The Forest's Songs

[Willowsong]

Willowsong stepped out of her cave, blinking as the sunlight temporarily blinded her bright green eyes. She wrapped her fur coat closer to her fragile form, sniffing in the morning's cool air. Even though it was a beautiful day, Willowsong wasn't smiling.

One of her few friends had died. And she was going to bury him.
The young witch didn't even know why she knew that one of her friends had died, but she didn't question her mysterious powers anymore.

Looking over the series of graves in front of her caves, Willowsong made her way over the fields, humming a melody in her head. She enjoyed singing, and it seemed to attract curious animals to her. Sometimes even more sentient species. But that happened so rarely Willowsong didn't even mind it.

Walking over the soft soil below her with bare, reddened feet, the witch made her way towards the forest, beginning to hum actually hum her melody aloud now.

She strolled through the forest, treading lightly past squirrels that didn't mind her presence, and birds that seemed to join in on her song.
And there she found him.
A large spider, lying on its back, all eight legs raised into the air.

Willowsong remembered him, it was Erasus Kle'ster, one of the first unlucky adventurers to fall victim to her curse. Back then Willowsong didn't understand, but it turned out Erasus was one weak-willed bard, dead-set on capturing Willowsong's heart. Well, he managed to capture part of it, before he turned into an arachnid and, shocked by his new appearance, had fled into the forest. Only later did he return, slowly succumbing to his new form's mindset and seeming set on following Willowsong's commands. But his new form had also rendered him short-lived, and now he had been killed by old age.

Willowsong fell silent for a moment, pulling a large piece of cloth she had sewn herself out of her robe, then carefully dropped it across the old spider's corpse.
Now her hum began again, and then turned into an actual song. The lyrics were in an unknown language only Willowsong seemed to understand, but she enjoyed singing. The animals seemed to understand it, anyway.

Alone, and with great exertion of her physical powers, Willowsong carried the corpse back to her domain, where she picked a place in the center of her field, and found herself her hollowed, wooden stick. Still singing, Willowsong began to dig a hole.

[Talwyn]

(Hi! Hope you don't mind, but this post has been sitting at the back of my mind the moment I read your character ^__^)

The young man strolled through the forest at a leisurely pace. Today he was in no particular hurry, so he took the time to, for once, enjoy the scenery of his surroundings and they lifted his damped spirits. Once again he had managed to uncover an ancient ruin, only to come up empty handed. He had spend the night at the ruins, cursing whatever cruel god had decided to use him as his personal enjoyment.

The next morning he had risen early, as he always did, and eaten a meager breakfast. His supplies were running low, so he would either have to hunt or find a town soon. He'd probably choose hunting... it was a hassle to deal with people when you looked like he did.

Stopping in his tracks he tilted his head. Was it just his imagination, or did he really hear someone sing? Taking a few steps in the direction he thought it was coming from, he nodded to himself. Someone was singing alright. Normally, he would have kept going... but this song.. not only was it captivating, it was a language he did not know.

Unable to ignore his curiosity, he quickened his pace towards the source of the sound. Of course, like many others, Talwyn Greyoak had heard the rumors of a witch in these parts. But he never was one to heed such tales. They often were exaggerated or incorrect. Entering the clearing however, he was instantly reminded of the tales of the witch called Willowsong.

Glancing around he saw no one, though he knew someone had to be close by as the singing had only gotten louder. Spotting a cave, he carefully walked over and peeked inside. He immediately noticed three things. One, the cave was used as a makeshift home by someone. Two, nobody was home right now. Three, a large assortment of old and unknown books was strewn across the ground.

Forgetting everything else, Talwyn stepped inside and grabbed one of the books. Examining it, he realized it was indeed quite old. Unable to listen to his better judgment, he sat down, legs crossed and started studying the ancient texts within, trying to decipher the strange and unknown language.

