Woods Aren't As Safe As You'd Think (Sheil)

[Ana]

Ana sat outside of her tent, glad for the warm weather. She was slowly starting to question how sane it was to live in such a cold place. Then she quickly repented, moving her hand rapidly to ward off the ill will of the Goddess of Winter. The last thing she wanted was to make her angry after she so kindly spared her life as a baby. But enjoying the warmth could certainly not be a bad thing. Just a nice change was all.

As she sat, she began trying to mend the edge of her tunic which was starting to fray. She'd never been good with needlework and now she was regretting never actually trying to learn it. Every now and again she pricked her fingers, cursing lightly under her breath. Then her hands began to shake with nervousness, her eyes swirling with color at an increasing rate. With a sigh, Ana looked around quickly to make sure she was alone. Then she began to sing. She sang a traditional Vantha song about some warrior from long ago, her soprano voice moving easily over the trills and note changes. It took her mind off her work and pricking her fingers. Eventually her hands wre once more steady and she began to sew again, though she did not stop the tune.

[Sheil]

"It grazes so softly," the young Zith whispered to himself, he shakily sighed with pleasure and anticipation, "So, peacefull. Scerine. Beautiful."

The small doe was a perfect hazle brown, grazing silently in a small clearing close to the edge of the bronze wood. It's eyes were just about visable, reflecting the shallow moonlight in a timid statement of existance that, allmost defiantly, broke through the shroud that dusk had draped over the towering trees.

The Zith, for it is impossible for me to record his name in this, our common tounge, draped his bag, his bow and his quiver securley on the branch on which he was sitting. He did not plan to use his bow for this kill, no, he wanted to feel the beast's last breath on his cheek, and watch as the dear's timid life fade from it's diamond eyes.

The young hunter let himself silently fall from his branch, letting his bat like wings catch the faint breezes of the forest at the last second. Up and away form the clearing he soared, round to the west and back, landing softly on a branch, much closer to the dear.

He readied himself, licked his dark lips and dived from the tree. Unfortunatly, during his dive he accidentally made the branch rustle, causing the doe to vault momentarily but it was too late. As he sunk his right hand claw into the doe's rump, the Zith pinned it to the floor with his body, constricting it's movement with his slender wings. He brought up his right hand towards the screaming head, his movements refined and controlled by the estacy that the fear in the deer's eyes braught him, and cooly slit it's throat with his wrist blade.

Scilence. Birds had flown, tree's had swayed and the darkness had seemingly fled as the young hunter claimed his prize but now, only scilence.

The young Zith rolled over to inspect his kill from a different angle. As he looked into the still wide eyes he managed to catch a glimpse at the last trace of the timid light that once grazed here peacefully, now forever gone.

Time passed by untill a bell chimed out in the city not far away, signifying yet another hour had been and gone. The Zith looked up from the skinless corpse and licked his fingers, cleaning the gore from his claws. Tieing a spare bowstring around the beast's severed back legs and then draping them around his neck for flight, the hunter took off, (having allready retreived his belongings) intent on finding a large tree to roost in for the night.

Not moment's later, the young Zith was assailed with the most marvalous of sounds. He could not make out the words but the tune of the song was as intexicating as the kill. Beating his wings excitedly, he shot in the direction of the singing. His mind swimming with memories of his beloved Tsaina and why he had left Castle XY.

Soon, drawn by the music, the Zith perched himself on a branch overlooking a small camp. Sitting by it was a short human woman. It was her who was singing. The hunter sighed, she was not as beautiful as Tsania and the song sounded higher pitched than it aught to have been, but still he sat there and waited patiently for the song to end, slowly swaying to the tune.

(Sorry the post looks so ugly, I tend to use alot of paragraphs and this site forces me to leave a line between them.)

[Ana]

The tune made for quick work of her tunic, it's edges now completely mended. Slowly she rewound the extra needle and thread and replaced it in her bag. The song ended, the last of the complicated notes executed with near professional skill. Ana moved slowly about her small camp, almost wishing for some company. She couldn't tell why, but for some reason, she felt as though she was being watched. Just to be safe, she pulled out her bow and arrows from the tent.

Then another song came to mind, and she began to hum that tune as well. This one was a little lower, less strenuous on her voice. It was a sad song, lovers lost and such. She never really liked it, but then again, everything sounded good in Vani. It was just the story, why did it have to be something so sad? She would much rather have had it be about something mundane. As she sang, she set about preparing for a meal. Ana started a fire and set a few strips of meat on a flat stone she had cleaned, then moved it next to the fire to cook.

As her song began to come to a close, she turned, remembering something she needed from her tent. Upon turning, she glanced up for no apparent reason. It was there, perched in a tree that she saw a man who appeared almost bat-like. Her mind blanked as she stared in shock, her eyes stopped in a bright alarmed red. As hard as she tried she could not place what race this man might be. She quickly pulled her bow off her shoulder and strung it with an arrow, but she didn't aim quite yet. "Hello. Who are you?" she said in the common language, her voice hiding the insecurity she felt.

[Sheil]

The rustling trees, and the crackleing fire were all that could be heard as the Zith eyed the girl that stood before him.

