Melusine's tears dripped down her cheeks and soaked the front of her toga-like shift as she sat in the middle of the grass surrounding the lake. Oh, she knew it was silly to mourn like this over an animal, but she couldn't help it. Her knowledge of herbs and even her minor heal spell were not enough to save the life of Xelus. Xelus had been her companion from the age of seven, when her parents, realizing her healer's talent, had given her an orphaned fawn to help. She nursed the fawn to health, and Xelus grew into a beautiful, proud stag, who never left her side. Her feet were always extremely delicate, and when she didn't want to walk, which was often while searching for food, he made as fine a steed for the young elf as any horse would have been for a human.

But all of that was in the past now. Melusine, now sixteen, was well learned in the healing arts, but Xelus' wound, caused by a human hunter when they were out running together, had been too deep for her minor spells to cure. It had been near his belly, and she remembered how the blood had run, coloring the ground a deep red. She had prayed and chanted, and when that had availed nothing, stayed with Xelus as he drew his last breaths. Then she had run from the middle of the forest all the way to the lake. What kind of a healer was she, that she could not even save the life of her best friend?

The cool breeze felt good against Cinaed's night-toned skin, the smell of the cool forest air was nice to his nostrils, granting them a freedom he had never felt during his life in the musty Underdark. He had been enjoying it until he picked up the faint, coppery smell of blood. As much as he enjoyed his lazing around the forests, he could not but feel awoken within. It was more than just an interest. Within moments he had packed up and left his clearing, taking flight through the forest at a pace usually only horses could muster. Weaving through the trees with the wind at his back, it took only minutes to find what he was looking for.

Before he had quite found what it was he was looking for, he had literally run into a pair of humans. It was, of course, their natural reaction to draw their hunting daggers. Believe me, the sight of a Drow is on not often well taken by most. It did not help that Cinaed was so large, especially for an Elf. And so, they made way to their daggers, but before they could completely draw them, Cinaed had acted. Leaping off of the trunk of a tree, he succeeded with two seperate kicks, knocking both of them to the ground. By the time they got back up, Cinaed was long gone.

And then, he found it. Slowing to a stop, he took a moment to stare down at the puddle of blood on the ground. Kneeling down slowly, he lowered his head. His golden eyes closed for a moment, his mind pondering at a races pace. With a desensitized sigh, he stood back up. It was not Human, and it was not Elven. It did not have the disgusting stench of being Orcish or any of their kin, Cinaed would know, he had had plenty of time to distinguish between all of these smells.

It seemed to be some sort of animals, but he could not quite place it. He would still check it out. Following the trail made, he seemed to be coming closer to a river. He could hear its flowing serenely through the forest. Picking up the pace once more, he ran towards the river. Only a few more minutes it took, and he saw a slight form kneeling by it. Small, yet still strong. Her head bowed, Cinaed could tell that she was in a turmoil of some sort. He took a few hesitant steps forward, and then stopped.

"An Elf," he said under his breath. His voice carried with the wind, intertwining with the beautiful smelling air, lifting into the sky. He stopped walking, and just stood there in half step. He began to wonder whether or not he should just leave; he had only ever met one elf who had not tried to attack him on sight.

Melusine paled as she thought she recognized the voice of a Drow. It was not a friendly voice, either. She put her hand on her bow just in case, but she did not put an arrow inside. Not yet. Drows were usually evil-aligned, and therefore an enemy to her, as she was on the side of good, but there were always exceptions.

"Hello?" she called shakily, raising her head. "Who's there? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm too upset at the moment to even think of hurting anyone." Her voice trembled from fear and tears. "Oh Xelus, why did you have to leave me now?" She had never been afraid of anything with Xelus by her side. His horns were strong enough to hurt most intruders with just one butt of his head.

Melusine looked around and saw the humans on the ground where Cinaed had knocked them. "You've saved me," she said to the Drow. "Those humans were the very same ones who just killed my friend the deer."

Cinaed put his foot back on the ground as she noticed him. Her hand moved to her bow, and instinctively, his knees bent readily. His entire body tensed, his muscles rippling throughout the inside of his clothing. And then, as she spoke, he seemed to be soothed; entirely relaxed. However, he did not reply to her. He only took a few steps forward, to make it evident that he was no longer trying to hide under the shadows. The humans soon got up and ran away, fleeing from the oversized Dark Elf with an innate fear that his intimidating presence usually sparked.

