What's to be found in the woods? ~ Taryn

Kira started his day like any other. He got up, had something to eat, and prepared himself for the day to come. He tossed on his black jacket and attached his hunting knife to the back of his belt. He also grabbed a small canteen of water and tucked it into his jacket pocket. He left his little remote cabin, locking it as he left, not wanting to return to any unwanted guests.

Kira climbed up to the branches of one of the nearby trees and took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp, refreshing air of the forest. With a small exhale, he began jumping from one branch to another, as he effortlessly traveled through the forest. As soon as he stepped on one branch, he conjured up a small motion of wind to propel him to the next one, and so on. After a short while, he stopped on a branch, and took a swig of water from his canteen, before returning it to his jacket pocket. He stayed on the branch and took a sniff of the air, trying to determined what lurked in his surroundings.

With her wings beating fast, Taryn flew over a meadow, close to the ground and a basket in her hand. The basket had a lit attached to it so nothing would fall out while she was flying. The young fairy was collecting herbs and mushrooms for the Tavern as well as some healing herbs for her new-found friend Fenix.

Luckily the weather was nice today. Warm rays of sunlight shone upon the fairy, reflecting on her blond, waivy hair. She liked weather like this, it was perfect for roaming through the forest and look for herbs and berries. One of her most favourite tasks. With a small wave of her free hand, the young woman let some small, colourful flowers blossom in the grass as she passed. A smile was on her face, like always when she took in the scent of them. She was a big fan of flowers and the beauty of nature itself. A very peaceful being.

Most of the flowers were tiny little blue dots - forget-me-nots. Her favourite flowers. Unaware of possible onlookers, Taryn picked one of the tiny blue flowers and sniffed in its scent, holding the flower close to her nose.

As Kira continued to survey his surroundings, he caught a sudden and unexpected scent. He recognized the scent of flowers, but they usually weren't this strong, nor had their scent ever just appeared out of thin air. Not only did he get the smell of flowers, but also what smelled like a person, which he found unusual out in the forest.

Kira was intrigued by the sudden appearance of the scents. Following his senses, Kira tracked down the origin of the scents. He moved quickly but quietly through the trees. He eventually found a woman standing by a small gathering of flowers. Kira had never seen her before, and he was quite curious what she was doing out here.

"Sure hope you aren't lost out here. The forest isn't a very forgiving place for those that have lost their way." Kira addressed the woman, standing up on a branch, not knowing if it was a good idea to get too close.

The fairy smiled to herself as she allowed herself to look upon the beautiful sight of the flowers for a little moment longer. She was now standing on her two feet, her wings only beating slowly every now and then. For a moment there she thought of Fenix and how he had given her a forget-me-not when they first met in the forest. Yes, that day had changed something in her, it had changed the way she saw things and he was someone who always came to her mind. It was a strange feeling, but she liked it.

The unfamiliar voice of a man let Taryn snap out of her thoughts and jump a little. She wasn't expecting to meet someone in this part of the woods. Unwillingly she began to wonder who this man was who called out to her from a distance. The young woman turned around and looked for the person that voice belonged to, finding him not too far from her in a tree. She couldn't hold back a small giggle as she noticed his uncertain expression. Surely he didn't expect to see her here.

“You need not worry” Taryn replied in a warm, friendly tone. “I know these woods like the back of my hand.”



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OOC Note: I moved the topic to the proper forum, now that a reply has been posted

Kira was surprised by her wings. From his few interactions with people, he's never seen anyone with wings. Usually the only things with wings are the birds that soar above and through the forest. This intrigued him even more.

Based on the woman's tone, he could tell she wasn't the dangerous type. Kira decided to get a closer look and find out a bit more about this stranger. He dropped out of the tree he was in, but just before he landed, he made two small air cushions underneath his feet to avoid any harm from the drop. Although the woman didn't appear dangerous, looks can be deceiving, so Kira stayed prepared if something went wrong during the conversation.

"Well then. If you're not lost, why exactly is someone like you out here? You don't look like the kind of person who lives out here."

Taryn smirked a little while she was watching Kira. She wasn't really surprised by his use of magic. Where she lived and for as long as she lived it seemed that everyone knew these kinds of spells and other magical things. She herself knew some, but then again, she was a magical being. Being a fairy, it wasn't uncommon for her to know a spell or two, but since she was a friendly being, she knew only little spells that could actually cause harm to others. She relied more on little tricks to defend herself. Like letting roots grow in front of your feet while you were walking so you would fall over them. Or have grass hold you like a rope to the ground. Those kinds of things.

