The offensive smell similar to that of a dog that took a swim in a pond invaded her nose as she first came to her senses. The inky darkness that surrounded her when she passed out didnt change, although she could hear the steady breathing of her furry companion to the right of her. The next thing that hit her was the sheer numbness and piercing cold that permeated her body. She was still damp from the impromptu swim they both ended up taking but she had little in methods to warm up. The fatigue deep set into her limbs indicated she wasn't out for very long either. It could not have been more than an hour or two.

Taking considerable effort to even spark a simple incantation, she managed to produce the three dim lights she was accustomed to that illuminated her surroundings once more. Looking down, Juniper saw that she was uncontrollably shaking. Her hands even looked a little paler than usual. No giant people-eating spiders needed, death from exposure just seemed like one more nap away in this miserable place. She squeezed her hands together and breathed out a frosty breath before trying to continue.

Managing to struggle to her feet, the sharp pain as she put weight on a foot notified her of a sprained ankle. Taking a proper look revealed just how swollen it had gotten, she grimaced. Normally it would be nothing since she had the convenience of healing magic, but she was tapped mentally and physically. Instead, Juniper tightly wrapped her arms around her as she took in her surroundings. There were small holes and passageways that weaved through the rock to more unknown. If she were to get lost down here, she might not ever find the path she even took in. That oh-so familiar feeling of anxiety gripping her chest came back, but this time all she could manage was to stifle a sob. The past few weeks have been horrid, never being able to rest for long, always running with fear someone was right behind her waiting for her to slip up. Considering the day before, it was a very valid worry.

Everything was crashing down on her as she felt short of breath and felt the tears coming on. This was just the straw that broke the camel's back was all in a long line of unfortunate events. The dreary atmosphere that occupied her head space for the past couple of days hadn't dissipated in the slightest as her mind began to drift to condemned thoughts that a more put together version of herself had shelved away.

Fortunately, something broke her out of her spiraling. She was so focused on her self that when she was suddenly brushed to the side, it caused her to fall and bump into the rim of the stone entryway that she had been near in an awkward way. She hadn't noticed that G'ryn had woken up, much less stood up and walked over to her. The slight sting from the scrape on her palms that she received helped to focus her mind against the offender, who had squeezed past her into the passageway with only a slight rumble in the throat in acknowledgment of what he did.

Despair quickly flared to blind anger as she glared at the Gnoll's head as if trying to burn a hole through it, however this emotion was much easier to control. A deep breath in and a measured exhale later, she worked herself back up to her feet. Juniper began following with gritted teeth, which also faded quickly with time to a stable numbness as the two traversed further through the cave system. She was just too tired to care about the little things, trying to upkeep the little lights the flittered about so she could see where she was going occupied her mind. The cantrip was sustained for now, but her concentration was spotty at best, the spell nearly being dropped several times as her brain had to catch up with what she was doing as she moved.


G'ryn himself limped along as continued further through the cave. He felt like it was out of place to speak to the half-elf after accidentally moving them aside while they were having a moment, apparently too roughly seeing how she fell. The awkward silence that followed however was uncomfortable, and he wasn't one to mince words with a person who he didn't know whether to hate their guts or feel sympathy after only witnessing a small moment of emotional vulnerability. She seemed to follow anyways, which was good. He could barely see anything without the help of her lights admittedly, previous feisty attitude aside.

On the upside, he felt a little better after coming to. The pain from the arrowheads was constant but dulled. He had gotten a little more movement in his leg and he regained some range of motion in his previously useless arm after setting it back into socket during their little break. The rudimentary medical supplies he toted around could only do so much, but at least he wasn't going to die from some horrible wound or infection now. Eh, probably. He was like many of his people, who lived precariously until something or the other took them.

The strides he took were small and sluggish, but he found himself consciously slowing down more as the half-elf behind lagged behind. This kept up for a few hours until he slowed till he was walking beside the woman. He decided to speak in the outlandish tongue of common, his voice still gravely and coarse since he was still not used to the subtle inflections in the language.

"What are you doing?" G'ryn wasn't graced with an answer, so he asked again. No response. "Jun-i-per. We may as well speak, unless you prefer me speaking to the walls the entire walk."

"I-..." A deep exhale escaped her lips, the dancing lights briefly flickering as her concentration on the simple incantation faltered. "No better company around. Okay... Sure, let's converse then. Shoot." G'ryn noted that her words didn't have any of the bite a few hours before with slight amusement. Then again, neither did his.

"Fill the silence for me. Tell me. What does that little sigil of yours stand for. Describe where you are from. Anything, it doesn't matter."

"... I come from Ar'laen. The nearest city you and your merry band had camped out around. I hail from somewhere else though- a small little town that doesn't even show up as a pip on a map, not that I'd tell you were it was anyhow."

