Stolen Bones [Alakazam & Grungeknuckle]

As soon as the other two thieves had vanished into the night, Samuel turned to Aria.
"Ar-" He stopped abruptly when she raised her hand. Of course it wouldn't do to go babbling about necromancy, if Esme and Agmund were still in earshot, but time was of the essence. Seconds seemed to drag by, and Samuel could feel his heart pounding in his chest, anxiously waiting for Aria to give the all clear.

This wouldn't do at all, the waiting was killing him, whether it was waiting for those two to pick up the pace, or waiting for the exmortis to surface and quite probably kill them all. Speaking of the spirit, what the hell was that thing doing anyways? Was it even still there? The hairs on the back of Samuel's neck told him something was still lurking.

Samuel had laid fully back down, his arms spread out at his sides, finger's gripping the grass, as if trying to physically feel for the thing.
"Focus, clear you mind, we're going to die, we're going to die, don't think about it, clear your mind, we're going to die..." Samuel's thoughts were a panicked ramble, as the tried to dis-connect again, to peek once more into the underworld.
Perhaps the fear was wearing him thin to the point of unconsciousness, perhaps his constant stream of his barely withheld mutterings was working as a mantra, but however it was, he managed to get that much desired peek. And as it often is, when we finally get what we want, we find we don't like it.

He got a soft glimpse of the inky black again, and got a light pressure, in the back of his head, of something drawing nearer.
It was rising. Slowly, cautiously. But rising, bubbling up to the mortal world.

Samuel's attention was pulled back to reality when Aria slipped herself on top of him, pulling his face up, his eyes gazing into hers. Oh, if this moment was happening at any other time, any other place. He'd flip them over. Say something witty. Press his lips to hers, and inhale her. He'd have her, take her.
But chance, it seemed, was a cruel son of a bitch.

He looked up at Aria, the absolute panic on his face in stark contrast to her playful, mischievous grin. He tilted his head back, out of her hands, and looked around fitfully. "Bushes." Samuel croaked out the word, and began to drag himself out from under Aria, using his good leg and his elbows to scrambled backwards. "Get into the bushes, now, gods damn it, now Aria." his voice was coming out a hoarse whisper, overflowing with desperation. He glanced back at her, grabbed the fabric of her collar, and gave it a rough pull, trying to yank her along with him. "For fuck's sake, get in and don't move."

Branches slapped and cut at Samuel's face and hands, and he plunged himself into the closest bush. No sooner had the two of them scrambled in and froze, than the forest went silent.

No birds. No insects. Even the wind held it's breath. Samuel took it's lead, and held his own, for fear of rustling the slightest leaf.

A roughly humanoid figure stood about a hundred paced from where they were, appearing to be formed from compressed smoke and fog, so black it stood out against the night and shadows of the forest. There had been no great fanfare with it's arrival, no billowing of smoke nor otherworldly shrieks or a puff of flame. It had been as if the world, had turned around, and there it was, standing as if it had always been standing there, waiting to be seen.

The figure was not tall, shorter than Aria herself, and grotesquely hunched over, arms hanging limply from the shoulders. The face appeared to be mashed into the top of the head, eyes eternally upward, with more glowing pinpricks decking the neck and upper back. The mouth opened and closed listlessly a few times, like a fish above water. A barely audible whimper escaped the creature. It seemed almost pathetic, if it wasn't for the utter ease and speed the thing moved around. It would turn sharply, jerking it's head about like a bird of prey, attempting to suss out it's prey.

The exmortis gasped a few times, stared intently at a few trees, then as if it were stepping through a door, turned... and was gone.

If his expression hadn't been enough to clue her in that something was off, the fact that he started to crawl out from beneath her while trying to get her into the bushes would have been. For a moment, she was annoyed. Before she grasped that he was suddenly afraid of something she though the idea of doing anything in a bush was ridiculous, especially what she had been aiming to do. But as he desperately grasped at her collar her mind caught up, and despite the the sudden look of panic and urgency on her face, she swatted his hand away from her collar and followed him into the bush.

Aria had just stilled herself, crouching low among the leaves, when she saw the thing. It had just appeared. She blinked and there it was. One of her hands rested on the hilt of a dagger as she watched it, while the other rested on Samuel's shoulder, partly to insure his own stillness and partly to put herself ever so slightly at ease. At least she was breathing. Samuel seemed to be holding his breath, but her chest still rose and fell every few moments, though it was just as silent as the night had become.

The woman was accustomed to being still and quiet. She could crouch in the shadows for hours, watching and observing, never to be noticed. It was a skill that had begun with hunting lessons in her youth, and had been perfected when she was thrown out into the world to fend for herself. Remaining unseen was often the safest thing she could do.

And in this case there was plenty of motivation to remain unseen. As the thing lingered her grip on Samuel's shoulder tightened, not enough to hurt him, but enough to remind him of her presence. As if he would leave with that thing lurking just beyond the leaves. Whatever it was it made her stomach drop. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so accustomed to hiding she would be an utter wreck with something like that out there so close to them.

When the ghastly thing finally disappeared her grip on both her dagger and his shoulder relaxed. Whatever that was it had clearly been looking for them, and thankfully hadn't found them. Her head turned to look at Samuel know, her mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, but she was at a loss for words. Instead she shook her head and looked out to where the creature had been then back to Samuel. Tilting her head down and raising her eyebrows she looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation for yet another thing she had never wanted to know of. Her hand once more tightened on his shoulder and she swallowed hard, waiting to hear about what horrific thing was now stalking them.

Without turning his head, Samuel looked over at Aria, and as slightly as he could, shook his head. At an achingly slow pace, he lifted a finger to his lips. She had protected and given him the all-clear with her thief guild compatriots, it was time for Samuel to return the favor. Trying to extend his senses as before, he placed both hands, fingers spread, on the ground, and closed his eyes. Each rustle of leaves and snap of twigs that he made while moving seemed to echo painfully through the woods. But he had to know. He had to do something to protect them, he couldn't let Aria carry the entire burden herself.

"Let go. Look down. You can do this. Let go. You can do this..." Samuel repeated the phrase to himself, hoping it would help clear his mind as before.

But he couldn't.

Samuel's mind was hitting a block, not able to see outside the confines of his skull. Whatever he had done before, he simply couldn't reach that place again. Maybe he just didn't have the strength left, maybe he was just trying too hard, maybe it simply didn't work that way. It was like he could sense that there was another side, but just couldn't see what was on it. He had to try something else, he needed... he needed a focus, something to channel his will. Out by the tree, he spotted his crutch, what was left of his staff. It didn't hold any of it's former power, but that power had burned through it time and time again. It would do.

Climbing partway out of the bush, Samuel looked back at Aria. It took a few tries before his voice was working again. "Stay here," he whispered, while giving her hand a quick squeeze.

Out in the open, Samuel felt naked, crawling on all fours with one bad knee, half-blind in the dark, and completely blind to what was beyond the Veil. By the time he'd reached the crutch, he was shaking, badly, and needed it just as much to stand as to use as a focus. Hoisting himself up, Samuel leaned heavily on the ramshackle rod of bone and iron, bowing his head down, as his breathing, still shaky and ragged, started to slow. He visualized the crutch, imagining the energies of his spirit and mind flowing out of himself, down into it, and beyond. It was an almost comforting sensation, as he'd done the same thing with it, when it had still been a staff.

