From Fio's point of view, Shepard really was the 'threat.' He came from the trees, he had been stalking them, and now he was pulling a sword out on a man who had yet to do any harm to the two women. Realizing all of this, Shepard sheathed his weapon and took a step back. Sweeping into a bow, he kept his hidden eyes locked on the target. He did what was only right--apologize.

"My apologies, Fio. Although I applaud and thank you for accompanying Miss Mary, I'm afraid your services are no longer required. She, or at least by proxy to the other one, is now my responsibility."

The naive nature displayed by both Aya and Jennifer was likely the only reason they hadn't been captured by Fio. Everything about them was raw youth and innocence. They hardly seemed threatening, especially when asking such childish lines like "are you bad" or "whaddya mean, young?" Neither woman likely meant to appear so... well, unworldly, but such was the case displayed before Shepard. And seeing such a display of trusting yet misguided intuition, he was forced to step in and be the wall between life and death.

Much to his pleasure, the one by the name of Jennifer--the one he was truly drawn to--seemed to be quick in accepting his direction. Knowing this pleased him and brought a hidden smile to his face. At least he knew their connection could and would run deeper than what laid on the surface for most.

With both girls running into the woods, Shepard continued to keep his weapon holstered.

"As I see no real reason to kill you were you stand, perhaps this is where we both walk our separate ways as unlikely friends."

---------- Post added 06-30-2015 at 10:32 AM ----------

Hands on his hips, the man by the name of Quinell Favager, smirked. "That's right," he wiped his hands together in approval, "I just outsmarted a mangy mutt."

For perhaps the last ten minutes, Quinn (as he liked to call himself) had been running from a dog. Ever since that day, he has had an ungodly fear of dogs. He got lucky this time and just so happened to make enough fast turns to ditch the thing about a mile back. Although tired from all the running, Quinn was running on an adrenaline boost that would likely keep him from crashing anytime soon.

Standing beside the lake, Quinn took it upon himself to wade into the water just enough to cool his body down. It felt amazing, so much so that he smiled. Only, it was fleeting for before he knew it, his ears were tuning into something happening across the way. He heard someone shout out a name and with it came a rather odd gesture from the figure that was being spoken to.

Curious, much like a cat, he used the lake as his cover as he swam over to the other side. As he got closer, he made out to figures--a male and a female (Alister and Euria)--the male was in the open whereas the female tried to hide behind a tree. Brow piqued, he swam to a patch of reeds and lily pads to eavesdrop on what would transpire. He had little insight as to who these people where and what they were up to. With any luck, he could deduce who was who and figure out just where to go (or what to do).

Treading water, he would stay there until he felt it was time for action.

---

AUTHOR NOTES:
I hope I have the right people together!
My notes from BBR said Alister was alone with Audra
but it looks like she's fighting
so I'll assume it's supposed to be Euria?