Talona, Witch-Knight of the Red Circle

[Anonymous]

(OOC: Doppelganger, this is an open thread, but feel free to hop on in! I'm expecting you ^ - ^ Hope you no mind that I'm leading you in like this.)

Sometimes, the forest is a sanctuary. In these times, Talona, garbed in the ritual armor given to her long ago and shroud of her red cloak-and-hood, would pray alone while Shadow, the two-tailed spirit wolf, her companion, would watch her. With black fur and eyes like the moon, he was a lovely creature... she drew comfort, knowing he was near... would give her a wide berth. He stayed just barely out of sight... they were linked, after all, he'd never actually be far away.

That morning was the morning after the full moon. The night before, Talona and Shadow had been together, as they were every full moon... since her change, it became something of a tradition. It felt most natural to be together on those nights, so she would pray the next morning instead of that night, as was normal... nature had time to let the lunar energy sink in, so who knows, magic might work better then.

Her prayers were private... and she had her own way of praying. She would simply stand there, arms at rest at her sides, head either bowed to the earth or lifted to the sky, her thoughts gone from the world around her. Somewhere, in the forest, she knew Shadow was in prayer as well. This was their sanctuary... their temple, this grove.

Several hours passed in contemplation and prayer. They would have no ritual today... but it comforted both to uphold their religeous traditions. Once completed, Talona opened her eyes, knealt, and prostrated herself. It was not neccesary... but she wanted to, and that was reason enough. Once she had stood once more, she found that Shadow was close at hand.

They did not speak. There was no need. As one, they began to walk together, silent. Shadow was a wolf of few words in the first place, so this wasn't anything abnormal. They both simply enjoyed the sounds of the forest around them like they were the songs of a choir in a great chapel. The crunching undergrowth, the running water of a nearby stream, the roar of the wind through the trees... heaven.

"Are the others still here?" Shadow's deep, double-toned voice came to Talona's ears. He did not use her name: They did not use each other's names when speaking to each other: it would be like naming a breeze; disrespectful of it for its beauty, making it something mortal. Smiling, Talona replied "No... I do not believe all remain, but some undoubtedly do."

The grove was coming up... they'd be there shortly, and they'd find out just how the ritual had gone the night before. In spirit, they'd been there, even if their love had led them elsewhere, but with the eyes truths could be seen. Shadow paused, however.

"An outsider." he said, with a low growl. Talona sniffed at the air as well...
"Indeed." she replied, a tone of interest in her voice. She looked to Shadow, and the wolf nosed at her face, licking gently. Smiling, Talona nuzzled him back, unspokenly saying 'I'll be fine.' before he advanced towards the circle, dissapearing into the treeline at the other edge of a field.

Sniffing the air, Talona pulled up her crimson hood, and tried to discern the location of their little visitor. Everyone else's scent she knew... the local den of foxes, deer that made their home in the area, Shadow's pack, her brothers and sisters... but this scent... was new. Stepping out into the clearing... the Red Witch exposed herself, showing herself clearly. Standing in the middle of the field, she stopped and waited. Here, she was unmistakable, her sword hidden under her cloak. She looked unarmed, and anyone that wanted to find a red witch... would see one right there, and anyone lost in the forest, would be both ignorant of the locale and probably glad to see another human being there. A sure bait, no matter the reason they were there.

[Anonymous]

The forest may have been Talona’s sanctuary, but it was just a place to gather herbs for Jana. She marveled at the variety of life within it, but she refused to believe that there was anything even remotely mystical about it.

She tugged the donkey’s reins, silently pleading with it to follow her. She’d experimented with several beasts of burden so far, and none of them had been satisfactory. This one she was borrowing from a neighbor. Fortunately for her, the donkey followed meekly.

Jana had dropped her mental shields when she had entered the forest, allowing her to read minds and opening herself to communication and attacks from any other telepaths in the area.. She was not foolhardy; the forests were dangerous, and she had no skill with animals. It hardly helped that she smelled faintly of a jackal, a creature that most predators would view as a threat. So far, all seemed well. She could sense no threats approaching her.

