Not Lost

[Tshael]

"We are not lost here in these woods, nor are they lost in us"

Radical Druid (http://www.radicaldruid.com/movabletype/archives/2005/02/pagan_proverbs.html)

The bite wound was still healing. As Tshael wound her way from the edges of Donnalaich, where the forest was reclaiming what was it's own, she had first gone forth alone. Not a full day had she traveled, cursing her Dranak weight and the heavy hooves that sank so readily in the mire, when she came upon her first real opposition. It was deceptively mild, curled under leaves, as she came tramping through. Her frustration with the wet earth and perspiration that caused her to itch under her armor was apparent as she passed, the plant life at her feet growing thorns and violent red hues. Her foot moved, and she felt it. It was like being hit with a rolling ball, subtle, but then followed by pain of pierced flesh. The viper had a tight grip on her leg, and she'd been forced to turn back, recuperating from the venom in the Fae's city.

The bite of a snake was not enough to stop her. There were things to be done in the rainforest, things that might need black armor and a resolve even stronger than the Delyn by which it was made. There was one who was counting on her, a lost soul in the mire. She would not let her son down, somehow not let Thoracis down, and no forest would stand in her way. Released from the care of healers, she again stood at the edge of the forest. Her eyes narrowing, she allowed her magic to seep outwards, into the brush and thick, tangled vines. She would not keep to the main roads, she would not try and move through this place as a human would. That had been her downfall the last time, and it was indeed the last time she would let it be her downfall.

Vines and thickly blossomed branches parted for her, stones rolling up, caked in mud but creating a strong pathway for her. Concordian magic was coming into the East now, and her golden eyes were nearly cold as she stepped forward, letting the forest close in on her as she moved. She needed no path back, because from where she went, she may not return.

It was with this grim reminder that she paused, listening as an angry scream cut through the morning mists.

[Sidhe]

“Well, this is different.”

Sidhe let out a long sigh as he saw the vast expanse of lush rainforest stretching out in front of him. Its canopy was so thick and uninterrupted in places that it seemed a green carpet laid out for one to walk upon. Between ceiling and floor, the forest sported animals in the most vibrant of colors. Birds with feathers of dazzling reds and yellows sung to the air in a melodious symphony of life. Here and there a green snake hung down from the trees’ branches, blending in effortlessly with the area’s many vines. Below, small mammals and lizards were ever dashing across the ground, fearful of larger predators. The constant rustling of fallen leaves gave evidence to their sprints even when Sidhe wasn’t looking. All in all, he found the scene a magnificent celebration of life.

Dheathain’s swamp had been aesthetically pleasing in its own right, but the stubborn fog of Fiorair blocked it from his sight most of the time as he’d trudged through seemingly endless muck. Now, the beauties of the land were displayed in clear view for his unreserved admiration. He took a few steps and instantly felt the wave of heat and humidity that pulsated within this densely inhabited setting. The wood was like a furnace. Sidhe could already feel a few drops of sweat forming on his brow and chuckled. It was as if the very energy of the place was greeting him upon the threshold, making itself known to visitors in its domain.

Sidhe walked on, wiping his forehead dry with the back of his left hand as he went. The staff in his right grip was taking experimental steps into the underbrush before him, testing any ground before the avatar volunteered his foot to tread it. It was a beautiful place, yes, but its exterior was beguiling as a woman’s smile. Many, if not most, of the animals in Luthmor were poisonous to some degree. Though he’d survived various venoms before, raging fevers and mild delusion were things Sidhe preferred to avoid if at all possible. He continued to marvel at the region’s fauna while trekking through tree trunks, stopping now and again to catch the breath he so often lost in this baking oven.

“It’s as if the air takes on a personality of its own here,” he gasped during one such break.

Feeling the strain, his free hand flew to a leather pouch hanging from his waist. From it, the avatar of nature retrieved a small glass vial with a slight amount of clear water in it portents. Removing the wooden stopper gingerly, he tipped the device on its end over his open mouth and let a single drop spill forth. It struck his expectant tongue and spread a wave of recuperative hydration all throughout his body. The vial was a gift from the very spirit of nature, one of Sidhe’s most valued possessions. Taking care to treat it with all the proper respect, he returned it to its place. Just as he was going to continue on his march, a terrible scream reached him from deeper in the woods.

A panther? Sidhe conjectured wildly.

The closest thing he’d heard that came close to it had come from the wild cats of Concordia that prowled the territory when the sun fell. He set off cautiously toward the where he’d heard the sound, more aware of his surroundings than ever. Something about it made him want to investigate, as if it called to him. Every shifting tree limb and rustling leaf seemed to hide an unseen threat now, the situation made tense by the disembodied angry cry. But after only a minutes’ journey through the pressing vegetation, he found that the source of the yell was not something to be feared, but pitied.

Before him was a magnificent cat about a foot in height with a sleek black coat. It was called an algora, a rare class of feline found only within Dheathain’s borders. This specimen was made more rare by its uniquely dark fur, which in most of its kind was stained a shade of brown. Though gorgeous to look upon, it was snarling and clawing at the air between it and Sidhe. The human was not afraid, though, for he saw its left hind leg was held tight in the jaws of some sentient-made trapping of steel. He attempted to get closer for a better look, but the algora shifted and swiped furiously at him. Sidhe feared he knew the reason for the trap.

What monster would think the life of this marvelous being worth what gold coins its pelt would fetch?

“I’m here to help,” he tried to reason with the beast.

