The Forest's Songs

[Talwyn]

He remained motionless as she asked what he was going to do now. To be honest, he hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "I... I honestly don't know." Admitting that made the defeat seem even worse. "I hadn't thought that far ahead to be honest. But it..." With a sigh, he tried to calm down again.

"This is not working. That much is certain by now. Do not worry, I do not blame you. It is my mind that is not strong enough." Turning around, he peered into the dark corner she used to hide. "The fault is entirely mine. I thought I could deal with a 'meager' curse. But I cannot." Once again, his fist was slammed into the ground as the frustration he felt reached a critical point.

[Willowsong]

"The fault is entirely mine. I thought I could deal with a 'meager' curse. But I cannot."

Willowsong tilted her head, trying to examine Talwyn's features better from the distance.

"You are still alive and yourself. That's what counts for me. There are many beings in this world, you are not the only one to be cursed."

She smiled weakly, although he couldn't see it.
"There has to be someone out there who can help you. If you stay with me... you will either become immune or completely enslaved by my magic."

"You are the bravest man I have ever encountered, Talwyn."
Willowsong sniffed once, adding.
"But that is not saying much."

[Talwyn]

At her telling him he was the bravest man she had ever encountered, he bursted into laughter. "Me? Brave? Hardly. Most would say I am merely stubborn and reckless." Getting up, he walked over to the corner she was sitting in and squatted down in front of her.

"I can't really give you anything in return for your help... Well... nothing material. But I think I know what it is you want and need." Without warning, he pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you my friend. For everything." Not trusting his own voice to remain steady, he kept it at a mere whisper as he embraced and hugged. Before quickly releasing her and backing off. "I'm sorry!"

His face turned as red as a tomato as he realized she wasn't wearing anything. Luckily for him, the darkness hid her well enough so he couldn't see her. "I'm sorry!" He shouted again. "I didn't know you were... well... you know..."

[Willowsong]

"Thank you my friend. For everything."

Willowsong smiled sadly.
"It's alri---"

In that moment he hugged her, before quickly pushing back, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were... well... you know..."

Confused, Willowsong looked down at herself, then back at Talwyn, tilting her head.
"That fur wasn't a part of me...", she muttered, wondering what had shocked him so much.

[Talwyn]

He had already raised his hands, almost expecting her to slap him, or worse. "Wait... so... you're not mad I touched you while you were... well... you know..." He couldn't even bring himself to say it, but he did relax slightly.

"Well... being all... without anything... in the presence of another is err... you see, in human society. It's... it's not right..." He cut off there. His thought weren't coherent and he was doing an awful job at explaining to her. "In any case, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention."

[Willowsong]

"Well... being all... without anything... in the presence of another is err... you see, in human society. It's... it's not right...In any case, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention."

Willowsong tilted her head again, shaking her head in misunderstanding.
"You're not...allowed to hug each other? Is that it? No, we hugged before...", she rubbed her fingers together, trying to solve this riddle.
"Oh, maybe you're not allowed to hug in the darkness?"
She looked over to the bright cave entrance.
"We can go over there if it is a problem...", she offered.

[Talwyn]

"NO!" He responded all too quickly to her offer of going to the brighter entrance. "It has nothing to do with the hugging or darkness." Here he was, a man brave enough to venture into ancient ruins. Fighting off trolls and other monsters never bothered him. But the thought of a single woman, sitting there, without covering her self... now that scared the living daylights out of him.

Scanning the cave, he was unable to see anything she could use to cover herself up. With a sigh, he untied his cape and tossed it to her. "Just please... cover yourself with that would you?" Turning his back to her, he hoped she would understand now.

[Willowsong]

"It has nothing to do with the hugging or darkness."

Willowsong stood up, stepping next to Talwyn and rose to speak but he wouldn't look at her. Did she have something on her face?
Then Talwyn pulled his cape of and tossed it to her. Willowsong catched it, looking down at it.

"Just please... cover yourself with that would you?"

Somewhat confused, Willowsong did as her friend wanted it, and wrapped it around her, compared to Talwyn anyway, small body.
"What, because I wasn't wearing my gown? But I wasn't wearing clothes in my other shapes, too!", she asked, perplexed.

