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[Jessie]

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The sun sat low in the sky, the shadows of the two travelers long as they rode along the winding road through the Spiritwood. One male, one female, they rode at a brisk pace through the twilight. The woman was easy in the saddle, silver chain swaying about her neck, sheathed blades bouncing on her back and at her waist. She glanced over at her companion, his brown hair blown about by the breeze.

"It's getting dark, we should make camp soon." The young man glanced up, giving a small smile.
"I can cast a Night Sight spell, we can keep going." A look of distaste crossed the woman's face, and she shook her head.
"You could, and then we could exhaust the horses, get drowsy, get attacked and die." The man tossed his head back, cracking a laugh.
"Okay, Jess. Where do you want to camp?" Jessie glanced back at him, then set her eyes to the woodline and reined her mount in. Dismounting, it began to graze as she looked around.
"Keep an eye on Jenna." And she stepped through the trees.

It was much darker inside the woods, and it was a fair amount of time before she located an acceptable clearing. A good distance from the road, and a decent size. She surveyed the clearing from the edge for a moment, nodded to herself, and departed.

She returned to find her companion had dismounted, holding the reins of both beasts as they amiably chewed the grass. "Hey, Valen. I found a spot. C'mon." She stated, and grasped Jenna's reins, leading her back through the woods, Valen and his own horse following behind.

Upon arrival to the campground, Jessie gathered kindling and started the fire as Valen tied up the horses, removing and draping the saddles and blankets across a tree branch. He tossed their packs in the centre, and with an acceptable cookfire going, Jessie pulled out what she needed and went to work. Valen had pulled a text from his own pack, and was eagerly flipping through pages. Before long, Jessie seemed satisfied, the smell of sizzling meat and herbs filling the clearing.

Within an hour, night had fallen and both companions had eaten their fill. Jessie accepted a bottle of liquor from Valen, and took a small sip. "We're meeting O'Neerlan in Trinsic, right?" He asked, stretching and then leaning back, propping himself up with his palms.
"Yeah. We're not far now, if we leave tomorrow morning we should make it by midday." She replied, untying her own long, dark hair and shaking it loose. Taking another sip, she handed the bottle back to Valen. "So you think this guy can even afford to pay us?" She asked, a hint of acceptance in her voice. She knew he couldn't.
"Yea, maybe with a wooden carving or a rock. He didn't seem all that sane to me." Valen shrugged and kept at his book, dog earing pages to mark different sections. Jessie tilted her head forward and to the side, eyebrows raised in a questioning look.
"And with that in mind, you thought it would be great to come out here and run errands for him?" He nodded.
"I just wanted to see what he would give us." She shook her head and laid back in the dirt.
"Yea. Hell with it. It'll probably be funny, whatever it is. Or just stupid. One of those 'Are you kidding me?' kind of things." Valen grinned at her comment and took a healthy drink from the bottle as she continued. "I mean, if it's just gold, sure, that's okay. If it's the gratitude of a depraved drunk, I'll be pissed." He looked at her for a moment; that knowing look that annoyed her. She caved. "Okay. Fine. No I wouldn't. At least we're doing something. You can't waste time when you're not doing anything else." He smirked, and nodded again.
"Exactly. At the very least, we can get him to buy us drinks." She rolled over, putting her back to the fire.
"Hell yea. Sounds good to me. Still, though, let's not make a habit out of running errands for drunken idiots?" Valen grinned, leaning to one side and flipping open his book.
"That sounds like a solid policy to me." She gave a sort of sideways nod of agreeance.
"Good to hear. For now, though, I think I'm gonna get some sleep."

She stood up from her place at the fire, untied her skirt and asked "You don't mind, do you?" before letting it fall to reveal her leather leggings.
"Oh, by all means." The two of them gave matching smirks and laughed. They'd been together a long time, and though they'd had their differences, he was her brother. She wasn't going anywhere. She picked her skirt up, folded it into a pillow and placed it at the base of a tree a few paces away. She stretched for a moment, then lay on the ground and got comfortable. Boots on, legs crossed left over right, hands folded over her waist, sword within arm's reach.
"Goodnight, Valen. Wake me if you need something. Don't stay up all night either."
"Yes, mother." The mage scoffed, stifling a yawn. Jessie grinned again before drifting off into a peaceful rest.