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[LostMagicianGrl]

Ayame stands in her garden tending the herbs she has grown so lovingly. Her delicate hands tend the plant life lovingly. She wears the white robes of her order under the flowery apron she usually wears when tending her garden. As she bends over, her pentagram slips out to dangle loosely from her neck. Her long silver-blue hair is held back in a loose braid that snakes over her shoulder as she plucks a weed. Her crystalline lavender eyes shine full of love for the plant life surrounding her.
Power flows around her making the leaves wave even without a breeze. Birds of all colors flit around her playfully, attracted by the serene aura she projects. Rising, a gentle smile graces her pale face as she enjoys the playful antics of the birds around her for a moment before moving gracefully past the foliage and entering a clearing that seethes with power.
Stepping forward, she slips the apron from her, hanging it on a reaching branch before moving fully into the secluded clearing. In the center of the clearing rests a stone altar with many candles and other magical items gathered there. As the sun begins to slip from the sky, setting it on fire, power slowly begins to build, adding to the already dense power residing there.
Silently she begins. Filling the white glowing circle with magic, closing it behind her as she steps through with a thought. Moving to the altar she lights the candles and prepares to cast the spell to move her home further away from the growing civilization and closer to the dense forest miles to the south.
Mentally she focuses her magic into creation of the special runes and symbols needed to complete the move successfully. Pushing her power out, she encircles her entire home and garden before completing the final symbols and runes. “Imperium, Sect Unum, Deresuim,” she called out, building the spell with her mind and voice, “Ederiem, Sect Unum, Solerium,” with a flash she was thrown backwards as the spell backfired, hurtling her through dimensions so swiftly she couldn’t keep track of where she was. Finally the backlash of energy over came her and she passed out.
Her eyes opened slowly, her cheek rested on her hand. Her robes were entangled around her legs, her white leather boots showing when usually they would be concealed by the long flowing silk robes. Pushing up, she glanced around.
The land around her was wild, untamed by farmers and industry. Trees grew with tall majesty, thick and unchecked to rise high enough to kiss the bluish-green sky above them. Plants rose thick around her. Pushing herself up slowly, she took a good look around her. The flowers were massive and unknown to her, there were clinging vines hanging from trees and insects buzzing that she hadn’t ever seen before.
Her eyes widened in wonder at these amazing sights as she absently untangled the robe from her legs and rose up to get a better look around her. Not so far away a large feline stalked a massive herd beast, moving marginally closer to the large mammal as it munched on the strange grasses. Ayame spun in a slow circle, taking in these strange surroundings until it slowly began to sink in that she was not where she was supposed to be. Giving one final despairing glance around, searching for anything familiar, anything at all she whimpered quietly, “where the heck am I ?”

[Shapeshifter]

Sitting far off in the lush jungle, Avis was thrown from his meditation as he felt the surge of energy flow around him, snapping him out of his trance.

He opened his eyes quickly and stood, grasping the grip of his weapon, a bracer that extended over his hand, with short claws that reached out and arched slightly. He let his arms drop to his sides however, concealing his weapon completely under his flowing cloak. He looks around carefully as he surveys the surroundings for a source of the disturbance, then releases his grip and sits back down, placing his palms on the ground, he closes his eyes and concentrates, learning from the nature around him the whereabouts of the disturbance, then stands up once more, crouches down, then jumps into the trees and vanishes, his quick reflexes allowing him to spirit through the trees as effortlessly as if he were running on the ground.

He reached the spot where she lay, looking as through she had been thrown from a blast, then seeing no scorch marks, started to puzzle at the anomaly, until he spotted the tiny glit of silver around her neck and noticed the pentagram. He nodded softly to himself and stayed crouched in the trees as he watched her as she woke.

Who is this.... She's not of elven nature, her ears arent perked, he subconsciously reached up and followed the top of his ear to its tip with his fingertips.. and... he chuckled to himself at his last thought an Elf wouldnt have made a mistake to cause such a disturbance.... his brow furrowed again as he returned to pondering the woman, judging by her figure..

Where is she from... and what is she...

He hid himself in the shadows of the branches, far enough back to be unseen, yet close enough his elven eyes could pierce the foliage and monitor her movements, to learn more about her...

Edited by Shapeshifter, 13 October 2007 - 12:35 AM.

[LostMagicianGrl]

Ayame stared around her in bewilderment, the lush vegetation and thickness of the surrounding forest only adding to her confusion. She sat down, closed her lavendar eyes, and began to run through the spell she had cast word for word and found no flaw in it’s contents. Then she pulled up the image of the circle she had cast and began to unconsciously sketch the circle and symbols with her fingers as she followed each step of the process mentally. Frowning, she once again found no flaw in the laying of the circle and the symbols within it, “I don’t understand,” she muttered to herself, “I did nothing wrong, I cast the spell the way I always do, nothing should’ve gone wrong,” sighing, her eyes drifted open and she glanced around once again, “and yet, something went very wrong,” she mumbled, her hand wrapping unconsciously around the pentagram hanging from her neck in a silent sign of her worry.

Shadows began to surround the solitary figure, a grotesque form taking shape and staring at the shining figure seated amongst the foliage, “you’re here…….so I can devour you. You shine so brightly….with power…I knew I had to have you…your power will fill me and increase my own.”

She stood, fear freezing her in place as the dark voice seemed to surround her, the shadows becoming even denser as the shadowed figure of a badly misshapen form solidified within the dense darkness that now created a false night. Within the darkness his misshapen form stepped towards her, his blood red eyes glowing with a greedy light, his thick clawed hand reaching towards her. She backed away from the outstretched hand, her head shaking in denial, “it was you, you caused my spell to backfire,” she whispered fearfully.

“Foolish child, of course I did. I felt you….so far away,” he altered his grating voice, modulating it to be sweet to her ears, another temptation to draw her to him, “I have to have you…your flesh will taste…sweet, and your powers…will enable me to conquer this world,” he caused his voice to wrap around her, an enticement, the spell in the words, “ now come to me, my sweet. Let me devour you.”

Ayame’s face became dreamy, her eyes drifted down till they were half closed, a glazed look filling her eyes. Her body relaxed and she took a hesitant step forward, a silent scream rippling out from the deepest part of her soul as his spell overwhelmed her and slowly took her over.

Edited by LostMagicianGrl, 13 October 2007 - 02:01 AM.

[Shapeshifter]

Avis continued to watch, interested in her bewilderment...

