What May Become.

J

Jenbells

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Original poster
The landscape was empty, far from any town or outcropping of trees. Tallgrass rose from the ground in blotches of tan and green and moved silently withthe force of a slight wind and bitter rain. Clouds seemed to have gathered fromall around to paint the sky an angry grey.
She despised the rain, but with noplace around she had no choice but to travel the abandon dirt road she happenedupon a few miles back. She was a lone figured, swathed in a grey cloak that wasmade from a thick an itchy wool. Wool which was now heavy and damp from the onslaughtof nature. She sighed softly as she stopped and looked ahead. The road seemedto continue with no hint of when it would end. That was when she saw it.Another traveler? Who else could be so desperate? <o:p></o:p>
 
The cold droplets were a welcoming distraction from thegusts of wind that constantly flowed along treetops and over the tall mountainsencompassing the wooded trail. It was known to be quite bitter here, especiallywith the onset of the winter season. The mountains where the path began weremerely shadows now, looming off in the distance like old, departed friends. Ifone looked close enough, they could spot the very edge of the city of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ammon</st1:place></st1:city> nestled in the apexof the conjoined summits. His eyes watered from the cold, looking at theshadowy ghost of what was his home before blinking away the sting and moving ondown the path to nowhere.

His name was <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Siam</st1:place></st1:country-region>,and as far as anyone knew, he was just another ill and homeless waste of space.He could feel his sickness in his bones, weighing him down and making his heartbeat most softly. There was a bright rash painted across the right side of hisneck that just peeked over the edge of his worn over shirt, one of the physicalmanifestations of his disease, that stung angrily whenever the rain managed todrip onto it. He let the pain quietly collect and stir in his mind, pushing thewet bangs out of his eyes to trace the road before him.

Having expected to see not a single thing besides, perhaps, a deer, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Siam</st1:place></st1:country-region> wasstartled to see the shape of a human being (or at least, something resemblingone) slowing coming down in the opposite direction. The shape paused, clearlyhaving seen him advancing also. Giving little care toward the consequences, theman continued on the trail toward the stranger without stopping.
 
She eyed the other warily as she made her way down the path.The closer they came to meeting, the tighter she pulled her cloak. She haddealt with all manner of man in the past few days and now sported a bruisedleft cheek because of one altercation. The young woman took a deep breath,trying to squelch the fear in her chest. Perhaps he or she would know where theroad led and how far she had to walk. She would ask. Offering a small prayer towhatever god was listening she continued to walk toward him. When she was a fewfeet away her soft voice cracked, breaking through the silence.
<o:p> </o:p>"Excuse me." She had stopped in front of him, her heartbeating a mile a minute at the unknown. "I was wondering if you might knowwhere this road leads."
Big blue eyes peered out from beneath her hood. She wasyoung perhaps about eighteen with a round face covered in freckles and red hairthat shot out from her cloak in wispy spirals.
 
When their paths crossed, the figure began to speak.
He realized that not only was this person far too young to sport the ungodly bruises plastered on her cheek, but also a wounded young woman no less. Looking into her bright blue eyes he knew she'd seen pain in the recent hours. Clearly running away from some village he'd never stepped into before, populated by peoples whom language he could never speak. The thoughts of who this mysterious individual may be mustered in his mind while he looked off in the direction he'd come.
"To Ammon." The wind whistled over their voices momentarily. "The new King is to be coroneted into the Hierarchy tomorrow." His eyes closed. "It wouldn't be wise to go into the city now." Siam knew the rowdiness that was up-churned during crowning festivals for he and his father used to partake in it. The security did absolutely nothing to stop the violence, abuse and drunken festivities that occurred.

"If you cannot go back the way you came, perhaps wait one more day." With that, Siam carefully walked around her and continued, slowly, in the direction she'd come.
 
The girl began to chew on her lower lip at his warning. She had been traveling for weeks now and had been so careful to avoid the large cities, up until she had gotten lost. The stranger had no idea, but he very well might have saved her with those words. She glanced toward the direction he tilted his head and sighed. She would have to turn back.
The girl pulled on her heavy cloak and turned enough to watch the man as he made his way deeper into the prairie. He looked sickly. Not the type of person that seemed to pose much of a danger. She began to chew on her lip again. She had made poor choices before and rash decisions in the past and all she could hope for is that this wouldn't be one.
She started to follow him. "I seem to have been more lost that I originally thought." It wasn't quite a lie. "Do you mind if I follow you until I get to a more familiar place?"
At the very least the stranger would be company.
 
