Rotten Logs, Rotten Luck

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Miersck yanked the fabric from her fingers, cramming it against his nose.

"What? What do you mean? You do this thing all of the time!?" The idea baffled him, and he found himself relieved, but also embarrassed when she put the quill and paper away.  Was he supposed to know about such powers? Because he didn't, he found himself feeling.. inadequate at best as he sourly turned away, face still burning in blush.  HE couldn't help but remain bristled, but then noticed she was looking at something and peered over her shoulder at it.

"What's this?" he blinked, never having seen a map before, he commented, "That's a weird drawing."


OOC: Ugh, I had a better post typed up but accidently closed the browser and lost it ;_;

[zozee9]

OOC: That's too bad, but what you wrote was good enough.

IC:
This is... a weird drawing? thought Alycia. The idea dawned upon her that Miersck must not have ever seen a map. After all, maps were quite distinguishable. But that was not the comment she was hoping for. Alycia had close to no idea how to follow a map, and was hoping he would help her.

With a sigh, she glanced at the map, decided they were lost, put the map away, and replied to Miersck. "It's a map. It shows where things are and, theoretically, how to get places. But we've strayed from the path I knew how to follow and so I don't really know where to go. But given where we were heading, it's out best bet to head that way." Alycia pointed towards where the sun was. If they walked along the edge of the bottom of the cliff, it should follow a semi-similar path. That's what Alycia guessed, at least.

Taking a closer look at the sun, Alycia saw how late it was getting. It wasn't dark yet, of course, but it seemed to her like the sun was actually starting to head down towards the horizon. That meant they'd need to come up with a safe shelter relatively soon. And create some fire. The fire would help light things up, of course, but it would also help keep the creatures away. With yet another sigh, Alycia realized that it would be a long night.

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Miersck stared from her, then to the sun, then back to Alycia again.
"So that drawing is supposed to tell us where we need to go?" he wrinkled his face in confusion, and picked at his ear. "Sounds ridiculous if you ask me." He blinked back at the sun, flicking some white hair from his face so that his blood-red eyes were more exposed. "But I guess who am I to comment on these strange ideas. I'm not really from around here. And the trees here are so small..." he studied them, hands to his hips as he shook his head.
"IS that drawing of directions some sort of magic as well? Like when you wanted to draw me? IS a spell required to make it and read it or something?"

Miersck really had no clue!

[zozee9]

Alycia giggled at the fact that Miersck had absolutely no idea what a map was. She was a slave and she knew! But she figured she shouldn't judge him that much.

Her thoughts were temporarily distracted when he moved his hair. She found it extremely hot. He was an attractive clueless man. Shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts, Alycia listened as he continued to talk. With patience, she responded, "No magic is needed to make it or read it. People that travel record where they go and what's where and draw it into the map. To read it, you just need an understanding of direction and some distance estimating skill." She wasn't good at either part. "But this map is a little harder to read since it doesn't have roads to follow."

With a pause, Alycia added, "Do you have any magic?" She had told him hers, which wasn't the safest thing to do, so she would like it if he would do the opposite. "Fae folk do, right?"

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Miersck scratched at the back of his head, still feeling a bit clueless on the idea, but he supposed if he saw it in action, he might understand so he simply shrugged.
Placing his hands behind his head, he blinked and looked over at her when she then asked him about if he had any abilities.

He started picking at some of the wraps she had bound around his wounds, finding them suddenly itchy.
"Yeah, I got some magic, but I don't think it would do us much good out here. I can cast illusions and spells and see at night and things.." he shrugged, grumpily looking at the ground when he realized he didn't have much to offer before he looked down at the black mark on his hand, then before she might have noticed (though she might have anyways), he placed his other hand over top of it and cleared his throat.

"And I can make silk threads and fly, all the good that would do," he grumbled, moving forward.  After all, his wings were still kind of useless. But at least they were drying- but now, they were all banged up.  "I don't have any magical ways to find directions, if that's what you're asking," he sneered, lamely.

[zozee9]

Illusions? thought Alycia. Then our magic is similar. Interesting. Then again, she couldn't see at night or fly. But she could swim fast and breath underwater. It was kind of like his magic was just a different version of hers.

