Fantasy Hunters' Journey [Closed]

[This Is Me]

Thelonious trained his eyes on the surrounding clearing, trying to concentrate rather than watch Lo wander round him in circles. The way she moved was effortless, a clear sign of the amount of training she'd been through over the years. He scratched behind his neck once more, his cheeks tinging red as he tried to find three things he could hit effortlessly, and coming up blank, bar for a tree, and there were plenty of them.

"Well, I'd say I can hit the tree directly in front of me." Knowing he would just from the sheer size of the trunk. It wasn't much of a task, but after his failed attempts with the deer, he was keen to show Lo that he could actually hit something. Turning in a slow circle, his eyes flickered around, searching. "I guess, the fallen log on the other side of the stream there." Thelonious said, motioning over to the log with a thick layer of green moss covering it. "And... as for a third thing, I guess I could try a branch on a tree? Would those three things work?" He turned to Lo, grinning sheepishly, knowing he probably hadn't spotted half the things she'd be able to point out.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren saw each of the three objects he named and nodded in satisfaction. It wasn't quite as difficult a challenge as she would have chosen herself, but at least he was trying. So instead of being disappointed in his selection, she smiled at him and gestured generally with her free hand, "Show me what you can do then." There was a hint of a playful challenge in her voice and she embedded her arrows in the soft dirt, turning her attention to her bow as she tugged on the bowstring to test the draw of the string. Meanwhile, out of the corner of her eye, she watched Thelonious ready himself for his task. She took note of his stance, the gentle wind playing through the leaves and branches, and the soft afternoon light that broke through the trees onto the clearing. She was curious to see how this man could shoot without having to hit a potentially moving target. After all, a good hunter wouldn't have to hit a moving target most of the time.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious nodded his head, grinning back to Lo when she agreed with his choices. If he could hit these straight off, then she had to be impressed with him. Notching his first arrow, he brought his bow up, taking a deep breath and concentrating on the tree in front of him. He steadied himself, trying to pay attention to everything happening in the surrounding area so he wouldn't have another mishap like earlier. With one final deep breath, he let his arrow fly and tried, but failed, to hold back his cheer when the arrow lodged into the bark.

"One down, two to go." Thelonious did the exact same thing for the fallen log across the river; notching his arrow, taking aim and letting his arrow fly once he'd calmed his breathing. Once again his arrow hit the fallen log with a thump, lodging itself between the moss. "Now, to completely impress you." Thelonious chuckled to himself after having sent a playful wink back to Lo.

This was the one that counted, so Thelonious took his time. Slowly, he noticed his arrow, and picking a middle sized branch from a tree in the opposite direction to his first shot, he steadied his aim. He noticed Lo watching him out of the corner of his eye, and his heart rate picked up just a tad. He had to get this. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated harder and let his arrow fly. Without realising that he'd closed his eyes in hope, Thelonious opened them again upon hearing the soft thump of his arrow making contact.

An infectious grin plastered itself across Thelonious' face as he turned to Lo and bowed. "I believe I completed the challenge."

 

[Arialianna]

Despite herself, Aanor'Loren let a small smile grow with each shot until she laughed softly after he struck the third target, touching two of her fingers to the back of her left hand in the traditional hunting signals her father had taught her. Then she let the smile fade and scanned the edge of the clearing for her targets. After a brief moment, she found them and dropped down into a low crouch, leaning away from her leading leg as she steadied the bow out at an angle in front of her. She kept her gaze focused, training her eyes on her target as her breathing slowed to a calmer rate. Then without hesitation, she drew and fired in the same motion, moving the bow as the arrow cleared the weapon towards her next target, or rather, where it would be when it heard the first arrow strike. Then she followed suit with her third arrow, waiting until all three had struck before straightening and looking to Thelonious with a self-satisfied smirk. "I figured you might need something to bring home for your family." She called, strolling over to where her first arrow had embedded itself in a tree. Retrieving that arrow, she turned her attention to the two rabbits she'd shot. The first one was clean, her arrow had pierced its neck and likely slain it instantly. However the second one, while still clean, had missed her mark. The arrow had gone off target or the rabbit hadn't reacted like she'd thought, because the shaft of the arrow had gone through its heart and ribs, and pinned the creature to the tree behind it.

