The Hunt is On

Gamon prepared himself to take aim. This was it. He was going to get this kill, and he was going to help these people. He breathed in deeply, preparing to use his magic against one of the foxes. First, he would pull the animal in, and then summon his sword to finish it off. Quick, painless, and effective. The animal wouldn’t suffer, and neither would he. As long as there was a minimal amount of blood involved, he was alright with it. Foxes are tasty, but they’re also just too cute.

He exhaled that drawn in breath, and abruptly slammed his knuckles together. “Binds of the iron dragon!” Immediately, chains shot from his extended hand. The creature had no time to get away as the chained wrapped around it. It cried out, and immediately, the mage’s terrible guilt was immense.

Before he had time to react to the creature’s cries, an arrow silenced them. The lead hunter had stolen his kill, and seemed to be quite satisfied with himself. The chains clattered upon the ground, a deafening silence settling afterwards. His immediate reaction is embarrassment and shame, as he had let this man take his kill. Not only that, he’d wasted the magic and the time on this. He had let this happen.

However, his embarrassment quickly turned to red, hot, anger. He clenched his fists, turning to look at the man. “What, you can’t get a kill without my help?” He sneered, leaning closer to the hunter. “No wonder you don’t have any food.” His voice is bitter, scorned by the man’s actions. Had he been unprovoked, Gamon would have never said such a hurtful thing.

While Gamon took down the third fox, Sorano was rushing forward again, trying to beat the lean, thin man who also ran towards it. Slashing two darts out of her bag, Sorano neatly whipped them through the air and slowed as the feathery projectiles buries themselves in the foxes neck. The other hunter screeched to a stop as well, snow spraying everywhere as he tried to stop without crashing into the ice before him. The fox slowly collapsed, and the letter mage breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't been too painful for it, at least. She never wished to prolong an animal's death while hunting. However, when she had hunted before, she hadn't understood as much about the world, nor had she had her auric sight.

When the animal fell, Sorano was hit full-on with the reality of what had just happened. Her vision didn't help, either. In her sight, the aura had seemed to writhe in pain horribly as her arrow hit the foxes leg. Then, the aura there had grown darker and polluted, while she hit it with her darts. When that happened, the aura had seemed to silently shriek once, before fading away from the fox's body. It was a horrible sight.

Collapsing to her knees, the young girl caught her breath, trying to calm herself, while Hoshi wriggled out of the jacket, staring at her friend in worry. Images and memories flashed through the girl's mind, ones she didn't want to remember. A knife, hurled from her hand, down, down... Sorano shook her head fiercely, and bowed her head over the foxes body. "Elements thank you for your life, it has not been taken in vain," she whispered, honoring it, before standing on wobbling legs to see Gamon and the lead hunter.

The man stood there for a second, seeming a bit startled. Then, he turned and spat on the ground, the saliva freezing quickly, and muttered something in his language, which made Sorano wince. She stood quickly, and spoke to them both. "Okay. I get it. You hate us, and we hate you. It's only natural, really. But we have to work together, so maybe yelling at each other isn't the best thing. Just give it a rest," she sighed. It was like talking to her two brothers in a fight.

"Ehhhh... Now Kinzoku-san is scary too!" Hoshi wailed.

Stats:

The young dragon slayer stood there as his younger guild mate scolded him and the Iceberg native. “He's not scary. That hunter is just rude!” Tykva, now wide awake, gave a low growl. Had the man come any closer, her warning growl would have become a terrible hiss. Gamon crossed his arms and pouted to himself, angry that he had been so disrespected. He refused to be treated as any less than he was worth. His face still hot with embarrassment, he began to track further into the snowy tundra.


Suddenly, he met eyes with a small creature across the tundra. The large fox has separated from the rest of the group. It stood alone as the other foxes scattered. They both stared quietly as the wind whipped around them. He whispered a quiet sumance, beckoning his sword to his hand. He approached the fox slowly and quietly, as it watched with wide eyes. However, it did not run. A low feeling of dread crept over him as he raised the sword. How could he do this? It had never done anything to him. In fact, this small creature had probably never done anything malicious at all. He came down upon the creature’s neck with great force, looking away upon impact. He turned away without looking at the cadaver he had created.

