Completed The Hills are Alive (Black, Aoren)

[Aoren]

Venturing into the wilderness always held a remarkably peaceful aspect for Aoren. Growing up he had always enjoyed traversing through the woods just beyond the walls of Syliras. The Bronze Woods, so named for the Bronze Watchtower that could be found deep within the forest. As a boy Aoren had taken to exploring the trees and countryside of within the purview of Syliras as often as was possible. It had gotten him into a number of sticky situations as the world outside the walls of any city was dangerous. The lowliest wolf still posed an immense threat to the idle wanderer.

Isikai seemed completely at home in the forest. He moved fluidly through the shade of the trees. No doubt it was a relief given his dark coat and the warmth of the season. The dog kept pace with Aoren fairly easily, not that Aoren was moving with any particular urgency. They would both reach their destination in due time. With any luck the young man known as Jadlin would be there. As he walked Aoren reflected on everything that had transpired throughout the current season. He had enrolled at the University, he had been involved in stopping a crazed mage from decimating the lives of a number of people, he had discovered numerous different forms of magic and most importantly…

…he’d met Aizen.

The young man was never very far from Aoren’s thoughts. Not since the day that Aoren had met him. How could he? The evening of their meeting had been quite an eventful one. It was one that Aoren would never forget. The soft thud of his quarterstaff touching the dirt as he walked served as the metronome by which Aoren paced his thoughts. Though the two had spent some time together since their first meeting the Drykas man still was not satisfied with how little he knew of Aizen. Only time would tell how things between him and his newfound brother would turn out. It was time that Aoren looked forward to. He only wished it would come a little sooner but he understood that both of them were caught up in their duties. Aoren hadn’t come to Zeltiva expecting to find his twin. Aizen certainly hadn’t expected it either.

Which brought Aoren to a thought. If he had not hesitated so much when it came to studying the deepest parts of his own past, would he have found Aizen sooner? The thought made Aoren frown. It was not an idea that he wanted to linger on. As it stood, fortune seemed to smile on him with a distraction away from such thoughts. He was approaching the foothills and as he approached them he spotted two figures spending what he could only assume was leisure time together. With a look to his canine companion, Aoren nodded for Isikai to follow him toward the hill where he hoped both this Jadlin character was.

“Let’s hope this goes well.” The last thing Aoren wanted was a conflict on his hands. There had been people in his investigation that did not take too kindly to being questioned. Especially as he drew nearer to the East Street. With a soft sigh he began making his way up the hill toward the two. Isikai darted up the hill reaching the crest before Aoren did passing out of the Drykas man’s sight. The dog came to the edge of the hill sitting patiently waiting for Aoren. When he reached the top of the hill Aoren took in the scenery for a moment. It was beautiful. Seeing Zeltiva from the overlook brushing up against Matthew’s Bay was picturesque in its detail. A soft smile touched his lips for a moment before he turned his gaze to the two individuals apparently enjoying a picnic. His cobalt blue eyes came to rest upon the slight young man with dark hair and brown eyes.

“Master Jadlin, I presume?”

[Jadlin Hayes]

