Thorned Rose

by Salty Alty


It's a long long way...

1 week later

Rose marched along the path in a calm daze, barely registering her surroundings. She'd only left Sléibhte Tall 8 hours prior, yet she already felt as if she'd walked an eternity. Snapping back to reality, she quickly picked up the sound of a roaring river. Stopping to smell herself for a moment, then marching towards where she assumed the river was. "By the Gods I smell like a pig's sty..." she thought, having been walking an unshaded path from dawn until dusk, the sun stopping at the edge of the horizon, unmoving, as if waiting for something to pull it down. A large clearing slowly came in to view, and a welcome sight greeted her. "Oh by the gods yes!" She squealed in excitement, as the river was no river at all, but a waterfall that fed into a lake. "Now where the bloody hell do I set up camp?" she asked herself, seeing numerous nooks and crannies that could be turned into a decent shelter, before settling on a small crevasse located near the base of the waterfall, barely large enough to fit her sleeping roll and pack. Quickly foraging for firewood, Rose managed to scrounge up enough wood for a small, but serviceable fire. As she finished bundling up her firewood and kindling, the sun suddenly shot down and the moon raised up high for all to see. As Rose frowned and concealed her camp as best she could in the darkness, guided by nothing more than the light of her horn, a single thought ran through her mind. "Should have brought matches.".

The Next Morning

Rose awoke to the sound of rushing water, birds chirping, and something outside her campsite. Her eyes shot open in a panic, as she loaded her crossbow as quietly as she could. Slowly peeking out of the crevasse that was her temporary home, she saw a few wild deer some 10 meters off, grazing on the vibrant green grass that surrounded the lake. Rose calmed down, and a lazy smile made it's way upon her face. "And I didn't even have to hunt for dinner. Hernhe favors me this day" she thought happily, quickly muttering a prayer to the hunting god under her breath before taking aim at the deer's heart and firing.

The bolt pierced its heart nearly instantly due to how close she was to the animal, and Rose quickly grabbed the creature in her magical grasp so she wouldn't have to chase it down. The other deer had fled as soon as the shot was fired, leaving the entire expanse of the clearing empty of all but the two souls. Rose, not wishing for the deer to suffer more than it needed to, quickly unsheathed the hatchet that clung to her pack and walked over to the still bleeding animal and slitting its throat, before grasping it's neck in both hooves and pulling, a sharp crack resounding throughout the clearing.

As soon as she could see her victim was no longer breathing, she pulled the bolt out of it's side, inspecting the broadhead. Satisfied that it hadn't suffered any major damage that would make it useless, she stuffed it back into the small quiver and quickly affixed the quiver's cap back on. Quickly jogging back to her campsite, she grabbed a small length of rope before jaunting back to the dead corpse of the deer, levitating it until its legs just barely reached a tree branch around 2 meters off the ground, tying its hind legs to the branch and leaving the corpse to slowly drip out it's blood until she was confident that she could butcher it without getting too terribly messy. Her hooves already bloodied from the affair, she quickly laid her crossbow and quiver near her pack before walking with the slightest pip in her step towards the lake, almost skipping.

As she looked at her reflection in the water, she quickly studied her appearance. Her coat, previously the same ivory white as her mother's, was slightly caked with dirt and mud. Her mane was wild and unkempt as ever, and the various scars of past conflicts apparent on most parts of her body. Her, fittingly, rose red eyes looked back at her. Most prominently was, for any true Gryphic Citizen, the tattoos. Long spiraling tribal tattoos made their way around her body, with a few unique symbols apparent at the start of each foreleg, and another on her neck. Most Gryphs settled for a sleeve, or even just one tattoo, while the rare few made their allegiance as apparent as possible. Any Gryphic soldier was required to have at least one tattoo on their body, in the design of any of three nations that made up the Confederacy. The ink they were made in however, was only available on the continent, and none could fake a true Gryphic tattoo easily. They served just as much as proof of service as badges of honor.

The first of these symbols was on her left leg, a large anchor with a serpent wrapped around it. The next was a bow and arrow, with a few decorative leaves dotted around it. The largest of these unique symbols was the one on her neck, of two swords facing downward side by side, marking her retirement from the military. Rose had served longer than most at 12 years of service, and many of her comrades were saddened when they'd heard the news of where she was going, but understood when she'd explained why she was leaving. Gilmore had taken her out for drinks the night before they left, and though Rose would tell no one, some extra fun afterwards.

As she quickly finished up, she quickly looked around the clearing, and satisfied with the lack of wildlife, stepped a few meters back before rushing towards the lake, shouting at the top of her lungs, "CANNON BALL!!". She could tell, even below the water, that she'd made a satisfactory splash for her standards, as she floated to the surface, she started giggling like she was a little schoolfilly again, before she began cleaning herself off. The water was the perfect temperature for her, not quite cold, but not in the territory of hot bath water either. As Rose finished cleaning herself off, she swam towards the rocky shore near her camp before telekinetically grabbing her old ranger's garb and washing it as well. She still had, by her estimate, 9 hours left until darkness before she would be going back to bed, and her armor would have plenty of time to dry. grabbing the last of her rope from her pack, she eyed two branches that were close enough together to form a makeshift drying rack. Tying the rope to the end of each branch, she slung the various pieces of armor and padding over the rope, the chest piece making a jingling sound as the chainmail underneath rattled. Whistling to herself now that a few basic tasks were taken care of, she sauntered back over to her pack to take stock of everything she'd brought with her.

