"Well I let you go multiple times on account of my compassion, but I'll let you have that. Also, I don't want you fainting again that's why i'm carrying you." Korlash said, smiling at jin. he picked up the pace, making sure not to get caught. He stopped when he thought he heard a noise. he heard what seemed to be feet running. "Crap!" he yelled. He jumped up the tree to get away faster.

'There he is!" He heard a hunter yell. 'After him!"

At this point Korlash started vaulting across the trees trying to get away. He could hear the arrows whizzing by his head and the feet running after them. "Jin!," he yelled "Hold on tight!" He then picked up the pace even faster, dangerously sprinting across the tree branches.

Jin clung to his back, just holding on and trying to keep a look out. She did want to help, though, and so she channeled her winds much more carefully this time. The arrows the hunters shot at them were sent flying off course, as they hit her windstream. She could do something simple like this for a long time- maybe it was good that he was carrying her.

In the back of her mind was an odd, half conscious thought. Korlash was trying to protect her, just as well as himself. Was that... strange?

Korlash was jumping through the trees, trying to avoid the arrows. They were reaching the end of the forest, and korlash was worried. Where would they run to in an open forest? His question was answered in the form of a csve in a mountainside. "Hold on tight jin!" He yelled jumping through the forest treetops to lose the hunters.

He sprinted for the cave and leaped inside it."Jin, go stay inside the cave i''ll stand here." Korlash was exhausted. He hadn't slept in days and was wobbly. But he remained adamant to stand guard and chase, and possibly kill, the hunters.

Jin had to admit that being around the sturdiness of rock made her feel somewhat at home. She scrambled into to the cave, and waited a bit. When Korlash didn't join her, she got back up again. "Korlash. You are tired." She could see it in the way he stood. His shoulders were slumped, and there was a weariness in his stance. "I will stand with you." She came to stand beside him, close enough that she could gently reach up to touch his shoulder. "...I am not someone you must guard. I will fight with you. And for you." A smile crossed her face. "You are my [i]kaduaebo[i/]." He'd probably not heard her say that word before.

When jin came up to him, it upset korlash a little. "Listen," he muttered, " They're searching for me. If they find me, they'll leave you alone. that way you can go back to where you're from when you're ready. I'm not letting you stay here to be a sitting duck." Korlash looked off into the distance. He could see the hunters looking off into the distance, though for the moment they couldn't see where the pair had hidden. "Hey go lay down. you'll need sleep for your magic use. If you faint again, it'll be harder to carry you. So again go lay down. I'll be fine. Even if they discover us, i've had more fighting experience than all of them combined. Also, could you please tell me what that word means?"

Jin listened to him, wishing he'd only listen to her and rest. She did not want to wake up and find him gone, or dead. She did not want to wake up alone. Softly, she sighed, her fingers playing on the hilt of one dagger. "It means..." She paused, not sure of an equivalent word. "A... good friend who fights with you." A pause. "No, I mean... who fights at your side, who defends you, and you defend them." She gazed up at him, trying to make him understand what this meant. "You would not leave your kaduaebo to fight alone. That would not be right. It is not... a name given as a token."

"Listen. I understand the sentiment and really appreciate it. But if you are to survive until we get to the village, I want you to rest. Don't worry. If I feel like there isn't any danger, i'll go to sleep ok? So go sleep. I'll be fine." Muttered Korlash. He was impressed by the small girl's persistence. She wasn't giving up no matter what. She wanted him to sleep. His eyes fluttered but he wasn't giving up on guarding. He didn't know what to do once they got to the village. Would the elders still shun him? Would they welcome him? He decided not to stress about it and make himself more tired than he was already.

It was nightfall when Korlash decided that the hunters finally left. Good. No violence, no bloodshed. With a sigh of relief, Korlash decided to trace the scar he recieved when he was young. In a way, it had started this all. this was what marked him exiled from the village. While tracing his scar, Korlash's legs gave out and he finally passed out into sleep.

Jin roused from her half sleep as she heard Korlash hit the ground. Quickly she walked over to him, and gently pulled him back into the safety of the cave. She'd known better than to start a fire without knowing if there was a way out for the smoke. Instead she'd gathered up some thick moss, and she lay Korlash on that as if it were a mattress. She was sure he'd had better, but it would do. She made sure he was comfortable, and carefully removed his weapons.