She examined the rabbits with a soft whistling tune, mimicking the call of the nightingale without effort. Venari'fera swooped low, landing on her exposed shoulder at the sound and she smiled at the hawk, stroking his neck with a gentle touch. She looked up at Lone and gestured to the rabbits. "For you."

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious grinned when he heard Lo laugh and when he recognised one of the few hunting symbols he'd picked up on during the more recent months. Suddenly his grin dropped and turned into a soft smile, as he watched in awe as Lo stalked around the clearing and shot three arrows in quick succession. One day he wished to shoot and hunt just like her, it seemed as if it were second nature to her.

Following closely behind, and also trying to mimic how quietly Lo walked, Thelonious stood behind her as she examined the rabbits she shot. His eyes grew wide when she announced they were for him, and he suddenly stood back, shaking his head "I can't take those off you Lo. You shot them, and with such grace too I might add. I couldn't take the victory of such a hunt."

Thelonious tried to keep his eyes on Lo but they kept switching to staring at the hawk. He wanted to be able to run his fingers over the feathers, his calling to make odds with the wildlife building up inside of him. "Is that all for today then? I feel like you're trying to get me to leave you alone with the temptation of rabbits." He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck, still staring at the hawk.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren noticed his gaze on the hawk and glanced at her companion, holding out her arm with a soft whistle. Venari'fera hopped to her forearm, which she then extended towards Thelonious with a small smile. "Venari'fera loves it when you stroke his neck feathers." She said in a matter of fact tone. "And he won't bite, unless I want him to." she added the last bit with a playful smile.

"As for the rabbits," she began, turning her head to peer at the kills, "Are you sure you don't want them? I have plenty of food in my home, besides I wasn't hunting for need of food today. I was simply planning for the upcoming winter, the elders seem to think it will be a rough one." She said with a shrug, as if she didn't believe, or didn't care, what the elders said. "I've survived a few years out on my own, but it seems your folks might really enjoy a fine stew with freshly hunted rabbit. What do you think?" With a look at him, she absently tucked a wild strand of her hair behind her pointed ear, securing it before the wind picked up and wrestled the strands from their rest behind her ear. All the while, her bright green eyes watched Thelonious and scanned his facial expression out of habit.

 

[This Is Me]

The biggest grin bloomed across Thelonious's lips when Lo held her arm out for the hawk to move closer to him. His bright eyes lit up even further when she mentioned stroking him. He was like a giddy child all over again, and he wanted to try and play it cool, but also knew he was failing miserably. Thelonious still wasn't used to how easily she spoke elven words and the language, so he just shortened the hawks name, as he had done for Lo's. "Ven's absolutely magnificent." He whispered in awe as he reached out a hand to stroke down his neck feathers, the feeling light and smooth to the touch.

Continually stroking Venari'fera's feathers, Thelonious listened to Lo speak. He wondered what it would be like to be given advice for the upcoming seasons from elders. He wondered what it was like to be part of such a community, rather than feeling isolated all of the time. Ever since he was born, all Thelonious could remember was being treated differently. Others always seemed to be in the know, whilst his family relied on the intelligence and gut feelings of his parents.

A brash and un-thought through idea popped into Thelonious's head and before he time to question himself he was already rambling. "I'm sure my parents would love freshly caught rabbit stew, but it's unfair for you to not eat what you've caught. So why not let myself and my parents make you a meal tonight. That way I have something to take home to my parents, and you get to eat what is probably some really good rabbit? What do you say?" Thelonious hadn't thought what Lo would think as soon as she saw his parents. His slightly smaller ears would make sense, his lack of knowledge would make sense, and he didn't know if he wanted to first elf to treat him normally, to suddenly treat him like everyone else.

