Sighing silently to himself, Ethstar finally let his tired boy rest in one of the barstools downstairs. He had left Shain upstairs in one of the pub beds, which he had managed to secure after showing the owner of the pub Shain's horrible cuts and slashes. Mentally wincing as he remembered the sight of the wounds, he tried to keep the thought far away from his mind. After bandanging the unconscious elf up quite heavily, and putting some kind of healing salve onto his open wounds, the Fallen Angel had left the man in bed to rest. He hoped the man would be okay, for the flesh that had been ripped open by vicious claws had bled so very much. He had travelled from the depths of the forest to this pub, carrying the man on his back, resting every so often to cast his simple healing magic upon the cuts. They had barely made it, they had barely slipped through death's fingers. With this thought ringing through his mind, he let his head drop down to rest on the top of the bar. He was so very tired... so... very...

And so he slept.

He was silent, his confused eyes searching within the depths of her own swirling eyes as to find some answer to his own feelings. Strange and wild, something he had never felt before was what she had asked him to describe. He wasn't sure. His blood pulsed darkly through his veins, tainted by the darkness of one who had gone through so much. His skin was filled with warmth, his hand still tingling from being agaisnt the side of her cheek. Warmth had transferred from her to him. And above all, somewhere deep inside the pits of his own mind, the ice that had been slammed around the deepest part of his heart was slowly melting, had been slowly melting all along. She had done it. He blinked once, wondering if he could actually share deep feeling such as these after so many years of staying inside himself. Or was he simply hiding within himself? He didn't know, and he didn't want to find out. But everything was to be laid bare, for she had done it to him. He would return her favor. If she wanted truth, it was the least that he could do to show her as much as he possibly could. He took a deep breath, his eyes finally settling into a state of calm.

See this, Ethstar? He fell in love. He lost her though. Have you ever felt that?

Searing pain ripped through Ethstar's sleeping body, emotional agony that he could not bear. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream out, he wanted to simply die. Or to kill.

You WILL die. For he WILL kill you.

With a ragged gasp, Ethstar snapped up out of his sleep. Staring wildly around, he felt the gaze of both the bartender and the only other patron in the room boring into him. Beads of sweat were crawling all over his body, and he could feel his shaking hand tight upon the blade sheathed at his hip. His shoulder wound throbbed with a newfound pain, and his unused hand went up to touch it. Nightmares. So many nightmares.

Shain was swetting a great deal. He was in a feild, or cave, or mabye hell. What ever it was, the ground was covered on thick layers of a smoky fog. Shain couldn't see bellow his stomach. He was alone for now. White eyes glinting throgh the dark, he searched for. . . something. Shain recognizex this place; he had been here before. Yet he had never been alone. Twice before he had visited his place, and each time met hunter. He needed to get out. As he looked through the smog, he saw a shadowy figure coming toward him. His eyes narrowed and to fighting knives appeared in his hands without his notice. he knew who that was. Lolth. Spider Queen of the drow, and his death of some sort if he did not get away. Turnung to run, the scene around him changed. he was in a forest. it was th place where he and Ethstar had been attacked by those great hound beasts. Shain paused. Ethstar. it brought a faint recognition, but was lost in in the silence of his mind. Shaking his head, Shain moved forward, searching for a place to hide. "[COLOR=red]Still running, are we?[COLOR=red]" Shain looked around. A beautiful, alluring drow, female stood behind, an evil yet seducing smile on her lips. Shain backed away. "Why do you plague me? Your people hunting me is enough." The drow, Lolth, laughed. "[COLOR=red]I may want you as my follower as well. Am I not worthy of such a gift?[COLOR=red]" "Shain had a hard time focussing on her voice. It was her way of trying to break his mind. "Leave me demon of the Abyss." he growled. A scowl croosed her face. "[COLOR=red]I am not of the Abyss, as you well know.[COLOR=red]" She appeared to study him for a minute. Suddenly, a fountain of pain seared through his pack. Screaming, Shain fell to the floor. Floor? they were no in some sort of temple. Shain had not noticed the change.

