While Veronika was gushing over the finding and taking all the credits for it, Alexa closed her eyes again and started counting backwards from 10. With each words Veronika spoke, Alexa felt reminded of just why she used to avoid nobles and the likes. Granted, not all of them behaved in snobbish manner, but... it was common enough with most nobles that she figured it's easier to simply not tangling with them than trying to find one that's not grating her nerves.

And here she was, stranded in the middle of nowhere, with a noble that, if the rumor was true, was the most spoiled, egoistical, snobbish girl in their year. 'Just my luck...' She thought sourly, watching the other girl complained about not taking the book the night before. As she opened the book, Alexa peered at the content curiously. Hey, if she had to be the one to take it off the corpse, at the very least she deserved to know what it was about, right?
The writing style looked old. It's written in English at least, thank God for small miracles, but the way the characters was written, it seemed older than middle age style. Alexa blinked in surprise when the book suddenly snapped shut, and immediately dropped her face to her hand upon hearing Veronika chattered on about finding cafe or restaurant.

Really, girl, seriously?

Accepting the unexpected offer of the book, Alexa watched Veronika warily. Did she forget where they were at the moment? "Ah... and how do you propose you do that? In case you've forgotten, we're currently in the middle of nowhere." She reminded the noble.

"Well yes, but won't be just find a city sooner or later if we go in on direction?" She smiled at the ingenious idea, flicking hair behind her back again. "I need water, soap, restroom and my morning manicure too. But I think I'll handle a broken nail for now." She said, looking pitifully at her now slightly messy nails, a state that she couldn't recall them being in ever since.

With a heavy sigh that indicated with HOW TERRIBLY she had to suffer and how great the sacrifice of her nails was, Veronika took a moment to bow her head, appearing deeply depressed for a short while. She took a deep breath to clam and focus herself. Yes, she didn't like the lack of... everything around them, but if she had to suffer behaving like a homeless person, it was better to suffer through fast instead of lingering in this situation any longer than she had to.

The young lass stretched and looked around for any hint of where they could go next. What she could see from her position was only a wide grassy landscape, with not a single landmark to guide them. There were a lot of broken walls around though, so maybe she could... No, daddy wouldn't want his precious flower to climb walls like a little kid. Even when she was a little kid, Veronika, as the noble heir, was never permited to do such a thing. But here, out in nowhere, there were no signs of her daddy and as much as she missed having everything at her disposal, it felt nice to be able to make a few decision on her own for once.

With those thought in mind, she approached a nearby cluster of rubble, carefully stepping up on it. It was her good luck that she wore her ankle shoes with no signs of heels. As much as they failed to enhance her grace end height, their flat bottom came handy in situations like this. Not being used to anything of the kind, Veronika looked dangerously wobbly at first, but she managed to climb of the half-collapsed wall. It wasn't high and any normal human being would make it look simple, but for her it was something thrillingly new. "Look Alexa! I climbed a wall! Now I can see further!" She cheered, looking genuinely happy for doing so.

The morning sun was slowly lifting the light mist that glazed over the grasslands. In the distance, a tall pilar could be seen, sticking out of the mundane flat fields of grass that surrounded the two. "I see something! it looks like a pillar, like... one of those high monuments you see in city centres. I say we check that out right away! It's the only sign of civilization I can see for miles!"

Alexa stared at Veronika in disbelief at her 'genius' idea. Is this girl for real?
When she started to list what she needed for her morning ritual, Alexa gripped the book tightly and growled softly, closing her eyes again, she fantasized whacking Veronika over her head with the tome. Maybe if she hit her hard enough, the spoiled girl could grow some common sense... or at least back in touch with reality... THIS reality, not the one she probably daydreamed on in her mind where everything is all flowers and good.

Hearing her name being called again, Alexa opened her eyes and turned around, preparing to snap at the infuriating girl. Her sharp response died on her lips, however, and immediately replaced with panic when she saw Veronika climbed on top of a half collapsed wall that looked dangerously unstable. "He-Hey!! Careful there! Careful!!" She exclaimed, hastily coming over while praying that the younger girl wouldn't fall off the wall.

A pillar? Well, they don't really have any other clue for direction, so that's as good as any for the moment. "Alright, alright. We'll check it out soon. Just... get down here, OK? Slowly, Veronika." Alexa told her worriedly, her previous annoyance was forgotten as she tried to get Veronika to get down from the wall safely. They're nowhere near civilization, as far as she could tell, and it could be a BIG problem if either of them got hurt.

