Colin's posts

Ashley looked confused for a moment.

"Um... okay." he said.

He was then silent, before his stomach growled. Loudly.

"....heh." he chuckled sheepishly.

"I guess I am." he said.

"I haven't eaten in a few days." he then admitted.

He was silent for a moment.

"Ashley." he said.

"My name is Ashley." he told her.

"And... and... uh..." he then stammered, thinking for another moment.

"Re... ri... r..." he stuttered, trying to pronounce her name.

"River-ka." he finally got out.

The boy nodded.

"All right." he replied.

She then left and made her way back to where she was... and she was only waiting for a couple of minutes, before he returned, the clothes fitting him fairly well.

"Thank you again." he said.

"It's been a while since I wore clean clothes."

The boy was silent for a moment, before seeming to snap out of his little 'trance'.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Oh." he said.

"Really?" he asked her.

"Clean clothes?" he asked further.

When she nodded, he smiled softly.

"Thank you." he said, as he got up and looked around.

"Should I change here?" he asked.

Even though the plants she was using were a bit rough, and they stung, she saw that he barely reacted. He hardly even winced. The worse he did was close his eyes a little when the harsher plants were used.

Beyond that, he kept still.

He stayed perfectly still, except when she told him to do things, so she could reach awkward areas.

It seemed he was used to taking orders, and had briefly reverted back to some default 'obey' mode.

".........okay." the boy replied.

At this point, it seemed like he'd finally let his guard down some... or maybe he'd resigned himself to any fate he thought he had. Or maybe the exhaustion had finally caught up to him.

Regardless, he wasn't fighting anymore, and didn't seem to be visibly panicking.

"Do what you have to." he said.

"I'll... I'll be here."

"............" again, the boy was silent.

"Okay." he then said.

"....okay." he repeated, more quietly this time.

He then stood up again, though he looked ready to collapse again.

"....tired..." he mumbled.

"...hurt..." he said further, and she could tell he'd been having a rough go of it.

His clothes were torn and dirty, and he was covered with scrapes and cuts. The bags under his eyes proved that he hadn't been getting much sleep, either.

He just nodded quickly.

"Y-yes. No. M-maybe. I d-don't know." he admitted.

"Mother... mother almost got me." he said.

"She... she was... she trapped me..." he went on.

"...." he was then silent, before a name escaped his lips.

"R-Rowena... Fyrane..."

The boy, who appeared to be no older than 12, 13 at the oldest, jumped a little when Reveka said what she did, asked her question.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, looking at her.

"No!" he said.

"No! I have to... have to run...!" he said further, staggering to get to his feet again.

"She... she... no... no, please..." he begged, seeming to be delirious at the moment.

He then collapsed to his knees again, tears streaming down his cheeks.

As she dangled her feet in the water, she noticed something. More animals seemed to be coming her way, but they appeared to be running FROM something.

Or someONE.

She then heard hurried footsteps, and they were coming her way as well.

When she looked up, she saw a small figure making their way towards her. The small figure then paused for a moment, leaning against a tree, before collapsing to their knees.

Rene looked at the cupboard, and made his way over.

He opened it and looked at the selection she had, before sniffing one of them.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Been a while since I had a tea that used Mint-Marigold stems." he commented, showing her just how in touch with nature he was. Not that it was surprising. Lanthas, from what she had read, had great reverence for nature, but more towards sea-life. The fact that he was able to so quickly identify a land plant showed just how long he'd been living on the surface.

"Should be interesting to see what this one tastes like." he said further.

"Assuming that one is free to try." he added.

Rene was silent, before raising an eyebrow.

"Tea?" he asked.

"I admit, tea is one thing humans did right. I DO enjoy a nice tea every once in a while." he admitted.

"Depends on what one has, though." he then said.

"What teas do you have here?" he asked.

Rene just shrugged.

"If you wish." he said.

"Not like I'm one to talk." he went on.

"You saw the bodies by the river." he said.

"You know what I eat." he continued.

"Well... meat and fish. What I get from humans is just a bonus that comes from my killing them." he added.

"So it's unsatisfying." Rene said.

"But, you should need nutrition." he continued.

"You need to keep that body strong. And odds are your mental connection is... questionable, at times." he went on.

"Hmmmmm..." he mumbled.

"I suppose that connects to the heads you collected earlier, yes?" he asked her.