Spirits of the Forest [Closed - Aislinn]

City life was grating, it put her more on edge than the possibility of a full-blown battle breaking out. Often times the half-elf would find herself leaving what many referred to as the safety of Waterdeep's walls to once again walk amongst the trees she felt so comfortable beneath. Today was one such time, nothing had quite set it off, she simply found herself wanting to have something other than manmade constructs around her for more than a handful of seconds. This all lead her into the biting cold of the woods around Waterdeep. At first, she followed the path that led towards the woods, before veering off into the wilds not worried about the possibility of getting lost.

It was, after all, not the first time she'd done such things, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. The further she drew from the path so many used to find their way to civilization the more Aislinn felt at ease, as though nothing could go wrong. Albeit the wind that wound its way from the nearby coast and through the winding trunks bit deep into her skin. The comparatively harsh winters of Waterdeep were not something she was accustomed to, and the patchwork state of her attire wasn't helping matters. Sending a green glance over her shoulder, she pondered her next action. In the short term it wasn't a bad idea, but in the long term, it would take an option away should she encounter a less than pleasant denizen of the wood. Such a thing hadn't befallen her yet, and the doubt it would happen today along with the cold was enough to push her towards not caring.

With that, green eyes closed while Aislinn's breath slowed. Her focus was directed inwards as she pictured the creature in her mind. Ever since she was a little girl she caught glimpses of them out of the corner of her vision, could hear them howling in the distance all nights of the year, and watching them weave their way through the trees was always so mesmerizing. Her thoughts focused she opened her eyes, which were admittedly lower than they had been seconds ago. Like many times before in her life, she had taken the shape of a wolf, perhaps her most common though not her favorite. With a shake of her body to fluff out the grey and white coat that held out the cold, she bolted forward.

Wind rippled through her fur as she swerved between trees, jumped over fallen logs, and simply enjoyed the freedom this shape gave her. Joy flooded her veins as padded feet brushed against the leaf-covered ground, and her fur just brushed the bark of trees as she ran past. The sounds and scents of the forest were familiar comforts to her as she ran, no real destination in mind. Though her dead sprint came to a sudden halt as a scent like not of the forest assailed her nose. Stopping she held her head towards the wind as it blew again, doing her best to pinpoint what it was, or where it was coming from. "A hunter?" Was her initial thought as she took in breath after breath wondering who was out here now. Admittedly this wouldn't be the first time she thought something was off when nothing was, particularly considering it was forest near a city here was bound to be people around. But her curiosity got the better of her and she moved to find the source, not to mention there was the chance it could be someone in trouble.

Keeping her steps light and body low she slunk along using her nose to guide her if she could smell them they couldn't be far. So, Aislinn wound through the trees keeping her sense on high alert, wondering who could be out in this weather, from what she could tell most other than hunters weren't fond of heading out into the cold. Before long a dot in the trees caught her attention, she drew closer slowly, taking in what it was, well more who, as the form became more distinct. Attention solely trained on the dark-haired strangers back she hadn't quite been paying attention to where her feet fell. An almost deafening snap of a twig hit her ears, before a hint of panic set in causing her to skitter to the side hoping to take shelter in a more heavily clustered group of trees.

"Don't notice, don't notice, don't notice," It was just a constant stream of those two words as she made herself as small as possible. While it may not have been the most eloquent of thoughts it was the only one her panicked brain was capable of forming. So it was she kept her eyes locked on the strange figure through the handful of trees that kept them separated, her muscles tensed and ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

A flinch snapped through her form as she registered the sound of something slamming into the trunk of a tree with a large amount of force. Panic remained at the forefront in her brain, eyes still glued to the form ahead of her. Their curse only managed to make her flinch a second time, the harshness of it digging into her. It took her a moment to actually realize they had gotten closer, close enough for her to discern that this individual was more than likely male and looked human-esque but she wasn't quite sure if that was the truth of it. He spoke again, and she took one single step back while he began to move forward.

Two options rushed to the forefront of her mind, either turning and running or trying to play this off. Both seemed about as likely to work as the other, and neither truly seemed to have a lesser chance of ending the day with a javelin, which seemed to be the weapon from earlier, in her gut. Wolfish gaze flicked from the stranger back towards the forest behind her, where she could clearly make out her own footprints on small piles of snow...that one would be hard o explain. Three more words caused her head to snap back around and helped her make a decision, hopefully, it was the correct one.

Where once there was a wolf now there was a half-elf looking disheveled. Blonde hair was pulled into a haphazard attempt at a braid, with more than a few strands still loose. Taking in a quick breath she did her best not to look panicked and put an apologetic smile on her face.

