Spirits of the Earth

This was embarrassing.

Rowan had decided to take a shortcut through the woods, or what he perceived as a shortcut, and instead he found himself hopelessly tangled among a patch of thorns and brambles. He hadn't realized they were brambles until he got in too deep to easily turn around, and it hadn't looked nearly as thick or large until he'd gotten entangled.

Grimacing, he tried to turn around and back up, but thorny vines had somehow gotten themselves wrapped around his legs and snagged in the long hair of around his hooves and flowing down his tail, thorns scratching his skin and threatening to pierce flesh if he moved much more. Already some thorns had drawn blood from shallow cuts.

After a moment's struggle that did nothing but further entrap him, he took a deep breath, froze, and took stock of his situation. Arms crossed over his chest, he chewed his bottom lip and tried to think this out.

This was ridiculous!

He was a bold adventurer! He wasn't one to be slain by a briar patch! But it was becoming depressingly clear as to what he was going to have to do to get free, and the thought alone made him wince.

It was going to hurt.

Ah, if only he'd brought a knife or something that he could hack at the branches with! But no. All he had were his arrows and bow, and a fat lot of good those would do him here! Wasn't his fault he'd never dreamed that the worst enemy he'd encounter would be a bush!

He shifted his weight, and thorns dug deeper into his legs. Alright, then. Maybe...maybe he'd try another plan first before ripping himself free.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"

OOC: one word-
OWE

D:

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The dreams of the running horse came to her again, and she tossed and turned fitfully at her camp side, her body becoming sweaty, despite the fire having long since subsided. And he was tearing across the plains, strong, bold, beautiful...
and he was free, nothing but the winds and sun around him, and earth beating beneath his hooves. And she could feel herself. She was with him, in spirit and in heart; as the two rode onward into a blood red sunset, leaving behind a world cast in deep, purple rain. ANd it was out of this darkness she felt the sum of all her fears- as the shadows, the nightmares creatures would reach out for her. So she held on fierce to the horse, even as the darkness loomed. They could out run it..
In the dreams they always did, and like the dreams before it, the image began to fade and crack, split apart, like glass, before the shadows swallowed in all around her, consuming her vision with a million black birds until she woke up with a jerk.


It was hard to tell the meaning of such a dream. Black birds meant many things, and it was hard to tell if they were attacking her, or simply keeping  the darkness at bay. And like always, Namia looked down at herself to see if she had been pecked at all while she slept.. but there was nothing. Sighing, she blew a loose piece of black hair away from her face and stretched her arms above her head as she studied her camp. The fire had gone out, smoking lightly before she snuffed it out with her boots, scraping at the remaining coals until even their faint light finally snuffed out. Then she turned to her bed of leaves, her other supplies and took out a brush ad began to run it through her hair, picking out leaves and seeds and pebbles every once in a while throughout the brushing.  Then rising to her feet, she stretched again and slung her back over her back as she lifted a hand to shield her eyes as she peered over at the sky. And she smiled. It looked as if it were going to be a beautiful day.

Starting off into the tall grasses, she stepped with confidence. She feared no animal, for she had learned (somewhat from her mother ) how to connect with them, and the earth; how to respect them and instead of fearing the unknown of nature, to welcome in with confidence and understanding. Now that she had set out on her own, she felt as if she was beginning to understand...

Little did she know she had a long way to go before that. But man, she was feeling kind of grimy, and found a wide creek running along a wide briar patch set within the woods. She scanned the area. The creek was wide open, no real spots of shade beneath trees, or privacy. But what did she need to be private about in nature? So, with a shrug, she set her supply bag aside and peeled off her clothing, letting them hang near a more tame looking branch of brambles  before she slipped one foot into the waters to test the temperature. It was cold. Her skin bumped over as she shivered. But as she shivered, sh took in a breath, then steppe out into the waters, letting herself sink down into it until she was mostly modest and was enjoying the cool water on her skin, the current pulling away all dirt and sweat.

And just as she was closing her eyes to relax, dark hair fanning out around her upon the surface of the water... she heard a noise. Or more specific, a voice. A very human sounding voice. And a male's.

Shit! She sunk down into the waters, so that only her chin stuck out as her eyes searched the briar patch. Had the man heard her!? So much for taking a morning bath in private... she grumbled inwardly to herself and remained uncertain if she ought to speak and call attention to herself just yet... or not.

Rowan's ears perked up and he frowned, brow creasing. He thought he'd heard something--a splash, and close by! So there was water near? Curious, he stretched up as far as he could, raising as high up onto his hooves as he could manage and craning his neck. Now, a splash could mean many things, like birds or otters and nuts dropped from overhanging branches, but desperation had made him hopeful for sentient life. Even a squirrel he could communicate with would do!

He could just barely see it then, a little sliver of creek. So he wasn't crazy! Though he was about to feel awful crazy if it turned out he was talking to himself, but it was worth a try! And it was also a great way to stall the inevitable, painful escape.

"Hello?" he repeated, still straining to look. "Ah, this is very embarrassing! But if there's someone out there--well, of course there's plenty of someone's out there--but I mean someone who can understand me, and who I can understand, it would be wonderful if you could maybe help me? I'm in a bit of a, ahem, bind. This doesn't normally happen."

He scratched the back of his neck. Some adventurer he was! "I suppose I should be flattered that something loves me so much it can't bear to let me go..."

Well, from what she could gather, apparently who ever it was was stuck, and seh cringed, realizing he was stuck in the briar patch. Well that has got to hurt. It sounded like a man by the sounds of it, a young man, perhaps her age. How the heck did someone manage to get in a tangle like that. Drawing in a breath once she realized it was safe (though her eyes gave an extra scan across the river bank) she slipped onto shore and made quick work to get her skirts and tunic back on. Then fluffing her hair out from under neath said tunic, she began to carefully approach the briar patch. Blinking,s he eyed it over, but didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" she called back hesitantly, her voice barely carrying over the jumble of thorns. "If you're out there still.. where are you? Maybe.." she bit her lip, cursing herself inwardly before saying, "Maybe I can help you out?"

Though she really didn't want to have to crawl through a bed of thorns.

Rowan felt like crying with relief when someone answered him, but that wouldn't have been very manly, so he didn't. Instead, he let out a sigh and twisted his torso just enough so he could look behind himself and, still stretching as tall as he could, he gave a frantic wave.

"I'm over here!" he called, relief pouring from his voice. "I'm...in a bit of a bad way, so if there's anything you could do, or if you have a knife, or a sword..."

He grimaced. "I don't advise coming in here! It would be terrible if we both got stuck!"

She had a knife on her, one she kept on her person for hunting and defense (though thankfully she hadn't had much use for it) Until possibly now. But at his words, Namia frowned.
"Then how am I to cut you out if I can't get in there?" she strained up on her tippy-toes, trying to see if she could see the poor bloke, but he must've been buried in there too deep. Sighing,s he looked down at the thorns before her.

"I don't suppose there is a path you see I could take that's got less thorns in which I could get over to you?" Sighing, she then added, "And I cna't see you, so I'm not sure how far you are within there."
Really, he might be too deep for her to even get in there without getting tangled up int he thorns herself. But then as she looked up, she noticed the trees lining the bush, a few with limbs outstretching over the briar patch. That's when she got an idea.

"Say.. is there a tree branch or something over top of you?" It was a long shot, but hey, maybe she could use the trees to get to where he was. It was better than climbing through thorns, that was for sure.

There was a path--the path Rowan had taken--but considering how bad of an idea that had been and where that path had taken him, Rowan thought it best not to suggest it. However, that left them all in a terrible fix, and he was busily wracking his brain for ideas when the girl suggested branches.

A tree branch! That was brilliant! He looked at the trees above, and broke out into a bright smile. There was hope yet! He'd just have to find a way later to reclaim the masculinity he'd lost here today. Not that there was any shame in accepting help from a female; the women of his tribe were fierce and every bit the warrior as the men--sometimes more. A female in this same situation would have felt the same!

"Yes! There's a couple branches above me!" he said. "If you could possibly just...climb over here and hand me a knife, I could do the rest, I'm sure! I just need to cut these away from me...ugh. I knew I should have braided my tail today!"

Namia raised a brow at the tail comment. Heh.. he must have long hair.
Glancing to the trees, she sighed and secured the knife on her person, then began to make the slow climb up into the tree, though when she was just about half way, she leaned across to reach for the first low reaching branch, it was only then she noticed just WHAT Rowanm having only seen the man for the first time and gasped.

"You have the body of a horse!" and inadvertently, her grip let loose.
In a yelp, she crumpled into a patch of thorns, and found herself swearing up a storm, limbs flailing about to cut herself loose. Thankfully she had only been a few feet into the patch before she scrambled back to the tree.

Panting, she rubbed at the thorns still digging in to her skina nd began itching htem out.
"Why.."s he began, still trying to catch her breath and let her mind catch up to her.
"Why didnt' you tell me you were a horse!?"

.. well, a horse man.. thing! Ugh! Her midn was going a million miles a minute, and her heart beat was clean within her ears.

That had to be the strangest, most shocking thing Rowan had ever heard come from a person's mouth!

Rowan gave her a look of sheer puzzlement, lips parted, brow furrowed, and ears cocked. He waited until the young human had freed herself from the thorns and scrambled back up the tree, not wanting to distract the poor thing, before he spoke.

"Ah...well...I'm not sure how that's entirely relevant..." he said, chewing his bottom lip. "You didn't tell me you had the body of a human. Is that...is that how people here normally introduce themselves? By announcing the sort of body they have, or their species? What a very strange culture--no disrespect intended! It's just, we normally start with our names..." And he looked genuinely concerned about that, rubbing his chin with a hand and feeling the fuzz that was beginning to grow there.

"I'd hate to be rude! My apologies, let's start over! I'm a centaur, and very much not a horse! Though my lower half looks as much. Oh! And my name's Rowan! It's very nice to meet you, even if under such odd...um...are you okay?" He noticed then that she was sort of still covered in thorns and scratching them out.

Namia blinked, craning her neck so she could see him from where she remained perched beside the tree. She could barely see him from this angle, and sighed as she continued to itch out the remaining thorns.

"I'll be fine.." she winced, plucking out another one. "Ugh.. thorns." And witha shake of her head, she sighed.

