The following morning was somber. Aellisia had taken the watch after Zilia, and Eahlswith had still not returned, through her bond she could feel her friend's grief still, far more raw than when she had spoken about her pack's destruction. And yet her friend was not far, she could still feel that her presence had not left the range of where she could quickly return if there was danger to Aellisia. This thought brought a sad smile to Aellisia's face, that even in her friend's grief she worried for her. Aellisia cast her gaze over the sleeping human, curled up under her fur with a frown still present on her face. When she had taken over the watch Zilia had been quiet, pensive, few words had been spoken between them as the woman was wrought out from their conversation. Aellisia was lost in thought as she looked at Zilia, she was shocked by the depth of the woman's emotions when she found out about the actions that had led to the destruction of Eahlswith's pack. She was aware that Zilia had made many efforts to get closer to Eahlswith, much of her earlier fear and discomfort around her had passed as they travelled together. And the few occasions that she had after discovering that Eahlswith was sentient to talk with the great wolf through Aellisia had shown that she was eager to get to know her friend better. Aellisia had also spoken more often as they travelled through the day together telling Zilia various tales of their time in the forest. Although logically she knew that Zilia and Eahlswith weren't as close as say Aellisia and Eahlswith were, it had become evident to Aellisia that Zilia had in her own way become closer with her friend. The knowledge that she had not only seen the stuffed head of one of her family in the Guild but also heard other members boasting about the fight that killed them and been proud of them for fighting such big monsters near the town had filled the woman with a misplaced sense of Guilt. Aellisia poked at the fire with a stick absently as she considered this, for her part Aellisia didn't blame Zilia for the events of the past, and she was fairly certain Eahlswith didn't either. After all, it wasn't as though the human woman had been a part of the guild's subjugation, nor had she shown the level of fear and hostility that Mathio had shown towards Eahlswith. But merely the knowledge that in the past she had taken some sense of satisfaction at seeing the dead form of one of Eahlswith's pack, and that she had been proud of other Guild Members for the killing of what she now knew were Sentient, Emotional beings had somehow cut her deeply in her heart.

Whilst the human slept Aellisia took the time that morning to go through their supplies, after Mathio had fled he had taken the spare weapons with him, leaving only Zilia's dagger, her spear, and the spare daggers that she had taken from the fallen. As far as food was concerned they had some of the cooked meat left over from the night before, and the berries Zilia had gathered alongside some nuts that she had foraged while gathering water the previous day. She didn't touch Zilia's personal pack, as she felt that it was somehow wrong but she rummaged through the two packs usually strapped to Eahlswith and pulled out more field rations and a few knick-knacks that seemed to have been important to their previous owners. What they had left was meager, but she was confident that what they had, alongside what they could hunt and forage would be enough to see them safely to the town. As she repacked the packs Aellisia let out a long low sigh at the thought of arriving at their goal. Given Eahlswith's current emotional state, and the knowledge of what the humans had done to her dead kin, she worried how her friend would react when she was surrounded by humans. And as she gazed over at the still-sleeping human she found that she was troubled by her own reaction to the human woman, part of her heart cried out for her to never trust a human. It was something she had felt since she was first made aware of them, it seemed so sensible so inarguable that even when she first met Mathio and Zilia, her guard hadn't dropped. But now, after travelling with them she found herself torn. Mathio had validated her distrust of humans, his actions and words and even his attempt to kill her when she collapsed reinforced her thoughts into an iron resolve. However Zilia was the opposite, her initial fear of Aellisia had transformed into reliance and a child-like fascination with her and her race. In turn, Aellisia had felt her own mistrust of humans shift and change around her, she found herself slowly looking forward to the times they would talk in the evenings, and found that the anger she felt towards Mathio had increased as she became more and more aware of the way he spoke to and treated Zilia. And after Zilia had helped drag her to safety, had cared for her in her unconsciousness, and stood against Mathio to defend her Aellisia found an uncomfortable stuffiness in her chest that worried her. She couldn't place the feeling, it wasn't one she knew or remembered. Sighing she finished up repacking the packs and fought to still her mind using the techniques that Eahlswith had helped her develop in the early days when her nightmares had almost overwhelmed her.

