Closed Secret Dares (Aerion)

[Amara Waveracer]

There was a peaceful silence between them as they kept walking, which Amara did not mind nor enjoy. She was used to silence mostly because she had nobody around her, and when she did, which was rare, she was quiet. The sun was starting to set and it would soon be dark. She remembered asking if they could sail into the sunset when she was younger and out at sea.

Suddenly, the silence broke as he started to talk. She jumped slightly shocked and stopped, turning to face him. She nodded as he mentioned making a camp as she was tired from walking. Not wanting to lose anymore energy, she sat down right where she was standing, the small bell on her anklet jingling as she crossed her legs. She looked up and saw stars were starting to appear. She loved looking at the stars and making shapes out of them. She smiled and pointed at the sky, turning to Aerion. "Look. Beautiful aren't they?"

[Aerion]

Aerion, who had gotten busy making a campfire as soon as she plopped herself onto the ground, looked up at her, seeing where she was pointing, he looked up at the sky. He saw their beauty, having seen them all his life growing up. "Yes, they really are." He said quietly as he went back to putting together some sticks and kindling and striking his flint and tinder together several times, finally getting a spark and lighting it.

A few minutes later the fire was at a good enough size to keep them warm. Aerion continued on setting up camp for the night, he set up the tent in the most defended spot, a cluster of trees that formed a nice U shape, he wondered if it was a natural phenomena, or if someone had made it that way. Finally deciding he should not let his mind wander while setting up the camp, he passed his blanket to Amara, saying, "Go ahead and sleep in the tent, Teren and I shall keep watch during the night." He took the bed roll and rolled it out between the trees at the ends of the U, next to the fire, Teren took his position between Aerion and the tent.

Aerion took out some grass he had brought with him from the Cyphrus region and laid it before Teren so he could eat, then he took a small piece of meat he had cooked the night before out of his pack and slowly ate away at it, watching the shadows around their camp. He was not feeling too thirsty, a noticeable impact of the water he had drank earlier that day, it seemed to keep his thirst quenched for longer than normal water. He saw Amara take off her pack and enter the tent out of the corner of his eye, feeling a bit relieved that she was now safe inside the tent, he relied on Teren's hearing, and his own sight as they sat vigilant against the pressing darkness around them.

[Amara Waveracer]

As he suggested for her to go sleep in the tent, Amara was reluctant at first but didn't argue. She of course didn't want to go, but also did not want to start a fight with him. She was tired from all the walking as well. After her thoughts stopped fighting, she went to the tent. She stole a glance at the man she had come to know before laying down.

Amara had wanted to stay where she could see and help him if any danger came. She had started to think of him as the big brother she always wanted but never had. She also found the bond between him and his horse interesting, it was almost like a Svefra and their Tavan, but at the same time different. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she would protect him if it meant her life.

As she lay there, she continuously looked at nothing in particular, waiting for a noise or any sign of danger. She knew he was trying to protect her as well, but she didn't want him to get hurt or much worse killed. The tiredness soon overcome her and she closed her eyes, trying to fight the urge to sleep. After telling herself that she would wake up if there was any danger, he could take care of himself, and that the horse would help him, she started to doze off. After a few minutes, she finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

[Aerion]

Aerion woke with a start, not realizing he had fallen asleep, he felt Teren's alarm over their bond, he looked up at the horse, saw his ears up and he was stamping his hooves in the grass. Aerion looked over where the disturbed horse was staring and he saw a couple of wolves, about a third the size of Teren. He stood up and drew his sword, tapping into the anger he constantly kept at bay, he growled at the beasts, who growled back menacingly. Teren snorted in fear and anger behind Aerion, not wanting to leave his companions behind, but being afraid of the biting jaws that were snapping as they walked back and forth at the edge of the campfires light.

After several minutes of the standoff, neither group going in for the attack, the wolves charged in howling, despite the fire. Aerion roared, letting loose his rage as he swung his longsword at the closest wolf, who was leaping at him. He caught the wolf beneath the jaw, beheading it. The other wolf suddenly stopped and slowly backed away, howling once more.

More howls rang out in the dark...

[Amara Waveracer]

As the wolves started to attack, and throughout it, Amara didn't wake up. After it had ended and the last houl rang out, she finally started to open her eyes. She slowly pushed herself up, still quite sleepy, and soon realized she had fallen asleep. Her eyes opened automatically and she stood up, running outside the tent.