"I'm sorry if you took offense, I've.. never met a .. centaur before," she began, saying the word carefully. "So you've go a body of a horse?" But before she could question it, she shook her head again. "Oh, and I'm Namia. ANd you guessed it, I'm just a regular old, boring human." she said with a roll of her eyes, and moved to go back to climbing the tree. This time she was more successful and paused up on the lower branch to take a good look at Rowan, the horse-man who was still stuck in the thorns down below.

"Man, you're really stuck, aren't ya?" she made a face, gritting her teeth. "That looks.. really bad." Then, tucking back some of her hair, she began to climb her way out and over the tree branch that reached out over where Rowan was trapped. "So like... didn't you see this enormous valley full of thorns when you came through here? I mean, I'd think it's pretty obvious, not many animals wonder here and the thorned bushes stretch as far as the eye can see."

Rowan let out a sad sigh, ears drooping. This was so embarrassing, and her questioning the logic of his decision only made it worse!

"Well, there was a path going in," he muttered, "and then once I got in, I realized it was a lot bigger than I thought, so I tried to turn around and, well..." He motioned to himself. When you had the body of a draft horse, turning around in tight quarters was not an option, and once he'd gotten tangled, simply backing out wasn't an option, either.

"That's when I realized I was stuck."

He tried to back up a step and winced as the thorns scratched and dug in. With another sigh, he looked back up at the girl as she climbed the branch that hung over him. "I'm not normally this stupid," he said with a smile, feeling even more dumb when he saw that human was quite pretty, even if she was missing half her body. How did humans even walk on two legs?

Namia, now having positioned herself completely over the poor horse-man, leaned downwards from the tree, looking around at him, to his body, and to the thorns as she hung upside down, her dark hair reaching towards the ground. "Yeah.. this looks sort of bad." Then with a frown, she tried to contemplate what she ought to do before pulling herself back up into the branch. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to cut you out without stepping in the thorns myself," She said with some mild hesitation, but hten her green eyes lit up over an idea.

"Oh! I know! I could just land on your back side and then start cutting from there. Once I clear the thorns closet to you, then I can work my way out. That er.. is to say," she began, tucking back some of her dark hair from her face. "If you'd let me down onto your back that is. YOu know... to sit like how humans do when they er.. ride horses that don't have human heads."

Ok.. muttering things like that just sounded weird! But hse just hoped this boy would agree, or else she hadn't the slighest idea on how to get the boy out.

Despite the pain he was in, Rowan couldn't help but laugh at that, the sound rich and mirthful. She phrased that so tenderly, as though afraid of offending him!

"That's fine!" he said, and then added quickly, because she did say land on his back, "But, ah, just be careful! Don't, you know, just jump on me. That doesn't sound very pleasant." Not from where she was up in  that tree!

And he'd seen how humans rode horses and wondered how the poor beasts took it. It didn't look the least bit comfortable, especially with all that stuff all on their back adding to the weight. Seemed...itchy.

"But if you can do that, that would be excellent! I mean, I won't fault you if you land a little heavy. That's better than these thorns!"

Namia just let herself drop, seeming to all but ignore Rowan's rambling. She landed with a noise, then a laugh once she realized she had scored a safe landing and shot a victorious fist into the air.
"I made it!"

OOC:... lol. Poor Rowan's back XD

OOC: xDDD Namia is so cute.

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Thump! The girl was not large or particularly heavy, but it still hurt to have the full force of her weight drop down on him from above! Especially since he wasn't a horse! He wasn't used to carrying any weight on his back at all.

"Ahh! What did I say about dropping down on me!" he groaned, drumming his front hooves on the ground in front of him and twisting around to throw her an agitated look over his shoulder. He could swear that had popped his spine! Though maybe he was being a little dramatic. His mouth was open, ready to say more, but then he froze as he got a good look at the human girl, up close.

She looked so happy, so victorious.

...And she was really, really pretty, even if she was missing half a body.

It was a moment before he realized he was staring, and he cleared his throat and faced forward again, ear flicking.

"Anyway, yes! You did it! Now maybe we can get me outta here!"

Namia gave a pleased grin, then moved to reach down to the knife strapped to her side. Unhitching it, she went to work, hacking at the thorns most easiest to reach, before finding herself soon needing to lean dangerously out from upon his back side, muscles aching and straining and sweat collecting across her brow as she stuck out a tongue and furrowed her brow in concentraton.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! And more and more of the damn thorns began to fall away in a few clean slices, and once one side was visibly clearer, she slipped off the side of his back and began to crawl underneath him, hacking away what sharp thorns were piercing his poor belly.

"Gods.. there are so many brambles here," she groaned, then an "OUCH!" as a few pricked her arm, one even to her finger hwihc she put into her mouth to suck away the blood. Shaking off hte pain (and the little tricklets of blood) she steeled herself, drawing in a breath, then continued about her work, getting on her hands and knees and working at the thorns now around his hooves while her dark hair fell around her shoulders in a mess.

"Man, you really got yourself tangled in here good."

Rowan felt a little bad, putting her to work like this, but not the guilt eased away with each cut bramble as the thorns began to slide away from him. It was feeling of relief unlike any other, and Rowan let out a pleased sigh, only wincing when some of the thorns had to be pulled free. That was never pleasant, but it felt better once they were free of his hide.

Soon he could move his legs again, though he was careful not to move too much. The girl was beneath him, and he didn't want to accidentally stomp on her. He spread his front legs out a little and leaned forward so he could peer down between them as she worked, dreadlocks hanging down as he watched her.

"Are you okay?" he asked in response to her pained sounds. "Boy, I really owe you for this! I swear I'll pay you back for this somehow! What kinds of things do humans like? What kinds of things do you like?"

Namia peered up at him as he posed his question and blinked.
"Are you seriously asking me now? Why can't you wait until I'm done cutting all these damn thorns out?" She grumbled and turned around, her ass now pointed towards his face as she went about hacking away at the thorns around his back legs. Man he had a lot of brambles tangled into the tufts of his leg hair. And though it was sweaty and annoying ot do this, she paused a moment to wipe at her brow, and sighed, admiring the fact his legs seemed rather powerful. You know. For a horse. She wasn't sure she had ever seen a horse so erm.. large before.

Blinking, she then looked over at Rowan's front. "And you don't have to repay me for this. I couldn't just leave you here. Just think of it as my good deed for the day." And then with a shrug, she went back to work, cutting away the last bits of thorns.
"There." she said, rising up beside him with a triumphant smilea nd a mess of black-blue hair over her face. "You should be all free!"

Rowan blushed, and scratched at an ear sheepishly. "Er, I was only trying to make conversation," he said to her backside, staring at it more than was proper. But it was only out of curiosity and fascination, because he'd never really seen a human up close like this and he couldn't help but wonder how everything worked. Huh! She didn't even have a tail or anything! Not even a stump that he could see. It was so funny, and yet so interesting!

They also wore so many clothes, and he had to wonder why. Did they find their own bodies funny? Though she did have an interesting shape...

"You know, to make the job go by more...pleasantly, maybe? But I suppose the timing could have been better...ah!"

He felt it when the last of the brambles cut free, and he swished his tail and shifted his legs experimentally, and once again sighed in relief when he could move without pain. "Ah! So much better, thank you! Let's get out of here before those brambles decide they haven't drank enough blood!"

He turned around slowly, careful of the thorns and careful of the girl, and then paused. She was down here now, and there was no easy way for her to get back out unscathed.

Except...

Catching her eye, he nodded toward his back. "Want a ride out?" he asked. He supposed his back could handle a little more abuse!

Namia stared up at him with a curious blink, then stared around at the world of thorns they were still submerged in. She grit her teeth then.
"If you ride me out of here, you might get more tangled in these thorns. Here, let me make sure we have a clear path." And she moved forward, sucking in a breath and studied the only logical looking escape route. It appeared clear enough anyways, an she moved forward, testing a few more branches before hacking enough away to widen the way to their escape.
"There!" she said with another triumphant smile. Two good deeds in one day! But unfrtunately for her, she had brambles and dirt all strung out through her hair and clothes. So the bath she tried to have but moments ago was for naught, for she was also quite sweaty and would need another, lest she fester in this itchy mess.
Itching at her arm, she peered up at him, some of her long hair covering her left eye.
"I guess I could do for that ride now. And there's a nice stream nearby. It would do well for us to get the itchy remains of those pesky thorns all nice and washed away." And as if to make her point, she began to itch at her upper arm again, then her cheek, which she smeared a bit of dirt on it just above a light scrape from the thorns she had received.

Finally! They were free! As soon as Namia cut away the brambles and stood clear of the pathway, Rowan charged out of the briar patch and reared triumphantly in freedom, fists in the air.

"Yes! Gods, you have no idea how good this feels!" he said as he let his hooves slam back down onto the earth with an audible thump that made the ground tremble. Then he trotted around in a small circle, stretching his legs and swishing his tail. He'd been stuck in the thorns for longer than he'd like to admit. "Goodness, I've no idea what I would've done if you hadn't been near! Well, actually, I would have just had to rip myself free, but that would've been unpleasant...anyway!"

Beaming a smile her way, he pranced in a happy circle around Namia, tail held high. "That dip in the stream idea sounds wonderful! So let's be off!"

And without another word, he reached down abruptly and scooped the girl up into his arms, carrying her princess style, before he wheeled around and made a dash for the stream. His legs and belly felt horribly itchy, and the fur on both was tinted red in places, the skin beneath angry and inflamed. Little sounded better than letting the cool water run over them.

And so it was that Rowan charged headlong toward the stream, and didn't even pause before he plunged into it with Namia still in his arms.

Namia watched, a bit stunned, as the centaur pranced about in his freed excitement. She couldn't help but gawk and smile crookedly, though had to flinch a few times as his powerful hooves came thundering onto the ground. Well, she guessed SOMEONE was excited. And as he spun around and galloped back towards her, she found herself, mouth still ajar, blinking up at him and barely having a chance to catch her own breath as she was drawn up into his arms.
"H-hey!" though her meak protest would have been lost, she found herself suddenly clinging onto him for dear life as he dashed away, heading straight for...

Her eyes popped open wide.
"Oh Gods, the river...."

SPLAAAAAAAAAAAASH.