"Uh, hello," This was said with a light admittedly nervous laugh, sounding all the louder in the otherwise quiet ambiance of the forest. While she answered the question she also took the opportunity to out from her little hiding spot, internally she was still debating running for it. "Sorry if I startled you, I didn't intend to. I just got a little overinvested with my," There she paused for a split second trying to come up with something. "Musings and wasn't paying attention to where I was going." While she moved into view she did her best to seem as unthreatening as possible. Which wasn't hard, or she tended to assume it wasn't. After all, her build certainly wasn't a threatening one. 

"Again, sorry about that. I swear I typically don't go around snapping twigs in the forest," Another little laugh left her, still nervous but she did her best to keep her tone light and friendly. Though there was a question that she just couldn't keep from asking as she looked towards this new individual. "Though, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?" While she had a good enough guess she wasn't about to make any assumptions. Besides she had more pressing things to worry about, like getting through this conversation without shooting herself in the foot. It wasn't that she didn't want people to know what she was, it was that she assumed it would be a difficult task to explain that she snuck up on him as a wolf with zero intent to actually hurt him. 

The reaction she received wasn't unexpected, in fact, concern would certainly have the emotion she felt if it was anything other than one of shock. All things considered, this didn't seem to be too bad, but Aislinn was still going to tread carefully, not wanting to either anger the now seemingly young man before her or give him reason to think she wished him harm.

"Oh please, don't apologize. Truly it's fine, besides I was the one who caused this whole mess," Her tone was light and friendly, accompanied by a small apologetic smile, and she completely glossed over him saying he saw something. Honestly, she felt bad. It hadn't been her intention to startle him, in fact, it wasn't even her intention to interact with him, but she was determined to make the best of it. Although she was still a little concerned about him guessing what she had been doing, and taking it in the completely wrong way. After all, her curiosity had simply gotten the better of her, but learning someone had been sneaking up on you would not be taken well by anyone she had known or even knew.

"Ah, I see," She said giving a small nod of her head when she found what he was doing this far out in the forest. More concern found its way to her at that. Not for the animals at least not at first. If he was taking the risk to hunt he may not have been doing all that well, or he was simply trying to make some gold. "Not just for sport I hope." With this, she kept her gaze focused on him looking for any little tells she could find, after all, who would admit to hunting and then simply doing it for sport. While she was barely concerned with him breaking the law she wouldn't stand for it if he was simply doing it for fun.

Though the slightly serious edge she had taken quickly dispersed at his next question, she actually fell into silence for a few seconds. It took that amount of time for her brain to fully register what he had asked, and when she did, despite her best efforts to keep it under control, a burst of laughter left her.

"No," She stated while getting her laughter under control, giving a small shake of her head for added affirmation. "I'm just a half-elf, one that greatly prefers forests to cities." A simple and truthful answer. "More specifically, I'm Aislinn Atwood. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." It was a rather formal greeting to find out in the woods but it was a greeting nonetheless, and for added measure, the half-elf extended her hand outwards for a handshake.

"Now, this is just friendly advice so take it as you will, I'd keep my hunting trips for when I'm not around Waterdeep. Makes it a lot less likely you'll end up in jail for something that could've been avoided." It was her attempt to both help him at least a little and make things just a tad less awkward. Overall she still wasn't quite sure how to feel about this entire situation, after all, it had come about by her own mistake. Though perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, so far this young man didn't seem all that bad a little odd by her standards but not bad.

"I'm sure they make little sense to most who aren't from around this part of the world." It took her a beat to answer, having been slightly confused by his accent but managed to get a grasp of it for the time being. In addition, she returned the firmness of the handshake, at least as best she could which wasn't much if she was being honest. Once released she retracted said hand and ended up clasping both behind her back while giving her head a small tilt to the side accompanied by a small hum of thought.

"Well, Arioch, hopefully, I've managed to make a decent impression for any other half-elves you come across." She started making sure to use his name, a habit she picked up when she was little to help remember the names of those she'd recently met. Though it was also aided by the fact she wanted to try out the pronunciation, after all during the short time she'd known this seemingly human individual it had become increasingly clear he wasn't from around these parts. "And I suppose I do live here...well not here," This was aided by a small movement of her hands to indicate the frozen forest around them. "But in the city itself, at least for the foreseeable future." The neutral tone she kept trailed off near the end into just an ever so slightly melancholy one but was swiftly tossed aside as a look of confusion came over her features.

"Spirits of the forest?" Narrowed eyebrows and slightly pursed lips accompanied this as she thought, attempting to understand what he could be talking about. Taking a moment to drag up all the stories her mother used to tell her she was still coming up empty. "Do you mean a Fey, or something of the like? I'm not quite sure I know what you mean." Admittedly something of this sort was bound to come up sooner or later, particularly when one took into account the cultural differences that were becoming more apparent by the minute.

