A day or so after the Demon attack on the College

[hider=Earlier]Aramir was in their bedroom, unbraiding her hair in front of the mirror and singing softly under her breath. The day was over, night was falling, and while for the rest of the College (except for Uicle and Khan) that meant sleep, or eventually sleep depending on if they were occupying themselves as Auriel often did, for Aramir that meant wandering the well lit halls and perhaps talking to Khan or Uicle both. Idly, as her hands worked almost of their own accord down the familiar path of undoing her braid, she wondered where Auriel was. Typically, if the Forest Elf wasn’t in the room at this time, she was with another suitor. And hopefully, she was. Aramir had seen the question in her roommate’s eyes after the chaos of the demon attack was over, and she didn’t want to answer it. She didn’t know the answer herself. Thus, she had taken to avoiding the Auriel as much as possible, sure that if she was ever given an opportunity, she would ask Aramir why she had run through the battle torn halls just to reach her, while being half dead and having nothing more than a knife to use against the enemy. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable, and the Snow Elf sped her unbraiding. Talking to one of the teachers would help her forget the question existed, or at least ignore it for a time.[i]That is,[/i] she thought, [i]provided I don’t run into that shadow…thing again.[/i] Aramir shivered in fear, remembering the touch of its shadows. She had seen it around the College, a few times, and it appeared to be both leaving her alone and bound to Khan. That didn’t make her feel any better or any less fervent in her vow to avoid it at all costs. 
 
As she finished undoing her braid and stood to leave, silver hair shimmering around her as she did so, the door to their room opened and Auriel walked in. For a moment, Aramir froze, staring at Auriel. Then she ducked her head down and headed towards the door. Which Auriel slammed in her face as she tried to leave, effectively stopping her. Keeping her eyes down and away from Auriel’s, “Please let me out.”
 
Auriel looked down at the cowering Snow Elf that was her roommate. "Why are you in such a hurry?" She said, annoyance evident in her voice. "What is [i]so[/i] important that you cant even say hello to me before rushing off." Normally Auriel was indifferent to her roommates wanderings, or even happy if it left the room free for her to enjoy someone elses company. But today, it seemed like Aramir had only decided to leave because she had arrived. Sure she was slightly late, but Auriel wasn't stupid, she could tell when someone was avoiding her. Most of the more prudish men did after all. But she hadn't expected it from Aramir. What had she done to the Elf to deserve this? Sure things were occasionally a little awkward between them, but not avoidance awkward, at least not in Auriel's mind.
 
Aramir felt herself coloring as Auriel questioned her. Still she refused to meet her indignant roomamate's eyes, instead looking at the base of the door. Quickly she grasped for something that Auriel would accept as a believeable excuse. She wouldn't lie to Auriel, mainly because she was terrible at it, but she would just...not tell her everything. Like the real reason she was avoiding her. "I....Khan wanted to talk to me about something, I just remembered when you...walked in. I...didn't mean anything by it. I-I was just in a hurry." She shifted uncomfortably, practically feeling the scrutnity of Auriel's eyes on her. [i]Please believe me and let me go...please believe me and let me go...[/i] She thought/prayed, hands fiddling with the edge of her shirt as anxiety forced her into motion.
 
Auriel simply glared down at her roommate. Aramir was notoriously bad at lying or concealing the whole truth in any way, and it didn't take a skilled liar like Auriel to realise that the snow elf was not telling her everything. She leaned back on the door, as if to say 'this is not opening until I know everything' crossing her arms and staring straight at Aramirs averted eyes. "One day I should teach you to lie." She stated, sarcasm and annoyance filling her voice. She wasn't normally subtle, but she thought the message was quite clear enough this time, and just looked at Aramir expectantly.
 
