First of the Season [W/ Menel]

[Regazzoni]

||||||||The forest was as silent as could be, sun rising over the trees and the air slowly lifting as if the earth was breathing its first breath of the morning. As peaceful as any other morning in theory, but as the golem man climbed from his nest in the trees, his stony brain groaned with effort to recall what significance this day had. With so many days in the year, his internal calendar could only be so accurate. Over the canopy his eyes darted groggily, and the smoke of the campfires made it too easy to remember.

Oh, yes.
It's hunting season.

||||||||Don't get the man wrong, Clay's no vegetarian. Even a rock needs red meat to build muscle. But the reputation of Lavates as tree hugging nature lovers has exceeded its welcome. These people didn't respect nature; these deer were hunted for fun and then left to die, or had their heads made into mantlepieces. It made his blood boil- his skin hardened, and the lava coursing through his veins grew ever hotter.

That's probably not how biology works, but it's always how he felt about it.

||||||||As soon as his hands left the tree he had climbed down, they furled into fists. A deer passed him by as he dragged his cloak and backpack down from the branch he'd slept on, and he glanced into its eyes before it pranced off. The creatures of this forest wouldn't die for sport today if he had anything to say about it. He finished tying the cloth around his neck and ran off, following the deer that had passed him by. Where the deer were, the hunters were- and they were about to know who really issued the hunting licenses around here.

[Menel]

The smell of the forest tantalized his senses. Bark sharp and ruddy, pine needles which were sharper still but smelling green. The scent of the dark rich earth beneath his feet and perhaps it was merely imagination, but he could always seem to tell just by the smell in the air that it was sunny. That the sun was high in the sky above the canopy, trickling down to warm his skin when it managed to find it's way through that maze of green.

Menel moved almost silently through the forest, far more at one with the world around him than most humans. Wisely he had left his long blue cape at home, knowing that in all this greenery it would stand out. In truth, his swords, one slung over his right shoulder and the other belted around his waist; would do him little good out here in the forest. He would have felt naked without them though. More so than he would have felt without his clothing in fact.

Ahead of him he heard the slight click of a broken branch and he moved toward that sound gently. His heart beating slow and steady.

There it was. A beautiful stag poised near a tree. He rubbed his antlers against the tree he was standing beside and Menel smiled just a little. Always he was struck how majestic these creatures were. If not for a need of sustenance... he might not have hunted at all. He took some comfort in the knowledge that this creature's sacrifice would not be wasted.

A moment later the deer hit the ground and Menel was moving forward quickly, no longer trying to hide his steps and drawing his left-handed blade off of his shoulder even as he moved. The hum of metal was quieted by the flesh of the deer's neck. Ensuring that it was dead and that it's blood would flow. So that the meat would not be tainted. Silently he repeated the same mantra he had ever since he was a small boy and he had caught his first rabbit.

The swordsman cleaned his blade silently, and began to keel by the carcass.

[Regazzoni]

||||||||He chased the deer across the forest, his feet taking a silent path across fallen logs and soft dirt that he'd learned from his time living among it. Any sound he made blended with the morning chatter of the birds and the wind rustling leaves. The animal never left his sight- he stopped at the underbrush of a tree, looking on as the deer marked a tree with a brush of its antlers- and then fell to the ground. Clay's fists clenched in anger, and he looked on to see who would come out to the body. The next person he saw would be made an example of for every other cruel sporty hunter that came through his forest.

||||||||When Clay's eyes caught sight of a splash of red, everything in his field of view flushed to match. The hunter before him immediately started to slice open the carcass without ceremony. Clay launched himself from behind the tree he'd camouflaged himself into with his cloak, his skin solidifying into stone as he flew arms first towards the hunter. "You damn heretic!"

[Menel]

Even as he started to move forward there was the sound of movement. The swordsman felt his muscles tense and something was already moving toward him. A flash of cloth and something that looked like... stone. Immediately he lifted his swords, his balance even in spite of his low center of gravity.

The stone person screamed at him, calling him a heretic of all things.

He was forced back by that rush of anger. Using the flats of his blades to block the press of the other man's arms. The sound of it grated on his ears, the sound of metal against stone.

"Who are you?" His voice belayed his shock. "Why are you attacking me?"

