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Journey to the East

It was strange to Elann how Noah associated with the child so much more than with her. It was like as if he could be civil to her. Despite his pain, grogginess, and being the frightful beast he was, with her he could be civil; smile to her, speak kindly. Perhaps it was her cheerfulness, but Elann remembered it. Regardless of her thoughts, the little girl brought a smile naturally to Elann's face. She thought of her as cute, curious, and a pleasure. Not many kids would do what she did and to Elann she was appreciated. While Elann had known her already, she hadn't exactly bonded as much as some people had. Still, Elann had enjoyed playing with all the children of the caravan as they had went along. There were little games they could play as they moved forward: tag, throw the stick in the hoop, and roll the wheel.

As Noah waved, Elann did too with a kind smile. She didn't have to say anything. It was clear that the girl was fascinated with what her husband could do; being a kelvic, but also his personality was easy to attatch to.

It was dark, and given the time he had spent laying down, Elann wondered if he had healed enough to move. She would want to ask the doctor there shortly what his plans for his family were and if they were going to use the wagon to sleep in. Slowly she rubbed his cheek very lightly with her thumb as she thought about many things, chief of them being that Aimee was likely so far disconnected from the camp that she hadn't even heard about Noah yet. Elann hadn't seen her since he was injured and since she went hunting, yet she had wished she had come when it was imperative for her to help out. Now Elann would have to somehow figure everything out.

She let out a sigh and ran her hands up through his hair.

"Do you want me to go get you some dinner or stay here with you love?"

Despite his hands on her dress previously, she just wanted to be wanted by him. Part of her wondered if he would ask her to stay. Even though things on the surface seemed fine in their relationship, her intuition and the small things that had happened spoke otherwise. Still, Elann couldn't stay on the negative and instead chose to think better of him, even if it wasn't deserved. She would resolve to hope that he would want her to stay.

Journey to the East

Elann sighed as he drank the water. It was refreshing not only to him, but to her as well. He wasn't alone in his pain, his grogginess, his distress. She was there sharing them as she had promised she would. It was a fear of his, that when things got tough she would rip apart their bond, but things had gotten pretty tough in the past few weeks, and all the moreso today, and yet there she was faithful to him.

At first, even when injured, he didn't call out for Elann, he focused on the little girl, and even as he woke, he seemed still to care more about her than Elann, but she didn't care. She didn't want him to experience what she would go through if that were true. Instead she just sat patiently there, waiting for him and drinking a tiny sip of the glass herself when he was done with it. Continually she comforted him, and ultimately he did show her attention, putting her heart at rest.

She had spent a small while watching the doctor clean up and had even helped a bit with the bloody sheets of cloth, and as the wagon went, they were sitting in a bucket with soap and vinegar getting a wagon bump cycle. The floor had been covered with his blood, but now was so clean, the girl was there laying on the spot on a blanket. She hated experiencing him being in pain, and while it had lessened with the medicine, it was still there, all the moreso now that his bond was more active. Elann just closed her eyes and endured it with deep breaths as she stroked his hair and begun to quietly hum a song for him.

Thankfully the doctor's family didn't mind them sitting in their wagon, as they would likely until his medicine wore off in a few hours. Elann sang in Shiber, the language of her people, a song of praise to Yahal for saving her life, and though she didn't see what the lightning had done, she had assumed it had scared the bird away, so she thanked Zulrav as well, blessing both of them for their kind attentions. Elann made sure her husband was well tucked in, being careful of his incisions. Any time there was a large bump and should Noah wince, she too would comfort him much like the little girl, but as he may have remembered back when his leg had been hurt, she did the same thing.

Journey to the East

After the operation, it wasn't long until Noah was soothed into sleep under the doctor's medicine. It had only been his constant sewing and cleaning that had kept him on the verge of unconsciousness thus far. Once the operation was done though, he fell deeply into that sleep. Elann was encouraged to come be by his side, but the little girl napped on the floor beside Noah on a little blanket. At some point, instead of having his head on the hard wood, she had become his pillow. Her thigh fed heat and warmth to his cold body and her hands lulled him deeper into that sleep by brushing his hair.

As he woke a couple hours later from her taking up position next to him, she could feel their bond fully ignite and with it, fear and loneliness. He was met with love, comfort, and calm as her fingers met his.

"Shh...try not to get up. You need to rest some more."