A minute passed. And then another. Samuel continued to focus, a light pulse of power flowing down from him with each heartbeat.

Three hundred heartbeats passed.

And then Samuel sank back to the ground, a shuddering, almost pained giggle of relief escaping his lips. "It's... It's ok, Aria. It's safe to come out. It moved on."

Like a felled tree, Samuel let himself fall onto his back, still clutching his staff with one hand, a look of exhausted relief on his face. He didn't even have to look at Aria, to know she'd want an explanation.

"That was a... well, my great-grandfather called them an Exmortis. They're an un-natural undead. That is... most undead can just happen. Restless spirits, haunts, things that just don't want to stay dead, and all that. Not these guys, though. They have to be made. They need to be tied to an owner."

Samuel did not feel like moving right now. He made some effort to, though, reaching out and grabbing his satchel, but made no additional motion to actually get up. "They can move quickly through the underworld, and are one of the only spirits I've ever heard of that can move easily from one side to the other. They can see the mortal side quite well, but once they're here... I've always heard that they have to rely on their sense of smell and touch the most. They can't see to well on the mortal plane, just silhouettes and general shapes, and they're half deaf over here too. They could make a good spy, but they were supposed to have been legendary guards. Silent, lethal, and they could always see you before you saw them."

Tilting his head back, Samuel looked over at Aria. "So. Our friend is trying to use guard dogs as hunting dogs. What's that tell you?"

Her eyes narrowed and she nodded when he shook his head and brought a finger to her lips. That was easy enough to understand. Much easier to wrap her mind around then whatever she had just seen anyways. Amber eyes followed his hands down to the ground, and she sat in silence, listening to him quietly mutter to himself as he tried to do...well something clearly. Reach down? She didn't know. Magic was enough of a mystery to her, especially necromancy. For an elf it was odd to not be born with at least a little bit of a touch of magic, but due to the oddity of it she made it a point not to learn it at all. It was easier to explain disinterest then a complete lack of natural affinity.

As Samuel began to move out of the bush her attention snapped back to him. Eyes widened in surprise as he began to leave, and she was about to question him when he instructed her to stay where she was. She scowled, but the light squeeze he gave her hand made her feel the slightest bit better, something she didn't care to admit.

Aria stayed crouched in the bush, watching Samuel crawl to his staff-now-crutch and then shakily stand. Gods he still didn't look well. With his knee the way it was she doubted they would be making it far until they found something to ease his pain. He should have let her steal a horse, she thought a little bitterly. At least then they might have not even had to deal with Esme and Agmund, and they would be much farther from the city, and his knee would have probably been in slightly better shape then it was now.

Samuel sinking to the ground made her grip her dagger harder, but she hesitated, just long enough to hear him say she could come out. Aria carefully picked her way out of the bush, emerging with fewer scrapes then Samuel had, and doing it much more quietly as well. She raised a brow as he fell onto his back, but didn't make a move to help him since it appeared he had done so of his own volition.

Instead she pulled one of her daggers from the sheath on her back and began twirling it as she walked in circles around him. After seeing that thing she was feeling anxious being back out in the open, and as he explained what it was that anxiety only grew. The expression on her face was somewhere between a scowl and a pout as she listened to Samuel talk about the exmortis. To say she was tired of learning new things about his trade was an understatement, and the idea of something like that being able to so freely move between worlds made her stomach drop.

She stopped her nervous walking when he lifted his head to address her. She stood by his side, looking down at him while bouncing on her heels slightly. Tilting her head to the side as she considered what he said her lips curved up into a small smirk. "It would seem to me they are a little ill-equipped to be dealing with us," she said as she sheathed her dagger. The hand that had been holding it now shifted to her hip as she looked down at him.

Lying like that he looked rather prone, and it was the slightest bit tempting to straddle him again and make him actually stay this time.

But in all honesty the exmortis had been a slight mood killer. Of course that didn't mean she couldn't have fun at Samuel's expense.

So instead she squatted down beside him, amber eyes meeting grey. "Now I have a question for you..." she said, her hand reaching out to his leg. She ran a finger slowly down his thigh then back up, lingering just near his groin for a moment. Aria bit her lip and looked at him suggestively before her finger shot down to gently tap the top of his bad knee, her face then shifting to one of amusement. "How's the knee?"

Samuel sat up on his elbows, an eyebrow raised a little.
Was she... playing with him? He was momentarily struck by the fact that, despite all they had done together, that he did not know her. He knew a little of her past, and he trusted her.
But the inner workings of her mind was still a mystery to him. And it bothered him.

Up to this point, he'd only dealt closely with his own creations, beings who's own minds he could easily peer into. This was... different. He narrowed his eyes at Aria.

"Still very bad. In fact, I think it's gotten worse. In fact, I think everything below the waist has been pretty much rendered useless at this point." Crawling around hadn't done him any favors, but other than that it was feeling better. Getting off the knee, and finally getting the sleep he needed, was making it easier for Samuel to get around. Still...

He held out a hand to Aria. "Here, help me up."

Aria's face dropped at his response, not entirely sure if he was playing along or actually just telling her how his knee felt. He hadn't really reacted to her teasing so it was hard to tell. The woman sighed and stood, before stepping over to grab his hand at a better angle.

Her hand slid into his and gripped it but before she pulled him up at all she looked down at him. "I do hope that is a joke because I do not plan to carry you and I would definitely prefer to put as much distance between here and where ever we end up next in a timely manner." She paused a moment, her eyes drifting out to the trees before snapping back to him. "Besides it would be quite a shame if everything below the waist wasn't working," she said, raising an eyebrow and nodding her head in the general direction of the area just below his waist.

With that Aria grinned again and pulled on his hand to help him up.

Samuel briefly opened his mouth, to make yet another bitter, sarcastic retort. But... looking up at Aria's face, he found he just didn't have the heart for it. He was mentally burnt out, and honestly, she was probably the first good thing that had happened to him in a long time.

Well, except for the fact that she had stolen from him. And was partially responsible for his wounds. But beyond that, pretty good.

So instead, he merely grunted, took her hand, and rose clumsily to his feet. They still had a long way to travel, after all. So with the crutch under the crook of one arm, and his other around Aria's shoulders, they set off.

The stiffness of rest took a while to wear off, but once it was gone, Samuel could walk on his own, mostly, so he took his arm off Aria's shoulder. But as they walked, he found himself looking over at her, fondly even. Sometimes, he even reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. This was so strange, traveling with another person. He had done so before, yes, but that was so, so long ago, before he had ever learned to the necromancy in his blood, back when his hair was black, and his skin ruddy and tan. Back when he still knew how to converse with others, back before he began to fear others. It seemed like someone else's life.
Maybe it could be his, again.

As they traveled, Samuel would sometimes pause, pluck a flower, or a berry, or a handful of leaves, or a few times an entire root, from plants beside the road. Sometimes, mostly if the part he wanted was too close to the ground, mostly the roots, he would ask Aria to get it for him. He'd stand over her, saying things like "No, not that part, that part," or "No! Don't pinch so hard, you'll ruin it!" or "Careful, that could stain. Yes, just like that."

The sun has risen an hour or so after they had set off, the cold, somewhat bitter night chill lifting to a mere morning cool. The rising sun had just begun to warm Samuel when the clouds moved in, and the rain started. It wasn't a terrible downpour, but a constant, patter, not enough to soak, but enough to make him pull up his hood and grumble. If they only had somewhere to duck into, it wouldn't be so bad, but as it was, all they had was the road. The constant drumming of raindrops on his head only served to remind Samuel of the lack of comforts he'd been living with, the last few years.