Now that they were closer he could start to see some of the others features. He seemed young. His tan hair long and somewhat messy. His skin pale, though it was certainly stone that Menel's blades grated along. None of this explained why he was attacking Menel.

[Regazzoni]

||||||||Clay threw two more wild hooks, not fully expecting them to hit anything. This was a warm up, an intimidation session, blowing off steam before the serious stuff started. Or a series of excuses, Take your pick. The golem picked up a loose chunk of wood from the ground and tossed it at the other man. He had no interest in examining his opponent, really; other than that he had two swords, he wasn't concerned. The Earth didn't care if daggers shifted its soil. "Just because there are no gods to punish you doesn't mean you're free!" He threw another rock at his opponent. "I'll still guard these lands!"

Having blown off his steam, Clay squared up his fists and leapt towards his opponent with amazing force. It didn't matter if the other could block every attack with those shiny steel rods of his; Clay would blow through his defenses sooner or later. If mountains fell before the mighty Regazzoni, what petty hunter can stand!

Well, those are his words.

[Menel]

The sound of metal grating against stone made his teeth ache. There was a terrible strength behind each of those blows. Not only physical strength which reverberated down the length of his blades and pulsed through his arms, making his body respond with a distant ache which was wholly familiar to him. But the strength of fury. Menel didn't know what he had done to make the young man's eyebrows draw down, or his lips tighten into furious lines, but he had done something. Something to drive this man to the point of wanting to kill him.

Even the words yelled at him did little to explain why the other man was attacking him. He hadn't seen any sign that he was trespassing onto private lands but here in these woods... it was hard to say and he certainly could have stumbled onto someone's home without knowing. Particularly since some beings that lived in these woods didn't mark their territory at all.

"Is this your land?" Menel's tone was curious and already half apologetic. With the weight behind the other man's blows... He knew already that he couldn't afford to keep blocking them. Eventually his arms would give out.

When he saw the other man's legs bunch up under him... he didn't even bother to try. He simply quick-stepped off to the side, hoping that the other man's momentum would carry him beyond Menel. Maybe just avoiding conflict entirely would keep whoever this was from getting even angrier with him.

Which mean that really... he shouldn't expect the other man to answer him any time soon either...

[Regazzoni]

||||||||Clay's feet launched him forward through the air, whizzing past the hunter who'd stepped to the side so easily. He twisted around in the air, cocking his fist and launching it forward into whatever he would collide with first to stop his momentum; his devastating strike landed on the trunk of a tree, blasting the crown off its base and tumbling into the forest. Clay's feet hit the ground, and he jerked his arm out from the tree and turned to face the hunter.

||||||||"This is the land of these creatures! Ingrateful men like you are unfit to slay them when you look at them as nothing but resources!" He spat with emphasis, expecting no sort of recognition of what he was talking about. He started charging the enemy again, keeping his feet on the ground this time. He wasn't interested in being circled endlessly; he wanted a fight. "Why don't you go eat some fucking concrete?!"

Well, Clay, don't lose your composure, now.

[Menel]

It was, Menel decided, as though the man thought he was a poacher. He was so full of rage that he was effectively blinded by it. The swordsman didn't need the man's furious punch to know that this wasn't going to end until the other man hit the ground... or he did. Somehow he doubted the man would be terribly kind if he failed. This man needed time to think. Time to clear his mind.

Menel set his feet into the ground, his blades falling to different lines but considering how angry this man was... it was likely he wouldn't realize the difference. His blades met stone, muscles pushing hard. The dull sound made his teeth ache, and he could feel that strength in his bones. There was no time to set things better. He couldn't block enough of these attacks to make the other man's attacks fall where he wanted them.

The swordsman kicked out at Clay, boot arcing up just under his blades aiming just to push the other man back, but hard. "I am not a poacher. I am not ungrateful." There was something almost close to anger on his features. "If I was just a killer, I could have used my blades to do more than block your attacks."