Once all that was done, she settled beside him, sitting up and looking out at the darkness. "Why do you push yourself so hard, kaduaebo? You will fight to your own death without any enemy." Her petite, rough hand reached out and gently touched his face. "I would rather you not. I... like having someone to be near." With an odd feeling in her chest, she went to see if the cave had anything edible for them.

Korlash woke up surprised. He was on something soft, not the cave floor that he had fainted on. He rubbed his eyes open, still tired but better than he had been before. "Ngghhh. What happened? My head hurts like crazy." he said, putting his hand down. "What is this? Jin, did you build this?" Korlash stood up, grabbing his weapons and putting them back on. He went back to the mouth of the cave and looked out. It was still night and the stars were full. He looked at Jin, who was busy foraging for food, and chuckled a little. He couldn't help but think that this was for the better. Deciding to leave the nicely built bed for Jin, he drifted off to sleep sitting at the edge of the cave, with a small smile on his face.

Jin came back with her shirt full of useful, edible mushrooms. She'd found a whole crop of them back in the cave, so they wouldn't go completely hungry. Mushrooms were quite filling, actually. She lay down on the moss, enjoying the cool feel of it on her back. Even though Korlash would probably berate her for running around with no shirt (which she still had yet to understand the reason for, they were only breasts, and not even impressive ones), it was worth it to feel the soft breeze on her skin. It made her feel like she was smaller, and home, curled up between her brothers and sisters. Children all slept together until a certain age, when business between males and females became... awkward. But when she was small, she liked nothing more than to pile onto her adopted siblings for a nap. She often wondered how Korlash could sleep alone and not feel very isolated. Then again, she'd never asked... maybe he was isolated.

Dawn had barely broke over the horizon when Korlash woke up. He felt refreshed and ready to go. He looked over to Jin and saw she was shirtless. Normally he would be bothered, but since they were not part of civilization anymore, he didn't care. He Unwrapped the shirt from his wound and looked at it, there was a large scab but otherwise it was fine. He picked up jin, trying not to wake her up and became ready to move on.

They came up to a desert not far from the cave and Korlash started to walk into the desert. They were close, as the village was in a forest in the center of the desert. But they had to be careful, as there were bandits in it, waiting for the caravan and occasional traveler to rob and kill.

Jin woke up a bit later, and made sure Korlash ate some of the mushrooms she'd gathered. As the forest faded into dirt, and then sand, she became more curious. The plants on the edges of the sand were like nothing she'd seen before,and when she took a careful few steps into the sand, she stumbled slightly and then looked at her feet. "...how do you walk in this?" She looked up at Korlash in confusion, before grabbing a handful of hot sand and letting it spill from her fingers.

"How does... this... grow plants?"

"Well it's sort of a long story, but long ago, before any humans, it was just us elves. this desert you see? this all used to be a lush beautiful forest. Every single bit. It seems as though the magic of growth is still here, as there are some plants still here. But ever since Humans have settled here and forced the elves back, the growth has left. In the center of this desert is still a beautiful forest, untouched by anyone except elves. I don't even know if they'll accept us. I was shunned from the village here. You see this scar?" Korlash said, tracing his long scar, "This is a mark of exile. They banished me when I was younger. Maybe they'll accept me back now. Who knows?" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway jump back on my back. I can tread this for days. This terrain requires a light touch, Like horses' hooves, or the feet of an elf. In order to get through this effectively, I'll hoist you up on my back and we'll get through this." He picked jin back up onto his back. This was becoming routine for him. He started treading onto the sand hoping not to run into any bandits.

Jin traced the long scar with her fingertips, curious. She'd never noticed it before, but then, she'd never looked at Korlash's hands. She hopped onto his back, her arms linked around his chest. He was fairly muscular, and she could just barely hold on that way. His body was very warm, and it was comforting to be near someone and touch them. Maybe being carried about like a child wasn't terrible. "May I ask... what did you do to be exiled? Did you kill someone?" That was really the worst crime she could think of. The goblins had told her when she was a youth that they'd found her parents' camp almost a month after taking her in. Once Jin had accepted that, they took her to see her parents' burning site, so she could pay proper respects. Since then, she'd promised herself that she would never kill deliberately.

