Hellstrom slipped silently into the woods and found a tree close to the edge of the camp. He quickly climbed to a spot where he could look at the camp without being seen and pondered the odd circumstances that had brought all 4 of them together. Colin and Emalia at least Hellstrom knew even if he only knew Colin's name from Emalia. The child halfling Nephesh was a rather odd addition to their crew. Not to mention his incredible grasp of the use of magic.
In the camp Colin sat outside his tent looking off into the woods obviously absorbed in his own thoughts. Emalia slept like the dead in Hellstrom's tent, and Nephesh was sleeping in his own tent not far from the others.
Hellstrom, satisfied that everything would be safe in the camp decided to take the opportunity to scout the area a little bit. He nimbly leapt from branch to branch from tree to tree so as not to leave any trace on the ground as to where he had gone. After traveling this way for a short time, Hellstrom dropped to the ground and found a suitable small tree that he could use to make a staff out of. Offering a small prayer to Ehlonna, Hellstrom cut the young tree down and removed the small branches from its young trunk. It was a perfect weight and slightly taller than he was.
Hellstrom walked for a bit and found the clearing that he had killed the deer in earlier that evening, which reminded him that he needed to wrap that meat in something so that he could dry it properly later. So many things were swirling through his thoughts. Hellstrom knew that he would be unable to concentrate on the important things if he did not calm down and still the swirl of unimportant thoughts.
Hellstrom stripped off his shirt in the rain and walked out into the center of the clearing. With the rain falling and the lightning flashing overhead, Hellstrom spent a short while meditating, consciousness floating in the void devoid of thought.
Standing, Hellstrom held his newfound staff out in front of him. The staff spun as Hellstrom flowed into the forms he had learned in his training, the movements ingrained in his flesh from countless hours practicing in the elven woods.
After two hours of this, Hellstrom stopped in the middle of the clearing again, his thoughts collected and calm despite the situation at hand. The solution was simple really. They were going north and he was as well. Even if he wanted to avoid the others, it was likely they would run across each other again before long. Not to mention that regardless of Colin's strength and courage the woods was not a place for someone who knew nothing of it to be alone. Emalia would be safer with someone who knew what to watch for helping them.
Hellstrom sat down in the field watching the edge of the horizon lighten slightly as the new day approached. He had promised the others he would return before the sun came up over the horizon, and he was not one to break a promise. He gathered his shirt not bothering to put it back on, it was wet after all. New staff in one hand and soaked shirt in the other Hellstrom jogged back toward the camp to help the others break camp and gain some ground on their travels.
