OOC: Tags to
@Pirostyle !
Just outside the city, but far enough away that the lamp lights appeared as a glowing cluster of warm twinkles of light, scampered an ethereal being that glowed as white as the moon. She moved unseen, with the body of a woman and the glowing, white tail of a fox. It was easiest to travel this way, and it was dark- and from what she could tell, there was no other person about. But she could sense one of the beads close to hear, but the city was something she was not familiar with, so she kept herself far enough away to observe it, curious if it were a threat.
She paused at the crest of a hill, her body blanketed by the shadows of the trees and the darkness of the night as her tail swished pensively behind her. It was then a noise was heard, and two fox ears perked up from either side of her head, and she craned her neck to try to get a better listen.
The sound grew louder, and soon a rumbling cart had come into view. The woman ducked back, ears pinning back and her body pressed low as dark eyes peered out from beneath the canopy of the low lying foliage. What a curious thing. She gave a sniff. It smelled of men. But it also smelled of something else.
Her bead. Her ears perked up and swiveled forward and as the cart rolled past on the road below her, she was quick to follow, leaping with inhuman agility as she moved about beneath the trees. She had been missing her beads for longer than she would have liked, and was feeling the effects of being parted from bits of her spirit for too long- and soon her eyes were glowing for the hungering instinct to have it back. For these beads were not ordinary beads, and they belonged solely to her. And from what she could tell- there was at least three of her beads here.
The cart continued down it's path, the men none the wiser they were being tailed by this being, as Tah-leen, the fox spirit, crept ever closer. BUt the second she stepped out of her blanket of shadow, two men in the back of the cart noticed her instantly- for there stood a woman, her white dress glowing byt he light of hte moon, and her ears and tail glowing with a blue light of their own.
"By sweet Kia's name... what
is that?"
But as the woman approached, it was uncertain of the game, for when morning came, there lay the wagon, tipped over and the back end- smashed. The men were no where to be seen, and the cart had evidently been ransacked-
and soon rumors in the City of Arca that a Fox Woman was on the prowl had the city murmuring that night- as some hunters took seats int he local tavern to get their fix on the story, and to begin making a plan in hopes to hunt this mysterious creature-
Who was apparently deadly, but beautiful.
But as the day rolled on, a westward wind kicked in, rustling the leaves of the thick river trees surrounding Tah-leen as she lay beneath a willow and licked at the bloody gash on her arm. Her leg had also been twisted and it hurt to move on it, but seeing how she was safe beside the river bank, she saw no reason to try to walk on it. But at least she had gotten what she had came for-
The three beads the men had on them. They had a considerable amount of other trinkets they aimed to sell, but she had no real interest in those at the time. So she sat there, and nursed at her wound, just thankful he was one step closer to repairing her broken necklace-
Though there were still seven beads she had yet to find. And because she did not have all of them, she knew these injuries she sustained would take longer to heal.
So she kept licking at the wound, the blood painting her lips a soft red, and by now- her ears had vanished but her tail remained, keeping that out to keep channeling her spirit energy to heal her wounds.
The breezes of wind continued as a small group of Serenians walked along the dirt road through the forest. As the group of four stopped, they began discussing about the wagon that had been raided. The one that stood out among the group was a few inches taller and had black hair instead of the bright colors his three teammates had. After several minutes of chattering, two of them advanced off towards the west, one continued down the path towards the south, and the tallest one followed the river east.
A tall serenian with black wavy hair advanced east along the river side, looking around for anything to do with the raided cart. He called back to the other three before advancing far. "We're pretty far from where the cart got raided, if we don't find anything here then we'll just start heading back."
He wore a robe-like outfit with dark blue and brown colors, several pouches around his belt, and patches of leather on parts of the outfit as makeshift armor.
The sound of men's voices caught her attention, and- curious by nature, she cocked her head to the side to get a better listen. Lifted her nose delicately, she could smell each on of their individual scents- and there were four men. Every curious, she stopped licking at her wounded arm, which by now, had at least stopped bleeding, but was still quite tender, and got down on all fours and crawled around much like her spirit animal, the fox. And as she kept low in the brush, she was able to make out the figures at the murmur of their words.
