<span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="font-style: italic">We can get through this, just had to keep moving and...</span><br/><br/>Steps were halted as she tugged on the rope, with enough force that he thought he was nearly pulled off his already unsteady footing. A glance behind, words of hate and anger on the tip of his tongue ready to unleash hell on her inbred ass...<br/><br/>"Maria?" he called out, crystal blue eyes glanced from side to side, all about. "Where the...." then his eyes caught movement just below the surface of the water. <br/><br/>"Maria!" he shouted, his pack tossed aside without another thought as he dove under the water and swam back to her. It took all that he had, all of his skill to fight the current and get to where he wanted. <br/><br/>The murky water provided little visibility of her and he was more than grateful for the rope he had tied onto her. Strong arms wrapped about her and he he tried to pull her with him to the surface, but found her leg stuck. Lungs burned for air, though he ignored it and instead focused on the rocks that held her fast in place. <br/><br/>His teeth gritted against the strain, strong hands on the rock as he pulled up with all his might to get the rock to shift just enough so that she would be free. Just as the burning in his lungs grew nearly unbearable the rock shifted and she float free. Quickly he grabbed hold of her and swam toward the shore, all of his focus, his drive and energy now poured into each kick of his legs, and stroke of his arm. <br/><br/>How long it took he was not sure, but it seemed that just as soon as she was in his arms that his feet touched the other side for the river. <br/><br/>"Ok...ok...." he spoke to himself more than her, as he laid her down and unslung his bow from his back. As if on auto pilot he went to work, his hands on her chest, he pushed the water from her lungs then leaned down and breathe into her mouth, followed by more pumps on her chest. "Come on....breathe...." he spoke in between his actions as he sought to bring her back to the world of the living.</span><br/><br/>Pressure.<br/><br/>Pressure was the first thing she noticed as her consciousness slowly trickled back. It was slow at first, none of the natural white noise registering, breaking out over the sound of her heart's strain filling her ears, nor his words. All she knew was she felt something, something pushing on her over and over, rhythmically. It hurt, the pressure, but she couldn't even tell what it was, nor where it was.<br/><br/>Then something else registered, pressure elsewhere but of a different kind. It was softer, despite whatever it was doing being hard like the first pressure she'd noticed. And, every time the second pressure hit, a third sort of pressure would force its way into her awareness.<br/>But what was it?<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Chest...</span>was the first word that came to mind, connecting what she felt to a degree.<span style="font-style: italic">Pressure...chest...wha...?</span>She didn't understand what it was, or why it was happening, her thought cutting off as his lips landed on hers again, and the air was forced into her lungs.<span style="font-style: italic">His...? Wh-...BrÃ¡dach...</span>The thoughts clicked into place.<span style="font-style: italic">The river...river...breathing...why aren't I breathing?</span><br/><br/>It seemed like such an easy question with a simple solution, trying to make her lungs take in the breath for themselves, but they burned, ached, needing the oxygen she was depriving them of. As hard as she tried, they weren't responding. The command was being sent, but with no result. He kept pushing on her, forcing the air into her lungs, but it wasn't enough.<br/><br/>...Not until she coughed.<br/><br/>Without warning, her body convulsed, head turning to the side as she coughed up water and desperately breathed in, shivering, lips blue, hair matted to her forehead. Laying on the cold ground, no will to move, she just breathed, shaking as a hand reached up to her throat, trying to break through the daze that lingered from the lack of air to the brain.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">He...saved me...BrÃ¡dach saved me...Maybe...Maybe I was wrong...</span><br/><br/>Her lips parted to speak, but closed again, not even sure what she'd say, the fear of almost dying hovering over her mind as well as the pain of a growing headache. Instead, she just looked up at him, concerned, scared, tired...and grateful.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The compression of her chest, his lips against her own as he forced air into her lungs. Panic had begun to set in. Panic and fear, because he had failed. He should have told her about the drop in the river, now she had drowned he it was his fault. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Cough.....cough</span><br/><br/>Then she coughed and he let out a breath of relief, while he sagged back on his knees. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"> She was ok....she was breathing...</span> He thought to himself, his eyes affixed on her face, his own briefly held a look of relief. Before it iced over again and he stood with a grunt to take stock of what they had left. Though, still, not a word he spoke to her. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">My pack is gone. We have just my bow, no arrows and my hunting knife.</span> He thought to himself as he took stock of it all and glanced at her still half drowned form on the ground. With how this entire job had begun to go, BrÃ¡dach was not sure this was worth it anymore. Unfortunately, there was no time think about that, they were losing light so he had to get them both to a safe place. <br/><br/>Bow snatched up, a step was taken to her and he leaned down to scoop her up into his arms, still silent and face still hard he walked with her into woods. Time would crawl by as he carried her, piercing eyes ever scanned the area, only to stop on occasion to examine a spot on the ground or a scratch on a tree. This went on for what felt like hours until he at last found what he looked for.