Our Journey (Lady Alainn)

[Mz. Hyde]

Erlas didn't even know why he had agreed to such a thing, after all he was a drow elf. And they were known to be selfish and evil. But neither the less, he had agreed to go on this pittiful quest. He had been stalking two men who were wanted by the law, he was an assassin as well as a bounty hunter. Just as he was going to strike and kill both men, a great wizard appeared and scared them away. Erlas was furrious and wanted- no demanded to know why the wizard did such a thing. When he approached the wizard, he bowed and said his name was Malivore. And that he needed people to go on a quest for him, to save a large city from the wrath of a very powerful dragon. Erlas guessed that the reason he agreed was becase Malivore bribed him with gold. He stood on top of a small hill and looks down at a small village. It was called The Village of Arcneed. His snow white mane blew slightly in the gentle breeze. The moon light casted an eery glow upon his dark skin. He kept his cloak's hood up and mask on, he didn't want anyone to recognize him in this small village. Drow elves were hated by every one pretty much and didn't want to be ran out of the village by an angry mob. He was supposed to meet at a small tavern named The Ram's Head Tavern. He had various weapons hidden under his cloak and would use them without warning, if need be.

He walks down the hill gracfully and enters the village. It wasn't hard to find the tavern since it was such a small village. The tavern sign had a Ram Head on it as will as on the door. He opens it and goes in. Everyone who was inside, had stopped what they were doing and began to stare at him. It was rare to get vistiors in Arcneed. Erlas pretened that he didn't notice and go and sat down in the back of the tavern. The vilalgers were still eyeing him and began to whisper among themselves. But Erlas paid no attention to them. He was just hoping that Malivore would show up. Outside Arcneed, Brannor stood. He too had been summoned by the wizard Malivore. He was in the middle of hunting down a deer, when Malivore appeared out of no where. Of course he was angry that the wizard had scared off his prey, but the elf soon changed his tune when the wizard explained why he had come. Of course he was going to agree, it was the righ thing to do. Brannor sighs as he pulls up his hood of his cloak and goes down the hill. His bow and quiver full of arrows slung over his back.

He too enters The Ram's Head Tavern, since that is where Malivore told him to meet. He had mentioned that three others would be arriving as well. He hoped that he was the first one to arrive. He enters the tavern and everyone does the same as they did for Erlas. Brannor looked over at the table where Erlas was sitting and something told him that the wizard had sent him too. Once he had sat down on the other side of the table, the villagers stopped staring. Erlas looks at Brannor and glares at him. It just had to be an elf. He thinks. The wood elf looks at Erlas. "Did a wizard by the name of Malivore send you here?" He asks. Erlas then nods. "Yeah, why?" He asks in a stern demanding voice. "Because he sent me here too and said that three others would be coming too. So that means there should be two more and then the wizard." Brannor says. Erlas nods, but says nothing and rolls his eyes. He wasn't exactly the people type. What else could the two elves do? They had no choice but to wait.

 

[Lady Alainn]

It had been another ordinary day for Erequariel in her alchemist's shoppe and she was just cleaning up when the little bell tinkled downstairs. Quickly tying her herb-stained apron back around her waist, she hurried down the creaky wooden steps to the front door.

"Pardon me, but the shoppe is closed now. If it's an emergency-" she stopped short when she saw who it was. "Malivore!" she exclaimed, her large, green eyes growing even wider in surprise. Her slender hand fluttered to her petite bosom. "Are you ill? Hurt? Is someone dying?" When all of these were negated, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Then what brings you here?"

The great wizard quickly related his errand and extended the invitation to join the quest. It took some persuading, for Erie was loathe to part from her little shoppe and couldn't bear to see it abandoned for any length of time. Especially since the people in the surrounding villages depended on her knowledge and skill to fix any ailments they possessed-- little or great. However, her spotted mare was soon fitted with the provisions to see her to Arcneed and she was off. It took a full two days to ride down the mountain and reach the village. Night had settled on the land by the time she halted in front of the Ram's Head Tavern and tied her mare to the hitching post outside. Wrapping her cloak of leaves around her shoulders, she gripped her ornately carved staff in one hand and clutched her cloak close to her body with the other. A few timid steps brought her into the noisy tavern and also into everyone's eyesight. Her pale cheeks grew rosy under the scrutiny and she ducked her head to avoid making eye contact with anyone. It was very rare for her to ever be out of her shoppe anymore, and so the sight of the brown-haired, pointy-eared hermit herbalist in the tavern was a sight worth staring at.

