He'd made it this far without an inkling as to how. Sheer force of will, maybe, if he had to make a guess, but his thoughts and energy were better focused on other things right now. They'd been at this since mid-morning, his pursuers and he, and by now the day had sunk into mid-afternoon.

Exhausted completely, the aerkai collapsed first to his knees and then right over, falling by a pool at the base of the Sundered Falls, and in his haze he attempted to collect himself. It seemed the tribes people had not followed him out here. He couldn't guess as to why - some religious nonsense, perhaps - but he considered himself lucky nonetheless.

He lay prone awhile. He'd forgotten about the pain as he ran, but now that his adrenaline had vanished, the pain returned with a vengeance. Shifting himself up to sit, he made a quick inventory of the damage: nicks here and there, but the worst had to be the lacerations about his calves, which had even cut right through his pant legs. Damn whips had done a number on him - he'd thought himself captured back then for sure. He could still move, if gingerly, but the wounds could cause problems very quickly if left untended.

He cursed beneath his breath and shifted toward the pool of water, then froze, eyes wide with surprise. He'd been so wrapped up in the aftermath of his escape that he'd not noticed, but it was obvious now: he wasn't as alone as he'd thought.

Quietly a young woman picked her way through the terrain, making sure to avoid causing too much noise. Yes, she smelled of herbs she used for healing (which she was still a bit of an amateur at), although she doubted that anything other than animals would catch a whiff of the herbal smell. With her bag slung over her shoulders, Silvia looked around for herbs that she might be able to identify, and hopefully some that would be ideal to add to get small supply of healing herbs.

"No… That won't do either….maybe-erm…no…those aren't right…" The young platinum blonde woman sighed softly as she failed to find anything easily. "I wish I had an herb catalogue…that would be so helpful…." she mumbled to herself, getting ever closer to where the Aerkai was located.

Thinking the water might provide an adequate location for certain herbs she needed to grow, the woman made her way that way and that's when she saw the man. Her hands immediately covered her mouth as she made an attempt to stifle the yelp-like gasp that bubbled up from her chest. The wounds on the man's legs drew the most of Silvia's attention. Her soft, light brown colored eyes went wide as her whole face expressed her concern for the man.

Without a word, Silvia carefully picked her way over to the man. She was cautious, as She knew not if the man may attack her. It was very apparent that he was week, but she had no way of knowing how he may retaliate. "I'm just here to help." She said in a calm, very sympathetic and compassionate tone. She just had to hope he believed her and would allow her to help. And yes, she was far from the best healer; however, she was determined to do her best anyhow. With what herbs she had.

He smelled her before he saw or heard her. An aerkai's nose was easily many stronger than that of a normal human - for better or worse. The stench of his own blood, dried and fresh, had overwhelmed him initially, but the herbs and their drawing proximity shifted his attention before long.

He tilted his head to glance in her direction, and that alone seemed to expend so much energy. Weary, he but lifted his brows in response to her semi-covered gasp. He felt downright awful, sure, but he hadn't guessed he looked quite that bad. The face she'd made upon examining him was enough to divert his gaze. Such concern, for a stranger such as he… Hmph. Folly.

Frey looked back only when she spoke out to him. He hummed quietly in thought a moment, making a show of considering her intentions, then nodded. He didn't need anyone worrying after him. He'd managed this far on his own. But aerkae could not heal with magic, and she had herbs on her - some of them medicinal, if his nose was any good - and she was offering to help… "You have nothing to fear from me, in that case."

He tried an encouraging smile. "My name is Frey." He gave a mock salute with his skeletal arm. "And yours?"

Silvia rooted through her bag almost instantly, hoping that the little herb store she had would contain enough to at least prevent infection. She would need to gather more herbs from the surrounding area if she wanted to make something to help the man's wounds heal quicker than they would on their own. "Oh bother…. where…there they are…" Silvia mumbled to herself as she searched for her herbs. There wasn't much at all, but she went to work at making a poultice. She would just need to worry about keeping it in place, once it was applied to the wounds.