"[COLOR=red]Can I help, my darling little runnaway?[COLOR=red]" Shain looked up and found himself not an inche away from her red eyes."[COLOR=red]Is there nothing you want?[COLOR=red]" She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. "NOOO!" he screamed.

Eyes snapped open. He was in a bed. Looking around, he tried to move his arms or legs and failed. He seemed to be in an inn. From the amount of noise below, there were not many people. Shain thought back to his dream. Why did she want him so badly. Was he so much of a threat to her that she would allow herself to pursue him in this manner. She must be seathing now. this was the third time she had visited him in his dreams. And why had the scene changed. The first two times it had stayed in the fog covered plains. this time he had visited the forest where he and Ethsta... It all came rushing back. the fight, the laughter. And Ethstar nocking him uncoscious. He had to find out where he was. He began to try to move his arms again. One started to rise until fire lanced through his back. he yelled in pain. This might take a while.

Ethstar silently stared at the wooden bar just underneath his nose, too caught up in the memories of his dream to focus in on anything else. This was the first dream that he had ever had that had actually held the face of another being. the man he had saw was quite tall, with black locks of hair. His facial features were quite like Ethstar's, except that there was a long scar running down and through one of his eyes. He hadn't been able to get a glimpse of the eyes though, shadows had been covering them from view. The man hadn't been an angel though, for no wings had been apparent. Muttering random details of the dream under his breath, he tried not to discard the possibility of the strange man being an Angelic being. He could have shapeshifted his wings into his back or such, just like Ethstar had become quite used to doing. And that was really the only reason the man would have a connection to Ethstar, for no other beings except Celestials had a reason to come and kill him.

Shaking his head sharply, he realized what he was doing. It was only a dream, and that was all it would ever turn out to be. It would remain within the realms of nightmares, and it would never come out to plague the reality that Ethstar had become so used to. But still... the haunting words that ended each and every dream as of late still plagued Ethstar, keeping a nervous feeling in the very pit of his stomach.

You will die. For he WILL kill you.

A shiver ran down the length of his spine, the familar feeling of fear rising within his gut. Only then was he rescued, the painful yell of Shain reaching his ears. Still muttering the details of the dream under his breath, he hopped up from the stool, and made his way up to the second floor of the pub. In a few moments, he had let loose a short rap on the door to signal he was coming in, then gently nudged open the wooden barrier. Walking slowly into the doorway, and closing it behind him, he gave the struggling elf a polite smile. "Up and about?"

Shain looked toward the door. Ethstar had come in. responding to the comment Shain said, "Up and about my ass. Why did you knock me out?" Shain didn't take kindly to that. He had not felt the pain, true, but Lolth was worse than pain. "And where are we?" He looked to Ethstar. Suddenly a thought came into his head. They were out of the woods. This man had caireyd him to... wherever here was, by himself, with his own wounds. That was no small feat. Unless they had been about an hour away from the edge of the forest. He owed him a thanks at least. Well that would come after he got his answers.

Finally moving himself upright, he looked around the room closely. he saw his cloak and weapons in the corner. Good; they had not been stolen. he felt for his inner powers. He couldn't even touch it. magic was a far goal for him at this point. He looked back to Ethstar expectantly.

(Brain dead right now.)

Ethstar silently studied Shain, not yet choosing to answer his questions. Instead, he simply observed the man's movements, making sure that he was indeed ready to move round, or if the elf was about to topple over and die right there on the floor in front of him. Fully aware of this very real possibility, Ethstar edged a little closer, ready to make a diving catch for the wounded warrior if he should indeed try to pull off some kind of fall. Pulling his eyes to the bandaged wounds, he visibly winced, quite amazed that the man was still standing after going through all of that. Although, the healing powers that had been used on the two men were quite sufficient. They had done a good job on the gash in Ethstar's shoulder, and had basically taken all of his fatigue away as well. Absentmindedly rotating his right shoulder bone, he let the arm feel out it's new skin. Yes, whatever they had used to heal the two of them, it had worked amazingly well.

