Another? (Cass)

[Darian]

" Yes, basic moves if you’re interested I will teach you them " he said in a calm voice, and a smile came to his features as he saw her untense. Gradually he visibly relaxed as well, and he looked from her face down at his longsword. Maybe be it had been a good move after all by disarming himself he mused while observing her fascination with the blade. " Honestly ok, any sane person would have reacted the same way " he said with a broad smiling that he hoped reflected his forgiveness within it, hopefully it did but he couldn't be sure. He wasn't used to being so nice.

He looked slowly over at the dagger in her hand and then at his long sword on the ground, and smiled a response coming to his mind. " Well besides the difference in length for which you noted, and the obvious difference in what they are made of, the dagger in your hand is designed to create gaping wounds with slashes, and make work hard for any healer, while the longsword is designed for both cutting and thrusting " he responded as he revealed to her the limit of his knowledge of the weapons. Truly he was better versed with the longsword, but he knew a few moves from experience of seeing the dagger in action, and figured his sorely lacking knowledge could help her at least a little. " If I may, I wish to walk closer to you now and guide you through the routines " he asked, making sure to be more careful this time about advancing on the obviously wary woman.

If she said yes he would walk closer to her till he was right beside her and would slowly place his hand over the forearm on which side she by happened to be holding the dagger and place his other hand on her opposite shoulder. Slowly he would instruct her through the movements, the first being guiding her arm to cross over the front of her chest and then slash back down slowly and deliberately. Then he would say " See your doing great already " approvingly at her progress depending on if she resisted his guiding or not.

If she decided not to let him closer he would simply say for her to try out a few moves of what she things she could do with the dagger.

[Cass]

Cass brightened at Craevan's offer to teach her the basics of using a dagger. The chance to learn more about the human race excited her. She was going to get a chance to learn what it felt like to wield and use human weapons! She listened to Craevan's explanation concering the differences between the short and long blade. It made some sense to Cass. The dagger reminded her of her claws. She used her claws to make deep wounds. Of course she had more than one claw so she could make several deep wounds while only a single dagger could make one.

Her gaze returned to Carevan when he asked to come closer to show her rountines. She hesitated to answer at first. She didn't really like people getting too close to her. You never really knew anyone's true motive. That and Cass had, had her fair share of watching other humans and Ziths alike perish in the tunnels when the person they trusted most betrayed them. But Craevan...she felt slightly different about him. Maybe she would allow him to come closer to her. And if things went south she could always quickly kill him and continue onwards.

"Your logic astounds me," her "friend" replied from above. Cass looked up slightly and found her imaginary friend now perched on a thick lower tree branch. "Stop questioning his every bloody move and kill him."

Clenching her jaw she turned her attention back on Craevan. She nodded at his request. "Okay." She felt giddy when he came over to stand beside her. The weight of his hand falling onto her forearm made her flinch slightly. Fear quickly rose up and fell as he placed his other hand on her opposite shoulder. She had her disguise on. So far he hadn't seen through it. Maybe he never will. Cass hoped he wouldn't.

She smiled as she repeated the motions Craevan taught her. It felt strange yet amazing all at the same time. She continued to slash at the air and smiled at his praise. After a few more slashes an idea sparked in her head. "Let's practice on targets!" Gripping the hilt of the dagger firmly in her palm she raced towards the trees to find a suitable target to kill with the short blade.

[Darian]

Darian marveled at the girl's sudden enthusiasm for fighting, and watched amused as she rushed off towards the trees. " I'm afraid you’re going to have a hard time finding prey that you could kill with a dagger, it’s usually a means of personal defense against other people " he said phrasing his words carefully, with a upbeat tone. He decided it was best not to talk about its other uses, the uses he favored it for such as for darker uses in the alleys of Sunberth. Talking of such would give her the wrong idea of him or the right depending on the way you looked at it. Either way he didn’t intend to try and harm her, and moreover he planned on her not thinking he would either. There was a certain level of trust you had to maintain with someone out here in the wilds, and that line was fragile he was quickly finding out.

