Lost Comrade

Sarale sighs as she wanders through the forest. She hugs herself as she slips further away from the camp, careful of her steps so she doesn't leave any track.

SARALE:

"I'm sorry. It's better this way. You guys have a better chance at survival without me causing you trouble."

The grandmother-spirit walks with her and she looks up upon hearing the sound of panting and feet racing towards her. The dire wolf comes to a stop in front of her and sits bumping her with his head. Sarale smiles down at him and scratches his ears.

SARALE:

"You really shouldn't be near me. I'm only going to cause you trouble too."

The dire wolf tilts his head and whines, licking at her tear stained face. She huffs a laugh.

SARALE:

"Well, come on then."

The wolf pants happily and follows after her.

SARALE:

"You know, we should really give you a name. Hmm~ what about Ithildin? It means moonlight or starlight in my native tongue. What do you think?"

The elderly woman smiles and the wolf bounces about happily.

SARALE:

"Ithildin it is. I can call you Ithil for short."

Sarale looks back the way she'd come and sighs. Her heart heavy.

SARALE:

"Am I doing the right thing? I just want to keep them safe and I can't like this. It would have been better if I'd never made it out of the Underdark."

She turns and heads further into the forest.

Morning starts to rise over the forest as it starts to fill with an orange tint. Sarale wanders through the forest, her mind racing when she feels someone watching her. She stops and looks around, reaching for her weapon cautiously. Her eyes suddenly meet a sun kissed face with soft blue eyes and bright red hair hanging over the leather clad shoulders of a tall, well figured teenaged boy that seemed to be leaning out of a tree, as if he were a branch. He notices her looking but doesn't say anything. Sarale sighs and turns around to walk away.

SARALE:

"The wanderlust fae, I presume? Well you don't have to worry about me. If it gets to a point I can't control myself I'll take myself out of the equation."

Ithildin runs up to the tree the boy was hanging out of and jumps up to put his paws on the trunk, licking the boy's face happily. The boy steps out of the tree and pets Ithildin lovingly as he follows her through the forest, still quiet and showing obvious disinterest to her words. Sarale tries her best to ignore his presence, getting lost in her thoughts. She passes by a tree and her hand brushes against it leaving a small trail of ivy, moss, and mushrooms blooming along its trunk. Sarale looks up at the sky and changes directions as she walks heading west away from the party and where Tunda had said the checkpoint would be. Back at the camp, Tunda was wheezing and snickering to himself by the tents, sitting on the ground facing the forest behind his tent and holding face to muffle his voice as he hid near the shadows. Vajor's ears twitch and he sits up straight, his head on a swivel.

VAJOR:

"Tunda? Dove?"

He stands and stretches heading towards the sound to find Tunda sitting on the ground.

VAJOR:

"hey! Hey~ it's okay. Calm down. Tell me what's goin' on."

Vajor scans the area for Sarale and his brows furrowed as he goes back to looking at Tunda.

TUNDA:

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

Tunda glances at Vajor as tears stream down his face and he lets go of his mouth to speak, showing an eerie smile that seemed to be forcing its way across his face.

TUNDA:(Stutters)

"it's not f-fine. Nothing is fine... sh-she... she's gone... she's gone!! I can't find her...!!"

Vajor's face goes pale with understanding and he rushes to Sarale's tent, ripping open the flap to find it empty. Her sword and shield lay right where she left them. His ears flatten and he looks over at Tunda. Vajor's eyes gloss over as he goes back to his friend and kneels down in front of him, steadying his voice and keeping himself as calm as possible.

VAJOR:

"It'll be okay, Tunda. Dove's strong, we'll find her. How long has she been missing?"

TUNDA:

"... my entire shift... I asked to get something for the fae to replace the offering... she hadn't been back since..."

Tunda's voice starts to pitch as he speaks and he starts to hiccup into fits of snickers. He quickly covers his mouth as the hiccups turn into giggles, then fade into gasps of uncontrollable laughter.

TUNDA:(shouts)

"all night! All night!! she ain' been here! She's gone!! Hahaha!! Haha!! she's gone without a word!! not a word! not a single sound, she made and I made a promise to the fae! I should have asked him to protect her!! I should never have brought us here! I never should have takin' us to this place!! of all the cities we could have gone, I had to take us the least active trail in the woods!!"

