The sound of birdsong and the rustle of the wind in the trees was the only thing that could be heard, and two familiar faces could be seen as they made their way down the path. Irene suddenly collapsed onto her knees from the amount of pain when it became too much for her to bear.

Mumkhar looked over his shoulder. "What's the holdup? Your wound better not be bothering you!" He made his way back to her as his eyes scanned her side. "Told you it would get infected! Are you that dense not to listen to me?"

Irene looked up at him as pain could be seen in her eyes as she grit her teeth. "It's not about listening to you or not, it's about figuring out why I'm in this mess in the first place," she replied as she shakily got to her feet and turned to look at him. "Now let's go, shall we? We have wasted enough time hanging around here."

Laughter could be heard in his voice as he said, "A cocky one, aren't we? But like I said earlier, I don't want a dead body on my hands. You should consider yourself lucky that I even allow you in my presence at all!" He took a glance back at her and continued along the path. He had sustained some injuries himself, but he wasn't about to let her see that.

Irene glared at him. She started to limp after him as her gaze was traveling from side to side. Even though she had made it through the mechon attack, she wasn't about to let her guard down, especially when she was with a brute she didn't trust quite yet. She couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped," Hey, Mister Big Shot! Just who do you think you are? You may have claws, but you are all bark and no bite!"

Mumkhar stopped on the path ahead, muscles tensed in anger. In a flash, he had Irene held up by her shirt as he pointed one of his claws at her neck. "Say that again and I will put a hole in that pretty little neck of yours. I could have let you die back there, so shut your yap!" Anger could be seen brimming in his eyes as he held her firm. "Ugh, why am I the one that has to put up with you?" He sighed as he dropped her to the ground as he continued along the path like nothing had happened.

Irene looked at him with shock written on her face. She had almost met her end by the one who had just saved her earlier. It dawned on her that he was someone that you must definitely didn't want to cross."Fine, fine! I won't say it anymore. But it's still the truth." She mumbled the last part to herself and picked herself up, proceeding along the path.

"Pardon?" Mumkhar had slowed his pace but he was still walking. After a bit of her being quiet, he nodded to himself as he grinned." Good, that's what I thought," he said with a sneer and a bit of a chuckle. He once again stopped at a hill that had a tree overlooking it. "We'll rest here."

Irene glanced around as she very slowly settled herself on the grass next to the tree. She looked over at Mumkhar but shivered slightly inside with alarm. The way he was looking at her so intensely reminded her of how a predator would look at a piece of prey, clearly keeping a close eye on her. "Wh-what is it," she managed to ask him with a tremor in her voice.

Mumkhar chuckled to himself as he shakes his head. "Nothing... but answer me this: Why are you still traveling with me when I could kill you in a heartbeat like I almost did earlier?" As he awaited her answer, his eyes looked her over as he got a better look at her. He noticed right away that she had neglected to take care of her wound from earlier, and it was now inflamed and a bright red. "You obviously didn't listen to a word I said! Now your wound is infected thanks to your carelessness! I should leave you here to die for your stupidity."

Irene flinched back at the anger in his voice, unable to look him in the eyes. "Then why did you rescue me in the first place? You obviously don't care if I live or die, and you have made it as clear as day that you want nothing to do with me anyway. " She very slowly looked at him as she noticed another emotion behind all that anger. She couldn't exactly place it, but she knew that she had seen that emotion somewhere else, racking her brain for the answer.

Mumkhar narrowed his eyes as his gaze darkened. However, before he could answer her question, a set of footsteps could be heard. He automatically shot to his feet with his claws at the ready and scanned the area around them. "All right, come on out and show yourself! Don't make me come and get you," he snarled, shifting with anticipation. The snap of a twig was heard as a shadow was seen moving its way closer to them, but it was doing so cautiously. Without warning, Mumkhar let out a growl as he lunged forward. "Hell Dive Claw," he screamed as he plunged forward with his claws extended.

The shadow was apparently caught off-guard, for they staggered and then fell to the ground with Mumkhar on top of them. They had fallen into a clearing that was barren with almost no vegetation. They managed to get to their feet, finally speaking in a authoritarian tone. "Relax, Mumkhar." The shadow could now be clearly seen, but they had long, flowing brown hair and brown eyes to match. They wore appeared to be a white shirt with a red vest over it, and also had a cape going across their shoulders. They also wore brown pants with what seemed to be pieces of armor on the side and had calf high boots that had the tounge opened and up.

Mumkhar instantly lowered his guard as he got up and scrambled up in shock. "Dunban! What are you doing here?" He was looking almost scared as he realized what he had almost done. "You, my friend, are lucky that you weren't a Mechon! Otherwise, I would have messed up pretty bad!" Fear could be seen gleaming in his eyes as he raised his gaze to look at the other hom.

Dunban chuckled lightly as he replied, "I could ask you the same thing. It appears that you haven't lost your touch." His eyes suddenly shot to the edge of the clearing as he narrowed his eyes. "I can see you there, you know. Ah, and it looks like you're injured." He very slowly made his way over to her and nodded reassuringly with a soft smile. "It's an honor to meet a fellow soldier. I'm Dunban, but you already know that thanks to Mumkhar here."

Irene stared at him as he approached her, still holding her side tightly. "Oh, hello. My name is Irene. And yes, I was injured, but I try not to let it bother me. I was fortunate that Mumkhar saved me when he did, or I wouldn't be here right now." She walked over to him until she was standing in front of him, quickly gritting her teeth as a fresh wave of pain went through her.

Dunban's looked at her hand at her side and frowned. "Why haven't you gotten that seen to? It's badly infected... we need to get you medical attention. " He looked around once before he started to head off along the path as he looked back at her with concern. "Are you coming? I don't want you left behind while you are this bad off,"He asked as he finally went along the path again. He kept close to her, but all his offers to lend her support were declined.

Mumkhar sighed in defeat, having no choice but to follow them and running to catch up with the two. He set a brisk pace right behind them and kept flexing his claws. "Shit, Dunban... you're real blind with people if you can't see that there's something wrong. I'm not sure what, but I aim to find out what exactly it is." He would eventually discover that the truth would change him forever.