Waking up

continued from "just a beginning"

I woke up warm the next day. Before I could even open my eyes I felt that I was warm, with some sort of blankets over me. When I opened my eyes I was faced to a rock wall that was glowing from a fire that was sparking and ticking from across the room. I rolled over and saw the rest of  the cave room. It was brown and grey and cozy. When my eyes started to search the room the first thing I noticed was that there was another makeshift bed opposite of mine. My curiosity kicked in, I stood up and started to snoop.
“May I help you?”
I turned to see a man standing in the cave opening, carrying a rabbit in his left hand and a dog standing to his right. Both soaked from the drizzling rain.
     “I can see you are confused, one moment and I will explain” he smiled as he said this. He had a handsome smile that fit with his face perfectly. He had a squarely rounded jaw line that one could tell needed to be shaved, and shaggy dark brown hair that was hanging in his face as he tried to take off the wet layers of his cream colored cloak and brown jacket.
      “I managed to catch us a rabbit for breakfast” He stared at me intently, like he wanted me to reply. Nervously, I didn’t have a clue what to say so I focused on his eyes hoping he would notice. I didn’t have trouble with the focusing part, it was like I was getting lost. His eyes were golden and soft, and looked filled with adventure.
“My name is  Andowin Glandur” He winked and his eyes sparkled, making me smile.
“Raeya Milwen”
“Very nice to finally meet you Ms. Raeya Milwen” and he smiled again while shaking my hand. His hand was strong and his fingers were callused. I was about to ask him how he found me when it was like he read my mind.
“I was hunting in the woods…” he broke off when he turned back to look me in the face. All I could do was stare at him like I was being hypnotized by his every movement. He smiled at me again and finished.
“Was wondering about near by Varak Village when I heard that giant Gar attacking you. He was about to kill you, it would have eaten you for dinner if I hadn’t ran in and saved your life.”  I was about to thank him when he started again, he seemed angered.. “You have to be more careful out there Raeya. A young female wizard traveling alone? What were you possibly thinking?” He looked at me with stern eyes, eager to know the answer.
“I’ve always been alone, I can handle myself just fine” Was all I could think to say to his question. I felt like I was being rude. The old basset hound napping by the fire made a grunting sound so I used that as a way out of this conversation.

I smiled while I asked, “What’s his name?”
He started to smile, I could tell he must have done that his whole life.
“Theorge” The dog grunted again lifting his head up and back down next to the still glowing fire.
“He’s cute” I got up and started petting him behind the ears.
Andowin stood up to start cooking the rabbit. I was watching him again like I did when I was a little girl watching my mother do her hair. He looked about six feet tall and moderately strong. His hair was getting in his eyes as he stirred the stew he was making. I continued to stare at him as I stood up.
I grabbed the wooden spoon he was using and took over with the cooking.
“where are you from?” I asked eager to hear his voice again. It sounded happy when he talked and it calmed me.
“Originally? I was born in a large village called Weerham. I had a mother and a father that raised me just fine. But the village was boring and my parents grew to hate me for being adventurous, said it was nonsense to think of knowledge and travel. I was kicked out at seventeen and never looked back.” He smile at me and his eyes smiled with it “Now Theorge and I travel the planet learning.. Collecting.. Hunting.. Exploring…its all so great, the things you learn in life itself!” 
Andowin was glowing as he told me story after story about all of the battles he has been through, where he has traveled, and all the knowledge he has retained from his life long adventure. He seemed to truly love living and that, I assumed, is why he smiles so often.
It was nearly dark by the time we were done talking about our child hoods and our greatest interests in life. I couldn’t believe how fast the time flew by. We had finished most of the stew and it was obvious hunting was on the to-do list before nightfall.
“We’ll stay another night here before packing and moving on to Torcemport, prince Airen needs to speak to me.” He was still in a good mood from the ‘get to know each other’ type chat we had.
“I’m going to get some drinking water and hunt for the trip, I’ll be back soon.”  and he was off into the darkness. I decided to snoop a bit more.. I found a bag with different clothes in it, eating utensils, etc.. and a small mirror. I stared into it, looking at my face. I was a very skinny girl, but with enough muscle to hold my own in a fight. I was around 5’6” give or take a few. My long fingers were combing through my long brown hair putting it into a brade. My face wasn’t anything extraordinary, I have pale dark blue eyes and a squarely round face that is covered by pale skin and freckles lining across my nose. My reflection was a mess, I had dirt on my face and hands.