 

[Arialianna]

The question--no, invitation, caught Aanor'Loren completely by surprise. She was sure her face showed her surprise as well, for she had not expected the offer at all. Now, with her guard down, she felt a bit of color rush to her face, and she knew it was her turn to stammer her words. "I-I wouldn't want to intrude...I don't mean to say I d-- I mean what I'm trying to s--" Oh no. she thought as she felt her cheeks warm with the red blush that rose to the surface. "W-what I mean to say is I don't want to step on anyone's toes." she finally stuttered out. By this time, she could feel the bright red of her face and sought to mask her embarrassment by turning her face to the side and slightly down, throwing her autumn-esque hair before her blushing face like a shield or a curtain, as if that alone would prevent Thelonious from seeing or remembering her awkwardness. With a purposeful stare, she looked behind her, focusing on the rough bark of a tree or the gentle rustle of the leaves, anything to try to distract her mind and cause her face to return to its original non-reddened color.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious smiled softly as Lo seemed to struggle with answering. It was strange for him to see someone worry over coming to his home for fear of being in the way, rather than for fear of being around a half breed like him. He chuckled softly, reaching out a hand and softly tucking her hair back behind her shoulder so he could see the red highlighting her cheeks.

"You wouldn't be stepping on anyones toes. It would be a pleasure to have someone over for dinner, and I would like it if you could come. But..." He faltered, but he knew he had to say it. Otherwise if it became a shock when she arrived at his home that his father was a human, and then the fallout would be much worse. "But... you've got to promise not to be shocked or cause a scene when we arrive." This time it was his turn for his cheeks to turn red and he lifted up Lo's chin to stare into her eyes. His own held embarrassment, but also the determination that he did want her to come home for dinner.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren felt her face blush even more as his fingers gently brushed her cheek. She kept her gaze averted, refusing to look him in the eye until he physically tilted her chin up towards him. As he finished speaking, her expression was both confused and surprised. She wasn't sure what he might be referencing, but she gave a solemn nod and suddenly glanced down at her apparel, realizing the leafcloth leather outfit. She was sure the outfit was modest enough, as none in her village remarked on it, and she had seen many women that wore less, but she wanted to ensure Thelonious's parents wouldn't mind. So, with her cheeks practically glowing with embarrassment, she cleared her throat. "Your parents won't mind my...attire...will they?" It was all she could do not to turn around and leave the clearing to hide her embarrassed face. So instead, in the meantime, she concentrated on staring at her feet.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious chuckled, the sound deep and throaty. During their session Lo had seemed the epitome of calm and serious, but now she was blushing all because he'd invited her for dinner in his parent's home. "Of course not Lo, I've seen plenty of elves around town to assume that you're attire is perfectly normal or traditional; especially for huntresses like yourself. No one will mind at all..." Now it was Thelonious's time to blush. "I don't mind at all either."

Despite feeling embarrassed himself, he concentrated back on Lo, noticing she was back to staring away from him, this time at her feet. Reaching out slowly, he gently lifted her head back up to gaze into her eyes. "So you'll come?"

When Thelonious saw Lo's head bob up and down slowly, he grinned. Turning around, he forced the embarrassment and nervousness at having invited someone over away, and instead tried to focus on the positive side. Lo was the first person willing to talk to him, even if he was a complete idiot, and she was the first person he was willing and was willing in return to be introduced to his parents. He still didn't know if she had clocked on to the fact he wasn't full elf, but as soon as she was in his home she'd know, but he somewhat trusted her.

It took Thelonious a little time to get his bearings, but once he'd found the small trail he'd walked to get to the clearing earlier on that day, he grinned and nodded in its direction. "It's about a half hour walk, but not too far."

***

The edge of the forest was coming in to sight, the trees thinning out as they reached closer and closer to their destination. Thelonious was becoming jittery and talking about nonsensical things as his nervous came to light. He had a feeling Lo was either amused or complete put off by his entirely childish ways. He hoped it wasn't the latter, because he was rather enjoying her company.

Upon exiting the forest, the wide expanse of green pastures and the village dotted in the distance could be seen. Rather than heading towards the village, he turned in the opposite direction, heading down a small lane. "We don't live near others..." He trailed off as a vague explanation.

What they should've seen as they neared Thelonius' home should've been a quaint little cottage, thatched roof and all, with washing hanging on the line that his mother had done that morning and a steady billow of grey smoke leaving the chimney from the fire that heated their home. Yet, what they saw instead was a large cloud of black smoke that could only bode something disastrous.

"No..." Thelonious whispered before he left Lo behind as he sprinted towards his broken and partially on fire home.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren had not smiled so much in a long time.

