The moment she leaped after Walker's vanishing trail, she realized her life was over one way or another. So it was with grim determination that she lifted her crown to watch and see where the trail went. The wind rushed past her ears as she fell, its deafening roar a precursor of an end to follow. Had Walker survived this fall? Was it even possible? It didn't matter much, though. If he was dead, there was no point in living without him. If he was burning in hell, she would burn at his side. Whatever his end, she would meet it with him.

Then, she saw [i]it[/i].

Isabelle screamed.

A horrified, blood-curdling scream.

A splash, and her screams turned to muffled groans underneath the rushing river. As her mind struggled to comprehend the things she'd just witnessed, breath began to fail her, and soon she found herself instinctively clawing at the water around her. Down, down she sank, until thoughts of "air" or "surface" became but a distant memory.

Then just like that, she found both again. Isabelle burst from the water coughing and spluttering, mysteriously alive, but with no conception of where she was. Normally she'd never even go near any large body of water since she couldn't see the coastline, but now she was smack in the middle of one, an utterly foreign one at that. There might not even [i]be[/i] a coastline, for all she knew.

She did know one thing, though: if Walker had fallen down here, he was probably floating in the water too.

"WALKER!" she cried out.

No answer.

"WALKER!" she cried again.

Still no answer.

Then she heard someone sob over the sound of the waves. It sounded like a woman's sob. Isabelle turned her head to identify where it came from. It sounded like it came from somewhere right next to her. When she picked a direction and began to paddle, she heard the sound again. Then she realized.

It had come from her own throat.

She was alone.

"...help..." came the whisper from her lips.

"Help."

"Anyone?"

"Please!"

"Oh gods."

The strength in her limbs began to fail, and soon the waters began to slosh at her nostrils once more. Just then, she espied the faint ember of a drifting soul in the distance. Isabelle summoned the last of her strength and swam toward it. "HELP ME, PLEASE!" she screamed. The ember flickered, a possible sign it heard her. The ember started drifting in her direction. Just as her arms finally gave out, someone grabbed her wrist and pull her up onto a wooden surface.

"Oi lass! Y'lalt a breath?" said a young man's voice in a strange accent. "O'll hells y'doin'n a place loik this?"

Isabelle hugged her arms close to her chest let out a few shuddering coughs. "I f-f-fell. Th-thank you f-for rescuing me."

"Ah nah jeh! Hardly a qualm, miss-" they lead to encourage her to introduce herself.

"Isabelle."

"S'moity proper a name... Moine's Davon. Tha pleasures mine, if'n oi may."

Isabelle adjusted the crown over her eyes and buried her head between her knees. She could almost feel the man staring at her as he rowed quietly back the way he came. And why shouldn't he? He'd just found a well-dressed priestess floating in the middle of nowhere. That would shock the words right out of anybody.

She lifted her head and smiled at him. "How can I ever repay you for saving my life, Devon?"

Davon awkwardly scratched his head and chuckled, a blush hidden by her blindfold as they boldy considered. "Sh't...ah, oi can think a few ways a  lass loik y'self can start, ah?"

"Oh! You have but to name it, kind sir!" she replied, oblivious to his meaning.

"A-AH! W-Well..." he began, now a little nervous about exploiting her naivete, "Y'moit...y'know...show me...a good toim'n oll...when we get back, ah?"

Entertaining people certainly wasn't her forte, to be sure, but it was the least she could do for someone who'd just saved her life. Isabelle clasped her hands and replied, "Then I shall do my absolute utmost to entertain you! I cannot promise to be very good at it, but for you, I shall try my best! Do you prefer dancing, japes, or perhaps a bit of playacting?"

The man let out a long sigh, followed by an exasperated chuckle which a soft grin could almost be heard behind. "Ah hells, f'get it. Tha soft voice ouf a lass loik y'self. S'nuff fer me an tha boys. Long roads, good company, ah?"

"Are you quite sure? My dancing isn't [i]terrible[/i]."

Devon burst out laughing. "NAH! Nah jeh jeh.. Oi'm 'eaded back ta join mi'friends, Kedvin and his crew. Oi'll insist ye accept hospitality woill ya recover, ah?"

Isabelle smiled. "That would be lovely, Devon. Thank you."
[hr]
How wrong everything had gone.

Just when she thought she'd found someone she could rely on, the gods had to come and take them away from her. She could still hear their horrified screams as that [i]creature[/i] rampaged through the camp, snuffing out their glowing embers without so much as breaking a sweat. Isabelle prayed her hiding spot concealed her, since she had no way to discern whether she was actually visible. The most she could do was stifle her breath and hold still. Hunters were drawn to motion, to change, and if she held as still as she possibly could, she would be less noticeable even if she were otherwise visible. She did not come out from her hiding spot until she heard friendly voices in the distance.

One of them sounded vaguely familiar.

Isabelle emerged from the brush and stumbled in the direction of the voices, her cane unslung from her back in case she had to defend herself.