And soon she found herself completely and utterly submerged in it, while completely and utterly still dressed; and completely and utterly still CLINGING onto Rowan for dear life as she held onto her breath until her lungs felt they might pop. Clawing at him, she was desperately to climb higher within his arms as she threw her face clean out of hte water and gasped for air.
"Oh my Gods, what are you doing!?" she shouted, her eyes wide as she began to cough and sputter out water, while of course, still desperately clinging to the horse man, lest she drown.

Namia's shouting jarred Rowan out of his happy oblivion and he blinked down at her as she clawed her way higher and coughed and sputtered. Tilting his head in confusion, he lifted her a little higher to help her out.

"Ah...I...thought we were taking a dip in the stream?" he said, ears back. "Were we not?"

It was the deepest part of the stream here, coming well up to his human chest, but he could still touch the bottom easily as he stood there frozen and perplexed.

Namia clung onto Rowan, her teeth chattering.
"Y-yes, but th-this area it's.." she shivered some more. "It's too deep! Can't you like.. put me closer towards the river bank or something? I'd rather not drown today after I avoided a bigger scrape in that bramble bush!"

Realization clicked, and Rowan let out a laugh. "Oh! Oh. Oh, you're fine, miss. I wouldn't let you go! And see? I can touch the bottom, here!"

Still holding onto her, Rowan turned around in a circle just to show off the fact that he could, indeed, touch bottom.

"I can swim, too! Don't worry, you won't drown." Then he blinked down at her. "Wait. Can't you swim?"

"What?" her face went beet red. "Of course I can swim! I just- I... well, it's a lot easier to bath if I can stand. I just.." and oi! What a question. Her mind was racing as the man still held her- did he... did he honestly expect her to just cling onto him while they bathed? Though she supposed she could bath with her clothing on... being as she was completely soaked by now and sighed.

"Fine, whatever, here is good enough!" So long as he didn't trample over top of her, or you know, drop her into the deep end. She could swim, though, you know, was hardly graceful at it,a nd tended to avoid that all together unless cooling off in the summer. Even then, she had just a slight fear of deeper water, if only because a close friend of hers had died when she was little. It was an awful thign ot die, to be pulled under the current of a raging river after a rain.
So yeah, she had a slight fear. No biggie. You know, so long as there was no freak storms or...
Rowan let go.

"Yeah so like.." she began to say, tucking her dark hair away from her face. "Just don't drop me, alright?"

Oh, this human was turning out to be very confusing! She could swim, but she didn't want him to drop her, and she wanted to be by the shore, but here was also fine! Also, they were apparently bathing? When she mentioned a "dip", he thought she meant a swim to cool off, wash away the blood, and soothe their irritated skin--which was also about as far as bathing went for the people of his tribe. That, or rolling around in dust and mud to ward off biting insects.

He tilted his head. She was saying an awful lot of conflicting things all at once.

"Ah...hm. Well, if you would be more comfortable by the shore, I can just..."

Turning in a circle, he waded his way toward the shoreline until the water was only up to his knees--which was still a lot higher up than her knees, but she'd at least be able to wade around there. He lowered her carefully and then gave himself a shake, spraying water everywhere as his tail and dreadlocks whipped around.

Then he beamed down at her. "Is this better?"

Having her feet down in the mud of the river was definitely better (in her opinion) than being held over the waters by the really tall, kind of cute, horse-man. Either way, she simply nodded, tucking back her hair and gave him a quirky grin to reassure him, it was.

Being as she was more in control of herself in the waters, she bent over and finally began to work at rinsing off all fo the brambles stuck inside her hair and clothes. There was quite a lot of them, but as she began to pluck them out of her skirts, and hair, she peered over at Rowan witha bit of a frown.

"Do you need any help getting those thorns out of your tail? you've got an awful lot of them coating it. And they look to be stuck in there pretty good."

At her question, Rowan flicked his tail around and twisted his body so that he could get a good look at it. After all, it was a little difficult for him to reach it on his own; back in his tribe, they all groomed each other. But it had been a long time since he'd been among other centaur, and in addition to being full of brambles now, his tail had been overall neglected.

He frowned at the sight, but then looked back at Namia and smiled brightly. "You wouldn't mind?" he asked, and let out a relieved sigh, pawing at the muddy river floor with a hoof. "Because that would be amazing. I'm afraid it's gotten terribly knotted and, well, I don't normally look like this!"

Namia blinked at his enthusiasm, and gave him an awkward grin.
"Of course I wouldn't mind. I did offer, didn't I?" she reminded him as she tucked her long, dark blue hair back behind her ears. Then moving to her pouch strapped to the sideo f her belt, she took out a long brush and moved forward, hesitant at first as she plucked out a few large brambles, and gav a single, slow stroke through his tail.

"Man, there are a lot of knots in here. I might have to cut some of them out," she admitted, moving her hair back from her face, for it had fallen infront of her eyes again.

Rowan sighed with enjoyment as she stroked his tail and let his eyes flutter closed. The sensation was not unlike when someone played with the hair on his head or scratched him behind the ears--wonderful, likely to make him melt into a puddle, and something that happened far too little since he'd been away from his herd.

"Hmm...? Oh! Oh, that's fine," he said, cracking an eye open and focusing back on what she was saying. It would be rude to get lost in the sensation and fall asleep! "I suspect my tail's not in very good shape. I've had no one to groom it since I've been away from my herd, and there's only so much I can do myself!"

He could keep it clean and fairly groomed, but braids and brushing? That was trickier. But perhaps the real reason was it just wasn't the same, doing it yourself...or the more honest answer, which was that he had gotten a little lazy on his adventure.

Glancing back at her to watch her work, he smiled. "So, miss Namia, do you live out here?"

Namia looked up at him after she did another set of strokes.
"What? In the brambles, no!" she said, then paused to consider, "Why, do you?" Ok, so it was a bit selfish, but she sort of heard his question wrong anyway!

Rowan looked at her from over his shoulder and gave a startled laugh. "What? Me? No! Do I look like I could survive a day in them? I was fit to become raven food before you found me!"

...Oh. Wow. That wasn't a very heroic thing to say. His face flushed abruptly and he snapped his eyes away. "Er. Not that I wold have died out here. I would have torn my way free like the valiant warrior I am! That was just an exaggeration! Just, uh, a way to show how much your kind act means to me! But no, no, I don't live out here. I'm from the foothills of the Terrin mountains."

"Raven food?" Her eyes went wide as she thought to the dream she had had the night before she had met Rowan and found herself so fixated on that detail that she heard nothing else from his lips.
"Ravens? Have you seen them here?" she pressed, placing a hand to his back leg as she paused in her brushing. Maybe there was some sort of connection with this man,er.. horse man, and her dreams!

"Hmm?" Blinking at her question, Rowan tossed her another curious look. "Ravens? Oh, yes. I've seen lots of ravens. There were some a ways back in a field, pestering wolves for whatever it was they'd caught. So I'd be careful if you're planning on heading west, if the wolves are still around."

Namia set her jaw and kept her lips flat.
So he had seen ravens- though was it a sign or coincidence? Though he said it might be dangerous, she still might have to check it out.

"So you said they were heading west?" Blinkingly, she turned from him and brushed her dark hair from her face and let her eyes scout in that direction. Wolves.. she really didn't want to have to deal with wolves, but her quest left her following whatever the dreams dictated as she sighed.
"Guess I'm heading west.." she muttered.

"What? No! Why would you want to do that?" Rowan blurted, twisting his human body at the waist to get a better look at her. Her! The young, tiny human! She would be nothing to a pack, and not the least bit intimidating.

"Didn't you hear the part where I mentioned wolves? Are you hunting wolves or something? That sounds like a terrible idea! They'll eat you!"

And he especially didn't like wolves. They hunted horses sometimes--and a centaur wasn't much different, especially children, who were easy targets.

"Hunting wolves? Do I look like a wolf hunter?" she said with a smirk and snort. She shook her head. "Hardly. I'm after the ravens." And with that, she rolled her eyes and went back to brushing his tail, going a bit more quickly this time since she realized that finding those ravens again will be harder and harder the longer she waited. SO she half assed the rest of his tail grooming. That was good enough.
Sighing, she blew back some of her hair before putting her brush away.

"There, your tail is fine and I think we got most of the brambles out- though,"s he added with another, more playful smirk. "You might want to avoid that field of thorns in the future. You know.. just sayin'."

And dusting herself off, she began to collect her things.

"The ravens?" Rowan repeated with raised eyebrows. Somehow, that seemed more bizarre. Wolves, you could at least do something with them--use their fur for clothing and blankets and such, eat their meat, even if it wasn't tasty. But ravens? What good were they but dirty carrion feeders and--ow!

He twitched and stared back at her. She was sure in a hurry now! And that grooming wasn't feeling half so good anymore. Frowning at her, he turned back around and endured it, hiding his flinches whenever her brush snagged a knot aaand...then she was done.

He flicked his tail to get a look at it. There were still some tangles! But before he could mention anything, she was collecting her things.

"What? You're leaving already?" he said, and turned his body, mindful of his hooves, so he could face her. "For the ravens? What do you want with them? They're just rats on wings!"

Namia peered up at Rowan from where she was bent over her things.
"Yep, I'm chasing after rats with wings,"s he said, looking down to her things once again with a roll of her eyes. It didn't take long to get her stuff in order as she threw her pack over her shoulder then glanced over at him.
"Why do you care anyway?" she asked curiously, while slicking back some of her dark blue hair. "Not a fan of ravens?"

"Not particularly," Rowan said, scratching at the peach fuzz growing on his chin. "They're loud and obnoxious and not to mention a bad omen."

He shuddered, the motion traveling from his human shoulders to his withers. "You know if you see a flock of ravens, there's death nearby. That's why a flock of them is called a murder. I don't know why you'd want to follow the wolves and ravens, of all things. That's so..."

He waved a hand, looking for the right word. "Morbid."

Namia just stared at the centaur.
"I'm aware what they mean," she said a bit impatiently while tucking back some hair. But hey- heck, she didn't have much of a choice. She had to follow her dream and figure out what it meant- in hopes that perhaps she could save her mother from whatever fate the dreams meant.

"Call it what you will, but it's just what I'm searching for. I don't have much choice." and with a shrug, she turned around, but then paused and turned back to face him again.
"But right, I suppose this is a proper goodbye?" she said, raising her brows questionably as she extended out a hand for him to shake.

Rowan shifted nervously where he stood, not liking this at all. When she held out her hand, he blinked down at it and, after a pause, grasped it in his own. He didn't do anything with it, though, just held it, not sure what the human custom was for this sort of thing.