She knelt down, examining a plant. Carefully, she put on her gloves and broke off a leaf, sniffing at it. The smell was pungent, and confirmed what she’d thought. The plant was indeed poisonous, although it was not lethal. She plucked some of the leaves, leaving most of the plant intact. The plant would have very little use medically, but there would be other uses for which it was better suited. There were always people willing to buy something that would put a rival out of commission, but not cause a death.

She looked up suddenly, sensing her pack animal’s unease. She concentrated for a moment, trying to sense what it was that was scaring the donkey. She felt it, then, or rather, them. There were two minds: one completely alien, unlike any she had felt before. The other was more normal, although still not quite what she was used to. The latter seemed female, although she couldn’t be sure.

She swore silently, remembering the tales of a coven of witches who practiced within the forest. She normally didn’t pay much attention to the doings of magic users, but there was apparently a priest of some religion or other who was certain that they were evil and needed to be taught the right way. He hadn’t volunteered to go and teach them in the dark, forbidding forest. She smirked in remembrance, before turning her mind back to the problem at hand.

She looked up, seeing the woman. The woman had blue hair, which was very interesting. Jana wondered if it was dyed, and if so, what dye the woman used. Indigo was expensive and not the right type of blue, and woad was blue-grey. If the woman used a type of dye that wasn’t natural to Adela, then it would be far more expensive.

The woman looked unarmed, which was rather strange here in the forest. That suggested that either the woman was armed with hidden weapons, or she was a mage with other ways of defending herself. Jana suspected the latter; this was an area rumored to have witches in it.

She dipped her head respectfully, hoping that the witch didn't recognize the plant she had been gathering leaves from. It would be awkward to explain exactly what she wanted them for.

[Anonymous]

Talona's nose caught wind of the outsider in her home loong before her eyes did. It gave her plenty of time... to analyze. This person smelled differently than a normal human being... like a predator of sorts. She'd never caught wind of the like before in her life, but it was definately canine. Dogs of all kinds have body oils that other creatures simply do not. It made another kind of canine easy to find... it was both a blessing and a curse, for lone creatures in the area.

This foreign nature would make things hard on her, here in the forest... but she smelled canine, so it might go smoothely if she was respectful. Taking a long drag... the witch-knight shut her eyes, and turned around and around, trying to find the source of the outsider's scent.. the direction it came from. The wind was still... it was morning. Opening her eyes once more once she was confident then she'd found her little visitor. When she did, however, she was wholly unprepared for what she saw:

A woman, picking leaves from some sort of plant. She could not pick out what yet, she was a ways away from this female. She only smiled, the upper portion of her face hidden as she flicked back her cloak, and showed the fact that she was a) armored, in what looked like a kind of full-platemail crafted of a material that refused to shine like metal, and b) armed with a sword larger than Jana was. It was polite to let a person know that she was in fact armed... she was a knight, after all. It was all very obvious on her, easily seen.

As she strode, her armor made only the slightest of sounds, like moving clothing, the mail underneath the unshimmering semi-metallic plates making dull, quiet clinking sounds. Talona was fairly confident that if this person was here to pick herbs, she would likely not be here to hurt anything.

"Well Met." Talona called, getting a good eyeful of what the woman was harvesting. Her face remained emotionless, even though she recognized that plant was hardly a medicinal herb, and she had no judgement in her eyes. She stopped about ten feet from Jana, giving her pleanty of space, and flashed the woman a friendly smile. She did not seem like any sort of paper magic user, looking more like a walking tank than anything else, yet moving with the gracefulness of a wolf.