She doesn't act like its just the area that she's amazed and confused with, she seems so out of place.... as if...

His thoughts were cut short at the sight of the filtering black shadows that started to surround the girl, he sat for a moment, watching as a grotesque demon slowly reached for her from the shadows, his words trying to encourage her, yet at the same time so vile that they acousted his hearing..

The demon must perish, even if I don't know this strange woman, I won't let a demon devour anything in my forest...

He lept from the branch silently except for the sounds of his cloak billowing in the speed of which he falls.. He thrusts his arm forward, his weapon slashing through the demon's arm as it outstretches from the shadows. He lands as the arm falls to the ground and vanishes, turning on the spot as he lands crouching with his landing, then lunges back up and rakes the claws through the demon, causing the shadows to vanish as its body falls to the ground asunder.

He stands, looking at the demon's massacred form, then mutters to himself.. "Only another minion..." then lets his hands fall so his weapon is concealed by his sleeve, his long black hair hanging down to the middle of his back. He turns on the woman as she comes out of her enchanted state. Looking at her curiously..

"Are you alright?.." he asks as he looks at her features, her piercing lavender eyes and silver blue hair, and her leethe figure.

His features were reflected in her glossed eyes, he watched as the orange color receaded from his eyes, to be replaced by the normal hazel. His ears perked and tipped back, listening for other sounds, his cloak hanging loose over him as it hides his figure.

I wonder what that demon wanted with her.... and why did it think she was so powerful....

[LostMagicianGrl]

As she came back to herself, she stared at the stranger in dazed confusion as she saw the grotesque remains of the monster that had attempted to harm her strewn on the ground. For a moment the shadow reappeared and coalesced into a seething mass of rage, an evil howling wind flowed from it in a shapeless wave carrying a scream of rage before vanishing completely.

Swallowing convulsively, “I’m ok,” she stated weakly, “I thank you for coming to my aid,” she whispered softly, giving a humble bow to the stranger before her. As she straightened she asked, “where am I if u please?”

‘I wonder who he is, well he seems quite nice to be honest though he looks dissimilar to anyone I have ever seen….if he is even a he to begin with. After all he could be like the deleasians (a dual gender race from her world. They can switch genders to suit their preferences whenever they will it.), so perhaps I shouldn’t make assumptions. The ears are um different, and his/her long hair is not so unusual I suppose,’ she released a small stream of power to read the plant life around her, assimilating the information drawn to her, ‘Maybe I should be wary, but the nature around here does not fear this person’s presence.’

[Shapeshifter]

He nods at her response, muttering "Good.." under his breath, then turns his gaze back to the remains, then back again to her.

"What do these demons want with you? Or better yet, who and what are you?" He gives her another once over then spots a rock behind him, then jumps backwards and lands gracefully on it and crouches into a half sitting position, looking at her with half intrest as his focus is split, part always devoted to keeping careful track of his surroundings, less he get caught off guard.

He looks into her eyes at her question, perplexed at her lack of knowledge. "You dont even recognize the forest? This is Emerald Forest.., you really aren't from around here are you...?"

He stops himself, his words becoming belittling... then grunts softly and settles himself. "So where are you from?"

He looks back at her with his question, his ears still listening to the surroundings..

I dont know where she's from or what she is, but she's lost in my forest, maybe i should stick around long enough to help her find her way.... If its a safe idea..

[LostMagicianGrl]

[font=Century Gothic]She watched him as he perched upon the rock then answered honestly, “my name is Ayame, and I am one of few Realian Sorceresses walking my world today. My alignment is Light, and I have absolutely no idea why that, that….thing was after me,” she finished in a very small voice. Her hands were wrapped around her waist hugging herself in an attempt to comfort herself.

“I haven’t ever heard of an Emerald Forest,” she said her voice almost whisper level, puzzlement filled the lavender eyes, “I’m from outside Caredia Citadel, mere miles from the village of Sorna. I study, tend my garden, and if needed heal sick villagers. I was attempting to move my home closer to Bargon Woods, for there are herbs there that I need to make healing teas, poultices, and other medicines for the sick in the village. In all of my studies I haven’t ever even come across a reference to an Emerald Forest,” her voice drifted off as her eyes met his and then darted away once again in search of anything familiar, as the puzzlement shifted to worry she muttered, “I wonder where my home is now,” glancing down at the remains, “there isn’t anything like that where I’m from. I hope it doesn’t injure the plant life.”

She emerged from her brief musing to meet this stranger’s eyes, took a deep breath to gather her courage and asked softly, “who are you? You weren’t hurt I hope,” she looked down, a faint tinge giving her pale cheeks a touch of color before she blurted, “I’m so very sorry, very, very sorry! You must have better things to do, I’m certain I must be keeping you from far more important things,” she bowed to him respectfully repeatedly, greatly embarrassed by the boldness of her questions, ’oh dear I hope he’s not angry at my boldness,’ she thought as crystalline tears of abject shame filled her eyes as she awkwardly apologized for taking up his precious time and placing him in danger, “I’m so very sorry.”

[Shapeshifter]

He nodded as she talked, taking in her odd mannerisms, listening closer as she got more and more quiet. Noticing that she kept glancing at the shredded remains of the demon.

"Ayame, odd name... but then again.... anyways..." He wandered off into thought.

What an odd creature she is... so timid, yet so boldly spoken... its like she's trying to fake something..

"Caredia Citadel? Sorna? Bargon Woods? Ive never heard of those places.. Did you hit your head or something?"

He sat a moment thinking over her answers, then met her eyes as she returned from her musing. Only to be taken aback my her burst of questions..

"Well, i suppose... in that order.. My name is Avis, and No, I'm not hurt..."

He looked away as her cheeks began to fill with color as she bowed awkwardly

"Please, stop, your embarassing yourself and me. There's no need, I've nothing to do, your entrance to my forest with such a ferocious blast of energy only awakened me from my meditation, but please, no harm done. I'm glad I could help you."

He started to ponder weather or not she was bold, timid, or just quite quirky. Either way, he thought to himself... I'll stick around and help her find her way home, she doesn't look like she'd be able to fend of much of anything, let alone a demon like that, or stronger.

He sat there on the rock thinking, his eyes closed, then opened and looked her over once more, then stopped and looked into her eyes.

"I'll help you if you wish.. to find your home."

Edited by Shapeshifter, 14 October 2007 - 01:51 AM.

