Az reached Lake Aelin one day, after a while of wandering around as usual. He had smell water from a distance away, and ran to the source of it, stumbling across this beauitful lake. He stood on the point of a beach where it paperlip-turned around, facing out against the lake. He looked out at the lake, panting slightly from his long sprint, seeing a huge mountain range over looking it, and an island out in the middle.


Looking behind him, he saw that there could be things that could interrupt his time of rest, which he wanted realy bad at the moment. Well, unwanted interruptions at least. Seeing that the island would most likely be deserted from animals, he jumped into the cool lake and swam across the water to it. It was chilly water, but it was quite refreshing. He took his sweet time getting across the 100 meter or so gap of water between the two banks, enjoying the little swim. It was getting close to sunset, and the light shone about a golden yellow on the trees, mountains, everything.

He reached the islands bank and walked onto the island, feeling the warm sand on his feet. He put his hands on his hips and looked up at the small mountain on the hill, seeing it would be a perfect place to relax. He broke out into a mad dash, almost like he was in a triathalon, just without the biking, running up the whole small mountain in maybe five minutes. He reached the top, and had to stop himself hard to keep from going down the other side. He smiled, putting his hands on his hips, regaining his breath and looking around to see that there was a huge boulder going up above the trees.

He regained his breath and climbed up the rock, breaching the canopy to the trees and finding the sunset lighting up all the scenery around. There Az sighed in relief, finally able to relax and skip out on a few fights. He sat down and laid back on the rock, crossing his ankles and resting his wrists on his forehead, bathing in remaining sunlight. The sun warmed his body, evaporating the water off of his clothes, and soon to be dry within the next ten minutes.

It felt so good for Az to be laying there, relaxed, away from fighting, away from crazy people. It was rare that Az ever got a chance like this, and it was chances like these where Az sometimes wished he could meet someone new who didn't want to bash in his head because 500 bucks was riding on it... He closed his eyes, listening to the silence about him, smelling the salty air, feeling the warm sunlight on his face. What was more paradise than that?

Merenwen had arrived at the lake around mid-day and wondered if she would meet any of her old friends here this time. The last time she had come here she had me up with Zenith, though after that things hadn't gone so well. She still loved the lake, even though not all of her memories were roses, because it was a place where nature was in control and the water was always cool and refreshing. She walked along the beach for awhile and picked a few berries to munch on. She still hadn't come across anyone and she wanted to spend some time in the water before nightfall so she stopped where she was and headed out into the lake.

She swam out to the island that was near the middle of the lake and left her stuff there so that it wouldn't be anywhere that someone could steal it. With this done she went back into the water and laid out on her back. She was floating in the water and feeling the warm rays of the sun bounce off of her. She was completely relaxed and after a while she fell into a half-sleep state. She didn't realize how long she had been there but all of a sudden she heard splashing coming from the other side of the island. She flipped over wondering who had made the noise and began to tread water. With the island between her and the noise she could not tell what had happened but she did realize that the sun was setting.

She decided it would be best if she moved back to the island before it got too late and figured out what the noise had been. With this thought she swan quietly towards the island and pulled herself up onto the beach. She decided not to bring all of her stuff along for now but she did grab her dagger in case she found herself needing a weapon. She hoped that wouldn't be the case as she had no want for a fight but knew that it would be better to be prepared then to lie dying because she hadn't brought her dagger along.

She crept up to the top of the hill on the island thinking she could use the highest point to look out at the water on the other side. As she reached the top she thought she saw something that didn't belong, but she couldn't be sure as it was still hidden from view. She crept towards the top at a slower speed but knew that if there was someone there they would have a good chance at hearing her. She was quiet but had not mastered the ability to move silently, she had always become preoccupied during those lessons as a child.

By this point she could see that someone was resting at the top of the hill and she guessed that the noise had been this person swimming to the island. She crept closer and saw that it was a man. He seemed to be in a relaxed state but she couldn't tell from her current angle whether his eyes were closed or not. She tried to shift into a better position when she accidentally stepped on a twig that snapped loudly in the silence. She groaned and was sure that she would be caught so she set her dagger beside her in order to not look like she had come to threaten him and waited to see what would happen.

Az's body had practically shut down, his muscles relaxed and loose, his breathing slow and steady. He could have sworn he heard the gears in his head slow down or stop, or break, or something. But his moment of bliss was snapped back into reality at the snap of a twig. He body shot upright, hit ab muscles reluctantly groaning with the sudden effort to move. He sat there a moment, looking around, and seeing someone right nearby. A woman at that. He blinked, staring for a moment, since he wasn't actually expecting someone to pop up on him. A woman at that. Especially one like her.

He shook his head, catching himself staring at the blonde hair. He was a sucker for blondes, but he didn't tell anyone that. He relaxed again, sinking his shoulders and letting out a relieved sigh. "Ok, good, you're not some bargain boss stalking me to put me into a fight." He settled back, leaning on his hands and letting the warm sun warm his body. He smiled in a friendly way at her, his pure black eyes glancing at her. "Sorry, I just thought you might have been someone else, but I've never seen you before, so I guess that's a good thing." He said with a chuckle, relieving some more of his tension. "And don't worry, my muslces were only starting to atrophy, so maybe it was better to snap out of that," He joked, acting like he was someone who was super self conscious of his muscles. Which he wasn't, he just thought he should he throw something random and useless out there.

"Nice day thought eh?"

When the man shot up from his rested position Merenwen jumped a little. She had expected that he would hear her but somehow she had not expected his reaction to be so fast. She was a little twitchy and frightened because she had set her dagger aside and if he chose to attack her she would only have her powers to use in order to stop him. Then she saw him relax and so she was able to do the same thing. It looked as if he had no plans to attack her even though she had snuck up on him.

When he began talking about bargain bosses coming around to put him in fights she blinked a little; she had never really thought about what it would be like to be hunted down and put in a fight but cold see why it might happen with this man. She could see that his muscles were well defined and though she had a decent amount of muscle she knew it was nothing in comparison to him. She was glad to be toned and built as she was but thought that he somehow looked right with al of the muscle. She had seen some men who had similar amounts of muscle and they had looked utterly ridiculous but that wasn't true with him. She didn't even know why these thoughts were running through her head; maybe it was because she had been off on her own for a while.

She didn't know why it was a good thing that they had never met; though there were some people whom she had met and never wished to see again that was not true with others. She thought that it must surely be the same for him. She didn't get the chance to comment on this though as he continued to talk. His comment about his muscles starting to atrophy made her laugh a little, she didn't know if he really worried about it or if he was just joking but the idea of it seemed so absurd that she had to laugh. She was smiling when he spoke again and his comment made her smile even more.

She looked up into the sky and allowed the sun to play across her face. It was catching in her hair and giving it a golden glow. She breathed in the fresh air and said, "It is a beautiful day." She then looked back down towards him and said, "I am Merenwen Coamenel, and who might you be?" She hoped he would answer because she always felt more comfortable when she got to know people better. Though she had relaxed there was still a part of her that was on guard against him and would be until she had learned more.

Az caught himself starting again when she let the sun play with her, her hair radiating in the light. He blinked, feeling his eyes starting to dry out from the lack of blinking. His black eyes then surveyed quickly over her, and he noticed that she too had quite a bit of muscle. He also noticed that she was a good foot shorter than him. He suspected that maybe she was a fighter or something, but didn't dwell on the idea too long. Just the word "fight" irritated him.