As the pair walked on through the forest, Thelonious in his awkward stumbling way, and she in her much more graceful way, she found herself smiling often as the man relayed his nervousness through conversation. She didn't mind though, in fact, she found herself enjoying the company much more than she originally thought she would. She watched him as he spoke, listening in silence as her emerald green, upturned almond eyes studied his excited demeanor. She admired the naivety of his thoughts, and envied the innocence in his voice. To her, it seemed he might be the person she could have been. He had his parents, and regardless of his abilities as a hunter, he seemed to live a happy life.

These thoughts ran through her mind up until they reached the forest's edge. After several minutes of coaxing from Thelonious, Aanor'Loren broke the cover of the trees and for the first time in her life, found herself standing outside of her home forest. With eyes full of wonder, she walked, her gaze darting rapidly from one new sight to the next. She spent no less than five minutes staring at the village in the distance, wondering at why the people there sought to build outside the confines of the forest. She pondered the process of moving lumber, and was still wondering this very thing when she heard Thelonious whisper. For some reason, her ears tuned in to this whisper and she turned, watching him charge forward. With a curse she shouted after him in elven, "Thelonious! Slow down!" When it became obvious to her that he wasn't listening, she drew her bow and a couple arrows, her sharp elven eyes watching everywhere for any signs of danger. She wasn't sure yet what they faced, but if anything was still around, she wanted to get the first shot off if at all possible.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious ran, his heart pounding beneath his chest as he grew nearer and nearer to his smoke billowing house. He skidded to a halt outside, his eyes growing wide at the extent of the damage and wondering why no one had seen the billowing smoke cloud and come to investigate.

He knew Lo would be chasing after him, but he didn't want to drag her into whatever this was, or put her in danger. Instead, he moved towards the broken down door of his home. He slipped his bow off his shoulder, notching an arrow in case whatever danger had caused the damage was still lurking around.

Stepping over the battered door laying across the floor, Thelonious squinted into the smoke covered room. "Mum! Dad!" He tried to call as he searched the darkened room. His eyes wandered over to the fire pit, noticing that it had spread to the outer wall, hence causing all the smoke. His home was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it, not on his own. "MUM! DAD!" He tried again, coughing as he breathed in the black smoke.

He heard Lo come up behind him, shouting his name. "Lo, I don't know what's happened. They're not here!"

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren let loose a string of curse in elven, some of which would earn her more than a mere slap on the wrist for saying aloud. Her sharp elven eyes scanned the fields once more, ensuring there were no targets in sight before she dropped her gaze to the ground and moved about the cabin at a quick pace, yet not quite a run. She was searching for anything that might indicate where his parents had gone. She let her mind focus, trying to think of the most likely way they might leave as well as the least likely. However, after two circles around the house, she saw no indication that a body might have been dragged off. With a sharp, loud whistle, she called to Venari'fera, hoping the hawk's gaze might help her better get an idea what may have happened here.

In the meantime, she settled into a low crouch, trying to somewhat conceal herself amongst the tall grass. She had a sinking feeling she couldn't quite place. Each time she thought she might figure out why the feeling felt familiar, it escaped, and she found herself with no answers still when she heard Venari'fera screech up above and dive down towards her to land on her extended forearm.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious wasn't entirely sure what to do. He scoured the house, kicking over bits of furniture that had been damaged in what could only have been described as a violent scene. He had no idea what he was looking for, had no idea what had caused this, and had no idea where his parents had gone. The only thought that seemed to calm him a little was that there seemed to be no signs of blood, meaning his parents were hopefully still alive somewhere.

With his shoulder hunched, Thelonious walked back out of the house, taking deep breaths to try and rid his lungs of the thick, black smoke that had settled there. He looked around to try and spot Lo, but his eyes were tearing from the smoke. A numb sensation seemed to settle over him. He didn't know what to do. His whole life had been the home that was currently burning away, with no choice but to let it to as the water from the well would simply just turn to steam in the face of the roaring flames.

Instead, Thelonious's knees gave out from under him as he sunk to the grass, his glazed eyes staring at his soot covered hands. His attention was briefly brought back to Lo's hawk swooping over head. 'Maybe she's had better luck finding something than I have...' Yet he still didn't move.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren caught the hawk on her forearm and began to whisper to him fervently in elven. The words ran together smoothly, almost like a chant, and as she neared the completion of the words, she sank to her knees, letting her head gently fall forward and dip towards her chest. Venari'fera hopped into the sky and screeched, but Aanor'Loren was unconscious already.