[LostMagicianGrl]

For a moment her face lit with hope at his kindness, “I thank you Sir Avis,” the smile that filled her face bled to her eyes and the worry she carried faded allowing her shields to slip, allowing a surge of power to emerge from her, merging with and nourishing the surrounding plant life without her noticing, “I would greatly appreciate your help, so long as you can spare the time.”

Birds and butterflies flitted to her, drawn by the positive power that flowed freely from her in that unguarded instant. Her attention was drawn to the wildlife flitting around her and she laughed a rare joy filled laugh, her voice an enchantment all of it’s own. She spun in a tight circle, her arms outstretched as the birds landed on them, then flew off almost as though playing a game. The butterflies swirled around her in a rainbow display, some landing in her hair, decorating the nearly knee length braid like living barrettes. For this moment, she was more her true age than the age she looked, as she played with these beautiful creatures.

The blood that covered the ground from the corpse, as it came into contact with that unconscious burst of power, was turned to ash. A part of the severed limb was grazed by the power as well, and just coming into contact with such pure magic of light, was seared and scarred as it was purified.

The instant the power brushed the minions severed limb and began to purify it, she noticed. Her shields slammed shut, stopping the free flow of power as she became afraid, instinctively pushing the magic deep inside of her. The change from free joy to fear was abrupt, one of her hands went to the amulet hanging from her neck, the other wrapped around her waist. Her eyes drifted to those remains and she shuddered, “can we go please,” she asked, her voice small and scared, her eyes on the severed limb her power had brushed, “I really want to go now. I want to go home,” she whimpered in an almost child like voice, her eyes turning to his pleadingly.

[Shapeshifter]

"Its Avis... Just Avis..." He mumbled as he watched her start to twirl and dance captivated for a second by the surge of energy.

So thats why the demon was after her. She's much more powerful than meets the eye...

He watches thinking to himself as she notices the pieces of the demon, then feels the energy instantly vanish as she burries it deep inside herself.

So thats it.. She's afraid of her powers....

'Why do you fear your powers so?... You've a great gift, not much can purify a demon, nothing besides blessed items that I've heard tale of... but you, you can purify them with just a burst of your energy... That's amazing.."

He marvels for a second, then pulls off his cloak, revealing his briar garments, a tunic with baggy long sleeves, and plated leather strapped over it... complimented with long, baggy, cloth pants that were tight about the ankles, allowing for higher flexibility. His weapon buckled on his forearm coming into full view, the other arm donned in a similar bracer, but without the added claws. He reaches to his side and draws his sword from its hilt. then holds it before him, looking over the blade, then points the blade at the remains of the demon, and with a flash of soft green light, turns them to ash and scatters them to the wind.

"I'll help you find your home."

[LostMagicianGrl]

Her lavender eyes became grave, “a few years before I was born, a war broke out. Well, not a war so much as a complete decimation of my race. We are very long lived…from birth to the age of five, physically we age rapidly, our bodies reach the human equivalent of the age eighteen. However we aren’t considered adults until we reach the true age of two hundred and fifty, our abilities and powers vary greatly; growing until adulthood and the other races felt threatened by us,” she explained in a technical and remote way, “their jealousy grew. The Humans, Draconians, Marisians, they all banned together and invaded. Our allies the Deleaseans chose to watch instead of aiding us. The Dragovians (draconian’s and dragovian’s share similar ancestry, though they dispute who is the true descendant of the Dragon race) came to our aid, thousands died,” sadness fills her voice, “causing the Dravoians to pull out of the war lest their race be lost. We continued to fight, for our land, for our lives. When our rulers fell, many of us fled. My family and hundred of others managed to flee. When I was born, we were still running, hiding,” she continued, “all of us children were punished severely if we allowed our full abilities to show,” she pulled up the sleeve of her gown to just above her elbow, showing masses of burn scars, whip welt scars and this scars that could only have been done with a knife, “I was passed off to a Dragovian in a trade envoy my parents encountered. The draconian forces were closing in, so a few of the youngest children were passed off to them. I don’t know what happened to my parents, but the rumors that I’ve heard state that the ones that were captured were restrained with mind controlling devices and made into slaves. So far as I know, the children who were smuggled into the Dragovians lands live secluded lives, so as to not draw attention from the other lands to us. Our homes are shielded with the most powerful of Dragovian magic,” her eyes met his for a moment then flicked to the scars, “but I will always remember the rules,” her expression became serene, the mask covering any real emotion, “I am only sixteen and the memories are still quite fresh, you see.”

She backed away as he pulled his sword, watching with the inherent curiosity of her race as his sword turns the remains to ashes with wide eyes, “wow,” she whispers breathlessly, “so you focus your magic through the sword then,” she asked quietly as she watched the ashes drift away, only half hearing his response as her mind began turning over and over this newly encountered ability and muttering a distracted, “ok thank you.”




Meanwhile far, far away in a land filled with seething heat and covered in darkness :

“How…HOW! Can she have destroyed my minion? The trap I set…..it was flawless! And yet she escaped,” the Cloaked figure paced back and forth inside his throne room, “she was nearly mine. I will have her, devour her and take her power for my own,” he stopped and glanced at his dark generals, “You! Covors,” he pointed at a large minotaur-like creature, “take your troops, scatter them across the lands. I want her found. But! Do not cause her harm, I want to bleed her myself.” he waved towards the creature in silent dismissal, “go! Soon, very soon I will have enough power to cover all the lands in my darkness. Mwahahahaha….”


And back to the two in the forest :

“So, where to first,” Ayame asked curiously, her eyes meeting his, her head tipping slightly to the side as she awaited his answer.



(I attempted to seperate the posts, but for some reason it kept adding the parts I seperated back into one single post, sorry. I put plenty of space between the seperate sections instead and altered the color to differentiate between them as well, since it wouldnt let me post each part seperately. I did try though.)

Edited by LostMagicianGrl, 15 October 2007 - 05:03 PM.

[Shapeshifter]

He listened raptly to her story, sheething his sword after dispersing the remains. He smiled softly as she finished.

"So thats it then, you're not afraid of your powers, you're just reflexed to hide them. Well, how about while we search for your home, I help you to learn how to control your gift, so you dont have to repress it. Basic magical teachings state, "The more one represses their magics, the more uncontrolable they become.." So instead of repressing them and losing control of them, learn to harness and control them so repressing them isnt a necessity. I can teach you to control and mask your gift, so you appear no different than any other person you come by."