He almost missed her introduction, but luckily he snapped up before he did. "I'm Azlateen, but Az is fine. Its easier to remember than Azlateen." He said with a friendly grin and a chuckle. Now he was totally relaxed again. Things for him were suddenly better, since now he could get to know someone in his down time. "ood to meet you Merenwen." He added after the thought of his down time being better.

She smiled when he told her to call him Az because it would be easier to remember then Azlateen. Being an elf she had been around people with much more complicated and hard to remember names so she never really was bothered by them. If he wanted her to call him Az she would because there was no reason not to but it was a little funny to her as his name wasn't that complicated. She was wondering if she should have given him some short form of her name but she had never really used one and so it hadn't come to her mind.

His comment on it being odd to meet her here made her grin. She loved the lake and over the years she had found that it attracted quite a few people. It wasn't that she had ever found it to be swarming with people but she often came upon others during her visits. To him she said, "This lake is a place that I find myself returning to fairly often as it helps to put me at peace. I find it is a great place to release my stresses and regroup before heading out again." She took a deep breath of the air and sighed happily.

"Have you been here before?" she asked. She only wondered because it would be interesting to know if he came to the lake for similar reasons or if he had just come across it and decided it would be a nice place to relax. As she awaited his answer she remembered that her stuff was still down at the edge of the island and her eyes traveled in that direction. She was contemplating going to get it now but decided she would wait. She didn't want to wait too long though because she didn't want to leave it completely unguarded as it was now.

Az nodded and smiled. He tossed up a hand in the air with enthusiasm, and half-exclaimed, "Ah! Come sit by me! We're here for the same reason!" He laughed and put his hand back down behind him. He felt this was a little bit of a coincidence, but when two were here for the same reason, maybe not. But he was here to relax for a long time, let his body recover from hits taken, and let his cut heal on his left arm that was bandaged all the way to the elbow. Even though it was soggy, it still held tight. Az was good at bandaging wounds like that.

"But this is the first time I've ever been here. I just so happened to come by it. So I decided to take a swim." He said with a shrug. "It was a nice time of day, and I was already tired from running here basically." Az would probably find himself coming back here again too, if he really wanted to get away from people in general. He noticed too that hardly anyone came here at all, and he knew right away it was going to be nice.

Merenwen was smiling down at him as it seemed he was nice enough. Though there were still slight doubts in her mind she had decided that he wasn't here to hurt her and it would be very nice to spend some time getting to know him. She was going to reply to his commented about her sitting next to him when e continued to talk. She smiled more at learning that this was his first time at the lake; he had picked a good time to find it.

When he had finished talking she said, "I would be glad to sit and talk with you but first I must go and gather my stuff. I left it down on the beach and don't want to risk having it stolen. I'll be right back" With this said she gave him a big smile and darted off back to where her belongings lie. When she reached the shores she was happy to see that nothing had been taken. She gathered her stuff together but decided not to strap her weapons down or put hr armor back on as she was just going to be relaxing. It was a little awkward carrying everything this way but after a few adjustments she headed back up the hill.

As she neared Az again she picked her dagger up from where she had set it before and stepped back out into the clearing. A smile formed on her lips and she set her stuff down before moving over beside him. Careful to leave a fair amount of space between them she found a nice spot and sat down. With that she glanced back over at him and noticed the bandaging around his arm. She thought it odd that she hadn't noticed it before and wondered what had happened. She lifted her eyes to his and said, "I notice your arm is wrapped. I have some healing powers, though they only work on minor wounds, but if you would like me to try I may be able to help you." Hoping she didn't upset him by mentioning the bandaging she gave him a slightly small smile and awaited his answer.

He nodded to her when she said she had to go for a sec and get her stuff. He knew it was for good security, but he really didn't know who would take things here at the lake. I mean, there was like, no one there to take anything. But then again, some squirrel might snag it and take it to its den for hybernation...

He smile when she returned, quite surprised at how fast she came back. A thought in the back of his head said that she wouldn't come back, but that was totally disproven when she did come back. He saw what she had and could never understand why anyone would need armor. Az never needed it, despite the few scars on his chest, but he could defend well, that's why. And it was a lot of extra weight, which Az wouldn't want either. He rather stay light and quick than slow and get hit hard, with or without armor.

He listened to her mention his bandaged arm, and he had actually forgotten it was there. He held up and turned it, examining it a little bit. "This little scratch? Nah, its fine. Its bandaged, and I don't even feel it anymore. Besides, I'd rather let my body do its thing rather somehow form a dependency on powers. But thanks for offering. I'll keep it in mind when I run out of bandages for a huge slice or something." He said with a chuckle. "At least you don't run to those things, since you don't have many scars."

She was smiling at him and ready to get up to be of assistance but it turned out he would prefer to heal naturally. She wasn't bothered by this though, some people didn't like music and some where even scared of it. She had been raised around magic and though she had been injured badly enough that she couldn't heal herself with the small level of ability she had; she would use it when she could in order to heal as quickly as possible. She could remember times when she hadn't been capable of healing her own wounds and those times had been hard because she didn't like to depend on others and hated being stuck off of her feet.

She chuckled a little when he commented on how she must not run towards those things believing he meant fighting, though he may have meant healing naturally. She wasn't sure so decided she would answer to both in order to cover all of her bases. After glancing up a t the sky for a moment she turned back to him and said, "I have been in some fights over these last years but if my magic is enough to heal me I often use it so that it will take me less time to regain my full abilities. There have been times when I have been fairly badly injured and I am not completely without marks but I have been lucky in the fact that most times I heal without problems."

She then looked back up into the sky and thought through everything that had happened to her since the first time she had left home to go on her adventures. She had made her share of enemies and knew that there were still people out there who would like nothing better then to kill her. She had also finally met her elemental sisters who her mother had mentioned a few times in her youth. She had learned a lot on her adventures and met many people both good and bad. In all, she was glad to be here now because there seemed to be no one that wanted to hurt her and she was glad to feel safe for this time.

With these thoughts in mind she turned back to Az and said, "So, it seems like you live an interesting life, based on everything you've said so far. Would you mind telling me more about yourself?" There was a warm smile on her face but her hair was falling across her eyes and she was having some difficulty seeing through it so she reached up and pushed it back behind her ear. 'Much better' she thought to herself as she was now able to see him clearly. Her eyes were glittering with the last of the suns rays as it set in the west.

He nodded, staring again, this time at her smile. His thoughts were blank, and he just nodded, everytime she said something. Blinking from his dry eyes again, he said, "Yeah, I've always healed naturally, no matter how long it took. Build calluses." He grinned and looked to the side slightly. He looked back to her, and thought for a second about her question. He almost missed it too. Geez I'm horrible at this today... He thought to himself, smacking himself mentally.

"About me?" He said, stumbling over his words a little bit. He gave it a little more thought, recalling all of his travels to the various martial art temples, academies, many different fights, etc. "Hm... Well, for starters, I'm a wanderer, just wandering around everywhere, stumbling across things. Like this lake, for instance." He held his arms out, motioning around to it. His ab muslces tensed hard, stablizing him to keep upright. He put his arms back down and relaxed again. "I didn't even know it was around here. So, things like that get me into trouble a lot, so I've been in countless fights. But, I've had experience, since my travels have taken me to a lot of different martial art temples, and I've mastered each one. I don't mean to be bragging or anything, but I just had a lot of time of my hands." He paused, chuckling.

"Other than that, there's not much more to me. I'm just fighting to live, living to fight, put simply. Sure, they all have their interesting moments, but, if you think about it, its all the same thing." He caught the glint in her eyes, and looked back at her as he talked with a simliar glint, but his was a shade darker, since his eyes were pure black, all around. "Good enough for you?" He asked, with a sly half-grin on his lips.