When she opened her eyes, or rather, when she saw again, she was viewing the world from the eyes of her hawk. As the pair's consciousness melded together, she found herself once more in awe of the sights provided by the hawk's keen eyesight. She resisted the urge to fly higher, to soar high up above and feel the wind through her...his feathers. Instead, she focused her consciousness into purpose. With no hesitation, the hawk swept low, circling the burning house with his eye trained below. Exiting the burning house was Thelonious, but as he didn't seem in bodily danger just yet, she ignored him for now. Instead she trained her eye on the surrounding area, looking for tracks.

She screeched...well, Venari'fera screeched with her elation when finally, after three passes, she spotted tracks leading back towards the forest, but heavier tracks than she or Thelonious could make without being weighed down by a deer or similar item. She flew over the tracks and watched them periodically appear and disappear, almost randomly. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she had the unmistakeable feeling that she'd seen these kinds of tracks before, though she knew not where.

Finally, her curiosity sated, she willed her consciousness back into her body.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious still had yet to move. His thoughts were a tangle trying to understand why something like this had happened this his family. If something had happened across the province, there would be a commotion; they would all be in turmoil. Yet there seemed to be no sounds of distress of billowing clouds of darkness from the town a little ways in the distance. It was just him. It was just him and Lo, and his burning down home.

Upon the realisation that there was no point in him sitting on his laurels, Thelonious stood, brushing the dirt and soot from his trousers. Taking a quick wander round, he noticed Lo sitting in the grass, but she seemed unresponsive. His initial thought was to panic, but from stories his parents used to tell him, he knew incredibly good hunters and huntresses had special gifts in a variety of different formats. So with her hawk flying above them, he relaxed a little and sunk down beside her.

When she eventually came to, he forced a smile upon his face. "Sorry dinner hasn't gone to plan..." Thelonious let out an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of his neck. "Did you have more luck that I did?"

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren hopped to her feet excitedly, "Tracks. They lead back towards the forest but I couldn't get a good look at them from up above. I want to take a look at them from the ground, see if they're something I might recognize." With that, she walked towards where she had seen the tracks.

As she neared the spot, she saw the telltale signs of a struggle. Her first reaction was to scold herself mentally for missing such an easy clue, but she assured herself that she had expected the struggle to happen near the house and had not ventured this far out. She looked back at the house, sitting on the other end of the field, then she turned her attention back to the tracks.

With an experienced eye, she began to decipher the prints, and had discovered that there were four different sets. However the tracks themselves had an odd shape she'd never seen before. The sole of the foot was long and narrow, and the toes were more closely resembling claws than actually toes. She pressed her hand into the dirt, comparing it with the depth of the footprints. Before long, she had reasoned that two of the creatures must have been carrying Thelonious's parents, as they were heavier, but the other two must have been around the same weight as a deer, given the weight of their prints. They seemed bipedal, and perhaps they were even quite tall or muscular. There was no way for her to tell for sure. However what interested her most was how the tracks vanished and reappeared a few dozen feet further on, and again, almost randomly. It didn't make any sense. Yet somehow, she thought she had met one of these beings before.

But where?

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious leapt to his feet, following right behind Lo as she made her way over to where she'd seen the tracks. He stood back to start with, thinking he probably wouldn't be of much use, but when Lo said no more on what she'd discovered, he stepped forward gingerly. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at, and especially couldn't pick up on everything that Lo would have done with her sophisticated skills.

However, as he took a closer step, there was something familiar about the footprints. Something he'd remembered seeing at one point in his life. With a jolt, Thelonious ran back to his burning house in which the flames were slowly dying thanks to the wind blowing in the opposite direction and aiding in the fire not spreading further.

Inside he ran, running and leaping over broken pieces of furniture in order to reach his fathers desk which had luckily been left untouched by the flames. Throwing open draw after draw, and searching through, Thelonious nearly let out a cry of victory when he found the leather journal tucked away at the bottom of the last draw. Throwing it atop the table, hiss nimble fingers flickered through the pages, trying to find the exact replica of the footprints he'd seen outside thanks to Lo.

