West of Crysta - Ye Olde Carp Fishing Ponds
A gap between the trees widens into a large clearing, surrounded by
dense, leafy trees. A large, deep pond sits in the middle of it, surrounded
by a ring of packed earth. Dragonflies skim the surface, occasionally eaten
by a fish when they get too close. The sun beams down at an angle over the
trees, so that half the rim of the pond is warm and sunny, while the rest is
cool and shady. A packed dirt path on the south side leads to a small
wooden shack.

Throughout the night, Ambience had somehow managed to tangle himself up in the blanket(s) he'd been given to sleep with, but he still slumbers on, unaware; he's apparently just a mobile sleeper. Nearby however, someone else has already begun to stir; with a few hind-leg kicks at the dirt and leaves, the centaur girl rouses herself blearily, gathering into a laying position, but at least not on her side anymore. She doesn't say anything for a long time, apparently needing some time to take in her surroundings, as well as the nearby forms of Ambience and Rarity.

For her part, Rarity's curled up near the campfire she'd set up, snoring softly with one foreleg exposed above her now-wrinkled blanket. As such, she fails to notice that her 'charge' is waking up.

After a short time of watching the sleeping forms of Rarity and Ambience, the girl tries to get to her feet upright, but stumbles somewhat, bracing herself against a nearby tree and probably causing a bit of noise from the scattering of leaves in the process. A fancily-wrought elven longbow is lying in the dirt behind her, as visible once she gets up, as is a hide quiver with a good many arrows still inside.

Ambience rolls somewhat, tangling himself in his blanket further. The impression is easily attained that he isn't a morning person.

"Mmh..." With a squint, and a yawn into her right forehoof, Rarity groggily stirs, before finally levitating the blanket off of her and rising to prepare for the day ahead. The effort to stand catches her attention, however, and the marshmallow-furred unicorn turns to greet her now-awake companion. "What a restful night... Oh, good to see you're finally awake, darling."

The centaur girl freezes like the proverbial deer-in-headlights, but she doesn't seem overly terrified; at least, one could probably assume she's just a smidge more glad to see a sentient unicorn and a sleeping boy than another pack of wolves. She hesitates for a long while, before finally speaking in a low, unsure, but perfectly common tongue. "You... you can talk?" Nearby, Ambience blinks in a bout of grogginess, apparently on the verge of awakening by this time, himself.

She looks down at herself just then, apparently realizing that, besides actually being ALIVE, she's pretty much uninjured. And very much confused by it, with a glance down at Ambience and then back up fully at Rarity again, blinking wide green eyes.

"Why yes, darling. I can indeed talk, and I also tended to your injuries while you were unconscious." At the moment you stirs, Rarity's packing her bed into both of her saddlebags with a small flare of magic from her horn.

The centaur girl seems a little confused. Sure, Rarity looked different than any horse she'd ever seen. Well, any horse like her. But still... she shakes her head, taking a moment to try and more fully understand her surroundings, as Ambience goes about waking himself up more prominently, rubbing his eyes as he sits upright. "Where... where is this? Where am I? Is this Kurz?"

"I'm not quite sure this is 'Kurz', darling... I do believe it's called Crysta, however. Oh, and where are my manners? My name is Rarity, and you was quite concerned about how badly you were hurt."

Ambience turns somewhat, still sitting on his behind in the mess of blanket. His sheathed weapon hangs loosely from one shoulder, and he squints up at the girl and Rarity both, looking from the latter to the former. "Are you okay..? Those wolves tore you up pretty good, but..." He pauses, for an interrupting yawn. "I'm glad... we were able to help."

In light of this information, the girl frowns softly, but poises her hind legs back somewhat to offer a low-sweeping bow, respectfully. "I am not unappreciative, please understand... but I am still very confused. By Crysta, do you mean... Caer Fandry? How did I get way up north..?" 'Confused' seems only like a marginal term for this girl, at the moment, as Ambience pulls himself free of the blankets.

With a courteous bow, Rarity turns to finish packing the rest of her supplies away with more magic, though she still keeps an eye on the unfamiliar centaur-girl. "I can't say for certain, dear. And I'll do what I can to clarify the matter for you."

Ambience finally gets to his feet, noting Rarity's ambitions to get her things together, and takes it upon himself to attemptedly fold up the blankets as neatly as he seems able, through the occasional yawn of a still-waking-up boy that he is.