Seeing Miersck mess around with the wraps around his wounds, Alycia got worried and ignored his last comment. "Let's just rest here for the night." She realized that he was probably in so much pain that he  wouldn't want to continue to travel. Plus, sleep was always good. Especially since she was starting to get tired.

Although the sun was still up fairly high, Alycia figured that they could spend the extra time getting to know each other better. She knew that they would be together for a lot more than a couple of days now that they were lost. In the middle of the forest. Without any solid directions. So some companionship and trust seemed like a good idea.

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Miersck simply blinked at her comment to just camp there. Looking around, he made a face.
"You mean so close to the bear? Perhaps we should move a bit further away, I mean.." he rubbed at his shoulder, gritting his teeth. "Not that I'd complain resting during the day." He sighed, feeling his grumpiness getting the better of him as he gave a flick of his hair. "My types normally sleep all day." he afforded a brief yawn, stretching his long arms above his head as he began to walk forward. "But I've found it difficult to deal with... er, people out this way if you try to converse at night. Most are sleeping." He made a face at that and looked back irritably at the sun, lifting a hand to shield it's rays from his face, but his red eyes still sparkled like jewels beneath the shade casting down from his hand.

"Maybe we could find like a cave or tree or something we could sleep in," he suggested with a shrug, scratching at the back of his ear with his finger nails. "The way I see it, if we find a tree, one of those hairy beasts won't be able to get us. They seem too fat to be able to climb a tree."

[zozee9]

Miersck had officially confused Alycia. What he said made no sense. And that wasn't just because his looks were distracting her from his words.

"The bear is way up there," Alycia started, pointing at the top of where they fell from. "It won't be coming down. Therefore we're nowhere near it. And what people are you talking about? There is nobody out here. If there were, we wouldn't be in such a tight situation." She didn't really get where he was coming from with his thoughts. With a sigh, Alycia finished, "Would you please explain your thinking to me? I'm afraid I don't get it."

But even with all her confusion, she followed Miersck as he walked. She could tell that the sun was bothering him, but there was nothing she could do. Alycia almost tried to pull her hood up before she realized that she wasn't wearing her cape. So, instead, she just looked at the ground as she walked beside him.

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Miersck continued to walk. Even though it made little sense, a paranoid person was a paranoid person, and Miersck was a VERY paranoid person.  Growling, he walked faster.
"How do we know there aren't more of those things?" he finally stated, growling at her, then turning away with a shake of his head. "There could be any creatures in these bizarre woods and for all we know we're not really alone!"
his voice echoed around them, becoming swallowed in the trees and soft wind..
but despite his persistence to claim other wise, there was not another soul or animal in sight- even the soft chirping of birds faded momentarily because of the moth fae's sudden shout, but then the forests were alive again and cheery.

Miersck gave an angered growl then lowered his head.
"Maybe you're right," he said, slowing down after a time after chewing over the fact angrily.
"But I'd still rather find some more protection if we were to make camp."

[zozee9]

Miersck was clearly uptight. Alycia wasn't sure if it was because it had been a long day, because he was all hurt, or because of some other, unknown reason. But whatever the case may be, she decided not to pursue it. And it did make some sense to find a better place to make camp. Just to be safe.

Alycia could tell Miersck was hungry, but she didn't know what to do. She only had a little bit of food and they ate not too long beforehand. Her goal was to make it last as long as possible. So she decided not to comment on food and find a different way to spend time.

Not sure whether or not Miersck would like it, Alycia did the only thing she could think of: talk. "So... Miersck... Do you have any interesting stories? A way to pass time?" As she waited for his response, she admired the trees blowing in the wind. They weren't the harsh and scary trees she had seen in the forest above, they looked kinder and gentle. Or as kind and gentle as trees could look.

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Miersck continued to walk forward, rubbing irritably at the back of his neck as he frowned at her question.
"Do I look like a story teller?" he said, hair and wings bristling slightly, but then he turned away, realizing how rude he must've sounded as his wings shook slightly against his back.  "Look, I ain't one for conversation. Let's just find a spot to rest up before nightfall." He finally gave way to a yawn. "I'm not used to traveling much by day." He stared up at the skies again and then took notice of something off in the distance.  Blinking, he raised a hand to shield his red eyes from the sun. There appeared to be some sort of building, and as he took a few steps closer towards it, noted it appeared to be a shack or cabin of some kind. His wings twitched.

