Just a little tangled

Elleon swore softly under his breath as he groped and tugged at the vines he managed to get himself tangled up in.

He scowled down at them, as if his displeased face would somehow coax the vines into letting go of his limbs.

The Aasimar was a young man, though he looked human enough his hair was pale white and glistened in the sun, it had an unnatural sheen to it, his eyes were another oddity, they were flecked with colour, blue, greens and a dash of yellow if you looked at them in the right light, closely resembling an opal.

His beauty was currently questionable as he tousled around the mud, dirtying his hair and smearing it on his face accidentally as he tried his best to get free.

He would get the knife from his boot, if he could currently reach his boot, he didn't know how he managed to get into these messes all the time.

Garen noticed the dramatic change in scenery very quickly. From the dry, dusty land of the country he had been in to this large lush forest was amazing. Almost a shock to the man's system.

So this must be Kenndrick. He'd heard a lot about this place from the whispered tales of travelers much like himself. He'd heard of the war.

And where better to sell his legendary help than in the middle of a war? He'd make his riches, fighting for whoever paid him the largest amount of gold.

Then he could dine of feasts fit for whatever monarch ruled this country; bed any whore he wanted; fight and laugh and joke and be hailed as a hero of the land.

The man grinned widely as the images filled his head, though the sound of violent struggling did manage to tear him away from those very cheerful thoughts. His great curiosity taking hold of him, Garen traipsed over plants and pushed at branches in the way of him, heading towards the struggling.

A laugh bubbled up as he watched the Aasimar struggle with the vines they were currently tangled in. "You all right there, lass?" he asked, his voice lined with amusement as he leaned against a tree to watch the scene.

Elleon froze as the man spoke, someone was here? How! No one ever ventured through this part of the woods and he had been caught defenseless, stuck in these bothersome vines.

"Fine, thank you."

He muttered, avoiding the man's gaze, raising his voice a little to sound female, it was an easy enough thing to do, he had pretended to be a woman many times in the past in order to throw people off of his scent.

If they didn't know who he was, it couldn't be used against him.

He was irritated but didn't want a stranger getting to close, and with his forced hermit life, everyone was a stranger, he didn't trust them, and he didn't want them around.

"Whatever you say."

He was quite enjoying the show anyhow.

It wasn't every day he watched people struggle away from a simple plant like this. It looked like the plant was winning, too.

Must have been mortifying for the poor girl. Getting caught in a plant then losing her fight for freedom against said plant.

"If you want any help, I'll be sat right here. Just holler."

To prove his point, he made a show of sitting down and getting comfortable, a grin on his lips as he watched her.

"You don't have to sit there and gawk, why don't you just go away, you have no business being here."
He replied, sounding peevish, though still keeping up his feminine facade.

Elleon didn't raise his head to look at the man, instead hiding his face under his long hair as he stared down at the plant.

He didn't want to risk looking up and not meeting the man's eyes or staring off in the wrong direction as he spoke, it would give him away in an instant.

He mumbled soft curses under his breath as he tried to rip apart the vine that had tangled his feet.

"I have as much business being here as anyone else."

It was a forest. It wasn't like anyone owned this particular set of trees and earth and whatever the fuck sort of creatures lived in this particular habitat.

Garen hummed as he reached into a pouch at his hip and pulled out a block of wood he'd been slowly whittling away and a carving knife.

Why not get something interesting done while the girl fought with her vines.

It wouldn't take long for her to decide that she really did need help and ask him to cut the vines for her. Garen just needed to be patient. It was a good thing that the man actually did have the ability to be patient sometimes.

"It only takes a holler," he sang with a grin.

Elleon pursed his lips, he was tempted to take that offer, he had been struggled for longer than he cared to admit, but the thought of being near someone else, it scared him and he was sorely disadvantaged.

He gave a soft sigh as he looked scowled at the vines again, this was a hopeless attempt, he could be here for hours.

"Could you...please help me."

He muttered softly as he dropped his hands into his lap uselessly before trying to wipe mud off of his face with the back of his sleeve.

Those five simple words were just what Garen wanted to hear.

He hummed as he stood up, shoving his whittling project back into his pouch as he stepped over the herbs and weeds growing under his feet.

The sharp metal of his sword drew against the sheath as he pulled it out.

It took one easy swing of his blade to cut through the tangled vines. His arm slid behind Elleon's back to keep her upright as she was cut free.

"There. All free." He grinned down at her as he helped her to her feet.

"You okay now, lass?"

Elleon couldn't help but flinch slightly when the man's hand slide behind him, it had been years since he had last come into contact with another person.

