A little careless

[inkbottle]

Brae knew she should have been more afraid when the trees above her closed off the majority of sunlight, but she wasn't--instead, she felt a strange sense of exhilaration. Her human senses shouted itself hoarse in trepidation, while her adventurous and fearless wolvish instincts continued to urge her on in soothing voices. So step by step, she continued to advance into the dangerous woods, singing softly to herself in a surprisingly lighthearted manner, but she kept an eye out for anything out of place, because one could never afford to let one's guard down--no matter what the voices inside Brae's head told her.

[russell]

Russell moved with fluid grace across the trees, his long legs stretched out and pushed himself off into the air rapidly from branch to branch. His foot made hardly any noise at all, the drows that had raised him had taught him well.

He was on a hunting trip today--he had been sent by the council to weaken the governing powers of the king over the Veiled City, and his job was to first destroy the city's only means of protecting itself by killing off all the hundred soldiers that guarded the place. It would take a lot of time in order to do this without any suspicion, but Russell was patient.

The sole of his leather boot continued to tap lightly on the wooden branches beneath him, and he flew carelessly until his ever attentive eyes caught an out of place shape. He stopped in his tracks to zoom in on the figure--it was a girl--and a sickenly cheerful one at that. Russell's eyes narrowed, what was a girl like her doing here? Didn't she know what kind of place this was? He sneered but then remembered the council's warning--the king was not a stupid man, he had resources everywhere, and for all the assassin knew, this girl might be an envoy sent to destroy him. Russell decided not to take any chances. He reached for an arrow and swung his bow off his shoulders. The girl's end was near.

[inkbottle]

If it were not for her animal senses, she would never have realized danger was near. The air had changed, she felt a small drift of wind that felt unnatural, manmade. Her sensitive nose also caught a different odor that did not come from the plantations around her. Her eyes narrowed--someone was here. Brae continued to walk, but her cheerful air was replaced with a nervous and alert attitude. Her hand strayed to the long knife that hung at her side, her gray eyes continued to scan the scene in front and around her. She couldn't see anything, could her potential predator be up in a tree? Brae looked up, but she was unable to spot anything--her eyesight was not exactly her strongest point, so she relied on her other senses instead. She began to panic--it was something to know you were in danger, it was another thing to not know what you were in danger of.

[russell]

He winced as his bow creaked slightly while he held the string back. Hoping she hadn't heard it, Russell trained his eye on the stupid girl, ready to fire once she moved into a better spot. He smirked at her unsuspecting head as he watched her move slowly into the trap he had set for her. But, to his displeasure, she seemed to have dropped her lighthearted air, and for some reason, looked suddenly cautious. Her gaze travelled up and down every tree, and once or twice, her eyes grazed over the spot where he lay hidden. Fortunately, his clothing blended well enough with his surroundings that her gaze passed right over him. Russell decided that perhaps she was not such a stupid girl after all. He continued to follow her as she walked.

[inkbottle]

Brae was growing extremely uneasy. Suddenly, the forest seemed all too quiet for her liking. The air was strange--where did that new scent come from? It was just barely there, but it made her nervous all the same. She contiued to look around cautiously, slowly, observing every detail to make sure she didn't miss anything crucial. No mistakes were allowed in Hemlas--one of the most dangerous places in Ria.

Frustrated, she decided to stop this nonsense. She would make her predator appear. She was not confident in her fighting skills, but at least she would die fighting for her life. Besides, out in the open, she was an easy target for anyone or anything. Brae stopped in her tracks and made several gestures with her hands. Her fingers swept around the air in circles, and all of a sudden, a small ball of liquid like fire floated above her open palm. She eyed a certain tree, took aim, then fired.

[Ash]

Ash sat in a tree looking down at the ground. She was busy looking for the pesky mouse that was bugging her a lot. Suddenly, the air seemed too quiet. She sniffed and looked around. Her human characteristics kicked in telling her to run, but Ash's current state took over.

She jumped down from the tree landing gracefully on the ground. Her long tail lashed back and forth as Ash looked around.

"Funny," she thought. "The forest is never this quiet."

Ash looked to her right and saw an elf standing ten feet away from her with his bow ready to fire.

[russell]

Russell bit back a yelp as fire slithered up the tree in which he was concealed. So distracted was he that he failed to notice another presence not too far from him. What was he to do now? He wasn't expecting such an assault from the girl...hell, he hadn't even been sure she knew what exactly was going on! There was no way for it, he would have to make himself known and fight her. She was much too dangerous.

Replacing the arrow and reslinging the bow over his shoulder, he drew his sword from its sheath as he jumped off the tree, cutting cleanly in front of her when his foot touched the ground. The man straightened up and pointed his weapon at the stranger. "Halt," he commanded, "what business do you have here?"

[Ash]

Ash tilted her head and looked at the elf. She was wondering whom he was talking to. Licking her paw as she laughed very quietly wondering what would happened if she said something to him.

Lashing her tail, she stood back up on all fours and walked quietly over to him. About a yard away, she sat down and dared him to attack in her mind.

"George is going to have kittens if he finds out I'm out here again," Ash thought looking at the elf. "Oh well. He can eat my dung if he thinks I'm going to stay in all the time."

[inkbottle]

Brae peered at the tip of the weapon that was pointed in her direction. What had she done? What was going on? And who the hell was this guy? She eyed his attire--he looked more like a traveller than a guard, and besides, a guard of the Veiled City wouldn't be caught dead in this dangerous place, unless in extreme times of need, of course. For someone who could be no more than a traveller, he was certainly intimidating--and what was with the sword he was jabbing at her? What did she do wrong? Maybe she had unwittingly wandered onto his territory or something.

