Closed [Bronze Woods] Expect the Unexpected

[Tichi]

Fall 513, Day 30

Tichi bounced happily along at Daniel's side, chattering cheerfully. He'd persuaded her to take a day off work, and she was finally going to the woods she'd been dying to see. A real run, in a real forest, with trees everywhere to climb!

She pulled her wool cape a little more tightly around her. It was a bit chilly, but at least it wasn't raining for a change. Once she'd shifted, her fur would certainly keep her warm enough.

As they approached the forest, Tichi grew uncharacteristically silent. Something she'd been chewing on in the back of her mind was insisting on pushing its way to the front. She bit her lip, thinking.

Finally, just before they reached the edge of the woods, she stopped and turned to look up at Daniel, and her worry found its voice. "Daniel, is what you do legal? Would the Knights throw you in the dungeon for it? And if they did would they let me in there with you?" Her voice grew very small at the end.

[Daniel Connor]

Daniel grinned, his bond’s enthusiasm was infectious! He had taken off work to take her to the Bronze Woods, as there was every other day in which to do mercenary work. He had his arm around her waist, warming her and also attempting to keep her calm so that it would not seep into him through their link. Tichi grew quiet as they got to the treeline. ”What is it?” he asked lyrically, the Vani speech flowing off his tongue like honey. Tichi had made a good bit of progress in the language since they had bonded, though her accent was that of a normal human, but he was happy either way. Her question surprised him, but he did his best to answer, ”Well, I doubt they would approve of my methods, but what I do is legal for the most part. Only the rare assassination I must carry out is illegal, and my employers do a great job of cleaning up after me. I will not get caught,” he promised, taking her hands in his. [color=blue]“I would not have us parted for the world, and if it were up to me, you would not leave my arms.” Daniel gave her a smile, his eyes the color of a warm fire, seeming to flicker as the flames do. It would have been comforting, if he could have seen them. But his bond’s happiness conveyed by their link was enough to know that his words had done what he had meant them too.

[Tichi]

Tichi cocked her head as she listened carefully. Vani still sounded strange to her, but thanks to the bond she'd learned quickly, and she understood what he said. Still, this was important. She needed to be sure she understood.

She nodded, relieved at his words, and squeezed his hands. "Okay. Dad told me a lot of horror stories about the Knights. I don't want them doing anything to you, so you be extra careful on assassination jobs, you hear me Daniel Connor?"

The twinkle returned to Tichi's eyes, and she lifted one hand to stroke his cheek. "Of course even if they did lock you up somewhere I'd find a way. I'd learn to pick locks if I had to!"

[Daniel Connor]

Daniel promised, "I will be careful, for you." Though, he already tried to be as careful as possible, as he had long feared a cold cell. He stopped to gaze into her eyes, his becoming pools of blue. He kissed her lips passionately, trying to better convey his devotion to her. “Picking locks is a valuable skill, one which I do not posses. If you could learn it, that would be most helpful indeed,” he mused, giving her a sly smile. A lock picker would help him be more quiet on his missions, as his normal approach to a locked door was to kick it down, though that was hardly covert. Daniel’s skin tingled excitedly at her soft touch, but that was not what they were here for. There would be plenty of time for intimacy after they had explored the woods together. “Would you like to enter the forest now?”

[Tichi]

Tichi's eyes sparkled. "Really? I could help you? I love this idea! We could work together! You're a genius!" She jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist and kiss him soundly, then jumped back down and pulled her cape off.

"I'll have to get whatever people use to pick locks with and learn how to use them, and I should work on being even more sneaky. And running, speed is good for most things. And maybe I should learn to fight a bit if I get cornered, you know, enough to keep somebody off me til you get there," Tichi chattered, removing the rest of her new clothes and bundling them in her cape along with her boots.

"Of course I still have to deliver for Hadyn until the season's over, but that gives me time to learn things, right?" She beamed up at Daniel and handed him her bundled clothing. "I can work on running right now! Catch me if you can!"

With a giggle, she dissolved into golden sparkles, then a squirrel was racing for the forest.

[Daniel Connor]

Daniel laughed until it was cut off by her lips, supporting her legs with his arms. “I know a guy that could get you a set of lockpicks, and maybe a more suitable outfit. One that fits the part better,” he thought aloud, as he set her back down onto the ground. He did want to teach her to defend herself, and soon. He would get working on that as soon they were back in the city, if Tichi was not too tired. “Yes, I wish to train you up quick. I can not have any more old men being men to my bond,” he joked, alluding to the time they had met. His eyes danced yellow shades as he thought of what to start her on. Rousing himself out of his thoughts, he noticed his bond was now fully nude. He smiled at her and took her clothes, replacing them in his pack. With a cute giggle, a squirrel appeared on the ground, which was momentarily covered with gold light. Tichi took off into the forest at quite a rate. Squirrels were fast! He directed his djed flow to his legs carefully, picking up speed after her. His reaction time was tested as the pair speed past trees and over roots. He mused, if he had not honed his reactions for combat, he would be struggling to keep up. Laughing out loud, he followed his bond deeper into the forest.