The flickering orange glow of fire, in the woods, caught his attention. Samuel tugged on Aria's sleeve, and grinned. "Looks like someone made camp. Hopefully, they'll let us join them." As he strode off the road, and into the forest, he added, "Maybe they'll know how far it is to the next shrine."

There was good news, and bad news, awaiting Samuel ahead. As he pushed his way through the undergrowth, almost into the midst of the supposed camp, he found that it was not a camp at all, but the first shrine, the first waypoint they had been seeking. A large, smooth stone obelisk stood at one end, a crude painting of a seated figure, with full beard and shaved head, with deer antlers emerging from it's forehead decorated it's surface. Around the edges, similar standing stones were erected, but much smaller, decorated with the images of animals and plants. A large brazier sat in the middle, creating a bright, warm glow, with a strange, sweet smelling smoke oozing and curling upwards from it's flame.
Above them, the branches of the trees entangled and weaved together. Perhaps a natural occurrence, perhaps divine, or perhaps simply elf magic, but their canopy completely blocked out the rain, leaving the space around the shrine safe from the water's touch.
Three figures sat around the fire, apparently meditating. Their heads were shaved, a common marker for followers of Celedan. An old man, with a full, heavy beard, and large, fierce eyebrows, who's edges swooped upwards. A young dwarven man, highly unusual to be worshiping a god of nature, but who still clearly held onto his people's customs, with his carefully braided beard. And an elvish woman, who's ear twitched at their approach, and who slowly, almost lazily, turned her head to look towards Samuel, with a slight, sleepy, but warm smile on her lips.

However, one thing made Samuel stop, and take a step back.

All three appeared to be naked.

Travelling with Samuel was different to say the least. Most of the time if she traveled she was either alone or with people whom she completely trusted and knew well enough. While she certainly trusted him, it was a trust that was built more out of necessity than anything. Of course he had shown her kindness at points and had saved her several times, but he had also had restrained her and tortured her in a rage. Then again he probably wouldn't have gotten the info out of her that he did had he not been so quick to use his dark magic on her.

Aria was starting to pick up on the fact that he wasn't always entirely willing to play along with her teasing, but she wondered if perhaps he just didn't understand that about her yet.

At least she was becoming accustomed to his presence. His weight on her body hardly bothered he when they started out, and after he had begun to walk on his own she was able to avoid reflexively flinching when his hand reached out to rest on her shoulder.

She was also more than happy to reach down and dig out the roots of plants he wanted, even when he watched her almost too carefully. The woman had grown up living a life much closer to nature than her elven brothers and sisters that preferred what they saw as a more 'civilized' life. She knew, for the most part, how to harvest plants, but she bit back her annoyance. For one she knew nothing of their alchemic purposes (her family had been hunters), and she also knew the reason she was doing this was because of his injury. Of course she had crippled people before, but she hadn't had to travel with them after.

When the rain began Aria seemed much more pleased than Samuel was. Though she had pulled up her hood as well she quietly reveled in the smell of the wet earth and the sound of the soft patters of the rain around her.

For a little bit she even felt relaxed, or as close as she could get to it. But Samuel drew her out of that trance when he grabbed her sleeve and pointed out the distant light. The expression on her face was considerably less excited than his. More people meant that they couldn't talk openly about their predicament. However her displeasure did little to dissuade Samuel, and she found herself trudging after him, the tension in her neck creeping back up again.

As she followed behind him she adjusted her bow slightly to be sure she could notch an arrow quickly enough if need be, but as they came upon the source of the fire she realized she didn't need it. They had found the shrine, and some followers to boot.

Aria removed her hood and grabbed Samuel by the arm before he could take anymore steps back. While the nudity of the followers had been a bit of a surprise, she wasn't about to react like he did. Instead her grip on his arm kept him anchored in place, but she quickly corrected it, leaning in against him and making the touch look much more congenial than it actually was.

This would be a good place to stop for a bit after all, and she rather liked the atmosphere, with the sound of the rain beating against the leafs above them and the warmth of the fire. She offered a greeting in elvish to the woman before speaking in the human tongue. "Hello, what good luck we have to not only find Celedan's shrine, but some of his followers as well. I hope you don't mind our presence. We just started our pilgrimage you see, and we are eager to give our offerings and enjoy this place that he has graced us with."

The elvish woman stood, the natural grace befit of her kind mixed with a drunken sway, slow and rhythmic, as if absently and offhandedly dancing to music only she could hear. A sleepy smile of genuine warmth spread across her lips, and she breathed out a greeting, in the elven tongue, as she stepped forward, arms spread wide, grasping both Samuel and Aria in what would normally be considered a very affectionate and welcoming hug.
"<Ah! Welcome Kin, we are blessed to have your company!>" She spoke in elvish joyously, with a voice high and musical, like that of a songbird, that cracked slightly on the lower tones. She stepped back, and arm still grasping each of their shoulders, looking them up and down.
"Oh, but you are soaked! Come to the fire, and get out of those wet clothes!" Everything about her told of trust, and laughter, and a capacity for love that let her care for strangers as deeply as if they were old friends.

The Dwarf had risen to his feet as well, swaying to the same unheard rhythm as the woman, but with considerable less grace. He brought his fists together in a traditional dwarfen greeting, and gave them a slight bow. "Wood-sister. Over-brother. Come, sit. All are welcome to give praise to the Greenwalker." There was a warmth to his voice as well, like strong, hot, heavy mead hitting your stomach, and spreading golden heat to your bones in the depth of winter. Even with his accent, his tongue seemed to move about syllables slower than expected, giving the impression that he was either slurring, or savoring, each word.

The old man did not move.
He remained seated, cross-legged by the fire, his eyes closed, his head bowed. If not for his upright posture, one could have thought him to be asleep.
Or perhaps that's just how he slept.

Samuel reflexively stiffened up. He was being held by a stranger, a naked stranger, a overly friendly and naked stranger, who smelled like... What was that smell? It was familiar....

When the woman pulled back, Samuel managed to break his grimace with a smile, abet one that looked like his mouth had been forced to the side with a crowbar. It took him a moment to un-clench his jaw. "You're too kind. Thank you. I'll be keeping my clothes on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." The last few thank you's were added as emphasis, when the woman mistook his resistance as simply needing help removing his clothes, her hands going his coat. She took her hands away, but otherwise seemed utterly unabated in her welcoming nature.

"Come, make yourselves comfortable. I am Baiste'nal," The woman placed a hand on her bare chest, still unabashed in her, or any of their, nudity. "This is Maytein" she gestured to the old man, "and here we have Rukad Dolm. The Forest God has yet to give him a name, but he is progressing quickly" The Dwarf beamed, his hands on his hips. The elf made a girlish twist with her body, and giggled in response.
The apparent affection between the two was sweeter than honey.
Samuel felt himself become reflexively more cynical, if only to balance all the sweet with some sour. Ugh.

Both the old man, and the elf woman had, elvish names, their meanings unknown to Samuel, but translating roughly to "Blessed Rain" for the woman, and oddly enough, "Forgiven" for the old man.

