Empty Bellies Make Poor Choices [Zane]

[GoblinFae]

"Must you keep doing that!" she complained, flinching at hearing Zane speak to the stag. "It's very...uncomfortable!" Ariel grumbled further to herself for a few more minutes as she led him around the ice before finally settling.

Rounding on him, she froze in her paces as they came up to the base of a frozen waterfall. "You must swear to me, not show this to anyone. If you do I will hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands. Is that clear?"

[Zane]

The waterfall was exceedingly beautiful, rainbows of vibrant color were just below the surface of the ice. "I swear I shall not, you have my word." Zane looked over to Owlet, her body language was determined, she meant what she said, she would kill him if he broke that promise.

[GoblinFae]

Staring him down a moment more to ensure the severity of her threat had taken hold of him, Ariel at last nodded her head curtly. Swiftly she latched onto his arm and jerkily pulled him along beside her as she slipped between the frozen fall and the rockface behind it into a large cavern.

Inside was a multitude of supplies and store reserves. Ariel had found this alcove within her first year of living in the wild and continued to claim it as her own every winter after. The walls were lined with weapons, tools, clothes, and food. Anything the huntress could salvage, steal, or hunt was kept here to be used at a later time. The center of the cave's floor was scattered with long since cold ashes of a fire from the night before.

Ariel stood off to the side, having released the stranger's arm once they were inside. Awkwardly she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "You can stay here tonight. It gets very cold at night." Raising her chin high, she continued, "of course I expect repayment for my generosity."

[Zane]

Was Owlet opening up to him? Sure her kindness was wrapped in expectation and a death threat, but it was still a long way from when they had first met. "You should have no doubt that your kindness is appreciated and will be returned." Zane just had to figure out a way to do so. Looking around the cavern, there was quite a bit amassed here. How long had she been living out here?

[GoblinFae]

Ariel curtly nodded her head in acknowledgement, finally satisfied that her efforts would not be taken for granted. Nervously she shuffled about, not knowing what to do and finally deciding on starting another fire. She turned her back on Zane, unwilling to see what he thought of her. The huntress would not allow herself to see the pity or disgust she was sure to spread across his features. Everyone else did, why would he be any different?

However, when the fire was made and crackling contently, she found she had no other choice other than to address him again. "Are you uh hungry?" she finally asked. "You'll be paying me back for that as well though. Just so you know." Her face turned back to the fire, letting its warmth lick at her cheeks.

'You could do better than that Owlet. You have been shown better kindness than that.'

[Zane]

Zane watched as Owlet went to make a fire, the way she acted it seemed that she was determined not to look at him. When the fire was lit she turned back and offered him food. He took a swig from his flask of water and went to sit across the fire from her. "You have already given me great kindness by letting me stay here, especially since there will be a snowstorm tonight, you need not worry about feeding me."

When he mentioned the impending storm, she looked at him like he knew something that she wasn't expecting him to know. "The air pressure is dropping, significantly. I expect that it will be quite the storm." There was silence between the two of them for several minutes. Zane broke the silence, "As a start to repaying you I will keep the fire going throughout the night. I think you deserve a long deep sleep." Which worked out because Zane did not have a physical need for sleep, he often spent weeks at a time without sleep. Thunder sounded in the distance, "Quite a storm indeed" he chuckled to himself.

[GoblinFae]

'Idiot,' she snidely thought. 'A storm comes and you think not to eat? Fine, just you wait. If you get snowed in here, it will not be me who feeds you. You want to be snub my kindness and efforts, go ahead. Worst than a human, hope he freezes.'

Ariel snorted, shrugged and rolled her eyes, turning her back on her companion. "Don't care what you do. Keep you out of my treasures," she hissed, leveling him a look over her shoulder before shuffling away into a dark corner of the cave.She was not tired but her anger was running high again.

