The Green and The Green (Dragonsong!) [m]

[DaGlobster]

"To see what's inside," Motark sad, daring to smile a little. He didn't quite know the boundaries with this creature, but last night's festivities had him in a better mood than usual.

"My people have told tales of this place. Hunters that go missing, mysterious lights, large beasts..."

He wanted to mention the rumors of a powerful grove, but he chose to omit that, in case it made her defensive. It made him curious how unafraid of him she seemed. Almost every non-orc he'd ever met found him imposing, even a little.

"I don't know if they have any stock, but I'm curious nonetheless."

[DragonSong]

Fiala laughed, and for a moment the trees seemed to lean in toward her, just barely, drinking in the chiming sound like sunlight.

Smiling, the fae girl turned on one hoof and skipped a few paces deeper into the foliage. Her tail flicked back and forth, a warning flash of white beneath the deep tan. Once again she wore only a low-slung, wrapped garment of shimmering green fabric, which hugged her hips and draped almost lazily over her upper thighs, baring much of her dappled skin to the elements, though she hardly minded.

"Curiosity can be a dangerous thing," she noted almost playfully, her eyes glinting. "What will you do if you find the truth behind these stories, hm?"

[DaGlobster]

It's not that Motark was embarrassed by skin, Orcs tended to go topless on hot summer days regardless of sex. But she was so foreign to him that he wanted to see what she looked, and that came with the realization she was more or less buck naked.

Strange, he hadn't really noticed the first time. Instead, he chose to focus on how the trees actually moved at the sound of her voice. Shok above...

"Well, that's for me to figure out when I get there," Motark said.

"And you? You must be curious, too."

[DragonSong]

She tilted her head at him as she turned to face him properly, one eyebrow raised delicately. "What need have I for curiosity? I am faerie, stranger. Do you think I do not know these woods?"

A bald faced bluff, but no need for him to know that. As fae, she could not lie outright, but she could talk her way in circles if she had to.

Besides, it was more fun to let him think she knew more than she did.

[DaGlobster]

"Not about these woods, but what's outside of it," Motark rebutted. He stepped past her, and leaned against a tree, crossing his arms. He hadn't come in his armor today, so apart from the fur cloak and hood he wore over his shoulders, his kilt made of dyed red cloth, boots, and his underclothing beneath the kilt. He was marginally more dressed than she was, and she'd be able to see that every inch of him rippled with powerful muscle.

He was quiet for a few moments.

"I trust you've never seen our village? Or any other of the orcs who live in this area?"

[DragonSong]

Fiala debated for a few moments how to answer that. Eventually, she gave him a single nod. Eyeing him up and down, she leaned back against a nearby trunk herself and tried to mimic his pose, arms folded over her chest.

"No. My knowledge beyond these trees...leaves a little to be desired, I'll admit."

[DaGlobster]

"Then we've got plenty to learn from each other," Motark said simply, noting with amusement how she seemed to mimic his actions.

He straightened up off the tree and motioned for her to follow, and he started to walk further into the woods.

As he walked, he felt like experimenting a little, so he joined his hands behind his back as he walked, curious to see if she'd keep copying him.

"How long have you lived here?"

[DragonSong]

Completely oblivious to his game, Fiala did indeed clasp her own hands behind her back as she fell into step beside him, after a moment spent observing his gait and how exactly his shoulders rolled and hunched, then settled back.

"Did I say I lived here?" she asked with a bright smile, eyes glinting. More fae loopholes.

[DaGlobster]

"Well, no," Motark admitted, shrugging at her statement.

"But you seem to spend most of your time here. After all, you told me you don't know much beyond these parts," he continued, looking over to her.

He smiled.

"How many winters have you spent here?"

[DragonSong]

Ah, that was a question she could answer and still remain enigmatic.

"None," she replied with something like a teasing grin. Almost daring him into a game-- just how much could he get out of her?

"And you? How many winters have you lived with your tribe?" She knew mortals were not bound to the same laws of truth as her kind, but she rather hoped he'd even the playing field that way.

Wait. Did he even know she couldn't lie? That was an interesting thought-- perhaps something to be explored later.

[DaGlobster]

He wasn't oblivious to her game. He had a feeling getting a straight answer from her wouldn't be as easy as asking a question, yet he persisted with it for now.

