Lifth's head snaps back to Jamos, as if she can hear what he's thinking. "Watch yourself Aesir. Although, if you were something I should fear I suppose you would still have a place in Asgard."

She looks disparaging at the others. Most are wounded to some degree, all seem weary. "Two small battles and you're all falling to your knees? And you had to be rescue by a stranger and a woman. Do you have any idea what Sigurd has planned for you?! I can't believe he would entrust me to such weak adventurers."

Lifth sighs and her proud shoulders slump forward for a moment. She reaches into a pouch and draw forth a bit of bread, barely larger than her fist. She tosses is to William, "You should be aware of what this is, since it comes from your home world. Divide it up amongst the others, including the stranger. It will give us the energy we need to find shelter this night. If my memories serve me, there should be abandoned caves just a few miles north of here.

Lifth moves to Alsvidir and begins to lead him off. "We'll have to walk the horses, it's to dangerous for your beasts to travel on this terrain with a load."

Kayn, in classic anime style, is competely taken back how quickly she went back to being the b*tch she usually is. He exchanges glances with the others who seems to have the same pattern of thinking as well.

Kayn pulled the reigns of one of the horses and began trudging along.

“Hahaha… I take it you’re the leader, lady? A bit harsh, don’t you think? Give my share to someone who needs it.â€

That woman's words stung like a dagger to the chest. She really got me where it hurts... the ego. Even with my powers at a 100% I wouldn't even match the power of my father's. Now that I'm no stronger than the average human, this leaves me quite vulnerable. However, if this woman was much of anything she wouldn't have been so shaken earlier. Perhaps she has some connection to one of the higher ups of Asgard. As long as it isn't Odin, I have little to fear for now. Odin's eye sees all, but mine can only see through those of another. What a useless power of mine.

Wargolth yawns and thinks to himself "She'll probably be killed, no use in helping those who insult you."

"Such weak adventurers .... Incapable of handling just two fights ...." Lifth's unreasonably hurtful words echoed mockingly in the forest elf's soul, so much so that his heart practically trembled in the shame of knowing that, indeed, he and the others had only survived so far by a seeming miracle, ... and yet the journey had only just begun. How would they be able to stay alive and see the king's wishes through to the end at this rate, anyway? ... Maybe they all really were as weak as the human girl had so caustically spoken of them, at least, far too weak to be the heroes that King Sigurd was obviously counting on them to be.

William knew he wasn't strong at all. He wasn't really the brave swordsman of unmatched skill that he had always dreamt of himself as being all throughout his years as a child. .... And yet, here he was standing, amidst other warriors, still alive and breathing although having endured the attacks of not only heavily-armed mercenaries but also a raging monster of a giant that were fully intended to result in deaths of William and those who fought with him. It is unfair, he eventually decided in his thoughts, staring with eyes that were not consciously seeing much of anything at the moment down at the loaf of bread that Lifth had grudgingly tossed into his hands and dismissively commanded him to distribute to the others. She does not have a right to berate and look down upon us by saying we are too weak to fight whatever evil is waiting out there for us. ... No, that girl is wrong. ... Wrong ....

He gingerly set a generous piece of Lifth's bread into each of the waiting hands of Kayn and Ende, who were both eerily silent yet appeared to be in particular need of sustenance at that moment, having taken nearly every blow dealt by the enemy in the previous upon themselves for the sake of their less skilled and more fragile companions - most notably William himself, the elf had noticed - it seemed. They were by far the two people in the group that the elf had been having the most trouble trying to find a reason to get along with all throughout this journey, but for some reason their faces contorted in what must be agonizing pain from the wounds they had endured, seemingly grateful even just a for a bit of bread to ease that pain but for just a few fleeting moments, caused the elf to suddenly feel a strange sense of slight pity - perhaps even empathy - for them. Besides, in anything, they too like the elf had cause to feel as though they were without any gratitude or even a feeling a self-worth left by the human girl that they had all been charged with protecting at the risk of their lives.

As the others slowly began to take hold of their horses and follow wearily and uncertainly after Lifth and Alsvider, William took a moment to gaze down at the Northern Longblade still held almost perfectly combat-ready in his right hand, just before he looked back up to see that the mare whom had personally bore him as her sole rider throughout the journey so far had come to stand beside him and was looking at him with expectant eyes, ready for him to give command to follow after the rest of the group as always. He tried to smile when she noticed his undecisiveness and pensive thoughts and gave him a light nuzzle with the end of her nose. "The Northern Longblade is said to have never made a mistake in choosing a master for as long as it has been held by those in my bloodline," William said softly, half to himself, half to the mare. "... So perhaps, even if I am weak, at least it may not be in the ways that make a hero. We'll show that girl that we are strong enough to protect her in the end."