[Willowsong]

((It's okay with me, xP
Houdini wanted to post, too, though))

After a while, the hole was deep enough, and Willowsong climbed out of the small hole, rubbing some dirt off her now dirty ivory skin.
She interrupted her song briefly to sniff again, looking at the spider corpse with a frown. Shortly after, she resumed singing, which slowly turned into a hum again.
Carefully, the young witch placed the spider's eight-legged body into the hole, before closing her eyes for a moment, remembering the spider's formerly human face. After that, Willowsong turned, heading back towards her cave, half-way to the cave, she stuck the wooden stick into the ground. While she was looking down, she spotted some foot steps in the wet mud, but they were not her own. There was a single trace of her own small bare feet, but there was a quite large pair of boot prints.
Pursing her lips, Willowsong continued on her way back to the cave, but still humming.

After entering her small cave, Willowsong immediately spotted her visitor. A large man with blueish skin. That alone was odd enough, but he was reading through her books. Or at least, trying to.

It wasn't the first visitor Willowsong had in her cave, almost everyday there was a wolf or even just a squirrel looking through her stuff. This one was different, of course, but Willowsong decided to treat it like the others, either.
Respect his silence and give him his distance.

Quietly singing on, Willowsong strolled past him, and picked a small leather jar out of one of her improvised 'cup-boards' that were formed out of stone and clay.
After having retrieved that, she quietly made her way past the visitor, deciding to offer him something to drink if he was still here when she returned. Rummaging through some furs on the floor, she started to look for something.

[Talwyn]

Still trying to translate the book, Tal's mind took little notice of anything else. His mind registered that someone must be getting closer as the humming was getting louder and louder, but he was so focused on the books that he ignored it. With a sigh, he closed the book and carefully put it back on the floor as he grabbed a new one.

Scanning the pages, his frustration started to grow. Nothing looked even remotely familiar! He ignored the alarm bells going off in his mind, as he flipped back to the first page to give the book a more thorough examination. After several pages he saw movement from the corner of his eyes and jumped up. Completely startled and his sword drawn half way already, he gazed upon the young woman rummaging through, as Tal assumed, her stuff

He looked upon her like one would upon an opponent in a battle tournament, ready for battle. Like many others, Talwyn had heard the rumors of a wicked witch, but this girl seemed harmless. Relaxing once more, he let the sword slide back into it's scabbard as the cautious look slowly made way for one of curiosity.

While taller then average, Talwyn was not a large man by any means. The low ceiling however, only managed to exaggerate his length, making it seem like he towered over the girl. Despite this though, Tal felt slightly embarrassed. First he let himself be startled by her, and now he realized his cowl had not been covering his face allowing her a good look at his face. Gesturing to the books strewn about the cave, he finally spoke. "Are these yours?"

[Willowsong]

Willowsong finally found what she was looking for, when the man suddenly jumped up and nearly drew out of his sword. The young witch pressed herself against the wall, staring at the scabbard with big eyes before the tall man finally decided to holster it again. As the sword was back in the holster, Willowsong eased up again and pulled out the small statuette of a human, looking it over, before nodding satisfiedly. Just then her visitor decided to speak.

"Are these yours?"

The deep voice was unusual, most of nature's voices were light, like the birds' or squirrels' voices. Wolves had a deep voice, but only when they growled.

Willowsong looked over at the books, nodding and giving an innocent smile.
"Do you like them?"

Her voice was beautiful and strangely hypnotic to most, but that was in no way in Willowsong's intent. It just lay in her nature.

[Talwyn]

((Forgot to mention, if HD wants to join in he's more then welcome so long as you're okay with it. It's your thread after all, I'm just going along for the ride ))

The girl's melodic voice sounded beautiful, yet there was something strange with it. When she spoke, he could feel something tug on the back of his mind. Normally this would alert him... but her voice was strangely soothing and calming. Because of this, it took him a second to realize the girl had asked him a question.

Shaking off the strange feeling, his reply sounded slightly wary. "I do not recognize the language." He confessed as he once more started feeling slightly frustrated at the fact he couldn't read them. "Do you know the language they are written in?"Even as he asked the question though, his wariness grew.

There was definitely something strange about this girl and the longer he was staring at her, the more and more Talwyn became convinced. All myths and legends had a fraction of truth in them. Could this girl possibly be the source of the rumors about the witch called Willowsong?

[Willowsong]

Willowsong brushed some dirt off the statuette, smiling to herself, before seemingly only then remembering his question.

"I do not recognize the language. Do you know the language they are written in?"

