Reunion 154 / 0918 Garth took a deep breath of the cold morning air, looking out over the valley.Reunion 154 / 0918 Garth took a deep breath of the cold morning air, looking out over the valley. At the far end, he thought he saw a river fork in two directions, one heading westerly, the other more to the north. On the other side of that fork sat The Great Hall, looking as dark and imposing as he could ever possibly have imagined it. He wondered if he should wait for his guide to find him here, or if he should head down into the valley and hope his guide would catch up there. He decided on the spur of the moment that if his guide were to find him, the Great Hall would destine the meeting. Settling the pack on his shoulders, he set out down the hill. He was glad for wearing a watch. He had never been an outdoors person, preferring towns and cities and the infinite variety they presented. He understood that there was variety out here, but for him it was harder to find and he had never had the time to learn how. And without the movement of the sun overhead, the only hint he had of the passing of time came from his watch. Glancing down at it once as he walked, he was surprised to realize that more than five hours had passed since he had started out. He looked around, wondering where his guide could be. While he had heard that once in a while people walked the entire Hall without a guide, he also knew that it was extremely rare. He walked on, stopping at streams to refill his canteen and take a cold drink from the fresh water himself. He had been assured that there was nothing at all in the water around The Great Hall that could poison or infect a Terran. As he walked, he started to notice the movements of small animals in the bushes. He'd been told that, depending on the region, mammals or psaurids tended to dominate, but that around the Great Hall he might see one or both. Nobody knew for sure why. Squirrels bounced from tree to tree, as did something of equivalent size but furless, with an extended jaw. |