He smiles again softly then picks up and dons his cloak once more, fastening it securely about his shoulders.

"No, well not neccessarily.." He added while answering her last question, "I don't precisely focus my magic through the sword, I use my abilities to activate its own. See, this is one of the blessed items I told you of earlier..." He draws the sword from his side again, holding the handle with one hand, laying it flat in the other. "Though it may look like a regular katana, this is the sword Druidsbane, a gift from my father when I came of age. It's a blessed sword crafted of the finest minerals around to make the blade stronger than steel, and blessed by many monks and clerics of ancient elven lore. My father was presented this sword after defeating the golomath atop the sacred mountains, a far shot from here, I had to defeat my father to gain this sword, afterwhich he presented it to me."

He sheeths the sword again and looks down to the ground as he thinks back to his father for a moment.

I pray that I'm worthy, father, and that I bring great fortune to your name. You will always boost my spirits, and if I happen to need assistance, your soul will always be there to guide me. Long live the great Shapeshifter, proud leader of the Elves of Llanowar.

He looks back at her as she comes out of her own thoughts, probably discerning the sword..

"So, which way?"

[LostMagicianGrl]

She bowed respectfully, “I would greatly appreciate your aid in helping me control my gift,” straightening, a gentle smile filled her face, “actively using my power is far different from reading about how to use my power.”

‘A blessed sword. This place is so…odd,’ she thought., ‘where I am from there are no weapons like that. Certain races can focus their power through their weapons, but the weapon itself is just a weapon. Fighting for a weapon is…an odd custom but he seems….proud of defeating his father. Maybe it is a normal practice for people in the outside world to do this?’

Aloud she said, “your dad must be a great person, to honor you so. He must be very proud of you,” smiling nostalgically as she remembered for a moment her own father and the fleeting moments of joy she had with him during the times when pursuit hadn’t been so close and fear hadn’t been so thick amongst the group (realian children have an amazing memory longevity, from their first year their memories are clear and distinct, it has to be since they have to keep up with their bodies growth).

Her head tipped to the side a little as she thought, ‘it sure is strange, being away from all that is familiar. This place is so far from anything I have ever even read about. I really miss my home. But for some reason, I don’t feel quite so scared now.”

She jumped slightly, startled out of her thoughts by his question, “I don’t know,” she twirled around, taking in the surrounding area, before making a decision, “lets go that way,” she pointed north, towards the distant snow capped mountains overshadowing the dense forest, “maybe my home will be beyond those them,” she spun back to face him, excitement filling her eyes and causing them to glow slightly and turn from the deeper lavender to an almost silvery violet shade. Her cheeks were flushed and she reached out hesitantly and pinched his cloak and gave it a tug as she took a step backwards, once again her true age peeking through momentarily.

She spun around, relinquishing her slight grip on his cloak and raced towards the tree-line in the direction of the mountains her long braid flopping against the back of her white robes, revealing then concealing intricate embroadery of a pheonix and dragon done in gold and silver thread. Throwing a look over her shoulder she gave an excited shout, “c’mon!”

[Shapeshifter]

He looked at her and nodded, "My father is now the king of our people back in the land of Llanowar, he was quite the noble guardian. He is a druid, like myself, and everything I know, I've learned from him."

He watches her posture change from a defensive standpoint, fading into a content state, then watches with intrest as her eyes brighten, then chuckles softly.

"I take it you feel safe here now?"

He looks off towards the mountains to which she points, seeing their snowcapped peaks rise high above the forest treetops. He looks curiously as she grabs his cloak then tugs, before releasing it and twirling once more before sprinting off towards the north.

Hmm... She seems to be more secure in the knowledge that she will learn to control her gift. Good... If we end up getting into a bind, I'd rather not have to play a complete defensive and have to worry for her safety, the safer she feels with her gift, the more she will be able to use it. And the more it will free up my ability to counterattack.

"Hey wait up!"

He smiled, giving chase, not putting too much effort into his run, only enough to keep up. Looking sideways at her while he sprinted amongst the trees, sidestepping them without more than a peripheral glance at them, he smiled again softly and raised an eyebrow.

"Wanna race? First one through this thicket of trees to the next clearing wins."

He laughed, slowing his pace, letting her gain more and more distance between them, then jumped straight up into the trees and started sprinting along their branches, fast enough that his movements were barely more than a blurr in the trees. He caught back up to her and slowed his pace back down to match, jumping from branch to branch.

I wonder....

He sprints ahead and waits at the edge of the clearing, keeping himself camouflaged in the branches, then sits waiting for her, as she nears the clearing. Then jumps down into the light of the clearing just before she breaks the treeline and smiles.

"I win.."

[LostMagicianGrl]

She giggles at his offer of a race and set a steady pace as she wound and weaved through the foliage. As she ran, it almost seemed the plants moved out of her path, allowing her free passage. She laughed, and sped her pace some. Looking around for him as the trees became a little sparse and the sunlit clearing could now be seen she thought, ‘looks like I win,’ until she broke the tree line and saw him standing bathed in sunlight, ‘guess not.’

She stumbles up to him and says breathlessly, “wow you are fast,” looking up she notes that those distant peaks were now somewhat closer, “that was fun,” smiling she looked at him, “and those mountains are a little closer now,” she looks around, taking in the plant life around her before recognizing a few of the flowers. Walking over she leans down, “I know these. They are Wistremia and I can make a good healing poultice from them,” she picked some of the plants, careful to gather leaf, stem, root, and petal gently so as not to damage them before walking to the other plant she recognized, “and these are Illuvium. I can make restorative teas and stink bombs from them,” she muttered to herself, “stink bombs may not do much more than smoke and give off a noxious scent, but that could come in handy though,” before speaking aloud, “these must be harvested very carefully, just the thorns alone can cause harm but the acid the stem secretes is very corrosive and can burn flesh,” she growled with frustration, “I wish I had my travel pouches, I have vials in it I use to collect this stuff. Once I boil it down and add Calesian sap the acid is nearly neutralized and makes for a very good cleanser, though it has other beneficial uses as well,” being careful of the long thin thorns on the plant she deftly removed the petals from the flowers with one hand as she used her other to make a kind of basket out of her gown to hold what she’d gathered.