"I...goodbye? So you're really going to go after those things? Where the wolves are? Alone?" he said, still trying to wrap his mind around it. She'd already stated her intention loud and clear, but...but it was crazy! She was so tiny! Did she even know how to defend herself? Did she have any other weapons, or just a little knife?

Still holding onto her hand, he chewed his lip. "You could get killed if you...ah! Listen, you helped me here, so why don't I just...go with you for a bit? To make sure you'll be safe? And that the wolves aren't still around? That's what I'm supposed to do out here, anyway! Heroic deeds and such. And that's pretty heroic! So..."

As Namia stared at him just.. holding her hand, her lips went flat. She supposed not everyone knew the custom to shake hands- but before she had a chance to explain, Rowan went on to hastily inform her how crazy she was again-
but then did the very crazy thing to suggest he come along too!

Her mouth fell open as she stared at him, blinking a few times (as if that might fix what she heard-) Did she hear him wrong? She dug into one ear, as if to clean it out.

"Wait, what?" She made a face at him. "Oh.. no no..! You Don't have to tag along-"S he began to protest, but then he went on and on about being so heroic and her body deflated a little.
"No, look- you really don't have to. I was planning on doing this alone..."
BUt really.. what harm could come with his company? And as she thought it over, she stared at him, scrutinizing him with a rub to her chin.

"I.. well, I guess you could help me. How familiar are you with this area anyway?"

Ah, good, so she agreed! For a second there he had been worried she'd refuse. He perked up, grinning down at her--until she asked the dreaded question.

Rowan's face fell, but he was quick to perk right back up again, hoping she didn't notice. "Oh, I'm not the least bit familiar with this place," he cheerfully said. Because if you gave bad news cheerfully, that made it not so bad, right?

"But I know my directions and how to use the stars! So it can't be that difficult finding one's way around, right? Besides," he said, puffing out his chest. "I'm big and tough and I've got a bow. No wolves are going to bother you while I'm around, and that's the bit that counts, right?" Alright, so that was a bit of a lie. Wolves still messed with even adult centaurs because horse was rather tasty, and a pack could easily overwhelm one. But it was best not to mention that.

"You're going west, right? That's easy. We'll just go west, then!"

Namia's lips remained open for a time before she found herself needing to tuck back a smile. Shaking her head, she gave a roll of her eyes as she stepped away from him.

"Ok, so I guess you're going to be my body guard or something?" she said, the idea making her smirk. She continued down the path, heading west and avoiding the bramble patch as best as possible. "How many wolves have you killed anyway? And you know, I know how to navigate the stars too. My people have been doing it for generations."

Take that, horsey man! And of course, the playful one up man ship was in good humor, of course!

"Er..." Rowan followed along beside her, tail swishing as he walked. "Not...many?" As in, none at all.

"But see, that's only because I haven't had to. No wolf in their right mind is crazy enough to mess with a centaur like me! Why, one good kick from one of these hooves would cave a grown wolf's chest right in, or split their skull. They know better."

There were a few truths there. He hadn't needed to kill a wolf yet. And his hooves could cause serious injury or death with a kick. But that a wolf wouldn't mess with him? That had yet to be tested. Namia didn't need to know that, though!

He tossed his hair, dreadlocks bouncing. "And how many have you killed, my new body guardee?"

Namia craned her neck to stare up at the centaur.
"I can't say I've killed any. I'm not much of a hunter,"s he admitted while chewing on the inside of one of her cheeks. But looking him over, she frowned.

"But you look like a kid. Well, not a kid, but you look about my age. And... by the way you're talking," she added with a grin and stood up on her tip toes to poke his nose. "I don't think I believe you."
And turning away, she walked off ahead of him with an extra bounce to her step, leaving the trail end of her dark hair to tickle against his body and leave a trailing scent.

Rowan stared after her, nose still wrinkled from when she'd poked him there and ears laid back. Then, stomping his front hoof, he marched on after her, tromping noisily through the undergrowth.

"I'm not a kid!" he said, though Namia was spot-on in her observation. "I'm...I'm an adult in my herd!" And then, grimacing, he rubbed his face. "Okay, almost. But I bet I'm at least older than you. And I've seen lots of wolves! And, ah, I bet I could take them on if they were ever brave enough to try me and--Namia, wait!"

He picked up his pace, catching up to her in a few large bounds and skidding to a stop near her. Reaching out, he touched her shoulder. "Don't go too far ahead without me. I was serious about the wolves, you know, and we're getting closer. They were just beyond these trees, in the field up ahead, so..."

He frowned. "What do you want to find these ravens for, anyway?"

"What makes you think you're older?" Namia asked as she continued to walk ahead of him in nonchalance. In reality, she was a bit nervous, as she had no idea where she was really going and just going off of what this horse-man told her. But she needed to figure out if these ravens might be the same ones from her dreams. But at the mention of wolves she hesitated and stared over at her shoulder before looking up at him.

"It's well.. sort of complicated," she said, avoiding his gaze in that moment as she stepped forward just so, so that his hand would fall from her shoulder so she could keep on walking.
"And shouldn't we hurry up anyway? Why slow down? If there are wolves, we should get over there and out as quickly as we can. Dawdling might only draw their attention to us."

Though, so would running into the pack if they were still close by! And that, neither of them could know for certain.

Rowan let his hand drop back down to his side and, ears laid back, he started after her again.

"You don't want to just barge on in there. They're wolves! You have to be careful. Granted, they ate something so goddess willing, they're full, but if they're not..." He heaved a breath through his nose.

"Just let me go first."

Without waiting for her answer, he pushed past her and strode out of the line of trees and into the open, one hand gripping his bow while the other reached behind him to the quiver of arrows, just in case. And sure enough there, in the distance, came the cawing of ravens. But what was most disturbing was the sight.

Ahead of them, in a field, was a pack of at least eight wolves surrounding a bloodied mass of...something. Probably deer, or at least Rowan hoped. They were large, larger than the average timber wolf, and looked healthy and fit--clearly a successful pack. Whatever they had caught, it looked mostly bones now as some of them chewed bones or fought over scraps of skin.

And above them, waiting their turn patiently, the trees were black with ravens.

Namia had only made a few steps out into the field at Rowan's side, and hadn't even a chance to protest what he was saying when the Raven's call caught her attention and her deep blue eyes followed to where they were flying in the sky. Her lips parted open to see the skies so black due to there being so many birds- and it was while she was standing there that she lost herself.


Somehow she was flying- the ground below her moving fast. ANd all around her was fluttering blackness as she swooped up and over the group. She could see clearly the carcass the wolves were eating- but something seemed off. The wolves looked darker, meaner- as they growled at the bird as it swooped down low- but the moment this happened, the wolves scattered and as the pack crested the hill, a single, silver wolf howled. As the raven flew back she could see the dead animal again, but this time, she noticed a familiar form curled up inside the animal- and it was in that moment her connection broke-

It had only happened in mere seconds, but the raven had indeed, flown down close to the pack and caused them to scatter, but that's not what held Namia's attention now. Her eyes were now wide, tears beginning to collect in them and her normally tanned skin- white. After a moment, she clutched her chest suddenly then clasped a hand over her lips.

Gods.. what.. what just happened!? What had she seen!? Did she just have a vision through the ravens?! And what did it mean!? Why was her mother's body inside the dead carcass!?
Feeling dizzy, her legs began to fall away as she collapsed towards the ground.

Rowan had been staring at the pack, trying to decide how best to proceed, when a raven soared down and the wolves scattered and fled, leaving behind the stripped carcass. His eyes narrowed, head tilting. That was...odd behavior, to say the least, and the silver wolf's howl sent a little chill down his spine. Why...why would they just leave like that? Did the raven scare them away? That would be strange; wolves and ravens often played together, and the wolves had no trouble chasing the birds away when they got too annoying. Maybe it was just...weird timing...?

He was probably thinking way too much about it, but Namia's insistence on finding the ravens had made him intensely curious about the entire situation--whoa!

That was when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement. Namia collapsing bonelessly--and him too distracted by the ravens to catch her, or notice that something had been wrong. With a startled curse, he dropped down onto his front knees and reached out to grab her, pulling him into his arms and brushing her hair back so he could get a look at her face.

He let out another curse at what he saw. She was ghost-white, her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Namia? Namia!" he said, eyes wide with concern and heart drumming in his chest. Goddess, what happened to her?! "Namia, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? What...?"

The ravens had descended upon the carcass, squawking and bickering over whatever bits were left behind. Shivering at the sight, and disturbed by the strange sequence of events, Rowan scooped Namia up like a bride and rose back to his feet.

"We should get out of here."

Namia was too startled, too numb to know how to react. Being scooped up in his arms, she cringed at the sensation,but instinct had her clinging with arms around his neck.

"I.. I don't know,"s he finally said, still dizzy, still upset as she blinked back some tears. But at his sudden insistence they leave, her eyes opened wide and she flew around in his grasp.
"NO!" she shouted, eyes clinging desperately to his. "NO! We must see what's inside the carcass!"
And she had no idea how crazy she sounded!

"WHAT?" Rowan blurted, staring down at Namia in wide-eyed horror at her sudden desperation. See what was in the carcass? He jerked his head in its direction, where the ravens were still picking at the bones, and shook his head in confusion.

"What do you mean, see what's in it? Bones are what's in it! And ravens..." he added, watching as some of the ravens stuck their heads in the carcass's cavity. He shuddered. "I don't...I don't think you want to go see that, Namia..."

Namia squirmed in his grasp.
"I have to! Put me down! I need to make sure!"
Make sure that her visions hadn't already happened- make sure no other 'sights' could be triggered. She knew it was a sign, but a sign of what? And a sense of dread washed over her as she continued to wriggle. "Put me down, Rowan! Or at least take me over there!" And now her blue eyes pleaded with him.

Rowan found her behavior utterly baffling, and completely worrying! But from the way she was pleading with him, he didn't think she'd let this go until she'd examined the carcass for herself.

With an uneasy look at what had once been a deer, Rowan let his shoulders slouch. "Okay, but...I'm going with you!" he said, and lowered her gently to the ground. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "And, you know, you should probably tell me what this is all about, because I'm finding this rather confusing right now!"

