The fae tried to find the right sounds but his head was becoming fuzzy and thick with fog. Making incoherent noises of jumbled sounds, he swayed on his feet as his toes cracked faintly at the roots. He shakily raised a withered hand to try to take the man's raised hand in his own. Before their skin could touch, he collapsed where he stood as he lost consciousness.

"Wha--? Hey!" Sacha jumped forward as the creature collapsed. He dropped to his side and patted his cheek to try to wake him. "H-hey what's wrong? Don't go and faint on me like this. I don't know what to do," he pleaded with panic rising in his voice. It hit him now how unwell the creature looked in the minutes leading up but he didn't know what to think of it. Now he felt obligated to look after the creature. He pulled him under the cover of a tree, then scrambled back to the stream which flowed not too far away.

As the man attempted to wake him and made those panicked sounds, he laid limp and was unresponsive, even as he was moved under the tree. After a few moments of laying still undisturbed, the less brown areas of his body rippled as thin tendrils of roots began to bore into the earth underneath and the edges of his form.

Sacha didn't have anything to use to carry the water, so he soaked his shirt sleeves in the cool liquid. Moving quickly, he returned to the creature's side and pressed his wet sleeve to the creature's forehead, then squeezed a few drops into his mouth. He sat back against the tree with a long sigh. "What do you want me from me?" He spoke the words to the sky, questioning not a person, but the universe in general. It was the universe's fault for putting him in this situation. If there was a great plan to everything that had transpired in the forest, Sacha didn't understand at all.

The drops of water absorbed immediately into his skin and the residue glistened from the thin streams of fading sunlight through the trees. The roots the sprouted from his form became larger to about the thickness of rope cords as he absorbed nutrients and energy from the earth. The withering had stopped and the fae whined faintly in pain and discomfort as he had started to regain his awareness.

Sacha watched the creature with half of his attention. He didn't know if what he saw was a good or bad thing. Sitting still though made his on body begin to ache. The pains he ignored until now were beginning to get harder to ignore. The wolf pup had latched onto his arm earlier and the bite marks began to sting. Still, he ignored himself. He wanted to make sure the creature was alright first. He brushed his hand against the fae's forehead again. "Are you awake?"

Feeling something placed upon his brow, the creature forced his eyes to open, there were faint traces of their original color visible, otherwise still dull in shine. There was still a thick fog in his mind and his vision was a foggy, unable to fully see the figure he whined faintly in unmasked fear. He knew it was man, a being to be feared and hated. As to who this man was, the fae couldn't distinguish. The fog was so thick, the sounds were as incoherent as their first meeting.

Biting his lip, Sacha pulled his hand away. The fae still didn't like being touched. He rested his hands on top of his knees instead, but never took his concerned gaze from the creature. "...Please tell me this isn't my fault," he whispered in a voice filled with pain and regret. He'd never be able to forgive himself if he caused pain when he was trying to save others from it.

The creature's breathing hitched when the man left his field of blurry vision. Now that he couldn't immediate see it, he wouldn't be able to defend himself in this state at all. He was fully rooted to the earth until his being deemed he had absorbed enough energy. Swallowing thickly, he blinked several times in his attempts to clear his vision and his eyes darted about as he tried to find the man again. The withered and now solid wood tough to the touch, twitched painfully as he heard more sounds. ". . .ult. . .ease. . . sach. . .tand. . ." He sounded crackly in attempts to make sense of the sounds.

Sacha scooted closer as if nearness would make the creature's words more understandable. His mind spun with the struggle. "I don't understand. Please...just rest." He was running out of useful words to say. The feeling that he was speaking to a wall danced through him. They had been starting to understand each other so well, but now they seemed to be two alien creatures stranded together without a translator. The comparison hurt, being too close to the truth.

The instant that the man was back in his field of vision, the fae's eyes locked onto the blurred figure. His lips twitched, switching between baring the needle-fangs to trying to minicking the sounds in attempts to understand the man. "Re. . . rest. . . rest? Est. . . sach. . . rest. . .eave. . . lea. . ve. No."

The words rest and leave swirled in Sacha's mind. He understood them well enough. No? No to leaving or just no? Sacha let out a sigh and offered the creature a joyless smile. "I won't leave." He couldn't now even though he wanted to. It hurt to much to think about leaving. "I won't go unless you tell me to so you better say it right now. Tell me to stay." He held his breath, waiting for an answer he knew better than to trust in the creature's current state.

His breathing relaxed and the urgency of his stare softened as he began to lose focus. His body had deemed that he was exhausting more energy than he was absorbing and that he had to go to 'sleep' now. "Rrrrraa. . rest. . Sach. Sach. . . a. . . ." He whined before his being went limp again and the roots visible bore deeper into the earth with unnerving noises of wood creaking and dirt being pushed aside. One the other side of the bushes and brush, the antlered being had returned and was watching the man and forest fae.

