Reluctant companions (Eyesoffire & Ecchi)

Leilia give Gideon a hard look at his comment. "Like I would ALLOW you to kiss me. But my kisses only have that effect when my lips are coated in a certain herbal mixture." She helps then to divide the bags onto her new steed. "I have seen his eyes, and I know well the intelligence that lies within. Save for the ability to speak, I would say he is more intelligent than most humans." She looks over at Gideon and gives a snarky little smirk... at least it seemed she did have a sense of humor after all.

She mounts her horse, nodding to him. "It is not for me to give him a name.. he will let me know what it is, in the right time." She followed behind him, the hood of her cloak still up, her gaze on the road. She wondered, if they went past that same guard on the road, what he might think of her now riding her own horse. Either way, she assumed they would not be returning to this town too soon, as the horse theft would quickly be discovered when that young man woke up.

"Perhaps one day you'll be wanting a kiss." Gideon said, locking eyes with Leilia as he swung his horse towards the gate in preparation for their departure.
The ride as all the easier on him now that there wasn't an elf leaning on his back and from time to time he could allow his mind to wander knowing that Leilia wasn't sleeping. With Edric's Stead behind them they moved quickly, the roads were slightly better in this region due t the presence of large garrisoned towns brought about by the war. Travelers passed by them frequently and Gideon nodded to most of them acting like everything was ordinary, though many stared at Leilia as she rode by.

He pulled his horse back to her's and rode beside her, his yes traveling up her body before he spoke. "I can't help but realize we still have no indication as to what we're looking for. It concerns me as to why they left that little fact out when they spoke to the both of us. It's a sure way for us to fail." He looked ahead and squinted at the woods ahead of them. Columns of smoke rose high above the trees.
There was only one reason smoke would rise like that from woods. "I think it's time you went back to playing my sick sister...or lover." his eyes twinkled a little at the word but his expression remained serious. "There's something a lot worse than the prejudice common folk in those taverns..."

Leilia rode along silently behind Gideon, following his pace. She kept her hood up, even on the roads, not wanting the passing human travelers to see her ears. She didn't make eye contact with them, simply kept her gaze ahead after giving each a quick glance over. She looked out to the west as the very last bit of light slowly sank beneath the horizon, then ahead to the wood with smoke rising from them.

She looked to Gideon as he moved his horse beside hers, her face showing a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. "What would that be, dear 'brother'?" She turned her gaze ahead again, wondering what the smoke pillars were.. perhaps camps? They weren't in the Elven lands yet though, so most likely human camps, either hunters or perhaps.. soldiers. "Perhaps we should find a nice, very secluded area far from anyone else to make our camp tonight."

"Soldiers..." Gideon's voice sounded strained, as if he were tired of saying the word. He took a moment before registering what Leilia had said, he was thinking on the past at the time.
"Yes...we should find somewhere else to camp. It's likely they'll be on the main path through the woods, especially with their numbers. But there won't be a lack of scouts with them. I don't want to be anywhere near the group. If they should send scouts and find us..." He gave Leilia a knowing look.

He forced the horse to make a hard left off the road and into the wilderness beside them. The path had been elevated on a mound so that one assumed the to it's sides was a long ditch. He moved down into the scattered trees and shrubs, moving the horse slowly so it didn't trip on a root, stump or rock. He didn't wait for Leilia to follow, he knew she would. Keeping his head turned right and his eyes on the smoke he continued South. "keep your hood tight around your head and make sure you're weapons are hidden. One look at either your ears or blades and they'll come running....and they won't just pierce you with blades." It sounded crass but he wasn't going to beat around the bush here. "We should make camp at the edge of the wood, I know it's far South but I'd rather you not have to meet this men.

Leilia nodded to him slowly. "Soldiers are something we should most definitely avoid, as much as possible." She rides along with him, turning as he does, looking out to the forest's edge. "I know to keep evidence of what I am hidden, trust me. I'm no fool." She'd heard tales of those captured by humans, the horror stories of the various tortures they were put though, as the human armies tried to extract information from them. The women among the Elven ranks were particularly targeted, as after they were broken from the interrogation, they would be passed around, serving as "moral boosters" among the camps... She shuddered at the thought of ending up as some human's plaything.