Namia visibly pouted, but she was a ball of nerves, she could not contain it- even if she were to feel it to be a secret.
"It's just that I... well... I've had visions," she began, nervously wringing her hands.

"Visions...?" Rowan repeated, and looked at the corpse again, ears laid back. "Er...what kind of visions?"

If it had something to do with that dead deer, he didn't really want to know. And yet, he was morbidly curious, because this was all so mad.

"Y-yes... visions... dreams." She paused to hold a breath, steeling herself as they continued to make their way towards the corpse, though she did so with caution. "I... well, something like this has occurred before, though not in the waking world." Pressing her lips together, she focused on the path before her. "I.... well, the thing is I'm afraid of this vision. It.... it's a symbol of death."

"Death...?" Rowan stared at the dead deer, his ears going back and a shiver running through him, making his withers tremble and gooseflesh raise on his arms. He really, really didn't want to go any closer to that thing. A vision of death was all the more reason not to get near it--but Namia was forging onward, and what kind of guardian would he be if he let her face this alone?

Tail swishing nervously, he trotted closer. "I suppose that makes sense. The deer is certainly dead..." And he gave a forced laugh at that.

Namia closed her lips, dark eyes remaining upon the corpse as they approached.
"Not just any death." She said, her steps growing more hesitant. "But my mother's."
And at such a revelation, she felt her nose burn and her vision go white as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The crows, that had been circling over head, gave a caw and flew off, and any vultures nearby dispersed as Namia dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Your mother's death? What? Your mother's a--?"

But before Rowan could complete what would have been among the stupidest sentences he'd ever uttered, Namia went down, and this time he didn't have a chance to catch her. He winced when she hit the ground--hopefully she hadn't hit her head--and quickly knelt on his front legs so he could first make sure she was okay, and then gather her up into his arms. Straightening again, he smoothed the hair back from her face and shot an uneasy look at the deer remains, another shudder going through him.

He knew going near it was a bad idea. He knew it. And lo and behold, he'd been right, and nothing good had come of it! Holding her close to his chest, he turned and bolted back to the woods, eager to put some distance between them and...and whatever it was Namia had seen.

Once some distance had been gained, Namia groaned as she began to awaken, peering up at Rowan through bleary eyes.
"What... uh..?" she couldn't even form a full thought, her head was pounding and she still felt dizzy from her spell.

"Oh, you're awake!" Rowan said, relief clear in his eyes. He hugged Namia a little closer, feeling the overwhelming need to protect the tiny human.

By the time she'd woken up, he had already taken them rather deep into the woods, a good distance away from the wolves and the ravens. He really didn't think Namia needed to see anymore wolves or ravens for a while. Clearly, they had a bad, scary effect on her--for whatever reason.

And he still had goosebumps on his arms as he remembered what she'd said right before her eyes had rolled back and she'd crumpled like a boneless sack.

"Thank goodness! Are you okay? How do you feel? You just went ghost white and collapsed! You really scared me, there."

Namia kept a hand held against her head as she grimaced at how heavy she felt. Then, peering up at Rowan, she gave him a bit of a confused look, and gasped a little when he moved to hug her. They had only just met, and she felt a bit awkward to be embraced so easily, and it didn't help that- despite he was half horse, well, the human side of him was a bit handsome and well, it made her flush a bit to be held so close by him.

But what sobered her from the moment was his question as she peered up into his face.
"I feel just... blah. You know? Kind of heavy, as if my body has all of this extra weight to it. And I feel exhausted." She frowned as she thought it all over again and raked a hand through her hair.

"I... I had another vision again. And these.. these visions I have are so awful, but I keep... keep seeing them." And as she recalled them, she felt herself trembling and then something tickled at hr nose and she rubbed at it with the back of her hand, and was surprised to see blood.

"Namia...you're bleeding," Rowan said, though the girl already knew. It was less to point it out to her, and more a statement of alarm. Oh gods.

"Oh, no...no, you're really not okay right now, are you? Ah, are you getting sick? It sounds like you're getting sick. What you described sounds a lot like the beginnings of a flu. Do humans even get flu? Or do you get something else? The bloody nose isn't flu-ish, though! Ah!"

He fidgeted nervously, tail flicking and ears going back. Oh gosh. It would be his luck to come into care of a sick human when he didn't know the slightest thing about human illnesses or how to take care of them! Did humans eat what they ate? Well...he'd heard humans ate flesh, which was rather ghastly, but hopefully they didn't need it? Centaurs and humans were pretty similar, after all! Except for the equine bits.

"Here, let's stop, you need to rest. Ah, this looks good!"

He brought them to a stop beneath a large tree, its massive roots spread out around it with piles of fallen leaves between them. Kneeling on his forelegs, Rowan lowered Namia gently onto one of those leaf piles. "Here, just relax a little, okay? I can get you some water! And food. Oh! What do humans eat?"

Namia placed a hand to the side of her head.
"Woah, just hold on a minute, will ya? This is all too much for me I... I think I just need a minute." Because if things kept going on like this, she might pass out, and she was fervently hoping to avoid that!

"Oh! Sorry!" Rowan said, wincing, and realized then that he really had been yammering on like some silly bird. If Namia wasn't feeling well, then...no doubt that was overwhelming to her.

"I'll shut up! You just, yeah, just relax for a moment. Okay?"

Though it couldn't have been very relaxing for her, because Rowan hovered over her, tail swishing as he shifted his weight from hoof to hoof anxiously. He was just about bursting with the need to do something, anything! He wasn't very good at just standing idle.

She pressed a hand to her forehead, in attempts to stop the world from threatening to spin, but after a few minutes passed in silence, she nodded her head and licked at her dry lips.
"Actually, I think I could use some water."
Her throat was parched!

"Water! Yes! I can get you that! Just hang tight!"

Eager to be of use, Rowan turned and took off through the woods, careful of his footing as he leaped over fallen trees and tore through scratchy bushes. There was a stream not too far away, its faint trickle impossible to hear at this distance for a human, but loud enough to his horse ears. Trotting to a stop in front of it, he took out his water skin and dipped it into the water where the stream ran quickest and the water would be cleanest and, once it was filled, he returned to Namia.

"Got some!" he announced as he approached, waving the waterskin over his head like a trophy. Stepping close to her, he lowered down onto his front knees and handed her the skin, then folded his back legs under him to lay down near her.

"Drink slowly," he said. "You don't wanna make yourself sick!"

Drink slowly? It was already too late! As she began to gulp down the waters, she began to choke and sputtered out some water. Though despite that,s he found herself laughing.

"Well, no one ever said I was good at following directions," she said, giving a sheepish smile to Rowan as she swiped some dark hair from her face. Then she took the water skin more delicately to her lips and drank slowly. Once she had her fill, she sighed contentedly and handed it back to him.

"Thanks. It's a wonder what fresh water can do. I'm beginning to feel better already."
And idly, she stared at his laying form, finding herself fascinated by how he was able to get his large body to just lay down. It seemed as if it would take a lot of effort, considering his body was so large, and she hadn't realized she was staring as she watched some flies buzz around his tail.

"Well, next time, maybe you'll be better at it 'cause you'll remember choking," Rowan said with a teasing smile. "Or not. Heh, I do the same thing all the time..."

He trailed off, noticing the way she was looking at him, and it abruptly occurred to him that just as he'd never really seen a human before, maybe she'd never really seen a centaur. It seemed obvious now, but when you grew up with your own kind being "normal", the "default", it was somewhat weird to imagine that that wasn't true for everyone. From Namia's perspective, humans were probably the default!

Still smiling, Rowan tilted his head and flicked his tail to shoo away some flies. "Ever seen a centaur before?"

Namia rolled her eyes in good humor.
"I'll be sure to remember that next time," she said, considering sticking her tongue out at him but in the end, decided against it. Instead, she sheepishly brushed at her hair when he asked his last question.
"Er,.. I didn't meant to stare. But no... no, I haven't." She gave a shrug. "It's... I... I just assumed your type never existed, or had to be sorta rare, you know? Considering I've never seen any in my life before. But really... this is the most I think I've ever traveled. And.... I'm not exactly that old I suppose, so I don't have a lot of experience in um... a lot of things."

Okay! This conversation was definitely not going where she had hoped it would, so maybe it was time she just should shut up? Ugh. Awkward.
And she had been idly twisting her finger into her hair that it nearly got stuck!

Rowan laughed, amused at her awkwardness. It made him feel a lot better, since among his herd, he was often the awkward, unworldly one. Namia somehow made him feel like he was...older than he actually was. Probably because he got to protect her.

"It's okay!" he said with a grin, pushing his dreadlocks over his shoulder. "I haven't really seen many humans. Especially not up close! It's funny you'd mention, um, not traveling much, or being very experienced, 'cause to be honest, Namia...I'm not really, either."

Reaching forward, he plucked a leaf, which had just fluttered down from the trees above, from Namia's hair. "This is actually the first time I've been away from my people. We all do that, you know! When we come of age, we're supposed to go on a quest! A personal quest. It can be anything, really--the Matron decides it for us, and you don't come back until you've done it. It's supposed to make us more worldly or something by, uh...seeing the world I guess."

He scratched behind one long ear. "My guess is it's to get us youngsters out of the adults' manes for a while! How old are you, Namia?"

Like Rowan, it was nice to find someone like her. And what were the odds? Though they had many differences, it was still nice to know and hear, despite them being of completely different races and specie, they more or less had similar life goals and ideals.

"I guess you could say it's the same for us," Namia said with a nervous laugh and shrug. "And this is the first time I've been alone and traveled, but I have traveled before." Just not too far from home...

And as he went on, she listened in silence before she found the question coming back to her age.
"Err... fifteen. Fifteen years old," she told him, and peered up at him curiously. "How about you?" Maybe they were the same age? Or did centaurs age completely differently? She had no idea!

"Really?" Rowan's brown eyes lit up, partly in wonder, partly in excitement. She was his age? No wonder he was getting on with her so well! He hadn't been around anyone his age for quite a while, because all the other youngsters had gone off on their quests months before he'd gotten his. "Fifteen? Wow! I'm just a little older--sixteen!"

And then, grinning, he leaned in closer and lifted a strand of her bangs to get a better look at her. "Are all humans your age so tiny?"

Namia blushed and swiped her hair from her face as she looked up at him dubiously.
"You could say that. Are all your kind so tall?"

