The Lonely Traveler (Open)

[Hellion]

Dusk fell on the wilds of the Fellswoop Valley. The woods filled with the call of birds and other beasts as the moon rose over the valley. Along the road side was a small camp fire, at which was seated a rough looking young man. A horse, tethered to a small tree, grazed nearby. The man gazed skyward for a moment and sighed. Running a whetstone over the edge of one of his blades, he wondered what in the world had possessed him to set out for Drouth town so late in the day. He'd left from Tinweil that afternoon, knowing full and well he would not make it to Drouth before nightfall.

Marcus cursed. Tinweil had reminded him too much of Damona. He couldn't stay there. Now he and Strider, his horse, were stuck on the road until daylight. He slide his blade back into its sheath and set it on the ground next to its brother, within easy reach. The small rabbit roasting over the fire sizzled and popped as the heat melted away the fat, which drizzled into the fire. He pulled the spit away from the fire and plucked at the hot meat with his fingers, popping the chunks of sizzling flesh into his mouth. Strider nickered behind him, making Marcus smirk. The brown horse had been his companion for four years now. "Go back to your grass my old friend. The meat is mine."

[ExlMagician]

Wisps of grass moaned in Shail's ears as she listened to their hurt, but ignored it. Most of nature was crying at all times that it got to be an insensate noise that she couldn't drown out. Misty eyes followed the sounds to the rather haphazard and if she dared say rather foul looking camp, but we saw there, the horse... caused a smile to cross her lips. It was rarely she had chance to interact with animals such as horses... Humans and their like, such as elves, polluted the plants and animals and stole them from their homes. Most horses that there were that were wild were too frantic in thought to even communicate with anymore.

Without worry over the man and his weaponry, Shail entered his tiny camp without any announcement of herself. She appeared like a Dur'hini who had been burned and pox marked all over her face, but the rest of her body and shimmer was covered with a thick jerkin she'd stolen from the last fellow who assumed she was a 'flimsy elf.' She smiled, with a short rumple of her nose and brushed her fingers over the horse's mane. 'Strider... that's what he had called him hmm?' Fingers looping in musty smelling mane, she whispered his name, resting her head on the horse's neck, ignoring the man entirely while she felt the horse's spirit to test his unrest.

[Hellion]

Strider whinnied softly and brushed against Shail, the feeling of gentle fingers in his mane comforting him. Shail's voice, combined with Strider's whinny, caught Marcus's attention. He grabbed one of his blades, drawing it partially out of its scabbard and turning to face Strider. In seconds, he was ready to fight. The will to fight died away when he saw the girl. A scarred elf girl, standing close to his horse. Strider did not seem bothered by her, and the great beast was usually as good a judge of character as anyone. He sheathed the blade. "Yes. His name is Strider. A better friend I've never had." If the woman could indeed read the great beast's heart, she would know that Strider felt the same of Marcus. Marcus had never mistreated Strider, never hurt him, never used spurs or whips. Marcus always saw to it that Strider was well fed and comfortable, and Marcus never put Strider in more danger than himself.

"People should be more careful to announce their presence, miss. Lest they find a blade at their throats." His voice, though rough and gravelly, was not threatening. Marcus had no intention of harming a lost elf girl on the road. He was not the type of scum to do such a thing.

[ExlMagician]

Her eyebrow raised, listening to Marcus' voice and the tone behind it. He had a point, one she'd learned the first time she'd taken a form. She had never known the pain of a blade or a man's judgment before that, but she knew it well now and after so many years she'd learned great disdain for men who considered themselves high over others, but she could tell.. this one... was merely worried about his and her safety. "I apologize. It has been... a long while since I had opportunity to greet with a stallion such as Strider. I forget my manners in the company of men."

She stroked the horse's hide with the back of her hand while she examined Marcus. Not bothered by the presence of his weapons or the roasting dead voice of the unrecognizable beast on the spit. One more touch and pursed her lips before nodding to Marcus, "He's good to you hmm? Where are you headed on such a night? Beasts roam the forest so late..." She smiled, patting his hunches, not closing any distance between her and the man at the fire. She learned not to trust so willingly, but was surprised a bit at this man's lack of shock from her appearance. "Must be getting away hm?"