As she sat waiting for him to answer she wondered how open he would be. She didn't know if he would give her full stories or just small tidbits that would tell her the basis of how his life had been. She would be interested to hear full stories but didn't know that he would give her that much unless she specifically asked for it. When he finally began to speak she tuned in to what he was saying and waited to see how he would go about giving the information. His mention of allowing himself to heal naturally and its giving him calluses sounded sensible for someone who often felt injured but though she was a fighter she didn't like the idea of having calluses all over her body from her injuries.

He didn't give her much detail about himself, just the basic facts as she had expected he would. She found it interesting that just wondering would cause him to get into many fight situations but then she had often found herself in some form of danger during her adventures. The more she thought about it the less surprising it seemed that he would run into trouble when he was just wondering around. She chuckled a little when he mentioned living to fight and fighting to live. She may fight at times but she didn't live for it and didn't know why someone would choose such a life. She didn't hate fights but they weren't her favorite thing to be a part of either. She may have called herself a fighter but that was only because she was ready, knew how, and would always fight when the need arose.

He then looked back at her and she caught a bit of the suns glint in his eyes. The effect was a little mesmerizing and she almost missed his asking if it was good enough for her. She put on a goofy contemplative face that she hoped would make him laugh a little and said, "It will do for now, though I would be interested in hearing more about your journeys at some point. It is interesting to me that anyone would live to fight as though I know how and am always prepared for a fight to break out find too much pleasure in my explorations and peaceful times away from fighting to want it to rule my life." She fell silent and hoped that he wouldn't find anything she had said to be rude as that had not been her meaning at all. The thought that she may have sounded rude made her blush slightly and she glanced away in hopes of his not noticing her blush.

He gave an understanding nod, also knowing how it was to only fight when needed. Most of the time he decided to throw the first blow, but that was his cocky ego having a little bit of fun. He was usually out looking for fights, and got them a lot. Good challenges were appreciated, and it just made him better, and a little more knowledgeable that there were others better than him out there. He tried to be modest at times, but sometimes it just didn't work. And when it did, well, you had better throw the first punch to get him to fight.

But there were so many journeys that he could talk about, ones going to temples, wandering throught he woods, mountains, anywhere anyone might think. He could go on for a long time with them, but he knew they would get boring fast, since they were all about the same thing, and he would get a little full of himself and get really into story-telling.

He then saw her turn away, catching just a tiny glimpse of her blush. "Its nothing to be embarrased about. Not everyone fights because they have too, and its probably better for someone to live that way. Me, I just like living the way I do, as long as I get a few breaks from time to time. Just like now. Soon, I'll be ready to get back into the action and my travels." He said with a nod, but a kind of reluctant nod at that. "Yeah, maybe I'll talk about a few of my travels later. I have tons, and I could go for days telling them. They'd get boring though I'd say." He said with a chuckle.

She really hoped he wouldn't take what she had said wrong, it wasn't like she looked down on him for his way of life, it was just something she would never be able to do. Of course, she was short and getting into fights could be bad because if it wasn't using magic then her height gave her a big disadvantage. In hand to hand fights she had to find a way inside her opponents punches if she wanted to be able to reach and that was often fairly difficult. On the other hand, she didn't mind getting in a fight and was always willing to help friends so a part of her could understand why some people might live to fight.

When he finally spoke she glanced back towards him and waited to see how he would react. She was glad that he didn't seem to be upset at what she had said but even with being told that there was no reason to be embarrassed she couldn't change that fact, the way she had spoke wasn't very carefully thought out and se knew that some people would have taken it wrong. She smiled at the fact that he enjoyed his way of life as long as he got breaks from time to time, she could understand the need to break from her day to day life and just lie out and relax. She loved traveling and going on adventures but even though her life wasn't as demanding as she expected his was it was still nice to break at times and just relax in one spot.

When he had finished talking she was smiling again and said, "I really would be interested in hearing some of your stories and if you would like I can tell you some of my own. I doubt they are as interesting as yours but it's only fair that I be willing to share if I am asking you to. You also needn't worry about boring me, I love to hear stories." She smiled again and waited to see how he would respond. It was nice sitting here and just talking with someone new, she just hoped that no one would come upon them who had it out for either of them. She didn't feel like dealing with Will or the Dread Legion members currently and doubted he felt like being troubled by anyone who might be after him.

No, he didn't take what she said wrong, since everyone had a different life style, and his so happened to be a violent one. What's to hide or be offended about? That was his philosophy, to just live and do whatever you want. If you don't like it, change and do something else. No reason to be offended about the truth.

He was glad to see her smiling, glad to know that he wasn't too boring yet. Soon enough though stories started piling in his mind and scratching at his skull to get out and be told. He would have liked to hear a few of her stories too, maybe learn something from them. He never stopped learning too, no matter what the experience was. "Well, how about you tell me one of your stories, and tell one about me?" He suggested with a light shrug. It was another good way for him to get out and relax, hearing stories, and telling some. He laid back on the rock, stuck up a knee, and rested an arm over his eyes. "I'm just gonna lay back. I'm beat tired from my days. But I'm still listening, don't worry." He said, almost drowsily. He wasn't tired enough to sleep yet, but fatigue did show in his voice.

As she waited for him to reply her mind began to run through her stories and she wondered which one she should tell him. While she had a number of stories that she found interesting she wasn't sure if they would interest him. His having spent his life fighting made her feel a little self conscious about her stories as she knew there where more exciting fights that often broke out but if he wanted her to share she would.

When he mentioned that maybe she could tell a story first and then he would tell one in return she again ran through her stories. She had hoped he would tell a story first as it would give her more time to choose a story but it looked as if she would need to determine what story to tell quickly. She thought he might be interested in her story about fighting a Kraken but it was also possible that she would bore him as he had been worried about doing to her. She listened as he said he was just going to lay back but was still listening. She smiled a little thinking she would know if he became bored because he would fall asleep if that happened.

With those thoughts in mind she shifted slightly to a more comfortable position herself and prepared to speak. "If you get bored by my story feel free to tell me," she began. "I will tell you a story about the events from the first time I ever went out on a ship. I know from that it probably sounds boring but I think the story is interesting as it wasn't an average trip, at least I hope that isn't average for sailing. I had been planning on visiting the desert to continue on my trek to see all of Arda and thought it would be fun to take a ship rather then travel all the way over land. It was a nice day and I was just standing on deck watching as the coastline got further and further away. Suddenly the ship jolted under my feet and I was thrown to the ground on top of a man who had chosen that area to sleep in. I jumped up and when he sat up from being awoken he looked past me and then he was off following the sailors. I followed along wondering what was happening only to find that the ship had been attacked by a Kraken," she paused here and thought about how much detail of the battle she should give.

"One of the tentacles struck out hitting the man I had awoken and I moved over to try and help him. I managed to partially freeze one of the tentacles of the beast and the sailors began to attempt turning the ship around but there was no hope of it. By this time I had been separated from the man again and had pulled my shortsword. I used the blade and my spell in an attempt to fend of the tentacles that came towards me. I tried to slice through one tentacle but wasn't strong enough and my sword got caught. I was then lifted up into the air and thrown across the ship. Another of the creature’s tentacles came crashing down where I landed and I manage to roll to the side as the tentacle broke straight through the ship. I managed to keep from falling in the water, though just barely, and then moved back in to try and help the man fight the beast off. I chose not to use my shortsword as it had landed me in a mess so instead I cast my spell again and froze a tentacle as it came my way. I was caught off guard by another tentacle and the Kraken lifted me off the ship and into the air. The tentacle continued to tighten around me and I just barely managed to freeze it before passing out from the pain. I'm not sure what exactly happened then but when I cam to I was lying on a plank of wood and the creature was gone. I managed to make it to an island where I again passed out," she said.

