Re: Friends and Enemies at the Edge of the Wood

**Peppers** Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:39 pm

Greylyn shifted from one foot to the other, then sat down again beside the boiling pot of ‘soup.’ The mushrooms had made the water turn brown, but whether that was from dirt or natural effects, the elf wasn’t sure. She stirred the stick around in it again and fished up a chunk of mushroom from the bottom of the iron pot. She had never been completely fond of mushrooms, but the fact that it was food was more that enough temptation for her to pop the steaming chunk of fungus into her mouth.
Greylyn spat.
The mushroom was not at all pleasant to taste, and much too hot anyway. Cursing, she got back onto her feet and looked up at Kal with annoyance as he laughed uncomfortably at his explanation of the party that awaited the odd stranger.
What had the stranger got, anyway? A message of some sort concerning some doctor? Stuff and nonsense: she didn’t care about any news relating to any doctor. Why, the only one that she’d met recently was the one… at… the… palace.
A chill made the tiny little black hairs that grew on the back of her neck to stand up straight. Yes, /that/ doctor: Dr. Strow. What had become of the old man after the escape, anyway? Something extraordinary enough to be put in a note, obviously.
Putting her hand on Kal’s arm, Greylyn stood up on her toes and spoke softly in his ear. “It could be a trap of sorts, you know,” she whispered, raising her brows. “At any rate, Oliver’s got the right idea: don’t put away your knife quite yet.” The elf warned, taking her hand from his arm and going down to her normal height. She looked over hesitantly at the area where the stranger’s voice had come from, but quickly had to tear away her gaze and stir the soup, which had begun to burn.
Grabbing another couple leaves of mint, which had begun to wilt as they waited by the fire, Greylyn tore them up into little pieces and threw the little bits of green into the brown water, hoping to save the taste of the soup. Yes, some meat would do very nicely indeed…

**Sahmtah** Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:47 pm

Dorran flinched, and grinding his teeth nervously, stepped forward into the light of the fire. His thick black hair lay disheveled across his face, almost covering his eyes. Putting on a sloppy grin, he hesitantly began to lift the paper in his hand. "I'm not sure which of you was intended to receive this..." His dark eyes jumped from one person to another. An odd bunch indeed, he thought as he scanned the characters. "I'm not sure why they had me come, either." He shrugged, and eyed the knife in the hand of the man. He swallowed. "You're not going to kill me, remember?"

**Cole** Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:24 pm

Oliver snorted. Not kill you? Indeed. He was wary of the messenger...would he let his guard down so easily? Oliver thought not. Placing his blade threateningly close to his shoulder, the Shadow glared at the man with bloodshot eyes.

"Give me the message. Message first, then we can decide whether or not to trust you." Overhead, a thick fog was developing over the forest. Oliver was quite surprised that his body was holding up to the darkness, though only slightly. He was a bit transparent at the edges, giving off a melted and ghastly appearance. Glancing over at Bjorn, he wondered how she could sleep through this. He returned his gaze to the masked messenger, his eyes searing through him as though he could see into the boy's soul. Oliver raised his eyebrows expectantly.

**Peppers** Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:51 am

Greylyn’s lips straightened into almost a perfectly horizontal line as her eyes went immediately to the man that now stood just inside of the firelight. Half of a mask covered most of his face, which appeared pale in contrast to his dark hair and clothing. Another shadow, perhaps?
The elf had to look away as she felt a smile creep onto her face at the hesitant way the man looked at the weapons held by both her companions. Why did she have that satisfying (almost evilly so) feeling from seeing the stranger anxious about his safety?
Her eyes drifted to Oliver, reflecting the flames that licked around the black pot beside her. Greylyn cocked her brow, her hands almost automatically going to her hips in a haughty manner.
“Give /you/ the message, mm? I’m afraid not: it goes to either me or Mister Kal.”
Greylyn realized how very ridiculous she was being, of course: neither her nor Kal could read. Still, she would not allow something of a potentially personal value go into the hands of a shadow.
Turning back to the man, Greylyn looked thoughtfully at the paper in his hand, its whiteness seeming to glow yellow because of the fire. “Fine: if your life is so important to you, then you can have my word at least there won’t be any unnecessary killing.”
Unnecessary indeed.
“And if it would make you hand over that message any sooner, we’ll have proper introduction. This is Mister Kal… Merash,” Greylyn said with a slight gesture to Kal, adding his last name as an afterthought, “This is Oliver and his, erm, Dearest Miss Bjorn the Crazed…” she glanced in turn at Oliver and his sleeping fiancé, a bit reluctantly.
“And myself, Greylyn. Now I don’t care much for you name in return, but if you’re quite satisfied I’d like to have that message now, mm?” she said in a very matter-of-fact tone, holding out her hand in expectation of receiving the note.

