The man's voice caught; he had forgotten. He knew without a doubt that she was him -- that he no longer had her body -- but knowing didn't prove anywhere near as appeances did for other people. How was he going to prove to the once-crystala that he was really who he knew himself to be? How was he going to prove it Horace or even Fion? Would they believe him, after what [i]she[/i] had done; had managed to do? Fion lost an arm because of [i]her[/i], and was now likely to die because of [i]her[/i], so what reason did he have to trust a man who claimed to be [i]her[/i]?

Perhaps though, appearances wouldn't matter to a ten year old who has changed just as rapidly in form as he has.

"Araki, I-I know you're not going to believe this -- it coming from this... me," he stopped, unsure of how to continue. "But it-It's me, Riley."

There was no reason for Araki to trust the man, but nevertheless he chose to wait for a reply rather than take his leave immediately. With nothing else planned for the day other than furthering the distance from Cykes, this could prove to be an interesting distraction. He'd admit that he was a bit curious as to the circumstances surrounding this stranger. Who was he, what did he want, and if he knew what sort of magic had taken place here? The second question was the most important for Araki at the moment though, and his gaze shifted between the two as he waited for answers.

It was somewhat odd to hear the stranger use his name again, but no more than what followed afterwards. "Huh..." he let out rather bluntly as he stared at "Riley". Araki hadn't seen her since the Ball, so he had no idea what she had been up to. Still, while he was willing to entertain the idea, it hadn't quite been accepted; even if he knew such a change wasn't completely impossible. So...

"Anyway to prove it?" He wasn't sure if s/he could still use magic which would have been the easiest way to confirm her identity to some degree, but there were things that weren't known to many people other than Fion and her.

He smiled. The man was glad that Araki was willing to entertain the idea that he was the witch that he had known since Bakery Town. "Well," he began playfully, "you're ten, despite appearances. We me had met when that beast had attacked the town; defended you when the vampire tried to have you attacked by the Astopolian idiot," the man rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner, "There was- well," he tried to continue, but he felt other memories well up that weren't hers, that... were of this body she was inhabiting. His head felt like spliting when she tried to delve further, but she continued on any way. "We met again slightly after the incident on the volcano, you had... changed, I guess, by then, and it was then that you were enrolled within Cykes' education system... Need I continue?"

If Araki was slightly off put by the playful tone of "Riley" well... it was because he was. It probably wouldn't have been too odd if she had her original body, but with the older man's voice and appearance... it was just unsettling. Despite that though, it did seem like "Riley" was telling the truth and something had happened to her. He didn't pay too much attention to the break in the middle of her explanation, chalking it up to a side effect of whatever had been done to her. Waving his hand as a signal to stop, he shrugged and said, "No, no. Good enough." While he was fairly curious to what had happened to her... him... whatever. Anyways, while what had resulted in such a drastic change would probably be interesting, he figured the explanations could come later since there was probably a more urgent reason for her rushing out of the woods. "So, what's the problem that had you running to me?" 

His heart skipped and a grimace replaced the coy smirk that had once been. [i]That's right...[/i] He was being stupid, childish! Fion and his uncle were bleeding out and here he was playfully reminiscing with Araki!

"It's Fion and Horace!" he shouted upon realization "I was following them -- trying to find some way to explain myself -- and I lost them! Fion's missing an arm, and my uncle is bleeding out on his own as we speak..." Pity was all he could feel for himself, but he shook himself free of such emotions. "Araki, you're stronger with magic than I am at the moment; do you think you could find them based on their traces of mana?"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering who Horace was, but held his question until "Riley" finished. The eyebrow twitched a bit; make that questions. S/he was going to have a lot of explaining to do after this, not only to him but to the dying pair as well. "Not possible," he muttered quickly at the suggestion as he shook his head, "the magic's too faint." He closed his eyes to think before he sighed and began to stretch; he would probably have to do this the old fashioned way. "Where'd you last see them? It shouldn't be too hard to track down two dy-" He bit his tongue before he could finish that particular sentence; it probably wasn't the best choice of words at the moment. "Wounded," he finished off a bit lamely, scratching the back of his head.

"The crater..." he mumbled before speaking up. "There's some rather recent ruins of a town nearby; it wasn't far from there that I lost there trail. We should hurry," he turned back in the direction from which he came. "Oh, and Araki," he stopped to face the crystala, "Can-can we not bring up, well, this when we find them?" he asked before gesturing to himself. "I... it was technically [i]my[/i] body which got them in this mess..." he trailed off sullenly before rushing ahead of the boy, djinn grudgingly in tow despite the words traded between the two.

"Okay then..." He wasn't sure whether it was just him or if "Riley" was implying the events of yesterday had resulted in a town being reduced to rubble, but he really hoped the individuals responsible were long gone if it was the latter. The thought made him hesitate, but only for a moment before he grit his teeth and followed after "Riley". Though he looked at "her" questioningly at the request, Araki simply shrugged his shoulders in acceptance. He still wanted his explanation for what happened, but he wasn't particularly picky about when he got it and he'd wait. "So, no bear?" he asked, curious as to the change in summons "she'd" chosen. 

