Vanarak the White Bull's Story

Vanarak finally felt that familiar calm fall upon him, His breathing was still rugged and the pain was still fresh through his body. His senses was slowly regaining, A quick look around told him that he was back by the entrance of Frostheim. He had taken a short break from his battles in this nordic city, the cold only did good for him. He had quickly picked up on the Ice Troll which had been terrorizing Frostheims trade routes. He had taken it upon himself to do it quick and easy and execute the troll, An opponent his own size would be fun. But the memories was still very fresh, The troll had taken control of the nearby Goblin tribes, probably just ate the chieftains. Vanarak was impressed by the intellect of this troll. It had faced him directly on, But to his suprise Vanarak had found himself completely flanked by the goblins. It proved quite quickly to be incredibly difficult to a slug it out with a troll while at the same time being pelted by goblin arrows from behind. The comical amount of arrows still stuck in Vanarak's back witnessed of that, It was also clear that Vanarak had received a mean whack directly to his chin. In all honestly Vanarak looked quite roughed up.

Vanarak took on quick step to the side, Setting himself down by the wall surrounding Frostheim. He was no longer bleeding but the arrows were still too painful for he himself to remove. Steam was regurly escaping his snout trailing of into small clouds. Vanarak's gaze was directly pointing at his lap, at his large axe which was currently peacefully laying in it. In all honestly he made quite the intimidating figure sitting by Frostheims gate.

Serrina strutted from the nearby brush and approached Vanarak with a swagger in her slow steps. She leaned against the hard stone wall and stared at him with a smile in her eyes. She held something poorly concealed behind her back.

Right now, she was going to be calm and confident. She steeled herself.

"Hey buddy," she said to get his attention, "looks like you could use..." she paused for dramatic effect, "...a hand?" She asked.

She raised a blackish-blue, severed goblin arm into eye view. She could no longer contain her laughter, "Get it!? C-'Cuz it's a hand?" She cackled, and waved it around in front of him, apparently paying no mind to the flecks of dark blood she splattered about.

Not that the blood really mattered anyway; her gauntlets, boots, and metal-spiked staff were coated in enough goblin goo that a few droplets would hardly have made any difference.

It took far too long for her laughter to die down.

"Oh, I've been waiting so long to use that one," she sing-songed, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye, "Whelp, c'mon, let's go," she gestured, and bounced up from the wall.

Vanarak didn't notice the small Elf that approached him, not until she was directly beside him. It bothered him slightly that his senses had been so dulled by his injuries. But that could be dealt with later, This little Elf already seemed quite... Fun.. "Hah, I'm not all that used to being approached. Especially not by someone swinging a severed arm around me. Vanarak's tone was tired, rugged, Yet there was a cheeky undertone to it.

Vanarak did not move a single muscle, Only his eyes now focusing on the Elf. "I should apologize, But... Vanarak suddenly rose from his seat, His body screeching in disapproval. He barely made it to his full height before one of the many arrows in his back cracked making a ugly noise. With a sigh Vanarak sat back down. ...I cannot move with all this".

Vanarak swung his head in a gesture very familiar for a Minotaur. He then pointed at the large amount of goo covering Serrina "Atleast you avenged my back, Those little mongrels seem not to have had an all too fortunate encounter with you!"
Vanarak released a small gruffy laugh his posture easing up slightly.

Serrina barked out a sharp laugh.

"What are you more used to? Severed legs? Fingers? 'Cuz I could probably find some if it made you more comfortable," she said in a silvery tone, bouncing on the balls of her feet in feigned anticipation.

"Trust me, those goblins I killed weren't for you," she teased, and lightly bumped her shoulder against Vanarak's. She paid little mind to his injuries, "But really though, I've seen guys like you handle twice that much. If you're still talking and breathing, a few little arrows shouldn't stop you, hm?" She tried to encourage him, but she wasn't even convincing herself.

"Listen, I got a good look at that ice troll, and it's neck didn't look as protected as the rest of it. If you could just," she woosh-ed her arms out to her side, "toss me up there, I could give that nastiness a few good whacks with my lovely friend here, and boom! Problem solved! No more ice troll," she said, and held out her staff for further proof of how simple her plan was.

