They were so far away... (Alkor/Griffith/mostly open?)

[Korin]

As the two humans began to cross, Korin stayed on shore to make sure nothing was following. As he paced in front of the river, he heard splashing sounds coming from behind. Looking over he found one of the humans, Griffith he thinks, flailing about in the water. Korin can help but let out a loud laugh watching the sight.

Shifting back into human form he wades through the water to Griffith, and grabbing him by the back of his shirt pulls him back a step to the shallower water.

"Try walking, it might not be as deep as you think," Korin says to Griffith, a huge grin splitting his face. He cant help but laugh again, as the wet human reminds him of a drowned rat.

[Alkor Korinado]

Tripping over a slight incline in the water, Alkor throws his weight heels over head and rolls forward, landing on his backside. Turning his gaze back toward the others, he smirks and then shouts out.

Oi, at least your scent is gone, Griff.

With a mischievous smirk, Alkor stands himself up and dusts off his shorts, now drenched in water. He cracks his knuckles and his neck in turn, then folds his arms across his chest and waits for the others to catch up.

[Griffith]

Griffith blinked dazedly as he realized that Korin had pulled him to safety, and he stood there for a span of seconds trying to shake off the shadow of imminent death which had just reigned so strongly in his mind.

When he'd regained his balance, the Benshira shook himself, then started moving, feeling the ground ahead of him with a tentative foot to make sure he would not encounter another pitfall. It was slow going, but the young man did make it to the other side with relatively little incidence.

When he got there, he glanced at Alkor, finally speaking. "All of our scents should be tough to trace. They might figure out that we went straight across, but there does exist that chance that we could have gone further down the stream. They don't know that one of us can't swim."

[Korin]

Following Griffith, in case he panicked again, Korin crossed the stream with little difficulty.

Once on the other side he shakes himself, flinging water off his body.

Looking to Griffith and Alkor he says, "Once we are out of their territory we will probably be fine, i am sure they have better things to do then hunt us."

[Alkor Korinado]

The implications of Griffith's words did not go unnoticed by Alkor, though he simply pretended not to hear them. Anyone could learn to swim at least a little if their life depended on it. Even though Alkor only had enough skill himself to float and dog paddle.

He tilts his head as the Kelvic speaks, then decides that he was probably the most intelligent relative to the subject of lions. Being one himself and all that.

As long as I'm alive when all's said and done, I could care less.

At least he was honest, he thought. It didn't really matter, though. The moment he was far enough away for the others to become dead weight, he planned to ditch them. After all, this was a symbiotic relationship. If they became parasites, all it did was slow him down.

So, any ideas? Where to next?

[Griffith]

Griffith shrugged and glanced back, more out of paranoia than any other reason. "Unless you have any better ideas, I was planning on going back to Riverfall. I came out here with... A task..."

A task he'd not completed. Old Man Vincent had sent him out here to gather water using Reimancy alone. Perhaps staying near a large source of water would make the task easier? The Benshira didn't care about the challenge anymore. He'd just been chased by lions followed by nearly drowning, as far as he was concerned.

"Would either of you mind if we walked along the river for a while? I have something I must see to," he explained as they walked.

[Korin]

Staring at the two humans, Korin wonders, why did he save them? Why did he go out of his way to help two people he does not know or care about? "Well, does it matter," Is the though that floats through his head.

'i have no problem walking along the river for a little."

Korin thinks to himself, "I will travel with them for a little longer, and if nothing interesting happens I will take my leave."

[Alkor Korinado]

Alkor nods to himself as the other man speaks. Sure, traveling like that wasn't a problem. Actually, it might lead them somewhere. Alkor had been lost for a little while now, so... Griffith had made a pretty good suggestion, needless to say.

I figure that's not too bad an idea... though someone ought to watch out for those pesky cats.

He was still sore about them. Of course, you can't do too much after the fact. He glanced back at Korin for a moment, then looked forward with a slight shrug. He picked up his pace just enough so that he was briskly jogging to catch up with Griffith, then jumped into a forward roll, coming back up to his feet about three feet ahead of the man, and then repeated the act, stretching his neck and back, effectively loosening his muscles and getting his blood circulating. He felt alive, finally... like the urge to fight was coming back from where it had gone. Let a cat screw with him now!

[Griffith]

Griffith nodded slowly, but said nothing more. The other Human seemed content to entertain himself with flipping as they moved, but whether the display was genuine practice or just a matter of being showy, the Benshira couldn't tell. Nor did he particularly care.

The trio walked in silence for a time before the Benshira stopped. "Right," he said. "I think here should do." The scholar turned to his packhorse, Ebrah, and began to fish about in his saddlebags. A moment later, he came up with a half-empty waterskin which he offered to Korin and Alkor in turn, explaining. "I need the rest of this finished off, and I'm not about to empty it on the ground. It is wet enough out here."

When he received the container back, the mage turned to the river, walking down the incline to the bank, where he set the waterskin upright and crossed his legs beneath him as he sat. He closed his eyes, letting his breathing deepen and his mind blank. His palms were upturned where they lay upon his knees.

Then something which seemed to be rather unnatural began to transpire. An ethereal, blue-tinted gas began to rise from the Benshira's hands. It was ever so slow, but the Res which his body exuded was an extension of his Djed in the process of being ejected; the price of a Reimancer's project was always a piece of themselves, and even the caster could never know just what they would surrender.

When there was sufficient Res produced, Griffith halted the flow. He'd never experienced overgiving, and he never meant to. The gas came together, conglomerating into a sphere of sky blue azure which floated in place for a span of several seconds while the magician used his hands to sculpt the material into a flat vertical surface. Then he extended his consciousness forward...

[Korin]

After walking for some time, Griffith suddenly stopped. When he turned to Korin and Alkor, offering waterskins, the Kelvic felt no reason to refuse, so he accepted with a small thanks, and emptied it before returning the waterskin to Griffith.

Not saying anything, the Kelvic watches the human go down to the waterbank, sit, and start performing what is obviously magic.

He is a wizard, that is surprising... It looks like a Reimancer at that.

Korin, has seen much magic, while he has has never learned any Reimancy himself, he has seen his old master perform much magic, of varying schools, and has never felt uncomfortable around any kind of magic, in fact, Korin himself is trained in the use of Flux, the magic of fortifying the body.

Korin takes a seat, and watches in silence as Griffith does his work.