Humans were definitely a curious sort. She loved watching them- it was the main reason she abandoned her old life with Winter Spirit. Not only did she crave more, but she developed a dream-
and part of her wished to become more human than she was. It seemed these humans had so much, and she- so little, for despite being immortal, she was bond to Winter- and unless she ever became free of this bond, this is how she would stay. She had heard legends about other animal spirits abandoning their powers, their immortality for the soul purpose of becoming human-
And at first, such an idea sounded terrible! But the more the fox spirit watched humans, she began to fall in love with what they were and what they did.
Even now, as she lay, half pressed down into the decaying leaves and fresh grass and moss int he shadows of the bushes did she watch with great interest, dark eyes shining and her spirit tail wagging back and forth lightly.
It was when the men began to split up did she find herself conflicted, for she wished to keep watching these fascinating creatures, but they were no longer all together. What an interesting pack! So with some random form of selection, she decided to follow the robed fellow east, along the river, and kept herself well guarded by not only the shadows, but the low growing foliage, which kept her well out of sight. It appeared as if this human was looking for something. How curious. Maybe he was looking for something to eat!
The group quickly grew far apart as they each checked down their assigned paths. There was a soft rustle of footsteps through grass as the robed man followed alongside the river. He kept his back to the trees for a while, watching the water flow peacefully. It didn't look like there was any trace of missing goods or any bits of smashed cart. Kalvano sighed, doubting that there was any other hint or sign of what attacked the cart in their territory.
He was about to turn back when he caught the faint scent of blood in the air. The smell came from a small pile of leaves under a large willow tree. It was the only sign at all that someone had been around recently. Kalvano reached into a small pouch, pulling out a small vial. With a wave of his hand, he siphoned what little of the blood he could into the vial.
"Whoever this belongs to, it's the only clue we have. Guess I'll just have to return back with this small bit."
The man stood back up; he placed the vial in his pouch and waved a hand towards the lake. A small wave of water lifted up from the river, and washed over the spot under the willow tree. The leaves were swept back into the river, masking the last trace of whoever had been there.
As Kalvano turned around to start heading back towards the bath, he pulled something else from his pouch. A small bead sat in his hand, while he muttered something for good luck, before returning the bead to its pouch.
Tah-leen was so wrapped up in watching this man she hadn't even realized the scent of something else that was familiar-
and when he produced the bead, she jerked up slightly in the brush, making the plants rustle much more loudly than she'd have liked before she ducked down low and tensed, holding her breath and keeping her body flush to the ground. Hopefully the humans' ears weren't good enough to hear that, so she simply waited to see what he'd do.
But it was curious he had another bead! And she felt a bit of the crazed drive she always got when she was near one. They were a part of her, after all, and the longer she went without them- the worse the effects were becoming. But what luck- to be able to find four of the beads in the same area! Hopefully this one would be much easier to obtain than the last...
She never liked it when her animal side took over-
it was like an infestation, and could be quite scary-
Especially since she, being of a fox, was normal rather shy, curious- and if anything, friendly more than aggressive.
Kalvano heard the noise from the branches and leaves as he put the bead away, quickly turning in the direction of the noise out of curiosity. As a few birds flew past him, he assumed the noise was just forest animals, nothing out of the ordinary. The man began to walk back in the direction he came from, taking his time and enjoying the walk.
It would be a few moments before he made it back to the path, and a few more after that until the other three returned. They most likely wouldn't be able to find anything. If the only clue this far from the scene of the attack was a bit of blood under a tree, then there probably wouldn't be anything else left behind. The cart had made it look more like a random attack and less like a robbery. The entire thing was very odd though.
He continued to walk through the forest, his back to the willow tree.
As he continued down the path, Tah-leen was growing bolder. The man was alone anyway and as he continued on his way, she moved quietly behind the willow tree, pressing herself up against it's thick trunk and peering out from the other side. And as he was turning down the road, she craned out even farther from behind it, watching his every step through the gentle sway of the branches.
He was paying no attention to her, and evidently had no idea the woman was watching him, so carefully, and ever so slowly, she crept out to where the curtain of willow branches touched the ground and let her tail swish a few times as she eyed the pouch she had seen him deposit the bead. The sensations she was getting from it confirmed what she already knew, and slowly, she parted open the branches and dared to take a step out into the open. He wasn't even that far from her now- but perhaps if she were quiet and quick enough-
she could pluck that pouch from his side and be off with her bead.
It seemed a good plan in theory- that was until she stepped on a fallen tree branch which snapped loudly beneath her bare foot. And the second the noise was made, she froze in her place.
