Too Naive to Leave Alone [Closed]

Snopy had just parted ways with Sango.  He knew she had important things to do, and odds were he'd be safe.  After all, he was a mere hour from Colburn on foot.  Not like Arcadia was a particularly dangerous place, this wasn't Cieria.  Still in the blonde's arms was his little felli Ahri.  The little creature nuzzled itself into him as he walked, enjoying the rest it was getting.  A light wind blew across the plains, causing Snopy's hair and clothes to flow in the breeze.  The flow of air rushed over a wound in the man's right arm, obviously a claw mark from a large creature.  The temperature was cool and comfortable, and the Arcadian had a good feeling about what was going to happen. Bad idea.  "Soon we'll be able to get to town and grab a room for a couple of days.  We're lucky the caravan paid us the moment we got out of Arcadia, otherwise we'd still be broke."  It was new to have a stroke of good luck for a change.  As opposed to being completely broke, he had a rather hefty sum of cash on him.  It was enough to get a room for a few nights, eat good food, and get back to Aria with some left over.  Snopy wondered how much he'd have been paid if he had been considered professional hired help, cause if this was the pay for unskilled labor then it would be a huge amount.  Still, caravan'ing was not something he wanted to do as a career, it almost got him killed.  Onc...  Suddenly, a loud roar shook the plains, so loud that the trees in the forest surrounding the plains shook.  "No, you can't be serious...that sounds like..."  The roar was all too familiar, after all, he heard the same roar earlier today.  It was a Taerick.  "Did Hadvar fucking cover me in Taerick bait or something!"  From the trees the beast emerged, standing on its hind legs and roaring loudly.  Fuck, I have the smell of Taerick blood on me, it is probably perceiving me as a threat.  Ahri was shaking in his arms, obviously frightened.  "If we survive this, and you want a new owner, I'll be sad, but I won't exactly blame you."  Ahri looked up and glared at him like "Are you fucking stupid" before hearing another roar and burying her head into him.  The creature stared right at Snopy, who clutched Ahri tightly.  He knew he couldn't protect Ahri and attempt to wield his sword at the same time, so he just prepared for the creature's charge.  Inevitably, after an apparent stare down the Taerick got down on all fours and charged.  As it got close, Snopy's heartrate skyrocketed.  Still, once it was near Snopy dove to the side, managing to evade the charge.  The treeline wasn't too far away, and the forest seemed to be thick, if Snopy managed to duck into them the creature wouldn't be able to chase easily, there'd be too many massive trees to stop its momentum.  How the hell would he get there though?

"Hum-dee-dum... hum-de-dum-de dum..." a cute high-pitched voice echoed through the forest. Nadia, a strange young woman with bright blue eyes, silky white hair, and an adorable smile on her face finally made it out of all of that thick darkness and into the sunlight! "Ahhh!!" she said with a giggle following, "Finally out of there! Much better out here.. Haha!" Nadia threw her arms to the side and began running around in circles, allowing the wonderfully cool breeze to comfort her skin. It was so nice. She decided on a random direction as she was running and stopped moving in a circle to go that way. It was only a short moment after that when she heard the roar of a Taerick. "Oh, I recognize that guy! I bet he's being mean again!" Nadia thought as she ran in that direction. She hurried her way up a grassy hill and looked around for it. "Where did you go..." she mumbled with a hand over her eyes to allow for shade. She saw something a little distance away from her and blinked a few times. "Ah ha!" she said and pointed in the direction. She wasn't close enough for them to hear her, but she immediately started to try and close the gap by running forward.

"Heeeyyy!!!" Nadia ran along, waving happily to the Taerick and the man it was attacking. She had a huge smile on her face and was giggling as she got closer. The Taerick seemed to recognize her and had a "oh what the fuck" look enter his eyes. "Hey! I told you to be nice last time and you're being mean again! I understood the first time because you were hungry and it was an animal; that is the cycle of life!" Nadia said with her hands on her hips looking at the Taerick with angry eyes, "This one is a human! A human! I'm not going to allow you to eat him, you know!" The Taerick growled low at her and pushed himself up until it was standing on it's back legs. Nadia merely leaned her head back to look up at him and stomped her foot to the ground. "Just because you're bigger than me, don't think I won't beat you up!" Nadia said, pointing up at that large beast and waving her finger back and forth, "Now apologize and go back to your home!" The Taerick let out another roar, this time right in Nadia's face and raised his arm as if he were going to swing down at her. "Alright, you asked for it..." Nadia didn't seem to even move, like she wasn't expecting this beast to actually strike her, but it was going to, and it would likely kill her in the process...

Snopy turned his head confused as he heard a voice that sounded way to damned happy.  Snopy turned, coming in his direction was a girl with long flowing white hair, blue eyes, and who appeared to be an elf.  Snopy raised an eyebrow as he heard this girl speak.  Was she aware of what she was trying to talk to?  Was she trying to scold it?  Ahri poked her head up and actually tilted it as she watched.  She even stamped her feet as if to intimidate it.  "Hey are you crazy!?  That thing will kill you!"  Nadia kept on scolding the Taerick, even wagging her finger at it.  This girl is going to get herself killed!  This was his chance.  He could easily just up and run, using the girl as a distraction as he and Ahri made their escape.  It was the smart thing to do, he had no attachment to this girl, he didn't even know her.  Besides, he wasn't a fighter and he was injured, he'd likely just get himself killed.  Yet, as his base survival instinct tried to make him turn and flee, something else within him stopped him.  If he left her, she was going to get herself killed.  A lot of other humans wouldn't care, a lot of humans despise elves.  Yet, Snopy never understood that hatred.  In this girl all he saw was naivete, and to be quite honest she was adorable.  He just couldn't leave her to die.  "Ahri, get on my shoulder and hold on."  He took the little felli and placed her on his shoulder.  The Taerick was already gearing up the killing blow, so there was no time to waste.  Snopy ran to the girl as fast as his legs would take him.  "Look out!"  He screamed as he grabbed the girl and dove forward, pulling her out of the way of the Taerick's blow.  Snopy gasped for breath a bit, he had been doing this too much today.  He looked around and saw how close the trees were.  Yet, he had to get the Taerick distracted.  Snopy thought about it for a moment, and realized that many animals and monsters do have some form of intelligence.  Snopy looked towards the Taerick, he still had the girl held to his body, pressing her against him with his one arm.  He appeared as if he was going to stand and fight, when suddenly he looked past the Taerick and his eyes widened.  "Sango, is that you?"  He called past the Taerick.  The creature turned around, thinking there was something behind it by the expressions Snopy gave off.  Ironic its limited intelligence shows just how much of a dumb animal it really is in the end.  Snopy scooped up Nadia and slung her over his shoulder and proceeded to run as fast as he could.  He just had to make it to the trees before the Taerick caught up.  The girl would likely speak up, and if/when she did he'd merely respond "Shut up I'm saving your life".  The Taerick didn't take long to notice and turn back around.  It roared and Snopy could hear it slam down on to all fours.  Fuck.  As Snopy ran, Ahri clutched onto his free shoulder as best she could, it wasn't the smoothest ride she'd been on.  

What was with this girl?  How could she be so naive, she had to be at least 16, 18 at the most.  Normally people at that age know not to talk to a monster like that.  Snopy couldn't help but find her adorable oddly enough.  Yes, a girl her age should by no means be so naive, and it really shouldn't be so adorable, but at least to Snopy it was.  It was a very strange feeling, considering he tried so hard to keep his distance from people.  Somehow though, he managed to take this adorable girl and enter the treeline.  He didn't stop running.  He dodged trees and bushes and stray branches as he made his way through.  He heard a loud thud as the Taerick charged into the thick of the forest, but even then Snopy didn't stop.  The Taerick's large side was guaranteed to slow it down, all Snopy had to do was keep running.  He made sure he didn't drop Ahri or this strange girl, no matter what she did.  After what was probably 5 -10 minutes of running Snopy finally slowed down.  He gasped for breath as he took the girl from his arms and placed her on the ground.  Snopy collapsed on the ground and just took all the oxygen he could in.  "What is with you?  That thing was going to kill you."  Ahri hopped on on Snopy's stomach as Snopy laid on the ground and just looked at the girl with a tilted head.

