[Saahs]

((Felim, human. This is to be moved to Tuun Mountains!))

Oh no. Oh no. It was happening. They had found him. The family he had once tolerated, the people he once cowered under and (still) feared, had found him. The Vlor Hiar had found him. Felim's feet took him across the mountainside, the steepness of its slope barely deterring him as he sped through the black mist that now engulfed the entire range. His heart thudded in his chest, threatening to rip itself clear out of his throat and mouth. It did no such thing, but now and then he had to stop to dry heave into the sparse foliage and sob frantically.

Strange, that there was no sensation of static. But he was sure of it, this had to be caused by his former cult. There were a number of Hunters that travelled via dense fogs and black smoke, so how could this not be an entire platoon of like-minded Hunters scouring the entire mountain range for him? ... Strange, again, how despite the fog now swirling around his legs, that there was no sign of any Hunters. No being dragged away, no loss of his senses.

Was it the Vlor Hiar?

While in the midst of another sob and puking fit, this realisation dawned on him, and he lifted his head to look around. No. This was something else. ... This was something else! Big enough to cover the entire field of mountains with this black fog! Was it spreading further than that? Was it contained to just the mountains? ... Was it malevolent?

[Jaykobell]

It was completely dark. Pitch-black. No sound, no breathing, no shapes, no sensation. There was nothing at all. Only a semblance of consciousness, a hint of existence within the darkness.

And then, there was a thud. And they felt pain.

They lay on the ground, motionless. Thrown out into the world in the blink of an eye, their body struggled to function properly. The lungs breathed in and out with difficulty, the muscles burned, and pain coursed through them.

Instinctively, they frowned, their mouth turning into a snarl as they hissed quietly. They couldn't explain why, but it helped in soothing the pain. So did taking deep, loud breaths. It distracted them from the pain.

It distracted them from whatever the heck was happening. From whatever the heck had happened.

Slowly, their body caught up. Their legs prompted them up, limbs unsteady and wobbly. They squinted, their dark eyes struggling to adapt to the light. Their vision was blurry for a moment; and then they saw it all. The sky, the ground, the nature; they breathed the air, felt the rocks under their paws, felt their own body and shape.

They stared. They stared onward blankly, body hunched over, looking absolutely confused and defenseless. They dared not move a muscle. They didn't know what was happening, but a mountain of feelings and instincts were duking it out in their mind. The whole thing froze them in place.

There were two things they hadn't noticed. One, that a human was nearby, just mere feet away.

And two, that they looked like a very manifestation of the mysterious mist that was covering the whole of Evelon.

[Saahs]

Felim's stride had slowed to an eased, albeit trembling, pace by now. He stared at his surroundings, his arms hugged around his upper torso just to keep from nervously pulling all his hair out right then and there. And yet, his fingers still picked and pinched at his long black sleeves despite his best efforts to not be a fidgeter.

As he wandered through the mountain's sparse forests, he couldn't help but... feel like he wasn't alone. He never really felt alone, but now it was far more intense. It was for real this time. His eyes widened at the realisation, and his steps grew a little quicker, a tad more frantic. Oh no. It was happening. Something was there, he was being followed. Vlor Hiar or not, this didn't bode well in the slightest. If he didn't find somewhere to hide, somewhere away from whatever this was? He was dead meat.

And then he saw it. The mist. Standing. The mist was sentient, it was standing!

His eyes widened even more, and he... he... couldn't run. He couldn't move. All Felim could do was stare in horror and quietly whimper.

[Jaykobell]

It took what felt like an eternity for their body to respond. Slowly, their pupils moved, twitching this way and that. Slowly, their toes curled and wrapped around the earth, cradling tiny stones around. Slowly, their tail moved, going up and down rhythmically.

Slowly, they adapted to the notion of being alive.

Eventually, they turned their head around, gaining an urge to observe this newfound place that felt so alien, and yet so familiar. That was when they saw it. A shape. Another creature.

Their instincts flared up like an alarm. All on their own, their ears flattened in fear, their eyes widened, their body hunched over. They took a step back, carefully, fearfully. In that moment, it didn't register that the human looked just as terrified as they did. It didn't register that, just like them, the animal couldn't muster the instincts to run.

So they stared right back. Eventually, one of them would run. Right? Were they supposed to run? They didn't know. They had no idea. Maybe...

Maybe they could ask?

They visibly swallowed, and their mouth opened and closed, just like a child trying to muster their first word. They felt their tongue wiggling in their mouth, finding it difficult to make it behave. At this point, they were more distracted by their own mouth than the creature in front of them.

[Saahs]

Felim gawked for what felt like an eternity, at the strange and terrifying entity that gawked right back. This couldn't be good. Was it waiting for him to move before it'd pounce? Would it run away and come back with others? What was it thinking right now? Or was this just a physical manifestation without a mind? An illusion of sorts?

He wasn't sure. But what he was sure of, after staring at the poor thing long enough, was that it looked just as frightened as he felt.

His shoulders went lax, and he tilted his head slowly. Expression going soft as it more and more dawned on him that this creature was in fact no less frightened than he. "It--" He swallowed the lump in his throat, "It's alright, I, I won't hurt you."

He dared not move closer, but he did lower himself down slowly into a relaxed sitting position, with his hands out where the poor creature could see them. A reassurance that he would not bring harm to them-- so long as they didn't bring harm to him first, of course. Even then, more likely than not, he would simply run away rather than fight back.

[Jaykobell]

Their ears stood upright as the person spoke. They dropped the focus on their mouth, and instead looked up to stare at the one who had spoken. Although they were struggling to speak, this language was one they understood. And the words - he... wasn't going to hurt them?