Gamon felt sick to his stomach. Sure, he’d killed and eaten things before, but they had always put up a fight. That fox was young and naive, and had no idea of the human dangers that occasionally roamed their frozen Sahara. Tykva nudged his head gently, attempting to cheer him up.

He gave a quiet sigh before turning back to the group. The young wizard suddenly ached for the warm halls of the guild. He wanted to go home terribly. Now he had to do it again. There was still more foxes out there.

Watching Gamon's aura after he killed the fox, Sorano's stomach clenched at the thought as well, and smiled weakly at the older mage before going out herself as well. She had her eyes focused on her surroundings, using her auric sight to try and spot any other animals. She could see flickers of the colors every now and then, but nothing in particular.

"Kinzoku-san, we might do better flying above!" Sorano called over the howling wind, "I'm going to try scanning the landscape from the sky!" Beckoning to Hoshi, the letter mage bound a scarf around the exceed before they set off, the small exceed pushing against the wind. Squinting down at the icy tundra below, the little spirit warrioress finally noticed a steady flow of aura a few meters north of their current location. "Hoshi-chan, you can go back down now!" Sorano yelled, her words nearly whipped away by the wind and snow. When they finally landed safely, both girl and exceed were covered in snow.

Sorano grunted, shaking the powdery cold stuff out of her jacket, and faced the others. "There are animals that way," here she pointed north, "they might still be there if we hurry." Then, she looked back at the animal carcasses, and grimaced. They would have to be buried to prevent scavengers from stealing them. The hunters had brought along picks and shovels for the purpose, and one glance at them showed they weren't exactly about to share. She sighed again. She was just the sighing type. "Kinzoku-san, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but do you have any metal spells or such to dig holes? I can magic some iron for you to eat if you must, but I can't do complicated things like shovels and drills."

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'Monster Dice' :

Gamon looked on from down on the snowy plane as the younger mage flew up to survey the surrounding land. While he was watch his guildmates, Tykva popped her head out from the warmth of the coat to see the same sight. “Do you want me to fly you up there as well?” Gamon responded without looking away, “No. That’s okay. I know you hate the cold just as much as I do. So just stay warm. Okay?” “Okay.” She sounded let down, she just want to help.


He made his way over to Sorano and Hoshi as they landed. She pointed off into the distance saying that there were animals in that direction. “Well let’s hurry up and get them, before we miss them. I want to get out of this place. We should’ve just stayed in Seven.” Gamon turned and started to head off into the direction she pointed towards. He didn’t make it very far. The young mage want Gamon to to help the natives bury the carcasses. “Why should I help them?” he said bitterly. “They have been nothing but rude to me this whole time.” He paused for a second. Debating whether or not to comply to the request.

He sigh deeply. “Well, I don’t got a drill or anything like that. What I could do is basically punch the ground.” He walked over to the remaining fox corpse, and talking normally casted one of his slayer spells. “Pillar of the Iron Dragon.” His forearm transformed into a solid, round iron pillar. He started to strike the frozen ground. His hits didn’t do much at first, but then slowly he started to displace the cold dirt. Slowly he made the hole big enough to place the fox into. Walking towards the dead fox his arm slowly returned to flesh and bone. He pick up the corpse, it was still vaguely warm, which upset Gamon a little bit. He placed it into its temporary grave, then covered it up with the dirt he moved.

Gamon made his way back over to group. “Alright, so how many more things do we have to kill before I can get warm again. Also, we should start to make our way to those other animals Sorano spotted.” Gamon started to walk in the direction he tried to walk earlier. He sniffed the cold air. He could smell that there was something in that direction that was much worse than a few foxes.

Sorano frowned at the older mage. "It's good to at least fake a kind or neutral attitude towards others. Who knows, someday they might be the only ones who can help you and if you all hate each other, you're doomed," she said matter-of-factly, shrugging, then helping heave the other fox in, wincing slightly at the touch. "We have only two carcasses among our group so far, Kinzoku-san, we require 28 worth of carcasses before we can go home, so let us hunt swiftly!"

