Wounded by the River

[Winters-Feather]

The sound of water was muffled by a dragon's cry.
Akenu knelt by the side of her palomino mare, petting her side, gently.
She didn't waste her breath to make 'shh' noises or hum, nor did she get distracted by her small dragon's cries of concern. Instead, her piercing blue eyes examined the creature's front right leg.

She tsked, wrinkling her nose at the sight of it. Below the knee, her fur was matted with dried blood; there were several big gashes. The horse's other legs had injuries, too, but they were small cuts; these wounds were more serious and needed to be treated fast.
The woman made a mental prayer to the goddess as she cleaned the wound using a cloth damp with the water from the river that had caused the injury in the first place.

It had been a stupid decision. Akenu knew that there was  a wooden bridge that crossed the  Orca River in this part of the woods, but it had been broken.
Probably the result of bandits, she had thought.
But they had a predicament; she had wanted to make it to the city of Arca by late afternoon; this was her short cut. Had she taken any  other route, she would have reached the city by nightfall. However, she wanted to be there earlier and try to  conduct some business. So, they had tried to cross the river. At the point where they were, it wasn't too deep, but wide. As they crossed, Elyin had slipped and limped the rest of the way, leaving a trail of blood. As soon as they had completed their passage, Akenu  carefully removed the sacks from Elyin's sides and her riding equipment near the river banks.

That was moments ago.
The woman gave a glance towards the sun. She squinted as her nose stud caught the light, causing some glare. She frowned. The city was close enough, but she didn't want to push her horse.
Marik perched himself across her shoulders as she used bandages to cover the wounds. She didn't take her chances to just wrap up the front right leg, but all of them.
I need to make a healing balm to keep them from getting infected, she mused.
She had the herbs in her pouch; it wouldn't take too much time.
But first, she needed a fire.

"Stay," she needlessly commanded her horse. Elyin rustled her mane,contempt.
Akenu started to collect fallen twigs and branches from trees near by.
"You can help, too, you know," she muttered to  Marik, who gave a sheepish purr. Without any further adu, the small dragon flew a few yards away, grabbed  a twig in its mouth and another with its front claws, and dropped them at her feet. All it earned him was a sharp glare as Akenu picked them up.


Within a few minutes, Akenu had a small fire with a pot full of water  on top if it. In the meanwhile, she took out her herb pouch and began crushing some herbs, causing Marik to sneeze. Akenu tucked a thin braid  of silver hair behind her ear.
Damn.
She was pissed; why did she want to come to this cursed city, anyway? Probably out of habit. After all, Chel would be home. Or was supposed to be.
Chel...
The woman gritted her teeth, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe.
I'll find you.
In a way, she had hoped that the last year was just a mistake. His neighbor was mistaken; Chel wasn't kidnapped. He couldn't have been. She couldn't find any trace of him anywhere. So maybe he was here.
Akenu shook her head, her head feeling very hot. She knew she was being delusional; he most likely wasn't. But maybe there was a clue here that she had overlooked...
Elyin, she thought, trying to get back into focus.
Heal Elyin.

[Rhindeer]

On some days, Ashley gave him permission to wander about Arca and beyond under the condition that he was back before nightfall. The arrangement worked out well enough for Dai (not that he had much choice, considering the magic binding him), and things weren't so bad. It was true that he missed his freedom and resented being told what to do, but all things considered, it could have been worse. He lost his freedom, but he also got doted upon and given some small range to wander.

That day, as Ashley tended to whatever business it was nobles did, Dai set out of the city to spend a day in the woods. He wasn't much of a nature person, having been raised all his life in the city, but the day was warm, the forests around here were familiar, and the river was inviting. City boy or not, there was something about the woods that never failed to draw him there, and going there always felt like going home.

He had found a place where the river was wide, shallow, and slow, dammed up by a fallen tree further downstream, and he had just finished washing his hair when he heard voices, one human (or human enough, since they were speaking Common) and one...he couldn't place what it was, but the other sounded like a horse? Ears pricking and rotating to catch the sounds, Dai wrung out his hair and looked about curiously. It wasn't often people came out here--or at least, he rarely encountered them when he was here--and now he could smell fire.

Curiosity getting the better of him (what was that weird animal sound he kept hearing?), he rolled his breeches up and then picked his way across the river, barefoot as always.

It wasn't long before he came across the little camp and it never once occurred to him to be cautious, in case the people there were less than friendly. He liked people! So, of course, he assumed other people must, too! Stepping out from behind the cover of trees, tail swishing behind, he opened his mouth to say something, like an introduction or greeting, but then his eyes landed on the horse's leg and that all flew out the window.