She hadn't given all of the details and as she thought back on what she had said she thought it really hadn't been as interesting as she had hoped for it to sound. She didn't want to think about the event long enough to remember all of the details as when she thought about it too much she could still feel the Kraken's tentacle tightening around her. She shivered a little at the thought and then said, "It isn't the most interesting story in the world but I hope I didn't bore you too much. I would love to hear one of your stories now, if you wouldn't mind." She didn't know what he had thought of the story and while part of her wanted to know his reaction another part would be happy not knowing. She still thought he would likely have many interesting stories and likely feel more comfortable giving details so she hoped he would tell her one now.

Az didn't think any story could be boring, unless they told it like they were back in King Arthur's court. But hers got his attention. He didn't know what a Kraken was, but at the sound of tentacles, he figured it must have been like a giant squid. He looked under his arm, watching her with an interested twinkle in his eye, listening to how she was beaten to unconsiousness by it. Now Az never had something as bad as that happen ever, even in his dreams.

"Wow." He said simply when she finished. "That was crazy. Don't even say your stories are boring." He said with a chuckle. "That one wasn't."

"Ok, my turn then." He thought a bit, trying to find one as epic as that. Not much luck, but one popped into his head. He sat up and brought both his knees up, and rested his elbows on them. It was in the days of when he was still training, at an academy a few days walk from the lake.

"So, I was still in my days of training at an academy, not too far from here actually, just a few days walk. It was a fight at near dark, and I was testing for my last step to finish everything there. I was blindfolded, and in a huge arena. I wasn't allowed weapons, sight, and I wasn't even able to see my opponent. And yes, it was only one.

"Ok, the instructor says fight, and I'm only using my available senses. I hear footsteps approach quickly, but heavily. It sounded like a big guy, but I couldn't be sure, since they sounded far away. But, they were darn close, because I felt comething knock against the side of my head. It hurt, and I flew to the side a few feet. I rolled and stood up, suddenly alert with the rest of my senses. Smell, feel, hearing, not taste though."

"I hear the footsteps again, and this time I feel air rushing at me. Then I smelled sweat, and I let loose with a huge kick aimed up, and I made contact with apparently his face. And this was a big guy, because I kicked above my head and came in contact with a face. So this guy is at least 6 and a half feet tall. The fighting goes on a little while longer, I'm throwing kicks, punches, getting thrown around. Until finally I was thrown on the ground again and was pinned down by this monster. He starts beating my face into the ground, and I could feel the ground cracking behind my head as I'm getting pummeled. I was getting angry by then, and I managed to get my arms free. With a huge effort that costed me a few a days and four major muscles pulled, I grabbed him by his thighs and threw up, and sent him flying. I heard him land a few feet away, and I scrambled up.

"Calculating where he was by the sound of his fall, I jumped into the air and drove down with a flying knee, right into his face. I swear, I felt the ground sink a few inches, and heard bones crush. I rolled, suddenly hurting, and laid there, listening and panting. I didn't hear another sound, and my instructor told me to take off my blindfold. I did, and looked at my feat. There was this huge, 7 foot man, with a chest at least 3 feet across. I mean, I couldn't believe it. And then, as someone might think, I passed out." He chuckled and shook his head, feeling his face and head being pounded again.

"Not as dramatic as being beaten by a Kraken, but it was hard for me."

She smiled and blushed a little when he commented on her story. She was glad that he had liked it and hadn't been bored, though she still expected to thoroughly enjoy listening to his. She had always preferred to listen to the stories of others then share her own because she had lived hers and some of them she would have been more then happy to forget. She shifted again and lay back with her hands below her head looking up at the sky.

Her mind tuned in to every word he said as he told her about the fight near the end of his training. She couldn't even think of being without her site in a fight, nor of fighting someone as big as the man had been. She was very small herself so comparatively the man would have to be smaller for the fight to be the same in size difference but she was still thinking of this hulking seven foot tall giant standing opposite her. She wouldn't want to be in that fight even with her sight, let alone blind folded.

She was glad that he had won the fight and grimaced at the thought of the injuries he talked of sustaining. She had magic to help her heal but knowing that he chose to heal naturally she couldn't imagine how long it must have taken him. He had beaten his opponent while she had barely managed to get out alive and didn't even know how she had managed that. He must be a very skilled fighter to be able to win such a fight with only his other senses and no sight to go by. She again thought that even with sight to defeat someone of that size was a major feat.

When he commented that it wasn't as dramatic as being beaten b a Kraken but had been hard for him she turned to wards him and smiled. She then said, "I can't even imagine fighting someone of that size and winning. Even with my sight I can't imagine being able to manage such a thing. To have done so without ever being able to view your opponent is amazing and I wish I had more ability in fighting. The key difference in our stories is that I was beaten and still don't know how I managed to survive while you overcame what was against you even when it was stacked so high."

She gave him a big smile and said, "I would still be interested in hearing more of your stories. It sounds as if you have an aptitude for fighting that I never found and I would very much enjoy hearing more." With that she shifted again slightly to pillow her head on her arm and watched him as she waited to see how he would reply.

((Sorry for dropping my post length down but I really didn't know where to go with it.))

((Its still longer than two of my normal sized posts...))

He chuckled and sighed a little, looking up at the sky in thought. "Oh man, there's just so many. Since that last one I told I won, I'll tell you one where I lost, just so I can still be half human." He said sarcastically, but truthfully.

"I had entered this tourney a few years ago, still in training, of course, and got matched up against a guy just like me. It was the final bracket, so this fight determined who would be champ or not. This guy, like I said, was just like me. Could fight well, had a great build, and was really fast and strong.

"It was an equal match when it started. We started in huge attacks, letting off huge punches to each other faces, hard kicks to the gut, and everything else that goes on in a fight. It lasted a long time, and I swear everyong in the crowd had to take at least one bathroom break it was that good of a fight. Our attacks were fast too, so everyone had to be on their toes to keep up with us. I had finally gotten around a punch through, got behind him and got him into a headlock. I held for a moment, and backflipped, slamming him into the ground at the end of the flip. That made a good crowd pleaser too, I'd say.

He got up fast though, and was obviously angry. He swiped me, caught me in mid air with a knee to my back, and sent me back up into the air another foot or so. Then to top that off, he came down upon me with an axe kick to put me on the ground. And for a rather large part of the fight, that's what went on, was dramatic attacks such as that. I won't describe them all, since that's a whole book of them basically.

So towards the end of the fight, I took a good hit to the side of the head from a kick. I was thrown to the ground, and this guy was so fast that before I even his the ground I felt a knee make contact with my face, which just made my fall harder. And, I was knocked out pretty good.

"Yes, another fight where my face got smashed in. But the training I went through to make up for that was rigorous. But hey, I lost, he won, and we made acquaintences with each other, and actually we sparred a few more times before parting. At least we didn't hate each others' guts, which helps a lot on my part." Az chuckled slightly. That was probably one of his more memorable tourney's, since he won most of the small ones like that.

"So you've never entered any tournaments like that have you? Or is that not your fancy, to fight for fun? I've kind of caught that drift so far." He said, with a slightly sheepish look.

