Dreamcatcher [open!]

[Rhindeer]

The dreamscape wasn't so different from the real world--mainly because it was influenced by dreamers, and most dreams, while often wild, were made up of elements that the dreamer had encountered in their life. That, and it was influenced by the dreamwalkers themselves; everyone perceived the dreamscape, and the dreams occupying it, differently. For Simonea, it was a dusky forest filled with many strands of silver threads like spidersilk, and each thread was a dream. It was beautiful to her, and yet it always had an eerie, ethereal quality to it.

That night felt especially unsettling to Simonea as she walked through a dream forest, following the silver threads of various dreams, plucking at them lightly to get a glimpse of them. Not all were peaceful; some were nightmares, taut and pulsing a sort of dark, restless energy, their silver tarnished, and she paused over those ones and gently stroked them, hoping to calm them and imbue peace. When the threads relaxed, no longer tight with tension and anxiety, she moved on.

She didn't have much time tonight to do more than that. Tonight was different. Tonight was a test, her first test, for tonight she was to cast away a demon.

It wasn't the first time she had battled a demon. She had dealt with her share of vampiric incubi. But this one was different. Stronger. It wasn't an incubus, but something else, something that lulled its victims to sleep before feeding on their blood--usually to the point of death. It didn't even bother to give its victim pleasant dreams, but instead riddled them with nightmares, relishing in the "flavor" the fear and adrenaline lent the blood. She could track it through the distinct "signature" its nightmares carried--a distinct sort of delight and perverse excitement--and attack it through those nightmares, once she found them. The demon was linked to the dreamscape by those nightmares, and thus vulnerable. If she played her cards right, she could seriously wound it, even kill it, as she had done with several incubi before it.

Of course, tonight might be a fluke. Maybe it wouldn't show up tonight. But there had been several unexplained deaths in the village she was staying in already, each victim drained of blood even though their bodies had no marks. She had to be close to solving this case!

And that was when she saw one nearby thread twitch and dull, and Simonea turned sharply and reached out to touch it--and let out a hissed gasp at the pain that seared through her fingers, burning her fae skin like iron. The thread writhed, and Simonea forced herself to grab it, gritting her teeth through the pain, and focused on the nightmare.

It was Annabel's nightmare, a young girl in a home right next to the inn Simonea was staying in. And as she delved deeper into the nightmare, one filled with more blood and gore than any child should know about, she knew the images didn't belong to the girl--especially as she felt the demonic delight radiating off them. The demon didn't discriminate when it came to its victims.

Fear clutched her heart, fear for the girl, and she knew she had to act fast; a child had far less blood than an adult. Reaching deep and ignoring the pain, she stepped into the nightmare even as every instinct screamed for her to flee. Instantly, she was surrounded by a horrorscape, some awful dream about rogues burning and slaughtering the entire village, and there were bodies and limbs everywhere, the smell of fire and offal so real Simonea gagged. And nearly vomited when she realized she was standing in a puddle of congealing blood.

It's not real, she reminded herself, not wanting to get swept up into the nightmare; it was too easy to lose oneself and fall asleep, whisked away by a dream, if one wasn't careful. And so she focused hard and looked around, searching for the cord that belonged to the demon--the one that linked its life to this world.

A dream-marauder with an axe swung it at her head, and with a thought, Simonea sent him sprawling across the ground. She imagined herself as being surrounded by a shield of light, and when another dream-bandit swung a cudgel at her, it bounced off the shield. Right then. That took care of those distractions.

Focus, Simonea.

Swallowing hard, she walked through the burning dreamscape with her head held high, keeping calm as she could. Her panic would only influence the dream, and influence it negatively. The cord could be anywhere. It could be disguised as an element of the dream itself. It could be--

And then she saw a red, shining cord on the ground, leading inside a dilapidated home. Picking up her pace, and dreaming a sword into her hands, she followed after it even as it slithered inside the home like a snake. Lunging for it as it tried to snake its way up the crumbling stairs within that dark home, she grabbed it in one hand to hold it steady even as she lifted the sword and prepared to strike--

Only for the rest of it to coil abruptly around her feet and yank, pulling her off balance. Before she could recover, another length of it shot around the hand that held the sword, and before she knew it, it had wrapped around her like a python even as she struggled.

