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

[Griffith]

Griffith bit at the inside of his cheek as his gaze followed the other man's pointing finger, and his stomach wanted to heave. Water. A large body of it.

Being from the desert, a pool even a quarter the size of the one being spoken of might have been cause for dispute. And larger deposits, oases in particular, could get much worse. Moreover, the Benshira was a far cry from accustomed to large bodies of water. He'd made the mistake of going on a boat once during his time in Riverfall. Never, oh never again. Not if he lived to be a hundred or a hundred and ten.

He voiced none of this, of course. Since leaving Ekytol, the young man had learned that hardening his exterior left him less vulnerable to strangers looking to prey on the unsuspecting. He only raised an eyebrow as they jogged, glanced behind them to check for pursuing grasslions, and muttered "As long as it's shallow..." by way of reply.

[Korin]

Looking into the distance at the water, the Kelvic laughs.

"Water can be both a blessing, and a bane. While it is needed to live, it attracts those that pray on life," thinks Korin.

Speaking to the two humans he says, "Why not, in the worst case we get eaten, best case it might just cover our tracks."

Keeping pace with the two humans, he says, "By the way, I did not introduce myself, I am Korin, and you two are?"

[Alkor Korinado]

Alkor hurriedly falls into step alongside the others, looking from one side to the other the make sure they weren't going to be overtaken from the flank. He strained to listen, tuning out the others for a moment before he was satisfied that there was no imminent threat to their well-being.

Alkor. I'm just a run-of-the-mill wanderer, not from around here. It's a little different from what I'm used to, but I like change from time to time.

He kept most of his personal information to himself; he had little to nothing to share with these others, and it was likely that he might never see them again. Nonetheless, it was worth it for him to at least get along with them for now.

Even if it's not shallow, we still have to head that way. Near as I can tell, where there's water, there's usually a settlement nearby. That's the general rule.

He took a second to sniff the air; it was muggy, as if nearby a fire had started, though it was likely just another one of those geysers going off. No matter; it meant that any predators would likely be having problems getting back to them. Consequently, it also gave them time to move, if they decided to take advantage of it.

We should get to the water as quickly as we can. We can save daylight and get some rest if we do. That is, if you two don't mind a night with a baby-killer.

He didn't seem to care at all that he'd done something that malicious; after all, it had been out for his life, though only on the most survival oriented level, and he should have technically had the restraint to incapacitate it. Though he couldn't judge just how weak it's will was, and he had seemed to have broken that with a single kick. Which meant that the young lion had given up on life...

Any way Alkor looked at it, the situation was a mess, and couldn't be helped.

[Griffith]

Griffith shook his head. "If it's not shallow, we'll have to find a better place to cross. My horse is weighed down with equipment," he explained. That wasn't the real reason he didn't want to go near any body of water he couldn't stand in, but he hoped they'd be satisfied with that.

After another moment of hesitation, he spoke up again. "I'm Griffith, of the sons of Benha."

There, he'd said it. Anyone who knew anything about the Benshira or their surnames would ask about the omission most would have so proudly included: a Tent name to mark his family.

It wasn't an uncommon thing to be asked about - Cyphrus bordered Ekytol - but that didn't mean the young man had to enjoy slipping around and away from why he made no claim to a family whenever someone asked. And now these two would be curious.

[Korin]

Korin looks at his two new companions, and after a few seconds of silence says " Well, well met, both of you."

Looking toward the water he says to Griffith, "We will know when we get there."

"If you don not mind, I will go back into lion form, to make sure that nothing is following us."

Before they have time to reply, Korin shifts once again. A swift swirl of light surrounds the Kelvic's body, and where a man once stood, stands a large lion.

[Alkor Korinado]

Knowing nothing of the Benshira when Griffith gave his name, Alkor did little more than blink at the formality and shrugged. With a slight groan, albeit below his breath, he thought that the man who looked to be about the same age as him was far too insecure. Though Alkor observed that it was a very unfair thought, as he was often insecure around others as well.