She found it interesting that he would tell her a story in which he had lost as many wouldn't wish to admit that they had ever done so. She liked the fact that he was being open about having actually lost in a fight and thought that it showed a lot about his character. To find someone so open about their experiences was rare indeed and this made her even more grateful for getting to meet him and having this chance to talk with him.

She found the story to be very interesting and wouldn't have minded hearing more of the details. Though she often used magic when she fought she would have very much enjoyed knowing more about how to fight without magic. She knew that there were people who could block the use of magic and sometimes worried about having to face one of them. She knew how to fight well enough for most confrontations but she also knew that many people would find it easy to defeat her.

She found herself laughing a little at his comment about it being another fight in which his face was smashed in. It wasn't that the idea of his face being knocked in was funny, that wasn't funny at all. It just seemed to her that he talked of that in a slightly flippant way as if it was nothing, just another small part of the life he chose to live. She didn't dislike fighting per say but she wouldn't be fond of her face being smashed as she tended to like it the way it was.

When he asked whether or not she had ever entered such a tournament and made his comment about thinking she likely wouldn't find such a thing fun she thought through the fights she had been in. Some of them had been enjoyable but she hadn't been in a tournament such as that for a number of reasons. She gave a little smile and said, "It is true that I have never been in such a tournament though my reasons differ from not enjoying fighting. Although I would never choose fighting as my life’s course I actually can enjoy it at times, though mostly I do so in order to protect people I care about. I also tend to use spells in my fighting because I don't have that great of fighting skills.

"As for why I have never fought in a tournament, my main reason is that I feel a great disadvantage in that I am quite short and my reach is lacking. I have found that in hand to hand fighting I often have difficulty in beating people because they can hit me way before I can reach them. Also, every time I have come across such a tournament all of the contestants have been men and it seemed as if a woman wouldn't be accepted. My final reason is that while I may sometimes enjoy the battle I have found that the injuries I receive leave me unable to get on with my travels for more time then I like to be still. My healing powers would not heal me of the level of injuries I would likely get in such a tournament and I would likely spend a week or more trying to heal."

She didn't know what his reaction to her thoughts would be but she didn't think it likely that she would ever get into one of those tournaments. She didn't mind watching them and actually would have thought about entering one if not for the reasons she had listed but she knew that without more ability in hand to hand fighting she wouldn't join because she would have no chance.

"I may someday think more on joining such a tournament but I would have to learn more about hand to hand fighting before I would ever do so," she said. It was the truth and all that she could do now was see how he would respond. It was possible that he would want to show her some fighting moves or that he would just want to move on to more stories but even with everything she had learned about him so far she couldn't know how he would react.

He nodded at her reason to refuse a tournament. They were reasonable, and he could seew hy being short could be a problem. One of his own advantages was because he was tall, being 6'2", but he has been beaten by short people. And being wounded would keep him out of one, no matter the prize or competition. Another time... He would tell them.

"Maybe you can join a tourney where magic is allowed. Heck, maybe we'll get matched up someday. That'd be a good fight I bet." He said with a grin. He thought he would prep things up a little bit, but didn't underestimate her at all. Though he did have a prick in the back of his mind that said she would be no match for him, but he ignored it, being taught by every one of his instructors not to get cocky like that. He shrugged though. "Hand to hand combat isn't all that complicated, as long as you can think fast on your feet and know how to block a punch coming at your face. If you can do that, why know the rest of the book?" He said sarcastically.

He had grown a little more comfortable around her, and ceased staring as much, but this one time he was caught doing it again. Its the hair... He thought to himself, blinking hard. "Maybe I'll teach you sometime. Not now, I'm beat." He said, leaning his head back and letting out a hard sight. He looked back up at her and said, "Would you like that? Get a little more experience at exchanging punches? It does come in handy when some guy drunk with a sword comes swinging at you." That's happened to him too...

She sat listening to his response and wondered if she would ever choose to join such a tournament. She knew that many people had many more powers then she did but thought it might be exciting to try it. His mention of their possibly coming up against each other some day made her grin slightly. If they were to come up against each other in a fight where magic wasn't used she didn't really think she would be able to beat him but she hoped that she would at least be able to not be beaten too badly. If magic was used she didn't know how the fight would go because she didn't know how much power he had.

When he spoke about being able to block a punch as one of the most important parts of a hand to hand fight she grinned a little. Sometimes she could block a punch but she didn't know how to do so properly and so it often came more to luck. As for his offering to show her some fighting skills, this was something she would be very interested in. Even if she only ever got into a fight where she could use her powers there would still be the chance that she would have to revert to hand to hand fighting.

When he had finished talking she said, "I would very much enjoy learning anything that you are willing to teach me. I may never base my fighting against most people in hand to hand but it is always best to know as much as you can. As for our possible meeting in a tournament setting someday, that would be interesting but if it is one without magic I would have to give you the upper hand." She smiled at him when she said that, she wasn't bothered at all by telling him that she thought he would win. Thinking of learning from him made her happy though, learning new things was one of her favorite things to do.

"Yeah we'll have to set a day for some training later. Of course, I wouldn't know where to start, so we'd have to do a practice run of a fight, but I'll go easy." He said with a chuckle, and a wink. "Then after a good amount of training, maybe then you'll reconsider entering a tournament. They are fun though, since a lot fo the time you learn something new, meet someone new, and its just a great experience. I'm always there for the competition, and to make a name for myself. And yet, somehow, I like to keep a low profile." He frowned sarcastically, knowing it was weird to keep a low profile but make a name for yourself.

He thought of a random fact though, and just thought he would throw it. "Its good having physical strength and abilities, but if you really want to put them to good use, you have to have good mental strength to. Whichever place I trained at, I was taught to always have a little down time and reflect on what you know and do, and justify things. Basically meditation, one could say." He chuckled airily. "Some of my meditation sessions were both mental and physical. I've had to balance on one foot on a 2-inch wide stick with my eyes closed. But I was only a foot off the ground, so it wasn't that bad. But it was nice, because it was easier to concentrate, since I was focused. Plus the scenery was nice too. It was in a little meadow in the middle of the woods at sunset. Warm, dim, just like now."

He noticed that the sunset was getting a little more intense, the clouds lighting up in reds and yellows, and was getting a little drowsy at this time of day.

As she listened to him talk she rolled over onto her back and looked up into the sky. She could see the colors of the sunset lighting up the clouds and loved how peaceful it was on this little island. The sky was filled with color, birds could be heard chirping their last little chirps of the day, and the whole area smelled of fresh flowers and earth. She could feel a very slight wind blowing across her and it calmed her even more. She loved coming here and taking time to relax because in most places she felt like she had to always be on guard but that wasn’t true here.

She smiled a little at his commenting on needing a small fight to test her abilities and wondered if he would be at all impressed or think her totally lacking in ability from the little she had learned both at home and in her travels. She was glad that he planned to take it easy on her because while she knew some rudimentary fighting she wasn’t exactly skilled. It would be interesting to see how much she remembered and how much she could learn.

As for needing time for meditation, this was something she often did anyways because she had always been taught that the best way to learn from the things that had happened in your life was to look back at them and take stock of each event. Her meditation had never involved standing on one foot on a rather small stick but then, she had always found it easiest to meditate when she merely let the world around her take control and relax her.

She smiled again and said, “When ever you would like to begin I will be ready to show you the little that I know, but remember that it is not much. I do agree that meditation is a key to success in anything and find it to be something I often do in order to reflect on what has happened to me.” She yawned slightly and knew that training would not begin that night. Her body had decided it was tired and she didn’t want to try and jump start her adrenaline or she may never get to sleep.