At Auriels words, Aramir turned almost completely red. Well, there goes that plan. And now the only way out was blocked by her rather large (by Aramir's standards) and certainly unmovable (once again by the small Snow Elf's standards), body. Aramir's fidgeting grew worse as the silence dragged out, shirt edge being twisted between her fingers as she tried to think of something that Auriel would believe. She came up with nothing. Finally she spoke, timidly as if she was afraid of what would happen if it was acknowledged, "Okay. I have been avoiding you. Because I can't explain it. I can't explain why I ran through demon infested hallways, unable to use any magic, armed with only a knife, found you and leapt to your aid. Not that you needed it. I only would have done that for a tribe member, and since my tribe tor....doesn't exist any longer, and you're not apart of my tribe, I can't explain it and I knew you'd ask about it so I decided to avoid you to avoid the question."
 
Throughout that all-in-one-breath explanation, her twisting became rolling. Her fingers rolled her shirt up, to just below her sternum, and then rolled it down. And then the process repeated. Warily, the Snow Elf flicked her eyes up to meet Auriel's angry one, unsure of what to expect.
 
When Aramirs eyes finally raised to meet Auriels, it was not anger but surprise on her face. Auriel had certainly not been expecting that to be the reason. For a moment she was speechless, a fairly rare occurence, before managing to stammmer out "That... was your reason? I had never planned to ask you anything like... that." She looked at the poor nervous, fidgeting snow elf in front of her for a moment, trying to decide whether to indulge her curiosity or hold back for Aramir's sake. As usual though, curiosity won out. "Now that you've brought it up though. Why [i]did[/i] you do all that? I didn't think I was [i]that[/i] good a roommate." The mention of Aramir not having a tribe anymore was something else she might press for answers, but not yet. She was only really beginning to figure out what it all meant for Aramir, and it seemed quite different from the relationship she had had with her village.
 
Aramir sighed in relief, some of her redness going away, mistaking Auriel's surprise and stammered out reply as an end to the discussion. She took half a step forward to leave before realizing Auriel was looking down at her, not moving, and obviously deciding something. The Snow Elf got a bad feeling, which was confirmed by her roommate's rather pointed question. Aramir dropped her gaze from Auriel's, blushing again, using the motion to bring a curtain of silver hair between the two of them. For a moment she was silent, then she spoke softly, almost to herself. "I told you, I can't explain it. I only know that when I realized you were probably in the midst of all the chaos and death, I couldn't just let you face it by yourself and maybe even die, without me even trying to help you. Which is really confusing." She glanced up again, staring at Auriel through her hair. "We, that is, Snow Elves, only do that for our tribe members. The entire tribe is willing to give its life for one another. And I've never heard of a connection like that being made with another race. And I can't explain why it's happening now."
 
"So...." Began Auriel, trailing off as she tried to figure out how to respond. She sunk down to the ground, crossing her legs while still leaning on the door to bring herself level with Aramir, not that she could see her face past the cascading silver hair. "I'm... part of your tribe now?" She said very slowly, totally unsure if that was what was meant.
 
Aramir waited in silence for a few moments, unsure herself of what it all meant. Finally she took a deep breath, stopped her fidgeting, and pushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ears. She looked Auriel in the eye and stilled an unreasonable fear of what the Forest Elf's reaction might be to a confirmation. She spoke with a sureness absent from her before now, awkwardness and embarrassment receding. "In a sense, yes. It's not something that is consciously chosen. Otherwise, Tribe members may let someone die, or not risk their lives to save them, because of how they personally feel. It's a...." She struggled to find a suitable word. "Bond. A product of the environment we live in. Absolute trust is needed to survive, so absolute trust is given at birth. I didn't know it could form between two people not of the same tribe, much less two different races. Though in another, conscious, sense the entire College is my tribe as well. A group protecting each other. Though, obviously, I haven't made the same...bond, with anyone else." With the end of her speech, came the end of her confidence. She colored, though not as badly as before and she didn't stop eye contact.
 