Letting loose a slightly relieved sigh, Ethstar finally went about answering the elf's questions in a polite and calm tone. "I knocked you out, because the pain may have caused you to jerk, spasm, cry out, or many other things. Any movements would have only encouraged the bleeding and kept the wounds wide open, while any loud cries might have brought more beasts to our area." Pausing for a moment to do a slight bow, Ethstar let out an apology. "I am quite sorry if I offended you, I just did what I thought was best." Pausing yet a second moment to let the apology sink in as well, he soon hurried on, answering the elf's second question. "This is an inn, the Purple Lantern inn I believe. I have been to it once, and remembering the location, I decided I might as well carry you to it. It was the closest anyway."
Giving a short nod to signal he was finish speaking, he clasped his hands behind his back, yet still on the inside of the cloak. Extremely light blue eyes gazed expectantly at the elf, waiting for his reaction, waiting for anything really. A sudden look of surprise crossed Ethstar's face though, and he suddenly burst out into speech once more. "Ah, I forgot. We have meat on the menu tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted anything." It was wildly interesting how kind the one person had been to them, and yet how... evil the others had been.

They were being charged ridiculous prices for simple meat and bread, although Ethstar still had a little gold remaining. And Ethstar's good looks had been mocked the whole entire afternoon! He himself wasn't sure what all the attention thrown to him had been about, but it was simple jealousy. Several food fights had erupted through the evening as well, spurring Ethstar on to have to duck and dodge random flying articles of food.

Shain listened to Ethstar patiently. So, it had been that bad. Muttering about the bloody beats, he said to Ethstar, "Thankyou. Thnkyou for getting me out of those flaming woods safley." Shaim grimaced at the next part. "If ther isanything I can do to repay you, I shall. But only if it is within reason." He took a hand to his back, eyes widening slowly as he felt his wound. it was deep. Shain was surpprised that he could still even move. Flexing it, he stopped quickly as pain jolted up his spine. So it was not completly healed. That would put a damper on his job oppertunities for a while. Working his legs for a minute, he tansed, then stood up, growlingquietly at the pain in his back.

"Meat sounds good. Do they have elven wine or vodka?" Shain was famished. And the alchohol would help to dull the pain. Just as long as he didn't get too drunk. He did not want a raging inferno in his head as well as his back. "take what ever is in my purse. I think there is a fair amount in there, though I can't be sure. Shain began to make his way around the room. A thought came to his mind as he did. Looking to Ethstar, he voiced it. "Do you know who attacked us in the woods? Was it drow?" Shain wanted to know what they had ordered on him if so. however, Shain realized, they were most likely after Ethstar. After all, they had hit him to the ground, then advanced on the man.

groaning from all the thought, Shain collapsed back onto his bed on purpose. laying there, he tried to work things through his mind. nothing worked. Slowly rising again he made his way over to his weapons and cloak. Looking at them for a minute, he grabbed his two fighting knives, nothing else. He shouldn't need a cloak here, they had probably already seen him. Another question lept into his head. he was full of them at this moment. "How long was i out, and how long did it take us to get here?" He looked behind him at Ethstar.

Ethstar gave the man a short nod, taking his offer of retribution and storing it away within the banks of his memory. Shifting his position a bit, he brought a single tan hand up to rub his eyes with. Even though he had managed to catch a few winks of sleep within the time he had spent downstairs, the nightmare had managed to pull all amounts of relaxation from his body. Even though their was no pain in his muscles, the lack of a good night of sleep was slowly managing to catch up with him, and show the effects. A yawn nearly burst out of his mouth, but he managed to use his hand to supress it without anyone hopefully noticing. Shain may see it anyway, but he had always thought it polite to do such a thing. Now that he thought about it, he had been worrying about being polite quite a bit lately. Quite interesting, seeing how the knightly talk had managed to get him in trouble quite a bit in the Celestial plane. Although, it had also kept him on good terms with quite a few people, so maybe it hadn't been as bad as he was making it out to be. With that thought ringing through his mind, he went about answering the questions Shain had given him.

