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Sorrow did not fit the Ibixian tone, or at least not the one that Seraphis was trying to fit in. Leon understood well enough though. His head turned a bit in slight surprise at this man's claim to seven years. It was something Leon could almost not comprehend, though he figured that it would be about that long for him in the coming years as the fight against spawn and eventually Tidal continued.

Leon placed a gentle but firm hand on Seraphis' shoulder as a mark of understanding. "[My friend, if I may call you such, I would not be so quick to damn my heart if I were in your place.]" Leon said and paused in thought for a moment. "[Let us think of what has happened as you have described. You had a wonderful love with whom you were very close and Tidal took her away from you. For this you blame yourself, and that is a mistake. Not even the House of Summoners could stop Tidal, so how were you to do anything about it, if you were there or not? All that would have happened is that you would have been killed, and these people around you would not have you as an acquaintance, and you and I would not be talking right now. You have lost Burenna and nothing can be done about that, trust me, I tried to save many these last few years. That is the harsh reality of that, for I am not one to cushion the truth. Now your heart has reached out in your sleep since you would not let it otherwise. Denial of even friendship is a wound very deep and hard to heal, and when presented with a cure, a cushion if you will, you shy away as if you were a dog being threatened with a club. I know I speak out of place at this point in time, but it seems to me that this Silver is just the person you need to heal and to move on. Yes it will be difficult, but would your love Burenna wish you to live in despair and be stuck in time that has long passed? That is the question you must ask yourself and come to terms with.]" Leon has said his little speech to the man, obviously older than his years. He took out his jug of alcohol. "[Drink?]" he offered to Seraphis before noting what the leader had said.

He nodded at her, telling her that he was ready to go whenever, he had never taken his gear off. A bemused smile crossed his face as she seemed to try out Ibixian. " [meet.] " he said in a good natured way, switching from Ibixian to elven to Ibixian to elven with rather alarming speed. It seemed that he had practiced doing that many times before. ""

Blade shyly scratched the back of her head as the Ibixian informed her of the proper word for "meet." She nodded and grinned widely, lowering her hand to set it on her hip in a tougher stance. "[Good to meet you!]" She chanted back, being sure to hit all of the proper accents. Now, exactly what had she said? He said that she hadn't said anything insulting, but if he didn't want to tell her what she'd said then... what had she said? '' She giggled and nodded, walking forward and bowing to him. He seemed to be rather formal with elven ways, as he spoke elven fluently. She knew that not all elves bowed in greeting but her care givers had taught her otherwise. She ignored the pain in her back and straitened it, a smile still playing on her features.

"" She was rather giddy at the offer of being taught how to speak Ibixian. While Blade was a warrior in her own right she also had a deep passion for learning. "" It was a trait she'd developed from her father and from her own childhood. Eve's family had been too poor for schooling, so Eve had only dreamed about being able to go to school like richer children. When she had been presented with the opportunity she had taken it eagerly with both hands. To say that studying wasn't boring was a lie, but Blade absolutely loved it. It was one of her favorite things to do: learn.

Blade reached behind herself until her hand met a book. She grabbed it and then wrapped her hand around another object. She stepped back and pulled out a book and a pencil. She pulled it open, flipping through a few pages that were full to the brim of various pictures until she reached a blank one. She grinned to herself and affectionately rubbed the bottom corner of the paper with her thumb before looking up at Leon. "" Now that she was more awake (not to mention a little sugar in her system) it was dawning on Blade that she was with an Ibixian. Some people wouldn't care but she had a penchant for things like this. She'd only seen Ibixian's in books and to see one right in front of her was awe inspiring. "" She was desperately hoping that he'd say yes. She felt like a little girl again, back when she'd been given her very own book. She'd actually cried. "" And she was sure that he must be tired of having people pay so much attention to him.... ''

Letting the rising sun dry her hair, Silver pulled the now damp strands back over her shoulder to pull on her shirt and tunic. Her mind wasn't settled, but it wasn't in an uproar either. This Seraphis Darkstar is too confusing... she tried to convince herself. I'd best just leave him be. He'll only cause me trouble, heartache, or both in the end... An inner part of her wailed at the thought, already attached to the male half-elf. Resolutely, she strangled it into silence. Keeping her clips and the dagger in her hand as she walked to give her hair a little more time to dry, she tried to keep from thinking anymore on the subject. As she approached the clearing, she began to repin her hair, sliding the dagger into her belt until she was ready for it and holding the so far unused clips in her mouth as she struggled to get the heavy, only slightly dry locks to cooperate.

She stayed silent, leaning against a tree with her head bowed as her fingers continued to work, her eyes staying focused on the ground. The elven female failed to recognize the tree as the one she had slept under the night before, too determined to avoid thinking too deeply at this point. In any other field, she was fearless. Only the battlefield of the heart could make her ready to flee. It was only her unwavering loyalty and her concern for the village she was born and raised in that kept her with the group with the source of all her current turmoil and terror. Her too-senstive-for-her-own-good nose picked up the remaining burning scent of alcohol. "Who's already been at the bottle?" she asked in disbelief without raising her head, in case her face reflected some of the fright she still felt. The sun hadn't even been up that long, yet someone had already indulged in spirits... Very strong spirits, judging by the smell of them.