She soon began dressing the wounds, seeming to be lost in her work, wanting it to be perfect. The young woman hadn't noticed the man's, who had now introduced himself as Frey, arm right away. Therefore she began looking up to introduce herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Frey. I'm Silv-" she cut herself off as she suddenly took notice to Frey's arm. Her soft brown eyes grew huge as they passed from the man's arm to his face, and back again. "Umm…should I be concerned about your arm as well?" She asked, her voice a slight bit higher pitched than it had originally been when first speaking to the man. Herbs, Silvia knew, wouldn't be able to fix that. It did appear to have been that way for a long time; however, she hadn't a clue if someone had potentially used some horrible magic on the man to make it appear as if the arm was like this for a long length of time. So many thoughts buzzed through the poor woman's head she had to put a hand on her forehead in an attempt to stop the spinning sensation she felt.

He watched impassively as she got straight to work. Placing himself in another's care left him feeling uneasy. She seemed harmless enough at a glance, but looks could be deceiving - that there was a lesson he'd learned at great cost. As she began to dress the wounds, he accommodated her best as he could, shifting as required but otherwise remaining still. He did not wince at the pain, did not betray the extent of the state he was in. If she was any decent healer though, he mused privately, she already knew.

She had been about to introduce herself when her words caught midway. He didn't have to trace her gaze to know where she was looking. His arm. The mage grimaced and shook his head, averting his gaze as he pulled the arm to his chest as though in an attempt to hide it. It was, of course, far too late for that. "No. It's beyond help. Don't concern yourself with it." Then, in an afterthought: "Sorry. I forget sometimes that it's not exactly… normal. It's been that way a long time."

His frown knit tighter as the woman - a stranger still, given he'd not finished receiving her name - looked faint a moment. "Are you quite all right, miss? If… if it's too much trouble or you are unwell, you can rescind your offer of help. I won't begrudge you for it."

Silvia pulled her hand from her forehead and blinked at Frey for a moment. She was still a bit shaken after seeing the man's arm, although she was not afraid. More concerned. "Oh…I see." Silvia mumbled. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have stared like I did. It was so very rude of me to do that…." She added in a slightly louder tone.

"Hmm…? Oh…I'm fine. I was just thinking too much. I've never seen this before, so I was really confused and was trying to think of anything that might help…but came up short. And if you say that it can't be helped…. Oh!" Silvia rattled on and then put her hand over her mouth, embarrassment emanating from her. "I'm Silvia." She finally introduced herself.

A sudden change in Silvia's expression came when she heard Frey telling her that she didn't have to help if she felt unwell. A frown had etched itself on the young woman's face as she looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "Absolutely not. I am not going to stop helping you until I know that you are fully well capable of managing on your own. And you are not going to make me stop. Unless you are willing to waste your energy to use magic to make me stop. Something I wouldn't advise you to do." She had her hands on her hips by this point as she looked at Frey with a disapproving gaze. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to keep on helping you. Whether you like it or not." She said in a firm, matter-of-fact kind of tone. With that she went back to checking the wounds she had cleaned up and bound, just to be sure that they were, in fact, bound properly that the poultices wouldn't come loose.

"It's fine," he said, hoping to assuage her need for concern, her seeming fears of having affronted him. He shook his head. "I'd be wont to stare, too, if I'd not already been saddled with the damn thing for years now." He cracked an awkward smile, hoping his joke - even if a poor attempt at one - might bring some levity to the meeting. Never mind that, though - she still looked faint, he thought, and so he couldn't help but ask after her own condition.

The answer he received startled him, to say the least. His brows shot up in a mix of surprise and uncertainty. Her frown did not bode well, he thought, and in the end he'd not anticipated wrong. A sudden fire had taken hold of the young woman, and Frey felt caught between being amused or being swept up into the flow of that same stubborn energy. After a moment's pause, the former won out, and the aerkai laughed. It was a genuine sound, if a bit strange-sounding - certainly, the aerkai, content to maintain his stoicism more often than not, had no laugh lines on his face to bear witness to, and did not give off the impression of a man who laughed easily.

Grateful for the release, he could but shake his head anew, his small smile grown sheepish. "No, no, worry not," he offered in hopes of placating her, "like I said, you've nothing to fear from me. I am grateful for your help. And, er, nice to meet you, Silvia." He nodded, and went back to being as model a patient as humanly possible. Still, curiosity was ever a present force in him and so, whilst he sat unable to do much, he watched, and he wondered.

"Say," he said, after a time, "how long have you been doing this? You seem to know your way."