Nature's Wrath

[Slaner]

The rich mountain air brought a smile to Tolnen’s face. It had been awhile since he had been able to feel a breeze floating through the sky, the crisp morning air kissing against his cheeks, the birds soaring overhead. It truly was magnificent to him. It was the beginning of spring in the mountains and some snow still remained on the hills.

Tolnen walked on down an old road, watching and hearing the beauty of nature. A root from a tree caught Tolnen off guard and sent him tumbling down to the hard ground. He rubbed the dirt off of his face and laughed at himself, in too good of a mood to care about his embarrassment. He jumped to his feet and continued down the road.

A strange smell filled his nose suddenly. It smelled like a mixture of smoke and spice. The sweet smoky smell made Tolnen’s stomach roar. It had been some time since he had had a decent meal. He licked his lips hungrily and made his way closer to the smell. Growing more and more curious as he grew closer to what was awaiting him, he had not realized that he was not the only one attracted to the aroma. A roar, far more frightening than his stomach, came from behind Tolnen. A large tiger was bearing its teeth at Tolnen, its eyes piercing his very soul with their hatred and hunger. Tolnen’s palms and forehead grew sweaty as he looked for a way too escape. The tiger pounced at him, but not soon enough. Tolnen rolled to the side and quickly climbed into a tree, out of range of the large cat’s claws. The tiger tried to climb up to Tolnen, but gravity proved too much for the cat as it slammed to the ground time after time. One final crash to the ground signaled to the cat that this meal was not worth it. The cat walked off, licking its bruises and cuts. A sigh escaped Tolnen’s mouth as he watched the cat vanish into the trees.
“I guess that nature isn’t always beautiful,” he chuckled.

He jumped to the ground after several minutes and continued on his way. The smell still lingered in the area and still Tolnen’s curiosity pushed him forward. He found himself in front of a small cabin. A wide smile came to Tolnen, happy that he had finally found a place to stay awhile. He went up to the door and knocked several times. No one had come to the door. He rapped on the door once again. Still no answer. Tolnen decided to let himself in after no response came. The door was unlocked and flew wide as he opened it. It lead to a huge living room with a fire crackling in the fireplace, a table in the center with a pot filled with steaming stew, and a several other items strewn across the room. They must have gone to get more firewood or something, thought Tolnen, so he decided to make himself comfortable. He sat in a cushioned chair near the fire place. It was so comfortable with the warmth of the fire acting as a blanket that Tolnen could not fight the drowsiness away. He fell into a deep slumber.

[jada]

Lyndi had just gone for a walk to let the stew cool down for a minute. She also had to admit she needed a bit more firewood. Lyndi gathered as much as she could and headed back to the cabin she had found.

When she opened the door Lyndi was a little shocked to see a man had come into the cabin and was now sleeping in a comfy chair by the fireplace. I'll just let him rest a while longer, he probably smelled the stew. I'm not suprised animals haven't found there way here yet. I think i put too much spices in my stew.

Lyndi made herself a bowl and made her visitor one. She left hers on the table for a minute and walked over to her sleeping companion,"Excuse me sir?" Lyndi said ligtly shakeing her visitor. Trying to wake him," Would you like some stew? I figured you must be ."

[Slaner]

Tolnen jumped to his feet suddenly as the the woman woke him up. His face grew red from embarrassment.
“Oh I am so very sorry for intruding on your home, mam. It was just so comfy and the food smelled great, so it proved quite tempting.”
The girl seemed no older than Tolnen did. Her pointy ears confirmed that she was of elven lineage. Her skin was fair and her eyes were beautiful. Tolnen felt so ashamed to have intruded on her house.
“Are you sure you want me to stay here. I did break into your house after all?” he said, adding some humor into the conversation.
“If it is alright with you, I would love to stay.”
Tolnen walked over to the pot of stew and filled a bowl with it. He didn’t waste anytime on digging in.

In minutes, his bowl was empty and Tolnen’s roaring stomach finally calmed itself.
“That was great,” he commented. “You are a great cook.”
He walked up to the elven woman and took a bow.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t formally introduced myself. My name is Tolnen. And you are?”