Elann had already felt the dryness of his throat as she did his wounds. They were duller than what he experienced, but present. As it was, she had already asked for a glass of water for when he woke up and now that he groggily stirred, she helped him with it.

"Here, drink. The doctor said it went well. Everything looked clean and I got you here just in time."

She didn't want to overwhelm him so she just made it clear she was there for him.

Journey to the East

Elann couldn't help but notice how slowly her husband transformed, and the nervousness within him as to what was going to happen. Elann was close enough at the edge of the wagon to rub along Noah's legs once he had laid down, but she wanted in. She hummed to the doctor to briefly gain his attention after Noah growled and he waved her down, that it was going to be alright. Emery's wife was a little afraid of Noah and so she came to comfort Elann, speaking about how he would be alright and many other comforting things that in Noah's case, helped her from letting the crashing emotions overwhelm their bond.

Neither of their Gods were gods of healing, but that didn't mean she didn't pray to one. She didn't know her name, but she asked for safe healing of her husband and bondmate then. She continued lovingly and soothingly rubbing his legs, listening as the little girl was being sweet with him.

When Noah slipped into a state of unconsciousness it was all within her to not worry. The constant care of the doctor's wife, rubbing Elann's shoulders helped. They had delayed the whole wagon train with their problems and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for it. It would mean they were likely going to be traveling into the night to make up time.

During the whole surgery, she never left her husband's side, gently loving on what little she could from the edge of the wagon. Tears lightly had rolled down her cheek at some point, but it was brief and she deemed not to think of what could have happened or what could. The action and gossip eventually spread among the people, wondering why they had stopped and ultimately somehow they had found out that where Noah was was the place to be. Idly people stood around talking and it was then that the doctor wanted to close the flap. His wife climbed out the back as Elann's hand had to pull away from her bondmate's body, and the doctor's wife assured Elann that everything would be alright.

While her words were encouraging, it didn't replace the loneliness and want to be there with him. In a way, she wanted to be the little girl, innocent and loving of her husband, coaxing him into a lulling state of sleep. Noah perhaps didn't look at her that way, but she was no different in heart and mind than the little girl. She thought the best of everyone she met, she loved people regardless of their faults, and despite the anger in his words to her previously, she still cared for him immensely. Elann hugged about her waist, and upon seeing that she was not able to do anything, she went to change out of the wet fur-lined clothing and into a dress that she could wear and not be as cold as she was. Fortunately, the sun was out, and once changed, it warmed her as she headed back to the wagon.

She looked up to the cloud lingering above and voiced to it, and likely just to herself.

"I am trying my best. I love him too."

Journey to the East

Elann watched as the flash seemed to overtake her husband's body. He was alright with her plan, and while Elann didn't particularly wish to destroy her shirt, it was needed for his sake. He looked so pitiful as the eagle down there in the sand and she felt worse for him. Blood continued now to come out of his back to which she carefully knelt down on her knees and proceeded to tie the bandages around him so it kept pressure on his wounds.

She was no medical expert, but she figured the shirt wouldn't last long as his protection from disease and infection. Thankfully she was wearing her wrist guard and he was able to step up onto the offered arm without hurting her with his talons. She tucked him up close to her, and as love won out over her fear of small animals, she kissed him lightly on the head before standing. She would have to leave her bow and the bear behind, but her first hurdle was the river.

Thankfully the river had been easy to cross, for if it wasn't, he'd likely still be separated from her. As it was, she was able to get him back across to the other side without endangering him by falling into the water. She walked at a brisk pace, unable to run as it would shake him too greatly and she would likely fall in the thickness of the forest.

As it was, the sound of wagons grew louder the closer she got to the road, and far off to her right, coming toward them, the wagons had rounded the hill. Given the smooth ground, Elann would be able to move a little faster, but she would only move so fast as to keep his body from moving. As she drew closer to the lead wagon, she began to tell them what happened in some minor detail, that they were attacked by the river while hunting, and there was a downed bear there. It seemed they wanted to stop and go harvest the bear, as it could feed the people for a few days and she asked them to retrieve her bow.

Once things were settled, which only took about a minute in time, she hurried to the one who was skilled in medicine. He was a physician heading to Zeltiva with his wife and he likely could help Noah. The wagon was a few before theirs and she came up to their flap in the back and called out.