" Although I hear it never hurts to try " he added humoring her, stooping down to pick up his longsword, and strap it back on his belt and it along with it before following her. The woods with this girl about seemed to be teeming with life and all too suddenly he snapped out of the oblivious state he had been in and became once more wary of the things that go bump in the forest. A predator could have snuck up on them during their chatter; it wasn't uncommon thing out here in the wilds. Slowly he walked close to her; since in fact she did have the only naked blade out at the moment, and he kept his eyes wide open for any movement around them.

Suddenly he stumbled out of the forest and back into the clearing he had met Cass. A rustling in the bushes across from him drew his attention, and he hoped the girl knew it as well. They had company. Slowly a black furred snout poked out from the thickness of the bushes, and then the head and the rest of it followed outwards into the sun. It was a large black wolf. For a moment the large wolf just stood there staring at him, possibly just letting its eyes adjust to the light before rushing him. He was glad for the luck, and his blade slid out of its scabbard with a hiss, and appeared in his right hand. His hand tightened around the hilt of the sword, his tight grip whitening the tips of his knuckles and his eyes locked on with the wolves. " Be wary, there might be more " he replied calmly, and if he was worried in the slightest about the present danger before him, he didn't let the woman beside him know.

[Cass]

Cass slowed to a halt just as she passed the first tree. She looked down at the dagger in her hand. Craevan was right. Which such a short blade you would first need to find a way to get close to your target. But Cass had been hunting that way her entire life. Get in close and kill. But for humans...it had to be a bit more difficult. "Well it could hurt to try. I mean what if your attempt goes horribly wrong?" She glanced back at Craevan. "But I'm sure we could find a rabbit or something of a small build to hunt." The moment the idea of hunting formed in her head the blood began pumping harder. Yes, a hunt. Nothing was better than a nice long hunt in which the prey had absolutely no hope for survivial.

"That's more like it," her "friend" whispered, appearing in the branches of another tree.

But before Cass could even respond to her annoying "friend" a loud rustling caught her attention. She turned around and watched as a large black wolf stepped out of the bushes, growling at them. Craevan pulled his longer blade which Cass marveled at for a moment before she caught sight of two more wolves stepping out of the bushes to join their mate. Standing close to Craevan she frantically tried to come up with some kind of plan. These wolves looked hungry so Cass doubted they would leave willingly. No. Fear might send them away...but only fear of death.

Forgetting about her human disguise Cass bent her knees, getting ready to stand her ground. A small growl of her own formed in the back of her throat as she decided on her first target. "I've got the one on the far right." That was all she told Craevan before leaping forward towards the trio of wolves armed with only a dagger and everything she knew about how to fight and hopefully win.

She landed inches from the wolf trio. The one on the far right instantly charged at her while another raced towards Craevan. Cass growled louder this time at the wolf as she barrled straight into the deadly animal. The wolf's sharp claws scratched and tore at Cass's overcoat. She swung the short blade, managing to strike the left side of the wolf, leaving a decent cut. Nothing life threatening for the wolf but definitely a wound. Of course, Cass was going for the kill. The wolf swiped its powerful paw, striking Cass's right cheek. A small cry of pain ripped past her lips. Feeling the blood already dripping down her face Cass reached out and grabbed the wolf and thrusted the short blade into the animal's chest, digging as deep as she could go.

Cass grinned as she watched the life drain from the wolf's eyes. But her pleasure died as a pirecing pain erupted at her ankle. It felt a million tiny claws were ripping into her skin all at once. A quick glance back and she found the other wolf biting down on her ankle, blood dripping from its mouth.