She took all the petals from every blossom on the plant, glancing over her shoulder to him she says, “these will rebloom all the faster now, they are extraordinarily resilient. I harvest a single plant nearly sixteen times a season, though I only harvest the acid twice a season and I only take what I need, so as to not leave the plant defenseless,” she finished as she straightened, her makeshift basket now full from the two plants she just harvested.

Walking back to him she showed off her bounty before it even occurred to her, “now where should I put these?”

[Shapeshifter]

He smiles and offers a hand as she starts to breathe heavy, to steady while she catches herself.

"I may be fast, but you aren't exactly slow either."

He watches as she recognizes the plant life and starts to collect articles for her alchemy. Watching intently, seeing this within his own people, but not in any other. He smiles as she makes a makeshift basket out of her robes, then chuckles as she comes back looking for a place to store her herbs.

"I think I've got something you can use... Here, use these.."

He digs through his satchel and hands her a few glass jars, beakers, and vials.

"Those should fit your needs nicely."

He thinks a moment, looking over the open field. Then nods decisively and looks back towards Ayame.

"Time for your first lesson. Controlling the flow of your energy."

He places his hands, palms together, infront of him, his fingers all pointed upwards, then closes his eyes as a green glow edges around the bottoms of his boots. He opens his eyes again then looks at her.

"To increase your speed, focus your energy into the soles of your feet, and control its flow outward to give your running an extra boost of speed."

He jumps into the air quickly, seemingly vanishing. then reappearing as he lands gracefully on his feet, then dashes around her, seemingly skating around her. Moving so quickly that he is only a blur. He stops then lets the energy flow return to normal, then sits down and looks at her.

"Your turn.."

[LostMagicianGrl]

“Realians are descendants of a race with high endurance, stamina, and resilience. It’s why instead of us all being wiped out we were made into mindless slaves. Imagine. Someone who can toil for nearly twenty hours a day, needing only four hours of sleep, and can survive on little food. Makes for the perfect slave really,“ she explained as she accepted the glass jars, beakers, and vials happily. Filling them with the various multicolored leaves, petals, stems, and roots to save them for processing later. Once they were full she passed them back to him with a smile, “hold these for me till I get something to carry them in please,” she asked, watching him come to some sort of decision.

“Okay,” her head tipped to the side as she watched him focus his energy, “it’s just a matter of pushing it down, right,” she asked as she opened her shields and allowed her immense power to spill out and swirl ceaselessly around her, watching as he moved swiftly and smoothly around her before stopping and returning his energy to normal.

The energy thickened around her becoming dense enough to become visible as she focused. Power spilled from her eyes as she took control of the seething mass of energy that poured endlessly from her. She brought her hands together, palms touching, closed her eyes and pushed the power down until the bluish white color surrounded her boots. Opening her eyes she moved, racing around the clearing with ease and amazing speed, “this is fun,” she giggled out before attempting to stop and tripping and falling, landing face first into a soft bed of thick green grass, subconsciously using her power to cause it to thicken and ease her abrupt landing.

Her power receded abruptly as she hit the ground, switched off instantly upon impact. She glanced up, her lavender eyes bright as she met his eyes, “was that good? Did I do it right? That was good, right,” she blurted out the questions swiftly watching him as she slowly pushed to her feet.

A loud roar erupted from the nearby mountains, and an enormous shadow blocked the sun momentarily as a giant bird flew overhead and circled the clearing. The small rabbit like critters that had been out and about scurried back to their burrows, nests and hiding places, sensing the danger above them.

Ayame’s gaze moved upward, her eyes went wide and she whispered, “wow! Now that is one giant bird!”

[Shapeshifter]

He chuckles and walks over to give her a hand up.

"That was a very good first try"

He helps her to her feet and smiles, her eyes looking bright.

"You've got the concept and the focus right.. but not only do you have to push the energy out the soles of your feet, you have to keep it under control enough so you can stop. It may look like a solid push, but its constatly changing. If you dont fluxuate the energy as you push it out, as you found, you'll have a hard time stopping. But that being said, its only a slight fluxuation."

He gathers his energy in his palm then shows a solid discharge, tiping his hand different directions, the edge of the energy always remaining perpendicular to his hand.

"This works to an extent, but being a solid flow, to stop it, you not only have to establish a fluxuation, but you have to then seal it right back away."

The energy in his hand flickers different levels before completely disappearing, he then gathers it again, keeping the flow fluid, its remaining perpendicular to the ground, no matter how he turns his hand.

"By keeping the energy fluxuating, you have complete control over your energy, and therefore, are able to make slight alterations allowing you to stop and turn much quicker."

He looks up towards the sky as the light fades out and in. Seeing the Giant Hawk fly overhead.

"Aye, he is big, I just hope that he's not hunting."

[LostMagicianGrl]

Once again her head tipped to the side as she took in the information he was giving her, watching carefully as he focused his power to his hand and keeping the power steady and perpendicular to his hand. She watched it flicker and vanish with almost childish delight at the magical display.

Her eyes flicked to the bird hovering in the sky for a moment, “um, just what does it hunt?”

Turning her attention to her hand she released her power again, the swirling mass causing the grasses around her to dance slightly as if blown by a gently breeze, and this time pushed it into her hand and then just focused it into the palm of her hand. The bluish white energy danced in her palm for a moment before coating it. The color of the energy fluctuated as she began to move her hand, her face a mask of concentration as she focused on maintaining a steady flow of energy, the immense bird above her completely forgotten.

The large bird began to spiral around the clearing, it’s wing span blocking off all sunlight going to the clearing as it began to lower in altitude. With a loud call the black feathered bird began it’s diving descent, it’s massive talons set to grab the only prey it saw in the clearing.

Ayame kept up a steady motion with her hand, consumed by the desire to learn this lesson swiftly. She practiced putting away her power and refocusing, completely unaware of the danger above her……..oblivious that they had now become prey for the giant bird.

[Shapeshifter]

"There you go, you're getting it."

She's learning rather quicker than I anticipated, great. This means she may become a skilled magic user yet.

He walks around her, studying her concentration and her energy levels as he watches her progress.

"You're doing quite well."

He looks up to the Giant Hawk as it flies over head, blocking out the sun once again.

"Normally it only hunts small game and suck, shocking for such a big bird."

He looks back down to her and continues on, she stands infront of her and holds out both hands.

"This is for demonstrational purposes, but you can try if you like."

In one hand he creates a steady orb of energy and watches it slowly revolve in his hand, in the other he creats a swirling mass of energy that crackles and sparks in almost every direction.