It was foolproof, like all her plans were. At least, when she actually made a plan. Honestly, she usually chose winging-it over anything detailed or thought out, but this idea was too juicy to ever pass up.

"Whatcha think?"

Yevoc was nearing Frosthiem and he heard the screams of goblins being torn apart in battle and the strained grunts of pain coming from a creature that sounded large. He got off Shade Runner and began to fallow the tracks in the snow that seemed to be running away from the city. There were also thick globs of brownish goo in the snow that was definitely goblin blood. Something in the town had sent a large group of them running and had injured most of them. Yevoc remembered that there was a couple of goblin tribes in the area, but they usually kept their distance from the major cities because they usually had heroes guarding them. They also weren’t organized enough to mount an attack like this on their own. Someone or something was directing these little terrors into an organized unit, and that was dangerous.
Yevoc drew his swords, his magic instantly being channeled into the blades giving them a pale blue glow. He heard a loud growling coming from the steep hills that bordered the wall that sounded the city. He looked up to see a small cave not far from the city entrance. He had no doubt that the troll was up there, but the rock face looked pretty steep.
He heard conversation coming from near the gates to the city, but he ignored it as it seemed calm and he was focused on the troll.
Yevoc re-sheathed his swords as he got to the base of the hill, though it looked more like a small mountain, and the grumbling and growling from the cave got louder. He began to climb the steep face of the hill and he was having a hard time finding good footholds and handholds and some of the rocks were loose. As he grabbed a larger stone about half way to the cave the ice troll burst out of the cave letting loose a loud howl and startling Yevoc. The rocks he was hanging on to shifted and he lost his grip as he fell backward in fright. He plummeted back to the ground landing with a thud. The wind was knocked out of him and he struggled to catch his breath. He kept his eyes on the troll above expecting it to jump down and beat him to death with his own limbs after dismembering him. This was no ordinary ice troll. The ice troll grabbed a boulder and threw it down at Yevoc. It landed on his legs crushing all of his bones from the waist down. He let out a howl of pain. And lost his view of the troll.

“Well, well, well, looks like you’re in a bit of a predicament aren’t ya?” He heard a smug voice asking, though he couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Who’s there?! What do you want? Please just help me get this boulder off of me.”
There was a poof of blue sparkling fairy dust and a small fairy appeared on Yevoc’s chest.
“Now, now, it’s not that simple. You see if I get you out of this you’re free, but I don’t get anything out of it. No, I’m going to need something from you if you want me to save you. Or you could wait for the local towns folk to come save you, but even if they did brave an angry ice troll and get to you before you bled out, there’s still the matter of your legs. There aren’t many doctors around that wouldn’t amputate. I can’t remember the last time I heard of an adventurer that went around with a wheelchair.”
“Okay, what do you want already? I’ll give you anything just fix me.”
“As you wish.” There was another poof of fairy dust and then he was kneeling next to Yevoc as a human sized fairy with a contract and a pen. “Just sign on the line and this will all go away.”
Yevoc took the pen and scribbled his name on the line. “There, now fix this please!”
The fairy snapped his fingers and the boulder was instantly gone and Yevoc’s legs were back to normal without a scratch.
“Thank you, kind fairy.” He exclaimed as he stood up and inspected his legs to be sure they working properly. “Now the matter of your reward, what am I to give you to repay your kindness?”
“Oh gods, do all you royals talk like that? It’s so pretentious. But anyway, if you were to have read what you signed, you would have seen that you will be giving me half of something that’s incredibly valuable to you.” the fairy grinned devilishly as he handed the contract to Yevoc.
Yevoc looked at the contract reading the last few lines out loud. “As payment for Ash Jinxwisp removing aforementioned boulder and saving my life, I hereby grant him half of the credit for any and all future adventures. As such Ash Jinxwisp will continue to be my adventuring companion until I either die, am unable to go on anymore adventures or I help him find and kill the one who killed his parents.” He read. “What the hell is all this?!”
“It’s simple buddy.” Ash replied throwing his arm over Yevoc’s shoulder. “You get to go out and make a name for yourself as an adventurer, but I get to go along with you on all your adventures and get the credit along with you. Or you could help me with one adventure and kill the therian who killed my parents and we’ll call it even. Your choice.”
“Well, buckle up kid, you aren’t getting out of this that easy. Sure I’ll share the credit with you, couldn’t hurt having a fairy along for the ride. And when I’m done with all the adventures and quests I want to do, then I might consider helping you with your little vengeance plot.”

