There was a man, a horse, and oh! A butterfly too (Erzotol)

[Tessa Poe]

Tessa smiled grateful at Erzotol's in thanks for his help as she slowly came to her feet, apparently there was some effort involved given the slight flush she noticed on his cheeks. She wasn't that heavy was she? Oh... of course there was the weight of all her gear on her back wasn't there? Her eyelids fluttered as a wave of dizziness rushed through her and she found herself stumbling a little as her vision swirled, her balance all but lost. Her arm reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder, the other gripping tighter at his as she found herself suddenly standing really very close to him. Close enough to feel his breath in her hair, to catch the scent of his leather armour and the heat of his body through it against hers. For a moment she felt entirely safe, which was strange, but a good kind of strange. She turned her head to rest her cheek against his chest, her eyes sliding shut as she enjoyed the moment, waiting for the worst of the wooziness to pass. As it started to fade she ducked her head slightly in embarrassment, slowing drawing back from him, her hand falling from his shoulder to rest at her side, though the other stayed between his for as long as she could manage it. For some reason she was loathe to pull away from that tender touch, the one that'd matched hers in reassurance.

She could feel the blush starting to heat her cheeks again as she finally raised her eyes, trying to get her bearings. "Ummm... oh of course, it's just over that way, past that oak and a little further on, it won’t take too long. She pointed towards the tree she'd meant and set off towards it, carefully at first in case the dizziness returned. After the first few steps she found it wasn't too bad, her stomach had started to swirl a little but she was sure that that'd pass.

She didn't mention what had just happened between them, she had no idea how to broach the subject, hopefully he'd think nothing of it, that it was all the blow to the head and nothing more... she wasn't sure if it was anything more herself. It was probably best not to think too much about it at the moment, he was willing to spend the morning with her, he was obviously a nice, kind sort of guy. Definitely best to just leave it at for now. They’d find the stream soon enough, and the soil around there was ripe for arrowhead at this time of year, should be fairly easy to spot too given the pretty little white flowers that should be blooming by now.

As ever when she walked her eyes wandered round the trail they were following, and soon enough she noticed something she hadn’t been expecting and came to a halt. “Hey, Erzotol! Come over here!” The excitement was evident in her voice as she pointed to a fallen tree, well to be more precise at the fungus she’d noticed growing on it. “See there? Those mushrooms with the brown and black spots? That’s Pheasant’s Back, and they don’t look too big either.” She moved over to the three mushrooms growing in vertical shelves up the fallen tree, crouching down next to them and taking hold of one gently. She wiggled her wrist a little, her grin spreading as she found the fungus was still flexible. “Sorry, that probably didn’t make a lot of sense. See you can eat these pretty much whenever you like, but they taste better when they’re young. You can tell by how big they get, and how flexible they are. If they’re stiff, they’re old ones and you should probably look around for another patch, unless you’re starving of course. Anyway it’s best to just…” Tessa reached into her coat and pulled out one of her daggers, slipping it from its scabbard and letting it fall to the floor as she carefully cut the fungus from the tree stump “...cut the whole thing off, and then you chop it up into smallish pieces. You can either just heat them, or add them to a stew, or anything really, they don’t taste too bad either. Not so good raw, but again if there’s nothing else around they won’t hurt you.” Tessa’s voice trickled on happily, finally confident that she was back on familiar ground again, the fungal find quite handily clearing away some of the confusion that had refused to go away. She reached over her shoulder into her back, finding the square of canvas she’d laid at the top and getting it out to wrap her find in. Never hurt to carry extra food after all, but she’d let Erzotol get a good look at them before she put them away. She was supposed to be showing him around a little after all.

[Erzotol Silverden]

Having the woman rest against his chest had surprised him, but not so much in a bad way. She was nice, pretty, and seemed to have a good heart, so for that moment he was content to serve as her crutch till her eyes oriented themselves. With her so close he could now smell a comforting scent of a person who traveled combined with that twinge of sweetness that all women seemed to give off. It was actually quite distracting, what with her leaned up against him, combined with her pleasant smell, and the warmth she imparted to his body, and when she moved away from him, he had to subtly shake his head a brief moment to clear the haze that had built up in his head. Blinking a few times, he followed her finger to a large oak tree, and allowed his eyes to focus on it till his vision cleared. " Oh, your sense of direction is quite impressive " he said, and a little color crept to the top of his cheeks which he hid by casting a glance into the wood behind them. When he looked back he saw her already striding forward, heading off into the woods down the path she had just pointed out, and before following her he took a brief moment to observe her, which brought a slight smile to his face though he tried not to think of why it did.