The view through the trees was stunning. There was a higher ground with an even better view, but Black and Jad stayed in the lower cup of the meadow. The tops of the trees on the upper slope of the cliff had their canopies at about eye level, giving leafy frames to the picturesque city on the bay. The two picnickers enjoyed that view for a moment before sitting down to eat. Jad was glad to see that Black DID enjoy other foods besides apples and carrots. But after indulging in the fish and "Whipped-yolk" eggs, the apple and carrot salad were predictably well received. Jad was still astounded over the added flavor from the "mystery dressing" the old woman at the market had mixed with the pea, bacon and cheese salad. He had always enjoyed that blend, but it had never been enhanced with such creamy richness. "It is almost time for the wine, gorgeous. But first I want to take some target practice. I don't expect the wine is going to make for better aim, and I want to see how well I do." He could envision the playful pout that was probably crossing Black's face as he turned. It was similar to the ones she wore when he left for work, disappointing her passion. The thought of it brought a grin of his own. He supposed that her obligation-free lifestyle gave her to think he could spare the extra few chimes...or bells...to embrace the day with a "fully relaxed" attitude. For himself, he had no real qualms about her means of surviving. She had picked his pocket when they'd first met. Even though he'd gone after her, it was not with an intent to have her arrested. He felt people should be prepared to deal with their adversaries themselves. Obviously there were cases where no fair recourse was available; or cases where the potential danger was extreme. The Mage Silencer came to mind. There was a case where he now had a personal stake. He shook this train of thought off as he found a spot where the target tree trunk was backed up on the sides by additional trees. He knew there was a good chance that several arrows would miss the target entirely and he wanted back-up targets to catch them so they wouldn't be lost. He preferred to notch the arrow and bring the bow UP into position as he aligned the shaft, rather than down. He knew there would be people out there that would scoff and say he was doing it all wrong, and they were entitled to their opinion. He did not say THEY were wrong. He just didn't believe a person should force a technique that did not feel comfortable upon themselves. For him, it was all about being able to see the intended target, and follow its movement as he drew and released. He fixed his eye on a particularly odd swirl of bark and brought the bow up slowly as he timed his breathing. He held the bow for a moment to adjust the timing of a last deep breath, finishing it a few ticks before the shaft of the arrow was aligned with the bark target. He released the arrow and exhaled a moment after. His exhalation became a disappointed sigh. He'd missed high and wide right. So much so that the back-up tree was untouched as well. Black offered an observation that wine might help his aim, and he responded with a sarcastic laugh that quickly became genuine. He took a few more shots, managing to get half of them into the trees behind his target. Each miss though, offered hints as to what he was doing wrong, pulling as he released, overcompensating, jerking the bow, holding his breath too long, not accounting for a sudden gust of wind. He recalled how Mr. Pelthes would grab a pinch of grass and toss it into the air to gauge the strength and direction of the wind. He did this without thinking first. The wind had been blowing obliquely back at him. Just enough to carry it back to the picnic blanket where Black sat. She gave him a sternly amused look as she brushed a few blades off the wine bottle. Jad chuckled with a hint of embarrassment, "Did you want to give it a shot, love? You don't have to worry about doing any worse than me."

[Black Onyx]

The picnic was relaxing in a way, with fresh air, the gentle breeze through the tree leaves, the sun as it passed over, the light occasionally disappearing as the sun ducked behind the clouds and the tops of trees. The view of the bay was absolutely stunning and she was thinking that perhaps one day she should come up here to watch the sunset as it dips over the horizon, the raze dappling the waves. The young woman moved to seat herself down rubbing her hands together in enthusiasm for the food as it was presented. The taste of the food was just so different, it had apples and carrots within it but the dressing, the flavours within it tasted so unique and delicious. She had even closed her eyes to savour such flavours. Rarely did she have a chance to savour her food, but then again, rarely did she eat anything else that wasn’t apples and carrots.

She had just bit down into a slice of apple that she had picked up and chewed as Jadlin announced that it was almost time for the wine. As she swallowed he mentioned about practicing with the bow first and a playful pout settled upon her lips then. She was more interested in him at the moment and her head angled as her brown hues watched the male as he set about notching the arrow and bringing the bow up to align the shaft. She wasn’t really paying attention to the actual bow and arrow, rather she was paying attention to the way that the muscles rippled and bunched up under his skin. She popped the last half of the apple into her mouth as she chewed slowly, her tongue darting out to slide along her bottom lip. Indeed, he was very distracting to her and she was beginning to think that this feeling of wanting to be near him would never stop. That her emotional feelings would only grow as she grew more and more attached to being with him, around him. She lifted her fingers to slowly lick the dressing off of them, tasting the flavours.