This time, the darker red-head did not stop walking, instead he nodded and beckoned her with a hand gesture. Company wasn't ever something to turn down on a long expedition, especially if there was no real location in mind to go toward and more importantly, two people were stronger than one. Alone, she could probably fight off most travelers threats, but with his presence there could be an extra set of hands- and an extra dagger- to ward off anyone who thought they could harm or rob them and get away with it.

"To be honest," Siam muttered once she began walking at his side "I'm not entirely sure where I'm going myself. If there's somewhere you wish to settle on the way, don't let me stop you..." He pulled at the neck of his tunic while his wound protested the movement. "What is it you're called?"
 
She welcomed the hand gesture and moved to match his pace. Despite her hesitation and wary, some of her anxiety seemed to slip away. Shepeeked at him from beneath her hood, quickly taking in the features of him she could. He was taller than her by at least a head and kept tugging on his collar. He really did seem sickly. She turned her eyes forward when he began to speak. She was not sure she would find any place tosettle, but she appreciated being treated like a normal person.
Pulling her cloak tighter she glanced up at him. "My name is Amazane. What is yours?"
 
"Amazane." The name rolled off his tounge pleasantly, he smiled at her. "That's something I haven't heard before, it almost sounds like the start of a spell." He jokingly gave her a suspicious look. "Is it?" After a moment, he coughed wetly and shook his head. "Sorry about that, I'm Siam." There was a period of cold silence after that, and he felt like he'd made a mistake in speaking of magic to a stranger. Not all lands were as atuned to the magics as his home had been, and he knew that many areas killed those who used any form of spell publically because of the dangers it posed to non-users.

If only there was some form of harmless healing magic, maybe then it would be less painful to breathe. Between the long shocks of pain in his chest and the hot burning in his throat, he needed to take a second from walking once they got a few miles away from where they'd met. Siam leaned against the trunk of a tree and rested his forehead on the wet bark, trying to let the aches melt with the torrent of rain without seeming too pathetic to the poor woman. "There should be a village past the fork there." He inhaled, eyes focusing up the path they'd walked toward as he pushed off the tree and slowly wandered foward toward her again. "We can get you a spot to rest for the night, at least let the rain pass."
 
A smile bloomed on her face when he asked if her name was the start of a spell. It was such an oddly pretty thing to say. Amazane wanted to tell him that she liked his name as well when she paused. He looked upset, like he had said something he should not have. She decided not to push the matter and continued to walk at his side in silence. Instead she focused on how the rain had very malevolently soaked through every layer of clothing she had on. She hated rain.

By the time they finally paused for a break, she was growing irritated. With this weather she would not be able to keep a fire lit so they could attempt to dry off when they camped. At this rate she was going to get sick to, though she doubted with the severity of what he had. Even she could see that the man before here was fatigued and probably had a fever. She frowned. What was wrong? She was about to ask when he mentioned finding a place in the village ahead for her to stay for the night. Before she could stop herself the words flew from her lips, "If we can possibly find me shelter, we should be able to find you some as well. Are you really that ill?"
 
Her words wilted his spirit instantly. "No, no of course not." Siam lifted his head and continued forward- lost in thought. What kind of man couldn't even hold his own against some little rainfall? He should have been able to shoulder the pain, or at least manage to make it less obvious. In his mind, he saw images of his father suffering the same illness just before death- and even then he seemed more alive than Siam was. "I'm sorry." He murmured before taking the right path in the road split.

Almost immediately, there was the heavy scent of smoke and wet fur. In the foggy distance it was obvious that people, or creatures possibly, were wandering around in the camp-like village. Siam thought he could see the outline of a canopy tent as well. "They must have a place to warm up."
 