With the same grace as before, Baiste'nal tip-toed back to the fire, settling back down, kneeling down. "What brings you upon the Greenwalker's path, travelers? You do not look like one of the Faithful, nor do you seem to be the type to become one. Are you, perhaps," an excited giggle emerged, her eyes glancing ecstatically from Samuel to Aria, "trying?"

Celedan was given offerings for many things. A good hunt. Good health. Safe passage through the wilds. A good harvest. But as a god of the cycle of life, he was also well known for blessing couples with one particular thing.
Fertility.

"Um." Samuel darted a look down at Aria, unsure how to answer, or even if to answer. She had said she used to be a hunter, right? "Hunting!" Samuel yelled, a little to loudly. "That is, we are traveling, and we hope that we will be able to hunt, while we are traveling, for food, for traveling, because we are traveling."

Despite the awkward delivery, Baiste'nal seemed not to notice, instead only looking a little disappointed.

Aria tensed at the woman's hug and had to fight the urge to grab one of her daggers, but as soon as she realized the woman meant no harm she relaxed, which was more she could say for Samuel. She could practically feel his entire being coil in on itself, and her grasp on him tightened, but more in warning than to insure he wouldn't leave. Gods, he had had her in his basement for how long before he had become self conscious over her own nudity and now he was so immediately shocked by this groups.

As the woman pulled back Aria's face looked relaxed and pleasant, and it immediately shifted into a delighted grin as the woman tried to remove Samuel's clothes. He was so clearly not having any of this, but they needed as much rest as they could get, and she wasn't about to leave this blessed space.

At least the woman found no harm in the way Samuel was acting, which Aria was grateful for. She smiled as the woman introduced her and her companions, an eyebrow quirking ever so slightly when she introduced the old man. Forgiven, now that was interesting. As the elf and the dwarf exchanged a moment Aria introduced them. "I go by Aria, and my companion here is Samuel," as she introduced him she patted Samuel on the arm, the pleasant smile back on her face though for the first time in a long while she found herself slightly embarrassed of her name. It was one she had adapted from her childhood name, but wasn't necessarily her 'elven' name. Even with her embarrassment it served her purposes better, and held less painful memories than her true name did.

When Baiste'nal returned to the fire Aria took a few steps toward it, attempting to coax Samuel along with her, but she stopped when the woman asked if they were trying. Her smiled shifted into one of her more mischievous smirks that only deepened when she saw the brief panic on Samuel's face.

His explanation could have been...better, but at least it was something. "Yes, we don't know where we are going to end up quite yet, but who knows, when we find it I hope we might be compelled to try," she said with an almost wistful tone, winking at Baiste'nal as if to indicate that was exactly what she intended to happen. "But until then I am just content with him embracing a god of mine."

She then moved, her hand on his arm sliding down to take hold of his. While she took a few steps toward the fire she also turned so she was facing away from the three. The look on her face was one of complete amusement and delight. "Now lets go sit and enjoy the fire, dearest," she said, breathing out the elven term of endearment with more honey than was necessary. Despite her tone her face was all fun, trying to coax Samuel into playing along, if anything just so the followers would not become suspicious.

As Aria turned to him, coaxing him with a inviting look and an enticing word, Samuel dug his heels in. This wasn't the way of Celedan he knew, this wasn't the way he liked to think about it, this was some... some sort of backwater version, it wasn't his way, it wasn't the right way. No, no, he'd put up with this long enough. Samuel's fists balled up, the knuckles tightening like his resolution. There was a fierceness in his eyes, an obstinate determination that did not match Aria's coy, playful expression.

Samuel's lips tightened, he opened his mouth to speak...

And halfway though, he realized that he was just being stubborn for the sake of stubbornness. That he was resisting, only because someone was trying to get him to do something. And it wasn't even something he disliked. It was just something that he hadn't thought of. Somewhere along the line, he'd just decided that if something wasn't in his own grand scheme, if it wasn't something that Samuel had thought of himself, he'd fight it, tooth and nail. That the only things worth doing was his things, that everything else was bad news.

The look in his eyes became more lost.
"And why is that?" Samuel asked himself. "Why do you insist on fighting this?" He had no answer to that. Fear, maybe?

Samuel continued to stare down into Aria's eyes. He didn't fear her. He looked past her, at the worshipers. He didn't fear them either.

This wasn't something worth fighting. This wasn't something he even wanted to fight.

As his expression softened further, Samuel's tightly balled fists loosened, let go, and he simply stopped bristling. Both hands rose up to Aria's face. He carefully cupped her jaw in his palms, and gently, ever so lightly, brushed her cheeks with his thumbs. It was with the same, slow, fluid motion, that he leaned forward, till their lips almost touched. "She... she is winning me over, you know. I guess we'll just have to see where we end up."

The kiss was deep, slow, and authentic. It wasn't intended to help sell their ruse, or put on a show. Samuel was kissing Aria simply because he wanted to. And it was the first unplanned, impulsive thing he'd done in a long time. While his right hand stayed at Aria's cheek, the other moved down her body, tracing a line with the fingertips down her neck, sliding across her shoulder, caressing the curve of the muscles on her back and spine, till he reached the small of her back. He drew her in closer, pulling her hips towards his.

Once Samuel broke the kiss, and opened his eyes again, he moved with Aria, no longer just being lead by her, to the fire. The smell from before became stronger.
What were they burning? Some sort of incense, certainly, but there was something... familiar. Something that didn't quite belong.

With some help from his crutch, Samuel finally descended, sitting on the ground with a grunt, and laying the bone and leather apparatus down beside him.

The elf woman, Baiste'nal, was right. They did have to get out of their wet clothes, if nothing else, to keep from catching something. Peeling off layer by layer, Samuel disrobed, laying the soaked clothes down on the ground beside him. His jacket, his cowl, his tunic, and finally, and to his great comfort, his boots, a relief to his aching feet.

The pants stayed on. He might be relenting, but he was still Samuel, after all.

Across the brazer from them, Baiste'nal and Rukad sat together.
"An Elf and a Dwarf. Curious," Samuel said, under this breath. The two groups generally avoided one another, and rarely got along so amicably. And Baiste'nal certainly seemed interested in the young dwarf's... beard. Feeling somewhat self conscious again, Samuel looked away from the couple, and into the fire, his face feeling warm from embarrassment.

There was something odd in the fire, the blackened lines of charred twigs and leaves, highlighted by the bright orange flame. The wind shifted, and Samuel got an undiluted wiff of whatever it was besides wood that they were burning.

That sweet, heavy, smokey smell. "What... what have you got in there? It's quite, eh, pungent." Samuel asked, between coughs.

"Hmmm?" Rukad replied, having trouble dragging his eyes away from his companion's form, after placing a thick-fingered hand on her thigh. "It's... Glassnettle, I think it's called. We found a large patch of it growing out a ways, quite strange, since it -"
"- Doesn't grow this far north. Normally only found to the far south, in the scrublands." Samuel interrupted him. The dwarf nodded, a bit surprised. "Where did you find these growing? Where there any more?" Samuel was half-way to his feet, his crutch already in his grips, ready to go back out into the rain.
Rukad and Baiste'nal, looked up at him, somewhat amused. "Hold on now, friend. We've still got plenty with us," the woman replied, opening her own satchel, and gingerly plucking out a few stalks. Samuel almost dove over the brazer.

"Carefull," Baiste'nal bemusedly cautioned, as she handed Samuel the stalks. He immidiately pricked himself on the thin, fragile, almost crystal-like spines.