She looked along the edge of the woods as they traveled, nodding slowly. "We are headed south in any case, are we not?" She looked back to where the plumes of smoke rose from the woods, eager to be far away from them. "The further from human camps we are, the better. I don't want to be walked up on in the middle of the night."

"You won't be walked up on the middle of the night. I'm not going to sleep." Gideon swung off his horse when he'd decided that they'd reached the appropriate spot. Their location was not on the edge of the wood, through relative to the military encampments it might as well be called 'the edge.' From here, if they looked up they'd still be able to see the smoke. Gideon stood next to the tree he'd just tired his horse by and watched the columns as if they held the answers to all questions. He squinted at them and chewed his bottom lip. Without looking at her he spoke. "Leilia, you're no fool, I know this." he turned his head slightly. "Forgive me for making it seem like I believed you were." He slung his bow from his back and picked a quiver of arrows from his horse.

"These men are not something I intend to encounter without proper reconnaissance." Now he looked back at her. "I assume you'll want to know what we're potentially up against tonight. And I could use quiet feet and keen eyes like yours." He didn't mention anything about the horses. The woods around Edric's Stead were not famous for the amount of wolves within them but that didn't mean there weren't any at all.
Gideon moved a few feet towards the smoke and looked back. Darkness was setting in quickly and it would be the perfect time for two to observe the many. However the horses would seem to be quite vulnerable, they'd have to be quick.

Leilia watched as Gideon dismounted his horse, then a moment later did the same. She stood next to her horse, watching her companion. She nodded slowly to him. "Perhaps we should take watches, rather than you simply not sleeping. A lack of sleep makes for a foggy mind. I can take first watch, and wake you halfway to morning." She offers a light wave of her hand to his apology. "Accepted, you are forgiven."

She watches as he pulls arrows from his horse and pulled out his bow, eying him curiously. She nods then slowly, realizing with his words what he had in mind. "Scouting? We'd best make sure not to be caught, or any claims we have of not being spies will seem much less likely to them... even if you are a human." She draws her bow out as well, shifting her quiver under her cloak to tilt it, making it easier to draw from without having to reach far up. "After you then."

Gideon ensure that they cut through the brush as quickly as possible without making a sound. If it were winter perhaps they could have traveled through the trees. But there were not the lands he'd ranged in. Here the trees were smaller, shorter with weaker branches that were not as closely knit. From time they'd stop and listen for a scouting party. Only once did they see a scout, running back with a letter in his hand. Gideon first instinct was to take him as his own prisoner and question him, but he wasn't in the army anymore, he was no longer a sellsword fighting elves, now he was working with one.

He moved slowly now, the glow of a single fire could be seen however it masked the glow of tens more behind it. Night hand fully fallen, the sky blackens quick in these lands. No less then 10 men were huddling by the fire, some cook, other sleeping, one reading and many talking. They spoke of women they'd had, food they'd eaten and places they'd love to visit or see again. It had dawn on Gideon that these soldiers were normal, everyday men under all the armor and weapons. He shook his head slightly, no, that's not what he experienced. Looking back up he listened for a moment. Then he turned to Leilia. "Call me a traitor, liar and blind but garrisons here, pushing this far means they wish to rush your folk in your lands. If there are more fires like this then its more than just a scouting party." he pushed aside a branch so he could see Leilia's face better. "What do you intend to do?"

Leila followed along, making almost no sound at all as she moved. Elves were notoriously light on their feet, and their equipment was light and quiet.. it made them very good at ambushes and scouting. In the time before tension between the races, often had Elves been hired by mercenary bands as scouts, or silent assassins. She looked ahead as the glow of fires became clear, her keen eyes looking out to the men, seeing farther than Gideon would have been able to, and seeing their numbers for herself.

Her hooded head turns to look at him, a slight expression of concern upon her features. Elves were excellent archers, good at ambushing and sneak attacks, catching their enemies off guard.. their blade styles flowed and were made to keep the Elven warriors constantly moving, as if dancing, both to allow them to make multiple strikes against their enemies, and avoid being hit themselves... These were how the Elves fought, particularly against humans.. This was all because the humans had something the Elves never could.. raw, brute strength and power. The Elves were quick, and light, but physically far weaker than a fit human. Humans also had a certain durability the Elves lacked, being a more fragile race.