There was much she had planned to accomplish for the day, the impending storm had pressed her to hurry but her encounter with Zane had put a damper on those plans. Now after welcoming him into her personal sanctuary he had not only appeared to disrespect her efforts but to also talk down to her like a child that did not know what she was doing. 'I know a storm when I smell one. Human in body but not in soul.'

Her stomach grumbled lightly in protest. The huntress had meant to eat but moving out of her spot would mean defeat as she would have to return to the hearth and therefore Zane's side. This realization only served to anger her further as she glared darkly out at him from the shadows.

[Zane]

Zane sighed, whatever warmth Owlet had been showing was gone. She moved away from the fire and watched him from the inconstant shadows. 'Well' he thought, 'what can I do to make things less strained. This storm could be a very bad one so I might be stuck here for a while, I need to make things at least a little peaceful'.

Zane's ears constantly shifted directions, straining for every slight sound. The howl of the wind outside, the slight drip from a piece of melting ice, the grumbling of Owlet, the- Huh? Zane's ears focused on Owlet, at first thought he guess she had growled. After a few minutes there was the noise again. While she had growled, it was her stomach not her throat that issued the rumbling moan. Maybe, just maybe.

Thinking about what he could do to help, he remembered the food he had in is bag and the cooking dish. Moving from his place at the fire, Zane retrieved the metalware from his pack and stepped outside. It was already snowing heavily. Zane spent the next few minutes scooping snow off the frozen waterfall until the pot was two thirds full.

Once back inside he used two of his arrows to adjust the burning logs in the fire to make the warmth fire into a cooking fire. it wasn't long before the snow in the pot had melted and Zane was digging through his bag for dried meats, herbs, vegetables, and his cooking wine. Zane didn't have a need to eat as long as he had water, the only reason he carried food was for travelers he met, he would make a meal and exchange stories, needless to say, he had a fair amount of skill cooking.

Moving diligently, he set about making a venison soup. As he cooked, he could hear Owlet's stomach growling a little louder every few minutes. He smiled, this meal was entirely for her. It was twenty minutes after he started that the soup was ready. Zane pulled a small bowl out of his bag and poured some soup into it, setting his spoon into the soup, he brought it over to her.

"I figured you might be hungry, So I made you something. Eat it or not the choice is yours" he sat the soup next to her, "maybe when you are full we could talk, perhaps get to know each other better, I doubt the storm will let up anytime soon and it will help to pass the time." he went and sat down next to the fire but called out to her again, "I am guest in your home, if there is anything you wish to know about me, anything at all, ask. I'm an open book so to say."

[GoblinFae]

The huntress resisted the impulse to screech and growl at her now unwanted companion. 'Takes my fire. Takes my home. Refuses my efforts. Refuses my food. Thinks he's better. Thinks he's special. Worthless! Useless! Human!' She cursed him up and down in her mind. Then, once she had run out of things to call him again, Ariel started up once more from the beginning.

She glared daggers at him as he came closer to her, sneering with a large curl of her lip as he offered her food. Ariel turned her face away from him, choosing to stare at the wall as he retreated. The fire that burned within her though finally set the pot boiling over and she swept her arm out, knocking it against the bowl and overturning half the contents.

"You wish to talk, do you? Why should I talk to you? You refuse my kindness and dare to imply that you are better than me, that my things are not good enough for you, then try to feed me as if I am some pathetic little babe. Look around you! All of this is mine. I did this. I worked for it and killed for it. If you are too good to accept then you can leave and freeze out there for all I care. I hope you die, you ungrateful halfbreed."

The words had come tumbling off her tongue before she had a chance to recall them. In truth she was more intrigued than horrified by the animal-like parts were Zane, however she allowed human hatred to flow through her veins and lash out in the only way she knew how. He had hurt her just as she had taken a risk in inviting him in. She did not trust him. The humans had done this to her, making her strong yet fragile, free yet broken. This was their doing and something she did not believe could be ever fixed again. She would not be whole, could not be whole as long as she fought to retain the wildness that she was coming to love. How she longed to be one of them. It was envy mostly that made her hate him. He was more wild than she, Ariel could never hope to compare.