Vanarak was throwing long glances towards the Elf, She seemed pretty interesting.

His gruffy laugh escaped once more "Haha, I like your spirit! But that troll is a rough one, He'll not go down easily and in all honestly, I take your words as a challenge..." Vanarak knew very well that his injuries was no joke. This amount of damage would be more than enough to kill an Orc. But if there was one thing that Vanarak believed in then it was his ability to simply enough never die.

And thus he slowly rose again, The arrows in his back no longer caused pain, They were only being annoying, A restraint. "..Let's show this troll some blood... " and in the moment of those words being muttered a lone yell echoed from the hills in which Vanarak had fought the troll, A yell from from someone neither troll nor goblin. "...And it seem we are not the only one wanting to try that." Someone seems to have had the same stupid idea as Vanarak. His grip around the axe tightened and in one motion he swinged it up on his shoulder, passing dangerously close by Serrina's head.

Without giving a single look to her Vanarak started a jog towards the hills, From the small impression she had given he knew that she would come along wether he liked it our not. Without looking back he addresed her shortly "Mind doing me a favour and getting these arrows out? I think that we are going to need to be at our best soon." A small smile appeared on Vanarak

“Well, now, your highness, I have a question for you. Why did you come down from the Elven high kingdom to Frosthiem?” Ash asked with an arrogant tone.
“Obviously to kill this ice troll, but I get the feeling there’s a different answer that you’re looking for.” Yevoc replied.
“Ah, yes. Very observant of you. Tell me, does this troll act like a typical ice troll? What has he been doing? What’s his goal?”
“No, he’s organized the local goblin tribes and other smaller trolls. He’s leading them on raids against the supply shipments that are going into the city.”
“So what does this tell you?”
“That there’s either something on the supply shipments that the troll is looking for, or he’s trying to starve out the town’s people.”
“And why would he be trying to starve out the town’s people?”
“There’s something in Frosthiem that he wants and he can’t get to it when the town’s people are attacking him.”
“Exactly. Now I ask again, is this typical behavior for a simple ice troll?”
“No, they aren’t that smart, they act on basic instincts, there’s no way a troll would be able to do any of this unless he was being controlled.”
“And who ever or whatever is controlling the troll wants something that’s in Frosthiem, and I’d be willing to bet whatever it is they’re looking for is in the ruins of old Frosthiem under the city.”
“So what do we do?”
“Well if you plan on killing the troll you might want to do it soon. We’re about to have some company, sounds like something big is coming this way as well as a few others, not to mention one of my own kind hiding in the trees.” He sneered as he pointed to the branches, though she was too small for Yevoc to see from that distance. Yevoc looked off in the distance and saw another elf and a white minotaur walking up to the hill.
“Maybe they could help us kill the troll.”
“Sure, I guess. If you don’t mind sharing the credit with them too.”
“You know I’m not just in this to make a name for myself, don’t get me wrong I like the idea of getting some notoriety, but that’s not the only reason I’m doing this. There are people out there that help others because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Okay, whatever you gotta tell yourself.”
“Hey, you guys, are you here to fight the troll too? We could use some help if you are.” Yevoc called out.

Vanarak continued his slow jog up the hill, He had no intention of being quiet, Anyone nearby would easily hear him. And that was quite apparent since somebody was already calling him out, Was it the one who screamed earlier? His hearing already witnessed of several people being up by the hill, perhaps they are trying to ambush him. It seemed his earlier intuition was wrong since the elf had stayed behind. It didn't bother him since the clanking of heavy armor could be heard above.