Nadia pulled her bow in front of her, looking down to it and away from the attacking Taerick to notch an arrow. Today was her lucky day, though, and she was suddenly pulled out of the way of the attack. Her attempt to notch an arrow was stopped and she looked back to a man with blonde hair. "Hiya!" Nadia said with a cheerful smile, "Don't let him hit you! It'll hurt a lot." Nadia gave the man the most obvious advice one could give at this point. She watched the man move to fight and she began readying herself by standing behind him. She looked down to notch her bow with an arrow again, but hard him call out for a sango. "A sango, where?!" Nadia looked up and passed the Taerick's head as the Taerick also turned. Nadia saw nothing and blinked a couple of times. "Heeey... there's noth-...Oomph!" she stopped as she was suddenly picked up and ran with. She had been thrown over a shoulder; it wasn't something that every happened before. In fact, it confused the hell out of her and made her quite uncomfortable. She said nothing at first, but as they entered the trees of the forest she began whining. "Hey! Let me down! This hurts! Uhuhuhuhuhuhuh." she said like a child making noise as they were bounced up and down. "Shut up I'm saving your life" he said in reply to her and she looked back over her shoulder at the back of his head, blinking a couple of times. "I don't need you to save my liiiife!!! He's not gonna hurt me; he's my friend!" Nadia said, wiggling around on his shoulder a bit to get him to drop her, but stopped when she heard the crashing behind them. She looked up and noticed an angry Taerick running towards them.

Uh...

"Ahhhh!!! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! It's gonna eat us! Run faster!! Faster!! Faster!!" Nadia began to panic, kicking her legs a bit and lightly hitting his back with her fists. This man carried her through many trees, some how running with a hell of a lot of adrenaline to avoid being hit. The Taerick was close behind and getting closer by jumping through the tops of the trees. "Hold onto me tight, kay?! I'll stop it!" Nadia said with a determines tone as she gathered water around her arms. She held her fists out to the Taerick and shot off one of her missiles. The recoil would push the man and herself forward quite a lot, if he was holding tightly onto her, and slam into the Taerick, freezing him in place. "Hurry, hurry! It won't hold him for long, it wasn't a big one. Go, go, goOoOoOoOo!" she said, holding the note as his running made her bounce and sound funny. Soon, they stopped running and he set her down to catch his breath. They had definitely outrun him once she froze his big mean butt in place! "Hahaha! That was fun! You're really fast." Nadia said and scooted close to him, unintentionally ignoring his question, "I'm Nadia, what's your name? Thanks for saving me from the mean one." Through out all of that, Nadia was able to keep a smile on her face.

Snopy hadn't noticed the girl just kinda absent mindedly looking down to notch some kind of arrow.  As he took her out of the way, she cheerily greeted him as if nothing was happening.  She even game him some information that anyone with any sense understood.  "Yes, I am well aware unfortunately."  As Snopy pulled of his little misdirection ploy he inadvertently tricked Nadia alongside the Taerick.  This girl...he definitely wanted to know how she ended up like this.  Why she was so naive.  His ploy did work, but as he ran the girl obviously didn't want to be taken.  She complained like a child as they ran.  She even tried claiming that Taerick was her friend.  "Look, I know a thing or two about those things, and that thing was no friend of ours."  When the girl finally noticed the Taerick charging, she suddenly got scared and told him to run faster.  "Trust me, if I could I would."  She acted as if she was throwing a tantrum, and apparently with good reason.  The Taerick had not allowed the trees to stop it and was jumping across the tops.  Son of a bitch, dumb or intelligent can't this fucking thing decide already?  He had good reason to be agitated considering how his day had gone so far.  Suddenly, the girl stopped fidgeting, and went on to say she'd stop the Taerick.  "How are you gonna do that!  You can't exactly use your bow while I'm...-"  Suddenly there was a definite recoil effect and Snopy narily stopped himself from falling face first into a rose bush, conveniently placed for maximum thorns in face.  He stumbled a bit before turning to see the Taerick frozen.  "Holy...I'm actually impressed."  Nadia explained it wouldn't hold it long, and Snopy hesitated not even a millisecond in continuing his retreat.  The sudden movement making Nadia's last "go" sound funny.

After they finally stopped and he went to catch his breath, the girl started to laugh.  What the hell was there to laugh about?  They were almost eaten.  Fun?  How the hell was it fun?  Nadia completely ignored his question and told him her name, thanking him for saving her from what she called the "mean one".  She was still smiling through all of that.  Ahri looked to Snopy with a very confused look on her face.  Snopy just looked back at Ahri and shrugged.  Taking Ahri in his arms, he sat up and looked to Nadia.  "Nice to meet you, my name is Snopy."  Snopy spoke back in a friendly, yet somewhat confused manner.  "You know, you really have to be more careful.  Things like that won't hesitate to kill you.  You're lucky I was there to save your butt otherwise you would have been flattened."  Snopy chose not to bring up that she was an elf, seemed like unimportant information.  "What are you doing out here anyway?  You get lost?"  This girl was acting almost like a 5 year old, yet it was definitely adorable.  Granted, he was well aware of how dangerous it was for someone considered an adult to seem to have the mind of a child.  "You aren't hurt are you?"

"Hi Snopy! That's a funny name; I've never heard it before now." Nadia said with a curious expression. She sat in that anime girl pose and looked at him. She tilted her head slightly to the side and kept a smile on her face. She was in a really good mood, genuinely happy. "Whaddya mean?" she asked in reply to his being more careful comment, "I just thought he was my friend. I was wrong." Nadia glanced away with a slightly saddened expression, but then perked up really quick again. She smiled cheerfully to him and giggled, "I guess I was lucky to have you there, because he was the mean one and he would have hurt me! Thank you for saving my life!" It was hard to tell whether Nadia was stupid or ignorant. She began looking around rapidly to see where she was and recognized the place. "Wait a minute... this is..." Nadia's eyes widened and she took in a deep breath, gasping really loud, "Oh no, oh no! You brought me back to where I already was! I recognized the tree!! You should have gone the other way!" Nadia stopped and drooped her head for a moment, "Well that's not fun. I have to find another way to Colburn now... The mean Taerick is blocking my way. I don't want to have to kill it; that's not nice."

"What are you doing out here anyway? You get lost?" he asked and Nadia lifted her head to look at him. She thought for a moment. Was she lost? No... she couldn't be! She knew where she was going: Colburn! "Nuh'uh! I'm going to Colburn, so I'm not lost!" she said to him with a smile, her sense of 'lost' being a little skewed. Most people saw lost as not knowing where they currently were, she saw lost as not knowing where she was going. "Nuh'uh. I'm not hurt, but you are." Nadia said pointing to the wound on his shoulder, "Did the Taerick hit you? I knew he was being mean, but I didn't think I saw you get hurt when I was running towards you guys. Does it hurt?" Nadia scooted over to him and took a close look at the wound. Without even asking him, as if she'd think about it, she tore the shirt open a bit more and placed her hand on the wound. "Let me put it on ice for you... It should lessen the pain a little bit, kay?" Nadia smiled to him as she laid a thin layer of Anima enhanced ice over the wound. She intentionally altered it so it would not easily melt against his body heat for at least an hour. "There, that should help for a while... So, what are you doing out here? Did you get lost?" she said, unaware of the fact that she was pretty much repeating his question to him.