The letter mage followed after Gamon, as did the hunters, lingering behind as if suspicious of the mages' actions. As the auras slowly came into view, Sorano realized that it wasn't all what she had expected. She could see three more snow fox auras, as well as one much larger one. She didn't recognize the shape, as auras weren't very distinct, but it didn't look like something to be trifled with. Crouching down a few feet away, Sorano drew her bow, as did the female hunter. She seemed to be their Archer or something. The men did the same routine again, sneaking up on both sides with hunting knives and bows at the ready. Spotting one fox first, Sorano cbosed her eyes, squeezing them tight before she released it hesitantly. However, this one flew true, striking the unsuspecting animal through the eye. The female huntress scowled at the young girl, not able to see anything else in the snow.

Leaning forward, Sorano began to see the edges of the larger thing, squinting her eyes at the bulky shape. When it finally burst out, Sorano actually sat back, having been squatting before. A ginormous 600 pound polar bear or something had come charging out, and it was shooting- wait for it- icicles at them.

Stats:

“I don’t know how, but this country keeps getting worst,” Gamon said with a tone of annoyance. “Like the subzero temperatures wasn’t enough. Now there is a bear that can use ice magic.” He side stepped as one of the icicles that the bear launched at the group. It landed with a small thud, kicking up some snow at the force of the impact. He looked of his should to see if everyone was alright. See that everyone was fine he turned his attention back towards the quickly approaching bear.

He started to walk in the direction of the bear. “Hey, you guys go and take care of the foxes. Your attacks would be more useful against them.” He said without look back at the group. “I should be able to handle the big guy by myself.” Gamon had to show the hunters that he can do be a useful. Maybe if he took this bear down by himself they would show him some respect.

The bear was still flinging ice at the dragon slayer. What a nuisance this bear was. Gamon stopped walking and held his ground. The bear stood only a few feet away. It jumped onto its back legs and roared. “Oh is that supposed to scare me?” Gamon said sarcastically. “Sorry but you aren’t as scary as my dragon dad.”

Gamon’s cool comment drew the corners of his mouth up into a smirk. The bear stared down at him, grunting and snarling as if it was considering his snide comment. Suddenly, it leaned forward, tempting Gamon to lean back. However, he stood his ground. The bear couldn’t have been but several inches from his face, inhaling his scent and trying to make of what was happening. No hunter had dared taken on this bear before, and not this boldly. They were locked in a fierce standstill, unlike either of them had ever experienced.

As the young mage took in this experience, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bear raise his paw. Time seemed to slow as he whispering a call for his scales of the iron dragon. The bear’s paw met the side of an iron face, causing the creature to wail in pain. Gamon’s face was smug as ever, knowing that he’d showed that bear who’s boss.

Stats:

OOC: Just roll the dice whenever you finish, we're taking a surprisingly long time lol))

Sorano sighed, facepalming as Gamon decided to show off a bit. Still, Sorano knew she could trust her guildmates, though she wrote out a spell she could use anytime in case things got back. The magic energy glowed slightly, and formed the words fire by her side, but she didn't activate it, merely keeping it by her in case. Nodding to Gamon, she lifted two darts from her pack, aiming at another fox aura which the other hunters couldn't see. Aiming, then hurling it straight on, the poison began to work, and the animal quickly collapsed, dead.

"Kinzoku-san, things are going great here, don't worry a bit," she called over at the dragon slayer.

The other hunters scowled in disbelief at how efficient the two mages were becoming, and were awestruck by Gamon's magic and boldness with the bear. Sorano and the exceeds being so calm and natural about it didn't help, either. They quickly surrounded the last fox before the letter mage could get to it, and the archer neatly shot it through the eye before it could run away. Sorano sat over the carcasses once more, thanking the Elements for the kill. Two carcasses added. Twenty-six to go. Leaving them there for now, she headed over to her partner, standing behind him.

"Kinzoku-san, I'm acting as backup if you need it. But I don't think you do," she commented. It had been recent since he had passed his C Rank exam, and Sorano still wasn't sure of his new abilities.