"Oh! Your horse!" he said instead, paling at the sight of blood. "What happened? Do you need help?"

[Winters-Feather]

The woman was so flustered that she had shut the  wind and earth out of her mind.
All she could think of right now was making medicine for her horse.
As she crushed the herbs, Marik sensed that he would only get in her way, so he flew over to rest on Elyin's head. The mare made a 'humph' sort of noise, as if humored by his escape.

It was almost peaceful, but it was interrupted soon enough. Elyin lifted her head as she gave a soft whinny at Dai's scent. Marik merely perched himself on top of her head as his tail flickered in anticipation. Dai's scent was weird; it wasn't totally beast, but it wasn't exactly human either. As the hybrid became visible, Marik gave a cry and dove for Akenu. He landed softly on her shoulders. He could tell Dai meant no harm as he gently nipped at her ear.

    So caught up was Akenu that she didn't notice the movement. She only stirred when Marik had  perched on her shoulders. Giving  an agitated cry as he bit her ear, Akenu shrugged him off. The dragon's teeth felt uncomfortable. However, the activity allowed her eyes to find the slave who was near her horse.
 
If there was one thing Akenu despised, it was being caught off  guard. For a brief moment, her piercing blue eyes glared at Dai, taking in all the details. The unicorn horn, the hooves, the humanoid body and the sea-green hair. He looked a bit disturbed at the sight of Elyin, though her mind wasn't processing that. What it was processing was that a half unicorn stranger (a hybrid?) was approaching her precious mare. In her mind, he was a threat, a horse thief. She narrowed her eyes as she set aside the herbs and jumped to her feet. Her right hand reached for the hilt of a silver dagger as she took quick, broad strides so that she stood in between him and Elyin.
"What do you want?" she barked in Common.
The hostle words sounded harsher  with her 'accent', the type that only a deaf person could possess.  
Though he was a bit taller than she was, Akenu stood as tall as she could and  glared at his face, ferociously.

[Rhindeer]

Dai's eyes widened and, with a gasp, he stepped back and away from her and held up his hands, fingers spread. His ears flattened in alarm, tail drooping. That was not the reaction he had been expecting, not hostility. "I...I...what?" he stammered, and took another step back. What was going on? All he'd asked was if they needed help! Was that the wrong thing to say?

His eyes darted nervously between the woman, the dagger she was reaching for, and the injured horse, and he pointed helplessly at the mare. "I...um...your horse. It's hurt," he said, licking his lips. "I just wondered...do you need help? I can help. I can heal. Um, if you want. Or, uh, I can go..."

Because he couldn't heal himself, and if she decided to whip out that dagger and attack...well, he just didn't want to think about that.

[Winters-Feather]

Marik, sensing Akenu's hostility, gave a piercing cry and perch ed himself, momentary, on the hybrid's horn. The woman was a bit surprised for several reasons. It was clear that she had misjudged. The hybrid seemed flustered at her reaction and, though he spoke too quickly, her eyes followed his actions and picked up some words.
"Horse...hurt...help?," she mouthed as he spoke.

She arched an eyebrow, her eyes not leaving his face as she placed her weapons away.
He can heal her? she thought, immediately understanding; he could do magic, as well, for he had no tools on him to suggest otherwise.  Though she was too proud to admit it, she was thankful for his coming, and offered a silent prayer to the Goddess. Her body now relaxed, she  shot a quick glance at Elyin.
The mare was at peace, it seemed; this help would not harm her.
Trusting her companions' instincts, she gave a curt nod.
"No, it's okay," she said, her attention shooting towards Marik.
She frowned; the pesky little dragon really did like to get into stranger's faces.
"Eh!" she grunted, signaling the dragon to  get away. Her voice was harsh, but a slight smile betrayed her gentleness. Marik, in response, gave a sheepish mew and darted for the trees, having the impulse explore the area a little bit more. Akenu didn't mind much; he wouldn't go much further.

The woman, in the meanwhile, stood by the side of her mare, stroking her fur.
"This is Elyin. The dragon's Marik," she said, facing him.
The hostility was gone, and was now replaced with curiosity. Though she was not new to magic herself, being also a mage, she loved watching others perform their craft.  But, first, she needed to know  a little about this guy.
"Who are you?"


.

[Rhindeer]

"Uh..." Dai held perfectly still, eyes up and focused on the little dragon perched on his horn. Don't move, don't move, don't move...even little dragons could pack a nasty bite and he didn't want to do anything to anger it! Especially since it seemed to be this lady's friend. It might be responding to her hostility and thinking him a threat.