"Ow"
He excitedly began pulling out alchemical supplies and other herbs from his bag.
As he worked, Samuel would, quite frequently, prick himself again and utter another "Ow," but always distant, more as an automatic response, than actually feeling pain. He was grinding, slicing, mixing and mashing, taking quick nips of ingredients before adding them, and talking to himself.
"No. No. No. Ow. Yes. No. Not like that. Yes. Yes! Ow."

When he seemed satisfied, he poured the clear liquid into a small copper flask, and set it on the very edge of, almost in, the brazier.

As his fists curled and his face remained unrelentingly stubborn her expression shifted to one of annoyance. If he continued to act this way this venture with him would be incredibly difficult. She needed him to delve into things with her. To go along with whatever was thrown at them. He had handled some dead thing bubbling up from below searching for them, but he was now dragging his heels because people were naked? If he couldn't do that she was sure her patience would wear thin. While she knew he had a side she liked, Samuel was beginning to so rarely show that side she was quickly becoming more irritable toward him.

Aria was about to grab for his hand once more and forcefully drag him to the fire, but his hand moved out of her reach and she found her face being gently cupped by his hands. Her eyes widened in surprise before meeting his, and her lips spread into a smile as he brought his face so close to hers. The sudden gesture was incredibly unexpected, but Aria let herself get caught up in it for the brief few moments it lasted. Her arms moved to wrap around his torso as he kissed her, and when his hand ran down her spine she shivered in excitement.

As they parted she felt as though her whole being tingled with a sort of excitement she hadn't felt in some time if ever, and it made the smile (a mix between smug and elated) stay on her face even as she walked with him to settle by the fire.

Settling in she also realized the necessity to get out of her clothes. Her smile fell in annoyance as she began stripping off her own clothes layer by layer, the process often interrupted by her having to take of some hidden weapon or pouch. Unlike Samuel she didn't leave her pants on but she did leave her under garments on. That decision was more based on preparedness than anything else. If she had to suddenly leave or defend herself Aria didn't want to do either naked.

The woman seemed to curl in on herself slightly by the fire, partly out of fatigue, but also partly in self consciousness. Her scars and tattoos stood out on her frame, some more than others, but they all made it clear that she had made some...rougher choices in her life. While she did not mind her bare body, she did mind having bits of her past so out in the open. Then again nobody seemed to be looking. The old man was still praying with his eyes closed and the elven woman and the dwarven man were very focused on each other. Their clear affection made her glance over at Samuel, noting how he averted his eyes away from the couple and stared into the fire. A smile spread across her features as she watched him. When they had another moment alone perhaps she would give him the same sort of attention.

She had just began to doze when Samuel's sudden excitement over some root made her eyes snap back open. They widened in alarm when she watched him nearly dive over the brazier just to grab whatever little plant Baiste'nal was holding up. Her face shifted to one of irritated confusion as he pulled various supplies out of his bag and began furiously working on...well something. Aria knew the basic uses of some plants, but not enough to consider herself able to discern exactly what he was trying to achieve, so she just watched.

After a bit he seemed satisfied enough to pour the liquid into a flask and place it in the brazer. Aria moved in closer until she was kneeling beside him on her knees. "Samuel..." she said, reaching to grab one of his hands and hold it in hers, partly because she wanted to get his attention...and partly because she wanted to. "Would you mind explaining to me what is so exciting about Glassnettle?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked," Samuel replied, clasping a hand over Aria's, and squeezing it warmly. "Firstly, what's interesting about this particular sample, is that it was found growing so far north. Normally they're only found in hot, dry environments, such as wastelands, or desert-border plains, or particularly arid forest areas. Obviously, this," he motioned to the forest around them, both wet, and a touch on the chilly side during this time of the year, "is far from the perfect climate for them to grow in. In fact, if a stalk does ever manager to take root up here, the dampness and cold makes it vulnerable to various fungi. One such type of fungus, Steel Softmaw, takes on some fascinating properties when it's grown from a Glassnettle stock, and is particularly useful, when combined with fermented..."

Necromancy may have been Samuel's calling, but alchemy was his first love. And right now he seemed more like a enthusiastic scholar giving an impassioned lesson, than a dreaded master of the dead arts. He seemed more suited in a lecture hall, trying to get half-asleep students excited about botany and herbalism, and if you squinted, you could almost see a pair of spectacles atop his nose.

Samuel seemed to realize that he was rambling, and stopped himself. "Ah, yes, well. It can be incredibly expensive. And is one of the more potent healing agents I'm aware of. You don't want to drink it, though," he added, quickly, as if to stop Aria from just snatching up the flask, and taking a swig.
"The good stuff is in the steam. We have to let it boil, first."

Samuel had only ever seen it used once before, and used incorrectly, back when he was in the military. He had prepared the mixture more or less correctly, but had administered it all wrong. It had still worked, but what could have been split up into nearly ten doses, he had used up on one person.
Samuel had been reprimanded quite badly for that. He shivered a little, at the memory.

For the first time since working, he looked at Aria, glancing down at the hand held in his own. Gently, he put a hand on Aria's back, rubbing her a little between the shoulderblades, but also looking over her bare skin. There were old scars, yes, but mostly he was looking at the newer cuts and bruises, the one's she'd sustained against... against the Thing that had possessed his body. In much the same way that Aria felt responsibility for Samuel's kneel, he felt responsible for what the creature had done to her. And for what it had tried to do to her.

Sidling closer to Aria, Samuel put an arm around her, and watched the flask, waiting for it to boil. He'd probably try to get her to take a dose as well. It'd do them both some good. It might even heal old wounds.

The feeling of his hand sliding over hers to grasp it was the sort of welcome comfort she forgot how much she liked. Aria was almost focusing too much on the feeling it gave her, to the point where she almost missed what he was saying. Not that it seemed to matter much since he was going into a much deeper explanation than she expected.

Aria stared at Samuel with a slight look of surprise on his face as he went into great detail about the plant. She was amazed he could remember all of this so easily, and recite it all with such enthusiasm. It made sense for him to be so familiar with alchemy considering he had made a healing potion when severely wounded, but still it was a surprise to listen to him go so in depth. It hardly painted the picture of an intimidating necromancer like she had once seen him.

An eyebrow quirked in interest when he mentioned that the plant was a good healing agent. Despite the healing potion he had given her before they left she still had plenty that needed healing. The potion had made it so her head throbbed less and the ache in her body was a distant feeling, but she still was bruised and cut. To her great displeasure the bite mark and her shoulder remained, though the broken skin was healed for the most part there was still a bruise from where the thing had used Samuel's distorted mouth to hurt her.

As Aria began to get drawn into that memory the feeling of Samuel's hand on her back drew her back out. Her eyes moved back to him and she smiled, not minding his eyes on her body. Glancing over to the followers she was happy to see them minding their own business as well. Or at least Baiste'nal and her dwarven companion were too interested in each other to look at them and the elderly man was still keeping to himself.

When his arm slipped around her she leaned into him heavily, her fatigue ever present. The only reason she was indulging in the feeling was because for the time being she felt as though they were fairly safe and would probably remain unbothered where they were. If she was alert all the time she would quickly lose her mind. So instead of fully focusing her mind on the world around her she instead just watched the flames and enjoy the rise and fall of Samuel's chest as she leaned against him. Her hand absently traced circles on his thigh as she considered something to say.