Like it or not, Veronika is the only friend she has in this strange world, and the thought of having to go alone should anything happened to the other girl, chilled her to the bone.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Geee don't cause such a fuss, people do this all the time, don't they?" Not very gracefully and with a flood of muttered curses she managed to somehow climb down to solid ground. Of course she made sure to ignore all help from Alexa. Heaven forbid she's let a peasant lend her a hand. Right after the noble’s petite figure came down to earth (the same couldn't be said for her head), some rubble rolled off of the wall as if to show how unstable the pile of rocks really was. For a moment, Veronika stared at the obviously crumbly wall she just climbed in silence, before flicking her hair back in a snobbish way. "I knew it was just stable enough for me to get on top of it. I had it aaaal figured out!" She smirked before heading in the direction of the tall monument.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, we need to get to some sort of city before the night falls." With that, Veronika trotted gracefully towards the landmark. Despite the cold of the previous night, the weather seemed to clear up. For once she couldn't help but to feel a hint of relief. It was the first time in her life where she didn't need to abide by anyone's rules first thing in the morning. There was no routine, no obligatory morning horse riding, no crazy old maids to stuff her in corsets that are two sizes too small. She was just walking towards the magnificent pillar not because anyone told her to, not because she had to, but because she genuinely wanted to.

With those thoughts in her head, the young lass couldn't help but to bring a little bit of a skip in her step. Remembering that Alexa was with her, she turned back to her, with a small smile on her usually frowning face. Looking at her companion, she noticed that she was still carrying the book they found on that corpse. "Say, are you going to hold that book awkwardly like that? Not that I'll carry YOUR stuff, I mean, I found it, but why don't you give it to me so I can have it in my purse and it won't obstruct us or get even more damaged." She opened her purse while saying so. Luckily se didn't have the smallest model; it was big enough to fit a book. And well, we all know how purses or females are - you can stuff in many more things than you may think you can at a first glance.

Alexa watched anxiously as Veronika made her way down from the wall, the girl ignored Alexa when she tried to help so Alexa could only hope that she'd be okay. Once Veronika reached the ground, Alexa breathed a sigh of relief. When a small part of the wall crumbled to the ground, Alexa stared at Veronika in silence, hoping that it would convey to the other girl how lucky she was that the wall didn't fall apart when she was on it.

Upon hearing Veronika's reaction, the short haired girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. Really... what was she expecting from Veronika anyway? That girl live in a world of her own making it seemed. Oh well... hopefully she'll grow up soon.
Sighing yet again (She seemed to be doing a lot of this lately), Alexa followed Veronika in a more sedate pace. Watching the girl walked with springs on her step, the former gymnast let out a small smile. It's weird. She felt like she's ready to commit bodily harm to the spoiled girl before, and yet, there are times like these that showed a side of her that doesn't seem to stem from being spoiled, but simple innocence. It also made her feel like she's babysitting a grown up little kid.
It's also quite refreshing, if she's to be honest with herself. Since they both got here, it's almost like she's been playing the role of the pessimist and realist, while Veronika seemed to play the part of the ever optimist. Well, annoyingly snobbish and not-all-there optimist, but an optimist none the less.

When Veronika turned towards her and made that offer, Alexa shook her head at the bipolar girl's behavior resignedly. "If you want to carry it, be my guest. I doubt I'll get the chance to read it while we're walking anyway." She replied and put the book into Veronika's purse, which thankfully was big enough to fit the book in it. Why was she worrying about this snobbish girl again? Alexa looked at Veronika as they both starting to walk again. "You seem quite happy today, despite anything else. " She noted out loud.

"Hmm?" Veronika turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. She didn't even realize how happy she felt. In all honesty, she didn't feel like this, this kind of happiness in ages. "Well..." She started, but couldn't exactly put what she felt into words.
This world confused her and how she felt about it confused her too. "...I guess you could say that. But don't get any ideas, it's not like it's because of you!" She quickly recovered upon noticing how playful she's been acting. "It's just now very good for a lady to be upset. It gives you wrinkles, you knooow" A quick made up excuse, what else did she expect from herself.
A tiny bit of guilt nibbled at her. Why couldn't she just admit that she way genuinely happy? Moreover, why was she happy in the first place, being stranded here in the middle of nowhere with no potential escape.

"A-anyway, we're here!" She chimed, trying in vain to hide the quiver in her voice. The noble stopped right underneath the monument that reached far up into the sky, looming over them like a mighty, scary figure. Looking around it, she noticed it was nothing but a long pillar with a flag on the top, surrounded by many small ones. No signs, no readable inscriptions aside from something that read along the lines of 'GJUKAR' or maybe 'GIOKAR'. One couldn't be sure, as the many years and climates deformed the monument's stone and with that, the letters inscribed in it. Just then she noticed a shield and an iron sword resting at its base along with some flowers that people must have brought here to honour the dead.
With her foot, Veronika lightly poked at the sword, making it slide off the shield with a rusty sound. "Uuugh... that looks heavy..." She groaned, not paying it any more attention than that, but instead beginning to look around for anything else that might be useful.