"Please, give no pause on my account... Nature freely gives its bounty to all who would recieve it in kindness and knowledge. Since you seem to know what you are doing... I don't think I'll have much to worry about with that, though. Could I offer you some hospitality, stranger?" she said, very kindly, her deeper female voice pleasant and somewhat maternal, with an inner sort of peace to it that made the rest of her fearsome appearance seem to melt away. Her thoughts were controlled, but very hospitable. She was transparent, nothing hidden to deep delving, like the depths and face of a clear lake of liquid crystal in the moonlight. She was far from at ease, but her offer of hospitality was sincere.

[Anonymous]

Jana wasn't so sure now if the woman was a witch or not. Most magic-users didn't carry swords, especially not such big ones. Jana doubted that most would have been able to lift a weapon that massive without magical aid. She wondered at the armor, which didn't seemed to shine. Perhaps it was magical. Not for the first time, she wished that she had a way to tell for sure.
 
It seemed likely that this woman was a knight. Knights were rich, and therefore would be able to afford exotic types of armor. On the other hand, a knight was unlikely to be traveling in the woods, and the woman didn't have a charger. Maybe Jana had listened to too much stories when she was younger, but she always expected knights to have shining armour and great steeds. This woman had neither.
 
"Well met." she echoed, uncertain how to respond. That was a greeting used by the educated folk, and she was not one of them. She smiled back, unsure how the woman knew to give her space. Most people would have came closer. How had the woman known that her canine nature and mind reading made it uncomfortable to be too close to people for too long? Of course, it could have just been luck, or perhaps the woman simply did not like too much human company.
 
She was surprised by the woman's next words. How courteous. The woman spoke like an educated person, causing Jana to reason that this mysterious woman was indeed a noble. Jana  was not completely sure what the word bounty meant. She had not been a studious child back at the orphanage, and bounty had very little to do with herbs. She had not learned her craft from a book, as some of the richer apprentices had, but rather from rote memorization. There had been no mention of bounties.
 
Oh, she knew what one of the meanings of that word was. Bounty had to do with hunting after criminals and bringing them back. Bounty was the money, so nature's bounty was nature's...money? No, that didn't make sense. She considered reading the woman's mind, just a quick, short read, before deciding against it. That was hardly ethical, and besides, reading minds was never as easy as it seemed. She would have to ask someone later what the word meant.
 
She considered the woman's offer. It seemed to her that the woman was only doing so as a courtesy. This was the early morning, after all, and she had just arrived. "No, thank you." she replied. "I need to gather herbs." She hoped to leave for home before noon, and wasting time on pointless chatter would not help her achieve that goal. "Do you know where I might find some mint?"

[Anonymous]

Jana wasn't so sure now if the woman was a witch or not. Most magic-users didn't carry swords, especially not such big ones. Jana doubted that most would have been able to lift a weapon that massive without magical aid. She wondered at the armor, which didn't seemed to shine. Perhaps it was magical. Not for the first time, she wished that she had a way to tell for sure.
 
It seemed likely that this woman was a knight. Knights were rich, and therefore would be able to afford exotic types of armor. On the other hand, a knight was unlikely to be traveling in the woods, and the woman didn't have a charger. Maybe Jana had listened to too much stories when she was younger, but she always expected knights to have shining armour and great steeds. This woman had neither.
 
"Well met." she echoed, uncertain how to respond. That was a greeting used by the educated folk, and she was not one of them. She smiled back, unsure how the woman knew to give her space. Most people would have came closer. How had the woman known that her canine nature and mind reading made it uncomfortable to be too close to people for too long? Of course, it could have just been luck, or perhaps the woman simply did not like too much human company.
 
She was surprised by the woman's next words. How courteous. The woman spoke like an educated person, causing Jana to reason that this mysterious woman was indeed a noble. Jana  was not completely sure what the word bounty meant. She had not been a studious child back at the orphanage, and bounty had very little to do with herbs. She had not learned her craft from a book, as some of the richer apprentices had, but rather from rote memorization. There had been no mention of bounties.
 