[Zane]

Zane looked down as she lashed out at him. He was generally hurt by her words. He had been trying to smooth things over. But the exact opposite had happened. Zane stood and looked at at Owlet with sad eyes and a look of nostalgia on his face.

"It was not me intention to wrong you. I had refused you kind offer of food because I normally don't eat and I know food can be scarce. I was trying to help you preserve your resources. I made you food because I heard your stomach growl and I thought if I did something nice for you as you had done for me, maybe things would be less strained. I was not treating you as a child I was treating you as a friend." Zane gathered up his quiver and bow then rummaged through his bag until he found a white herb. "This is called Kings Crown. It has a known effect of suppressing hunger. In the future food will be scarce. Chew on this when hunger pains hit, it will help you keep a level head while starving, and that could save your life."

Zane set the herb on the floor of the cave and made his way out. It was snowing heavily. Zane pulled his cowl over his head and started trudging through the snow thankful for the warmth of the cloak. After a ways walk he found a rock outcropping the formed a natural defense against the snow. He huddled up to the rock and brought out his grey and green cloak and draped it across his front. It was going to be a cold night.

[GoblinFae]

Ariel snorted at the word. Friend. There were no such things in the wild. 'What a human concept,' she mused bitterly. 'It seems even I am more in touch with that side than you. What a fool!' In the heat of her anger she took great joy in his leaving, looking very much the part of a kicked puppy.

But, it was in the silence of his absence that she began to think and to regret and to curse herself for her cruelty. Her head turned to survey her home, the beads in her hair sounding loud in comparison to the depressing quiet. Brown doe eyes came to rest on a patch of white and Ariel thought she was going to be sick.

"He showed me human kindness and instead I offered him human cruelty. He was the better creature and now he pays for his kindness. He could have had somewhere to spend the night if it was not for me. I offered him shelter, preventing him from returning to his own and then I send him away again. What have I done?"

Wistfully she looked from the warm, inviting fire to the unforgiving sheet of ice that walled in her home from the elements. She knew what she had to do but that did not mean that she was looking forward to doing so. In fact, the huntress was looking for any excuse to stay. While she found a few, the sinking feeling in her gut prevented her from following through with her desire.

The still existing human part of her demanded her up and out into the cold. It propelled her forward to track the quickly disappearing footprints of her former guest. The wind howled and ripped at her, yanking with icy fingers of anger that chilled her to her very soul. He had been right, the storm was going to be a bad one. The thought only pushed forward faster and further despite the aching in her lungs and legs. She had sent him out into this, now she sought to correct her act of cruel temper, before it was too late.

Twice now she had lost her footing and sank down into snow that reached her knees and hips, causing her to waste precious time digging herself out. The snow was coming down harder, blinding her and stealing the path from her sight. Desperate and cold she screamed his name as loud as she could, hoping against hope he would hear her even as the words were stolen from her throat by the wind.

'I'm sorry! Please be alright.'

[Zane]

Zane was slipping into a state of semi-consciousness. The bitter winds bite at him while the cold stole what little warmth he had. 'What I wouldn't give to have fire magic right now' he mused in his near hypothermic state. Now he started to get warm thinking about fire, something crossed his mind that he should be weary of the warmth, but he didn't entertain the thought as the warmth was pleasing. But one thing kept him from embracing the warmth and going to sleep. Something felt wrong, like he was needed by somebody, then he heard his name.

It was a feint cry against the wind, but in that cry there was desperation, it Snapped Zane to attention. He then realized that he was actually freezing, his skin having paled and slightly blued. His hands numbly felt through his bag until he found the warmweed. Warmweed is a narcotic that is used to induce a feeling of warmth similar to that of a hypothermic lapse but help you retain a conscious mind. Zane began to chew on the drug, feeling the non-existent warmth spread through his body. He quickly set out after Owlet.

