“We will check when the others get back. I am sure that one day you will make a fine animal doctor,” he smiled at her then as he addressed that issue. Let the younger lads do all the work, besides Bishop had his Blessing and may be able to do something about matters than none of them could do otherwise.

He smiled at her though and patted the back of her hand. “That is quiet alright. I am assuming that your name corresponds to the Princess' name. Mine is Darren. I have been a servant of your … the Princess' family for seventy-two years now, practically all my life since I was six.”

He allowed that to sink in. “I am sure this is all rather overwhelming for you. Of course there are few options open to use and I am certain you desire to go back to your own Shadow but I still need a Princess to find. In the meantime perhaps we can help one another out.”

At the man's reassurance, Merideth managed a brief, but real smile, giving a little nod. "Th-Thank you. I... I hope I will." And as he patted her hand, she managed to not tense up at all. She actually felt pretty safe around him, which isn't something that happened often.

"It's... ah... it's a pleasure to meet you, Darren," she told him. "I... I really would like to... to go back home, but... I... I already have a feeling that... that it won't be that easy." She smiles weakly. "If... I mean, if... if possible, I'd... I'd like to... to help any way I can."

Why not? She isn't going anywhere else, obviously. Might as well give into the madness.

"Just, ah... J-Just tell me what I can do."

“I'm not versed in magic but walking the Shadow is actually pretty easy for a spellcaster anyway. I wouldn't know about it but I do have a few contacts that maybe able to help out. A near death experience should give you a reprieve from this marriage for a little while at least so there are a few people that I could talk to that have a better understanding of magic, there may be one that we pull into our folds.”

Darren considered. “The pleasure is all mine of course but to avoid unnecessary blood shed and panic right now we can assume that you are the Princess until we work out what has happened to her and work out how to get you back home. It seems that all we need to do is wait. Ah, here comes someone now.”

Darren pointed out a figure wondering which of the two brothers that it was that had been approaching them at the time.

"R...Right. Of... Of course." Merideth acting in the place of a princess... She can only imagine how well this is going to go.

Of course, she knew about some typical princess-y behaviors. She read the books. Part of the thing is, she knew absolutely nothing about this particular princess, other than the fact that they have the same name and, presumably, the same physical appearance. For all she knew, "Princess Merideth" could be a sword-toting action-princess who led her troops into battle! Or she could be a graceful, ladylike princess whose sweet words could cull the anger of any a beast. She honestly had no idea, and probably would have asked Darren, were it not for the fact that someone already arrived.

Ohno. Okay... Okay, Merideth, just... keep quiet for now.

She's good at keeping quiet.

She looks away cautiously as the man approaches. She has to look... shaken. Or something. That would give her a good excuse to keep quiet. She needs to listen in and figure out just how to handle things.

There wee many questions of course about the nature of the princess that had to be unanswered as someone arrived. Darren waited as he watched. It was Bishop. Of course his Blessing could tell him that Merideth was found.

Bishop was a large man, broad chest, deep blue eyes and nearly seen feet in height. He was wearing tins of jewelry and wore some sort of silver holy symbol, a sun being gripped by a dragon's claw.

His staff was as long as he was tall, thick polished wood capped with the some symbol that he wore about his chest.

Despite The chill of the mountain he wore a vest that had been showing off his broad chest, He glided towards the carriage rather than walked as if he were using some sort of magic. Bishop soon arrived at the carriage.

“Your, Highness. You are well?” He was looking at her studying her strange clothes but saying nothing about them.

Despite her attempts at trying to look disturbed and mentally scarred and all that, Merideth couldn't help but steal a glance in the man's direction as he made his way over. The glance stayed. My goodness, was he tall! She was fairly certain she hadn't seen anyone quite this tall in her entire life! And such interesting eyes...

...Not that... she was really into that sort of thing, of course.

Also, he was moving oddly. As if his feet were off the ground. But that couldn't have been possible, could it...? ...Oh. Right. Magic. Apparently, that existed here. She'd really have to get used to that.

It took her a moment to realize that she was supposed to respond to his query. She averts her gaze, looking to her hands again. "...Y...Yes. Thank you... very much for your concern. I... I just need a little rest."