<br/><br/>A cave. <br/><br/>She was set down on the ground, then his cloak was removed and draped about her. His eyes ever held that cold, hard gaze while he worked till he was satisfied she was bundled up well enough and he left her alone there in the cave. His body screamed at him for rest, for water, but a bed and for food, though most of that he would not be able to get for them without some supplies and more work. <br/><br/>By the time he returned, BrÃ¡dach had a rabbit hung at his side (poor bastard he had to run it down), a bundle of twigs, tinder and small logs to he planned to use to feed the fire once he had it going. <br/><br/>Even as he dropped what he had beside her, he did not look at her or really acknowledge her. Instead he removed his soaked shirt and gathered some of the stones about into a circle. There he set up the tinder and flat bit of wood he had managed to find, then sat crossed legged before it. A small notch he made in the wood with his knife before he set a stick in it and began to twirl. The motion was painstaking and took a lot of effort and strength, but he saw an ember burning and quickly fed it to the small bits of twigs and such, while he gently blew on it. <br/><br/>A small fire sprung to life and he fed it a log, before he set to work in skinning the rabbit and then spitting it over the fire. <br/><br/>"You are going to need to get out of the wet clothes and hang them up so that they can dry," he stated before he exited the cave once more before he returned with some longer bits of wood and affixed them into the ground. It was not long before that rope they had tied to one another was strung up as make shift clothes line.  His shirt he hung up on this, followed by his pants, though he had a small pair of shorts on beneath. <br/><br/>That done he went and sat back before the fire, stick in hand to tend it and the rabbit.</span><br/><br/>He looked...relieved. Had she not been so scared and tired, she may have acknowledged it more openly, may have gotten up some sort of vocal response to it. Where his eyes were normally icy and his demeanor gruff and unfeeling, he was almost...human. His guard had dropped, eyes lingering on her with the aforementioned relief.<br/><br/>She wanted to thank him for what he'd done, but how did someone properly thank anyone for things of that magnitude? â€œThank you for what you did,â€ just didn't ring strong enough, but then she wasn't sure he'd be receptive to it anyway. His face had already shifted back to its cold expression, eyes hardening as did the rest of him. He'd probably just reply with something like, â€œIt's my job; You die, I don't get paid,â€ which would only fuel her anger and frustration at his lack of caring. So, rather than push it or even try, she merely lay there, shivering, drenched, rocks pressing into her back, pins pushing uncomfortably in new and painful ways about her scalp now that her hair was further weighted.<br/><br/>Instead, she watched him work, watched him go through whatever checklist he had mentally as he took stock of what he had. It took a moment to click, but she'd noticed something was different, eyes widening when it hit.<span style="font-style: italic">His pack...he lost his pack because of me...So what does this mean now? We have...nothing?</span><br/><br/>She would have groaned about it, but saw his attention shift back to her, having to fight back a flinch, inwardly bracing for the barrage of angry comments she assumed he had.<br/>But they never came. All he did was pick her upâ€”once again demonstrating just how much muscle he hadâ€”and carried her toward...wherever it was they were going.<br/><br/>Time lagged, feeling as though it were crawling by all the slower now that he had to carry her, as though intentional on Father Time's part. Maria was waiting for the moment he'd drop her and force her to walk, her leg burning and bruised, her head pounding, and her body like ice. Each time he paused, she readied herself for a hard fall.<br/><br/>Again, it never came.<br/><br/>He managed to carry her the entire time without so much as a word, only putting her down when they'd finally reached a cave, wrapping her up in his own cold cloak and vanishing. She debated trying to make him stay, not liking the idea of being alone right then, but held her tongue. It wasn't proper for a lady to beg, and BrÃ¡dach hadn't responded to anything she'd said prior with anything but disdain. Now didn't seem like the time to break that rule, only to get it thrown back in her face.<br/><br/>At some point, she managed to fall into a cold, shivering half-sleep, each little sound catching her off guard and pulling her back into a more conscious state, so she gave up. Not sure what else to do as he had yet to talk to her, she watched as he got things sorted, the fire calling her more than she thought it would, no matter how small it was, no matter the grotesque little form that was now skinned and cooking over it; A sight that no proper woman would ever see, but desperate times and all that.<br/><br/>It took a moment for his words to register, only doing so after he'd left the cave, simultaneously registering that his shirt had been removed. Making a note to keep her eyes averted, as was proper, she tried to wrap her head around what he'd asked of her. To get undressed would leave her indecent, exposed, more cold than she already was...but to stay dressed in the wet clothing would make things worse, she gathered, her clothing not having a proper chance to dry which would keep her cold.