[Darian]

He stood his ground, keeping his hand as steady as possible but inwardly his heart was hammering violently against his chest. The sheer danger of the situation both thrilled and terrified him all at once mixing into a his stomach, and giving him the hint of a stomach cramp. Not that he would have noticed it anyways what with his adrenaline up so high, and his eyes suddenly focused on the wolf to the left after hearing Cass's words. Suddenly all he could see was that wolf, and the woman beside him, the forest around him, and the two wolves’ accompanying this one all disappeared into blackness leaving a tunnel that led solely to the wolf before him. It dared to charge him, and Darian welcomed its boldness. It no longer mattered that he didn't quite have the swordsmanship to handle such a beast, or that the other might possibly get around behind him and go for the kill. All that mattered was killing the beast before him, the animal that dared to challenge him.

As the wolf rushed at him everything to go weirdly in slow motion though in reality it was just Darian reacting slowly to the animals charge, and he barely managed to swipe a wide arch in front of him to dissuade the wolf from otherwise pouncing on him, and mauling him. The wolf, more wary of his longswords reach this time, started to pace over to his left side out of range, and it looked like Darian had lost his chance to gain a killing stroke against the beast. It continued to pace until Darian’s back was towards Cass, and there it stood still, almost as if waiting. A sudden cry from behind him jolted him from his contemplations and he glanced back briefly to see the wolf that had been in the middle taking advantage of Cass's temporary distraction and savaging her ankle.

Almost on instinct, not caring that he had his own predator to deal with he cut his longsword backwards and behind him, and watched for a moment it cut into the side of the wolfs neck before his eyes flickered over to the wolf in front of him. It had taken advantage of his distraction as well leapt at him, Darian barely having enough time to lift up his left arm to block the attack, and cried out in pain as the wolf's teeth sank into his forearm, and knocked him to the ground. Now the wolf was on top of him, ripping his arm side to side, and on a impulse based on sheer survival he began to bash the hilt of his sword against the side of the animals head, trying his best to get it to let go. Finally it did, deciding that it wasn't worth the beating it was enduring and quickly leaped off of him and out of his longswords impressive reach. To Darian's dismay however, it quickly turned around, and poised itself to pounce again and worst yet, Darian was in no condition to get up and he doubted he could bring his sword up in time to block the attack. Silently he hoped that Cass had things well in hand.

[Cass]

A sudden weight dropped into Cass's arms. Tearing her gaze away from the wolf ripping into her ankle she noticed that the wolf she had originally been fighting was now dead. Pulling the bloody dagger from the beast's chest she shoved the heavy corpse aside, but not too far away. The animal had meat on its bones. It's flesh would be a bit difficult to enjoy but the meat and blood would still be a decent meal. The teeth drove deeper into her ankle causing Cass to wince before rolling back onto her side to deal with the wolf. But just as she turned completely a swift blade tore into the wolf's neck. Immediately the wolf released its hold on her ankle and let out a loud whine as blood seeped from the deep wound. Cass glanced over at Craevan and smirked. His attention was on the last wolf. But she saw the small stain of blood on his longer blade.

Pulling her legs inward she propelled herself back onto her feet. Pain shot up her leg instantly the second she applied weight. Grinding her teeth to fight back the cry of pain she focused on the wounded wolf in front of her. It was still busy whining and frantically trying to put a stop to it's bleeding. Not going to waste her golden oppertunity Cass pounced onto the wounded wolf and used the dagger to deepen the wound. The wolf let out another yelp before collapsing to the ground.

Licking up the wolf blood on her hand she turned to see how Craevan was making out with the final wolf. Her licking stopped when she found the man on the ground with the wolf charging right at him! His arm was bleeding as well and with the speed the wolf was running at...he didn't have a chance. Dropping the dagger Cass shrugged out of her overcoat, letting it dropped to her feet behind her.

"What are you doing?!" her "friend" hissed, appearing beside the two bodies. Cass ignored her and kicked her boots off as well. "You're ruining your own screwed up plan! He'll realize what you are!"

