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Gruugash raised his eyebrows at Chu slightly before laughing, "Trees do not mourn, and even if they did, what's the differance between what my trolls are doing, and the humans do? Besides, I've heard the legends of the tree people, but I've also seen what the trolls are capable of in battle. In fact.... you were there when I fought their chief, the one that had the armor attached to his skin. Every time I hacked off a limb it grew back... and if it was hard for me to fight one, then theres no way some damned trees are going to kill my trolls!" This being said Gruugash looked forward again, but not before saying, "It will take a while to get to the new camp on foot, but if all goes to plan, my offspring will have brought the gift to those pinkskins in Silf... I'm excited just talking about it, I haven't bathed in the blood of pinkskins for years!"

As Sauri mounted her mare, Wulf quickly mounted his wolf before pointing is weapon at Evelyn. "Gruugash said that I wasn't to harm you mutt, but he didn't say anything about a pinkskin!" With this being said, Wulf let out his battle cry, and it wasn't long before a ring of wolf riders began to form around the area. With a loud snarl that was echoed by his mount, the two darted forward, Wulf holding his weapon close to his body, but unfortunatly, there was always a chance that Sauri would try something stupid, hence the reason for Wulf's position. He figured that by holding his weapon as such, he would be able to stall long enough for Sauri to answer, while at the same time, holding his weapon in a perfect place for a quick ride by slash at her companion.

It has been a long past few days for her.
I am never returning to this desert for whatever reason...burn me, blood and ashes.
A sudden throbbing in her back makes Finch inhale through clenched teeth, shutting her eyes tight and hugging her shoulders. Given time to slow down from all the battling and traveling the rogue's body is dealing with a hefty toll. Bruised skin and stiff joints argue against every step. Finch trudges towards the pond. It'll feel so good to rid herself of the blood and grim on her skin. As a strange voice reaches her ears giving her a compliment, she ignores it so far. She can't locate the source and doesn't recognize who's speaking, so it is no one important to her. Kneeling before the pond she unstraps her bear helm and drinks greedily as she calms her breathing, delving her lips just under the surface to suckle. The cold water is freshly chilling in her throat. Her Starlight spell is still in effect and will be for the next few minutes. It casts a soothing blue light since her dark brown eyes have adjusted to it by now. Below the water's surface she can see patterns dancing on the clear bottom of the pond. Getting her fill of water the rogue sits up...only to find a blindfolded woman wielding a quarterstaff and dagger before her. With a sharp gasp of surprise she scrambles back only to fall painfully on her backside as her clawed boots get caught in the thick sand. Rothun looks up from the limp body of the dead horse. Ears flattening the powerful mare trots over to stand above Finch's body. her eyes roll about in their sockets, turning her head to see this stranger more clearly past the armor on her skull. The dazed woman listens to the speaker with strain. She sits up too fast and closes her eyes to still such a dizzy head, arms back with her gauntlets supporting her. For some strange reason her Starlight and everything else fades.
"Hey sis, wake up. We're at the pier so let's go see how Beloved is doing."
A drowsy teenager with curly hair slowly wakes up from her nap to see her older brother. She's nineteen and he is twenty-two. The two were allowed to travel with the ranch hand this year to the transporting docks. Every year their best horses are sent to Dorash by ship in order to be evaluated and marked down for whom is to breed to make faster generations. Then they are sent back a few weeks later and the Durchauss ranch is responsible for picking them up to take them home. With a grin the girl nods and hops out of the wagon with her brother. Behind is Rothun, then a yearling, tied to the wagon and eager to see her mother again whom is Beloved. Rothun had taken after her sire in fur coloring but has the intelligence and caring personality as her mother. Running with Hawk to the tall boarding dock, Finch looks on eagerly as the ship pushes out a large board for the horses to pass through. She cannot see the mildew that has grown on it and so is not prepared for what happens next. Once the ship's lower doors open to let the horses out she laughs softly to see Beloved. Rothun sees her as well and neighs excitedly, Beloved responds as she barrels her silky white body down the board. The ivory mare gives a stressed whinny as her big hooves slip on the mildew, she slams on her side and her weight is pushed off the ramp and down into Red Bay's dark waters as are a few too eager horses that were behind Beloved. Shouts arise and men head down to the shore but are halted by a guard that has them look. Finch begins to panic, why aren't they doing anything!? Looking out to the waters a bit past the bobbing horses the teenager sees dark fins in the water. Slim fish lunge in the air to reach their prey further, screeching and crashing down into the waves. She watches in horror as the few Trollfish mutilate the horses, Beloved's glorious white coat quickly churning red with the water. The horses scream and squeal as their legs are torn off or their haunches bitten into. Finch can hear distress whinnies behind her and numbly turns to hold onto Rothun's lead rope that she snapped from the wagon.

