[IC] Outcasts Adventure: Mistress Dizzy & SwordfishKnight only

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash looked at the grinning idiot. The smile was infectious and he couldn't help but smile as well. "Well I mean we're not involved or anything. I mean. Not yet anyway. I'm not even sure she truly likes me. I'm just doing rhis because I have to. I owe it to her." He took the blade and sheathe off his belt and tosses it to the young man. "Here. I'm trusting you with this. It's sacred to me. I have had that blade forever. It's slain many enemies." He marched through, looking back and realizing the wolves had left a while back.

He didn't blame them. He had the feeling to turn back as well. "Thid is awfully strange. We've seen so many drained corpses, but no spiders. Where are they? This is absolutely wierd. Hey. Keep an eye out. This doesn't feel right."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Leo walked carefully with the blade, holding with obvious skill and extra care. After Korlash warned him about spiders, he accepted the warning, his blue eyes darting around. Eventually he spoke again, able to do both. "You owe her? Sir, you can owe someone money, or a favor. This..." He gestured with his hand, at the forest in general. "This is a labor of love, sir. If you are not 'involved' as you say... I fail to see why not. I mean, a giant wasp is far more frightening than a lovely woman."

[SwordfishKnight]

"I really don't know. I might like her, I might not. I've never been in this position. I'm only doing what I need to. If that involves risking my life to save hers when it was originally my fault, so be it. I can handle it. Hey, a few war scars never hurt either." Korlash said rubbing his now dead right eye. "This is a strange thing though. With how thick the webs are, we should have encountered at least a small spider or two. This is unnatural. Hey, what is this?" Korlash questioned, walking over to the very large spider corpse. "No wounds, no attacks, no bite marks or sword marks. What is this?" Korlash's eye went wide with dread. "Oh no." He rushed off into the center of the forest, faster than ever before.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Leonce had the sword half pulled from the scabbard when they came across the dead spider. Once he realized it wasn't going to move, he put the sword back. Then he rushed after Korlash as the elf ran. His nose picked up the smell of rotting leaf. "The trees, there's something wrong here!" He was born and raised on a farm, and he knew the smell of a crop that was diseased. "What could have poisoned an entire forest?"

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash rushed towards the center. They were almost there. Just a little more. "Me and you both know who would have done this. She probably already left. Let's just hope what I need is alright." They were at the center and Korlash looked for the mushrooms. "They have to be around here. They have to be. Oh no. Oh no. No. No. No. No!" The mushrooms were on the ground, dying. He willed all the magic in his body, and slowly brought them back to life. It was exhausting, but he WOULD save them. He gathered them out of the ground and turned to Leonce. "I've found what I needed. " Korlash wobbled a bit, from using his magic too recklessly. "Let's travel back to the village and warn the others of this poison. this is bad. Real real bad."

[Mistress Dizzy]

"Right." Leonce helped Korlash stay on his feet, and he started to lead the way back through the forest. The mushrooms that Korlash cradled in his arms were deep blue black, speckled with white spots. Night of Many Stars. The trip out of the forest was faster than the trip in- the various animals seemed to be fleeing rather than attacking. As long as neither of them showed panic or aggression, they were left alone. Soon they broke out on the other side, dirty and weary. Leonce was propping up Korlash, because the elf looked impossibly weary despite still moving.

"You're going to want to... warn the guards. They kicked me out for a reason, and I'd rather not die now. I'd like to see your lady and you safe... and perhaps I can make some kind of amends." In his heart, he felt horrible for what he'd had to do. Orders had been given, and he'd followed them. But now that the king was dead, along with the rest of the others... he could simply make a new life of his own. There was nothing waiting for him back in the kingdom. No girl, no wife, and he'd broken free of his family the day he'd completed his training.

[SwordfishKnight]

"There... there is the village." Korlash huffed, out of breath. He removed himself from Leonce's arm and walked up to the gate. "This man is a friend of mine. If you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me." He then walked through the gate, towards the Healer's hut, mushrooms in hand.

Opening the door, Korlash walked into the hut. "Hey here you go," He said, handing the mushrooms to the man. "GIve these to her." He stood near the bed where she relaxed in her half consciousness. He hid his dead eye, not wanting her to see it. "I just really, really hope this works." Outside the window was Leonce, looking around and being talked to by many of the elves. HE could have guessed as much. Leonce was a natural friend maker. He decided to let Leonce keep the sword, as a reminder for him.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin was lying half asleep, just breathing. She had dropped into this state a few hours ago. It was to conserve her remaining strength while she waited for Korlash to return. She knew he would. She trusted him to be there. Even if he couldn't find the mushrooms, he would come back, to hold her until her parents claimed her into the next life. Her eyes opened at the sound of his voice, and she looked around for him.