Auriel remained silent as Aramir explained. She was not good at responding to [i]real[/i] feelings and she knew it. For a long moment she just looked at Aramir. Her culture was nothing like Auriels. Her village was tight knit but still placed great value on individualism. "Thats... good? I think? But... Why do you even need any more... bonds?" She said, half to herself. She had never enquired about Aramir's history. Why should she? It didn't matter to her. "You can go back to your tribe any time... right?" Auriel said, showing that she had not really been listening too closely before.
 
Aramir sighed softly at Auriel's first words, a small smile crossing her face. If she only thought that was good, the Snow Elf didn't want to see what made the 'I know it is good' list. [i]Though, I've already experienced that...[/i] She thought, remembering their first drunken night at the College. She blushed at the memory, and hurriedly opened her mouth to both explain a bit further, and distract herself from inappropriate memories. That's when Auriel continued talking, and Aramir's jaws shut so fast that her teeth came crashing together on the inside of her lip, tearing a small piece off and filling her mouth with the metallic taste of blood. She didn't notice, as she was visibly trying to maintain composure against the onslaught of unwanted memories Auriel's words brought. Her hands clenched into fists, fingernails digging into her palms, while her eyes squeezed shut, and she shook slightly. [i]Not here. Not now. Not in front of her.[/i] Aramir practically chanted, as she unwillingly relieved the night her life went up in flames. 
 
A few long moments of silent passed before her eyes opened again. "No." Her voice shook, pain filling it. She was heedless of the red tint her teeeth had taken, or the bit of blood that dribbled out of the sides of her mouth. "I can't. Most of them are dead and gone, and the survivors have either died in the Frozen Plains or joined another tribe. My tribe no longer exists. All I have to remember them by are the scars on my side and back, my tattoos, and the symbols on my vest and on our walls. There's nothing else left. Flames took the rest."
 
Auriel quickly realised she may have made something of a blunder with her question from the expression on Aramirs face. Normally she would try to make a quick exit at this point... But she couldn't really just leave Aramir, they had to live with each other after all. Instead she forced herself to listen. She shuddered a little as she compared what Aramir said to the vision the bitch of a psychomancy teacher had given her on the first day... It had been horrible. Except auriel had known that it wasn't real. It hadn't happened that way. Sure she might be arrested on the spot if she returned to her home, but her home was at least still there. "I'm sorry..." She began, once again without words. [i]She hated not knowing what to say. She [/i]never[i] didn't know what to say.[/i] "Well... At least you're still here? Right?" She simply sat looking at Aramir awkwardly. She just didn't know what to do.
 
"Sometimes I wonder if that's even worth it..." Aramir replied quietly, before realizing that she was making more problems than she was solving. Quickly, she wiped her mouth, wincing slightly at the pain of her tore lip, before attempting a smile at Auriel. It worked...sort of. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to weigh you down with my problems. Somethings are better left off in the past, it seems..." With that, the Snow Elf herself fell into silence. She herself didn't know what to do, having completely forgotten that her original goal was to escape this room and avoid Auriel.
 
"Yeah..." Auriel began before going back on herself. "I mean no, you can talk about it if you want. I mean... um. I don't know what I mean." It was all geting a bit heavy for her liking. "I think we both need a good drink." Auriel stood and crossed the short distance to her bed, where, within reach of where she usually lay was half filled bottle of wine, for when she [i]really[/i] needed it. Like now. She uncorked the bottle and handed it to Aramir first. "Have as much as you like. There is always more a short walk away."
 
"It did help the last time Satori warped the memories....and that was ten times worse than this." Aramir said, somewhat doubtfully. She also remembered what else it helped with, and blushed again. [i]No. Not this time.[/i] The Snow Elf thought firmly to herself, before following her roommate. She raised an eyebrow as Auriel picked up the bottle of wine. "I want to say I'm surprised. I really do." A half-hearted smile crossed her face as she reached up and took it, sparing it one dubious glance before she took a couple large gulps, and handed it back. "At least it doesn't burn like the first one I had...Dragon Spite? Spire? Something like that." 
 
