I was looking at a tree? A tree shaped like a person? He was definitely an elf of the forest. His eyes, although too light to be the normal shade of green, were slanted like one. His skin was pale and his limbs were long as well as the set of claws he had just like a forest elf. They're limbs and nails are always awkwardly long. I know that because my father told me it helped them climb trees. But they're weren't known for being- "-Hhh, tall..."
I forgot how to speak. How can this be a forest elf? Full grown, hundred year old forest elves are always shorter than even me. But here this guy was, towering over me with a look of disgust. Or is that just how everyone looks at me?
"What are you doing?" He spoke firm and stood taller than a second ago. I swear on my life that his eyes held a murderous intent. It frightened me.
"Oh. Oh, I'm just... Chilling. You know. Might have been about to take a bath." Please just be a random guy. Not someone out to kill me. Wait, also don't realize what I am either. Please be an idiot. "I did hear someone singing, though! You should, uh, go see what that person's doing. I couldn't find them bu-"
His expression suddenly softened, disgust replaced by what I can only describe as being extremely unimpressed. "You shouldn't be here." He spoke with in monotone, quiet now.
"Oh, I shouldn't? Huh, must have just... Wandered off. I should get back. Yeah, back. That's what I'll do! Bye!" I attempted to duck past him but in that moment all I saw was mossy green and felt cotton against my face. He literally grabbed my face to stop me. Who does that? "Hey!"
I tried to shove his hand away but he pushed me back. "You're too close to the border of the wasteland to have 'wandered off.' How did you get this far from home and why?"
"Pshh, what are you, the border guard? Relax."
"Yes." Yikes. How do I get myself out of this one.
"Yikes. Okay, where do I start?"
"Nothing you tell me can convince me should be here. Unless you have papers, but even then you should be with others, on the set paths, and we weren't informed of anyone coming through."
"Stickler for the rules, I see. That's fine! Uh, papers, you say? I have papers. Lots of papers. Hold on, just let me..." I held my hands out in front of me, cupping them as if to catch water. It was to be sure he knew I wasn't about to attack with my magic. Not that I could attack with ability, but he didn't know that.
His stance shifted slightly, readying himself for if I did decide to go on the offensive. It was easy to tell he was trained for this. Even for me and I have little knowledge of the world outside my town. Unless it was in the form of a story.
Just as the space above my hands glimmer with a chilly light, there was someone on top of me. I fell on my hip with a thud and a loud groan of pain. There was a weight holding me down and then hands securing one of my arms behind my back. My other arm was wedged between me and the rocky ground, said rocks pressing into all the wrong places.
"Suspect subdued!" I strained my neck to see the women who was speaking and now laughing. Probably at me. "Typeless, icy hair in contrast with their skin tone, black... Or maybe brown eyes, no taller than 5'5, it's hard to tell at the moment, and wearing what looks like a navy colored, magical protective suit, that a typeless shouldn't have, under clothing that are not even close to an attempt to hide the suit."
She squinted at me and I noted she had the normal shade of green forest elves should have. Like endless pits lined with moss all the way down. "We should also put down that it's fashion sense is as boring as most typeless little blanks."
"You're one to talk!" I said as I struggled against her hold. "You look like you dived into a bush and hoped for the best." I lied. I liked her almost-dress over her suit. She just laughed at me. I hate being laughed at. It made my chest and gut hurt and turned my face into a campfire. It might be the only thing I actually hate.
"Let the Typless go, A-llex." The tall one finally spoke. I couldn't see his face but I could hear the annoyance in his tone.
"I have a name!" No, I'm not supposed to share any information about myself. I won't give it to them... But they could have at least asked.
"Nobody cares, blank." A-llex said, loosening her grip on me. "Why should I let it go? It shouldn't be out here."
"They don't pose a threat. You don't need to use force unless there's a threat. There isn't one." I couldn't tell his mood any more, annoyance replaced with nothing.
"It's a typeless! They're wildcards, Ze-dric. You know this."
"I don't care. Let them go."
"Normally you wouldn't care." Finally, she got off me, skipping to Ze-dric's side. "What's so special about it?"
"Nothing." He said as I pushed myself off the ground and stood. I'm going to have to wash my clothes now. Thanks mean lady, I so love washing clothes.
"Hit first, ask questions never, much?" I sighed out as I brushed the dirt from my side and pretended I wasn't in pain. When I looked back up I noticed just how dead set Ze-dric was on not taking his eyes off me. Did he think I was going to bolt once he looked away? Well, I probably would but still!
"Sometimes you have to." She shrugged, pushing her long waves around. Something about her looked familiar. Was it her facial features? Her height? She looks the same height as me. It can't be her coloring. Even if her skin fell on the darker side for forest elves, it was still pale. I knew no one like that nor did I know anyone with hair such a light shade of yellow. It was almost white. But at the moment it was also damp looking and she looked fresh. Was she just bathing? My eyes lit up and I grinned at her.
"You were the one singing!" I pointed at her as if accusing her of a crime.
"I- Yeah? So what?"
"You need lessons." I didn't like insulting her but I had to try and distract them. "Lots of lessons."
"How dare you! I'll have you know that I'm very well known for my voice. Right, Ze-dric?" He didn't look away from me and didn't respond to A-llex. It was like he didn't hear her. "Hello, Ze-dric?" She waved her hand in front of him and he just swatted it away.
"Calm down, A-llex." He responded.
"I am! You're just being weird." She looked back at me for only a second before looking back at him. She did a few more times in a span of a couple seconds, looked around her as if someone might be watching us, then grabbed Ze-dric's arm and pulled him close. For a second I thought he looked startled. "Come on, Z, sweety. Let's just tie it up and take it back already."