"Korlash.." Her cracked lips lifted in a weak smile. "...you returned. I waited." She tried to sit up, but her overheated muscles simply wouldn't support her weight.

The healer had quickly crushed the mushrooms into a paste with a bit of water, one that released a thick oil that was black. It had a sharp smell to it, but not a bad smell. "Here, miss Jin... drink." He helped Jin to a sitting position, and put the wooden bowl to her lips.

Jin gulped the liquid down, wincing in pain as it coated her mouth and throat. She lifted her hand, weakly, to wipe her mouth, and dropped it. "Aah!" She made a noise of pain, and turned her hand to look at the back. The swollen pinprick of a wound where the poison had been entered was hurting her. She looked down at it, and realized that her skin was changing color. "...aah- Ko-Korlash, Elder..." Where her veins had been black with poison, they were now starting to go back to usual red. It was then she realized the pain she felt in her hand was cold...

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash looked to the healer and spoke to him. "Elder, do you have anything that can help my eye? I lost sight in the forest, and it's rather painful. Scratched by a nasty wasp." He turned when Jin called out his name. "Yeahh jin? what's wrong? Are you feeling better?" He looked at her veins, their color returning to normal. Ahhhh. So it did work. At least I know that much. As long as you're healed." He stuttered a little with his walk, tired from his large use of magic. "So I have to wonder. What did you say to me before, when we were in that cave? It was sort off cut off."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Leo, who was making amends with the elves, was steered toward the healer's hut to find Korlash.

Jin smiled weakly, and leaned on the Elder with a nod of thanks. "I... I feel less warm, and somehow the cold hurts." She shivered, a reflexive sort of moment due to her weak muscles. "I am... so weak. I could sleep for days..." She wondered what was wrong with him, why he looked so weary. With the elder's help, she was able to sit upright and drink some vegetable broth. After making sure she wouldn't fall over, he went to his medicines to see what he could do about it.

When Korlash asked her what she said before, she went a bit confused. "What do you mean, what I said?" There were so many things, between dreams and waking, and she could barely tell the difference between the two. "What did it sound like?"

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash tried speaking what Jin had said before, in the caverns, but butchered it. "It sounded something like Yai aeuo... dv... loaeuk. what does that mean? Is it a saying for friends?" Korlash knew good and well what she had most likely meant, but he wasn't going to believe it. While he waited for her answer, he unwrapped the bandage from around his eye, grabbed a washcloth, and started washing his eye out. He rested himself on Jin's bed, absolutely tired and weary from the forest itself.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin turned quite red. He'd fumbled over the pronunciations, but she'd been able to figure out what it meant. What she couldn't figure out is why she said that. She didn't remember saying it, but then again, she didn't recall being entirely in her mind for her illness. Shifting herself, she leaned against him, eyes half closed.

"I... well... that particular phrase means.." She thought through fog. "You are... my..." She tapped her chest above her heart, frowning. "This. But not this... part, but... you know." Her ears were going red, too. "Where you keep... people you care for. But not like.. family-care-for, or... clan-care-for... More like..." She was searching for the words. "...like..." She made a flustered hand motion, and ran a hand through her hair. "I... I do not know the words..."

[SwordfishKnight]

"The words you are looking for are hard to define. I couldn't define it for you either, even if I know what you mean. I'm at a loss as well. But may we discuss this tomorrow? I am exhausted and I can't....." Korlash tried to finish his words, but passed out, falling off the bed onto the floor. That night, his dreams consisted of a culmination of his fears. He twisted and turned, fearing for his life.

---

Meanwhile, in the forest, the wildlife was dying. The wolf looked to his pack, each dying slowly, and rotting away. He could feel himself slowly closing his eyes for the final time, and ran off to find his friend, hoping he could help him.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin lay on the bed for a good while, exhausted. The poison was working it's way out of her system, and she really couldn't sleep. By the time the sun was up, she was back at a semi normal temperature, and the red-haired healer had brought her food. She was eating with wild abandon, and keeping an eye on Korlash.

Leo, meanwhile, had rested on the floor of the healer hut, and was shyly gazing at the redhaired elf. He was clearly enthralled, but also shy.

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash woke up, tired and eye hurting more than before. It really bugged him that he only had one eye. He reached out and grabbed some cloth, wrapping his eye back up, making sure to be tender. Looking around with his good eye, he noticed Jin was still up, or maybe she had woken up earlier than he. He turned to Leo and saw him looking at the elf. It was an elf he knew, a friend in childhood. He walked over to her and whispered in her ear, telling her how brave Leonce was, and how Leonce had saved him in the forest. She looked at Leonce with surprised eyes, and went over to greet him.

Jin was eating and Korlash decided to join her. he took some of the food from her plate, and chewed on it. It had no taste to him, and bothered him more than satisfied him. "Hey so are you feeling better? I hope you got some sleep during the night." He spoke nonchalantly waiting for a reply.