[Tichi]

Tichi paused long enough to glance behind her, then took off again. She was impressed he was keeping up! Good. It gave her a reason to push herself. She poured on more speed, then suddenly swarmed up a tree. She paused a moment at the end of a branch, tail shifting for balance, then leaped to a neighboring tree.

Keeping up with a squirrel on the ground was one thing...a squirrel in the trees was another thing entirely. More sure of herself now, Tichi leaped gleefully from tree to tree to tree, trying to keep up her speed yet maintain balance.

Falling out of a tree would be humiliating, after all. Knowing Daniel, he'd probably manage to catch her before she hit the ground, but that was not the point.

[Roderick]

Hello, little squirrel. I'm going to eat you. It wasn't a particularly odd thought, really. He was just cold and hungry at that particular moment in time. What little hunting the man had done so far that day had only been piecemeal - with no kills on hand and an increasingly foul pain in his gut, he eyed up the little bushy-tailed animal as it came into view, feeling saliva well up in his mouth. All that morning's walking and searching, its disappointments and annoyances joined together into this one little bundle of fur. This particular kill wasn't for the city - it was for him. Today, he'd decided, he would gorge on this little thing so he could continue without collapsing. Roderick had set an arrow to his bowstring at least a bell before, so he all he needed to do was exhale quietly, then draw air back in as he pulled his shoulders back, carrying the string with it. When it was neatly tucked up beside his chin he took aim, following the little creature's movements with all the ravenous greed of a starving man. Watching as it jumped from tree to tree, he waited for an opening to shoot - ideally when it had come to a full stop to get its bearings. The squirrel leaped through the air and landed in a tree close by, pausing for a few tics as it observed the area about it. Seeing his chance he aimed towards it, all too eager to kill the thing so he could ease the pains in his gut - his penance for having no supper the night before. He released his hold and watched as the arrow went whistling away towards the animal. If everything went as planned, he'd be eating his breakfast five chimes from now. Plans have a habit of being ruined, though.

[Daniel Connor]

Daniel enjoyed seeing Tichi fly through the trees, like a bird without wings. It amazed him how far she could leap in this form, and the grace at which she did this, it was like this was nothing more that walking to her. He was wistful for a moment, but then again, he was happy with solid ground under his feet. He was a little less happy when he heard the twang of a bowstring and saw an arrow whiz right next to his bond’s furry little head. His head snapped towards the sound and he took after the hunter after a glance to make sure his bond was alright. He found the man frowning after his unsuccessful shot. He did not give the man anytime to explain himself, his irises turning a blood red, mixed with flecks of black. This man had almost took away the thing that meant the world to him, that was his world. Daniel hit a series of pressure points up the man’s right arm with his knuckles. Hard. The man gasped from the sudden pain, dropping his bow. Two more fists later, one in the solar plexus and once, softly, in his lower neck. He would be unable to speak until someone manually expanded his lungs to their normal capacity. Right now he was having to fight for each breath. “Now that you can not fight, let alone talk, it is time for you to listen. You almost just killed my bondmate, and that is something that I will never let happen. I do not like you very much at this moment,” Daniel said in a low voice, picking the man up by his shirt and pressing him against a tree, off the ground. “You are lucky I am not in the mood to clean up a murder, or you would not be taking those shallow breaths of yours.” Daniel grabbed the man’s diaphragm and pulled outwards, inflating the lungs forcefully. “There, now tell me. Who are you to be shooting at my love?”

[Tichi]

By sheer luck, Tichi had moved her head just enough, and just in time, for the bow to miss. Stunned from her happy explorations, she stared at it where it protruded from the tree, right in front of her nose.

Reality sank in, followed by panic screaming in her head. It was only a few heartbeats, though, before Daniel came crashing through the woods. Panic turned to anger, fueled by the rage she felt coming through the bond. She opened her mouth to yell at the hunter, but it came out as a series of loud, scolding "EEEKIKKIKK" sounds.

Oh right. Still in squirrel form.

Tichi scurried down the tree and around behind it, out of view. A moment later, her head poked around it, brindled hair framing a scowling face. She was careful to keep the rest of her hidden.

"You idiot! What the petch are you doing? Do you just go around shooting at anything furry out here? Ever hear of Kelvics? You could have killed me, you...you...I ought to bite you for that," she grumbled.