Auriel had to laugh at that, and remarked "That is certainly not one of the things I'd recommend as a first drink." Already she was reverting back to her usual, playful and light hearted self, relieved that the serious and difficult world of feelings was receeding. She took the bottle from Aramir when it was offered, holding it up to the light to see how much was left. Just under half. Enough for Auriel to be pleasantly inebriated, given the strength of the brews the college had. She took a swig on it herself then, her gulps far larger than Aramir's, and handed it back. "This is not really how I thought tonight would go."
 
Aramir herself chuckled. "No one mentioned it to me before I downed the entire cup. That was just before I met you and we reached our room..." She left trailed off, blushing once more, coloring an interesting mix of blue and red. Obviously, she was thinking about what happened after they reached the room. Hurriedly, she took another gulp of the alcohol, already beginning to feel a pleasant...warmth beginning to spread through her body. "And no. this isn't how I thought having the door slammed in my face would end up either." She commented, hoping to change the subject before Auriel made the logical conclusion of where her mind had went and why she was blushing. 
 
Auriel would not be fooled so easily however, a grin spread over her facce when she saw Aramir blushing and looking timid - she had been with enough shy young men to know that look and it was hardly different on a womans face. "I was there Aramir" she teased. "You are welcome to talk about that fun little experience..." Auriel had found it somewhat strange in the beginning to have slept with another woman, but now that some time had passed it seemed less unusual to her. Fun was fun right? She took the bottle again, continuing to smirk at Aramirs amusing mix of colours as she took another drink.
 
The Snow Elf turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. For a few moments she just kept silence, and then she spoke. Or tried to at least. "I-I-I-I....I...I...I guess." She spoke in a timid whisper, wishing she could hide behind her hair again. But that opportunity had long since left her far behind.
 
Auriel couldn't help but laugh at Aramir's timid reaction. If she hadn't seen it for herself before, she would not have believed a Snow Elf could go that red. She couldn't resist. She just [i]had[/i] to keep needling Aramir about it. "Come on.... I [i]know[/i] you had fun!" She said before taking another swig and handing the bottle to Aramir pointedly.
 
Aramir couldn't get any redder. She tried, but she had reached her limit. She took the bottle and a long drink from it, mainly just to buy time so she could try and think of a way to get out of the situation. She couldn't, though the pleasant warmth was now everywhere, and she could feel her embarassment receding. Just a little. Handing back the bottle and summoning up her courage, she nodded. "You're right...I did. Though, that wasn't how I envisioned my virginity to be taken..."
 
Auriel stuck her tongue out in protest at that. It was less fun when they stopped denying it. Still, she could see that Aramir was becoming drunk faster than her. The bottle was rapidly going down, and she was still only just feeling the effects. "Of course I'm right." She said indgnantly, before returning to her same teasing tone. "You'd better finish the bottle then miss 'I enjoyed it...'"
 
Aramir chuckled. A surprisingly easy smile crossing her face as she took the bottle. Perhaps there was something to this drinking thing. "I'll get right on that." She tilted the bottle to the sky, draining the rest of the wine. As she finished, she put it down, running her tongue along her bottom lip. A wince of pain, followed quickly by a frown, crossed her face. "I must have accidentally bit my lip. Look." She stuck out her bottom lip for Auriel's examination. "It hurts." She commented, still keeping her lip stuck out.
 
Auriel watched as Aramir first drained the bottle and then stuck her lip out, grinning the whole time. "Oh no!" She said with mock surprise, she had noticed it earlier of course. "Here, i'll make it all better!" She went down from the bed to kneel next to Aramir and kissed the injured lip gently, enjoying every moment.
 
Aramir had one confused moment to wonder how her roommate was going to make it better without medical supplies, before Auriel kissed her. She froze for half a moment, before she reacted on what she wanted, her carefully placed inhibitions and safeguards having been torn down by the alcohol. Her arms went around the Forest Elf's shoulders, and she kissed Auriel back, ignoring the last remaining bit of sanity in her head that warned where this was going to go. Breaking the kiss she stayed within a hairsbreadth of Auriel's face. "Still a good kisser?" She asked, giggling.
 