She tried to scream, but it came out raspy from the pressure on her chest. And then, from the top of the stairs, a creature that may have once been a man emerged from the shadows and smiled a smile with far too many teeth. "Gotcha."



Simonea woke with a choked scream, eyes snapping open--and when they adjusted, she abruptly realized she was no longer in her room at the inn, but outside in the woods. Heart pounding, she jerked to sit up, but couldn't; her hands, she realized with a jolt of panic, were bound behind her back, and her legs were also bound.

Heart in her throat, hardly able to breathe, she turned her head--and found herself staring straight into the eyes of the demon where he sat not feet from her, grinning like a cat that got the canary. "Scream more," he purred. "They taste delicious."

It was a trap, Simonea realized as dread made her stomach churn like she'd eaten something rotten. The demon had felt her getting closer, had known she was onto it and tracking it.

And it had trapped her before she could trap it.

[Bunbun]

Oddly enough, another being that thrived off of emotions (albeit certainly a different kind of emotions) had somehow found herself nearby, keeping a close eye on the two and waiting for an opportune moment to make her presence known.

The circumstances were strange indeed- initially, she hadn't felt inclined to go wandering around in the woods at all. Her original intention had been to visit the village nearby- she'd gotten the impression that something was amiss in that place- but something else, something nearby and urgent, was pulling her attention elsewhere. And as Lanai wasn't the type to ignore her instincts (they'd never steered her wrong before, as far as she was concerned), she had heeded their call and veered away from her original course, instead fluttering downwards into the forest below.

It hadn't taken too long for Lanai to zero in on the source of the distress she was picking up on- there weren't exactly too many people wandering around in the woods at night, after all- and after a few moments of navigating carefully through treetops, she found herself perched high up on a branch overlooking two figures on the forest floor. Given that one of the figures appeared to be tied up and struggling to escape, it didn't take much for her to guess at what might be going on.

Did she have any idea what had lead to the situation unfolding down there? Nope, absolutely not. Well, at least no idea beyond "probably something bad". What she did know, however, was that there was definitely a person in need of rescuing. Which meant that regardless of what exactly was going on, it was now officially her business. After all, it was always her business to get involved and help out a person in need, wasn't it? Of course it was.

But as much as she would have loved to swoop in right away, she couldn't do something so reckless without running the risk of being discovered too early and causing the demon to lash out at its captive in retaliation. Besides, more selfishly, the strongest shifts of emotion always seemed to happen when she showed up at the last minute! No, for the moment she decided it was for the best for her to lie in wait until a better opportunity to strike presented itself.

She didn't have to wait long, though- soon enough the tied-up girl turned to face the demon, eliciting a response from it that Lanai couldn't quite make out clearly from her perch. A new surge of fear permeated the air, and she suddenly found herself feeling the urge to act as soon as possible. There was no telling if the demon was preoccupied enough to overlook her presence, but she got the feeling that there wouldn't be anyone left to save if she waited much longer.

Shuffling a bit further onto the branch in order to give herself some more space, Lanai proceeded to crouch down in an almost gargoyle-esque fashion as she prepared to strike. Four pairs of feathered wings subtly unfurled themselves from her back, some brushing up against leaves and adjacent branches as they did so. Then, deciding the time was right, she allowed herself to fall forwards and used her legs to launch herself off of the tree. She pounced at the demon with arms outstretched, sharpened nails gleaming in the moonlight as she descended at an alarming rate.