Alexa stared in bemusement at Veronika's defensive reaction to her simple observation. It's like the noble girl was trying to justify her happiness to herself instead of to Alexa. Smothering her giggles before it could appear, Alexa simply smiled a little wider and nodded to Veronika's 'explanation'. There's just something very cute about how the snobbish and proper little lady acted rather unlady like, and then tried to justify it while trying to act all proper again.

Upon reaching the pillar, the first thing that drawn Alexa's attention was the shield and sword that rested at its base. For some reason, upon seeing the weapon and shield, she did a mental dance and mental cheer that they found seemingly a better weapon. Kneeling, Alexa took the sword's handle and tried to lift it. Making a couple of experimental swings, she concluded that she'd need some training before she could use the sword properly.
Alexa undid her rope belt quickly and made a couple of knots to hold the sword as well. She re-positioned her dagger to her right side and slid the sword to its new holding on her left side. That done, she took the shield as well, whispering in apology to whoever spirits might still reside there. "I'm sorry, we'll be taking these. Hopefully they can help us to better staying alive."

With that done, Alexa started to look around as well, frowning when she noticed that there's still no sign of civilization. "I think we need to get to a higher ground. Shall we go up there?" She queried, pointing towards the nearby hill, with trees on the top.

"Above a hiiiil? Really?"

Veronika groaned. She knew Alexa's proposal made sense, it was the only logical thing to do, but oh it felt exhausting just to look up that hill, let alone walk UP the slope. Not even tried to hide a big roll of her eyes, Veronika followed the brunette, seeing that the later is getting herself well equipped. At least it made the noble feel like she has a bodyguard now. A noble princess and her bodyguard travelling gives off a way better impression than 'two lost friends in an unknown world'. Yes, Veronika was much satisfied with the development.

Still, the hill was not to her liking, so if she's going to be forced into climbing it, she'll at least make it clear that it's not something she chose to do. "How high do you think it is? Are you sure it'll lead us to civilization... I mean, HOW can you be so sure about that? You don't know this place..." She kept inquiring, trying to settle her own uneasiness with having to do manual labour.
Of course, she was no weakling, she was a lady and she was going to carry herself as such. With head held high, she made her way forward alongside Alexa, not showing the slightest signs of being uneasy. Again, she blessed her decision of taking flat ankle shoes instead of stilettos to the stroll last evening.

The hike felt anything but pleasant, but something in the distance piqued her interest. "Alexa... is that smoke...? There, in the far distance. Like... you know, fireplace smoke, the one that comes from old houses?" With that she pointed her slender pale fingers, clad in numerous extravagant rings in the said direction.

"Yes, Veronika, above a hill. Really." Alexa replied cheerfully, internally laughing at Veronika's groan. Now that she had had some time to 'filter out' the irritating part from most of Veronika's whines, Alexa found that she was mostly amused by the girl's antics. Some of the time. She had feeling that it won't be long before the other girl did something else that would drove her up the wall, again.

Alexa hefted the shield on her left hand slightly and frowned. Despite feeling more secure with the shield in her hand, she's not used to the shield's weight, not to mention that she's not sure whether she's even holding the shield securely or not. It might be more of a hindrance than protection unless she could figure out how to use both the shield and sword properly.
As they both walked up the hill, Alexa absently nodded and 'hmmhmm'ed at Veronika's rapid questions/whines/complaints. It just made her really feel like a baby sitter who's humoring their charge's incessant babbles.

The hike itself was not an easy one with the rather steep slope, at least for them who were not used to hiking, and she's rather thankful for wearing her sneakers instead of sandals when she went out. When Veronika pointed out the smoke in the distance, Alexa squinted her eyes and concentrated on the horizon beyond the hills. Sure enough, she saw a couple trails of thin smoke, it's almost like the ones she saw coming out of the old house in the children storybooks she once read. "I think you're right, Veronika. Let's hurry up so we can see it better from top. " She responded happily and without thinking, she grabbed Veronika's hand and pulled her to walk faster in excitement.

The spoiled lass groaned as she dragged her feet up the hill. Go faster? How? She could barely live as such. Her mind was buzzing with her own complains so much that at first she didn't even notice Alexa grabbed her hand. When she did, however, she stopped abruptly, snapping her hand out of the other girl's palm.