**kairiocean** Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:41 pm

The man's entrance into the clearing was immediatly met by harsh defensiveness. Kal's eyes barely had time to take in a young...human, it seemed, with dark shaggy hair and soft dark eyes, a form fitting mask sitting elegantly across his face. He wore honest, drab clothing and carried a large sack tenderly. Then, Oliver placed his sword dangerously close to the stranger. Kal immediatly scrambled to his feet, his blue eyes wide, shocked and angry.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He said loudly, taking two long strides in between Oliver and the newcomer. He put one large hand on Olivers chest, pushing him back a step with a proof of angry strength. He looked between the two of them egidly, from the strangers dark, nervous eyes two Olivers feverish fiery ones. A frown set into Kal's face, the yellow flames of the firelight reflecting strangely in his blue eyes.

"What is this? Oliver, you said you were a good man, and I took your word for it, but good men do not threaten those unarmed!" His voice was harsh, edged with an angry justice. He turned his head toward Greylyn, a good portion of his anger directed at her. He felt, decieved almost, as if Greylyn had pretended to be someone she was not. His heart racketed hotly around his ribcage, hearing this discourse about the disimportance of this young mans life and unnecassary killing. Any killing of people was unnecessary. Kal thought of his own life, and again felt this feirce yearning.

Neverland was savage. It was not the place for him. He would leave here, walk out himself. He would find Jaiden and get her to tell him how to leave Neverland. He would...Kal blinked back mere vestiges of hot water in his eyes, perhaps brought on by the aromatic smoke.

He turned to the man, stiffening against his former company and holding out his large hand to shake.

"Hey," He said in softer, but steady voice, as if defying anyone to protest him talking with the stranger. "I'm Kal. Don't worry, we won't harm you." He said firmly, some of the anger creeping back into his voice. Kal shivered, he hadn't been this feircely angry in...well forever. Even at Sir Marjx he was less angry then at what had just transpired. It...wasn't civilized.

"Would you like some soup? After you're refreshed, you can read us the message," He added tiredly. "Though I don't blame you if you want to leave right now, with the kind of welcome you got."

**Sahmtah** Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:32 pm

A heavy heart beat pulsed loudly in Dorran's ears, and his eyes widened with fear. His eyes skidded nervously from Oliver, was it?, to Kal. He fought to collect himself, sorting out the distorted words in his head.
"I, uh," he stretched out his arm and grasped the man's hand, shaking it firmly. He withdrew his hand to find that it was shaking. "I'm Dorran." he managed to get out, his pulse still roaring in his ears.
He shook his head. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble, they just told me to..." He took a deep, shuttering breath.
The notice crinkled lightly in his hand, and it fluttered as he lifted it. "It's not my business to read, as far as I know, but if you wanted me to..." He faded off again, obviously still frazzled. He shook his head giving up. Shrugging, he waited.

**Peppers** Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:35 pm

Greylyn took a step back, actually surprised for half a moment at Kal’s sudden anger. Then she crossed her arms and slumped down into a sitting position sulkily. So much for being happy to see her. Though, she had been strangely callous to the stranger. She hadn’t wanted to appear so welcoming and unsuspecting, and she certainly wasn’t in the mood to entertain yet another stranger, especially with the soup that would feed comfortably only the three of them (assuming Bjorn wouldn’t wake up soon).
The hot glare that she received from Kal deepened her little pit of self pity, and she crossly went back to stirring the soup, feeling rather like a puppy that had just been kicked out of her home. Her, a puppy? No, no: that was ridiculous.
Greylyn kept her eyes on the boiling water, feeling her temper bubbling and splashing over the sides just like the hot broth she was stirring. But she kept to her glum, sulking silence, thinking about the injustices of life.
/Why did I come back? Thinking that he deserved a goodbye… stuff and nonsense./
Her eyes drifted up to the stranger, who had apparently been very much frightened by his welcome. Greylyn watched carefully with catlike scrutiny as the messenger’s hands trembled, unfolding the crinkled sheet of parchment. Absentmindedly, the elf’s pink tongue wetted her lips as she stared hard at the notice, as if trying to not only read through the back of it, but decipher the letters that were – no doubt – printed on it, as well.
Did she care about whatever the notice read, about the doctor Strow? Mm… no, no not really. But she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him after their escape. Was he punished? Blamed for their flight?
Forcing herself to look away, Greylyn gave a short sigh and snapped the stirring stick in half with her hands, feeding the two pieces to the small fire. Yeah, stuff and nonsense.

