Darkened Sky

[Wildmagic_warrior]

"Almost two hundred, actually." Said Fern, sitting down beside him with her legs crossed under her. "But I still haven't stopped running." Then, seeming to change the subject entirely, she asked "Do you want to know why I left my home?"

[Wolfsabre]

"Only if your ok with telling me" Kendrick says with a smile, looking up at her.

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Looking into the water, Fern saw her reflection. She seemed so much older now, although it had only been forty years since she left her village. "It was not my choice to leave." She began. "I was exiled because I was the only survivor of my family. I was told that bad luck was my familiar, and forced to leave. My brother had died a little while before. He was hunting at dusk, and he slipped on a patch of ice. He fell off a low cliff, and broke his leg. He died of hypothermia, alone, in the snow, before help came at dawn. I was out hunting that morning, and when I came back to the village I saw my house, the only place I had ever called home, being burned by those I thought as of my friends. I tried to rush in, to save what was left of my possessions, but the blacksmith's apprentice, Frenna, grabbed me and held me back. It was only after my home was burned to ashes that she showed me what had become of my parents. I just couldn't believe it, I still can't. How is it possible for a disease to take someone from healthy to sick to dead in the space of one day? At the town meeting, I was declared dead to my tribe. I was to leave the village right away, and never come back. No elf from my tribe was allowed to speak or communicate with me in any way, nor get with three meters of me if it could be helped. I left the village near sunset, with only the clothes on my back, my hunting bow, and a small pack filled with a meager supply of food. I walked for a long time, I don't recall exactly how long, living mostly on rage and small animals I could hunt with my bow. Then, one day, I just couldn't walk any farther. I collapsed in the snow, and would have died if Willow hadn't found me while she was hunting. She had left her home to see the world, as all dragons do at one point or another in their lives. She nursed me back to health, and I swore I would never go into the mountains again." Looking at Kendrick, she smiled sadly and said "The end."

[Wolfsabre]

Kendrick looked at her eyes in the reflection, before quickly looking away. "Wow" he whispers. He knew it sounded lame, but it was the only thing he could think of. "Thank you for telling me. I know how difficult it is to talk about your past..." he trailed off and looked up at the stars and he sighed.

[solo]

Drazarriz looked over at Shadow and he shakes his head. "He told me to keep it secret. I would tell you, but I can't. Familiars are bound to our masters will. But, he'll probably tell you if you ask, he never lies" and he cast a worried glance at Kendrick, whose silhouette was barely visible in the shadows.

Shadow shrugged, "That's okay. I... I know how that feels." something flickered in his eyes for a heartbeat, something broken and pained. But he looked down at the ground, knowing that his eyes always showed his emotions. He paused, "Well, I'm goin' to bed." he turned and walked over to a gnarled old willow. He spread some leaves by the base of the trunk to make the hard forest floor more hospitable and lay down. Shadow looked up at the night sky, his face unreadable.

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Placing a hand on one of Kenrick's, Fern trailed the fingers of her other hand in the still water. Her blue-green eyes were one of the only things she could see in the rippling, moonlit water. Looking at the dark-haired boy, she said "It's been forty years since Willow found me. In all that time, I've never met anyody like you."

[Wolfsabre]

Kendrick tore his eyes away from her watery gaze and met her real eyes. They bore into his, like she could read his mind, all his secrets. He let a small smile play across his lips and he looks back at the moonlit lake and says "And what kind of person is that?"

[Wildmagic_warrior]

"Somebody that I can trust with my life, who's handsome and dashing and doesn't scream like a little girl when treatened by a dragon. Believe me, there's plenty of men older than you who do." Grinning, she told him "Like the Duke of Lonsdale, for instance."

[Wolfsabre]

Kendrick chuckles and says "I can imagine" he was quiet for a moment. He looked ip at her and he smiles. He was blushing, but his expression was determined all the same. "And I've never met anyone like you, Fern"

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Getting to her feet, Fern kissed him gently on the cheek before turning silently on the heel of her age-softened leather boots and walked back to where the others were sitting around what was left of the fire. In the low light, Rose's eyes glinted mischevieously at her. But, thankfully, the pine marten didn't say anything as Fern sat down and prodded the embers back to life with a stick.