Willowsong brought her green eyes on the bluish man, giggling, but again with that hypnotic effect.
"Tis'laczia.", she said, her tongue temporarily turning into a dragon's forked one as she said the name, before it turned back into the human one.

With that, she got up to her feet and left the cave without saying anything else.
But Willowsong was still visible from the cave, and she could be seen pouring the contents of that leather jar into the grave she had dug, onto the spider. After that task was done, Willowsong pulled the stick back out of the soil and began closing the hole. She looked up briefly, giving Talwyn yet another innocent and curious smile before diverting her attention back to the grave.
After only moments a small mound had developed, and Willowsong placed the statuette on it, and stuck the stick back into the soil.
She rubbed her bare arms, slightly shivering, but didn't move away from the fresh grave.

[Talwyn]

His eyes went wide as he saw her tongue change into a dragon like, forked tongue and then back to a regular human one. Her giggling once again made him feel something tugging the back of his mind. "Tis'laczia." He repeated her answer, but the girl was already on her way out of the cave, the tugging on his mind weakening with every step she took.

Remaining in the cave, Talwyn crossed his arms and stared at his feet, thinking about what to do. Looking up again, he noticed she was giving him another one of those innocent smiles and he nodded to her before turning his attention back to the situation at hand.

Able to think clearly once more, he assumed the girl was doing something to his mind, whether she was aware of it or not however he could not tell. At the very least, the sweet and innocent personality did not come across as faked. Plus, so far she hadn't done anything to harm him.

Still... if being near the girl would affect his mind, things might get dangerous even if she did not intend any harm. Looking at the books once more, his mind was playing a game of tug-of-war.

In the end, his curiosity, and obsession with thoroughly checking out every possible chance of changing back to normal, managed to overcome his logic that staying might be dangerous.

Emerging from the cave, he walked over to Willowsong and stood beside her silently, looking at the grave. Whatever it was that was tugging on his mind had returned now that he was once again near the girl, though it was weaker then before.

"The books in the cave..." He started off oh so tactfully. "You know the language they are written in, so am I correct in assuming you can read them? If you can, would you mind telling me what is written in them?"

(( DONE! ^__^ ))

[Willowsong]

Willowsong didn't stir as the young man from the cave joined her at the grave. She pushed some of her black hair out of her face as her visitor began to speak again.

"The books in the cave...You know the language they are written in, so am I correct in assuming you can read them? If you can, would you mind telling me what is written in them?"

A sad smile appeared on her lips, and Willowsong spoke again, and oddly her voice seemed to have a 'flanging effect' in the head of her visitor.
"Secrets of old. Change your physical appearance in this world, control the elements, spread the forest. More, but I do not seek to abuse its power."

Shaking her head, Willowsong squatted, taking some soil off the fresh grave, then letting it drop back onto the little mound as a single green sprout emerged.

Smiling at the sign of life, the young witch looked up at her visitor with glowing green eyes that looked right back into Talwyn's ones.
"Do you want some berry juice?"
The hypnotic effect was stronger than ever as Willowsong began to enjoy having this visitor. Again it was an unintentional effect on her side, but it just lay in her nature.

[Talwyn]

He never even heard her full answer. His head was spinning at the mere mention of "Change your physical appearance in this world". Never mind the odd echo her voice produced in his mind. Never mind the strange hypnotic effect she was having on him. Snapping his mind back to the situation at hand, he grabbed the girls shoulders firmly as her glowing, green eyes looked into his own.

"Change your appearance? Are you sure? You must help me with these texts! You will won't you? I implore you! Please!" He sounded desperate. And well, he was. For the past few years he had been traveling from one end of the country to the other and back again. The longest he had stayed in one place was a week.

Each and every time, his hope had been crushed and now he had become desperate. So desperate in fact, that he would cling to any sliver of hope. As such, his expression was an odd mixture of hope, fear, determination and desperation. He would go to extreme lengths to fulfill his wish.

[Willowsong]

Willowsong's eyes widened as Talwyn's hand touched her skin, and she quickly pulled her body out of his reach, jumping up out of her crouched position.

"Change your appearance? Are you sure? You must help me with these texts! You will won't you? I implore you! Please!"

