Closed Secret Dares (Aerion)

[Amara Waveracer]

Amara stood for a while, trying to remember the correct directions in her head. She then remembered he would not be injured like he was if she had not gotten them lost. She wished she could be better with directions more than ever now. Tears brimmed her eyes, threatening to spill. Then she looked back up at Aerion and saw his smile, giving her the strength and reason she needed to get to the lake.

She started walking and found Teren was following her as she went. Trying her hardest to avoid uneven bits along their path like they requested, she had to twist and turn which made it a longer walk, but not unbearably. She stook as close to Aerion and his horse as she could to make both of them feel better. Knowing she could protect him for a short while, but not for long enough, she started walking a little faster. As she did, Teren sped up as well.

After a few more minutes, she felt as if her legs were going to collapse, but it didn't stop her. Soon, she saw the a road which they had to cross to get to the other side. It gave her a small spike of courage but it soon faded. She did not know which road they were at. They could be going the wrong way once again which made her shiver. Last time it ended terribly but he was at least alive.

Amara soon saw the first sign of the lake about a mile away. It was indeed larger than she expected it to be. She was overjoyed by the sight of it and forgot about everything. She instantly started running wildly towards it, her bell jingling extremely loudly as she did. As she ran out of breath, she stopped and crouched slightly, putting her hands on her knees to keep herself upright.

She then noticed that Teren was trotting behind her and had overall ran with her. She smiled then saw the pained look on Aerions face and her smile turned into a frown. She thought about all she had done to him and felt awful. " I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting you into this mess and I'm sorry I got you injured as bad as this. I'm sorry," she said while taking his hand in hers. "Just don't scare me like that again, and please never leave me."

"Let's get there, shall we?" Amara let go of his hand and let the way once again. She walked fairly fast, but not too fast that she couldn't avoid the uneven spots in time. When they finally reached the lake, she cheered and turned towards him, smiling.

[Aerion]

Aerion tried his best to stay silent during the trip, knowing the young girl had enough on her plate as it was. He knew that she felt his injuries were her fault, so he did not want to make it worse as she lead them through the hills and across the road.

Finally making it to the lake, Aerion had a pained grimace plastered on his face and forced himself not to yell out as Teren stopped behind her. All of a sudden she started apologizing all at once, talking really fast. It was making his head spin, but he got the gist of it. "It is not your fault that I got injured, if I had trained harder with my weapon, I may have been able to kill them without suffering injuries like this."

Aerion gave Amara a small smile as she stood there worried about him and asking him not to leave her, "Don't worry, it's not my time to go yet. I am sure the gods have much more planned for me than either you or I realize. I am sorry that I scared you though, I'm just glad you are alright."

As she asked to continue, he nodded, conserving what strength he had for the imminent dismounting. As they reached the lake and she turned toward him smiling, he felt his grip loosen on Teren as he fell off of him. He landed on a soft spot of grass and sand which broke his fall, nevertheless he let out a pained groan as he turned his head toward her, "Well... I guess that's one way to dismount." He said, and he managed a pained smile as she rushed over to him.

[Amara Waveracer]

As Amara turned, she saw him fall onto the ground. His pain was evident through the expression on his face. She grew worried and kneeled beside him. "Well... I guess that's one way to dismount." After hearing his remark, she laughed and smiled at him again. She stood and took the rest of her torn cloak out, ripped part of it off, and dipped it in the water.

Amara pulled the cloth away from the cut on his chest and started to clean it with the wet scrap of her cloak. She was sure it would hurt so she didn't watch for a reaction. She then did the same with the bite on his calf, to which she flinched at just the thought of the pain he must have been going through. After she finished she looked towards him with a reassuring smile. "All done."

As she left him to rest there, she decided to clean herself as well. She pulled her clothes off but not her anklet. She, of course, was Svefra so she did not think anything of it like any other would. She did a small backflip into the refreshing water and smiled all the while.

[Aerion]

Aerion felt the pain from the salt water go into his cuts as she cleaned them, grimacing in pain he waited it out. When she finally said she was done, he breathed a sigh of relief, noticing the pain was greatly diminished.

As he lay there, he heard her jump into the water, thinking of how she liked the salt water so much at the dock, he thought nothing of it. However, when he heard her sputtering a bit of water out of her mouth as she broke through the surface again, he closed his eyes and said, "Thank you Amara."

His breathing slowed a bit as he finally drifted into the first true sleep he had had in over 24 hours. He was still in quite a bit of pain, but it had lessened so much that Teren was able to relax him and help him sleep through their bond.

[Amara Waveracer]

As she pulled on her clothes again, Amara shivered. She was remarkably cold now that she was out of the water. She then saw he had gone to sleep. To not wake him, she walked quietly over to him and sat herself on the grass beside him. She began to unweave and weave her hair back until she grew tired herself as there wasn't much to do other than watch over him as he slept.

As she was nearly done weaving her hair back again, she saw something move out the corner of her eye. She instantly stopped what she was doing and looked at where the movement had come from. It was a sea eagle by the shore attempting to catch a fish. She smiled and continued to watch it until it had flown away. She had only ever seen one of them and that was while she was at sea. After it was gone, she continued weaving her hair back.

After she weaved the last strand back, she felt tired enough to fall asleep. Her eyes started to flutter closed as she sat there. Wiping the remaining water off of her hands and onto her dress, she shivered once again. Rubbing her arms for warmth, she laid down beside Aerion and slowly put her head on his chest which gave off some heat. She moved closer to him while being careful not to wake him in an attempt to warm herself. She wrapped her arms around him and slowly fell asleep in the warmth she now felt."You're welcome, Aerion."