There were dozens of questions she wanted to ask but few would be appropriate to ask in front of these people. Eventually she settled on one. "Do you ever just consider completely committing yourself to alchemy again?"

Samuel shifted a little as Aria drew closer, and leaned into him, and idly poked the flames with a stick. He stroked her hair, slowly, before placing his right arm back around her, his fingers resting lightly at her hip.

While they sat and waited, Samuel's mind was already going over the path ahead. The shrines would more or less follow the road. They'd probably hit a larger shrine before the two trails split. After that, a legitimate temple. And after that...
Samuel wasn't sure. His mind briefly went to what Aria had said, the false story they had woven for the benefit of the others. A house, in the woods, secluded, just the two of them. They could go into hiding. They could be safe.

Trying to be inconspicious, he glanced down at Aria, as she rested her head on his chest, her hand on his leg felt both comforting, and enticing. That... would not be so bad. There were worse fates than peace and quiet.

And then Aria asked the question, the very question he'd just been on the verge of asking himself. Samuel bit his lip, and idly fiddled with the hem of Aria's undergarments. "I've considered that, in the past," Samuel whispered, and continued, "I don't think I could, even if I tried. It's not that I believe I'm fated to... do... that. But... it's in my blood. It's who I am, or at least a part of it. Besides," Samuel sighed, "members of my family aren't exactly known for walking away from a calling, even an unwanted one."

He nodded to the flask, and let go of Aria, reaching into his bag for a pair of short, wooden tongs. The copper bottle was whistling slightly, a thin, tiny jet of green mist winding it's way from under the lid.

Aria closed her eyes while he stroked her hair enjoying the feeling and the comfort it brought. When his hand slipped down to her hip her eyes opened once more, though they were heavy lidded with the tired feeling that had been ever present since she had endured his tortures. Just that in itself had been the kind of experience she would have needed a good day to sleep off, and she had dealt with even more trauma since then.

As he spoke of his calling she stared into the fire, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks as he fiddled with hem of what little amount of clothing she had on. His family, he had spoken of them briefly once before. They couldn't be other necromancers because he had stated he had never met anymore, but they must have known some sort of magic considering his familiarity with alchemy and the like. She intended to inquire further about them but the whistle of his flask prevented her.

When Samuel moved to grab the flasks she sat up again, watching the green mist that slipped from the lid in interest. Though she had certainly used potions and the like before she had never really been around to watch the process of making them. While she would not say so it amazed her that Samuel could know so much about such a subject, but she guessed he would probably be amazed to know how many objects she could make a weapon out of. Of course that was perhaps more alarming than amazing.

"Exactly how powerful is this stuff?" she asked, looking from the green mist to his face, amber eyes looking questioningly into his gray eyes. The color of the mixture's steam was in all honesty a little off-putting. Though Aria had swallowed the healing potion he had given her before without so much a s question, she was now in a clearer state of mind as well as a lot less pain. And she had had one too many poisoning incidents in her time and wasn't too keen on any pain stemming from his mixing some plants incorrectly. "Ah...or rather, is it safe I should say?" Aria followed with, correcting herself before he could answer.

As the copper flask was still quite hot to the touch, Samuel wrapped the bottle in the cloth of his cowl, leaving the top, and the lid, exposed. He was about to, gingerly, pry the lid off, when Aria's question made him pause. It was... not a question he had considered, but now that she had mentioned it, Samuel realized, he probably should be considering it.

"Wellllll....." He mused after a long pause, his thumb still on the lid, "I... suppose it may have some side effects. But, and this is the important part, most of what I've added doesn't actually do anything. Per se. Um... Ok, so, the main ingredient, Glassnettle, that's the thing that actually does all the work. Everything else simply enhances that. For instance, I've added separators and emulsifiers, to isolate the essence of the glassnettle, but ensure that those vital essences still react together. Concentrates ensure that the essences work well in... well, high concentrations. There are ingredients that ensure that the body can quickly absorb the glassnettle extract, ingredients to control the reaction, and a few stimulants to make the body a little more receptive to the glassnettle effects."

"And anyways..." Samuel spoke with more confidence than he actually had, "If it does have any ill effects, the healing portion should completely, most likely, counteract that." He gave Aria a comforting smile, then looked down at the bottle, his grin becoming a touch faded.
"Nothing to worry about," Samuel stated, more to himself than anyone else, "nothing at all."

He popped the lid off, took in a deep breath, and slapped the lid back on.
At first, he felt nothing. Not even a taste in his mouth, which disappointed Samuel a bit.
Then...
He felt really good. Like he'd just had a full night's sleep, a filling meal, and had just downed a large cup of very strong, high caffeine tea, with a gratuitous amount of sugar added to it. "Well, this isn't bad at all. It's actually quite-oh!"

A tickling, tingling sensation began, starting in his chest, and spreading outwards, feeling strongest in his fingertips and toes. Though he felt the sensation, as if tiny spots of intense heat or cold were appearing all throughout him, moving about, then disappearing, all throughout his body, they seemed to gather mostly around his injuries, on his stomach, head, and his knee.

Samuel handed the wrapped up flask to Aria. "The effects certainly are interesting. Here, Aria, why don't... you... hmmm..." He placed a hand on his stomach. The feelings of fullness and sprightly zest were quickly fading, as the potion burned up the energy it had given him in order to do it's work. The tingling sensation only became stronger, winking out on most of his body, but becoming more intense on his wounds, his knee especially.

"Ow," Samuel stated placidly at first, grimacing down at his knee, then again "Ow. Ow! Ow, Ow, Ow, damnit, Ow!" his voice filled with more urgency. It didn't actually hurt, it just felt... more. Like his sensitivity had been highened, and he wasn't yet ready for the increase. The tingling sensation now felt like hundreds of tiny needlepoints, pressed against his skin, of intense, indeterminate white temperature. It was impossible to tell if they felt white hot, or white cold. Reflexively, Samuel wanted to slap it away.

He tried rolling up his pant leg, only to be stopped by his own bandages. The pants bunched up, just under the knee, and the feeling was becoming more and more unbearable, almost claustrophobic. "Crap, crap, no, no, no, ow, damnit, ow, ow, ow!" If he couldn't go up, Samuel decided, he's go down. Briefly struggling with his belt, Samuel ripped his pants off, and in his haste, as he had simply hooked his thumbs under whatever fabric they first grasped and pulled, he'd removed his undergarments as well.

Nudity aside, Samuel was most concerned with his knee, and the stifling bandage still wrapped around it. The cloth appeared to be somewhat damp, and as he watched, droplets and patches of red liquid were soaking through it. Once the bandage was off as well, however, it was easy to see that there was no blood. Instead, it almost appeared that Samuel was sweating an amber-colored substance from the wounded knee. Droplets formed on the surface of the skin, and almost immediately began to dry, into hard little orange-red beads.

The process seemed to be slowing down. Samuel moved his knee a little. It didn't hurt. He moved it more. Still nothing. He fully bend and unbent the joint, marveling at how natural it felt now, at the total lack of pain.

"I'll be damned. Stuff works faster than I thought."

At this point, he was lying back a little on the ground, one leg bent, the other still sticking out. The position had made his cock flop out onto his leg, giving Aria and unobstructed and... interesting view, that left little to the imagination.