He jogged the remaining distance between them, and then fell into step behind her, keeping his eyes peeled out in the forest around him, looking for any signs of predators nearby. Of course he did not know what kind of predators inhabited this wood, or the methods they used to stalk their prey, and honestly the trees made him a little nervous, so dark and looming, inviting any would be hunter into their boughs to prey on the unsuspecting. It was only the presence of Tessa that kept him calm, that and the soft sound of hooves meshing the earth, along with the patter of a small foxes feet that reminded him that Laeon, and Airiat where close behind and just as alert as he was. Most of the time he contented himself for looking at a imaginary point on Tessa's back, making sure to take every step that she took, and try and glance at the surrounding wilderness at the same time. He wouldn't put it past himself to trigger a trap, or crush some of this valuable Arrowroot she referred to.

Her pleasant voice came singing on the wind, and his eyes followed quickly to where she pointed, thinking at first that it might be some dangerous creature poised to strike. It was neither high pitched with urgency nor laced with anxiety though, so the alarm bells failed to ring out in his head, and even a genuine smile came to his face as she saw she was merely pointing at a patch of fungus. It was after all the other side of the double purpose for walking out this way, but he hadn't actually expected that she would be so thorough as to find something so soon. She was proving to be quite full of pleasant surprises.

Closely he followed her, praying he wasn't too close to make her uncomfortable, and gently eased into a crouch beside her, listening intently to her words. Pheasant’s Back? The name didn't ring a bell to him, but he supposed that was a good thing that he wasn't learning about something he already had heard of, and his eyes carefully examined the one she held in her hand. He made a careful note of their coloration; shape, as well as where they typically grew for future use. It would be good to know these things, especially if he got plenty of opportunities to spend his time in the wild lands like he hoped he would. " Quite interesting " he said, lifting up a hand to scratch the stubble on his chin, and reaching out a hand to feel the crumbling bark of the dying tree. It had a bit of a springy feel to it, but at the same time that it felt wet, it also flaked off a bit on his finger tips as he brushed his hand along its side. Looking at his now not so clean hand, he frowned in disgust, and whipped it on his pants before turning his head around to look at Tessa.

The sunlight came in at a angle behind her the early midday sun refracting off her dark hair, and mellowing the bold color out to a light bronze, the black taking on color from the golden sun. It framed her face in such a way that made her hard to look at, not because of any sort of glare, but because it seemed to heighten her own inherent beauty, and to continue looking so directly at her would only bring about a embarrassing blush to his cheeks. His eyes flickered down appropriately, glancing down at the mushrooms she was removing, and appropriately storing away, and as if to mimic being lost in thought he bit his bottom lip carefully, his eyes staring hard at the unremarkable brown surface of the fallen tree. " Thank you for pointing that out to me. No doubt it will be very useful should I find myself out here exploring, and aching with hunger " he said in a low, rumbling tone, and his soft voice carrying in the quiet wood.

His eyes stole a glance at hers, a wide smile coming to his lips, and suppressing a blush he stood up straight and casually glanced at his hand, flecks of black root still staining his palm. Petch, why do I have to always touch things he berated himself but all in spirit as he dusted it off on his pants with a bit more drag this time, and kept his smile on his face, which wasn't hard in the presence of such a woman. Looking back up, this time his gaze intent on looking with her eyes, he kept the gentle smile on his lips as he studied her face. " Lucky indeed I am to have had the chance to learn of such a plant by your good graces. I wonder what we shall find at this stream you mentioned. "

[Tessa Poe]

She could hear the patter of little paws mixed with the louder sort of thumping/crushing of his horse's hooves approaching as she knelt there, a little frizzle of fear skittering down the back of her spine while she kept her mind fixed on bundling up the mushrooms and stowing them away. At least the little... thing... seemed to be keeping its distance though, and it belonged to Erzotol. Surely he'd be able to keep it away. In an attempt to distract herself from its looming presence behind her she'd almost managed to convince herself that it was just the sound of particularly large dew drops falling to the forest floor, and that was sort of working, so long as she didn't look over her shoulder of course. But then there were much more pleasant things to look at, such as Erzotol crouching next to her, apparently concentrating on remembering the fungus more than anything else. She'd been so wrapped up in her work that she'd quite missed the possibly too long stare of his.