Kalvano listened to the birds chirp and fly around as he took a few steps. Only seconds passed before he felt a chill in his side. The sound of a snapping branch behind him confirmed his worry. He slowly took a deep breath, reaching into his backpack, and pulling out the handle of a sword.
A gust of wind blew up the leaves on the ground, temporarily blocking the view between himself and whoever was behind him. He took a few more steps forward and turned around, not wanting his back to be exposed if this turned into a battle.
When the leaves fell, the man was facing towards the willow tree, holding the hilt of a sword in his hand, attached to it was an odd sight, a short length of wood shaped into a blade. It seemed like a training sword instead of a weapon. The wooden shortsword was held tightly in his hand, in a defensive stance. Kalvano's first priority was to defend himself from whoever was behind him.
The whirl of leaves was enough to make her jump, and the black haired young woman turned tail to run, taking this time to hide back behind the willow branches that barely concealed her form. Her silhouette still visible, though her tail now tucked behind her and hidden from view, she watched as the man was pointing something in her direction. A gentle sniff his way confirmed it was made of wood. A stick? How curious. Was this man here to play? And curiously, she parted just an inch open of the leaf drapery to look back at him, but she dare not get any nearer than that.
Kalvano stood his ground, and looked around through the last of the falling leaves. He managed to spot the outline of a person. He lowered his wooden sword, but kept a defensive stance just in case. Cautiously, he took a step forward, seeing the woman peek back out from behind the branches. The woman didn't seem to have any sort of weapons or dangerous appearance.
He kept an eye on the woman, keeping distance and trying not to startle her. "Who are you? and what are you doing around these parts? Are you the one that was injured?"
Kalvano started to think of what to do next; he didn't have any healing magic. The next best options would have to be medicine or bandages if she was indeed injured.
At his questions, she parted the willow curtain just a little more but, but when something else caught her attention, she visibly bristled before turning tail and running. He might have caught sight of her tail, or perhaps not, it was hard to tell, but within moments, her escaping silhouette was gone and the fox spirit was out of sight.
What had caught her attention was the approach of more humans, and she knew it was not safe or wise to linger- even if her bead was nearby, and perhaps this lone man wanted to play. Perhaps she'd have to follow him some more until he was alone again, but for now, she was out of sight.
Kalvano was about to try and pursue her, but stopped when he thought he saw a tail behind the woman, before she vanished from sight behind branches and trees. The rest of his group was approaching from the distance; they had finished their search a bit faster than he expected.
After putting his weapon away, he turned and started to walk back towards the rest of them. He wondered if he had really seen a fox, or if it were just his mind playing tricks on him. A thought entered his mind, making him wonder if the woman had been drawn to him because of the bead in his possession. He had taken it from some treasure hunters who were babbling on about it belonging to a powerful fox spirit, but surely the tales had just been talk. If the stories were true though, it was far more valuable than a good luck charm.
He rejoined with the group, telling them he had scared off a pack of racoons. It was easy to brush off the encounter; the last thing he wanted to do was give the city any more reason to send more people out here to search for a spirit. The group turned around and started to head back north towards the city.
She wasn't about to let the bead go, but she had to be careful- much more careful than she was with the men and the cart. Now, being injured, and not quite as driven to her peak of spirit instincts since there was only but one bead on the man, she followed after him silently and as they headed towards the city, she hung back a bit, curious to see if he'd enter. If he did...
she supposed she would have to, too.
The group traveled for several hours, and the city finally came into view as sunset approached. Each of them split up as they entered the city, except for Kalvano. He excused himself from the group just at the gate and started wandering around to pick up herbs and flowers. He stored all of them in a small empty pouch next to the other pouches.
As the sun set behind the forest, clouds moved in and the faint rumble of thunder was heard. Kalvano quickened his gathering and decided that he had found enough for now. Tiny raindrops started to fall as the man dusted off his hands and started to walk back towards the village, only to stop and look out towards the trees.
His hand reached into the fair sized pouch at the front of his belt, pulling out the bead and holding it close like a charm. He stayed there for a while as the rain picked up, wondering if the woman had followed him.
