Conal had been half turning when the impact occurred, and fell heavily, cracking his elbow into the ground hard, followed by his head. For a moment he could only see flashes of light sparkling in his eyes, and muttered "Ow! Son of a<em>bitch</em>, that hurt!" He shook his head to clear it, as he felt the weight lifting off his body, blinking away the disorientation of the collision.<br/><br/>He found himself looking up into the bluest pair of eyes he'd ever seen, framed by hair that seemed halo like, with the weak sunlight behind it. He could feel the weight of what he guessed was the second person moving as well, then the woman was rising off him, and holding her hand out to him. He took it, letting her draw him back up to a crouch. He took a moment to check himself, and the hand on the back of his head came away with traces of blood on it. "Ah, wonderfull." he said, looking at it, wincing as the cut decided at that moment to start stinging.<br/><br/>He picked up his jo staff from where it lay beside him, and rose slowly to his feet, his left elbow now starting to throb as well. A carefull flexing of the arm seemed to indicate nothing too serious.<em>Probably going to leave a hell of a bruise though.</em>he thought. He swung the staff up and tucked it against his right side, then ran his right hand over the thick, black woolen jumper's elbow, but the material didn't seem torn. Likewise the somewhat faded blue jeans had survived the impact with little more than grass and mud stains. He grimaced slightly at this.<em>Damn it. Grass is such a pain to try and get out.</em>he thought.<br/><br/>That done he turned to get a proper look at the people who'd all but run him over, letting the staff drop down into his grasp, it's butt against the ground, and blinked in surprise. He turned from one to the other, his eyes showing the puzzlement he felt at their appearance. Their clothing looked like something more suited to a holiday nightclub than a cold and misty field, and there weren't too many women who wore their hair<em>that</em>long. Their features were .. delicate .. that was the word that seemed to best fit. His eyes narrowed slightly as he saw the slightly pointed ears.<br/><br/>"Who are you?" he asked cautiously. "And where did you come from?" He looked into the mound, but it was still closed, the entrance sealed by a barred gate.