Reaching the summit Vanarak took a moment before cresting it, A thought struck him to actually be smart and scouting out what he will encounter on beforhand, But he quickly pushed that thought away, He would use his usual approach. Doing this he made one sudden charge up the hill, kicking up a large cloud of snow around him, The arrows in his back barely bothering him anymore. He swung his axe of his shoulder as the snow settled around him. Honestly he was mostly attempting to look a mighty combination of Intimidating and Majestic. With the snow and arrows an untrained eye could easily mistake him for a monster.

He grunted slightly as he looked around, An Elf and a Fairy was before him. The fairy didn't look all that threatening but they rarely do. The Elf on the other hand looked like he could atleast put up a fight. He walked slowly into the clearing, No words. He knew very well that there where more people around, This could perhaps just be some kind of robbery...

Tikal settled down with a tiny sigh and laid back on her branch, disrupting some of the snow around her. It was cold in Polara but within her first week of being here she'd learned and mastered a simple spell for warmth. Being bundled up didn't do much good for flying. Closing her eyes, she placed both hands on her stomach and began thinking of subjects that made her relax. Knitting, flying, doodling.. "Hhmm.." she exhaled. A good idea could hit someone in the face, but for some people it had to be coaxed out and convinced that it was indeed a good idea. But Tikal was only allowed rest and relaxation for a maximum of 10 minutes before someone came bursting through the trees. They didn't physically make much noise, besides that squeaky sound that snow made, but vocally they made her sit up and look down. "Huh." Tikal huffed, watching the girl with a flowing blue cape. She listened to her aggravated plee about being turned around, smiling a little. Human misfortune was often funny. "Poor soul.. Ah well." She kept her voice low so that the girl couldn't hear her speaking to herself. Not that it would be easy to find her in the first place. She was still tiny.

Soon after having a laugh at the female, on the other side of the branch, that elf and her cousin began talking about the Troll King. The name just popped into her head. Summoning her binder and pen she labeled her doodle just that. But as she listened to their conversation they made a solid point. A Troll, especially a big one, wasn't very smart. So they wouldn't be able to rally even more dumb trolls and goblins and make them attack as one coherent group. Outside forces and magic seemed to be the only option.
Sitting up, she snapped her binder shut. "This will make for a very good story. And as a plus, when they kill it, I can examine it closer!" She giggled maniacly for a bit before clearing her throat. "Easy Tikal.. just stick to the sides and keep it cool.." she did a little woosa before continuing to observe the feild.

After a while of observing, a third player entered the game! Well not really a game because there was a strong possibility of dying.. But still. The thing made a grand entrance. It charged up the path, throwing snow into the air and creating a puff trail behind it. Tikal stuck her upper body over the branch, upside down to see what the hulking figure really was. Another goblin? This one sure was brave! But when the snow settled her breath caught and her eyes widened. Oh.. Oh my.. What is that... What is that.. What is that?! Quickly, she summoned her book and scrabbled to stand up, distrupting more snow on her branch and causing it to tumble to the forest floor. Her wings fluttered as she took off down the length of her branch to get a better view of the white bull that was now quietly entering the field. Tikal felt her excitement travel to her hands and could hear her wings humming. She was shaking for a few moment before she snapped out of it and quickly began doodling, but only taking up the top half of the page when she did. She was going to study this white bull. Yes yes. She was going to study him down to its favorite tune and bathroom habits. She giggled excitedly and began bouncing knocking more snow to the ground, but she would still be out of sight, especially to the eye untrained for tiny-fairy spotting.

As the white minotaur got closer it became apparent just how much larger he was compared to Yevoc. He didn’t respond but had rushed up to him in a show of grandeur. Ash, coward that he was, shrank back down to his smaller size and fluttered up onto his shoulder.

“Not to be a downer or anything, but didn’t the Snow Elves enslave a bunch of minotaurs, like 400 years ago as labyrinth guards? Not saying that this guy’s holding a grudge, but you might want to be careful around him.”

“Oh shit! I completely forgot about that.” He gasped as he instinctively raised his arms up and crossed his swords in front of himself in a defensive position just before the minotaur stopped inches in front of him.

Vanarak was ever so gently smiling to himself, Certainly, That was very hard for anyone to notice. It seemed he had found someone who would be a much more enjoyable fight than standing off against a troll surrounded by damn goblins.

