running to, or away?(Iris)

[Kain]

Opening his eye's when he realised he hadnt heard iris voice in a while he realised he had no idea where he was. He could tell he was still on the path, however just how far this pony had taken him he had no idea. The only reason they had stopped was because the pony wanted to graze on a patch of grass. SIghing he sat up and looked around. Hmm, no one in sight. Yet it was getting dark, anyone could sneak up on him right now. Not good. So, somehow managing to turn his pony around till it was pointing back the way they came, he started walking his pony down the road.

"This wont work, i'm totally exposed out here...hmm, i know!" and with that, kain leaned over the pony's head, and looked in it's eye's, quickly planting a suggestion that all the apples it could eat lay down the road. And with that, the pony was back off. However it moved at a lot slower rate, being to tired from it's earlier run to go very fast. Nodding to himself, kain was proud, now he didnt have to worry about the pony. Closing his eye's, and focusing djed to his ears and eye's he extended his senses till he could sense the aura's around him. This way, he would be able to see anyone and anything trying to sneak up on him. There was so much life, unseen to the human eye, that gave off an aura. It was breath taking.

Kain heard the voice, a couple seconds before he sensed a humans aura coming toward him from the direction he had come. That's good, hopefully it's Iris. as he got closer, he could make out the word it was repeating, "Kain". Yep it was iris. It sounded like she was scared, "i hope she's alright" kain muttered, as he kept riding down the road, following her aura to make sure she was ok till they saw each other.

[Iris Dove]

Iris kept up the pace, placing her curled fingers up by her lips as she walked, and constantly glancing around nervously. She had to admit it, she was pretty scared. She kept walking, convinced that someone else was around, this fear, or perhaps paranoia, propelled her forward in a desperate search for her traveling companion and his not so trusty steed, no matter how tired she got, and how shallow her breathing became.

After what felt like ages, she found Kain. "Kain!" she called as she ran up to him and his pony, so excited she could practically jump up on the horse and hug the guy, but she restrained herself.

Several stars were now lighting up the sky, and it was essentially pitch black. "You had me worried there for a moment," Iris chuckled, doing her best to hide her fear, "mr. champion rider," she said as she patted the pony's nose. Its fur felt soft and warm beneath her fingertips.

[Kain]

Kain opened his eye's wider, pulling on the reigns of his pony to get it to stop, which took a lot of effort. the pony wanted it's apples. Chuckling quietly, kain hopped down and patted iris's shoulder. "it's ok to be scared." It was to late for iris to hide her fear from Kain, kain had been sensing it before they had even seen each other.

"Maybe we should set up camp now, iris?" Grimacing from the killer headache that was forming, kain moved to his packs and pulled out an apple which he promptly held out for the pony to eat. He knew he should stop scaning the area for aura's, however, with Iris scared, he wasnt going to risk anything sneaking up on them. Even if he had to maintain this all night. Sitting down with his back against a dead tree, kain half-closed his eye's, keeping all his focus on the aura's around him, not focusing on any one, just making sure no sentient aura was moving towards them.

[Iris Dove]

Kain hopped off the horse. "It's ok to be scared," he said, seeming to sense the fear that hung in the air. Iris nodded, "thanks," she said, reaching for the reigns, just in case Kain had forgotten to hold onto his pony, which she was pretty sure he had.

"Maybe we should set up camp now, Iris?" Iris nodded. "Yeah, we could do that," she replied simply, still holding onto the reigns, looking around for a place to tie the pony up for the night, so it wouldn't run away. Eventually, she found a dead looking tree, and she looped the reigns around that, hoping that it would be enough.

When she turned away from what she had been doing, she noticed that Kain was leaning up against a dead log, already seeming to have fallen asleep, what a lazy bum, she thought to herself, as she walked over to him, setting her bag down beside her. She leaned up against the log as well. It felt cold and rough, even through her clothes, well this sucks, she thought, as she looked around pretty sure that she had heard something other than the pony stomping its hooves.

And when she looked up and to her left, standing on a rock stood a lone wolf, with dark black fur and emerald eyes, growling at them, exposing it's glittering white canine teeth, dripping with saliva.

