The Nexus

So what if he had been lounging beneath a tree, napping in the midday. It wasn't like he had anything important to do. But as fate had it, someone stumbled upon him, needing help. Of course he wasn't going to turn a woman in need down. He was just a nice guy like that. And so, here was was, walking down the main road on his way to the town he had just come from.

Exarion rubbed his golden brown hair, letting out a yawn as he walked. He was glancing this way and that, at nothing in particular. His eyes would settle back on to the female he was escorting. Aurelia... or at least... he thought that was her name. He had been a little groggy when she introduced herself.

"So... you got separated from your group, right?" he asked, his hands falling to his side, next to his daggers. His bow and quiver shifted lightly against his back as he walked. How does someone lose a whole group of people?";

Aurelia was up on her cart while he was walking, she hadn't been about to leave that behind since it had all her stuff in it. Her horse was just plodding along though, not going very fast. "You sure you don't want up here?" She didn't much mind one way or another.

"Well...yes. They moved on without me. It's not so bad really, except for when I get lost." Like now! "But then I'm fortunate enough to run into someone helpful as yourself, so I guess it ended up alright." She was a bit of a chatter box, but that came from being on the road for so long without anybody but her horse to talk to. "What did you say your name was again? Rion?" Eh, close enough!

Exarion shook his head when she asked about the cart again. He much preferred walking if he could. He felt in a better mood when he walked, rather than sitting down and riding. He would give her a glance when she said the shortened version of his name.

"Yeah, Rion will do, I guess." He didn't care so much. It wasn't like she was going to be around long enough for her to know his full name. "Do you have a shortened version of your name? Like... something that isn't hard to say?" Coming from a clan of wood elves, one would think he would be decent with pronouncing names. But that was not the case.

"Most people use Lia, I don't mind either Aurelia or Lia, whichever you prefer." She didn't press about him not getting up on the wagon, if he wanted to walk that was fine, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to walk.

"So are you from around here?" She didn't know much about the area at all, she'd just been wandering where ever the road would take her, it had suited her thus far.

"No, not really. I like to wander. My home is up north, where there is usually almost always snow. I guess I just got tired of the scenery up there, and came down to this area. I like it here... the people are nice at least." He shrugged a bit at his words, recalled how far they were from the village. Half a day at most. It wasn't too far.

But his pace slowed when he saw something strange he hadn't noticed on his way through the first time. Just past the tree like... he noticed a heap of vines rising up around something. And an arrow sticking from underneath.

"Strange..." he said, making his way off the road, and through the thicket of tree. He knelt down beside the vines, and brushed away some of the green, revealing a man underneath.

He wasn't bothered about seeing a dead man. He had seen one before. He just shook his head. "How terrible. Left here to rot." He found it strange though, that the vines were around him, like he had been sitting there for a long time, but the flesh hadn't decayed... like he had just died not that long ago.

Aurelia grinned, "Me too. Maybe after spending some time up here I'll head that way. I've never seen snow before." Their chatting was cut short when Exarion stopped at the side of the road to examine something. Aurelia pulled her horse to a stop and she climbed off the cart to see what the half elf was looking at.

She'd just look sad, "How awful." She'd kneel down next to the body, and she'd start pulling the vines away with her hands, "Must have been magic. We can't leave him like this. I've got a shovel in my wagon...hanging off the door when you open it. Can you please bring it to me?" Yes, she fully intended to stop and give him a proper burial, even if Rion didn't want to.

She'd try and brush some dirt off the man, and she'd reach out to shut his eyes for him. She wasn't bothered at all by a dead body, and the next thing she'd be doing would be to try and work the arrow out of his skull. "I hope it wasn't very painful." She'd mutter to herself. She didn't know this man, but that didn't mean she wanted him to have a brutal death.

"Ah, right..." he said, giving a sigh and heading back to her cart and opening the door like she said. There he found the shovel. He couldn't help but feel this was a waste of time... If no one came looking for this man, then he mustn't have been important. So why bury him? But he was a gentleman and would oblige to the lady's wishes... He made his way back toward her, finding a nice spot so he could start digging.

"Maybe we should check to see if he has anything valuable on him," he said, and then quickly added, "I mean, so we might be able to find out who he was."

Aurelia felt bad that he was left here to rot, and there was no way she wasn't going to bury him, even if she had to dig the hole herself. The elf starts digging, and Lia frowns faintly, "I can do that." More like she didn't want to pay him extra to dig a hole. She's still working on the arrow, slowly pulling it out, and she'd wince a the wet noise it made when it finally came free. Once it's all the way out she'll set it aside.