Swift like the shadows she moved-a nd if he had any doubt that the strange woman he 'might' have seen earlier was following him, he'd get his answer right them-f or in a flash, she was suddenly standing before him, but due to the hour,t he lighting of dusk made her appear like some sort of phantom or shadow as she peered at him, then at his side. Her tail was still tucked behind her, not exposed to him, or even the moonlight- but the moon was now hanging high and beginning to become clouded over by an oncoming wave of lacy, evening clouds. So she might have appeared like some sort of ethereal being before him, her white dress lightly illuminated as she took a few hesitant steps forward, but before he'd be able to speak, she dashed past him and grabbed onto the pouch on his side, the one she believed the bead was in-
then off she ran, bare feet cutting across the dewy terrain, white glowing tail flashing behind her as she went.
And she was none the wiser he still had her bead in hand.
Kalvano spotted the girl just as the clouds started to roll in. The light made her look like an otherworldly being, almost inhuman. He stood his ground against her, but flinched at a flash of lightning in the distance. The streak of light off in the distance blinded his field of sight just as the woman moved towards him. A faint tugging came from one of his pouches; the one that had held the bead.
He smiled as he watched her start to run off, thinking she had the bead. Kalvano held his clenched hand in the air as he pulled out a wooden sword from his bag.
"So you ARE after this. Well if you want it you're going to at least have to ask nicely."
Tah-leen stopped somewhere in the shadows, quickly dispelling the items in the pouch, but when she found no bead within, she peered over at the robed man and gave a sniff. He held the bead. Well, that and the stick from earlier. What was his game? But she didn't approach, and remained pressed beside a tree trunk, the empty pouch still clenched in her hand.
Kalvano watched as she tossed items out of the pouch until it was empty, mostly small bits of ore or crystal. Once she was done, he signed in frustration. "You know I'm going to have to pick those up..."
He stayed the same distance from the woman, watching her lean against the tree like cover. The sword couldn't look that threatening, and by now he was almost certain the woman wouldn't try to harm him. After another moment to think, he slowly knelt down to drop the wooden sword before standing back up, still holding onto the bead.
"Alright, weapon down, see? All you have to do is come over and ask for the bead."
Kalvano opened his hand a bit, just enough to let her see it, but tightly enough to keep it in his hand if she tried to run by and grab it again.
Still uncertain of this man, when he dropped the stick, she peered down at it for a while before glancing back at him. She had seen humans interact numerous times, but mostly from afar. They were still an enigma to her, so as she peered at the man both curiously and cautiously, she began to wonder if asking meant like some sort of a trade. She had seen other humans do this 'trade' thing, and blinkingly, she looked down at the pile of his things she had shaken out from his pouch. Picking up a lumpy piece of ore, she lightly stepped his way, still keeping a cautious gaze upon him before halting about ten feet from him and slowly offering out her hand. In her palm was the lumpy ore.
And she was uncertain how to go about asking the right thing, so she just asked straight out for her bead.
"Can I have my bead? You an have this rock. It's the color of the night sky." She said, and something about the idea of handing over a night rock made her happy- Was she about to do something humanly? Her tail twitched lightly behind her, and a smile seemed to start to grow within her eyes.
Kalvano noticed her look down, going through the things she had tossed out of the pouch. Once she had picked something up, and began to move closer, he knew things were progressing positively. He stayed still for a while, watching her get closer until she was a short distance from him, offering up the ore as a trade. Kalvano relaxed his stance a bit and stretched his hand out with the bead. He took one more step closer, holding it out to her in his open hand.
"Yes, since you're so very polite, you may have your bead back miss fox spirit."
He smiled in return and slowly reached for the ore as part of the 'trade' they were doing. It turns out the bead had been good luck to him after all, since he got to meet a fox spirit.
Tah-leen immediately dropped the ore in her excitement and plucked the bead from his hand. A smile immediately bloomed across her face and she pulled the bead close, cradling it near her bosom while keeping it carefully in the palm of her hands. Her tail gave a happy wag as she looked up at him, beaming.
"Thanks!"
Kalvano let the ore drop to the ground as she picked up the bead. It obviously meant a lot to her, if she was this happy to get it back. It was hard not to find the woman adorable with the good mood she now radiated.
He gently pet her on the head, smiling at her wagging tail. "You're welcome, now just don't lose it again."
Her smile broadened at the petting and she gave a brisk nod of her head.
"Of course I won't! I still have to find the rest!" And after a moment of letting her tail swish back and forth,s he thought she heard something coming from the city they were so near. Her head turned in that direction, and still keeping the bead cradled to her chest, she turned tail and ran back into the shadows.