His pause made her eyes narrow and her mouth became thin line as he began to muse that it could have side effects and but that it should be fine. Despite his efforts to reassure her Aria had no issue with him trying out his mixture first. Ad he popped the lid off she watched him closely, her face still looking fairly suspicious of the mixture.

With each passing moment and his apparent good feelings he was getting from the mixture her face seemed to relax. In fact she had even taken the bottle from him, but before she popped the lid off he had suddenly seemed to feel something not entirely enjoyable. His first ow made her drop the flask away from her face, and as he continued to say ow she took one look at the flask before setting it gingerly on the ground. Perhaps it was not for her.

When she looked back up she found Samuel struggling with his pants. "Uh...Samuel?" she said, but he was far too concerned with whatever was happening with him. She considered trying to help him, but in his panicked state she thought better of it, and instead she watched as he fumbled with his pants, ultimately pulling both them and his underwear off. "Oh...no..." she mumbled at the sight of the wet bandage, but when he pulled it off it didn't look like blood that was making his knee slick. No it was something else. Aria grimaced her eyes going from the knee to Samuel's face. It was quite the site and if he hadn't looked to be in so much pain she might have considered a snarky comment, but she could guess by the look on his face that would be rather out of place.

A few more moments passed and his pain seemed to subside, but what interested her more was his leg which was working again. He was bending it with ease. Aria sat back on her heels in amazement, her eyes returning to the flask beside her still unsure if after all that she would want to use it as well. It wasn't as if any of her wounds were as physically debilitating as his were.

His voice drew her back to him, and at the sight of him lying on the ground in such an...interesting position she couldn't help but smile in amusement. She had to stifle a laugh, one of her hands flying up to her mouth so she didn't entirely loose it. It wasn't as if she was laughing at his body...just how ridiculous the whole event had been and at the fact that he was now lying naked for her and the followers to see.

But that wasn't important, she reminded herself, and her eyes snapped back to him. Aria moved closer to him, her hands moving to his knee, searching for any feeling of fracture or displacement. "Amazing...it feels completely healed..." she said, staring at the knee for a moment before her eyes slid over his form, ultimately making eye contact with him. Her lips turned up in her typical amused grin. "If this," she said gesturing to his current position,"is how you think you're going to entice me I can't say it's entirely the best method...but," her voice trailed off as her hand slid down his leg to rest at his waist. She then let her hand trail up his chest before moving back down to settle right at his waist where she drew small circles. "Perhaps we should celebrate it healing sometime soon." Aria really wasn't being entirely fair. She figured once he realized he was laying naked in front of everyone he would grow flustered, and her teasing him probably wouldn't help that, but that was part of the fun. For her anyways. Though she was entirely serious about celebrating she highly doubted he was going to be compelled to do it right where they were right at that moment.

"Atta-boy!" A gleeful shout came from the other side of the brazier, the dwarf pumping his fist into the air, upon seeing Samuel completely disrobed. For her part, Baiste'nal clapped enthusiastically, let out a few cat calls, and sat up a little straighter, to get a better view from behind the brazier.
"Enjoying the show, Bast?" Rukad said slyly to his companion. The elf looked back, and winked. "Oh, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you." Her hand, which had been placed back on Rukad's thigh, letting it slide upward, until she was running her fingers over the dwarf's fat phallus. They shared a kiss, deep and sensual, before Baiste'nal looked back over at the duo.
"I suppose this makes you the odd-woman-out, Kin. Surely, you don't want to miss out on being natural, in nature?" She did not wait for a reply, locking lips with the dwarf again.

They were not the only ones feeling decreased inhibitions. After inhaling the Glassnettle steam, it had only taken Samuel a few minutes to reached the same point as the followers, who had been breathing in the smoke for hours. He shivered at Aria's touch, as she ran her hand up his leg and chest, and let out a pleasant sigh as she traced circles on his waist. He was lying back completely now, blinking slowly, his eyes dilated, staring up at the trees, before looking over at Aria, with the same, sleepy, happy expression that decked the other follower's faces.
"That feel... so nice. It feels nice, just to be touched," Samuel murmured, adding "I think I took too much. Take some, it'll do you good, but... just a whiff. Definitely not a potion to use in the middle of a fight."

Aria's touch did feel good, which was made more apparent as Samuel's cock started swelling, rising up a little more with each throb. He reached over a slid a hand behind her, trailing down her back, and caressing one of Aria's butt cheeks. The fingers slid further down, grazing the hem of her undergarments, tantalizingly close to the lips of her slit.

She had flashed a smile over at Baiste'nal when she had mentioned that surely Aria did not want to be the odd one out. She was in fact quite fine being odd one out especially considering how Samuel was currently...well not entirely acting how she predicted. And on top of that when she had looked back it had seemed quite apparent that the two were very comfortable with showing affection, as her eyes had breifly looked down to note that the elf was currently pleasuring her dwarven companion. That was certainly not something you saw very often but just the fact that she was seeing it made her blush slightly.

Her face, which had already warmed in slight embarrassment from the calls of the two followers, now deepened as Samuel merely enjoyed her touch and urged her to partake in the potion. Her eyes widened in surprise as she noted the pleased expression on his face, as well as the expression of pleasure that was rising between his thighs. Her blush deepened as she realized she was currently the only one in a state fit to recognize and care about how public they were being. Sure she had enjoyed pleasures in some...questionable locales before, but never anywhere quite so open and around so many people.

Her hand stopped for the moment and her eyes flashed back to Samuel's face. If he thought she was going to relax enough to let both of them slip into the bliss he was feeling he was mistaken. Though she currently felt the safest she had in a while she still wanted to be on her guard, especially now that Samuel currently wasn't. "I don't know if that's the best idea dear. One of us should probably be of sound body and mind in case anything happe-ah," Arias words were interrupted by the feeling of Samuels hand suddenly sliding down her butt to rest ever so close to her womanhood. Her blush deepened further and she looked at him with even more surprise than before.

Aria was now realizing that with the glassnettle affecting Samuel so the tables had turned and now she was the one blushing, whilst also desperately craving his touch to go a little bit farther. Though more open than her partner generally was she wasn't entirely sure how far that extended. Glancing back to Baiste'nal and Rukad to see they were back to passionately kissing and that the old man was still very focused on what ever he was doing she felt a little relieved. "Samuel," she breathed out as a shiver of anticipated pleasure ran down her spine, "are you quite sure you want to go down this path right here, right now?" Gods she really hadn't expected this of all things, for her to be hanging on his touch instead of the other way around.

Every time Samuel blinked, it was slower, his eyes staying closed for longer and longer periods of time. He seemed oblivious to Aria's truth; to her, they were public, exposed, and unprepared. By contrast, Samuel felt warm, relaxed, and safe. He was putting up minimal resistance to the oncoming exhaustion, almost as if he were unaware of it. Like the followers, he seemed drunken, and sedated, and the mere act of thinking had the appearance of taking a considerable effort.

This was only partially true. His mind felt more liberated, with thoughts and memories flowing freely, and quickly. But randomly, as well. Focus was difficult, and left a bad taste in Samuel's mouth. He discovered that decisions, conclusions of logic, one so authomatic, seemed to now be ruled entirely by impulse, and Id. Samuel took a long time to answer Aria, a pleasant, distant smile on his face, but squinting up at her, as if she were far away, or out of focus.
"Aria... wouldn't it feel nice, making love, under the trees? Don't you want to feel my kiss on your sweet busom, my..." Samuel paused, his head tilted. He looked as if he were listening to something, close to the ground, but in truth he was merely listening to himself.
"I... No. No.... you're right," he finally consented, painfully. Samuel lay fully on his back, half-alseep, one hand still holding Aria, his thumb gently stroking the back of her upper thigh.
"Com-ere, you." It came out as a mumbled whisper. "Let me hold you. Let me hold the woman I love, in my arms."

