And they make me
make me dream your dreams
and they make me
make me scream your screams
-Muse, "Showbiz"

She waited for an answer.

In the span of moments that passed since she posed the query so elegantly as a statement, she watched as the other settled on the other side of the fire from her. Silently she was thankful for that, having no idea really how to handle the blonde any other way. Never before had she seen someone like her, never with such hair, such skin, such eyes. Chiding herself for getting carried away by the other she retook back up her mantle of being unimpressed. Cold. Uncaring. Ice, if she was not such fire.

It was far too easy to lie to herself she found.

"No Warlord, as you put it, sent me." The other answered, almost offhandedly but it wouldn't work. She was watching her too much, looking at it her too much. There was nothing that spoke of nonchalance to her actions or words, despite how much the blonde seemed to naturally present it. She was far too serious, no matter how playful she seemed to act. Never had she seen someone who could kill in such a way act like it didn't bother them.

Her gaze narrowed, but was it for the answer or the impression of the other? That wasn't something she cared to figure out just yet. "So you just decided to come on your own." Again, it wasn't a question. It wasn't that she couldn't ask questions; she was capable of it, just that she didn't trust the other. No matter what she had sworn, no matter her actions, her trust was going to take more to earn if she even managed to do that much. It would take far more than a vow, an oath, and getting her head nearly split open by a mace.

"I didn't say that." The other smiled, so infuriatingly, at her. At once she felt her anger rise, the subconscious calling out that had the flames between them flare at once to life. The other tried to play it off, to act like it didn't phase her, but she was being watched too closely, far too closely for her liking, to not notice the little jump given. Gritting her teeth she nearly barked for her to get out the, releasing her from whatever prompted her to be so damn foolish when the other spoke.

"Who were the men after you?"

The question halted her anger, or at least minorly diverted for just a moment. A temporary detour for it to take, regardless however it would reach its destination. Her gaze narrowed in response, watching as the blonde waited for an answer to her own question. "Why should I answer you when you can't even answer my questions?"

A smirk was her answer, followed by a shake of the head. "I could debate with you if your questions really are queries, for right now they are mostly coming across as statements." Her point made she leaned back somewhat, keeping her attention however focused on her.

Huffing out a sigh she mentally groaned. She wasn't going to get any peace unless she offered something. "Fine. They are scouts if not one of the countless brazen warlords that have infested this planet."

"And why do they want you?"

"Why does it matter?"

The blonde rolled her eyes at her, releasing a soft sigh. Rather than answer her right away, her hand went to her pack, retrieving a small canteen. For a long moment all she did was drink from it, driving home the point that she was not being a very effective, much less polite host. Her grandfather would be ashamed of her if he saw what she was doing. The woman had saved her life, even if she was so self assured it was condescending to be in the same vicinity. Swallowing back some of her anger further she fell to a broody, moody silence, finding it easier to just be stubborn than it was to mutter anything that sounded like she was sorry. Even if she perhaps was.

"It matters, as you ask, so I know what I am defending you against. It matters, as you ask, so that I know what I am fighting against. It matters so that I know how I can best protect you."

"You can't be serious." It was the only thing that crossed her mind to say. Even Phobos and Deimos had never sworn such a thing to her. And they had known her for years. Why then would a total stranger show up out of nowhere essentially and pledge her life to her? There had to be more to it than what was just being said. At once her anger spiked again; this … this woman was no better than all the fucking warlords that had come for her, to take her from her people. That had to be it!

"I'm quite serious." The other's voice cut her off before she could so much as utter a sound. The words went slicing through her anger as though it did not exist. They sliced through her emotions, to the very core of her being, just like the falchion had in her hand to the scouts. The words were softly given but with a deadly edge. If she didn't know better, she might have realized she hit a nerve by so questioning her.

"I'm quite serious, and as such, I want to know who seeks to do you harm so that I can prevent it from ever happening." The words were soft, the face near deadpanned. How they were laced through with a fire all of her own, a life that flared like an ember that refused to die away despite being denied what was crucial for survival. If it was the words or the fire between them that set the eyes of blue to a shimmering inferno, she wouldn't tell.

For a moment, she felt compelled. She felt enthralled, just as she had when she first laid eyes on the woman. … Change your very soul… That's what the fire had indicated. She swallowed, her mouth opening before it abruptly shut. The moment was lost; Phobos and Deimos strode into the cave and to the fire. Both looked between the Priestess and the woman, then each other, before back to the Priestess again, shuffling off to remove weaponry and armor.

The blonde watched them for a moment with an eye that could only be considered trained, before she looked back to the Priestess before her. A hint of a smile played at her lips before she reached for her belongings, slinging them over her shoulder as she rose, only to bow from the waist. Even so burdened by her gear she managed to look so elegant in the gesture. "My sincere thanks for seeing to my things, as well as my injury. At dawn then?" Was all she said, a silent query as though dawn was when they would be leaving again.

A dumbed down nod was the best she could do, watching as the woman righted and turned, heading back towards where she had been brought in to recover while the two men had gone out to dispose of bodies and check for any lingering scouts. Once she was out of sight Deimos softly spoke up, "Never seen anyone fight like that before."

Prompting Phobos to follow in turn. "What did she say she wanted?"

A shake of her head followed. What had the woman said she wanted anyway? She hadn't answered where she came from, why she was here, why she was looking for her, or the nature of her oath. All she had asked about was the danger to herself… to her. Not her own person. Lightly against one another her fingertips rubbed, recalling the softness of her skin when she had pulled the helmet free of the blonde. Recalling the smoothness of her flesh as she treated the blow that had rendered her unconscious. Recalling the scents of her body, of her hair, an aura about her that seemed so very unwavering.

That could have been so convincing had she not read right through it.

The woman was alone.

Not in the sense of being a stranger in a strange land, but alone in the sense that despite all that surrounded her, no one would ever be close to her.

"She. She wants to protect me." Came her soft reply, looking through the fire to where the blonde had to be at in the cave.

A/N: Dialogue is hard. More exciting stuff next chapter, promise.