All of this, what what worried Leilia about a strong rush from the human army into the Elven lands. If the elves were not prepared for it, it could well cost them a major loss of territory in the war, pushing them back. She sighed softly, shaking her head. The task at hand was far more important than the war, as large as it seemed... Their task was to secure the safety of all races.. Elven, Humans, and all other forms of life. "We continue on as planned... I have no doubt our scouts will find out what these humans are planning. My people will not fall to them. What we do is important for all people, and I will not be drawn back into the war, or neglect what must be done."

Gideon looked at her with more respect. He should have expected it anyway, Leilia didn't seem the type to shy away from her duty. He silently nodded at her and turned to move back. He sprinted back to the camp as silently as he could. It wasn't all that fast but he made good enough time. Along the way it was hard not to spot obvious snares. Humans did it in a certain way and a common soldier's technique was unrefined, messy, the trap seemed as if it was shouting loudly to be noticed. A fox would not be swayed by such a thing, not unless there was bait.

When they reached he dropped his bow near a tree and sat on a flat rock. "No sense in building a fire. If we can see their smoke they'll see ours." He hung his head to the ground, thinking about a time long past. Then he looked up at Leilia and squinted slightly. Eventually he looked away, afraid the gaze might betray his thoughts. Standing up he fed the horses with what little grass was around. They'd stopped at fairly clear dirt patch with a few dead trees. It was perfect for a camp with no fire and so, perfect for them. He took the tent supplies from the back of his own steed and threw them in the middle of the ground, placed a hand on the back of his neck to massage the muscle there. "They only sold me a single tent...and...it's not that big." he said wearily.

Leilia followed him back, quickly and silently, her movements light and graceful, like that of a deer moving naturally through the forest. She easily noticed the traps and snares as well, her Elven eyes not hindered by the dark of the night, or the shadows of trees, avoiding each one. When they reached the camp site again, she looked around the area slowly, nodding to him. "True. We have no need of one right now in any case. Was can eat the fresh foods, that do not need to be cooked." She moved over to sit on a patch of dirt.

She looks over to Gideon, giving a light shrug. "If we take watches, as I suggested, one tent will be enough. Only one of us will be sleeping at a time." With that she nodded to him. "I can take first watch, as I said. So after some food, you can get some rest."

After the tent was pitched and the food taken out Gideon ate silently. He watched and listened. the surrounding woods hid many things, but they also contained signs. He knew that deer and foxes were in the region, of bears he had seen no signs and wolves were here due to the distant howls that could be heard. Night had fallen fully and he bid goodnight to Leilia and entered the tent. He closed his eyes after taking off his boots and placing his sword and bow at his side.

A few moments later they were open again, he watched the silhouette of one of the horses, it was grazing, then it looked up, it looked around as if something had caught its attention...then it pulled up more grass. Gideon sighed and flipped over, closing his eyes once again.
Moments passed and they opened. The sound of wolves could be heard, the noise brought back vivid images of his dream. Now his eyes stayed open. He thought of deserts, great carrion and other beasts he'd only heard stories about. He couldn't take any more of this. He moved out of the tent and silently moved to Leilia's side, tapping her shoulder. "I can't sleep." He crouched by her. "I'm wasting these hours, you rest first. I'll keep watch." He wasn't looking at the elf but rather into the blackness past the first line of trees.

Leilia ate silently as well, both as she wanted to keep her eyes and ears out for any signs of trouble, and simply not feeling terribly conversational. Then again, when was she ever very conversational? She pulls out the paper that was the map she'd drawn of the Elven lands, looking over it as she starts to pick out what might be the best course for them to take. She nods goodnight to Gideon then as he moves into the tent.

Leilia spends the night watching the tree line, periodically studying the map until some sound in the distance caught her attention. She kept her cloak pulled tight around her, with the hood up, her bow resting next to her. She listened to the sounds.. something about the night allowing sounds to travel further. The howling of the wolves, still fairly distant and yet... closer. The pack was moving into the area, but still far off enough that she wasn't worried about it right away. Likely they would head off elsewhere again.