Aurelia felt badly about taking anything from him, but he was dead and wouldn't need it anymore. Also she was a gypsy. It was kind of her thing. "Um....looks like a silver ring with a red stone, a coin necklace...swords, an bow and a quiver..." She was digging through his pouches then to see if he had anything else of value. "Nothing with a crest or anything that might tell us who he was. Maybe they'll know in town? You said it wasn't too far right? He could be from there."

He ignored her when she said she could did the hole. He didn't want to just stand around, being useless. So he might as well do this. He would stick the shovel into the ground when she spoke of what was on the man. He looked over the goods, and gave a whistle. Some of this stuff looked like it could sell for a lot. He was feeling a little generous today.

"How about I take all of this stuff, and you don't have to pay me, eh?" He would probably make more money that way, than what she was paying him. He took some of the items and then held out the necklace to her. "Except this... you can have this." It looks far too old to be of any value."

He slipped the ring into his pocket for safe holding, and looked the bow and swords over. "This guy must have been a Ranger... from what he was carrying... His weapons are dirty, and may need some restoration, but I can probably --"

He cut off when he heard a growling noise behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a white dire wolf looming at them. She was nearly as tall as a horse, and her teeth were bared angrily at them.

"Oh my... Let's uh... We should leave..." he said, raising his hand to the wolf, trying to calm it. But she seemed to have none of it. At least, not until she caught scent of him on the breeze. Underneath the smell of forest and wood land elves, she picked up on something faintly familiar. She relaxed just slightly, but still bared her teeth at them.

As soon as the arrow was removed from the man's head, his tissue began to reconnect and consciousness was coming back to him. It had been night time when he was struck with the arrow and a fire had been lighting the wood before him.. Now it was a bright day and he could hear people around him. His eyes stung from being open for so long and his body felt numb.It was hard to even get his fingers to obey him. His lids lifted slowly and his vision was blurry as his tear dusts flooded his eyes to recuperate them. He tried to lift his arm to wipes the wetness away but it was much harder than he imagine. How long had he been there?

When he finally got his hand to his face, it slide down and came to rest at his collarbone. He had been trying to touch the smoothing coin that was usually tucked right were his clavicles met.. but it was gone. He was more awake now and alarmed. Someone had been touching his things.

Dadj lurched forward onto his feet and nearly toppled over. A spray of dirt and twigs fell from his clothing and he tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. He fell back against the tree and coughed very hard. His system was still getting used to running but he looked up to find two people and ... was that Khione? He couldn't quite make her out. She had gotten much bigger since last night. He shook his head and tried speaking again.

"What's going on.." The words made him cough again. And as he was hacking he noticed Exarion had his things..."Who are you?" His voice was suddenly stern and he tried to satnd away from the tree. Khione would hear his voice and probably react.

"Give me my things back." Dadj was trying to be intimidating, but being dirty and still half head.

Lia rolled her eyes, "Fine fine. Karma will come back and get you though." It wasn't that she didn't know how much the things were worth, it was that she didn't feel like arguing. She's taking the coin that's offered to her, "It's pretty though..." She'll be tucking that into her top about the time that the wolf is showing up. She seemed a little worried, "I thought you were a Ranger, can't you talk to it?" She's backing up to be a little closer to Rion, and her eyes fall to Dadj, who seemed to be moving around.

She'd let out a startled shriek, and she's shifting closer to Rion, "He's moving!" The man was up then, and questioning them and she just stared at him with her sheet white face, "You were dead! I pulled the arrow from your head myself!" She'd start pinching her arm, "I must be dreaming. I have to be." His request for his things is momentarily forgotten since she seemed to be more surprised by the fact that he was moving around.

"I am a ranger but... Look at this thing! I've never seen one this --" And then he was cut off again by her screaming that the man they had just found was moving. Well that wasn't possible at all. But he dared a glance over his shoulder. And there he saw the man moving. "Dear Gods, he's reanimated! There must be a necromancer near!"

The dire wolf padded past them and sat down next to Dadj, licking his face lovingly. Rion just watched in disbelief. "That wolf was... was guarding him! Maybe the wolf is a deity!" That was the only explanation. At least, in this critically crazy time, it was.

He grabbed Lia and pulled her behind him. "Okay, don't hurt us. We just found you and we were going to bury you. If you want to return to your forest home... or ... where ever, we will let you."

Dadj's face contorted with annoyance as Exarion spoke. He put a hand on Khione's muzzle to shove her off. He was still astounded by the size she was... He looked back to the pair in front of him.

"I asked who you and give me back my stuff. All of it." He was scowling at them now, confusion fueling his anger. He had his wits about him now and he looked at the situation more closely... "Where is.." His blood went cold and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. "Where is the child? What have you done with him?" He advanced a step and Khione could read his anger. She got to her feet and lowered her head again. "Where is my horse? What have you done with my child?"

