[IC] Chasing the Sky

[Akayaofthemoon]

Aruna noticed Praxis's limping and felt a tug of guilt at being the one to cause it even though as he said, it had been his choice to stand in her way. She tried to push away the feeling, wishing that she could keep her feelings straight around this Wolfen since it would be so much easier if she could just hate him but then he had to go and keep saving her or being somewhat nice making it hard to see Praxis as what kind he was. Aruna appreciated the offer to help her to her feet but she wasn't sure she could stand or at least stay that way without help. She glanced at his hand, feeling embarrassed at the position she was in with people staring as well as she would have to force down her pride to ask for help. Frowning, she placed her hand in his, pushing healing magic from her body to his since it never seemed to work on herself and it was the least she could do after what she had done or what she was about to ask. "I can't stand..." Aruna stated, trying to glance anywhere but at Praxis. "Can...can you...help keep me up til my legs start functioning again? I would like to have a look at the hole."

[Orchestratic]

Praxis couldn't help but giggle at seeing Aruna uncomfortably helpless. It was a side of her he certainly hadn't seen yet, and he was sure she didn't want him or anyone else seeing it. It made him notice, however, that she had been crying earlier - which had clearly triggered the sad reaction from him - and he suddenly no longer enjoyed it. "Only because you asked nicely," he said with a smug grin before looking down in surprise. "... and because I'm 90% sure you just healed my leg. You didn't have to do that; it just hurt a bit. But, uh... thanks." His gratitude came out almost in question form, not entirely certain if he should thank her. Holy... ugh. My social skills really have plummeted.

"Alright," he continued, kneeling down next to her a bit. "You won't freak out if I pick you up to your feet, right?" Although he asked, he had no intention of waiting for an answer. Suddenly, he lightly put his hands under her arms and stood her up and ducked under her left arm and steadied her with his right arm. "Sorry, I just felt like you wouldn't," he snickered again. "Also, don't be so embarrassed." He was referring to how she had been looking at the people staring back at her earlier, all of which now seemed more interested in the chasm then the scene Praxis and Aruna had caused."Who cares what these people think? They probably have all kinds of weird races and weirder names... that old lady is definitely weird," he babbled absently, gesturing toward the old woman who had spoke to him earlier. "Although I think she might know something useful about whatever this is. I've certainly never seen anything like it..." his voice seemed to trail off as the pair approached the large gap, almost as if his voice had fallen into the darkness at the bottom of it, just like the rocks and dirt people were kicking and throwing in around him. It was just as astonishing as before, seeming to have it's own conscious omniscience about it, which only felt stronger now that Praxis saw the the dim glowing membrane that apparently signaled the breaking of Yggdrasil itself under it's protective bark. Praxis noticed now that they were all standing on leaves and dirt, meaning whatever made this hole had went through not only leaves and bark but plenty of actual earth to make the chasm. After a few seconds of staring, Praxis had almost forgotten he had been speaking. "... have you?"

[Akayaofthemoon]

She gave a small glare at his comment of only helping her since she asked nice and once again sporting that smug grin she wanted to just wipe off his face when his features suddenly turned to one of surprise. Aruna looked away from him with a light shrug and spoke a soft reply, "It was nothing." She watched as he knelt down a bit beside her, asking if it was alright to stand her up to her feet but as she opened her lips to answer, he was already lifting her arm around his shoulder while his own held her arm as well as her waist. It was a bit startling to already be standing or as close to standing as she could call it when she was leaning completely into him.

Praxis's comment caught her by surprise, making her a bit nervous that his comment had a different meaning after everything she had just dealt with at home and knowing he had been in her mind with no answer to how much she had seen. His words though were kind and rang truthful even if she want to reject them but a small smile found its way onto her features anyway. Aruna hadn't even noticed they had been walking until her smile fade, her eyes locked to the large gaping hole that gave an ominous feeling, just like the one from her dream and even worse the inside glow of the membrane could be seen."What could have done something like this? I've never...I've never seen anything close to this." She felt a chill and wanted to get away from this place, find out what was happening here and what caused it. "We should speak with the old woman. I need to know more...I just have to."