"I'm fine, thank you."

He muttered softly as he wiped his muddied hands on the bottom of his cloak.

"I'm just... a little clumsy."

He pulled away from the other man, hesitant about staying too close to him for any longer.

"Yeah, I noticed," Garen chortled.

Only clumsiness could get someone caught in a load of vines completely alone with no hope of being able to get out unless someone in a particularly charitable mood passed by.

"I'm Garen," he greeted, sheathing his sword as the girl stepped back.

He rested his hands on his hips and cocked his head as he gazed down at her; his hair flowing out around him with the movement.

"You want me to talk you home so you don't get attacked by any more vines?"

Elleon didn't give him a name in return, the less this man knew about him the better, instead he just shook his head as he just stared down at his own feet.

"No thank you, I'll be fine on my own, you've helped enough."

He replied, trying not to sound ungrateful but at the same time trying not to be overly welcoming, his home was best left hidden from others.

"Goodbye."

He added before turning around and padding slowly away from the man, his feet shuffling in the dead leaves a little until he found his usual little path at which point he walked more easily, hoping the man didn't follow him.

Garen didn't believe the girl.

To get yourself tangled up in vines with no hope for escape wasn't something that he believed made for someone that would be fine on their own.

So, as the girl walked away, he watched her silently.

And when she got far enough away, he began to follow.

Perhaps this would seem creepy, but he was only going to make sure she got back to her house safely then he'd head out on his own way again.

Elleon sighed in relief as he got away, hugging his arms around himself as he hurried down the path and back toward his home.

The house wasn't much, admittedly, he had built it himself and it didn't look at all inviting, but it worked as a comfortable place to dwell.

He had lived here for years, using what magic he had to survive out on his own.

He moved toward his well, dropping a bucket to fetch clean water for a bath and carrying it inside to heat it a little over the hearth.

Elleon sat on the floor when the water had heated a little and grabbed a wash cloth, dipping it in the water before scrubbing his face and arms, removing his muddy boots and cleaning his legs.

It would get dark soon, he wanted to be able to hang his dirty clothes out to dry before it got too cold.

He followed the girl silently. For his size he was surprisingly good at being stealthy when he needed to be.

When she entered her house with a bucket of water, Garen leaned against a tree and just watched the house for a few moments to make sure everything was all right.

Everything seemed in order.

The man gave a soft hum as his stomach growled.

Time to hunt himself some dinner.

It wasn't too long before he found himself a deer. The death was quick and merciful and soon he was skinning the deer and portioning off the meat.

Too much meat for himself to eat. And the pelt was useless to him.

Perhaps the girl from earlier would have some use for it? He could leave some for her. It was her choice what she did with it, then.

So, Garen gathered together everything he had and headed back towards the house.

He padded up to the front door and laid the pelt down next to it, setting the portioned meat on top of it. There was enough there for quite a few meals if it was stored properly.

He took once last glance back at the house before heading out into the woods again. He didn't venture far, though. Not too far into the woods, he climbed a tree and lounged there, chewing contentedly on his raw meat. He had found very early in his life that he just didn't pick up any illness that humans got, no matter what he did. So he needn't worry about cooking the germs out of meat.

He quite enjoyed the taste of raw meat, anyhow.

Catching animals was hard for Elleon, even harder was getting a pelt off in tact.

Usually he would set traps for rabbits, something he could take care of easily and not risk getting hurt, all the blankets in his house were made that way, a large patchwork of rabbit pelts.

Once he had finished washing himself he gathered a change of clothes and got dressed before heading outside to hang them up.

Unknown to him that Garen had placed food and fur at his door, he couldn't see it and tripped over it as he exited the house.

The boy let out a yelp as he hit the dirt, sitting up quickly to inspect what he had fallen over, his hands gracing over the fur, an animal? No...just it's skin.

His lips pursed a little as his fingers traced over the damp meat, still warm from being carved, that man had left him a gift? Why, what did he want?

Elleon quickly hung out his wet clothes and gathered up the meat and pelt in his arms, if this man was here to hurt him, he would have done it already, he had been defenseless before.

"You're still here aren't you?" He called out, stroking a hand over the pelt, he had never had the chance of getting one this big, perhaps he would make a coat from it for winter.

"If you're here you might as well come inside, it gets cold at night."
He added before turning around and padding back inside the house to cook his dinner.

Garen raised his head as the girl called out to him, his attention drifting away from his whittling for a moment.

He didn't respond, though. Just went back to whittling.

At the invitation, though, he did perk up a little. He was being invited inside?