Her heartbeat quickened, knowing that she had to answer quickly or he will attack. At this time, Brae also caught the whiff of a new scent in the air that suggested another presence, but she told herself that she was imagining it. She fought to look him square in the eye and quickly said, "I'm just a passerby on my way to the Veiled City, I mean no harm, I promise!"

[russell]

Russell almost snorted. Right, like anyone who "means no harm" could set fire to a tree just like that. He wasn't about to be fooled by this act of innocence--he was too good at his job. It was foolish of him not to let the arrow fly when he had the chance, now he would have to spend wasted time parrying with this slip of a girl he could care less for.

His sword glinted dangerously along with the fires in his eyes, "Meant no harm?" he mocked, "We'll see about that," he said, and lashed out at her with his sword.

[Ash]

Ash not realizing it until she did it let out a snort of humor as she watched the elf attack. She quickly put her paw to her mouth and tried not to gasp.

"Opps, big mistake," she thought waiting for them to look at her. Ash's tail dropped to the ground as she sat there. “George is going to go crazy on me if he finds out what I did.”

Ash looked around for a quick escape route but didn't see anything in the dark and shrub filled bottom. Waiting, she watched.

“Please don’t shoot anyone!” yelped Ash when her tail hit a twig and snapped it. “We, well, I come in peace. I’m just hunting.”

Then, Ash realized that she wasn’t in her normal form. “Bigger mistake, a talking cat. Somebody is going to think they’re hearing things. That should be funny.”

[inkbottle]

Brae jumped about a mile when he suddenly lunged forward and tried to strike at her with his sword. She was so astonished that the blade made a deep cut into her shoulders. Her beat skipped wildly as she realized she'd actually have to fight for her life. Why, she was a healer! Not a warrior! This was such nonsense--she should have left this damned forest when she still had a chance!

Quickly, she fumbled around for the long knife that she carried around for chopping stubborn herbs and tried desperately to hold it in a correct fighting position, and she might have succeeded in scoring a hit or two as well...if she knew how to hold the knife properly. She started swinging her weapon wildly, not really sure what she was doing, just hoping she'd hit something.

But suddenly, something burst out of nowhere and started shouting something about shooting things. Brae was so alarmed that she stopped "attacking" and turned to stare at the creature that had popped up. It was a talking cat. A talking cat. The girl was in such shock that she let her guard down. Already, the danger signs were manifesting--her gray eyes melted into their wolvish icy blue color, and her canine teeth elongated. Brae could feel her fingernails grow into sharp, lethal points. Realizing what she had done, she quickly tried to suppress it, but the shocking events of the day were too strong, and she remained in a semi-transformed state, trying to gain some small measure of control.

[russell]

Russell smiled with morbid satisfaction as the blade drew blood. It seemed as though she was not as much of a danger as he had thought after all. Killing her should be a piece of cake. He jumped back and readied himself for another strike. The girl had finally gotten over her shock enough to draw her weapon. Russell almost doubled over with laughter as he watched her struggle with a long knife that seemed way heavier than she was. Any humorous thoughts faded, however, when she began swinging wildly. She almost chopped off his head with that previous swing! This girl was a monster! It was so blatantly obvious she didn't know how to fight, but that was what put him on guard more than ever. Even fools hit gold sometimes. He raised his sword to parry her next hit, which was more powerful than he had anticipated. Russell dodged around her wild blows, and had finally found an opening which he could use to his advantage when the crazy girl suddenly stopped chopping at him. Confused, he stopped as well, turning his head to look at whatever it was that seemed to have surprised her.

It was a cat. But it was also saying something. Russell thought he must have gone mad, but then he remembered there were things like anthros which existed in Ria, and this thing must be one of those. Out of curiousity, he glanced at the girl to see how she was handling this, but instead of breaking out in hysterics and trying to kill the talking beast, she just stood there, but something was not right with her. As he was standing right across from her, he could see the changes. He didn't notice the nails, but he noted the way her eyes, which he recalled had been a dull color of some sort, turned a piercing blue, and she seemed to have spouted fangs. He knew her for what she was at once. She was a Lycan, one of the cursed folk, unwillingly plagued with an unwanted lifestyle...or at least, that was generally the assumption. Perhaps she enjoyed being a werewolf.

Russell's head reared back to the cat, wondering how the creature was liking the way things were turning out.

[Ash]

Ash's eyes widened as she watched the girl transform. "Just great." she thought. Mustering the final ounce of strength she had in herself, Ash changed back into a human. She tried to stand up but was too weak. She looked at the elf as he looked back and forth between them. "Why is he just standing there?"

Pulling at her sword Ash unsheathed it and looked up. She could fill her claws trying to come back out but she wouldn't let them. "I'm going to fight this one out." Ash tried her best and got herself standing up, leaning on the sword. She wobbled a bit but kept herself upright. Keeping one eye on the elf and the other on the girl she just stood there.

[russell]

When his eyes was back on the creature again, he found a human standing there instead. What the hell is this? A shape-shifting festival? Why do stupid things like this always happen to me? He was about to ignore the insignificant cat/human thing to revert his attention to his original target when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Russell felt like groaning out loud in frustration.

"I have no business with you, kindly crawl back to whatever hole you came from," he told the anthro coldly.