He looked up to the sky. "Lets plan in a few days when we're all rested up and ready to go. I'll brainstorm some key ideas, and I'll pass them on to you. Soon you'll be a master at fighting." He said with a grin, and a nod looking back to her. "But don't worry, I won't pound it into you. You'll have fun with it, trust me. All of my training was fun for me, but they pounded everything into me. But that's the way I like things though, which everyone thought was unusual."

"So, have you ever thought or meditated on inner struggles from past experiences? I know its a little deep, but everyone has them, and it always changes you in some way. Have you ever wondered why anyone would have such a problem? Like maybe how someone in their younger ages had depression, just because they're hormones were going crazy, but later realized there was nothing to be depressed about? Oddly, I never had those. I think about that a lot, because I was generally a content person, except for a few anger moments in fights. Ok, maybe a lot of moments, but they wouldn't last long. I find it weird, looking at other's experiences such as those..." He said, rambling on about his thoughts. He kind of didn't realize it at first, but his thoughts get arroused easily, and when they're going, they don't stop until every perspective is thoroughly examined. Great for meditating.

She hoped that the training would be fun and expected he was right. As a child she had always enjoyed fighting and competing with the guys, it was more fun to be with them then with the girls a lot of the time. She had always been a bit of a tomboy and though she had become more feminine over the years there was still that tomboy attitude running through her. On the other hand, she expected that this training would take a lot more out of her then any of her childhood bouts and so she expected to be sore before all was said and done.

When he began to talk about meditating on past experiences and struggles from them she began to look back into everything that had happened in her life. She had actually been very lucky in most things and didn't have as many bad experiences to think back on as many people she had spoken to over the years. Sure, she had gone through slight bouts of depression and gotten angry from time to time, but she hadn't faced the level of loss that some of her friends had.

When he finished talking she said, "I don't often think back on past struggles as I have also lived a content life for the most part. I've gone through bouts of depression over stupid things sometimes, such as when my friends coupled up and I wasn't. It never affected me for very long though because I preferred to get out and have fun rather then focus on the things that I didn't have. As for anger, some of the guys teased me sometimes about my being a tomboy and I sometimes got annoyed with some of them. I got into fights with them sometimes but it would blow over before too long and I'd be back to hanging with everyone as if nothing had happened. I've learned to ignore the stupid comments that some people make and always make the best of any given situation." She smiled slightly, it was nice being able to just relax and talk to someone new.

"Ahh, social life stuff." He said with a sarcastic grin, and a wave gesture, as if saying, "Whatever." But he was joking around about it. He laughed a bit. "I only had a social life in high school, then after that, it really wasn't much of one, since I always left everyone after a while in my travels. Put it this way, I usually don't see everyone twice." He shrugged. "But at least you have one. It helps at times, having someone you can turn to, but it just gets in my way if I have something to do. Maybe its just the fact that I haven't had a real one that holds me back from letting it help me." He shrugged and laughed again. He didn't mind not having one.

"As for stupid comments, I like to make sure that they can back up what they're saying by throwing a punch. I say, if you can't back up what crap you're saying in a fight, don't talk at all." He said. "That's another reason why I get into a lot of fights, because I like to teach people a lesson like that around me. Its never out of anger, its more of test of for them. I always have a smile on my face whenever I get into something like that. Makes me kind of crazy though doesn't it? All of this stuff on social life's and lessons?" He chuckled and gave a half grin at the corner of his mouth.

As she sat listening to him speak she found that she was getting a little restless. She felt this urge to sprint off into the water, but maybe tag him first and see if he could catch her. That actually sounded like a fun idea, she could test her speed and get to use up the energy that was suddenly surging through her body. She didn't want to give her idea away though so she continued to relax and listen to what he was saying.

When he had finished thinking she sat up as if she was just going to shift positions to talk to him more and began to respond. "I don't know that it make you crazy. I often find that I don't get nearly as close to people now as I used to because I am always traveling so much. On the other hand, it can be nice to make friends so that when you come across people again you will have a chance to take a break and just have fun. For instance," she said as she pushed herself up from the ground, "You can meet up with them and play a little tag." With that she tagged him and darted off towards the water through the trees and down the hill calling back, "You're it."

She found that she was laughing to hard to run at full speed because if she was correct she had shocked him with her sudden outburst. It may not have surprised him and she may have been laughing at nothing but she didn't think she had given herself away. She also found she had to slow down some because it was fairly dark and though the moon shone in the sky she still couldn't see as well as she would have liked. Even so, she kept on running down the hill towards the water and wondered when he would catch up. She had no doubt that he would catch her, considering how much taller he was, but it would still be interesting to see how long it took and what he would do when he caught her. It could be anything from just tagging her as he went by to picking her up and tossing her in the water but she didn't think he would do anything to harm her so she didn't worry about it.

He was about to reply to what she was saying when his thoughts were iunterrupted by her tagging him. He blinked for a moment, forgetting what tag was for a while. Then he realized he hadn't played the game in years on end. And yet, she was right, getting a chance to relax and play tag. He stood up quickly, his muscles groaning with the effort, telling him to sit back down, but he didn't want to. He then dashed off, closing in every few meters.

He sped down the hill, and saw a flash of her blond hair, and knew that he was getting close. He also saw that she made it down to the water, and thought of a evil-child tag-back. He sped up even more, flashing through the trees and coming out right behind her. Yes it was dark, but Az knew how to use his other senses to navigate on through the dark forest, which gave him more of an advantage as to not slow down. It was about time though that he was able to use his speed for something fun though...

He came up behind her quickly, laughing also, bent down and scooped her up by her knees and onto his shoulder, and dashed down to the water. "Tag!" He yelled, and ran into waist deep water, and lunged forward to even deeper water. He dunked himself and her, rather than him throwing her and have her smack her head on a rock or something, which would be terrible. But, instead of throwing her, he dunked himself along with her in deep water.

He swam around her for a moment to get up to the surface, and surfaced. He looked around for a moment, waiting for her to do the same. He was breathing slightly hard, and still laughing in between breaths. "You're it!" He called out, smiling, treading water with delight finally.

Merenwen was still laughing when she reached the edge of the water but she could hear him coming up behind her. As she went to glance back she felt herself being lifted up off of the ground and the next thing she knew she was back in the water. She heard him yell tag as he dunked them both under and was very happy that it was a warm night and the water wasn’t too cold. She had swam in very cold water before but found that unless it was a very hot day she would much rather the water be at least decently warm.

When he had released her and was swimming back up to the surface of the water her mind shifted to thoughts of pulling a little prank. She wondered how he would react if she just didn’t come up for a while. Would he think something had happened to her or would he figure out that she was just pulling his leg? She was having a hard time deciding whether she should prank him like that or not because she didn’t want to freak him out but she really did enjoy goofing off like that at times. On the one hand she thought he had to know she was at least a competent swimmer since she had made it to the island but on the other she knew that he still didn’t know all that much about her.

In the end she decided not to play that prank, at least not yet, because she didn’t want to upset him and she knew she could always play some other prank later on. With that thought in mind she kicked up until she had reached the surface of the water and broken through. She naturally fell into treading water and glanced up at him with a grin on her face. She was actually having a hard time seeing him because her hair had fallen in her eyes so she pushed it back behind her ears and grinned at him again. She would have pulled her hair up had she had something to do so with but she hadn’t thought about that before starting the little game and all of her stuff was still on the island.