Still frowning to herself, the girl trots a few paces away, stooping over to reclaim her bow and quiver, slinging the latter over her shoulder. She walks by Ambience as this happens, and as his level of alertness rises from being awake, he seems to realize something... and abruptly swivels around to face away from her, his face turning a bright shade of crimson, though he doesn't verbally acknowledge anything.

Ambience seems to hasten his pace of helping to get things packed back up, though, if nothing else.

The sudden reaction has Rarity raising a deep purple eyebrow questioningly and looking between you and the other girl with a faint trace of confusion. "...may I ask what's going on? It looks like you just drank some concentrated rainbow, or spicy food..."

Ambience doesn't say anything for the length of time he spends finishing the folding, but when he does, and lays them out in a nice little spot in front of him, he still remains where he is, even as the centaur girl behind him trots around in apparent surveillance of the area, seemingly trying to get a grip on where she currently is.

Ambience glances sideways at Rarity, his face still considerably crimson. "She... she's not wearing a... uh..." He stammers somewhat, though his point may or may not have gotten across. Obliviously, the centaur does indeed seem to be lacking in any sort of attire, though it seems obvious that this is the least of her worries.

"...oh, I see." In stark contrast to her pearl-colored fur, an embarrassed flush finds its way onto Rarity's face, before she shakes her head and gets to work designing high-quality clothes - and undergarments, as well - for the other girl. "W-well... I certainly can't let an insult to her image go uncorrected."

In the meantime, the girl seems to be inclined toward wandering off, with or without Ambience and Rarity's consent. She squints toward the east, noting the village that lay on the other side. "It sure looks like Kurz... She heads quietly toward it, stepping around a few sticks and fallen branches as she does, holding her longbow in a nonaggressive manner.

Ambience watches Rarity as his blush diminishes, but seems unaware of the girl's attempts at leaving. His embarassment is quite a sight to behold, given his chivalrous fervor only the night before during the attack.

Even as she keeps working on the design for the clothes, Rarity's watching the sunset, though the departure of the centaur-girl redirects her focus, and prompts the white-furred Element-bearer to slowly start following.

Ambience looks up as Rarity begins leaving, and not sure of what to expect next, hastily picks up the blanket(s) and pillow he'd help prepare for putting up, taking utmost care to avert his eyes from the centaur herself.

Tantamount to this, the girl turns halfway toward Rarity and Ambience, offering a half-bow of gratitude. "I wish I could thank you more for your help. But I need to go... find out where the rest of my clan is. I bet Molly would know, but I'd have to get back to Leinster to find her." She waves lightly, and prepares to leave.

However, in spite of her effort to keep their 'companion' in her field of vision, Rarity's also moving slowly enough to allow you to keep pace with her as the now-finished clothes float lazily to the girl, cocooned in a shroud of magic. "I'm quite glad to have been able to help you, and be safe, dear. Take these with you."

Ambience stops, thankfully able to hold the blankets and pillow high enough to block his vision ahead. The centaur looks at the floating garments for a moment, then at Rarity, puzzled. "For me? But I have no place to put them... I seem to have lost my satchel when I was attacked."

Despite Ambience's reaction and Rarity's insistence, the girl seems completely oblivious to the purpose of this offering, other than a simple gift or cloth trinket to bring along with her, out of goodwill perhaps.

In a clear display of the Element she represents, Rarity focuses on emptying one of her saddlebags completely, before redistributing the former contents in the remaining one and levitating the other over to the girl. "Well, that simply won't do then. Take one of mine, so you have a way of carrying whatever you've got. Consider it a gift."

The centaur girl blinks, completely not expecting such a generous offering. Unsure of whether it would be considered rude or not to decline, she instead takes it happily, draping it over her backside and situating it where it belongs, before taking a moment to also place the clothing inside, closing it with a pleased smile. Ambience happens to look around the blankets he's carrying at this time, thinking that she'd dressed herself, but only gets another face of crimson when he realize she's still quite bare-chested, and abruptly hides his face behind his held articles. Nevertheless, the girl nods at them, Ambience included. "Thank you.. Rarity, was it? And you as well, two-legger. I am called 'Alyss', and I hope that we will cross paths again. For now, I should be off. The two of you be careful as well, on your journeys."

Rarity says 'Farewell, Alyss, and may Celestia provide you with the guidance to your home.'