The bell on her anklet jingled as she ran because she was no longer being graceful as of the situation. She then stepped in something warm and wet. She looked down and saw the corpse of a large wolf, and that she was standing in blood. While covering her mouth to suppress a scream, she spotted Aerion and walked over to him. Kneeling beside him, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him, tears brimming her eyes. "Aerion!" He then started opening his eyes just as Amara started crying.

"You're alright," she said, partly to comfort herself while pulling him up into a sitting position and hugging him tightly. She wiped her tears away and saw he had a bleeding cut on his wrist. She laid him back down as carefully as she could and tore off a small section of the bottom of her dress. Grabbing his arm, she wiped away the remaining blood with her thumb and tied the section of cloth tightly around the his wrist to stop the bleeding. Her tears fell from her cheeks and onto his chest as she worked on tying the knot with shaking hands. After she had finally tied it, she placed his arm down and watched for any more danger as he rested. She would never forgive herself for putting him in that situation while she slept.

[Aerion]

Aerion opened his eyes once more, realizing that his anger had once again made him lose strength after giving him a sudden burst of it. Suddenly he realized Amara was kneeling above him. "NO! Amara, get back in the tent, there are more out there! Get back in the tent, and no matter what you hear, don't come out unless Teren or I get you." He pushed her back toward the tent and Teren backed him up, nudging her with his nose, pushing her back toward the entrance to the tent, just as three more wolves ran into view.

Aerion heard their padded footfalls, and making sure Amara was once again inside the tent, despite her objections, he removed his bloodstained cloak and the shirt beneath it. Revealing his blood red tattoo, roaring a battle cry at the wolves, using his anger to fuel him once again, he charged forward, counting on Teren to protect Amara. While he was charging, he impressed upon Teren to take Amara and run if things went badly, and to not stop until they had reached Syliras. Teren agreed, albeit a bit unwillingly.

As Aerion charged forward, the wolves froze as if they were shocked. He swung his sword in a large arc in front of him, the wolves jumping backward, easily dodging his swing. In response, one of the wolves jumped at him, scratching him across the chest as he swung the sword down, cutting off the leg that scratched him.

The wolf yelped in pain and tried to limp away, Aerion, fueled by adrenaline and rage, was too quick for the injured beast, he brought his sword down, point first, into the neck of the wolf. Taking advantage of this distraction, another wolf decided to join the fray, biting Aerion on his right calf. Aerion screamed in pain, taking the pommel of his sword and smacking the wolf with a dull thump on the skull. The wolf collapsed and moved no more, it's jaw releasing Aerion's lower leg.

Aerion limped around the fire, staring at the wolf as they both faced each other across it, Teren stamping his feet to keep the wolf away from the tent. The wolf stared at Aerion with seeming interest, looking over at Teren near the tent who was constantly blocking Amara's attempts to get out of the tent, then back toward the biped with the metal who was threatening it. This wolf seemed smarter than it's packmates, or at least it had learned from their mistakes. It seemed to be the survivor of the first two, as well as the last group. As Aerion made his way back in front of the tent with their pacing, the wolf backed away once again, this time with it's head bowed to Aerion, not howling as it backed out of the light of the fire, turning, and running away.

Aerion collapsed onto his hands and knees, and Teren was at his side, leaning down to give his friend support back to the bed roll. Aerion was covered in blood, both his own, and the beasts, the blood was lighter red than his tattoo, so they both shone differently on his skin in the fire light. He stared into the fire as he finally felt the pain from his wounds. "Not as bad as I thought." He whispered to himself, then called out to Amara, "It's alright, the last one fled and there are no more howls. We are safe." Were all he got out as he lost consciousness.

[Amara Waveracer]

At first, Amara wasn't going to agree to stay in the tent and fought to stay there with him, but when he pushed her towards it, she knew he just wanted her safe and she went in willingly. As she paced back and forth in an attempt to calm herself, she realized she had made the wrong choice and she should have put up more of a fight to stay outside. Even if they were both killed, she would at least die knowing she had tried to help him. She knew she had to get out, but every attempt she made Teren was blocking it, no matter what she did. Sometimes she would get a glimpse of Aerion and she tried to see if he was okay, but then the horse blocked her again. When she finally accepted that she wasn't going to get out, she sat down and tried to block out the frightening noises coming from outside the tent.

She started to calm down slightly, then she heard him scream. She instantly started crying and buried her face in her hands, trying to tell herself that he was okay. She knew it probably wasn't true, but tried all the same. Once she couldn't sit and wait for him any longer, she stood and started to try and get outside again. Teren once again continued to block her path until Aerion said it was okay for Amara to leave the tent.