"This... wasn't exactly something I chose to summon, per se. My magic has been limited since my, uh, 'change' into a man and I've only been able to cast spells on instinct," he said conversationally as they quickly made their way through the wood. [i]Best to keep away the panic.[/i] "So," she began to counter, "what are you doing so far away from Cykes?"

"Well, that's not too strange I guess." It was worse than what he had gone through in his most recent change, but not incredibly far off. He looked thoughtful for a moment as he ran alongside "her", but the expression quickly changed to surprise at her question. He snorted humorously before unconcernedly muttering, "Oh... I ran away. Planned on heading back to Talze Utera eventually... Actually asked Richard to pass on good bye to you and Fion, but guess I won't be doing it for a while now." Whatever had happened, seemed like enough of a reason for him to stick around for awhile longer. Between the unsettling sensation last night, "Riley's" change, and the information that Fion had somehow lost his arm? Well, things were happening and he wasn't just about to walk away.

The man was angry at Araki. He was just going to leave, without even saying goodbye to their faces? Just up and leave without a word after all- well what little they had gone through together? He was going to voice this seemingly personal affront, but slipped before he could. "Godsda-" Just when he was about to curse, he stopped himself, realizing what it was that had stopped him from the smears on his knees: blood. "Araki, this way; they've got to be this way," he said hurriedly before picking himself up and resuming his pace. A few brief seconds later, and the crumpled forms of their targets could be seen. He wanted to scream out to the two -- he was happy to see them both -- but his voice caught, and his body quaked with hesitation. "Araki, could-could you take care of them please? See if they're still..." he swallowed hard. "Living."

He didn't nearly have as much trouble as "Riley" did with the blood stained ground, coming to a stop almost as easily as the djinn in response to "her" fall. He nodded in agreement and followed up behind her, hopeful the pair were still alive. The blood was still wet so it hadn't been long, but the amount was worrying. When the two came into sight though, Araki didn't even bother to wait for or listen to Riley. "Oh damnit," he muttered, since even untrained as he was he could see the seriousness of the two's injuries.

His magic, a literal aura of green that enveloped him, flowed freely as he took in the pair's condition. Fion looked worse of, as if he had dozens of bites taken off of him, but as far as Araki could see his injuries were just that; they looked worse than they were. Frankly, he was more concerned about the other man who he guessed was Horace. Shoulder wounds were horrible to deal with; easy to have a lot of blood loss from one if someone was unlucky and judging from the trail he'd left behind, yeah Horace had been pretty damn unlucky. "They're alive at the least," he grunted out in reply to "Riley" as he focused on Horace for the moment, pouring most of his magic towards him. Fion got a small shroud of regenerative magic over him to start sealing up the numerous injuries he had, but he'd have to wait till later for a more thorough healing.
 
Still, all things considered, it didn't take too long for Araki to finish up with Horace. The man's injury had been bad, but it was, in the end, just a flesh wound so the healing process wasn't horribly complex; though regenerating the flesh was a bit tiring. Sighing deeply as he sat back, Araki poked the man's shoulder gingerly before he nodded. "He should be fine now. Can't do anything about his blood loss though." He still hadn't gotten a fine enough handle on his healing magic to fully restore someone's condition, but at least Horace wasn't going to bleed out anymore. "Now..." he muttered as he turned to look at Fion, "what happened to you?" He obviously wasn't going to be getting an answer out of him like this, so with a shake of his head to clear it he got down to work. 

The man averted his gaze to the ground with Araki's question. He knew the answer all too well; it was a fact that had his teeth gnashing and his unkempt fingernails digging into the rugged flesh of his palms. It was a wracking guilt that he felt, despite having no direct part in what happened. It was knowing that it was her body, her magic, that had done what it had did to Fion without mercy. "R'lyeh..." he muttered, his voice full of anger and his eyes mirroring the sentiment. "Come on," he stated. "Let's pick these two up and bring them back to Cykes. Fion's family will more than likely have doctors at their estate." He strode over to the lump that was the stabilized Horace and moved him over his shoulder with ease despite the man's size. [i]Hm,[/i] he thought, [i]this body is deceptively strong...[/i]

Like with Horace, it didn't take too long for Araki to seal up Fion's wounds to an acceptable degree. With a sigh, the final injury scabbed over and he let go of his magic, the green aura dissipating quickly until it vanished. "Damnit," he grumbled in mild annoyance at having to return to Cykes already; partially because he had left not even a day ago, but also because the feeling to stay away had yet to subside. At the same time, he didn't exactly want to just abandon "Riley", even if "she" had the assistance of a djinn, nor Horace and Fion. Without much real choice, he picked the unconscious Fion up in between his arms and nodded for "Riley" to lead the way. "I hope you appreciate what I'm doing," he muttered as he shifted Fion about. While he could have thrown him over the shoulder like "Riley" had with Horace, with his luck Fion's many more wounds would end up opening up and just be causing a god damned mess.