Broken Flame }{ Warning: Limited Entry

[JxSlaughter]

She commented on him handling a dragon so well. "Impressed?" Jiru smiled. He had always been giving out an air of humbleness but he felt that it was okay to be proud of himself once in a while. Though he was about to rant about owning one, he couldn't help but to avoid belittling his new company so soon. "I don't tend to dragon ox much, but a good friend of mind does. He takes very good care of them." Jiru tried to lighten up the conversation a little bit, but her company felt different from other people he had traveled with.

He wondered why he even stopped in the first place. In his mind he cursed at his inability to walk away from opportunities to make a profit or to buy on mere impulse. When she expressed her doubt in traveling with him, he chuckled a bit. "I'm sure if I ran off you'd find and kill me." He laughed more, but the tone was mixed with playful, joking and nervousness. He glanced at her tugging her own cart again. Jiru started thinking that maybe he should avoid talking like that again.

Hours went by and it wasn't long before night started to set in. "Ready to call it a day friend?"

[zhirisa]

Although she really hated his guts right now (in reality, the feeling was spread to everyone...), she couldn't help but smile at his wits. "Your dog might chew off my leg before I get the chance."

Just as Zhi regained her strength, it was already starting to be sapped away by the dying light. When Jiru suggested to stop, she gladly heaved the cart off of her shoulders. "Fine by me..."

Zhirisa hated the night; not only because she became weaker at night, but also her personality becomes less aggressive as well. She has been told a couple of times by passing pedestrians that she cries in her sleep, but she refuses to believe that she could be subject to such emotions... however, all of it its true.

Zhirisa looked into her cart for firewood, but all she had left were a couple of coals. "Hey, do you have any tinder?" Already her voice was softer and tired.

[JxSlaughter]

"I always have tinder for my trips, don't worry." Jiru had been holding up a slight smile throughout the trip. He felt that his new companion was dangerous. It must have been the air around her, and maybe the look she gave him earlier but he didn't want to hold onto first impressions. Jiru tried to lighten up the mood a bit with all his small talk but it didn't seem to shake the feeling he got of her. Besides, the last girl he met traveling alone proved quite a handful. There was something about women outside of his village that made him feel unlucky. But of what or why, he didn't know.

They stopped a little ways off of the main road into a forest clearing. Sites like these were common, as the only means of traveling efficiently was by road. He put some firewood and a little oil to get the fire going. Jiru motioned to Zhirisa to put her coal in. "Might as well get some load off of your shoulders. It will be a few days to get to my home town."

He set his blankets up and unhooked the cart off the ox. Jiru fed the ox with some hay and his dog with some jerky. The dutiful dog never strayed far from the cart or ox for long.