Auriel smiled pleasantly as Aramir broke away fro a moment, and replied softly, saying simply "The best."[/hider]
 
 
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Before Aramir could protest that she didn't have the slightest clue on how to make bolts for the giant crossbow, a convienent excuse to avoid being left alone with Auriel, everyone had already left. The words died before they even left her lips and she sighed, turning towards the bolts that they had salvaged and looked them over. It looked to be fairlystraight forward. A long, straight stick, with a sharp metal head on it. The Snow Elf hoped Annabeth wasn't expecting metal points for all of the bolts, or that the bolts were of reasonable craftsmanship. Otherwise the human girl was going to be sorely disappointed by their efforts. She ran a hand through her hair once, before looking over her shoulder at Auriel. "Well, come on. Lets start searching for long enough sticks or branches. Unless you know of a quick and easy way to make ballista bolts?" She doubted it, but one could still hope. 
 
"Well they're just giant arrows right?" Auriel thought aloud. "Won't be too hard, every good wood elf girl can replace her arrows in a pinch." Auriel cast a quick glance around, partially to look at the kinds of trees in the area... and partially to see if anyone else was within earshot. "Not that I'm a [i]good[/i] wood elf girl" She said, winking at Aramir.
 
She looked around again, this time more seriously, for a suitably straight branch. It wouldn't matter if it was high up, she was an excellent climber, and her wood elven weapons were designed to allow easy wood cutting and shaping if necessary. It would be easy enough for her to cut a straight branch, whittle a point and then use her magic to harden it with heat.
 
She had no idea about fletching though. There were a few plants with suitable leaves and easy to catch birds with suitable feathers back in Ghannos... But given that archery wasn't exactly one of her favourite passtimes, she had not had a chance to explore local alternatives. "Aramir... I'm going to climb some trees and get some straight branches. Can you figure out a way to fletch the bolts quickly?" She was fairly confident in the little elf, Aramir was a skilled archer and hunter used to a far more desolate hunting ground.
 
Fortunately there was a suitable branch a little ways up in the nearest tree, and she lightly bounded over towards it. Looking back at Aramir for a moment, she cheekily said "Enjoy the view!" Before gracefully leaping up into the branches, twisting and turning through them with practiced ease.
 
"I suppose that's one way to look at them." Aramir said uncertainly, before rolling her eyes at Auriel's words, a small smirk on her lips. She paused almost immediately afterwards, considering what she just did. It meant that she was getting used to Auriel's little quips and peculiarities. Which was a good thing. Or maybe it wasn't considering that whenever she got used to Auriel(with the help of alcohol) she ended up in...awkward situaions with the wood elf. [i]Which isn't necessarily a bad thing..[/i] The thought was in her head before she realized and she colored slightly, conflicting emotions swirling around inside of her. Thankfully, Auriel gave her something to focus on. She shook her head to clear it, before nodding. "I can make fletches quickly." 
 
Aramir blinked in surprise at the wood elf's gracefulness as she quickly ascended the tree. Auriel had always hinted at that, in the way she moved (in more ways than just walking, running and fighting), but Aramir had always assumed that the wood elf had never learned the skill, prefering instead to do what Aramir constantly saw her doing. Flirt with anything that looked vaguely male.
 
She blushed a bright red and opened her mouth to retort, but Auriel was already gone, out of ear shot. Aramir grumbled something unkind in her native language under her breath. Then she set about gathering what materials she could find. In this forest, compared to the Frozen plains, there was a veritable gold mine of things she could use to make fletching. More than enough to allow for any mistakes she could make. In no time at all she had a pile of materials and was occasionally adding to it, waiting for Auriel to arrive with the shafts.
 
Auriel leapt through the branches, reveling in the freedom of movement it gave her. She couldn't actually fly, but it certainly felt like it when she was mid leap, half way between two trees. Every now and then she would stop, whenever she found a branch straight and sturdy enough, take her axe, and hack at its base a few times, in just the right way to make a clean cut. The branches would fall to the ground, where she would remember their location.
 