A laugh bubbled to her lips as his shots went wide of the targeted tree and she clapped her hands, ”Perhaps wine will help with your aim.” A smirk fell upon her lips as she made him laugh and she continued to laugh as his aim missed the intended target again. She had picked up the wine bottle and would pretend to read the bottle, even though she couldn’t read and so, often found her head angling to the side as she pondered as to what it said. If she was even slightly educated, she might exactly find out as to what those words on the bottle meant, however, she lacked education and so, would probably never know as to what the writing on the bottle said. It was then that the gentle wind blew the blades of grass towards her way and a chuckled followed by a shake of her head was given as she brushed the blades of grass off the bottle of wine. Upon hearing his words, she gently placed the bottle back into the basket and moved to stand up. ”Why, I’d probably accidentally shoot myself in the foot, but I shall give it a go.” She said as she made her way other towards the male, a gentle smile upon her lips and her right hand reaching out to take the weapon from him.


Common | Thoughts

[Aoren]

The brown eyed young man looked at Aoren in confusion before shaking his head. His female companion, a blonde haired woman with bright green eyes also looked at him slightly confused. The dark haired young man shook his head.

“No, I think you must have me confused for someone else. My name is Henry.” Aoren studied the young man a little more closely. Upon closer inspection Aoren realized he had indeed stumbled upon the wrong couple.

“Ah. My mistake, I apologize. You wouldn’t happen to have seen any other people about have you?” The young woman chuckled softly as she tipped a goblet of wine to her lips. The young man named Henry gave Aoren a friendly smile before nodding.

“It’s no trouble. As for others, I actually did see another couple headed just a little further north from here. There’s a meadow in that direction that has a decent view of the city.” Aoren gave the couple a bow along with another apologetic smile. He pat his leg signaling for Isikai to accompany him in the direction Henry had mentioned.

“Now we know why I’m not a hunter, don’t we?” Isikai just looked up at Aoren curiously, oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation. When he was a fair distance away from the mistaken couple Aoren stepped into the shade of a tree. Lowering himself into a sitting position he crossed his legs adopting a meditative pose. Laying his quarterstaff across his lap he rest his palms upon his knees lightly. Isikai trotted a small distance away sniffing around. The dog remained in Aoren’s field of vision but seemed in search of a good place to “do business”.

Taking a steady breath Aoren decided to take this opportunity to see if he could discern Jadlin’s last known location. As he closed his eyes he opened himself up to the majesty and mystery of the world that lingers between mortals and the divine. He focused on the feeling, the knowledge and familiarity of Jadlin’s chavi. Instead of beholding the endless realm of light and music he was visited almost immediately by a vision.

This was not unexpected. There were times when all Aoren needed to do to witness a Chavi was focus on the person in question. The other times he left his body and walked the halls of the Chavena. At first the vision Aoren received was simply one he’d already born witness to. He could see the young man standing before the Tribunal. He could see him in the holding cells at the Wave Guard Headquarters. Those things faded however and as Aoren willed himself to drift through to the young man’s more recent past he saw a young woman with eyes as brown as the earth. He saw a gentle meadow surrounded by trees overlooking the city of Zeltiva. With that vision Aoren willed the past to drift back to its proper place that he might ground himself in the present.

With a steady exhaled Aoren felt himself return to the here and now. The sounds of the woods drifted into his ears. Opening his eyes Aoren blinked away the brightness of the sunlight drifting through the leaves of the tree. With a sigh he pulled himself up off the ground using his staff to aid in his balance. At least now he knew that this Jadlin man had indeed been to a meadow with a young woman. The question was, was he still there? Reaching down he scratched Isikai behind the ears fondly jerking his head in the direction they were to continue walking.

“We’ll find him eventually, boy. Come on.” Isikai huffed but padded alongside the Drykas man as they both continued their search.

[Jadlin Hayes]