When she was finally done Aellisia gently woke Zilia, smiling softly as the human opened her bleary eyes and blinked at her as the sunlight in their small clearing hit her face.
"Mornin'."
Zilia said, her voice filled with the remnants of sleep before she yawned and stretched her hand patting the ground around her until she found her waterskin and drank deeply from it.
"Where's Eahlswith? Has she come back yet?"
The human asked as she looked around their campsite. Aellisia felt a brief flash of sadness at the mention of her friend and shook her head.
"Not yet, but she isn't far from here. She needs more time to herself, so I thought we would be better served if we spent the time we have resting and checking our things to ensure we're ready when she gets back."
Aellisia didn't miss the guilt that crept into Zilia's eyes as she spoke, and as the human coughed slightly and glanced away from her she felt a pang of pain that she tried to quickly smother.
"There isn't much here but we have some of the leftover meat from last night for you to eat this morning, I already ate some of my share whilst you slept so when you're up for it feel free to eat."
Zilia smiled and nodded at her, flicking her gaze back to her face briefly before throwing the furs off her body and scooting herself a little closer to the low fire. Aellisia grabbed the small amount of meat and handed it to her before retreating to sit opposite her. After she sat she pulled one of the daggers she had and quietly started carving Zilia's walking staff whilst the human ate, and for a long time, the two simply sat there in silence enjoying the peaceful morning. After some time Zilia began rooting through her pack pulling out various supplies and laying them next to herself before starting to unfasten the padded splint around her leg. This had been her routine every day they had travelled together and Aellisia watched as she first washed her leg with water from her waterskin before she began to crush various herbs and berries in a stone bowl. She continued her actions for a while until she had made some form of paste and when she was satisfied with her concoction began to apply it over the red and purple bruising on her leg, wincing slightly as she worked it into the skin. When she was done she wrapped her leg in fresh cloths and secured her splint against it, letting out a hiss of pain as she pulled the cloth straps tight to secure her leg before finally letting her robe fall and cover it. Next, she unfastened the top of her robe undoing the toggles and letting it fall to her waist, Aellisia looked away feeling a slight flush in her cheeks as Zilia removed her undertop exposing her chest wraps, pointedly not looking at the human as she gently rubbed more of that paste into the scabbed wounds on her stomach.

Finally, when Zilia had finished her morning ministrations and had redressed herself, Aellisia left her for a few moments to tend to her morning ablutions, Zilia doing the same when she returned to the camp. And when they were both sat together it was Zilia who broke the silence first.
"Well, what do we do now?"
Aellisia closed her eyes and sent probing feelings through the bond, and felt Eahlswith return feelings of sadness and desire to wait a little longer. Opening her eyes she shook her head and spoke.
"Eahlswith isn't quite ready to return yet, she's still upset, though I feel less anger from her now than I did through the night."
Zilia sadly looked away from Aellisia and off into the woods chewing her lip slightly her face revealing her feelings of guilt and sadness. After a few minutes of this, she sighed and poked at the low fire with a stick before she spoke again.
"How does the connection between you two work anyway? I know that you can talk to one another and that you can feel what Eahlswith is feeling, but does that mean that she feels what you feel as well? And how do you know where she is?"
Aellisia was surprised at the sudden questions, but after a moment it occurred to her that Zilia was probably trying to distract herself from how she was feeling. So she coughed lightly and addressed her questions in order.
"Truthfully I do not know how the bond works, it merely seemed to grow over time until we were finally able to speak to one another, although Eahlswith has said that she understood my words when I was speaking to her before the bond formed."
Shifting her position slightly she noted that Zilia had that familiar look of intense interest in her eyes and smiled before continuing.
"And yes, she can feel how I'm feeling as well, but we can send those feelings both ways as oftentimes we are too far apart for our words to reach one another. This also ties into how I can know where she is."
Aellisia could see that Zilia was hanging on her words now, her interest overwhelming her as she leaned forwards.
"No matter where she is I can get a sense of location due to the feeling emanating from that direction, and the closer she is the stronger that sense is allowing me to know exactly where she is, of course, the same applies to her too. Ensuring that even if we can't speak to one another we can still aid one another. that we can always find one another."
Zilia let out a long sigh before smiling and meeting Aellisia's eyes with a rueful gaze.
"It's truly incredible, the connection you share with one another. I have heard the stories from my mother about the Aelven connection with animals and beasts, but never did I expect it to be as powerful as it is."
Shaking her head slightly she prodded the fire again, before she finished speaking.
"Truly the more time I spend with you, the more I am amazed and privileged to be able to travel with you."
Aellisia softly chuckled at the human's words and felt slightly embarrassed at what she was saying. But eventually, it passed and the two of them sat around the fire chatting idly well into the afternoon about varied other topics. They had made sure that they both were aware of exactly what supplies they had and at one point Aellisia had gathered more fallen branches from the trees around them for the fire. Slowly the mood between them settled into a semblance of how it had been on many other occasions until finally after the sun had started to dip, Eahlswith returned to camp.