It's just water.

Alkor's observation was more about the fact that he grew up in the icy north; water was a prominent factor in Avanthal, and it was expected of the Vantha to have some competency in swimming. Though the others would never hear that much about his origins.

His biggest issue was with the lion-man. He had no idea what he was, or what to make of him, but he wasn't inclined to trust him. He had expressed his disapproval of Alkor, and now he was in a form that could rip the man to shreds with little issue if it came to blows.

Wary, Alkor calmed himself and slowed his breathing, using his discipline to hide his feelings deep down. He had a profound understanding of others and a strange sense of empathy, and he could tell that one if not both of them were uneasy. The Kelvic's silence and decision to go feral were shrouded in mystery, but Alkor decided to more or less trust him for the moment.

Picking up the pace, Alkor jogged toward the body of water. It was about a mile from them now, and the heat was getting bad. The decision to go there to regroup was a good one, Alkor decided.

Almost there. Let's hurry.

[Griffith]

The questions never came. Griffith blinked against the harsh light of Korin's shifting whilst slowly uncoiled mentally, wary of a false sense of security. He thought the other Human might comment for a moment, but whatever Alkor had been meaning to say seemed to become lost on a gust of wind which stirred the Benshira's hair as they walked.

Griffith was unaware of just when he had ceased jogging, but he picked up his pace again when Alkor began to move quicker. He understood why crossing the river was a good idea. It would throw off scent trails and let them all cool off. On the other hand, if it was too deep to walk...

[Korin]

As the two humans jog to the water the now lion Kelvic keeps pace in the grass. He can smell that this is the lions territory, but he cant tell if any are close, but then again, they are upwind.

"This is bad, they can smell us, but I probably wont be able to smell them until it is to late. I hope the wind changes soon," thinks the feline Kelvic.

The water ever slowly gets closer, so slowly. For a human the pace they made would not of been bad, but for someone who can travel as a lion, it was a tortuously slow escape.

Barely focusing on Alkor and Griffith, Korin kept his senses peeled, but due to the wind both his hearing and his smell were much less effective. The whistling of the wind through the grass could disrupt even a lions keen ears, and the fact that they were upwind meant that he could only smell what was ahead of them, and not behind.

[Alkor Korinado]

As they reached the water, Alkor knelt down and put his hand into it, testing it for depth. It seemed to be shallow, but he could tell that it didn't remain that way throughout. But to tell Griffith that might make the man back down.

Hell, Alkor didn't know him. Why would he care whether or not a little white lie spurned the man on or not?

Its nothing. We can run right on through. Come on then!

Without another word, he ran forward and kept his footing as best he could, trying to stay away from submersion for the sheer fact that he wanted the Benshira to follow first. He didn't much care what the lion-man did, that one seemed preoccupied anyway.

[Griffith]

Ebrah had already crossed the river, slightly ahead of the group as he was, and the packhorse stood on the other side of the river, darkened with moisture from the top of his neck down.

Griffith, looking across the river, decided that if the horse could cross, he should be able to as well. After all, his head reached the same height as that horse, right? He'd never really thought about it.

He might have objected still, except that Alkor was right. Speed and efficiency were needed more than anything here. He followed the other man carefully and with considerably less haste, trying to place his feet where the other man's went. Ebrah seemed to have found a deep place to cross. With any luck, the Benshira could avoid even that much immersion in the lukewarm water.

He glanced back for the briefest moment as he jogged, looking for any sign of either Korin or the lions who might be catching up to them, and that was when the bottom of the river dropped out from beneath him.

His foot met nothing but open water, and his head whipped around fast enough to see the water's surface coming to greet him.

Fully submerged now, the young man began to flail about desperately to stay on the water's surface in the blind panic of someone who had never swum before in his whole life. His lungs were already aflame from the silent screams he was emitting. The struggling twenty-one year-old never even thought of testing just deep the water was...