When it was time to set off, she heard an unexpected sound. @Ashiore Evretto had just noted having an idea before collapsing to the ground! Rushing to her side, the Yladian wrapped har arms around the limp body, staring in shock before glancing over to @Aerana. The dogs were running, but the girl was now unconscious. "Think you can follow the pack to be safe? I'll take care of Ash here. I don't know what happened exactly, but I'm worried about leaving her alone. I'll try out some healing spells and medicine and keep her friends here from rushing into a panic, so...If you can keep an eye on the dogs and make sure wherever they're going is safe, it'd be a real life saver." Her lips were in a strangely satisfied smile. Solaria was fairly known for her upbeat attitude, even when fretting for the life of someone else. She could tell from Ashiore's information, when she looked, that the girl was at least alive- her health wasn't down at all, though her energy seemed to have dropped dramatically. This sight made it so that her own affliction didn't act up, either. Now, it was just her natural friendly concern. "I don't know what your plan was, Ash, but so far I don't like it..."
Aerana nodded at Solaria before moving after the dogs. While she wasn't quite running, she stayed somewhat closer than usual, by her standards at least. She wasn't always the best judge of distance, her Greatbow training warping her sense of acceptable distances somewhat. Oh well, she was keeping track of the dogs, so that was the important part. She wasn't very sure what Ashiore had been doing, perhaps a failed spell? Regardless, the dogs seemed to start running shortly after she collapsed so maybe she let her body be possessed by some sort of spirit. That would explain the hurry, and made her a bit worried for Solaria back there. Being alone with a ghost wasn't the most unpleasant of things considering the time of day but still could be quite draining to keep up with whatever hi-jinks the dead got up to. Which was a bit odd considering that most people were buried but perhaps it is precisely because of the burial process that they started up whatever things they did to stave off boredom. It seemed that the dogs had stopped moving, perhaps noticing her presence. She kept quiet and calm, trying to not draw any attention and half hoping that the residual dog smell from when she got buried would aid in this endeavour. Eventually, she came to realization that the dogs had not stopped moving because of them noticing her, but because they had piled onto someone else. She couldn't deny it, she felt equal parts envy and relief. Eventually, some sort of telepathic signal rippled through the dogs and they all got off whoever was buried underneath. The person in question, well, Aerana couldn't tell anything about them due to the clothes they wore, distance and of course the copious amounts of fur. The figure knelt down to inspect one of the dogs who looked oddly uncomfortable, looked right into its eyes before giving it a good scratch behind the ears and wandered off, dogs in tow. Well, it seemed like they had found their owner, so that was that problem solved. It was time to return to Solaria and Ashiore, hopefully the Yladian had found a way to wake the other woman up by then.
Ashiore ran. She knew exactly where that whistle came from (Master!), exactly what it meant (Cuddles!), and that she had to go to where it was now because Master needed them all back right this moment. The rest of the pack surged ahead of her, darting around exposed roots and prickly bushes without a single misstep. Ash found that this body continued on without her consciously guiding it, dashing through the forest until she saw the horde of dogs ahead of her all converge on a single, human point. There! It was time for ear scratches! And cuddles! And- -and a tingly, warped sensation starting from her gut, rapidly spreading through her entire body. Her canine legs stumbled in the grass as she skidded to a halt right before the puppy pile, and she- she- She jerked awake in @Solaria's grasp, suddenly disoriented now that she wasn't on four legs anymore. And suddenly lying down. Wait, what? Ashiore stared up at Solaria's face, momentarily dumbfounded. "Huh? What was- oh! Oh, wait." Sitting back upright, she sheepishly laughed. "Sorry about that. I keep forgetting that I, uh, sort of shoot out of my body whenever I try that spell out. I'm not hurt or anything, it just happens." Blinking, she looked about the scene. Naixi and Tianma had crowded around, looking concerned. The dogs were most certainly gone. But @Aerana was nowhere to be found. "Huh." She gave Naixi a quick pet just to make sure that the lion knew she was all right. "Where's Aerana?"