As he tried to sell his proposition she had to wonder if he was selling it to her or himself. Either way she watched him with wide eyes, while the blush on her face refused to fade away, too focused on where his hand laid on her body.

It seemed to occur to Samuel that perhaps this was not his first choice for places to have sex. As his hand shifted to the back of her thigh she seemed to relax a little, at least until he asked her to come into his arms. Her eyes narrowed down at him and she raised one brow in surprise. He had used that word, though she wasn't about to address it. Perhaps he was trying to sell their ruse, or perhaps he wasn't, either way she wasn't going to fuss over something he said in the current state he was in.

So all she did was smirk and lay down next to him, one of her legs moving to entwine with his while one of her hands rested on his chest. After she seemed settled she leaned her head up so her mouth was near his ear. "I fully intend to let you do much more than just hold me at the soonest possible opportunity," she said in a whisper before planting a kiss on his neck, just below his ear.

Samuel slowly uttered a pleased murmur, as Aria's lips pressed against his neck. He was vaguely aware that his arm was around the woman, but had no recollection of how it had got there. His lazy fingers grazed Aria's skin, leaving shivering trails along the ridges of her ribs. Above him, the trees swam, slow-moving flora jellyfish, bobbing their way to the sky.

"That'll take more experimentation," Samuel said aloud, in response to the odd visions. He'd never heard of Glassnettle having hallucinogenic properties, but it just might be his mind being half asleep, dreaming while still awake. Quite awake, in fact, and fully aware that what he was seeing wasn't real, that his grip on reality was slipping. His tongue was slipping as well.
"You never see undead plants. Why is that?" His voice was, thankfully, just coming out as a breath now. "You see all sorts of animals, insects even. Diseases, even. And everything that has a a spirit, everything that lives, should have the potential to... I dunno, unlive? So why not plants?"
His eyes closed, but he still kept talking.

No-one but Aria would have been able to hear him. No-one but Aria was paying attention. The old man hadn't budged from his spot, hadn't moved a muscle, seemed to be barely breathing. Surely, he had to be asleep. As for Baiste'nal and her dwarven companion... their situation seemed to have progressed. Rythmic gasps from the elf, and the occasional groan from the dwarf, could be heard, and just above the lip of the braizer, Samuel could see Baiste'nal's bared back, her lithe muscles clenching, as her hips moved desperately, straddled atop Rukad. His strong, thick, almost knotty hands could be seen, clutching her waist, bringing her down, and hoisting her up, with equal determination. One hand moved up and out of sight, to Baiste'nal's chest. In response, her back arched and she tensed up, as she let out a barely suppressed cry, gasping out something in elvish, before bending down to embrace her companion.

"I think the problem is life. Or rather, what plants mean to life," Samuel continued, partially oblivious to the throes of passion happening so close by. "They constantly grow, they're always changing, the very embodiment of life. Undead things...they don't do any of that. They're a halting of the cycle. They'er stagnation. The two things... they can't be reconciled. Unless... unless you have a plant, that's not a plant."

His mind was finally giving up, and Samuel was relinquishing whatever hold he had on the waking world, dipping into sleep. His head lolled to the side, and his eyes shut for good. "I've seen that once, you know. A tree, that wasn't a tree. Saw a whole bunch of them. Shoulda...." He swallowed, struggling to get the last few words out, "shoulda destroyed them when I had the chance. Shoulda burned the whole forest down. They... they weren't right. They shouldn't have... just been left... like that..."

The skin over ribs tingled from his touch, and she let out a sigh as she settled against him, listening to his musings. She was also desperately trying to ignore the fact that Baist'enal was currently enjoying her dwarven companion fully. It was hard not to glance at the two every now and again, and she felt awkward being an observer to such a private moment. She shouldn't have, she had spent much of her life watching people, even when they were at their most vulnerable. But this felt different.

On top of that Samuel's own touch was leaving her wanting more, which irked her to no end, since on one hand she could not indulge, and on the other she didn't like that she was so bothered by it. Aria liked when she was in control. When things were tidy and easy to deal with, and her current situation was none of the above.

Instead of continuing to focus on the two she focused on Samuel, who was still trying to work out the issue of plants. Aria looked to his face, watching his expression shift as he spoke. He looked tired, and the longer he went on the more tired he looked.

For the most part what he was saying meant little to her until he mentioned the trees that were not trees. While that peaked her interest she realized that with his eyes closed and his voice fading she was not going to get the full story. Once his talking stop she sighed again, this time more in frustration. It seemed the two love birds had collapsed, the old man was still quiet and still, and now Samuel was asleep. She probably should have tried to sleep too, she was certainly tired enough, but the fact that she was the only who currently seemed at all aware made it hard for her to relax. The forest shrine was much too open and the fire would draw in other travelers...or worse.

So instead she lay awake, staring in tired worry up at the canopy of leaves that shielded them from the rain. Aria listened to the world around them, trying to detect any sounds she should be worried about among the noise of the rain and the forest and Samuel's soft breathing.

Hours pass, and the rain continued. The storm seemed to pick up suddenly, flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, roaring throughout the forest. The increase in intensity lasts only a few breaths, but somewhere in the distant din, there was a cry, a fleeting shriek of rage and pain. The screams were horrible and unearthly, and sent a shiver down your spine, like the feeling of a claw, reaching out slowly, to take you from behind.
Even those asleep were disturbed. Samuel grit his teeth and clenched his fists, and the two companions shifted uncomfortably in their sleep, ending with Baiste'nal fretfully nestling her forehead into the nape of Rukad's neck, while he put an arm around her, pulling her in closer. The old man finally made a noise, a long sigh, almost relieved, as if he had been holding his breath.
As the cold sensation passed, so went the strength of the storm.

"Thank you for coming. You bless us with our presence." The old man finally spoke, though it was not apparent to whom he had addressed.

Not until the angel had come into view.

Not an angel in the typical sense, a winged being of light and glory. No, this was a servant of Celedan, God of Nature and Life. It took a more appropriate form.

An elk, nearly twice the size of any natural beast of it's kind. Massive, ropy, rippling muscles, barely contained by it's hide, framed it's body, shifting slowly and elegantly as it moved, on it's tiny, mincing hooves. It was a deep, dark violet, almost black, and almost looked like there were tiny, distant stars caught up in it's fur. Two branches grew from it's temples, decked sparsely with leaves, forming antlers.
And the eyes. They were not the eyes of some mute, dumb beast, but eyes that looked into you, that saw you, who and what you were. Eyes that saw and understood.
They were not full of malice, but neither were they kind.
They simply knew.

The angel strode, silently, into the light of the fire, stopping in front of the old man, and bent it's head down. Maytein cocked his own head to the side. A few moments passed, and in hushed tones, the beast whispered into his ear.

The old man nodded, and spoke again. "Thank you," a mixture of fear, relief, and awe in his hoarse voice, "I understand."
At long last, the old man's eyes opened, and he turned, to look over at Aria.
"He wishes you to move aside."
There seemed to be the expectancy that she would obey.