She grunted but ignored him for the most part. "There were no rules set. I just told you to stop fighting that thing and get back here so we could move on without being seen or separated. It's not the complicated." She grumbled, mainly to herself, as she got back on Cloud.

The complications that came with being raised how he was made it hard for him to actually explain what was going on. He was essentially inside himself, watching the world go by as it did. It protected him from harm and pain but he felt horrid for making her upset or angry. "The rules were set in training m'lady," he said with a slight bow before continuing forward.

She sighed and slumped down "That explains a lot. So when are you going to stop?" She asked, still annoyed with him but not wanting to be too rude, because he couldn't help it as far as she knew.

"They didn't tell us that m'lady," he said after a moment. There movement forward was slow now and Shadowfax seemed to be laughing occasionally.

She sighed and looked at him for a minuet "Well then what happened to the solemn, collected Vincent that I knew so well?" She asked suspiciously, as if it weren't Vincent whom she was talking to.

There was a raindrop, and then another, and in a few moments it was raining, though not pouring, out. He adjusted himself and blinked as if he'd just awoken. He looked around and upon seeing that he was no longer riding a horse and it was raining, became confused.

"I'm sorry but what happened?" he asked a bit perplexed.

She couldn't stop but giggle a little before explaining "You were acting all mannerly and stuff you wouldn't even get on Shadowfax, I guess you spent one year too many in that training place..." She said, mentally scolding herself, knowing he, of all people, wouldn't want to be reminded. She looked at him with glazed over eyes that were on the edge of insanity "But I suppose we all get a little crazy sometimes." She said in a peculiar voice, then went back to watching her feet. She was getting soaked and she was happy she had already cut her hair short, but it was still dripping.

He looked frustrated at the moment and burned with embarrassment but didn't show. He walked forward slightly and got onto Shadowfax. Once again his past had humliated him and made him look to be a weaker human. He hated himself now and he felt like throwing up. He turned slightly though and upon seeing the stranger became perplexed, and a bit jealous at the same time. She was cruel at times.

She looked at him for a moment, confused by his frustration "Why do you look so angry?" She asked, looking up at him on Shadowfax and squinting in the rain. She was still walking and, because she wasn't paying attention she tripped, falling flat on her face on the now muddy trail "UMF!" She loudly grunted when she hit the mud. Benjamen and the man rushed over, offering to help her up. She got up herself and smacked them both in the back of the head, laughing. "Another plus of short hair!" She said at them with a thumbs-up, as so signal she was fine and they should back off. She stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose, looking down at her shirt, then shrugged and got back on Cloud, laughing.

Vincent had spun around when he heard her fall. Seeing her laugh comforted him but the awkward scenario was bothering him now. He wanted to kill that stranger. It seemed to be boiling in his blood and he couldn't stand it much now. He buried his face into the horse's mane and began to cry gently.

She was in the middle of trying to pull the man up onto Cloud when she stopped and looked at Vincent. His face was in Shadowfax's mane and she thought she heard him crying. The man and Benjamen ignored him, since they had pretty much just met him, they didn't really care. She was speechless for quite a while, since she'd never really seen him display any sign of being sad, or mad, or happy, even, and after what seemed like an eternity of silence she choked out "Vincent...?" in a tiny, breathless voice. [w00t! page 70 party!!!]

[[post 1037]]

He didn't answer her nor did he sit up at all. He couldn't believe that he was allowing himself to do this. He hated the feeling of jealousy and it was entirely unfounded. The horse shifted where it was and began to move forward after a while so he wouldn't be prodded so much.

She sighed and didn't bother him anymore. They continued in silence for quite a while, until the man tightened his grip around her waist and she grumbled, then said "Ax!" in a very annoyed and angry voice and he loosened his grip "Sorry hun..." She grumbled but didn't say anything else.

Shadowfax grunted slightly before walking back to them and literally biting the back of the mans clothing and pulling him backwards. Shadowfax had known that Vincent was holding on fairly tightly and he seemed almost unaware of what was going on. Vincent just had the nasty habit of thinking about things too much and the horse had gotten annoyed.