[Regazzoni]

||||||||Clay's body partially bent in recoil from the kick, his enlarged hands brushing the ground, pulling him to a stop marginally faster than otherwise. He hadn't felt the kick through the layer of stone on his chest, but the force of it that pushed him back surprised him. It was frustrating that his opponent refused to retaliate. He felt like he'd been robbed of a reason to attack. It's pointless to beat your head against a defending enemy, a waste of time and energy. Besides that, Clay wasn't going to slaughter this man if he was willing to listen to his reasoning. Far more animals could be saved that way.

||||||||"If you're not just a killer, then show it some respect!" He swung his arm in anger, hitting the ground and throwing up dirt behind him. "'Cause it sure looks killed to me!" Clay put his arms to his side and began to walk forward. If his opponent was just waiting for an opening, Clay would give it to him. He kept ready to stop the hunter from running away, however. If the hunter stayed put... well, it would speak for his sincerity.

[Menel]

The kick did what it was supposed to do. Give him some space from the enraged man, and his words finally seemed to sink in a little. There was a lot of anger there though. Anger over his killing of the deer which Menel did not entirely understand. Perhaps this man dealt with poachers a lot, or perhaps had himself been hunted. Menel knew that there were those unscrupulous enough to hunt those who were unlike themselves. For sale in the open-air markets in the cities that did not outlaw slavery. Or for worse things.

Menel himself had little love for men like that.

He held his swords out to the sides somewhat. More than ready to defend himself, but holding his ground. He didn't want a fight, but the swordsman had been training for as long as he could remember and his instincts wouldn't let him simply allow himself to be beaten because of someone else's anger. Anger which in this case was it seemed, entirely unjustified.

He nodded his head once toward the other man, his features calm. "It has my utmost respect. Enough to tell you that if you do not let me attend to it's body soon that it's death will be in vain." He lifted a hand slightly tapping his sword's hilt on the leather armor that covered his chest. "Everything I wear has been made from the bodies of the deer I have hunted. I hunt no more and no less than I need to survive myself, and I leave nothing to waste. So if you do not mind... I would appreciate it if you let me attend to my duty to the fallen."

[Regazzoni]

||||||||Clay's advanced stopped when he could see clearly into the hunter's eyes, their faces less than a foot apart. The other hadn't budged an inch. The only people who didn't move at all were those who believed in what they were saying- or were very convincing. But Clay had no faith in the average poacher to hold his ground. As he heard what the man said, his brow unfurrowed, but his stern face remained in place and he crossed his arms and whispered, "Go, then." The principles this man preached were Clay's own; but he had no reason to believe in words. Especially with the tone he felt he was being given. It was entirely fair to be upset at Clay's behavior, but, well... that would never cross his mind.

||||||||He stood still, watching the man as he went to the corpse. Clay wanted to see how true he was; if he was a man of faith to pray over the body as he prepared it or the kind to handle it with the care of a surgeon on a patient, either was fine, but a lack of respect was noticeable- and would be punished.

[Menel]

Every step that the angry man took forward made his muscles tense. If he was wrong about this man simply judging him... He was letting the space between them grow to narrow. It would be difficult if not impossible for him to block or otherwise evade an attack if it came now... He would have to trust that even with the stone covering the stranger's body that he could withstand at least one hit. Though the broken tree not far from him mocked such a thought.

Thankfully, an attack never came.

Menel nodded politely to the other man, stepping to the side and a few more steps. He disliked putting the other man at his back so he did not. Choosing to take a few extra steps so that he could keep the stone man at the edges of his vision. Even as he moved he sheathed his swords, drawing a long hunting knife instead and picking up his backpack from behind a nearby tree as he moved. He knelt by the deer's corpse, fingers falling to it's eyes which he closed reverently.

It served both the purpose of granting the creature some small measure of respect, and also prevented flies from gathering. Then he began the process of dissection. It was never a pleasant task but Menel performed it with the air of a man who had done so countless times before. Everything was parceled out carefully, water from his pack used to help preserve the organs and other things that would spoil quickly, and to wash his hands of the blood as best he could.

In a surprisingly short time the swordsman had divided the deer up and built a small makeshift sled from fallen and stripped branches so that he could carry it easily to his nearby camp. The sled was even sturdy enough to be hung from a tree to prevent attracting bears. His task done Menel put the last of his things away, turning toward the man who had attacked him with a touch of interest. "Are you in need of any supplies for yourself? I meant what I said about using the whole of the deer, but if you are in need I am more than willing to share."

