Lost in the forest, and liking it

[Luckless Luke Lancaster]

Luke had been wandering around the camp in the region outside anathema pack territory for about three hours, mending small items and trying to not think about Lili, when his luck started to revert to it's normal self. That is to say, a tree branch from an aging oak dropped off almost silently and crashed right through Luke's path, tripping him and barking his shins. Luke got back up and cursed the tree, then thanked his luckless stars that he had gotten a warning from whatever jinx plagued his steps. He very carefully picked up his medical bag full of carefully sealed and well cared for jars of small herbal remedies, and attempted to make his way to the center of the camp he had made with Lili a few days ago. He only tripped over two mole hills dug within the last twelve minutes twice over the twenty foot distance. That might have been a record. Luke settled himself in at the center of the camp with a blanket and a few strips of jerky. Lili had said she wanted to go and meet the AniWaya pack, she said they sounded like their best bet and Luke wanted very badly to agree with anything Lili said. Lili claimed that soon enough after she had gone and asked them about joining he could bring the rest of the gear and the freaking sheep into their new life. So Luke counted the ways he was lucky, and tried to imagine that he didn't see or hear the signs of road wear disintegrating the less permanent items in the camp while he waited for his love to come through for him. Waited for the pack ahead of him to decide if he was going to finally leave the road. Luke waited for his bad luck to come to an end.

Waking an hour later, Luke recognized a small feathery companion, Flynn, and realized that his luck was taking another turn for the better, Lili had done it. They were accepted. It was time to pack up the camp for the last time. Four pieces of easily replaceable metal and wood broke while Luke was securing everything. It was a new record.