It didn't take long for Zane to find her, he had a sixth sense for forests. He quickly threw the grey and green cloak over her and shouted over the wind, "you'll catch your death out here. Let's head back before The Creator calls us home." He then offered her some of the warmweed under the advice "Chew but don't stop moving."

[GoblinFae]

Out of both fear and relief, the huntress uncharacteristically hugged Zane about his middle the moment she recognized who it was that was talking to her. One arm remained around him as she attempted to share his cloak and her warmth in the bitter coldness of the unforgiving outdoors.

'Your fault I'm out here to begin with,' her mind grumpily shot out even as her body huddled closer. Later she would feel the deep guilt turned fury, but right now getting home alive was far more pertinent.

With shaking hands she took the unknown plant and held it tightly so as to keep from dropping it and losing it in the blinding white that surrounded them. "What is it?" she shouted hoarsely above the screeching wind.

Ariel did not truly wish to be difficult all the time but experience had taught her wariness until it became second nature. She was freezing already and he had been out there longer. There was always the possibility that the storm had addled his brain and what he was giving her was unsafe despite his best intentions.

[Zane]

Owlet caught him off guard when she hugged him, Which he returned. Then continued a one armed hold as he lead her on back towards the waterfall. "The Herb is called Warmweed" he shouted, "Very similar to Kings Crown in the fact is suppresses the ability to feel the cold while keeping your mind clear." He led on regardless of whether or not she started chewing on the herb.

After what felt like an eternity the came within sight of the frozen waterfall. He let Owlet enter first then quickly entered himself. He quickly set about building back up the diminishing flame. Within minutes there was a well sized fire going and spreading warmth across the room. Than was when Zane spit out the well ground Warmweed that he was chewing out. Rinsing his mouth out with some of the broth from the pan of soup, leaving some for her to do the same.

Now that he could see no other immediate things to be done, he realized his cloak, shirt and pants were drenched, which he then stripped his cloak and shirt, after which he exposed his back to the flame. "Anything that is overly wet you should remove, it will sap you of your heat." He had left is wet pants on out of decency.

[GoblinFae]

The names meant nothing to her. Between the cold and her concern for Zane, Ariel's mind had become slow and fogged. Instinct drove her to remain close to him, to mingle their heat together in hopes of managing a tad bit longer. She did not comprehend everything he said, but the idea of false warmth scared her. She would rather know she was going to die than to think everything was alright, and drop dead where she stood.

With great relief she finally stumbled into the cave but, quickly attached herself to him as soon as he was also within its sheltering confines. It took some creativity on her part to still cling to him even as he worked on the fire and then removed some of his wet garments.

When at last a bit of heat had managed to seep into her bones, and she no longer felt like she was going to shake shiver herself to death, Ariel made a dash to her supplies wall, casting off articles of clothing along the way, uncaring of where they landed. The little huntress had forgotten human modesty and cared not that her body was bared before a stranger. Only thoughts of dry warmth commanded and compelled her.

Just as quickly as she had left, she returned, two blankets tight in hand. One was tossed in a heap into Zane's lap before in a blur of motion Ariel herself nearly joined it. Her own blanket was tightly cocooned around her bare flesh as she once more pressed close into her companion's side to the point of nearly sitting on him.

"Idiot," Ariel at last hissed from between cracked lips and chattering teeth. "Why'd you leave?"

[Zane]

Zane quickly wrapped himself in the fur blanket that Owlet tossed at him, she was by his side before he finished arranging the blanket so he draped part of it across her over her blanket, he frame was slimmer than his by what he saw at a glance (He refused to look for long when he realized she was stripping) therefore she should be freezing. He continued to leave his back exposed to the fire so that the warms of the fire would spread to his extremities. Even then he was still bitterly cold, it was a side effect of warmweed, once the narcotic had passed through your mind you were left cold until it was out of your system. He mentally kicked himself because he had tried to give it to Owlet. What had he been thinking? Speaking of thinking, he had left his Bow and his quiver at the rock outcropping. But at least he knew why he did that, he was going after Owlet. It was just a bow and a few arrows, easily replaced.