Oh, she knew what one of the meanings of that word was. Bounty had to do with hunting after criminals and bringing them back. Bounty was the money, so nature's bounty was nature's...money? No, that didn't make sense. She considered reading the woman's mind, just a quick, short read, before deciding against it. That was hardly ethical, and besides, reading minds was never as easy as it seemed. She would have to ask someone later what the word meant.
 
She considered the woman's offer. It seemed to her that the woman was only doing so as a courtesy. This was the early morning, after all, and she had just arrived. "No, thank you." she replied. "I need to gather herbs." She hoped to leave for home before noon, and wasting time on pointless chatter would not help her achieve that goal. "Do you know where I might find some mint?"

[Anonymous]

To be honest, Talona was both dissapointed and unsurprised. This person, this being, who felt unlike any other creature she had ever known in scent and her air (the way she felt), was doubtlessly a busy person. Talona again resumed her emotionless face, a barely visible, polite smile on her face. "Yes, I suppose you are busy. A shame, there are a few good herbs that grow near this place that make wonderful teas. Perhaps another time." When the woman asked for Mint, Talona knew exactly what she meant, and began to fumble through her person.

After a brief moment of searching in which she did not look at her clothes, but maintained eye contact with her guest, she produced from her clothing and armor a small leather-and-fur bound black notebook made of thin-cut and treated leather, with scrawlings all over the yellowed pages, in bright red ink that looked like it could not run, like it was all freshly penned. She thumbed through it for a brief moment, until she found what she was looking for inside, appearantly, like she had looked through that book countless times before. On its cover was dyed a stylized red dragon enclosed by to crescent moons in the formation of a circle, set as an emblem set over the black of the short fur that covered it.

Using her forefinger and a squinting stare, the Knight poked through the book and froze, reading from it quietly with her inner voice. After a brief moment, she turned, lifting her head and looking around for a second, before affixing her eyes on a far edge of the clearing, before looking back to the woman before her. "Yes, actually. I observed a cluster of almost mature Mint plants not a fortnight ago... they aught to be mature by now. Come, I will show you." she said, calmly and emotionlessly, but somehow managing to remain very plain and friendly. She then motioned towards the forest in that direction she observed the mint would be in earlier.

"Walk beside me." she said, very plainly, like she very much expected her guest to do so. IT was understandable... turning her back on a person she did not know yet was inexcusable, and having her go first would show that she wanted to keep her eyes on her at all times and did not trust or respect her at all, so walking with rather than leading or following would be the most respectful and the most cautious.

She intended to maintain a comfortable sort of distance, though... Her guest seemed to appreciate that. "My companion, Shadow, will meet us there... Do not be alarmed yourself, my lady-" she said, giving a calm circular motion with her hand as she spoke. She respected this jackal-woman a great deal, like an equal, and it showed blatantly in her speech just then "-but it... may be wise to let your creature of burden-" she motioned to the mule"-graze here while we go to retrieve the Mint you wanted... I'm fairly confident that this innocent creature would not appreciate Shadow very much. He tends to frighten domesticated animals. Do not worry, there are eyes in this wood that will watch over it, though, and keep it from harm." She said, less like a request, more like a direct suggestion, no commanding tone in her voice, but a firmness that showed she was serious, and honestly believed that the creature would freak out once it saw this other being... this "Shadow".

It seemed like Talona was especially good at conveying complicated feelings through words and subtle mannerisms, a trait most often found in magic users and poets, and could do so in such a way that even a simpleton could derive her intentions from her words, yet a being of sophistication would not miss a thing either. This was a woman who dealt with people often, and had a great deal of confidence, yet was deft and deliberate, somehow remaining personable and polite through it all, in all things she did, a combination rarely found in actual Knights, yet archetypal of them. If anyone fit the role of storybook knight-in-shining-armor by charm alone, it would have been this red witch.

