Trust is a funny thing.

[Diego]

A calm wind blew in from the west. A short distance away, a river was heard flowing strongly. "Oh Gods, its about damned time!" Diego exclaimed as he haphazardly stumbled to the river. He cared not to question the quality of the water nor where it flowed from. Thirst took any rational thought away as he tried to cup water into his hands.

After he regained some sense, he ground his teeth angrily as he remembered what put him into this situation in the first place. Left now with nothing except the clothing on his back, he stood up after long and looked around in an attempt to fuel thoughts that may help him chart a course back to civilization. "I have no idea where I am. Well, when in doubt...follow the river" He looked to the sun for direction, and noting its current position started his walk to the north.

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

Aijari regarded the sun in the sky, one hand shielding her eyes, the other holding a fat black rat close to her chest. The rat's nose pointed into the air, his whiskers twitching furiously. He squeaked once, clambered up onto her shoulder and hid himself in the hair at her neck. Scratching idly at her shoulder, she lazily turned her eyes down the banks of the river and saw a man drinking hastily from it. As he moved closer to where she sat in the grass, she noted his lack of items. Sighing, she looked away again: he was not a target.

[Diego]

Diego squinted, eyes focused on what seemed to be a person. He slowed his approach and decided it better to yell out at a distance, "Excuse me! Ex....excuse me!" he continued to take smaller, more careful steps. He was, after all, not entirely sure where he was, nor even what direction he needed to go to. After a few more steps he decided it best to stay a safe distance away, thirty feet at least, just in case.

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

She looked up again, her brown eyes golden in the sunlight, but didn't bother to get up. "What've you done as needs excusing?" she asked, waving him over. "Except, of course, being cautious. Which doesn't need excusing at all. Come here, I won't bite. What is it you need?"

[Diego]

He smiled faintly, "How am I to know if I am not interfering with your day? Unless being approached by a dazed, confused, and recently pillaged stranger is a common occurrence in these parts." He took a few steps closer and then stumbled, falling to his knees...though his thirst was quenched, his body was fatigued and battered by recent events. "All I really need is a direction....I'm unfamiliar with these parts and I need to make my way to...to..." He suddenly found himself unable to remember his destination.

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

"Interfering with my day," she snorted, laughing derisively. He fell, but she did not move to assist him immediately. Finally, she rose up on her knees and hobbled over to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and wedging her shoulder under his arm to help prop him up a little. "Well," she said, "if you're looking for a town, Runetol's back that way a few days," she pointed south and west, behind them, "or there's Wildford and Wing-over-Sea directly west of here, and Fallen River Valley north of here a good stiff step of three-ish days." She leaned forward slightly to get a better look at his face. Her black wavy hair swung away from her neck, revealing the fat lump of black rat on her neck and his beady eyes inspecting him closely. "You say you were pillaged? Where were you? Do you remember?"

[Diego]

His eyes brightened up at one of the towns mentioned, "Wing-over-Sea. That sounds most familiar to me. I remember that place. I was staying at an inn there. I was looking for work, anything really, and I found what seemed to be a fellow in trouble...." He paused, looking to her shoulder his gaze met the rat's, "I am going to take a guess and say you're fully aware of the large rodent on you?" He tried to stand up straight of his own power, succeeding for the most part, however his legs still seemed a tad unstable. He shook his head, realizing that he wasn't exactly answering any questions asked, "Sorry. Not quite entirely sure what happened to me. Memory's a bit fuzzy. I've made a day's hike out from a coast and managed my way here."

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

She laughed, patting the rat's forehead with her hand. "I do, in fact, know about the rat on me. His name is Witherheart." Shifting, she withdrew herself from his side and stepped a few paces back to face him. Her skin gleamed golden in the sunlight, and, standing before him, her height was emphasized: she was positively short compared to him. Her golden brown eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, slightly indignant at the difference. "If you intend to go back to Wing-over-Sea, I might be of assistance in returning you there. I..." faltering, she paused, then recovered herself quickly, "I know the city well."

[Diego]

He nodded some, "That would be a nice start, and very kind of you. I'm actually surprised you'd offer to do so. I could have been someone with harmful intentions, and here you are offering assistance." His pale green eyes slowly switched their gaze to Witherheart, "Of course I'm sure your friend here would have tipped you off to such dangers. It is my experience that animals know these kinds of things." He stood as straight as he could given his condition, and looked to river in thought, "So then I suppose the question is: About how far are we?"

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

Absent-mindedly patting Witherheart's head as he nosed about her ear, she regarded him for a moment. "Wouldn't matter if you were intending me danger. I don't care what people've done or what they plan on doing. Doesn't matter to me," she muttered. Turning, she contemplated the river's wide banks and the sun. "We're about three and a half days out from there and two river fordings. We can probably get over this one and halfway to the second before sundown." Passing her eyes once more over him, she asked, "Are you alright to travel, though?"

[Diego]

Diego sighed a bit, "Well, if I am going to be honest, I'm not so sure. Can't say I was left in the best of conditions, and the day's travel to get this far did not help. On the bright side all I had with me is gone, so fording the river shouldn't be beyond me. After a brief rest, of course." He took in a deep breath and slowly lowered himself down to get into a comfortable sitting position. He checked his pouches after long, and found only one with anything in it: edible nuts, "Well, they were kind enough to leave this with me, at least." he grumbled to himself, as he pulled a few out, and tossed them into his mouth to chew on.

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

She watched him sit, studied him for a moment, then shrugged and unceremoniously dropped herself onto the grassy banks next to him. "Are you hungrier than that? I'm sure I have something more with me someplace. Did you have much on you when you were attacked? Perhaps I have some temporary replacements you could borrow."

[Diego]

He shrugged, "I could go for something more, but I think these will do me well. As for my belongings, if memory serves me correctly, I recall having a few days worth of supplies left, a few coins. I remember a sack with something in it.." He trailed off as he reached up and felt around his chest and his arm, touching a holster on his bicep. "Ah. I see this dagger's missing...And my sword too. Shield as well, I can remember that too."

[Lavinia Lionsgrave]

"Typical," she muttered, "take all the good steel." Rousing herself somewhat, she reached into one boot and withdrew a stout dagger and pulled her sword from the loop at her hip. It was a plain blade, hilt wrapped in leather with a bronze hand guard; there was a small nick in the blade toward the top, but it was a good sword all the same. "Well, I haven't got a shield you can borrow, but you can at least carry these until we get to town. Never know when something's got to be killed." She shrugged an offered an odd little smile.

[Diego]

A small smile formed along one side of his mouth, reaching for the dagger, "I'll take this for the moment. You keep the sword. Compromise." He said, placing the dagger in the shoulder holster, grabbing another handful from his snack pack, popping them into his mouth little by little, "Besides, I don't think they got anything exceptional from me. I would have been much angrier, I think, If they took anything of immense value. I'm almost certain all my valuables and worthwhile belongings are at the inn I was staying at." He chuckled a bit at the thought, odd it seemed to laugh considering his current condition.