She looked up as Gideon moved up to her and said he would take the watch. She sighed softly, standing then, setting her bow aside. "Just be sure to wake me before dawn, so you can get some rest yourself." She moved off then, into the tent, her boots, belt, bracers and leather armor soon being set outside the tend, off to the side of the opening. She uses her cloak as a blanket, curling up under it to sleep.

Jared Brindon was a Lord within the fortified city of Cragsmere hold. He'd left the dreary, wet and cold place to enlist and travel the world. He didn't know what the war was for and didn't care. His lineage and influential parents had gotten him the rank of Captain within the army, he was already a knight since the age of 17 and wanted to prove himself in battle. A few elf ears, maybe a she-elf to keep him warm at night.
However this night was like all the rest, quiet save for the sounds of distant wolves and boring...dull...smelly and dry. He dropped himself on a pile of animal skins with a sigh and peered into the fire. He was on watch in this part of the camp. "Edric's Stead..." he mumbled, throwing a stick into the flames. "Stinkin' shithole." Some of the men turned in their sleep. He smelt the fire and blinked, his head feeling heavy. Looking around he noticed too many sleeping soldiers for him to go find a bush to pleasure himself in, even that was denied him in the army. His callous-less hands were held up to the fire and he huffed again, thinking of Lara the barkeeper's daughter in Cragsmere and how he'd cornered her once. Her skin under his arms, her reluctance until he threw her onto the pile of hay.
A twig snapped behind him, Jared turned and saw a guard roll over in his sleep. He looked back into the fire.
Lara's cleavage, her long legs and the sound of her breathing as he climbed on top of her. Another snap. Jared spun around and stood up, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. Still nothing. He walked to a large tree and decided to lean against it for a while. He could doze for a bit and still look like he was awake.
He watched an ant move over the rough bark, a shadow moved over it. The fire was flickering quickly nearby. He felt his neck grow cold suddenly, and then the tree was moving, the ground was dropping, no, he was moving...up. Something wet covered his neck it ticked him slightly, he looked to his right. Red water. Blood. He gazed up. All he heard was a scream, he didn't know if it came from him, all he saw was a maw.

Gideon almost jumped up. His horse whinnied. He ran to calm it down. A second scream, a man's this time. He stared at the fire, suddenly there was a large flash of light from deep within the woods. He threw open the tent and pulled Leilia to her feet. "Something's happened. We're moving."

Leilia was asleep soon after entering the tent. She would shift and toss slightly as she seemed to be having a dream. This time she was moving through a thick forest, traveling alone, deep in the night. Something felt off though, strange... She couldn't see as far ahead as she normally would.. the darkness seemed to block her sight, unnaturally dark and obscuring. Then she heard the creaking of trees all around her, something sounding like a deep, gurgling growl ringing out from that pitch black darkness. Dark, inky tendrils slide out from the trees all around her, slowly reaching out. She reaches to grab her sword, drawing it.. and as soon as she does, it vanishes.. She gasps and looks down, watching as once again, everything vanishes, leaving her completely naked, helpless, and vulnerable as the tendrils reach out and wrap around her arms and legs, feeling the slippery flesh wrap around her bare skin... She squirms as more reach in, seeming to aim for her chest.. then she hears a scream in the distance.... and another...

Leilia springs up suddenly, a cold sweat coating her skin as she pants softly, wide awake now.. She realizes that last scream.. that wasn't just her dream, she'd heard it in reality. Then Gideon poked into the tent to tell her something's happened. She crawls out of the tent quickly, grabbing her things and pulling them on. She helps to break down the tent quickly, hearing the screams and seeing the odd flashes through the trees. "What is going on? I wonder.. if perhaps my people knew of the human camp already..."

"No." Gideon was throwing the tent on the back of his horse, tying it up in a loose and untidy fashion. He was clearly in a hurry. "No, if it were your people there wouldn't be near as many screams. This is too messy for your people. It's something else. I felt it earlier, as if it was peering at me through the darkness." he mounted up and drew his blade. Turning his horse to face Leilia. He looked to his let into the woods. The feeling was there again. Dawn would approach soon.
There was another scream, this time an unnatural one, much like the scream that started all of this. Gideon looked up and his eyes widened. The yellow flashes came from the fire, the trees were ablaze. He saw dark shapes swinging through the thick branches as if they were the long-armed apes he'd heard that inhabited the South. "Impossible...they wouldn't come up this far...we'd know." he said more to himself. He turned his steed around and made ready to move. "We should move South around the borders of the wood. Get to your people as quickly as possible, they probably know of this."

