Coins exchanged hands. The animal cries echoed throughout the forest, seeming both eerie and comforting at the same time. Trees shot up from the ground, seeming to soar on forever and allowing only a scant few rays of light to pierce the heavy foliage. It certainly made for a breath-taking scene, with various woodland shrubs all around, and rays of light arching through at various random points.
It had been a long journey for the wolf, through mountains, hills, and all other forms of nature in order to arrive at this strange and mystical forest, and finally reach his destination. Golden eyes locked with the dull brown of the human, each studying the other in excess caution. Yet the coins had finally changed hands, and both expressions relaxed.
“One thanks you for your services,” came the voice of the wolf. The other man only nodded and turned back into his house. For a moment the wolf watched as the other stepped into his dwelling, and shut the door. It was odd indeed, a human living alone in the middle of such a place. Yet even so, the man seemed to live well and content, and the reasons for such were unimportant to the wolf. With one last look, he turned away from the small house and pressed on into the woods. As he walked, the wolf glanced down to the three small bottles held securely upon his belt; the reason for this journey. Each bottle held within a unique mixture…a potion if you will, of a powerful and even dangerous sort. His eyes made their way back up and glanced out before him, warily darting this way in that, always alert for any sign of danger which decided to happen upon him. For a number of hours he traveled this way, pressing through the dense foliage and striking rays of sunlight. At long last he stopped, reaching a small flat clearing where the light broke through the barricade of trees to illuminate the small area. The wolf made his way to a large rock at the center of the clearing, and sat down upon it. With slow methodical movements bred of extreme caution, the wolf loosened two of the vials, and set them each aside. Reaching around the wolf took off his pack, opening it and setting aside a number of various things. In the center of the rock, he placed two tall thin vials upright, and secured both tightly to the rock with thin strips of leather. Also set aside was a small quiver, containing abnormally short crossbow bolts. Curious indeed, as these bolts seemed fit for a weapon half the size of a normal light-crossbow.
Once again, the wolf reached into his pack, this time withdrawing a slender vial of a thick, milky white substance. The viscous fluid looked almost like glue as the wolf poured half into one of the upright vials, and half into the other. Replacing the now-empty flask back into his pack, the wolf took a deep breath, picking up one of the two bottles and slowly uncorking it. Ever so slowly, the wolf tipped the bottle over the right vial, and let a few drops of the greenish liquid settle into the white pasty substance. Re-corking the bottle, the wolf placed it aside and picked up the other. His motion was the same, letting a few drops of the (red this time) liquid drop into the left vial of white fluid before re-corking and replacing it.
Now the wolf reached for the quiver, dumping it’s contents of abnormally small bolts upon the rocks and dividing them up into two separate piles. With an unshaken and slow hand, the wolf dipped each bolt a quarter of the way (head first) into the vial, withdrawing it and blowing on the liquid until it had hardened around the small projectile. He repeated this process until all of the arrows were coated, one pile for each of the two vials.
Finally, his work done, the wolf capped both vials, and placed them in his pack, along with the other strange items and two bottles. The quiver he placed on his right side, resting securely upon his belt. With a smile, the wolf withdrew a small devise which had been attached to his belt, pointed it to a tree. It was a curious thing, looking akin to a crossbow…only much smaller, barely a foot in length. Reaching around with his left hand, the wolf withdrew one of the arrows that had been dipped in the red-tinted fluid and loaded it into the miniature crossbow. Taking careful aim, he pulled the trigger, the bolt streaking forth with surprising speed and striking the nearby tree soundly. With a loud boom akin to a thunderclap, the bolt exploded, leaving a deep gaping hole where it had pieced the bark.
After a nod of satisfaction, the wolf replaced the small crossbow, and resumed his trek through the strange forest…
She was leant back against a tree, golden tresses pulled into a messy bun that rested lightly at the nape of her neck. Her seat was on the ground, back resting against the base of her chosen tree – a weathered birch tree, the bark peeling slightly, as it did on most birches at those certain times of the year. Coincidentally, her spot of rest was on the edge of the clearing that the man had chosen for his little chemistry lab, and at the sound of footsteps moving through the woods, her eyes flickered open, darting left, right, and then fixing on the man making his way to the center of the clearing. Her eyes were… startling, to say the least.
With depths much like the ocean, seemingly bottomless, their hue appeared, at first glance, to be ebony. Upon closer inspection of those entrancing orbs, though, it would be easily discovered that they were, in truth, a deep, expressive blue. Naturally wide, those eyes were exactly the kind that could set a spell on a man, especially when they caught the light – when natural sunlight was reflected from those almost-eerie irises, it revealed shards of a silvery white hue. They were spellbindingly unique eyes – but for now, they just looked to be a dark, dull ebony color.
As the man began his mixings, she leaned forward, bending that slender frame slightly as she watched him. She was suprisingly quiet for apparently just having woken up from a nap, but then again, you never know what sorts of creatures you'd meet in this neck of the woods, no? Before her eyes, the man mixed a few potions - harmless enough - and got out a quiver of arrows. A thoughtful frown furrowed the woman's brow delicately at that, the expression curling the corners of those rosebud lips downwards a bit. Usually she didn't intrude upon others, but his activities seemed.. possibly threatening. Giving him a few moments longer to prove himself of worthy intentions, she waited it out, head tilted faintly.
That particular tilt of her head gave her golden blonde tresses a faint shimmer as they caught the light from overhead, throwing back the sunlight that poured through the leaves above in a very light reddish hue - apparently there was strawberry blonde undertones to that soft gold. As he started to leave, she made her move as well, disappearing into the trees in a roundabout way of keeping her eye on him. She followed his movements towards the edge of the clearing - and then, as he fired an arrow at his chosen target, her already-wide eyes widened still more, and she couldn't help but let out a gasp of shock at the explosion that ensued and the result of that thunder-clap. She certainly hadn't trusted him, but she hadn't thought he was quite so... so violent. Not a really good first impression for him to make..
Tears filled her eyes. She, as a nymph, knew that he'd probably just seriously someone, or something, other than that tree. Many creatures in these woods based their lives off a single tree, making it their home and, thusly, their lifeline. Instinctively, as soon as the man had resumed his hike, she darted towards the tree, hands running over the gaping wound anxiously and muttering a few words under her breath - a minor healing spell, it seemed, for the hold in the tree began to close up gradually. Usually those spells worked on just humans or animals, but it could be adapted for plants - they just took longer than usual. Once that spell was set into progress, her head turned in the direction that the man had headed, the faintest of frowns darkening her exquisite features. It wasn't a thoughtful frown - but more of a disapproving one.