[jada]

Lyndi giggled a little, "This isn't my house, I found it just as you had.I was traveling along and decided to peek around and nobody was here, I needed a place to stay and regroup and this seemed safe enough, so i cleaned it up a bit and have been staying here for the past few days."

Lyndi went back over to the small table and grabbed her bowl of stew and began slowly eating it," Thank you for the food compliments" She smiled. She headed over to the fire and sat down to stay warm. The glow reflected in her eyes makeing them sparkle

"Hello Tolnen, My name is Lyndi. Your welcome to stay as long as you like because I believe this place has been abbandoned. I wouldn't mind company either. I've been alone for so long."

Lyndi turned from the fire to look at Tolnen," So other then smelling my stew what brings you to this place? There must be some reason for you to be wandering around?"

Lyndi herself was a wanderer, she had no family or friends. She was alone in the world and searching for her purpose and a new life. "If your planning on traveling would you mind if I went with you? I really don't want to be alone anymore." Lyndi didn't want to tell him too much about her past. Not yet. Lyndi didn't want pitty friends, she wanted real friends. Tolnen seemed like he could be a great friend. He was very kind, and has wonderful manners. Lyndi was quite fond of him and they had only just met.

[Slaner]

Tolnen wondered to himself about his new acquaintance. She had just met him after all and she wants to travel with him? As strange as it seemed, Tolnen somehow knew that Lyndi was a good person and he felt safe around her in a strange way. He smiled at Lyndi.
“I would be honored to travel with you,” he remarked as he bowed his head once again.

He got to his feet and walked around the cabin. As nice of a cabin it was, they couldn’t stay here much longer.
“I think we should leave soon. If we stay here much longer, we might catch the attention of someone or something and I don’t think we want that.”
He walked up to the window and looked out. As he had guessed, his tiger friend was back and it wasn’t alone.
“Too late,” Tolnen said under his breath.

He walked up to Lyndi and looked into her eyes.
“Do you trust me?”
He pulled her up and ran outside. The cats circled around the pair, watching and waiting for them to make a wrong move. Tolnen unsheathed his dagger and began waving it in front of the beasts.
“I’ll distract them for some time. That will give you the chance to run. I noticed you can use a bow, so I want you to find a place to take place and fire, you understand?”
Tristran looked at Lyndi and gave her a wink.
“Don’t worry,” he smirked. “I’ll be ok. Just go.”
He rushed the tigers and quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the tiger’s claws. He sprinted passed them, screaming and hooting the entire way. The tigers gave chase, leaving Lyndi her opportunity.

[jada]

Lyndi had a better idea. She herself shifted into a tiger and ran to Tolnen, She stood in front of him blocking the rest of the tigers from him. She gave a low warning growl to the tigers and a few ran off leaveing four tigers.

Lyndi growled," If your go find food else where, perhaps some stew in that cabin will fill your stomachs but you will not eat my friend!"
She was speaking tiger so Tolnen couldn't understand her, she just hoped he'd stay still for a few moments.

"Your stew will not feed our whole clan! We will eat you and your friend if you don't leave him for us now!" Growled one of the tigers.

"No you won't!" Lyndi was done with her furry non-friends, she shifted into a large dark navy blue scaled dragon. She blew a small stream of fire twords the tigers and they all took off running into the woods for cover.

Lyndi then shifted back into an elf," Your right I think we should go, I'm sorry I didn't have time to tell you I can shapeshift. We have to find someplace to talk safely, but for now I can shift into a horse and you can ride on my back."

Lyndi quickly transformed into a palimino horse. She bent her knees a little in the front so Tolnen could climb up easily and she rode off into the forest with Tolnen on her back.
About an hour later Lyndi slowed down to a walk, she looked around to find a calm forest with beautiful singing birds. It seemed safe enough to stop for a little talk. Once again Lyndi bent her knees so Tolnen could slide off easier. Then she shifted back into her elven form.

"Once again I'm sorry for not telling you I could shapeshift. We didn't really have time. I tried to offer the tigers some of my stew but they weren't too interested. I'd really rather not kill them if I don't have too. After all I kindof am one myself. Do you still want to travel with me? I will understand if you don't." Lyndi was a little afraid she would lose her knew friend. She was really afriad she might have scared him turning into a dragon.

