"Jin you... you idiot! That should've been me." Korlash looked at the healer. "Yes. There are some caves near here. They are very cold. I will travel there.

Korlash left the hut to get ready. He packed up everything and prepared to leave. He grabbed Jin and started on his way to the caves, the weather getting progressively colder as he went and as night fell.

As they traveled, Jin mumbled in her half-awake state, sometimes speaking in Goblinish, sometimes speaking fractured human tongue. Korlash's name came up a few times, when she was closest to consciousness. Her eyes moved back and forth under dry eyelids, as if she were seeing something. As the weather got cooler, she seemed to relax and breathe a bit more. By the time they neared the caves, her eyes opened a bit.

"K-" Jin winced in pain. Her mouth and throat hurt so bad. "Korlash..." Her usually light voice was raspy. "...we are... where?"

"We are safe is where we are. At least for now. We are headed to some cool caverns. I know you enjoy caves, so we are heading there." Korlash tightened his grip on Jin making sure she wouldn't fall off.

They reached the caverns and Korlash set her down, laying her down on the floor and using his shirt has pillow. He gave her a tight hug squeezing the breath out of her and nearly crushing her. "Don't ever do that again. This is why I don't want you fighting. You get hurt and it hurts me. I don't want you fighting because stuff like this happens. When I say don't fight, this is why. you'll get hurt. I can't....can't have that happen. So leave the fighting to me from now on okay? Please listen to me this once." He didn't want to release her, but she was probably hurting so he let her go. " I don't know where to go from here. Maybe we should explore the cavern. Possibly go deeper into the cavern. I don't know what to do. This is the second time we left a settlement, but at least we are safe from that king." Korlash looked out of the mouth of the cavern staring at the full moon.

Jin's body felt horrible. Her joints were sore, her muscles ached, her body burned. She was awake enough to feel very uncomfortable, even when the cavern's low temperature hit her skin.

Even so, when Korlash hugged her close, she found herself pressing against him, soothed by the gesture. He'd never done such a thing before, at least not in a big way. It almost hurt, but it was like the hugs back home. Tight enough to make your bones creak, but full of love all the same. The pain in his voice was palpable... but she could tell he still didn't understand. When he let her go, she lay back carefully. Licking her lips, she started speaking slowly and haltingly.

"You... do not understand. I fight because you fight. I fight when you fight. I fight who you fight. You say I will get hurt, but... you are more often hurt than I." She reached out for him, touching her too-hot fingers to his bare chest. Her touch went from old scars to fresh scabs, marking each. "You are... too fast to draw the sword. To think you should fight alone." Her eyes narrowed, and she tried to wet her lips before speaking again. "You are stupid." Her voice was tired, her anger was weak. "You are very stupid. Do you not... understand who you are to me?" Her arm slid from his chest, to her own body. She touched the scar on her left side, the one that represented her family. "At first you were here." She lifted her hand, which was starting to shake, and lay it on her chest, just over her heart. "I was wrong. You are here."

She did not know if he would understand, and she couldn't find all the words to explain it. "I fight because... I would like to... battle with you, share pain with you, even die with you... rather than sit and be safe and be alone. Be without you, living." Tears started to leak from her eyes, and she flinched in pain. "'B'ak daer... ... I..." She felt the darkness coming back, the heat was starting to increase. "I..." Her head lolled to the side as she drifted back into unconsciousness. On her chest, the black veins were slowly making their way across.

"Why. Why'd you have to tell me right now?" Korlash worried. He understood what it meant, and it made him even more worried. Why would she tell him right now. Maybe he felt the same way, and now he didn't want her dying. What would he do? He gave her some of the water he was given, to bring down the temperature. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to cure you." He brushed her hair to the side. "Even if we have to murder that bastard alice."

Jin's sleep was not restful. She tossed and turned, crying out softly on the floor of the cave. Her skin burned her, she wanted her mother to cool it with salve and sing to her. She missed her brothers and sisters- she was ill and so they could not see her, touch her, tweak her ears and tug on her arms.

As Korlash kept giving her water, eventually she fought down the dark and the heat enough to open her eyes again. "..Kor...lash..."

Korlash jumped to jin's side. "What is wrong? are you alright?" He grabbed more water and gave it to her, helping her keep her temperature down.

---

The smell was familiar. it smelled of blood and sweat, something he was covered in. Behind him were more of his kind, enough to add up to five. His pack followed his orders to the exact point, as he was powerful. If he trusted this man, they should as well. the fur ruffled in the night wind, and the moonlight bounced off the silver and black hair. He sniffed again and he could tell that he was close. He ran off towards a cave, with his pack in tow.

