The wings of the griffin kicked up dust from the desert floor as it landed. Eli nearly leapt from his saddle, marching up to Iris with the farmer's fireball staff leveled at her face. The griffin squawked and flapped its wings behind him, drawing closer and eyeing Iris like a snack.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

Iris peered at him with curious eyes. In the moonlight, she could make out that he was wearing leather armor over dark pants and a green tunic. She suspected that the waterfall of bright blonde hair that covered all but the front of his face would gleam in the sunlight. His skin was pale and soft, while his features formed a face that was a strange mix of chiseled and childish.

"I said--" he began with a yell before Autumn interrupted.

"That was so cool!" She exclaimed, running up to Iris.

She stood less than five feet tall with a wide and stocky build. She had tanned skin dotted with freckles and short but shaggy red hair that was unkempt and unevenly cut, with the longest strands of her bangs resting just above her eyes. She stood so close that she craned her neck to look up at Iris, despite only being a foot shorter. Her clothes were assorted browns and tans, and mostly covered in dirt.

"I'm Autumn, nice to meet you!" She held up a hand to shake.

Iris happily shook her hand, but her eyes shifted back to the man pointing a staff at her.

"Autumn, she's a stranger," Eli scolded.

"Yeah, yeah," Autumn waved him off without looking back at him, "a stranger that can freakin' teleport and totally just wrecked that tyrannosaur."

"I really didn't do a lot," Iris said sheepishly.

"Are you kidding? You lined up that shot for me perfectly. It was so clean, did you see the way I plunged into it? Best kill I've had all year."

"Who are you?" Eli repeated, keeping the staff leveled at her while he used one hand to move Autumn aside, "I'm not going to ask again."

A cloud of mist drifted past, settling next to Eli and taking on a humanoid shape before solidifying into the body of a woman. Black hair was pulled back into a messy bun that left short pointed ears peeking out from the strands. She had similarly sharp and youthful features as Eli with matching pale skin, but was a few inches shorter and stood just slightly taller than Iris. She wore a dark purple sleeveless robe cinched tight over an off-white undershirt and grey trousers, and at her waist was a thin short sword in an ornate sheath.

"I believe she's a friend," she said, placing a hand on Eli's staff to lower it, "she's certainly acted like one." Her gaze turned to where Titus lay nearby, "please try not to kill her while I tend to Titus."

Eli looked at her with a creased brow, but kept his staff pointed at the ground.

"I'm Victoria, nice to meet you," the woman said as she moved past Iris and towards Titus, "we'll have to make proper introductions later."

Iris stood there looking from one person to the next. As the dust from the battle settled, she became acutely aware of her appearance. Her clothes were tattered and torn, and most of her visible skin was caked in blood and ash. The myriad of bandages around her body and head didn't help, and she reasoned she must look like a runaway hospital patient. She felt embarrassed and vulnerable.

Eli's expression softened, "I'm sorry."

Autumn looked surprised at the apology, but quickly steeled herself and nodded sternly, "good, you should be." She positioned herself next to Iris and turned to face Eli with crossed arms and an upset expression.

"I need to check on Titus, thanks for letting me borrow the staff--"

"Iris," she offered, "my name is Iris Orion."

"Thank you, Iris Orion," he held out the staff for her to take.

"Hang on to it," she said, "you know how to use it better than I do."

He twisted to staff to look at it in his hand, "if you leave this with me for long, I'm going to start making modifications."

"Help yourself," Iris said, "I can barely use it, and something tells me I won't be getting it back to its original owner anyway."

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Iris could see on his face that this remark had given him even more questions, but for now he kept them to himself. She hoped that giving him the staff would buy her a little bit a favor and – if she was lucky – protection.

"Right," he said, "Autumn, keep an eye on her. No offense, Ms. Orion."

"Just Iris," she said with an awkward smile and nod.

Eli nodded back and rushed over to where Victoria was crouched down over the unconscious healer. The griffin stayed, standing tall and glaring down at Iris for a moment before seeming to lose interest. It wandered over to some nearby shrubs, where it sniffed around and pecked in the dirt.

Iris let out a deep, stressed breath as her shoulders slumped.

"Long day?" Autumn asked, now chewing on a piece of jerky she had produced from a small pouch, which she held out for Iris.

"You have no idea," Iris said in exasperation, taking a piece of the jerky with an appreciative nod.

----------------------------------------

Sometime later, the party was sitting around a campfire over which roasted a large chunk of tyrannosaur. Smaller strips were laid out on top of rocks that encircled the fire, with several more strips hanging down from the spit to be smoked.