"I'd certainly love to hear about it if you could spare the time, though considering I've already interrupted your hunt I'd hate to keep you longer than necessary." The curiosity that dwelled in her was rearing its head once again, now if only she could remember that it was the thing that got her into this situation, to begin with. Not to mention remind her she still wasn't out of the metaphorical woods yet. Though the concern she had felt was melting away only to be replaced with bewilderment and wonder. It was then that an idea, perhaps a terrible one, materialized in her thoughts.

"Oh," Was all but exclaimed as she leaned ever so slightly forward, the barest hint of a gleam of excitement in her eyes. "How about this, you explain your spirits of the forest to me, and I can help you track down something to hunt?" It was a simple offer and one she knew she'd be able to make good on. While certainly not the best tracker in her normal form she knew how to survive in the wild, or she liked to think so. Not to mention this way she could also keep an eye on just how much hunting the young hunter decided to do. After all, the natural balance of the world was something she advocated for and would like to keep the forests around Waterdeep as healthy as she could during her time there. As such helping someone hunt seemed like a good way to do that, after all, she could attempt to keep it to a minimum. Though, she was uncertain how well that hope was going to play out.

"If you're up for it, of course, I'd hate to impose or make you do something you'd rather not. With that in mind feel free to say no." Added as an afterthought, as Aislinn came to the conclusion she may have been coming on a tad too strong, after all, she was still a stranger this man met in the woods. If that wasn't suspicious she didn't know what was...it also dawned on her that she might not be as safe as she thought, as she was in the same boat. It was just an assumption that this random man meant her no ill will. So it as the half-elf once again began o feel on edge, and slowly began to once again regret her decision.

"Of course, I don't mind helping out where I can and it only seemed fair to offer." She reaffirmed her offer with a nod of her head, glad that he had accepted. While she wouldn't admit this out loud she enjoyed making people happy, so having him smile even just a little equated to a job well done in her mind. Though it wasn't the only reason she had offered up her assistance. Yes, he had stated he wasn't hunting for sport or something of the like, but by aiding him she could make certain of that statement. Admittedly Arioch seemed honest enough but she knew better than to judge a book by its cover, and she wanted to make sure he was in fact not doing this for his own enjoyment.

These thoughts fluttered away quite swiftly as the young man collected his weapons, which she had admittedly forgotten was stuck in a tree. Watching quietly as it was wrested from its containment in the trunk she shuddered lightly, glad the tree had been the recipient of the strike rather than herself. Eyes that were fixed upon the javelin quickly shifted back to her companions face as he began to explain what exactly a spirit of the forest was.

"Oh, I meant something similar to a dryad, or a pixie something similar to that," It was a quick interjection to hopefully clear up a bit of his confusion when it came to what she'd meant by Fey. Certainly, she herself was no expert on them, but she'd heard stories during her childhood, with various different representations of the creatures themselves. Some painted them as benevolent while others did quite the opposite.

Though with that she slipped into silence once more, not wanting to interrupt Arioch and his explanation. One she hoped would give her answers instead of questions. She wasn't disappointed, though concern did take a domineering role in what she felt both shortly after he began and when he finished. After all, that majority of what he described sounded like every druid she'd ever met, herself included. Quite obviously there were differences which made her a tad more relieved but concern still hung heavy in her head. His tone didn't really help either, while it wasn't aggressive it was slightly disconcerting.

"Really?" She said after locking up for a few seconds, attempting to process everything that had just been said. "What did he have to say about it?" This came out faster than anticipated, perhaps hinting at the fact she had no clue what to answer that revelation with. Taking what time she managed to get herself Aislinn thought, after all, it was during this enlightening conversation that she came to the realization her hunting style might be a tad shocking.

Her father had attempted to teach her how to do it normally on many occasions but she always defaulted to what he called the easy way. The easy way involved her turning into an animal which didn't seem like a good idea now. Not to mention she had nearly forgotten why she'd been so apologetic at the start of their encounter. It would be a hard thing to explain for certain. Although perhaps coming clean would be the best course of action. It was a back and forth struggle internally for her as to whether or not she should simply blurt out what she was and see how it would go, or play it down and simply continue as it was. After all, it wouldn't be a bad thing she wasn't a spirit of the forest, she was a druid.

"I see, well to me," Aislinn started biting her lip for a second as she thought on it for a few more seconds before making her final decision. "They sound similar, not exactly the same as but close to druids." With this, she had decided on her course of action.