<br/><br/>While mulling it over, he came back in, and she could hear the sound of clothing being removed. A blush accompanied the chattering teeth and still slightly-blue lips, violet eyes refusing to look in his direction as she tried to remove her clothing in a way that kept her covered, using his cloak as a privacy partition of sorts, but was getting nowhere fast. Anything she could have removed, were fastened<span style="font-style: italic">behind</span>her, numb, clumsy fingers unable to grasp any of the little buttons and make headway, too many of them to get on her own.<br/><br/>Shyly, she glanced over in BrÃ¡dach's direction, shakily getting up off of the ground and walking over. It took her a few moments, but she finally managed to get out what she needed to say, even if it felt like pulling teeth. â€œI...I can't get...this off by myself...â€ came a quiet voice, pointedly focusing on the fire rather than him, careful to keep her gaze averted.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">It was weird now. Everything between them was weird now. At least for him anyway. To see her as anything more than the self absorbed bitch of a slut that she was made it weird for him. Did that mean he actually cared about her?<br/><br/>No. He would not go that far as to say that, but he did think it weird now. When she approached he braced himself for a stuck up remark, a retort ready on his tongue. Then she surprised him and asked him his help....to undress her. <br/><br/>The stone cold expression softened for a moment, a mere breath and then it shifted to something different, unreadable. <br/><br/>"Turn around," he said to her, his voice barely above a whisper. <br/><br/>When she complied, he stepped a bit into her space, his hands nimble, the fingers glided lightly up along her spine for just a second before he set to work in unlacing her. It did not take long, though it seemed that way with the silence of both of them. As he finished he stepped past her, shoulder lightly brushed past her before he sat back at the fire. <br/><br/>"The cloak should be enough to help you stay covered and it should dry with you by the fire," he suggested, though he did not look up at her instead he focused on the rabbit that was near done.</span><br/><br/>Had she been looking at it, she may have seen the hint of a look before it vanished. As it was, she was completely unsure of how to act around him, especially with something that should only be done buy two people: either her lady-in-waiting...or her husband. Where he was neither, and she needed his help, it was already exponentially awkward. On top of a vague recollection of how his lips had felt earlier while trying to save her, only to push that thought back as it was highly improper.<br/><br/>So, when he asked her to turn around, she didn't say anything in reply, slowly turning away and moving her own cloak so he could do as he needed...While turned around, she felt something...odd. Even through the material, she felt it, her head turning just a hair toward him, cutting off and halting the movement before it could come to fruition.<span style="font-style: italic">It's just your imagination,</span>she told herself.<br/><br/>But that moment dragged...and dragged...and dragged some more, the silence more deafening than any of the shouting he'd done earlier that day, more than her heartbeat in her ears, frantic and jumping.<br/><br/>Only when he brushed passed her, did her heart jump even more, the touch almost electric as she huddled the cloak about her. There was a nod to his words, lips still a light blue as her jaw continued its shivering, stepping back away from him to shimmy out of her corset, out of what was left of the fine silks and petticoats, clinging to the cloak as she moved over to the line, hanging them as best she could. From there, she made her way back to the fire, sitting a bit away from him, to give him the space he seemed to need, as well as she. Arms tight about her, cloak pulled taut over what remained of her wardrobe (a light see-through chemise and pantaloons of the same material), she stared at the fire, willing its warmth to ease the chill that had set in, hoping he were right about the cloak drying.<br/><br/>Weird...didn't even begin to cover this situation, nor the overall atmosphere of it...<br/><br/>...And they weren't even over the first twenty-four hours.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">"You hungry?" he asked after a moment, the rabbit turned on the spit and poked with his knife to check the to see how done it was. "There is not much to the flavor but that of the rabbit, did not find an herbs or roots to season it. But, I figured it was something, I will get some thing more filling for us later," the tone was even and simple. Without the hint of coldness or usual taunting. <br/><br/>"You can come closer, you know? Our combined body heat would help. I promise not to bite, unless of course you ask me to nicely," at the end of that comment he winked and chuckled.</span><br/><br/>Was she hungry? She wasn't sure at this point. Was it just something to fill the time, to keep her occupied for the sake of being occupied? That seemed likely, given she'd even be content to just have needlepoint right then...But then her stomach growled, and she blushed a bit more, just hoping it didn't sound as loud as she thought it did.<br/><br/>Her lips had parted to reply, willing to eat a little of the rabbit, despite the lack of seasoning, when his next words, followed by the wink and chuckle left her blinking, and in shock. Regardless of whether it was a joke or not, she didn't know what to think, not after his original insinuation of her being a common strumpet. Body heat, especially when so little clothing was involved, was dangerous.<br/><br/>There was a light cough in her surprise, followed by a hasty shake of her head, pulling the cloak in tighter. "I'm...I'm w-warm...or will be....w-with the f-f-fire," Maria replied, eyes focused pointedly on it now rather than the...rather muscular man...in barely anything...with his insinuations...sitting somewhere to her left.