Leilia listens to the screams from the darkness, frowning as she nodded slowly, knowing he was right. If it were her people, they wouldn't have time to scream.. they would be dead before they knew what hit them. The Elves at least were merciful in striking precisely, and granting swift death. These screams were of fear and agony, as if the men were being torn apart, limb from limb. She turns, hearing the strange scream in the darkness, not sure what it was, but this one wasn't human.

She moved quickly to her horse, once everything was packed up to go, mounting it and turning to face Gideon. "I am getting a feeling of dread myself... Let's be away from here, quickly. I am not quite sure what is happening.. but I do not wish to find out." She nods to him, ready to ride at the pace he sets, hopefully a quick pace to get as far away from this place as possible, as fast as possible.

They stayed as close to the edge of the woods as possible. The moonlight would have given them away were it not for the blazing canopy within the woods themselves, nevertheless Gideon didn't want to take a chance. His horse kicked up dirt, mud and grass as they followed to the circumference of the wooded area. Too their left was open fields dotted with some houses, all of which had their lights on. Gideon could see people coming out of their homes. He urged his horse faster. Judging by the stars they were now moving West and hand gone the full Southern circle of the woods. Gideon slowed his horse down to a trot and pulled back beside Leilia. "We're heading straight for your lands now.." He huffed, not nearly as exhausted as his horse though.

"Your steed looks fine." Gideon had glanced down to check if her horse was injured, branches, roots and rocks were common on the side of the woods but thankfully there were no injuries. "We should take ti slow from here I think." He took a minute to check their surroundings when he realized everything was clear Gideon slumped a little in his seat. "Why don't you take point for a while." He pulled out a skin of water and almost drained it. "I'll cover our rear."

Leilia follows along with Gideon, riding quietly with only the sound of the horses' hooves thumping against the ground breaking the silence of the night. She kept pace with him, even as he urged his horse on faster to move away from the fields. She had to wonder, just what was it that happened back there? What was killing those men? She sighed softly, trying to clear her mind of it. So long as they stayed far ahead of whatever it was, out of its reach, that's all that really mattered for now.

She looks over to Gideon as he breaks the silence, nodding slowly as she takes a look around the area. "A day, maybe a day and a half, depending on our pace.. and we should reach them." She nods to him as he suggests she take point, and urges her horse on ahead of his, taking the lead as they head toward the Elven lands. "Do you have any guess as to what happened back there?"

"No idea." Gideon said as he placed the water skin behind him, the leather strap hung from a hook on the saddle. "I've never heard such screams before, and they weren't all human." He looked into the woods, dawn's light would come soon and he was unsure if that would bring them any safety or just make them a bigger target. A part of him wanted to turn around and investigate. Yet the cautious ranger in him said he should but with extreme caution.

He slowed his horse to a walk then stopped. "Leilia!" He called. "We should turn in, find out what happened." His eyes were serious, he held the reigns tight though and locked eyes with the elf. "You'd think I'm crazy but I'm not. I think we should know what went on over there, for the sake of both our races. If Something else is in this land then we must know about it."

Leilia nods in agreement to his comment of the screams. "Neither have I. Whatever it was sounded.. wild... beastial." She sighed and shook her head a bit, continuing to lead on, eager to be away from the area, and leave whatever happened behind. Of course, that's when Gideon suggested they go back and find out what happened.

Leilia stop as he does, turning back on her horse to stare at him with a hard gaze. "You're right... I DO think you're crazy. You wish to go back, potentially put ourselves in harm's way, and worse, delay our journey to our far more important goal? If we go back to investigate, we will be delayed by a day at the least." She sighs shaking her head. "Can we really afford such a delay? If we fail... if we stop to investigate every strange thing, then the world will have much more to worry about then whatever happened to those men. I think we should continue on, and keep our eyes out for signs of whatever it may have been as we go. At least, once we reach the desert, and find whoever we're supposed to... maybe we'll get an idea of how much time we do have to accomplish our goal, and then can decide whether delays are worth the time or not."