That girl had no sense of self preservation.

He slid out of his tree easily and made his way towards the house. He didn't bother trying to be quiet. He wanted her to know he was there.

He settled down right outside her door and pulled out his whittling project again.

Elleon would prefer to have the man where he could hear him instead of outside where he would be constantly wondering if he was still there or had left.

It eased him a little bit just knowing the location of the man.

The boy looked up a little as he heard the man sit beside his front door, his lips pursed a little before he turned back to his meat, slowly cutting up a little of the deer meat and adding it into the pot which dangled over his fireplace.

He added a few more vegetables and herbs until the stew was bubbling away and cooking, the rest of the meat was salted and put into a cooling box which he had enchanted to constantly remain cold on the inside.

Elleon then turned to the pelt, rubbing salt into the skin before heading out the back door to stretch the skin against the wall and tied it up to dry out.

Garen busied himself with his project, whittling away the wood a small sliver at a time.

It was slowly beginning to take shape and it was looking good.

This little project was nowhere near as intricate as some things he'd carved but it would be cute. He'd probably leave it here for the girl when he was done with it. She'd probably be able to appreciate the cuteness of it better than he could.

He began humming softly to himself

Elleon padded back inside to stir his stew, making sure the bits on the bottom didn't burn to the pot.

It was beginning to smell good, he hadn't had deer in a long time, it would be nice to have something other than rabbit or fish.

His mind wandered to the door, had it been a good idea to let the man so close? Probably not, but it was done now, there was nothing he could do about, besides the man seemed content sitting outside.

Elleon tied his hair back out of his face, letting it fall back in a loose pony tail as the shorter fronts framed his face.

When the stew was done he spooned it into a bowl for his dinner, there was still more left in the pot, he didn't want it to go to waste and storing it would be difficult now that his box was filled with a slab of meat.

Instead he scooped it into a second bowl, placed a spoon into it and opened the door a tiny amount, only enough to fit the bowl through, which he slid out for the man before letting the door swing shut again.

Garren's cheery tune stopped when he heard the creak of the door.

His eyes flickered up as he watched the girl push a bowl through the door and close it again.

Too kind for her own good, he decided, setting the almost completed woodwork down and picking up the bowl. He dropped the spoon down on his lap and lifted the bowl, sipping at the broth.

She could cook. That was always a good thing. He genuinely couldn't remember the last time he had cooked food. Garen just didn't bother cooking anything himself. He had the immune system of just about anything that wasn't human. Cooking was a luxury that Garen didn't need.

Despite outward appearances, Elleon was by no means a fragile person, he chose to cook and have this little life, he wanted it to somewhat resemble life in a normal town, despite the fact he lives miles away from the nearest one.

It was what he was use to, now out in the wilderness on his own he had tried to replicate it, it wasn't perfect, but it was the best he could do.

He sat down on the rabbit skin rug and huddled closer to his fireplace as he ate, chewing on each chunk slowly, savoring the taste of the deer.

"Thank you for the deer."

He muttered softly, unable to resist the chance to talk to someone else, even if for only a little while, taking to animals didn't have the same effect as an actual person.

The mutter was soft, but he just caught it over the cracking of the fire he could hear and the smacking of his lips.

"Thanks for the meal," was what he replied with, setting the empty bowl down next to him. He hadn't much liked the cooked meat, but it was a meal and he couldn't turn down any meal given to him. It just wasn't right.

He picked up his carving again and began scraping small slivers of wood off of it. Now he was just refining it to look like what he wanted it to.

Elleon couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that there wasn't more talking to be had but it was best to distance himself, the last thing he needed was to actually start feeling lonely when this man finally left.

Instead he picked up his bowl when he was finished, cleaning it and put it away before heading toward the little nook that was his bedroom.

He had a straw mattress covered in a bundle of fur blankets, the boy crawled into them eagerly, wrapping himself up as the night grew colder, the fire and his furs would keep him toasty warm.

Garen grinned as he held up the finished piece, looking over it carefully.

It wasn't meant to be perfect, but he liked to know that it at least looked good. He was gifting this one; it needed to have some semblance of a good quality carving.

When he was pleased, he set it down next to the bowl and pushed himself to his feet.

He returned not long later with a good chunk of wood to carve.

Elleon lay in bed, idly listening to the crackling of the fire and the scrapping of a blade against wood.

He had already guessed what the man was doing outside, not that he minded at all.

Still, it was nice to simply listen to someone else work for a little while, he was always so timid when he heard noises coming from outside, it was hard living out in the woods like this, but he didn't have much of an option any more with the war breaking out.