The light coming from behind her seemed to halo his face, catching in the few blond strands of hair that stood out from his head while lending a sort of shadowed appearance to his face that only served to make his stubble stand out all the more. Her eyes wandered lower, just for a moment, taking in his toned physique again and they probably would have stayed admiringly there except for the fact that she caught site of his fingertips straying to the rotting tree trunk. She was about to give him some sort of warning, knowing full well that Pheasant's Back tended to grow best in the rot, rot that tended to be a little sticky this early in the morning with the dew. Instead she could only giggle as her eyes flicked up and caught sight of his twisted lip as he tried to rub the spongy, clinging matter away. "Here, just use a little of this, you'll have trouble getting it all off otherwise." She grinned as she reached for her water skin and passed it over, "I know how hard it is to get off, when I was younger I pretty much ran into one, well not quite. I actually ran into some kind of thorn bush that sort of tripped me and then I landed on a trunk like this one. Ma really wasn't happy when she saw the state of my clothes when I got back. We never did manage to get it all out either." She shrugged, still smiling at the memory, and came back to her feet, remembering at last that he’d asked a couple of questions, or at least one of the things he’d said sounded like a question. So that made it a couple of questions. “Anyway enough about that, we’d probably end up sitting here all day if we got on to stories of what we got up to as kids, though I get the feeling that wouldn’t be the worst way to spend a day…”

And there went that mouth of hers again. Every time she stopped thinking about it, it ended up saying like that. But… there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with letting him know she enjoyed his company, was there? It was true after all; she wasn’t just saying it for the sake of it. Still, best to get back to a safer topic, and that topic would be… answering his questions of course. She really had to start trying to keep a better track of things. All these distracting thoughts really weren’t helping her in the slightest. “Ummm… sorry, sort of lost where I was going for a moment there… oh wait, you wanted to know about the name, for the mushrooms? They call it pheasant’s back round here because of the black spots on the brown, I guess because of how it sort of looks like a pheasant’s feathers. Most things you can eat have names like that, something that’s easy to remember. And you’re welcome, I said I’d show you some useful things out here didn’t I? If we get a chance later I’ll show you a little recipe for cooking them whole too, if you’d like I mean. ”

She really was talking too much, again, but at least it was sort of interesting, and useful. As long as you were interested in why people named plants what they did at least. Wait, did she just ask him to have lunch with her? Or dinner maybe? Would he think that was really forward of her? They’d only known each other for a bell or so, she didn’t want him to think she was like that. She wasn’t stupid, she’d seen and met more than enough women who were that way inclined, but she wasn’t. She could feel that blush rising again as she turned, eyes tracking along the trail and picking out a familiar, moss covered rocky outcropping. The stream wasn’t too far from here, and that meant she’d have other, less embarrassing things to talk about… although, she had been planning on washing today…

She headed off down the trail again, more for something to do than anything else, something to drag her thoughts away from it all again. “The stream’s not far,” she had to admit she was sort of surprised to find herself capable of saying anything at all at that particular moment, but her tongue seemed to have decided to take matters into its own hands, or it would have done if it had hands. That’d be really rather creepy… a tongue with hands… “besides the arrowhead I saw yesterday there are a few other things that like being near water sources and all, we’ll just have to see what else we can dig up.” She was amazed her voice still sounded so steady, what with how warm her cheeks were growing again. Best not to question it, just be glad it was that way and keep going ‘til her mind matched her voice again. She could only hope that wouldn't take too long.

[Erzotol Silverden]

He accepted her waterskin thankfully, unstoppering it carefully so he didn't infect it with the sticky black substance that covered his fingers, and slowly dribbled a bit of water over his right hand till a small pool had formed in his palm. Awkwardly he stoppered the waterskin with one hand and handed it back to her before rubbing his hands briskly together as he tried to scrub the evidence away. " Sounds like quite the accident, not to unlike things I got myself into on the sea of grass, besides the fact that thorn bushes, and trees are not there. " He said amused, a crooked smile coming to his face along with a measure of relief at the tacky substance finally having released itself from his skin. Keeping his eyes on her, he quickly dried his hands off on his pants, making sure to try and wipe them evenly so not to dampen on part of his pants more so than the other parts. " Perhaps over a camp fire one day we could share a few tales about what we have gotten into, I'm sure you could weave a interesting story or two " he commented easing his legs up so he now stood, his eyes exploring the forest around them.