"I'm here to meet a party," she told the barkeep in hushed tones. He pointed in the direction of the two strangers. "Then those fellers must be who you want, Miss Erie. They've only just come in tonight." Erie followed his gesture with her eyes and quietly thanked him before moving in their direction. She stopped short of the table and nodded her head in greeting. "You are here to meet with Malivore?" Her voice, though soft, carried a weight with it like a gentle breeze that can still ruffle garments and shake the leaves off trees.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Brannor stared up at her and then nods. "Why yes we are. I'm Brannor." He says to her and then gets up and grabs a chair and offers it to her. He had his cloak hood down, so all his features could be seen. The wood elf could tell that either she was full elf or half elf because of her pointed ears. Then he studies her for a moment and realizes he knew who she was, he had stopped in her shoppe once to get some healing plants for his grandmother. "You're name is Erequariel, right?" He asks. Erlas had noticed that some one had came over and asked if they were with a wizard. He just stat there, he didn't say anything. He felt he didn't have to say anything. Besides being a Drow Elf, he was also very stubborn. He would probably be the most difficult one out of the group. His cloak's hood had fallen, to reveal his snow white mane. And some more of his features, even though he had a mask on. He didn't want anyone to see what his face looked like. He noticed that Brannor and the female elf were staring at him. He had his arms crossed and then sighs. "The name's Erlas." He says to them in a serious tone.

Three people at a table near them, were whispering. Erlas could hear what they were saying, since Drow elves are known to have very keen hearing. They were talking about betting who had enough guts to get up and face him. It was bound to happen. Either people ignored him, tried fighting with him and killing him, ran away in fear or ran him out of town. Before Erequariel had came in, the two elves had ordered pints of ale. Erlas was slowly taking a drink from his cup, when a very big muscle bound man with red hair, mustache and bushy beard came over. "Can I help you sir?" Brannor asked, but the man ignored him. The man looks directly at Erlas. "You...." Is all he says and points at him. The man was going for a dagger, Erlas stood up and flicked his wrist, two blades came out of one of his bracers. The blade was to the big man's throat. This all happened faster than the eye could see. "I suggest you move your hand away from that dagger, not unless you want to die." Erlas says.

The man then removes his hand from the dagger. "And don't even think about going for that sword of yours either." Erlas says, he had the other two blades on the other hand pointed at the man's back. The man stood there for a moment, his skined paled and he backed away slowly and ran out of the tavern. Brannor smirks as Erlas sits down, snapping the blades back into place and going back to his ale. "I think he might have pissed himself." Brannor says. Erlas smirks, "He deserved it." is all he says. Malivore was right outside the tavern, he nearly got ran over by the man who Erlas scared. He turns around and looks at a fox, it had been following him for some time now. "Young Nym, I know that is you." He says in a grandfatherly tone. "Are you coming in to the tavern?" He says. Of course the fox didn't answer. He simply sighs. He could tell that this was going to be very difficult. "Alright, I guess this will be the hard way then." He says and then grabs the fox by the tail. It began to thrash and fight as he dragged it into the tavern.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Erequariel gracefully situated herself on the offered seat and nodded her head to Brannor's question. "Aye, I am Erequariel. Your face is familiar, but I don't recollect you specifically. I am sorry." Placing her staff across her knees, she folded her hands and set them on the table in front of her. "It is a pleasure to meet you both." When a waiter passed by, she ordered a small glass of wine while the unnecessary drama unfolded around her. Knowing the males could take care of themselves, she ignored the threats, blades, and general unpleasantness and gratefully accepted the wine when it arrived. She had just swallowed the last drop when she spotted Malivore making his way towards them... with a fox of all things!