"Ew." That was all she said, accompanied by a mean look. She wasn't used to a lot of contact on a good day and now agitated as she was some random touchy-feely hand-holding was the last thing in the universe she wanted. Who did this peasant even think she was? Just because Veronika let her share body heat with her for a night didn't mean they were best buddies all of a sudden.

The noble would have complained further, if she didn't hear some sort growling from the back. In fear, she took a step forward before turning - just enough for a black growling wolf to miss her by an inch, only tearing at the hem of her white summer dress.
Seeing the best, Veronika fell backwards, letting out a shriek so loud and high, one could be hardly believed that it came from a human. The scream seemed to disorient the best for a moment.
"Kill iiit!!!" The pale girl screamed, trying to get up and run away in total panic.

Alexa nearly lost her balance when Veronika stopped so suddenly. Turning around, Alexa looked at her questioningly, wondering what was wrong with the girl as she looked back with... disdain? Huh... Maybe this girl really IS bipolar. Whatever either of them about to say was stopped cold however at the growling sound.

The lunging black wolf took them both by surprise and nearly pounced Veronika, and she guessed it was only pure luck that Veronika escaped the attack unscathed. The scream though... oh boy, did that girl could scream... If the situation was not so dire, Alexa might have made a complaint on her own about Veronika's voice or joked that they could use it as a secret weapon to stun the enemy. Unfortunately, the wolf slammed hard to the shield she was holding, and caused the shield to get thrown from her hand.
"Shit..." Alexa swore with pale face and fumbled awkwardly to unsheathe her sword with nerveless fingers as she stepped backwards to get some distance.

However, the wolf wasn't about to give her time to get ready it seem and lunged again, this time aiming at Alexa's throat. Alexa only had about a split second decision to either keep trying to unsheathe her sword and risked her throat, or forget the sword and try to hold off the wolf. Reflex won over and Alexa lifted her left arm to shield herself, which resulted in the wolf's fangs tore through her jean jacket easily and sank into the flesh of her arm.

Alexa screamed in pain even as she used her other arm to grab the wolf's throat and wrestled the beast to the ground while trying to keep it from damaging her arm further. In her current position, it would be quite difficult to reach for her sword. Instead, Alexa grabbed her right side where she strapped the dagger from the corpse. Unsheathing the dagger quickly, she stabbed the wolf repeatedly, even after the wolf stopped moving. She didn't stop for quite a while until she realized that the wolf was no longer moving, nor breathing. Shaking badly from the combination of fear, pain and adrenaline, Alexa stabbed the dagger into the wolf's body one last time and left it there while she tried to release her arm from the beast's jaw that still gripped her like a vice. She barely realized that she was crying, whether it was from the shock or the pain, she wasn't sure, and she doesn't really care either way as she tried to steel herself. She'd break down later, after she freed her arm, and preferably after she ensured that she won't bleed to death from it.

"Shit... oh shit...." She groaned when she finally freed her arm and saw the extent of the damage. Her jacket left sleeve already turning dark red from the blood that's still bleeding out of her bitten arm. She's going to need it stitched. Hopefully the settlement that they saw the smoke coming from was nearby. Speaking of that... "V-Vero...? Veronika..? Y-you.. okay?" She queried shakily, looking around for her companion.

Veronika froze. There was no other way to put it. She nearly turned to stone as she watched Alexa stab the Wold repeatedly. Something about the act woke her up. Woke her up from the dream she had, that they were in a fairytale where she was a princess, finally freed from the vice of her parents. It was unpleasant, yet she needed it. They were in this big, unknown world, where they could die. Die, rot away, no longer exist like the man who brought them here. Her breathing nearly stopped and she didn't even realize she was crying and shivering in shock.

She didn't even hear what Alexa said. Her brain just blocked the cruel outer world out. The realization that she is likely to die in the next couple of ways was too much for the fragile rpincess to take in at once.

The beast that now layed on the ground, dead scared her with its pressence alone. She had a gripping feeling that it could wake up and resume it's attack at any moment now.
"Is... it dead?" She asked with a voice that crasked way too many times for such a short question.
The blood, the scenes, the fight, it all repeated itself in front of her eyes. Slowly, with shivering moves she crawled closer to Alexa, but avoiding to be too close to the beast. Only then did she notice the other girl's bleeding arm.

"A-are you hurt?" Something in the back of her head mentally slapped her. Of course she is, she's bleeding. But what does that mean? What is going to happen now? "W-we're going to die, aren't we? We're both going to...to d-die in this world..." Veronika whispered mostly to herself tears staining her once-perfect make-up.