She carefully tried to tiptoe her way around actually using the man's name, which she had no idea what it was. She was definitely going to have to talk to Darren about this later, see who else's name she'd need to have to remember in order to pull off this posing-as-a-princess plan... or who else's face, even. What if she doesn't even recognize her own "father"? That would certainly raise some red flags, that was for certain.

She tried to sneak a glance back at Darren, doing her best to get a certain thought across: Please help! Am I doing this right?! Of course, he wouldn't be able to hear her, especially since she didn't have any sort of magic (other than the "magic" of being cursed with the weirdest possible luck), and she was pretty sure that he didn't have any magic, either.

She makes eye contact with Darren who fortunately was smart enough to know what she was thinking. He pointed along the path that he had found her among. “Down that way, Bishop in a rock slid that the Princess narrowly avoided. Would you happen to have any Blessings that could help excavate the earth or should we wait for Hunter and do things the old fashioned way?

Beyond the rock slid in a cave where a bird is trapped that our Highness wishes to free from it’s prison of stone.” He had hoped that was a sufficient way of letting her know who they were dealing with. By default the other gentleman they would meet up here was Hunter.

He got out of the carriage now allowing Merideth to exit as well. He fell in step with her as he allowed her to lead the way though when he stepped closer to her he whispered.

"I have a few Blessings thad may be useful."

“Is there something wrong with your eyes? You keep squinting. There are means that can fix that ...”

Merideth listened carefully to Darren, giving a slight nod. So this one was Bishop... That was good to know. So if the other young man came here, then he would probably be "Hunter", who would most likely some sort of tracker (if his name was any indication, as it seemed to be with Bishop).

She made her way out of the carriage, feeling a little stronger than she had before, now that she had a little time to rest and relax. She was still perhaps a little slower than she could have been, though.

As Bishop came a little bit closer to her and whispered, she tensed up a little bit. The way he towered over her like that was, she had to admit, a tiny bit unnerving, though he seemed to be a good man... Still, she tended to shy away from physical contact and proximity. She just hoped that any hesitation on her part wouldn't give her away.

"Ah... um. Actually, I do seem to be having a little trouble with my eyes, for some reason. If you were to... do something to help, I would be most gracious... If you'd please."

Having a little better eyesight would probably make walking around in the mountains a little easier... and a lot less dangerous, for that matter. Besides, she was almost certain that she'd left her glasses in her own "Shadow", and if she was going to be here for as long as she feared she was, having better eyesight would be very useful.

Bishop stopped. He smiled at her and light grasped each side of her head as he leaned his staff against his broad chest. He did not even stop to see if there were anything in her eyes, he simply made a brief incantation and a green warming light spread over his palms and seeped directly into her head as the curative magic washed over her.

Her vision, clouded as it were cleared up at once. It was as if she were wearing her classes. She had no idea if the affect was permeant or not, if it regenerated damaged areas of the eye briefly or permanently but Bishop smiled, released his light hold on the 'Princess' and traveled on.

The trio soon arrived at the rock slide and appraised the damage. Proceeding from here would be slow work had it not been for Bishop pounding the end of his staff on the ground and splitting the rocks in a wide path that they continued down. Shaping the earth was a moderate technique but the way the man was tossing around magic probably meant he was either very powerful or very comfortable with what he did possess. They proceed on until they got to the cave, found that rock covered it and Bishop had no trouble spitting that rock just as well though there was no bird inside, merely a cave that was vacant. There was a pedestal here as well as an orb but no bird.

Merideth tensed up slightly as the man grasped each side of her head, not quite sure what he was doing at first, then made herself relax, knowing that this man wouldn't hurt her. Sure enough, the man's blessing didn't hurt her at all. It was all rather fascinating, to be honest. She felt the warmth emit from his hands, going directly into her head, then to her eyes. Her eyes widened and blinked a few times, the little details in the background suddenly coming into much clearer view. It was very much like the first time that she'd ever put on glasses; The only difference being the lack of substantial weight on the bridge of her nose. Her surroundings suddenly seemed much more vibrant, more alive.