She instantly ran over to him, and the first thing she saw was the cut on his chest. She instantly tore another section of her dress off and wrapped it around him, tying it tightly and covering most of the cut but not all of it. She then moved part of the cloth away and put her head to his chest to check his heartbeat. As soon as she heard the first few beats, she started to cry more but this time in happiness.

Amara then looked for any more cuts and found a large one on his calf with a pool of blood on the ground around it. She gasped and covered her mouth with her slightly bloodied hands. Deciding her dress was torn enough, she pulled her cloak off and started to tear two large sections off of it. She wipes the blood away and cleaned up the large puddle on the ground with one then tied the other around the wolf bite.

After she was done, she looked around at all the dead wolves and blood. She then wiped her tears away and laid beside him, staring up at the stars and whispering reassuring things to comfort both of them if he could hear her. "It's alright, I'm alright, you're alright, and Teren's alright. Everything's alright," she whispered, occasionally looking up to see if he had woke up then looked back up at the stars.

[Aerion]

Aerion woke up hours later, with the first signs of dawn peeking through the trees. The first thing he felt was Teren's relief and worry, so he tried to calm the horse down, but found that just over their bond wouldn't work. He opened his eyes, the memories of that night and his senses coming back to him almost instantly. He looked around alarmed, but found it hard to get up or turn his body. He felt the scratch on his chest, as well as the bite on his leg, both throbbing with painful heat as he noticed that Amara was there.

Amara seemed to have come out of the tent, and she was now asleep with her head on his chest. He gently shook her body with the hand she wasn't kneeling on. His voice coming out a little hoarse as he said, "You mind getting off my arm?" Teren was overjoyed that he was alive and could still speak, snuffling and snorting.

Teren relayed to the best of his abilities what had happened after he blacked out. The wolves did not return, and Amara had saved his life by binding his wounds. Guess that was another one he owed her.

[Amara Waveracer]

Amara started to wake up and found she had to squint because of the sudden light. She then started to hear his voice, but didn't listen to anything he said. She was too happy that he was okay. Opening her eyes wide, moving her head off his chest slowly, and sitting up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "You're okay!" She let go of him and a smile spread across her face.

She made sure all the makeshift bandages were still tightly wrapped, then tried to help him sit up. Her first attempt did not go as planned, and he fell back down. However, she eventually got him to sit without the pain being too immense. If they got to the lake now, they could clean his wounds, but it would be pretty hard on his bitten leg.

She pushed herself up into a standing position and looked down at him. "Can you stand? You can try and lean on me." Hoping she could help keep him up, she crouched down slightly and offered a hand to him.

[Aerion]

He smiled at the relief in her voice, and groaned from he pain in his body as she hugged him, he spoke, his voice was still hoarse sounding, "It'll take more than a few wolves to kill me." His smile faltered as he felt pain course through his leg, then he gave another, thinner, smile. "Thank you for saving my life, it seems I owe you yet another drink.."

He heard her ask if he could stand as if she was far away, the pain coursing through his body doubled as she tried to get him into the sitting position. "I am not sure whether I can move at the moment, but I will not leave anything behind except the ashes of the fire, and the bodies of those beasts." He explained to her how to pack up the tent, the bedroll, and the blanket. Aerion told Amara that she needed to make sure they didn't leave anything behind as they left, besides what he mentioned earlier.

With everything finally packed up, he was lying against the tree as she offered him a hand to get up once again. "I am not sure if I'll be able to get up, but as soon as I do, I must get over to Teren, he will help me up from there." Teren was kneeling on the ground so that Amara could help Aerion onto his back. Aerion had to try several times before he was able to stand upright, almost losing consciousness again while doing so.

After a few minutes, he had made it over to Teren and was sitting astride him as the horse stood up. Aerion held tight to the horse's neck as he threatened to pass out again, his face white from the loss of blood, but his leg did not seem to be bleeding as much as it was. Whether this was from lack of blood in his body, or his natural clotting, he could not decide. He did decide however that it didn't matter too much if he gave up, so he made up his mind that his blood was clotting correctly.

Facing Amara, he said, "We follow your lead as always." His face was determined, despite seeming white as a ghost. He then directed his attention to Teren, "Try not to go over any uneven terrain would you." Giving a genuine smile as the horse snorted indignantly, but agreed.