Humans were all the same. Pastey skin, boring voices, boring hair, boring faces, boring, boring, boring. Well, all except for this one. She didn't seem to fill any of those catagories. She seemed different, as though there was a curiosity about her that screamed to know more about everything, the way her feet caressed the ground, the way her fingers gripped the bow, the way she'd thought to inquire about the nature of the beast before her. However, the most interesting thing about this human, was her eyes. They seemed to change as he watched her, displaying her curiosities and thoughts for the world to see in the most spectacular display of colours.

This human was interesting.

The Zith made no sudden movements, slowly tugging on one of the legs that were draped over his shoulders. "I come to share with you. Share my food." he said. The Zith lowered his head allowing the laden bowstring to fall to the floor.

Trade with humans was common place in castle XY, often with the Zith trading their slave's goods for food. It seemed ironic that this young hunter would find himself trading for the first time, differently to the rest of his people.

[Ana]

Ana's Frostmane began to get nervous as she waited for the man in the tree to move. Corin pawed the ground and nickered quietly but Ana simply ignored the horse. Now was not the time to get worried about how he felt, it could get them killed.

Her eyes continued to swirl rapidly with color and as the meat hit the ground, they paused momentarily on a light green. He was here to trade? She highly doubted that. "I have nothing you would want for your food." she said calmly, her hands now gripping her bow so tight her knuckles were white. It was true though, all that she had to her name was a neccessity.

She lifted her head more, proudly almost and the fading sun caught the purple highlights in her hair. His presence was starting to make her anxious. "Forgive me if I am wrong, but I highly doubt that you are here to simply trade." She had heard stories of slave hunters and was worried that a girl alone in the woods seemed like the perfect target. But if that is what this man thought, he had another thing coming. Ana would not be sold into slavery and she would not go down without a fight.

[Sheil]

'Nothing to trade, eigh?' The young Zith pondered to himself. Beside he encampment the girl's horse sounded restless, he thought, being blessed with wings, Zith had very little need for horses other than as beasts of burden.

The hunter realised that the girl was getting more and more nervous of him being here unannounced but he paid little heed to the danger that he was putting himself in, intoxicated by the untamed rainbow that was spiralling throughout the girl's eyes. Before he could realise what he was saying he almost whispered, "Sing to me, trade with me the voice that the gods gave you."

The Zith started upright, trying to hide his embarrassment from his hostess. He had not meant to ask her so intimately for a song, and especially not in the same words that he rehearsed for Tsania.

[Ana]

He wanted her to sing? Was he serious? She stared at him in utter disbelief, her eyes stopped on a bright blue for what seemed like minutes. Is that what had attracted him to her? Her singing? It was definitely an unexpected response and to herself she made note to not sing so freely in the woods again. Apparently her voice was a lot louder than she had thought.

“Sing?” she said; her confusion coloring her voice as her eyes once more began to shift between colors. “I do not know songs in the Common language.” she told him, her voice unfaltering once more, “Only in Vani.” Certainly he would not want to hear a song in a tongue he couldn’t understand.

However, in the case that he did, she ran through the list of songs that she knew, deciding upon a happier tune than the two before. Better to put him in a happy mood than a bitter one. It wasn’t until then that she realized the burning sensation she felt in her cheeks from the light blush that colored her cheeks. She had not expected to be embarrassed by his request, but apparently she was. She’d never really thought herself that good of a singer, but the Vani language must have sounded good to more than one race.

[Sheil]

She seamed to be interested in his request to say the least, if not slightly flattered. The hunter smiled to himself. It had not been his intention to compliment the human, but it was amusing to watch the results play out in her eyes and on her face.

He was enjoying himself something rarely unnaccompanied without screams.

"The meaning is in the song of the singer, not the words of the speaker." He heard himself say, just as his Tsania had said before him. With this the Zith rocked backwards off the branch allowing his wings to catch the air as he fell, breaking his fall and silencing his landing.

The Zith stood to his full height, unclasping his wrist blade as he did. He wanted to relieve his back of his bow but believed that is he did, the young warrior would fire.

"What do I call my hostess?" He asked as politley as his memory of humans would allow.

[Ana]

So he did not mind if the song was in a language he could not understand. How strange. She herself could barely stand to not know what was being said at any given moment in time. It made her feel awkward and out of place when she couldn’t. But to each their own she supposed.

As he fell backwards off the branch, she too took a few quick steps backward. The speed with which he moved alarmed her. He was obviously of an extremely dangerous race. She was starting to wish she had paid much better attention to the elders in her village when they had tried to teach her about all of the races. It really would have come in handy at the moment.

“My name is Anamtrasi but most call me Ana. You can call me either.” she said quietly, but still loud enough for him to hear. The man was much taller than her, and she still had to look up at him even though his feet were now on the ground. How she despised being short. “Is there any sort of song you’d like to hear in particular? Happy, sad?” Ana had set her mind to a happy one, but now seeing how big he actually was, she was sure that asking was a much better approach.

[Sheil]

"Strange," He thought as he went over what she said," she did not ask of my name. Not that I have one that she can say of course, but still, flattered though she may be she still wants to keep me at distance."

The Zith flung such disconcerting thoughts from his mind, furled his wings beneath his cloak and took his flask focusing on the task at hand. Getting the fascinating maiden before him to trust him.

The hunter sat down, the most obvious expression of peace he could think of, and said softly with his gaze never straying from here eyes, "All I have is this flask of port, and you have a fire, let us sit whilst you sing. Whilst you sing your favourite song."