He heard the woman speaking, though, and his gaze fell back on her. It's okay? She looked more relaxed and Dai felt his own tense muscles unwind, but only a little. He still had that dragon on him, and until she called him off, he wasn't about to get between a protective dragon and its friend.

As soon as it was gone, he sighed in relief and let his hands fall back at his sides, shoulders slouching. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you if that's what I did," he said, scraping at the ground with a cloven hoof before perking back up again, ears pricking forward. "Oh, yeah, I'm Dai, by the way. I'm from the city across the way, Arca, and, well..." he motioned at her horse again, a little uneasy. It pained him to keep talking and stalling while the poor thing stood injured.

"Do you want me to help her?"

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu couldn't help but to snicker at the centaur's reaction to Marik.
After his whole 'ordeal' with the creature,  the woman's eyes darted back towards his face.  He looked glum, and she tilted her head, trying to read his lips more accurately as he muttered an apology, which she shrugged off. She had too much pride in her to apologize back, not wanting to admit it was because of her handicap that this mix up happened.

"Dai," she repeated, exaggerating the sounds a little.
She didn't like to mispronounce people's names, and so she made it a point to get it right. Akenu was grateful that his was short.  She followed his gesture, and hesitated.
He looked too...naive, too innocent to do any real harm. And he was offering valuable help.  She frowned and turned her head away towards Elyin, petting her side gently. The woman nodded twice, staying near Elyin's head. She didn't want to be in the centaur's way, but she also wanted to have a good look at what he was about to do.

[Rhindeer]

Another wave of relief rippled through Dai when she consented and, still moving slow, he walked closer on his strange legs. They were mostly hidden by his rolled-up breeches and were mostly human-shaped, except from the knee down where they transformed into a horse-like shape, thick furred with cloven hooves peeking out from beneath the curled, seafoam-green fur. "Thank you," he said, giving the woman a small smile. "It won't take long."

He held out his hands and made soothing, calming sounds as he approached the horse, bright eyes spotting her other wounds, too, now that he was closer. Poor thing; she must be in a lot of discomfort. He approached the mare from the front where she could plainly see him and held out a hand so she could smell him before stepping closer and stroking her velvety nose.

"There, it's alright," he said softly, still petting her, reaching out for that unexplainable ability of his that let him talk to animals. While he couldn't understand them, it just always felt like they could understand him. "I'm gonna help. This won't hurt at all, promise. You'll be all better after this, okay?"

Slowly, finally, he bent his head toward her and let the tip of his horn touch her forehead, a faint emerald glow emanating from it before it seemed to seep into the mare's body--and it was an effort not to wince or groan as in that moment, as he made that connection, he could feel her pains and aches as though they were his. He let the power course through her, willing it to heal her, his own eyes closed and his shaking hands still on her. He could feel it working even if he couldn't see it, feel the mare's wounds closing, the pain ebbing.

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu nodded impatiently.
All she cared about was Elyin's health, at the moment, and all this talking was getting them no where. At least Dai didn't react to her deafness, that was a small blessing. Or did he even notice? The woman was at a lost for an answer. Instead, she moved towards the left side of the horse, petting her mane, gently, as she watched Dai with intense interest.
She watched as he bowed his head and touched his horn with Elyin's forehead. Marik curled onto her shoulders, giving a soft coo as he watched the new creature work his magic.
 
   Akenu ignored his reaction. Instead, her eyes widened with wonder as a soft green glow emerge- the woman had seen magic like this work before, but it was always beautiful. Aways. She watched as the mare's wounds started to close, but she could tell it was taking its toll on Dai. With a somber expression she watched silently as he winced through the healing; she  didn't have to ask what was causing his pain.
A pang of guilt stabbed her heart.
All this pain, my friend? I'm an idiot , she thought as  she hugged the horse, now.
I'm sorry.
As if to hear her master's thoughts, Elyin whinnied softly as the last of the cuts closed.
 
 For a few moments, Akenu didn't say or do anything. She tried once or twice, but the words didn't come out of her opening and closing mouth.  Part of it was her pride preventing her from doing so, another was she feared overwhelming him too much. The woman drew Elyin backwards a bit, patting her side, thoughtfully, though her eyes were watching Dai, still. She sighed, scratching the back of her head.
"I-I'll repay you," she said in her slow, almost muffled voice, "What do you want? Piercings and jewelry for them, tattoos, medicine...I can give it to you."
She stood up straight, tilting her chin high; she rarely gave such offers as thanks , and she refused for such an opportunity to be shunned.