[Regazzoni]

||||||||Clay watched the other's tense back as he began to dissect the deer. The way he'd disengaged from the golem showed a level of respect- probably not personal, but at least in regards to strength. Clay liked seeing that. As the hunter lay the deer to rest and begin to work himself, however, he began to feel the smallest bit of remorse. The first of his targets for the day was a man of his own kind, respectful of nature and requiring sustenance... Clay could have spent his time on better things.

||||||||No, of course he wouldn't feel bad for the hunter. Haven't you been paying attention?

||||||||The hunter of course, he noted, was incredibly kind in offering to share of his kill. Clay wanted no part in that which wasn't his kill or responsibility, and wouldn't want to put this stranger through any more trouble than the unjustified attack he'd already been through. "No, thank you. I will be fi-"

||||||||Clay's stomach growled, a hollow ringing sound like a breeze erupting from a cave's mouth. Possibly because his stony skin created such an effect. The golem had gone straight into a berserk as soon as he'd woken up, not having time to forage at all. His hunger was exasperated by the force he'd put into his blows during his anger.

||||||||"Well... I'll help you take the body back."

[Menel]

He wasn't surprised at all when the other man started to turn him down almost by rote. Considering that they'd been fighting only moments ago... Well he'd offered more out of courtesy than out of anything else. The rote was stalled however by the sound of the other man's stomach rumbling. The sound actually managed to echo slightly and Menel arched a pale eyebrow in response to the powerful sound.

"No, thank you. I will be fi-"

Menel nodded in appreciation, offering a side of the sled so that the other man could assist him. "I warn you in advance that I'm a terrible cook." He smiled broadly. "You are welcome to some of the meat however and my campfire. If you want I'll even cook for you since I'll have to make something for myself but if you have any skill in cooking I suggest that you avoid mine."

He made a small amused noise and started leading the other man back in the direction of the camp. "My name is Menel by the way."

[Regazzoni]

||||||||He bent down to the sled, easily halving the weight on Menel's hands. As the two began to walk, Clay's skin started to flake grossly with pieces of rubble, rock falling down in small shreds to reveal lightly pinked skin. It got hot under his crust, and the sweat he'd worked up had been trapped until now. If you looked closely, you might even see it steam off his metaphorical mantle. Every once in a while, he'd wipe his arm across his face to wipe off any bits that stuck around. By the time they got anywhere, he'd be mostly rock free, but look like he was recovering from a rash.

||||||||"Living in the forest makes you less picky." He said matter of factly, before chuckling lightly. "Or it makes you a better cook. I guess I wouldn't know the difference." It'd been a while since he'd eaten meat, but he knew how to roast almonds and grill peppers. How hard could it be? It's not like he hadn't done it before, he was just out of practice... Yeah...

||||||||"Mine's Clay." He paused, glancing at the trees they passed to remember their features. He had no intention of staying at this man's camp for too long, and he didn't want to get lost on his way back to his tree. Speaking of which... "So you're camping. You're not from around here?"

[Menel]

The swordsman nodded in agreement. He certainly had learned not to be so picky about what he ate. Raw vegetables since he knew that he couldn't cook them, meat that was poorly baked over a fire or in a stew. Though he really preferred to take his catch to someone else. Trading for meals he couldn't have cooked himself or meat that he could carry with him over the long haul.

He couldn't help noticing Clay's transformation as they walked. The way that the rock just sort of flaked away from his skin. Earth element perhaps? Menel had never really seen anything quite like it before, but it was admittedly impressive. It was interesting how pink the other man's skin was underneath his armor. Obviously he wasn't actually made of stone but rather the stone was acting to protect his skin and strengthen his attacks.

"Actually you could say that I'm a local." Menel flashed a smile at the other man. "I was born in the border of this forest to the south, but... I do a lot more traveling these days. I work as a bodyguard from place to place but... Well it doesn't always pay so well so I still find myself in these forests hunting when I don't have a job."

The swordsman led Clay into a small clearing. It sported a small tent and a fire pit that he had dug and lined with stones to prevent the possibility of a fire spreading. There was no sign of personal affects, but it was obvious that he had been here for a few days. That was the length of time it had taken him to track the stag down. "Welcome to my humble camp. Feel free to make yourself at home. It'll take me a bit longer to break the stag down so that we can have a meal. I can make a few steaks from a flank and some strips for stew if that sounds good to you?"