[Rhindeer]

She was dead. She was dead. She was so dead. Simonea'a strength was in stealth in the Dreamscape; nothing had prepared her for being physically bound and captured by her target. Of course she had been taught self-defense and practiced it with her mentors, but nothing compared to the reality of it all—nor did any of it cover being tied up! Panic shot through her despite her best efforts to contain it, to calm herself down enough to assess the situation and think, but all she could focus on were the demon's sharp, dripping fangs as it loomed over her, grinning.

"I've never drank of dream Fae," it said, while leaning in close to her neck to inhale deeply, like she was a cup of fine wine it was eager to sip. "Your fear smells sweet and fresh. I'll enjoy you."

"I hope you choke on it!" Simonea spat out, jerking her arms and legs against her bindings even as her heart hammered away in her chest. Think. Think! Why couldn't she think? Oh, she could think about a lot of things, like the bodies of the deceased, drained of blood without a scratch, skin pale and eyes frozen open in terror. Would anyone even find her out here?

"Let's see if we can further sweeten it," the demon purred, and Simonea froze in horror as it traced a sharp claw across her throat, her breath hitching and eyes squeezing shut. Fight it! She had to be brave, she couldn't surrender to fear, fight it, fight--

The demon screeched suddenly and toppled away from her, and Simonea went stiff in surprise. Something had landed on it, knocking it to the ground so hard she thought she heard bone crack, but it happened so fast she couldn't see what did it. She twisted awkwardly, pulling hard at her bindings to try to loosen them, feeling the rope scrape the skin off her wrists.

And that was when she saw it, a tall being with too many wings--a fae? But she had too many wings, and something was strange about her feet, though none of that mattered so much as the fact that she had taken the demon down. Startled and bleeding, the demon clawed at the woman, trying to break free. A demon he was, but like many predators he liked his prey weak and unsuspecting, and was not prepared for an actual fight.

"Back off, bitch!" he growled.

[Bunbun]

Lanai's attack hit its mark about as well as she could have expected it to, knocking her target to the ground as her nails dug into him. Good thing, too- there was no telling how badly she would have injured herself if she had taken the full brunt of the impact herself. Instead she was able to use that force to pin the demon against the forest floor, trying to hold him still as he struggled under her weight. She barely managed to twist her body out of the way when he snapped and took a swipe at her, retaliating in turn by shoving him forcefully back to the ground as her expression shifted to something more predatory and almost feral.

"Naughty words? Tsk, tsk. Somebody aught to teach you a lesson."

And just like that, she started wailing on him. Strong, furious blows rained down on him from above, with their dealer showing no apparent signs of stopping until the demon was either dead or beaten beyond the point of being able to fight back. He did manage to catch her arms with his claws a few times as he desperately flailed around beneath her, although it was difficult to tell how much of her blood he was able to draw as her hands slowly became coated in his. In any case, Lanai didn't seem to mind the scratches too much and she continued to pound away, only slowing her assault when she noticed that her opponent had stopped fighting back.

Once she was certain the demon was no longer a threat to her or the person she'd jumped in to protect, Lanai finally relented, allowing her bloodied hands to rest on the grass on either side of the demon's body while she paused to catch her breath. Eventually she lifted herself back up, taking a couple steps towards the fae and kneeling to meet her gaze. She offered a warm smile, seeming remarkably (and possibly eerily) calm considering the circumstances.

"Don't worry about him- he won't be bothering you anymore. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

[Rhindeer]

The demon went eerily quiet. Well, no, not quite--Simonea thought she could hear a soft, wet gurgling sound, a disgusting sort of death rattle. No, the demon would definitely not be hurting another soul after this night.

Relief washed over Simonea, and as the adrenaline faded to a shaky buzz, a healthy serving of shame took its place. The too-many-winged girl stepped over to her on feet that were so much like a bird's and the fae couldn't help but stare up at her in awe, having never seen a creature with so many gorgeous pairs of wings, multicolored like gemstones. No, on closer look, she was definitely not fae but something else entirely, something she couldn't place. To Simonea, the girl was lovely, a tall, fierce warrior come to her rescue like some ethereal--if very bloody--goddess of legends.