Jin gratefully swallowed the water, feeling it's icy coolness all the way down her throat and in her stomach. She reached up, holding Korlash's hand. "There is... a mushroom. It is..." She blinked several times, obviously trying to keep awake. "It is called... Night of Many Stars..." Her breathing was labored, and her head listed to one side. "It lives... where no light passes. And makes its own light..." She reached out and stroked his cheek. "It banishes... illness... of all kinds." Suddenly, she was trying to will herself into a sitting position, but obviously didn't have the strength. "Korlash... " Her eyes dropped and her lips moved. When she realized she just didn't have the right language, she spoke what she knew. "Yai aeuo... dv... loaeuk." She took his hand and placed it over her heart, then lay her own hand over it. Her eyelids started to drop again as the darkness threatened.

Korlash thought about it for a while. He thought about it all and realized. "Yes. That's it. The part of the forest, no living creature has touched. Jin I am sorry. I will drop you off at the village and I will journey to it." He picked up jin and started out of the cave and saw a band of wolves, his friend among them. He said nothing, put jin on top of another wolf, and rode off to the village.

Jin did not wake, or even move much as the dark furred wolf ran behind its' pack leader toward the village. Once they reached the village, things seemed to be settling back to normal. The healers tent was nearly unoccupied, save for some guards sleeping off their injuries, the red-haired apprentice cleaning up, and the elder carefully arranging a set of human armor.

The captured knight was missing.

korlash dropped jin off at the healer, hoping they would keep her safe and cooled down. He went to the elders of the village, and told them what he needed, and he was not going to be stopped. Before he could leave however, His canine friend and its pack followed behind him.

Korlash started out into the forest, looking around. He slowly journeyed deeper into the forest the light dimming as he walked on. He came upon cries of help and wondered what it could be. He looked, and saw a knight, frightened and about to be mauled by a massive bear. Korlash jumped in and shoved the man to the side, blocking the bear's strikes. HE thrust his sword through its gut, killing it and causing it to topple over. He looked over to the knight, who seemed to be afraid of Korlash now. Korlash spoke to him saying "Listen. Before you freak out, we are all brothers in arms here. Do not attack me and I will defend you. Follow me. I need your assistance." Korlash traveled deeper into the forest, with his new ally and his friends in tow.

The knight, who looked much younger and smaller than he had without his armor, following Korlash in confusion. The village elves had tossed him out with no armor and a dagger. And yet, this elf had just saved his life. "Er..." He traveled along, tripping over roots and smacking into branches. Obviously he had no clue about traversing a thick forest. "Why did you save me? Where are we going?" He paused, watching the elf walk with obvious hurry.

"And why are you so afraid? Are we running from something?"

Korlash looked at the young man. "I said it before. There is no race this deep in the forest. We are all brothers in arms trying to survive. As well as we are going to somewhere where both you and I could die, and no one would know the better. I'm afraid because I know the dangers that lie deep in this forest. Spiders the size of trolls. Abhorrent creatures which would make a man vomit. This deep forest is the primal grounds of the earth itself. I give you the option to back away now. I will give you the way out of this hellish forest if you want. If you wish to follow me, you follow your own death." Korlash looked deeper into the forest. "But if I may ask one question, what is your name? I want to honor you whether you go with me and die, survive, or leave this forest."

The young man smiled, his nearly white blonde hair glistening with sweat. "I am Leonce." He bowed on instinct, not really having a deep seeded disrespect for elves. "...I.. I know it may be a moot point, but I truly apologize for the attack. Some of them truly do hate what is different. Some of us just... well, when you're a squire, they drill into your head that you must follow orders. It is very hard to not do that. I must thank your people for not killing me..." He paused, his tanned cheeks taking on a hint of pink. "And bless the lovely woman with the fire-red hair for not sending me out into a dangerous forest smelling of fresh blood."

He looked ahead, to the depths of the forest. "If it is so terrifying, then why do we go? ...And why do you seem so hasty to get there? I would not want to rush to my death."

Korlash looked at the young man. He seemed so young. Was the king really this desperate sending young men like this to their death without a second thought? Was he really that insane? He returned politeness by giving his own name. "The name is Korlash. I'm hasty because I must help a close friend. She is dying of poison and i'm worried. I must hurry to help her. Besides, it is not my death I care about, it is her life. I assume you want to follow me if you havn't left yet, so let us head off." Korlash started walking through to the deep forest, noticing the thickening of webs.