The Elf seemed suprisingly steady as he took a combat stance the moment Vanarak made his approach. As standard among Fairies the one accompanying that elf immediately dissapeared into a cloud of dust, How unusual. Those damn fairies was always so difficult to spot.

As Vanarak approached the elf, His body itching for a fight the thought struck him of those earlier ambushers he had heard. They seemed to lay low, Well suprisingly "Un-low" as voices could be heard from them along with a small, Hard to spot, Flutter among the trees.

None of this bothered Vanarak all that much. If they truly planned to attack him then he would atleast grind this elf down to the bones first. Getting suprisingly close to the elf, Close enough to clearly see the Fairy on his shoulder Vanarak released a large cloud of steam from his nose, Practically spraying Yevoc. Lifting his axe slightly, Touching the suprisingly ornate and well made swords that the elf wielded

"Do you know how to kill with these?"

The minotaur was intimidating, there was no question of that. Yet, in spite of this, Yevoc looked up into the creature’s eyes with a glare that let him know exactly how insulted he was by the question he had just asked.
“Considering the fact that these are the only two swords of their kind in existence, it goes without saying that I would know how to kill with them.” The blades began glow a pale shade of blue as he channeled his power into them.
“The better question would be: Do I want to kill with them? And given that you’re obviously the warrior type, you would know by my defensive stance that I don’t want to kill with them. However, that’s not to say I wouldn’t if I had to.”
With that he pointed one of the swords at a tree a few feet away and a beam blasted out from the sword freezing a small section of the tree’s trunk within seconds. The wood became so brittle that it snapped like a twig under its own weight. It fell in a way that it would have landed on Yevoc but as it fell he slashed through it like it was butter and knocked the debris away with the other sword.
“As you can see, I know how to handle my weapons. But, judging by the goblin arrows sticking out of your back, I’m guessing you’ve had a run-in with the troll and his minions as well. I'm guessing I'm not the one you came here to fight.” He said confidently as he sheathed his swords in a gesture of trust. “Looks like you could use some help removing those, there’s no way you can bend your arms back to get them. Don’t want them to get infected.”
“Why the hell did you put away the swords? This guy wants to murder you and you’re over here offering to pull arrows out of his back?!” Ash practically yelled into Yevoc’s ear.
“He doesn’t want to kill me. He just doesn’t trust me yet, that’s why I put the swords away.”
“Whatever, it’s your funeral.”
“Trust me, you annoying blue firefly, this guy isn’t bad, and he could be a much more valuable asset as a friend than an enemy.” Yevoc insisted. He suddenly realized that the minotaur had been watching and listening to the two of them talking the whole time. He looked up at him grinning sheepishly.

It had taken a few shuddering breaths but Tikal had finally managed to calm down and focus on her craft. She was studiously quiet while sitting on a branch close to the pair. Her hand moved quickly, making soft edges or long lines with her drawing untencil. Every few moments she would look up and study the white bull, while her hand continued to move, before looking down again and either making adjustments or adding more to her drawing. When she was nearly done, it was clear that she was making a detailed sketch of Vanarak with equin muscles bulging, tattoos clearly defined, accurate dress code, his weapons in hand and the intimidating arrows potruding from his back. She even added soft shading around him to portray the snow cloud he created upon his entry. When she would sketch her discovered beasts she would always draw short directory lines around it, pointing to parts of her subject that she deemed interesting and ending in stars and numbers. To the side of the sketch she would make a legend to indicate what made the stars and numbers important.

Tikal's wings hummed softly, fluttering like a humming bird's wings move. But they were so thin that it was like they were moving, but one couldn't be quite sure. She stayed stuck in her 'Sketch-mode' all through the conversation between her white bull and elf until she was satisfied with her work. On the right page was the sketch and on the left page was a space for the bull's story, which she was becoming increasingly excited to hear and document. She gazed at her work, absorbed in it and quietly fantasizing about all the time she would spend with her white bull. The possibility of being rejected away was there but she rarely payed much attention to that. Those with ambition never gave up! Tikal smiled and happily snapped her book shut before dismissing the item to who knows where, it simply vanished from her hands.

