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Draxuz felt himself waking from the fog of a dream he had been in. He shifted his head slightly, and felt something soft under him. He spent a moment trying to collect his thoughts, trying to remember what had happened and how he had gotten to where he was. He could remember being forced to run off the road as the hunters had spotted him, his run through the forest and that very long tumble he took down the hill. His use of magic against the last soldier, and seeing the two remaining archers coming up to him as he passed out.

He opened his eyes, deciding that he needed to figure out where he was, and figure out how to keep moving. He tried to force himself to sit up, but only managed to lift his torso a few inches from the ground before his muscles gave out. He growled softly and forced his arms under him, pushing himself up as he shook with the effort. He panted heavily, the exertion of sitting up making him feel as if he had just finished building a house in a single day. He rolled himself over onto his hands and knees, and slowly crawled over to the wall as quietly as he could.

He was confused, very confused, about where he was. If he had passed out at the tree, then those two archers would have had him. However, he felt no collar around his neck; He could still feel his magic and he was not bound. He shook his head as he focused on the task at hand, to get himself to his feet and to get out of here.

He gripped the uneven edges of the wall as he pulled himself up, his arms and legs trembling furiously. After taking what felt like hours he was standing up, albiet unsteadily. He slowly turned toward the cave opening, his legs shaking as he took a step forward. He almost stumbled and fell, but he managed to balance himself out. Gritting his fangs and grunting quietly, he forced himself to straighten out and took another shaky step, then another. As he made his way to the opening, his legs became stronger and his pace became slightly faster.

He slipped up to the side of the cave entrance. Peering out, he looked for any possible guards that might be near and making sure he stayed put. To his surprise, he found no one.

"Doesn't mean there isn't an archer out and about though." he muttered to himself.

Looking out once again, he took a deep breath and quickly made his way out and around the corner. Before he fully made it through the opening he crashed head on into someone, causing him to fall down onto his back. He shook his head, trying to beat off the dizziness he felt as he stared back at whom he had run into. At first, he went on the defensive, preparing himself to lunge at the person holding him captive. Then once he got a good look at her, he WAS captivated by her. His gaze caught the small glimmers the moon made on the silver hair that framed a sleek lavender and white muzzle... He shook that off too. He had been tricked once before by a beautiful wolfess, and he was not going to let it happen again.

She looked up at him, still slightly dazed. "Oh my goodness, are you alright? I didn't mean to run into you, I thought you were still asleep."

Draxuz took a good look into her yellow eyes, and saw she was without evil, and that she was being sincere about her worrying over his well being. He pushed himself back up, keeping his eyes on her. Something inside him told him he could trust her, but a part of him couldn't trust anyone. Not after all the betrayals he had had. He walked over to her and knelt down some, offering her his hand to help her up. She blinked a few times as she looked at his hand before lowering her head slightly and flattening her lavender ears, her gaze drifting to the side as he helped her get to her feet.

"Are you alright?" He asked, "I apologize for having run into you and having knocked you down." He was now curious as to why she now suddenly avoided looking at him.

"Yes, yes I am fine," she said, as she shook it off, pricking the tips of her fangs nervously into her lower lip. Draxuz just tilted his head to the side a little in confusion, letting his cautioning side go quiet.

This wolfess was definitely not someone that would work for the Emperor. But why was she looking like that? He cleared his mind of the questions. He needed to know who she was, and why and how she had him here.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, because I really am, but.. How is it I am here in your care and not in the wonderful care of the two archers that had me? And, who are you?" Draxuz asked.

She gathered her small pack from the ground and walked inside the cave, sitting down next to the fire pit as she put her hand in and brought out some fish. Gazing back up to him, she motioned for him to come back in and sit near her. Draxuz shrugged and went to sit across from her.

As she dug into another pack she had sitting near her, she began to answer his questions.

"My name is Larka. I am from a tribe to the far north that was attacked and destroyed by the Empire." Her eyes lost some of their focus as her voice trailed off and she thought back, her hands had stopped digging and were now simply sitting in the pack. She finally shook her head slightly, her silver mane fluttering with the movement. She looked up and gave him a sad smile.

Draxuz sat for a moment in silence. "I am sorry for your loss. My parents were killed six years ago by some of the Emperor's men. Ever since then I have been hunted by his supposed best men, but I have always managed to stay a step ahead of them. Well, up until you had to save me, that is." He looked down sheepishly at the last part.

There was a moment of silence, before Larka spoke up again. "Was it necessary to kill that wolf?"

Draxuz looked up into her eyes and answered, "Yes" without hesitation. He saw the pain of that answer in her eyes, and went on to explain why.

"The Emperor has put a bounty on me so high that every bounty hunter and criminal has been looking for me. At this point, I would imagine that he is willing to give up his entire treasury room full of gold to get his hands on me. I have caused him quite a bit of trouble." He said the last part with a chuckle.