Iris reached her right hand over and nudged Kain, "now would be a good time to get up," she said, never taking her eyes off the wolf, and reaching into her bag for her eating knife, it being the only sharp pointy object she could use to defend herself. Why was it that she always seemed to wind up in such strange situations? she wondered as she sniffed the air, wishing she had a better sense of smell, to see if there really was anything or anyone else around. (Other than her traveling party and the wolf of course).

[Kain]

Kain frowned, as he sensed the animals aura. It was coming closer by the second, and it was angry. What had iris done to make such an animal angry? This was no time to place blame on anyone, he simply had to act. 'I hope i dont totally mess this up' kain thought silently. As iris reached for kain, he said quietly "i'm not asleep and i know about the wolf."

Focusing djed in his eye's, he quickly thought of the best way to scare a wolf off. They were predators right? so simply make it think we're not worth the meat, to dangerous. Easy enough, just have to act slowly enough to not scare it into attacking anyways, while also moving fast enough so it doesnt get bored and pounces. Slowly unsheathing his dagger, Kain let the moonlight glint off it, so the wolf would see it, before opening his eye's suddenly, stareing straight into the wolfs eye's and implanting a suggestion in it's mind. a picture of the dagger flashed in it's mind then the thought "steelfang, This prey is to dangerous, safer hunt elsewhere". this wouldnt be in those words, but in the wolfs own conciousness as ideas/mental pictures that it would understand. Hopeing this simple suggestion would be enough to drive the wolf away, kain grimaced, his vision starting to blur. He had definatly used way to much Djed. Sensing aura's for so long, then doing a hypnosis. It was a wonder nothing worse had happened.

[Iris Dove]

"I'm not asleep and I know about the wolf," Kain said as Iris tried to nudge him, get him up. "Well nice of you to tell me," she said, as she rolled her eyes at him, as Kain unsheathed his dagger. It glinted in the moonlight. Again, why was Iris always the one caught seriously and hopelessly un-prepared? she wondered, as Kain simply sat next to her, staring over at the wolf, and it at the two of them. It was almost as though the three of them were merely sizing each other up, and waiting; waiting for the other to make a move, if one were to actually make one. Iris wondered why the wolf hadn't bothered attacking, and what on earth Kain seemed to be waiting for. Shouldn't they simply get this over with she wondered as she inched the eating knife that she clutched in her hand closer and closer to the edge of her pack. Tightening her grip around it, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce, should such and opportunity arise; and a need.

[Kain]

Kain simply sat perfectly still. The wolf was still there, and it seemed as if the two were having a stare off. To anyone watching it seemed almost mystical, neither side willing to give into the others intimidation, yet also unwilling to risk attacking. 'Please just go away, i'd really hate to have to test if the both of us can overcome you...and i'd hate to kill you for no reason if we can' Kain thought silently, not letting any signs of his inner thoughts show on his expression. This was the most important part. Waiting to see if his suggestion would work. On most animals, this would have worked easily, however a wolf was smarter. It wouldnt be scarred that easily, especially when they had a pack. He had to hope this one was hunting alone, if there was a pack there was no chance either Iris or himself would escape.

Holding his breath, Kain quickly decided that if he waited anylonger, the wolf wouldnt listen to his suggestion. Moving quickly, kain moved onto one knee and quickly flung his dagger at the Wolf. Not expecting to actually hit the wolf, in fact he was hoping to miss the wolf barely, he muttered silently. Just his luck, when he actually wanted to miss, he had to throw a near-perfect shot with his dagger, making a nick on the wolfs front right leg. Despite the fact that Kain's plan didnt go as he wanted, the desired effect still took. The wolf howled in pain, bared it's teeth at them, and then turned and ran as fast as it could. There was definatly easier prey that wouldnt hurt it.

Sighing in relief, Kain smiled slightly rubbing his forhead, a raging headache coming on, his vision blurring. "There we go. We shouldnt have to worry about wolves anymore."

[Iris Dove]

The three of them- the wolf, Kain, and Iris, simply sat, (and stood), silently and stared at each other for a while. But nothing was as intense as how the wolf and Kain were looking at one another. The wolf was standing on all fours, bent at the knee, growling and baring its large canine teeth; dripping with saliva, and Kain stared right back into the creature's eyes. Unflinching, as if not wanting to give into the wolf, as if doing so signified defeat.