First thing Nadia did on hearing his name was make fun of it.  Well, Snopy could tell it wasn't intentional.  It seemed like when a little kid just said what was on their mind, not realizing it could be offensive.  "Uh...it's...I suppose it is a strange name...though you shouldn't call someone's name funny, some people might not take it well."  Giving life lessons to a girl almost the same age as him, though honestly they seemed more like lessons in common sense.  Some of them didn't seem to be getting through, as she didn't seem to even understand the part on being careful.  "What do I mean?  Well obviously that thing wasn't your friend, you shouldn't have looked away from it.  It went to flatten you.  Or...assuming there was another one that, by some miracle wasn't hostile, you obviously can't tell the difference, so you shouldn't have taken your eye off of it."  He felt like his mother giving these lectures.  The thought of his mother caused his stomach to drop for a moment before he shook it.  When she glanced away sadly he almost felt kind of bad, but he didn't regret the lecture.  She probably lost all the information after she obtained it, but at least he attempted to make her more likely to survive.  She perked right up and went to thank him, and Snopy just went silent and stared for a moment.  Such a genuine and happy thank you...he wasn't used to it.  "Well...I uh...well I couldn't just leave you to die."

The girl suddenly started to rabidly look around the area before suddenly saying she recognized the area and that they went the wrong way.  She mentioned not wanting to kill the "mean" Taerick.  Snopy scratched the back of his head.  If this girl is going to leave cities ever, she's gonna have to learn that there is nothing wrong with killing monsters like that.  When he asked if she was lost, she said she wasn't...because she was going to Colburn?  Just because you know where you're going doesn't mean you know where you are.  "I'm...are you aware of the flaw in that logic?  You know what, never mind."  There was no hesitation to bring up that he was wounded.  She looked at his wound and asked about it.  "No...that was dealt by another Taerick, they all seem to want to make a meal out of me today."  Nadia suddenly ripped open his shirt more without asking.  "H-hey, what are you doing?!"  He started to say more but stopped when he felt a chill.  A layer of ice covered his wound.  It stung at first, but the pain lessened and...it actually felt kind of nice.  "I...th-thank you."  The girl asked what he had just asked, seemingly word for word.  He didn't point that fact out.  "I'm trying to get to Colburn."  He left a lot of details, even though honestly he could probably be honest to this girl and not have it make a difference.  He was still incredibly slow to trust.  "I suppose I might be a little lost.  Back before the Taerick attacked, I knew which way I was going...but I was so focused on getting us out of there, I think I lost track of where I was."  Snopy spun his neck a bit to get the kinks out of it.  "Well, we're both heading to Colburn, so we should probably go together."  Snopy said that, but he had other plans.  This girl was so sweet and naive, if she went around traveling alone she'd probably die.  He was going to stick with her so that he could protect her.  Granted, she seemed to have more power, but considering that fight against the Taerick, she needed more than that.

"Is there something wrong with things that are funny?" Nadia tilted her head to the side in curiosity at what he told her. She always thought that things that were funny were a good thing, and in this case was referring to the uniqueness of his name. She was too sheltered and unaware of 'normal' names to understand that actual standards of common names. Since he knew nothing about her, the reaction towards her words was justified. "Shut up! I recognize my friend... He's a Taerick and he lives around here. I just haven't been able to find him." Nadia yelled at him, glaring for a moment. A moment later, she was perky and sweet again, genuinely thanking him for saving her life. Nadia merely nodded in reply to him not wanting to leave her there to die and began looking around. After explaining that she wasn't lost, he pointed out some sort of flaw in her logic. She just stared blankly at him, waiting for some sort of explanation, but he shrugged it off. It must not have been that important. "Taerick's don't like you, huh? Funny. They don't like a lot of things." Nadia explained as she began icing his wound. "You're going to Colburn? Me too!" she confirmed again, as if she had just not explained that, "Yes, we should go together! I've never traveled with someone before. This can be fun!" Nadia pushed herself to her feet and raised her arms, leaning back, and stretching her body out. She leaned from side to side and let out a long "Ahhh" as she finished her stretching. Picking up her bow, she tossed it over her shoulder and looked to him with a smile.

"You ready to g-..." Nadia's eyes hardened as she looked off to the side. Without hesitation, she tackled Snopy into a near by bush and pushed both of them down into the ground. "Shh... Don't move, stay quiet." Nadia whispered into his ear before she began crawling rather nimbly along the floor. She made her way to a tree and leaped easily to one of the high branches. A few moments after, a Taerick came charging into the field, the ground shaking beneath it's feet. It looked back from where it came and let out a roar. A moment after that, another Taerick ran into the clearing and charged in and tackled the first quite harshly. A fearsome fight broke out between the two. Nadia quickly came to the conclusion that it was not her Taerick and slid down the trunk of the tree and out of side. "We need to go now. This is our only chance." Nadia whispered to Snopy, grabbing on the back of his pants and sorta tugging on him. She'd run passed the clearing of the fighting Taerick and move as fast as she could through the forest until she felt they were far enough away from the fighting beasts. Finally, they would come to the edge of the forest and Nadia would stop, put her hands on her waist, and do her best to catch her breath. Once she did, she'd smile and point East. "And that way is Colburn! I can tell by the lake." Nadia said, "You ready to go?"

Nadia didn't seem to understand that funny wasn't always a good thing.  Snopy was getting a little annoyed, but it was minor.  If she hadn't learned these things by now, he wasn't sure if she'd be figuring them out any time soon.  "I'm not entirely sure how to answer that question."  It wasn't long before she actually snapped at him, startling him a bit that she was even capable of it.  Granted, it was short lived as she immediately perked back up.  When he mentioned another Taerick had injured him, he got just a little agitated when she said funny.  "There is nothing funny about a giant monster trying to kill me."  She gushed though at the chance to travel with someone.  Fun wasn't the word Snopy thought of at the prospect.  He was dealing with someone with the mind of a 5 year old.  If she actually was 5 he'd understand and not be bothered, but she was past the age where his trust issues didn't apply.  "Better than traveling alone I suppose."  What was wrong with him, he was actually going with her in order to protect her.  Why did he actually care so much?  Her bubbly personality was cute in a way, and she was actually a really attractive girl physically, but he didn't think those were reason enough for his actions.  Granted he didn't understand his own reasons, so he shouldn't be judging her.

Before they were able to get going, Nadia suddenly shoved him into a bush and onto the ground.  She shushed him before she went all praying mantis and leaped up to a high branch. What the hell is she doing.  Suddenly the ground shook from what sounded like a Taerick.  "You've got to be kidding me."  He whispered.  When Nadia came back down she said they had to go.  She pulled on the back of his pants, making him jump a bit.  That wasn't exactly where he expected to be tugged on, but he nodded in confirmation at what she was saying.  Snopy got up and ran behind her, albeit she got a considerable lead since she was just far more nimble than he was.  Snopy kept a grip on Ahri the whole time, which didn't make navigating the trees easy.  Snopy had no time to catch his breath when he hit a clearing and Nadia pointed to Colburn.  "Ready to go?  I've been running in circles for the last hour...I just need a moment."  Snopy coughed a bit, if he had to do that one more time he'd probably be coughing up blood.  After a couple of minutes his breathing finally started to normalize.  "Alright, lets get to Colburn before I keel over."  This girl was more intelligent than any 5 year old he ever met, so that was a plus.  Snopy began to head off with her when she decided to start walking.  "So...Nadia.  Why are you heading to Colburn?  Got some family or friends there there?  Or what?"  Snopy knew family was unlikely, she was an elf.  Still, there were occasional elves who settled in human cities, and as humanity acceptance of them slowly grew so did their numbers.  Granted, their numbers were still silly low.