And yet that was also the source of her shame.

She had failed her test. Embarrassingly so. It was the most rookie of mistakes and she had taken the bait hook, line, and sinker. If not for this girl being in the right place at the right time, she would be dead.

Her teacher was going to have an absolute fit. Goddess help her, perhaps death would have been more humane after all--

Oh. The girl was speaking to her.

With the immediate danger dealt with, Simonea had gotten lost in her spiraling thoughts, forgetting even about her bindings. It didn't really seem to matter anymore, because she was going to get positively reamed for this! With a little jolt, she snapped a look at the girl and gave a little tug at the bindings at her wrists, frowning down at them as though realizing they were still there. "Oh...oh, no, no. I'm fine. Aside from a little spooked, of course...ah..."

She was bleeding, she realized, from where the rope rubbed her skin raw. When had that happened? She cocked her head curiously, holding her wrists up for the girl to see. "Well, that wasn't his doing, at least. Can you help untie me? Goddess, this is really quite awkward. I must look an absolute mess. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, I'm usually quite competent, I promise! This was just a teensy bit of a fluke, you see. Very unusual."

Clearing her throat, she shifted awkwardly, struggling to try to sit up. "Thank you, though. I must say, your timing was impeccable."

[Bunbun]

Lanai relished in the sudden surge of attention she was getting as the unusual-looking girl stared up at her and quite honestly wouldn't have minded staying that way for a while, but the experience was short-lived as apparently something else was occupying her thoughts. Well, shoot. She wasn't the type to get discouraged easily, though, and was happy enough to start working on removing the girl's bonds. Between Lanai's sharp claws and considerable strength, she made quick work of the ropes, slicing through some and simply untying others.

"Really now, there's no need to be worrying about how you look after going through an experience like that. I wouldn't expect anyone to look their best just moments after being ambushed and tied up in the woods. What's important to me is that you're unharmed. Well, mostly unharmed, at least."

She took particular care when working on the ropes around the girl's wrists, evidently more concerned with the rope burns than whatever damage the demon had done to her own arms over the course of their fight. After helping to remove the last of her bonds, Lanai shifted back a bit to take in the entirety of the fae's fascinating form before cracking another smile.

"Besides, I think you look wonderful regardless. Definitely unique... in a good way, I promise!"

With the girl freed and out of danger, Lanai's attention shifted towards the town she had been drawn towards only moments before. If her instincts were to be believed (and they very often were), the situation that had been demanding her presence beforehand had suddenly died down while she was busy dealing with the demon. Was it a coincidence? She couldn't say for sure, but in any case, it seemed that her intervention was no longer necessary. Deciding it was a good idea to spend a little more time with the newly-freed girl who was clearly still in some sort of distress, Lanai moved to take a seat in the grass beside her, curling her wings inward slightly in an attempt to avoid getting them tangled up.

"Not to pry too much, but you seem disappointed for someone who just escaped a life-threatening situation. Are you sure you're alright?"

[Rhindeer]

It was a relief when the ropes came undone, little by little. The whole experience had left Simonea frazzled, and for all that she was pretending to be calm and collected, it was mostly because the shock had her feeling a bit numb. It was slowly wearing off, though, and with it came a jittery sort of restlessness. Perhaps that was why she was focusing so hard on her mistakes and their future consequences—it was more comfortable than thinking about how close she had come to dying.

With her wrists freed, she rubbed them tenderly and sat up fully, her brilliant blue wings stretching out behind her as they had gotten all cramped and crushed beneath her. Oof, the skin of her wrists was raw and bloody, but they were superficial, shallow wounds. Uncomfortable, but they would heal fast. She took in a deep breath, willing her pulse to slow and hands to stop shaking, and looked up in surprise at the girl's compliment. Wonderful, she said?

She let out a breathless laugh, cheeks flushing a little. "Oh, horsefeathers," she murmured, waving the girl off. "I know I'm a wreck. But I'm glad you don't think I am, at least."