Sacha shifted to look at the ground. The creature slept and he just sighed. No answer, at least not one that gave him what he wanted. What was he expecting? He stayed rooted to his place though without being told to stay. He planned to watch over the creature for now, until he couldn't think of a better plan of action. Pulling his blade back to his side, he watched. A majestic looking deer stepped into view and Sacha regarded it as their eyes met. A second later, Sacha lowered his eyes and let the animal be.

Meeting eyes with the other being, the antlered one held his gaze. Once he looked away, it stepped through the brush and toward the two. Moving with a calm grace, it stopped before Sacha and dipped it's head down to nuzzle his cheek as a means to calm and comfort him.

Unsure of what the being wanted, Sacha felt himself tense. He moved neither to back away or attack though until the antlered creature brushed against his cheek. He looked up at the animal in confusion. He couldn't deny the feeling of warmth that washed over him though. Did it mean to comfort him? "Thank you," he whispered to it.

The beings ears twitched at the other's words and nuzzled his cheek once again. It's gaze then turned to the 'sleeping' fae and it lowered it's head for a moment before lifting it's head again. Turning it's gaze back to Sacha, it made soft sounds of further comfort.

Listening to the animal and knowing it was there to watch over them, Sacha let himself relax. Maybe he would sleep, just for a little while. He wasn't alone and for some reason he felt safe. The mixture allowed his defenses to fall and a second later, he sagged back against the tree.

Standing watch over the two other beings, the antlered one made it clear to any curious other beings that the two needed their rest and was not to be disturbed in any means. There were those creatures that had foraged fruits and vegetables and had gathered it all into a small mound for the two when they had awoken again. The antlered one watched over the offerings and bowed his head in gratitude for the two as each offering was brought.

The fae's body had returned to a more lively green but the ends of the appendages that had withered would have to be pruned for they to continue to finish healing properly. The roots that bore into the earth had thinned as the energy that was needed to be absorbed lessened over time. When it absorbed all that his body deemed needed, he now just laid there resting as nothing had disturbed him to wake him yet.

In his sleep, hazy images plagued Sacha's dreams. The dream sat always on the verge of nightmare, filled with fear and death, but the full brunt of it never hit him. It allowed him to find the rest he needed so that when he awoke, his body did not feel too adversely affected by his run through the forest. He opened his eyes slowly to the golden sunshine. At first he just blinked before he became fully aware of the circumstances that led to him sleeping outside. He rolled over quick enough to make him dizzy and found the fae with his eyes.

The wilted look seemed to have eased away so Sacha cleared his throat loudly. He didn't prod the creature, just raised his voice. "Hello? Are you awake this time?"

The fae jolted awake and roots of his body pulled fully away from the earth when he heard strangely familiar sounds. Still laying where he was tilted his head to see the source of the sounds and went so very still as he stared up at him. ". . . Sacha. . ." He breathed, his voice back to the soft, smoothness had returned. He was. . . surprised, astonished really. Sacha was still here even though he said he was going to leave, that he had to leave. The fae's breath hitched and he closed his eyes in attempts to calm himself back down. He was so close to falling down into his lamenting again.

Sacha watched the creature curiously. "Yes, I'm here," he responded. He found himself lamenting the fact he still didn't have a name to call the creature, but he suspected it didn't name itself in the way humans did. He sat back a little and tangled his hand in his hair. It gave him an excuse to look elsewhere as he became embarrassed. He didn't know what to say to the creature after what happened. "Are you alright?"

Laying there for a moment longer, he slowly nodded once thought the movement sent a pain through the dead ends of his ears and all down his spine and back where those crumpled leafy dead wings. Now that he was fully awake and aware he could feel the pain of the pressure of his being on the sensitive spots were the wings connected to his back. Letting out a hiss of pain, he pressed his palms to the earth and hissed louder in pain as pressure was put onto the dead parts of his hands too. He needed a pruning painfully so to remove the deadened parts. "I. . . " He let out a low sound of distress as he didn't have the sounds to express the pain he felt or how desperately he needed specific parts of him removed. Leaning forward, he moved his hands to just let them set on the ground as made sure to be wary of his movement to prevent further pain. Tilted his head to the other and looked him over as he searched for sounds. "Are. . . you alright?"

"Me? I'm fine." Or least as fine as he could be. He could handle any sort of physical or mental dilemma, so now wouldn't be any different. It was a matter of mind over matter. Sacha watched the creature with sharp observant eyes. Was the plantish person really okay? Because even though he'd taken on a greener color, some of the brown still remained. Sacha found himself chewing on his bottom lip again. "Why did you get like this?" he asked after a long pause, waving a hand over the creature to indicate his current state.

The fae stared over at Sacha and tilted his head slightly and tensed in pain from the motion. It stretched out the still living skin that was attached to the dead parts. He was silent as he mulled over the sounds and still stared at the other. "I. . . don't know." He answered after the long moments, not having enough sounds to explain and having never experienced such decay at such a rapid rate, he couldn't have known. However, he did know as confusing as it was. He whined ever so faintly in distress as he tried to make sense and find the sounds.

The antlered being, who had seated itself near the bushes to watch over the two more carefully, stood from the ground and gently clopped a hoof at the offering mound of food that the other forest creatures had brought for the two.