"Hullo, ma'am. Are you lost?"
Jessandra looked up to see what had prompted that comment from Orred. She had to squint a little against the glare from the sun, but then waved as the approaching figure finally spoke.
"Nope. Might have been earlier, a little, but now I see Jess." Marnewyn waved back to her, the other hand shifting the bundle of carved sticks on her back.
Orred looked between them, raising his brows at Jess.
"Orred, this is Marney. And the other way around. Ah. Sorry. Mum tried to teach me better social graces, but… well, I wound up working out in a trapper camp." She flashed a quick smile. "So you can guess how well that worked out, eh?"
Orred shook his head in amusement, and nodded to the newcomer. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Marney."
Marnewyn laughed at Jess's comment, then returned the man's nod. "Likewise, Mister Orred. Though in these parts, I'm sure you have a family name that's more often used for mistering. But, since I'm told my accent doesn't so much give me away any more, I'm from Dale, and we mostly don't do that there."
He chuckled, and nodded to the additional information. "Quite the traveller, then, ma'am. And you're right, but 'Mister Digweed' would have me looking over my shoulder for my Pa, so please don't."
The blonde visitor chuckled, then turned, saved from having to make further small-talk by the sound of hounds approaching.
The trappers looked at each other, and Jess shrugged. "Might be more than one from the settlement, Orred, I don't know. Tree-Walker's been training a pup who's pretty big already, too."
The sounds did not take long to be accompanied by the sight of two larger hounds, one the familiar golden-brown of Fang, and the other a full-grown white-and-black spotted beast. Shortly after, two medium-tall archer-woman came into view, the one in red-dyed gear and with red hair being seen more easily. If it hadn't been for Fang being so distinctive, the more camouflaged and pale-blonde Tree-Walker would have been much harder to identify at that distance.
When the hounds got nearer the camp, it was clear that the unfamiliar one was a bit smaller, and female. They both waited for their humans to catch up before coming into the camp, though Fang led the way, knowing his welcome.
Marney just shifted her load again, watching. She didn't really know anyone besides Jess, and wasn't going to start up conversations with strangers in a camp that wasn't hers, for all that she'd at least met Tree-Walker already.
Jess and Orred, of course, knew Tree-Walker, but only waved to her for now, a bit subdued by the other archer with her. Orred had not yet seen any of the other woodmen, but noticed how alike their gear was in style and craftsmanship.
They got a nod from Tree-Walker, though she was preoccupied enough she forgot to wave back. The redhead, however, broke the ice first.
"Hullo the camp! I hight Scarlet Jay, that's Thyra, and I gather you already know Tree-Walker and Fang."
Orred nodded and started to answer, but Jess got the words in first.
"I'm Jess, that's Orred, and this is Marney. We have longer names, of course – well, maybe you already know that, and maybe you didn't, but now you do! – but those are what we're called."
Scarlet Jay nodded at various points, smiling, and seemed far more animated than they were used to from Tree-Walker, who had only nodded once during the introductions and was standing in her awkward-looking way, careful not to let her hands touch her own gear, even, without need.
"Pleased to meet you all, then! Two of those names I knew to expect, at least." Whatever she'd been about to add got cut off as Marney pulled the sack off her shoulder while looking at the other blonde.
"Tree-Walker, Jess told me you needed more arrows like the ones you left as samples. I didn't know the patterns for dying or fletching them, and don't have the right kinds of heads, but these shafts should at least be a help." She opened the sack as she spoke, giving a clear view.
Tree-Walker looked at the shafts, and took two out to check, then put them back and nodded her approval. She then looked to her companion in what might have been a plea of sorts.
Scarlet Jay smiled and turned to Marney. "You fletch, then? We can get you samples to copy for that! And Jess, you said you'd found dyes for us? This should work out great!"
Jess nodded, flashing Marney a sidelong glance that was probably supposed to be sympathetic. "I got the dyes, yes. At least, they should look the same once they've dried on wood or feathers. I don't want to think what orcs might actually make theirs out of."
Marney and Scarlet Jay both snorted in amusement, and the latter commented. "They'll use anything that works, of course – same as anyone else. If it's too wholesome, they'll gripe about it, but even that's not much different from how our folks complain about the ones they have to piss on to make fast."
