The Two Adventurers (ZodiacDragon1014 and Karo)

Jerik nodded in response to her question, and shed off his armor from his body and removed his undershirt. Tossing the bloodied bandages aside, he replaced them with strips from his own shirt, putting just enough pressure on her arm to prevent the arm from bleeding anymore than it had already. Content with the work he had done, Jerik takes a seat next to her and rests his hand on her back.

"Feeling a little better?"

He asks her, his tone of voice and expression on his face showing her the genuine concern he had for her.

She nodded to him. At least the wounds had begun to heal, and would hopefully stop bleeding soon. The worst of it was over, and as long as she didn't aggravate the wounds further and they weren't attacked again, recovery was almost guaranteed. Of course, there was always the possibility for a mishap, but the chances of that were slim.

"Yes, a bit." she said. Being able to sit and rest had brought some of the color back to her face, and she didn't look nearly as exhausted as she had before. It was still going to be a long trip, though, as she would almost undoubtedly need to stop and rest a few more times that day.

She looked over to Jerik and offered a bit of a smile. "I hope you don't think I owe you for this or anything." she teased.

Jerik laughed and patted her on the back gently, happy to see that her injury hadn't robbed her of her sense of humor at all.

"Well I was kinda hoping that maybe I was owed just a little bit."

He says with a chuckle, indicating some meaningless amount with his index finger and thumb. It was good to see her in better health so quickly, yet the journey ahead would not let up on either of them. At the very least he was thankful that their more recent encounter was with something he could fight and slay with little to know trouble, but unfortunately Ari's injury seemed to take that victory away. He pulls her in against his chest, letting her rest there for a moment.

"You feel up to moving again? We'll take it at a snail's pace."

She laughed a bit, giving the slightest grimace as she shifted her shoulder. Yeah, she'd be sore for a while.

"We'll see about repayment later, then." she said as she stuck her tongue out playfully.

She settled against his chest as he pulled her in, careful not to agitate her injuries any more than she needed to. She went silent as he held her against him, taking the few moments to just relax and gather her thoughts.

"Yeah." she replied at his questions. She stood slowly, using Jerik's arm as support. "We're better off moving slowly than just sitting here."

She bit her lip at the sudden realization of what this meant; already short on supplies, this would only be another problem for them to deal with. She was slowing the both of them down now.

Jerik helped her up, allowing her to use him as support to whatever extent she felt she needed. Both Ari and Jerik both seemed to realize that because of her injury and their newly found slow pace of progressing through the forest, their current supplies might end up not being enough for them to get out. The way he figured it however, is that he could take a reduction in his rations, allowing for them to hopefully last just a little it longer.

Once again, positioning Ari on his left at the river's side, and positioning himself between her and the treeline, acting as a barrier, they began to trudge on forward. It was mid afternoon by this time, plenty of time left within the day to keep going. The unknown now was where they would settle once darkness began to descend.

Jerik was there by her side the entire way, always there to offer her a stable base if she needed to rest, and just to be there for comfort's sake. They would get through this. They had to.

Arastine stuck close to him, spending quite a bit of time using his arm for support or even outright leaning against him as they walked. There was still a good amount of daylight left, and she wasn't about to waste it with another stop. There would be plenty of time to stop and rest once the sun began to go down.

It was nearly sunset when she grabbed Jerik's arm again suddenly. She had hardly said a word since their first break, focusing on just moving forward down the river. "I think...we should try and find a place to rest for tonight.' she said. "It's late enough..."

Jerik welcomed her leaning against him, so much so that he had his arm wrapped around her body for much of the way. He decided it best to let them both just walk in silence, offering up no conversation or small talk. Letting her be for the moment would be the best thing to do.

Once sunset finally started to begin, Arastine wasted little time in letting him know that finding a spot soon would be a good idea. It didn't take them long to find a comfy clearing by the river. The tree line had been pushed far back, being replaced for the moment, by a small cliff. It would be perfect. They shouldn't have to worry about much tonight.

"Here we are."

Jerik said, walking with Arastine toward their spot. All that needed to be done was to build a shelter, and by now their supplies would be dry enough to build a fire.

Arastine seemed more than welcoming to the spot they had found. Probably the safest they would be for a long while, with no real threat of attack from anywhere. She'd at least be able to rest and recuperate without that worry hanging over her head.

Normally, she'd be the first to be up building a shelter for the two of them, just something to keep any foul weather off of them should it arise, but first she just needed to sit down. Just a few minutes rest before she helped with the work that needed to be done.

Though it would have been comfortable enough to lean back against the dirt and stone of the cliffside, she winced at the thought of the jagged rocks rubbing against her injured shoulder. Instead, she unceremoniously plopped herself down on the ground, the soft grass enough of a cushion for the time being.