Iris' heart was pounding in her chest, and she wished she could simply shift and fly away, she didn't want to be here anymore, but leaving Kay wouldn't be right, and taking off her clothes so that she could shift without risking bodily harm wasn't something she felt that she could do without startling the wolf, or even Kain, into attack mode.

So instead, Iris sat, and stared, barely breathing, waiting for someone or something to make a move. Suddenly, unexpectedly, Kain shifted, a dagger flying out of his side so quickly that it appeared to be a blur. It flashed as the pale light of the moon hit it, before landing in the wolf's leg. It let out a loud yelp, before galloping away. Kain let out a loud sigh, and began to rub his forehead. "There we go. We shouldnt have to worry about wolves anymore," Kain said. Iris nodded, "yeah..." her voice trailed off.

[Kain]

His vision was spinning as he slowly walked over and retrieved his dagger. He could barely see it, as his vision blurred. THis was the worst he had ever been, and it wasnt just his sight. His head was pounding so hard he could barely think. He knew they should light a fire, or he would catch frostbite tonight. Survive the wolf, but die of mother nature. But with his current condition, there was no way that he was going to be able to light a fire. Shaking his head he stumbled over to his pack. He fumbled with the catch, untill he managed to open it. He then simply took all the cloth out, blankets, clothes, bandages. He didnt bother to straighten it out and take only the blankets, he knew he'ed need all the heat right now.

Moving over to a tree he sat with his back against it and wrapped himself in the cloth. "Iris if you like we can share this...i'm not really in a condition to set up much more shelter...i can hardly...."his voice suddenly cut off from a scream of pain as he dubbled over in pain and held his head. This was turture, he should have known this woulda happened with all his djed usage. He hadnt used this much djed in a while and it was catching up with him. instead of trying to fight it he simply sank down, curled up in a ball and closed his eye's tight. Tears streaming down his face from the pain.

[Iris Dove]

Alarmed by Kain's pained cries, Iris walked over to him, and gently pushed up on his shoulders, doing her best to straighten him out, as she lifted her right hand up to his forehead. The back of her hand rested against his pale skin, her pale fingers illuminated by the moonlight, giving them an eerie white glow. Kain's skin felt cold, as though it were glistening with a thin sheet of sweat. What had made him so ill, or perhaps, so nervous? Iris wondered, as she returned her hands to her side and knelt beside him. Her knees resting on the blanket he had wrapped himself in. "Are you alright?" Iris asked, leaning back a little so she could get a better look at him. Kain seemed pale, and so very tired. Crow's feet lined the corners of his eyes, and his hands seemed to be shaking even beneath the blanket. But was that with cold or with fear? she wondered, as she tucked a corner of the blanket behind his back, it had fallen from his side as she knelt on another portion of the blanket.

Slowly, Iris got to her feet, turning her back to Kain. She looked around her, and grabbed a few tiny twigs that were resting around the base of the tree. Iris arranged them in a simple pile, that loosely resembled a triangle. Rummaging through all of Kain's belongings, the things that he had littered across the ground in his search for a blanket, she found what she was looking for- flint and steel. Iris grabbed it and returned to her tiny stack of twigs. She furiously began to rub the steel and flint together. Her hands growing cold, then numb, and then so darn tired she couldn't even feel her fingers anymore. But that didn't stop Iris. Eventually, after about twenty-one minutes, Iris got her first spark. And then her second. She tilted her hands down more towards the twigs, because they still hadn't caught, and then... third time's the charm. The twigs caught on fire, and Iris put the fire-making supplies down. She bent her head down to the fire, and blew on it gently, to help get it going. The fire was small, since it was made of only a few twigs, but it was something, and surely better than nothing.

Iris turned her head back to face Kain. "It isn't much, but it is something, and will allow us to see if the moon should disappear behind the clouds during the night," Iris said, as she walked back over to Kain. "You know, you really don't look so good, do you think you're coming down with something? Is there anything I could do to make you more comfortable?"