The Ixal's words were harsh and his rigid resolve even worse, the beastman didn't seem any less unruffled by her compliance and she swallowed as he crouched but her mouth seemed to have gone dry. The mere touch of the captor sent a shudder through her, not simply because he was Ixal, but because she knew that whatever intentions they had for them were dark. The prick of his claw against her skin had her chin rising just as he wished and her large violet eyes caught the misty gaze of their captor with almost glassy fear, she was afraid but more for the others than herself, she didn't want them to be hurt. Anything was better than that.
She didn't dare nod with his claw pressing to her jaw, "I-I understand" she whispered quietly, fervently, if that was the price of his defense then so be it. When his tone shifted she could practically taste the poison in it, no matter how friendly he tried to sound she had been subject to this trickery many times before and her pride stung, it was always her and maybe before she would have fallen into the trap but she knew there wasn't any friendliness here. She couldn't glare though, not even show a scrap of rebellion, so she swallowed and forced some sort of relief into her figure as though she undoubtedly believed him. Meanwhile her thoughts raced, she didn't want to give up the others who had disappeared into the trees, but there wasn't any way they could have missed the sound of the scuffle at this point.
The others would think she was a coward and her heart raced at that but she swallowed her pride, hopefully they would understand, and hopefully the other two passengers were long gone by now or at the very least not in the direction she was going to point the Ixal. "I..." she stammered her words carefully, her eyes widening with misery as she looked at the Ixal and a bit of fear, "t-they..." finally she forced defeat into her tone. "They went that way...earlier" no doubt she'd pay if they found out she was lying or wrong, but her finger pointed in the direction of the slope that Clover and Andre had gone down, but her direction was much farther south than they had gone. "It looked like they might have been circling back towards Thanalan for something" she mumbled and glanced to the others as best she could with forced guilt in her eyes, she would plead with them later if need be.
Finally she forced her eyes back up to Nezul and waited with baited breath to see exactly what the Ixal would accept of her explanation. No doubt he'd send scouts out but hopefully the two Hyur had heard and were gone by now, a few precious moments ticked by as she thought of more distractions but she couldn't delay his orders once he gave them and maybe the other Ixal would move without them anyway.
She didn't dare nod with his claw pressing to her jaw, "I-I understand" she whispered quietly, fervently, if that was the price of his defense then so be it. When his tone shifted she could practically taste the poison in it, no matter how friendly he tried to sound she had been subject to this trickery many times before and her pride stung, it was always her and maybe before she would have fallen into the trap but she knew there wasn't any friendliness here. She couldn't glare though, not even show a scrap of rebellion, so she swallowed and forced some sort of relief into her figure as though she undoubtedly believed him. Meanwhile her thoughts raced, she didn't want to give up the others who had disappeared into the trees, but there wasn't any way they could have missed the sound of the scuffle at this point.
The others would think she was a coward and her heart raced at that but she swallowed her pride, hopefully they would understand, and hopefully the other two passengers were long gone by now or at the very least not in the direction she was going to point the Ixal. "I..." she stammered her words carefully, her eyes widening with misery as she looked at the Ixal and a bit of fear, "t-they..." finally she forced defeat into her tone. "They went that way...earlier" no doubt she'd pay if they found out she was lying or wrong, but her finger pointed in the direction of the slope that Clover and Andre had gone down, but her direction was much farther south than they had gone. "It looked like they might have been circling back towards Thanalan for something" she mumbled and glanced to the others as best she could with forced guilt in her eyes, she would plead with them later if need be.
Finally she forced her eyes back up to Nezul and waited with baited breath to see exactly what the Ixal would accept of her explanation. No doubt he'd send scouts out but hopefully the two Hyur had heard and were gone by now, a few precious moments ticked by as she thought of more distractions but she couldn't delay his orders once he gave them and maybe the other Ixal would move without them anyway.
![[Image: gKS4HZT.png]](http://i.imgur.com/gKS4HZT.png)