"The trick is to cook a whole bunch of meat in a whole bunch of ways," Autumn said, "you always want variety. Stuff you can eat now, stuff you can eat later, stuff you can mix into soups. If you're just chucking a slab of meat over a fire you'll be full for the night but hungry tomorrow."

Iris nodded, feigning more attention than she could actually give to the cooking tutorial she hadn't asked for. She had eaten several pieces of the painkilling candy Mrs. Rousey had provided her, but dull aches still simmered throughout her body. Titus, who was now awake and sitting propped up against a large rock near the fire, had attempted to heal her wounds as soon he awoke but was told by Victoria that he needed to regain his strength first. She had given Iris an apologetic look, but Iris understood and didn't argue.

"Now, you can salt most meats for some extra time but jerky is a snack, not a meal. It makes a great addition to ration packs, sure, but--"

"Autumn," Eli interrupted, "I need to talk business with our new friend."

"Ugh," she groaned dramatically, "fine. Remind me where we left off later, Iris. I'll tell you about wrapping, it's one of the most important parts of meat preparation and longevity that always gets neglected."

Iris nodded, then turned her attention to Eli.

"I had Vic take a look at you," Eli said, "she says based on your aura, you're pretty low level." There was a tone of accusation in his voice.

"Yeah," Iris said shyly, "level one. I just recently got my powers."

"How did you get here? We're a week's travel from Giantrock, and further from any of the border settlements. If you're traveling alone you should be dead by now."

"I am alone," Iris said, "but I didn't exactly travel here. I mean I guess in a manner of speaking, but..." she trailed off, unsure how much she should reveal.

"I respect the need for secrets," Eli said, "but I have a team to protect. I'm gonna need answers if you plan to stay with us for the night."

She glanced at Autumn, who nodded encouragingly.

"I'm not from around here. I'm from a small village very far from here, actually. I got here... well I'm not really sure how, exactly. I have a teleport power and it kind of just brought me here."

"A teleport power?" Victoria said, looking up from a wound she was dressing on Titus' arm, "at level one? That's lucky."

"Is it?" Iris asked, "I wouldn't know. I've read a lot of books but I've only actually been an adventurer for like, a day."

"A day?" Autumn exclaimed, "a day and you've already slain a tyrannosaur? You're not wasting any time, huh?"

"I didn't slay it," Iris insisted, "that was all you guys. I just distracted it."

"Give yourself more credit," Victoria said, "things were starting to look pretty bad before you showed up."

"Everything usually goes tits up when you lose your healer," Autumn added.

"Sorry," Titus mumbled.

"One way or another," Eli took back control of the conversation, "you helped, and for that we're thankful."

Iris nodded, but felt too awkward to say anything.

Autumn began removing meat from the fire with metal tongs, starting with the sizzling strips on the outer rocks. She piled the strips on a small plate she produced from her backpack and walked over to hold it out for Titus, "you get first pick because you're the most hurt."

Titus nodded and took a few strips of meat with his free hand. This was the first time Iris really paused to take a good look at him. He wore white and grey robes under a heavy platemail chest piece, matching plates were fastened to his thighs above grey trousers but underneath the drapes of his robe. His skin was dark, his eyes a brilliant gold, and his face had strong, handsome features underneath slightly chubby cheeks. His hair was in long, thick dreads that he had pulled back into a ponytail. When he was done with the plate, Autumn offered it to Iris, "you're next."

Iris hesitantly took the plate, unsure if it would be more rude to accept or decline. In either case, her stomach was rumbling and her mouth was watering, and she wasn't sure she could bring herself to decline even if it was the polite thing to do. She took two slices, and passed the plate back to Autumn, who handed it to Eli.

"I'm tired," Eli admitted, holding the plate without taking any meat yet. The stern expression he had held since they met was replaced with one of weariness and exhaustion, "we're three weeks into this expedition and have at least another week to go. Truthfully, we could use the extra person, even if you are a level one stranger. We can talk details tomorrow, but if you're interested -- and you can prove yourself trustworthy -- you can travel with us until we reach Giantrock."

The looks Eli received from the others told Iris this was uncharacteristic of him, and she got the sense that he was taking more pity on her than he was letting on. Unsure of what to say, she nodded silently and took a bite of the meat.

"You'll have to tell me a lot more detail about where you're from and how you got here, though," Eli clarified before putting a strip of meat between his teeth, taking a few more from the plate and handing the rest to Victoria, "tomorrow, after we've rested."

"I can do that," Iris said.

"Hell yeah! New recruit!" Autumn shouted, receiving a harsh look from Eli for her volume, "sorry.”