Black stood and approached Jad with a playful smirk. ”Why, I’d probably accidentally shoot myself in the foot, but I shall give it a go.” she said, reaching to take the bow. Jad handed it to her, followed by an arrow. She had no problem determining that the dyed spot on the bow string was where the arrow was to be nocked. He grimaced as she pinched the end of the arrow between her thumb and the knuckle of her pointer finger. "No, no, wait...You don't use your hold on the arrow to draw the string back. In fact, you barely hold the arrow at all. Here, let me show you." Black showed no reluctance to let the young man take a gentle hold of her bow hand and reach around to guide the fingers of her draw hand into what was the conventional hold. "Now just put your ring and middle finger under the arrow, and your pointer finger above the arrow. But you pull on the string, not the arrow. Just pinch the end of arrow enough to bring it back with your draw. But you actually pull the string with your fingertips, not the arrow." He bade her to relax that aspect for now, opting to position her stance first."Just let the bow rest at hip level...yeah semi-horizontally, with the arrow nocked, but not drawn. That is actually what they call "rest position". Well, no wait, not yet. You have to have your stance set as well. That's nothing though. Just keep your feet at shoulder width...yeah, that's right..." he snickered, somewhat embarrassed, as she tucked her hips into him in the process. He could see by her bunched cheeks that she was smiling too, obviously enjoying the effect she was having on him. He found himself unable to stop grinning. "Come on, cut it out. You're making it hard...To focus, I mean!" Now he burst out laughing, his face becoming flushed with self-consciousness...and arousal. He made a point of putting aside thoughts of her luscious body for now. It was very difficult with his arms around her and his attempts to position her legs without thinking about their firm, alluring promise. Again, that playful pout made him forget why they were here for instant, but he resisted her mischief long enough to get her in the "proper" stance. He promised himself he'd get her in a different "stance" later. "Okay, that's right. Point your lead shoulder in the basic direction of the target...Feet at shoulder width. No no, don't turn your body, keep it perpendicular to the target, and keep your feet pointed the same way as your chest...good. Now "ready" position. All that means is lifting the bow to align the arrow with the target. Bend your lead elbow slightly...Oh, I should be letting you wear my arm guard...Well just don't release yet." He took her lead elbow and lifted it higher, telling her to keep the arm at level height, so the bend in her elbow was out to the side, not down to the ground. Then telling her to keep her drawing elbow elevated as well. He let her resume rest position while he tied his arm guard on her forearm. "Now, some people are more comfortable drawing as they lift the bow. Others like to achieve full "ready" position first. Really, it's all a matter of preference, practice...and breathing. What I mean is that it's a good thing to draw a good breath as you lift, and let it half out as you line up the shot. It just "steadies" you for the shot. Pull the string so your finger is at the same level as your lip...that's right...and release." She missed just as badly as he had, but he could see what part of her problem was. "That's not bad. Really. Because I can see right off something you can work on. It's probably the most significant aspect of what we practice. Well first, you didn't account for the wind, but that's something I should have mentioned. No, I'm talking about "plucking" the string as you release. It's a very fine line on how much of the..."pad"...of your fingertip that you use to grip the string. It has to be just enough to maintain hold, but not so much as to make the string jerk to the side as you release." His expression was kind of pained, knowing he had no real advice to give her. It's not something I can really tell you how to do. It just takes practice. Try to hook your fingers as little as possible as you draw, and then, when you have "anchor" position...Oh, that's when you have the string fully drawn and your hold right by your lip, with the arrow lined up and ready to fire...Anyway, when you have anchor postition, you have to sort of just let your fingertips straighten, to let the string just sort of slide free. As you have probably noticed, it's not anything I have mastered either." Of the ten shots he'd made, only three were in the tree he'd been aiming for. Of the remaining seven, five were in neighboring trees. It was fair to consider that the target trees were a good thirty five or forty yards off, but he still chuckled at the thought that she'd probably match that by the time they left, if she accounted for the wind better than he had done."One last thing, having the wind coming toward you, like it is, will tend to "lift" the arrow in flight. Wind at your back will not have as much effect as far as elevation goes, since the arrow is usually out-running it. But a strong following wind will tend to make an arrow drop sooner, as it flattens out its arc. Anyway, take as many shots as you like, I'm going to open the wine."

[Black Onyx]

Black wasn’t at all surprised that she was holding the bow and arrow wrong, in fact the moment when Jadlin reached around to properly show her how to hold it right, she felt a need to be closer to him. So when he told her to keep her feet at shoulder width apart she tucked her hips into him, a crimson blush staining her pale cheeks at her own boldness. Indeed, she wasn’t normally so straight forward, however she felt that she had to get his attention somehow. This type of action really didn’t surprise her too much, in fact Black was always doing things that she probably shouldn’t be doing. It was a habit of hers which had gotten her into trouble more times than one. A smile soon found its way upon her lips, widening them as she made a point to tuck her hips into him again, a giggle upon her lips as the word hard left his lips. Oh he knew what was on her mind and she knew that he was having a hard time resisting the thoughts that would no doubt be plaguing his mind with his arms around her. Her lips shaped themselves into a pout as he resisted her boldness long enough to get her into the proper stance.