She couldn't help the warm smile growing across her face. "Thank you, Bishop." This was much better.

They traveled on towards the cave, and she watched in awe as Bishop cleared the path with incredible ease, wondering just how powerful he really was. He'd done these things almost as if they had been nothing at all. And if this was easy for him... then what sort of feats was he capable of if he was really trying? She would have to ask Darren about this later on. She wasn't sure how much Darren knew about Bishop's abilities, but she knew that, in the very least, he knew about the man better than she currently did.

"That's... unusual," she commented as no bird was found. She deduced within her mind that the bird could have been left in the other "Shadow", although... it had been there before she left the cave. She saw it. ...She thought. And that brought up another question: When exactly was it, that she had traveled into this particular "Shadow"? Had it been just before she emerged from the cave? Or perhaps the bird had followed her here, then went back? Or perhaps...

"I... I suppose that... I... I could have seen something else in there. My eyesight was pretty hazy..." She goes a little red, suddenly feeling a little awkward. Even if Bishop hadn't really done much to clear the path, she was still embarrassed for wasting their time.

“Your welcome, Princess,” Bishop responded. It was an easier Blessing,not a novice one but one a beginning picked up early on. He had no need to really think of it as he smiled at her. He nods and continues on.

It is then that she realizes that if she were a Princess in this reality or mistaken as one that the people searching for her would have some powerful individuals looking for her. Darren may have been hear because of a personnel interest.

It was a tight squeeze for Bishop when they were in the cave but neither man chastised her. She would remember that the bird vanished for about ten minutes before she arrived here so maybe it arrived first and simply left the cave. It was possible but neither man was calling her out on it.

Bishop did inspect the orb though, then snapped his head at the Princess. “You are not from this reality! At least your mind isn't ...”

She really wasn't used to all this sort of attention, that was for certain. Merideth was more used to being the background girl, the one no one really noticed, and if they did, then it was to chastise her and to tell her to stop knocking things over. But here, even though it wasn't quite here, she was still considered a princess. Of course, she had every intention in the world to help them find the real princess. She certainly didn't intend to stay here for forever. But for now, she would have to stand in for "Princess Merideth", being... someone important. Being someone that people really, honestly cared about.

She knew that it was only for a little while, but just this one time... just for a little while...

“You are not from this reality! At least your mind isn't ...”

...

Welp. It was nice while it lasted.

""I'M SORRY!!" she yelped, folding into herself, all princessliness gone. "I'mreallynottryingtocauseanyoneanytroubleandIgotherebyACCIDENTandI'mjusttryingtoDOMYBESTtostandinuntil--" She did her best to catch her breath, something of a panic attack building up within her chest. "...until... w...we find... the... the real... one..."

She turned her pleading gaze towards Bishop, hoping that he understood. "P...Please... don't tell anyone..."

“What do you mean not the real Princess!” Darren snapped as if surprised at the words.

Bishop gazed at the orb again. “This is an orb of Transference. It sends your mind into the body of a simulacrum that you had manufactured so you can see through it's eyes without leaving your Shadow. It is so you do not harm yourself in the long run and don't need the same powers to travel other Shadows. Not everyone has such incredible magic.”

Merideth had uttered her apology and confession though Darren was shaking his head. “If that was the case why is the simulacrum here? Why is her attire not that of the Princess? For that matter I do not believe her to be a simulacrum. It is true her Highness did have a sea of body doubles but this being a tool to transfer souls seems a bit absurd.”

Bishop rubbed his chin as he considered. Right. There were some valid points there but still …

“Malfunction? The power supply on this end is depleted. I can only guess … perhaps the Princess was using it here and her simulacrum just happened to be near the other at the time and they switched positions?”

Darren shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine but you ought to realize she is not a simulacrum of our Princess. Her knowledge is different -”

“Then she must have and orb in her reality that responded when our Princess tried to use her own, pretty much the call got redirected.”

Bishop looked at the girl, appraised her then thought. “The secret's safe provide I don't get ordered to do foolish things, agreed? In the meantime after I get you safely back to the castle I will come back out here and study this mess a little more.”