Once she had dealt with her hair she began to swim in his direction in an attempt to catch him before he could get away. She was good at swimming but didn’t know what kind of skill level he had so she didn’t know how long it might take to tag him back but she would find a way. It may take some trickery such as coming at him from below the water but she would start by just feeling out his ability. She was laughing a bit as she swam along but that didn’t affect her very much as she really was comfortable in the water. It was interesting to her that she could be having this much senseless fun with someone she had just met but she was and she wasn’t going to question it.

Az felt a wave of quick relief as she surface, now knowing that she could swim well and didn't hit her head of anything. Of course, Az should have figured out that she was good swimmer since she too had to swim across the lake in order to even get to the island. He passed it out of his mind and snapped back to reality as she s tarted swimming after him. He laughed a bit and swam backwards almost tauntingly, but enough to match her speed.

"Try and catch me!" He said childishly, and suddenly did a backflip into the water, diving down and swam right under her. He swam a quick distance from her, and treaded a few feet behind and under her. He figured she would have caught him quick if he was to stay on the surface, since he didn't have enough time to spin around and start swimming like mad. Instead, he pulled a quick maneuver that put him fully in the water. He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep up this game. His muscles still ached a little bit from just resting, and fatigue had caught up to him in the few moments rest.

He knew he was going to be a little more happier when he was done. He had always been so serious when out in the world, always getting into fights and such. Never in such a long time had he taken the time to have a little fun. And what were the chances that he would have scored a time like this with someone like Merenwen? Its the hair... Az kept thinking to himself everytime he caught himself spacing out. He almost breathed too under the water, but he caught himself before that and waited briefly for Merenwen's expected chase.

Merenwen laughed to herself as he swam backwards away from her. She was thinking about putting on a burst of speed to catch him but it was just as she was about to do so that she saw him dive down below the water and she lost sight of him for a moment. In order to find him again she dove down herself and glanced around until she found that he had swam so that he was behind her as she had been on top of the water.

She began to swim towards him using a breast stroke form and her legs pushed her through the water with a decent amount of speed. She had already used a fair amount of her air in trying to figure out in which direction he had gone but she felt that she would still be able to get to him before she needed to go up for air. She had no idea how long he could hold his breath and it was possible that he would get away yet again but she wasn't going to give up, she was sure she would catch him eventually.

She had enjoyed talking with him but was finding that it could be even more fun to goof off as they were now. He really seemed like a nice guy and wasn't bad looking, actually he was rather nice to look at, and all of this together was making for a very fun time for her. Thinking back she realized it had been a while since she had just let go like this and that time had also involved a swim and a lot of joking around. It was something she really enjoyed and she hoped that she would meet up with Azlateen again sometime after this if only just to hang out. She felt like they would become good friends and maybe she could break through so that he actually looked for a social life again.

She was almost to him but she was getting close to the point where she would need to surface for air. Just a little bit further, she thought to herself as she continued on towards him. She managed to reach him and used tagging him to push off at an angle that would push her back to the top of the lake and a little ways away from him as well. She probably would have been just fine without the push but figured she may as well make use of the chance if she had it. When she surfaced she started giggling again and waited for him to come back up for air.

((Hope you don't mind that I had her catch you but I figured it would make it easier to move the topic either in a continuation of the game or in another direction.))

((Aw, it had to happen sometime lol))

Before he even realized he needed air or daydreaming again he was tagged by Merenwen. He shook his head, seeing his mistake, and suddenly had too much CO2 in his system. He quickly swam up to the surface, surfaced, and got some air, cooling his muscles with the fresh oxygen. "Ahh..." He sighed in relief, and got right back into the game. He laughed a little bit too, but didn't quite chase after her again. His muscles ached a lot, and he felt like stopping. Either that or he figured he wouldn't be able to catch her again. Swimming wasn't his strong point, but he could manage.

"Ok, so I'm pooped from my days. Can we play a different game?" He asked childishly, swimming backwards in circles around her, nice and slow, taking it easy for now. His mind was finally clear after playing tag, getting his recent days stressing thoughts and replacing them with absolutely nothing. Always helped him out in the long run, and now he knew he'd be able to concentrate a little better on everything else. Maybe that's why he was having a hard time lately, because he had been too stressed out with fighting. Always nice to go back in time for a day.

She watched as he emerged from below the surface and noticed that he definitely seemed happy to have emerged. She was treading water as she waited for him to come after her again but it seemed that wasn't his plan. When he spoke of being pooped and asked if there was another game to play she tried to think of one that didn't involve some kind of chase but found that nothing was coming to her mind just then. She shifted so that she was floating on her back and relaxed as her mind ran through all the games she had played when she was younger but for some reason she just couldn't come up with one that would be relaxing.

In the end she decided to say, "I'm fine with playing a different game. Did you have something in particular in mind?" She continued to float on her back and waited to see how he would reply. Hopefully he had a good idea for a game as she enjoyed having something fun to do. If not then they could go back to talking which she also didn't mind doing. She still hoped he had a fun game in mind though as she had this urge to be doing something. If not her energy would probably drain from inactivity as she had found to happen sometimes and she may end up falling asleep before too much longer. It was getting a little late so sleep wasn't out of the question but she was enjoying her time around him and though she knew they would both need to sleep at some point she wasn't ready to do so just yet.

He kept swimming in circles around her, taking it real easy. The slow movement helped his muscles loosen up a little bit and take out some of that lactic acid burning in them. The cool refreshing water helped cool them down too, so it was basically a sore person's heaven right about then.

"You know, actually I don't. I don't remember any games I used to play from when I was a kid. Well, I remember the ones where you have to use some sort of ball, but I don't think either of us have to one play soccer or something." He said with a chuckle. He looked up at the sky, seeing that the last bit of sun was starting to die away, making way for night to come along. "Well, its getting dark too. Mom would say for us to come in to dinner anyways. I just realized I was starting to get hungry." He said, and thought for a moment. "You hungry? I could go catch us a deer or something to cook up." He thought he remember seeing a deer as he ran down to the lake, but it scattered before he could cast a real look at it.

((Just a quick idea))

She felt kind of bad for him when she heard that he couldn’t remember the games he played as a kid. It was those memories, and memories of good times with her parents, that helped her through hard times. When he spoke of soccer she thought back to the only time she had played the sport, it wasn’t the sport she and her friends most commonly played. She had been okay at it but compared to other sports she had definitely not excelled. She continued to float on her back as those memories ran through her head but she was still listening to him at the same time. She thought that the idea of getting something to eat was good as she was slightly hungry herself but she didn’t eat a lot of meat so she would likely also go out and find some other things to eat.

She watched as he continued to swim around her and said, “Getting something to eat sounds like a fine idea to me. I must admit that I don’t often eat much meat as it was never something we really ate back home but I may try a little. I would also like to offer to go and pick some berries and acorns as the area is filled with berry bushes and acorn trees. We may want to go back to the normal shore as I doubt you would want to attempt to bring a deer across the water and they don’t exactly live out on this little island but once we have found a nice spot we could each go out after our own portion of the meal and meet back there. How about it, sound like a plan to you?” The last time she had been at the lake she had also shared a nice meal with a friend who she had become close to over time. It seemed fitting that she would do so with Azlateen as she felt that would at least have some form of a friendship before they parted ways.

He nodded. "Yeah, sure. Lets do that. You probably need to get your things from the island again huh?" He asked, thinking a little bit. He figured while she did that, he'd go back and find a spot, mark it, and go out to find some meat. "Well, as you do that, I'll go find us a spot, and I'll mark it with a ring of rocks for a fire pit. Its getting a little chilly, and I'm sure we'll be even colder when we get out soaking wet." He said with a little chortle. "So I'll see you there."