Finally, she conceded to doing what Jadlin was trying to teach her and she pointed her left shoulder in the direction of the tree. That was considered a lead shoulder? Wouldn’t her right be more of a lead shoulder? She thought to herself as she wriggled a little trying to figure it out. Finally, she went with the ’petch it’ idea and just simple settled on making her left shoulder her lead shoulder. Oh right, feet shoulder width apart, she repeated inside her head as she inched them to shoulder width and then he used a word that she had idea what it was. Perpendicular-what? What the petch was that? She asked herself as she frowned at her own lack of education. Silently she followed his instruction at keeping her toes pointed in the same direction as her chest. This bow thing is rather difficult, she noted as he told her about the ready position and how her arm should be kept at level height. Plus she noted how the bend in her arm had to be pointing to the side and not down at the ground.

He then allowed her to resume the rest position as he tied on the arm guard to her forearm and she couldn’t help but enjoy the soft brush of his fingers against her skin. It reminded her so much of the many hours that they had spent occupying each other’s rooms, she felt so much better when she was close to him, she didn’t feel so much anxiety. When she was away from him was a different story entirely. Jadlin was talking again and she turned her attention to him, taking note that she should breath as she lifted the bow up and let it out as she lined up the shot. Drawing in a slow breath, she felt the oxygen expand her lungs as she drew the bow up into the ready position and slowly, she exhaled lining her shot up as she drew back the arrow so then it was at the same level of her lip. Finally, she released the arrow and… her gaze followed its path into the trees and was lost somewhere in the shrubbery. A bubble of laughter came to her lips then as she shook her head when he mentioned that it was not something that he could explain. ”Perhaps a glass of wine can explain it to me and improve my aim?”

The moment that her laughter had settled, she heard his words about taking in mind the wind and she angled her head. Archery was kind of like larceny, it had its different skill sets, but you had to keep in mind of the many factors that could influence the moment. That was the only similarity, for to go slinking about in the shadows, you wouldn’t exactly stand up straight and board like if you didn’t want anyone to see you. As Jadlin went to go and open the bottle of wine, she bit down upon her bottom lip for a moment before she decided upon one more shot at this archery thing. Drawing in a deep breath, she lifted the bow once more with another arrow notched and slowly, the oxygen left her lungs as she lined up her target. However, just as she let go, she thought she could have seen something and her arrow went wildly flying off into the shrubbery once more. Lowering the bow, she peered into the tree line, upon seeing nothing, she shrugged her shoulders. Perhaps because she had spent so much time on the streets of Zeltiva it had made her a little jumpy of her surroundings. Black turned back to Jadlin and began to make her way towards him, ”Alright I think, that I am the worst archer of all time. I think I am even worse than the kids with the slingshots” She giggled as she gently laid the bow down, moving to untied the arm guard from her forearm.

[Aoren]

The brittle dirt beneath Aoren's hand felt sick and grainy. Like a thousand bits of sand falling between his fingers he watched the dead dirt bounce back to the earth. Zeltiva's wooded area was nothing like the lively, almost welcoming forest that was the Bronze Woods. The trees gave off the impression of being bitter sentinels that clung to the angry soil jealously. All other life was not welcome. All other life had to fight against the army of trees that preyed on the weak.

"This is not a welcoming place." Aoren's voice was low. He dropped the rest of the stiff soil studying the outlying terrain. What there was to see told him practically nothing. He did not often track things, let alone people for any reason. He had no way of knowing if the impressions in the dirt were that of wild animals or people. He studied them nonetheless. For all he knew they were just duvets in the dirt caused by the wind. The scratching of claws against bark caught his attention. Isikai stood pawing at one of the trees. He gave a low growl that turned into a whine. Rising to his feet using his quarterstaff as leverage Aoren walked over to the dog, wary of his footing.

