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Rosh looked down at his exposed chest aside from his hard nipples he didn't feel the cold at all. As to her question he wasn't sure how to answer it, when he laid the boy down at the farthest point from the fire he realized there was a small band of people there. They stared at him with such fear it made him twinge, these poor people looked as if they had nothing left to live for. "Why are you going this way?" he asked. Past these cliffs on the other side was a desert to cross, and if he remembered, an oasis and ocean shore line, where mermaids ruled. He looked at the girl who questioned him, she seemed to be their leader, with the light from the fire he saw the markings of a scar.

Rosh reached out and gently grabbed her chin, he angled her head toward the fire to see the scar better. "How did you come across that?"

"Get your hands off her," one of the men growled as he wielded something that looked like a kitchen knife. They were faithful, surprising, but a good surprise. Not wanting to push hhis luck he dropped her chin. "Why try to cross the mountains, there has to be a million safer roads to cross," as he spoke he could see their looks of despare.

"We can't," the man who yelled at him a moment ago was cradling the knife in his lap. "Gicercer, he's closed down all the main roads."

"Yeah," the elder lady of the group spoke up. "He's hunting down all those that oppose him, but noone is stupid to follow us this way." She looked him straight in the eye. "Or atleast thats what we were hoping for." Rosh's facial features turned hard at the mention of Gicercer, knuckles whitened and he felt his chest puff with anger. Apparently his hope to sleep til Gicercer was long and buried didn't work. There was another thing though, noone recognized him. A, either they weren't from Marma and hadn't heard of the betrayer. Or B, time had passed and his face wasn't being plastered on every wall in every city asking for his dead carcass.

Rosh paused when she asked him his name, instead he followed her movements numbly. She was kind to try to help him, but his garsalisk nose was slowly kicking up the scent of death, his body functions slowing, his heart rate was still smooth though although his beathing was haggered. Tanner looked up at Zalie, his eyes seemed cloudy, "Za.. lie...lie." He was choking out syllables now, but his body color had gone deathly pale. He took the drink he offered her and attempted to sip it, he coughed most of it up but he felt some of it go down.

It had been five years? Gicercer had extended his rech, this information was washing over Rosh, he was more concerned about the dying boy at the moment. The way he held on so pathetically, he looked at Zalie, she was filled with determination. Walking over Rosh put his hand on her shoulder, he looked down at her then the boy. "I don't think he will make it through the night."

Tanner moved his eyes to the stranger, he nodded in and out, "Zalie," he gasped, he clutched her shirt and in his last gathering of strength pulled her weakly down to his mouth. "Zalie, lies," he whispered brokenly. "Blue beast, talons, and so...warm" at this part his grip left her and his head dropped back and eyes rolled to the back of his skull as the life faded away slowly. The last ward he had said sounded like a caress, as if it was the last comfort he had felt in this world.

Rosh didn't hear what he said, noone had heard, they all watched in silence as the boy of thirteen died. It was the crual reality for them, this was their last stand off, the only way to go. Rosh released Zalie's shoulder gently and walked to the entrance to the cave, he didn't look back at the group he only looked forward towards the direction of the desert he had only tasted nine years ago.

She wanted to play hardball, Rosh thought, then lets play. His eyes narrowed, "The way I see it, you don't have any other choice. This isn't just about you, look at those people, if you can even call them that at this point. You may beable to go on, but these people need to know they have a chance. They need hope," he pointed towards the cave where the group were huddled, their small fire hardly noticable. "They will die out here, you don't want that on your head." Rosh folded his hands across his chest and stood to his full height, he was trying to give her noway out.

It was harsh, but he knew he could get them to safety at least in a few weeks, and in one week into the lower elevation where the air was thicker and snow nonexistant where they could hunt something. He wanted to shoulder her heavy load, it pained him to see someone so young having to do this all on her own. She was strong, but for what was to come she would need someone. He imagined himself as her knight, of coarse this knight had a few aces up his sleeve.

"I know you can't trust me," Rosh admitted, "Trust is a very hard thing to earn, so instead all I ask is that you believe in me to get you guys to safety. I will walk with you, so whatever befalls you will also befall me." At this point Rosh kneeled on one knee with his hand over his heart, he kept his head bowed. In this world this was a position of utmost respect upon giving someone a sacred promise.