Korlash looked at Jin with a pained face. "No. I would have never done anything like that. It may seem silly now, but I was exiled for killing animals when I was young. I would deliberately go out of my way and hunt the animals, kill them and eat them. One day I went and hunted a bear. It was a long and bloody fight. The bear had been terrorizing our village for so long. I thought I had finally freed our village and thought I would be loved, but I wasn't. They hated me. They had revered the bear as a god, as a herald, the symbol for the slow end of our village. I had stopped that. I saved our village. What do I get? A scar carved into my face and back and become forever cast out. like a dog." Korlash took a deep breath. that was the first time he had told his story to anyone, and it felt good. He looked around the desert. What he saw made him walk faster.

Off in the distance, there was a bandit camp, but it looked as though it was empty for the time, which was not good. That meant they were out searching. He walked a little faster hoping to reach the forest soon.

Jin frowned with confusion. Why was hunting animals bad? Didn't almost all species survive that way? Also, why would anyone want to accept the end of things without a decent fight? She tightened her arms gently around Korlash in a sort of hug. "That is..." She didn't quite have a word. "Foolish. But I am glad they made you leave, because now you are your own self." She felt the tension in him, suddenly, as he looked around, and she held on tight.

"What is wrong? You.. are worried. Why?"

"Listen Jin. We're gonna be really quiet. I'm not saying anything yet, but if I say run, I want you to dash for the center of the desert. There's bandits out here. They don't fight fair. They'll kill us." Korlash could hear the hoof beats getting closer. He had no choice. In order for Jin to stay safe he had to put her all on her own. He looked to where the hoof-beats were coming from. Fifty feet to the right. getting closer. He ran towards the hoof-beats. There were 4, all carrying large clubs. He sprinted toward the one leading the charge and kicked him off his horse. He tossed jin onto it and sent the horse off towards the forest. He waved goodbye to her and faced the other bandits. He unsheathed his falchions and enticed the three horseback riders, and lone now horseless bandit to attack him. The first ran up to him and stabbed Korlash with his dagger. In response, Korlash eviscerated him, shredding him and dropping him to the ground. Korlash ripped the dagger from his abdomen and invited the others to attack him.

Jin nearly panicked when Korlash went toward the bandits, instead of away from them. She'd underestimated him, though. The next thing she knew, she was on the back of a horse, clinging for her life. She'd never ridden a horse before, had never had reason to. Being on top of a too-large, terrified beast was scary, but leaving Korlash to fight alone was even worse. She was swearing all sorts of mean things at him, but she didn't know how to control the horse and turn around. It ran toward the forest, and she couldn't do anything. Her eyes started to burn with tears. "Korlash... Do not die."

Korlash faced the bandits with vigor. He was bleeding and he needed to stop it quickly before he died. He engaged the first bandit when the horse charged him. He cut down the horse's legs, causing it to fall. the last sight the bandit saw was a blade sticking through his neck. Korlash counted two left. The other one swung at him and promptly saw his own body crumple to the ground as his head flew through the air. Korlash looked around for the last bandit but saw none. The pain screaming through his leg told him of the location. He dropped to the ground as the bandit bellowed a roar. The man brandished a knife and drove it through korlash's chest, narrowly missing his heart. Korlash retaliated by driving his sword through the brigand's chest, not missing his mark. The body crumpled onto him and he shoved it off. He wrapped his wounds, leaving the dagger in his chest to keep himself from bleeding too much, and limped off towards the forest.

Korlash reached the forest and started yelling. "Jin! Jin are you here? I'm fine!"

Jin had managed to get off the horse by grabbing onto a low hanging branch and yanking herself from the horse's back. She started running back the way she came in, and Korlash's voice reached her before long. "I'm here!" She spotted him from a distance, and felt her heart and stomach lurch in shock and fear. "Korlash!" She started speaking in rapid Goblinish, swearing at him and looking panicked. He was covered in blood, he was limping, he had a weapon still in his chest! She didn't know any of the plants around here, and she didn't know where they were, and Korlash was so damn stupid, putting himself in harm's way and treating her as a child. She ripped off her shirt and pressed it into his hands, to use for stopping blood.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she gripped his hand. "Please do not die. Where do we go?"