True Words

Iltan stood a little more at attention when he was spoken to, listening to the request. He smiled once more. "Of course. It's what I wandered over here for, you know. There's a stream not far from here." He made to move further into the forest, pausing to look back at the group. "Come on, best not to stay in one place for too long. The woods can be dangerous . ." He didn't bother elaborating further, figuring it was just common sense no matter where you came from. Hoping they would bring their unconscious companion along, Iltan paced ahead, senses alert for creatures lurking in the forest. If they followed, they could reach water within a few minutes.

As if planned, as soon as the last of their party got up to the hill, Adelina started to stir slightly. Her arms started to bend slowly so her hands could reach her face and her erratic pulse began to relax. Initial thoughts as to what had happened came out unintentionally as slightly blurted mumbles. Finally, her hands reached her face and she rubbed her eyes before trying to open them. As soon as her eyes were open, she looked around and used a bent elbow to sit herself up.

"Wha? . . . I mean... Did I? . . . I did? I'm sorry everyone... but... why did I-"

She finally sat herself up and turned in the direction to see Itlan, and her eyes widened again. But this time, she clenched her fist and began to take deep breaths, averting her gaze. Though, she realized this was extremely rude to the other person, no doubt she was a horrible person for such actions. She could not help it, the shock was a little too much at the moment. Nevertheless, she would not let him just walk off before she could apologize. Forcing herself to her feet, she stumbled at first and still was rather clumsy as she caught up with the man. Her gaze was still averted to keep herself standing.

"I'm sorry. That was... incredibly rude of me. I just... I don't think I was ready for such a shock. I'm sorry if I offended you."

Iltan raised a white eyebrow at the woman. It was unusual, to say the least, to have someone apologize for such an involuntary act. "No, it's . . it's fine." He started to reach out and steady her, but thought better of it and kept to himself. The hybrid shifted his staff a little higher on his shoulder so he could hang his fingered hand a little further down its length. "Happens more than I'd like to admit, actually. The staring and the fainting. So, you're not the only one." He gave her a slightly wistful smile.

They definitely had to count themselves lucky. Who would have guessed someone would be waiting just outside the ravine? And if there was one person, there were bound to be more. One question swam through Bryan's mind: was everyone in this place like the guy they ran into? With the wing thing. Bryan brushed the thought aside. For now, he was thirsty. And he knew Kim was much more thirsty. And poor Adelina could probably use some water as well.

"I think we're all in agreement here," Bryan spoke up after Adelina's apology. "We're going to follow you. We really have nowhere else to go, and searching for everything ourselves would be problematic seeing as how we have no idea what to expect from this place," Bryan explained. At this point, anything was possible. Anything. They had crossed the line from normal to the absolutely fantastical with but a....what? How did they get here? Bryan let out a quiet groan as he thought about that. What on earth could have possessed the power to move them from one spot to another? What exactly happened? All the walking and the thinking was starting to give Bryan a bit of a headache. He wondered if everyone else felt the same.

Gwendolyn nodded, taking her clipboard and writing down the descriptions of this bird-like man. He says he knows where water is, and while a man with an avian wing for an arm wasn't the most trustworthy looking person you could find, under these circumstances they would have to follow him. And her co-workers all seem to agree, following this man would be the most logical choice at the moment.

"Then let's go. I would not like to waste any more time here where we can get jumped by wild animals." Gwendolyn said.

As the strangers finally seemed to be in agreement, Iltan led them a ways into the forest, remaining wary of their surroundings. Having spent much of his time in the forest, he had no trouble navigating between the trunks and various greenery towards the smatterings of a creek he could hear. The trees gave no indication of clearing right up until he stopped at the edge of a very clear stream. Iltan gestured at it with a small nod before kneeling to get a few handfuls for himself.

He wiped his mouth off before speaking to the others. "There are fruits in the trees here if you can reach them." The hybrid moved closer to one, taking his staff with both arms and striking its trunk hard enough to make a few fall. Picking one up, he offered it to the girl who'd fainted earlier, mostly to show he held no hard feelings over the incident. "Lanala, they're very sweet. Try one?"