He then started swimming back, using the last bit of swimming energy he had to swim back as quickly as possible, and reached the other side within a matter of minutes. He walked up onto shore, grabbed his dagger, and set out to find an open area suitable for a fire. It was almost dark, so he had to look hard to find his way, and soon he had to start using his other senses.

He walked on through the surrounding forest, using his hearing to find an open spot, his footsteps and nature's sounds painting a mental picture in his head of the surroundings. He walked a few hundred yards around, before finding that it took a little longer for sounds to reach him, signaling an open area suitable for a fire. He opened his eyes, finding it was a little easier to see here, and saw it was about 15 yards across, and flat too. He smiled, and nodded to himself, finding it good enough for him. He then started searching around for some rocks, finding some, and putting them in a 3 foot diameter circle, marking the spot.

Standing up, he closed his eyes again, and set out for a small hunt. He backtracked a little bit from a few hours ago to find a small trail of where he thought he saw that deer. Knowing it was going to be a little harder to find some live meat out here because it was dark, he drew his dagger and searched even harder. He caught a spot where he passed by coming down to the lake where the grass was definitely chewed and searched around in a few hundred meter area. He knew it couldn't have gone far, since he knew the behaviors of the deer, or any kind of wildlife.

Merenwen continued to tread water as she listened to Azlateen’s response. She didn’t mind that he thought they could split off now and he could find them a meeting place, it would probably make things move faster. She also agreed that they likely would be a little cold when they got out but it shouldn’t be too bad, especially once they got a fire going. When he headed off towards the main shore she took off back in the direction of the island. It would take her a little extra time to get there, get her stuff and get back but she didn’t expect it to make much difference as hunting would likely take longer then gathering berries and such.

When she reached the island it took her a little while to reach the clearing they had met in as the path was a little difficult to follow in the dark. When she reached the clearing she gathered her stuff and decided that she would make use of her armor in getting back to the other side. She really didn’t feel like jumping back into the water and thought that turning into her hawk form would make things a lot easier. Her vision would still not be as prominent as some creatures in the dark but she would get to the other side quicker and her sight would be at least a little better.

With that thought she put her armor on and quickly transformed. Rising up over the island she glided of towards the main land and searched for any sign of where they would be meeting. She couldn’t see any sign of a fire and guessed that he was still hunting and had decided not to start the fire before the hunt. That was probably a good idea as starting a fire and leaving it untended was dangerous but it definitely made it harder for her to find the right spot.

She landed on the ground and was lucky in that she landed in the same clearing that he had set the fire ring in. After only a few minutes of searching she found the ring of rocks he had set up and placed her stuff beside it. With that done she took off towards the bushes that circled the area and began to pick berries. She didn’t know how much to pick as she had no idea how much he would eat but figured that after getting a fair amount she would climb up one of the trees using her gloves of climbing and pick the acorns to add to the meal. She also had no idea on how long he would be but considering that everything she was gathering could be found just around the clearing she expected she would know when he returned.

Az heard a tiny rustling over to his left, just behind a fallen log. He crept over to it, and found the deer he had seen earlier. He grinned, thinking it was almost too easy to get. He stepped forward, and accidently snapped a twig. The deer immediately got up, and started running off. "Oh no you don't!" Az said out loud, since his cover was already blown.

He then let loose with himself and chased after the deer, leaping over the log with ease. It ran fast, and took twisting turns. He gained quick, and tackled it. He almost felt so sorry for the thing that he couldn't kill it, but it was nature, and it was normal to be on top of the food chain, feeding on lower links. He killed it quick, just to end its pain quick, and put it in a better place. Like Az's stomach, deer heaven. He got off of it, his hand a covered in a little blood, along with a small portion of his chest.

He looked at his kill silently, nodding to it in a small prayer. He bent over, heaved it onto his shoulders, and headed back to camp. It was a good amount of weight, and great for a dinner for Az. Az had no clue what Merenwen was gathering, and he knew she didn't eat much meat, so maybe they could share small portions of what they had gotten. Well, for now, he would just worry about getting it cooked. Realizing that most people didn't like seeing an animal get skinned, he stopped about halfway there and dropped the corpse. He quickly skinned it, throwing the skin aside. Then he figured that it was even worse to see a corpse without skin, so he cut off all the meat, and retrieved the skin in a quick decision. He piled the meat in the skin, and bundled it up and carried it all back to the camp, leaving the bones and scraps for more predators.

Reaching the camp site, he didn't see her around, so he just got to work. He walked out around the site once again, gathering up dr wood for a fire. He was glad that the days were nice that past few ones, so most of the wood was dry. He gathered up a good bunch of wood, and went back to the campsite. He piled some wood in the ring in a tepee-like formation, and set to starting up a fire by rubbing a stick or a fairly flat piece of a wood rapidly. Soon getting smoke in the debris he gathered on it, he transfered the now hot flaring fire to the pile of wood, and blew. And soon enough again there was a nice fire.

Az took a moment to sit by the fire and get his bare upper body warmed up, grabbing his shirt and finally putting it on. He sat next to the fire a while, warming up, gazing into the fire. His black eyes reflected the yellow orange glare, and they started to droop a little even.

After a short time Merenwen came to the realization that she wasn’t going to be able to carry the berries and acorns back without something to carry them with. Her arms would just not hold that much and she would need to find something quickly to place the berries in before she moved on to picking the acorns. She didn’t want to walk all the way back to her stuff as that would take longer so she looked around to see what she could find. Luckily she came across a large piece of bark that had peeled off of one of the trees and was perfect in shape for carrying the stuff.

She took the berries she had already collected and placed them on the bark before continuing on to pick more. Not knowing if he would eat any of them or not she decided to pick plenty as it would be better to have too much then not have enough. If she picked more then they ate she could save the rest for future meals.

After picking a decent amount of berries she pulled on her gloves that she had placed in her pocket and headed to one of the nearby trees. She wasn’t sure how she should go about getting the acorns back to the ground but thought that she would be able to drop them down and just recollected them when she reached the ground again. It didn’t take her long to find plenty of acorns and as she was dropping them she noticed a fire starting in the direction of the rock circle. Guessing that Azlateen had gotten back already she picked a few more acorns before climbing back down to the ground.

When she reached the ground she realized that dropping them as she had may not have been the best idea. In the dark she found it hard to see where they had all dropped and it took her much longer to gather them back together then it had to pick them. She nearly fell when she didn’t see one of the acorns and stepped on it but luckily she was able to catch herself and avoid being injured. When she had finally gathered the acorns together and placed them with the berries on the piece of bark she sighed, lifted the bark with its load and headed back down to the beach.

A fire was blazing and she could just make out the shape of Az sitting before it. He seemed to be relaxed and she wondered how long he had been waiting for her. She walked slowly towards him and when she began to feel the heat of the fire she began to move faster. It was chilly out and her armor was doing nothing to make her warmer. When she reached his side she set her load down a short ways from the fire so that it would not get hot as heat wouldn’t be good on the berries and then she sat beside him.

Looking over to him she said, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. It took me a little longer then I expected due to how dark it is getting.” She could tell that he was getting tired and wondered if he often felt that way with the life he lived. Seeing how exhausted he seemed she almost felt bad about beginning the game of tag as that had likely just taken even more out of him, yet she was still glad that she had started the game as it had been fun. As she waited for him to speak she reached her hands out towards the fire to warm them and relaxed in her belief that nothing bad was going to happen.