An awkward hung heavily between them, but rather then bend to the uncomfortable feeling, he distracted himself momentarily, his eyes wandering to the highest parts of the trees, occasionally glimpsing a small squirrel scampering across a broad limb, or a song bird singing out a pleasant tune. It was so much different out here, instead of worrying about things on the ground; you had to watch the trees to, yet adding another dimension to keep well aware of. In some ways it made him tenser than ever, but in another way it helped him by keeping his instincts sharp, and that he trusted would keep him alive.

Slowly his eyes wandered down from his silent musings and focused back on the woman who was now speaking and breaking the silence between them. He made sure to listen carefully, his face reflecting his genuine interest in the subject as he heard what she told him about the how the fungus got its name. He hadn't connected the bird to the mushroom, but now that he looked back, it really did make the most sense that people would associate it with an animal that shared a similar pattern on its back. Though a pheasant would probably be far tastier than the mushroom ever could be. " I'm afraid I don't know anything about cooking, but I'm willing to try and learn a few things later if you don't mind putting up with me for that long. " He said finishing with a chuckle, a warm smile spreading across his face. Perhaps it would be interesting if it was tried to cook the fungus with the bird, that sort of irony he always found made his heart light. Cooking though, happened to be yet another thing he hadn't spared the time to learn during his time back home, but this new place was a time for new beginnings, and a chance for a fresh start and learning things that could prove helpful.

He fell into step behind her, Airiat and Laeon following his stead as they walked along the path Tessa lead them. A stream would be good for them; his waterskin certainly could use a refilling, along with the chance to see some of the herbs she spoke so fondly about. What arrowroot was he didn't quite know, but it sounded useful to him, and she seemed to think it was important so that was enough for him. Perhaps it was yet another edible plant out here on the grasses but it wouldn't be too bad a thing if it wasn't. Another smile came to his face, best day in these strange lands so far..

[Tessa Poe]

She flicked a glance over her shoulder, thankfully not tripping over anything as she did so, a grin lighting up her face at his answer. "Oh! It's no trouble at all, I mean I don't have to put up with you or anything... " Well aside from your... pet... that is "it's not often you get to meet people out here, at least people you want to spend any time around at all that is... so of course I'd be happy to show you a couple of things. I'm not a great chef or anything but I know enough to get by." Her brief onset of nerves at the start of what she'd said about him and his company vanished, swallow up by the warm, contented feeling spreading through her with knowledge he was walking just behind her as they made their way along the narrow trail. There was a lightness in her gait that seemed to almost lift her clear of the ground with every step and she almost felt like laughing ot singing with it all. Of course that feeling could never last long, could it? As if in answer to those giddy feeling a sort of unnameable dread started to wind its way through her, twisting and turning mockingly through her thoughts. She'd... actually shown them to him. He'd seen them, and true he'd not looked away in disgust or tried to placate her, quite the opposite in fact. But still, he'd seen them. All of them. The pastey, puckered flesh pulled this way and that by the scars so livid against her tanned skin. What had she been thinking? Yes, she'd not wanted him to leave, but surely she could have thought of something else? Anything else. Anything would have been better than letting him see them. It must have been the fall, it must've been hitting her head as she’d done that had made her do… it. She still couldn’t quite believe she’d shown him, and she still didn't understand why she was feeling like this again. It was fine, he was fine, he'd not turned away from them, just accepted them. So why was she on the point of shaking, of screaming? The sounds of the forest around her, of Erzotol’s footsteps and his animals' all started to blend and whirl together, what the hell was she supposed to do? She could feel his eyes on her back, knowing where they’d be locked, no matter what he’d said, or how he'd reacted, there was no way he wasn’t, he couldn’t…