"What do we need to do?" She asked. "Just a fire and something to keep us dry, right?" She asked once she had caught her breath.

Jerik nodded, already beginning to gather materials for another shelter and for a fire. Despite Ari's injuries, conditions this time around for shelter and a place to rest were in their favor. Perhaps it was a sign of good things to come? He hoped so, for Ari's sake and his own.

"That should about cover it."

He said with another nod, placing all the materials he felt they needed in order to build their shelter in one pile. He didn't start building, not just yet. Instead, Jerik walks on towards Ari and kneels down next to her, shedding his pack off from his pack. Opening it up, he pulls a small portion of rations from it, presenting it to her.

"Here, go ahead and eat something. After everything you've been through..."

He held out his hand with the food in his grasp.

She took the rations gratefully. Even if they were somewhat bland and tough, it was food, and she needed it fairly badly. Tired, stressed, and injured, just the bit of food in her stomach was a welcome offer.

"Thanks." she said with a smile, shrugging her shoulders tiredly. "I don't think I've ever been hit that hard...any more and I think they would've broke something. It's already bruised, I can feel that.' she sighed. "I'm not going to be much use fighting for a while, not until this heals up, and I don't know how long that's going to be."

She frowned a bit as she nibbled on the rations provided to her. The last thing she needed was to be a burden to Jerik. Until then she had been able to fend for herself, but now? She felt far too weak, and more vulnerable than she had in a long time. This was exactly the reason she chose to flee instead of fight whenever possible. Some might think her a coward, sure, but she saved herself quite a bit in medical fees for it.

"Hopefully we aren't ambushed again."

"You are most welcome."

Jerik responds, shooting her a smile right back. He settles down next to her and looks to her.

"You did take quite a hit there. I am glad that they didn't break anything. Your injury could have gotten a lot more complicated, something I might not have been able to treat."

Unfortunately for the two of them, they were down one combatant, leaving him to defend the both of them. The goblins didn't pose much of a threat to him, and the only reason Ari had gotten injured was because of their surprise attack. Goblins and their damn ambushes... With her injured and now hopefully recovering arm limiting her, they practically needed a miracle to get out of here now. Wounds that were as deep as hers took time, time enough for Ari to our of fighting for a while.

"I think we should be fine this night. It's as good a place as any to rest until tomorrow's trek."

She nodded again, and finished downing the bit of food she had been given. For possibly the first time since they had met, she looked less than fully confident that they'd be getting out of these woods. Normally, she wouldn't let this doubt show, but even she had to admit, things were looking bleak.

However, she instead flashed another bit of a smile to him. "Well, it didn't. I should be healing up pretty quick, assuming we don't have to do much more fighting.' she said as she stood, and went over to the pile of supplies Jerik had gathered to build a shelter with. "Hopefully I'll be back to fighting within the next few days."

Jerik too stood and began to lend a had with some of the materials. With the aid of Ari, the two of them began to build there little shelter.

"I hope so. Never know when I'm going to need you to save my ass."

Jerik says, grinning. It was his hope that he would perhaps lighten the mood, get her to either smile or better yet, laugh. Things were looking bleak, he couldn't deny that, but at the same time it was those negative thoughts that would make it all the more difficult for him. He did his best to keep as optimistic an outlook as possible.

Knowing full well that Ari would be able to finish up the shelter by herself, Jerik began work on the pile for their fire.

His little joke worked. She cracked a bit of a smile, and shook her head.

"Yeah, of course." she chuckled. "Hopefully that isn't tonight. Or tomorrow night. It'd be nice if we were just given some time to rest here so I could get back into fighting shape."

She was slower working than she had been the previous night, and for obvious reasons, but before it had gotten completely dark, she had a little shelter put together for the two of them to lie under. Again, not much more than a little lean-to in case of rain, but it would be enough.

"You have the fire going yet?" she asked him as she put the finishing touches on the shelter.

Jerik chuckled, content with himself that he had gotten her to smile, despite their situation. Putting the finishing touches for the fire place, he lights it, the fire erupting in a blaze. Turning to Ari, he grins.

"I hope that answers your question."

He laughs softly and walks towards the shelter, coming to check and see if there was anything else that needed to get done on it before they settled inside. Nope. It looked like Ari had taken care of everything. He wraps his arm around her and admires the shelter and the fire.

"Perhaps we should stay here for a little while. Help get back your strength. We may be running low on rations, but I think I could do some fishing, get us some more food."

She settled against his shoulder, careful to avoid the injuries on her shoulder as she leaned against him. The rest would be welcomed, she knew that she needed the time to recover, and it would be quicker if they stayed put instead of trying to travel, but the idea still made her uneasy. There was so much that could go wrong. What if they couldn't catch anything and starved? What if they were ambushed again?