She gingerly rose to her feet, shaking out the long plumage of her tail to free it of the leaves and dirt that had gotten tangled in it, and winced at the next question.

"Oh...yes, ah...I'm fine, really. It's nothing, I just—oh, goodness! Enough about me, what about you?"

How had she not noticed before? Perhaps because she was still a little too dazed and shaken to be fully observant. But as she looked the girl over—really looked her over, instead of getting lost in the details of her wings and talons and feathers and height—she saw that her arms were quite a bloody mess. "You're bleeding! Oh gods, that beast did a number on you, didn't it? Come on, then! Let's get to the village and get you treated! I'm afraid I do have any supplies on me to help with that, but that'll turn quite nasty if we don't clean it soon." She tossed a glance at the crumpled demon, wrinkling her nose. "I highly doubt it cleaned beneath its nails."

[Bunbun]

She was quiet for a while as she sat and watched the other girl sort herself out, admiring her wings and tail as they were restored to proper order- it wasn't every day that she got to meet someone who looked arguably as distinctive as she did herself! Lanai looked almost puzzled, however, when she suddenly found herself becoming the fae's foremost cause for concern. Normally, she was the one doing all the fussing over someone else- she wasn't certain how to handle someone fussing over her! Attention was attention, though, and wasn't she planning on turning it down just because she was unfamiliar with this particular type.

She took a moment to glance down at her own wounded arms, and... well, ouch. They were scratched up pretty badly, definitely more than she'd noticed during her brawl with the demon. These kinds of these never seemed to hurt all that much until she got a good look at them and really let it sink in, and she winced a bit as she felt a flash of pain shoot through them. Definitely a concerning sight, but all things considered, it probably looked worse than it actually was. Injuries tended not to stick around too long for her, after all, and she couldn't recall ever having one get infected. But if it would make the girl happy to get the cuts treated... it certainly wouldn't hurt to let her try, would it?

"You're right- it's probably not a great idea to leave them like this, is it? But if we're going to go together, we might as well introduce ourselves. You can call me Lanai," she replied, bouncing to her feet and generating a small gust of wind as her wings followed close behind. She half-extended an hand in greeting, only to think better of it as she remembered the bloodied state of her arms and instead shifted the gesture into an odd sort of bow which was totally what she intended to do in the first place.

[Rhindeer]

"Simon--ooh..." The fae trailed off as Lanai stuck out her hand; she had been about to grasp it, but they both seemed to notice the blood at the same time. Simonea made a face and was grateful that Lanai pulled back first so she didn't have to be rude or, worse, suck it up and deal with the mess. She might not be squeamish; dealing with demons was messy business. But that didn't make her any less of an admitted neat freak.

The girl bowed, and Simonea cracked an amused smile and followed her lead, returning it. Goodness, the girl was tall.

"I'm Simonea," she finished. "It's a pleasure! Though, ah, I wish the circumstances were a bit more pleasant." She was trying not to be too obvious about it so as not to seem rude, but she couldn't help but check the girl out, eying all those wings, her talons, her swirling tattoos, her colorful plumage. She had never seen anyone quite like her before, and she was no stranger to feathery sorts, but...goodness, how did she fly? Could she fly? Oh, gosh, she was staring! She snapped her eyes back up to Lanai's face. Right! More pressing matters! Like, you know, dealing with her bleeding wounds!

"Ah! Right! Enough of that, come, come!" she said, motioning her to follow. "Healer first! Hopefully, that is. The humans often have those sorts of gifts, but if not, soap and water is better than nothing at all. I do hope they don't panic too much, I know they can be a bit skittish about our sorts. We both look a sight, I fear, fabulous as we are."