Kalvano waited until she had completely vanished into the shadows, before smiling and starting to pick up all the things that had been discarded from the pouch. At the very least she was an interesting fox spirit, if not the only one he had ever seen before. It was only by the best luck that he had found the first bead, but he figured if he found another, it would only give her reason to return.
After gathering up all his things and putting the pouch back on his belt, he left back into the city. The rain was starting to pick up, and the noise had been from one of his group mates coming to check on him. He returned into the city, wondering if this would be his only encounter with a fox spirit.
Tah-leen was more than elated to have her bead returned to her. She took extra care while sitting beneath the canopy of a wide skirted pine, to work on her necklace, carefully putting the missing bead back into it's place. She had already done so with the beads she had procured earlier, but with this new one attached, she positively beamed. And as she retied her necklace together and wrapped it around her wrist a few times to secure it, she thought back to that curious man who stood before the curious city.
He seemed different than some of the other men she had encountered (for men in Zantaric could be mean, like wolves!). But this man seemed different, and she couldn't place what animal he reminded her of and curiously, she sniffed at the air to see if he was still in town- but the scent of a thousand humans made his scent muddled, and despite the rain,s he found herself approaching the city. It seemed the streets were empty, so she felt a lot more safe, and by now, her tail had long faded so she seemed like any other girl in a white dress and no shoes..
except her white dress was soaking wet and clung to her body like a second skin, as did her long black hair, which shined like liquid night.
The further she went into the city, the more this place dazzled her, and soon she was distracted from her quest at the scent of fish- and upon turning around a corner and lifting the lid of a crate, she found an entire barrel full of fish! Her eyes lit up and she immediately picked one up, and that's when the owner of the fish shop opened his shop door and put his head out with a lamp.
The light temporarily blinded Tah-leen as she squinted and turned away, but the second the man saw her with his fish, he suddenly hollered and it frightened Tah-leen to death. She turned tail and ran, bare feet splashing through the puddles and she- not having a clue as to where to go. There weren't any trees here, just strange cave like structures that soon had her turning around in circles and leaving her even more wet, and now dirty, scared and very confused.
Kalvano was a short distance inside the city, approaching a tower-like structure. He entered the building with his 3 other companions to talk to a man. He cleaned off glasses and made the bar area look very nice as they started a conversation. They chatted and conversed with the man for a bit, explaining their lack of findings for any new clues about the attack cart.
After a little while longer, the group agreed to let the matter go, and they split up again, going back to their normal business.
Kalvano looked around as he tried to decide what to do with the rest of the day. A shout from a nearby merchant caught his attention. The man had scared off a woman with one of his fish, but the dress and hair looked familiar. "Oh gods and goddesses..." He quickly followed her down the road, giving the man a few coins to hopefully appease him. Kal kept a close eye on the woman in the white dress as she fled down the road.
After a while it seemed she had come to a stop, lost and probably confused. He caught up to her, confirming it was her. "Miss... are you okay?" With a wave of his hand, he used his elemental magic to get the water from her dress, drying it. "You'll catch a cold out in the rain like this, spirit or not" He kept his voice down, not wanting others to hear. From his bag, Kalvano pulled out a spare simple robe he carried, draping it over the woman's back to dry and warm her up. "Are you okay?"
If Tah-leen was alarmed by his presence, she only showed it with a slightly gaping mouth and wide eyes, and the moment her voice returned to her, she leaned towards him and asked most curiously, "You know magic?" A curious thing!
And it seemed all other questions were lost to it.
Kalvano nodded and made sure the robe wouldn't fall off of her easily. "Yes, I know elemental magic. Wind, Water, and Lightning are my strengths." He led her out of the rain into an empty market area, seeing the ceiling had been closed to keep the area dry. There were very few people around, making it a nice place to hide from the rain for a while.
"Lots of people in this land know magic, this is the kingdom of Serendipity. To the north is another land, that hates magic greatly."
Tah-leen tried to take in all that he was saying, but she got distracted by..
"Serendipity!" Her smile grew. "That sounds fun!"
Kalvano couldn't help but smile a bit. Her grin was contagious. He took another breath, trying to simplify things. "Serendipity, lots of magic here and many mages."
He held up his hand, making a small sphere of water form and float above his hand.
"Do you know how to get around the city?"
Tah-leen's eyes went wide at the sight of magic. It always intrigued her to see such things and as the sphere of water floated over head, she suddenly tried to leap for it, attempting to catch it in her hands.
Kalvano kept it out of her reach for the first couple of tries, and let her catch it on the third. It was adorable to watch.