Just when she was standing up to make first contact, she paused at the sound of crackling and creaking. "Huh..? Wha-..!!" Out of nowhere, well if she had been paying attention she would have seen the elf's display of magic know-how, a tree was hurtling towards her. Screeching in terror, she darted out into the clearing and quickly poofed into her human size. She tumbled through the air and to the ground, wailing the entire time. She landed right into a mound of snow, tossing the powder into the air She hit the natural cushion just as the destroyed tree took out the branch she was on and even maimed a bit of the trunk.
Now laying in the snow, she voiced her trauma. "By the magical gods! One moment I'm hhh..! And then boom!" She got up and dusted snow from her apparel, panting while her now transparent wings fluttered to release the snow on them. "That would of been the end of Tikal.. You bet your best enchament it would of.." she sighed, checking herself for injury.

Vanark was Amused, Suprised and Shocked. The elf had responded the way Vanarak had expected him to. Seemingly angered, His blade was clearly of the highest quality, and the elf seemed to consider himself the same. After showing his powers freezing an nearby tree Vanarak was prepared to lop off his head right there and then. But the elf did something.. Interesting. He sheathed his blades, turning to speak to his fairy friend, Showing his confidence. That was... Very new for Vanarak, And it honestly stunned him.

But it was only slightly as stunning as the woman who fell straight out of the tree that had been earlier demolished, Diving head down into the snow with a soft "Puff". She was the fairy that Vanarak earlier had seen fluttering about! These people.. They seemed so exhausting, Yet fun. Vanarak's axe slightly slided down along his hand, The end of it touching the ground as Vanarak suddenly threw his head back. A loud echoing laughter erupting from him. Several seconds passed as Vanarak's laughter continued. He was visibly shivering from laughter as it finally died down. "Y-You people. Hehehe..."

Vanark took a large step completely turning his back to the three. his laughter had finally dissapeared as Vanarak's voice grew gruffy again "Sure, I'll play along with ya, Now I'm atleast sure you won't try to kill me" Vanarak suddenly sat down in the snow, The many arrows in his back moving slightly as his wounds started opening from the movement. "But It will be the little one... Vanarak swung his left hand upwards, Using his thumb to point towards Tikal ...That will help me with the arrows. You should know, Elf, That you have a terrible intuition, I'll be no asset. Nor a friend for that matter. So since you have those fancy kitchen knives, Could you please keep a watch for that damn troll? I would like to avoid being blind-sided by any boulders"

Completely unaware to the previous trauma which Yevoc had suffered Vanarak sat quietly, He was clearly attempting to act tough, But it was pretty clear for both Yevoc and Tikal how painful the arrows must be. Many of the wounds seem to have been forcefully "Pried Open", In a very distressing way.

While he was relieved by the fact that the minotaur was in a cheerful mood and laughing, Yevoc once again couldn’t help but feel insulted by the comment about his sword being kitchen knives. Nevertheless, he figured it was better to stay on this guy’s good side so he obliged and kept an eye on the cave where the troll had retreated after throwing the boulder at him.
“Oh yeah, this is much better than killing the troll on our own.” Ash muttered.
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and fly your tiny ass up there to see if the troll is there or not?"
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Ash said before fluttering off to the cave at the top of the hill. A few minutes later he turned around and flew back out of the cave and hovered a few feet in front of the entrance before turning to human size. “Hey you guys might want to come look at this. The cave comes out into a goblin village and they seem to be enjoying the supplies they stole. Also there’s a group of people in the woods a few yards over there.” He said as he pointed to the group still in the woods.
“Well, …” Yevoc paused, realizing he didn’t get the minotaur’s name “… sir, once your friend gets those twigs out of your back, I’ll get my pixie and we can go put my fancy kitchen knives to the test. Or if you’d like we can stay and see if these others are friendly.”
“Watch your tongue snowflake!” Ash snapped at Yevoc, pixie was viewed as a derogatory slur to the fairies.
“Well, you don’t have to come along with me everywhere if you don’t want to.” He chuckled back at him.
“I can put you frozen ass back under that boulder again, too! Remember that!”