After the sixth branch was cut, she descended to the ground, slightly sad to do so, to begin collecting the branches. She remembered exactly where each one had fallen - and quickly made her way to them, gathering the long branches in her arms. Finding her way in a forest was second nature to her, a skill she learned as soon as she could walk.
 
It did not take her long to arrive back to Aramir's spot, branches in arm. "The longest, straightest lengths in the forest!" She proudly announced, inwardly snickering at her word choice. Dumping them on the ground, she immediately began stripping off all the small protrusions with her knife, to make straight, true shafts.
 
Aramir smirked as Auriel returned, proudly displaying her branches. "See? You can use your infatuation with shafts to be useful." She snickered, before pausing. "Oh gods...I've been spending too much time with you." She shook her head, running a hand over her face and through her hair. She grinned at Auriel, despite her words, as she sat down and began fletching their bolts. The Snow Elf was more relaxed than she had ever been before, in the comfortable and familiar environment of the wilderness with a variety of sounds all around, and the easy act of fletching. Granted, it was on a much larger scale.
 
"You know, aside from the fact that we're hunting a giant bird that could easily rip us all to shreds, this is really nice. It could be a bit less warm..." Indeed, in the warm spring air a light sheen of sweat could be seen on the Snow Elf's skin, despite more than a year in the southern lands.
 
"Its just right." Auriel said, sticking her tongue out at her smaller compatriot. "And you can never spend too much time with me..." She said, slightly straighter faced than she was expecting. She liked having people around true, but she liked having Aramir around just a little more. She couldn't entirely explain that.
 
"And for the record, my infatuation with shafts has always been useful." She said with all her usual lack of seriousness. "So, what do we do now? Shout for the rest of them?" She said slightly doubtfully. "If there wasn't a giant bird looking for us, I'd have a few ideas for making this idyllic picnic even better...."
 
Aramir snorted. "Just right is the temperature of our room. Cool, not blood boilingly hot like your lands that must be on fire all the time or as comfortably freezing as the temperatures of the Frozen Plains." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "I don't know why I couldn't have gotten a roommate who was as cold blooded as me." She blinked at the usually playful Auriel's more serious comment, a strange feeling squirming in her gut. Her mouth opened slightly but her mind remained blank. [i]Say something, anything![/i] "N-no, I-I can't...." She stammered out, remaining enough in control to not blush. [i]Except for that...[/i] She mentally groaned.
 
She gratefully seized upon the change in conversation. "Oh yes, if you count tiring out the local male population in a five mile radius 'useful'. I wonder how many accidents you've caused?" She teased, a slight smile on her lips. That disappeared at Auriel's suggestion. "Lets not shout. Just in case the Roc is listening, and wants to eat a couple of elves for dinner. They said they'd be back, so lets wait for them to return." Her hands were moving largely on auto pilot with the fletching, as the skill was practically second nature to her. 
 
Her eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity she asked, "And what ideas might those be?"
 
"Oh you know... This and that..." Auriel finished whittling the point on another branch before willing it to heat up. She shut her eyes while focusing her magic, to reach just the right temperature to harden the wooden tip. "Hopefully this will be good enough to hurt the Roc..." She said before casting it down and walking around behind Aramir. She kneeled behind the smaller elf, and putting an arm around her to pull her close, brought her lips near Aramir's ear, whispering "Since we aren't shouting..." and then softening her voice even more to whisper further.
 
Aramir's other eyebrow rose in disbelief at Auriel's vague answer. Something was up, she could feel it. Whatever it was would have to wait, as the Forest Elf hardened the tip of a branch. "Hopefully, we won't have to try to hurt the Roc at all. I don't relish the idea of trying to take on the Roc with nothing more than a ballista and a hope that the first shot kills it or wounds it enough that it can't come and get whomever is firing the ballista." She turned her head to follow Auriel as she walked behind her. "Where are you-" She began, only to abruptly shut her mouth as she felt the red haired Elf's breath in her ear. Aramir shivered, a strange nervousness making her heart beat faster.
 