"Some of them!" Rowan said with a proud grin. "I'm actually kind of small compared to some, 'cause I'm still growing. And it depends a lot on the tribe. Some are a lot smaller and more dainty, but my kind? We're known for being big and strong!"

Namia had to strain her neck to look at him all.
"How much bigger?" she found herself asking.

"Much, much bigger!" Rowan said, and rose to his hooves. He lifted his hand high above his head to try to give her a sense of scale, beaming proudly down at Namia all the while. "One day, I'll be that big, too! I hope. I may have exaggerated a bit 'cause we're not all that big, but I sure hope I will be!"

Namia craned her neck as she gawked at how big he was meant to be.
"Geeze, your kind are like giants!" And then she paused and added sheepishly, "Err.. no offense." But as she was well and good with being distracted with this conversation, the caw of a crow made her head turn, and she watched it as it watched them from where it was perched upon the branch of a nearby tree. And coincidentally, or perhaps, it was fate- but the winds picked up- and she could smell the scent of an on coming storm.

Rowan laughed. "None taken! That's actually a compliment!" he said, and would have said more--because this was fun, talking about his people to someone who looked so starry-eyed over them!--when Namia turned her head, obviously distracted. Rowan's ears pricked up and he followed her gaze.

A crow. Not something unusual in a forest, but after what had happened and after what they'd discussed...kind of unsettling.

More unsettling still, though, was the rustling wind, and the smell of rain it brought with it.

Rowan frowned. "We might wanna get moving," he said. "Find some shelter for the night. Are you well enough to stand? Or shall I carry you again?"

"No, I can walk. But where can we go? I'm not familiar with this part of the forest. I'm not exactly near my home."

"I'm not, either!" Rowan admitted, with a lopsided grin as he scratched behind an ear. "And my home's in the mountains. But a forest is a forest, right? I'm sure we can find some old, abandoned den you can curl up in until the storm passes."

And as if on cue, that was when the sky split open.

Rain fell, beginning not as a light drizzle, but rather pouring down onto them. The canopy above kept them from the worst of it, but it didn't stop the rain completely, and in a matter of moments, Rowan was soaked down to his skin. Not that...it took much to soak him down to his skin, considering he wore no clothes, and his fur was short save for the fur around his hooves and the hair of his head and tail. Staring up skyward, mouth open, Rowan let his shoulders slump.

"So much for that. Ah, come on, then! Let's get moving, before we get too muddy! I saw some big trees this way--animals like to dig in the roots of big trees, so maybe--"

Lightning flashed overhead, lighting up the forest, and Rowan shut his mouth.

"On second thought, let's not take shelter in any trees."

Namia was drenched in seconds, her clothing clinging to her like a second skin as she grit her teeth and felt the rain water rush down her form.
"We're already all wet," she went on, trying to brush her wet hair from her face as rivulets ran down her face. "Perhaps we should head back towards the bramble patch? At least there was some tall bushes that could keep us at least a little less wet," she suggested, not knowing if that was even a good idea or not, considering she had no idea what direction they had came!

Rowan shifted his weight uneasily. He didn't much care for the idea of heading back to the brambles, since that had been close to the wolves and crows, but there had been plenty of shelter over there. And surely the rain would have chased away the wolves; they'd be seeking shelter themselves.

After a moment's thought, he smiled. "Couldn't hurt," he said, and offered her his hand to help her stand. "It's our best bet right now, anyway, since neither of us know where we're going! Wanna get on my back? I can get us there quicker that way!"

"Get on your back?" she said with a blink, just staring kind of stupidly at him. "You mean to ride you like a horse?" To her, it seemed a bit... rude? But then again, the horse boy did just offer her the ride.

Rowan laughed. "No, not like a horse! Like a centaur! You're tiny, and it's faster, so I don't mind if you get on carefully."

You know, instead of falling from branches onto his back like the first time. Now that had been uncomfortable!

"Yeah but..." and here she bit her lip with a frown. "How do I exactly climb on?"
He was kind of tall, after all. And he hadn't a saddle!

"Ah! Right!!" of course she couldn't get up on him from the ground! "Here, one second..."

Rowan knelt down onto his front knees and motioned with his thumb for her to climb on. "That better? Can you get on okay now? Haha, sorry! I guess we both don't do this much, huh?"

Namia released a sigh, which blew her hair from her face.
"I guess not!" She told him with a lop sided smile. "But Im sure I can get up now." And careful not to hurt him, she climbed up onto his back.

"Okay, you all on?" Rowan asked, peering over at Namia from over one broad shoulder. "I'm gonna stand up slowly, alright? So you just hang on. Here, like this."

Reaching around behind him, Rowan took her smaller hands and adjusted them, wrapping her arms around his middle. He pat her hands when he was done, and grinned. "Hold on tight. And if you start to fall, say something!" Because for her, falling from such a height could hurt the little thing!

And with those instructions given, Rowan rose to his feet.

"Woah!" Namia clung to him as he stood up, and it was only then she realized, with a blush, she was holding onto a naked boy's torso. After a moment of regaining her tongue,s he tucked back her hair and peered over at him from his shoulder.
"I'll be sure to let you know. But I don't intend to fall!"
Like he thought- she knew it'd hurt! Especially when she looked down and found herself clinging just a bit tighter to him.

Rowan was oblivious to Namia's embarrassment because hey, for him, nudity was nothing! He and his people were always naked, after all. So with Namia holding on, Rowan turned and set off at an easy canter through the thick woods, not wanting to go too fast for fear of losing her.

He did feel her squeezing onto him tighter, though, and he gave her a quick look from over his shoulder. "You okay back there?" he asked. "I'm not going too fast, am I? Because I can slow down if--"

He cut off, and came to an abrupt stop, his keen ears going up and muscles going tense. He thought he'd heard something, a faint rumble...and while his first instinct had been that it was just thunder, he realized he hadn't seen any lightning. "Did you hear that just now?" he asked, squinting against the rain.

Namia had been a bit preoccupied to notice, as she shook her head.
"No, why? Think the storm's getting worse?"

"No..." Rowan said slowly, still flicking his ears this way and that in an effort to hear whatever it was he'd heard. But after a moment of intent listening, he heard nothing but the rain.

Frowning, he pressed his lips together.

"I just thought I heard something, like thunder, but not quite that..." he said, then shook his head, flicking water and whipping Namia with his dreadlocks without thinking. "Must have just been my imagination! Besides, thunder in the rain? That's not unusual."

Except it hadn't quite sounded like thunder. It had sounded deeper. Closer.

Feeling a little spooked, he picked up his pace.

Namia flinched when his dreadlocks hit her face, and she kept a hand up to shield off any more hair attacks. But she was too preoccupied with that to really focus on whatever it was he was going on about now and so when he stopped shaking his head, she shrugged.

But then he was going faster, and with a 'Woah!' she clung onto him tighter.

Lightning arced across the sky then, lighting up the forest and casting shadows all about, and real thunder rumbled, and it only spooked Rowan more.

Because that thunder did not sound at all like the "thunder" he had heard before.

Looking around them as they went, he searched for a good spot to wait out the storm, and spotted a den dug down deep between the large, gnarled root of an ancient tree. It looked like it was built by a larger animal, maybe wolves to house their cubs at one point, but as Rowan approached it, he saw no animal tracks around it. Abandoned then, probably. If not, well, it was his now!

Twisting around to Namia, he slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her off of him before gently setting her on the ground. "Think you can fit down there?" he asked. "It should be nice and dry! And hopefully abandoned."

Namia looked at the den. She could fit no problem. But she remained in the rain, it soaking her hair and clothing as she peered up at him.
"I can fit... but what about you?" It only looked like he could fit it he were to lay down- and even then...
that was quite debatable! He had a rather large body- even for a horse!

Rowan waved his hand. "Oh, I'll be fiiiine! I'm big and tough and healthy as a...well...as a horse. I can handle it, no problem! It's you I'm worried about," he said, peering down at the girl.

"You're tiny, and don't humans get cold and sick easy?"

A rustle from the bushed made him jerk and pivot to look, and then he looked back to Namia and made a shooing motion at her. Maybe it was just the tension of the storm, but things didn't feel right. Something felt off, wrong. But he really didn't want to worry the girl! She'd already passed out once. "Don't worry about me! Just get inside."

Namia placed a hand to her hip.
"I might be tiny," and her eyes looked over his form, "Compared to you, but I'm not frail like a flower. Who rescued who from the brambles?" But a flash of wicked lightning had her gasping and rearing back. She grit her teeth. This storm... she could feel it took, it was like something else.

And as her eyes went towards the skies, a most horrific noise was heard, like the curdling of of a scream as she watched shadows and clouds twist together, then pull - stretching out until she swore it was forming a face- with two piercing wicked eyes that lit up as another flash of lightning struck out-

and she could have pissed herself, the 'mouth' opened up to reveal a set of wicked teeth.

"Oh.. by the spirits...."
What the hell was going on!? And then she felt a pull from the winds as she yelped, feeling herself being pulled forward and nearly off the ground!

...She did have a point about the whole rescuing bit.

He would have still been stuck in those brambles if not for her!

But before Rowan could offer any sort of retort (and he couldn't, because it was the truth!), the sky made a wretched, horrible sound and he jumped in alarm and looked up.

Just in time for the bruised clouds to twist and churn, and form a face.

A face with teeth.

His heart leaped into his throat and for a moment he could only stare in horror, not even breathing--until Namia's cry drew him back.

Snapping his attention to her, he gasped when he saw her struggling, saw her being pulled by some invisible force. The wind? He could feel it, too, a strange sucking pull, like the wind was coming from the wrong source--

Like the mouth was trying to suck them in.

Rowan was big, so though he could feel it, it didn't have nearly the same effect as on Namia, and he didn't spare the sky a second glance before he grabbed the girl and clutched her to her chest.

"Never mind, then! Nature is giving us some very strong signals, I think, and I believe it's trying to tell us to keep on moving!"

And then he ran as the wind picked up, tearing leaves from the trees and blowing them about in a flurry of color, right as another scream tore through the land.

This time, though, it was closer.

This time it was right behind them.