(In-case you decide to peep at her thoughts, I'm adding this to my post ^^; never know, so I gotta consider to your mind-reading powers so you don't wonder what she's thinking if you decide to read her thoughts. Don't feel like I'm leading you: I'm not ^ - ^)
Underneath this visage though, she was not thinking about the field, or about the mint... she was a woman that was deeply in love. The feeling saturated her, ever-present to a person aware of it, and it was strong once she started thinking about the object of her affections; this being, Shadow. One would think, the way she felt for him, and how she saw him, that he would be another knight, one so noble, so wonderful, that women would quail and flounder at his feet just by speaking to him. IT was of course a childish thought in Talona's head, a girl's fantasy of sorts, how she saw this Shadow... but the images associated with these feelings were out of sync with any frame of time or even any kind of association with her own physical body... there was no way they could have been, none of it added up. Shadow was a big creature in Talona's mind, very strong, very dark... he had bright yellow eyes, and luxurious, soft black fur that held a great deal of warmth, that no parasite dared to penetrate. She not only loved this being, but he was a wolf... a damn big one, too, with two tails and a fierce spark of intellect. For some reason, Talona found this terribly attractive, and the image of him was a kind of icing on her deep, moving love for him. It felt almost like... she had two forms, two selves, and emotionally preferred the one that was not the one she was currently in.

[Anonymous]

Jana nodded, privately doubting that she would have the opportunity. She had wandered these woods many times and she had not seen this woman until now. She tried to mirror the other woman’s politeness, although she wasn’t quite sure if she succeeded or not. Learning to deal with people had not been part of the Orphanage’s curriculum.

She wondered if she shouldn’t have asked for help finding the herb. Why would the knight even know what mint was? There seemed no reason to embarrass her, after all. She considered saying something, but the woman seemed to be searching for something. Was the woman carrying some sprigs of mint with her? That seemed unlikely.

She watched as the woman took out a notebook. It looked valuable, even magical, reinforcing Jana’s belief that the woman was, if not a noble, then just very rich. Most ordinary people wouldn’t have been able to afford something like that. The money would have been used for necessities, instead of a pretty book.

The book intrigued her. How would this book be able to help the knight find mint? It was almost as surprising as having the woman actually know what she meant. Mint was a common herb and well known to peasants, but she wouldn’t have expected a knight to know what it was. She’d never heard of a knight who knew herbcraft; they seemed to prefer magical healing to ordinary healing. Knights were nobles, and nobles rarely knew much about the lives of those they ruled.

She studied the book. She disapproved of the occult symbols on it; crescent moons were just so mystical. There were many religions that used the crescent moon as symbols. She wondered which one Talona belonged to, but she kept quiet. Normally, Jana was far more vocal about anything she perceived as religious, but the knight was helping her find mint.

The knight seemed to be reading something from the book. Jana was willing to bet that the book was magical. No, the woman was definitely not a peasant. Peasants would not be able to afford magical artifacts. Of course, that didn’t tell her anything that she had not already known in the first place. A peasant would not  speak or dress the way this woman did.

She nodded. "Thank you." she said, remembering her manners.

There was something about the woman that reminded her of the Matron back at the orphanage. Both women had that same assertiveness. She found herself trusting Talona. The woman was friendly and likable, not seeming to care that Jana was only a poor shopkeeper.

Jana could remember being told stories about knights who were paragons of chivalry. Those knights always managed to either save the day or die valiantly. Later, she had scoffed at those stories, her disbelief increasing when she had met(and more importantly, heard the thoughts of) knights. Talona was different from those; it did not take an ability to read minds to figure that out. Her words were educated, and each one seemed carefully chosen so that the knight would not offend.

She did not truly believe that Talona was really the ideal knight; she had not believed in such things for years. No doubt Talona had flaws, like everyone else. So far, though, Jana could see no sign of them.

She almost didn’t notice when the knight began to speak. Listening, she found herself skeptical and flattered. The knight…respected her? Surely this must be a jest. She studied the knight incredulously, but could find no sign of mockery. Jana was of a lower social class, and anyways, they had only just met. Surely it took longer and more effort to earn the knight’s respect.