Now she hears a whinny in the present, jolting out of the flashback to stiffly lean back against Rothun's snorting form. Finch can tell she wasn't out for long since her Starlight is just fading away. Hoping the woman hadn't gotten impatient and remained the rogue opens her eyes to see she is still there.
"Starlight."
The blue light returns and she is appalled to see that the woman is in fact an elf. Leaning back against her mount's front leg she rests her arms in her lap. She observes the pointed devil closely. Something stirs within Finch. It has always been thought of herself that all elves and breed of such are vile creatures, regardless of their exotic looks. This elf has offered her healing or a fight. The rogue firstly considers fighting this wench. Her body balks inwardly, both halves bantering until Finch is finally able to speak. She also has an idea that'll perhaps help herself even more. The Bear of Altal is widely known for commonly slaughtering elves in her spare time, she also goes after anyone but mostly pointed devils. Elves weren't involved with what happened and what happened was so long ago...
"I am too tired to fight. So I will allow you to heal me if you feel so. At what price though? Nothing is free unless it is among kin. And...", she begins to remove her armor and set it in a pile with her helm and such, her alto tone firm, "There is something else I'd for you to help me heal if you have the time."
Now Finch is in her clothes and pushes Rothun away a distance. Seeing that there will be no more fighting the patched mare burrs and tosses her cascading mane before trotting off to go guard over the minotaur corpse once more for a time.

The rogue is rather frazzled when the woman disappears and reappears near her. Blinking her eyes a few times she stifles a yawn before eying the female elf shrewdly once some pouches were open. From afar Rothun keeps glancing at the two before swerving her head to look out in the dark as she is ever aware. Forcing herself to remain calm the woman quivers and lifts her shirt a bit to help this healer. She sighs softly as the herb compress is absorbed by every wound it is pressed over. Slowly and yet at a hyped pace do her ribs mend, skin deflating from any sign of bruises and repairing itself. Finch's breathing becomes normal as her wounds adjust to a peaceful state of restoration. As the elf speaks the rogue tilts forward a bit as she is seated, stretching her back and bending backwards to stretch her abdomen slightly. Harshly dropping her head to one side she cracks her neck and sighs again in contentment. Herbs have always been a thing of wonder to her, but she never had time to research them on her own or their sometimes soothing aromas. Looking at the elf in some surprise the rogue watches her curiously.
"I will not attack you since I'm grateful now and my horse will only fight if she believes I'm in danger.", hearing of the other's blindness does not shock Finch since that blindfold couldn't be an accessory. She wonders if she were blind if race would be a problem to her anymore, "Sadly race matters to me. If I had been less wounded I would have surely tried to kill you, or in this matter swipe at your illusion."

Her brown eyes remain open, she isn't ready to sleep for quite awhile and won't be able to sleep until she has scouted the area for possible danger.
"That is something else you can help heal. I would like you to travel with me for awhile so that I might get used to elves. Of course if you have other things to attend you, then I understand. If you agree though I'll offer you protection and freshly caught meals."
Finch stretches her arms out in front of herself and raises them over her head to stretch her shoulders. Then she puts her legs out to stretch her rock hard calves, stretching is beneficial as well as soothing. The rogue never looks away from the healer next to her.

The drow/elf didn't like the idea of turning her back on this advesary, and she didn't want to be left alone with him either. Only a small part of her mind was consious enough to process that thought. The rest sounded to her ears as hurricane winds, the sense of danger all around. Her eyes didn't, couldn't, change back to green just yet.

Ioakim took the iniciative to get her out of there. He could tell she wasn't able to control this power she had even without her telling him. It scared him a little to find there was little of her normal mind in her wave patterns. The horse sped up to keep up with Sauri. Evelyn held her gaze in Wulf's direction, hands ready to grab her hidden daggers and defend.

Hearing the elf's first words makes the rogue smirk. Many a time has she been known as paranoid and uptight, being a non-trusty type is a new one. Letting her new companion off to rest Finch stands and stretches out her arms before walking off. Rothun is more at ease so she wanders from the minotaur corpse to drink from the pond. As the mare returns to the target, bear claw boots are lightly tromping over the dunes. Overhead the stars twinkle softly which makes her smile. The woman simply loves the night. Although the cool air causes her lungs ache at times, she enjoys the chill and welcomes the glimmering sky. From the dark the sand has turned a dark shade of gray, sparse grass resemble small limbs of animals and a few lizards as well as other critters skitter by the rogue's route. Finch widely circles the small valley of sand. To the west of them is some dry grass leading into scant woods towards the territories of the tribes. Most everywhere else is sand and empty space. Rather thankful she will not have to fight anything at the moment, the rogue returns to the area calmly. It nearly bamboozles her to see the tent but barely as it seems to fade at times. She is used to any journey being of herself and her horse. Keeping a bit of a distance from the tent so as to guard the area more in case of any attack, Finch lies down and burrows a slight depression in the sand before lying down on her side comfortably. A luke-warm breeze passes by. With a grin she closes her brown eyes, it should be fun to defend the elf monk. She's never been a bodyguard before.