"In this hand..." he gestures with the steady orb, "...with this hand I'm demonstrating steady energy flow control. You see how the orb is smooth and perfectly rounded, this type of control is normally used for shielding magics because it calls for a steady flow of energy from the caster to maintain, keeping the same amount of energy pouring out to create the shield."

He lets down the energy and watches the orb shrink then vanish from his hand, then turns his focus to the other hand.

"In this hand I'm demonstrating fluxuating control. You see how the surface of the orb is still smooth, but the energy itself is sparking and crackling wildly. This is because instead of a constant flow, like the other one, this is maintained by controling an every changing flow of energy, this type of control is normally used for offensive magics, like blasts."

He lets the other energy in his hand settle and watches the crackling subside and watches that orb shrink down and out of sight, then looks back up to the sky, noticing the shadows increasing from the circling bird, then hears the cry for its descent.

"Watch out!"

He wraps his arm around Ayame and leaps to the side, barely avoiding the birds giant talons as they rake the ground where they once stood.

[LostMagicianGrl]

She nodded absently as he spoke, filing the information away for later use as she concentrated until his hands appeared in her line of vision, startling her out of her concentration and catching her attention. Her gaze zeroed in on his hands, watching as he created two similar and yet different balls of energy.

Ayame watched as the first ball of energy revolved slowly and calmly in his hand, taking in the steady constant flow of energy that he produced she formed a ball of slow and steady energy, mimicking his manipulation of energy. Once she had the steady even flowing ball of energy rotating sedately in her hand, her lavender eyes turned to his other hand.

Her head tipped from side to side as she concentrated on his manipulation of this specific flow of energy. Her brow furled as she studied it, leaning down she got as close to the swirling mass of energy as she safely could watching it crackle and spark within the glowing sphere. Her empty hand came up, and for a moment made to poke the glowing ball of active energy. Catching her hand before it actually made contact with the glowing sphere, she instead tried to mimic his energy flow, listening raptly to him as he explained about the differences in energy flow.

‘It’s nothing like the books talked about. And it certainly isn’t like the spells I can do,’ she thought to herself as she soaked up the information he was imparting to her, ‘this is far different from anything the ancient texts I studied spoke of. It’s actually much more difficult than it looks,’ both balls of energy she held were rotating the same now. Sharpening her concentration she sped up one of the glowing blue orbs, attempting to control the energy within.

As she pushed more power into the one orb, it’s color lightened until it glowed a shimmering silver-purple but no crackling energy ensued though the flow sped up. As she pushed more power into it, the seething ball of contained energy slowly expanded growing larger and denser as she attempted to achieve the same results he had had.

Her focus was so intense she didn’t notice when he doused the demonstrative power. The bird overhead was a faded memory, as her mind was consumed with the task she was attempting to accomplish.

Just as he shouted and grabbed her to pull her out of the strike zone of the massive bird, a bright light emerged from her, encircling herself and him in a protective shield. The jarring motion dislodged the larger sphere from her grasp, sending it on a collision course with the bird.

As the force of the sphere struck the winged creature it let out a shriek, it’s dark brown feathers flashed and flared into white flame. With another ear searing cry it slammed to the ground, badly injured. Ayame stared in horror at the damage her magic had done to an innocent creature of nature. She pushed away from Avis, the crystalline sphere surrounding them dissolving as she, at first slowly and then with increasing speed raced to the suffering creatures side, “what have I done,” she choked out as she turned stricken eyes to Avis for a moment before turning her full attention onto the severely injured fowl.

Her eyes took in the severe damage done to the creature, “poor thing,” she murmered, “you were only doing what you were born to do, it’s not your fault,” assessing it’s injuries, she noted abstractly where the worst of the wounds were, how badly the bird was burned.

As she had done in her own home on occasion to aid sick and injured animals and people alike, she dropped her shields allowing the full force of her power flow and fill the clearing, her concern for the suffering creature overriding her ingrained reluctance to use her powers.

Her fingers began sketching ancient symbols into the air just above the bird. For her, time ceased to move, her complete focus on the task of healing before her. Day slid slowly into night and still she worked tirelessly and fearlessly healing up the grave injuries, using her power to sustain the bird as she healed it. The surface injuries faded within minutes, but the worst of the wounds took hours to knit together, filling in living flesh where there had only been dead.

As time wore on her vast energy began to wane. The moon was falling from the sky when she stood. She backed away from the bird, swaying with exhaustion, stumbling blindly she spun around. Ayame was beyond pale. Her normally bright lavender eyes were glassy and the color faded to a shade so light as to be mistaken for white.

“She will live,” she stated, her voice hollow and full of exhaustion. Her eyes drifted shut, her body went lax. Asleep even as her legs gave out and she began to topple forward.

[Shapeshifter]

He watched in horror as the sphere struck the great bird and set it ablaze, then watched, as if stunned in a trance as she pushed from him and ran to the bird after it crashed into the ground, the sounds around him sounded distant and faded. He barely heard her speak as she looked at him before pouring her full attention into the bird.

He slowly came out of his trance, more to the sense of her unbridalled power than anything else, he sat there on the ground looking over at her, not wanting to disturb her. He watched as she tediously mended the birds grave wounds. All the while thinking to himself

Her magics are much much more than I could have imagined, and she is already quite talented with healing. Even shielding, subconsciously, I just have to make it a conscious effort as well, and she will learn to control her powers flawlessly.

He watched as the sun settled into the horizon and things started to get darker, he picked himself off the ground and soundlessly searched around the meadow for firewood always keeping her in sight. He came back to where he sat, his arms laden with firewood and a few odds and ends, then lit a roaring fire and tended to some food. Keeping aside plenty for her, should she soon decide to eat.

He looked back to her

Still at it... Wow, she really is determined to help that great bird, even after it tried to kill us, without second thought.

He watched as she stood up, then started walking towards her for news of the bird as she spoke, then dashed forward seeing her pale features, sprinting forward to catch her as she toppled forward.

"I've got you......."

[LostMagicianGrl]

Unaware of being caught, Ayame slept on. Her vast resources drained to dangerously low levels. The enormous wounds the bird had suffered were gone. As it began to stir, where the injuries had been feathers were growing in. It gave a weak scawk and flapped it’s wings weakly at first and then with more assurance and strength. It lifted it’s self onto it’s massive talons and ruffled it’s feathers, settling them into place. With a shake and a loud cry it opened it’s immense wings and lifted off, blasting wind through out the clearing, causing the plants to bend and leaves to fall gently as it lifted off and flew away, becoming a dark speck in the night sky swiftly.