Jana tied the donkey to a tree. She had been assured that the donkey was a very placid animal, but the knight seemed certain that this Shadow would spook the beast. She wondered who-or more to the point, what-this Shadow was.

She considered reading the knight’s mind to find out exactly whom the knight’s companion was. But no, she was already becoming too dependent on mind-reading. Besides, mind-reading probably would not help her. The knight obviously trusted this Shadow, so anything that Jana managed to find out would be biased. She would rather form her own opinion of Shadow.

She remembered how she had sensed someone else in the forest. Was it possible that the creature she had sensed was Shadow? If so, then there was no doubt that the donkey would be frightened; she herself felt a little nervous about meeting this Shadow.

What had the knight had meant about “eyes in the wood�? That made her think of supernatural beings. Yet another reason not to try and read the knight’s mind; the knight’s words made her think that those others would be magical in nature. She didn’t want to know what they were thinking.

Jana preferred magic to religion, but she still was wary around mages. In jackal form, she thought that they stank of magic. As a human, she had a different reason for choosing to avoid them. Some of them tended to be rather unstable, and it was sometimes hard to tell which one until you got too close. Then, it was too late.

[Anonymous]

Within the forest, a howl broke the silence and crunching noises of Talona's booted feet on the firm, dry ground. She did not so much as jump, but she did take pause. The voice that had loosed the howl was one she knew: Shadow, checking up on her. He was concerned, his howl told her... deeply. He always was when she strode alone: He was a good mate, and was concerned as any who loved aught to be.

The exact nature of the howl was intimate: Like how a wolf would howl to another, his mate, or a beloved pup. It was deeply personal, if Talona's jackal-woman guest could understand the tongue of howls at all.

She gave a big smile, and shut her eyes, frozen in place as she planed her jaw upward. A shiver ran up and down her spine visibly as the howl carried over the treetops, a two-toned voice that, despite a fearsome sound, had a kind of resonance that left a sense of peace in its wake, long after the last echo had receded. She could not offend such care with a human word: It had to be a howl. She could not go silent either. She had to reply or he'd worry.

So reply the woman did. Her own voice raised in a howling reply, a lovely singing voice lifted above the treetops to convey exactly what she intended to convey: essentially, yes love I'm fine. Her howl was shorter, and she worried about how her guest would take it... so she shot her a look that just said it all without speaking: Sorry about that, neccesary. She seemed good at speaking without words, like how an animal was good at it. Even with great social graces, a noble would never be able to act as such, or howl like a wolf and actually say something meaningful.

Shadow was close: Talona knew that. She did not want to startle her guest, so she hoped he'd have the sense to initiate her slowly. A sharp bark from the edge of the clearing they were heading to revealed the presence of the majestic creature, with wonderously dark, shining fur, the size of a horse or large bear... he was a gorgeous creature with two long, flowing-furred tails, an Okami... a wolf-god of the forest. He stayed only visible enough... the Donkey was already spooked senseless by the howling buisness, no doubt... no sense in tormenting the poor creature any further.

"That... is Shadow." Talona said soothingly to her guest, turning her head to see her reaction... with any luck, this person was reasonable and would not be heading for the hills already. They were already less than 50 yards from the forest where they were headed anyway, and he was clearly visible, burning eyes included.

[Anonymous]

(OOC: This is the part where I make abject apologies for disappearing.)

Jana started at the howl. This was a bit too early in the day for wolves, wasn’t it? If she remembered correctly, they were nocturnal. She suspected that magic was at work, What really surprised her was when Talona started howling in reply. Obviously, her host was not normal, although she’d sort of deduced that already.

She disliked wolves. The jackal part of her viewed them as competition, nuisances, and, worst of all, better at hunting than she was. The human part of her remembered hiding under the blanket when she was small, listening to the wolves that howled. Da had said that they ate little girls who were bad, and she’d seen the remains of the sheep when the wolves were done with them. It was one of the few memories she still had of her family.