Stats:

“Alright, now it's my turn.” Gamon chuckled.  Tilting his head back. Gamon started to inhale deeply. After he had his fill of air he looked back at the large bear. The bear seemed to be scared by the young wizard, like it knew it was no longer at the top of the food chain. “Iron Dragon’s Roar!” He yelled. Placing his cupped hands over his mouth. A tornado of air and metal shards come flying out. The blunt force alone sent the bear flying back a few yards. Gamon looked at what he accomplished. A large bear down and he cleared a path through the snow for 50 yards.

He looked behind him to see his fellow guild mate standing behind him. “Did I go a little bit overboard with that last one?” he wondered. “In any case let’s collect what we have killed. I bet that bear will bring us closer to our goal than those foxes.” He walked over to the dead bear. He knelt down beside it and placed a hand on it. He had to make sure that it wasn’t in pain. Once his concern was answered he whispered his thanks to the bear and to the land. That this bears death will be used to bring more life and happiness.

Gamon stood up and walked back to hunting group. “Alright which way should we go now?” The young mage’s sense of smell was being distorted due to the high winds in the area. He couldn’t pinpoint an animal’s scent easily. He looked beyond the group and saw movement in the tree line. “Hey did you see that?” He asked trying to reassure that he wasn’t going crazy. “Here, come on. I think I saw something in the woods.” He started running over to the tree line in hope that they could get another kill.

Stats:

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'Monster Dice' :

"Perhaps a bit. But no matter. Let's quickly bury our catch in that ginormous hole you created in that attack and get going," she said, shaking her head a little. It sure seemed a dragon slayer's magic was really destructive, huh? An icy barren wasteland was the perfect place for a slayer to go all out. Solid Script was more about finesse and true understanding of words.

Sorano followed after Gamon quickly, as did the hunters. The letter mage sighed as they went along. Nine carcasses down, twenty-one to go. It seemed like it would take forever to finish this job. When they finally reached the area, Sorano spotted three more foxes. Wow, they sure we're abundant around here, huh? "I'll take care of this one, Kinzoku-san!" Sorano called through the wind, already scribbling through the air with her hands. "Solid Script: Wind!" she announced, calling forth the letters of the spell, whirling into the foxes and easily killing them all. This was a fairly low-rank job, and two C ranks could easily take care of it, while the hunters watched dumbly at the feats these two insignificant looking people performed as if it were no problem.

"Well, are we so useless after all? You didn't even do a thing in that group, try better next time, perhaps?" the letter mage asked, having to look up to stare the lead hunter in the eye, "I doubt you could do better." She walked over to the three neatly killed carcasses, whispering a thanks over them, before burying them quickly. Standing again, she scanned their surroundings for any more prey.

Stats:

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'Monster Dice' :

Gamon gave a hearty nod, standing back and watching his teammate work. At this point, his body had gone numb to the cold. The wind had sliced through his body; he couldn't even feel his nose. Tykva was neatly nestled in his coat, avoiding the terrible tundra that surrounded them. He reached in and have her a scratch for his brief moment of reprieve.

As his teammate collected the foxes corpses, they once again began to travel north. He leaned over to Sorano as they walked, whispering to her over the hissing wind. “It’s no wonder no one took this job before us.” He gave a small smile, chiding her as they walked. “I'm amazed that they let us in at all.” Perhaps they would chase them out with fire and pitchforks when they came back. Maybe not, as they were too hungry to even hunt most of the time.

Suddenly, he spotted another small group of foxes in the distance. “I got this one.” He announced, loud enough for the others to hear. Slowly, he began to walk toward the foxes, careful not to frighten them. He raised his arm slowly, approaching them with caution. The foxes contained to scour for food. “Iron dragon’s wing attack!” He swung his arm downwards and outwards, and before the foxes could run, faced the ferocity of his attack.

Still, he felt guilt as they fell. He walked over and retrieved the meat, leaving the carcasses behind. “Alright. Only 15 more left, guys.” His math seemed to be on, right? That sounded like it was correct. “I think.” There was a large possibility that his math was wrong, and perhaps no one would notice.

He breathed in sharply before exhaling, resting his hands on his knees and leaning forward. That attack had really taken it out of him. He looked back toward the group, obviously exasperated. “You guys got any iron? I could really use it right now.”

