Jaune had not understood the other from such a distance, yet he responded to the voice. Not with the returning of a shout - but with the widening of his eyes.
The approaching figure had gripped his heart once he saw it approaching. Death, he was sure, had come for him. Perhaps those metal beasts of people were commonplace bandits. For all he knew, that was the case in these lands. Jaune's mind raced to find an appropriate plan. He could not fight, nor could he be bothered to run any longer. So - lay there and accept the death no doubt marching it's way to his soul...that was his only option.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum...
The man's eyes closed whilst he listened to each drum of his chest, appreciating the sound for one final time. Muscles tightened with fright as the stranger approach, fingers grasped anxiously at the grass beneath him.
Weakling.
Coward.
Traitor.
By the time the stranger had approached close enough to outright kill him where he sat, he had more than accepted death. Thus, when they - no - she reached out not with blade, but with hand, he had nearly swallowed his tongue.
Her voice, her presence, the simple reminder that - no, he was not stranded alone - completely blew his fear out of the water. Instead, fear was replaced with a mighty embarrassment. He could only imagine the thoughts she had hidden about a man like himself, crying like a child lost in the market and wanting for his mother.
With a new-found urgency Jaune wiped his wet cheeks and took the hand offered to him.
" W'kano? I'm..uh, Jaune. " He withheld the surname, for fear that it's value might have miraculously maintained itself so far from home. Within the stillness of the aging night, he could hear his heart beat picking up the pace once more. Was it fear? No, not any longer. It was simply the mystery of...human interaction in such a strange scenario. An unknown woman approaching clad in armor, claiming to be searching for a lost man. Was he the one in question?
Shifting on his feet with a bit of uncertainty at the thought, he gave a quick look around the vicinity. "I'm...I might be the man you're looking for..." His voice was quiet in this moment, not wanting to hear himself admit the aforementioned fact. "I'm...lost." The truth and depth to those words were more than she might have considered at the time.
But, guide him she would. Again, with more truth and depth than she may have considered.
The approaching figure had gripped his heart once he saw it approaching. Death, he was sure, had come for him. Perhaps those metal beasts of people were commonplace bandits. For all he knew, that was the case in these lands. Jaune's mind raced to find an appropriate plan. He could not fight, nor could he be bothered to run any longer. So - lay there and accept the death no doubt marching it's way to his soul...that was his only option.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum...
The man's eyes closed whilst he listened to each drum of his chest, appreciating the sound for one final time. Muscles tightened with fright as the stranger approach, fingers grasped anxiously at the grass beneath him.
Weakling.
Coward.
Traitor.
By the time the stranger had approached close enough to outright kill him where he sat, he had more than accepted death. Thus, when they - no - she reached out not with blade, but with hand, he had nearly swallowed his tongue.
Her voice, her presence, the simple reminder that - no, he was not stranded alone - completely blew his fear out of the water. Instead, fear was replaced with a mighty embarrassment. He could only imagine the thoughts she had hidden about a man like himself, crying like a child lost in the market and wanting for his mother.
With a new-found urgency Jaune wiped his wet cheeks and took the hand offered to him.
" W'kano? I'm..uh, Jaune. " He withheld the surname, for fear that it's value might have miraculously maintained itself so far from home. Within the stillness of the aging night, he could hear his heart beat picking up the pace once more. Was it fear? No, not any longer. It was simply the mystery of...human interaction in such a strange scenario. An unknown woman approaching clad in armor, claiming to be searching for a lost man. Was he the one in question?
Shifting on his feet with a bit of uncertainty at the thought, he gave a quick look around the vicinity. "I'm...I might be the man you're looking for..." His voice was quiet in this moment, not wanting to hear himself admit the aforementioned fact. "I'm...lost." The truth and depth to those words were more than she might have considered at the time.
But, guide him she would. Again, with more truth and depth than she may have considered.
![[Image: tumblr_inline_o7pn6tXDMa1t5rq5y_540.jpg]](https://67.media.tumblr.com/da0580ce986fe3ed068e1eb24736acbd/tumblr_inline_o7pn6tXDMa1t5rq5y_540.jpg)
Power? No. Fame? No. Wealth? No.
Then...what? Well, that's what I came here to find out...
