[werebeargoddess]

Several days after they met Mirabel, they consulted the map. From what they could tell, they were no more than a few days away from the next village. They agreed that it would be a good idea to head there to stock up on supplies, as well as look for information on the plague. Having agreed on that, they settled down to prepare camp for the night.

As they set up, Mirabel spoke to Jena. The three had become fast friends with the elf over the past couple days; Leonis in particular seemed to like her.

"You have been rather quite," observed Mirabel quietly. "Tell me, my friend, is something troubling you?"

Jena was quiet for a bit, thinking. Mirabel was rather observant, for indeed Jena had been troubled. And suprisingly enough, Morhau was the cause of it, or at least one of the major ones.

"I don't know what to do," she told the elf, just as quietly. "I mean, I care much for Morhau, despite the fact that I've known him for only so long. But..."

"Yes?" prompted Mirabel.

"Well, as you've already figured out, I am a true werebear. I can change my shape into that of either a bear or a hybrid. And, well, Morhau is a tiefling. Now, as you probably know, humans have mated with, and even married, tieflings. But as far as I know, tieflings have never mated with werebears. I'm not sure if they're compatible or not."

Mirabel was silent, thinking. Then she said,

"Huh. I can see your point. Tieflings don't mate with other races very often. And when they do, it is usually with pure humans, or even pure elves, but not lycanthropes. Well. We really do seem to have a sticky situation. If I were you, just tell him of your feelings towards him. If he does not feel the same, then at least you'll have made your feelings known. If it turns out that your feelings are mutual, and that he feels the same as you, then the two of you can take things slowly from there."

Jena smiled. "Thank you, friend. I will have to think on this." Mirabel smiled in return, and hurried off to lay out her pallet for the night.

Once the four friends were finished setting up camo, they sat around eating. They were all tired after a long day of traveling, and nobody fely like talking much. It was getting dark quickly, and when they where done eating, they each went to their own beds.

Jena lay for a long time. Sleep seemed to elude her. From the deep breathing of her friends, they seemed to be asleep already. Jena was having trouble sorting out her emotions. As she had told Mirabel, she cared for Morhau. She didn't worry too much about being rejected, for he seemed to care for her as well. No, there was something else that worried her. It worried her just how much she cared for Morhau. She had only met him a few weeks before. Surely that wasn't enough time for her to feel this way! And yet, she still did. But when she thought about it, he wasn't the only one she cared about. She cared about Leonis, who had become something of a little brother to her. Technically, she was supposed to be something of a guide and mentor to him, but maybe since their ages were so close, that wasn't possible. Maybe it was better that they be like siblings. And she and Mirabel had become fast friends in the few days they had known each other. Yes, there were other people who she cared for as well. Jena had to smile to herself a little, for they were beginning to resemble something of a clan. A four-member clan, but a clan all the same.

Finally several hours yet before dawn, Jena had to get up and dress. She had gotten little sleep during the night, and felt she could be abed no longer. Quietly, she walked to the edge of their camp. Their camp was on the edge of forest, leading onto the farmland. Somewhere, amid that farmland, was the town that they were headed for. Funnily enough, it was in the east.
Why should I be thinking about that sort of thing? she wondered to herself. There was a noise of someone walking behind her; Jena whirled, ready for an attack, but it proved to be only Morhau. Jena chuckled.

"Oh, its only you, Morhau. I thought you were asleep."

Morhau smiled, though Jena could hardly see it in the dark. "And I thought you were asleep. Nay, I was having trouble catching sleep. You?"

Jena relaxed. "The same. I figured I might as well get up, in case something should happen."

Morhau nodded, and moved over and stood next to Jena, close enough she could feel warmth coming off from his body. Huh. I never realized that he isn't much taller than me. We could easily lean on each other if we had to. Jena banished the thought quickly, refusing to let her mind continue along that line. Because of it, Morhau startled her when he spoke up again.

"When I traveled alone, I used to get up an hour or two before dawn, and I would watch the sun rise. It has been quite a while since I last did such."

Jena was rather taken aback, for she had done very much the same thing when she had traveled alone. Suprising herself, she took his left hand in her right, holding his hand."

"No longer will you watch it rise alone," she told him, "for I will watch it rise with you."

Morhau looked at her in suprise, then smiled at her. He in return held her hand in his, and their gazes returned to the eastern horizon.

Some time before the sun was to rise, there came a strange ornage glow to the eatern sky. Jena and Morhau, who had been talking off and on the t eachother for the past hour and a half, stared at it in confusion.

"What is that, do you think?" Morhau asked.
"I don't know, but we should probably awaken the other two." Morhau nodded, and they quickly went to awaken their friends.