[Rhindeer]

Dai felt weak and shaky by the time it was over, and he pulled back from the mare with a relieved groan, the light fading. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, where small beads of sweat had started to form, and then just took deep breaths to get his bearings again. It had been a long time since the last time he had performed a healing and it always took a toll on him--yet at the same time, it gave him an advantage as a healer. Animals were often difficult to work with; they hid their pain so as not to seem weak, because showing weakness could mean a swift death from predators. It wasn't ideal, but it did help him tend those who couldn't--or wouldn't--speak.

Watching the girl and her horse, Dai gave a weak smile. He was still tender as the residual magic clung to him, but it hardly mattered. Scenes like this, receiving peoples' gratitude, it was enough to make it all worth it.

Still a little dazed, it took him a second to realize the girl was speaking to him. He hadn't yet realized she was deaf.

"Huh? Repay me? Oh, no, it's--" He stopped in mid-speech when she straightened, and something about her proud, almost stubborn posture told him she wouldn't be denied. How awkward. It always felt weird getting rewarded for something like--wait, did she say jewellery?

Dai's ears perked up with interest and he took a seat on old, rotting log. "What kind of jewellery?"

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: Hurray for not being consistent with colors!! -cough-
IC:

For the first time, Akenu smiled bright and proudly when Dai seemed interested in one of her offers. It amused her how it was the jewelry that intrigued him the most. She held up a finger to indicate that she needed a moment before she practically bolted off towards the large sacks. She opened the one with her precious wares carefully, drawing out the one with the piercing jewelery with care. The box was large and rectangular, made of beautiful dark wood. The woman propped the thing on the ground, her eyes fixed on the task at hand; had Dai said anything during these moments, she would not have responded.

Akenu bit her lip as her fingers quickly spelled out the word to unlock the contents. As the lock snapped undone, she turned the box around so Dai can  choose his pick. Inside was an assortment of jewelry designed for a variety of piercings, made from precious metals and gems to wood.
 She tried to ignore the voice inside her head that told her she was going to lose money because of this act of gratitude.
"Pick any," she said with a somber expression.

[Rhindeer]

The jewellery definitely appealed to Dai's vanity, and he squatted down next to the girl on his odd legs, leaning forward a little to peer at her collection. He let his breath out in a low, appreciative sigh.

"They're all so pretty," he breathed, and his tail swished behind him happily, ears twitching with excitement. Perhaps he should decline. His mother would say that's what he should do, that acts of kindness should be freely given because it was the right thing to do, not because you expected anything in return. But Dai hadn't expected anything in return when he'd acted, so...was that the same thing? Wasn't there a saying, 'never look a gift horse in the mouth'?

Reaching forward tentatively, he selected a dangling earring with a green gemstone. An emerald? Real or fake? It didn't matter to him. What mattered was it was sparkly and pretty and matched his hair.

He held it up for the girl to see and tilted his head. "Is this okay?"

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu watched silently as Dai picked out an emerald earring. She nodded somberly as he held it out and promptly shut the case and relocked it.
Time to go.
The woman took the case and carefully set it back into one of the large sacks. She then quickly, though gently, began to place the saddle back on Elyin's back, making soothing noises  as she did so. After she was done, the woman set to work with the sacks.  Her eyes scanned the skies. It would be evening soon enough.
She tsked, and went to the fire place, taking the pot of water and carefully turning it over so that it drowned the burning flames.

Akenu suddenly gave a harsh, awkward  cry, causing Marik to come flying towards her, perching gently onto her shoulder as she grabbed hold of Elryin's reins.
"Let's go," she suggested to Dai, pointing towards the city, "Unless you have other business to attend to, out here?"
She was suddenly quite curious as to what the creature was doing out here, alone. He didn't have any burdens with him, so he wasn't hunting for something or travelling.

[Rhindeer]

"Oh. No! No other business!" Dai said with a smile. He pulled at a strand of his wet hair. "I'm all done bathing." Besides, he was a little chilly now, water from his long, curly hair soaking the back of his shirt and the tops of his breeches. Time to head home and get dry!

"Where are you headed? To the city as well?" he asked, standing and stretching as the girl readied herself. "Oh! Yeah! What's your name? I don't think I got it." Though he did know the dragon's and the horse's names!

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu blankly stared as Dai explained he had just been bathing.
So caught up was she with the injury of her horse and the curious nature of Dai's being that the woman had overlooked this very obvious detail.
He must have had come and helped us before he could finish drying properly, she realized.
The selflessness of it touched her a little, though she didn't want to admit that.

