[Flashback] What Lurks in the Mist (Auldwin)

[Growl]

Ari smiled as Auldwin plopped the vine down by her feet. She could feel one of the leaves tickling her soles, as she ran her eyes over the length of vegetation. "You know, you didn't have to get me the sssame sssort," she whispered, as she took one hand off her breasts, and inched the other arm over each. She reached forward, and began to pluck a few leaves off the vine. After she had gotten most of them off, she looked up at Auldwin, and twisted her finger around in a small circle. "Turn around," she insisted, before waiting a moment, and reaching forward with both hands for the vine. She tore the vine into a few pieces, and wrapped each section around her wounds before putting her clothes back on. When she was done, Ari eased herself onto her feet and moved past the ghost. "Come on, while we ssshould make asss much assss we can from thisss time, when the ssssun is still high," she insisted as she tore through another line of trees. "Maybe we can reach the city today if we hurry, and then, the medicine woman can take care of this messsss good and proper."

[Auldwin]

"Says you. I'm out in your backyard here, everything is foreign to me. The plants, the places..." he then made a gesture over toward the woman, nodding his head, "...the people. If you never lived in Syliras, you wouldn't understand the difference. It's made out of metal, rock, and wood. Good strong place, it is, you've got to walk far to see any kind of vegetation like this. Even then, there's always plenty of Knights and plenty of hunters trying to make some coins or feed their families to keep the wild beasts low enough to make travel within the domain extremely safe compared to...any place else I've been to since then." Did he miss it, he wondered? Miss those days of being stuffed up within the confines of the tall, strong walls of the Castle City? He missed the people and the familiarity, but couldn't find much aesthetically use for the place now that he had seen the intriguing nature of the outside world.

"Huh?" his tone sounded confused as she twirled her finger, mincing her verbal instruction. Eventually it hit him, "Oh, right. Sure." he replied, although rather than turning about his Soulmist simply appeared to reform with his front facing in the opposite direction. "Realistically though, I've got no eyes anymore, so my field of vision is a bit difficult to understand through common means. Believe me, I know, I used to have two eyes like everyone else. You'll just have to trust me then, eh? Don't worry though, I keep my word, mostly." It would have been 'always', except for the various bouts of deceit he had to employ now as a Ghost, usually when dealing with the living. It was a part of survival, a part of achieving that end goal.

After a moment he noticed the tall woman gliding past where he 'stood', his head following her reflexively. "Good, I'm interested in meeting this place you call home. I suppose then, all of your people can...the word I'm looking for...'transform' I guess into various creature's? Or is it just snakes? I'm interested because typically where I'm from, people tend to stay as they are, so to speak."

[Growl]

Ari smiled. "Ssssome of usss can. Sssome of ussss are ssstill too young to know how to change. Ssssooo they remain ssssnakes. When we get older, we learn how to sssshift. To transssform assss you ssssay. It issss all we can be, unlessss we come to know other magic. Ssssnakessss, human, and sssomething in-between." Ari fell silent for a long time after that, as she made her way through the trees. "Isss that all you wisssh to know, ghost?" she asked. "For you sssseeem the curiousss sort. Esssspecially for one already gone... we will be walking for awhile yet, assskk only what you wissssh to know now. For you may not get another chance."