She had absolutely no time to sit and chat with an imaginary annoynace. Beating her wings hard against the ground she leapt up into the air and flew over Craevan, towards the wolf. Using her claw-like feet she swooped down low and dug her claws into the back of the wolf, lifting the snarling beast off the ground. She hissed as she flew higher, directly into the bright sunlight. Her injured ankle exploded into searing hot pain at the added weight. Using the last bit of strength she could muster Cass hurled the wolf off towards the trees. With the wolf gone she dropped to the ground, her wings folding up against her back quickly.

Breathing hard with her heart pounding in her chest she remained kneeling on the ground before looking over at Craevan. Everything suddenly got strangely quiet.

[Darian]

As the wolf charged at him, Darian supposed this was the point where most people saw their life flash before their eyes before their soon approaching death. He how ever saw no such images flickering before his eyes, seeing only the bloodthirsty wolf coming for him in slow motion, and lamenting that he would never get the chance to kill the one person who ever managed to hurt him deeply. For that very reason he felt a surge of strength wash through his bones, and he felt like he could take on the wolf, despite his injury, but he needn't have to as he realized Cass was coming to his rescue. Or at least a zith that resembled Cass. The two ideas clicked together, and he realized that Cass was a zith. Silently he applauded her disguise, and made a mental note to ask her for a few tips on it later when things had settled down. Now it was time to deal with the possible awkwardness that always went with such revealing encounters, even though he knew she shouldn't have worried if she was since he cared not much for race, it didn't make a difference in his eyes.

Happy that Cass had things well in hand he slowly stood up as best as he was able, leaving his longsword temporarily on the ground while he took the time to dust himself off, only then reaching down to retrieve his longsword and then looking up at Cass. She looked just as tired as him, and he knew they would both need a good deal of healing soon. He quickly checked his coin purse within another hidden pocket located in the breast of his armor, and decided that he had enough to cover the both of them for some standard healing back in Sunberth. Maybe even a few extra to keep the healer's mouth shut if he figured out Cass's true nature. His eyes met Cass’s again and he offered a weak smile.

He found the mounting silence a bit uncomfortable, and as was his nature he decided to break it. " You saved my life just now, for that I owe you a debt of gratitude, among anything else you may wish of me " he said softly while looking at her but making no move to approach. She was likely twice as wary now, and any approach from him might very likely be perceived as a threat. Things being as such he decided to let her come to him if she so wished. " You pick up things fast with that dagger when your life is on the line " he added with a light hearted chuckle. Silently he noted that his mangled arm was oozing alarming amounts of blood and he would have to find a way to stem that soon, as soon as he made sure she was alright, and that she didn't plan on killing him right then and there that is. " How are your wounds by the way? " he asked.

[Cass]

The hammering in her chest began to slow to a normal healthy rate. Her labored breathing softened as she watched Craevan rise onto his feet. The silence thickened in the air which made Cass a bit uncomfortable. Here she was, completely exposed to another human and so far not a word has been said about it. She didn't really know how to react. Only a blind man or a fool couldn't see the truth. And Craevan was neither blind or a fool. But still, she had be expecting some kind of response. Or maybe that was just the one annoying side of her that only saw herself as a beast that needed to be covered up.

A smile broke across Cass's face when Craevan finally broke the odd silence. "You saved my life first. I couldn't turn my back on an...ally." Swallowing back the uncertainity if Craevan could very well be an ally she cast a glance over at the dagger resting beside her coat and boots. The short blade was soaked in blood. "After wielding your weapon I realized that it worked somewhat like other weapons I've trained with." She fought to not look at her hands.

Mustering up some energy Cass pulled herself onto her feet. Biting back the pain that shot sparks up her leg, she slowly started towards where her coat and boots lay. She bent down and quickly threw her overcoat on, still unsure about how to explain her disgiuse to Craevan. At the mention of wounds she glanced beack down at her ankle. "Bandages. I'll need bandages." Looking back over at Craevan she noticed that his arm was soaked in blood. "You'll need bandages too. That wound looks...bad."