The fearful rage in its eyes did not abate and Sidhe found himself with only one choice before him. With a flurry of his staff, he summoned the abundant energies of life around him. A vine began coiling around the cat’s forelegs at his command, faster than he’d ever seen in this thriving environment. The panicked animal noticed the movement, but found itself incapacitated by the time it decided to strike at the green tendril. The plant had looped around each limb thrice and pulled it down against the earth when it began to rise to the cat’s snapping jaw. Though it resisted with a passion, snarling and coiling in retreat, Sidhe finally manage to conduct the vine around the creature’s neck and pull it down flat against the ground. The restrained feline purred loudly with vicious intent, glaring at his assailant.

“It’s for your own good, friend.”

Sidhe stopped playing puppet master to his vegetative agent and hastened toward the trapped leg. He jabbed his staff into the metallic jaw and pried it open by pushing all his weight against it. It gave slowly with a loud creaking sound. The animal’s leg came loose and left its prison a bloody mess. The disappearance of the trap’s biting grip seemed to relax the algora noticeably, though it still struggled against its earthy bonds. A few steps back left Sidhe staring at those fiery eyes once more, trying to convey with his whole being the good intent in his actions.

“I’m going to release you now,” he whispered, and the cat seemed to pause in mid-growl at the sound.

A moment later, the vine had slackened and the algora was free to move. This seemed to take the creature aback, for it stood blinking at its freed leg for several seconds. It then looked at Sidhe, some of the angry passion returning to its eyes. Nature’s avatar did not move as it sniffed the air around him, unsure of what to make of him. At length, the cat licked his wound and left without another aggressive tone toward its rescuer, limping as it went. Sidhe was left standing alone in the small clearing, staring angrily down at the bloodstained contraption that had held it.

[Tshael]

"Interesting," the melodious voice spoke softly after the Algora had already stalked off. Tshael had stood, hidden in the thick vine and tree growth that shrouded the tiny copse. Sweat and dirt brushed down the sides of her face in lines, her maroon curls plastered along the curve of her jaw like an art nouveau tracing, loping and moving together until the strands came together in a dark cascade down her back and shoulders. The black armor covered little, and left the full Dranak body on show. Delyn coated her right shoulder and breast, her forearms and shins, and perspiration dropped down the plane of her stomach and in the curves of her elbows. So far was she from her destination, and already so much work had been done by her muscles.

Stepping into the space where the trap had been covered by falling leaves and thick-leaved brush, Tshael reached out with her senses. Poachers in Concordia would often set more than one of the dangerous toothed shackles, and to find herself a victim here wasn't something she wanted to go through again. Content that she needn't move any closer to the avatar, she stopped, regarding him with kind, approving golden eyes.

She'd seen the way he used the growth to subdue the cat, and in her curious apprehension, the vines near to her themselves were curling and writhing like serpents, ready to strike. She breathed outward, releasing her tension, and the vines dropped, hanging once again loosely from where they draped like long scarves from the branches of the towering trees. It was, however, beyond the similar skill that interested her about this man. It was the way that the cat understood him, knew that he meant no harm. She was certain that if she'd been facing down the Algora, a battle might have ensued. An ache in her calf reminded her of how badly she and the wildlife of this place seemed to coexist.

"Where are you going?" she asked, not bothering with the niceties of introduction. If he were going the same way, she could use his assistance. Tshael was a prideful being, but for this she would lay it all down. For Tsyliss, she would run against her grain and take all the help she could get.

[Sidhe]

“So,” Sidhe gasped loudly without thinking, “goddesses do descend upon our realm to honor mere mortals with their presence from time to time.”

He stood his full height, talymer staff in his right hand, and bowed his head in reverence of the breath-taking beauty that had entered the clearing. With smooth, powerful legs like those of the most gorgeous palomino, she strutted up to him and inquired as to where he was headed. However, Sidhe was momentarily struck with an inability to communicate much of anything as he took in her impressive form. Long red curls cascaded gracefully onto her delicate frame. Her nubile curves were each more desirable than the last, glistening with sweat as they were. The avatar actually blushed slightly as his eyes lingered on her half-exposed bosom.

“Oh, where am I going?” he stammered, snapping out of his reverie. “I suppose, my dear, that I’m already there.”

He paused and waved his staff around to indicate their forested surroundings.

“I had no plans beyond simply visiting this verdant nation. Where my travels may take me within its borders is for time’s passage to reveal.”

It had often been so with Sidhe, traveling without any real purpose but finding more than enough to occupy himself with along the way. The world was filled with strife regardless of where he went. He saw it as his personal duty to alleviate some of the land’s suffering as best he could. Helping others indiscriminately anywhere he journeyed, the avatar of nature felt he was most effective with these nomadic tendencies. They allowed him to gain a wider view of the world than most other adventurers and better understand the source of civilization’s troubles. His pilgrimage had begun at the age of twenty and carried on even now, a decade later. It was a ceaseless errand he was proud to take up as his own.

“Being here,” he went on, looking back at his radiant interrogator, “it seems you are the one brimming with a distinct sense of purpose. Pray, what brings you to Luthmor?”

He then laughed rather unexpectedly but quickly explained, “I’m sorry, but I’ve been forward in sharing your lack of introduction. My name is Sidhe and I am at your service.”

This was followed by a deep and ceremonious bow of his leather-clad body. A new glimpse of the blood-stained steel trap on the ground returned a foul taste to his mouth. He'd almost forgotten his most recent act of kindness to a freed algora in presence of the strikng half-human female. He supposed the beast's cries must have brought her to him. How fate smiles on the benevolent.