Nym did not appreciate being caught by the tail. It was the most humiliating way for a fox to be caught, but she supposed she deserved it for the little charade she had trying playing on the wizard. Of course, she had declined to go on this ridiculous quest when appealed to, but soon her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had followed Malivore to the tavern. She squirmed, kicked, and flew for cover under his arm, in his sleeves, under his chin, anywhere she could hide her head, upon entering the building. She peered from her perch with intelligent eyes and waited for the meeting to begin. Would Malivore insist she transform? It wasn't that she couldn't understand Common Tongue as a fox, but it was very easy for miscommunications because she heard by impressions rather than actual word. He probably would insist. Nym studied the three weird people with pointy ears and strangely coloured hair and sized them up. The man with pointy ears and normal hair. She would borrow his cloak. She waited for Malivore to set her down.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Malivore didn't really appreciate that Nym had flew into the sleeves of his cloak and was squirming around, trying to hide. He grunts and looks down to see the her finally poking out of his cloak, just as he entered the tavern. "Do you mind getting out of my cloak please, young Nym." He says as he walks over to the table where the three were. He pulls up a chair and sits down at the table. Erlas looks at Malivore. "Finally you made it, better late than never." He mutters. Brannor rolls his eyes, "Greetings Malivore. I hope your trip here went well." He says. Malivore nods, "Indeed it did, except for the fact that the fifth memeber of our little party is hiding in my cloak. She is very timid and won't transform back into her human form." He says. Brannor and Erlas finally noticed that a fox was peeking out of the wizard's cloak. "Is she a shape-shifter?" Brannor asks. Malivore nods, "Sort of, she is a werefox." He says. Were-creatures were known through out the land, but were also rare to be seen, since they were so elusive.

"Her name is Nym." Malivore says as he points down at the fox. He looks down at her, "If it makes you feel more comfortable for the moment, you can stay like that. But once we begin our journey, I want you in human form." He says, he knew that she could understand him. Erlas looks at the wizard, "So give us the details." He says bluntly. Malivore looked at his party. "The city's name is Gromenca. It's in the neighboring land called Megoria." He says. The land they were in was called Armentia. "The dragon's name is Sventar, it's an achient beast. And no one knows why it took over the city, it wasn't very wealthy, even though it does have mining caves." Malivore continued. "And we're going to try and get Gromenca back from the dragon." He adds. "And when do we leave?" Erlas asks. "Well, we should all get a good night's rest. We'll leave in the morning." Malivore says.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Erie listened patiently to the vague outline of their quest, for Malivore had told her most of these details and then some to persuade her to even come. Her eyes flitted often to the two little beams peering out from the wizard's cloak, curious about the werefox.

Nym nosed out further from her hiding place until her whole head was visible. Mumble-jumble, noise, they were talking about something. She perked her ears up, trying to catch the gist of what they were saying, but the words were so strange they weren't leaving impressions on her. The lady was definitely staring and it was irking her. How would she like it if people stared at her all the time with those absurd ears? Nym tried glaring in return. Whatever their mission was, they would leave in the morning. Good. And Malivore wanted her in human form for the journey. Bad. Slinking out from Malivore's cloak, Nym dropped daintily down to the floor and trotted over to the male named Brannor. She sneezed and covered her nose with her paws, hoping to draw some of the attention to herself again.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Malivore watched as Nym finally left his cloak. He watched as she dropped to the floor, he was hoping she wouldn't run away, for he would go after her. But what relieved when she stopped and sat in front of Brannor. Brannor heard Nym sneeze and looked down. He wondered why she was in front of him. he then bends down and picks her up and puts her on the table. He was looking at her, "What is it? What do you want from me?" He asks in a friendly tone. "I've noticed while Malivore was talking to us, you were staring at my cloak. Is that what you want?" He asks still in the friendly tone. But being a Wood Elf, he could communicate with animals quite well and they could understand him. Erlas was sitting there drinking another pint of ale and he rolls his eyes at Brannor, while he was talking to Nym. "Why are you talking to her? She can't understand you, she's an animal. They don't understand anything except for other animals." He says bluntly. He didn't care if Nym or the others liked him. He was a Drow Elf after all, so he could careless. In the mean while, Malivore had went to the bar keep and rented five rooms. He then makes his way back over to the table, just as the conversation was ending. He places four keys on the table. "I have rented us rooms for the night. I myself am going to turn in. So I shall see you all in the morning." He says and leaves, making his way to the stairs that lead upstairs to the rooms.