[Orchestratic]

"I'm not even close to sure," Praxis answered Aruna's inquiry about the cause of the giant chasm. His bloodline had been going for many generations, each with their own stories that they loved to pass down further and further into the clan, and although Praxis had heard many, many tales from the old days of Wolfen roaming Yggdrasil, not a single story entailed anything close to the awe they laid their eyes on now. Even the stories Praxis had pulled from the heads of others held no such details. He didn't like not being in the loop about something that worried him; even more than most people, he liked to think. Raising an eyebrow, he peered over to the face of the beautiful girl he held up on her feet with a confused look creeping on to his own. He wanted to ask what business Aruna had with the old bag, but it was obvious, and although he had saved her from certain death, he still felt partially responsible for injuring her. The thought made his eyes trace down her body to her injured legs, slightly bruised but clearly injured. It wasn't long before he realized his eyes were lingering on her attractive exposed legs. Quickly, he cleared his throat and shook his head, both trying to push the thought away and make his staring look nothing more than a natural absent gazing. "The woman, right..." he managed to fumble out of his mouth before pausing a moment. "Wait, really? She's really condescending and I already hate her..." he lowered his voice and moved closer to Aruna as he finished the sentence so she couldn't here. Praxis wasn't one to care what people thought of him, but as long as he was holding up Aruna, he had no intention of starting an argument that might upset her. Biting the corner of his lip - as he often did when he thought - he soon popped his head up with a small grin. "Actually, Miss Aruna, I have a better idea. Come now," he told her with a small snicker as they carefully backed away from the chasm a couple steps, then turned toward the woman. Beginning to walk again, Praxis opened his hand from the fist it had been in for Aruna to lean on for a better view of the chasm, and gently lay his hand around her side under her chest, far enough down in hopes not to offend her. Although he thought it entirely appropriate, the color in his face tinted red slightly, nearly hurting from lack of ever doing so before. As they walked, his hand slid down to her waist; this made their steps slightly less stable but made him feel more comfortable about helping her. Once they stood behind the old woman by about six feet, Praxis halted in his tracks but didn't turn to face her. Closing his eyes, he let his mind escape and search for hers, latching onto it and infiltrating it for all the relevant information Aruna and himself needed. It wasn't long before he came to a block, unable to continue into her thoughts any further, and at that moment the woman turned to look at him with a grin. Praxis couldn't help but return it with a more determined one, showing no signs of apologies. Soon after, the lady nodded and returned to gazing into the hole, allowing Praxis to once again search her mind. If it weren't obvious already that the woman possessed magic abilities, it became more clear when Praxis found certain parts of her mind that were inaccessible without further concentration, though he was uninterested in them. It wasn't long before he got the info he was searching for and returned to his own mind, eyes opening with a frown already set on his face. Quickly he regained the grip on Aruna he hadn't noticed he was losing while penetrating the barriers of the woman's mind, not even realizing he was holding her tighter than before as if he needed comfort. "Thank you," Praxis murmured quietly, knowing full well the old woman could hear him, as he gazed at the ground before taking steps away from the chasm and the path Aruna had just fled from, toward the stash he had left his spoils. "We should go somewhere and talk," he told Aruna, refusing to look at her. His voice was flat as if he was still contemplating something, even while thinking. "We're heading to temporary stash of mine I made while... searching for you. Would you allow me to carry you? We could get there sooner and it would be less strain on your legs."

[Akayaofthemoon]

Aruna frowned at the fact Praxis had never seen or heard of anything like this. It was common knowledge that Wolfen had been wandering the Yggdrasil far longer than most and had many generations that probably would have shared their stories but if even Praxis hadn't heard of this then honestly, had anyone? What did that mean exactly? There was no way this was good if you could see straight down to the flow of magic. Who would even be able to do something like this? The old woman might know something important but at the same time... Aruna was worried she wouldn't and then she would know nothing. It was that very thought that had her upset because she didn't like not knowing or being left out of the loop.

She turned her gaze back to the one holding her, noticing the confusion creeping onto his face like it was a weird thing to ask the old woman what she knew. This made her own eyebrow raise, wondering what in names was going on in his head as different emotions seemed to pass by his eyes. She stiffened a bit as his gaze moved to her legs, making her feel nervous which was just silly for she could guess multiple reasons for looking. Aruna relaxed in relief as he shook his head, probably clearing his head which meant he was probably absent mindedly looking at her or probably meaning to look at the ground but didn't get that far. "Is there a problem with talking to her?" she asked, irritation slowly trying to creep in. Aruna waited, seeing what he had to say when a grin made its way onto his features. She didn't have much of a choice other than to follow and wondering what exactly Praxis's idea was.

