"Oh yeah, about the new area. You wanted to go there tomorrow, right? Will that still be possible now?" Zarra asked, turning her head a little to et Lance's gaze.
"Yes, after all, I don't have much to do here. Our visitor seems to be excited working with Kaeli, so he is partly taken care of." Lance said.
"About the drawf… he does appear to be simple without any ulterior motives, but we can never be too sure. We'll have to keep a close eye on him." Lia said.
"True. Well, he'll be staying here for a while, so we have ti I guess." Lance said, getting a nod of agreent from Lia.
While caressing Zarra's hair, Lance rembered sothing, pausing montarily before continuing, "Zarra, have you and your scouts noticed anymore signs of movents through that region?"
"The one we'll be going to tomorrow? Yeah, and those tracks certainly aren't goblins or beasts. Given the terrain, I'd say it belongs to beastkin, just like we thought at first, but after I looked at the most recent tracks, that might not be the case." She said in a rather carefree tone as she enjoyed Lance's hands on her hair.
"Why do you say so?" Lia asked, curious.
"Well, they're too… how should I say it, precise." She said.
"Precise… what if they happen to be felines? That would explain it, right?" Lance thought out loud.
"Well, that's also a possibility."
"I should follow too." Lia said, drawing a confused look from Zarra.
"You? You'll only slow us down. Just stay here, besides, why do you want to do sothing like that all of a sudden?" Zarra retorted.
"What? You think I'm that weak physically? I used to fight alongside Rynne before focusing fully on my craft, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was long ago. When last did you even run a reasonable distance?"
"Hmph, we'll see tomorrow." Lia said, her brows twitching a bit from Zarra underestimating her so much.
They continued their discussion for so ti more, going through different topics, Zarra never leaving Lance and practically claiming him until it was ti for them to go to bed as it was getting late.
As of late, the show of affection had beco more open, and a little aggressive on the side of showing affection and expression.
At this rate, Lance could feel that his days were numbered. Though he hadn't quite processed the idea completely and it still felt a bit awkward whenever he did, he certainly wasn't against it… it just was a gradual process.
…
The next day, everyone was surprised to see that Tharok and Kaeli were already up and working before any other goblin. With the rate of their work, the recent materials and ores bought from the beastkin rchants didn't seem enough anymore, at least not for the amount of ti they would have anticipated.
Kaeli's early working hours had beco a sort of alarm for most, and it was on that note that Zarra and her scouts were already up and prepared to set out.
"I can't believe you're actually serious about this…" Zarra said, looking at Lia who look a bit different as she wore a different fit from her usual wears.
Lia, dressing more like Rynne, with what can be described as a sort of cropped shirt, light shoulder guards, with grey cloth wrapped around her forearms and legs from her ankles to below her knees, rolled her eyes faintly, "Where's Lance?"
"He'll be here in a bit…" Zarra answered, staring at Lia with a certain look in her eyes.
'Provocative…' The first thing Lance thought when he saw Lia. He wasn't accustod to her dressing like that. For the rest, like Zarra, Rynne and Rikka, he may have beco desensitized to an extent.
Once Lance joined them, they set out, leaving word with Rynne before they left.
As they traveled through the forests, Lance appeared to be keeping up rather well, doing better than the last ti he had followed them on a long journey. Zarra was quite surprised, suspecting he had been practicing without her knowledge, though she couldn't think of how he would do so. Even more surprising, or even shocking, was the fact that Lia was keeping up too, only falling short slightly. She was doing better than Lance when they travelled to the ruins.
Soon enough, as the morning hours went by and the sun hung in the sky, they arrived in the parts where they spotted the tracks.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Zarra paused, crouching low to the ground, her sharp eyes scanning the treetops as she raised a hand to signal the rest to hold. "We're not alone," she whispered.
Lance tightened his grip on the hilt of his dagger, glancing around. "What is it?"
"Not goblins or beasts," Zarra said. "Their movents are too precise, like I said. Too… graceful."
As though on que, a figure with pointy ears ran past so distance away. From their relatively hidden position, they hadn't been noticed while they saw what they were dealing with.
Lance's stomach dropped. "Elves?"
Zarra nodded. "Scouts, most likely. And they're very close." She said, her expression serious.
The reason Lance had such an expression was because of what he had been told about elves.
Unlike their interaction with the dwarf, Tharok, most of the major races showed animosity towards other races, especially the smaller ones. As for races like goblins, orcs, demons, they were regarded the least and ca off like enemies of all the other races. There was no guarantee an interaction with elves would go well at all, especially if this part of the forest was within their territory.
A short mont later, just as they were about to slowly and quietly leave, a soft rustle of leaves signaled the arrival of so unwanted presence. Five figures stepped out from the dense foliage, their slender forms clad in green and brown that blended seamlessly with the forest. Each carried a bow strung with silver-tipped arrows, the strings taut as they aid directly at Lance and the goblins, or at least, their direction.
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