Their ears flattened back down, but they looked a little less scared - felt a little less on edge. They wouldn't take their eyes off the human, but he didn't seem like a threat anymore. They swallowed hard, trying to kick their mouth and tongue into motion.

They opened their mouth, and it could be seen that they were straining to speak - despite no sounds coming out. They frowned a little, but finally, they managed to say, "N... No?" with cautious curiosity. What they had really meant to say was, "you won't?", but they needed just a little bit more time to get there.

They decided to try and trust this person. They put one paw forward. While they didn't dare to advance any further than that, it could be considered a step in the right direction.

[Saahs]

Felim shook his head as he sat down, relaxing further as the creature spoke up. It was a single, simple word, but it was enough to confirm his thoughts that this poor thing was merely frightened. Sure, someone or something who was frightened could most certainly lash out simply out of terror, but he was willing to give peace a shot, so long as this being was as well. And so far, it seemed that way. All he'd have to do was not make himself a threat, and they could get along swimmingly.

He hoped.

"No, I'm not," he confirmed while he was shaking his head. "You... you seem scared. Have you lost your way, do you, do you need help..?"

It was all he'd wanted to do ever since he left the Vlor Hiar, was to help others. And this being seemed to be in need. So, who was he to refuse to offer his aid to them, simply because he was startled by their presence? If he declined to help people on something as plain as fear, he would refuse to help anyone. He steeled himself, head inclined to regard the creature.

He would have to shun his fear, this once.

[Jaykobell]

His position and his words did volumes on decreasing their fear. Their body relaxed more, and as they relaxed, the rest of their body followed suit - limbs and senses included.

"O... Okay," they spoke, now doing their best to tap into their vocabulary to communicate better. With fear no longer leaving them completely stunned, they felt the words coming back a little quicker.

They approached the human, coming just a little closer, slowly, slowly. "I am..." they spoke at first, and their attention was taken up by this whole world around them, this vast, grand amount of space. "Lost..." they continued, the word spoken with a hint of distraction as they stared and looked around them.

"Where...? Wh-who...?" they asked, although the questions were vague. They wanted to know where they were, what had happened to them, who they were. They had so many questions, but they couldn't communicate well enough just yet.

But maybe the human would still understand? Maybe they would still be able to help?

They had nobody else to trust in that moment, anyway.

[Saahs]

As the creature approached, Felim couldn't help but feel a tinge of anxiety. Perhaps he'd been wrong? Perhaps this entity was in fact ill boding, and fully intended on shredding him to pieces once it got close enough? What if he'd been wrong?

.. But what if he was wrong right now..?

There was only one way to find out, and it would require him to not be a coward for once to do so. Inhaling, he nodded his head once once the being had gained distance on him. His shoulders relaxed further, forcing himself to be as less anxious as he could manage-- for this poor soul's sake, along with his own.

Quietly, he offered an empathetic smile. "I see. Do you... do you remember where you came from..?" Something, strangely, told him that this being came from nowhere in particular, but it was worth a shot to at least make sure.

"Where... who..? Err..." It took him a moment to figure out what the entity meant. "Ah-- I'm, I'm not sure who you are, but we're in a mountain range called the Tuun Mountains. And.. m-my name is Felim." He placed a hand to his chest to indicate himself.

[Jaykobell]

They listened carefully to Felim's words, a series of answers that failed to bring light to anything for them. Their eyes widened a little, and then they looked down, looking defeated. "I..." they started to say, and shortly after, they added, "see..." But, did they? Not really.

"Tuun..." they repeated, putting certain emphasis on specific words that Felim had spoken. As they did so, they seemed lost in their own little bubble. "Fel... Felim," they echoed, their mouth getting used to the foreign word. A name... they knew what that was. Mountains... they knew that too.

They knew. And yet, they didn't? Everything felt like it was at the tip of their tongue, but refusing to come out, or to reveal themselves to them.

It was so frustrating. Frustrating and distressing.

They sat down, crestfallen. "No name..." they said quietly, sadly. "No... Nothing..." they added, shaking their head, and a little bit stronger than necessary. But maybe if they did, things would become clearer, faster?

[Saahs]

Quietly, Felim watched as the poor thing struggled to come to proper terms, both literally and metaphorically speaking. The longer he watched their efforts and straining, the more his fear was washed away with sympathy. Almost, even, empathy. He knew well what it was like to not understand anything going on around one's self. What was happening, what you were surrounded by, who you were surrounded by, and why you were even there...

He wanted to help this creature, now.

"That's right, Felim," he murmured, nodding his head with a soft smile. His posture relaxed even more, though he stood up more straight from the desire to lend a hand to the stranger.

But, at the mention of 'nothing', felim couldn't avoid the shudder that ran its course through his back and shoulders, shaking his head a little. Such a normal word, and it'd been ruined by the things he didn't understand.

He looked back up at the being, brows knitting upwards as he processed what they had actually meant. "But, you're here, you're thinking and feeling, so you aren't nothing." His head tilted as he thought for a moment. "Would you like a name?"

[Jaykobell]

They were a little hyperfocused on their problems and their inability to voice them. They kept their head hung low in sadness, not even thinking about how Felim could turn against them, in the blink of an eye. Their memories and knowledge of this life were too spotty, too blurry for them to make sense of them. Who was a friend, who was a foe? What was dangerous, what was safe?

What snapped them out of it was Felim speaking a bit more at length to them. They raised their head slowly to the human, confusion and surprise in their eyes: and hesitation. He was saying nice things to them. It was nice to hear those things.

Slowly, their expression turned into a timid, tiny smile. "A... name," they echoed softly, and they looked down, thinking about it. "Uh-huh..." they whispered, "it would... be nice." If they got a name, they would become something, right? Somebody? That's what it felt like.

[Event posts end here]