Brannor looks at Erlas, "I live in the largest forest of Armentia. I am a wood elf, so I understand animals and communicate with them quite quite well." He says to him. "But of course being a Drow Elf, you wouldn't understand that will you." He says. Erlas rolls his eyes, he knew that Brannor wasn't trying to start a fight, he was just making a point. "Just because our races are cousins doesn't mean I have to act all friendly." He says and with that, he grabs up one of the keys and makes his way toward the stairs. Brannor then looks at Erie and also Nym, "Don't get offened by Erlas or anything he says, He's a Drow Elf and they tend to be harsh around others." He says to them.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Why was it that big creatures always thought they could handle animals like pets instead of ferocious beasts or at least with the same respect they would show another person? Nym squirmed and wriggled in protest until Brannor set her down on the table. She pointed her nose in the air, trying to seem as offended as possible, but softened when she found that the...ah, he was a wood elf, she'd always wanted to meet one of those... gave her very pleasant impressions in her mind. The other male with pointy ears did not. As he bashed her for being unintelligent, she barred her teeth at him and hissed and snarled until he left the room. Once he was gone, she turned back to Brannor. Of course she wanted his cloak. Nym placed a paw on the fabric and nodded her head.

Erequariel watched with dismay as the surly drow elf made yet another spectacle of himself. If only he could see how childish his tough act made him look, he might stop. She bid Malivore and Erlas a quiet good night as each left and ordered another glass of wine. "You are from Armentia?" she asked of Brannor. "I dwelt there for a few years to nurse one of the ancient oaks back to health. Back when..." her voice trailed off and she paused, a fleeting look of regret and sorrow shadowing her eyes. "Before I took up residence in my alchemist's shoppe," she said instead.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Brannor watched as Nym placed her paw on his cloak and nodded, he smiled and then took it off. "Here you go Nym." He says as he wraps the cloak around her. He did have a pack with him. "I have another cloak in here, so you can keep that one." He says to her with a smile. He was trying to show her that he was friendly and wanted to be friends with her. Then he turns his attention to Erie, "Yes, I have lived in that forest since I was a young boy and that was 50 years ago." He says, showing his age. But since Elves coud live for hundreds of years and not look their age. He nods, "I came into you shoppe a long time ago to get my grandmother some potions and herbs to get rid of her illness." He says to her. "I suggest that we turn in as well, I have a feeling that Malivore will want us to get up early." He says. He then scoops up Nym, who was still in fox form and put her on his shoulder. He had hold of the cloak he had given her and grabbed two keys. He then goes up the stairs. Stopping at one of the rooms. He put Nym down, with the cloak and placed the key to her room next to her. And then he puts the key into the door of the room that was next to hers. "Good night Nym." He says as he goes into the room and shuts the door.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Erequariel held her second wine glass in her hands and looked at the liquid for some moments while Brannor talked. She remembered him now, the one who had asked for a remedy that made her pull out her dusty texts.

"Yes, we should all make sure we are rested," she replied with a gentle smile. "Malivore did not pick halflings for a reason. Good night." She stayed in the tavern long enough to finish her wine and ponder the diverse characters and this quest they were all about to embark on before retiring to her room for the night.

---

Nym, on the other hand, was fuming mad and in no way ready for sleep. That wood elf was again picking her up as if she couldn't move on her own and again treating her like a helpless animal. She was not that cute, fuzzy furball everyone apparently thought she was! She half-contemplated transforming there on his shoulder. That would teach him. But, it would also be bad for her. He had the cloak and she had no way of covering herself when the transformation completed. She sulked on his shoulder and raced down his arm when he reached to set her down. At least he left the cloak with her. Nym waited for him to shut the door before she crawled under the cloak and meditated. In seconds, her body started stretching and losing hair until she was a young girl sitting with nothing on but the cloak.