"I see." Nadia said and looked around. When she heard him cough, she became worried and looked back to him. They were far enough away, so here should be okay. Nadia reached out and gently grabbed his hand as he began walking. "No, no. You need rest." she smiled, setting her bow on the ground and sat down. "Let's just take a break here, at least for a while. If you've been running for so long, it might be best to actually take a break." Nadia spoke to him in a softer tone, her concern showing. She closed her eyes and lowered her head; the breeze was still blowing through the area, so it felt nice on her skin. Everything was so silent, relaxing. He spoke up and asked her about friends and family. She tilted her head back and a little to the side to think. "I don't have family anymore and my friends would be in Aria and Zakat by now, not Colburn." Nadia said as she recalled the missions her friends Pariah and Luxanna told her they were going on a few weeks ago, "Besides them, I don't really have any family... Though, I guess you could say they are my family since we're all part of the same group." Nadia giggled a bit and took a few deep breaths. She leaned back and laid her back on the ground, placing her hands on her stomach and looking up to the blue sky. Just in case, she pulled her bow to her side and just laid there. There wasn't much to do until the two of them were well rested, except relax.

"So... Do you have any family or friends in Colburn? How come you're heading there?" Nadia kept her eyes closed, talking to him while relaxing. Though she was seemingly just laying there, she was keeping close watch over the area surrounding them. Being what she was, though she was unaware of the fact she was an elf, Nadia has the ability to connect with the element of water. This was allowing her to sense the water through out the are, plants, and bodies around her. A lot of it she could do nothing with; that just wasn't her style, but she could sense whether anything was coming towards them. At the moment, for once, there was nothing closing in on their location. "Mm... It's nice to have someone with you. I don't travel with people very much... I can't remember whether I ever have, actually... I don't think I have... You're the first." Nadia opened her eyes and looked over to him with a smile.

As Snopy began to try and walk, the young elven girl grabbed his hand and stopped him.  "No, no.  You need rest."  Nadia then sat on the ground.  Snopy looked at her for a moment.  She wasn't wrong, he had been running like a chicken with his head cut off for so long.  He did have temporary relief when he caught a ride with Sango on her ferocious flying feline, but that wasn't for long at all honestly.  "I'm...not going to argue with that."  He sat down next to her as he asked her about her family and friends.  He heard her say she didn't have family anymore, and he kinda blocked out the second half of what she said as a result.  No family anymore.  "I know how that feels."  Snopy said to himself quietly, if Nadia asked what he said he'd simply reply, "It's nothing."  Snopy zoned back in as she started describing her so called friends as family.  Same group?  That wasn't suspicious at all.  "That isn't family."  Snopy said in a melancholy tone as he looked away and towards the ground, before looking up as if he was searching for something, hoping something would appear on the horizon.  It became silent for awhile as Snopy stared off, dazed until Nadia brought another question.  "It is simply the closest city to where I was.  I don't have anyone to visit in Colburn."  I'd have to have a family and friends in order to visit them.  He thought to himself.  As he sat there and continued on with his thoughts, Nadia commented on how nice it was to travel with someone.  "I suppose it is nice.  All I've ever traveled with is Ahri."  Upon hearing her name, Ahri, who was sitting on his lap, looked up and let out a series of cute little noises as it cuddled into him.  Snopy was still wary of this girl, but his Felli's cuddliness caused him to be unable to stop himself from letting a soft smile onto his face.  Hey, that little Felli was his only friend.  Looking down at his little Felli...he realized Nadia reminded him a lot of her, Nadia did sorta resemble a small animal or child.  Suddenly he felt a bit guilty being so cold.  "I'm sorry, I'm not being very pleasant to be around huh?"  Snopy leaned back.  "You really are sweet, extremely naive, but sweet."  He smiled as he went to petting Ahri.  This did not mean he was all nice and trusted her, oh no.  If she tried to learn more about him, a lot of it he'd still keep from her.  However, he felt that for once he could let down a little of his guard and show a bit more kindness than he usually did.  "We have the same destination, so there is no reason we shouldn't try to travel together and enjoy each other's company."  This was against his philosophy, but him saying that went along with him slightly letting down his guard.  "I was initially heading towards Lothuria, with a caravan I was meant to guard.  I kinda got attacked, and since I don't think I should be guarding a caravan in this state I decided to head back to Arcadia.  Colburn is closer than where I live, and I need a rest."  That was when he heard his stomach growl.  "And some food...I haven't eaten in over a day."

Whether it was the tone of voice or the look on his face that was causing it, Nadia felt bad. She felt like she had said something horribly wrong, but she didn't know what. "Well... I-I guess I don't know what a family is then." she curled into a fetal position and faced away from him. The questions she asked him after were now only to keep conversation going and make him feel better. It was a little hard to talk to him when she felt like she had offended him some how. To tell her that what she calls her family wasn't a real family, it was hurtful, whether he meant it that way or not. She even tried to lighten up the situation by mentioning how glad she was to travel with someone, but she still felt awkward. Snopy seemed to pick up on it as well because he soon apologized for being so cold. The thought almost made her giggle; instead of thinking about how he was acting, she thought of the fact that she used ice for a weapon and thought to herself, "He thinks he's cold... hehehe." A small smile was able to come back up from her feeling bad and she rolled over to look at him. "What's that supposed to mean!?" Nadia sat up and glared at him, puffing out her cheeks slightly, pouting, "I am not a nave. That's just mean!" Nadia wasn't stupid, she knew what it meant. She also had been called that before, learned the meaning, and decided to use that situation (what she thought she had been called then) to make Snopy laugh a bit. She immediately cracked a smile as well, hoping he'd realize that she was joking.

"Yes, let's travel together then!" Nadia said happily when he confirmed, "We'll get to Colburn and sleep there and then we'll travel around together some more! After that, I can show you my fami-.. my friends! And maybe you can be friends with them as well!" Nadia giggled and wiggled around a little, a sweet smile plastered to her face until suddenly it dropped again. She looked up to Snopy and blinked a couple times. "Hey... How come you looked so sad? And sounded so sad?" Nadia tilted her head and asked him with concern, "Do you not have a family either?"

Snopy had said something wrong, of course he shouldn't have been surprised.  Yet to him, what she had wasn't family.  Family was a bit closer than that.  He apologized for his coldness, and somehow it made her smile.  That was fast.  When he called her naive, she suddenly got all offended.  Nave?  He said naive.  "I...du...hu...what?  I don't...I can't...oh never mind."  Snopy even cracked a smile, he had no idea how to respond to it...and looking back on it that reaction must have been hilarious because it was genuine.  He looked back at her and...that smile.  "You little...you were messing with me!"  Snopy almost started to sound mad but he actually did start to laugh a bit.  Snopy nodded as she said to travel to Colburn.  He wasn't so sure he'd travel with her past that though...  "At the very least to Colburn, I am probably gonna head home after that."  Nadia was a silly girl, giggling and wiggling around like a worm.  Unfortunately it dropped, and Snopy didn't like that.  His eyes widened, Nadia asked a question he didn't want to actually answer.  He looked away, and then it got worse.  She asked if he didn't have a family.  Damn, why did she have to be so specific.  "I just...I haven't seen them in a long time."  He said in another melancholy tone.  This girl seemed like the most innocent creature in existence, but he still didn't feel comfortable telling her too much about him. However, Snopy thought about it.  This girl probably would get herself killed on her own, and he was sorta alone.  His house would be fine, he was technically supposed to be gone a really long time anyway.  Snopy looked back up and turned to Nadia.  "You know what, I think I'll take you up on your offer.  Better than sitting around at home, and besides, I'm worried about what would happen if you were left alone."  Snopy chuckled.  "Can't have a dragon swoop down and eat you now can we?"  