"So what is your name? I'm kalvano."
He watched the rain continue to fall, glad that they were safe from the cold rain for a while.
Upon catching the magical water sphere, Tah-leen let out a soft squeal of elation, and was soon bringing the watery ball to her mouth. Her eyes glittered like the stars and soon she was biting at the sphere, and upon realizing it made her mouth all wet, like the water's of a running river, she began to lap at the water sphere with glee.
She was so entranced by the water sphere, she almost didn't catch the question, but she eventually spoke through laps at the ball, "I'm Tah-leen!" And somehow during the course of their short play, her white tail had sprouted again and was swishing happily behind her.
Kalvano tried to keep her from sight as her tail appeared again. It was tough enough trying to keep her out of trouble in the city; he didn't need the added challenge of trying to explain to others what was going on. He continued pulling clean water from the falling rain to add to the sphere and keep her entertained.
"It's nice to meet you Tah-leen. Did you need something? I thought all you wanted from me was the bead?"
It was puzzling why she had followed him into the city. It was nice to know that she at least seemed to trust him. There was nothing that came to his mind about why she would have come back other than the bead, but she already had it.
"Tah-leen was curious!" she told him in earnest, still licking at the ball of magical rain water as she smiled and laughed softly. Others began to look their way, seeing the strange interaction, but other than that, not paying the pair much mind. "I've never been to the city. And Kalvano was nice. So I followed Kalvano!"
Kalvano smiled. "Well I'm glad I was able to help you by getting your bead back, and I can help you find your way around the city for a while. So yes, I'll gladly be able to help you."
He formed the water into different shapes, seeing how easily it entertained her.
"So where did you want to explore first?"
Tah-leen's eyes sparkled like a thousand stars as she played and laughed and continued to lick and bite at the water sphere. But when he posed his question, she gave a low swish of her tail.
"Are there any places with fish? I love fish. Perhaps we could fish in a river?" She was hungry, after all!
Kalvano nodded. "Yes, we have another river not far from the city, and off to the east is the ocean. We can head there now, I'll be able to keep the rain off of us with magic."
He lifted one of his hands, the rain seemed to part over a small area, like it were bouncing off an invisible roof.
"I like fish," she told him, still smiling as she played with the magic, but once she noticed the invisible wall of tinkling rain above them, she craned her neck to get a better look at it before reaching a hand forward to touch through the barrier to where the drops were breaking. Amazed by this trick as well, she began to leap about in attempts to touch the falling waters that could not reach them. It was quite fun! She liked this sort of magic!
Kalvano was entertain for a good long while, watching her jump up to try and catch the raindrops. Interacting with her was much more fun than collecting herbs or investigating a ransacked cart. He gave a subtle flick of his index finger, letting a big drop get through the "cover" and land on her nose.
"So when we get to the lake, should I use water magic to catch some for you?"
He started to think of ways he could use magic to catch the fish. The water around them could easily be used to trap them, and if they were flung into the air, it would be easy to use lightning magic to fry them up. If they were planning to eat them that is.
Tah-leen perked up at the idea after having giggled happily when the rain had tickled her nose that had gotten through the magical barrier.
"Can you keep fish in water balls like these?" And her eyes became as wide as a child's. She'd love to see such a thing! And if the fish were in a magical water bubble, she could lick and nibble on them all day!
Kalvano smiled and nodded. "Can I? Easily." As they approached the lake, he moved his hand again, catching a fish inside a sphere of water and pulling it close to Tah-leen. "By the way, do you like them raw or cooked?"
The mage kept the water barrier and trapped fish up easily, one of his specialties was water after all.
To see a fish so close coming straight for her she could not help herself but leaped clean at it, pinning the water bubble to the ground before growling and sinking her teeth into the fish. It wriggled against her, it's fins slapping her in the face a few times before it eventually quieted beneath Tah-leen's bite. Triumphantly she looked over at Kalvano, not seeming to hear his question as she shouted, "What a yummy fish!" and took a hearty bite clean out of it.
Kalvano watched the fox spirit lunge after the captured fish, tearing into it like she hadn't eaten in days. He simply smiled and kept the rain from falling on them, to keep her dry and from getting cold again. He gave Tah-leen a moment to finish off the fish, before starting to catch another one.
"I can tell you like fish"
As he moved on to catch another, Tah-leen had moved to the edge of the lake and was staring at it with vicious happiness. Her tail was wagging slowly behind her, and her white ears had sprung out and were pinned back as she continued to watch the fish swim around and around.