Shrugging, she figured maybe Talwyn didn't want to talk about it. Maybe he had a human-in-clothes fetish, but who knew.

"Anyway...", she begun, unsure what to say now.

[Talwyn]

"Your other shapes didn't have human private parts you were flaunting around!" Was his only retort as his face turned an even deeper red. "It's... just not decent..." Awkwardly he scratched the back of his head as he refused to look at her.

Just standing there with her, both not knowing what to say, his stomach growled loudly all of a sudden. Laughing sheepishly, he, at last, faced her again. "So.... you too? I'm starving." Obviously, he was trying to steer the conversation to something not awkward.

[Willowsong]

"It's... just not decent..."

"Not decent...?", she asked, now amused. Humans really were weird.
In that moment, Talwyn's stomach grumbled loudly again. Willowsong smiled briefly, rolling her shoulders.

"So.... you too? I'm starving."

"I could go hunting again... for you.", she said, tilting her head as two spider legs came out of the cape, twitching slightly. As the hairy appendages touched her human arms, she stirred slightly, and the spider arms retracted again.
"Sorry, they tend to have a will of their own. Now that we're going hunting again...", she grinned.

[Talwyn]

Recalling her last hunting trip, he had to resist the urge to look disgusted. After all, she was trying to be friendly and all. And truth be told, he didn't really feel like hunting himself seeing as how he still was a little wobbly on his feet. Thinking about her offer he suddenly had an idea.

"I would be honored if you would. But, just a thought, but could you not hunt as a hawk or wolf?" He asked her. At least those animals would not leave as much icky stuff on the prey as a spider... "And let me cut up the spoils this time would you... The spider stuff was... quite disgusting to be honest. No offense." He added quickly.

[Willowsong]

"I would be honored if you would. But, just a thought, but could you not hunt as a hawk or wolf?"

Willowsong shrugged passively.
"Sure I could. It's just that a sting from my spider venom usually kills my prey in one clean swipe.

"And let me cut up the spoils this time would you... The spider stuff was... quite disgusting to be honest. No offense."

"Oh...", she replied, running a hand through her hair.
"Sorry... but as a spider, it seems very tasty and natural to me. I don't know what it's like from your perspective..."

Willowsong suddenly stepped behind Talwyn, wrapped the cape back around him and then giggled slightly, before her innocent giggle turned into an unhuman yelp. The sound of shifting bones again, before a wolf with black-grey fur patterns stepped next to Talwyn, and looked up to him with green eyes, appearantly waiting for any further wishes or instructions before it left to hunt.

[Talwyn]

Her giggle brought another wave of magic to his mind, but now that he was fully in control he could repel it without much trouble. Noticing she was wrapping his cape back around him, he kept his eyes trained forward.

When Willowsong was done with her transformation and stepped besides him, he finally looked at her again. "Amazing..." He whispered. "Well, good luck. I'll go get some firewood while you hunt." With that he stepped out of the cave.

[Willowsong]

The wolf barked once before sprinting off on all fours, its fuzzy frame disappearing into the foggy woods of Selkia Forest.
Willowsong was gone for a rather long time, nearly twice as long as the spider.
But at last, the wolf returned, walking backwards into the clearing in front of Willowsong's cave, its fangs dug into the bloodied fur of a stag. After pausing for a little while, as the wolf panted heavily with its long, bloodied tongue sticking out, it pulled again, before finally arriving in front of the cave.

After that, Willowsong sat down next to her prey, appearantly proud of her accomplishment, but something about her position was off. The wolf's fur at the stomach area was bloodied, appearantly wounded from the stag's antlers. But Willowsong seemed to ignore that, too busy panting and recovering from the long, wearisome pulling.

[Talwyn]

Having finished with getting firewood, Tal sat down at the stream. Splashing water on his face before drinking some, he gazed at his reflection. Frustration mounted once more and he threw a pebble at his own reflection. Resting his head in the palm of his hand he tried to calm down.

When he noticed Willowsong had returned, he got up and walked over to her. Forcing a smile on his face he raised his hand in greeting. "Congratu...." His voice died out and the forced smile made way for earnest concern. Rushing over to her, he sat down. "You're wounded!" Looking into her green eyes, he turned pale. "All because you couldn't hunt like you usually do right? It's all my fault..."