[Bunbun]

Lanai picked up on a particular sensation after Simonea bowed back to her. She didn't even have to look to know what the cause of it was- Simonea was definitely staring at her. She could always tell when someone was staring- which, as it happened, was something that occurred quite frequently. Not that she minded too much, of course! She was certainly eye-catching enough to warrant the extra attention, and she wasn't particularly keen on telling them off when she could instead leave them be and soak in the attention. In fact, she even took the opportunity to show off a bit, subtly stretching her wings out to better display them.

"Mmm, you may be right about that. Most people don't take kindly to someone showing up covered in blood," she replied as she began to follow Simonea's lead, seemingly glossing over the whole "our sorts" thing- perhaps her own experiences with humans differed in some way. "If it helps any, I do seem to have a talent for getting on people's good side.Most of the time, at least. If not, well... I suppose soap and water will have to do. To tell the truth, I've recovered from worse injuries in the past without the help of a healer."

[Rhindeer]

"Do you? Really?" Simonea gave the girl another curious up-and-down look, her eyebrows rising a bit. She didn't say it out loud, because she didn't want to be rude, but that surprised her! Lanai was a gorgeous creature, but she was...imposing, to say the very least, and when Simonea had said that humans were skittish around their sorts, she had actually been talking more about Lanai.

But, you know, politely.

"Then I shall let you be our social lubricant, so to speak! If all else fails, there's always sneaking you into my room at the tavern. It's late enough to not be seen." Frowning thoughtfully, Simonea tucked some curled hair behind a pointed ear. "The humans think I'm human, but I daresay I won't be able to hide it now. I was wearing a much longer dress and a hood when I came here, but that scoundrel caught me in my nightgown, I'm afraid. There's no hiding these feathers in this."

With a wrinkle of her nose, she plucked at her white shift. "I'd be embarrassed if I weren't so perturbed."

And defeated. But she would think about that later! Ahead of them, she could see hanging lanterns burning in the distance, and was surprised to see that the demon had not taken her far at all from the village.

[Bunbun]

"Mhmm! Of course, people are usually surprised to see me at first. I do have a habit of showing up out of the blue, after all! But they do tend to come around eventually, so I must be doing something right," she replied cheerfully, not missing a beat. The idea that people might be more receptive to her and her appearance shortly after she'd swept them out of harm's way had apparently never crossed her mind.

"Scoundrel, indeed. Only the lowest of the low would attack someone in such a vulnerable position." Her expression ever-so-briefly shifted to a frown before she turned to give Simonea a reassuring smile. "There's no sense fretting over the feathers if we're going to go together, though. I think you'll agree that even if you could hide yours, trying to hide mine would be another issue entirely. Not that we should have to hide them in the first place..."

Lanai grew quiet for a moment as they approached the village, temporarily occupied with her own thoughts. It seemed... peaceful? Relatively, at least. It was hard for her to imagine that there had been a situation unfolding here that desperately demanded her attention just a few moments ago, only to resolve itself while she'd been dealing with the demon.

[Rhindeer]

"...Oh. That is...a really good point!" Simonea said with a sheepish smile when Lanai pointed out how impossible it would be to pass her off as human. All those wings...how would one go about hiding those? And her height! And feet! There were no shoes that could ever hope to contain those!

With a soft laugh, Simonea rubbed the back of her head. "I didn't even think of that. I must still be a bit shaken, ha..."

The tavern wasn't much farther, and Simonea lead the way to its door, the path lit by lanterns burning with what could only be magic; she could feel its subtle tingle on her skin, a not unpleasant sensation. She didn't lead the way straight inside, however, and instead took a moment to take some deep breaths and fix her hair, picking a few more leafs and twigs and dirt from the long strands.

"So you...have interacted with humans, then?" she asked, casting a curious look Lanai's way. "And they were okay with all..." She gave the girl another slow up and down look. "...that? I apologize for my ignorance, I was just always told humans hated my kind. Alright, then! Shoulder's back, head tall! The innkeeper seemed friendly enough, though at this hour it might be someone different. Maybe his daughter--oh dear...I do believe I'm stalling. You don't think they'll be angry I lied to them about who I am, do you? Even if I--well, we--saved them and all."