Seraphis' ears twitched at the question. There was no mistaking that it was Silver's voice. He leaned to one side and ventured a look around the tree. There, he saw the end of a silver scabbard. Immediately, he jerked back and flattened himself against the tree's sturdy trunk. She was sitting right there! Thousands of thoughts flooded his head, nearly all shouting in unison for him to flee, however, one thought rang clearer than the rest.

'You shy away as if you were a dog being threatened with a club.'

The ibixian's words rang true in this case. Too true... Seraphis buried his face in his hands, unsure of what he should do now. He would have remained silent, let the moment pass and wait till they were ready to leave. But something was nagging at him. Telling him that he needed to do something about this. He finally decided to throw a line out. If she bit, good. If not, he would have to accept that.

Then the Leon engaged Silver with his own conversation. Seraphis silently thanked the ibixian for covering for him. He sat silently and listened intently, hoping that Leon would be able to coax something out of Silver. Anything that would give him some insight to the emotional damage he had caused her.

'Not likely,' he thought to himself. Silver didn't open up to just anyone, but he still held on to what little hope he had.

{{We will be time skipping this trip, mind you~ Not of all of it, though. O:

And sorry, this post came out a loooot bigger than I was thinking it would. xDD}}

Blade blinked at what he said, tilting her head. '' A smile cracked on her face and she burst out laughing, hugging her drawing book against her chest. It just figured that she would try to say something polite to him only to say something absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, chocolate mayonnaise foot pudding? Just the thought of it made her nearly sick. And panties? Well, that was awfully erotic. Well, now she could understand exactly why he had been so reluctant to tell her earlier. It wasn't exactly something... uh... proper to say. But, at least she hadn't badly insulted him. Talking about panties and chocolate mayonnaise foot pudding was much better than insulting someone she'd just met. Not only that but he seemed to be a rather kind person.

And she could? He was going to let her draw him? Her eyes lit up and a wide smiled made its appearance on her face. "" But then again, she was just absolutely fascinated with them. She was with any race in general. She supposed that the only thing she really hated were the spawn. And she didn't really hate the spawn either. Of course, dwarves got on her bad side sometimes. Typical of her, though. She'd grown up like an elf and elves and dwarves weren't always on good terms with one another. And Leon, such a lovely name. It was sort of odd for a goat man to be named after a lion, or at least have a name associating with it, but maybe it meant that he was brave. She didn't know too much of the Ibixian culture so it could mean just about anything. Hopefully he wouldn't mind her pestering him with questions... she would try to keep a hold on herself.

And he could speak human? She blinked before nodding happily to herself, just taking half notice that Silver had reappeared and that Seraphis had disappeared. Well, all the better! Unless Grenth knew elven and hadn't told her, he had been left completely out on an amusing conversation and probably felt somewhat outcast. Last she had been with him he'd only known a few elven words. She could remember that she'd been traveling with someone that had tried to hit on an elf only to say something completely... wrong. The female had been completely insulted, shocked, and in a mixture of amusement. The elven female had slapped in three times before storming off, leaving Blade to sit there and laugh her a** off. Poor guy hadn't even known what had hit him. Blade couldn't help but buy him an extra beer that night out of sheer pity.

"Wise words, Silver." Blade nodded, checked to be sure that the fire was out, and then waved to the others before walking out of camp. Hopefully whatever was happening between Silver and Seraphis would clear out soon. Lover spats was not something that Blade wanted to be dealing with on the road or while they were hunting the most dangerous creatures in current existence. Save Tidal itself, of course. She chuckled sadly to herself, lifting up her drawing book and taking a glance over at Leon. As she began to draw a wire frame for the pose she wanted him in a sigh escaped her lips. '' She stepped out onto the road and tilted her head up to look at the sky, which was a mixture of absolutely glorious colors. Sunsets and sunrises had the unbelievable ability to mix colors that shouldn't go together in an absolutely incredible, more than perfect way. It was interesting to think that sunsets could be even more beautiful because of all of the dust in the air that amplified the colors of the sun. She remained still for a few seconds, her eyes locked up on the art work above her. Mixed emotions flowed through her and her smile fell from her face. '' She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath of air before looking forward and starting to walk. Now wasn't the time for daydreaming. She had a picture to draw! She turned to look back at Leon again, taking in the way that his body looked. Not for erotic reasons, merely to figure out how the type of pose she wanted was going to work. She would have to watch the way he moved for a while, maybe for a day, before she had the pose on paper. '' Blade stopped and turned herself around, waiting for Silver to take the lead. Now that there were more people in the party she was going to have to redo their formation. It wouldn't be too hard, though, as she was reasonably certain that Doina and Seraphis were the only two who tipped on the magician side and would need the most protection. Maybe Leon, but considering how muscular he was even if he were a magician he could still be put on the outside of the circle as well. ''

"Alright then!" Blade called out once everyone had appeared on the road. "Silver, take the lead. Doina and Seraphis I want you two to stay together. The rest of us, or as long as you can fight physically, will remain outside of all of you. Remember that we don't have to stay in this exact formation but be in the case of an attack I need everyone to at least be close to it. Let's move out!"