Thelonious' fingers slowed, the tips of his fingers tracing over the outline before him and the description above. See, his father had been invested in trying to classify all species in their world. With him being human it became a slight obsession to try and find out everything possible about all species in order to protect his elven wife and half-born child. At this moment in time, Theelonious could not be more thankful for his fathers strange obsession.

Running back outside, skidding across the ground and coughing out the smoke once more, Thelonious ran back to Lo. "I've found it. I know what caused them." He held the book out in front of her face and witnessed the terror that set in. In response his own gut feeling sank.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren was frozen.

Not frozen as in encased in ice, but frozen, as from terror and shock. Her eyes didn't blink, couldn't blink, as she stared at the name at the top of the page. It was written in the much sloppier human language script, but Aanor'Loren had seen that word in its human script because the warnings around the heart of the forest were posted clearly in both elven and human, for the straying human so that they would know to avoid that part of the forest. Within the heart of the forest lived unspeakable things, things she had heard stories of since she was the curious babe struggling to escape the confines of her crib. Her mother had told her these tales to help her behave, but her father had always comforted her and scoffed with her at such stories when mother left the room.

It was that burning curiosity she was born with that led her to explore beyond where her village allowed, and into the heart of the woods. She had played in that forbidden area for hours before she noticed the day growing long, and the close knit trees soon shrouded the forest in darkness. In the darkness, the trees seemed to crowd in on her, and indeed, she found the branches of one tree or another snag at her hair and clothes.

Utterly lost and with no idea where to go, the girl cried for help, but heard only the empty echo of her voice return.

That, and a high pitched shriek.

With a start, she turned at faced one of the most horrible creatures she had ever seen. It was...

NO.

She shook her head violently, clasping her forehead with her hands at the pain of her memories rushing back to her from the deep recesses of her mind. She seemed to have forced herself to forget...something, but she still didn't know what it was. But this thing, this...darkling, was somehow connected to a piece of her past she had forgotten.

Her eyes finally lifted from the page after what felt like an eternity. "I need you to tell me now, are you sure about this thing? You want to pursue these darklings?" She spoke in a nearly inaudible whisper.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious gulped from the fear that radiated off of Lo. He knew they were dangerous, he'd read such in his fathers journal, yet the fear coming from his companion was from so much more than mere stories. It seemed as if she'd encountered these dark beings before, and that alone didn't bode well for the two of them.

Nevertheless, Thelonious nodded his stiffly, swallowing over the lump in his throat. "I'm not making you come with me Lo, but I have to try. They're my parents. We're not exactly liked around here, especially me, so they're all I have." He tried to then make the situation lighter by attempting a joke. "Well apart from my now renowned hunting teacher." He winked at her, then coughed when he could still see the fear radiating in her eyes. "Okay, bad time to joke..."

Looking to the ground, Thelonious scuffed his feet, dropping the book down. "It's different for you, you have other people to care about, so I can't expect you to understand. People don't care about us, so I can't even go for help because I'll be laughed at and told we deserve it."

A grunt escaped his throat as he grabbed at the long grass around him, throwing it around haphazardly. He still wasn't sure if Lo had cottoned on to the fact he was a half-born, but he felt that now with this threat looming over him, that would be the deciding factor to her walking away from him and letting him deal with it alone.

 

[Arialianna]

Aanor'Loren wanted to run. Never before had she been so afraid of a thing, but this, whatever this was, was enough to cause her to go against her training and seek an escape. She was terrified, and she wanted to find an excuse to leave, but something held her back. With a shaky breath, she nodded and looked up towards the setting sun. "If we're going to do this, we'll need help. Tomorrow we will go to the village and ask the elder's aid. Darklings are dangerous, and I would rather not walk into their home with naught but us. For tonight, we'll set up a campsite and get some rest."

Subconsciously, her hand fell to the back of her thigh, tracing a scar beneath the fabric of her tall boots. It itched tonight, as it often did when she was nervous or scared. With a glance up at Thelonious, she nodded, her mind set, at least for now.

With no words she turned away, her fingers tucking a wild strand of her hair behind a pointed ear as she scoped out the flat land around them. She had never seen such an expanse without any trees, and her curiosity was tempting her to explore it further.

Next time, she thought, after this matter is settled.