"Let's see him pick me up now!" she muttered to herself. Pulling the cloak tightly over her body, she opened the window of her room and scaled down the side of the wall. She needed to find a change of clothes to wear if Malivore was going to insist she stay human unless otherwise noted. Keeping to the shadows, she slinked through the village until she had gathered pieces for a decent outfit from the closed tailor's shop.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

It was early the next day when Malivore awoke, it was about 8 in the morning. After doing bathroom duties and changing clothing. He decided to go and knock on everyone's doors. As he knocked-pounded more like, on each of their doors. He was telling them to get up, that time was awasting. "Meet me down in the tavern once you are ready." He says and goes down the stairs. Brannor had already been awake when the wizard came and knocked on his door. "I'll be down in a few minutes." Was his reply. He quickly pulls on a shirt and then goes down the stairs and sees Malivore waiting by the door. He walks over to him. "Now we just need to wait for the other three." He says to Brannor, who nods. Erlas was just getting up when the wizard knocked on his door. "Yeah, yeah. I know." He mutters. After making sure all was in order, he goes downstairs and joins Brannor and Malivore. "So are we walking the entire way, or what?" Erlas asks. "We will be traveling by horse." Malivore says.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Eight was not early for Erequariel, rather it was sleeping in. By the time Malivore roused the party, Erie had already eaten breakfast and taken a walk in the cool of the morning to watch the sunrise. Her mare was also visited and properly attended to. At half-past eight she wandered into the tavern again and found the three waiting.

"Good morning," she smiled pleasantly. "I hope I have not kept you waiting long."

Nym arrived then, stumbling down the stairs in her groggy state, her arms caught up in trying to pull on her overshirt. It was a might too big for her and impossible to find the opening for her head. She reached the bottom of the stairs roughly the same time Erie reached the company and finally yanked her shirt into place, exposing her mop of knotty red hair and intensely freckled face. Her full bottom lip puckered into a pout.

"Well I hope I have kept you waiting," she said stubbornly. "Treating a poor little fox like that... and by the tail of all things!" This last bit was directed to Malivore. She barely stopped herself from sticking her tongue out at them.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Erlas looks at Nym, "Took you long enough." He mutters as he crosses his arms. Malivore was unaffect by Nym's behavior. "Well if you didn't cause so much trouble when I brought you into the tavern, then I wouldn't have grabbed you by the tail." He says. "Please follow me." He says. "I had already arranged for us to ride horses, all we have to do is go to the the stables and get them." He says and then walks out of the tavern. Brannor and Erals follow behind him a few moments after he had left the tavern. They could see Malivore waiting with 4 other horses, for he had already mounted his horse and was waiting for them. His horse was grey. The second horse was all white. The third was black with two huge white spots, one on each side. The fourth was completely black and the fifth was white with brown speckles. Brannor walks over to the horses and chooses the completely white one. The horses already had saddles on. Brannor puts his foot in sturup and swings his leg over, sitting down gently in the saddle. Erlas looks at the horses and takes the one that is completely black. He does the same as Brannor except he sits down normally in the saddle.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Erequariel had already followed the wizard outside and was stroking the nose of her spotted/freckled mare when the two other elves reached the stables. She was adamant about riding no other horse and was glad that Malivore included her mare. As Brannor and Erlas chose their horses, she couldn't help but smile. Those two were as different as night and day and their horses, along with their overall appearances, rightly displayed that to the world.

Nym folded her own arms across her chest and watched the others head out the door. Horses? Why wasn't anyone consulting her in this? She would much rather follow them at a distance, but that was impossible to do as a human. Thinking over a few of her options, she finally settled on an answer and hurried to the stables where the others were.

"So here's the deal," she said as she entered the stable. "I don't ride horses. It's insulting to them to have to carry another beast. Either you let me follow you guys my own way, or I share a horse."

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Malivore didn't want Nym following behind them, for he thought she would run away. When she suggested that she share a horse, Erlas got a look on his face as if to say, 'Don't look at me.' Brannor was about to say something when Malivore spoke up. "Since you insist on it, you shall be sharing my horse then." He says. Once Nym was on the back of his horse, he gives it a slight tap on the sides and it begins to trott toward the south of Arcneed. Brannor does the same and rides up along side Malivore on the right side. Erlas came up beside the wizard on the left side. "I can not garentee safety on this mission. Who knows what other perils will be waiting for us." Malivore says. Brannor then recognized where they were heading. "We're not heading into Whone territory are we?" He asks. The great wizard nods, "Unfortunately, we have to." He says. Brannor nods but got a look of fear on his face.