The golden light of Cinaed's eyes watched her steadily, his face stern. He seemed relentless to show any emotion, as usual, and it could even be argued that he did not have any. A rarity, even for the cold-hearted Drow who are usually passionate in their greed for self-indulgence and apower. A seething intensity boiled under his night-hued skin, seeming to fuel his power. He listened as she spoke soft, sorry words of mourning over a Xelus, who had probably been the supply for the blood that he could still faintly smell. At this point, most would have said that they felt sorry, but his experience had desensitized him, and to say that he could not care less was not far from the truth.

Yet there was something to show that he did feel something akin to sympathy for her current situation. "It was not a problem," he said in his deep, masculine voice. His heavy accent only added to the mysterious enigma that he was, and that he only further delved into. He did not, however say anything else, and he remained only standing there, as if his feet had been trapped to the ground by his vengeful will to never stop moving.

"Still, I thank you," she said. "Who knows what they would have done to me... or even to you?" An involuntary shiver passed through her. Humans were even scarier than the most frightening Drow. Drows were usually evil, but most humans were good and evil both at once, and changed personalities with nearly as much ease as a mage would cast a spell. One could never know what a human would do to them at any given moment, and that, in her opinion, made them something to be avoided. "Likely, they wanted to use Xelus to fill their stomachs." The thought nearly made her vomit. "What will I do without him? And what kind of a healer am I if I can't even heal my best friend? I tried, but his wounds were too deep for my minor spells," she whispered, her breath catching in her throat. It seemed that Melusine trusted Cinaed now, for though she still kept her bow close, she took her hand off of it and put it aside. "My name is Melusine Flarell. Who are you?"

Cinaed took a single step backwards suddenly, as if being assaulted by some type of kinetic wave. In truth, he was almost startled by her immediate opening-up towards him. Most people he met preferred to remain closed off, as he did. The had probably thought that once they opened up to him, he had found leverage over them, just as he thought would happen if he let anyone else within the walls he had built. He remained silent as she spoke of the threat of danger, involuntarily tilting his head ever-so slightly to the side. He did not believe for a moment that they could harm him, but he had no intention of pointing this out. Who knows, he had never spoken with a human long enough to discover their duality, so to speak. Most of the humans he had seen were unfortunately on the other end of the sword that was their shared suffering.

So, Xelus was an animal of some sort, as he gathered from what she stated was their probable will to 'fill their stomachs.' It made sense, Elves were known to befriend forest animals, especially Wood Elves. He blinked for the first time as she questioned her own ability, and once more he opened his mouth to speak. "Some things are inevitable," he said simply, almost darkly. "It was fate; all things come to an end. Just because we can not stop them does not mean we are anything less." It seemed to touch close to home, as he reflected back on how his House had been betrayed and conquered. How he had fought for their glory, but even his ability was not enough. It took a short while for him to finally understand what he was telling her now.

"I am Cinaed J'Delrndi," he replied curtly with an elegant bow. His legs straight, his waist bent as his torso dipped low, his right hand wafting majestically to the side. "The Battleborn, at your service, my Lady." He always introduced himself with his title, for it was a Warrior's greatest posession, his greatest prestige. Standing back upright, his golden eyes remained unshowing. They were avoid of emotion, as usual. "I was just wandering, and I could smell the blood..."

"Glad to meet you, Sir J'Delrndi." Melusine bowed with respect. "It is not only that I am lonely without Xelus, but that I was born with unusually delicate feet that pain me when I walk. I used to ride on Xelus, but now what will I do?" Strangely, she did not feel quite as vulnerable around him as she might have around any other Drow. He seemed too emotionless to pose any threat, although there was a glittering of some sort in his eyes that told her that if he could, he might feel something near to sympathy for her. She wiped her eyes and looked at him as if he might know a way out of her plight. "And Xelus... I can't just leave him here to rot. How am I supposed to bury him? He's too heavy for me to carry."

Cinaed finally got a good look at the animal. At first, he thought it was a horse, since she had used to ride upon him, but he saw now that it was a Stag by its smaller size and marvelous antlers. As Melusine continued to speak, Cinaed became somewhat wary as he reflected back on the situation, which he saw he was fast becoming part of. However, it was against his honour to let one in distress stay in their state, and so, he would oblige to help her. The Sun was beginning to set anyway.

He thought over her words, and began to see that there seemed to be a large problem for her, now that this Xelus was dead. "You should bury him," he said simply. "Or burn him." As cold as his words might have seemed, both were proper rituals of properly sending one's soul into the afterlife when they died. "But you are right." He could tell that the Elf and the Stag had known eachother for the majority of both of their lives. "To leave him wold be... dishonourable."

He walked closer, and knelt down by the Stag. It seemed that the bleeding had stopped, and the stag was cold to his eyes and his skin. Cinaed ran a hand down its neck, feeling the muscle beneath its skin, and it told a story to his hand. He then withdrew the hand, placing it on his own knee. "I will help you, if you wish," he told her, not adverting his gaze from the animal itself.

