How long had it been since Eden had found herself within this land? A land where no scent was the same, and drear filled the air, with only few spaces of comfort in between. From what she learned as she explored before landing here, it felt as if this part of the land was struggling… or at least its people did. Where Eden camped, surrounded by trees and wild beasts, the land was peaceful. Content. Nothing really wanted to bother its ways here, letting her rest the night away, with only the sounds of the occasional fox scurrying through.

However, morning came, and with it, a luxury she had not been able to take in for some time. A nearby flowing river meant there was water to wash herself in. With her metal beam of a weapon pierced into the river's shore, she rested the clothing she had on next to it before stepping into the cool waters, feeling it rush through much more than the lakes she tended to find. Then again, beggars could never be choosers, and the current was not one to sweep her off her feet anyways.

She stepped in to the point where her legs were covered up before kneeling down, dipping her hair into the river current and letting the water slowly unbind the braid before using her fingers to finish the job, letting it rest in the water before her fingers moved up to the metal collar around her neck. Or at the very least, the latch upon it. With the snap of the opening shackle echoing through the woods, she could feel the freedom around her throat as she took in larger gaps of air while running water over her throat, removing whatever dirt got caught in between.

It had been a strange regimen Eden had found herself doing every day. Ever since her visit with Adraejen and the modification he made, she found herself taking time to open the shackle and swallowing so much air at once, as if to train to handle the air flow. It was rough, but she had to do it if she ever wanted to leave the thick metal behind… removing her final attachment to her past as a slave… And the metal shackle itself… was she dreaming, or did it occasionally feel thinner when she unhooked it? It was a strange… thought that went into her… head as she examined it… further…

SNAP!

She had to still be careful with it, though. If left open for too long, she would find her vision turning white and passing out like the first time it was removed, showing how rough the training was on her. It would not be easy to recover from, especially if she passed out in a moving river naked. Still, she sat down in the moving stream to refocus herself before she finished up her bath.

The place he found himself in was so new, so strange in just the fact that he had yet to encounter many places in his life of rather proximal adventuring within the realm of his village. Wulf had always wanted to travel and now that he finally was, out and about, adventuring and learning and experiencing the world and all it had to offer, he almost kicked himself for having remained in his village for as long as he had. But, truly, he did still care for his own family and have the wholesome upbringing behind him that kept him almost scared to leave, almost as if the familial ties he had born through life had been the very chains that linked him to the village, keeping him from ever roaming farther than the next town over. 

Now that Wulf had a few expeditions under his belt, he felt much safer about wandering on his own, even when he was without a steed with which he might make a hasty escape from an off encounter, he felt slightly more confident. Having found the sword he had, wholly out of luck, had done him some good as well, though he still wondered the true story of the sword's history. How had it actually ended up becoming entombed where he'd found it? Was it perhaps a remnant of a time long since lost, forgotten to the jowels of time and war? The true history might be lost forever, and Wulf knew that was highly likely, but sometimes he almost believed he would learn it. 

Sometimes, when he was very certain that no one was around for miles, he would practice his swordfighting and parrying whlie walking. It was easy enough, a good workout, and kept him feeling a little less than lonely considering his usual adventure was alone, then joined by whatever malicious creatures he would end up fighting or fleeing from. Occasionally, he would get too involved in his mental practices and lose track of his surroundings. 

Wulf imagined himself facing off against the undead flock he'd faced the day he'd found his sword. They were truly fearless, as they should be considering they were undead, and they were a true test for him. He envisioned the battle in his mind and parried, would step and spin and block the imaginary mace of an also imaginary soldier, and continued in such a manner until he found himself at the edge of a riverbed, and he caught his own attention just in time to steady himself from falling in. Exhaling deeply, he sheathed his sword, and admired the surroundings. The animals in this area were of the more gentle sort, and not terribly sparse at all. He would have little trouble finding a hare or some type of small beast with which he could prepare a stew, and perhaps there would even be some sort of edible greens along the bed of this fast-flowing river. If he could not find one, of course, he might just ask the girl nearby, perhaps she knew where there would be something. 

Wulf's brain nearly slowed down, as he thought that, as  if it were going to be able to catch him and stop him before he truly seemed oblivious. Naked. Naked girl. Shield eyes. Shield your eyes, man! As his brain made contact with his body, Wulf scrambled to cover his eyes from the sight before him. 

"Miss! Miss! I am so terribly sorry," He said, covering his face entirely with his hands and now stumbling backward, "I did not mean to intrude upon your privacy and I apologize wholeheartedly, I truly did not ever mean to interrupt or find you in such a way, I am so sorry, I am so terribly embarassed! I shall shield my eyes so that you may find yourself covering and make yourself decent, I am again, so terribly incredibly sorry to have wandered here and I swear I mean no harm nor do I pose you any threat!" If Wulf's younger siblings were here, they would have laughed at him, but caught up in his own fit of embarassment he could not even recognize the humor in the instance, finding his only solace to hide behind his hands and avoid seeing what he had accidentally seen. 

The sound of footsteps were nothing irregular to her, or at least not enough to dart her attention. They were not animalistic, at the very least. No, considering their pace and rhythm, it was similar to her own. It seemed someone else had joined her, but not enough to really cause her worry, letting her focus on getting her breath and mind under control once more. It was not until the major vocal panic flooded the woodlands did she even bother to look up at the human, blood filled with panic and words cowering with worry as he covered his face. A reason Eden could not exactly understand why.

Pushing herself up from her sit, she carefully worked her way back to standing, jolting only a step back as she felt her balance waver, a hand finding its way to her forehead as her skull pounded. She should have rested more, but the other person was filling the air with panic. Once she centered herself, the beast-kin turned about, staring at the human who had joined her, showing no action to really cover herself up from the sudden male body in front of her. Water drops slowly trailing their way down her body before getting swept away in the river they came from while the bits in her tail made the fur fall down. Her bluish-black hair, after escaping the current, clung to her body as she moved forward out of the water, exposing herself more, with not a care in the world on what others would call "decency."

Of course, with the new entity, her eyes carefully scanned over him as she walked over to the side of her blade. Her hand did not bother to grab the garments laid out next to it, as she placed her priority in investigating the man. What he wore was enough protection as she did, and the blade on his side did not seem to be too much of a worry. At the very least not without any malice behind it. Instead, the man reeked more of panic and discord just by walking upon her. Did he know about her when she used to be owned? Did the legacy of her strength of the arena spread this far?

These questions dangled in her mind as she stood there, watching, as if merely drip drying and exposed to the world without a worry in the world.