Whones were terrible beasts, that were about the size of a horse. They are of canidid decendant. They have shaggy brown fur with black stripes. Their teeth and claws as sharp a swords. They have keen eye sight and a wicked sense of smell. They are very territorial and will attack anything that moves, plus they live in packs. Erlas didn't seemed frightened by what Malivore said. He then scoffs, "I've fought more terrible things down in the underdark." He says. Brannor looks at him as if to say 'You're kidding right?' Erlas looks at him, "Aboleths, Fomorians, Illithid and Hook horrors are much worse." He says bluntly. He wasn't trying to show off either, he was just making a statement. Whones wouldn't be trouble for him. Malivore then nods as they ride along, "Indeed, there are much worse creatures than Whones." He says.

The wind blew slightly and it tossled their hair to the left. "If the wind keeps up, we might be in for a storm." Brannor says. Malivore nods, "Indeed, there should be a cave system up a head about a mile or two if we need to take shelter, if that happens." The Wizard says. Brannor nods, "We just have to make sure they are uninhabited," He says. Malivore nods. Erlas wasn't too thrilled that they were talking about taking shelter in a cave system, if it started to rain. "It would feel too much like home." Erlas mutters under his breath with a tone of hatred.

 

[Lady Alainn]

"Rain is so very pleasant," Erequariel spoke up--- the first she'd said since they left the village. She also appeared unperturbed regarding their route and was glancing back and forth across the horizon for sign of thunderheads. "If worst comes to worst, I can do a little... persuading." Her lips formed a mysterious little smile.

"What, like telling it to bug off?" Nym said sourly. She had been bounced unmercifully on the back of Malivore's horse the whole time. Probably on purpose. Horses have a tendency to hold grudges and this one in particular held very long grudges. Arms crossed, brows furrowed, bottom lip pouting, she was determined to be as surly as the drow elf. "Besides, my nose is telling me we at least have until evening before the rain comes."

Erequariel remained silent. She wasn't sure how to make friends with the little fox girl, nor the rest of their party to be completely honest with herself. It would be paramount for them to work as a team in order to get through this quest alive, and at the rate they were going, everyone would be coming back in pine boxes.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

They were just entering the south woods. "Even though we're in the woods, we shouldn't let our guards down." Brannor says. Erlas looks at him, "No shit." He says. Malivore just lets out a sigh, there was no use in him telling them to get along. It would fall on deaf ears- at least by Erlas. Then the horses stopped dead in their tracks. They then began to breathe heavily and whinny quite loudly and also paw at the ground with their hooves. Erlas almost flew out of his saddle by how fast his horse stopped. He looks over at Brannor and Malivore who both jolted forward at the sudden hault of thier horses and he noticed that they were nervous too. He sat there and listened to see if he could hear anything. At first he heard nothing and then the sound of growling was heard. He turns toward the growling just as a Whone came bounding out of the brush. This made the horses freak out even more and rear up, forcing everyone off of them and then they all ran away. Of course Erlas was angry by now.

"I'll teach that mutt to behave!" He snaps and then lunges at the Whone. Malivore was about to stop the Drow Elf, but was a few seconds too late. Brannor looks at the wizard. "It's his fault if he dies, not yours." He says. "And that isn't even a full grown one. It's an adolescent." He adds. "So there might be more around." He says and Malivore nods. The Whone tumbled back when Erlas tackled it to the ground, trying to get up it tries snapping at him, but the Elf being quicker dodges. Brannor looks at Malivore, "This one is odd, it must be an albino, it's all white." He says. The two go tumbling about back into the brush and there was a whole bunch of wracket and then the sound of yelping. Erlas comes out of the brush unharmed,

Brannor looks at him. "You didn't kill it did you? If you did, more will be after us." He says. Erlas looks over at him. "Do I look that stupid to you?" He says. Then the young Whone comes out of the brush and trotts up next to Erlas. Malivore was going to say something, but he noticed that something was different. The beast the nuzzles Erlas and whines as he pets it. Brannor looks at Erlas as if he was nuts. "Can we get going again? Let's find the damn horses and move out of this area." Erlas snaps and then goes off to find the horses, the young Whone followed after him. Malivore looks at the rest of his party. "My isn't he full of surprises." He says.