Depending on her mood, Taryn would play those little tricks on you just for the fun of it, but today she didn't feel like playing tricks. The day was too lovely. And besides, who knew what else this stranger could do? Besides air pillows.
“Well...” she said, looking at him with bright blue eyes. “Actually I do live in this forest, just not this deep into it. I spend my days collecting herbs, roots, berries and that kind of thing. Everything for healing to eating. What about you? I've never met anyone this deep in the forest.”

Kira leaned against a tree and folded his arms, as he looked up at the trees, catching glimpses of the sky. Kira let out a small chuckle as he listened to Taryn's explanation. After a moment of looking at the sky, Kira shifted his attention back to Taryn. As he looked her over, he took note of her blue eyes. They really stood contrast to his light orange eyes.

"The reason you've never met anyone this far into the forest is because those that live out this far usually don't want to be met. As for me, I do live out here, making a living by hunting."

~~~~~
OOC: His eyes are that color because he is part wolf.

The fairy smiled softly at the unfamiliar male. She had to admit that he had a point. Mostly people come out here to be alone, they mostly spend time in solitary, not wanting to be seen by anyone for whatever reasons.
Taryn couldn't imagine leading such a lonely life. That wasn't a kind of life that she would want for herself. She'd go mad if she couldn't talk to another living soul. She was the more social kind of person.

Brushing a curly strand of blond hair back behind her left ear, her eyes met his and she was surprised by the light orange tone they had. She had only seen that colour of eyes once before and ever since then people had told her to stay away from humans with orange eyes. She never quite knew why and she didn't know now. This stranger actually seemed to be nice so why stay away because he had a different kind of eye colour? Taryn was curious to learn about those eyes and what they meant, but she was too decent to just ask. After all, she usually wasn't a prying person.

“You have a point there.” she commented. “By the way... you have an interesting eye colour. I've only seen a human with that colour once quite a long time ago.”

Kira quickly looked away from this woman. He covered one of his eyes with his hand. He had forgotten how many people felt about his eyes. During his few trips into the city, he heard many people murmuring about his eyes and quite a few merchants were wary of doing business with him because they saw his eye color. His eyes served as a constant reminder of who, rather what, he is.

After a moment of thinking, Kira looked back at the woman. She didn't seem afraid or become worried at the sight of his eye color, a rare occurrence for him.

"Tsk. Interesting?" Kira scoffed as he began talking.  "Are you saying you don't know the tale about those with eyes like mine? That's actually a first for me. Wherever I go, most people seem to have some knowledge of why my eyes are like this."

Up to this point, Kira had just assumed everyone knew about the werewolf bloodline, or curse, as he referred to it, that existed in this land. He questioned whether or not he should actually explain what he is, seeing as he hasn't had much good results from his wolf heritage. He didn't know if telling her was the best idea. Would she run, fearing for her own life? Would she try to kill him, or tell others about his existence in the woods?

Taryn watched the stranger she just met, getting the feeling that her mentioning his eye colour hadn't been the best thing to say. She hoped he wasn't offended now, because she was actually one of the few who didn't quite know the truth behind those orange-coloured eyes. Nobody would ever really tell her, they just said to stay away from those, but... she was a grown woman now, who was going to tell her that she couldn't talk to this seemingly nice man?
She noticed however, that he seemed to be surprised that she didn't know the reasons for those eyes. She looked at him, her blue eyes curious, but honest.

“Actually no I don't.” the fairy replied honestly. “I've only seen that colour of eyes once in my life and all they would tell me was to stay away. Nobody actually cared to explain why, they just said those people were dangerous or something.”

The fairy shrugged, looking up at him. She was intrigued to know why people would say that, just because someone had an unusual eye-colour. To her, it was nothing to be afraid of. Or was it?
“But... I don't have to be afraid, do I?”

Kira thought it over a moment. It's been a while sine he's seen anyone else that carries the werewolf blood within them. He took a deep sigh. Was he actually going to tell this stranger about his cursed blood? She didn't know the tales, but was it bad that she didn't know? Kira thought it would be worse if she didn't know. She encountered one before, but she may be unlucky the next time. If she acted foolishly around others like him, she would get herself killed. However, Kira needed to keep himself safe as well.

"I will tell you the story of why my eyes are this way. But first, take a seat on the ground. It'll be better for both of us if you do."

Kira put his hand on the tree trunk and waited for the woman to sit down. If she was seated, he could prevent her from trying anything foolish, like attacking him or running away in fear. Before he started his story, he would give her a brief demonstration of why people told her to fear those like himself.

"Once you're comfortable, I'll begin to explain everything."

A little uncertain about it now, Taryn hesitated for a moment, her eyes quickly scanning the surrounding meadow before they rested upon the stranger before her. She knew it was foolish to trust someone you just met, it could have dangerous consequences, but at the same time she was curious to know more about this man. Well, particularly about those eyes and why people told her to stay away from those who have them. She had a feeling that something... magical was behind it, something that was not considered a good thing.