"What is it, boy?" The large black canine stared at Aoren inquisitively. Aoren ran his fingers through Isikai's fur before bringing himself closer to the tree. Studying the variations in the bark at first he saw nothing out of the ordinary but after close inspection that's when he noticed something strange. Raked across the bark at around chest level were scrapes shredding the wood and leaving impressions in the trunk. Bringing a hand up to the marks Aoren ran his fingers along the scrapes.

"Someone scratched the bark here or rather...something did." A shiver ran down Aoren's spine. Despite the warmth of the summer day he suddenly felt very cold. Looking from the tree to his dog Aoren's brow furrowed. He gently nodded his head in the direction away from the tree motioning for the dog to follow. The sooner this matter was resolved, the better. The more time he took to find this Jadlin, the more worried he became.

NoteI learned some interesting things about the wilds surrounding Zeltiva via The Powers That Be. It's not a happy, romantic, grassy fun place. It's harsh, unwelcoming and forbidding. I've modified my perception to reflect that. I strongly suggest you do too.

[Jadlin Hayes]

Jad watched Black as she downplayed her attempt at archery. He smiled. She had done no worse than he. But it was time to go retrieve as many arrows as he could find. He set the bow down and took the quiver in hand as he walked toward the tree line.

An unexpected sense of foreboding began to tickle his awareness. He paused his progress, looking around. He looked back at Black, suddenly feeling conspicuous for his hesitation to enter the woods. How could he have missed this feeling? Was it because Black was now many yards back, perhaps forty or fifty? It had not bothered him on the walk up from town.

Thinking back, he remembered feeling that the surrounding forest was nothing so rich and...clean...as the forest back in and around Syliras. But then, he'd never really been out IN them there either. And, truth be told, his focus was pretty much all on the woman that had accompanied him up here.

But now he found his nape hairs quivering. It did not matter if the forest sounds were prominent or not. Whether the mournful sigh of the breeze, the prowling rustle of bushes, the low groan of creaking trunks, the stealthy "footstep" patter of dropping debris, it did not matter. These only served to offset and emphasize the watchful silence of their absence. 'These woods are downright creepy.' he realized.

Looking down now, even the dirt did not seem to cushion, as it had out in the glade. But had it really, out there? Thinking back, he had taken his third choice of spots for their blanket, the first two being unsuitable. Now he tried to recall what had been unsuitable about them. Sparse clumpy grass? The dirt a light color, dryer looking than one would expect for a forested hill, and not entirely dry, but sort of...clingy. He'd had to shake it off his shoes.

How had all this escaped him? He shook his head. He knew the answer. He was alone with a beautiful woman, a bottle of wine, and a blanket. There had only been ONE thing on his mind. He started picking up arrows, trying to shake off the sense of warning that he was having to go deeper into the trees to find more. He saved the ones in the tree trunks for last, as they were the easiest to notice.

He noticed movement deeper in, or thought he did, anyway. He stared into the distance, trying to get an idea of how far in the flash of movement had been. '...No...It was to the right...I think...' looking off as the arrows were forgotten. This time he saw something. He crouched as he squinted to see through the leaves and pollen haze. It was still sunny but somehow dark.

It was moving toward Fall now, but he wasn't sure if the leaves were colored because of the approach of the season or if there patches of orange normally in these woods. He knew nothing of tree lore. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was no breeze, yet the leaves in the distance were moving, and they seemed strangely colored. He corrected his initial assessment of "orange", it was more like skin tone.

Now he began to notice this same odd movement back ahead where he'd been looking initially. And the same flashes of skin tone. Warning and curiosity warred for his priority. He gave himself the excuse of wanting to retrieve more of his arrows. He'd retrieved a couple dozen by now, and still had a score that had not been shot in the first place. But he could see a trio of them caught in a row of bushes not five yards further in.

As he reached them, something new reached him. The sound of odd laughter...a guttural chuckling it sounded like. But there were no words being spoken. There WAS, however, a definite human shape. It had all the appearance of a naked man...no three...no...f-...His skin began to crawl as his continually increasing count reached eight and he stopped. There were more. He was not sure how many more, but the eight he'd defined had still more movement behind them.