Just went it all started to seem like too much, again, that her own thoughts were going to overwhelm her, that she was on the brink of screaming at the top of her voice the stream came into view like an oasis in the deserts her Ma had told her stories about when she was young. As quickly as it had come on the dark panic disappeared, leaving her suddenly light headed and she nearly staggered but held herself still. She couldn’t let him realise just how close she’d been to… never mind that. She grasped hold of the realisation that she’d already picked out more than a few plants to show Erzotol, focusing on them rather than the… thing she really wasn’t going to think about. As well as the Arrowhead there were a couple of patches of Cattails, some Wild Chamomile with its distinctive yellow globe of a flower forcing its way from the cracks in the rocks and what looked like it could be Fireweed. At least she thought it was, the bright red and pink flowers running up its stalks were very similar at least. It was certainly a good selection, and she’d get to it all just as soon as she felt a little less wobbly. Maybe she should have sat there a little longer ‘til she was sure that the blow to the head she’d given herself wasn’t going to cause her any problems? Still… the Pineapple Weed might help with that, at least a little.

She took a deep, shaky breath, and then another, her heart beat still racing as she leant against a nearby tree, Gods her head ached. “We’re… here… just give me a chime… would you?” She managed breathily, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, hoping that the pain would pass or that she’d be able to ignore it. She stayed that way quietly for a moment or two, head bowed slightly before she at last looked up. Syna’s light streamed through the canopy above them, dappling the scene before them in little dark green shadows and spots of bright light. She could hear the sound of the stream rising from its bed as it ran between its narrow rocky banks, smell the scent of damp earth mixing with the forest’s more usual aroma as something small finally scampered away into the undergrowth, apparently deciding that the pair of them were something it’d rather avoid. She breathed a small sigh of relief, her head still ached, but it wasn’t quite as fierce, and seeing this almost perfect scene before her seemed to act almost like a balm for her racing thoughts, quite thoroughly putting an end to that still threatening panic. All she’d have to do was wait for half a chime more or so and she’d be ready to get on with why they were here. That couldn’t be all that hard now could it?

[Erzotol Silverden]

He was following her again, and not for the fist time he mused that it could all be just a elaborate trap meant to put him at a disadvantage before relieving him of his wares. If that was the case, he had no qualms about putting a blade in the betrayer's spine before the eventually stole his own breath from him. All it would take was a simple thrust, something someone as incompetent as him could surely manage given the short space between them, and how long it would take the men meant to ambush him to come to the woman's aid. Unconsciously his hand went to the hilt of his blade, the dark thoughts spreading paranoia through his breast. The sound of a song bird calling out distracted him from his thoughts, his eyes softening upon looking up in the boughs of a great elm, the colorful bird weaving it's song from on high. Behind him, and unnoticed Airiat, and Laeon similarly let the tension release from their forms sensing the suspicion leave their master. His hand dropped from the hilt of the longsword, and a shallow grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Off in the distance another song bird answered the call.

The soft bubbling sound of a stream filled the air between the man and woman making the silence easier to endure for the adventurous drykas, as his eyes wandered ahead to settle on the crystal waters. Water. It was something of a mixed blessing out here in the wilds. It sustained but for that very reason it was dangerous. Surely they where not the only ones to seek reprieve in it's waters and if they were not at the moment then it wouldn't be much longer till they had less than savory company. He approached the water with a good degree of of caution. His strider, ever bold trotted ahead of him up to the stream and immediately began drinking deeply of the cold water. For now, much to relief, no danger presented itself. Following suit, Erzotol dropped to his knees beside Airiat, and began scooping water from the steam, sipping the refreshing water from his palm while keeping his eyes on the brush ahead. If any animal approached, one of them was bound to spot it well enough in advance to prepare.