Larka looked a little uncertain. "Can't you just, you know, knock them out and tie them up and run or something? Do you HAVE to kill them?"

Draxuz looked down at the ground as he sighed. "I tried that, once I cooled back down from what was done to my parents. The first few groups of hunters, I easily knocked them out and hid their weapons, and ran. But they kept coming back. I even took all their money, but they still somehow got more equipment and were on my trail within a week. The only way to stop them from chasing me is to take their life, so they are unable to chase me."

Larka looked up and into his eyes, and saw that he was truly saddened by what he had done to stay alive, and knew that he truly believed he had no other choice. She would have to try to convince him otherwise. There was an awkward silence before he looked off to the side of the cave, and for the first time noticed the staff.

Tilting his head to the side a little, he pointed his muzzle in the direction of it and asked, "What kind of staff is that? Doesn't look like it was intended for fighting."

Larka glanced over to the staff and then back to him with a proud smile.

"That is Haliah, a staff of great importance to my tribe. We have been the keepers of this staff for as long as anyone could remember. It was so long ago that no one is certain as to how it is that we came to have it, or why it is so important. However it's been told that it was sent down by the Goddess herself. All we, er, I know for certain is that I am to protect it with my life, that it cannot fall into the wrong hands. And you are correct, it was not intended for fighting."

She stopped talking for a moment as she resumed her search in her pack, finally bringing out an old battered pan, and dropped the fish into it and placed it over some larger rocks she had sitting in the middle of a circle of smaller rocks. The larger rocks were spread apart some, to allow sticks to be placed in between them for a cooking fire. Draxuz noted that there was still a small pile against the wall near her things.

Bringing a small smile to his lips, he lifted his arm in that direction and focused on the water still within the sticks. He closed his eyes as he focused his power and drug the sticks over to them. Larka simply raised an eyebrow and her mouth twitched into a small smile of her own.

"It seems that your power has returned, though I am confused. I clearly saw you blast that wolf away with lightning, which is a fire element. And yet you can control water as well?"

Draxuz nodded. "I have the ability to control all elements it seems. When I first discovered my abilities, I thought that everyone could do what I could. I spent time, trying to find others like me that could help me learn to control my powers, but the few that I found only had control over one element, not all of them. They were, however, gracious enough to help me focus my abilities. One, who had control of the wind, an avian, made fun of me and compared me to a large man just swinging around a tree to try and get the job done. He told me by the time he got through with me, I would be like a swordsman with the finest blade in the land. And he was right. I hardly use any of my power to attack now."

Larka turned her attention to the sticks as he talked, running a hand over the stick, from one end to another. As she did so, a small puddle of water built up on the cave floor. With each stick dried out, she tossed them in between the large rocks.

With a playful smile, she looked up at him. "Well, would you do the honors, or should I go get my flint and striker and start this fire myself?"

Looking up at her, he reached an arm out toward the pile of sticks and extended his pointer finger at it. Closing his eyes again he began to concentrate his power. A small ball of fire seemed to appear from nowhere just an inch from his claw, its blue, red and orange colors swirling about that seemed to capture Larka in its simplistic beauty. A small stream of the fire left the small ball and hit straight and true, right into the center of the pile. Draxuz kept the stream up for a few seconds then extinguished his magic. The fire inside the pile of sticks crackled to life on its own.

"Impressive, you seem to have a great amount of control over fire. It is obviously your element. Where did you go to learn about it?"

"Well, as you say, it is my primary element. I didn't get any instruction for it, I merely took what I learned from the avian and applied it to fire. They are close enough when dealing with control. Sadly, the concept didn't work overly well for water or earth."

Larka nodded. "Because fire and air are intangible things, you cannot really hold it in your hand and feel it, it's just there."

Draxuz gave her a questioning look, but nodded.

"That is the same conclusion I came to. I have noticed though, that the angrier I become, the more focused my powers become, regardless of training. My fight with the ones who killed my parents, I remember it more like a dream. I can remember doing certain things, but once I had cooled off, had tried to do them without being angry, I found I couldn't. So I figured I would go and find people who could help me."

Larka pulled a few spices out of her pack and gingerly spread them over the fish as they began to sizzle slightly. Draxuz finally realized how hungry he was as his nose caught a hint of the smell and his stomach began to growl angrily. Larka looked up at him when she heard it and began giggling.

"Sounds like someone is just a tiny bit hungry!" Larka said, still giggling. Draxuz just looked at her with mocking annoyance.

"Yeah, so? Some of us didn't get a chance to eat for.. However long I haven't eaten." Draxuz retorted.