Tikal had been looking around to see where she landed when she froze, her wings mid-flutter. Her skin crawled with that feeling of being watched, her ears catching the low and rumbling voice of her white bull.

"This one..." she heard him say, and when she whirled around to see which 'one' he was talking about, her face split into a doofy grin upon seeing his thumb pointed back towards her.

"Me..?" She moved left while poking herself in the chest with her forefinger. His thumb was still pointing at where she previously was. "No no.. he couldn't.." she whispered. "Me?" Now she moved right and the excitement her body expressed caused her wings to begin fluttering, which helped lift her small form an inch off of the snow covered ground. His thumb was still pointing.
Realization that was previously being held back now burst to the surface, her wings pulsing with vibrant colors as she squealed. "Me! He means me! Me me! Not you!" She pointed to a tree on her right. "Not you!!" She pointed at the snow bank she fell into. "Me! Just me! Meeeeee~!" she sang while starting to dance over to her prize and turn in circles.

"Ha chachachacha!" She tapped her toes in the snow and pumped her arms. "Look at this! Chosen! By such a fine rarity!" Pushing her fingers against her mouth she giggled like a court maiden who was winked at by a prince. "White fur.. " she mooned over his left shoulder. "Intricate tattoos.." she switched to his left while completely, but not purposefully avoiding the arrows in his back. Then she came around and bent over to stare into his face with round, wide, and blue pools of awe. "And what a beautiful.. big.. wet nose you have.. Gosh I just want to touch i- And those dark equin eyes!" She made her giggling sound again, dropping into a seat on her heels. "Are you staring into my soul right now~? I want you to. Go on." She finally ended her rant with another stupid and lasting grin. Her chin was being held in her hands and her wings created a warm buzzing sound as she stared at Vanarak.

Vanarak found himself completely dumbfounded, Again. The elf had taken his suggestion and together with his fairy he was scouting the cavern. He was quietly observing the woods from which he had heard the sounds of heavy armor, Expecting and preparing for the other fairy to start attempting to remove the arrows, But that was not at all what happened.

It only took a moment before Vanarak heard several very excited sounds behind him. The fluttering of her wings accompanied by small

Me's

. Vanarak didn't care much for it. He thought at first that she was simply being hesitant and questioned why just she had to help him, It was the usual thing that most people do when they are forced to do anything with him. But her small sounds only got louder, and soon enough Vanarak could hear the amount of pure, Joy in her voice. And with that she started happily proclaiming

Me! He means me! Me me!

all the while throwing her arms out in random directions. Vanarak had not a single clue about her reaction, He had never experienced any of the sort.

She suddenly twirled directly to him, Reaching the ground while still gesturing like an Overjoyed schoolgirl. She started to swoon over him, all the while followed by Vanarak's now curious gaze. She was noting every slight detail about him. All from his eyes to his fur. Until she suddenly sat herself down beside him, Like exhausted from her outburst. Her eyes seemed to have increased several sizes to fit with her wide smile.

Are you staring into my soul right now? I want you to, go on.

Vanarak had completely forgotten about his arrows, just the way that the fairy also probably did, He was far to busy attempting to talk with her. Vanarak was someone who could talk, he knows what to say although his appearance rarely allows him to have a good conversation. But he, as said, Found himself completely dumbfounded. Only staring directly into bright blue eyes meeting his. "Your soul? Hrmh, What is there to say, You certainly seem, Interesting" Was she not afraid of him in the slightest? Not on her guard or anything? Her wings was still gently vibrating, For a moment Vanarak thought that he could have been struck by magic, Been charmed. He switched the grip on his axe, Laying it down across his lap. He had never been so... Overwhelmed, And he kinda enjoyed it.

Tikal gazed at Vanarak as if he was the most beautiful thing she was never going to see again. When he replied to her, she sighed dreamily while he was speaking. "Ya know.. I've never, safely, been this close to a subject before." She told him, her smile having dwindled to something more gentle and content. Then, after sighing again while her eyes drank him in, she hopped up onto her feet and beamed at him once more while placing her fists on her hips. "I'm Tikal! And you not shooing me away after this long means that we'll be fast friends! And if you don't mind at all, I'm going to make us inseparable!" Her wings hummed at the thought. Then she thought about the thought. "Well. Inseperable until I thoroughly study and document you."