[Aerion]

Aerion woke up later that afternoon, feeling Amara asleep beside him and the cold wind blowing off the sea. He opened his eyes and looked up toward Teren, seeing that he was standing guard over them. Once he tried to reach out over their bond to him however, Teren jerked awake, feeling embarrassed.

Aerion laughed out loud, seeing that they had all fallen asleep at the edge of the lake with no one watching for danger. They had gotten lucky here, or perhaps the gods were watching over them. He was quite unsure as to which, but was grateful all the same.

He decided not to move, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl, knowing she needed it. He also did not want to disturb his wounds anymore than he had to at the moment. Aerion stared up at the sky, with Teren standing there like a statue, he smiled at the horse, knowing they just had another story that they have lived through. It would be a good story to tell around a fire one day.

About an hour later Aerion's limbs needed to move, so he gently shook Amara's shoulder so as to wake her, but not to disturb her. "Wake up, it's the afternoon, we had best be up for this day, so as to not waste it. Plus, I think I need to move the limb you are sleeping on." He whispered that last sentence, but meant it, his arm was feeling a bit numb.

[Amara Waveracer]

Amara woke up momentarily and opened her eyes, then turned over and tried to fall back to sleep. She didn't get to though as she then heard Aerion's voice and felt his hand on her shoulder. She thought nothing of it at first and tried to sleep once again, but then thought something was wrong. She remembered she should have stayed awake and on guard as he slept but she didn't.

Thinking they were in danger, she forced her eyes open and instantly stood up. Making fists, she looked around but saw nothing but Teren. A fog had developed and the way they had come had been covered by it. Realizing nothing was wrong, she fell back down and kneeled by him, narrowing her eyes. "Don't scare me like that."

She made sure the bandages were still good, then helped him sit up. She stood up, trusting Teren to help him the rest of the way and walked to the edge of the lake, looking as far as she could until the fog covered the rest of it. She was still slightly tired, but not as bad as she was before she slept.

[Aerion]

"I'm sorry." He said as Teren helped him up, Aerion then limped around to his other side to grab his shirt and cloak out of the saddle bags. He asked Teren to help him walk to the water so he could at least rinse them, the once white clothing was now spattered with blood. Fitting He thought to himself, Now my clothes and I completely match...

As they made it about ankle deep into the water, he dropped to the knee of his uninjured leg, spreading the injured one out straight, so as not to stress it or put it in the water. Aerion then took his clothing and started to clean them as best he could in the water.

After he had done so, the blood had faded a bit, but still stained his clothing. "Oh well, at least it's not as bad.." He muttered to no one in particular. Having Teren help him up again, since going down was easier than getting back up, Aerion looked over at Amara, and the worried look she had on her face. He said softly, his voice sounding much better, "Do you think you would want to travel with us? We could always use someone to help patch us up." He gave her a thin smile. "It's better to me than to wander around a city aimlessly. Plus, it seems that the wildlife wants us to chew it over." At that he broke into a slight grin. Aerion frowned inwardly, What if she doesn't want to travel with us? Teren comforted him by making sure Aerion knew he would never leave him.

[Amara Waveracer]

Amara watched him as he cleaned his clothes in the water. She knew he was in pain and slightly struggling so she wanted to help him. She started to open her mouth to say she would, but it seemed he could handle it after all. However, she continued watching him and started to grow even more worried. She didn't want to leave him for many reasons including the fact he couldn't defend himself with the injuries he had, and if he got into any more fights he was certainly done for. She didn't know what she would do now if they parted ways, probably go back to her old life.

What he next said relieved her and overjoyed her. She instantly smiled and hugged him softly to not hurt him. She wasn't very good at medicine so she probably couldn't do miracles for him, but could stop the bleeding. However, she of course wanted to come with him. Pulling away, she said, "Of course. You still owe me as well, remember?" As she said the last bit, she smiled wider as he still didn't know what she wanted.

She watched him, waiting for a reaction which would probably be priceless. "I want.. a piggy back ride," she said as she continued to watch his reaction, holding back a laugh. "Well, three to be exact. Only when you're better though." Letting her laughter out, Amara looked up at him with excitement on her face and light in her eyes. "Where to?"

[Aerion]

As Aerion heard that she would travel with them, he felt happy, for the first time in years, there was someone aside from Teren that made him happy. He and Teren had been alone for so long, that Aerion was unsure if he would be able to really form a friendship with another human, but after all they had been through, he shouldn't have been surprised at how close they were becoming.

When she told him she wanted piggy back rides however, he couldn't help but burst out laughing, which he wish he had not done as he felt pain flash across his chest from the movement. Aerion kept a smile on his face as he replied, "Well, we could head back to Syliras if you wanted, or we could continue to explore the land. Syliras would be good for my injuries, but tough on my mind. Of course, we could pass through Syliras on the way to explore the southern area around the city."

Aerion had a sudden thought as his stomach growled, "However, I think some hunting would be nice first, I try not to break into my rations unless it's an emergency, and I believe I can take down a simple rabbit or deer." He looked up at the sky and saw how low the sun was getting, not thinking they could travel in the dark, he said, "We should make camp midway between the lake and the nearest treeline. Then we need to find something to eat, which hopefully wont be too difficult, as my father taught me the basics of tracking."

Aerion suddenly realized that she may not have camped very much before, "I can set up the tent, the scratches across my chest are not too deep, just painful, and I can work through that." He gave her a smile to show his willingness. "I can also try to teach you a little bit of tracking once we get started, so as to help me in case I miss something."