Young Leonce followed him without hesitation. "Poison? Perhaps the lady ran into the Mantis." He paused, concentrating to carefully step around a thick web. He had the instinct not to disturb it, where perhaps an older knight would have just sliced right through. "Er... I'm sure her enemies don't know her as such, if at all. She is the most... unsettling woman I have ever met." His blue eyes darted around, looking for danger before continuing to speak. "I actually don't mind women fighting. My mother was, well... rather overpowering, so I know full well a woman can beat a man. But the Mantis... Alice, they call her... she has a shell of beauty, but her core is corrupt, like an apple full of mealworms." His phrasing was odd- it was clear that he knew something about fruit. "She is deadly smart, which is fine... but she takes such pleasure in seeing people suffer so." He shook his head, shivering despite the sticky warmth of the forest.

"To most knights, battle is a task. You kill because if you do not, someone else will kill you. When you do kill, you make it quick, pragmatic. At the end of a fight, I have seen knights cut the throats of enemy soldiers who struggle to die, and yet cannot be saved. Ending their suffering, so they can join the embrace of the sky. Alice... enjoys watching people in pain. It is... reprehensible." He rubbed himself slightly, then tried to brighten up. "Your lady must be strong, to survive it." He smiled a bit, revealing his youth. "Does she know?"

Korlash kept walking rhrough the forest, trying to be careful. He looked around, horrified. The farther they walked in thr more he discovered desiccated animal corpses. He could also hear buzzing of wings. "Leonce, please stay behind me. Also. Know about what? Me going alone in this forest? She would absolutely kill me. If I don't die here, she'll kill me herself. Heh." Korlash could feel vibrations on the wind. There was a scent of pheromones in the air. "Leonce! Duck!" He shoved leonce down and bended over barely avoiding the stinger of a massive wasp. The last thing his right eye saw was a sharp point scraping over it, then searing pain and darkness.

"Does she know how-" Bu he dropped when the command was given, his legs obeying before his mind could even process it. He felt massive wings beat overhead, and then a horrible distinctive squish as Korlash was stung. "Oh, oh no..." He crawled over the ground toward the elf, shielding him until the insect had passed. But the the wings started coming back, and he rose to his knees. If he didn't defend Korlash, there would be three deaths: his own, the elf's, and his lady too.

"Sorry, Korlash." He pulled one of the swords from Korlash's belt, adjusted his stance for it's weight, and then timed his slash with expert care. The hornet's stinger dropped to the ground. He hadn't known an insect could make that kind of horrible noise, but he took another swing and sliced it in half. Not waiting for the creature to stop twitching in death, he dropped back to Korlash. "A-are you okay? Can you see?"

(Is he bleeding? I got the sense that he didn't get stabbed in the eye, just... scratched. If he got stabbed, he'd probably be like... dead.)

"AAGGGGGGGHHHHHH! Dammit!" Korlash clutched at his right eye, his sight lost in it. "I'm fine. I lost sight in my right eye, but that isn't important now. We have to keep moving. There may be more coming. We got off lucky with only one being here." Korlash took some cloth and wrapped it as a band around his head, covering his right eye. He took his sword and re-sheathed it. "For now, be careful. I don't want you to lose an eye or anything like the such." He walked onwards, towards the dark heart of the forest.

(Yeah. Tis but a scratch. He lost sight though, so it wasn't completely injury free.)

Leonce nodded, looking quite worried. "Sir Korlash, if you don't mind my asking... Could I use one of your blades?" He gestured to the small dagger at his hip, his smile bashful. "I don't think I'll be doing much with this, if that is the size of this forest's insects." The elf was driven, and Leo followed without comment for a bit. Eventually, after watching Korlash pushing through, but with obvious pain and stumbling, he felt the need to speak.

"I... I apologize for saying so, and I do understand what is at stake... But truly, sir, don't you think you should return to your lady love in one piece?" He gestured to Korlash's leg. It had a wealth of scratches on it, and was starting to look nasty. Of course it had been broken, too, and barely had time to heal. "I mean, if I must carry you and an antidote out of here, then I will do so. But I cannot help you when your lady yells at you when you are all... hurt." He chuckled softly.

"I have never seen it directly, but the older knights, the ones back home who have wives... the wives worry." His grin was almost infectious, despite the dangerous territory. "And no one wants to cross a woman who can tame a broadsword wielding knight."