Jess grimaced, but then nodded. Orred had turned away, so she couldn't see his reaction. "Marney, how much do you need? For payment, I mean. And don't keep putting me off! You're putting in time that keeps you from feeding yourself or your horse, and you're doing things I can't – things that will help keep me alive, and those I care about!"
Marnewyn sighed. "Don't make me sound so bloody noble. I can't live up to that. Yes, I could use some coin, thanks to all the business I'm turning away for this, but I'm doing it to keep me alive, when it comes right down to it. Not so noble."
Scarlet Jay gave a laugh, then nodded with an amiable smile. "Glad to hear it. That's a motive I feel better about relying on, most times."
Jess shook her head, both amused and frustrated. "All right, fine! But you still need to eat! You and your horse. I'm not rich, but you're not looking to fleece me, and my part of this business is doing decently well. How much do you need?"
Shaking her head, Marney sighed again. "I'm sorry, Jess – and thank you. But I have had some very bad habits I don't need to be tempted into again. I'll… well, the girl left me some coin for keeping up her houses. Quite a bit of it, really. I'll use that, and see how much she yells at me over it when she gets back. She's more of that noble type, though. She'll probably just approve."
Tree-Walker took notice of the exchange, though only one who knew her body language would be able to tell, except for a flicker of her eyes toward Marney at mention of 'the girl'. Scarlet Jay, however, was quite used to her friend's subtle signs, and spoke up.
"'The girl'? That's an odd way to refer to someone you know well enough to judge a 'noble type', isn't it?"
The Dale-woman flushed, and nodded with yet another sigh, this one softer. "Aye. It is. There's a long story, and other people have asked, too, so I'd rather save it for a proper story-time with all who've asked about. But the short version is that I was such an awful excuse for a mother that, while I bore her, I don't feel I have much right to call her my daughter. And worse yet, I named her after my sister, so she tends to get called 'little Adri'. At least she actually is little, though not truly a girl any more. Not at a quarter-century now, and not with as much soldiering of a sort as she's done. So, yes, 'the girl' because in my mind I keep seeing my little girl, but I feel too guilty about bad mothering to call her my daughter."
The others looked surprised – even Tree-Walker, for those who knew how to spot it – but it was Scarlet Jay who spoke first. "And that's the short version? I won't press you for the longer story, then, but thank you for explaining it. I know you don't know, and it's also a long story, but Tree-Walker has some bad feelings around having been called 'the girl' to her face by people who should have been caring properly for her."
Marney winced at that. "Oh… I'm sorry." She turned to the still oddly-silent woman. "I'm sorry. I hope it helps to hear that, to her face, I use her name. She's a friend, at least, for all our notions of how to be family are fraught with history."
The scout gave her a stiff nod. "Is good hear."
Jess heaved a heavy sigh, seeing Orred pretend to fiddle with his gear to avoid having to be part of the discussion. She got some of the things she'd acquired earlier, and checked that her work area was tidy enough to leave. "All right. I have dyes, and mustard greens and seeds, and more cheese. I'm ready to head back up to the lodge. Marney, I'll get you some dyes when I have the samples for you to copy, I guess? Since you said earlier you're not liking the looks from the newer woodmen up there."
Scarlet Jay winced at the comment about her contingent from the Vales, but had to admit the truth of it to herself. They just weren't used to seeing so many foreigners in one of their settlements, and it was the wrong sort of additional newness on their sojourn.
Marnewyn nodded and gave a smile. "Thank you. I'll drop back here tomorrow morning, then, if that's good?" At the answering node, she waved and turned to go.
"Thank you, Marney." The red-head wasn't sure whether she'd surprised herself or the Dale-woman more by saying that, but it was a close thing.
After a blink, that got a small smile and another, more personal wave, and she resumed her walk.
"Right, then. Are you two coming back to the lodge now with me, or do you have more to do out here?"
"We'll come with. The Widow may want to talk to Tree-Walker again today, and so we can't be away all that long yet."
With that, the others also left, leaving Orred to his thoughts and work.