"Shh.. Shh... Hey... It's okay.." Alexa tried to soothe the other girl with trembling voice, which made the soothing words lost some of its effect. Alexa shrugged off her jacket, and gritted her teeth in an effort not to scream out of pain when she pulled her bloodied arm out of the sleeve. Undoing the rope belt clumsily with one hand, she tied the rope on the upper part of her arm tightly as some sort of tourniquet.

Looking at Veronika's traumatized face, she felt a pang of regret in her heart. Sure, the girl was annoying with all her antics and complaints, but there was an innocence there that now destroyed by the reality of their situation. The look of fear and tears definitely didn't belong to Veronika's face, and made Alexa wanted to comfort and assured the other girl with hope that the girl could retain some of her previous cheerfulness.

"Listen... Veronika.. we.. we're not going to die... Okay?" She tried again, wrapping her jacket around her arm to staunch the bleeding. "We just... need to move on... We'll be okay." She hissed in pain as she tightened the jacket, her white shirt starting to be stained with blood as well. "But I need you .. to be strong... Alright?" To be honest, she felt like she's gonna faint at any moment now, possibly from the blood loss or the adrenaline crash, or maybe a combination of the two.

Wrenching the dagger out of the wolf's body, Alexa had a half mind to swept the knife to her jacket, cleaning some of the blood on it, before putting it back in its sheath. "Here." Alexa offered the dagger to Veronika with a shaky hand. "Keep this with you. Put it in your purse if you want... just make sure you can.. take it out fast if necessary..." Looking around, Alexa saw what looked like man made road that was paved with blocks of stones just down the hill they were on, a road that they couldn't see previously from the monument's position.

"Look... I think... that's a road. Maybe it's heading... to the houses...." Alexa said and grunted as she pushed herself up to stand, swaying dangerously when a wave of vertigo from the blood loss starting to affect her.

"O-okay..." The noble replied with a trembling voice. Still, all she could think about at that moment was death and how it must be waiting for them on every corner. With shaky hands she took the dagger in her hand, staring at its iron surface. She realized at the point that she would have to kill with it, if that's what the situation called for. In the moment of realization, she wanted to fling the dagger as far away as possible, scream and shout and run back to her father, to her warm home, safety, with three butlers and five maids to take care of her on her every whim.

However, Veronika resisted the urge, sliding the dagger silently into her purse's front pocket, keeping it a bit open. Her face was stone-cold all the time as expressing any emotion was beyond her. If she did, she would probably just collapse in a weeping, hysterical mess.

As Alexa mentioned it, she tuned to look at the road, noticing its shape from afar. To her it was like a beam of hope, an actual sign on civilization! She sprung to her legs as Alexa stood up, stepping close to her, lightly touching her elbow as if she actually wanted to support the other girl for a change, but didn't know how.
"D-do you need help?" She whispered. Something mentally slapped her, but she didn't feel it. She was as drunk from shock and stress, only thinking about safety and survival.

In the far distance, on the road, a man could be seen leading a cow that was entirely covered with odd markings. As soon as Veronika spotted him, she began to yell. They needed help, they desperately needed it. "Heey! HELP! SIR! OVER HEERE! HEELP!" She cried, hoping that the farmer would hear her.

Alexa almost couldn't hear Veronika's voice with the sudden rushing sound in her ears. It took all she had just to simply stand still, and she barely noticed Veronika's hand on her elbow. Her body was starting to feel numb, and she very much doubted she could walk down the hill without fainting. Vaguely, she heard Veronika called for help to someone... Wait... Someone? There's someone else with them there?

Struggling to look up, Alexa thought she saw two blurry figures from the road, one looked like a human who approached them quickly. Wariness and hopeful relief rose in her. Wary that the person would mean them harm, but another part of her was hopeful that the person would help them. Trying to take a step forward, the last thing Alexa saw was the ground rushing to meet her before something caught her. Barely conscious, she thought that she smell something like... farm animals, and some sort of herbs or plants. A few moments later, she realized that someone was carrying her and walking fast along the road. Relieved that at least they got some help, Alexa slipped into unconsciousness.

---

The farmer looked up the hill curiously when he heard someone called out for help. He had to blink his eyes repeatedly and even rubbed them several times. What were those kids doing up there? And what in the world were they wearing? Curious and concerned, the farmer pulled his sacrificial cow around and smacked its behind so it started its way back home. It lives for another day for now, at least until he could get those two some help then he can continue taking his cow to the giants.

Making his way up to where the girls were, his eyes widened when he saw their conditions, especially the bloody one. "What in the Divines happened to you, lasses?" He asked, only to quickly moved forward in alarm and caught her as the girl slumped forward. Looking around, he saw the wolf corpse with multiple stab wounds and a curiously clean sword laying nearby. Lifting the wounded girl into his arms easily, he studied the other for a few seconds. He never saw the kind of materials these girls are wearing, and the long haired one almost look like she's dressed for party in Cyrodiil, not in the cold weather of Skyrim for sure.