She was astounded by Shadowfax and was left speechless for the second time. 'Ax' fell with a loud thud on his back and she gasped. She quickly hopped off Cloud to help him up. "AX! SHADOWFAX! BENJAMEN HELP!" She screamed in a frantic voice. She looked at his shocked face with a sudden sob she cried on his chest. She kept saying no for a while, sounding crazy and realizing there were other people there, she said in a quieter voice "No no don't leave me...don't you dare...no..." She finished abruptly and looked up. "There was a trap set..." She said with a quivering lip. She stopped herself and turned away form her dead friend. When she turned back her face was blank of all emotion and she almost looked robotic. Her voice was plain and bland "We should move on. We don't want to loose anyone else." She stood up and walked with no bounce in her step like usual. She got on Cloud and told him to move in a silence motion. She did as he was told immediately. When she finished she was only followed by silence.

Shadowfax snorted and seemed slightly dumbfounded. Vincent had come back to reality and seeing her he felt a ripple of guilt run through his body. He'd been thinking about the same thing just before it had happened and apparently he'd annoyed Shadowfax. He was silent after that with a look of pure shock on his face. Seeing her like that killed him and knowing that she preferred him. Then there was his selfish attitude despite the fact that she was the one in mourning.

He dismounted the horse again and motioned for Shadowfax to go by Benjamin. He went on a side path and ran ahead. When he was a good distance ahead he just knelt down in the mud, knowing they'd catch up eventually.

She stared straight ahead, feeling herself slip away into a slight state of shock. She vaguely noticed Vincent getting off Shadowfax. She felt hot tears return to her eyes and she tried to stop him "No...please..." She tried to get out, but she couldn't. Her head was slightly bobbling from Cloud's pace and she felt nothing but cold. For a while she thought she was dead until she heard Benjamen, sounding scared out of his mind, from what seemed like very very far away screaming her name. She smiled and closed her eyes "I'm here, brother...I wouldn't leave you...for anything..." She whispered, hoping he would hear her although they were so far apart. When Cloud came to an abrupt stop she came partially out of her daze and looked around. She saw Vincent in the mud and stopped breathing. Not you too...oh no no no no..... she thought vaguely aware that Benjamen was already with him. She almost fell off Cloud trying to get down and stumbled over to them. "V-Vincent?" She muttered, letting her tears fall under cover of the rain, "D-don't tell me you're...you're gone too...." She was having trouble talking still, and doing anything, for that matter. She tried to say something else but all that come out was a little "mmm" and she felt herself fall, and at the same time fall deeper, deeper than space and the world and the underworld, just falling, and she realized she wasn't physically falling, just falling through her mind, and she didn't like it one bit.

Vincent looked at her confused. He got up after a moment and placed his hands on her shoulders. He was covered in mud and it was obvious he'd been crying for some reason. He was studying her face at the moment but he didn't feel any relief. It was his fault her friend was dead. "I'm not gone," he said gently. "Just... adjusting to some changes."

He'd looked away and the same guilt he'd felt early seemed to pierce through his eyes. Shadowfax had approached them and stood so that the win would not hit them as much.

She wanted to wake up, and tried persistently, eventually forcing herself to show she was still there and respond "Now can we stay together?" She asked quietly, almost mumbling, then wiped her face off of any resemblance to tears "All I feel is cold, and its not very pleasant..." She continued quietly.

"Yes," he said. He was glad she wasn't noticing his state of mind and glad she couldn't read it. "Let's get going because we're getting closer to the cabins and then we can get a fire going and get into dry clothes."

She smiled a little, and got back on Cloud, telling him to go on slowly now. She looked down at Vincent, remembering just one day ago how she had looked up at him, and just one day ago she yelled at her friend, but they were far far away from him now.[night]

Vincent decided that it would be best not to ride Shadowfax anymore. The horse seemed to agree but allowed him to walk with his hand on his back. He looked up at Risa for a moment before looking back at where he was walking. There was a strange air about him at the moment and he couldn't help but glance at Risa occasionally to make sure that she was alright.

She noticed Vincent stayed off Shadowfax after this. She vaguely wondered why but didn't feel it was the time for questioning. S she continued staring into the horizon in silence, watching the morning mist cover the land, and she thought of a poem she was ordered to learn in her younger years, smiling as she recited it in her head, letting the silence be her escape into ease.

As they came through to the edge of the forest Vincent found the clearing. He began leading them towards the small cabin which had a connected barn to it. It was usually used for the horses and wasn't used a lot.

She beamed at the remote cabin with a barn in the middle of no where. She was enticed by the clearing that surrounded it full of wildflowers and overgrown grass. She hopped off Cloud and he grunted a little then trotted over to the barn. She grinned "Wow this is amazing!" She said to Vincent, "Even Cloud likes it! And he's a very picky horse!" She said with a little laugh.