Well Blade had told her not to worry about Ebon, but they had just reunited with said man and she wondered where he would appear to them again.

‘Hopefully not in the same way as before…I rather not be frightened every time I see him.’

Several things happened and seeing that none of them concerned her, she went to go sit down and take stock of her inventory. Bandages, ointments and salves were at the top of the bag. She had plenty of bandages and she was doing okay on the other two. If anything , she probably only needed to restock on the yellow salve that she used on Blade. But that could wait, she’ll just use the rest on said woman when they next got a chance to rest.

Deeper down was her heavier cloak and a few small articles of clothing. Those were placed in the middle to cushion the vials and other fragile bottles she had in her bag. She needed to take the cloak out, since they would be passing through much colder conditions. She took off the cloak she had on now and set that aside as she dug up the other one. Once she took that out she looked at the bottom of the bag that held her most precious items. It was a good sized wooden box, that looked like it had been thrown into a fire and then off a cliff, yet miraculously retaining it’s shape. The box had a pattern engraved on it, of flowers, but it had faded and only Doina’s memories allowed her to identify it.

The box was closed shut by a rusty lock, whose key had long since disappeared. It was only through Doina’s sealing spell that it was closed. She brushed her dark fingertips over it as her mind supplied her with what was in the box. Inside was a hair pin, it was a simple brass one except for the sapphire at the end that held her mother’s family emblem. Her mother had been the eldest daughter of her family and when she married her father she was given the pin as a symbol of the joining of two elf houses. Next to the pin was her father’s family ring, which was emerald in color and held his family’s symbol. This was the symbol and color that her and her brother took. And the very last item in the box was a silver dagger that belong to her brother. Out of all the items she treasured this the most. The other two items she had dug out from the ruins of her home, but the dagger was given to her before her brother went off with the others to protect the village.

"Something to keep yourself safe…when other means fail." was what he said when he gave it to her.

She stroked the top of the box one last time before putting everything back and taking the heavier cloak. She quickly got up once Blade called and joined the group as they hit the road. She simply nodded as Blade asked for her and Seraphis to stick together and stood beside the male half elf.

Blade laughed at what Leon said, shaking her head. "Oh damn, you foiled my plan!" She responded, although from her tone and dramatic sad pose one could easily tell that she was joking. With that she giggled and then turned herself around, beginning their long walk to Hightide Pass.

A long while later, they were much closer to Hightide Pass. And... the ground was covered in snow and the air was freezing cold. Blade herself had traded her one-piece outfit for much warmer clothing and had a thicker cloak wrapped tightly around her body. Blade had used some of her magic to keep herself and the rest of the party warm, up until they had began to get closer to the mountains. The cold itself was welcoming, as she had lived in cold climates with her elven village, but it had been so long since she'd had to endure it that it was taking its toll. She desperately wanted to use her magic to warm them up but dared not, as she wanted to preserve her magic as much as possible in the case of a spawn attack. So, instead she opted to use it while they were camping to strengthen their fire's warmth and use various warmth spells on the trees or cave walls. She tried to use weaker but reasonably effective ones, as she feared doing any damage to Silver if she used too much magic. The trip was a cold one and as it began to get colder Blade had put her drawing off until they reached warmer areas. Her gloves were thin so that she could hold her sword in the case of an attack, but her fingers got so cold that it was painful to draw. She had cast warmth spells on her clothes (including gloves) and onto anyone that had let her do it. But only enough to send some warmth. Just like with the camp fire, she only made minor ones. The clothes weren't made fire resistant so she had to keep them toned down or else they may set on fire or start smoking. She did have to recharge the spells sometimes but considering how cold it, it was more than worth it. She was already damn cold and didn't want to guess how it would be like without the spells helping her fend off the lowering temperatures.

"[Hate wind... spawn.]" Blade grumbled to herself in Ibixian, pulling her cloak tighter and blowing fog out from her nostrils. Despite the long trip it had also given her plenty of time to hone her Ibixian speaking skills. She herself had no idea how much she was improving but she at could at least say "good to meet you!" without using the wrong words. Or saying panties or chocolate mayonnaise foot pudding.

"How much farther?" Blade asked, looking up at the snow-covered road fiddling with her cloak to see if she could possibly pull it closer. She had to admit that even though the traveling had been slow with Silver's leg that the woman knew her way up to this place. Blade was more than certain that their time had been cut in half had they taken the normal route. Her mind may be exaggerating, but either way it'd definitely been faster. As she took another step through the snow the tree above her made a creaking noise. Blade moved to jump or run out of the way but was defeated when a large pile of snow landed on her. She fell over and was half-buried in the snow. She shot up from the ground and shook her head, sending small bits of snow around her. ""

{{There, I'll leave the decision of time up to you all!}}