The first thing the pale girl noticed about the man was the fact that he was wearing a strange black and red suit, with a symbol over his heart. He had brown hair and a flat beard with connected to his sideburns and a mustache much like it. Liza pressed against the tree with false hopes that he didn't see her or that she would be able to melt into the tree.
Glancing at the top of his head, she noticed a small bit of text titling him: 'XEPHOS'. He examined her before noticing her terrified gaze, his deep blue eyes showing concern instead of curiosity. Reaching out a hand, he spoke in a low voice. "Hello, I am Xephos. I suppose you have a bit of good luck since I found you. What are you doing in this tree?" She grasped his hand and shook it, one arm still squeezing the truck of the tree.
"Liza." She said, not sure what else to say. Xephos smiled his head tilting to the side a tiny bit. Realizing that he had asked her a question, she stammered out her best answer. "I was just trying to figure out where I was. I don't know where I am or why I got here." Somehow she felt it necessary to spill out her reasons, almost feeling pressured by him. He nodded and tilted his head a bit further to the side. Not sure if he wanted more from her, Liza decided to drop the subject and bring up the one that startled her most of all. "H-how exactly are you flying?"
"Oh! I have a ring. A flying ring." He stretched out his hand to show her. Reaching out her own hand, Liza touched it gently, feeling it's power run through her and fade again. In a few quick motions, Xephos had twisted his hand and grabbed her's and grabbed the back of her knees with his other arm before swinging her into his arms, bridal style. They fell to the ground, the air ruffling Xephos' hair and sending Liza's up reaching for the sky. She clung to his neck, squeezing her eyes shut and too terrified to scream. Suddenly they stopped and the tall man floated down to the ground. Gently he released her, ducking as she swung her fist at him.
"Why the fuck would you do that?" She screamed, backing up to cling to a tree. Xephos shrugged and spoke.
"I didn't hurt you, did I? Besides, it seemed that you wouldn't want to come down like that willingly."
"No, really?" She muttered, drawing up closer against the tree as she heard the crunching of twigs and a voice. Xephos smiled and turned, raising a hand up in greeting. "Xephos! I found some wood for out fire so we can cook that pig!" A burly dwarf moved out of the tree's shadow and into the clearing, his helmet tilted to the side. He had a huge red beard and a carrying strap settled on his shoulders. Black cloth covered his legs, feet, hands, and shoulders. The same black text floated above his head, marking him 'HONEYDEW'. Since Xephos showed no signs of surprise, Liza guessed he always ran around with no shirt.
Slipping around the other side of the tree, she sat down and leaned against it. Climbing the tree to try and escape would be a bad idea and night would be falling in a few hours. She wasn't sure whether to trust the men or not yet, but she had nothing to lose. Besides, she needed some shelter and protection.
Standing and moving back around the trunk, she was just in time to see Xephos look over at her. "Honeydew, this is Liza. I found her in a tree." Still frowning, the pale girl sighed and stuck out her hand. The dwarf was quicker then she expected, moving and grabbing her hand to shake it wildly. Xephos burst out laughing as her eyes widened with the unexpected movement. When he was able to control himself, he spoke again. "Honeydew, we need to get back to camp. I think Liza would like her own room."
"Aye, right! Come on now, I'll lead the way!" Honeydew moved off, Liza hesitating for a second before following. Xephos stayed at the back, making sure his friend did not move to quickly and that Liza did not try to escape. A wise move, she thought to herself I'm a bit tempted to run.
After many turns following a trail Liza couldn't see, the dwarf flung his hands wide to gesture at the camp. Stepping into the large clearing she saw a huge house and a stone fire pit. A small farm was growing wheat and a fence held a few animals. Since she wasn't very fond of animals, she decided to keep her distance. Her neutral face gaining a small frown, she noticed that there was a pen of pigs by the house. Otherwise though, it was a nice place to stay until she found her way home.
(So sorry this ending was so rough! Also, I do not own any of the characters so far except for Liza.)