It was most definitely time to be getting back to Black.

[Black Onyx]

Black’s brown gaze watched as Jadlin picked up the quiver to go retrieve the arrows, he had been quiet, but he had given her a smile and she moved to seat herself down upon the blanket once again. Straightening her legs out in front of her, she shifted her weight, so then she could lie back, throwing an arm over her eyes to cover them from the sunlight that would occasionally flicker through the tree tops. Jadlin’s behaviour sometimes baffled her and she was beginning to think that perhaps there was something wrong. She didn’t have to work so hard to get him to give in to those more carnal desires before and a simple sigh graced her lips. Was there something that she was missing? Some detail that she had missed, but he had not? The young equine had thought that things were going smoothly, they had spent quite a fair bit of time together since that fateful night where they had met and shared their first kiss in the rain. She could still remember the cool liquid as it dampened her hair and drenched her clothes to the point where they clung to her skin, only to make her shiver. She also remembered just how handsome he had looked. Jadlin had captured her eye like no one else had and continued to hold it, her obsession with him was growing to the point where she thought that perhaps she had developed feelings for him.

The image of Jadlin upon that night was going through her mind as she relaxed within the open spaces of the foothills. His own clothes had been drenched in rain, his black locks dripping with the liquid and those brown eyes seemed to pull her in. It was not only that but there was a certain something about him. It appeared to her as if he glowed with a type of confidence and although he hadn’t had the best of life, he was happy about the simple things that he now had. It had drawn her in and made her want him like nothing she had ever wanted before. She wanted him more than mizas and mizas was what kept her off the streets. She had also been neglecting her job as a thief, especially with the amount of time that she had been spending with Jad. Her arm drew back from across her face only for her head to lift so then she could place it underneath it. Her brown hues opened to view the canopy of leaves above her head to observe as they gently swayed with the cool breeze.

She liked to consider herself observant, but there was times where she missed quite a bit of key factors, especially the small little details. Mostly because she had been so wrapped up in other factors that had surrounded her, however, she didn’t know what details that she was missing in this situation. Drawing in a soothing breath, she decided to pay attention to the current surrounding area, her thoughts returning back to what she thought she had seen. Black had thought that she had seen something that flashed orange in colour, but it had only been a quick glance, mostly out the corner of her eye. Normally, if it had been within the city limits she would have chopped it up to paranoia, but it was out in the foothills where her paranoia mostly vanished to the background, so why was it acting up now? Perhaps it wasn’t paranoia this time and this thought made her suddenly sit up with alarm. Was there something actually out there? She would cast her gaze around, looking for Jadlin as she moved to stand up.

It was at this point that she heard the guttural chuckling and her eyes widened as shyke was the first word that came to mind. She should have realized earlier that what she had seen wasn’t just her paranoia and she began to pull off her clothing. First, the cloak, her boots, pants, shirt and then lastly her underclothes joined the pile. She would then nudge her dagger under the pile, for she would be coming back for her clothes. The young female felt the shift start to happen as a soft grey light surrounded her form as the kelvic borrowed her horse form. Once the light passed she stood as a nightwalker, 16’7 in height and a simple straight black. With a shake of her head, she was just about to start after Jadlin, when she remembered that she may need something for him to sit on and she lowered her head so then her teeth could grasp the edge of the blanket and pulled, sending the items on top of it to the ground. Finally she started after Jadlin with a gallop, her hooves pounded onto the fertile earth as she moved, the blanket flapping beside her as her ears pressed back against her head. She should have realized! She scolded herself as she stretched out her neck and plowed through the trees and bushes. She wasn’t really worried about her safety, rather for Jadlin’s safety and all she had to do, to find him, was follow the guttural sounds.

The equine charged into the area, skidded to a complete stop as she reared up onto her hind legs in a warning to the human looking threat, her front legs striking out at the opposing threat. The moment that her front legs settled back onto the ground and she was sure that they were not likely to strike in the next couple of seconds, she turned to nudge her head towards Jadlin, holding out the blanket to him, the blanket that was still gripped in her teeth. As soon as he grasped a hold of it, she would let go and wait for him to mount up onto her back.