A short time later whispers began to fill the clearing. Dark whispering voices danced on the wind, a spell of sleep mixed in. Ayame slipped deeper into slumber unable to, in her weakened state, fight off the effects of the subtle spell. Darkness grew, slowly dousing the light of the stars and covering the moon. Nameless shapes began roaming the clearing, avoiding the fire but coming closer and closer as the darkness spread.

Three forms took shape within the darkness, their glowing white, red, and orange eyes staring eerily at Avis and Ayame. The voices amidst the shadows took on a pleading chanting lilt as the demi-demons began to take solid form and added strength to the spell. A dark song began to circle the spell darkened meadow, animals that were in dens and birds resting in their nests drifted into an unnatural slumber as the spell took them over.

For a moment a sphere of light surrounded Ayame as her subconscious attempted to draw on power she didn’t have to protect her. For just a few seconds the light of her shield filled the clearing, illuminating the darkness and throwing the three shadows forming into sharp relief before flickering and dieing out, allowing the unnatural darkness to fill the clearing once again.

[Shapeshifter]

He carries her back to the camp and sits beside the fire, laying her on a stretch of blankets he pulls from his satchel, then lowers his head and closes his eyes to rest, keeping his senses heightened incase of a threat, not wanting to get ambushed while she was out.

He snaps alert, not knowing what woke him from his tranced state, he looks around, Ayame sleeping soundly on the layed out blankets, he tosses a couple more logs on the fire as it dwindles down, then tips his head down and returns to the tranced state, not noticing the unnatural darkness thats starting to steal over the meadow in his groggy state.

She will be ok, she just needs rest... That was a fantastic job she did healing that great bird

He slowly feels sleep steal over him, but its not normal.. feeling his muscles relax far too much for a regular sleep. Then he hears the slow chanting and notices the darkness stealing over the meadow. He stands groggily to his feet and draws Druidsbane from its sheeth, its purifying effects slowing the groggy feeling thats slowly stealing over him from the enchantment.

He sees the demi-demons slowly taking a corporeal form and holds tight to Druidsbane as he looks around slowly.

Damn, this enchantment has my reflexes at a standstill, I can barely keep myself up... Let alone fight these guys off.....

[LostMagicianGrl]

Ayame rolled onto her side, her cheek pillowed on her hand. For a moment her face clouded as she slept, as if disturbed by something but it passed as quickly as it had come and her face smoothed out and with a soft whispery sigh, she curled into a ball and sank even further under the spell that whispered through the clearing.

The shadows became even denser as the demi-demon’s master poured his power into it and them, strengthening them even as HIS master poured power into him, giving him extended power. He added his whispers to the shadows attempting to add strength to the spell. He watched the events from the shadows, working his way towards the girl. Sneering, he chuckled to himself at the elf’s worthless attempt to stand guard over his target.

“You are so tired, you just wish to sleep. You are so tired, sit down get off your feet. You are so tired, you just feel so weak. You are so tired, just go to sleep,” the whispered chant slithered through the darkness and adding to the soft whisperings of his master.

The dieing demi-demon sneered, “I saw your death,” he whispered on his last breath, in an attempt to psych out his enemy, “my master…,” his voice faded off as the evil light left his eyes and his form turned to ash.

The remaining two demi-demons became enraged at their comrades demise and they started chanting and pulling magic to them as they closed in on the injured newcomer, “ist decror sprectst dfowner,” they whispered in unison, combining their power. Red and purple energy began to form in front of them as they focused their will, entwining together in an unusual way, forming a gleaming trident like magical weapon.

Reaching out, they simultaneously grabbed the handle. The firs to touch the weapon disintegrated into dust…..the weapon absorbing the demi-demon’s life energy to feed it’s dark power. The remaining demi-demon gripped the handle of the five pronged trident. Lifting it he moved in for the (assumed) kill, confident in his skill and strength and motivated by his master’s promise of more power, "now you die."

[Shapeshifter]

He stood, his eyes half open watching his enemies circle him, thinking to himself all the while as he held Druidsbane steady.

If they attack, I'm not going to be able to put up much of a defense.. But like hell am I going to....

The blast of antimagic to his right caused him to turn in place, he watched in awe as he saw the silver-haired being reach out and clutch the demi-demon, then watched its body fall into ashes as it died, watching the second blast of antimagic send the silver-haired being to the ground and watched him roll dodge a third.

He turned his focus on the remaining demi-demons, watching and listening as they chanted and created the large antimatter trident, then watched as one more of them perished to strengthen the weapon.

He felt the sleeping chant weaken, his strength slowly returning as the demi-demons perished one by one. He rounded on the last demi-demon, lunging forward with Druidsbane and locking it amongst the prongs of the trident, standing infront of the silver-haired being.

"You ok?" Avis asked, exasperation in his voice as he held the demi at bay. Something caught his attention, the sudden rush of demonic energy captured him, he turned his gaze towards where Ayame still layed, overtaken by the enchantment. He saw the demon, larger than the demi, getting closer to her.

"AYAME!" He yells, then parries away the demi, casting him aside, separating him from the trident, before sprinting over infront of Ayame, Druidsbane held forward, glaring at the demon, rage in his words.

"Demon, leave my forests at once, or perish by my blade!"

God I hope she wakes up soon.... I dont know how long I can hold this demon off, Druidsbane is effective, but unless I can land a crucial blow, I'll have my work cut out for me to kill this demon on my own.... Damn, this is more of a pain than I thought it would be..... What a drag.....

Edited by Shapeshifter, 02 November 2007 - 02:14 AM.

[LostMagicianGrl]

A howl of rage erupted from the darkness as another of his minions fell and his link to the spell filled shadow fell. The unnatural darkness fractured and dissipated swiftly and the moon and star filled midnight sky was revealed. Slowly animals and insects that normally roamed the night began to stir as the natural order was restored to the area.

Ayame lay on her side unaware of the events that had transpired around her. As the shadows dissipated and the spell wrapped around her vanished, she heaved an involuntary sigh and drifted into a more natural sleep.