Vajor pulls a dagger from his boot and places the hilt next to Tunda's mouth like he'd seen Karma do.

VAJOR:

"Bite down and breathe. I need ya ta calm down, brother." He shifts himself behind Tunda and places him in a headlock, "calm down. Just breathe. We're gonna find her, but I need ya ta calm down."

Tunda hiccups into giggles again as he's forced to bite the hilt of the dagger, still in tears as he leans forward shivering. Aktlass walks out of his tent to see Vajor kneeling by Tunda's tent with Karma stretching behind him, completely refreshed.

AKTLASS:

"what's going on over there?"

KARMA:

"Was that Tunda screaming?"

Vajor's ear twitches upon hearing their voices.

VAJOR:

"A little help! We have a situation!"

He looks back to Tunda.

VAJOR:

"please Tunda."

He tightens his grip slightly, careful not to hurt him.

VAJOR:

"Please, calm down."

TUNDA:(panic *muffled through dagger hilt*)

"n-no... no~... what have I done? she's gone... she's gone. I should have seen something! I should have watched her. I've ruined us... I... I can't. I have no right..." 

Tunda tries to stand but falls forward from lack of air and hits his head, spitting out the dagger and his fits finally stop. He starts panting for air as he picks himself back up to stagger towards the forest.

TUNDA:

"I... I can't find her... no matter what I try, I can't find her... I'm the worst. I... what do I do??"

Karma rushes To Tunda as Aktlass looks into Sarale's empty tent. He quickly knew what he was saying and just as quickly became furious.

AKTLASS:(angry)

"What did you do, Tunda?"

Vajor's attention snaps to Aktlass, his voice a warning growl.

VAJOR:

"Don't. We have more important things ta deal with than yer vendetta, at least Tunda was there when she got hurt. Now, I understand yer situation, but ya need ta be understandin' of ours too. More than anythin' Aktlass we need yer tracking abilities right now."

Vajor's tail flicks with annoyance as he turns and rushes after Tunda and Karma. Aktlass buckles back from Vajor's warning and snarls as he flicks his tongue through the air and looks around for a bit. Karma starts patting Tunda's back with worry and suspicion being their strongest reactions to Tunda's panic. Aktlass quickly picks up on a faint scent that trailed into the forest. Karma decides to look into the forest to see if they can pick up anything as well, and finds large wolf tracks rushing through the trees.

KARMA:

"Hey, guys. There are wolf tracks here."

Tunda wipes his face and looks at the wolf tracks that Karma pointed out. He looks in the direction they were going and quickly scans the for the path it took, remembering that Sarale had recently bonded with the dire wolf. His panic started to act up again but he was able to hold it down. Karma quickly noticed his reaction and shoves him forward.

KARMA:

"Well, go on. Let's go find her. she can't have gone far on foot."

Vajor walks past Karma and up to Tunda's side his hand resting in Tunda's shoulder protectively, he growls as he eyes the tracks, "thank tha gods that wolf wasn't tryin' ta be sneaky." He glances at Tunda and smiles reassuringly,

VAJOR:

"we'll find her, as a group. Don't beat yerself up Tunda. It could have happened ta any one of us. I'm just as much at fault, if not more since I fell asleep."

Tunda only looks at Vajor sadly then rushes to follow the trail with Karma following close behind. Aktlass chose to follow behind Vajor to watch the rear.

Sarale huffs in frustration when she glances back and notices the boy still following her. When she hears movement in the trees up ahead and drawing nearer. She crouches low and slinks into the shadows, Ithildin growls at the sounds and stands with hackles raised, when four homunculi come through the brush and stop to hiss at him. Sarale circles around and draws her dagger bursting from the brush and taking them by surprise. Her dagger into the first one's core. The creature falls to the ground dead and she turns her gaze upon the others and grin.

SARALE:

"This'll be fun."

She throws her dagger at the second and pierces it's eye, her dagger cutting through and she darts forward grabbing the dagger and readying for their attacks as the remaining two rush her. One of them snaps its teeth at her and she flips out of the way with a sneer, when the second takes the opportunity to sink its grubby, razor-like teeth into her leg. Sarale yelps and pulls away, swaying from the venom, but steeling herself and shaking off the poison. 