"Tah-leen likes fish very much. I could eat the whole lake full!" she told him, suddenly smiling again before she noticed a fish swimming closer to her and without warning, she jumped in after it.
Kalvano smiled as he held the fish in place for her to pounce on, enjoying seeing her happily catch them. He continued to wave his hands to keep the fish in place for her. "How about this one"
He levitated one of the fish out of the lake, making it move around in the air, with a water sphere around it. The mage continued to make the fish float around as a challenge to her.
Tah-leen's eyes lit up at the sight.
"Fish!" she said excitedly and leaped at it, but failed on her first attempt, then her second- but then with seemingly inhuman strength, she just about soared into the air-
and caught it with a laugh as she landed and put the fish into her mouth.
Kalvano smiled more as he saw her lunge for the fish and catch it out of the air with her teeth. Being able to talk to and interact with a fox spirit was a true turn of fortune. She would make a very interesting acquaintance to have around.
"Well it's very nice to meet a fox spirit, and I'm glad I could help you get your bead back."
"It's nice to meet a human!" she said, all smiles as she wagged her tail. "I've always wanted to get close, but I've been afraid." Her tail wagged a bit more, this time though, it seemed to thump on the ground more than wag. "And my bead..." and here she gave a curious tilt of her head. "How did you find it?"
Kalvano smiled in return. "It's nice to meet you too. Humans tend to greatly vary in behavior, but there are plenty of good ones."
He listened to her question, stopping to think. "Well, one day, I was out by the shops, and there was a peddler at one of the stalls, trying to sell gems and trinkets, probably all fake. There was one thing he greatly wanted to sell though; he bragged about a rare gem. His claim was that the bead was an object of great magical power, stolen from a mighty fox spirit."
The mage smiled a bit, proud of himself. "He said it was stolen, so I swapped it for a purple gem I had in my bag when he wasn't paying attention. Stealing stolen property can't really be stealing, especially if it is to give it back to nature. After I while I started to wonder if it was real, but then once I saw you, I realized that you must have come for the bead."
Tah-leen gave a nod of her head.
"I did! I'm looking for all of my missing beads." And she held up her wrist to where her necklace was wound around it. "I'm still missing quite a few. They must have traveled far!"
Kalvano looked at the necklace around her wrist; she had already recovered a few more beads. "Well if I find anymore I'd be happy to snag them for you, but they could be almost anywhere."
He waved his hand again, catching another fish. "I'll keep my eyes out for anymore beads that happen to pass through."
"The beads belong to my spirit," she went on to explain, but quickly got distracted by the floating fish in the bubble. Her tail wagged anxiously at it. "I can sense when one is near. It's how I was lead to you."
And with a playful leap, she tried to catch the bubbled fish.
Kalvano allowed her to catch the fish, letting her have it from the bubble as he thought for a moment. "Well if you can sense them, you'll have a much easier time finding them than me. I can keep a look out anyway though. Who knows, with luck, maybe I'll find another one for you."
Tah-leen hugged onto the fish as if it were something precious, then began to lick at it before smiling up at him.
"That would be great! Tah-leen would be happy for help!" And focusing back on the fish she chewed and licked at it for a little bit before devouring the thing in a few big bites.
Kalvano smiled a bit more. "Well, as long as you're around Serendipity, you're welcome to any fish from the rivers, and I'll keep looking for anymore of those beads."
He thought for a moment, remembering something. "By the way... were you wounded when I first found you? Has that recovered yet?"
"Wounded?" she blinked as she stared at him curiously, then gasped and looked down at her arm. Any remnants from the injury were gone. She smiled, pleased at this and looked up at him.
"I was injured, yes, but I heal quickly. See?" And she pointed to her forearm where the injury once was. "No mark even! Just skin!"
Kalvano sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, I was starting to wonder if you were still hurt from when I found you earlier. It's good to know you're okay; I'd be lucky to have a gift like that. Healing magic wasn't one of my strengths. It'd be good to have, and I could probably learn the basics with a good enough teacher. For now I'm good with wind, lightning, and water magics."
Her played with the water for a big longer, keeping them safe from the rain as it started to ease up.
"I was born to heal," she explained, smiling at him and still wagging her tail. "I'm afraid I could not teach it, but I could always help you if you ever did get hurt." And then curiously, she tilted her head and gave a curious bought of sniffing his way. "Do you plan on getting hurt?" The thought of it made her frown.