Dropping down into a squat again, the human sized yet 5 foot tall Tikal summoned her Bestiary and with a wiggle of her fingers, opened it up to the two pages that were now a tribute to him and him alone. On one was where she'd drawn him in all of his intimidating glamour and the other was where she'd written down all she knew about him from first glance. There was a surprising amount of detail. "See?" She held the book at its base and over her facial features as she showed it to him, only leaving her eyes for him to see. "I've been working at this thing for half of my fairy life! It's my Bestiary, and you're my first major star!!" Her voice gained more excitement as she neared the end of her sentence. Once the word star was said, she snapped the book shut and dismissed it, causing it to vanish in a ripple of air.

There were probably things going on arohnd Tikal that deserved almost half as much attention as she was giving Vanarak. But right no1w she was a collector who'd found something she knew no one else had. So she had to devote all of her attention to it, and whatever it could mean for her.

Yevoc glanced over at the minotaur and the other fairy. They seemed to be otherwise occupied.
“Well, I guess it’s just you and me dragonfly.”
“Oh for fuck sake, my name is Ash!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m on my way up. Just warn me if the troll comes back.” Yevoc called up to him as he began to climb up the hill to the cave. As he reached the top he was able to see the others that Ash had mentioned earlier. He was no just slightly more cautious when he was able to make out that a Dark Elf seemed to be leading the group. While Dark Elves and Snow Elves didn’t really have anything against each other, Yevoc knew that Dark Elves were not to be trifled with.
“So should we wait for the other two?” Ash asked.
“I think they’re busy, I’m sure they’ll catch up, though, if they’re serious about killing the troll.”
“So what’s your plan, run into the village, swords swinging, freezing everything in sight until you can kill them?” Ash asked sarcastically.
“Well, it was more along the lines of killing and freezing as I go, but basically yeah that was it. Why? You got something better? I doubt you can do much damage with that dagger there, so a little magical backup might be nice.”

Vanarak was regaining himself, He was still thoroughly surprised by the fact that this small Fae seemed so comfortable by his side. Even soldiers which have had their life saved by him rarely let down their guard when he was close.

Vanarak let out a small muffled laugh when she proclaimed that she had never been

Safely close to a subject before

. Safe, that's certainly not what people feel in his presence. She stood up, Vanarak's gaze still locked on her. Tikal, that was her name. Vanarak was extremely bad with names, But not this time, He would be sure to etch that name into his memory. Tikal continued her gentle rambling, Stating how they would quickly become friends, How they were about to be completely inseparable until her "study" was completed. Vanarak didn't care much for what her "study" might be, He honestly didn't mind Tikal's company and thus didn't really see anything wrong with what she was saying.

Suddenly sitting herself down again, expending her seemingly unending amount of energy. A short movement with her hands, Using her innate magic, Causing a large book to appear in her hands. The book was, Huge, Atleast compared to the Fae wielding it, Like one of those magic tomes that battles had been fought for. Holding it in a mildly cute manner, Like a child proud of her drawings, She showed it to him. Leaning in slightly, Vanarak's curiosity getting the best of him, He took a long glance over the pages detailing him. It was, Impressive, Worryingly so. One of the pages holding a picture of him, Was extremely, well detailed. The tiny text accompanying it, speculating about facts surrounding him. The amount of detail made a small alarm in the back of his head go off. "This is... Very detailed..."

With another small ripple of energy the book dispersed, Just as suddenly as it had appeared

Vanarak had still a hard time wrapping his head around it, Who was she? What is she even doing? He could have easily killed her. Was she incredibly brave or just stupid? But he disregarded the questions, It was nothing that he needed to know, Instead he allowed a small smirk to creep up on him. Lifting his hand of his axe, Softly poking Tikal directly between her eyes
"...But my fur isn't all that shiny like you have drawn it, It's only the snow"

Vanarak could clearly see out of the corners of his vision, It seemed the elf was going. He would need to catch up. But if he really wished to gain any speed then the arrows potruding out of his back would need to be dealt with first.