Ithildin lunges at the homunculi that bit Sarale and grasps its throat with his powerful jaws. The creature struggles in his teeth as he bites down, snapping its neck with ease. Both of them turn to look at the last, Sarale stalking towards it with malicious intent. Her eyes grow black as it turns to run. She misty steps to block its path and it scrambles back falling on it's haunches and raising its hands to block itself as she brings her dagger down into its skull.

SARALE:

"filthy fucking creatures."

Sarale sits and rubs her leg where it bit her. She falls back on her back and stares up at the sky through the trees.

SARALE:

"I'm so tired." 

She goes to sit when she hears a familiar voice.

::

"Hello again. Fancy meeting you here."

Sarale glared at the man that slinks out of hiding from the shadows. Bishnar leans to one side with a noble stance.

SARALE:

"... What do you want?"

The trees start to rustle around them frantically as the fae's presence suddenly vanishes from the vicinity. Bishnar smiled charmingly.

BISHNAR:

"oh dear, so hostile and it seems you're all alone."

SARALE:

"How about you fuck off. I'm not interested in anything you have to offer or say,"

Sarale growls, gripping her dagger tighter. Ithildin growls low in his chest. His hackles raised and his teeth bared in a menacing snarl. The man's smile falls.

BISHNAR:

"so impertinent. Killing my minions and then refusing to even consider talking. I have a better idea though. I think you should obey!"

He clenches his fist and Sarale falls to her knees, gripping her head with an agonizing scream. The man's voice now echoed in her mind as well as spoken.

BISHNAR:

"So tired. So pathetic. I can't believe you became the vessel of my queen. When I set her free I'm going to tear the flesh from your bones and feast on your organs. Pathetic. Worthless. Waste of space. Waste of time."

Sarale growls, the demonic energy around her spiking as she yells in anger.

SARALE:

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

The man's eyes grow wide as his spell is broken and he stumbles back to find Sarale on him, her dagger slicing across his chest. She quickly changes hands and stabs him in the shoulder digging down and twisting as blood runs black from his wounds.

BISHNAR:

"Fucking bitch!"

He yells, his nails growing to claws and his disguise falling to resemble that of a large humanoid tiger. He slashes at her, catching her across the face. He swipes with his other hand and she backpedals, crouching low with an animalistic snarl as his attack narrowly misses. 

Sarale misty steps behind him and slashes across the back of his knee forcing him to stumble and grab his leg with an abyssal curse. When Sarale goes to attack again he wheels around and kicks her in the chest sending her tumbling backwards. He stalks towards her grabbing her ankle and dragging her toward him before stabbing her in the stomach with his claws. Sarale's eyes widen and she gasps blood pools in the corner of her mouth. 

She kicks the man in the chest and throws her dagger, piercing the man's shoulder before collapsing and clutching her stomach in agony. He pulls it free.

BISHNAR:

"I told you, you stupid bitch. I will set her free and I'll take pleasure in flaying your skin slowly from your body."

Ithildin rushes the man and he whirls around to slash at him when Sarale appears in front of him taking the hit.

SARALE:

"Run. Go. Leave me. Save yourself, please." 

Ithildin whimpers, his ears laying flat as he backs away. 

BISHNAR:(menacingly chuckles)

"fucking pathetic."

Sarale falls to her knees exhausted and bloodied. The man equally bloody stands before her and grabs her throat.

BISHNAR:

"say goodnight."

He squeezes and she struggles against his grasp as he lifts her off the ground, dangling her in the air and squeezing with a fiendish smile.

BISHNAR:

"Next time you see me, I'm going to make sure you know your place."

FAE:

"That's my line."

The wicked whispers from a young boy echoes directly into Bishnar's ear, making him look to his side. As soon as his eyes were off of Sarale, the arm he held her up with gets pierced with long black nails and starts to dry up and crumbles before getting ripped off his shoulder as if it were a dead twig.

Bishnar screams in agony and backs away, making a symbol with his remaining arm. A swirl of black mist covers him and he growls as he vanishes.

BISHNAR:

"Next time you won't have your friend to protect you."

Sarale gazes up at the boy in confusion, the black in her eyes fading as well as the demonic energy around her. Her vision grows fuzzy around the edges and going black as she passes out.