He sat there for awhile, enjoying the rest.  However, he had to get back to town before it got too late.  He needed food after all, and the longer he waited the weaker he'd feel.  Snopy forced himself to his feet.  "We should probably get going.  Town isn't far, and I'll be able to get there without dying."  He took Ahri in his arms, situated Yasumasa at his hip.  He motioned for Nadia to follow and began to move.  Ahri looked over towards Nadia and let out little animal sounds.  If one could understand her, they'd have heard her say, "That girl is really weird.  She is so sweet but she still hasn't given me attention!  Cuddles, scratches behind the ear, something!"  Granted, the moment Ahri got any positive attention from her, such as petting or scratches, she'd probably suddenly be saying she was awesome.  Ahri wasn't quite a spoiled princess of an animal, but Snopy absolutely loved her and she knew it, and she always got a lot of attention because of it.

Nadia was able to tell that she hit a nerve and was unsure whether she should continue asking or back off of the subject. She had more of an urge to ask him about it, her curiosity was getting to her. "You haven't seen them..." she repeated, as if still thinking of a way to respond. Giving up, she sat up straight and bent her knees upward a bit. Leaning forward, she set her arms across her knees and began looking out at everything. As the conversation went on, Snopy seemed to accept her offer and she smiled gleefully. "I've seen dragons before, but I can't remember where I was. If they do come and try to hurt us, I'll just kill it like I did the other one." Nadia said with a slight tone of confidence and cockiness behind it. It was odd for Snopy to act like she was defenseless. In fact, the past hour she has shown more fighting skill than he has, so why was he treating her that way? Nadia couldn't understand her innocent and naive nature was giving off this idea that she was like a five year old child in need of an older example around her. Her lack of experience with people and how most people actually acted was what caused this. Even if the people she had met before didn't normally act like her, she was never around them enough to notice the differences between them and herself. Even so, the idea of Nadia being able to defeat a dragon wasn't exactly something that many people would expect... ever.

Nadia watched Snopy get to his feet and blinked a few times. She followed his lead and stood up, sliding her bow over her shoulder and dusting off the front and back of her skirt. "Alrighty then. Let's get going." Nadia said with a sweet tone and began following behind Snopy. Nadia saw the small Felli he carried peek over Snopy's shoulder and looked at her. She merely smiled back, but then blinked a few times at what the little thing was saying. "I'm not weird..." Nadia said in a calm tone, staring at the little animal. She stepped forward a little faster and set her right hand on top of Ahri's head, "And if you want attention, all you have to do is ask for it, ya know? Don't sit around silent and hope I just realize this. Not every animal wants to be touched." Nadia spoke in a soft and loving tone as she pet Ahri gently. After a short moment, she began walking again, as if what she had just done was normal.

Repeating what Snopy said for a moment, Nadia went quiet fir a short while.  She almost seemed to want to say something more, but apparently it was dropped.  Suddenly though, Nadia shocked the hell out of Snopy.  Wait wait what?  Killed a dragon?  Sure she was strong...but how did she actually live long enough to realize it was trying to kill her?  "Wait wait, woah woah, wait.  You've...killed a dragon?"  Snopy didn't quite believe her, there was something getting in the way of him believing she was capable of reacting in a way that allowed such a feat.  Snopy didn't go on to say he didn't believe her, but he didn't.  When he said it was time to get going Nadia followed along.  As they began to walk, Snopy heard Ahri make her little sounds, and then Nadia began to talk...very strangely.  "I didn't say you were weird."  Snopy turned his head to see her patting Ahri on the head.  He raised his eyebrow, she was lovingly speaking to Ahri as if she understood her.  "You know, a lot of people love animals.  You don't need to randomly reassure me that you aren't weird before you go and talk to them."  Snopy didn't understand that she actually DID understand Ahri.  Ahri though was rolling around (as much as she could while still staying firmly in Snopy's arms) in utter happiness.  This girl is awesome!  I get all the attention!  Nope, Ahri didn't question that Nadia understood her.  She was too busy being pet to do so.  "You know Nadia...this world is a dangerous place.  It is hard enough to travel when being careful.  Why are you so...what's the word."  Snopy tilted his head a bit as he thought about it.  "Blasé about everything...no that isn't the word.  You just seem too carefree despite the fact you are traveling and bound to encounter dangerous situations."  This was a silly question, and Snopy had a lot of trouble saying it.  He seemed to fumble over the words a bit and he couldn't accurately convey what he meant.  He just didn't understand it, and he didn't know how to ask about it.  He didn't want to offend her again, that was unnecessary.  At the same time, there was a part of him that really wanted to know the answer.  He took the world with extreme caution most of the time, avoiding situations that typically didn't end well for him or people in general.  Here this girl was talking to dangerous creatures and acting like the world was nothing but amazing.  "I uhh..."  It had been too long since he was able to have a genuine conversation with more than his pet.  "I don't know, you just don't seem to act...like you...fully understand the severity some of the situations you are in."  Yeah, he knew he probably sounded like an idiot.  While he didn't usually care what people thought of him, he genuinely wanted to know if there was some facade going on or if she was really like this.  "It has been way too long since I've had genuine conversations, I am really bad at this."

"Yeah! I killed one. And it was huge! Really big! So don't go thinkin' it was a small sprite or something... It was larger than both of those Taericks together!" Nadia gave a confident nod and then followed it with a cheerful giggle. Her mood seemed to be all over the place, but that was only because she was genuinely happy. Something could momentarily upset her and then she'll go right back to normal, getting over it quicker than most people could. It wasn't long before they began walking. Nadia caught what little Ahri had said, but the Felli didn't seem to catch that Nadia could understand her. She only wanted attention, which really wasn't shocking. "I know you didn't." Nadia said and then blew up her cheeks, pouting at Ahri for a moment, "That's better. I'm awesome, not weird." Nadia cheered up and dropped her hand back down to her side before just continuing to walk.

"What's the point of being afraid of everything?" Nadia said in reply to his question, "You can die just by tripping down the stairs or something getting stuck in your throat. For all you know, tomorrow you will contract a deadly disease and be dead within a month. If not something like that, you can get bit by that poisonous green snake and your fate is practically sealed or get eaten by a dragon. Things happen, you get hurt, you find friends, you lose friends, and people die. I may not know very much about a lot, but I know that. I don't want to sit at home, scared of everything just because of what currently isn't happening. In fact... a lot of it may not ever happen. Being scared enough to not take any risks only limits the life you live... and I don't want that." Well that was likely a shocker. For Nadia to even speak in such a manner was surprising. Of course, it's not easy to find a subject that Nadia is actually adamant about. Her entire mind is based on free will, cheerfulness, and travel. She doesn't know or understand much, but when you talk to her about life, living, and danger... that she knows well.

"At least you ask questions and try to talk to me." Nadia tilted her head to the side and looked up to him, "Most of the time I have to convince something not to attack me by getting them food and then making friends with them. It's nice to actually have another person to talk to, even if you don't think you're good at it." Nadia's smile perked up a lot and she looked like her normal, cheerful, innocent self again. She began skipping forward, beginning to hum to herself, randomly spinning in the air as she did.

Here Snopy is surprised, and Nadia is defending her claim specifically making sure he knew it was big.  You say it wasn't a sprite dragon, but I think it might have been.  He kept that to himself.  "Wow, I honestly wouldn't have expected that."  Considering the shock he still felt in that she even made those claims made his reaction seem 100% genuine.  When Snopy asked why she said what she had, she mentioned that she knew that he didn't.  At the same time, she pouted directly at Ahri and said that she was awesome, not weird.  "Oh, you're talking to Ahri."  It was a little strange she was bringing awesome and weird into it, but when people really liked animals they often coddled them and acted like they were REALLY saying things.  Snopy did the same thing with Ahri.  Next thing Snopy did not expect.  Nadia went from her normally adorable self to super philosophical.  She did make a lot of sense, a few of the things she said even struck a bit of a chord.  Still, there was one major flaw in what she was saying.  "The logic you are using is partially flawed."  Snopy said, turning to her.  "Being too lax is a guaranteed way to go to an early grave.  I'm not saying sit at home and stare fearfully out of a window.  I went on a damn caravan as a guard despite not being a great fighter."  Snopy pointed back towards where the encounter with the Taerick took place.  "Back there, you nonchalantly walked up to something that could and would have killed you.  OKay, you thought it was a friendly one, but until it is 100% confirmed you should always have your guard up.  It is the same reason you don't go to pet a venomous snake, if that thing decides to bite you, it is gonna bite you.  Complete disregard of caution is not something to be laughed at."  Snopy shook his head.  "You've shown me that you can handle yourself, you indeed seem to have enough skill that you defeating a dragon is not out of the question.  The thing is I've seen just as much, if not more, recklessness."  