"Mn. What was it like?"

"I haven't visited it a long time. Things might've changed, but I remember it as a homely little village near a grand forest. Rolling green hills that were separated by a few clear streams leading into a lake, snow capped mountains always present in the distance, some sparse ancient huts made of stone near town. It was-" she breathed in a sharp intake of air as she nearly slipped on some loose stone, continuing after she steadied herself and the pain from her leg faded a little, "-picturesque. It was quiet. Safe."

"Shame I won't get to see it. Sounds pleasant. Then again, anything would be better than these stone walls."

"If you visit, it would be with bad company. I'd rather not chance seeing my hometown pillaged."

G'ryn didn't offer a response. After all, the implication was true in any sense. His people, especially his tribe, were not exactly known for their peaceful relations with others. The past couple of days were a prime example of that. A couple more paces worth of silence later passed before Juniper spoke.

"What of you? Do you have anything important to you or is your head just filled with everything considering your next mark?" The Gnoll let the question rattle around in his brain before he worked out a response.

"I wish to get back to my sister. We move from place to place often, but going back home with her after all this would be nice. I worry about her." She hummed in response at the- surprisingly- normal response. It was honest and even sweet, having an affectionate tone. The thought that this Gnoll was the odd one out of the crowd crossed her mind briefly.

"You- you're really weird, you know that?" G'ryn let out a snort at that, eyes forward still as he led with casual strides.

"So I have been told and reminded of every day."

The atmosphere between lost travelers was lighthearted as they dipped into silence again.


The two had continued wandering in the dark, but for exactly how long, neither knew. The initial tempo they progressed with had lagged behind to a crawl. The Gnoll had sent a few displeased glances Juniper's way in the past hour before finally confronting the problem, stopping before working his way around to look at her.

"You are slow. We'll never make it out of here if you keep at it like that. You need to walk faster." A flash of annoyance appeared on Juniper's face as she limped along, the favoring of one leg very evident to the Gnoll now that he had a proper look. Her voice was quiet and shaky due for the combination of drowsiness and freezing temperatures she was experiencing.

"I can't. I can't- my leg. I think it's getting worse. It's hard to move. Hard to focus when you can barely feel your fingers too." She gave a humorless look as she glanced at the furred Gnoll as he snorted in mirth at the last comment.

"Well. If I keep going your pace, we'll be staying in these caves. Forever. I won't be dying in this hole."

"And? What? Are you just planning on... leaving me? I'm the one with the lights-" His response was curt and short as he cut her off in the middle of her sentence, giving a flat look.

"I don't need the lights to see." Technically not a lie.

"...I have... rations?" Her voice had a tinge of exasperation mixed in with a little bit of fear. They were both traveling with little direction after all in a claustrophobic's nightmare.

"I can just take those from you." In hindsight, this could have been considered a thinly veiled treat, but his words hardly contained a sinister undertone as he spoke as if it was a matter of fact. At least that's what G'ryn believed. Juniper didn't respond for a moment, mulling an idea over in her head before speaking.

"I can fix you. I can heal you... How- how about that?" That seemed to pique his interest as his ears twitched at the offer.

"Like those from before at the caravan, when I found you?"

"Yes! Yes. Exactly. I can manage that- ehm, once. I need to rest to do any more. This is all I can do right now..."

"Why did you not fix your leg then?" She answered flatly and truthfully.

"I was saving my energy in case you decide to... act on any ill will you might've still had for me."

"And why do you not just magics to mend you leg now? I hardly have any interest in your life, not anymore. I thought that would be clear."

"I considered that... Mn. As much as I hate to admit- I'm not as useful with simple cantrips. If we run into anything else like those beasts from before, I'd rather have a healthy Gnoll in front of me facing them down instead of myself."

"Hmpf... It is good to be cautious. Reasoning is... sound. Fine, but I have two conditions. One. You keep doing using your magics, but... tell me of how you do it. Explain it. Later, when we are out. Second. As long as we are cursed to be stuck together, we will help each other. Out of necessity. That is all." It took her a mere moment of deliberation of weighing her options before she answered.

"That's manageable... I can do that- as long as you'll keep your word. Deal." The Gnoll looked the Juniper with a side eye, a gravely chuckle escaping him.

"Not many of my people care for contracts or promises. You are lucky that I bother to. Now, I refuse to keep going like this now that I must remain with you. Focus on your sorceries. I will walk for the two of us."

G'ryn stopped in front of Juniper, falling to a knee and showing his back with a deep huff in his throat. The fleeting reluctance she felt quickly disappeared as her ankle sent another jolt of pain resonating through her entire leg with another half-step forward. She leaned forward to wrap her arms around the Gnoll's large neck, that same smell of dog from before right in her face now. To her surprise and jealousy, he practically radiated warmth and was mostly dry by now, unlike her.