[Darian]

" We'll since we are allies you might as well know my true name, its Darian " he said with a smile. He didn't often let on to his real name but she had saved his life and he felt he owed her that. Besides she shed her disguise so he might as well follow suit and shed his false name. " The name I used was the name of a man I met a while back in a tavern " he added even though he didn't need to, why would she care about where the name originated from anyways? Taking in a deep breath and looking at his wounds again, he smiled again and looked up at her. " I'll see to your wounds first as soon as I can find some cloth to use as bandages, my wounds better than it looks. The armor is tough, the only reason the wolf's teeth hurt me is because found a seam in my armor, a seam I'll have to find " he said warmly while watching her.

With every beat of his heart he could feel blood pumping out of his arm but he temporarily ignored the discomfort and walked towards her slowly. The edges of his vision where slowly starting to become hazy, and every once and awhile it got a little blurry. Still he walked over to her, and was almost right beside her when he suddenly felt like he was falling, even though he was standing still right beside her. It was so disorienting that he didn't even notice the stream of blood he was leaving behind him. He wobbled on his feet for a bit before falling towards Cass, the whole world disappearing as he blacked out.

[Cass]

Craevan, no Darian's revelation left Cass speechless for a moment. This whole time she thought she had been the only one in a disgiuse but apparatly she assumed wrong. Clearly she wasn't the only one who prefered to keep certain truths a secret. Finally she found the ability to nod. "I see. You're smart." Her eyes fell to the ground. "A different name would serve to be a better disgiuse." She made a mental note to remember to change her name in the future whenever she came across strangers.

"I'm sure we can find some cloth," she continued, bringing her gaze back up to meet Darian. "In fact I have a tent not far from here. We could use-" Her words hung in the air, incomplete, as she rushed forward. Holding her arms out she caught Darian's body. She had not been ready for his weight and dropped down to her knees with a small gasp. She took a moment to carefully flip his body over till he was facing upwards. Looking down at his wounded arm it all began to click together. He had lost too much blood to stay conscious. And if he lost anymore...

"Excellent!" her imaginary friend piped up, appearing next to Cass. "Now we have wolves and a human to feed on. Y'know you had me going for awhile. I thought you had gone completely insane acting like this human could possibly be your friend or ally."

Shaking her head, Cass shrugged her coat off and tied it tightly around Darian's arm. "He's not food." Rising to a stand, Cass lifted Darian up into her arms. Her wings unfolded from her back and stretched out wide before beating harshly against the ground.

"No, you idiot!" her "friend" shouted. "You finally have a free meal! Don't ruin it!" But Cass had stopped listening. Without wasting another moment she flew off towards the trees, flying low to avoid the sunlight. Flying quickly between trees she located her tent and tucked her wings in, dropping to her feet. Hurrying inisde her tent Cass carefully laid Darian out on her blanket.

Fear and uncertainity swept through her as she frantically looked around, trying to figure out what to do. She didn't know how to heal anyone! Pressure stopped bleeding but that was about it. She began to search her few belongings, trying to come up with some way to save Darian's life. Looking through her few belongings she found nothing that could help her. Glancing around the tent she spotted the flap of the tent hanging open. Perfect.

Rushing over towards the flap Cass yanked her gloves away to reveal her claw-like fingers. Setting her gloves aside Cass began tearing apart the flap into long pieces of cloth. It took a few minutes to tear away enough pieces but when she had enough she hurried back over to Darian. Carefully removing her coat from his arm she began to tightly apply the makeshift bandages as carefully as she could. She constantly checked to make sure that the bandages were tight and that her own claws didn't create more wounds. Once all of the makeshift bandages were applied Cass simply knelt there beside Darian, wondering if she was even helping at all. She noticed that the blood had stopped dripping onto the blanket. That was a good sign, right?