- The Old Woods -
Everything she said registered in his head, but he felt no real need to respond; she was carrying the conversation with herself wonderfully. Though, when the Caster asked his name, he nodded in confirmation. It seemed that heading to Riventor was their best bet, though he couldn't help but feel as if it was a bad idea.
The snapping of twigs brought his mind back to the moment, and before he'd even registered what that sound actually was, he'd extended his hand out towards his weapon and brought it flying back into his grip. He narrowed his eyes, watching as the massive, predatory..
thing moved into sight. He crouched down a little, readying himself for battle, but that decision, too, was made for him.
"Aren't you supposed to be a Caster?!" he hissed at his companion. With one hand, he held her, and with the other, he readied his sword. Wolves can't generally can't climb trees, but in this place it seemed more likely that the thing would just break the tree down in order to get to them instead of climbing it. He bit his lip, weighing up the odds;
A Vanguard who, theoretically, could kill this thing on his own, but who knows what kind of mutations it might undergo? It could turn the tables at the last second, and then that'd get the two of them possibly killed. His partner was injured, and her heart obviously wasn't in the fight.
Plus, he'd find it hard to evade the creature's attacks with
Will-O-Wisp clinging to him like she was. Narrowing his eyes in more than a little annoyance, he made the decision-
He who something something runs away, will live to fight another day" after all.
So he turned and bolted through the trees with his cargo firmly pressed against his chest. He knew she wouldn't fall off of him- her tail secured her well. Anything in the way was promptly sliced apart by the Fangs of the Pit, letting him and his companion maneuver surprisingly nimbly through the trees. He wasn't at all sure of how close the monstrous 'wolf' was, though, so he had to make a plan..
And he did.
"Close your eyes and brace yourself. We're going up."Moments after saying this, he tossed his Fangs of the Pit into the trunk of a nearby tree, leaped up onto it, and bounced up into the branches. This was a particularly thick tree, in fact, it was one of the only ones he'd seen that he was somewhat sure that the wolf-thing couldn't climb up after them.
Once up there, he waited to see what the thing would do- had they lost it? Was it able to climb? Would it try to knock the tree down?
With his 'baggage' secured, he watched and waited. His weapon was already back in his hand; if that thing had grabbed it..
No thanks, bro.
So he waited, poised to throw his weapon at the wolf-thing if he had to, but also ready to leap to a nearby tree as well. The benefit of having such a dense, dead canopy made entirely of trees branches was the fact that it made it relatively easy to climb from tree to tree. Heck, if he could get back up on top of it, it would only be a matter of walking along the canopy until the got to the edge of the forest.
But should he risk it? Running blindly would get them nowhere; they needed to see where they were going, otherwise they'd be running forever. The top of the canopy was the best option, but as it stood, they had a more obvious problem.
Besides, what if they ran into a pack of these things? What if they ran right off of a cliff? This place was a death trap. No wonder everything here was dead.
"I have an idea, but I'll need you to let go of me for a bit. Sit next to me, and hold on to the branches for your life. The thicker ones.
I want to cut a path up to the top of the canopy. That way, we can see where Riventor is and head there instead of running blindly through a forest for hours until we drop dead from exhaustion and die."