After a moment, he blinked his eyes for the second time, and they adverted away from the Stag. He looked up to her, his face still stern. "What is it you wish to do with him?" He asked her politely, his accent continuing to persist into his speach.

"Probably just bury him," she answered. "If we burn him we could attract more humans, you know, from his smell. That could be dangerous for us both. How exactly would one go about burying an animal so large, do you think?"

She sighed, a shuddery sigh that would likely tell Cinaed there were more tears close to the surface. "Before, I was friendly to nearly everyone," she said, "but now... I am afraid of humans. It's probably best if we just leave him where he fell, what do you think? I'm not sure I could lift him."

"It is not a problem," he replied cooly to her query about burying the Stag. "We can bury him wherever you may like." She seemed to be quite worried about the threat of the Humans. However, it was getting late, and by this time most humans were setting up camp. Cinaed kept an air of collectiveness about him, as he did always. He took another moment to ask himself what he was doing here, but soon put the question to the side of his mind, brushing it off curtly.

Further the Elf began to open up towards him, yet it did not make him uncomfortable, only pushed him further wary. "Don't worry," he told her as he removed his cloak from his shoulders, and laid it over the stag. "I will carry him." He tucked the cloak under the Stag, and then he pried his arms beneath it. When he once again stood up, he held in his arms the Stag wrapped about in his own cloak.

Squinting to protect his eyes from the glare of the setting sun, Cinaed turned his back to the rushing river, and sought refuge beneath the shade of the trees. His golden eyes shifted through the trees as he looked further into the forest. "We should find a clearing, and bury him there," he suggested as he began to slowly walk further into the forest.

The clearing was not far, only a few paces away, infact. Setting the Stag on the ground, Cinaed began looking through the trees. Reemerging with a large, flat stone, he knelt down in the center of the clearing, and began to dig at the Earth with the rock. At this rate it would not be long before he created a grave large enough for the Stag.

"Thank you," she said softly, nearly moved to tears at the sight of him wrapping Xelus in his own cloak. If he hadn't been a Drow she might have called the gesture sweet or touching. "I hope I can repay you someday." She found a few of the last autumn flowers not far away and gently pulled them out by the roots. She would put them over Xelus' grave once Cinaed was finished digging. Xelus loved to eat this kind of flowers....

Melusine sat down on the ground and bowed her head in Xelus' general direction as a sign of respect to him. Later, she might stop by this spot, to talk to him sometimes, and to tell him how much he meant to her. For now though, she didn't have the words. Every time she tried to talk now, she could open her mouth but nothing would come out.

After a few minutes, the hole he had been digging was large enough for the stag. Leaning back, he set the rock down beside him. Standing back up, he walked slowly back towards the stag, and slowly picked the cloak-wrapped deer off of the ground. A single drip of sweat rolled down his cheek, and Cinaed knelt back down, gently placing the stags body in the hole. And then he once again stood up.

He turned around and walked off, searching for something else this time. He was gone for a few more minutes, but when he returned he carried under his arm a long piece of wool. "It is from their camp," he told her, of course referring to the Humans who had left at the site of a Drow. Walking back up to the Stag, he unrolled the cloth, and laid it gently over the Stag. And then, kneeling down again, he reached under and withdrew his cloak. Laying it down beside him, he picked up the rock again.

Going to work once more, he began to pile the dirt over the covered Stag. Within another few minutes he was done. There was a small hill in the clearing, marking the gravesite, and Cinaed further examplified it by placing the Stone at the head of the grave. He took a few steps back, loosely inspecting his handywork.

His eyes turned away from the grave, and instead they looked to Melusine. Once again putting to use one of the the rarely seen blinks, Cinaed opened his mouth to speak. "If you need a moment alone..." he did not finish, instead turning back to the river. "I will give you some time alone," he said as he walked off to the river.

Dipping the cloak into the river, he rubbed it together vigourously to get the blood off of it. Withdrawing it from the water, he wrenched it between his hands, letting the water drip off of it into the river. And then he hung it from a tree to dry. He contemplated leaving, now. But that did not seem right. He would stay, if only for a short while longer.

She couldn't say anything in reply; she had shed all of her tears for the moment, but couldn't talk either. So she just sat there thinking to herself, not wanting to leave the grave. Not yet. Oh Xelus, you were wonderful to me. I only wish I had the words to tell you, but for now my heart is numb. Well, that wasn't quite true. It was only her sense of speech that was numb, having seen too much horror that day. Melusine could barely even think, let alone talk.