He was aware he was yelling now, but he had been with Exarion and Boudewijn and Khione and... Euan.. Last night. It was just last night. He looked around at the ground. The fire pit was over grown, there were no tracks but human shaped feet and paws... He lifted his hands to his face again and found a full beard... his hair was also longer than his shoulders... Confusion was written all over his features.

"Who are you people?" He yelled again. It was dawning on him that he might have slipped into one of his 'dark periods', probably from depression... But the girl had claimed him dead. With an arrow through his head. This was getting harder to piece together.

Aurelia is too freaked out by Dadj to give him any sort of answer right away so he's probably getting through his full rant. She was hiding behind Exarion, staying there when he had pulled her behind him. "There wasn't any child. You were the only one here and you were dead. There was just a hole in your head!"

She'd point to the ground by his feet where she'd set the bloodied arrow, "Look for yourself!" She's inching out from behind Rion then, "We're just two people that happened to pass by and see you, and decided to do the kindly thing and give you a proper burial." She set her hands on her hips, "Call of your beast and we will return your things." She didn't make mention of what things though, if they still managed to snag some of it, all the better. This guy freaked her out.

Exarion looked at the man, and realized he wasn't calling off the beast. "Fine, take your things..." he said, tossing him the swords and bow. "You are lucky we are the only ones that found you in all this time and didn't loot you sooner."

There was talk of a baby, but there wasn't even the sound of one nearby. He wanted to say, 'Maybe your wolf ate it because it was hungry', but he held his tongue. He didn't have any suggestions on what happened to the baby. That man had been laying there for a long time, so more than likely, that baby was long gone by now, maybe even grown as a man.

"There are your things. We'll leave you and your... wierd not dying self alone..." He took a step back, holding onto the hilts of his own blade now, in case the man decided to attack.

Dadj had no intention of calling of his beast, in fact he was glad she was still here if he had really been there so long. His whole world was crashing down around him and he needed something to keep him standing. He put his hand on Khione again and tested his weight. His legs seemed ready to hold him now.

"Have you seen another elf here, tall, tanned and wearing orange..." His hand lifted to check his skull for hole, but of course they were not there. He bent to pick up his weapons and slung them about his person. The act was familiar and it calmed him a degree. He could almost still hear Amnestria telling him to shave as she tugged on his beard. "My necklace.. and a ring. Where are they?" He needed the items back or else he would feel he'd truly lost the hope of love or companionship. He swallowed hard and tried to figure out where he was exactly; what town, what country. His brain seemed to only be working at half speed.

Aurelia watched Exarion toss his things over, and she'd pull the necklace out of her shirt, heading over to the man to hand it to him. She showed no fear of the wolf, but she didn't get right near it either. "Here. You were dead. There wasn't any sense in leaving your things here to rot." She wouldn't breathe a word about the ring, that was up to Rion.

She's taking pity on Dadj then, "There wasn't anybody near you, and if I had to guess by the vines, you've been here for some time. Why don't you come with us to the next town? If anybody around knows anything about a baby and another elf, it would be someone there."

Exarion immediately thought that was a terrible idea. He didn't want this man traveling with them. For one, the had just looted his body, and he was clearly upset by that. Two, he had a huge freaking wolf. Three, he just came back to life after having an arrow through the head. He didn't like any of those things.

But the offer had already been given, so he just sighed, rubbing his head. "Let's be going then... I want to get to town before dark." So I don't get stabbed.

Dadj was trying not to sound like a raving mad man who had just come back from the dead, but honestly, that was pretty hard. "Maybe they've seen my horse..." He looked around him and saw the road; that had not been here when he made camp. So it had been long enough to break in a road. Great.

"Khione, stand down." He was fixing the necklace back where it had been for more years than both Aurelia and Exarion's life times and felt oddly comforted. He looked at both of them; nothing was said about the ring. He wasn't going to hold anything against them for looting him... He would have done the same thing. But he wanted that ring.

"Are you sure you didn't find a ring?" He pet the wolf's shoulders and contemplated climbing on... His legs still didn't feel wholly right.

Aurelia nodded, as if that cleared everything up. "Alright. To town it is." She'd eyeing the wolf then, "That...beast isn't going to eat my horse is it?" She didn't trust the wolf any more than she trusted the man, but they couldn't just leave him here. He seemed confused and disoriented. "You can ride on my cart if you want. Rion prefers to walk."

No mention is made of a ring at all, she knew Rion had it, but she was hoping if she let him keep it, he wouldn't make her pay up when they got to town. "The cart is this way." She's going to take back her shovel if Rion will give it up, and then she's heading off to her cart like this is entirely normal, and she met deadish guys on a daily basis.