Padric awoke to a chill, cloud filled sky. The same bleak morning that always seemed to follow a night spent outdoors. He never really slept at night in the rough. Too many strange sounds and even stranger silences when there were no walls or people around. There was something primitive and alert that awoke in his brain when his body tried to rest in the woods. The nights became something to endure and survive, offering no comfort. Padric always found sleep with the coming dawn, when the primitive side crawled back into the cave of his skull, relinquishing its vigil to the sun. His slumber was fleeting and cruel, tempting him with relief as the sky called him to rise and get moving. Padric felt a shiver in his ribs at the thought of crawling out from under his blanket. He lay for several long minutes, staring up at the cold, new day, watching his breath escape in a vapor. He tried to will the trapped warmth of the blanket into his bones and store it there for the day ahead.

Gritting his teeth, he flung the blanket aside and rolled to his feet. The cold squeezed down on his bladder mercilessly, forcing him to hurry stiff-limbed away from the smoldering fire and relieve himself. A twisting spasm ran up his spine when he released his water and he felt instantly warmer. He stood and scanned the surrounding forest, his piss spattering sharply on the fallen leaves, the trees as grey as the sky in the morning mist. The relief in his bladder spread and he felt his body relaxing, grateful to find himself whole after the long night and looking forward to another day of traveling that would bring him closer to warm food and the illusory solace of shelter.

He ambled back to the campsite and stoked the embers of the fire with a stick. Rosheen was nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing to be alarmed about. She was rarely around when he woke and he never could reason out where she went at night. Fae-folk had curious ways and mysterious knowledge about the wilds. Padric had never seen a piskie village and was not entirely sure they ever slept indoors. He knew Rosheen’s wood lore was vast, despite her casual attitude towards all things. He was grateful and more than a little relieved she had come along, not that he would admit to it.