Lost in her own reminiscences, she was not prepared for the sight of Shadow. She took an involuntary step back, and then a couple more voluntary ones. Talona, who had seemed all right, had taken her to a bloody wolf creature who looked more than capable of eating her! As soon as she thought that, she tried to suppress that thought; bloody was not a word she wanted to use regarding giant, possibly hominivorous wolves, especially since that made her overactive imagination think of her blood..

Predators gave chase when they saw weakness, she reminded herself. As someone who spent some of her time a jackal, she knew only too well the canine mindset. She stayed still, eyes fixed on the wolf creature. Not that she could have run; her knees threatened to buckle at any moment.

This was ridiculous, she thought. She was a believer in natural philosophy, and she was getting wobbly knees because of what was just a wolf. Okay, a giant wolf with two tails and glowing eyes. But still a wolf, even if it probably could eat her in just a few bites.

“Good doggy?� she said hopefully.

No wonder Talona had thought that the donkey would be frightened by Shadow. If only Talona had thought to mention that Jana would be frightened by Shadow.

[Anonymous]

Talona knew instantly that her company was not taking it well. Lookng from her warm smile on Shadow, back to the girl beside her, her smile faded, and it was then she realized: She smelled like a canine. The scent suddenly made sense, and popped into place easily. She wasn't just scared, she was terrified!

Putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, Talona looked to shadow, and the creature took a step or two foreward as well, eyes fixed on the stranger to his woods. Just the same, he was doing his best to look friendly... he was NOT so easily tied to humanity and their frail little feelings... but for Talona's sake, eh would be patient with this little snippet and make friends with her.

"This is Shadow, spirit of this forest, and Wolf Kami, my companion and friend." Talona explained, and gently placed her hand upon the great wolf's head. "Don't be frightened... he is no simple creature." she explained, and smiled a little to her guest. Turning her head to Shadow, she smiled to the great creature and spoke to him directly. "Shadow... this is... Hm... Well, she runs an Apothecary, and just wished to get some mint from this forest" but the wolf was already sniffing her.

"Among other things" Shadow said musingly; really, he was grinning how wolfs grin... and perhaps the jackal girl would figure out what that was, and be able to tell, but it was a friendly grin... a guarded one, but a friendly one just the same. He spoke, regardless, in common tongue, and fluently. He was no simple creature at all.

"Your name, Jackal?" Shadow inquired curiously, calking his head and keeping it beneath hers as he sniffed at her quietly, trying his best to get used to her scent and her beloved's again, so he could ignore them. [/list]

[Anonymous]

No, certainly not just a simple creature, Jana thought. Talona had just been stating the obvious. “I, uh, sort of noticed that,� she said lamely. Simple creatures did not have glowing eyes or two tails. Nor were they so large.

Her eyes widened at the wolf’s words; she’d never heard a wolf speak before, and she certainly hadn’t expected it to speak so well. One would expect the teeth and shape of the face to get in the way of speech. The fact that this Shadow was able to speak with so much ease stank of magic to her. Talona had called him a spirit of the forest. In other words, something very close to what the layperson would consider a god.

She didn’t think he was one; certainly he had power, but it was probably magic, not the power of deities. Or so she tried to convince herself. It wasn’t easy. His shape cowed both the jackal and the woman within her, making her simultaneously want to hide, cower, and run for the hills. She did none of those, though.

She stiffened, noting his words. He knew. Damn wolves and their keen sense of smell. She studied his expression anxiously, and thought that he was smiling, perhaps to put her at her ease.  

It seemed as though he didn’t care about those “other things�, she noted with relief. Having giant wolves with large teeth think ill of her was not on her agenda. Besides, it wasn’t as though she actually did anything with the herbs. She just purveyed them, that was all. Some would even call it an act of kindness, providing people a way to rid themselves of their rivals without actually killing them.

“Jana,� she answered. “Jana Iathen.