There were so many variables, and none of them seemed to outweigh the benefits of them staying put. Except, of course, that she wouldn't be next to useless in combat once she healed up, even just slightly. Enough where moving her arm didn't cause extensive pain.

"We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning." she suggested. "I might be doing a lot better and we won't have to stick around."

Applying just a gentle squeeze, pressing her comfortably in his grasp, he speaks.

"We'll be alright. Just try not to push it. If you don't feel well enough tomorrow to head out, then we should stay. I can't imagine we're going to find anywhere else that's as good a place to settle than this."

There were so many unknowns when traveling, which was particularly true about this forest. Considering the condition of her arm, Jerik figured it best that they did stay. Traveling had the potential to make it more likely that they were going to run into something else that would be bound to kill them. At least here they were away from any sort of plants and seemed to be hidden enough to hopefully avoid any such surprise attacks.

Arastine sighed and nodded as he pulled her against his side. She winced slightly as she shifted, but had soon settled comfortably with Jerik.

They were in a tough position. While staying here seemed like the better option, it did come with its risks. Leaving, though, with her injured and nowhere near top fighting condition, came with a whole new set of dangers. Either wait around here and potentially end up starving, or risk walking into an ambush. Hell, they still risked an attack even waiting where they were!

All of this was why she almost always worked alone. At least then she only had herself to worry about should anything like this come up.

"We'll see what tomorrow brings." She finally said with a sigh. It was really all they could do then.

((Holy shit. I am so sorry for taking this long to reply. It's been a combination of being busy and thinking I already responded. I sincerely apologize. =( ))

Jerik leaned in and gave her a kiss on the side of her head. With a gentle squeeze, being sure to mind her injury in the process, he walks himself along with Arastine inside the shelter. Their situation was not ideal, but despite everything that had happened to them up to this point, their new campsite, to Jerik at least, felt like a lucky break. They would need to rest up tonight, allowing time for them both to recuperate, and for Arastine's injury to heal even further.

"I have the feeling that we'll be fine."

He begins.

"The spot we have is much more ideal than any other place that we've had before."

Setting both himself and Ari down against the wall of the cliff, Jerik settles Ari comfortably against him, once again being mindful of her injury. Aggravating it wouldn't do anyone any favors.

"For the moment, let's rest up. I'll go ahead and catch some fish in the morning."

(No worries, happens to everyone :3 I know i have moments like that plenty of times x_x)

The thief couldn't help but laugh a bit at his words, his little gestures he made to no doubt reassure her that everything was going to be alright. They were appreciated, but really weren't going to do anything to better their situation.

Either way, once they were relatively safe inside of their little shelter, she settled easily against Jerik's side. Ideal location or not, there was one major flaw that they'd be unable to avoid; someone or something out there apparently wanted them dead. Whether the strange plants and attack by goblins had been from the same source was yet to be seen. Arastine feared the worst; it couldn't have been sheer coincidence that the only other living creatures they encountered happened to be out to kill them for some reason, could it?

She sighed, and nodded to Jerik again. "Yeah." she said quietly. "Right now, resting is the best thing we can do."

((So wow... I never meant to completely abandon this. Things had gotten incredibly busy over on my end, and if you're still up for it, I'd be all for continuing this. I'll go ahead and made a post and you can decide what you'd like to do.))

With Arastine against him, Jerik made sure to allow for ample comfort on her end. They spent several moments in the shelter, basking in the warmth of the fire. Despite all of the stresses of the day, the moment was comforting, calm, and relatively lacking in worry. It gave Jerik a chance to quiet his mind and reflect on not the possibilities of what was attacking them and clearly wanted them dead, but instead gave him time to reflect on just him.

His breathing was slow and steady, and for several moments at a time, his eyes were closed, only opening them to check on Ari. He thought about his past for a while, the friends he had lost, and even the wives he had lost, each one lost by death. It had been what seemed like ages since those events had happened, yet they all rang in his mind as though they had all happened yesterday. It seemed his life was full of death.

His thoughts then immediately went to Ari. She was one more person in his life, one more person who was threatened at just associating with him. She played well with danger. The ways she had handled herself with each situation that they had survived together showed him that. He worried that he would be the death of her. But no! Damnit! He would protect her. He would protect her in ways that she couldn't protect herself, and likewise, she would protect him in ways that he couldn't.

Despite the risks, his mind finally settled on everything, all of this being worth it. He would stand by her through thick and thin, for as long as she would allow him to be with her.

Finally, his mind quieted, and all there was, was the silence, only broken by the nearby stream running right by them. With the day's events now past, Jerik began to drift until finally, he fell asleep till the following morning.

((Again, I apologize for the even longer delay. =( I figure this post should at least help a little in making up for it. Let me know if you wish to continue at all. I really do love this story.))