'Now is as good a time as any.' As Juniper linked her hands and muttered an inaudible prayer, white wisps with golden trails formed around her arms before moving to G'ryn. For him, the sensation was soothing, albeit foreign. Several light 'tks' could be heard as the metal arrowheads that he could not reach before pushed themselves out of his back and clinked on the stone. Wounds closed and the dull pain abated much to his delight.

Two hands lifted her up a little by her legs and supported her as G'ryn lurched back up to his feet, giving a sort of piggy back ride that he had to stay crouched and leaned over for unless he wanted smack his head against the ceiling. He spoke as he began striding forward to continue their walk that had no end in sight, "We are on our way again then."


G'ryn slugged on through the long tunnels with Juniper in tow, his limbs screaming as he maneuvered through the hostile terrain with the help of the unsteady light-sources that idly bobbed around them. Carrying someone through the whole way would tire anyone out. It was fortunate they had not run into any more cave dwelling creatures during their journey, although occasional sounds emitted from darkened tunnel offshoots could be heard. Short breaks were taken often and their limited supplies were shared. Neither slept longer than a couple minutes for the whole ordeal and it was impossible to tell just how long they had been traveling.

The supplies, however, quickly dwindled before running out in their journey. The two were weak from exhaustion, brought on by a lack of water, food, and rest. Both had lost considerable weight since they had begun along with dark bags under their sunken eyes. Juniper - already a fairly light and skinny person - was near skin and bones. G'ryn didn't fair much better, noticeably slimming down despite his fur. His muscles were compact and wiry, his body breaking down all but those. Needless to say that the two were akin to death, yet they trudged on in the dark as they've been doing all this time.

Throughout the navigation of the cave, they had shared some small talk, at first just to keep the silence away, but now it was just to keep the oppressive pressure that settled on the two with each step further with no signs of the cave opening up.

Most of the tunnels had happened up to small hazardous holes within the rock that could very well break an oblivious person's leg if they were to fall into the crevices. Just as he had clambered over his last set of crumbly rocks and holes, he paused. The faint sound of noise that stood out from the quiet ambience of the underground system along with his own movements reached his ears. It was a bird's call paired with the sensation of a faint current of air that just reached his ears.

"Juniper... Juniper- the outside. Woods. Birds. I hear it." A near silent dry and weak voice breathed out a response. The only reason his large ears caught it being because it was coming from right over his shoulder.

"Oh... Joy." With that, the lights she had kept up through near the entire journey faded into nonexistence. A light bump was felt on his shoulder as the half-elf's head rested and her body sagged down a little to the point where he has to adjust his grip. G'ryn didn't seem to mind the sudden dead weight too much, his heart and mind were on much different matters as he looked at the faint traces of light reflecting off the cave walls ahead.

He rushed forward, seeing the early morning light peeking through into the cave. Peering his head up, he witnessed as a trio of birds fly out into the air, startled by his presence. A large hole in the ceiling with small leafy vines around the rim about 15ft high was above him. Far too big a distance for him to reach alone, at least for right now. The clouds past the trees were dark, seemed like a storm was coming. Pushing the thoughts aside, he stood to his full height, something had not done since falling into the pool of water within the cave, several loud pops coming from his shoulders and back.

The ground was littered with soft patches of moss and varying sizes of rocks. Lumbering on over to a particularly large spot of moss, he'd lower himself to a knee before untangling Juniper's arms from his neck and gingerly setting her down. She hardly stirred from the change to the point where he actually leaned forward to make sure she was still alive. After hearing a faint intake and exhale of breath, he stood up to his full height again, he looked down at the passed out form of the half-elf before glancing back up to hole. Reaching back, he'd search his pouches at his waist, working out a length of some old weathered-looking rope that was frayed at one end.

'Hmn. This won't be able to hold me anymore. Tch. Damnable G'yra. Of course it'd snap if you leave it out in the rain. Always taking my things...' A tender look was on his face as he reminisced, a labored sigh escaping him as he fell to his back on the soft moss to take a breather. 'Leagues better than stone.' He had been dead on his feet. There was only so long that one could force themselves to go continuously and he was no exception. The caves screwing with his sense of time did not help either. A week could have passed and the only way he would be able to tell is his stomach.

'This is enough...' Feeling relatively safe, sensing nothing about and not seeing any evidence that this was another creature den, the heavy weights pulling his eyelids down won out, sleep taking him as the two earned a proper long rest that went on uninterrupted.


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

(Author's Note: Boy do I hate college. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter like always. I think I'll be doing a character profile in place of these author's notes when I have little to say.)