The journey in the night, for all that it was tiring, was actually rather quick. Lifth and Alsvider set a smooth pace, arduous for those tired, but not something that made them feel their wounds anymore than a slower pace would. Not to mention the elven bread was taking hold, speeding the healing of their wounds and kindling a renewed energy within them.

The caves, or cave since it was actually just one huge connecting set of holes, pockmarked the face of a cliff set a ways off the beaten path. The last few minutes of walking were strenuous, requiring the group to shuffle over huge outcroppings of sharp rocks that jutted from the side of the cliff like natural spear tips.

Upon reaching the cave, Lifth simply unloads her gear and begins to brush Alsvider down, almost making it seem as if this was their planned route the entire time and they were in no way inconvenienced.

The cave is cold and forbidding. I would not suggest resting without first making sure the area is safe. What are your actions?

It wasn't but a few hours till Kayn began to really recover from the whole ordeal. His minimal knowledge of healing magic in additioin to Lifth's magic and elven bread had pretty much restored Kayn to near combat conditions. Though every now and then he'd take a step in a bad way and a twinge of pain would race up his back. It wasn't bad enough, though, to show any outward emotion that any of the others would notice.

It was harder to tell if the sun was setting, or the cliff side was raising up what with the pace they were coming upon on it. It's looming presence was almost scrutinizing them, looking down on them, telling them to turn back. But Kayn paid little attention to that feeling.

Seeing that Kayn doesn't ride with a saddle, the there was little "brushing down" of his mount. So instead, Kayn sat down and crossed his legs in a meditative stance. Unfamiliar with the land, he didn't trust it. So Kayn used his 6th sense ability to make sure they would be safe... at least for now.

Keeping up with that annoying woman was a painful ordeal. Not so much a physical one, but a mental one. Something was keep bothering me in the back of my mind. Her attitude seems so familiar yet I can't put my finger on it. Have we met once before? Perhaps. It has been so long since I left home that I could have forgotten. Then again, probably not likely. Lifth could just as well be nothing more than a spoiled brat. I'm thinking too much lately.

Once we entered this bitter cave my feelings of uneasiness increased.
The area is dark as hell... anything could ambush us from anywhere. Guess there is only one way to go about this.

"I'm going to look around and secure the area. Two of you come with me. I will hold the charge of my magic missile technique to light up our path. The Elfling and the others hold the fort. If you fail to do such a simple task I'll kill you."

Fallowing behind the group Lausen couldn't help but notice the glares some of the people were giving the mysterious Lifth.

Hearing his words Lausen laughs slightly. "My friend, you're not in the condition to be making such threats. Your wounds can't be fully healed yet. There’s really no need for such hostility, but then again, what do I know?â€

Kayn, still sitting in his position of meditation, jerked open his eyes and instantly launched his weapon by Jamos' head... burying his weapon into a tree very close to Jamos. Silently, Kayn stood up and went to retrieve his weapon. Callously he pulled his weapon and placed it back on his back... beginning to walk away and without even looking at Jamos, Kayn said very clearly, "Just try it, child."

Kayn goes back to his original position.

I had expected some hostility, after all I did threaten their well being. However, Kayn's reaction was somewhat of a surprise. While he is no different than an elf in my eyes, however, he seemed to have been the most level headed of the bunch. Didn't expect a spear to be hurled at my head... much less a tree growing inside a cave. I couldn't help, but chuckle. Not sure as to why, the situation certainly wasn't funny. Especially with enough tension in the air to break Thor's hammer. My threat wasn't really necessary, I suppose. Not only was I shaking a bee hive, I was overdoing it. Besides, failure would mean their death without my hand even being involved. They are needed until I can regain my powers. Whatever happens to them afterward I couldn't care less.

"Alright grampa, you can nap while us youngens take care of you. Clearly you are cranky once your nap is disturbed."

What the hell am I thinking? Now I'm kicking the damn hive.

... William was deep in thought as always. He stood silently by, staring thoughtfully into the opening of the cave that Lausen had led them all to, passively leaving whatever decision-making was to come next to the rest of his companions. (Although he inwardly ground his teeth together having to admit so, he knew that he was by far the youngest of them all - even Lifth, most likely - and therefore they were much wiser than he when it came to things such as undertaking journeys full of danger, ... even if the lot of them did not seem to care much for possessing a heart to go along with that wisdom.) His erect pointed ears did not even hear the sneering words "the Elfling" come out of Ende's mouth just now, .... but the spear hurled into the rock wall just short of Ende's throat that soon followed certainly did not escape William's notice. He looked up with a furtive glance, immediately recognizing the javelin to belong to Kayn, then the angry look on Ende's face.

The young elf was only mildly surprised; such childishness and petty barbarism were only to be expected of people like those two. (... Although, the elf had thought. I can almost see why Kayn reacted that way; Ende certainly is one to be talking so big, casually threatening our lives like that, when just a few hours ago he had gone next to insane at the hands of those damned monsters we were confronted with.)