The Whone:

Spoiler

 

[Lady Alainn]

Nym tumbled off the horse and landed in a crouch on her feet. She cowered behind Malivore, fidgeting and wringing her hands. "What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?" Her body shimmered slightly, an indication that the fright was getting too much for her. With a sharp word and look from Malivore, she forced herself to calm down and could see Erlas wrestling with the beast. "Go, go, Erlas!" she cheered, peering out from behind Malivore. "Get him!" Erequariel joined them to watch the drow, her hands poised and ready to assist should Erlas require healing.

When Erlas reappeared from the bushes with the whone following at his heels, Nym let out a giggle. "Aw, I knew Erlas was a softy deep down!" She tip-toed out from behind Malivore and giggled again. "He likes you! What's his name?" she asked Erlas. Erequariel raised a brow and glanced at Brannor. It appeared they all had an affinity to animals. "Shall we look for the horses now?" she asked at the same time Erlas stomped off. "I guess that's a yes." Following the drow at a distance, Erequariel cast inconspicuous glimpses at him, her naturally curious nature trying to make out his character. She would talk to him, but had no idea what to say or ask.

Thankfully, two of the horses were not far away, her freckled mare one of them. The brave girl had fled in terror until her reins had tangled in a tree and was now thrashing wildly about. Erequariel gently approached the horse, singing to her in a soft voice to calm her. The mare started, recognized the voice, and slowed her rearing and bucking until Erequariel was in her sight. Reaching out a hand, Erie set it on her nose, still singing, and stroked her muzzle. "Shhh, you're all right now," she whispered. "You're all right now." She slipped her other hand into the branches to untangle the reins.

 

[Mz. Hyde]

Erlas had heard what the fox girl had said. He didn't name animals, that was a sign that he was getting attached if he named it. He watches what Erie does, but doesn't say anything. He knew she was in tune with nature as well as Brannor. He stops and looks at her. Maybe she could answer what he was trying to figure out. "I just got into a fight with it and beat it down. Why is it following me around like a dog follows it's master?" He asks. He didn't treat the Whone wrong, he was just wondering. The Whone was not far away from him. It was sniffing the ground and moving about with it's head down as if it was tracking something. And then all of a sudden it started making what would be described as a barking sound. It began to whine and then ran back to Erlas and then run back to where it came from. He sighs, "Go get Brannor and have him follow you." He says to it and then it runs off. Brannor was taken by surprise, the only time a Whone would come running after him is to attack him. It began to whine and bark at him. He looks at Malivore.

"I suppose it wants us to follow it?" He asks. Malivore nods, "In deed it does." He says and they follow after the huge beast. It had lead them to the horses, who had calmed down quite a bit. They were in a valley not too far away from where they were in the forest. They were together grazing peacefully on grace. "Well then, that saves us a lot of time." Malivore says. Brannor noticed that Erlas and Erie were talking to one another. "The Whone found the horses for us! So we can start on our journey soon again!" He calls to them. All Erlas did was nod.

 

[Lady Alainn]

Erequariel paused in her rescue of her mare and considered Erlas' question. She had been wondering the same thing. After looking at Erlas for a few moments, she continued tugging the reins until they let go of the branches. "Perhaps it is thankful you did not kill it and feels it owes you its life. Perhaps it knows you have dominated it and you are the master." She stroked her mare's mane and led her by the bridle to where the other horses had run to. "I do not know much about Whones, but if they are anything like wolves, a dominated beast would immediately fall into submission to the one who overpowered it."

Meanwhile, Nym knelt down on all fours and pranced after the whone. She was curious about the creature and thought it might even make a friend on this journey. The elves certainly weren't company. They were too tall. "Hey, what's your name?" she asked it.