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'Monster Dice' :

OOC: Ohmygosh I just realized that this is basically Gajeel and Levy lol. But I don't ship them, nuuupe))

On the other hand, Sorano was actually starting to warm up now that she had moved around a bit. She had also gotten used to the cold, and though she still disliked it, it gave a much more muted effect now. "Yeah! This job sucks!" Hoshi grumbled, crossing her arms and shivering in Sorano's jacket.

"Now, don't be like that, Hoshi, Kinzoku-san," Sorano reprimanded them, which was rather funny as Gamon was about twice her age, "they dont have mages, and it's tough living in the middle of nowhere." Glancing up, she spotted another small aura. A rabbit! The letter mage had a feathered dart out in a flash, and with a swift snap of her wrist that could've killed in badminton, the rabbit was dead. Standing again, Sorano glanced back at Gamon. "Now it's fifteen," she corrected, burying the little body. She was more used to hunting little animals like this, but the younger part of her pained at the sight of the dead rabbit.

When Gamon asked for iron, Sorano flashed a grin. "Now, why didn't you say so earlier?" she asked cheerfully, "Solid Script can make anything, only battle spells take up magic and time, you know." Her hands spelled out a word in the air, moving quickly before four ginormous letters spelling iron landed in front of Gamon, each the size of a person, blocks of solid iron. "There you are, I can make more if you want," she said, as if the letters weren't stretching above her head already.

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'Monster Dice' :

He watched as Sorano took down the rabbit, realizing that his math was wrong. He would have blushed if his cheeks and nose weren't already terribly red, but alas, he was flushed. No sense in getting embarrassed and wasting the energy. “Same difference.”

As he stood there, slightly winded by his own strength, he gave a shrug. “I don't like asking for things.” He often tended to stave things off that he felt unnecessary to the absolute last moment. He gave a relieved sigh, knowing that she could help out. “Spasibo, my friend.” A quick ‘thank you’ was in order, he believed. “Uh. Thank you.” He could practically hear his father’s voice in his own, speaking their native language.

He took the iron given to him and took a hearty bite. It made him feel better almost immediately, as he chewed and swallowed. How lucky he was to have Sorano as a teammate, considering that he hadn’t even considered bringing any with him. He finished the bar in silence, enjoying the replenishing energy that now flourished in his body. Anyways, they carried on.

Ahead, he spotted a mixture of animals. Two groups of foxes. He glanced over to his teammate, silently agreeing on a collaboration. This group was too large to take on by only one of them. He approached silently, taking the left side, careful not to disturb the quiet animals up ahead. He glanced over and motioned that he would make the first move.

Gamon rushed ahead, moving his hands to call forward a spell. “Iron dragon’s thorns!” He slammed his fist into the ground, taking out two of the foxes, and severely wounding another. Oh those stupid thorns. Their randomness can be useful sometimes but no he has to finish off the wounded fox. “Pillar of the Iron Dragon!” He struck quickly at the base of the skull ending the fox’s suffering. Three more down.

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'Monster Dice' :

Sorano waved off his thank you, a little embarrassed. It hadn't been much, really. Simple spells like that required no energy from herself, and were absolutely no problem. When they reached the foxes, Sorano nodded back at her teammate, pulling out three darts between her fingers. Pulling her hand back, she snapped her wrist strategically and sent the three small feathered darts at the foxes, hitting each one in fatal places. The hunters hadn't done anything, though, for a while. They were too busy staring dumbstruck at the two mages' skill.

Thanking the Elements again, Sorano helped Gamon and the hunters bury the corpses before subtracting quickly in her head. "Well! We have nine more to go, Kinzoku-san! We'll be warm in Magnolia in no time!" she sighed in relief. This weather was really getting to her; she didn't know how the natives could stand it!

They traveled quickly now, reaching an icy stream that rushed too fast to be frozen. A rickety bridge crossed it, but the prey they were after was on this side. Another gigantic icicle bear came at them, roaring away. Sorano simply smiled, gestured at Gamon to go around to the other side, and released a spell, "Solid Script: Fire!" The flaming letters smashed into her side of the bear, melting it's icicle attacks into water vapor while turning meters of Iceland into chld slush. "Oh. I'm sorry," she muttered, picking her way out of the slush. Now it wasn't just cold, it was cold and wet. At least the air lingered with a slight warmth from the flames. Better than freezing, she supposed.