"Come on." He finally urged the other girl as he started to make his way down the hill. "I'll get you both to someone who can help. Try to keep up with me, lass." The farmer moved as fast as he could towards the settlement. Of all the days he didn't bring any health potion, it has to be this kind of day.

Entering the settlement briskly and gaining attention from the folks, the farmer started calling out loudly and urgently. "Jouane! Jouane!! She needs help!" An elderly balding man wearing what looked like a nice thick clothes came out from one of the big houses and looking curiously for the one who called him. Upon seeing the bloody arm of the young girl in the farmer's arms, he became all business and waved the farmer, along with the other girl, in quickly. "Over here. Put her on that table." He told the farmer as he quickly gathered several linen clothes for bandages and bottles of potions with nimbleness that belied his years.

While the elderly man, Jouane, starting to work on cleaning and healing the unconscious lass, the farmer turned towards the other girl and asked gently. "What happened, lass? And why in the Nine Divines name did you both running around the wild with no protection?"

Feeling the warm wave of relief wash over her, Veronika's eyes filled with tears when she saw the farmer approach them. From there on, it was all a blur, faces, shouting, Alexa fainted, she did her best to follow the farmers, tripping and nearly falling a couple of times in between, but she didn’t' care. The noble was confused, yet happy that she finally found people. Real people, who were willing to help.
As soon as they entered the house they were lead in, Veronika felt around for the wooden chair, grabbing its back rest before collapsing onto it, sinking head in her shaky palms. Famer's questions snapped her out of her daze and she raised her head to face him with a confused expression. It took her mind a couple of moments to register his questions, but she could think clearly enough to assume that saying dark magic brought them here wouldn't be a fitting answer. Who knew what these people believed, considering the Farmer kept mentioning his 'Nine Divines'...

"We... we got lost on our way and then the wolf suddenly attacked us..." She lied skilfully. If there was one thing you could learn while mingling around royal houses it was how to make up lies that weren't too vague to, or too exact to be believable. The farmer furrowed his eyebrows. Their attire was still too odd; he wasn't used to seeing girls in such rich, yet light and most of all revealing clothing. Not to mention the fair one wore an excessive amount of jewellery.

Jouane, who was sideways glancing at them while casting a healing spell on Alexa, noticed that the farmer was quite suspicious. He let out a long groan, finishing his bright healing spell with the last bit of magica he had. The girl's strength wasn't completely replenished, but her wounds were mostly cured, with only shallow scrapes remaining.

"My friend, why don't you go fetch yourself some mead at the inn. I can take care of this on my own well enough." His tone was warm and polite, but firm and not to be argued with. He tossed the farmed a golden coin, so the later simply shrugged and left the old mage alone with the girls. If the old man thought he got it under control, he didn't feel like arguing and was overall just glad that the two were saved. Plus, he still had to take the sacrificial cow to the giants or other villagers would curse him, should one of the monsters attack...

Confused as to why this Jouane suddenly sent the farmer away, Veronika kept her eyes fixed on the healer as he poured some red liquid from a small bottle in Alexa's mouth, gently lifting her head so she wouldn't choke on it. He finished by wrapping her hand from elbow down in clean linen wraps, his fingers swift and precise, as if it was something he was used to doing his entire life.

"Help me move her to the bed, will you?" Jouane asked Veronika and without thinking about it, she lifted her friend's legs, so the two of them somehow managed to carry the unconscious girl to the nearest bed. "Well, this is it... I did what I could. From here on rest is better medicine than anything I could give her. Ah... but you were lucky, she lost quite some blood for such a young maiden." The mage slowly sat down in one of the chairs, gesturing Veronika to do the same.
"Well now, child... Would you mind telling me who you are and what really happened to you. Please, spare me the lies. I lived for least a dozen too many years to let a young maiden fool me. You don't seem like you belong here in the first place."
For the next hour, the retired mage heard out the young noble as she told him all about their arrival and struggles. He had to chug down a bottle of wine to take what she was telling him in. Still, he could see that what she told him now were no lies. Even the way she ate that bread and stew he handed her screamed out her noble roots and the clothing and items they had did nothing but emphasize the facts she presented him with.

Jouane rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Your tale is... quite unbelievable, child. Had it not been the fact that I sense no lies from you, and the fact that I've never seen nor heard both of your clothes' materials, I might have thought you delusional." He sighed and looked at the girl kindly. "The only people and place that I think might be able to help you would be The Winterhold College. But it is quite far from here and the travel itself would be quite dangerous. I think I'm right in thinking that neither of you know how to defend yourself, hm?"
After sitting in silence for a few moments, Jouane looked at the long haired girl again. "May I see the book you found? There might be something there that could help."

