Stumbling down the mountain path, Rimaru felt on the verge of death. Her throat burned, body screaming of pain the need for water, her skin dry, cracked and burned. Every muscle in her body ached, begging her to just lay down for a while. But she knew that if she did there would be no way for her to carry on, she would become food for the vultures.
Through bleary, dry eyes she saw a blurry lining of trees, salvation. She could make it there, she had to. As she reached solid, flat ground, her legs began to shake, weary from the burden they had been carrying for many days. Forcing herself to carry on, she set the tree line as her destination, she could rest there, there had to be people in the forest.
Every labored breath felt like her heart was being torn from her chest, her lungs stabbed with hundreds of tiny needles. She could almost accommodate dying now...
She knew that she had collapsed. Heat stroke and exhaustion can do that to anyone, especially in the desert with no water. And she had hoped that someone would have found her, but when she awoke she was quite surprised had just who had located her. Short and hairy, the two humanoids looking down at her seemed quite surprised that she had woken up.
"What were you doing out in the woods in such condition?" The female dwarf asked her, accent thick but her common speak clear.
It took a moment for the actions that had resulted in excommunication to flood back to her. She took a deep breath, happy to realize that her throat was no longer dry and it didn't her to breath. Quickly, and tenderly, she explained the story, not sure of how the two would take it.
The male grunted. "Damn elves, high on their horses and not givin a hoot r holler what becomes of their deeds."
"Quiet Uthor..." The female muttered, jabbing her husband in the ribs. "Don't mind him. He is very cautious around your kind, I had to badge him to carry you back here."
Rimaru turned her eyes on the man. "Thank you." She gave him the best smile she could muster, still unsure of the two.
"Once your feelin' better you're out of here." Uthor grumbled, turning and leaving the room.
His wife only sighed and shook her head.
It didn't take long for Rimaru to heal up, thanks to the kindness of Vyola, the dwarven woman who found her. And it wasn't long after that that Uthor gave her the boot. With kind goodbyes to Vyola, Rimaru wandered out of the little Dwarven village of Hagarth, pointed in the direction of a city called Naerlan. She was told that she could start a new life there.
The world was different, coming from the wastelands, so much greenery and life. So much to look at and observe. She couldn't help but stop in awe and stare at everything around her. She had known for a long time that the real world could offer much more than dreams, and this proved it.
At one such moment, when she was enjoying the atmosphere, she heard the cry of an animal in distress. Hesitating only a moment, she shot off into the brush, wondering what could make such a call. Shooting through a line of trees and brush, she came upon a clearing with two wolves who were snarling and pawing at the trunk of a tree. Neither of them noticed her entrance and she didn't want to attract their attention if she could help it, she still felt a little under par.
The noise called again, it was coming from a hole in the trunk. The noise only excited the wolves more, who began to scratch and dig.
Rimaru knew it was no ordinary animal, at least it couldn't be seeing how it seemed to form partial words. Lifting her right hand, she grasped the hilt of her light sword, given to her by Uthor after much pratter from Vyola.
Pulling the blade out slowly, she kept her eyes trained on the two hungry wolves, set on saving whatever was in the hole. It was more out of curiosity than out of humane feelings. Charging forward she lifted the blade and brought it down upon the back of the neck of the first wolf, slicing the head clean off.
The other wolf, now knowledgeable of the heishan's arrival, jumped back and snarled. Swinging the sword high, Rimaru aimed for the beasts throat, hoping for a clean attack. The wolf charged, teeth bared and snarling. Realizing the position she was in, Rimaru ducked and rolled out of the way, jumping back to her feet to dig the tip of her sword into the wolf's belly, spilling his guts. As the corpse of the beast fell to the ground, she stopped and thought about what she had just done.
She didn't feel guilty, but not happy either. Just glad that they died and she hadn't.
"Urg amha burm ba gree-eg." A gravel toned voice said timidly from the tree.
Turning about, she almost gasped at the sight before her. He was no more than 1 1/2 halfling heads, dressed in brown and greens with a funny little green hat. Beady yellow eyes stared at her with an unsure wonder, brown skin slightly wrinkled and dirt covered.
"A brownie?" She smiled, taking a few steps forward and kneeling. "Quite an odd thing to see, I have heard of your kind but have never seen. Come here, little one."
He seemed to understand her, or at least the kindness in her voice and took a few steps closer. As he got closer she saw that he had coarse black hair on his arms and poking out from under his hat, a thick smell of must and earth emanating off of him. He garbled out more of a language she couldn't understand and he bowed to her. She shrugged and stood up.
"Alright, little one, I have a destination. I want to get there soon, so good luck to you!" She waved and turned, heading back towards the path.
It took her only a few steps to realize the little creature was following her.
"What? You can not come with me, I don't even know what I am to do in my life."
He seemed to plead with her, then move his arms and express more in the unknown language.
After only a few seconds, Rimaru nodded. "Fine, you may come with me. But we have to learn how to communicate."