He stared at her, finally looking away from me, then at where their arms met. "What are you doing?"
"Can't I touch my boyfriend?"
"You never call me tha-" He was cut off by me. I sprinted away as fast as my legs could take me. I can't have them take me back. I can't. I have a job to do!
I could hear them following behind me. This isn't good. The girl might not catch up but that tall guy could probably out run a winged leopard. How can I get the advantage?
Just as I was losing hope, my calves started burning, and the footsteps were only feet behind me, I saw a thin looking tree branch in front of me, just high enough for me to reach with my hands held high. I slowed down enough for him to think he got me and pushed the branch out as I sped by. It whipped back harder than I thought it would.
The branch cracked against him, there was a cry of pain, and then a thud. Instinctively but against my better judgement I turned around. Ze-dric was on the ground and holding his face, a gray-ish crimson blood slipping past his fingers. Weird color. "Crap. Crap crap crap! Oh my sky child. I'm so sorry."
I went to him and held my hands up like I was going to do something. I had no idea what to do so they just hovered awkwardly. "I-I thought it would just slow you down. Are you okay?"
He looked at me over his hand, brows knitted and unhappy. He pulled his hand away from his face to reveal more blood flowing from his nose. It looked distorted and broken, causing me to kneel in front of him. "Oh no no no no. I broke your nose! I'm so so so sorry."
He didn't move as I brought my hands higher. As I focused I could see him sort if just watching me. It would be creepy if I didn't run off all suspicious like and then break his nose. I chose to ignore it while I searched what I call my "inventory" for a cloth.
There. A cotton cloth appeared in my hand in that moment. I had a little laugh at his reaction; his eyes widening a bit and then closing them with a small nod. I stopped the nod by placing a shaky hand at the back of his neck and pushed his head forward. "My papa says it's better this way." Then I hesitantly pressed the cloth to his face, wiping away some blood as I did.
"For a criminal, you're awfully caring." His words were muffled from the cloth and nasally from having his nose plugged.
"Criminal? Hold on. No. I'm just a... Traveler."
"In a land that's not your own, without papers, by yourself, and who ran from the guard?"
"Yep. I guess I'm just an idiot, huh?"
"I don't doubt that."
"Wow, okay, rude."
"Says the one who broke my nose."
"Fair point." Silence followed as we waited for the bleeding to stop. It wasn't comfortable in the slightest. I needed to run and I knew he knew I was going to try to again. I doubt he'd let me. "Alright, I think it's stopped."
He grabbed my wrist just then. It hurt some but I could tell he could have done worse. Before I had a second to fight against it or say anything I heard the women from before. Yelling. Screaming, really. We both whipped our heads to the source to see A-llex sprinting like her life depended on it. And it did.
Something was behind her, knocking trees down and grunting with every step. It was like three people tall and four wide. It's ears stood higher on his head than and elves and rounded at the tops. Even the greenish color of it's skin was frightening. Because all those features were of an- "Orc! Holy crap! Oh sky child, we're gonna die."
Ze-dric's grip on my wrist tightened while I panicked and before I knew it we were running too. He was too fast. How did I ever out run him for even a second? It burned my legs to keep up and we just started running. "Woah! S-slow down! What... uh, what about your girlfriend? She's not this fast!" Yeah, that's why.
"She can handle herself." He wasn't wrong. When i looked back I couldn't see her. Just the Orc. Did she vanish? Can forest elves do that? "Keep up."
"I'm trying! I don't have the legs of a skinny giant!" He didn't respond to that, continuing to practically tare my arm off as we ran.
The orc was somehow gaining on us. Every branch we dodged, when ever the ground was a little too uneven, and every breath of air lost to as we grew tired, slowed us down. But the Orc broke anything in its way, was unfazed by the unpredictable footing, and didn't seem to get tired.
"We're going to die. I'm going to die. I just started my quest and I'm going to die before I even get a third of the way there! The world's going to fall to ruin and die again just because I can't out run a stupid orc!"
"Shut up and save your breath!"
"What's the point? It's going to catch up eventually and kill us! Might as well let it happen a little soon- Ah!" He picked me up without a word and threw me over his shoulder. Somehow, without me slowing him down, he picked up the pace. But it still wasn't fast enough. "As much as I appreciate this, please give me a warning."
"No time." I was too tired to fight with that logic and just let him keep running. At least my legs wouldn't hurt as much. And hey, maybe he can out run this monster somehow... Or outsmart it.
"I have an idea!"
"That's new."
"Shut up! I'm focusing." That I was. Where did I put it? Not with the first aid bag. No, that's my jacket... There! With my collection of neat little rocks. Bloop. A slingshot appeared in my hand with one of my least pretty rocks. "Goodbye, rockey. We'll always remember your bravery."
It was hard to aim like this but I managed. Almost blindly I hurled the rock at the Orcs. It hit one of his eyes. "Bulls eye! Hah, get it? Bulls eye?"
"Look again." And I did. The Orc just looked angrier and maybe even got faster.
"Oh shi- Oh what the heck!?" Ze-dric tugged me off his shoulder and held me against his chest. Before I could even ask myself the question I got the answer. He jumped. I felt weightless for a moment. Then we hit the ground hard.
His arms and legs around me and his body took most the damage as we rolled down a cliff side I didn't see before. I was freaking out. How did he plan on surviving this? Is he insane?
I didn't have to think twice about it. I summoned every blanket from my inventory that I knew I had. They wrapped around us as we fell. I really hoped this helped cushion the fall for him. Why was he willing to risk his life like that?
We hit the bottom when one of his arms slid away, causing me to hit my head just then. I could tell we rolled several more feet Before stopping. We were both silent for too long but I didn't have a chance to ask if he was okay. The world went black and I lost consciousness.