"So I've got a hatchet, a good 2 pounds of pemmican, a saber and a crossbow, 20 bolts, 2 waterskins, a flint and steel, maps of both Aurighast and Equestria, 300 Aviars, my compass, a basic butchery kit, Mum's Shillelagh, and the lockbox of her ashes. And I've got space left to boot!" She noted to herself cheerfully, putting everything back, with the exception of the flint and steel, in the large saddlebags while humming an old folk song from her youth. Walking over to the shore, she quickly grabbed a large bunch of rocks in her magic, laying them in a circle outside her campsite. Layering the fire as she was taught during survival training, she quickly began striking the small steel rod with the hunk of flint, the sparks quickly catching fire on the kindling at the core of the fire. Rose stepped away and watched the fire grow in size for a time, before walking quickly towards the deer she had killed earlier, All blood having left the carcass. As she levitated a skinning knife over, she heard voices in the air. Glancing up, she could barely recognize Gilmore, and a few others, circling the smoke of her fire. Whistling the shrill cry that all Gryphic soldiers knew, she quickly got their attention, and they soared down to meet her.

"Fancy seeing you here Rosey." Commented Gilmore in a teasing tone, "The Squad and I were totally not looking for you, Nope! Just... happened to be flying by!" he said unconvincingly, before looking to the deadpan faces of his squadmates. "Right guys? Right? Back me up here Flo!"

Floki, not amused in the slightest, looked towards Rose after shaking his head at Gilmore, the dark feathers on his face clashing with the normal white plumage of the gryphon. "We were totally lookin for ya. Just wanted to say one last goodbye you know? We've had good times with ya. What's wrong with one more drunken memory, eh Spooks?" He said jokingly, in the same rough, gravelly voice Rose remembered.

Rose, now leaning on her hind legs against the trees, raised an eyebrow. "Well, if ya want another night of drinking together, help me butcher this damn deer. I can hardly eat it all myself!" She finished with a grin, before looking towards the two other gryphons. "Ludwig, Kholo, Wanna go ahead and get something soft for us all to sit on?" She asked the two. Ludwig was a taller, thinner gryphon from Gehrva, contrasting against Kholo, who had a shorter, far more stout build.

Kholo, a small frown apparent on his face, gestured towards Gilmore. "And him?" The Ruskee gryphon asked, "What's his job?".

Rose laughed, before tossing her hatchet towards Gilmore, the gryphon catching it easily. "Easy, he gets to chop firewood."
She said, before turning to Floki, who had now just begun skinning the deer. "Just before we get started Flo, be sure to save about half the meat. I still need to make jerky for the trip. And between you and me, fish jerky tastes awful." she jested, lightly elbowing the disheveled griffin in the chest.

Floki let out a "hmph" and the two began working on skinning the deer, the sun in the middle of the sky, beating down upon them.

As the hours whittled by, the group shared stories of their old exploits and humorous moments of their past. The fire had grown to the point where they could begin cooking the deer, and various logs and bundles of tall grass were gathered for seating. Rose reckoned it must have been 9 o' clock judging by the moon's position in the sky, when she heard Ludwig ask a question. "What was that lad? I was off in my own lil' world for a moment." she asked, gesturing for him to repeat the question.

"I asked which city you are heading towards, genosse? Only a few port cities are even open for travel as of this moment, what with the war having just ended." Ludwig asked, his thick Gehrvic accent showing through. He took a long swig from his bottle of Cognac, before speaking once more. "Calastore and Mon'skrau are practically stagnant in terms of travel, and the closest port city that is still operating smoothly is likely to be Hafenstadt. I'd bet half of my savings on it." He finished, swirling the liquid inside his bottle.

Rose sighed, her choice drink of whiskey now only half full, before tapping her hoof impatiently upon the forest floor. "Aye lad, I was considering Hafenstadt, but only way for me to get there quickly is through the Verlassen woods, and nobody I've met speaks kindly of it." She said, a contemplative frown and a furrowed brow illuminated by the glow of the fire, her hoof held to her chin.

Rose heard a loud slurping noise, her head snapping to glare at Kholo, who was struggling to get the last of the marrow he could out of the deer's left foreleg, the meat of which hung over the fire in a quickly set up drying rack, before responding to Rose. "Well Prizrak, I don't think you've much of a choice. Besides, What is the worst the could happen?" He commented idly.

Rose looked at him in mock horror, as did the rest of the party, before stuttering as convincingly as she could. "You've doomed us all!", covering her face with her hooves in a dramatic display. Peeking her eyes out from under her hooves, she spotted a spare, untouched and unbroken, bone sitting near Kholo. Grabbing it within her magical grip, she brought it over to herself before cracking it open with the hatchet that was sitting next to her makeshift chair of a stump. "Just for that you crazy amadán, I'm stealing a bone." She said cockily, being sure to slurp the marrow out as loudly as she possibly could.

Gilmore and Ludwig shared a chuckle at her antics, after which Gilmore spoke. "Well, I don't know about you lot, but I'm off to bed. We've got a week of leave, and I for one am spending it drinking." He said groggily, sitting up from his pile of grass and clambering on to a tree branch, getting into as comfortable of a position as he could, before closing his eyes.

The rest of the group agreed, exchanged their pleasantries, and headed off to bed. As Rose fell asleep with a smile on her face, a pair of eyes lingered in the darkness beyond the fire.