An hour before the sun rises Finch awakens. With a sighing yawn she stands to begin her five minute morning stretch to perk up and be prepared for any trouble later in the day. Looking over she is confused to see the tent gone. Had that elven monk been a dream, or did she simply reconsider the proposition? Shrugging the rogue finishes up her stretches and walks away from her sleeping ditch. They are still three days away from the tribe again. Perhaps if she rode Rothun hard today they could make it back in at least two and a half days. She does not want to overwork her deserving mount though. Finding a decently flat area of sand, Finch kneels and places her hands in the sand with her fingers spread. Legs tilting up slightly she takes in a breath before standing on her hands. Wavering a few seconds the acrobatic rogue is able to cross her toned legs to rest against her rear as she keeps the top of her head parallel to the ground. Slowing her breathing to remain balanced Finch begins to meditate. This is how she clears her thoughts and spirit every few days, Hawk used to meditate with her hanging out of a tree with his thick legs. Listening to Rothun burr and snort gently in her sleep the rogue relaxes her abdomen but keeps her arms firm. She'll only be able to hold this position for about five minutes.

[Sorry if you had plans for later that night Sanquin, just wanted to push it along a bit.]

[Kay, just checking. Of course our time frame does not pertain to the rest of you. ><]

Everything seems very tranquil as the rogue feels her senses fade in this relaxed upside down state of centering. After five minutes a minor burn is felt in her arms and so Finch slowly extends her legs to the sky and tilts them backwards, walking on her hands and feet with her body arched and abdomen stretched up towards the sky. Pausing after a few steps she braces her abdomen before standing up also through tensing her thighs. With a sigh of satisfaction the woman nearly jumps when the elven monk suddenly appears, offering her a meal. Giving a nod but sheepishly noting once more that blindfold, Finch takes it slowly. When a remark about riding is made she cannot help but blush lightly for whatever reason. She might not be fond of elves just yet, but she'd never deny someone deserving of a ride.
"Thank you, miss. Of course you may ride with me. It's common courtesy to have a mountless companion join the rider.", she eats the bread first but keeps her manners in mid and chews with her mouth closed, swallowing before speaking once more, "My mare doesn't much favor strangers. So let's get her to make friends, mmm?", Finch clucks her tongue on the roof of her mouth and emits a low whistle. This wakes up Rothun and the behemoth of a horse lumbers over to them, burring, "She might feel strange since she has thick leather armor on...her helmet gives her horns on her head, be careful. Her name is Rothun, she's naturally gentle and loves children. My name is Finch."
The rogue happily munches on the meat as her mare stares at the elf, saving her favored food, the bread, for last. Rothun is of course dumbfounded. Usually she is encouraged to headbutt elves or do some other wind-knocking activity upon them. Right now her rider is calm though so this robed figure must be alright. With a soft nicker the patched mare perks her ears and elongates her neck, soft nose snuffling the elf's shoulder curiously. She had never been this close to an elf without having to kill it.

Gruugash couldn't help but feel angry at the fact that Chu was critizizing his plan, but at the same time he couldn't help but acknowledge what he had just seen. Luckily, by this time, chances were that enough lumber had been delivered to the goblins in the north. Gruugash also realized that a good deal of smoke would be able to be seen over the mountains, a bit of scare might help the pink skins into signing the agreement he had sent with Kiva, Sauri, and Wulf.

With a grunt, Gruugash began to move back westward out of the forest in order to give his soldiers the order to light the forest. Looking to Chu, Gruugash merely nodded before saying, "Once we leave the forests cover, get back down to size, let me give my warriors the order, then we'll turn north, we should reach the campground by nightfall.

"Report this to Gruugash, this is finally the proof I need to take her whoreish head from her shoulders!" Wulf quickly spoke this to the rider next to him. He didn't care if Sauri heard, if she did, and tried to run, he would have his riders circle her and overwhelm her. If she tried to tell her new companion what Wulf had said, he would take it as a sign of conspiracy and proceed to hunt her down like the pink skin mutt she was.

Riding up along side Sauri, Wulf gave her the wicked wolf like smile before looking past to Evelyn. He hadn't noticed before, but Evelyn had what appeared to be extremely smooth features, something not usually found on your average human. Falling back behind Sauri, Wulf rode up on Evelyn's other side, still smiling as he said, "I won't hurt you pink skin lass... and it'll stay that way if you do exactly what I tell you, starting with you taking of that hat." Wulf wanted to see if this newcomer was indeed an elf, if she was, then he'd have to adjust his plan slightly.