Quiet of the Woods (Open RP)

Pierre sat down on a fallen log. The stars were starting to fade as dawn approached. The trees rustled in the breeze, almost sounding like soft rain was falling on them. It was this tranquility that Pierre was soaking in as the sun slowly rose. A few at a time, the birds started singing. A woodpecker was hard at work not too far away, the sound of its tapping on a hallow tree reverberated through the valley.

Slowly the sky started to brighten. Then on the mountain peak in the distance, the sunlight was visible. The sunlight seemed to slide slowly down the mountain until when it reached where Pierre was sitting, did the sunrise actually become visible.

Once the sun had risen to the point where it was no longer red, Pierre started folding up his gear.

It'd been too long since she'd walked these lands herself. She was feelin rather rough and battered from life in general, and it showed. She was, currently, a liger. Big, strong, and huntress, yes, but at the center of the cat is a nap. She simply had to be fierce in order to get that nap without being battered.

This was to put such things aside. Her troubles couldn't follow high here. As the sun rose, it felt like more than the day was granted a new start.

And speaking of new - a new scent. A stranger. She didn't realize she'd crouched low and taken a defensive stance until she tried to walk. After a quick stumble which she managed to salvage into a pounce over a small ditch without losing too much dignity, Songhue followed her nose. Old habits died hard, it seemed - in more ways than one.

Thankfully, by the time she'd found the fellow a few new ones had had time to surface. Bouncing onto the log next to himshe gave a flick of her tail and tilted her head. Whatcha got? she asked in all apparent innocence. At the moment, that indicated an interest in rather it was good to play with or good to eat.

Nevermind that a giant talking cat had just been the one to ask.

Pierre paused while he was getting his pack ready. The birds from behind had suddenly gone silent. Pierre looked for a second when suddenly a large cat came into view, and quickly was on the log next to him. "Whatcha got?" the cat asked.

Pierre took in the size of the cat; more specifically the teeth and the claws. "I'd better be careful, at this distance I wouldn't last long enough to begin to defend myself," Pierre thought to himself. "Either I'm dreaming," he said while he pinched his arm, "unlikely...

Or you just asked me a question. If the latter is true, I believe I've gotten more than I had bargained for on this trip. However, it appears that I may have a chance to learn more about these old woods." He had turned to face his pack again while he was speaking, and had just about finished putting everything back in it. "Is there something that your are interested in? Myself, I'm looking for an old road that was supposed to be somewhere in these woods. Though by now I imagine that none could find it, save those who know where to look, and what would be left behind." By the end of that sentence, his pack was closed, and now resting on his lap.

"I hope that was polite enough. If I make an enemy out of her here, I'm certainly lost, in more ways than one", he thought to himself. He forced himself not to look at his walking stick that was lying on the ground behind him. Any move that looked threatening, he figured, would probably be his last. At least he was able to keep the stress from showing on his face; on the outside it appeared that this was an everyday occurrence to him, and that he might even be slightly bored or just tired. He turned to face the cat, hoping that the conversation stayed as peaceful as it had started.

Is there anything she's interested in, indeed. He never did tell her what he had; merely finished bundling it up and putting it in his lap. Maybe that meant that if there was food, he just didn't want to share.

Any old roads in these woods are long since gone, she told him with a flick of her tail. once, long ago, these were the lands of the Fae. Now these lands belong to others. Creatures that don't need roads, creatures created from the magics the Fae left behind.

Tilting her head the other way, she gathered her limbs beneath her and sprang forward. HIdden behind a bush, next to an old tree, she had detected a rabbit's warren. Typically, she didn't eat rabbit as a rule. It was especially useless in this form; the full grown rabbit fit entirely in her mouth. With a few quick crunches she disposed of the snack as easily as a housecat with a doormouse. This rabbit wasn't known to her, she could be sure of that here. Besides, she needed the snack.

There is a trail of sorts, she told him, licking her face clean as she crunched the last bone, used by small creatures, as well as those that come and go here regularly. It splits further up, leading you to a bit of water or deeper into the lands, depending. There's another a few miles back that leads out into the waste lands of the abandoneds. They stay here and continue the work of repairing Sionayra. What might be called the fronteer, really.

She planted herself beside him once again and leaned down to pick up his walking stick. It was large enough that he could wrap his hand around it with his fingertips touching, as any good walking stick was, but in her mouth it looked as small as a twig.

Ligers are very big. Not that one would know it by the casual way she moved, dropping the staff by his knee as she stood up. I'll show you the way to the water, she declared. Try and keep up!

Pierre quickly picked up his walking stick, and slung his pack over his back. He had heard the rumours of intelligent animals, but had never expected to meet one. Now he was following one, and it was almost all he could do to keep up. He didn't want to pull out his map again, but felt certain that he was heading in the direction he had intended to go. The long hours he spent staring at the map were paying off; there were landmarks that if he encountered he'd know where he was.

"I wonder if I should ask her name, he thought while he ran. I probably shouldn't, because then I would be expected to divulge mine as well. I need to treat her with the respect and care of a dragon, as both she and a dragon could make quick work of me. He kept his eyes wide open during the run. Half his attention as on not losing the cat that was leading him; half looking for signs of the path he needed to take. He was also careful to not follow to close as to spook the cat, but not so far away that if he tripped he'd not be able to stand up in time to see her.

She had shortened her stride for him, but quickly found she need make only a minimum adjustment for him. It wasn't long before they found their way onto what could only be called a game trail in the kindest of eyes. There was a great twisted tree crowding right over their heads, and just barely within sight a large, flat boulder that almost looked to be a sleeping hound. Passing this, there was seen a sparkling array of gems tangled in a the greenery that resembled the way a creature of high standing might decorate their hair.

When they got closer it could be seen that the image of bejeweled hair was granted by a dusting of some strange material; it gave off a damp heat against her coat as they passed. She thought it a remnant of the wars, but couldn't be sure. It eluded her efforts to examine the luminescent material.

The great water, she announced, her eyes fixed on a shimmer of blue just barely glimpsed through the trees. In half adozen strides she'd closed the distance and leaped high into the air, bouncing off a tree to gain extra height. For a long moment, she hung suspended in the air. Then there was a shimmer, a rippling in the air around her. In the next breath a massive dragon, large enough for a single eye to serve as a doorway for a six foot centaur, split the water with a single powerful stroke of her wings.

A moment passed where the massive lake shuddered, birds singing in the distance lending a surreal quality to the scene. Then the liger's head surfaced and she was hauling herself back onto shore, an odd growling that could best be called a purr stuttering as she shook off hard.

Oh, but I love water, she announced. This is the lake. It's as big as some oceans, and it isn't always here; you have to know how to find it. It has a lot of memories.

Looking around with that odd statement, she let her eyes fall on various places. Some still sparked with old magic or showed signs of some sort of gathering. Some were littered with colorful stones that still showed ghostly images of strange markings carved into them.

It's good to come here when quiet is needed without lonliness. Too many shades yet remain to be alone. But I wouldn't come here for a party. There's a clearing and an old faery circle that works for those.

Pausing, she squinted and took a step closer to the man with the sack. There had been someone, a long time ago, for just a moment or two... He reminded her of that one, met for an instant in a party.

Grhmmmm, she rumbled, then sat with a flick of her tail and proceeded to lick herself dry. For a moment I thought i knew you. I'm Songhue.

Looking again at the many scattered bits of history littering the shore, she blinked a few times and rolled her shoulders, asif against an annoying insect. And this is where your road leads.