When she caught the rest of what Auriel whispered Aramir went from blue to bright red. "I-,you-,we-" She sputtered, unable to make a coherent response. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She continued sputtering, trying to make a complete sentence.
 
A grin spread across Auriel's face at the smaller elfs reaction, and no sooner had Aramir begun sputtering random words than Auriel fell backwards laughing, still clutching Aramir with her arm. Somehow, during the fall, Aramir twisted to land on top of her such that they were face to face. "You're so much fun." She said to the elf in between laughing. It still astounded her how red Aramir could get when she got really embarassed.
 
Fortunately enough, Aramir was already as red as she could get, so Auriel likely couldn't tell that she was even more flustered by their current position. She was now certain that her heart was going to explode if it went much faster, and that Auriel could feel it. Still, she didn't make any motion to get up or move. She managed to retain some form of dignity, mock glaring at Auriel. "I'm so glad you enjoy robbing the ability of speech from me, and proving that Snow Elves have the wonderful ability to change from blue to red. Just let me know if I can be of service again!" She said with acidic sarcasm.
 
"I know you enjoy it!" Auriel said indignantly, quickly kissing Aramir before she could respond. "So what now miss 'cant spend enough time with me?'" Auriel said, the mission far from her mind now.
 
Aramir opened her mouth for a retort, only to be silenced with a kiss. She stared at Auriel for a moment, conflicting emotions and instincts clashing inside of her. She was pleased to notice that Auriel did hear and remember her stuttered statement, but that was pushed into the back of her mind. "Well..." She said softly, leaning down and brushing her lips against Auriel's own. Just then, instincts won out over emotions. The feeling that this was [i]wrong, wrong, WRONG,[/i] flooded through her body. Female and Female couplings could not produce children. Without children the tribe would die out. Every tribe member had to do their part. Emotions meant nothing. 
 
She leapt off of Auriel and stumbled backwards, falling down and looking at the Forest Elf with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, her hand half stretched towards Auriel, but froze. In fact, everything seemed frozen, unnaturally quiet. 
 
"You don't really know much about Snow Elves, do you?" A new voice spoke to Auriel, idly musing from behind her. When she looked it would be a man, whose face and build were similar to Althalus's. Only his eyes were a bright green, and his hair a dark brown. 
 
Auriel didn't quite know what had gotten into Aramir when she leapt away, with speed that would have been warranted had Auriel suddenly caught fire. Of course, the moment she heard a strange voice, she did much the same thing, leaping off the forest floor to her feet with extreme speed. Her axe and dagger found their way into her hands on the way up, and the glimmering steel was held between her and this mysterious stranger as soon as she was standing. "Who the hell are you!" She demanded. He looked a little like Althalus, but that didn't mean anything. She suspected him a brigand, out to take advantage of a few defenseless, or so he thought, young girls.
 
The man spread his hands out to show he had no weapons. "I'm a friend. I want to help you." Auriel would feel a presence, far more powerful than Satori, brush her defences to the side. Fortunately, the mage didn't seem interested in more than her surface thoughts. "Yes, I do look like my brother, unfortunately. And no, I don't want to take advantage of the two of you. As I said, I want to help." The presence withdrew, a point having been made. He continued as if Auriel had given him permission. "You see, Snow Elves live in a very...harsh land. Almost as lethal as the Scorched Lands. Unfortunately, while they have adapted to it, they haven't adapted to the degree the Esyire's have. Life is still a struggle for the tribes that make up the majority of their race. As such, they've essentially hardwired themselves for survival, over the centuries. It's where her," Here the mage nodded towards Aramir, "bond with you comes from. It's also the reason why she just leapt off of you like you were on fire."
 