He let the hand on his face fall, and then spoke. "I am not so sure what they were, really. I couldn't get a good enough glimpse of either to tell you anything about them. And after I had killed them, the spell I was under lifted, but I wasn't really thinking about getting a glimpse of them at the moment. I apoligize." With this said, he paused a moment to lift his hand back to his face to surpress yet another annoying yawn, then continued once again. "As for what they have to drink, I am not sure. I will go down and ask them if you want. Which of those two you spoke of would you rather have?" He cast a glance around the room, searching for this purse the elf was speaking of. Letting his eyes wander, he absentmindedly answered the other question. "I am not sure how long it took us to get here... perhaps a few hours? You have been out for about a day now." He didn't notice that the answer he had given may perk some more questions. A few hours spent carrying a completely slack human wasn't hard at all for him, but he was too preoccupied to consider that it would be quite the task for most normal humans.

Shian listened tyo Ethstar silently, taking in every detail and making his own mental notes for each. So, he did not know what they had been attacked by, or who it was aimed for. Shain suspected it was more towards Ethstar becuase of the spell and the mans primary focus on him. His mind switched to the food. His stomach gave away his thoughts. Meat. That might not sit well in Shain's stomach right now. Not a whole lot, anyway. Speaking up, he answered Ethstars question abot he drink. "I would prefer the wine. If they don't have it, vodka will do just fine." he murmered, loud enough to hear, but just barely. He began to ponder upon the time he had been out. A day at most, Ethstar had said. Or somehting like that. Even with that, Shain still felt weary. Probably do to the healing process. He was more hungry than tired anyway, so he would be able to stay up until he ate at least. A thought crossed his mind. This man had careid him for hours to this village, with a gash in his shoulder. His healing powers couldn't be great enough for that, or Shain would have had a better healed wound. Assuming that Ethstar had not let him keep the wound despite his poers, the man had to have amazing strength. A berserker's strength at the very least. Yet he did not strike Shain as such a person.

"What are you?" Shain asked bluntly. "In truth. No normal human could have carried me, despite my light whieght, with a gash in their shoulder as you had. Not unless they were a berserker. And you do not seem a berserker." he watched Ethstar's face as what he had just said sank in. He had gotten on the wrong side of a couple of people for being able to seee through the small details and making a larger picture of them. If that happened with this person, well... despite his suppresed yawns, he could still despose of Shain easily.

At the question asked of him, Ethstar's face would go through a sudden change. He could tell by Shain's tone of voice that the man would accept no lies, and Ethstar was a pathetic liar anyway. His gentle and comforting features would turn to the likeness of rock ice, an unreadable expression settling upon his features. He still held his same beauty, yet it had somehow managed to turn itself into a cold and fierce type of beauty. His eyes changed as well, the colors swiftly thinning to a mere, hardly seeable ring, one that surrounded an extremely dilated pupil. The eyes would radiate intensity, and for a short moment, the gaze might give one the feeling that Ethstar was indeed going to take his oppurtunity and deal away with Shain. To put it quite simply, Ethstar looked completely and utterly ready to kill Shain without batting an eye. This fact would be emitted easily and clearly, the bloodlust evident within the air.

Indeed, underneath his cloak, his hand had firmly grasped the hilt of his longsword. He was debating how long it would take for anyone to notice he had killed the elf. right now, his mind was only focusing on the fact that no one must know his secret, and this man was dangerous close to doing just that. It would be a shame, but it was something that must be done. With these thoughts running through his head, Ethstar took a steady step toward the elf, having decided on what to do. A simple beheading would work quite well, and it would be quick and effiecent.