Watching her leave he waited til the ghost of her shadow disappeared all together. Closing his eyes against the immense pain that was occuring inside him. Bones snapping, growing, shifting shape and even size. his muscles ripping only to regrow and attack to new muscles. His back was always the worst, the bones grew along his spine, pushing his ribs away, then they grew outwards and ripped from his back where they came forth covered with the black blue skin of his, it was dark like the velvet night sky on a full moons night. His eyes grew black, white pupils stood out in the center. Cradling the dead in his arms he leapt into the storm with ease and strength as they fought the air currents, he was gone in a matter of seconds.

Inside the cave the eight remaining, three of which were in their fifties, and five ranging from late teens to thirties. They all were very haggared, one of the older men crossed his arms to think about it. Meanwhile a young girl had watched him closely as he had left with the dead body, she voiced her opinions openly. "I do not trust him, to appear out of the blue like this, to say he followed us when he looks as if he skipped the entire way here. I think it's a trap, he could be a spy from Gicercer's ranks. In any casy he isn't telling the truth." She spat after mentioning the bastards name.

"What choice do we have? We all know he is lying about where he came from and who he is," The older man finally spoke, he had alot on his mind, mainly memories from ten years ago. He wanted to say he thoguht he recognized this man, but he knew that such a thing was something that shouldn't be shared especially since he was the only one that seemed to know a way out. Instead he kept it to himself while he rallied the cause. "We know the desert is north east, once we get to lower elevations and I can see the sun I will know if he lead us the right way, or not. If he hasn't I'll give the signal and we will kill him when he has his back turned."

Everyone seemed to nod at the killing part, they were sick of being led around and played with, one man would be easy for them to take care of. "We should also make it so atleast two eyes are on him at all times." The old man spoke, his arms crossed and thinking thoroughly. "Any funny acts, and we'll know what to do." The talk continued on, for several hours they discussed everything, some were still not convinced but with the promise that they would kill him for any wrong doing, they finally concieted to following him. The older man, his name was Ferin, turned to Zalie. "We will follow him, if you still want to, are you okay with our plans?"

Rosh was standing outside, he had returned a half hour earlier, thankful they were still talking it had afforded him time to change from gargoyle to man, and also catch his breath as the last black blood of his receded back into his veins.

Rosh looked over at the puddle of bodies in the corner, some of them looked so weak and starved that he worried some would die just from the cold tomorrow. Farin, his back was exposed and you could see the bones of his spine through his clothes. "It depends," Rosh wanted to be honest, "Just the two of us would take a week, the others with us will take us at the latest a few days to get to the hunting ground, over a week to get off the entire mountain." Rosh sat down close to the caves entrance, he didn't feel comfortable sleeping with them yet, they had openly talked of killing him and with that he wanted to make sure he culd at least duck outside and jump off the side while turing gargoyle. He didn't want it to go that way, hoped it wouldnt, but it was something. "I would sleep if I were you, it's already almost dawn in a few hours and all bodies need sleep." Rosh said that as he scooted his back down along the rocks til he was parallel with the floor, he was resting his head on a pointy wall, he didn't have a shirt on still, but his body radiated such heat that he didn't feel the cold.

He took one last glance at Zalie, "I will get you to safety, I promise you that, but once we get to the oasis, I don't how far I can follow, or lead, after that. There are places that not even I want to go." Rosh remembered Marma, the mobs, they had thrown rocks, rotten food, anything to get some sense of vengence at the traitor. Rosh turned away from Zalie, he looked off into the blizzard with a sense of dread that tomorrow wasn't going to end well for some of them. He never wanted to go there, never wanted to place his feet on a cobbled street, or sleep in a crowded metropolis.

Rosh opened his eyes slowly, he was not the best morning person. "Uh," was all he mumbled as he stood up slowly, rubbing his eyes to adjust. The blizzard swept away over the night, leaving fresh feet of snow. He walked out, grabbing fistfuls of snow and rubbing his face with it, it was wierd but it helped wake him up a little. Yawning he turned to Zalie, his hair dishelved and eyes slanted shut with sleepiness. "We should leave immediately, we can head down, it'll give us enough time. I can hunt for some food too, this is the highest peak not likely to find animals." Rosh examined the bodies of the travelers now that he could see them in the bright sunlight that glittered off the snow surface. They were in bad shape, he looked at Zalie questionable, her layers hid her form well so he couldn't guess as to what her health was.