The drow sat bold upright in shock, only to grasp his head with a whimper of pain.
"Hey, hey hey! Lay down, you'll hurt yourself!" Liana exclaimed, gently pushing him back to the bed.
"What happened? Where am I?" He wondered aloud, as the wood elf placed a cool cloth on his head.
"What is the last thing you remember?" Liana asked, sitting down on the ledge beside him.
"I remember following a slaver caravan, " he said, "I attacked them, and let their slaves out..." His eyebrows scrunched together in thought, "After that everything's blank."
Liana nodded.
"After you let the slaves out, we helped you defeat the remaining drow, but one of them threw you against a wall." She said, "Another raiding party was coming this way, so I hid you in this cave."
The drow tried to sit up again with a grimace.
"There are more raiders?" He asked.
"Yes." Liana responded, pushing him down again, a bit more firmly, "And you have a concussion, so lie down!"
The dark elf obeyed with a huff of annoyance.
"Yes mother." He sneered.
Liana sighed and stood up, walking over to the pack she had taken from the drow supply wagon. She selected a piece of some sort of jerky; turning around to bring it to the dark elf. Surprisingly he had stayed put.
"I'm Liana Willow-whispers." She said conversationally, handing him the piece of food, "What's your name?"
"Makareth.*" He responded, "Makareth Darkblade."
They lapsed into silence for a while once Liana encouraged him to eat, and went about checking if the water from the spring was safe to drink.
"Why did you help me?" Makareth suddenly asked, rolling onto his side to fix his violet gaze on her suspiciously.
"Because you needed it." Liana said, turning to look at him, "And you got hurt helping rescue me and the other would-be slaves; so it would be only right for me to help you."
"But I'm a drow, and you're a surface elf." He pointed out, "Our kinds aren't exactly on friendly terms. Wouldn't you rather have me dead?"
Liana stiffened.
"Just because the elves that live on the surface generally hate the drow; doesn't mean every single one thinks that way." She snapped, "Just like how not every dark elf would attack an entire slaver caravan just to free the prisoners! Because of that, I believe you are different from the rest of your kind."
Makareth snorted.
"I didn't free the slaves for the sake of saving them." He said, "Believe that if you want, but I have my own reasons. Who says I won't stab you in the back as soon as you turn around?"
"You'd probably fall down before you got one step." Liana stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh really?" The drow challenged; swinging his legs around to put his feet on the floor, standing up; and taking a single step forward.
True to Liana's warning; his balance failed him and he fell to his knees; head swimming painfully.
"I told you!" The wood elf exclaimed, picking him up, and gently placing him back on the ledge, "You need to take it easy."
"You are either extremely brave, or extremely stupid." Makareth observed, as she set him down, "You don't even know me!"
"No I don't." she agreed, "But you're just a kid, and I hate seeing anyone, especially a child, suffering. No matter their race."
Whatever snarky remark the drow had planned, died on his tongue, and he remained silent; eyes vacant as he stared at the ceiling.
More time passed uneventfully as Liana finished her inspection of the spring water; the only sound the gentle trickle of the spring, until Makareth out of nowhere asked.
"What's it like up there?"
Liana turned to look at him. He was still lying on his back, just staring at the roof of the cave.
"On the surface." he elaborated, "What's it like?"
The ranger was momentarily stunned by the question.
"Well," she began, "It's a lot more open, with an endless sky above your head, and lots of different flora and fauna..."
Makareth listened quietly to all she had to tell turning over to look at her; marveling at the the thought of birds and trees, until he was lulled to sleep by his bodies need to recover.
Liana stopped talking once she noticed that he had drifted off, laying down beneath the supply ledge to get some rest herself.
0*0*0*0*0
When she woke up, the first thing she noticed was a quiet methodical rasping sound. Sitting up and looking around her, she saw Makareth sitting upright on the ledge with his back against the cave wall. The strange sound was coming from the stone he was rhythmically running along the edge of one of his daggers.
He stopped when Liana rose to her feet, sliding the weapon back into its sheath.
"They get rusty if I don't care for them regularly." He explained.
"I don't mind." Liana shrugged, "How's your head?"
He turned it back and forth a few times before answering.
"Fine." He replied.
"Prove it." Liana said skeptically, "Walk around the perimeter of the cave."
The dark elf flinched, but slid off the ledge, and obeyed, striding confidently around the cavern, and coming to a halt beside her.
She nodded, satisfied that his steps did not falter, and his balance seemed stable. Standing right next to him, she was kind of surprised that he was only a few inches shorter than her. She was not exactly tall, standing at about five and a half feet; but this drow had seemed so tiny while unconscious, that his height was staggering.
She carefully removed the bandage from around his head, noting that the wound seemed to be healing.
"Well, it seems like your concussion is no longer an issue." She said cheerfully, going to wash the bandage in the spring, "But the gash on your head still needs time to heal."
Makareth reached around to touch the scab behind his ear, eyes widening at how large it was.
"Don't pick at it." Liana warned, not even looking up from her work. The drow immediately dropped his hands to his sides.
She lay the now clean bandage on a stone to dry, going over to the pack and pulling out a new one, as well as the healing salve. Makareth watched her warily as she approached, eyes never leaving the other elf.
"It's just medical supplies." Liana said, holding out the items in her hands, "Can I re-dress your wound?"
Makareth nodded slowly, and she moved to stand behind him, gently and carefully spreading the salve onto his injury.
After Liana wrapped the bandage around his head and stepped away; the drow released the tension he didn't realize was growing in his body. He reached up to gingerly touch the bandage, amazed at the lack of pain he felt.
"Makareth..." Liana scolded, "Leave. It. Alone."
The dark elf once again let his hand fall, wrapping his arms around his torso. This strange woman seemed genuinely concerned about his well-being; which was an odd feeling for him. Before, if he were injured like this, he would have been told to walk it off. If he were to receive medical treatment, no one would have cared enough to be that gentle.
"Thank you." He mumbled, shaking his head at the strange feeling the words left in his mouth.
"You're welcome." Liana smiled, returning the supplies to her pack. Then she looked up again suddenly as a thought occurred to her, "Were you alone out here, or will you have friends out there looking for you?"
Makareth gave a short bark of laughter.
"There are definitely people out there looking for me." He said, "I would not call them friends, so as far as I'm concerned; I'm all alone."
Liana looked him over, another issue popping to mind.
"You're all by yourself, and you don't even have a pack?" She asked.
Makareth rolled his eyes.
"I have one, I just took it off before attacking the slavers." He said, "Have you ever tried fighting with all your equipment on your back?"
"No, but I could see that being an issue." Liana responded, brushing her hair behind her ear, "Where did you leave it?"
"On a ledge above where the caravan stopped." The drow explained, moving towards the cave exit. Liana followed behind him, smiling slightly at his annoyed expression.
"I'm not leaving until I know you've healed." She stated stubbornly.
Makareth rolled his eyes again with a groan, stepping out into the larger tunnel. They began walking; Liana following behind the smaller drow, until Makareth went rigid as a voice called out behind them.
"Well, hello there Darkblade. You know your mistress has been worried sick about you."
*Author's note: Yes. My account was named after this character.