Then common sense managed to hit him. With a short and threatening growl, he took a step back. His voice would come out calm and cold, leaving no room for arguement. "Listen. I saved your life, and you are in no position to ask me questions. Without me, you would be dead. Consider yourself blessed, and do not ask questions." With another slight growl, Ethstar would spin on his heel, his cloak ruffling a bit to emphasize the motion taken. He would head toward the door, each step precise and silent. Under the cloak, the hand did not move, still wanting to draw the cold and hard steel and use it to bring Shain to his knees. But his personality, his Angelic remaints, they would not allow that. "I will send food and drink up to you, milord. I will not be here when you are well enough to come and get me." With this, he would firmly grip the door and fling it open, making his path to the outside hall. And with that outburst of anger, he was simply gone. Gone for a time. Leaving questions to haunt. Just like always.

Shain watched the changes on Ethstar's face indifferently. He was not as strong as normal, yet no where near weak. If the time came he need to deffend himself, he could hold his own against the man, for a lack of a better word. He was obviously uncomfortable with his race, Shain could understand thatm but Shain would not overly pitty him. Shain had to deal with being hunted by the drow, and even with what they summoned from the abyss sometimes. He didn't care if this man was an angel gone wrong or a demon with a consience. He noticed the hand udner the cloak tightening on something, most likely a hilt. Shain brought his white eyes back to Ethstar's, staring impassively.

Then Ethstar decided to snap at him. Shain's face made stone look like feathers. And it kept harddening with every word Ethstar shot at him. He gripped his dagger in his sleave, he had managed to slip it in when he had traveled around the room. When Ethstar made his way out the door, saying he would send his food up, Shain whipped it out. Just as Ethstar dissapeared from the door way, we threw it where he had stood, listening as it landed with a solid thunk. Shain stood angerily. he would not be talked to like that. He had nearly lost his life for whoever had wanted this man, and he was going to walk out like that! No. Shain whirrled around, grabbing his affects and belting on his weapons. Fastening his cloak, he walked to his dagger stuck in the hall. Ripping it out, he walked quickly down the stairs searching for Ethstar. he was going to teach that man not to mess wit hhim like that.

As the injured elf would run down the stairs, he would see Ethstar already sitting at a table, holding firmly to a mug of water and staring at the tabletop. As Shain came into view, the Fallen Angel would raise a steady eyebrow, his lean and lanky body slowly rising from the table. His eyes were still intensely deadly, the thinned pupils and colors alike staring intimidatingly at the newly-awakened warrior that was headed his way. He still loosely held the cup of water in his hand, and he would soon bring it up to take a gentle sip of the liquid. A few men in the pub turned to stare at the tall being, as if noticing him for the first time. Only a few regconized him, and that was only because he had been here for quite a while. They had asked he barkeep about it, and he had told them the whole story. Ethstar had brought in a elf or sorts, and commanded for him to be healed.

Ethstar was surprised that the elf could walk with such a stride, but the emotion did not rise to his face. Instead, the earlier deadliness was returning. Thin pricks for pupils, and an extremely thin line that was for the blue color. And once again, those eyes held an intense promise of cold and dark death. With a slight smirk on his face, he started to speak. "You come to fight me?" The eyes slid to the dagger held in the man's hand, then went through a mental check of all the weapons he had seen when he had disarmed the man for his healing. None were note worthy enough. At the word fight, silence issued across the pub, all eyes turning. This was getting interesting already.

Underneath the cloak, his hand would once more grip the hilt of the Long sword, but not yet draw it. "You know you will not win." This was stated as pure fact, and pure confidence. Shain was injured, Ethstar was not. Even with both in top condition, Ethstar still considered himself to be superior to the half-elf. He took a step forward toward Shain, his eyes glittering still with the promises of pain and suffering. "Beware, Shain. I am not what you saw." Indeed not. He looked evil. Completely and utterly evil.