With her, it was different. Fairies were mostly good-natured and kind creatures. They kept to themselves most of the time and they weren't exactly feared by others. Yet, the young fairy knew that there were creature out there that were dangerous and not friendly at all. Was he one of those? He didn't seem to be the unfriendly kind.

Eventually, she decided to trust him. She could always use her wings to fly away if something was to go wrong now. And she was fast at doing so. Not that she would do it, if there was no reason though. Taryn sat down on the lush green grass, her fingers interlocked with small strands of grass. It felt cool on her warm, soft skin, but nice and fresh. She lifted her eyes up to him curiously.

“I'm all ears.” she said softly.

Kira was actually a bit surprised and shocked that woman sat down, but he didn't show it in his expression. This gave him a bit of optimism that maybe she wouldn't be afraid of what she was about to hear. However, there was only one way to find out if that would be true or not. Kira closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He hasn't shown his abilities to anyone, so this would be a strange change of pace to him. His hand on the tree tensed up as he adjusted it so his fingertips were on the tree instead of his palm. With a swift swipe of his hand, Kira ran his claws across the tree, leaving a small set of claw marks. A small bit of tree sap ran out were the claw marks were, as Kira flicked out the tiny bits of bark that were on his nails.

With that part done, Kira turned to the woman and prepared to show her why people say to fear those like himself. He shifted his attention to his right sleeve, then he slowly began to roll it up. Under his sleeve, there was a small set of claw marks, identical to those on the tree, scarred on his right forearm.

"Everyone tells you to be afraid of people like me because we are dangerous. People like me carry a very dark secret in our blood. It's also the reason why I live out here on my own. I'm not sure if you've ever heard stories of people who transform into monsters during full moons, but if you have, then know that those aren't merely stories. I'm one of those people; I carry the blood of a monster within me. Those that carry this cursed blood have been branded with a name, werewolves. And to answer your earlier question, you should be afraid of us. Well, let me correct that. You should be afraid of us during full moons because during that time the true power of our blood is awakened. For the most part, we can't control ourselves, attacking anything, or anyone close to use. But, be warned, there are people out there who are so consumed by their werewolf blood that they are violent almost all the time. I try my best to control my primal instincts, and it usually works, but I still transform into a beast every full moon."

Kira points to the claw marks on his forearm. They serve as a very important reminder for him.

"As for these marks on my arm, they're self inflicted. One night when I transformed, I clawed my own arm, to serve as a reminder of how I can easily hurt, or even kill, someone else."

Kira rolled his sleeve back down to cover the scars on his arm. With that much revealed, Kira folds his arms and looks to the young woman, waiting for a response. He doesn't know what she'll do, but he has a feeling he won't be surprised by her reaction, thinking it will be the same as anyone else.

Taryn watched the man before her carefully. Not that she was afraid, no. She was curious and wondered what he had to say. But then at the same time it was curious that he would tell her about his secret upon their first meeting. She shrugged it off, for now. Different people everywhere and she had met quite a few people who pretty much wore their lives on their sleeves. Not that she had the impression that this man did. He seemed the the type who usually kept to himself, with good reasons as she was about to find out.

Sitting in the grass, looking up at the stranger, the fairy listened to what he was telling her very carefully. It was the first time someone actually explained to her why she had to be afraid of those kinds of people. And of course she had heard stories about people who transformed into “monsters” as they called it. She had heard stories of werewolves, pretty gruesome ones actually, but never did she know that many years ago she had met one in human form. And now she had met one again.
The young woman understood why she should avoid those at nights of the full moon, but then again she wouldn't want to avoid them by day just because she knew they'd transform at full moon.

“Well... least I know why people avoid the likes of you then...” Taryn said a little while after he had finished. “I know, it's not a pleasant thing to transform without wanting to, but at least you try and control yourself outside that form. Not every cursed man is a bad man on the inside. Things like that can't be chosen, nor be changed, but one can learn to live with it, without endangering everyone around them. At least mostly they can, if they care enough. And you seem to care.”

Kira was surprised at the woman's response. She didn't seem afraid, nor did she seem worried either, in fact. Most of the people he encountered would just avoid Kira, and that's what he was used to, but this woman's reaction was a nice change of pace for him, not that he'd actually admit that to her.

"Thanks for saying that." With a small exhale, Kira slumped down against the tree. "With that done, I think it's only fair you tell me what you are. I've never met anyone with wings like yours before, so I'm quite interested in your story."

Kira pulled out his canteen and took a small gulp of water. After returning it to his pocket, he rubbed the back of his neck, and looked at the woman, waiting to hear if she would indulge his curiosity.