Tessa's soft voice broke the peaceful silence of the moment, a soft rustling stirring behind her words, almost going unnoticed underneath the sound of her voice. For Erzotol it did pass by unnoticed, his eyes and ears now focused on the woman who had brought him this far out. "Anything wrong?" he asked, his blue eyes looking into hers searchingly, wondering if it was pain or something else that stopped her so. He stood up slowly and took a step towards her when he heard Airiat snort, and a branch snap further in the brush. His muscles went rigged reflexively, and a shiver of fear ran up his spine. He needed to be quick but methodical if he was going to ready a weapon in time for the threat. Twisting slowly to the side to face where the noise had came from, his hand wandered to the bow strapped to his back, pulling it free and bringing it up before him. His fingers worked quickly to restring the bow while his eyes searched the woods before them, locking on a streak of grey darting still yet several feet way, among the trees beyond the stream. The string now secure, he drew an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back, and quickly notched it his eyes still following the flashes of fur he managed to glance from time to time. "Be ready" he called out, hopefully alerting her to the danger if she hadn't noticed it already. His muscles strained as they pulled back the raw hide string till the fletching of the arrow was in line with his ear. The wolf continued to dodge deftly between the trees making it hard for him to have a set target on it, pushing him to constantly adjust his aim. Pain spread down his wrist as the taut string strained the muscles in his hand, and dug into the flesh of his fingers. Finally thinking he had a good shot he released, allowing the arrow to zing forwards towards the beast. His jaw dropped as it buried itself in the ground many feet behind the charging wolf, and he watched as the beast bounded the remaining distance between them, smacking hard into his chest, knocking him over on his back.

Interposing his forearm against the creatures neck, he laid flat on the ground just barely putting himself out of reach of the hungry snapping jaws of the wolf. Thick rope like saliva rained down on his cuirass not that he really noticed with his desperate fight just beginning. There wasn't enough room to draw his sword he knew instinctively, so lacking a better option, he balled his hand into a fist and swiped as hard as he could manage, his right fist slamming into it's furry snout, and knocking it back enough to give him some breathing room. His knuckles stung, that much he could feel already but his mind was set on survival, and quickly he scrambled backwards and drew his sword, his eyes frantically searching for Tessa. He could only hope she was ok though as he didn't catch her at first glance, and focused and focused back on the wolf heading towards him and after scrabbling to his knees, lunged.

[Tessa Poe]

Thankfully it seemed the water had stopped him from paying too much attention to her, sometimes it was the small mercies that were the best. She another deep, shuddering breath, her unknowingly tensed muscles relaxing as she just watched him drink from the stream, carefully taking a step to the side and off the path as his little fox wandered past her towards the water and suppressing a shiver as she did so. The little beast was still keeping its distance from her at least. She leant back against one of the trees, letting the sounds and scents of the forest wash over her again, her head starting to clear, and found herself wondering if maybe their little walk had tired him out more than she'd thought, given how he was scooping great handfuls of the stream up and all. If he was like the rest of the Drykas, spending most of his time on horseback, he might not be used to moving under his own power, well possibly. However, it was a warm enough morning and that leather armour of his must’ve been getting uncomfortable beneath the humid canopy of the trees. Or he was just thirsty, she was probably thinking about all this a little too much, wasn’t she? The sight of him did remind her that she'd have to tell him about the little vials she carried though. She was supposed to be telling him things that’d help him survive out here and they were one of the real necessities. Even if the stream looked like it was safe enough she'd had an... unpleasant experience once, and only once before. It was better to add it to whatever water you found in the forest and be safe than be stuck for a few days with your breeches round your ankles in the bushes wishing you were dead. It wasn’t the most pleasant way to learn a lesson, but it was certainly an effective one. Hopefully he’d take her advice and be spared a similar experience. She did have a spare vial on her, and while they weren’t cheap he had given her breakfast, a vial would be more than fair payment for that. Her eyes drifted up at last, a weak smile breaking across her lips at his question, and then there was the sound of the snapping twig. They weren't alone here. She watched as he drew his bow from his back, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword as she took a step back and drew it just a little, producing that soft sound of metal against metal, as she checked to make sure it was running clear. Whatever else had joined them at the stream wouldn’t find her unprepared for it. She stared forwards into the trees, trying to see whatever it was that had given itself away and was about to take a step forwards when she caught sight of the grey form darting through the trees. She frowned as she leant forwards slightly, not sure what it was at first, ‘til the realisation hit like a bucket of ice poured down her back and she froze. She watched as its nimble paws carried it through the undergrowth towards them, her grip tight on her sword as it got closer, and closer. Why didn’t he shoot!? He had a bow didn’t he? Surely he was a good enough shot to take it before it got to them, he’d kill the thing and it’d be alright, it’d all be alright. It would. Please let it be alright. The bow string finally snapped sending the arrow flying forwards and… it missed. He missed. How could he miss? Tessa still couldn’t move, not even when the wolf hit him squarely in the chest and drove him to the floor on his back. She couldn’t, she… she had to get away, she had to get out of here! With that she turned on her heel and started to run, heading off and away up the trail from where they’d come. She didn’t scream, there wasn't time and she didn’t want to draw its attention as she ran with her eyes wide and staring wildly around her, trying to see if there were any more of them out there waiting for her. It didn’t make any sense, why was a lone wolf attacking them? They usually kept their distance from people didn’t they? Unless they were starving of course and she’d not had the time to examine the thing and check to see if it was thinner than it should be. Why did that matter!? She just had to get out of here! Unfortunately her sudden flight had attracted the wolf’s attention and left it with a choice between the scent of steel in Erzotol’s hand or Tessa’s running back and it made the obvious choice. The wolf feinted forwards with a snarl before trying to skip lightly around Erzotol and after Tessa as she fled. It was probably a good thing she couldn't see that... else she would've been screaming to the high heavens.

