Stranger In The Forest

"Who are you two..."

Repeating herself the girl stared at the two strangers that appeared in front of her suddenly. "Are they also chasing me as well?" She almost thought about running away but she didn't have enough energy left at this point. "And after all they did for me I still couldn't escape." Sighing she gave up as she stood there in front of them ready to go back to her hell. Hearing the voice again Xilo knew he wasn't hearing things as he slowly turned around to face her.

But he saw something he didn't expect as a small fire of anger built up in him for no reason. "What the hell...." Standing there he saw a girl with blue twin tails that went all the way down to her stomach but that's where everything stopped being normal. Looking at her face she had blue eyes that made her seem dead inside as they constantly switched between random shapes so fast that he couldn't even keep track of all the changes while the colour of them seemed faded. Yet that was the only part he could clearly see on her face and even her body. From head to toe she was covered in dirt and long scratches that looked like someone constantly cut her skin while holes appeared constantly throughout the dress she was wearing with the colour so faded he couldn't even tell what it was anymore.

"That's horrible."

Hearing Xelfia beside him Xilo completely agreed. It almost made him sick thinking about who would ever do such a thing but he calmed down his anger. He didn't have the energy to think about complicated stuff right now. He just wanted to find out where he was and leave. "Though it seems like she won't be any help." He figured if another person was here he might be able to figure some things out but after looking at her condition he figured it was pointless. "I wonder where we are..." They could still be in the Astral Zone for all he knew or all the way on the other side of the continent at this point. "Might as well talk to her." He knew it might not have much point behind it but after seeing her he couldn't exactly ignore her.

"We're just travelers that got a little lost, do you need anything from us?"

"....Really?"

Staring at the two in front of her she didn't quite believe the boy but seeing all the dust and dirt on their clothing that didn't look any similar to her Clans she figured they weren't lying. "Maybe..." That thought occurred to her as she stood there staring at them. She was also lost at this point but she had nowhere to go so maybe if she could join them she could escape from this place. "All I could do was run after all.." Remembering trying to escape from her pursuers she shivered at how close she was to getting caught but thankfully that was in the past for now.

"Yeah....I don't suppose you know where we are do you?"

"No....I'm lost...With nowhere to go.."

Xilo knew it was a stretch to ask that seeing the shape she was in but his mind was barely working at this point so he was willing to try anything. A small part of him even wanted to just not talk to her anymore but he knew that wasn't him. "Haaa...But how can I even help someone like this?" Turning to Xelfia he tried to get some help from her but she just ignored him playing dumb. "That isn't fair." But every time he looked at the girl in front of him his heart ached in pain. "Why am I like this?" It was too late now though.

"I see if that's the case would you like to join us for a little until we find the way out of this place at least."

Even though Xilo's voice was still just as cold as usual Xelfia could still hear the kindness in it as he asked that. "This is why I didn't want to answer you." She knew the answer Xilo would choose in the end regardless so her input was pointless. "Besides I want to help her a little as well." Seeing all those blade marks and scars Xelfia couldn't look away for a second. "Those eyes...." Sighing she knew the girl was essentially just a walking corpse at this point anyway so she wouldn't be any danger to the two of them so she nodded in approval when Xilo turned to look her way again to get confirmation from her.

Listening to the boy's words she finally lifted her head properly and looked at them for the first time trying to gauge how truthful they were. But in truth she didn't care anymore if they were lying or not. 'it's not like it can be any worse then before anyway..." Thinking that she nodded in agreement as a small dry voice leaked out of her mouth.

"o-...kay."

After saying a word of reply she shut her mouth as she stared at Xilo. "Well this just adds to my troubles." Shaking his head he took a look at the forest around him but all he saw was trees before he felt himself stumbling almost. "I need sleep and maybe food...But that can wait. Looks like we need to find a place to sleep first." After getting some rest he could try hunting for something but his everything needed to rest for some time before that could happen.

"I guess I'll just choose a direction."

Looking around him he picked a direction at random as he began to walk looking for a suitable place to sleep with Xelfia following beside him while the girl trailed behind them a couple meters. "It's just one problem after another." Thankfully after an hour or so of walking they managed to find a small mountain with a cave that was empty and after making sure no other Astral Beasts or the likes were around they could finally sleep.

"I'll take the first watch."

Sitting down on the hard rock ground he stared at the two girls with him declaring that.

"Bu-"

"It's fine, If you go to sleep faster then so can I."

Ignoring Xelfia's complaint he knew he couldn't sleep with a stranger they had just met not long ago with them with no protection. He would just have to wait for Xelfia to wake up before he could but he didn't mind.

"Fine."

Hearing his firm reply Xelfia knew there was no point as she rested her head on his lap to try and sleep. However it would feel like a long few hours for the both of them unfortunately.