Derek
"You'd better, anyway what are you running from?" *He asks now in a nonchalant tone, a quick change of emotions is easy and besides he's curious as to why the centaur was running till she came upon the river side.*
Virginia
"Running from?"*The Centaur would ask in a confused tone, pushing away the childish game so that she could focus more on his question.*"Oh! You got it all wrong. I'm not running away from anything, more so... Running towards something I guess you can say?"
Derek
"Hm, towards where?" *He asks head tilting in curiosity, if the centaur lady is going somewhere he's very much interested where maybe he could explore more places than just going through the wilderness.
Virginia
"Mentia."*She'd tell him, turning back around so that she could lightly lower herself back to the ground to continue splashing some water over her overly heated body.*"I guess you must not have heard of the Mentia War going on, huh?"*She'd partially assume, not even sure if he was old enough to fully grasp the concept of what war even was.*
Derek
"War? Nope haven't heard of that, i mostly just live in the woods anyway so i don't really get any news around here unless you count the news about animal drama happening." *He says shrugging, truthfully he hasn't heard of any wars near "Mentia" Or whatever that place is and he is most definitely curious.*

 "What happened that caused the war anyway?"
Virginia
"I wouldn't know."*She'd say with a sigh.*"It's been around for as long as I can remember and only seems to be getting worse. So, I'm planning on heading North to help my family before the war gets to them. If it hasn't already from what people have been saying about it."*She could admire the person's innocence at least, probably not having a care in the world in living out in the forests and listening to the animals. Melody couldn't bring herself to shatter that with the harshness of reality.*
Derek
"Huh okay" *He says deciding to just sit next to the centaur legs crossed and looking at the water.*

 "What do you think you'd do if you're too late to help your family?" *He asks.*
Virginia
*Melody would fall silent, lost in thought of thinking what would happen if the worst possible outcome occurred. What if she was already too late to help them, making this entire trip a futile attempt at rescuing them?*"I'm... Not sure..."*She'd openly admit, glancing over towards Xylon.*"What would you do in that situation?"
Derek
"...I couldn't do a thing" *He admitted* "I couldn't do a single thing, but hide and hope that the danger would pass." *He stares at the water deeper trying to look at anything in the water to distract himself, he wonders why he even asked that question..*
Virginia
"Couldn't?"*She'd ask, the word having a much different meaning than what she had asked. At least so it seemed in her eyes anyways. Perhaps she had misheard and took it the wrong way, though to her it sounded as if something like that had already happened to the Silnari.*"Did something happen?"
Derek
*He didn't reply and just keep staring hard into the river trying to find something, anything to distract himself before the images pop up in his head and with that soon the water works would flow, and he can't have that happening.*
Virginia
"Oh..."*She'd say quietly. Melody would fall into silence, following his gaze down towards the water.*"I'm sorry..."*Splashing a bit more water over her arms, she'd finally say:*"I'll admit. I'm don't know what I'll do. I guess... I'll just end up returning back here."
Derek
"That's nice... I guess" *He continues in silence, watching the water move in a mostly steady stream, if he thinks hard enough he could possibly see faces smiling at him from the surface of the water.*
Virginia
*She could tell he must not have been in the best mood from the question, figuring she could only accept that response. The Centaur would carefully stand up, flicking the small bits of water off her in turn.*"Well at any rate good sir. I apologize for trespassing. Can't say I have much money to spare with the whole trip I have to save for up north, but I can promise to pay you back somehow whenever I return."*She'd say, a small attempt to at least make him feel better with a bit of playfulness towards his earlier statement of this being his land.*
Derek
"Oh, right! Well you best be off and i guess be careful i do want that payment to be fulfilled" *He says standing up, seemingly getting ready to leave the area aswell* "Farewell Miss Melody Vander! May we meet again-" *He then bolts back into the woods and out of sight and leaving no trace of his essence anywhere.*
Virginia
*She couldn't help but laugh a little quietly at the kid, offering a light wave as he'd dash off. What an odd Elf.*"Until next time."*The Centaur would say back before turning away to head off. She had spent enough of the day here, it was time to continue on her journey before it was too late.*