Kalvano shook his head. "No, I don't plan on getting hurt, if I can help at all. Healing magic is just a very handy thing to have in most situations. The more types of magic one can master, or at least learn, the greater number of situations that a mage can be prepared for."
He stood up, pulling out a small book from his pocket and flipping through it. "Another fun thing is to try and draw out things to do with the elements, makes it easier to visualize and remember."
"Oh!" Tah-leen's eyes lit up at the sight of the book. "What a pretty book!" She seemed to be positively gushing over it as she reached out to stroke one of the pages. "Does this one have stories in it? I like stories," she went on, her tail swishing behind her excitedly.
Kalvano flipped through some of the pages, all of them having drawings, and little notes. "They don't have stories, but they do have other ways to manipulate water."
With a wave of his hand, the nearby water in the air suddenly stopped falling, converging around them into a large dome-shape of water, like a shield.
Upon seeing the large piece of water, Tah-leen gasped, startled by it as she reared away from Kalvano and took off to hide beneath a vendor's stall. It caused quite a stirring as the man let out a holler, and soon a lot of the people there began to look Tah-leen's way. But when the vendor chased Tah-leen out, she found herself racing out into the rainy streets, but she was so panicked, she had no idea where to go!
Kalvan watched as Tah-leen ran off. He signed and chased after her, apologizing to the stall owner and trying to get her to calm down. He brought another fish in a water bubble with him, in hopes of finding her again.
By the time Kalvano might find her, the fox-spirit was soaking wet, and moving frantically in a circle at the end of an alley way. She knew not what to make of this, or where to go- but before she noticed anyone approach, she moved and began to scale the alley way wall.
Kalvano eventually found her at the end of the alleyway, calling to her and trying to get her attention. "Tah-leen! Hold on, it was just water! Magic!" He held up the fish inside the water sphere.
The city probably wasn't the best place for her, it would be better if he could get her back out towards the forest as soon as possible.
She had made it all the way up to the top of the wall, and turned around, peering down at him as her rain soaked hair clung against her shoulders.
"But Tah-leen's afraid!" she called down to him, flinching only when she heard the shouts from a guard the next street over.
"Hey! Who goes there?" the guard shouted, and before Kalvano could stop her, she leaped over the other side of the wall and disappeared.
Kalvano watched her disappear behind the wall, and left the alleyway, trying to get around the building to find her again. The chase led him towards the edge of the city as he continued to call for Tah-leen.
With a wave of his hand, Kalvano caused some of the water on the ground to converge into the shape of a fish. He sent it out in hopes that Tah-leen would see it. The mage made another fish, and another, sending them one by one towards the city exit for Tah-leen to follow to safety if she found them.
Unfortunately for Kalvano, the fox spirit did not come. But as the day rolled on, the skies eventually did clear, but the world was still rain clogged and the sun was beginning to set as a chill swept over the land.
Elsewhere, Tah-leen had returned to her perch just outside the city, taking homage beneath a copse of trees not too far from where she had met her new human friend earlier that day.Seeing how no one had chased her here, she felt safe and decided to remain. It would be night soon anyway- and and this fox tended to hunt in the dark.
The mage continued to search for his fox friend as the sun started to set. As night approached, the fish continued to wiggle around in the water sphere. Kalvano eventually gave up on trying to find Tah-leen in the city and made his way towards the gate. He hoped she had made it outside by now.
Kalvano left through the city gate and made his way towards some trees, waiting and hoping to see if she would appear again.
She was cleverly concealed behind foliage, but her sense of smell was keen. She could smell the fish and the man before they were upon her, and there she sat, peering down at them from the tops of a tree. She said nothing at first, only watched, as the ground seemed to glow from the light of the moon. But as she moved to watch him, her foot misstepped and she ended up snapping a branch. Though it did not make her loose her footing, it would probably give away where she was hidden- several stories up.
Kalvano looked around a bit more, and had almost given up his search when he heard a branch snap above him. A quick upward glance revealed the hiding fox spirit. He immediately offered her the fish, trying to apologize. "I didn't mean to scare you with the magic, I thought you'd like it. Plus, the city doesn't seem to be one of your favorite places to be..."
Tah-leen remained back. Though she did glance at the fish once, she peered back down to him and pouted.
"Cities are strange," she went on, tail between her legs.