"It looks like there's some building up ahead." He hesitated, not sure if they should approach, but as he looked around, it was again confirmed they seemed to be the only humanoid creatures out here.
"It seems abandoned.." even from this distance it appeared the roof on one side had collapsed.  Turning to Alycia he shrugged. "I suppose we could check it out." Then naturally took her hand, pulling her along with him. "Come on."
He didn't need her falling behind, just in case that bear or something decided it wanted to climb down that cliff side and eat them- or some random human showed up to clip off his wings. He gritted his teeth at the idea and moved faster, and soon the pair were before the shack as Miersck examined it with a most grumpy disposition.

"I don't know... as tired as I am, I'm not sure if I'd want to spend the rest of the day sleeping in a place like this."
the door was slightly open, and he pushed a finger against it as it creaked and wailed and moaned it's way open, revealing a moss landen ruin before them. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for years, and the creaking of the door startled a pair of birds resting inside that fluttered out and scattered a dusting of dark feathers.

It startled Miersck as he backed away, but then he blushed, realizing it was just the birds.
Then, glancing around one last time, he gestured to Alyica. "Let me check it out." and then he stepped inside and was immediately overcome by the scent of rotting wood. The floor boards beneath his feet groaned as he stepped inside. There was a small bed i the corner, a vine covered fire place, and the other half of the shack remained exposed to the sunlight, golden ray's tickling inside and basking the grass covered floor as if beneath a honey colored spell.

The place seemed magical- and ancient.
But after a quick walk through, and only finding a few mice and chipmunks scurrying out, Miersck gave a shrug.

"It seems ok." he said to Alyicia, affording her a shrug. "We could just stay here or look for some big tree to sleep in, or a cave." he shrugged again, hands behind his head as he let out a slight snort from his nose.

Leaving the bed for Alicia, he moved past the open gaping hole in the roof and stepped over the tall grasses to a small patch of shade on the other side.
"YOu can have the bed." he said wtih a yawn, stretching out before settlign in, dropping himself to the ground and leaning his back to the wall after tucking his wings against his back. "I'll be fine over here." he started. Normally he slept upside down, but he was too tired to try to bind his feet to the unstable roof (plus it seemed unsafe) and just nestled in, yawning again before peering over at his mermaid companion.

"How do mermaid's usually sleep anyways?" he asked after a time. "Don't you need water or something?"

[zozee9]

Alycia had gotten used to Miersck's rudeness and decided that he didn't really mean anything by it. So when he made his rude remark, she just dismissed it. But the fact that he kind of apologized was still nice. Alycia was unsure how he could travel well at night but she assumed it must have been some kind of fae perk—night vision. Seeing that he was trying to look at something, Alycia remained silent and waited for him to comment on it.

A building? wondered Alycia. It seemed suspicious to her that a building would be in the middle of nowhere. But her suspicions were cast away when Miersck said that it looked abandoned. She reasoned that it must have been built, and occupied, a while beforehand. Then the people left and the building stayed. Even still, Alycia was wondering if they should be more cautious...

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when Miersck suddenly grabbed her hand and started moving. With a slight blush, Alycia decided to let him continue holding it. She wasn't sure why she was so embarrassed—was it because no guy ever held her hand? or because he grabbed it out of the blue? or because he was so attractive?—but whatever the case was, Alycia decided that she shouldn't think too much of it.

The shack was obviously abandoned. The appearance gave that away. Alycia wasn't sure how safe it would be, but it seemed safer than anything else they would be able to find. She started to giggle as Miersck got scared by the birds before her own fright came. The idea of Miersck entering a rotting, abandoned, dark room was not a pleasant one. But when nothing broke, Alycia followed after him.

The room was actually quite pretty. It seemed like it would've been a modest room even when it was brand new, but it was cosy.

Deciding to take Miersck's offering of the bed as just an act of kindness and not to be wary of it or to offer it back to him, Alycia walked (carefully) over to it and put down her bag. Laying down into the bed, she was happy that it didn't split down the middle, leaving her with broken bones and embarrassment. Although she wouldn't call the bed comfortable, it wasn't as stiff as she imagined.