"I was born there, and have live twenty and nine winters," he said. He passed a hand against a tree as they walked, marveling at how massive they got this deep into the woods.

Then, he looked at her, grinning back.

"Do you mean to tell me that you've never left these woods, yet never experienced a winter?"

[DragonSong]

Fiala's eyes lit up, sensing that he'd caught on to her game. "Very close," she praised, skipping back a few steps.

She knelt to pass her hands over a few twisting vines in the undergrowth. As she pulled her hand back, the green tendrils seemed to rise up and follow her, twining around her fingers gently before she extracted them.

"I have left these woods many times," she told Motark with another quick smile. "But no, I have never experienced a winter."

[DaGlobster]

Interesting answer.

One of the druids had told him that the fae loved riddles and games, so he saw no harm in continuing to humor her. After he watched her play with the vines, he continued after her, letting her lead him along for now but making sure to remember where he'd come from.

She could just as easily be leading him to be lost in the woods.

"So where do you go, then? If not beyond the woods you've never left?" Motark wondered.

"What is this magical place that winter doesn't touch? Is it deeper inside?"

[DragonSong]

"Yes," Fiala replied easily, though she did not tell him which question she was answering. As intriguing as the orc was, she had a feeling Lakali would be none too pleased if she brought him to the Moonlit Glade.

She paused, seemed to consider, then turned sharply and began picking her way through the trees again, humming softly to herself and trailing her fingers over the leaves of the thick foliage.

[DaGlobster]

She set off again, and Motark watched her easily pick her way through the foliage ahead. Looking backwards, he decided that with no clear destination in mind, he had nothing much better to do than keep following her. An intriguing creature indeed...

As he followed loosely, eyes not really on her but on the woods around him as they travelled. The white of exposed bark caught his eye, and he stopped to examine. There was a set of claw marks on one of the trees. They belonged to a bear, no doubt, but the marks were huge!

He passed a hand on the marks,  measuring the width of the claws by fitting three fingers onto one of the marks.

"Big bears here," he muttered.

"And the animals, they don't give you any trouble?"

[DragonSong]

"Why should they?" She shrugged as she continued on her way, for all intents and purposes not seeming to care if he continued to follow her or not. "I am not their natural prey, nor are they mine. We live and let live."

[DaGlobster]

"I had a feeling it was like that," Motark said, and carried on examining until he was satisfied with his theory that these woods housed a dire bear.

He watched her as she got farther and farther away, and sighed.

He had some woods to scout, he didn't have time to play the question game with a fairy creature. So, intending on seeing if she'd followed him, he went his own separate way. His first objective was to find a river to make camp by. He was tired from a long day of riding, and wouldn't mind getting all of his camp gear off of his back.

[DragonSong]

Fiala did not feel the need to follow him to the stream that cut through the woods-- originating in the Glade, actually, though most didn't know it. It was the only water source within easier reach, and she figured if she wanted to find him again it would be easy enough to do so.

It was, in fact. She managed to find his camp later that evening without too much effort. She decided to approach from the other side of the stream, curious how he might react to her.

[DaGlobster]

Motark's camp wasn't much to go singing to the birds about. A freshly dug fire pit rimmed with stones and filled with sticks arranged into a cone shape and a single cloth tent, although the tent was rather big. He'd dragged a medium-sized fallen tree over and sheared off the branches on the upwards side, converting it into a makeshift bench. He was sitting against this log, fur cloak placed against it for cushioning, and was eating some food he'd brought from the village.

Nuts, alongside a cut of salted pig wrapped in spinach.

He leaned over to sprinkle a few more twigs into his fire, when he noticed her slowly approaching from the other side of the stream.

Rather than call out to her, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt by merely scooting over and patting the ground next to him, not even sparing her a glance but inviting her nonetheless.

[DragonSong]

Fiala debated for a few moments, then sort of shrugged to herself and picked her way through the water, taking long, elegant steps to cross through the stream, occasionally leaping up onto a stepping stone and balancing delicately one her hooves before jumping to the next.

One she reached Motark's bank, she eyed the spot he indicated for a second or two before lowering herself to sit, folding her legs elegantly to the side.

"Hello again."