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'Monster Dice' :

Gamon couldn’t help but shudder from the sudden warmth that enveloped them. He shrugged in response, not really minding the warm pocket of air that she had created. However, it quickly dissipated, and once again left him shivering. He would have much rather have stayed cold, but the taste of warmth reminded him of home. He wanted to just turn back.


“I wish we could be warm in Magnolia now…” He muttered, “I miss my bed…” As they trekked through the snow, he noted that it was becoming deeper. The snow dusted tundra was now blanketed by a thick covering, now freezing slightly as the snow fell. A slight crunch now made hunting a bit harder. He sighed, breath freezing in front of him. It was so cold that he could see the snow in his eyebrows. That was completely too cold for him.

They trudged along, not seeing any animals for several miles. Gamon gave a dissatisfied grunt, now beginning to become discouraged. Only nine more animals, and then they could finally get going. Gamon was absolutely sick of this mission and the people he was dealing with. Magnolia was his home, and that’s where he wanted to be.

Suddenly, he spotted movement in the distance. The group stopped, careful not to scare the small animal away. He took a look around, briefly wondering who would take care of this one. The thinly framed female hunter stepped forward, kneeling to get the perfect shot. He watched, careful not to disturb her. She drew her bow, breathed in deeply, and shot. Her aim had been true, and she retrieved the carcass and returned to the group. Eight more to go.

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'Monster Dice' :

OOC: Where, last few posts! After you post, I'll post once more and you can stick this thing up))

Sorano nodded sullenly to Gamon's comment. "Must you remind me?" she grumbled, doing her best to keep her steps light flat and quick to prevent as little crunching as possible. The native hunters were experts at this, balancing themselves perfectly and walking, no, almost gliding along the barren surface of the land. It only frustrated Sorano more to see that. Realizing her emotions were starting to get out of hand, Sorano closed her eyes, and envisioned that icy cage around her heart and mind once !ore. She couldn't break her own promise, to let emotions get the best of her ever again.

Still, Sorano didn't know what was wrong with her lately. Her emotions had been popping out more easily, and she spoke to her guildmates readily instead of only talking when necessary. Could it be Fairy Tail was bringing back her emotions?

Looking ahead, she spotted a group of nine foxes in front. "Kinzoku-san, how about we each get three?" she suggested, already moving forward.spelling with her hands and fingers, she yelled, "Solid Script: Lightning!" An enormous bolt of lightning came crashing down to earth, smashing three of the foxes down in a quick speedy death. The air filled with a stench of scorched air and another melted crater had appeared in the ice. "Ah... Sorry again..." Sorano mumbled, hoping Gamon had already gone after the remaining foxes. Using her solid Script to create a sled, she helped the hunters lug the bodies on and prepared to return to the village.

O.O.C: So who is posting last??))


Gamon nodded and made his way over to the other three foxes. As he made his way over to the other pack, he watched as a large bolt of lightning came crashing down beside him. The impact made him jump. The sudden noise alone made him jump. The fact that it was electricity made it a lot worse. Iron and electricity don't do mix to well. He he had to make sure that there was no more static electricity in the air before he continued to walk. After he was satisfied with the surrounding air around, he started to move again. Taking a step, he planted his foot on what he thought was solid ground. The next moment was he was on the ground laying on his back. Gamon quickly jumped to his feet. Red faced, he looked back at the group to see if anyone saw his embarrassing fall.

Getting back down to business Gamon turned his attention to the foxes. Maybe he can redeem himself from his spill. The foxes seemed to have completely ignored the recent lightning strike. He got up close. Gamon thought to himself that now he has to show up Sorano. Gamon know which spell could make the impact that was necessary to take down the foxes. Fingers still cold from his spill, he struggled slightly to summon his spell. He breathed in deeply and prepared. “Iron Dragon’s Roar!” He shouted, releasing a tornado of metal and strong gusts.

He breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that they would soon be trudging back to Magnolia. He walked with Sorano to collect the sumptuous meat, and turned his head to speak to her. His voice was hoarse from such a loud shout, and such dry air. “Ready to head back?” Gamon asked, completely and totally ready to go home. He was over this entire mission.