The woman nodded at his request, tugging gently at Elyin's reign.
"Let's go, then," she said with a nod, and promptly picked up a brisk pace as Dai began to stretch. She had missed his question, and didn't bother to look behind her for a couple of seconds, so used was she to travelling alone. Marik tugged at her head scarf, gently.
"Oh. Sorry," Akenu said a bit foolishly as she looked over her shoulder towards Dai.
Manners, you.

She paused, just realizing something.
The city was big. Where did Dai reside? Where would their paths part?
"Where do you live?" she asked.

[Rhindeer]

Huh...maybe...she didn't want him to know her name? Dai tilted his ears back and cocked his head. Probably wasn't an issue he should push, so he didn't--and it hadn't yet registered that she was deaf.

He trotted after her and finally fell into stride beside she and her horse. "Me? Oh, just in Arca," he said without thinking. It struck him a second or two later that she probably didn't mean that--as that was kind of an obvious answer considering they were both headed back there and it was the closest settlement--and smacked his forehead.

"Ah! Sorry. I mean, I live with a man named Ashley!" he added with a smile. "He's kind of rich and I'm his pet."

He said it casually, so used to that arrangement that it didn't occur to him how utterly bizarre it probably sounded.

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu watched as Dai spoke,  narrowing her frow in concentration as she tried to follow his lip movements as he walked...err, trotted. The woman gave an amused smirk at his mix up and at his comical slap to the face.
Feather brained if I ever seen one, she thought as she shook her head.
What he said next puzzled her.

"Ashley?" Akenu repeated, though in truth it sounded like she was saying the word 'ashy'. And a 'pet'? The woman wrinkled her nose at such a thought. So Dai was a slave of sorts. She pitied him a little, though this man Ashley must be a decent man enough for having such a happy go lucky ...'pet'.  But the lad had said his master was 'kind of rich'....
I could do potential business with him, Akenu mused, Or , with luck, a place to stay. Worth a shot.
Still, the name alone wasn't enough to go by.
The woman sighed and placed a  hand on her hip.
"I'll escort you home, then," she declared, and picked up the pace once more.

[Rhindeer]

The woman talked funny, but it still hadn't occurred to him that she was deaf. Of course, Dai wasn't the most observant fellow so he just figured that was how she spoke, that she'd never learned to talk proper or just had an accent.

"Yes!" he answered cheerfully. "Ash-ley. He's very nice! Maybe you can meet him, if he's home. Sometimes he goes off and does business and things." Dai gave a flippant wave of his hand and a casual flick of his tail. He didn't know what kind of business Ashley did and had no interest in knowing; it didn't concern him so long as his own needs were met: food, clean clothes, attention, a warm place to sleep, praise. "So sometimes I'm stuck there alone. Except for the servants, but they're so busy..."

Which left him bored. And here he was chattering away at her! But he couldn't help but be a little excited. Perhaps he'd made a friend in her!

[Winters-Feather]

Akenu tried to pay more attention to her new companion. It was tricky, trying to both scout her way and read his lip movements.
He's so talkative, she thought, though at least he was giving her some useful information. To an extent, that is. "Business and stuff..." Either Dai wasn't too sure on the affairs of his master, or he didn't  care much. Still, there was a chance of meeting him...Akenu hoped so. The woman offered a sympathetic grin as Dai explained that he was sometimes left there alone; it sounded a little lonely. Akenu wasn't a very social person, but she understood that others didn't take so well to solitude.
Then again, she mused as Marik became distracted by a squirrel and started to chase it, I'm never alone.

Akenu wasn't worried about leaving him behind as she and Dai walked on for several more minutes. The dragon would come flying back in a few minutes, the silly creature. They weren't straying from the road, anyway. It was at this time that she realized that she was, again, accompanying somebody who  might find it odd that she wasn't talking.
She sighed, and turned to Dai, making sure that there were no odd branches or rocks in their immediate path. Except, what was there to talk about?
And where's that silly dragon?
"Hold on," she said with a sigh before letting out a sharp cry. Sure enough, a shrill response was given.
"Err...Where are you from?," she asked Dai, an attempt to bring up some sort of conversation.
"My father's family is from here."
In the meanwhile, Marik gave another cry from over head.

[Rhindeer]

"Me? Oh, uh...I don't really know," Dai answered, a puzzled look crossing his face. "Here, I think. All my earliest memories are of being here."

He smiled, ears twitching at the sound of the screech, no doubt that dragon. It was easier to focus on that than the fact that he honestly didn't remember anything about his parents or family or even much about his past beyond the slavers and Ashley. It never really bothered him, either--except when he was forced to think about it.

"Is your family still around?" he asked to change the subject.