---

He was almost there, but he was dying fast. The rest of his pack had dropped to be one with the earth once more. He crawled up to the village, struggling to keep control of his limbs. The guards let him through to the gate, recognizing him. He crawled up to the healer's hut recognizing Korlash's scent. He made it to the door , dropping down and finally closing his eyes forever, a victim of the forest's dying.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin was glad to see him, and she settled down beside him. "I am hungry and thirsty. The healer says this is good. I am also sleepy. I am also..." She paused, then tapped her forehead. "My mind is... running." She ate some more, then reached out to touch Korlash's face, on the side with his dead eye. "...you were hurt. I wish we could... not be hurt for a while. And then you could tell me what you did not tell me before you slept."

Leo was talking shyly to the lovely elf. Her name was Samsara, and they were talking quietly about plants and medicine. He'd never been more happy to grow up on a farm.

Jin watched them interact. "...he likes to be near her, I think."

[SwordfishKnight]

"Indeed. They seem to be good together. I don't know if you ever caught his name, but it is Leonce. He is a brave man. You should thank him for me being here. Without him I might be dead in that forest with a hole in my chest. He saved me, sadly though, even he couldn't save my eye. But he is a brave man. Anyway, about my adventure. I found Leonce in the forest defending himself. I saved him. After we went through the forest, we encountered a giant wasp. it scraped my eye," He tapped his dead eye at this point as a visual reference, "And I lost sight. But something bothers me. When I got to the center, everything was dying. It took all the energy in my body to revive the mushrooms. What had poisoned the plants. Something isn't right here. This forest could be left untouched for numerous years and thrive and flourish. This was something man made. This worries me. I think it might be her, as a last defiant act before returning to where she came." Korlash shifted uncomfortably as if a part of him sensed something dying. He wanted to check outside the door, but he was patient and let Jin Take in all the information.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin listened quietly to the story, her hand going up gently to touch the eyebrow over Korlash's blind eye. She sighed, softly. "I will have to thank Leonce for his help. But... I do not understand why anyone would harm a forest. Trees do not harm people. Animals... maybe, but usually only if they are hungry and hunters are stupid." A frown crossed her face, and she looked around. But seeming to dismiss it, she looked toward him again. "The other thing you did not tell me. What is this?" She lay her hand over her heart. "Even though you are stubborn and foolish, and you rush into battle and hurt yourself... I still want to be... here. For the times that you smile. You have a nice smile. It makes me..." She fidgeted slightly, unsure. "It makes me want to do things to make you look that way always. You were kind to me when no one else was, and that is important, and... I know this is not my home, and you are not my family, but..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Am I strange, for just wanting to be near you? If only to keep you from getting into more trouble than you can get out of alone?"

Her head turned as she seemed to hear a noise. "...that is... odd."

[SwordfishKnight]

Korlash ignored Jin's question, instead craning his head to look out at the window. there was a large gathering of elves, all looking at the same thing. He got up and walked to the door, opening it up. His eyes widened with disbelief as he looked on at his wolf friend, nearly dead. He quickly got down on the ground and looked over the wolf. It was still breathing. There was still time to save it. He rushed back into the hut looking for any of the leftover mushroom. He grabbed the last bit of it, only a few drops, and fed it to the wolf, hoping it would be enough to cure him or at least extend his life to the slightest. He looked with worry. This was a final sign. Somehow the forest was withering. He didn't know for sure what it was, but it was deadly, and killing everything He had to tell the village. whether they believed him or not didn't matter. He walked out to the front of the crowd, and shouted out to them all.

"Listen up! This forest is dying. even now the trees and plants of the inner forest are withering. This may sound strange. I myself would question it too. But what I saw in there, the dead animals, the dying foliage, something is killing this forest.Please listen to me. We need to move away from here or we will die as well." Korlash looked to their faces hoping to see understanding.

The elves looked and sneered. Who was this man, thinking he could tell them what to do. He didn't know about this forest. He hadn't lived here as long as they had. They wanted him out of the village, to stop the spreading of fear and lies.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Jin watched Korlash run off, and she shook her head. Already they weren't believing him. She knew that much. He may have been one of them, but she had learned from the elders that people did not like things to be different. They did not like things to change. Change was scary for most beings. She didn't know why- changes had been all of her life. This would be one more.

Even if Korlash was just wanting to protect her until they parted ways, she could enjoy that, right? Perhaps in his silence, there was something he did not want to say. Something like that he was going to drop her at the nearest village and go to live with his people. It would make sense. He was an elf. He belonged with other elves. She was... not sure what she was. Even though her body was human, she knew her mind wasn't. So maybe she didn't belong beside Korlash. Maybe she didn't belong anywhere.

She got down from her cot and went to put her weapons on. There was a feeling that somehow, they would have to leave soon.