[Erzotol Silverden]

He lunged and watched his sword swish harmlessly by as the wolf moved back and around him, darting after the retreating Tessa.

"Petch!" Erzotol bellowed, and scrambled up to his feet as quickly as he could manage. The wolf was fast, and was much closer to Tessa than he was to it by the time he finally got running after it, and the sight of its slavering fangs looking to bite into the woman caused him to grimace. There was no way he would be able to stop the mangy looking grey wolf before it struck at Tessa, perhaps doing serious harm. It was simply to fast, and too crazed for him to distract outright. I'm sorry Tessa..

Out from the side Laeon darted forward towards the wolf, outpacing Erzotol to nip at the wolf's flanks. A surge of hope flooded his limbs, and to his pleasure, the wolf, agitated as it was turned from its prey to the annoyance striking it. With sharp, snapping jaws it snapped after Laeon only to come back with a tuft of fur as the fox skittered away just in time. It put a paw forward to dart after the fox, but now the drykas was close enough to see the skin frame it's ribs, and with no reservations he kicked at the wolf, missing utterly but at least drawing it's fragile attention. He held his sword away from himself, and high in the air, keeping the wolves eyes on his left hand as he backed away slowly. The sinewy muscles in the creatures back rolled beneath the frame of skin as it stalked forward, growling and snarling. Again coming to help came Laeon, bitting into the wolf's leg, and as it turned it's neck Erzotol stepped ahead to stab forward. The cool steel of the blade plunged into the beasts collar and stopped its attack cold only to start thrashing violently as the drykas struggled to keep it pinned with the tip of his blade. It hadn't been a instantly lethal blow, so adding another hand he gripped the hilt tighter and leaned into it before twisting it and opening up the wound enough to make the fighting turn into little more than random spasming as the life left the wolf's body. After a few moments the wolf finally stilled, and slowly Erzotol withdrew his blade from it's corpse, whipping off the smear of blood on the grass before replacing the blade in it's sheath.

"Tessa?" he called as he stooped to the ground, and cradled Laeon's head, scratching him behind his ears.

[Tessa Poe]