Finally Owlet Spoke up. "Well, as I'm sure you have guessed, I'm not the best at social situations for one. I'm not the best at reading people, animals? Yeah no problem, but then again I know their language, I've only known common for seventeen years. Your mood was worsening and my attempts to smooth things over had little effect if not made things worse. I hadn't the foggiest idea how to smooth things over. So I felt it was best to leave.

"Let me make this clear, I do not blame you in the slightest as to me leaving, I came to the decision on my own, I'm not the best at dealing with humans. When I left my home I intended to help people by using my knowledge of herbs, but it would seem having the characteristics of a fox makes you not so trustworthy. Heck on the island of Thanatos they have stories about creatures called 'Fox-kin' which are trickster foxes that can become human. In seventeen years I've helped maybe a handful of people. Well anyway, once I was out of the cave I realized that the storm was worse than I thought it was going to be, and that the snow was far deeper than I assumed it would be. So I couldn't get out of the forest like I thought I could. So I stopped and about fell asleep, that would have been the end of me." Zane sighed and leaned back, pulling the blanket across his back as he lowered himself halfway between upright and laying down.

[GoblinFae]

She looked over to him with a face of pure disinterest as he attempted, in her mind, to justify his actions. 'Bloody fool blaming this on me. Don't say otherwise, I know what you're like. Martyr nearly died too if it wasn't for me saving your pathetic hide,' Ariel grumbled to herself. The cold had done nothing for testiness but she was settling some as she came to accept Zane's more gentle nature, no matter how much it annoyed her.

His sudden shift into a more recumbent posture caused the little huntress to flail slightly and fall partially on top of him. A moment to correct her posture and a half-hearted glare were sent his way but, she kept her acid tongue tempered behind her teeth for the time being.

Waiting until he had finished speaking completely before shifting to be able to hover over Zane slightly and stare down at him coldly. Then, with a quick movement of her hand from beneath the fur her tiny hand shot out and flicked him on the forehead.

"Dumbass, don't do it again. I'm not saving your sorry behind again, understand?"

[Zane]

Zane flinched slightly as Owlet flicked, the then looked her in the eyes and half smiled, "Don't worry, I won't, least not in this lifetime." At this point, he was just glad that they didn't start fighting, he was going to try to keep it that way, hopefully with more success the he had in his previous attempts.

After several minutes, the chilling aftereffect of the warmweed subsided, not that Zane would miss it. His mind wandered to the Stag, how was the creature staying alive out there, it was probably using it's magic to survive, perhaps Zane should try to learn from it, all he could do is purify water, talk to pretty much anything, and go without food or sleep. Not the best in the way of survival.

Then he looked down at Owlet, he wasn't sure what to make of her. One minute she seemed to be warming up to him, the next, she was very bitter with him. He had no idea what to do, the only human that he had ever really gotten along with was Ariel from Jadenshrine. But Ariel and Owlet were two very different beings all together.

[GoblinFae]

Ariel nodded sharply before burrowing down against Zane, using him as a pillow for her back and head so that she could stare up at the dancing shapes the fire cast on the ceiling. "At least you're good for something," she muttered not feeling at all as surely as she may have sounded. Her testiness was more out of habit than actual anger now as sleepiness and warmth began to settle in around her.

"I could keep you as a pillow," she continued, poking him gently in the side. "Might need some plumping up though but I guess that could be fixed. Don't you think?"

[Zane]

Zane chuckled softly, "I suppose I would make a good pillow. Better a pillow then a blanket." He joked. The storm outside was growing ever the more fierce, odds are they would be snowed in. But that wouldn't be a problem. He would just return the snow to water and they could be on their way. But something else toyed with the back of his mind. The effect nature spirits have on forests. The forest would start to live off his power instead of its own before long if he left tomorrow, there would be no issue, any later then that, and there could be ramifications, slight or severe, it depended on how long he stayed.