Retreat

"Is no good, none of dis will suffice!" Nyitzcha fumed, kicking a plank of wood aside. "If dem elves only wanted a word from us, why not call us aside like a normal plebeian."

Felix turned around catching a glimpse of Alma raising her bow when her son intervened, settling her down and calming her with talk. Fuming, she reluctantly withdrew from her aim and looked away, much to his relief.

"Try to keep it down." He held back when she turned her head toward him. "Please? Maybe something should come out of this that's salvageable."

Nyitzcha scoffed, kicking at the pile of scrap she had gathered. "Oh yea, plenty o' goodies 'ere. Got some-some raw cod, broken glass... oooh s'that dried biscuit o'er there?"

Janette rolled one of the few barrels that stayed in one piece over before pulling it to stand up. Leaning over with a sigh, she brushed her hair back and glanced at the dwarf. "I count five barrels that managed. Felix, feel free to lend a hand anytime."

"I'm trying but all I'm finding is... well." He pointed over at Nyitzcha busying herself with kicking trash and debree and angrily shouting to herself. Janette looked around at what was left of the carriage, her posture dropping as did her spirit.

"Now what are we going to do? This isn't... I don't know what we're doing anymore, Felix. Most of our stuff was there."

"I know." He agreed, sitting down against a large tree that had fallen over with moss growing atop it. "I know."

Janette leaned back and sat down as well, at least they were no longer under the hot sun. The jungle had welcomed them with open branches and wide tree growth, covering them with a nice cool shade. Bits of sun rays would seap through several branches here and there, producing a heavely sight of light shining on them. The surrounding sounds of birds and animals did keep them company however, something they were uncertain of being a positive thing or not.

Soon they heard several footsteps approaching them when Spi'Reto and Alma had joined in, the latter finding amusement in the dwarfs behavior.

"Kicking and screaming, how fitting." Alma remarked.

"Just what we need." Janette muttered, looking away.

Spi stepped forward, extending his arms, "We're really sorry about the mess we made, as a way to make amends let us take you back to our town. It's not far from here, there's plenty of food and supplies to go around."

Felix looked back expecting his wife to retaliate in anger, to shout and curse and wave her hands in the air to exclaim her dissatisfaction, only to receive none of it. She calmed down, her back turned to them and her fists softening as her shoulders began to lose tension. Even Janette had raised her eye, waiting for an explosion which never came.

The elf stood there awkwardly observing them, palms sweating as they looked away for a full minute. "So..."

"Ah, sorry!" Janette stuttered, snapping her head back to them and adjusting herself in her warm seat. "Well, we don't really have a choice here I guess. I thought we could manage something but... I'm not living off this for the next few days."

Both elves were leaning on the barrels she gathered, nodding their heads in agreement.

"Never understood the appeal to drinking plant toxin." Alma mentioned.

"It's celebratory for me, a-anyway that's off topic." Janette sighed, leaning back. "I think we will be accepting your offer."

"Do you speak for the couple too?" The young elf asked, referring to the silent dwarf in the back and the concerned young man sat nearby.

"Felix?"

Felix remained unwavered with a look of uncertainty on him, demanding their attention. Several scratches marked his face, and his soft brown hair flowed softly with each light breeze that passed. His hands were held tight, he closed his eyes and breathed in before giving them his answer.

"We can't."

"What?" Janette asked, wide-eyed.

"We can't, we're already this close I'm sure if we hike the rest of the way through then we can make it by nightfall."

"Felix."

"You still have the book right?"

"Yea but-"

"That's all we need then, that's great!"

"No, not great at all. Felix, are you listening to yourself?"

"Are you? Our family is out there, they need us. We have to save them."

"I know that! But we can't save them unless we save ourselves first. This is a rescue after all, but it won't matter if we don't have a plan and resources first."

"We have a plan, a plan to rescue them. With that book we can ask it stuff like where to sneak in, maybe even save them without them noticing us. But we won't know until we try."

"There won't be an opportunity to take if we just run in, pockets empty and lacking any decent food or clothing! Honestly this is a futile attempt from the get-go. Our chances of actually making this work are slim to none the way we are now."

Janette jumped off from where she sat, walking towards the pair of elves watching them.

"You're really giving up on Syri then?" He asked.

Janette froze, her eyes shifting from wide to narrow.

"She's your mate, how do you think she would feel? Can she afford waiting for a full moon tomorrow?"

"Felix, I like you, you're a good friend. But you're stupid, short sighted, naive and codependent. So I'm asking you now as a friend to back off this high horse you're on before you go too far."

He in turn frowned. "We didn't stop to rescue Dimyri."

Janette spun around and tossed the book as Felix caught it by reflex. She swallowed, her fists clenching as her voice began to tremble.

"I was use to being alone, perfectly contempt with it. Was I happy, probably not but I found some comfort in where I was. But then you two came into my life and added a wrench to my day. At first I thought of you two as perverts, in time I came to see you guys as friends, maybe more. Heck, I never saw myself doing more than catching a glance at an attractive traveler here or there, and now here I am on this looney mission to rescue someone who thinks I'm special to her. Oh, and Syri as well."

She chuckled, brushing her cheek.

"You know in ten years nothing ever happened, all I did was business. No new friends, not even acquaintances in all that time. And in the span of two days, I get shot in the butt, watch my parent's house get burnt to ash and lose all of my apple trees. And you know what? At the end of the day, I'm still fighting for her. The Jay from before would be mocking me for being this naive, thinking everything will get better once I get her back. I know it won't, it probably never will. But I'm doing it anyway, because no way am I letting that prophet take her innocence away. She's all I have left now, Syri is mine."

Janette paused to inhale, calming herself.

"KuliKuli is all I have too." Felix added with a pained look.

"Fine, go get yourself killed under her name, that should prove useful. I'm not rescuing her like this, why bother? If you're so blind, so stupid to think you can waltz in and take them all on by yourself, then go on ahead. That may have worked with Dimyri, but this time I'm here. Go play hero, Felix. I'm making a temporary retreat for now." She turned her back to him, walking past the two elves. Alma followed her, leaving her son waiting for Felix and Nyitzcha.

Felix looked down and brushed the dust off the hard cover, falling back to where Janette was sitting. Opening it, he stared at the blank pages before a question mark appeared.

Nyitzcha sat behind him, patting his back. "Sometimes we need to lose battles if if means winning wars. Yer friend has a cool head on 'er."

"Yea, she does." He closed the book, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

"Go where?" Asked the young elf.

"To where ye from, moron!" Nyitzcha shouted, chuckling afterwards. Her smile turned to shock as both she and Felix were lifted up and following the other three. "Gods, was she there all along?"

Alma smirked. "She does well blending in when she's quiet." The Grizzly wagged her tiny ears in return, happily carrying the couple as they retreated back into the forest that afternoon.