The glowing effect in her eyes subsided, as Willowsong's smile disappeared and she just looked at him like a scared animal. Only after it was made sure he wasn't attacking her, she seemed to calm back down.

"W-why? Aren't you happy with the body you were given?", she asked, rubbing her ivory-skinned shoulder. Her heart racing from the little incident, she turned away from her visitor, walking away from the grave.
She stopped at the side of the field, where a small mound of stones was standing. There was a little jar of red berries there she had collected earlier this morning, and began grinding them into a juice, her green eyes cautiously watching Talwyn.

[Talwyn]

His eyes narrowed in response to her question as his arms dropped and his shoulders sagged. "Happy?" Was all he said with a flat voice as he stared at her, his eyes dull. The hypnotizing effect gone in an instant. "Happy?" This time a hint of anger had crept into his voice.

"HA! Don't make me laugh! How could anyone be happy with... with this!" He gestured wildly with his arms and his eyes were just burning with rage. "Of course one such as you could never understand! No one can!" Shaking his head in disbelief, his outburst was far from over.

"Happy? How could anyone be happy with something like this forced upon them!? My entire life, ruined by the single act of a madman! And for what you ask? To be a guinea pig! A mere test! It didn't even serve a purpose! He only did it because he could! And to see if it was possible!"

He had started pacing around during his outburst and as he stopped in front of a tree, he raised his arm and punched the tree with a mighty blow as he shouted. "I never asked for this!" His fist still against the bark, he was standing slightly bend forward. Eyes trained at the ground, looking depressed. His arm shaking.

[Willowsong]

While Talwyn had his outburst, Willowsong stopped grinding the berries and just tried to pull her head back into her coat like a turtle, beginning to become scared of this visitor. He was unlike anyone she had ever met.
Appearantly this was not his actual appearance, but Willowsong wasn't too surprised by that. Few humans had blue skin, so this one must have been transformed by something, or someone.

After it was clear he wouldn't harm her, Willowsong resumed grinding the berries, but cautiously watched on as the man finished his rage by punching a tree.

"I never asked for this!"

"Do you think I did?", Willowsong responded innocently, finishing up her juice by pouring it into another leather jar.
"At least you know what your body used to be like. I never knew."
She didn't even sound sad, instead she began humming a tune again.
Unbeknownst to her and totally against her will, her magic already resumed in its attempt to take hold of this man, but he obviously had a strong will.
To aid its cause, her magic began to conjure up a thin fog that began to creep over the ground. Willowsong herself didn't notice it, too busy humming and making juice.
It didn't look unnatural after all. Apart from its sudden appearance, it was normal for the forest to have these small fog layers just above the ground this early in the morning. What was different about this was that it would try to make the people within the fog tired and off-guard.

[Talwyn]

Turning around to face her, he responded in anger. "At least you do not scare anyone when they merely gaze upon you girl. At least you..." He broke off mid sentence, as he noticed she looked a tad scared of him by now. Almost pointing out that even she seemed scared of him, he swallowed his words.

No, this girl had not been afraid of him. He had done that by himself with his outburst of rage. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and seemed to relax again. "My... apologies. Here I go, almost scaring the first person I met in years, that has not treated me like a monster."

With a sigh he walked over to her, but did so with care, obviously not wanting to scare her further. Squatting down in front of her, he managed a weak, but genuine smile. "Also, I do not believe I introduced myself. My name is Talwyn Greyoak. Can I have the honor of knowing yours?"

[Willowsong]

"My... apologies. Here I go, almost scaring the first person I met in years, that has not treated me like a monster."

An unsure smile passed over Willowsong's face as she tried to figure out whether this man still posed a danger. But his outburst seemed to have passed, and she found the courage to meet his gaze.

"Also, I do not believe I introduced myself. My name is Talwyn Greyoak."

"Greyoak...", Willowsong looked up at the trees surrounding them, smiling.
"Like tree..."

"Can I have the honor of knowing yours?"

At this, the witch shrugged, her green eyes looking down to meet Talwyn's.
"I don't know. People call me names, but I do not know what my real one is."

She looked down at the leather jar in her dirty hands, then raised it up to Talwyn, offering the juice to her visitor.