**Cole** Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:03 pm

Yawning, Bjorn's spectre-like eyes fluttered awake. What was this about...a letter of some-sort? She looked at Oliver's two companions, and her heart sank. Can these people...even read? she thought to herself. Sitting up slowly, she looked the messenger over. Poor guy, he looks scared to death.

"Oi. I can read it." She offered with a toothy grin. Maybe if she appeared smart...then Oliver would surely love her. She smirked at her shadowy partner, but realized all too soon how twisted this whole engagement was. She was meddling with powers beyond her understanding...and this, she'd decided, was not the proper way to go about things. She stood, and dusted herself off.

" 'salright. Really, love, dun't be shy." She encouraged Dorran as though he were a skittish kitten, ready to turn tail and run at any moment.

**RJ!** Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:32 pm

A petite girl stumbled about in the dank of the think forest. Her eyes on the ground and not at the world in front of her. Sadness and Confusion hung from every piece of her. Broken memories swirled in her head. A castle, a crown, a pair of fiery eyes, an encyclopedia, and a mask. She was so very lost and fritened.. Who was she? What was her name? Where had she come from? Why was she so sad and heartbroken?

Her face was beautiful yet depressed. Long black curls shaped her face and mossy green eyes shown out through her paleness. The creatures she passed gasped when they saw her, but she only kept walking. Ignoring whatever it was they saw her as.

The girl finally took her eyes from the ground when she herd the rustle of foot steps. She melted down into faerie size, about 4 inches, and danced up into the lower branced of the trees. She wanted to be avoided, but only appeared as a shimmering light. Something that would only attract.

**Cole** Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:50 pm

Oliver tensed, sensing another stranger somewhere in the woods. This night was just getting stranger and stranger. But...he didn't detect a mere mortal. No, and this one was...familiar? Perhaps. His mind wandered to the Centaur Princess as Bjorn spoke to the messenger, Dorran. How he wished he'd gotten to know her better, their one meeting ending abruptly, raising questions as well as tension. The Shadow had never been a romantic, he was realistic. Bjorn would be his future, and that was the end of that. But after that encounter, however brief, he'd had to wonder how it might feel to...fall in love. He shook his head, dismissing his musings as pure nonsense.

So who could be concealed in the thick, mysterious maze of trees? He crinkled his brow. Jaiden? Oliver thought that it was about time she showed up. She wouldn't be foolish enough to contact him in flesh form, he knew that much. He dismissed himself from the group quietly, literally fading into the darkness as he tried to trace the source of the disruption. Glancing nervously at his makeshift torch, he regretted not having a better source of light. Sighing, he figured it would have to do. If it really was Jaiden, she would be able to find him even in his barely-noticable state.

**RJ!** Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:58 pm

The girl transformed back to ner normal size. Her delicate feet touched the ground gracefully, and she began to walk again. Fairy dust trailed from behind her. It shimmered in the dusk of the forest. The girls footsteps seemed to echoe throughout the entire wood, or was it the other pair?

Her pace quickened as she tried to avoid whoever or whatever it was. The girl felt a strong connection to the footsteps and what they belonged to. She knew she had to just keep going, but then she stopped. Where was it that she was going? She had no identity, no memories, no nothing. She was just walking. Walking to no where.

The girl stood still. The lilac flowers trimmed to her white gown fluttered in the slight breeze, which cooled her. She shut her eyes trying to picture those fiery eyes. Who did they belong too?

**Cole** Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:13 pm

Oliver blinked twice. He could thinly make out the figure of a small girl, her eyes closed in concentration. Gaping, he raised one eyebrow. What was this? She looked...so much like Antonella. But she couldn't be her. Obviously. The forest was playing tricks on him, perhaps. He raised his torch, trying to make himself as visible as possible.

"Excuse me, miss...are you lost? I can't imagine what you'd be doing out and about at this hour. Can I help you find your way?" He smiled in the dim light. Just who was this girl, so familiar and yet so new?

**RJ!** Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:21 pm

"Excuse me miss? Are you lost?" A voice asked and continued to trail off.
The faerie opened her eyes and looked at him. The owner of the somewhat farmiliar voice. But how could that be? She had not heard someone speak, or speak to her at least, in a very long time...

"No," she said almost in a whisper. "I.. Just don't know where I am. Or who I am, but I doubt you can tell me that." The faerie hadn't even heard herself speak in a long time. She never realized she possesed such a beautiful voice. A thick but interesting accent curled around her words.

She stepped closer to the boy. Again she left a trail of faerie dust behind her making the leaves on spread on the ground shmmered. She looked at the boy. He was much taller than she was, and possesed something she knew. The fiery eyes that sat in her nearly empty mind. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Now she really wanted to know the answers to her questions. Most importantly who she was.

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