Namia couldn't help herself as she screamed and buried her face against him- feeling the winds lash out and claw at them. It was so terrifying she could have pissed herself, and her heart was well into her throat, beating inside her ears as the trees high above rattled ad some nearly bent over far enough to touch the ground as the sky was churning to a wicked dark color- and casting all the lands in it's horrifying shadow and sounds.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Rowan said as he ran, over and over, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her! "It's just a storm! Probably just our imaginations spooking us! We're gonna be okay--"

And that was when, with a terrifying roar, a beast leaped from the forest around them and landed in their path.

It was a hideous thing, a creature nearly as large as he was tall with a lion's body and mane but the face of a twisted, disfigured man. It opened its jaws wide--impossibly wide, its face distorting and stretching far beyond what was possible for any human--and revealed rows of jagged, shark-like teeth, all serrated edges with scraps of bloody meat between them.

And all down its chest and mane, it was slathered in the blood of a fresh kill.

With a cry, Rowan slid to a stop and reared in fright, front legs kicking out, and he managed to get turned around and leap out of the way just in time as the beast lashed out with its massive tail.

A scorpion's tail.

"Holy Spirits!" Namia yelped, gripping onto Rowan even tighter than before as the beast jumped out, feral and bloody. Her eyes couldn't get any bigger as she clung to him, fearing she might fall as he reared and was thankfuly when the crunch of the beast's tail struck the ground and not the pair of them!

Once they were at least a few leaps away, she stuttered out, "What... what is that thing? What is happening?"
Was this some sort of a dream? Some sort of a curse awakening into this world? She didn't know- and she began to inwardly wish she had listened to her mother- actually tried to learn about the strength she spoke of because well- she really needed just about anything right now because she was running on empty and her life was literally in Rowan's hands!

"I-it's a manticore!" Rowan panted out, as behind them the beast let out a trumpeting roar. "Heard of 'em before! Never met one! Never wanted to!"

And it was now hot on their tail--or rather, Rowan's tail--as he galloped at full speed, taking them deeper and deeper into the woods as a result, until before long, the leaves above were so thick they blocked out the sky. The huge beast pursuing them was powerful and fast, and Rowan was big, too, but even he was smaller than the creature, and more nimble. He dodged and swerved around trees and leaped over obstacles, desperation driving him onward, and yet even as he ran he started to get a sort of sinking sensation in his belly.

Manticores were powerful beasts of legend, fast, powerful leapers. If it wanted to kill them, couldn't it have done so by now?

But as he dared a backward glance, he saw it was starting to lag behind the darker the woods grew, and he started to get the feeling that, maybe, it hadn't wanted them at all.

Maybe it had just been herding them.

For he hadn't noticed it, given he was running, but he was running in the direction the wind was pulling.

She didn't have a chance to be impressed- or even in wonder at what such a unique beast this was that graced them with it's presence- even if it was trying to kill them. No, her eyes went towards the sky when she heard the rumbling growl of thunder and saw the fast twisting over head, it's eyes glowing with a menacing flash of lighting as she realized-

"Rowan!" she yelped. "You're running the wrong way! We're... we're... We're heading right towards..."

And then it's tornadic fingers struck down onto the ground, causing it to shake violently and Namia to fall from Rowan's arms.

Namia wasn't the only one to go falling. Rowan lost his footing, too, and went tumbling head over hoof, his hooves flailing and kicking at the air as he rolled--and posing a dangerous hazard for poor Namia. He came to a stop on his side, sprawled out and dazed, his heart beating within his chest like a trapped, fluttering bird.

Oh gods, Namia!

"Namia!" he shouted as the trees bowed and swayed, pulled toward some powerful force that tore away their leaves and had their branches cracking. It pulled at him, too, pulling at his dreadlocks and tail as he rolled over and struggled to get back to his feet, though the wind wasn't making it easy, wanting to knock him over with each little bit of progress.

"Namia! Namia, answer me!" Oh gods, where was she? Was she...?

He hadn't kicked her, had he? Or crushed her? Or...

Or lost her to the wind.

She wasn't sure how it happened, or how she even knew, but a large burrow had been just underneath them, barely hidden by a lump of mud, and the second she was out of sight, out of the picture, the tornado like creature suddenly vanished- after being just a few feet away from Rowan.

However, despite the raging, storm beast being gone, they still had a manticore to deal with-
and for Rowan to figure out where Namia had gone!


However, it also took Namia a few minutes to figure out where she was before she peered up at the stomping hooves of Rowan.

"Rowan!" she hissed, not certain he could hear her.  "Rowan!" And she tried to reach up for him- but damn her for being a few inches too short!

"WAH!"

Namia's voice came from right near his hooves, and with a cry of alarm, Rowan reared up and wheeled away from her, his hooves crashing back down onto the earth--away from her!

"Oh gods, you scared me! I thought I'd--" He didn't finish the horrible thought, though he did shudder at it. Stepping more carefully, he bent down and offered his hand. "Are you okay? Gods, what's going on?!"

Namia reached for his hands and managed to choke out, "You.. you sure it's all safe up there?"
Seriously, the world had EXPLODED into chaos. CHAOS. And and... yeah!

"Ummm..." Rowan gave Namia a wincing smile. "No...? I'm not sure at all, to be honest..."

Which wasn't a very heroic or brave answer, but he didn't want to lie to her! Hopefully, she couldn't see the way his knees shook or hand trembled.

Namia paled.
"M-maybe we should find a way for you to.. to get down here with me?"
But by the looks of his size- that wasn't happening anytime soon!

"Ah...that's very sweet of you to say that, but there's no way I can fit," Rowan said, shooting nervous looks over his shoulder. "You stay there, though, okay? Don't move. I'll just..."

After a moment's thought, he knelt on his front knees, then brought his back half down until he was laying in front of Namia's burrow. Once he was settled, he nocked an arrow in his bow, but he didn't draw it back. He settled it on his knees, and felt a little better just knowing he would be ready if the time came.

"I'll just stay here. I'll protect you, Namia. Don't worry, alright?"

Namia peered up at him, blue eyes full of appreciation, but also surprise and concern.
"But Rowan..." She began to protest when suddenly a sea of crows cried over head. And though Namia couldn't hear any of it, she could hear the angered roar then the sickening crunch as the.manitcore was killed. And then.. all went silent. Even the winds. And Namia found herself shivering.

"We need to get out of here." But where could.they go? It seemed no place was truly safe.

Was...was that...

Was that the manticore...dying?

Getting crunched, in fact?

A full-bodied shiver went through Rowan and he nestled in even closer to Namia, shielding her body with his bigger, stronger one. What could have killed a manticore? Something Rowan never, ever wanted to meet, that was for certain. And then it was silent save for their breathing, which sounded far too loud after all that noise, and the sound of Namia's voice.

She was right. If they were being hunted--and they very well may be--they needed to keep moving. If they holed up, it would just dig them out like a fox dug up shrews.

Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms without another word and rose to his feet, all four knees trembling though he fought hard not to show it. "Human places," he said quietly as he stepped away from the den, watching where he stepped as he tried not to break any twigs or crunch any leaves. His mind raced.

"Do you know of any? Any human settlements around here? I think we may be safest if--"

He cut off with a gasp, because that was when he stepped in it.

Stepped right into the bloody entrails of the eviscerated manticore.

Namia was just on edge as he, but was thankful to be in his arms. She felt safe there, strangely enough, and to think they had only but met....

Fate was funny that way, or so she recalled her mother saying. Fate...
Was that what this was? Maybe she was fated to meet Rowan? Fated to see this moment, to be here, to have saved him from the brambles...

But all thoughts were lost when she heard the squish. And it took a lot of energy to keep herself from hurling. She was quick to bury her face against Rowan's shoulder.
"Gods.." A hand cupped over her lips. "What... how...."

And as her eyes were frantically searching around for any beast who could have done this, there was nothing, nothing at all. Even the animals of the forest were silent, except a few solo crickets and a chilling, low wind.

It was then she recalled her mother's warnings, and even those warnings from her grandmother, saying how there was something different about her. Not good, nor bad, just something fate would have to test in time. She never fully understood it, her life, outside of this day, had been mundane....

But when the dreams had started. She grit her teeth and wriggled in Rowan's arms.

"I... I can't think straight. And I'm not familiar with these lands. Let's.. let's just pick a direction, any direction and just move." Staying here, she felt, could mean death. And she felt she was a bit too young to encounter the end of her life just now.

Stealing a peak down at the manticore's remains, she noticed, in the steaming mess of blood, a single black feather. And somehow, she felt strangely calm.

"Okay," Rowan breathed, trying to stay calm for Namia--which meant he kept his face as straight and stoic as he could even while internally screaming. No doubt she could feel his galloping heart as she curled against him. "Okay, it's gonna be fine. We'll just...we'll just go this way!"

So he chose south, and started to trot, trying not to think about the mess squished into his hoof.

He didn't give the manticore a second glance, either, so he never noticed the feather. He couldn't stomach the sight, and he didn't think it would do anything for his image or for their situation if he was the one bent double and hurling into the bushes! The faster they were away from this, the better, and soon he had picked up his pace to a gallop, careful of the slick wet soil and torn plants and bushes the storm had misplaced.

"Just rest, Namia," he said as he went, still holding her cradled to his chest and even gently cupping her head with a hand, an almost protective gesture. "Just close your eyes and rest. We'll be outta here soon."

He hoped.

For her certainly didn't feel as confident as he tried to sound, his own eyes wide and ears perked and twitching at every sound, as though he expected danger to pounce out of every shadow.

Namia could hardly rest, but being held so protectively by someone she had only just met was strange, but it did little to take away from the small feeling of calm he provided. She supposed it made sense to feel so comfortable with him. The pair had been through a lot, and his heart beat and warmth only aided in the feeling of comfort, and security.

She wasn't sure how long they had traveled, nor did she particularly care, but once she felt her nerves ease some, and her mind become more focused, she squirmed just so in his arms and peered up at Rowan.

"I... I can probably walk now." she didn't wish to be a burden, after all, and it seemed this place was calmer, peaceful, and the song of insects and birds returned to the world- which was always a good sign. But still she could feel his heart beat, and it was still fast- as was her own.

"Are you sure?" Rowan asked, but he didn't protest. Shifting her in his arms, he lowered Namia gently to the ground and kept a hand on her shoulder for a moment, just in case her legs were wobbly--or had fallen asleep during the trip.

He still felt tense and on guard, but some of the tension had lessened. Didn't mean he was any less alert, however, as his ears were in constant motion just in case they were being stalked.