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious couldn't shake how scared Lo sounded as she spoke, picking up on the slight waver to her voice. His own nerves set in when she mentioned going to ask the elders for help. His past experiences with elves hadn't led to a peaceful ending, and they more or less tended to hate him because of what he was. Sighing though, Thelonious nodded, following after Lo like a lost puppy.

Catching up to Lo, he tapped her on the shoulder lightly, tucking his fathers ledger under his arm. "I don't know of how much help it will be, but as a kid I made a somewhat rough shelter on the outskirts of the woods. I'd say we could shelter in my home, but I feel it may fall down in the night."

Thelonious started walking in the direction of the forest again, before stopping in his tracks and rushing back to his home once more. Peering inside, he quickly reached in from the door and pulled the, luckily, fairly untouched carpet from the floor. At least they would have some cover that night.

Jogging to where Lo was standing, Thelonious turned and took one more look at his decrepit home, before shaking his head with a sigh and leading Lo back towards the edge of the forest. A short five minute walk later, and they reached his little, poorly made and childlike shelter. "Ta-da..." He drawled. "It's not much. I just used to prefer being amongst wildlife than people when I was a kid, so I was allowed to make a shelter as long as it wasn't too far from home in order for my parents to check on me."

Taking a slow walk around he chuckled softly. "It clearly needs a little TLC," when he realised there were some rather large gaps from branches that had fallen through over the years.

 

[Arialianna]

Despite herself, Aanor'Loren found his eagerness to help quite comforting, despite his skill with a bow being a bit lackluster, and the nature of the creatures they would now face. It gave her hope that there might be some sort of return to normality after this business was done with.

Rather than think about gathering supplies and making shelter building a lesson for her companion, she nodded as he mentioned an already established shelter, smiling softly with a nod, "That's a good idea. We'll stay the night there." As they walked, her eyes were cast sidelong at Thelonious, yet discreetly enough that she was confident that he was unaware of her observations.

Despite not knowing if his parents were dead or alive, he seemed to be in semi-good spirits. She wasn't sure what to make of it, as her own experience with grief and loss had left her unwilling to live for several days before she finally decided it was not what her father would have wanted. However, that pain still hurt her heart as if the wound were caused the day before. She had never quite come to terms with it, instead choosing to redouble her efforts as a huntress, as her father was training her before. Everything she learned was for him, and each and every move she made, she tried to consider what he would have done or thought or said.

She held herself to his standard, but she never quite made it.

When they reached the tiny shelter, she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing, reminding herself that his intentions were good and even in the poor condition now, it was better than no shelter to start. This belief was renewed when she felt the first droplets of rain on her shoulder moments later. Her eyes turned to the sky, she nodded to the forest, "Let's gather up some extra wood, preferably long and flat, as well as some shieldleaves." she added, remembering that the shieldleaf ferns grew long and wide leaves that were excellent for repelling water, though they were only useful for a night at most, as they would shrivel up greatly, becoming very thin as they dried out. "And we may want to dig a bit of a dip in the ground around the shelter, to keep the rain from pooling up beneath us while we sleep."

 

[This Is Me]

Thelonious could see that Lo was trying to keep a straight face at the shelter he'd brought her too. He knew it would be in a much needed state of repair, he hadn't used the thing since he was a child. Nodding his head along to her ideas on how to fix it, Thelonious went about finding the much needed branches and leaves in order to shelter them from the upcoming rain storm.

Luckily he didn't need to stray to far, and the trees surrounding them created a fair amount of cover that they stayed somewhat dry as the heavens began to open. Once the branches were balanced, and weaved in some places to ensure stability in case the storm worsened, Thelonious took one of the sturdy branches that he'd left to one side and started digging a trench around the shelter, with Lo, to ensure the ground stayed as dry as possible. After creating a rough indentation in the slightly damp ground, Thelonious sunk to the floor, slipping his knife from it's sheath and dug down a little further.

Eventually, just as the sky started darkening even further and the roaring of thunder echoed in the distance, Thelonious and Lo both crouched into the shelter. The rug he had managed to save from his parents home was laid out beneath the two of them with enough to spare to reach up to their chests. Looking around, Thelonious realised how cramped the small space was and felt his cheeks grow slightly warm when he realised just quite how close he was to Lo. Chuckling softly, he reached behind and rubbed his neck. "It's a little more cramped than I remember."

(MERRY CHRISTMAS!)