"Emery? We need your help." Once the man opened the flap, sensing there was something wrong already given the stopping of their wagon, and he asked what was going on. "It's my husband, he's been injured by a falcon. It looks pretty bad."

Emery seemed to welcome her on up and instead she lifted Noah up in her arms to rest on his wagon bench. There she untied the bandage on his back so that he could transform as the physician was no vet.

Journey to the East

Elann couldn't tell whether Noah's lower body was injured or not. She could only see the fading streams of blood dripping down his back. She had heard the lightning, seen and felt the flash; it was why her hair was much more frizzy than it used to be, but she still had no idea what had happened nor had she had the time to process that it could possibly be Zulrav who helped her husband.

He nodded back to her calling and despite appearances, he seemed okay. She could feel the burning pain in her own back as she shared with him through the bond but it was likely a shadow of what he felt.

As she came up to him, his voice was brief, full of winces as he explained. Elann began to wonder if this was some sort of divine battleground that had taken place here, using Noah and her as some sort of tools of combat in their own wills, but who really knew? The Gods were beyond her. Perhaps it was all as it seemed.

Elann was soaking wet below the waist, but her clothing above was dry. She took off the outer vest, revealing a white undershirt underneath.

"You are bleeding pretty badly. Let me tie this around you tight." Emotions came flooding into her as she was reminded of when she saw him last time he had been injured. She took in a breath, trying to be mindful of the calm he was exuding and she took off her shirt.

"We need to get back to the caravans, but we also need to stop this blood" she stated. "Do you think you can turn into your true self and I can tie this around your waist? Then I can easily carry you back?"

After slipping her fur back over her half naked frame, if he didn't protest, she went about making a long strip to tie about his waist and to keep pressure on the wounds. Her shirt being too small though would likely not wrap fully around him as a human even if she used the whole length.

Though Noah didn't care about the benefit of being kind to people in his speech, Elann did, and through it, much like Aimee, Elann would know who was able to help him in the wagon train. It was the kind of good that came from treating others with kindness. She still had the tea and cream to help keep infection from him, as well as a type of tasty food she could make that they used in her tribe to help fight it as well. She just had to get him back. Elann waited to hear what he had to say.

Journey to the East

Elann had looked up to find her husband, but couldn't locate him. In her frantic search she only managed to find him when the water splashed and he transformed. It was as if a beacon to her untrained eyes. The last she knew, he was far higher than where he was then, in the river.

She could see him crawling to the shore and she held her mouth with her free hand, wondering what had happened to him. It couldn't have been related to the bear right? Everything was so chaotic to her and it was nothing like her previous trips hunting with him or his family. It was as she was about to rush to him did she feel the burning presence of another gaze on her. Another roar came from the woods and Elann dropped her bow in fear, scrambling to pick it up as she looked. Strangely it was a woman, yet her face communicated death would soon come to Elann anyways. There was a gigantic bear, likely a dire bear of some kind of great proportion and it lumbered toward her at the woman's command. Elann felt the sudden feeling of her God protecting her once more, yet this time it was in warning.

She could not only see him beside her, but this time - unlike other times - he wielded a weapon, a long polearm of some type that Elann didn't know, but figured it was some kind of spear. It was then Elann saw the reason behind the woman's rage; two innocent cubs heeded her call as did the large bear as she began to move away.

There was a tinge of guilt through her bond as she looked down to the bear at her side. With a loving look to Yahal, his eyes moved to her and she pouted slightly. She felt bad that she had to kill the bear, but that spoke just all the more to Elann's purity. Her god seemed to vanish then, but his comfort lingered with her. As Oriana moved away and began to fade, she wouldn't let the bear lay there and rot. People around the world likely hunted bears, but this was a mother and likely why Oriana was so mad. It didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was Noah.

Elann rushed to toward him. At first, the river was deep and there was worry within her, but in the middle there was a sandbar and she rose up, able to get to him by clamoring over rocks. Her furs were soaking wet, as was she, but she didn't seem to care.

"Are you okay?" she shrieked with worry. "Oh my goodness Noah, what happened?"

Journey to the East

Elann didn't require a response from her husband, even in the form of their bond. She would try to repair their relationship even if he didn't. As it was, she hardly saw anything from him and she didn't care. The kiss was genuine and as she headed toward the beach, she had new drive to push forward.