He glanced back into the cave, wondering how strongly his fear of the darkness - especially the gloomier kind that places like slime-covered caverns provided - would be tested on this next stage of their journey.
"Fine, then, Grandpa. You just rest while us youngsters have to babysit you, then ...." William heard Ende remark with an obvious challenge in his tone. The elf closed his eyes and shook his head. Some people in a group of strangers thrown together by life-threatening circumstances just had to make enemies of everyone else.

"ENOUGH!" Lifth shouted, catching all of their attention. "The next one to poke or prod, literally or figuratively, is answering to me. Ende and William, search within the caves... Don't go to far, they're near endless tunnels. Just see if there's anything in there or not. Also look a chamber further back that can accommodate us. There should be one with a fire pit that travelers frequent. Lausen, no offense, but since I don't know you I'd prefer you stayed here and gather wood for a fire and perhaps tell me about yourself and what you're doing here. Kayn, rest, and keep your weapon to yourself."

What is it about this person that demands your attention? In her standing there’s nothing that appears threatening nor harmful, so what is it about her? Why do I feel I need to be on my guard? “Oh, making me do the dirty work? How cold, and we haven’t even been acquainted for more then a few hours.â€

"Alright grampa, you can nap while us youngens take care of you. Clearly you are cranky once your nap is disturbed."

...

"The next one to poke or prod, literally or figuratively, is answering to me. Ende and William, search within the caves... Don't go to far, they're near endless tunnels. Just see if there's anything in there or not. Also look a chamber further back that can accommodate us. There should be one with a fire pit that travelers frequent. Lausen, no offense, but since I don't know you I'd prefer you stayed here and gather wood for a fire and perhaps tell me about yourself and what you're doing here. Kayn, rest, and keep your weapon to yourself."

...

And throught the conversation, Kayn sat silently motionless. Half still using his sixth sense to find any malitious beings and half still concentrating on healing himself, he couldn't be bothered by anything else.

Kayn waits until Ende and William come back from checking out the caves to say if we were clear to press foward.

"Ptt... Whatever, lady."

I walk off like a total badass and just before I escape veiw, I turn my head and says, "Come on, squirt. I don't have all day."

... "C'mon, squirt," William's ears suddenly tensed at the aggravatingly nonchalant sound of Ende's voice. The young elf snapped his head back in the human's direction with emerald-green eyes that glittered with such arrest that William immediately realized he had about a third of a second to keep his mouth from opening and uttering words of angry retort at the man and thus unnecessarily bringing Lifth's wrath down upon himself. The elf managed to stay silent, although he determined to glare at Ende a moment longer with eyes of fiery intelligence that he knew Ende wasn't accustomed to seeing in another, ... 'least if he never had use for forest elves before as he had implied many times so far with his caustic humor and repeated threats throughout this journey.

William dared a glance sideways at Lifth to see that she was staring expectantly at him, and with a hint of warning. He nodded at Ende in silent resignation and burrowed his right hand underneath the fold of his cloak to find a grip on the hilt of his sword, which had vanished beneath the velvet folds. "Yes, all right," the elf said in a voice that did not let on that he was the slightest bit annoyed at being called something like "squirt". "I ... do h - hope that no monsters will be waiting for us in the shadows, ... but, I - I am certain that the two of us together will be enough to fend them off."

As he fell into step beside the human, walking away from the rest of the group and toward a foreboding and darkened tunnel ahead, the forest elf bitterly regretted that he had allowed a tremor of apprehensiveness to reveal itself in his soft and quiet voice at his own mention of the word "monsters".

@Lausen - Lifth sits casually, purposefully not answering your question. "As I said, we'll need fire wood, and then you can tell me about yourself".

@Kayn - Something twinges in the back of your mind as Ende and William depart into the caves. It's a familiar presence, but not a comforting one.

@Ende and William - You venture into the pitch black caves, only able to catch brief glimpses of illumination at rare intervals. The many rooms within the caves are varied in size and feel but most are void of anything other than a few old signs of previous visitors.

The two of you eventually make it to a room that is nearly 30 feet long with a sloping roof. The room, while long, is only about 10 feet wide. Towards the beginning of it is a fire pit carved into the stone. This seems to be the room that Lifth was speaking of. There are shadows in the back of the room. Moving shadows.

Still having to concentrate to get his healing magic to do any decent ammout of recovery, the small jerk in his senses broke that concentration immediately. Kayn's eyes flashed open and he quickly tried to pick out exactly what it was he was sensing.

Unable to determine exactly who (or what) it was, he wasn't going to wait for Ende or William to find out for him.

"Lifth... they aren't alone."

With that, Kayn took off towards the cave.