She stirred as power began to pour into her. Still unconscious, she was unable to shield her power and at first a faint silvery blue glow surrounded her, flaring more and more brightly as the inflow of power continued. Her eyelids fluttered and she sighed a soft sigh as she began to swim to consciousness, her power grew, doubling up on itself even after the influx of other energy waned and dropped off. With a bright blast her power flared, flowing around her and any in the area, filling the clearing with it’s pure light and wrapping all within range in a pure and healing light. The corpse of the demon disintegrated into dust and anything living within the clearing that had been trapped and tainted by the shadowed darkness was purified.

Her lavender eyes opened and glowed with power. She slowly sat up, for a moment unnoticing of her power flowing around everything and everyone. The instant she noticed her shields slammed into place, shutting down the free flowing power almost instantly. Her cheeks burned with shame at the uncontrolled power burst, “I-I-I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered softly. Her face was cast downward as her natural shyness kicked in when she noticed the strangers.

For a moment, her glistening eyes flicked around, taking in the strange winged man and the girl that had mysteriously (to her) joined her and Avis. Her hand covered her mouth as she yawned, then she blinked tiredly and yawned even bigger. Stretching, she yawned again and slowly got to her feet and moved over to Avis, taking up a position just behind him. Her head peeked out from behind him to watch the two strangers warily.

“Who are they Avis, when did they get here,” she asked him softly, fearfully.

[Shapeshifter]

He watched as Draken stepped past him and seemingly felled the demon with a touch of his hand to its chest. He stood for a second, lowering Druidsbane slightly as he stood awestruck. He took in Draken's appearance, the long mane of silver hair, the ashen black wings, before he tucked them back under his cloak.

What is he...

He stood for a moment as Draken turned and addressed him, but before he could answer, the answer was already given. His attention was caught by the second voice, he turned around quickly watching the other girl come leaping from the treeline, feeding Draken the answer he had been moments of saying himself.

He watched as she crouched down, he clutched the handle of Druidsbane tight, then feeling the energies around him, pouring from her, he lowered his guard a bit, sheething Druidsbane on his side.

If either of them were here for her, or to kill either of us, they'd have attacked mere seconds after the demon was felled.

He turned and addressed Draken. "Draken is it?... Yes, this is my forest, I am the son of Shapeshifter, the king of Llanowar, the great elven village. This is the surrounding forest of Llanowar, still well behind our boarders. So in respects, this is my forest."

He knelt down beside the other girl and watched as she poured her energies into Ayame.

"Yes, she is completely tapped, she drained herself healing a giant hawk after scorching it during a training exercise."

He watched as Ayame's eyes fluttered and she came to. Sitting up then walked quickly behind Avis and peered around him.

"Hey wait a min... What do you think you're doing back there!?" He said in surprise as he wheeled around looking at Ayame. He took in the slight fearful look in her eyes and tone, then turned back around and gestured towards each of the new arrivals.

"This is Draken..." he gestured towards him with his hand, palm face up. "And this is.... I dont think I caught your name miss.." he gestured towards the other girl, speaking more to her now than Ayame.

"You were under an enchanted sleep..." he returned to Ayame, "... a looming shadow of demi-demons were slowly encroaching upon the meadow, I believe their target was you." He said, looking back at Ayame, "Draken turned up and joined the fray... and she..." he gestured again to the other girl.. "came just after the last demon fell and started to restore some of your power."

So many people... but why were they all drawn here? Lets just hope there is nothing else going on. Maybe they know something about where Ayame's home may be. Until then, they may be of some help, to keep her safe as we wander in search of her home.... This is turning out to be much more than I anticipated... This is such a drag....

Edited by Shapeshifter, 02 November 2007 - 01:38 PM.

[LostMagicianGrl]

Ayame stared at Avis, listening carefully to his explanation of events. Frowning she moved away and across the clearing, her thoughts troubled, ‘trouble keeps coming, if I remain with Avis…he could end up hurt or dead. And now there are new people involved,’ her frown deepened, ‘these creatures that keep coming after me…they are very determined to take me somewhere,’ her eyes clouded as her thoughts continued and her eyes flicked to Avis and Tears for a moment, ‘I am unsure of what I should do, however placing others in danger…is not something…I wish to do.’

She meandered back over to Avis and replied, “My name is Ayame and I am a Realian,” she explained, “all of my people are born with power, but only once a millennium someone with powers such as mine are born; and only to the royal bloodline. We are very, very long lived,” her eyes became shadowed and her demeanor became hunched as though burdened by great sorrow, “which is one of the reasons my people make excellent slaves. Normally we need little sleep, can survive on little food, our endurance and stamina rival the Draconian and Dragovians (forgets that no one is familiar with these races from her home). And with the mind control collars, the other races have enduring servants that are long lived and obedient for them to own,” sighing she continues, “I hadn’t been born yet when the war happened. My family fled, but my parents were captured a few years after I was born…or killed I don’t know. I, and a few other children were passed to a Dragovian caravan and taken to their lands to be raised secretly in shielded, seclusive places.”

Her explanation drifted off as she sank into thought,‘I can’t endanger Avis any more,’ she wandered closer and closer to the seclusion of the trees, ‘and now there are others that will be placed in danger,’ she leaned against the trunk of a tree and stared deeply into the forest, ‘I don’t understand why these monsters are after me, but placing others in danger is very wrong. My powers are still uncontrolled and a danger to others as well.’

Glancing over to Avis and Tears she whispered, “goodbye,” and took off running, her white robes billowing out as she raced away., a single crystalline tear traced it’s way down her cheek as she ran. Her words drifted back on the wind, “I can not endanger you anymore Avis. I am sorry.”

[Shapeshifter]

"Grr... Damnit... Ayame!"

Damnit! Whats gotten into her? Ugh... what a drag....

He turned and raced off, leaping into the trees, then jumping effortlessly from branch to branch, racing along behind her, catching up, then passing her, jumping down infront of her to stop her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing! Are you looking to get taken by those demons?! Who the hell knows where they are now?"

He stopped, noticing his voice raising with exasperation and worry. He perked his ears, keeping his senses heightened, never wanting to be caught off guard. He lowered his tone as he returned to speaking with Ayame.

"What do you think you were doing?"

He took her by the arms and looked down into her eyes.

"You dont know what runs around in these forests. You could have quite well been killed"

He stands there a moment then smiles and looks back at her, letting go of her arms.

"You still cant outrun me..."

Damnit.... I dont know whats going on, but I'm not going to let her go off alone. Not now. There's something about helping her find her home that seems like its what I'm meant to do for the time being... What a drag..