"Weeeeell~, if someone hadn't simply just laid there sleeping for nearly two weeks, they would have had a chance to have eaten some food!" She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Draxuz just chuckled, feeling at ease for the first time in as long as he could remember. He even caught his tail moving back and forth of its own accord.

As he eyed the fish hungrily, he asked, "May I ask why exactly you are here? It looks like you have been here for a while now."

Larka brushed her hands off to the side to knock off the remaining bits of spices and gave some thought on how to answer him. "Well, as I told you before, my tribe was attacked and destroyed several years ago. I was not near the initial attack when it happened. From what one of the defenders said to my mother, they had come both by sea and by land, and had cut us off from escaping. The temple to our Goddess was sort of built into a cliff face, right off the sea. It was said that the original tribe members could return to the temple in times of war and use the sea itself to fend off their foes. It was also the resting place of Haliah, the staff I am protecting."

She used a knife to flip over the fish. "I was inside the temple at the time of the attack, in the middle of my studies on using my power. Our soldiers were quick to fight and defend against the men of the Emperor, but they were outnumbered severely and quickly lost. After the defender came inside and warned my mother, she ran up to the resting place of the staff, but she did not grab what I had always been led to be Haliah. Instead, she placed her hands over the bottom portion of the pedestal, and activated a release that opened a secret compartment. Inside was another staff, the REAL one that turned out to be sent by the goddess. It was hidden like that to keep any thieves from sneaking in and taking possession of it."

As she spoke, she idly flipped and moved the two fish around in the pan to keep them from burning, trying to distract herself from the pain of her next memory as she spoke. "She made me follow her to one of the back rooms of the temple, where she placed her hands on another, odd colored stone and released another lock that opened up into an escape tunnel. I can still remember so vividly. The panic and urgency in my mother's voice as she told me to protect Haliah..." Her hands stopped moving and her voice trailed once more as the tears that had threatened to spill cascaded down her face. She tried her hardest to hold them back but the emotions of the past came back to her hard. Her shoulders shook as she cried softly to herself, trying to get herself back under control. Draxuz opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say or do. He finally got up and set next to her, wrapping an arm around her and gave her a soft hug for support.

She sniffled a couple times before getting herself back under control. She reached around and patted his hand on her shoulder before pushing away a little and wiped at the tears that were in her eyes. She looked up at him, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I haven't talked to anyone about this since it happened. I have had many bad memories since that day, and I guess I have just bottled everything up. Anyways.." She pulled out a small tin plate out of her pack and put the fish on it. She offered the plate to him, which he gingerly took as she turned to put two more fish in the pan to fry.

"After she gave me the staff, our sacred treasure, she gave me a quick hug, and shoved me through the door. She told me that further back in the tunnel was a small room where I would find some supplies. I can still remember the way she looked at me, right before she pressed the switch to close the door on me. How the light glinted off her soft silver face. She told me she loved me right before the door slammed shut. I could still hear what was going on on the other side of the stone door."

"I remember hearing the soldiers crash into the main chamber. There had been 2 of our finest warriors there with my mother, hiding in the shadows when they attacked, but they were taken down very easily. We didn't have weapons like they did; all we had were our hunting bows and staffs. I heard my mother scream out in pain, I am guessing that began to torture her to get the information for Haliah."

She paused again, sniffling a little more. Her nose flared and her ears perked up as she looked down and noticed that the fish had lain in the pan for too long on one side. She hurriedly flipped them over again and dug out another plate to put them on. Draxuz took the plate from her and pulled the fish out of the pan. She smiled sheepishly, embarrassed she had gotten so far lost in her memory that she forgot about the fish. Setting the pan to the side, Draxuz offered up his plate of fish, since he had only eaten a small portion of it to her instead of the burned ones.

Larka started to protest but Draxuz shook his head. "I'll take these. I have developed an iron stomach over the past several years of my attempts at cooking." Larka giggled, feeling tremendously better. Better than she had in a very long time.

"So after hearing what you did, I am guessing you took off down the corridor?" Draxuz asked gently. Larka looked up and nodded.

"Yes, I found the supplies where my mother said they would be. I spent two days in the tunnel, before I finally found my way back out and onto the surface. It was amazing. The tunnel was self-illuminating, maybe due to it detecting my power or just my life, I don't know. But I will admit, as fascinated with the tunnel as I was, it was so wonderful to be back out in the fresh air. The tunnel had taken me miles away from the temple, as best I could guess. I was able to see it only because of the columns of smoke that looked so far away. It took everything I had to not go running back to try to help, because I knew it was too late. If I had gone back, the Emperor would get Haliah, and my mother would have died for nothing."

Draxuz chewed thoughtfully on the charred fish, wincing slightly as he swallowed. "Did you have any specific place in mind when you left?"

