[PRP] In the Dark of Night(Kochu and Draven)

[TheMadHatter]

Rather than walk back she'd taken the opportunity to stretch her wings and fluttered along side the friendly mare. It was easier this way and she could easily step back on the ground before they reached wherever Draven was.

Hopefully he wouldn't mind seeing her again. He might not want the reminder of being hurt like that but Nostalgia had said he would like to thank someone who helped him. The other mare had agreed to take her to him on those grounds. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find the stallion and she could make sure he was alright then get out of his hair. It seemed that even if Draven and Nostalgia weren't anything more than friends that they did have others to watch out for. No matter what Nos thought children always came back to check in with their mothers even if they were all grown up.

"Nos ... please warn me before we reach your home. I would hate to startle him by being, well, a tiny nuisance."  

[Skye Starrfyre]

The rattle of chains was familiar enough a noise that, after catching Nostalgia's scent on the wind, he ignored it as nothing more than his friend returning home for the evening. There was something else in the air, of course... Something just beyond his reach of comprehension. It too was an almost familiar scent, dragging thoughts from the back of his mind.

Sighing he glanced up at the stars. So many of them in the sky... The spirits made such beautiful lanterns for the night to guide them throughout their journeys. They watched them from above and, in some cases, they watched them from the earth. She was up there somewhere... Up amongst the stars. He would see her again... Somehow... Someday.  

[TheMadHatter]

At Nostalgia's warning she stepped back on the ground and returned to a more normal size. It would to do to have to stand on his nose to talk to him after all. She doubted he needed something like that or would welcome it.

Shaking her mane out she thanked the ghostly mare for her help and trotted off toward the black shape she could see in the distance. She was up wind of him so he should be able to tell she was coming if he didn't already know.  

[Skye Starrfyre]

He shook out his mane after glancing back down at the ground, turning to make his way back to the place that he had been calling home. It was late enough at night that he should be returning if only to keep Nostalgia from worrying about him... Or Altair from driving the ghostly mare over the edge should he awaken.

His gaze was on the ground and he was paying little mind to everything before him. It was only when that strange but familiar scent swirled inticingly into his nostrils that he paused to glance up, nearly running into the mare. "My apologies... Are you alright? You know the woods can be dangerous late at night..."  

[TheMadHatter]

She took a step back so that the black stallion wouldn't crash right into her and smiled as he looked up. She almost had to laugh as his first words to her were a warning to be careful. Somehow that fit the stallion perfectly from what she'd heard from them their first meeting and what Nostalgia had said of him.

"I think anything dangerous would find me to small a mouthful to be of worth." Her wings rustled as she fluttered them slightly. Anything half smart would know better than to try to chase her down for a meal. "I am fine though. Are you better? I am afraid that you weren't in the best of health the last i saw of you"  

[Skye Starrfyre]

It took him a moment to place where he had heard the voice before and why the scent was so familiar. His 'dream' had, aparantly, not been a dream at all. His little savior was now standing right before him... Real.

He took a step back, gazing at the petite mare with pale blue eyes. After a moment he bowed his head. "I owe a debt of gratitude to you for seeing me through the night. I am glad that you are real and not a figment of my imagination... It can be a bit hard to repay creatures that do not exist."  

[TheMadHatter]

"I do not need thanks or repayment Draven." She nodded, a dark red wave falling into her eyes. "Knowing that you were safely in the care of family and are now healthy is all i need know." She could have easily just taken Nostalgia's words for it but she had wanted to see for herself. With how close he'd been to death's door to see him up was far better than just hearing it.

"You are healed from your injuries yes?" He seemed to be walking fine but with the night and his coat it would be impossible to see any damage on him.
 

[Skye Starrfyre]

"You may not need it but a time will come when I'll offer it just the same." He nodded slowly. He always repaid his debts in one way or another... In this case, he owed the mare his life just as much as he did the Cursed and Nostalgia. They had each saved him in one way or another.

"Yes." He nodded slowly. The wounds that he had refused to let the ghostly alicorn heal had finally healed on their own after more rest than he had cared to have. "Time is a powerful healer... It takes care of most injuries."  

[TheMadHatter]

"I'm sure you have more than enough to take care of without worrying about repaying me." She had heard about Nostalgia's foals and the little one that was staying with Draven now.

It was good to know he was healed and perfectly alright. "That it does." She knew it couldn't take care of them all but somethings were never meant to heal. "Once i learned that you had others that you cared for i was troubled that i hadn't done more to help you."  

[Skye Starrfyre]

"I could be carrying the world on my shoulders and I would still wish to repay you. Kind deeds in a world such as this are not easily forgotten." Nor were those responsible for them. Even if this was the last time they met, he would always remember this little mare.

"You did more than enough..." He chuckled softly as he shook his head. "You have done so much for me and I don't even know your name. Do you wish to remain the Mistress of Mystery forever... Or may I ask what it is?"  

[TheMadHatter]

She realized quickly that they could probably go on for days arguing the point of repaying a deed and the unneed for the deed to be repaid. He seemed determined to even though the chance of their meeting again in such circumstances were slim.

"I see no reason why you can't ask." She smiled and shook her hair out of her face. "Kochu'akai. You can, if you wish, call me Kochu if it is easier."  

[Skye Starrfyre]

Fate had a way of throwing unexpected circumstances at him... There was never a day when he woke up expecting things to be 'easy' or 'peaceful'. Of course, part of that was because he woke up knowing that Altair would still be there somewhere if he hadn't skipped into the open mouth of a lion yet just because he believed he could do so without getting harmed.

"There... Now we are on even grounds as far as names are concerned." He hadn't even recalled giving his name to the mare... In the condition he had been in he was suprised that he recalled her voice. "Do you always walk up to strange stallions in the dark, Kochu'akai?"  

[TheMadHatter]

"I try to not make a habit of it. You seem to be an exception." The second time she'd walked upon him in the dark though this time she had help in getting there. "I wouldn't think one would live long with that sort of hobby." It was only a matter of time before that stranger was a dangerous one.

"I would hope that you are not in the habit of getting yourself half killed often." With all she'd seen she doubted that he would have lived long were that the case. You could only get half killed so many times after all.  

[Skye Starrfyre]

"In a world like this? No, they wouldn't... There are too many things lurking in the night. It's best to stay together with others to watch out for you." Even knowing that he had still gotten himself into a world of trouble... All because he had insisted on being the one to watch out for others and there had been no one to watch out for him in return.

"No, it isn't a habit I often keep." He was already living half of a life with a piece of his soul missing; torn from him by a death that he should have been able to stop. He could not aford to come so close to death over and over again... Not before finding her. "Crow keeps me in this world... As do the other things worth living for."