Adelina went rigid for a moment, unsure as to whether or not to try the fruit. Though the man seemed nice enough, who was to say he was not lying to them? She had personal experience with people wearing masks to hide their true faces, this could easily be another example. Yet after a moment she took the fruit anyway and slowly bit into it. The sweet juices coated her tastebuds quickly and she eagerly took another bite. More sweet surged over her tongue and collected in the back of her throat. She chewed and swallowed rather vigorously, despite having been hesitant at first.

The stranger led them farther into the woods. Apparently staying in one spot was dangerous anywhere they would happen to be in this...place, wherever they were. He remembered the bad feeling about the ravine. Perhaps the wing guy would know? They hadn't even asked him his name, and he was helping them out so nicely. The group came to a stop by a stream. Upon looking at the water, he noticed it had to have been the clearest water he had ever seen. He gazed in wonder at the smooth, light brown pebbles that made up the streambed. Crouching down, Bryan cupped his hands and brought some of the water to his mouth, gulping it down in utter delight.

Lanala. The man had hit a tree causing little round fruits to drop down. One rolled along the ground to his feet, and he picked it up. It was red in hue, almost like an apple. The skin was firm, not hard though, and it was almost a perfect sphere in shape. Bryan plucked the little stem from the top and took a bite. "Mmm...," he muttered, teeth still sunk into the fruit. It was almost as if he didn't want to remove them, but he did, finishing his bite and downing it after chewing it thoroughly. "Wow, this is delicious," he pointed out, though it was obvious to any who tasted it. That was when his thought from earlier crossed his mind.

"I want to thank you for helping us like this. And after everything we've done, we still haven't been properly introduced. My name is Bryan Mosher," he said, extending a hand for a handshake making sure it would match up with the unwinged arm of the man he was introducing himself to.

Iltan glanced down as the one who introduced himself extended a hand towards him. He would make the first person not from the village to greet him formally, in many years now. So, unused to the gesture, he rested his staff against his wing and slowly took Bryan's hand with his right, bowing his head slightly. "It is a pleasure Bryan. My name is Iltan, and there's no need to thank me." Though he pulled his own hand back, feeling defensive for some reason, he gave a good-natured smile.

"You all looked like you were in some kind of trouble, and I've never seen anyone quite like you. I thought . . . well, I thought maybe . . ." He gestured with his wing, quietly rustling the pure white feathers, and shook his head. "Never mind. Are you guys lost or something?"

Gwendolyn followed the winged stranger. He was indeed able to get them to a location with water, which was fortuitous for someone with a weak endurance such as Gwendolyn. However, she tried her best not to lose her calm as she drank from the stream. Kneeling down cupping the water in her hands, Gwendolyn drank each handful with just one gulp. One could quite obviously tell that she couldn't take the thirst very well.

After several handfuls of water, Gwendolyn stood back up and took out her clipboard yet again. And she began to jot down notes on the surrounding area, the notes may prove useful in the future just in case they needed to find their way back again and this one named Iltan wasn't there. While she did realize the chances of that happening would be slim, it was better to be safe.

"Gwendolyn Forester," Gwendolyn said after putting the clipboard back into her large lab coat pocket, "Pleased to meet you."

The winged man nodded at each of them as they introduced themselves, perking an eyebrow at the one named Kim's statement. " . . . Not from this world? I'm afraid I don't understand, you're still standing on earth. Is the ground under your feet not dirt like the rest of us?" He tilted his head curiously, giving him an even more avian appearance. These strangers were quite . . well, strange. If not for their peculiar clothing and obvious unfamiliarity, he might have thought they were insane. It stood to reason, however, that they were just rather disoriented. Perhaps. The one girl still seemed in shock, having hardly spoken a word since her apology. They all also seemed wary of him, but this was not an unusual reaction.