Here chik chik chicken...

Valtheran as you and Markus are leaving the arena and chatting, a dwarf gets thrown out the inn. Three others run after him. Arianrhod steps out a moment later, taking up a defensive stance. "GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE I SKIN YOUR HIDES." They ran away, clearly scared.

It's normal Arianrhod, or so you think, for a moment. You see two polished black horns sticking up. As she turns to go back into the inn, you see a silver plate has formed on her face, much like the armor of a silver dragon.

Back inside the inn, she pays the tabs of the dwarves. "Sorry for the trouble."

Valtheran blinks. "Did I miss something?"

Markus shakes his head. "What, or who, the hell was that? I think we both missed something."

"Um... she was about 3 LAST NIGHT. Yea, we missed something."

"You missed quite a bit. This is what happens when you just go off on your own and ignore us."

Markus looks from Valtheran to the dwarf. "Who the hell are you?"

Kendal, Markus is a human that looks remarkably like Valtheran, only slightly darker, and he has green eyes.

Kendal looks at the new guy. "I'm Kendal. I would call myself Valtheran's companion but obviously he doesn't consider me as such." He glares at Valtheran.

Valtheran is extremely confused. "Ok. Just tell me what happened."

Ariahrod turns and glares at him. "No. You don't get to know that. You weren't here." She returns to her drink. Her tail is slowly twitching angrily.

He shrugs. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'm used to working without all the information."

"Valtheran, when are you going to get it through your thick skull? I don't care what happened to you in the past, as that is in the past. If you keep dwelling on it you are going to destroy yourself and everyone around you. You freaking left us for a tree branch instead of helping to take care of Arianrhod when she needed help the most. And you want to know what makes it worse? She trusted you. She trusted you and you just left her for a freaking tree branch. Hows that for an explanation?"

"Why do you think I WENT for the tree branch? Its so when I self-destruct, I only hurt myself. No one else gets involved. Arianrhod, I give you the opportunity to look inside my head. You'll see that I'm telling the truth."

Arianrhod slams down her mug. "Maybe I wanted to take that risk. Maybe I just wanted a friendly face nearby. I woke up in unimaginable pain as my body grew overnight. I was scared, and just wanted someone to be near." She walks over to Valtheran. "I have had my ass handed to me by a dragonborn that later killed the King of Amn and I still survived. I think I can handle your "self-destruct" moment." She turns and stomps up the stairs to her room, Andromaeda following close behind.

Valtheran, she was so close that only you could see it. She was crying as she spoke to you.

"Like I said, whatever happened to you in the past, is in the past. Don't let it screw up your future." Kendal looks up the stairs that Arianrhod went up, and then went outside to a nearby field.

Valtheran follows her. "I'm not gonna make excuses for this, but please explain exactly how I was supposed to know that you'd be healed here?"

She slams the door in your face, locking it. Andromaeda had barely snuck in, getting a small corner of her robes stuck in the door. She pulled it out.

Markus sighed. "Now that was low." Just then the hawk from earlier landed on his shoulder. "Oh? Juliny's getting fast." He took the message and looked at it. "Shit no wonder." He looks up at you. "Sorry, Valtheran. I gotta go. One of the northern outposts is getting attacked. A great eagle and elf is due to land at any moment to carry me to it. It was great to see you again." He hugged you. "I feel bad for leaving, but I gotta see if I can snatch just a bit of the might you've had. There are people who need me to be a hero." He walked off before turning. "I think you need to start looking at yourself as a hero. Otherwise, we may not meet again...." He runs out just as a giant eagle big enough to carry several people landed. He jumped on and it took off into the distance.

You hear Arianrhod's door unlock. Andromaeda peers her head out. "She's pissed, but I convinced her to hear you out. Come on in."

Valtheran blinks in surprise. "Why are you helping me? You hate me." He shrugs. "Meh. Forget about it." He walks in.

Kendal comes back from the field and enters the room.

Arianrhod was staring out the window. "Valtheran I didn't expect you to know that I would be healed. I was in pain even as a three-year-old. Why do you think I passed out? Scales were growing, my horns were trying to come in...not to mention even now I can feel my wings trying to grow underneath my skin. I don't know why, but I felt safe around you. Like nothing would hurt me when you were near. Like the pain wasn't all that bad...."

Valtheran pales. "Oh shit. I... didn't know that. I can see why you're angry. If you'll excuse me, I'll not sully you with my presence any longer. Besides, I need to find a good solid tree to beat my head against."

He walks out, already silently abusing himself.

"Think you got to him finally?"

Arianrhod chases after you, grabbing your arm. "It's partially my fault. I had no way to tell you I was in pain, and assumed you'd know cause I was all sweaty and pale. Just...get your head out of your ass next time and consider that your friends want you around."

Val pulls his arm out of her grip. "None of this is your fault. It's all mine. I should have known that I was that important and that you were hurting that badly. You deserve better then what I can give." He keeps walking.

"GET YOUR ARSE BACK IN HERE VALTHERAN!" Kendal is standing there, in a pose of pure confidence. His eyes reflect similar, and something much more. "Don't try to run away. Running away solves nothing. It only delay's the problem. Get your butt in gear and face your problems. Deal with them directly."