Accepting the book, Jouane started to study and read the tome with a frown, mumbling to himself. "Summon Familiar... doesn't seem different... concentrate magic... weave magic, forming.... Ah!" He suddenly exclaimed, his finger stopped at a section. "'You must open a different plane.' I'm not really sure, but I think this might be what caused the incident." He closed the book and leaned back on his seat. "He must have messed up the weave, or maybe he pushed the thread to the wrong direction... " He started mumbling again before he seemed to realize that he's still not alone. Clearing his throat in embarrassment, Jouane looked at the girl apologetically. "Forgive me, sometimes when I get too excited or intrigued by something, I forgot about what's around me."

Sighing again, he tapped his finger absently on the book cover. "I'll send a message to the College to see if they can shed some light about this matter and maybe figure out how to send you both home. In the meantime though, I think the two of you better stay here. I'll ask Rorik if he'd allow one of the rooms for your use. Don't worry, Rorik is a good man if a bit grumpy." He chuckled lightly.

Their conversation was stopped by a small groan from the bed. Jouane immediately set the book down and approached the waking girl, gently placing his hand on her head and rubbed her forehead lightly to help her wake up without being startled.

Alexa was feeling rather comfortable. She's warm, and comfy and she'd be happy to stay like this forever. However, something was persistently pulled her away from that comforting zone, and to the more unpleasant one. As she started to wake up, Alexa couldn't help letting out a small groan at feeling her body's discomfort, she wanted to return to the comfy place, but a gentle hand on her head pulled her back to the living world quite fast.

Opening her eyes blearily, Alexa tried to focus on the owner of the hand on her head. She could tell that he was an elderly even with her blurry sight. "Easy now... Your wound is healed, but your body still need to recover." A kind gentle voice soothed her. Wound? Recover? Just what... Then she remembered, the hike, the wolf, the attack and the blood that didn't seem to stop flowing... Someone... Suddenly startled awake, Alexa looked at Jouane in panic. "Veronika! Is...Is she okay? She.. She was with me... "

The hand gently, but firmly, pushed her to lie back down. "She's okay, not a scratch on her." He looked to the side. Alexa followed his gaze and her frame relaxed in relief when she saw Veronika there.
"I'll leave you girls alone. I'll see if I can track down Rorik and I also still need to write that letter to the College." She vaguely heard the old man said. "Don't get too tired, even if your wound is healed, you still need a lot of rest." With that parting word, the old man left them alone.

Healed? Glancing down, Alexa saw that her bandaged arm was no longer bloody, in fact she didn't feel any pain from it, only light prickling sensation as if the wound is already scabbing and about to be fully healed. Putting her miraculously healed arm aside in her mind for the moment, Alexa looked at Veronika and gave her a small smile. "Hey... Glad you're okay.."

Veronika heard the man out, trying to concentrate on his every word, as hard as it was for her to make any sense of what he was saying. The topic of magic intrigued her. By now there was no dobut in her head that it did indeed exist. How else could she explain the miraculous light the man conjured from his bare hands that seemed to heal Alexa until she was as good as new. Not the mention the means by which they were summoned here...

When Jouane told her they could stay here for the time being, she never felt so grateful in her entire life. Sure, it was dirty and dusty, but once you have to sleep besides sacrificial altar and stare death face to face, you obtain new outlook on life. Never before did she think someone so sincerely.

Seeing Alexa wake up, she didn't know what to say. How do you greet someone who saved your life? She felt the gap between their social classes tug on her thoughts, but on the other hand, if it wasn't for the peasant girl's bold, yet brave act, they would both quite possibly be dead.
"Hey..."
It was all Veronika mustered before facing the ground, fidgeting nervously with her half-ripped dress. A thought that they'll need some decently warm clothes briefly crossed her mind. Her current ones were stained too.
"Jouane healed you... your hand. We're safe for now"
Mumbling absent-mindedly, she took the book in her hands, needing something to fiddle with. She just now really took notice of the title 'Summon Familiar'. Pretending that she's about to read, she opened the first page, noticing nothing but weird wriggly letters that seemed to dance in front of her eyes.
"You have some stew and bread there... and ale." She gestured at the bedside table, where a bowl of steaming soup lied, along with some bread on a plate, ale and nearly empty bottle of healing potion. The Noble wore a pretty good indifferent mask, for someone so unsure about what to do. If a stranger was to look at her, they would only see a pretty pale girl reading a book while suspiciously glancing sideways to her friend from time to time.