She stares at him, staying still on her horse for now though, waiting to see what his reply would be. He had a point, she wouldn't deny it, that whatever that was could cause problems... but she was goal driven, and simply felt their mission was of more importance.

"Leilia..." Gideon began in protest but then waned off. He was quiet for a moment. "No. We need to see this...what if your lands are threatened by this, what if they're spreading through the borders? Who the hell knows where these things came from. Leilia...I know woods like these. Whatever those are, they're not from around here. These woods have bears, wolves, deer and other normal animals. In all my years as a ranger I have never once heard the sounds those beasts made. Is it no better to be prepared? To know what dangers could appear on our path? Is that not how we've always survived, by investigation and hen prevention?" He folded his arms across his chest. The sword still in his right hand.

Gideon would have lied to say that he was doing this only to understand the obstacles keeping them from their goal. Humans had died, his people, he wanted to know why they were dying, if it was elven trickery he needed to know what to watch out for. Additionally, a threat so close to home would be devastating. There was no saying how far these evil things would go. Did they have a goal? Were they just killing for fun? Or maybe some ancient evil within these lands has been awakened? There were stories of beasts that once roamed the world in darkness and blood. He'd dreamed, as a child, of slaying these beast. It could be said that part of this was to relive those childhood memories.

Leilia sighed, her grip on her horse's reigns tightening for a moment. He did bring up some valid points, but she did not want to waste time on anything not important to the mission at hand. "Fine. We can go back and investigate, but we must be swift about it." She turns her horse, watching him. "You lead the way. We'll try to find some clues as to what slaughtered those men, but I for one hope we don't run into them in person."

"You and me both." Gideon mumbled as he turned the horse around and pushed it into a trot.

They passed large trees as they reached the interior of the forest. The foliage grew thick but his eyes could still make out the soldier's marks on the floor. He didn't doubt that Leilia had spotted them as well. He slowed his mount, making less noise would be crucial now. The woods in front of them were dark save for one fire. A single light that pointed out the direction they should be heading in. He had mentally marked the way back, noting large rock formations and the locations of streams they had forded on the way to the center of the wood. The fire grew brighter and soon enough, before he even realized it, the plants were gone; the bushes had disappeared and stumps replaced the thick trees. The soldiers had cleared out the area, though they left a wall of foliage, be it for protection or camouflage he didn't know. What Gideon didn't know was that it was fated never to serve either purpose.

His eyes scanned the floor, dark pools of blood gathered, the ground was trampled everywhere, bodies, some half eaten littered the ground. He looked to his left and just behind Leilia was a single tree by an extinguished fire. "Leilia..." He indicated with his head the two feet that dangled from the leafy branches just behind the elf's own head. A rail of blood moved down the trunk to the ground, once again pooling by the roots. "I know of no beast that can do this. Wolves in great packs would come here often but they wouldn't attack men in these numbers, nor would they drag their victims to the trees." One of the soldier's swords was covered in a white liquid. A trail of the same liquid, this time in droplets, moved away from it, up a nearby tree and then disappeared. Gideon squinted in the darkness. His horse stirred at the stench of death.
"We should get back on the road to your lands." He muttered before looking to Leilia.

Leilia followed along behind, taking note of the land around them as they moved through the trees. Upon reaching the camp, she would look around slowly, her calm appearance masking the disgust she felt within at the sight of the mutilated bodies and massive amounts of blood left behind. She wondered what could be responsible for all of this. No simple wolves for certain. As Gideon said, wolves would not attack such a large group of people, and even if they did, she knew soldiers could fight off a pack of wolves well enough not to be slaughtered. Whatever did this likely attacked without warning, from the shadows in the night, and were much more fierce than any wolf. The amount of killing also pointed toward multiple creatures, which would rule out most bears as well.

She turns her head as Gideon indicates something behind her, seeing the feet danging from the tree. She looks around slowly, seeking other similar instances, and spots the white fluid trailing up one of the trees. "Indeed... I know of not creature myself that could, or would do this." She nods to him, turning her horse in the direction they'd come. "I agree. We should be away from here quickly. I do not like the idea, that whatever did this may still be in the area."