's eyes again, "Alright, I will take you up on your offer" her gaze hardened, "But if I see any of you begin to sprout tentacles I'm out of here. And if your..... companion tries anything-"

"We'll make sure he doesn't."

"Well, if he does, I won't hesitate to teach him a much harsher lesson than I did last night, perhaps with something much sharper."

Astarion let out a snort of laughter that made her blood boil, "That's cute."

Lorelai's fingers tighten around the needle, wishing she could shove it right through one of those awful red eyes.

Gale straightened, clapping his hands together, "Right, now that's sorted, how abouts we give you some alone time?" the moment he had finished his sentenced, Astarion turned on his heel and quickly made his way out of the tent, shooting Lorelai one last glare.

"That means you too Karlach. I think you may have overstayed your welcome" Gale held the tent flap open and gestured for the Tiefling to follow suit.

"Can't I stay? I know it's your tent and all... but come on" she looked down at Lorelai, "I can stay right?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. She had been deeply looking forward to not being surrounded by towering figures and was about to ask her to leave, but once again Karlach was giving her that hopeful grin.

She sighed, "Yeah sure, you can stay. But just be quiet, alright?"

Karlach beamed at her before smirking at Gale who rolled his eyes before leaving.

To her surprise, the Tiefling was able to stay quiet. She had simply sat herself down and watched Lorelai eagerly as she continued to work. It began to feel a little weird though after twenty minutes went by and Karlach was still staring. Lorelai kept looking up from her work only to be met with the same intense gaze.

After the tenth time of looking over her shoulder to see if there was any change in the Tiefling's behavior, she resigned herself to fully focusing on making something wearable.

Hard to say how much time had gone by when she had finally locked the final stitch and held up her handiwork: A rather small top and a pair of short and baggy pants, both an obnoxious shade of purple.

"Hey, not bad." said Karlach.

Lorelai sighed, "Do you mind staring at something else for a moment?"

"Oh fuck, yeah sorry."

The ground shifted as Karlach spun herself around, so her back was to her.

Lorelai threw the articles of clothing on the ground before going to remove the sorry excuse for a dress she was currently wearing. She had managed to pull it up over her legs before she gasped out, being hit with a stinging pain the moment she tried to pull it up over her back.

"You alright?"

"Fine" she grunted, gritting her teeth. The fabric must have fused itself to her wounds. She groaned before taking hold of her dress again and quickly tossed it over her head. Her back stung with pain that slowly subsided once she had ripped the fabric away from it. Tossing it aside, she reached down and pulled on her newly made shirt and pants.

She poked her head around the pile before stepping out. Karlach peeked over her shoulder before turning back around. She looked Lorelai up and down before an amused smile appeared on her face. The Tiefling let out a snort of laughter, looking away and covering her mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing" she lied; her eyes still upturned, "Just looks a little big on you."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, walking over and heaving herself up onto the plate to snatch up another grape, glaring at it as if it had been the one to make the remark.

She leapt down, tossing the half-eaten fruit aside and began heading for the exit.

"Where are you headed?"

"Outside."

"What for?"

Lorelai groaned, "Does it matter?"

"Can I come with?"

"I don't care."

She continued forward, stepping out into the open. She couldn't help but tense slightly at the sight before her. Four other massive tents were set up in the distance, all of them different colors and had an assortment of items outside their entrances. They all surrounded a campfire that at the moment was nothing but burnt wood and charcoal. But that wasn't what had bothered her, what bothered her was the towering figures meandering around the tents. She could feel through the ground the slight quiver from their steps from here, all of them, lumbering around like big oafs the lot of them.

Lorelai shook her head, focusing back on the task at hand: arming herself. It only took her a moment of looking around before she spotted a patch of trees to the east. She began to make her way over there, her eyes fliting around to look back at the big folk and know where each one of them was at the given moment. She kept an especially close eye out for that vampire, even though he shouldn't have been able to be out in the sun. Being apparently apart of this little team, he was almost certainly still lurking around somewhere.

She had noticed Karlach had left the tent, though she had reframed from following her and had instead gone over to what Lorelai assumed was her own tent. There didn't seem to be too much of a reason to keep an eye on that one, she seemed docile enough.

The grass began to reach up past her waist as she trudged into the beginnings of a forest. The sun was shining down through the many leaves of the trees, illuminating their shape and color, which was exactly what Lorelai had been hoping for.

Her pace slowed as she scrutinized each tree she passed, looking from its leaves to its branches to its trunk. There was a good deal of oak and dogwood, both much too knotty to work with. There was also some hickory, too fragile to moisture, and some elm, too likely to crack. Then she spotted just what she had been looking for, a yew tree.

She hurried over to it, looking over it once more. Yes, it would do very nicely. Looking up, she pinpointed the lowest branch that was the right thickness before she dug her fingers beneath the crevices of the bark. Her muscles strained but ached with an almost pleasant and familiar burn as she scaled up the trunk.

When she was perpendicular to the branch she wanted, she began to shimmy closer over. Securing her feet in the groves of bark, she reached out and took hold of one of the smaller branches. With some effort, she managed to snap it off the main branch, almost losing her balance as she did so. her hands scrambled to grab back onto the bark, stick in hand that she surveyed with a nod.

The trek down was much easier, only made tad harder, having to tow down a stick nearly as long as she was tall down with her.

She jumped the rest of the way back to the ground. Holding the stick now like a great misshapen staff, she looked along the forest floor. Now... all she needed was- that might do.

She bent down and picked up a jagged rock, turning it over in her hand. It would have to suffice. Heading back over to the yew tree, she sat herself down with both rock and stick in hand. Placing the stick on her lap, she turned it over a few times before finding the sharpest side of the rock and getting right to work.