While she had her husband in view for a moment on the beach, as he rounded to come back, she couldn't see him. His angling himself up for a run on the river was unknown to her and her eyes were forward focused. She began to round the bend of the river when through her bond she started to feel her husband's tension. She paid attention to her bond, looking for him, but then suddenly adrenaline and that wild sense took her. His loud squawk didn't sound like his normal piercing cry and sounded like he was being attacked.

Elann's heart raced, not because of her own worry, but because of him. He was frantic about something as if he was in fight or flight mode, but she was none the wiser about what was going on. Through their bond, she could tell he was ahead of her, so she ran. Concern filled her as she rounded the bend in the river and the rock outcropping. Careful not to fall in the river, she came to the other side of the rocks with eyes skyward. It was there she could see him, see what was happening.

To Elann, it seemed silly at first, some tiny bird of some sort attacking Noah, but then she could see how fast it was and how Noah tried to fight it off, but it was just too speedy. Naturally she drew an arrow defensively in care of her husband, but as she looked to the situation, she realized there was nothing she could do. At the creaking of her bow, a loud roar sounded in threat, much closer than she would have liked.

There on the edge of the treeline, in plain sight not twenty feet from her was a huge brown bear. Elann's eyes went wide and her face drained of all color as the large beast stood up during the roar. With already an intimidating presence, it now seemed ten times more frightening. The curls of its lips folded around huge teeth that threatened to be biting her any moment, and in reaction. Elann, pulled her bow rapidly and shot. It was a good shot despite her weak pull, her fright, and every other element that could have gotten in her way, yet despite the good shot, the arrow went no deeper than into a plank of wood. The bear's hide was far too thick.

Being shot, that was the final straw. Though Elann didn't know it, nearby in the brush, under ferns were the bear mother's 4 month old cubs, two of them. On top of that, Elann's nearby presence was a threat, the eagle fighting in the sky was a threat, and her proximity to the beast was a great threat. Immediately she moved to pull another arrow, though she shivered in fear and troubled to notch it as the bear flung itself to the ground and began charging. It reminded her of a horse charging, ready to trample her, and all she could think to do was yank harder on her bond than she ever had. It was then she felt the soft brushing of Yahal on her shoulder. Her God had come, and she was filled with purpose and purity of mind as he filled her with his power. Radiance ignited the bow and arrow, and for a moment it almost seemed like the winged tattoo on her back flared to life like real prismatic wings.

Elann looked like some sort of divine angel standing there on the beach, the golden light emitted from her far more pure than anything seen before on Mizahar. It was a purer light than the sun could, or any known device could make, and as she drew back her arrow, she looked like some sort of celestial goddess warrior. The arrow loosed as the bear drew within ten feet, already in mid leap to kill her, and the arrow this time not only penetrated its hide, but its skull through to the back of it, and the arrow, even after leaving her bow, seemed to retain said brilliance in a flash of light. The flash was like a lightning bolt, but more like a flash of a camera, and this holy arrow seemed to render the bear dead before it even could mentally react. Though guided by her God to move, it was too late. He seemed to shift her in a protective way so the bear slide just to her side instead of absolutely destroying her and then the light and his presence faded.

Looking into the power and light of Yahal was not just like looking into light, it was like looking into purity itself. It was convicting to see a being of power so pure and just being in his presence made Elann know how impure she was. Not only that, but peering into the golden radiance also seemed to display his faithfulness, as if looking into it, you knew every burden, promise, wrong doing you've done and how protective he was to carry you to never do them again. It was able to drop Elann to her knees as if dead both times she had witnessed not only him, but his mighty power. He had come for Noah's wife, and had chosen to protect her, and for the briefest moment, he could even be seen in the flash of light, as if he himself had pulled the bow with her.

The fight was over and the light faded from Elann. Before it had even reached mid jump the bear had died and no longer breathed. Where the arrow entered on its skull, the fur had been stripped back as bark from a tree and worry took the bond once more as she looked to her husband up above.

Journey to the East

Elann hadn't noticed her husband until he flew overhead, her eye picking up on his shadow streaking across the ground. Elann didn't have the trained eyes to notice animals or plants among the green. Throw her in the desert and she could pick out a snake or scorpion in the sand three dunes over, but throw a giant bear in some trees and unless it moved, she wouldn't see it.