She could care less how well he was braving the weather. She was worried about his health. Rain was bothersome when a person was perfectly healthy, let alone when they were ill. "It's alright if you are", she said, "but a good rest in a dry place would be the best thing for you. You don't have to be a strong and tough about it." She had never understood why people let their pride come before their needs.

The scent of smoke and wet dog suddenly surrounded Amazane. She wasn't sure she really wanted to go anywhere near the camp that was coming in view. There was no telling what type of people or creatures resting there and she had to be careful. She glanced toward Siam and nodded when he mentioned a place to warm up. "They might, but I'm going to take a peek first and make sure they are friendly."

From her cloak she pulled out a long golden cylinder that looked like a misshapen torch. "If you want you can rest here for a bit and I'll come back to get you." Her big blue eyes looked into his. Hers were filled with determination and an unsaid promise. She would come back for him if she left.
 
Her expression was so filled with genuine kindness that Siam was overtaken with vigor, He had to go with her! Even if the villagers were harmless, there was no way he could let such an innocent spirit tread forth without a shield. "I understand, Thank you." He shook his head and followed her up as they advanced toward the clearing. "But I will go with you." Of course he became wary upon seeing the strange object she'd taken from beneath her cloak, but said nothing of his distress while the camp came into view.

As they moved further in he saw that the area was littered with tents, all occupied from what they could see. There were some humans, but more apparent happened to be the copious amount of horned folk- fey. Siam felt his face grow warm as he noted the solitude of the grounds. It felt like intruding, but clearly this was a trading camp of some kind. Large canine creatures rested outside of some of the tents- one walking the grounds seemed to spot them and wander over. It was a big, ugly thing, though Siam could tell from its eyes that it was a gentle beast.

Perhaps one of the tents sold medicine? Though he was too hesitant to ask, instead examining the humans around the area. They were doing both the buying and the selling, some looking like travelers and others looking like civilians. There was no imperial guard in sight.
He did note, however, that some appeared to be observing Amazane with distant eyes as if she would suddenly lunge forth and knock them off the ground.
 
Amazane smirked up at him when he told her he was coming with her. Even though she thought he should rest, it was hard not to be impressed by his eagerness to press on. She calmed a bit when she noted that there were no guards and it seemed like a simple trading camp. The people seemed friendly enough and more frightened of her. She quickly put away the torch and smiled up at Siam. "Hopefully your right and someone take pity on us." She let out a soft laugh.

When the big beast came over she grinned and reached out to allow it to sniff her, before she began to scratch the top of his head. "I've never seen one of these before." She said honestly.
 
The creature purred happily at the attention, nuzzling its head against her hand as a cat would when seeking food. Siam watched with a mix of curiousity and anxiety, he didn't want to admit it, but he'd never seen something like this animal either.
The sound of footsteps approaching quickly managed to startle the ill man out of his daze, and he was face-to-face with a slightly more muscular male of nearly the same height. The man was horned, and his eyes were focused on Amazane.

"Sorry about that, He's friendly! I can't bear to chain him up though." Siam raised an eyebrow, the man looked to him. "Are you two here to buy some enchantments? We've been having so many people come up for the coronation, they all must want to impress." That didn't sound quite right, magic wasn't allowed in the kingdom.

So much for finding his medicine here, too. "Do you have any space available? We just want to wait out the rain." He looked between Amazane and Siam with narrowed eyes before nodding. "I'm sure we can find you a spot somewhere... though it'll be for a price."
 
Amazane gave the animal one more pat on the head before she turned her attention to the newcomer. She instantly didn't care for him. In her experience those who sold enchantments out in the middle of nowhere, usually were not the best of people. The ones she had encountered before tended to sell spells that backfired or caused far more harm than good. They were faulty and definitely not worth the price. Her suspicions were confirmed when he told them they could sit out the rain if they paid. Men like him always irritated her. She was sure he could see that Siam was ill. Where was the compassion?

"A price to sit out the rain?" Amazane asked. She forced her voice to remain sweet and tried to put on her most concerned expression. She had never been the best at playing coy, but she was hoping it might work. "I recently was attacked and I really just need to sit for a bit. My friend here was helping me and caught a few blows as well. Please." She hoped the ugly bruising on her cheeks would help their cause. If not they might be better off building their own shelter.
 
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