When Mark woke, he grabbed breakfast and noticed Ava stacking gear on one of the crafting tables. She had food, her bow and arrows, and materials like those he had used for the lean-tos.
Mark walked over to her. “What are you doing, Ava?”
She replied, “I am going to explore what is west of the stream.”
Mark watched as she sorted the remaining items between her inventory, A-frame, and the camp supplies.
Mark replied, “I don’t think you should head west alone.”
“I have Bramble with me. I have all the gear, food, and water for a three- or four-day trip.”
“It’s not safe for you to go out and explore.”
“Cora gets to explore. Everyone else goes out and explores.”
“I don’t think you should go, Ava.”
“You’re not my dad, you know! I am going, and you’re not going to stop me. Everyone else gets to help. I am going to help also.”
“I don’t suppose I can talk you out of this?”
“No, my mind is set.”
“Okay, what if I came with you? Would that be okay with you?”
“Mark, I would love you to come. But you need to get your own food. I have only packed enough for me and Bramble.”
Mark laughed and headed over to talk to Dale.
Dale whispered to Mark, “I am glad you are going with her. I worry about her going out alone. But she was so determined. I did make enough for another person just in case.”
Dale then said, “Here, Mark, take this food; it should do you for a few days.”
Tom came over with a new bowstring and a bag of trade goods, including resin and salt, then wished them safe travels.
When Mark was finally done getting his items together, he saw that Ava was impatient, sitting beside the open west gate, waiting for him.
Mark followed her west toward the stream, not saying anything. Just before they got to the stream, Ava stopped and turned around to face Mark. “Thank you. Everyone treats me like a child. I have skills; I can do things.” Then she turned around without waiting for a response and continued forward.
Mark stood there hesitating and then finally followed her.
They passed the stream, and Ava started looking around. She turned to Mark and asked, “So which way should we go?”
Mark laughed and replied, “This is your adventure. I am just following along.”
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As she looked around, he pulled up his map. This was not his zone. Everything was greyed out. He closed it and continued to watch Ava.
She finally made up her mind and started to head directly west. They went for a short way through the trees. When the trees finally thinned, they saw a huge valley. They could see a few hills and a few lower spots. Areas that might be a marsh of some type. But the most interesting thing to Mark was a lake far in the distance from them.
Ava sat there for a few minutes and then whispered something to Bramble. Then Bramble started sniffing around and then found something that interested him. He turned and looked at Ava and just flicked his ears. Then he turned around and started following some unseen trail.
As they went along, Mark realized that this path was well worn. Not like the animal trails that he found and tracked in the forest, but a trail people might follow. As he looked around, he occasionally found stones stacked up as a marker, like hiking trails would have.
The trail was heading northwest from where they had entered the zone. Not a particularly straight trail, but he could tell that multiple people had used it. They followed it for about 3 hours before they found something interesting.
On the side of the path in a clearing was a fire pit and signs that someone had camped there before. Ava and Bramble spent a bunch of time looking around the camp but found nothing that interested them, and they finally moved on.
The area was still forested, though the trees were spread farther apart than in Mark’s forest. The trail crossed small hills that gave them occasional views of the valley and the lake far to the west.
They ran across animals, most of which avoided them. As they were going around the side of a hill, Bramble slowed down and started to slink off the trail to the left. Ava and Mark followed slowly. Bramble was heading to a small clump of trees; he was keeping low and below most of the brush in the area.
Mark was really interested in this. He had seen Ava and Bramble fight in the cave but never seen them in the forest. He knew they had been going out daily to get traps and always brought stuff back but did not know their strengths and weaknesses.
Mark could not see what Bramble was tracking. Then Bramble suddenly pounced, and he heard the squeal of what had to be some type of pig. Bramble had bitten its back leg and severely wounded it. Seconds later, he watched as three arrows sprouted from the pig.
Mark looked at Ava, and her bow was out, and she put it away and ran over and petted and hugged Bramble. “Good boy.”
Mark said, “You two work together well as a team.”
“We have been practicing. Bramble is getting much better at it, and he is getting pretty stealthy. He can draw them out and cripple them, and I can finish them off.”
Ava looted the brush hog and then went back to the trail and continued following it. They continued this process as they went down the trail. The most interesting thing they found was a longhorn, or at least what looked like one. Ava took a shot at it but missed. It was quite far away, and her bow was lacking.
Going around another hill, they found a cart broken off to the side of the path. It was a small cart with two wheels, a small square box, and handles that someone could pull it with. Going over to the cart, Mark wondered why it was abandoned there. Then looking closer, he could see that the axle had broken and one of the wheels had cracked.
Mark asked for Ava to wait, and he examined it. He had never thought of making a cart or anything. Not that the forest he lived in would make one useable, but he was impressed with its design. It was crude, like the items he made, but clearly made with intent.
As the day was finally coming to a close, they decided that they would look for a good place to camp for the night. As they crested a hill way off to the north, they could see two people walking across the side of a hill. Because of the distance, they could not holler out to them, but they knew there were people here.
Mark was excited to see others. But knew it was too late to go figure out where they were going. The sun had just set, so they finally found a place on the side of the path, and Ava set up their lean-tos and Mark made a fire pit and started a fire.
Mark and Ava sat around the fire and talked about tomorrow’s plans. Mark suggested going to find where the two they saw were going, but Ava really wanted to follow the trail that Bramble was following. Mark finally said, “Your adventure. Let me know our plans in the morning,” and he crawled into his lean-to and went to sleep.