[Hellion]

"Away? No...not really." He went back to his feed, speaking between bites of food, never with his mouth full. "I'm going to Drouth. Looking for work." Marcus's words were short, terse. He studied the woman for a moment. By the dim light of the fire, he could see that she was scarred, by fire and illness. Her ears gave her away as an elf. Her eyes, wandering listlessly, made him wonder if she wasn't blind. When the fire flared brightly for a moment, he saw the mist covering her vision and knew for certain. Odd for an elf, especially one as scarred and blinded as herself, to be wandering the roads alone. There was more to her than she was showing. That, however, was her own business. "As to the beasts...well...I eat them. Eventually one of them is going to eat me. It's the circle of life and death madam."

[ExlMagician]

Shail finally stopped wandering her environment with her eyes before creeping to the fire. It was warm, and something she learned to relish after she had gained this form. Cold was a hard thing to tolerate, but fires like these made it easier. She knew it wasn't right to impose, it was a rule of forest life, but she enjoyed the little flickers of light that kissed the air with cracks and pops. "Quite right. I suppose they just don't like the smell of spoiled goods." She spoke rather crass of herself, feeling the foul taste in her mouth with her tongue running over her teeth before sighing. "Sometimes they are happy to sit by and watch..." Crickets told her that, they were chirping merrily about the weather and their pleasure in being so far from danger. It was obvious nothing was interested in being around with the scent of roasted animal flesh in the air.

"Drouth..." It was a fair distance, but at least he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. The sky spoke well of him and the air seemed to heed him no ill will. If only there were more of men his own like on the face of the planet. "There's a thicket not far from here... you'll run across it tomorrow if you continue on your path. I'm sure you'll find it useful. There's a rather lively herd of bellow deer. Loud, but easy to kill..." She didn't care to discover his darker secrets... every man had them, she had them, and Shail had walked the planet for far longer than most any man.

[Hellion]

Marcus quirked an eyebrow at her bold move towards the fire. There was something odd about the girl...she felt airy, ditsy...as if she were walking in the world, but not with it. He watched her, because like everything else in the world she held hidden dangers and motives, but he was not unnecessarily suspicious of her. At her comment on the dear, he chuckled slightly. "Too much meat...I'd never be able to carry it all, and preserving it would take too long. No...there's no reason to kill one of those deer. Odds are there's some poor sap out there in the woods who needs it more than I do.."

[ExlMagician]

A smile crept across her features as thought about his statement. This fellow was gonna eat pesky squirrels his whole trip to Drouth? Interesting choice, and they certainly needed less of them making a ruckus in her head. She couldn't help making a short snicker over comment about the random idiots that travel the forest and wound up grackle food. He didn't really seem the adventurous type, simply solitary, looking for some alone time. She stood, glancing at Strider once more, "I won't keep you from your meal. Its been far too long for me to see a normal person that I've forgotten that more important to my curiosity for your stallion, is your own adventure. I'd hate to impede it." She swept deep, brushing her hair from her face, while she decided on anew destination. Shail was constantly on the move, but she needed some place to go every so often, it kept her from reverting back into her consciousness, where Ru was lurking in wait for her.

[Hellion]

Marcus crunched on of the smaller bones of the rabbit, sucking the marrow out silently. Swallowing quickly, he watched her for a moment. "Maybe I'm being naive, but isn't it rather dangerous for a blind elf girl to travel the roads of the unclaimed wilds alone?" It wasn't as if he wanted someone straggling along with him and slowing him down, but at the same time, the part of him that still clung to his once all encompassing honor demanded that he see this woman as far as Drouth at the very least. "If you like, you can stay until morning, and ride with me to Drouth." Strider gave a little snort, seeming oddly sad to see the woman go.

[ExlMagician]

'Blind?' She furrowed her brow, thinking on what it was this man thought he was seeing. 'Elf?' No wonder he seemed to kind toward her. Not only did he think she was handicapped, he assumed she was elven. If she wasn't so aware of her marred appearance she would have been proud that her transfiguration had done so well. "I..., heh, well I thank you." She wanted to say nothing about it, let him believe that she was a Dur'hini who simply didn't belong anymore, but at the same time one so... solitary deserved to know that she wasn't what he thought, before letting him make that offer.

"I.. you are kind to offer..." She tried to chose her words carefully before biting her lip. There was no way to tell him. Most people didn't believe in the fae anymore let alone their presence among the living. Faeborn were considered monsters by most, mutated versions of the things they tried so hard to appear to be. Why not, for this time, let him help her. Her shoulder took an obvious weight from them before smiling happily, more relieved than she had been in a while. Perhaps he'd never come across one of the foul tempered cave dwellers before. That would be the best case scenario, indeed. "I accept."