Under normal situations when Alycia was stuck with someone else in a room, she would've tried to start a conversation. But the fact that Miersck wasn't a talker mixed with her tiredness made her decide just to sleep. In fact, she had almost dozed off before she heard Miersck's question.

"Huh?" asked Alycia. "I don't need water to sleep. In fact, I don't even like sleeping underwater. It's hard not to float." Sleeping was one of the few things Alycia preferred doing above water. She actually liked to nap on top of the water, with the sun on her face and the bed of water underneath her, but sleeping on water in the night could get frightening. Even if the water animals wouldn't hurt her, Alycia had no way of knowing that a bear or giant crow wouldn't come and eat her. So she preferred to sleep inside.

"How about you? Do fae folk sleep differently?"

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Miersck stared at her after she bounced back the question.
"Er- I normally sleep in a tree. Sort of, in a cocoon to block out the sun." He shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. "My kind are more active at night, rising as the sun sets and going back to bed when the sun rises. But since I've left, er.. I've tried to adapt to how the species here live but it's hard." He gritted his teeth, feeling awkward for stating so much.
"I'm a stranger to these areas and it's.. hard to get items I need in trade and stuff if the whole town of people are asleep." He sighed irritably, remembering how upset the merchant was when he went knocking on his door. Then they refused to trade him anything for the berries he collected. He made sure to smash some on the guys window, painting them with their dark red color. His blood boiled in recollection, the simmer brewing in his red eyes as he stared off in thought.

He didn't even want to remember what happened when his wings got noticed.
He visibly flinched at that memory.  Stupid humans!

[zozee9]

A fae sleeping in a cocoon actually made sense to Alycia. After all, it was like they were part butterfly or moth. She didn't understand why they were nocturnal creatures, but didn't think too much about it.

What Alycia did understand, however, was the adapting. She had adapted two major times in her life: when she became a slave and when she became free. She didn't really remember much about adapting to become a slave... just that she couldn't do what she wanted and she couldn't go in the water. She wasn't allowed to explore, or talk much, or do anything that would make much of a impact on anybody. But there were other slaves in the house that she did get to know.

Once she became free, Alycia's whole life changed. She could go wherever she wanted—almost. In a way, her slave life prepared her for her free life. She learned how to cook, sew, start a fire, buy things at a market, and other useful things. She also knew not to ever show her mermaid body. But she didn't know how to travel efficiently, fight with beasts, or form any sort of relationship with people. She got used to the travelling quite quickly, but she never learned how to fight beasts. Not really. When she didn't know any of her magic, she would just run and hide. And because she hated to eat meat and kill animals, she never learned how to set traps or skin in animal. She had formed many relationships with various types of people and didn't forget any of them. Some people laughed at her when they met her (she was too polite and didn't know how to blend in, they said)... But one of those people became the first friend she made while she was free. He helped her blend in with the society.

Stuck in her own memories of the past, Alycia didn't respond to Miersk right away. But since he made an effort to start a conversation, she figured she might as well continue it.

"So," Alyicia started, "Why are you travelling in the first place?"

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At Alycia's question, his eyes drifted away to the dark mark on his hand, staring at how the skin was paling around it, turning grey. But where the mark was, though hidden behind some bands of clothe, he knew distinctively what it looked like-
the color, black, twisted, gnarled and ugly-  as if he had been burning from the inside out, rotting away...
and it felt that way, too- each time the moon changed and hung full in the night sky....

It was then he visibly flinched, recalling the moon would be full soon again, and he didn't want to think about it- how the mark might grow larger, the pain he would have to endure..

He put his other hand over the bandages and sighed.

"I... had to leave where I once lived. It just wasn't.." his wings twitched at the thought. "Safe."

And it wasn't a lie-
for it hadn't become safe for a time,- and to have witnesses what he had, against darken ash like rain, in the night, cold and deathly- where evil things sprouted from the swirls of shadows and leapt at him, trying to tear him apart....


He visibly tensed, grimacing then looked away from her, shuffling uneasily at the thoughts.

"So, I figure here was better than.. remaining." he added softly.

[zozee9]

Alycia understood quite a lot about moving because of safety. That's why she was always moving. But she couldn't imagine the pain of having to leave your very own house and family.