"Snow Elves are hardwired for survival. And for the tribe to survive, that means there must be children. So, most notions of romance are thrown out the window. Certainly any notion of not breeding has been so instilled into them as vile that they physically revolt against it. And that's just what your little romance would do, if she went through with it. Now, granted, you are wearing down her barriers, bit by bit. The alcohol helps immensely, as you've seen. But there is no way you'll be sleeping with her sober in the next few years. No way without my help." He held up a ring, a small silver thing, for Auriel's inspection. "It does nothing more than lower her barriers. Make her more accepting of the notion of sleeping with you. Just give her the ring, say something emotional and believable, and she'll wear it. And this," He nodded towards Aramir's wide eyed, clearly conflicted, frozen face, "will never happen again."
 
"And I'm supposed to trust you? Some random man, no matter how skilled a psycho you may be. You've got to be kidding me." Auriel glared at this man who would take her for a fool, taking a moment to think. "I think you should get the hell away from us mister Althalus' brother. I'm not taking your easy way out trinket. Go, on, look through my memory, I know you can. You'll see how much I love the hard way. I'll do this myself, and if it fails, I'll move on. Not like I cant satisfy my desires with any random man." Auriel was surprised somewhat with her own coherance, usually she was about as articulate as embarassed Aramir when it came to moral dilemas. She gave a quick twirl of her axe, though remained stationary, not exxactly confidant in the idea of driving this man off with violence.
 
The man laughed. "You're not supposed to trust me. I would be disappointed if you did. I'm simply offering you a way to make things easier on yourself and her. Have you even considered what this is doing to her mental state? Imagine wanting something that your entire being revolted against. Imagine wanting it badly enough you'd risk whatever consequences came with it. Instinct would war with emotions. You'd be torn apart, slowly, if you kept pushing faster than you could take it and your barriers could be worn down." He placed the ring on the ground. "Have Satori look at it. She'll tell you two things. It'll only affect Snow Elves, and it'll lower inhibitions. If you decide to abandon it here, perhaps consider something when I leave. What does she want? Why is she reacting like this? Just a few thoughts." And then he was gone.
 
Almost as soon as he left, things seemed to start back up. Aramir spoke in a shaky voice, "Auriel I'm sorry I just can't-" She paused, noticing Auriel's state. "Er, I hope I didn't offend you [i]that[/i] badly." She gave a weak chuckle, clearly still shaken. 
 
"No its fine." Auriel said with the slightest hint of ice in her voice. This turn of events had severely dampened her mood. "I probably shouldn't have tried to seduce you in the middle of a forest while on a mission anyway." She said flatly, walking over to where the band of silver had dropped in the leaves. She looked down at it and spoke again. "You heard the man. What do you think? You can have it if you want... I guess." She sighed. It seemed like he was up to something with it, but Auriel certainly wouldn't stop Aramir from doing as she wished. "I wouldn't trust it though."
 
Aramir opened her mouth, then closed it, hiding the hurt at Auriel's abrupt change of tone. [i]Good job Aramir. Way to ruin whatever you had with her.[/i] She thought bitterly, picking herself up off the ground. She avoided looking at Auriel, twisting her braid around in her hands as she headed back towards the shafts. They still needed to be fletched, after all. She paused at Auriel's next statements. Slowly she turned around and looked at Auriel, confusion written across her face. "Auriel what, by all the Gods, are you talking about? What man? What do you mean by 'it'? All that happened was we were kissing and I...freaked out and leapt back. Then you had your axe and dagger in your hands, and now we're here." 
 
"You mean you didn't..." Auriel suddenly looked just as confused as Aramir. ""Um... so was that man my imagination?" She bent down and picked up the ring from amongst the leaves, stairing at it intently. "Well this is definitely real." She said. "Well a man snuck up on us and-" She stopped suddenly, mid sentence. If Aramir hadn't seen it at all... maybe it was best she didn't know? Auriel would need to think about that. She pocketed the ring for later. "And I'll... tell you about it later. When we get back." With that she put her weapons away and returned to the task at hand.