It was such that she meandered forward aimlessly, just using the road as a guide for which direction to head at first. She hadn't noticed her sister at all until rising up over a hilltop that the road slowly rose up over. There on the other side, down below her, was Aimee trotting along. Above her was Noah off in the distance, and since the wagon train was muffled by the hills, she headed into the forest there.

Noah seemed to anticipate her direction, which was toward the sound of flowing water to the left of the path as she headed toward Zeltiva. Heading North for Elann never felt correct, as nothing in her homeland was to the north except death and the Chaktawe or Eypharian peoples. To the south was always water, Yahebah, and food. Ignoring the feeling, she headed in further, having lost sight of Noah the moment he ascended. She could feel their bond parting as he went higher and higher, but her eyes focused ahead as if any moment she would find a deer.

Noah could see from above that Elann was being far too noisy to allow the deer in the area to stay put. As she would draw near the river, the could that had bedded down there began to move away without Elann even noticing. She was not the best of hunters. Still, she was trying to be sneaky and upon coming up to the river, she could feel the bond between them draw closer and closer.

By the time he landed in the tree, she had come to a small rock formation that seemed almost ancient in nature, covered with moss, but arranged in such a way that she picked up on it. It almost looked like an old foundation of a cottage, but had been torn away by time and covered with dirt and growth. Only a few of the blocks remained and she took a break there to sit on one. As she looked up into the nearest tree, she could see Noah, perched there as if waiting. A small smile came from her and love filled her bond toward him.

She loved how he looked there, regal and how she had seen him play on the winds earlier. While he had refused to leave her and go fly, she was happy her choice to go hunting had drawn him to the sky. She may not have had the ability to praise Zulrav the way Noah did - being that she was frightened of everything and disliked cold winds - but she could at least take solace in the fact she encouraged her husband to spend time with him, and she hoped that he saw that she did care about Zulrav despite her cold body and bad experiences.

"Hello," she said in her typical cute way toward him and blew a kiss his way. She then let out a sigh, as if overcoming the tiredness that had grown in her higher paced walking to this point, and then she stood. It was time to continue the hunt, and she was nearly to the river.

"I'm going to keep following the river and see if I see anything."

She wondered if he would fish in it, having seen him do so before. Up ahead of her path, there was a bend in the river and the trees curved to follow it. She trudged along the shoreline, and unlike traveling through the forest, which was thicker in this spot than last time they had gone hunting, she was more silent. The soft sand cushioned her footfalls and there was no great amount of dried and dead timber for her to step and snap on. Any such things, her eyes could see to avoid, and thus she went forward silently.

Journey to the East

It seemed she wouldn't likely face any opposition as she went hunting by the river, but given her experience in the past, water always attracted predators. Still, he thought it was safe for her and so she would trust him. He intended to go with her and moved to change as she still sat there. Despite the rift between them, she still found her husband's body attractive and there were passions stirring within her, yet they were a murmur. She still had to wake up a little bit, and thus why she had not moved yet, but as he transformed and flew out the back, she watched as she buzzed the driver and spooked his horses a bit. A sigh came from her and she could see the driver behind them kind of pissed.

"Sorry," she mouthed to him, knowing she could scream it at him and he'd likely not hear it. Elann took in another breath, relaxing any tension in her and then reached up to the flap behind her and began to lower both sides. She went about changing into her furs and she strung up her bow, equipped her wrist guard and just about everything she had used to hunt in winter. The last thing she wanted to feel was cold. She also took a knife with her, sheathed in a belt to cut any meat they did find.

It was then, she headed out of the wagon and looked around for Noah and Aimee. She couldn't immediately see them, so she just climbed down and though it was her wish to approach the other driver to apologize for Noah's behavior, she was afraid of him swooping the man for some reason. She didn't understand still why exactly he had done that to the cook and his sister, but the last thing she wanted was a fight. Part of her was glad to get him up into the air to enjoy Zulrav. She was sure he would give his stormwarden a clue if Noah listened.

Elann obviously got some looks from the driver behind them, having not seen the cutesy Benshira in essentially battle gear, but there she was. Elann headed up to their own driver and told him they were going hunting up ahead. The man nodded and she began to walk faster than the lazy caravan over the road. It wasn't long before she began to outdistance them, pulling ahead of them greatly in distance. She had to get to where the sound began to dull and then she would head toward the river.