She smiles pleasantly, and turns, trotting off in the direction of the village before breaking into a full-blown gallop once she is a reasonable distance away from Ambience and Rarity. The former lowers his carryings after a time, once he hears that 'Alyss' has departed, looking up at Rarity in confusion. "That was awfully nice of you. Do you do these kinds of things for everyone..?"

Once she's sure Alyss has departed, Rarity nods, turning to you and sitting down to adjust her mane. "I do, as I represent the Element of Generosity in my world. While I may want to do things for myself on occasion... I do, more often than not, put others first, and even make sacrifices of what I have."

Ambience considers this for a moment, thinking back on what he'd been through up to this point, before recalling what it was about this... girl, as he may have considered her even beyond her pony features, that grabbed his attention most: the whole Wishborn thing. Still, even if he didn't quite agree with their methodology, he couldn't neglect the fact that she was holding true to her words in every possible way.

"I... see what you mean. You helped both of us, now. I think I owe you an apology if I still seemed uncertain 'bout your motives, up to this time. I'm still.. tryin' to figure things out, I guess." Ambience shakes his head lightly, but manages a small smile of sincerity.

Rarity says 'Oh, no, Ambience. I understand why you had those doubts about me, and you were right to have them. I may not be as intelligent as Twilight, but it's fair, I suppose, since I just suddenly appeared to help you, without being asked to.'

Though Ambience doesn't really know of this 'Twilight' Rarity is referring to, he decides not to bring it up, specifically. Instead, he opts to broaden the scope just a bit. "So you weren't born here, I take it? Did you come from somewhere outside, too? I kinda wondered, since you are mentionin' things off and on that sound like they all come from the same place, but not here."

With a small smile, Rarity turns her gaze to the sky above, watching the stars and remaining seated. "Yes, I wasn't born here. I'm from a country known as Equestria, and one of its six guardians, who all wield the Elements of Harmony. I'm originally from the capital, Canterlot."

Ambience follows Rarity's gaze upwards, even if there wasn't intended to actually be something there to look at besides the sky. "How did'ja wind up here, then? It sounds like you had a pretty important job..."

Rarity says 'I daresay there was just a portal that opened above my boutique, and pulled only me in.'

A notion goes off in the boy's head, as Ambience levels out his red-eyed gaze to look more fully at Rarity. "You got separated from the rest of your friends...?"

Rarity nods, turning pensive for just a moment before smiling again. "I did, yes, but - through the Elements of Harmony - I can still feel the connection we share, and it's enough comfort to know that they're going to show up here to support me."

Ambience seems a little less sure than Rarity does at this idea. Technically, he wasn't born here either, but it was a lot closer than Rarity likely was. Deciding to wait for another time to try and describe his conception, he instead nods in attempted understanding. "I'm glad t'hear you're optimistic about it. Just... be careful, with what you've gotten yourself into. Even if it was your choice, you seem like a nice... girl." He seems a little uneasy, perhaps even slightly embarassed with how he was acting. Even so, Ambience nods anyway. "It would be sad to see something happen to you, if I couldn't be there to protect you the same way you helped protect me."

Rarity says 'You certainly are very kind, and also very sweet, almost like two of my closest friends... Thank you, Ambience.'

Ambience scratches his head idly, trying not to let the embarassment spread any further across his face than it already likely was. "It's okay. Are you stayin' in Truce?"

Ambience considers for a moment, the gears in his head turning. "I'd see if you wanted to stay at me and my Da's place until you got a place set up, but I live a bit far from Truce. How about I walk you there anyway, before I head home myself?"

Ambience catches himself, and quickly adds. "To Truce, I mean."

Rarity says 'I would feel bad for imposing, to say nothing of how your parents might react to knowing that one of their guests is a speech-capable pony and the bearer of a powerful artifact. But if you, and they, insist... Then I just can't refuse.'

Ambience nods, hoisting the blankets and pillow he's still carrying up to this point, and apparently not seeming to mind the mixup in context of his words. "It'll be okay. If anything, Da'll be glad someone else was helping keep me safe, as he always worries. I'm pretty good at takin' care of myself, but y'know... sometimes, stuff happens." He says this matter of factly, as he heads on back toward Crysta, seeming a bit brighter in overall spirit. "Yeah. Stuff happens."

Rarity slowly keeps pace, pausing long enough to hide a yawn with one upturned hoof.