"...I'm glad to see you're ok. Thank you..."

Nearly whispering the last few words, Veronika felt a bit of blush creep on her cheeks. Thanking a wise elderly man was something entirely else than thanking a peasant like her... a peasant who happened to be the only reason she's still alive. That alone made her feel like she should bow down to her and cry tears of gratitude, but for now, she was determined to do whatever ti takes to keep whatever dignity she, as a noble, had left.

Alexa suppressed her amusement at seeing Veronika fidgeting. That simple act of nervousness seem to make her more ... down to earth. Then again, she supposed that anyone who faced shocking experiences like they did would be inevitable to have some changes, hopefully towards positive ones. She listened quietly as Veronika spoke softly, telling her that someone named Jouane, she guessed it to be the old man before, healed her arm and that they're safe.
Normally, she'd have replied with something and get a small talk going to push away the awkwardness, unfortunately she's still a bit sluggish and couldn't really think of anything to talk about. So, she settled on just listening for now, and secretly enjoyed listening to Veronika speaking without her usual whines and complaints.

Upon hearing about the stew and bread, Veronika's stomach made itself known. Loudly. Blushing brightly in embarrassment, Alexa pushed herself up to a sitting position while holding her stomach. "Sorry about that..." She chuckled sheepishly and took the bowl of stew. The tantalizing smell of the stew caused her mouth to water and her stomach growling again. With all the excitement, she didn't realize how hungry she was until she was faced with food. She ate the stew and bread as fast as she could in polite manner. Well, polite for a commoner anyway, she definitely not going to be mistaken as a royalty anytime soon.

Alexa paused in the middle of eating when she heard the last part of Veronika's soft words. This is the first time since they met that she ever heard (that she could understand anyway) Veronika said anything in concern about her. It gave her a pleasant warm feeling in her chest that seem to spread out in her body, warming her much better than the bowl of stew she just polished off.
Looking back at Veronika, Alexa smiled happily. "Thank you, Veronika. And you're welcome. After all, what are friends for?"

Veronika just couldn't help but to scoff at Alexa's... ehem... style of soup-eating. Once again the other girl just had to remind her and everyone around of what a peasant she is. She would make a comment about table manner, if it wasn't for Alexa's last sentence. Them? Friends? That was new indeed. The older girl must have been a little too shaken up by the wolves and now got her facts and confused. But for this once Veronika was going to let it slide with no more than a subtle eye-roll.

In order to refrain from having to respond to the last rhetorical question, she just dug her nose deeper into the odd book. Unlike before, she now decided to actually focus on the characters and try to understand what she's reading. To her surprise the odd inscriptions that looked like child's scribbles began to make sense as soon as she concentrated on them. The worlds and meanings spiralled in front of her eyes, telling her how to open a portal to a different world, swirling and twirling in waves o information she never heard, but seemed to understand almost perfectly. Before she knew it, she was dashing from page to page. Sure, she was an avid and thus fast reader, but now she was flipping to a new page every couple of seconds.

---

The young noble became so captivated by the old tome that she didn't even notice the heavy knocking, followed by equally loud creaking as someone swung the large wooden door open. A red-haired head of a young and rather good looking man poked through, followed by his massive muscular body that seemed too well-built for the plain clothes he wore.

The moment his eyes wandered over to the two ladies, he gasped, just staring for a while. He began to exclaim one or two ‘oh’ and ‘um’-s before an older voice disturbed him.
“Eric! What by the Divines are you doing scooping around!?” Naturally, it was Jouane who returned with a couple of bottles of ale and a furrowed expression on his face.
“Aa-ah, I was just- You know, wanted to know if they were adventurers... Everyone in the inn is talking about them...” The younger man awkwardly said, obviously driven there by sheer curiosity.

Upon that Jouane gave him a look that clearly spelled out just how unlikely it was for the term adventurers to be applied to the two girls. The elder shook his head and mumbled to himself something about youngsters and adventurers, setting the bottles down with a loud clang.

“It took some persuasion, but Rorik agreed to let you stay... for now. You’ll probably see him tomorrow, he... well, he’s still at the inn.” Jouane announced, not really hiding the underlying information of what his means of ‘persuasion’ mostly were.
“Ah, I see you came to, child... Say... how do you feel?” He said, feeling Alexa’s forehead with his wrinkled hand. Eric nearly broke his neck while curiously expecting the brunette from behind Jouane’s back. He had never seen girls so... unusual, but also pretty at the same time.

Veronika noticed little of her surroundings. The book created a small universe within her mind where she fled to, learning about the dimensions and weaving space over time to call upon minions to fight for you. It was like an escape from reality. And she needed that; she needed it more than anything else at the moment.