Snopy sighed, putting two fingers to his left temple, rubbing it a bit.  Why do I even care.  "Just listen to what I'm saying.  If I travel with you, I'd prefer that you don't get smashed by some horrible monster because you left your guard down.".  Snopy cared because he was too nice of a guy.  Yes, her getting smashed by some monster would likely give him a chance to escape, but he still didn't like people dying.  He wanted to just keep himself carefully detached and not care, but it'd take a decent number more backstabbings for him to actually stop caring completely.  As Snopy mentioned how bad he was at this, Nadia mentioned that most things she had to bribe to not kill her.  "Nadia...you're going to find that in this world, that is incredibly common.  Animals are controlled mostly on instinct, and people..."  Snopy sighed a bit.  "Lets just say that if you meet someone worthwhile, someone who is a good person, has a good heart, you should hang onto them.  Plenty of people in this world are greedy, or they don't care, or are just mean spirited.  Stay away from them, and don't let the good ones slip away."  Snopy did not realize what he just said.  Unless something ended up happening that gave off the wrong impression, he fit the description he just gave perfectly.  He was a good person at heart, and he may have just done something that defies his philosophy of being by himself.  In all honestly, Snopy needed to realize what he had said and take his own advice sometime.  Maybe he'd be pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah..." Nadia said as she took in a big breath and let it out, "Only reason I did it was because it was gonna kill some people. I don't like killing things, but if I have to... I will." And with the conversation moving on, Nadia could tell that she and Snopy were on completely different pages. He talked about logic and showed that was where his mind obviously was. "And who says I'm using logic?" Nadia asked seriously, contradicting his claims a bit, "Not everything is about logic. Sometimes it's about how you feel. Love is not logical. Fear is not logical. Anger, Hate, Happiness, Sadness... None of these things are logical, but we still feel them. Putting your trust into another person, even though it cannot ever be one hundred percent proven that they will never harm you... is not logical. Still... you will trust someone you call a friend, won't you?" Nadia didn't think by the book or by logic. She did what she felt was right. She listened to her heart and followed it. So far, she had not been harmed or put in a situation that would cause her too much problem, so it was doing her right. She had her own way while other people had theirs. That was just a fact. "Recklessness... If you saw Ahri attempting to attack and kill another person, ran to stop it, and then realized that it wasn't Ahri... do you still consider that reckless?" Nadia asked him. She was actually starting to become extremely offended by the things he was saying, thought she was doing her best not to show it. "If you stood back to make sure it was Ahri, that person would likely be attacked, hurt, or even killed... Or worse it could have been Ahri that did it." Nadia stared at Snopy as she waited for some sort of reply or rebuttal against her words.

His only reply, after rubbing his temple, seemingly in irritation, was to just listen to him. Nadia decided then that she was just going to stay silent. He was stubborn and closed minded, and he obviously did not seem to accept the beliefs and values of someone else if they were not his own. While staying silent, he began talking again. He told her to hold onto the good people and avoid the bad. "Good people..." Nadia glanced off and thought back a bit, but she could not remember much about anyone she had met, "I don't know any good people. The only one I did know is gone now." As usual, "I can't remember anything... I remember some things, but where's the rest?! I feel like part of my life is missing... It's just gone!" Nadia grit her teeth and placed a hand over her head, wincing a bit as one of her headaches began to set in. "Every time... Why?" she thought and stopped walking for a moment. She closed her eyes and began thinking of other things, things that she liked: flowers, the breeze, the blue sky, animals, and then glanced over to Ahri just to conclude it all. "Hehehe. So cute!" Nadia stepped up and nuzzled her cheek against Ahri's and then began walking like normal. The headache completely subsided and she was back to normal, the two of them on their way to Colburn. In fact, "I think I see it!" Nadia pointed forward and saw a large building in the distance along a forest line that was coming up. "Ah-ha! We're almost there! Good, I'm getting sorta tired, ya know? Hehehe. Come on!" Nadia took hold of Snopy's hand and began to pull him along, running towards the city with a smile.

Snopy wasn't sure how much more he could take.  He understood it all, but she refused to accept even the small shred of basic logic he was throwing forth.  She went on about love and sadness and all those other emotions, half of which he forgot the last time he felt them.  She went into the ill-logic of putting trust in another person, oh that wasn't a good place to go when dealing with Snopy.  Then the final nail in the coffin was bringing the one thing he actually did still have in this world that he cared about into it.  "Shut up."  Snopy said with a little bit of anger behind it.  "You still have not defended why you didn't at least have your guard up.  The recklessness was your seeming refusal to protect your own body on the off chance it was really trying to kill."  Snopy glared straight into Nadia's eyes if she was looking.  "You must think I am stupid, but I understand more about emotion than you seem to think.  If someone who looked just like...just like."  Snopy hesitated, the anger in his voice fading into him choking on his own words.  "Who looked just like my sister...and she was trying to kill someone...I'd try to stop her...even if it meant in the end I'd end up dead."  Snopy's breathing almost seemed to get heavy this was obviously weighing on him, but he firmed up best he could, which was rather pathetic at best, and got back to his point.  "But if I saw her coming at me with a knife, I'd still avoid or try to block it.  Sure, I'd keep trying to stop her even if it seemed hopeless, which might eventually kill me if I didn't somehow get through to her...but I'd still practice some basic self preservation.  That is what I didn't see you do, the thing was half a second from killing you and you didn't even raise a hand to protect yourself.  If you think something is your friend fine...but...but"  He didn't realize that all of this about his sister was bringing tears to the forefront and he was what could only be called crying.  It didn't help at ALL that he said "if you think something is your friend", that made him lose it even more.  He wasn't doing the whimpering thing that most people do when they cry, but the tears and the general composure he had was clue enough.  He fell to his knees and just let the tears stream out.  By the time he realized it, there was no point in hiding it, any being with even the slightest form of intelligence, people, animals, hell even some plants would probably have realized he was crying.  Ahri started throwing out panicked squeals, she'd been with him for a year now and she had never once seen him cry.  He was always so composed.  She didn't like it, and she desperately nuzzled him and tried to comfort him.

Snopy after a time managed to settle down and regain his composure.  She was obviously upset by what he had said, so maybe he was conveying it wrong.  "I hadn't cried in so long I thought I didn't have any tears left to shed...how embarrassing it has to happen in front of someone I met only shortly before."  Snopy just tightly held Ahri as he wiped the tears away.  He let out a long sigh.  "Nadia, there is nothing wrong with being a free spirit, you aren't wrong to trust people.  Maybe I was wrong, maybe you would have blocked or dodged the blow from the Taerick if I hadn't gotten you out of the way.  However, if you weren't going to, that is exactly what you shouldn't do.  A person can protect their friends and others while still protecting themselves.  I don't tell people how to live their lives, but even if you don't want to acknowledge it, I'm not wrong."  Snopy stood back onto his feet.  "Besides, remember, rather than letting you die and using you as a distraction so I could escape I dove in the direction of a beast that could have killed me in one swift blow in order to save a total stranger.  Imagine how far I'd go for an actual friend."  Snopy stretched a bit.  "Not that I'll ever find out, haven't had a friend in years besides Ahri, not like i'd have to go on a cross planet journey for her or something."  That could be foreshadowing, but Snopy wouldn't be aware of it.  It eventually came to the point where he said the thing about good people, her response was that she didn't know any good people anymore.  She seemed a little upset about something, but she quickly perked up and went on about how cute Ahri was.  Snopy did a soft, but almost gentle sigh, and pat Nadia on the head.  "I'm sure your friends are good people."  Actually he wasn't sure.  "If somehow they aren't, I'm sure you'll meet some, just hang onto them."  Next thing he knew his hand was grabbed and he was being pulled along, quickly in the direction of Colburn.