[Aoren]

Aoren stood next to another tree running his fingers over even more scratches in the bark. The scratches were becoming more frequent. Glancing down at the brittle soil Aoren caught sight of a curious impression. The dirt looked to be highly disturbed. Stepping up next to it Aoren knelt down resting his quarterstaff against his shoulder. Isikai sniffed around the edge of the upturned dirt growling low. Running his fingers over the earth Aoren frowned.

“It’s almost like someone was digging a hole.” He squinted at the ground nearby. There were several gouges in the earth that made themselves quite evident once one took notice of them. Had Aoren not been searching for possible tracks or what little signs of disturbances he could make out he would have very easily missed them.

“Footsteps?” The more he studied them the more of them he saw. In fact as he looked up he could see a number of the same disturbed piles of dirt. Aoren looked at the nearby trees. The marks on them were concentrated most heavily toward the base almost as if claws were scratching at them trying to grasp at the bark. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

Claws scraping at the bark of trees.

Upturned dirt.

Multiple footsteps leading away from the partially filled holes in the ground.
Realization hit Aoren like a sack of potatoes. He gasped shooting to his feet staring in the direction of the lumbering tracks. It was only because there were so many of them that he was able to tell they were tracks at all. There was only one creature that he knew of so closely related to the signs he was seeing. He’d encountered them only a few times in his life in Syliras including a very odd request once made by a merchant.

“Yukmen!” It was at that moment that Aoren heard a grunt from behind. Isikai lowered into a crouch. His fur was on end and a low threatening growl emanated from the dog’s throat. Slowly, Aoren turned. A few feet away stood a Yukman. His deformed slightly human shaped body partially caked with dirt. Aoren couldn’t tell whether this earth was part of the Yukman or just remnants of the harsh soil from which the beast had sprung. It stood there staring at the both of them curiously. Isikai growled taking a step toward the creature.

“Stop.” Aoren spoke a word in Pavi. He wasn’t so adept at speaking the language that he could form full sentences but he’d taken to speaking to Isikai in his mother tongue. The dog seemed to respond to it on a greater level than in Common, Aoren’s fluent language. This time though, Isikai didn’t seem too keen on obeying Aoren’s command. The dog growled in an even more threatening manner. Aoren heard the crunch of the brittle dirt nearby. The Yukman had taken a step nearer. Its head was cocked to the side as it stared at the both of them. Aoren took a step back.

The creature moved quickly then, lumbering not toward Aoren but his dog. Before Aoren could intervene the yukman was reaching for Isikai as if to grasp him around one of his legs. The dog barked in warning before snapping out at the beast’s hand. The yukman, oblivious to the pain of a dog’s teeth, made no effort to evade Isikai’s snapping jowls. The creature howled in pain as Isikai released his hold on the yukman’s hand still crouched in his defensive hunch. The yukman raised a foot as if to kick Isikai.

Aoren moved.

He struck out with his quarterstaff arcing it into a half-windmill then jut the butt end of the staff forward catching the yukman in the ankle. Yukmen, while vicious when provoked, were little more than clumsy brawlers in a fight in Aoren’s experience. The unexpected hit set the beast off balance sending it toppling backward and onto its back. Again it howled this time more in a frustrated manner than in pain.

“Run! Run!” Aoren darted forward patting at Isikai’s side with the edge of his staff to prompt him to move. The dog hesitated for a moment only continuing on to run when Aoren broke out into a sprint to get away from the yukman. A single yukman Aoren was confident that he could handle. That, however, was not what made him run.

There were more than one. He had seen the tracks. He had seen the dirt.
That was why he was running. For where there was one yukman, there were always more. How many? That was not something he wanted to stick around to find out. He needed to find Jadlin and his female companion, if only to lead them back to the safety of the city. Isikai kept up an even pace beside him the dog even gaining speed ahead of him. Behind them Aoren could hear the yukman bellowing in anger as it lumbered after them.

“Damn it all, where are you Jadlin?”

Where indeed?

Note :

This kind of text means Aoren is speaking in Pavi.