Understanding that this was sure to be a sensitive topic, she decided not to push it. Rather, she attempted to change the direction of his thought.

"I'm glad I found you," Alycia started. "I mean, not only because if I didn't, you would've drowned. But also just in general. I've been travelling alone for a while now. And it gets lonely, as you might know. But it isn't safe to make connections with random people... and it's always painful to have to leave those people you do connect with. But I'm glad I found you."

Alycia was laying with her eyes closed. She didn't expect to fall asleep any time soon—the conversation had woken her up. But she was tired and it was nice to rest her eyes. And, of course, if it was silent for long enough she would probably just drift off. But she expected Miersck to say more so she did her best to stay awake.

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At her comment- he was left stunned.
He had no idea how to respond to such a thing as he felt heat rise to his cheeks.
He felt awkward. He felt weird, and even felt his stomach twist into a terribly tight knot after it did a few flip flops inside.
Cringing at the sensation, his wings visibly shivered as he kept his eyes averted, rubbing at the stiffness now present in the back of his neck.

"Yes well, I guess it's a good thing you didn't let me drown," Miersck replied lamely, and felt stupid after saying it, so he said nothing more on the matter, giving a sniff and folding his arms across his knees as he continued to look at the corner.  "Thank you.." he then added, as an after thought- and it felt so strange for his tongue to produce such a word, he felt his wings twitch again.

[zozee9]

Alycia fell asleep almost right after Miersck thanked her.

Perhaps it was that she was in a bed, perhaps it was that there was someone else with her, or perhaps she just was more tired after such a long day, but she didn't have any nightmares. And, for Alycia, that was a pretty big deal.

Instead of dreaming of slave captors or being killed, she dreamed of journeying around the world and, at last, finding her family. In her dream, she even transformed into one of the fish. Animal transformation was something Alycia hadn't tried before, but still wanted to. So it was as if some of her dreams were made real within her dream.

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Miersck was having a hard time sleep. His mind was still reeling from all of the activities of the day-
and over the mermaid he watched sleep from afar. Realizing he wasn't about to get much sleep, he raised himself off of the ground and stretched and shook out his sore wings with a wince and yawn, then headed over, watching Alycia as she slept.

She looked so peaceful, and for once, he had a chance to study her face.
He would never admit it out loud, but she was rather pretty, and her hair- rather interesting in the way it looked like fire.  He always liked fire.

THough he sneered off the idea and went outside, where the moonlight was enough to cast a glow on his body as he took the time to slowly unwrap the bindings on his hand, fully exposing the nasty mark on his flesh as the moon lit it in it's silver glow. Everytime he saw it, it sent a shiver up his spine; and as he studied it- he knew... the next night.. when the moon was full again....

The mark would crawl and grow- and he would be consumed in such a raw pain that even know he sweated over it, and covered a hand hastily over the mark, his heart pumping wildly in his chest as he found himself suddenly sobbing.

What had become of him?
What did that wicked creature from the ancient forests do?
And would he ever find the answers?
Running away proved useless, for no matter how far away he traveled from his home..
the mark was getting bigger, and soon, he realized, it would be difficult to hide it. Especially from where the mark was pressed- his flesh felt as cold as death.

[zozee9]

Alycia was awoken from her sound sleep when Miersck left the building. Even though she was dead tired, the sound of the wood creaking underneath his feet woke her up. She had spent enough time running away that her ears recognized sounds at night that might be danger. Such as foot steps and creaking wood.

Alycia laid there in her bed for a second. She assumed that Miersck probably wanted to be alone, given that he hadn't woken her up. But she knew it was dangerous outside and didn't want him to get hurt. So she slowly raised herself out of bed, making sure she didn't break anything.

She then started walking towards the door, slowly. But although she was careful to not break the floor, Alycia made sure that she created sound. She didn't want to surprise Miersck. As she got closer and closer to the door, she thought she heard some crying. Alycia had experienced many times when she had woken up at night and broken down. And she never wanted anybody to see her like that.

With a pause, Alycia gently said, "Miersck?" She wanted to make sure he knew she was there. In case he missed the walking sounds. She was still inside the building and did her best to make it sound as if she was just calling for him. Like if she had woken up to find him missing. A little bit louder this time, she called out again, "Miersck?"