“No, you shut up.” was her immediate reply. She glared at him while he talked and was tempted just to run off. No one liked being told to shut up; she was no exception to that. Him telling her that only angered her. “Look, I can do what I want, how I want, when I want, and why I want. I don't need anyone else telling me what to do or how to do it, especially some guy I just met.” Nadia said, crossing her arms along her chest and staring angrily at him. He was only making her more angry with what he was saying. “No, I don't think you're stupid.” she said in reply, “I think you're stubborn, rude, and need to accept the way someone else wants to do things.” He went on to bring up his sister as if she was the example that Nadia had used. She highly doubted that his sister was an animal, so there was a reason she used Ahri as an example. She could tell that the subject of his sister bothered him too, so why the hell would he bring it up. “Why would you bring up something that you know is going to bother you?” Nadia interrupted his second attempted sentence before he could finish it (at least that's what she thought since she spoke after the second 'but'), “Are you trying to make yourself cry or something?” It was obvious to Nadia what was coming; he was going to break down, but he had literally done it to himself for no reason what-so-ever.

Nadia was beyond confused and highly uncomfortable. She took a step back from Snopy, glancing away from him, getting that strong urge to just run. It was something she felt quite often, especially when she was met with something she didn't understand or made her feel uncomfortable or scared. This was definitely one of those times. It took a lot for her not to run. She took a few steps back and watched him. “I-Uh...” Nadia took another step back. Even with Ahri being so comforting towards him, she felt way too awkward. Just because she was a nice person over all did not mean she knew how to deal with everything. This was something she never had to deal with, comforting another person. It took some time for him to do it, but he was able to regain his composure. Once he did, Nadia calmed down a bit, but there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her to get away quickly. For some reason, she stayed. Once he was done returning to his normal self, he immediately went back into lecturing her. Nadia stayed silent and kept looking away from him, conveying the notion that she was not listening. She was though, but she felt uncomfortable and was scared to tell him to back off any more because he might break down and cry. Of course, she was unaware of the true reason he had cried, so her mind went every which direction, blaming herself for the entire thing.

Trying to push off the awkward feeling she had, Nadia said nothing more towards him on the subject. If she had, he'd just come back with something else to say and she didn't exactly want to be told what she should do anymore. Instead, she mentioned not knowing any good people and turned her attention towards Ahri, repeating how cute she was. Because of this, she was able to raise her mood once more and didn't react negatively when her head was suddenly pat. She merely blinked a few times with an innocence in her eyes and then continued on her way to Colburn with Snopy and the Felli by her side. It didn't take long for them to reach the city and once they had, everyone in the streets seemed to be doing some sort of form of the Arcane. The town was quite lively, pretty crowded as well. “So, what are we doing here? I can't remember...” Nadia's mind blanked and she just began standing there, looking around at everything with child-like amazement on her face. She hadn't seen so many people so open with their magic, it was amazing. Unfortunately, those who noticed her began whispering to each other, giving her dirty looks, and pointing as if there was something wrong with her. For the moment, she did not notice...

Nadia called Snopy rude, but in fact she was no better.  She took sound advice that wasn't telling her to change her lifestyle, and being an absolute brat about it.  She was stubborn and unable to realize that Snopy was not telling her to change her lifestyle, just saying to actually defend herself.  THEN she was just as rude, if not more rude, by saying the "Are you trying to make yourself cry or something?"  This girl didn't understand she was being all the things she was accusing Snopy of.  There was a bit of aggravation, but the sadness overwhelmed it.  When he finally stopped crying, and went on to in as respectfully a tone as was possible advise her about defending herself more, she wasn't listening.  She doesn't listen to a word anyone says, she is more stubborn than I am, and quite frankly the rudest thing I said was reckless, but it was the truth.  It really was the truth, and even if it might seem rude to say it is better to warn someone they're playing with fire rather than sit back and watch them get burned.

Snopy should have just said fuck it and left, if he was going to travel with someone it should be someone who wasn't a total brat.  No though, she was a child.  A child who was going to travel regardless, and get herself killed regardless.  It was going to happen, seeing as she absolutely refused to follow the advice of "defend yourself if you are in danger".  Why was he still going to travel with her?  It was the simple fact, she was a child.  If she continued to be nothing more than a brat, he would eventually just leave.  However, if she did show herself to be as sweet as when they first started, then things would just continue as they would have without this debacle happening.  Yes, he hated her, but he knew that the hate he felt at this exact moment was fleeting.  And it was, because as they began to walk he calmed himself.  He remembered how she was when they initially met, and there was definitely not enough data to come to a conclusion yet.  They arrived at Colburn, and Nadia seemed to forget what they were doing.  "Finding a place to stay for the night, I've been doing so much today that I am close to collapsing."  Snopy turned and saw some people whispering and pointing at Nadia.  Disgusting.  Snopy thought to himself, referring to the fact that they were obviously prejudiced.  Snopy stopped and blinked, then turned to Nadia and looked at her.

Singled out and treated as an outcast, this had to be common for her.  Just as it was common for him.  Snopy knew that being socially outcasted did him a lot more harm than good.  Being treated like you are dirt...he was a tad too familiar with that feeling, and Nadia probably has had to deal with this anytime she was around people.  She said the one good person she had was gone, which meant she probably spent most of her life with only one good person to guide her.  The lingering hatred that still laid within him blew away in the breeze.  He was making a lot of assumptions with this, but she probably hasn't had nearly enough contact with other humans or elves to know how to deal with them.  "Nadia...I'm sorry about before.  I didn't mean to make you think I was telling you how to live."  She was still a brat back there, but Snopy assumed she couldn't help it.  If his assumptions were correct, he didn't handle it delicately enough back there.  "I also didn't mean to break down back there, I didn't think that subject would still upset me so much...sorry."  Snopy turned back to some of the prejudiced people and did one of those goofy tongue out bleh faces at them before returning to his usual expression, and to Nadia.  "I have some money, what do you say we get some food?  I haven't eaten in over a day.  I'll pay for it."  Snopy looked around the town for someplace to get food.  He saw a simple little restaurant like building.  "How about there?"  Snopy said pointing, seeing if Nadia was fine with it.  Sure, earlier he only stayed with her because he felt like he had to, but now he seemed to genuinely want to give her a chance.

"Finding a place to stay for the night, I've been doing so much today that I am close to collapsing."

"We... are? Oh, okay then." Nadia said cheerfully. She looked around with wide eyes for a sign that said something like 'inn' or 'hotel'. She couldn't see any from her current position, so she was about to step forward when she heard her name. She stopped and looked back to Snopy confused as he apologized to her. She tilted her head to the side and stared at him. He apologized a second time, but Nadia only looked more confused. "What... I don't understand. When did you do that?" Nadia asked him when her stomach began to rumble. Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment before she rubbed her tummy and smiled shyly. "I have some money, what do you say we get some food?  I haven't eaten in over a day.  I'll pay for it." he said. Nadia's eyes widened more and she giggled like a little girl. "Yay! Food, food, food!" she chanted while waving her arms and running in a circle. "How about there?" he said and Nadia immediately stopped and looked to where he was pointing. "Okay! Let's go!" Nadia reached towards him and grabbed his hand. She began pulling him along through the crowd. People who saw them coming immediately dashed out of the way, but not for the reasons Nadia assumed. They didn't want to be 'touched' by 'her kind', though she was unaware of that. In fact, she didn't even know that there was a 'her kind'. She slowed down as they came to the restaurant and walked inside with him, still innocently holding his hand.