[Hellion]

Marcus made a vague gesture towards his small tent. It was clean and it was shelter. "You can have the tent. I'm more than content here under the stars." He then remembered her clouded eyes and wondered if she had even seen it. He shrugged and wandered over to Strider's side, stroking the stallion's ears. Strider laid down, tucking his legs beneath him. Marcus sat next to Strider's side, leaning against it and wrapping his wool cloak around his body. He watched as the fire slowly died. "I'll wake you in the morning."

[ExlMagician]

Shail hid her smile as she slipped inside the tent. It wasa different feeling than the usual hatred she received, to be treated like someone who was an equal or even almost babied by a human. She touched the fabric with care and hugged her knees to her chest, listening to the forest around them as the noises of the night took hold. There would be no sleep for Shail tonight, and she wondered just how long she'd be able to keep control of the body with Vie waiting close behind for her to weary. She had at one time, been able to keep it for almost a week at best before tiring, but she had been in trouble then, no way of escaping the pack of men that had captured her and insisted she was a demon. This time around, she was simply wanted to make sure that this kind act didn't go unrewarded.

The snapping char in the fire popped every so often, and she watched shadows in the dark while the forest told her what circled their camp and turned round, deciding against failing like the last animal did. She couldn't help but close her eyes and let the noises take hold of her for the time being, listening ot the wants and needs. Some parts of the forest begged for rain and other parts yearned for the sun to come. It complained too much. She knew Vie thought the same, which was why he never hesitated to recede. Yes, it was what they were, but when the light lit the siding of the tent, she opened her eyes, watching the tent flaps from under her hair, while her cheek rested on her knee cap. Another morning.

[Hellion]

Marcus slept in shifts, conscious for one hour, asleep for three. He leaned against Strider's warm flank, the rise and fall of the huge horse's sides not bothering him in the least. Strider had rested his head on the ground next to Marcus, allowing the man to stroke his ears and mane while he kept watch. More than once, Marcus noted a pair of eyes at the edge of the fire. They always fled when he noticed them. at the tail end of his second shift, a pair of wolves, young, lean, and hungry, strolled into the camp, sniffing the air for the remains of the rabbit he had killed. They watched him and his horse for a moment, pondering as to whether they were willing to fight. Marcus did not like that much. "Peace, brothers. The organs are over there, by that stump. Have them. I do not want them." Moving slowly, he pulled the partially eaten carcass from the spit and tossed it to them. "You can have that too. I am done." The wolves watched him again, sniffed the carcass, and then pulled it off into the darkness. Marcus could hear bones snapping, and the growls of contented carnivores. When the wolves were finally gone, Marcus returned to his sleep.

As the sun rose, so too did Marcus. Setting about the camp in the cool morning air, he began collecting his things, packing them away and tucking them into Strider's saddle bags. The stallion was content to graze peacefully as Marcus finished things up. He tapped on the canvas of the tent. "Miss? It's dawn. Get ready."

[ExlMagician]

Noises that he had made while he was gathering his things had Shail listening to his quiet subtleties, once his voice called for her she brushed the small pine needles from her jerkin and leggings, noting how polite the man seemed to appear. Strange coming from a fellow that she was almost certain was not born of high ranking. Not that for humans there was any higher than a farmer, which accounted for why he was in search for work. She pulled back the flap, before exiting, pulling her hair back into a leather tie to keep it from her face. It seemed unusual for her, but then again she wasn't sure of the next time that that would be something she could do, and Marcus didn't seem much to care. She stopped in her tracks as she thought about that she had just considered. He was becoming a person to her. She was using him name. She laughed to herself before taking in a deep breath of the crisp morning air, laced with a hint of frosty dew. "I won't slow you, I promise. When you are ready I will be as well." She wanted him not to regret his decision and she was hoping that at this point, after a night on the ground, that he wasn't already wishing she was carrion.

[Hellion]

Marcus jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Strider's saddle. "There's some bread in the saddle bag closest to the front, on the left side. If you're hungry, have at it." The bread was maybe two days old, dry, and firm, but it was still food. Marcus was not hungry, just focused on the task at hand. He began breaking down the tent, pulling each part out of it carefully and rolling it into a neat, compact bundle. The canvas was heavy, but Marcus knew Strider would have no trouble carrying it. He lashed the tent to the rear of Strider's saddle, checking all the straps and ties. He was ready to return to the road. "I assume you know how to ride?"