Castle and Cherish.

[Clair]

The sun was pale overhead and it weakly filtered through the canopy, leaving the forest floor cast in shadows. The air was cool; Dorothea could see her own breath coming in small clouds. It was a typical day in the woods on an autumn day.

Dorothea was crouched in the brush, her green eyes alert and focused on a small buck as it grazed. She willed her stomach not to growl, though it had been days since she'd had anything of sustenance to eat. This buck wasn't much, but it would last her just long enough to find more game.

[CastlesInTheSky]

The autumn day was cold and breezy. Though the cold weather bit at his skin and numbed his hands, but the season was still a favorite of Oliver's. The sun reached through the clouds and shone its light upon the earth below his feet, but it was too weak to burn his pale skin. The feathers of the arrows on his back were mostly white. He was careful not to step on anything that would make noise, and hid in the brush as he neared his target, a small buck. Ever so quietly, he rose his bow and drew back an arrow. Just as he was about to shoot, his foot snapped a twig and the buck alertly looked his way. He misfired and hit the near buck's flank. It started to bolt off, into the deep woods.

[Clair]

Dorothea swore loudly, not caring that the her voice echoed, and bolted towards the buck, brandishing her hunting knife. She dove at the deer, flailing and screeching wildly. She would get this deer, she would get her food, loosing herself to a moment of madness didn't matter. As she grabbed at the deer's neck with one hand and slashed with the hand that held the knife, Dorothea caught a glimpse of another hunter standing nearby; he'd scared the prey and if she didn't get this kill, she'd make sure to punish this idiot.

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver jumped a bit when a girl burst out of the trees and sprinted wildly after the deer, screaming. That was not the way to hunt! He shrunk back into the bushes as she slashed at the deer's throat. 'What a violent person,'he thought. He definitely didn't want to talk to her. He backed up slowly in the foliage, the earth-colored cloak he wore covering his wings and most of his body.

[Clair]

Dorothea laughed manically as the deer fell beneath her. She did not pause to see where the young man had wandered off to before began preparing the meat. Sitting atop the deer, all the way up to her elbows in blood, Dorothea's mood was improving by the minute. She loved anything red...

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver wasn't sure he wanted to have anything to do with this woman, but he decided he might as well apologize for what he had done. Even if the woman was...strange, he still felt he should respect her in this manner. He quietly exited the foliage, standing in a spot none to close to her but visible enough. "Excuse me...I'm sorry for scaring away the animal like that." As he watched her prepare the deer, he was almost disgusted by her delight in it.

[Clair]

She glanced at him sideways, not bothering to stop in her work. For a few minutes, Dorothea didn't say anything back. As she pulled the animal's heart from it's body and inspected it, she turned back towards Oliver. "Just because you-apologized doesn' mean I'll be givin' any of this to you." She did not say this harshly, but rather in a  matter-of-fact way.

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver held his hands up in surrender. "No, no, that's not what I want. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to fix my mistake...do you want an extra rabbit?" Part of the reason he was being so apologetic was because it was simply in his nature, and he was respectful to all people. Also, he didn't want to see this woman's bad nature become his end. She didn't seem very...friendly.

[Clair]

Dorothea's shoulders slumped a little, she lowered the heart back into the carcass, startled by his offer of a rabbit. She wouldn't pass up fresh game. "Yes'in," she said slowly, standing and wiping her bloody hand across her chin and mouth. "A rabbit would be nice..."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver's stomach was grumbling, but his good nature got the best of him. He would get a rabbit for her. The woman had blood all over her, and it looked somewhat frightening. He wouldn't pass up a chance to get into the good graces of the woman and leave on a relatively nice note. With a nod he was off, and within a number of minutes that wasn't too long he returned with a rabbit. He held it over to her. "Here. I hope you enjoy it."

[Clair]

Dorothea snatched it and examined the kill. It was clean and he'd been quick about it, too. She glanced up at him, tilting her head curiously. "You're a good hunter... whats your name?"

[Clair]

(for some reason, the post duplicated- ignore this post)

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver watched her examine it with a bit of nervousness. He hoped that it was good enough for her. He wouldn't like to make her angry.

When she said it was good, he relaxed somewhat. His earth-colored cloak was hiding the wings on his back. He said, "My name's Oliver. Nice to meet you." He offered a polite smile.

[Clair]

"Dorothea." Dorothea gave a curt nod, turning back to her deer. As she sat back down atop the deer, she tossed the rabbit back to Oliver. "Clean and skin it," she instructed. "I'll finish taking care of the deer."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Well, perhaps this woman wasn't so bad. She didn't seem very mean, simply irritable. It made him relax. With a nod, he caught the rabbit and began to do as instructed. He was thankful to be a good hunter. It was such a useful skill. It kept him alive and well. Glancing over at Dorothea, he decided to try out a bit of conversation.

"Are you from around here?" Whilst talking to her, he didn't look up from the task he was asked to do, and continued to work diligently.

[Clair]

Dorothea did not answer right away, absorbed in the task at hand. After a few minutes ticked by, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Not these parts, exactly," she said, shaking her head. "And yourself?"

[CastlesInTheSky]

"I usually find myself in Serendipity, so I'd say yes." He got a bit of blood on his cloak draped around his shoulders and frowned slightly. He took it off carefully, letting it drop to the ground. He didn't want it to get any more on it. His wings extended partway for a moment in a halfhearted stretch, then returned to their folded position on his back. "It's good hunting around here. That's also why I like it here."

[Clair]

Dorothea stopped in her work, her knife hovering in the air over the deer; her jaw dropped as she stared at his wings. She'd never seen something so glorious in her life. They were gorgeous! "You... you have wings!"

[CastlesInTheSky]

Oliver finished up his work just as she commented on his wings. He looked a bit surprised at her comment. To him, it was almost like a person remarking, 'You have hands!'. It always took him a moment to realize that other people don't have them. He nodded.

"Yes, I do. Here, I'll show you them."

On that note, he moved himself a bit to give him more room and extended his wings fully to show her them. There were no markings on them, and they weren't dirty at all, having been under the cloak for a while.

[Clair]

Dorothea stood in awe of the wings, gaping at him. They were gorgeous, beautiful things. Powerful, too. Oh, how she wished she'd had wings. She knew of others who had them, although, she did not see people with wings growing from their backs very often. It certainly was not something she was used to seeing.

"They're beautiful," she whispered, stepping closer.