[Regazzoni]

||||||||"I travel for work too." He paused for a moment, watching the hunter start on the stag. Clay stood away from the fire pit, staring into it absentmindedly. "Don't bodyguard, though. They usually want you to be subtle for stuff like that." He cracked a smile, kicking the dirt half-heartedly. It was a shame, really. Heavy lifting didn't pay quite as well, but... Confrontational occupations tended to make Clay violent, in simple terms.

||||||||The route back to where Clay had slept flashed in his mind for a brief moment while he watched Menel section the meat. "Yeah, that sounds good. Hard to fuck up steak and stew, right?" Clay slipped his backpack off, setting it down next to Menel's tent, and then started walking off. "I'll be right back, alright?"

||||||||He hopped off, retracing the trail they had taken from the hunting grounds. A flash of color graced his periphery, and he knew he'd found what he was looking for. Within a dozen or so minutes, he returned to the camp with an armful of bell peppers and a small log. "I might as well contribute to the meal, I suppose." Laying his cloak on the ground, he set the peppers down on it before turning his attention to the hunk of wood he'd acquired, setting it down and then bringing his fists down like hammers to split it into pieces.

[Menel]

Subtle probably wasn't the word that Menel would have used in his line of work. If anything it was important to flaunt himself somewhat. The more thieves and other unsavory sorts that were aware of his presence the less likely it was that they'd try their hand at anything. Though the backside of that was also that occasionally it meant that they simply increased their skill or number to accommodate his presence. He could see what Clay meant though. The man's temperament... if their meeting was any indication of it at all, was not exactly suited to the work. One needed to be able to calmly assess a threat before acting least they run headlong into a trap or worse get their client killed.

He said none of these things out loud though, it would have been terribly rude. Besides, there were all sorts of other reasons why a person might not make a good bodyguard. It wasn't the sort of career that appealed to everyone.

While Clay went off to gather some things Menel pulled out his pack and started up a stew. He took a large block of rendered fat, vegetables, and fruit and threw it into the pot with the fresh meat and some water. He even had some fresh tubers to add in, easily cut and added to the pot.

He smiled when Clay returned, noticing the peppers. They would make an excellent addition to the meal. "Feel free. If you want you can throw them on the skillet next to the steak to cook." He motioned to the cast iron skillet he had set up over the fire. Cooking them together would benefit both items, adding flavors. Now all he really had to worry about was overcooking...

[Regazzoni]

||||||||After setting the wood aside by the fire, he plopped down on his cloak, digging his thumbs into the tops of the peppers to pry them apart from the seedy core before setting them on the skillet. Clay glanced over at the hunter, fretting over the stew he was preparing. "Well, don't forget to stir it!" He lifted from his spot, taking a slice of pepper and dipping it in the stew to churn it around. He was warned that the man didn't really know how to cook, really, so Clay could hardly berate him over it. "If we're lucky that's your only problem." he chuckled out.

||||||||He tossed the soaked pepper slice onto the skillet, going back to his station and doing the same with the rest of the peppers he'd made. "Have you ever had stuffed bell peppers?" Clay wasn't quite smart enough to make something like that, but when he had money to spend it was one of his favorite things to order in Alihm.

[Menel]

The swordsman had the grace to look a bit embarrassed when Clay pointed out that he wasn't exactly stirring the stew. Well, he had warned the other man that he wasn't exactly the best chef. Actually, if Menel had a list of things that he was good at, cooking would have been near the very bottom of it. Just about anything he tried to cook turned out wrong in some way. Usually burned. The swordsman nodded, letting Clay stir it as he found a large spoon and pulled it out so that he could continue to keep it moving while the other man prepared the rest of the peppers.

"Sorry, I really am pretty bad at cooking. I've just never have had any luck at it." He actually did try fairly often, but no matter how many times he made a dish he always seemed to mess it up somehow.

Clay busily worked at preparing the peppers while Menel stirred the stew. It was starting to heat up and it smelled rather good. So did the steak where it was cooking on the skillet. "Yea, I've had them a few times at restaurants. They're a good complement to a meal." The swordsman shrugged offering the other man a smile. "I might not be able to cook, but I eat a lot."