@Ashiore Evretto's return to the living (or at least, that's what Solaria would call it anytime someone woke up) led to the woman being far too confused and intimidated about current events. Solaria, too, was intimidated however. "You shouldn't move around too much when you get out of being unconscious, at least not so fast, Ash!" Her inner nurse was in turmoil, mixed with her inclination to just be relieved her friend was clearly safe. As she was told it related to a spell, it only left her confused. "What kind of spell knocks you out and keeps depleting your energy? That doesn't sound like a spell, it sounds like a curse, Ash..." Scratching at her own neck to calm the worry that boiled her blood, she adjusted herself and stood up, dusting off her skirt. With Ash back in her body and well awake, she wasn't surprised that the woman worried for @Aerana, who had vanished during her consciousness shift. "Aerana went after the pack to make sure they didn't get hurt and got to their owner properly, since that was likely why they ran off like that. She'll be back soon enough, and surely glad you're awake and well now. You made both of us worry, you know. Any spell I tried didn't really have an effect... It was pretty damn scary, I'll have you know! I don't like my friends collapsing, Ash."
Aerana walked out of the treeline and into view of the two women. They looked to be alright, from what she could tell, so that was good. Giving the two a small wave to signal that she was alright, she suddenly stopped when she realized what the small, sinking feeling she been feeling for a while was. She took out her map, looked to one of the nearby landmarks and shifted it around a bit before she knew what was wrong, she was going to wrong way. Well, maybe not the wrong way, but it was worse than the right way. She walked closer to the group before saying, "I need to be somewhere else, take care you two." With that, she traveled into the forest once again, seeking out a familiar path. It would be faster than the main road, and possibly even safer, but a harder journey, The forest, while generally docile, could have harsh terrain at times with twisting roots and low branches providing endless opportunities for slight injury. Annoying to cross, but certainly doable. Perhaps the life of a wanderer was not for her. The village had hardly changed the last time she had visited, it would be a fine enough place to settle down if needed to. [[Exit thread]]
Ashiore laughed sheepishly and stood up. "Sorry! But really, it wasn't harmful at all, promise. It's an animal possession spell, I was trying to convince the dogs to go home. But the owner of the dogs had a dog whistle, and I wasn't really in full control of the dog body for the first couple of seconds... Stuff kinda happened." She laughed again. "Thanks, you know, for being concerned. But I'm okay. It probably won't happen again, and if it does I'll remember to warn you next time. And we don't have to worry about the dogs anymore!" She made sure that Tianma and Naixi were doing okay, and nothing had gone disastrously wrong during her impromptu trip. It didn't seem like much had happened. Wagon still intact, and the weird sequence of events had even distracted Tianma enough that the horse didn't care to start chewing on the furniture. So, you know, everything pretty much worked out! And Aerana even came back. Just as Ashiore was about to suggest they be on their way to Dormont, the young girl spoke up, saying that she had to leave. And then actually left! Just like that! "H-hey! Do you want company or something?" Ash called out. But it appeared that Aerana vanished quickly into the trees, and within a few seconds the girl had completely vanished into the foliage. She exchanged a concerned glance with @Solaria. "I hope she's okay... But, she seemed to know where she's going." Ashiore said, holding onto Tianma's reins. "Um. Well. I'm going to set off for Dormont now. We can probably get there before nightfall, as long as we don't run into anything unexpected along the way."
Watching the woman with the white hair wander off without a real ability to give a goodbye of any sort, she was at least glad to see her safe- even if where she was heading was far from it. Smiling somewhat sadly, she shook off the concern and turned to Ashiore. Surely, after having collapsed like that, Ash was far more of a concern in general to the health-conscious elf. Even if the woman said she was okay, after all, she had just collapsed... "Well, I'm definitely staying with you to make sure there's no bad after-effects. I don't know much about that kind of spell, but it sounds a bit dangerous to leave your body like that... It's good the dogs got home though! I bet their master was worried too!" Her smile became more sincere as she adjusted herself, stretching her arms and petting the animals nearby with a sincere word of relief to them. Their 'master', or friend, rather, was safe too. It was a truly good thing for the girl who couldn't handle loss for her life- and it really could cost her life, if she wasn't careful! "Yeah, let's get going while there's still some light. She was worried about you, but looks like she has other worries too. We'll just have to pray she gets to where she needs to safely, and hope we get to the castle just as well." Offering a hand, she smiled easily. As a group, surely, the horse and lion would be more willing to listen- and they'd get where they needed to, without reason to fear for their lives so quickly. "Let's go home. I'll help you set up what you bought while we're there. I could use some tips myself anyway. I'll learn a lot in the process. Sounds like a great plan, don't you think?" Her sincere smile turned to a goofy grin as she ran a few steps ahead, waving the rest of the group forward happily. "Let's shake a leg! Time waits for no one!" -- [OOC: Sorry for delay! I uh...Didn't quite know there were responses >> Or that it was my turn...anymore. xD Seems like we can wrap up~? :D]