"That said before we get to hunting I should let you know I have a strange way of hunting." Pausing for another second she continued. "How I hunt is kind of hard to explain, but I'm gonna try." Giving herself a nod of encouragement Aislinn glanced up slightly to meet, or at least match Arioch's gaze. "I can turn into animals, and I use that to help me hunt. It makes it easier to track down prey, and things of that nature. So," At this point she holds her hands out in a placating manner, doing her best not to confuse or freak him out. "To help you I might if you're comfortable with it do just that. Though it doesn't last long so we'd need to be quick. If you'd prefer I can certainly help you out like this though it may be a tad slower." Finishing her statement she motioned to herself in an attempt to indicate this form was what she meant by 'like this'. With that she waited for his response, her breath very much baited.

While her mind swam with how to explain her own predicament Aislinn did, in fact, listen to the tale Arioch had to tell. It was, after all, one she asked him to share it would have been rude not to pay attention. Interesting, that would be the single word she found to describe what she heard. It sounded unlike anything she'd heard of before, which wasn't unexpected. The world was a large place, and very the woman had explored very little of it.

"I see, sounds...enchanting," The end was said with a questioning inflection, the word she picked didn't quite seem to fit but no other word came to take its place.

Pausing to see how this, now suddenly intimidating individual took the news Aislinn bit her lower lip, ready to bolt at the slightest hint of animosity. Giving him a belated once over while he took a moment to process she quickly came to the conclusion he would be the victor in any sort of physical fight, thankfully she was fast...but there was a good chance he might be faster. All these thoughts ushered her to take a half step back, tense her muscles, and brace for the worst. Though it didn't come, at least not suddenly.

Hearing his confusion, or more aptly his disbelief a soft sigh slid out of her. While not relaxing her stance she took the opportunity to speak. Words did not come quickly now, and she spoke in a gentle tone still unsure of which way the winds would blow this encounter, because of this she still kept herself prepared for the worst.

"I suppose turn may be the wrong word," Taking another moment Aislinn did her best to try and think of how to explain what she herself had just dropped onto the man in front of her. Suddenly none of this seemed like a good idea, and that showed her shoulders were stiff and her nerves were coming through in her voice. "Assume the form of an animal I've studied might be a better way to put it, you see I myself happen to be a druid, so I've kind of, learned how to do this over the years. My mother taught me, and if she were here she could definitely explain it better."

The last part was mumbled and the half-elf was admittedly unsure why she had added it in the first place. Shaking it off her eyes refocused on him, watching every move he made, and still readying herself to run if things went south. Admittedly, the times where people outright attacked her for being a druid were non-existent though one could never be too careful.

"Look I realize this might be a lot to take in, and I typically don't dump this on people I've just met but I made an offer and this is the easiest way for me to make good on it." Another brief break in her explanation" as she continued to keep a close eye on Arioch to gauge his reaction. "And if I could show you I would, but I'm not exactly the best at it, and it's exhausting so I kind of can't, at least not without having to rest afterward." That was how she ended it, still ready to run, and still gauging his reaction. While she didn't expect things to go south she didn't trust that expectation and still prepared for the worse eventuality she thought of.

Arioch's reaction was, unexpected to say the least. But in a pleasant way, after all, she had been preparing for the worst and this certainly wasn't that. His enthusiasm made her let out a tiny laugh while her tensed muscles relaxed and the worry eating at the back of her mind dulled to a minute hum.

"Hey, slow down. One question at a time alright?" The woman stated as a small smile settled onto her face before she took in a breath and spoke yet again. "First off, it doesn't need to be a super long rest or anything, just a breather like taking time to eat lunch or catch your breath during a particularly strenuous day of travel. In that time I can, for lack of a better word, recharge enough to do my whole turn into an animal thing. Second, I can't keep the form up for all that long if I'm being honest, only about an hour at a time."

Aislinn did her best to explain how this ability of her's worked, albeit in a way that wouldn't utterly confuse whoever was listening. As when it was explained to her for the first time she'd found herself at a complete and utter loss, hopefully, she would avoid causing that confusion in her current companion but she couldn't be sure. But, she decided not to dwell on that too much, figuring if she did end up confusing him she'd just do her best to explain it better later.

"So, I can't get too far but it's a thrilling experience for sure. Albeit when you can't talk it can be a tad frustrating trying to get peoples attention or communicate that you are not in fact there to kill or eat their sheep." Aislinn gave a small shake of her head near the end of her statement. "Though I suppose you can't really blame people, it's not like you can just turn back into a person and expect everything to be fine and dandy. In fact that generally raises more suspicion and just makes the whole situation worse." Now Aislinn wasn't about to admit she was speaking from experience and instead slowed her stream of words and let out a light sigh while allowing her head to fall forward into an awaiting hand.

"And now I'm rambling," With another small shake, she lifted her head once again to look at the masked individual in front of her. "All of that aside if you have any more questions feel free to ask, I'll try to answer whatever it is," While she spoke her arms once again fell to cross over her chest before she let her voice trail off into the wind.