Larka shook her head. "No, not really. I figured I should head inland to get away from the soldiers, so I did. I stayed at different towns and farms as I travelled, for weeks at a time normally, as I was able to help by bringing in larger amounts of water to help with their crops. I was run out of a few towns, simply because they were afraid that if the Emperor found me there, they would burn the town to the ground. I have been wandering about, unsure of what to do until four days before you came here. For some reason, I was led here. I think it happened about a month ago, I was coming down one of the trails up north, and was about to go to the west at a fork when I was overrun with pain I had never known before. It took a moment to realize my magic was causing it. So I thought about going down the other trail and suddenly the pain vanished. I found this odd, but I followed that trail anyways."

Draxuz merely raised an eyebrow at that last part as he chewed the last of his fish. Larka set her empty plate down and reached out to her water skin, using her power to bring it over to her. Draxuz sat silently as she took a drink and then offered the skin to him. He took it carefully, and also sipped some of the water.

"I eventually figured out that the staff itself was controlling my magic, trying to force me to go a certain route. At first I thought that maybe it was protecting me from danger, taking me a route that would bypass soldiers or something. Then it led me to this cave, where as I said, had been for four days before I had met you. On the third day of being here, I thought to try to leave and continue on my way. Before I even managed to finish the thought, I was hit with the same crippling pain as before. As soon as I thought about staying here, it went away. Then I saw you falling down the hill. I went to see what was going on when you.. Killed that soldier. I thought to turn away then in fear, but the magic hit me once again, and I knew for some reason the staff wanted me to protect you. I managed to deal with the last two and get you here. The rest is fairly self explanatory."

With her story complete, she looked back into his eyes, and found herself deeply fascinated with the way they shined with life, with the fire to keep going. Draxuz smiled.

"Well, I am glad that you had the sta- I mean, Haliah. I shudder to think where I would be right now. So thank you, for coming to my aid. If you have been out and about, have you noticed anyone else around in these woods? While I was running from the soldiers, I had to throw my pack in some underbrush so it wouldn't slow me down and I really need to retrieve it. It has a few things that I have gathered that are of great importance."

Larka looked out the cave opening and into the visible sky that she could see through the tree tops. "Well, it will be dark in an hour, maybe two. It might be better to wait until morning to go looking for your pack. Besides, if those two feline archers have friends, they will have the advantage. They can still see better than us in the dark."

Draxuz thought this over for a moment before conceding to her point. "Alright, in the morning then. It is still where I left it roughly, so we can make it there easily enough."

Larka looked up at him, curiosity evident on her features. "You know it is still there? How?"

"As I said, there are some items there that are of great importance to me, one of them is magical and I can track it." Draxuz explained.

"Oooh, that makes sense then. Sometimes I wish I had something like that to find where I put things.." She said as her eyes shifted away from him and down.

Draxuz yawned suddenly, all the 'excitement' of the day having sapped his strength. He hadn't realized how long they had been sitting and talking.

Larka perked up her ears and giggled as she caught him yawning; suddenly pushing herself up to her feet and brushing off her skirt, she offered out her small lavender paw to him.

"Sounds like someone needs some rest!" she teased, giving him a small wink.

Draxuz rolled his eyes but took the offered paw anyways, wobbling for a moment as he was helped to his feet. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other before suddenly realizing they were still holding hands. Larka made a small, embarrassed squeak as she let go of his hands, stammering a little nervously. "U-um, you can..g-go ahead and sleep on the mat over there. I-I've got another one for myself so I'll be okay."

She watched him slowly walk over to the mat and lay his head down on the rolled up cloak, and waited to see his breathing slow as he fell into a deep sleep. She sat next to the fire and waited for it to die down, already feeling the air cooling off as the sun set. She heard him whimper in his dreams, and when she looked up and saw him, she saw he had placed his arm over his face protectively. Her ears wilted at seeing him like that. Ever since she had taken him into her care, he had barely even moved. Then suddenly she caught the sounds of a soft hum, coming from within the cave. Her head and ears swiveled around, searching out the source of the noise before settling on Haliah.

Her eyes and muzzle opened in shock. As Draxuz lay on the ground, twitching from his dreams, Haliah's runes pulsed with an eerie green glow. It lasted for only a moment before the humming and glow subsided and disappeared completely. She turned her gaze back to Draxuz, whom had settled back into a deep, restful sleep.

She got up as the fire died off, walking over to her small pile of supplies and pulled out her spare sleeping mat. She looked around the cave, trying to decide where to put it when her eyes caught sight of Draxuz again. She could feel her cheeks burning slightly as she bit at her lower lip, before she decided it wouldn't hurt anyone if she slept against him. It got somewhat cold at night, especially in the cave. She quietly moved over to him and set the mat gently down on the ground. She lay down behind him, sliding up until she felt her back touch his, and rested her head on her hands and instantly fell into peaceful sleep.