[Bunbun]

Seeing Simonea going about fixing her appearance, Lanai took it as a cue to work on her own, although what she actually did was more akin to admiring herself. If Simonea were to pay close attention to Lanai's body afterwards, she might notice a few... odd changes that had apparently taken place as they'd been walking over to the tavern. Her arms, while certainly still cut up pretty badly, looked significantly cleaner than before- whatever blood there was left on them was seemingly concentrated around her injuries, leaving little indication that there had ever been any blood present other than her own. In fact, all things considered, there was surprisingly little evidence that she'd been in a fight in the first place. Had she really been that quick to tidy herself up? Or... maybe that's just how she'd always looked?

"Mmm... well, 'okay' probably isn't the right word. I'm sure a lot of them don't know what to think when they first see me. So of course, I get a lot of odd looks from humans, but I can't say I've ever had one be too fussy about it to my face. Besides, if someone's got a problem with how I look and decides they don't want anything to do with me, that's their loss. They're really missing out! But in any case, I wouldn't worry too much about them being upset with you. I imagine they'll be quite taken aback once we go in there, regardless of what you told them at first."

[Rhindeer]

Hmmm. Simonea looked Lanai over a little skeptically as she spoke--and then did a double take, because now that they were under some light, she could see the girl much better than before. Not only did the light catch her many feathers and highlight their brilliance, but it also revealed how clean she was despite ripping into a demon without restraint.

Huh...

Well at least one of them looked presentable enough, and thank goodness for small miracles that Lanai wasn't drenched in blood. That would have been uncomfortable to explain.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it," Simonea said while biting her lip anxiously. If humans wanted nothing to do with them, it was their loss? That was a rather freeing thought, but Simonea wasn't sure she could be so lackadaisical!  "Well, fretting isn't going to get us anywhere, right? Follow me!"

She gave herself another quick once over, tugged at her gown to make sure it was properly covering everything that should be covered, and opened the door with a tinkle of bells, sweeping inside quickly.

Across the room at the bar, a young woman in her 20s was leaning on the counter, head rested on her arms, but she jerked upright at the sound of bells. Yawning widely and blinking, she flapped a hand at them in a drowsy wave. "Hey, y'all, welcome to--"

Her words cut off with a gasp as her eyes focused and landed on the pair, finally settling on Lanai. She let out a squeak and grabbed for an empty wine bottle. "Back, demon!"

[Bunbun]

Lanai followed Simonea into the tavern- after ducking a bit and awkwardly shuffling her wings around so she could get everything to fit through the door- and took a moment to take in her new surroundings. It was actually quite a rarity for her to wind up indoors, since most of her work took place out in the open and she'd rarely been asked to stick around for too long afterwards. It didn't take long, however, for her "sightseeing" to be interrupted as the woman behind the counter immediately got the wrong idea. In stark contrast to her seeming confidence and carefree attitude only a few moments earlier, Lanai seemed genuinely caught off guard- perhaps even upset- by the misunderstanding.

"What? Wait, no. That's not... I'm not a demon! Just hold on a second!"

Despite her best efforts to defuse the situation, though, Lanai's body would slowly and subtly shift to better fit the young woman's description of her. Her nails sharpened further to more closely resemble claws, and the bright colours of her feathers shifted from their usual sunset hues to more intense purples and even reds. She put her hands out in what was meant to be a non-threatening gesture, but given the circumstances, it was quite possible that it would achieve the opposite effect.

[Rhindeer]

Ohhhh no! Oh no no no!

Lanai was obviously startled, and Simonea watched as she practically bristled like a cat, complete with sharp nails, while her feathers darkened like some animals did, in that way that always warned of danger. The innkeeper's daughter squealed in fright and held the bottle like it was a knife--which would have been funny under different circumstances, considering how utterly useless it would be, but Simonea could see the situation starting to spiral fast.