[Regazzoni]

||||||||The smell of the steak and stew were starting to affect him. All Clay could think about was food... fried mushrooms, cooked manvela roots, baked potatoes, everything. His stomach growled out once again, a hollow sound like a dragon roaring from the depths of its cave. Surely, the golem was fueled only by strength of will at this point. "Now, tone the fire down a bit. Maybe a little more than embers." He said while flipping the steaks and pepper strips.  "Well, it takes practice, I guess. Like... magic or science, but for hungry people."

||||||||Clay's mother had taught him the basics, steaming fruits and veggies and leaving pork stew to simmer over time. It seemed pointless at the time, but these were truly the skills a runaway should have.

||||||||That wasn't a topic he was about to bring up aloud.

|||||||| "If you have to do something to live, you might as well make it taste good. Right?" He smiled back. The animosity from only a few hours ago seemed to have completely melted away. What better to join two warriors together than eternal hunger? Maybe that's not the best way to put it, actually...

[Menel]

Clay's stomach was not the only one responding to the smell of food. Though out here in the woods he had to be a little more restrained about how much he ate, eating only exactly how much was necessary to survive, but in truth the swordsman had a voracious appetite. Which perhaps in some small way explained the size of the steaks and the reason why he had put together as much food as he had. With the deer in hand he could afford to make a bit more for dinner.

He nodded, trying his best to comply with Clay's suggestions. Really he couldn't 'turn down' the fire, but he could poke the logs and roll them over so that the flames died down a bit. Until they were little more than hot coals keeping the food warm.

Menel laughed lightly. "I've been trying to cook for the better part of ten years or so, but I don't seem to be getting any better at it." The swordsman accepted that he couldn't be good at everything. He was glad that the other man seemed to be in better spirits. Perhaps it was the food, but perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that Menel was not the sort of man he had been expecting to find at all. In that way at least Menel was glad to disappoint.

"Ah, it looks like it's ready." He leaned forward, pulling out a pair of bowls and starting to serve them up. He offered Clay half of what they had cooked up together. All together it was a hearty meal that probably could have fed four men rather than the two who sat around the campfire. "So tell me Clay, what are you doing around here? I assume you do something more with your time than conversing with every hunter that happens to pass by."

It was a gracious way of putting how Clay had 'welcomed' him, but Menel really didn't mind so much. No one had gotten hurt after all.

[Regazzoni]

||||||||He took the bowl graciously, waving steam off the surface of the stew before taking a giant spoonful. It had been such a long time since he'd had meat that he wouldn't have noticed if the dish had tasted awful either way. His hunger overpowered his taste. It took willpower to stop himself from devouring the bowl itself before he realized he was being asked a question. "I'm here for the animals. There are hunters here that kill with dishonesty, and think that the crest of Lavate keeps them safe from any sort of judgement. I need to prove them wrong."

||||||||Despite the suddenly grievous tone he took, Clay did not cease to stuff his food alternately with stew and peppers. A quest for justice could coexist with a quest for food, in his mind. His next sentence was said partially through venison and broth. "I have to blow off steam somehow, I guess... I'd prefer to have a dutiful outlet." Within minutes, his bowl was empty and he slammed it on the ground in front of him, starting on one of the steaks that had been sitting on the grill. "But if I walk into an employer's foyer and see a bull's head mounted on the mantle one more time, I swear to god, I will bring the building down. I'm so sick of it!"

||||||||It's entirely possible that the golem's rant would continue endlessly until someone stopped him.

[Menel]

Menel was glad to see that the other man appreciated the meal even if he didn't think it was going to be the best one ever made. The swordsman stirred his own spoon through the stew and blew the steam off a bit, pulling a bite out and letting it sit in the air a bit so he didn't burn his mouth or something. He might eat quickly once he got started, but he knew better than to stuff a hot spoon into his mouth and lose half his taste buds to steam.

"I guess I don't blame you." He offered softly. Honestly he rarely thought about where the conquests of those he worked for came from. Oftentimes he assumed that they came from hunters like him... the ones that weren't so rare at least. He had to admit that the few times he'd seen a nobler animal stuffed he had trouble not wincing a little inside. It wasn't likely that that man cougars or leopards jumped random hunters. The animals were to clever for that.

He tried the stew and found it edible, eating a few quick bites before he looked at the other man carefully. "Have you ever done any work for the Lavates?" The question was half casual. If the man had, Menel might be able to offer him a more permanent position. If not... Well if he had a brand it might at least be worth sending him to one of the outposts where the man's temper could be well-served against the enemy.

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