“Aahh, a good warm up before a battle.” Feuor said as he started to unpack his heavy armour. He had only worn his boots and pants on the journey and had carried the rest of his gear in his bag. Nih'na took out her amps and inspected them closely, she had always been careful with her amps since they were of such personal importance to her. Dinah was also looking in her pack for her own amps and put them on with the ease of long practice. Nih'na however, had mostly trained without using hers to conserve them, and fumbled a little as she slipped them on.

 

“Oh no, I can’t find my earrings!” Dinah said worriedly as she rifled through her bag. I’m so sure that that I packed them in here last night.

 

“Here, I have a spare set you can borrow Dinah.” Nih'na said as she handed over a hide pouch with jewels nestling inside.

 

“Are you really certain Nih'na?” Dinah asked as she gently accepted the pouch.

 

“They are better used by you than remaining in the bag, Dinah.” smiled Nih’na.

 

Dinah clipped the earrings through her ears and a return smile from her told Nih'na that she appreciated the gesture. Feuor had put on his armour and was swinging his sword around to warm up.

 

“So girls, shall we give it a go then?” He asked and looked around for suitable prey. “How about starting with that clopper over there?”

 

“I think it will do well for a first attempt.” Dinah said. “I hope that I can bind cloppers with my spells though.”

 

“Here we go! “ Feuor had already run up to it and smacked it over the head to get its attention before running back half the distance between him and the girls. There he stopped and taunted the clopper, while Nih'na sent a heal winging his way. Dinah focused on the clopper and rammed her hands into the ground, causing a purple bolt to strike the clopper. As soon as it did so, roots grew from the ground and held the clopper’s claws and legs so it could not move or attack. Feuor took this chance and landed some well aimed blows on the clopper’s head. Within seconds it lay dead on the ground in front of them.

 

“What a team!” Feuor shouted as he looked at the remains of the clopper and managed to get some useful parts from it which he threw into his bag.

 

They continued like this for a while, attacking a range of animals and gathering as many materials as they could, and it seemed to all of them that the more they fought, the better their teamwork became.

.

As they were attacking yet another animal, a clopper suddenly ran towards Dinah and Nih'na without Feuor noticing. It was headed towards Nih'na and was just about to attack when Dinah shouted a warning. When she saw the clopper about to strike, she jerked back, lost her footing and fell to the ground, but the clopper did not move to follow, indeed it sank to the ground itself as if in a deep sleep.

 

“That was a spot of luck indeed, I was not sure if I would be able to attach my spell to it!” Dinah said with relief, as she helped Nih'na back onto her feet again.  Feuor had already finished off the one he was battling with and had noticed the commotion. He ran up to the clopper just as it regained consciousness only to see the sharp edge of Feuor’s sword.

 

The battle was short and sweet and soon the clopper fell to the ground for a final time.

 

“I think we have enough of these materials now. Perhaps it is time for a short rest before harvesting.” Feuor said as they walked to where they had left their equipment and supplies.  They sat down and looked at all the materials they had gathered from the animals before carefully sorting them out into piles. “It's time for lunch I think.”

 

They prepared the food they had brought to share and ate in comfortable silence. After they had finished, they packed the leftovers and sat down to rest for a while.

 

“How about... ehm.” Nih'na started to say.

 

“What?” Feuor and Dinah asked simultaneously.

 

“I was just wondering... when we are done harvesting if we could perhaps take a little swim?” Nih'na asked. She felt safer with them now, even though she was still careful since she did not want to be a nuisance to anyone and lose their warm companionship.

 

“That sounds like a great idea Nih'na! Let’s do it!” Feuor said and started removing his armour.

 

“Sounds good to me too!” Dinah added and grinned at Nih'na.

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