"Wait, wait!" she cried, dodging between the two women and spreading her arms wide like she was shielding Lanai--which was probably a comical sight, considering how much larger and more imposing the other lady was. Of course, that was also when the girl noticed all her feathers, including her pointed, feathery wings, and though Simonea had interacted with the girl earlier that day, she could see her start to put two and two together as she took in the features that had been hidden before.

"You, too?!" she yelped.

"No, no, no! We're not demons, you silly thing! I'm fae! She's--" She paused. "She's...well, I actually don't know what she is, but she's not a demon, I promise! She killed a demon! The demon I came to find, the demon that was haunting you, it's gone now! I swear it! Lanai! Put your claws away, for heaven's sake!"

[Bunbun]

"Claws?! What are you... oh!"

Lanai glanced down at her hands and was quite taken aback by what she saw. She wasn't blind to the fact that her appearance had a curious tendency to shift in certain ways depending on how she was perceived by others, but this... well, this was certainly a new one. For the briefest of moments, a feeling that was entirely new to Lanai began to take root- self doubt, perhaps?- but she quickly put it out of her mind. Instead, she directed her attention down towards Simonea, taking note of the protective stance the girl had taken.

That's right. She believes in me...

She took a step back from Simonea and started to take some deep breaths. Slowly but surely, her features would return to their original forms, and once the shift was completed, she forced a smile as she addressed the girl behind the counter.

"She's telling the truth about the demon. Not the cleanest fight I've ever had- the fiend did end up scratching my arms up pretty badly when we were fighting." To accentuate her point, she turned her arms over and held them up, putting her wounds on clear display. There was no telling if it would be enough for the innkeeper's daughter to buy their story, but it was certainly worth a shot, right? "That's actually the reason we ended up coming back here. We were hoping to get them cleaned and patched up before they got any worse."

[Rhindeer]

The girl looked skeptical, still brandishing her bottle like a sword as she watched the duo. But as her eyes flicked over the scratches on Lanai's arms, it seemed like the pieces began to click into place as the pair's story aligned without contradiction—and with physical proof, too. Her shoulders relaxed a little, but her eyes remained narrowed.

"How do I know you're not in league with the demon...?" she said slowly, and Simonea let out a loud, exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.

"For goodness sakes, dear heart, if we wanted to harm you we wouldn't need to be so coy about it! The demon was terrorizing your village long before either of us got here and it didn't have to pretend to be a kind stranger to do it!"

Striding forward, she plucked the bottle from the girl's hands before she could say anything, and gently set it back in its place. The girl jumped and took a couple steps back, but it seemed the fight had gone out of her, even if a healthy wariness remained—with most of that wariness was focused on Lanai.

"With that silliness out of the way, do you have a healer here, child?" The girl shook her head, and Simonea sighed, her wings drooping. "Soap and water it is, then! Come Lanai, I'll take you to my room." And with a pat on the girl's head, she passed by her and motioned Lanai to follow her.

[Bunbun]

Goodness. Lanai really had frightened the poor girl half to death, hadn't she? She could only watch and wait as Simonea calmed things down, and for a brief moment she contemplated sticking around for a while to try to make things right, but then Simonea was calling her and it hardly felt right to keep her waiting after she'd taken control of the situation so handily. Instead, she offered a brief apologetic nod before following the fae, waiting until she was certain that the innkeeper's daughter was out of earshot before speaking.

"That was a good job back there- thanks for stepping in before things escalated too much. Although... I must apologize for allowing things to get so out of hand. It really isn't like me to get so flustered in those kinds of situations! It's just that... that..."

That what? Lanai didn't even know the answer to that herself. It wasn't like the girl had posed any sort of physical threat to her, especially not with such a poor excuse for a weapon. So why did she end up getting so wound up and defensive? And how bad would it have gotten if Simonea hadn't been there to help smooth things over? With the way that her body had shifted without her even noticing it at first...

"...Forgive me. I'm afraid I'm not quite myself at the moment."