Aruna grip tightened as she scooted closer, her legs not liking the fact they were being forced to walk backwards even if it was only a few stepped to get away from the chasm in front of them. She fought of the need to blush, noting that she had nothing to be embarrassed about since this was the only way to walk until her legs fully kicked in. It was then that Praxis's large hand uncurled from the fist it had been in and now was gently resting on the under side of her chest which made her face light slightly red. She knew it was logical in helping but it still she couldn't get pass the thought of a man touching her close to a more intimate place but then that snag of anger at this very man being a Wolfen tried to push to the surface. Aruna almost sighed in relief as his hand slid to her waist, not wanting to deal with all the conflicting emotions that were fighting in her. Praxis seemed to have a way of doing that to her and she had to say she didn't like it. She wanted to hate him but at the same time she wanted to give him a chance to prove her that he was different. He had let her go and saved her but at the same time, her mind told her it was all a lie maybe even a trick. She shook her head, focusing on what was in front of her right now. Aruna would deal with the other thoughts later.

The two of them were now six feet or so behind the old woman, confusion clearly written on her face as they halted. He wasn't even looking in the old woman's direction so how was he....it was in that moment that Aruna realized exactly what he was doing. Praxis was going to search into the woman's mind to find direct answers. She watched him closely before looking to the woman to see what was going on with her when she turned to look at them, a grin on her face which only made Praxis give his own in return. Had something happened? After a small nod to Praxis, Aruna felt completely out of the loop and now utterly confused. Once his eyes closed again, a frown quickly appeared on his face but what had her panicked had nothing to do with what he was doing in his mind but what his body was doing. His grip on her was loosening making her legs shake and she used as much strength in her arms as she could to hold onto his shoulder. Aruna really didn't feel like dropping to the ground. She was relieved and grateful when he came back, his grip tightening once more but even tighter then before it seemed. She looked at him curiously and slight worry, not saying a word even as they started heading in the same direction as her 'home' which was the last direction she wanted to head in. Aruna didn't know why but she felt like something was very very wrong and that only got worse when he refused to look at her as he spoke and his voice was off.
"You may carry me." Aruna answered with no hesitation.

[Orchestratic]

Swiping his arm quickly up only a second after her reply, Praxis held Aruna in both arms. As before, his mind seemed emotionally attached to hers and he felt many things, including an uncomfortable fear. This girl feared him merely for his species, though he felt she was right to. This feeling made it harder to continue on carrying her. It needed to be pushed away... as did his own feeling of touching her legs. Though her skirt remained in a modest position, he could not help his attraction to her still unexplained in his mind; he continued to blame it on her emotions to move forward.

After a few steps, the Wolfen's swift speed picked up as they gracefully bound through branches and leaves, their destination a deeply dipping leaf that made a cupping shape. This particular area was surrounded mostly by thorns and small trees -- simple, natural defenses to Praxis.

Defensively, Praxis pulled Aruna into his chest and into a smaller position, also covering her with more of his body, as he maneuvered them through the defenses. Oddly enough, this did not bother him as he only thought of defending her = or what he needed to move to his stash - from the small spear-like thorns. Arriving unscathed to his spoils, he took a mental reminder of whether he had set any traps of his own her not, and set her down when remembering he had been too much in a rush to do so previously. He lay Aruna down on the higher twelve foot diameter perimeter of the leaf, sliding his hand down her legs to straighten them along the dip of the leaf that lead to his possessions, leaving her sitting straight up. "Get comfortable, I guess," he said with an almost nervous chuckle. Humor didn't fit the current demeanor.

Sliding down the small angle to the objects bellow, he quickly swept up a golden timepiece, it's chain dangling musically in his fingers as he ascended the opposing bank of the leaf and took a sitting position similar to the one in which he placed his guest. "As you... you probably know, right?" Praxis began, toying with the valuable object and chain. The timepiece itself told time for a much further away area, and was not made to be set for other zones on Yggdrasil and as such remained off-time and irrelevant. Still, the Wolfen eyed it rather than Aruna as he attempted interaction. "I read the woman's mind. She knew and let me but... I'm not good... with actual stuff like that anymore, y'know? Talking, interacting... Don't do much of it anymore. So, I took the knowledge... the rumors... the guess, I suppose, of that old crone. And I can only hope she's wrong, Aruna. I'm afraid you will, too... so I brought you here in case your interaction became one of rejection... hah, unless you rejected the idea, I mean -- look at me, attempting fancy styles of wording." As he spoke, he eyed her only a few times, following her exposed legs all the way up the eyes that challenged his emotions. Is this what a spontaneous crush felt like? He had never experienced it before. It almost bothered him, but now that he felt more certain of what he felt, he realized it was based on nothing but a situation and physical attraction, and was able to ignore it; the idea would bother her more now, he assumed, as she would hate his attention in that manner.