Tessa was in full and thoughtless flight back down the trail that they’d followed to the stream, the buckler clattering wildly against her scabbard at her hip masking the jingle of her coat’s chainmail lining. She was running on pure instinct and found her vision sharpening for it as a fresh dose of adrenaline surged through her, her head flicking from side to side, straining to see if there were more of them out there. She had to get away, she had to, there was no telling how many of them there were, just waiting for her to slow down. The only sounds she could hear were the pounding of her boots against the packed soil of the ground her pulse thundering in her ears, finding an odd sense of gratitude for that as it blocked out the sounds that the beast was surely making behind her as it drew closer, and closer still. She knew she couldn’t outrun it, not with the weight of her pack and the branches that hung across the trail whipping over her face, chest and arms as they were. At least she could do something about one of those things though and she flailed her arms and shrugged her shoulders madly to do just that, feeling the straps of her pack slip and fall away, taking the weight that was only slowing her down with them. This did unfortunately mean that she was entirely off balance as she tried to match a little jink in the trail, her back foot sliding out from under her as she pushed off with it and sending her into something of a skid into one of the trees. What was it with her and trees today? She felt a little hysterical giggle escape her lips at the thought as she clutched at the tree for a moment, her cheek resting against its rough bark and feeling very grateful for its reassuring bulk’s help in keeping her upright before inspiration struck. Wolves didn’t have hands. That meant that wolves couldn’t climb trees. She on the other hand most certainly could climb trees and once she was up in its branches there’s no way the bloody thing with and its teeth could reach her. She took a deep breath and crouched before throwing herself upwards in a leap, hands catching at one of the branches as her feet kicked and scrabbled desperately for grip against the trunk, finally finding it as she hauled herself up with a very unladylike grunt of effort. She lay there, looking down at the ground below and tried to work out if she was high enough to escape the beasts… how high could they jump anyway? For safety’s sake she carefully raised herself onto her knees and reached up to grab at the next branch, taking it slightly slower as she climbed to first that one, and then the one above it. Now, now she was safe at last. She settled herself back against the tree trunk, knees drawn up to her chest as she tried to slow her breathing, rocking back and forth slightly while her heart keeping up its hammering pace. Apparently it wasn’t listening to rest of her when it said she was out of danger. As she started to come down from the adrenaline rush little shivers started to run through her and with them came an unpleasant realisation… she’d… abandoned Erzotol down there with who knew how many of them. Just turned and ran and left him to his fate… Gods how could she have done that to him? She peered down through the leaves, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening, hoping that he wasn’t… no, better to say hoping that he was alright. She caught sight of a flash of white against grey, that had to be… was that his pet? Was it going for the beast? The fact that it was followed by the sound of a yelp and snarl seemed to suggest that, but after it came the sound of a howl of pain that was suddenly cut off. At first she feared the worst, ‘til a slightly more rational part of her pointed out that definitely wasn’t the sound of a person. Did that mean… had he done it? Had he killed the beast? She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t want to move just yet, not ‘til she was sure. She couldn’t go down there, not if they were waiting. For all she knew there was a pack of them crouched and stalking through the undergrowth just waiting for her to come within reach of their jaws again. What in the hells was she supposed to do!? And then, as if by magic, she got an answer to her silent question. She heard him softly call her name, the joy in hearing his voice warring with the knowledge of what she'd done to him. She didn’t reply straight away… how could she? She’d still left him there, alone against, well who knew how many of them there could have been? What was she supposed to say? ‘I’m sorry I’m a useless petching coward’? But she had to say something, he might start worrying about her if she left it too long and she didn’t want to add that to everything else that’d happened today. “I’m… I’m up here… are you… alright? Is it... is it over?” was all she finally managed to force past her lips, her own voice sounding fumbled and too loud to her amidst the branches as she was. She clutched at her knees a little tighter, not wanting to move; she wasn’t quite ready to face him, not just yet. Just half a chime or so, that’s all she needed, just half a chime to put herself back together.

[Erzotol Silverden]

His heart still hammered in his chest, and as the adrenaline tapered off so to came other thoughts. Was Tessa hurt? It was all he could think about, the only reason he had been reckless enough to chase after a wolf, and not worry about his own safety from the possibility of others nearby. What if the wolf had managed to get a snap at her, leaving puncture wounds in her leg, or that she hurt herself on the climb up. He could never forgive himself for not seeing the wolf sooner, or being competent enough to take down the wolf with his bow. If only he had seen it sooner, if only his arrow had hit it well before it even got near Tessa, maybe then he wouldn't be the disappointment he now was to her.

Erzotol sighed, scratching behind Laeon's ears thoughtfully as he contemplated what he was going to do to make it up with her. His voice came out as a relief to his ears, and it drew a nervous smile to his face. Her voice, had it sounded pained? Was she hurt so bad she could barely speak? Was she simply afraid? It pained him not knowing, and with a start he rose to his feet, walking slowly to the base of the tree he had heard the voice come from, his crystal blue eyes scanning up through the tangle of limbs to try and catch a glimpse of Tessa. Placing a hand firmly onto the coarse wood of the tree, he leaned against it as he peered up, seeing the bottom of her legs through the thick clumps of leaves. "I am fine, are you hurt?" Erzotol moved to put a hand up on the branch before him, and awkwardly scrapped his foot against the broad trunk of the tree but still slid down to the soft ground, his hands dislodging chips of bark to fall onto his head.

Running a callused hand through his long hair to push the particles from his hair, he turned around and leaned his back against the broad trunk of the tree while he waited for Tessa to climb down.