Since she wasn't fully asleep yet, Nitika's sensitive ears easily picked up on the creature - though it sounded like more than one - approaching. The mare lifted her head, her tired blue eyes looking for the sound of hooves clattering on the earth, for it was what the noise sounded like. Within seconds, she spotted two creatures heading her way; one was a horse with a palomino coat, the other a deer with a medium colored coat and a fine rack of antlers upon its head.

But wait... were her eyes playing tricks on her? Those antlers, they didn't appear normal, like the ones she'd seen where she came from. Where was it she came from again?

With each stride the pair of strange ones got closer. Nitika, still on edge, tried to get back on her hooves, but she was just too worn out. With each effort she put in, her body gave into the strain, her muscles exhausted from her escape and her lungs still burning. Still, she tried, not wanting those others to get too close to her, worried what they might try to do.

On her final attempt, Nitika almost made it; she was up on her hooves and about to take a step closer to the water. The coolness of its embrace always made her feel safe for a reason; she couldn't explain it, she just liked the water. Maybe it had something to do with her hatred of fire? She really couldn't remember at this point.

Before she could take that one step though, her body gave out again. Worn from the effort it took to support her weight on three legs, she once again fell, her left front leg still slightly extended so the hoof was on the ground, as if she was preparing to get back up. Nitika wanted to try again, but too late, for the mare and the deer were already here.

Resigning herself to her temporary fate, Nitika looked the pair up and down as the mare spoke to her. Both of them gave Nitika an odd feeling; she'd never encountered a pair like this before, even if the mare seemed mostly normal. Her palomino coat glowed with health, her expressive eyes attributing to the curious and talkative persona she was currently displaying by talking to Nitika before the wounded mare could get a word in.

The stag was magnificent looking, with its extensive tines protruding from its skull in a wonderful display. His coat was a bit shaggy, probably due to the cold weather from wherever he came, but it did little to dampen his majesty. His antlers - wait, what in the world? They didn't look like anything Nitika had ever seen before. The rack of antlers were entwined with leaves and branches that appeared to have been picked and strung from the very forest around them. The strangest thing too; the flora appeared to literally be a part of the stag's antlers, as if he had been born that way. He didn't seem bothered by the plants in his antlers either; instead, his gaze was calm, much like the palomino mare's. Yet, for some reason, the steady look did little to relieve Nitika's nerves.

Her body as taut as a wire, the mare could do little but take in everything the palomino said. Committing it all to memory, Nitika ran through it in her mind, ignoring the aching in her head; the palomino's name was Raeden, she came from somewhere called World's Edge (quite a strange name), she said it was a place she could rest and find a healer, and that this strange stag with the flora rack of antlers was her companion, named Tin.

Suddenly, the ache in Nitika's head didn't seem all that out of place now. Not really believing with her own eyes yet, she simply thought she'd cracked after her wild run and escape mere moments ago.

But then, if this was truly all a dream, somehow, within her mind, then why did it feel so real to the point that her head hurt? She'd head dreams before that seemed quite real, but never felt anything like now. Her head, the cuts and scrapes on her body, her burning lungs and aching muscles...

She really didn't know what to think of it all. Not yet anyways, but she'd sort it out at a later time.

Looking up at the golden mare, Nitika finally spoke. Her voice was hoarse (pun intended) and raspy, evidence of either the mare screaming all the effort out of her lungs, or the result of a severely parched throat (that she was still feeling the effects of mind you). It rather sounded like a creature picking up a finely sharp rock and scraping it against another, moving repetitively back and forth at high speed.

"No, I'm not hurt. I'm simply laying here on the ground for the fun of it," Nitika replied harshly, her eyes narrowed in agitation. "World's Edge? What kind of place is that anyways? And healers? I think the term better off being used is plants," she said.

It was true, there were times Nitika had heard of when a member of her herd had gotten sick, then recovered a while afterward thanks to some plant that had somehow been discovered within their grazing grounds. Now, it didn't happen enough to become a regular occurrence, but Nitika had seen proof. Her own dam had come down with a nasty sickness when she was around four months old and still nursing. After going away from the herd one day to another part of the grove where they were grazing, Nitika's dam had stumbled upon a plant that smelled rather tasty. She ate a good amount, and felt fine within the next day or so.

Nitika had believed in such a thing ever since. Problem was, she didn't recognize anything around her; how was she to know what could help her? The cuts and scrapes couldn't be healed with plants; they'd go away in time. Her voice, well, it'd heal if she stopped talking. Her dry throat, lots of water and plants that absorbed a lot.

But then there was the matter of this mare and the odd stag. Why were they truly here? How had they discovered her? Last Nitika checked it was a pretty secluded area. Had they somehow known she'd be here? Were they in league with whoever had been chasing her before everything had gone dark?

Leaning back a little to keep the two creatures in full view, Nitika's blue eyes stared at them accusingly, "What do you really want? Why did you come here to find me?"

@Raeden