The Ghost Hound Calls [Quest]

Butterflies. It felt like Azura had swallowed a few whole in her sleep. Her stomach was jumping this way and that way from nervousness, and yet the pale doe saw no reason to be nervous. It was as if some silent, never-seen part of her was finally making itself known, and it was raging a war with the rest of the girl. She had been up long before the crack of dawn, organizing and reorganizing her pack, stretching her limbs. filling a water skin. This would be her first time ever to truly go on an adventure. Her visits to the out edges of the meadow seemed to pale in comparison to this. She had next to no idea what to expect, whether the chances of returning from this were high or not. And yet she had pushed through, and here she was, stuffing one last strip of cloth into her pack before making her leave. She glanced around at the branch she had grown to love before scurrying down her pine tree and off into the unknown. 

The day seemed fresh and cool to the mouse, a perfect autumn day. Everything seemed quiet and still -- there were no busy mice rushing here and there, there was no gentle breeze stirring the treetops. No, outside of the occasional bird chirp, the world seemed to be holding its breath. Even the snowy doe made very little noise as she made her way onward, avoiding stepping on dead leaves so as not to break the peaceful quiet. As she picked her way over the occasional fallen branch or the even rarer large stone, Azura plucked a few useful plants. Though the girl had brought her bow and arrows, she had no experience with them outside of a few hours of lonely practice, and she figured she would be more helpful healing than fighting if they encountered a predator. Though she regretted not having sought out a mouse to teach her how to use her only weapon, she did not have any time left to worry about that. Now was the time to act, not fret and plan. 

The girl, not entirely sure of the exact meeting place, plopped down on a small stone and waited, tapping her foot nervously. It could be nearly an hour before anyone showed up, though she doubted that they would wait that long. She tugged off her pack and yanked out all of the items within in it, checking it for what must have been the hundredth time. After deciding that she had everything she needed, the girl carefully set each item back inside of it and pulled the bag back onto her back. She took a deep breath, deciding to simply focus on breathing. She felt as if her stomach might explode at this point. A bird struck up its song nearby, and Azura listened silently, finding a calmness within the music. All she could do was wait and see. There was no point in worrying. The girl sighed and stood up, her gaze scanning over the area in front of her. She saw a single mouse making its way toward the farmhouse. Assuming that they were going to join the party, Azura trailed behind, relieved that the mouse was close to her height and therefore to steps about her size. After a minute or two the charcoal-grey mouse drew up to a couple. Having decided that this was likely the group she was supposed to join, she picked up her pace, quickly approaching the group of three.

As she came up to them, Azura picked up snippets of the conversation. They seemed to be joking around a bit. The girl wasn't sure whether or not she was capable of doing that, with or without the nervousness that haunted her. But if she was going to do this she may as well pluck up her courage and step out of her comfort zone. "Did I miss all the fun?" She asked in what she assumed was a cheerful tone. She gave a grin, hoping to appear more light-hearted than she was in reality.