But it was more peaceful here, and quiet--but not quiet in an eerie way, just a peaceful one. Birds sang in the trees and squirrels played tag in the branches above, and all those were good signs. If predators were about, those same animals would be, well...squirreled away somewhere.

And soon, as they walked, new sounds began to drift to Rowan's ears--the sounds of voices. Human voices in conversation and activity, and a lot of them, though it came from a distance. Now and then, an intermittent clanging rang out--the sounds of a blacksmith, though Rowan had no experience with human towns and thus couldn't place the noise.

His brow furrowed, not in concern, but in puzzlement. "Namia, do you hear that?"

As much as the incident had taken a toll on her, it was nice to feel the world beneath her legs again. She wasn't used to this much riding, nor really any of this sort of adventure! She was still wholly confused by everything, but she could only hope, wish and pray that with time...
Time would reveal the answers. She just had to keep listening to her dreams, and decipher what they say.

She was brought out from her thoughts at Rowan's comment.
"Huh?"
She blinked and looked around, but soon found herself smiling.
"You mean the sound of birds? It's rather nice... especially after what we've gone through."

Birds?

Oh!

"Oh, well, yes. That's a nice sound! But that's not what I meant, I--" Rowan paused and pursed his lips. Maybe her hearing was bad? "Hm. There's other sounds besides the birds, I mean. Like voices."

And Namia went still. She peered up at the sun rays' through the canopy of trees, and listened beyond he bird's song, beyond the leaves rustling, beyond the wind...
And she began to hear it to....

She furrowed her brow. She couldn't make much out except it was a voice. And as she tried to focus in on it.. she thought she made out one clear phrase...

"Stay?"

And just like that, the voices faded out as if they hand't been there at all.

"Hmm...yeah, I'm pretty sure those are voices," Rowan continued in Namia's silence. He cupped a hand around one long ear as though that would help amplify the sound. "They're speaking Common, so...I think that might be a good thing?"

Looking to Namia, he raised his eyebrows in question. He'd never been to a human settlement, so he couldn't really make that judgment call. Sometimes, rival herds could be really hostile, so one did not just wander into another herd's territory unannounced!

"Should we check it out?" Because oh man, he really wanted to get out of the woods and somewhere safe! Even a hero like him could get spooked. Fear was healthy, after all!

Namia was brought back to her senses, and simply nodded, and soon closed her gaping mouth to swallow. Ugh, her throat was so dry and sore.

"Yes... I think that's what they would want of us." she said, though the look on her face belayed any belief in her words. She was still on edge after all that happened, but just like him- she could only hope an established settlement would prove to be a safe harbor for them...
At least for now.

Rowan blinked, brow crinkling. "'They'?"

And she immediately felt embarrassed.
"Er.. the voices.. they... er.. I don't know what they are.. but I kind of made out what I thought they were saying... something about... STAY, or STAYING or... or something."

Yep.. she felt really ridiculous in that minute, considering she had no proof of that since her partner in crime hadn't seemed to deduce that as well!

"Ah...voices...?" Rowan repeated, staring down at her. He felt rather like some sort of mimicking bird, but he couldn't help it! She was making a lot of very, very curious statements.

"Do they talk to you often?"

Namia shot him a look.
"No! And before you get any ideas, No, I'm not crazy! My mother she..." And she cringed at the mention of her mother. "When I was growing up, she was real spiritual, believed in a connection of all things with nature. She said I could do it too, or would have it in my veins, and that he strange dreams I've been having were a result of it. But I don't know... I think I'd be crazy to fully believe all of that...."

She sighed, defeated.
"Maybe I'm just so exhausted. It had to be the winds. Yeah.. the winds."

The winds which sounded like they wanted her to stay.

"Yeah...the winds. Probably," Rowan said with a nod and a glance toward the trees above them. It wasn't windy, and was quite still. But with how shaken Namia seemed, he decided not to mention that and to just go along with her. They'd been through a lot today, it stood to reason she'd be a little spooked and might be interpreting benign sounds in creepy ways! He was spooked, too!

"Maybe it's a sign we should check out that herd," he said with a tired smile her way. He reached behind him and pat his back. "Want a ride?"

Namia looked up at Rowan.
"I... do you think that would be wise?" she asked, looking around as if someone might be eves dropping on their conversation.

"Er...no..." Rowan said, blinking down at her. He'd felt so certain, but her question now had him doubting himself! "I mean, I don't know! I don't know if it'd be wise, 'cause I've never visited a human herd. Are they...normally okay?"

...Wow. What a big, brave, bold protector he sounded like! Save the situation. Rowan! Save it! He quickly continued. "I mean to say, even if it's not safe, I've got a bow and arrows! And I can run really fast! So we could always look, and if it's not safe, they'll have me to deal with! I'll protect you, don't you worry!"

She blinked.
"If anything, it might be safer. I was always told there was safety in numbers." Ans she wouldnt be in this situation if she listened or believed it! "We might even be able to ask someone about a safe road to travel." But even she wasn't sure where she ought to go. And she wasn't sure home was the best solution.

"Good idea!" Rowan said with a nod, though he had no idea where Namia planned on traveling to. Which was fine! He was her protector for whatever quest she was on, he'd decided, and he would go where she went. That was all there was to it. Clearly this was meant to be, and was his destiny, his path toward doing something truly heroic and worthy of tattoos!

"I suppose at the very least, if anything tries to eat us there, it might get full on other people first," Rowan added with a nod, before grimacing. How very unheroic of him. "Ah, sorry. Bad joke! I don't really want anyone to get eaten! Here, let's go!"

And with that said, he bent to scoop her up, and simply held her in his arms as he took off toward those strange sounds at a gallop.

Still not used to all of this being carried around stuff, she let out a soft yelp when Rowan scooped her up and began to gallop away, forcing her to cling to him and press herself close. ANd at such a close proximity, she could feel the warmth of his body, and also the strange mixture of musk he had. Though part of it smelled relatively the same to that of a man's...
the horse scent made it uniquely his.

But she didn't have much time to dwell on his smells as she felt her belly bounce and flop about as Rowan continued to gallop.

"Woah, hey uh- can you slow it down for a bit? And you know.. I... I can walk!"
She did feel bad when he had to carry her, even if it would be nice to ride a horse...
This was just weird. I mean, he was part man and she'd never be able to really view him as an animal, even partly.

He was too...
What was he?
Horse man, or wahtever the technical term for his kind was, just didn't seem to cut it.
She supposed to her, Rowan was well...
Rowan.

"Oh, too fast?" Rowan asked, and slowed down from a gallop to a trot. He peered down at her in concern, brow knitted.

"Sorry about that, I just thought we'd get there faster if..." He trailed off, and slowed all the more until he finally came to a stop, his tail swishing back and forth to ward off flies.

He figured it would probably be grossly rude to say what he was actually thinking, which was that he found humans very, very slow! And if there was something still stalking around out there, he sure didn't want either of them getting eaten! But the air felt calm now, and birds were out and singing again, the area alive with the sounds of animal activity--all good signs! Whatever had been after them, it wasn't after them now.

So after a slight pause, he lowered Namia back to the ground. "Sorry! I forget that just because you only have two legs doesn't mean they're useless!" he said with a laugh.

Glad to be on the ground, she paused a moment to ensure she had her footing before peering up at Rowan.
"Useless?" she moved to brush herself off, shivering a little at the breeze, however, that made her attention turn skyward. She too, noticed that here- things seemed a lot more peaceful. It made her sigh with relief, but her anxiety was not so easy to shake.

Brushing dark hair from her face, she gave the centaur a playful grin.
"You saying because I have two less legs than you, my legs aren't as useful?" She folded her arms across her chest, doing a bad job at feigning anger.

"No worries, just because I don't have extra limbs like you do, I can assure you, these legs aren't totally useless." Though as she turned to walk away, she nearly tripped over her own two feet and caught herself on a nearby bramble bush- which it just had to be a bramble bush!

Thorns sunk into her hands as she gripped the thing for support, and tried as best she could to be nonchalant about it as she righted herself.

"I think you're legs are a bit too much," she went on, trying to play things off coolly. "But.. at least we're somewhere safe now." She sighed again. "So... what now?"

Wasn't that the big question.

She tapped her thumb against her lip, thoughtfully.
"I suppose I could try to read into this more, now that things aren't so... so..." she gestured with her hands as she spoke. "Chaotic."

The word choice had her wince. Chaos....
Was it possible that was all this was? Or was there something far more sinister stirring?

It took everything in Rowan's power not to facepalm when Namia did a really good job of proving just how unstable two legs were. He winced visibly (and in empathy!) when she stumbled into the bramble bush, but he bit his lip so as not to say anything, since she was clearly trying to play it off. And if she was the proud sort, commenting would only make her defensive, so he swallowed his words and let her have her moment.

For now.

He followed after her, his eyes going to her hands as he did. "Four legs are pretty tricky when you're a colt, sure," he agreed. "As for what we should do now, well, I say we rest with the human herd and..."

He gave a little shrug. "Try to figure out what's happening. Do things like what we've seen often happen in this territory? Manticores and wolves and ravens acting all funny? Oh..."

Reaching out, he caught her hand in hers, turning it over to inspect her palm. "You're bleeding," he said with a frown.

Namia was ready with a mouthful of words, but those were all caught in her throat when he caught her hand. She felt herself blush before she curled her fingers to hide the bleeding as she grit her teeth and looked away.

"It's nothing. I didn't make a big deal about it. It doesn't hurt." Although squeezing her hand to hide it from his sight kinda did make it sting more as she tried to pull her hand loose of his.

"It may not be a big deal, but you're still hurt," Rowan said with a frown. "Little cuts can turn into bigger problems if you let them go--ah, balls, not that I have anything to wrap it in! Well! We'll just have to treat it when we get to the human place. Come, then!"

And, linking his hand in hers, he started to walk again, this time with purpose, to pull her along with him to the "human place". Surely they would have poultices and treatments and such! Humans were fragile things, after all, and a small cut was a big deal to their weak little bodies! Right?

She gasped as she was pulled along.
"R-Rowan, slow down!" Somehow his 'let's hurry to help!' was emphasizing the pain in her wounds. She tried to slow him down, but he had frigging horse legs, after all! She grimaced.
"Rowan, please!" she tried to wrench her hand free. "We really should be more concerned with those beasts!" She couldn't say they were a common occurrence, that much was certain!