[Slaner]

OOC: Sorry it took so long to reply.


Tolnen was in disbelief. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined someone such as this. His new acquaintance was more than “strange”. At first, all Tolnen could do was stare. First a tiger, then a dragon, then a horse? What was she really. Lyndi’s words passed through Tolnen, unheard. The disbelief was too strong for Tolnen to shake off easily.

He finally came back to reality to see the elven form standing before him once again.
“What happened? How did you..?” Tolnen gasped.
He was at a loss for words. After a moment of collecting himself, he turned his attention to Lyndi who was obviously afraid that Tolnen would be scared of her. Tolnen grabbed Lyndi’s arm.
“Thank you, Lyndi. You saved my life back there. I owe you everything.”
A warm smile came across his face, letting Lyndi know everything would be ok.
“Let’s set up camp, what do you say?”

An hour later, the sun beginning to set, the two had a fire crackling and a shelter of tree branches and stones built to protect them from rain. The two sat around the warm fire. The flames danced in the crisp night air, performing flips and twirls. Tolnen looked back at Lyndi, full of questions.
“I need to ask you a few questions. What exactly are you? How can you change your form? Where are you from?”

[jada]

"Well I'm a Shapeshifter, which means I can transform myself into animals. I was born in a small village that has been destroyed and I've lost everything important to me, so I've just been traveling since. I'm trying to build a new life but I haven't met up with anyone as kind as you." Lyndi gave him a little smile.

"Thank you so much for sticking around and being a wonderful friend." Lyndi wanted to lean over and hug him but she wasn't sure he would want a hug.

"I really feel awful for not telling you before, but there really arn't many shifters anymore, and those of us that can shift don't usually reveal it. But I had to tell you. As for saving you life, I couldn't let you die, You are to kind of a person." She flashed himanother smile and retired to looking at the fire.

[Slaner]

((OOC: You have to give me more to write back to. ))

It was strange for Tolnen. Not because she was a shape shifter, but because he didn’t really care. He felt that Lyndi was more than a shape shifter, she was a great friend.
“Well I’m glad you told me,” he commented.
“We all have secrets. Some bigger than others, but you shouldn’t feel ashamed of who you are. You should be proud. If others don’t accept you for who you are then forget about them. They lost out.”
Tolnen returned a smile to Lyndi.

Tolnen grew tired and exhausted after the day’s excitement, so he decided to call it a night.
“I’m going to call it a day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He waved good bye to Lyndi and headed for the small shelter. Sleep quickly took a hold of him as he lay down on the ground.

He found himself in a field, suddenly. It was a wheat filed and the sky was cloudy and dark. The wind rushed past him, knocking him over to the floor. The clouds grew darker and the winds howled. Lightning crashed to the ground, sending sparks flying. The wheat was ablaze and the thunder drummed in the sky. The inferno raged around Tolnen, engulfing him. The rain began to fall, though, putting the fire out slowly. Tolnen surveyed the land. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. The entire landscape was scorched. Not a single tree stood tall. The land was destroyed.

Tolnen awoke in the middle of the night, pouring sweat and breathing heavy. He got to his feet and walked over to the smoldering fire. A few embers still remained in the fire. Tolnen could not take his eyes off of the red sparks, remembering the dream vividly.

[jada]

"Good night," She said to him as he headed for the shelter.
Lyndi wanted to stay awake a little longer, but soon enough sleep took over all her thoughts.

Lyndi layed her head down on the dirt near the fire. She shifter into a tiger and her fur coat kept her warm. She could still smell the fire in her dreams.

*Later that night*

Lyndi woke up with a start. Something didn't smell right. Not literally though. Lyndi looked around and her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. Tolnen was awake and standing by the fire. He looked troubled.

Lyndi stood on all four of her furry legs and streched. She let out a roar of a yawn and shifted back into her elven form," Tolnen are you ok? It's the middle of the night. Is something troubleing you?"

Concern filled Lyndi's eyes," Do you want something to eat? Maybe you'll feel better?"

Maybe he just had a bad dream? Hopefully that's all, but something seems wrong about the night.