"Hiya!" Nadia said to the woman who was at the register, "Can we have a table please?" Nadia was being as kind as she could. She was cheerful and sweet, yet this woman looked at her like she was crazy. "Um... Give me a moment." the woman said and then hurried off. Nadia waited there with Snopy, humming to herself a bit and just looking around. She had a smile, but it was fading when she saw someone pointing and looking at her like they were disgusted. Nadia just looked away and continued smiling, but she saw some people doing the same thing. "Uh..." Nadia blinked a few times and her hand fell limply from Snopy's. She felt her heart racing. She was trying to ignore them, but she could tell they didn't like her for some reason. The woman came back and cleared her throat. "We don't serve people like you. Leave. Now." the woman said harshly. "Wait, why?" Nadia asked, but the woman just yelled leave at her. Nadia backed away and turned to run out, but a man put his foot out and she tripped over it. "Hehehe. Filthy bitch." The man said as people around began laughing at her. Nadia's eyes filled up with tears and she stood up as fast as she could. She ran off, running until she found a place to hide. Luckily, she came to an alley away from the people about two hundred yards away and finally stopped. She sat down, curled her knees to her chest, and held her head as a headache began coming on.

Nadia seemed to perk up pretty well.  Though it was strange, when Snopy went to apologize she acted like she didn't remember.  In fact, she flat out claimed that she didn't remember.  "What, it was back...I...I don't...you know what, just know that I am sorry about it."  That was when her stomach growled and, embarrassed, she motioned that she was hungry.  When he brought up the idea of food, she got really excited and ran in circles.  It was kind of adorable.  A smile formed on his face, in a strange way he was kind of fond of her company.  Suddenly, his hand was grabbed and she started to pull him forward.  With a slight "woah" he tightened his grip on Ahri to make sure he didn't drop her.  They came into the restaurant, his hand still being held, and Nadia asked for a table.  He looked at the woman at the register.  Shit I don't like where this is going.  What the fuck was wrong with humanity, the racism was fucking palpable.  As Nadia looked around, her happiness seemed to quickly fade.  "Nadia...please stay close to me, I have a bad feeling about this."  He gripped her hand almost protectively as they waited, but soon her hand dropped out of his anyway.  He looked down to Nadia.  "Nadia...you okay?"  He asked worried.  Then the woman came back.  She told them to leave, and in the most harsh way she could.  The woman yelled, and Snopy was pissed off in an instant.  "Hey, don't you..."  Then he turned as someone tripped Nadia and she fell over onto the ground.  "Nadia!"  

Snopy went to go help her but she jumped up and ran as fast as she could.  "Nadia wait!"  Snopy began to follow, but turned for a brief moment.  "You people are the real filth, you're bigotry is appalling, karma will get back at you."  Snopy turned and saw Nadia in the distance and ran off to chase her.  She was a quick little one, but he managed to keep an eye on her until she darted off to the right.  Snopy kept close track of distances and ran, making sure to judge how far he ran using the buildings he passed.  Finally he came to where he thought he saw her turn, and went in to follow her.  It was an alleyway, and lo and behold Nadia was sitting against a wall curled up and holding her head.  "Nadia..."  He said with concern as he ran over to her.  "Nadia...it's okay Nadia."  He said once more as he got down to sit on his knees.  "Nadia, they're just stupid and afraid of anything different.  You're an incredibly sweet girl, the only ones who were filthy were those people for how they treated you."  Snopy put one hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry, you aren't alone.  I'm here for you if it means anything, you aren't alone."  Snopy didn't really know how to comfort someone he just met, he couldn't say things as if he had known her a long time.  However, the grip on her shoulder was gentle, but firm, in a way many people would find comforting.  If she looked into his eyes, he would see sincerity and it was obvious he was worried about her.  When he said that he was there for her and that she wasn't alone, there was a gentle smile.  It didn't really show happiness, what the smile showed was that he was going to be there for her if she'd accept it.

"Ow... Ow.... It hurts..." Nadia whined as she sat in the alley way, alone for a few moments. She gripped her head tighter. She could feel the blood rushing, her head pounding violently, and causing the headache to get worse. "Nadia..." she heard a familiar voice, one she hadn't heard in a long time, "Nadia...it's okay Nadia." She heard the voice continue on, but couldn't pinpoint who the voice belonged to. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and the memory of a man's smile flashed in her mind. "Daddy!?" Nadia said and her head shot upwards and her gaze met Snopy's. She saw him, her Father, for just a single moment. He was there for that moment and then he was gone. Nadia blinked once when she realized that her Father vanished. "A memory..." she whispered and began looking around. "Oh yeah... He's gone..." Nadia thought as a saddened expression came onto her face. She looked down for a moment and then back up to Snopy. "Hiya!" Nadia perked up very quickly and then her stomach growled again. This time, Nadia was not embarrassed by it. Instead, she smiled cheerfully and said, "What are we doing here? Let's go get something to eat! My tummy is hungry!" Nadia pat Ahri's head a single time and then hopped to her feet. With a spring in her step, Nadia hopped out from the alley and into the street. She looked up and down, noticing that they weren't in the busy part of town. "Hm... I think that's the best way to go!" Nadia said and pointed down the street, right back towards the area where they had been before. There are other places that were more isolated from the busy area, but Nadia was the friendly type with an unfortunate memory problem. Unfortunately for Snopy, who would be completely unaware of the situation, she had completely forgotten that she had just been kicked out of a restaurant and tripped to the ground by people who wouldn't even give her a first chance. Now, she was ready and willing to go back. Why? She couldn't remember!

As Snopy went to comfort Nadia, her gaze met his.  There was something strange about the way she looked at him for that brief moment, she even said "Daddy!?"   Snopy was caught a little off guard, he was most certainly not this girl's father and he probably wasn't cut out to be a father in the first place.  "Huh?"  Snopy was thrown off guard, so he didn't hear her whisper that it was a memory.  "Why...did you just say daddy?"  And like that, it was gone.  Nadia suddenly perked up.  Snopy blinked.  Hiya?  What the hell did that mean, she was just sitting in the corner crying and now it was just "hiya".  She asked what they were doing there and said that she wanted something to eat.  "What do you mean, 'What are we doing here?'  You're the one who ran this way!"  Nadia still took no time to hop to her feet and rush out of the alleyway, to which Snopy quickly followed.  Nadia looked around before saying that was the best way to go.  "That" was the direction they just came from.

"Nadia!  What are you doing!?"  Snopy said as he rushed out of the alleyway.  "We just came from that direction.  Don't you remember?  We tried to get something to eat and everyone was cruel to you?"  Snopy was extremely confused.  "You seem to have forgotten..."  What was going on was a mystery.  She was forgetting things, and it seemed like there could be a pattern.  The question was, why was she forgetting things.  "People around there aren't very nice, they say a lot of nasty things."  He began to speak in a way Nadia would easily understand, but he did not speak in a condescending manner.  "I think we should grab a hotel room first.  Then I can go get some food and bring it back to the room, and we can just relax and rest after a long day."  Snopy clapped his hands together.  "I'll even get you some sweet and tasty pastries if we can get a hotel room and rest in there."  Snopy smiled as he tried to convince Nadia.  He just wanted to keep her happy for now, after what happened she deserved as much.  If she said no, he would reply with a, "Pleeeeeaaase?  It would mean a lot to me."