The wind blew softly through the trees around the great Lake Aelin, passing all the way through the large forest. The wind then passed a young woman, slowly spreading through her white hair. The woman was crouched on a branch high above one of the trees, the woman was wearing a red orange outfit, with a kind of light cream color around the edges, she also had a light purple colar around her neck with small studs around it. There was a Katana that lay by the womans side, she seemed to waiting on something, some kind of signal...

The woman then seen smoke raising into the air, this is when she finaly moved. Jumping onto the branches of other trees, steadily heading towards to smoke, her soft right hand fell upon the handle of her Katana. The woman drew the fine blade from its steady holster as she jumped to the next tree, she was near the place were the smoke was coming from now. Jumping higher up the trees now she could down onto a small campsite.

Her blade still in hand the assassin looked around to see who was staying at the small camp... it looked set up for one person... maybe two at the most... the assassin female began to slowly come down from the tree. Now on lowest branch of the tree she had a perfect view of the camp site. The small fire seemed to burning whatever was in the food pot... thats what had sent off the smoke. So who ever it was that was staying here had not intended to be seen.... the young woman who was called Leona Esteed heard a noise. It sounded like someone coming back to the camp. With this on mind Leona jumped higher into the tree again so as to not be seen... we.. not yet anyway, she would see who the camps creator was... and see if they were worth her time killing.

Those weren't footfalls, however. The steady clomping of ironshod hooves could be heard. Charlotte was travelling with a little more equipment than she liked to, and knew that sooner or later she would need to invest in a pack horse for her equipment. A great shield was strapped to her back, covering the pack she wore. The sheathe of a sword lay on her hip, and an eight foot lance graced one of her shoulders, as she held it in her free hand. The massive thing slapped into branches as she went, which made even more noise. On the other was a squirrel sized creature with three heads that yipped obnoxiously at passing birds.

"Quiet Lor! The birds have every right to live here!" She said to her cerberus. Pepper whined, for she sensed something odd about the camp ahead. Horse instincts were finely tuned, and Char knew to listen. Immediatly what once had been a carefree semblance turned to complete alert. A series of muffled command words left her mouth, and Lor darted into her backpack. Pepper trotted into the camp, and Char noted it was empty. Competely. This rang bad in her mind, especially considering that someone had left some food to cook.

Her eyes darted amongst the trees, and she spotted the slightest bit of movement. The branch wasn't moving quite right for the direction of wind they were in. Charlotte gulped as her own training by both of her parents shot back into her mind. She had just walked straight into an ambush, it seemed. Her hand stroked the hilt of her blade nervously.

"Come out and show yourself." Char shouted to the trees. A yip from her hidden backpack marked the shout.

At Char's shout, something did appear from where Leona was. It was a beautiful white fox, it's fur tinted with a soft purple colour. However, the oddest thing about the fox was that she had angelic wings sprouting from her sides. As the fox glided from the trees, its soft and small paws kissed the ground in a gentle and delicate landing, it's dark, ruby-red eyes blinking before gazing softly at the horse and girl. The fox's tail swayed behind it, and it's long, slender legs glimmered beautifully in the light.

Her fur appeared to be as soft as silk, and when touched it was proven. Except, her wings were that of an angel's; soft and feathery. She was a very odd fox, but very beautiful, and she stood taller than any fox; she stood almost as tall as the pack horse.

A very small grin spread across the fox's maw as it stepped towards the two, its ears perked atop her head and twitching slightly. Her wings were still spread out, incase she had to take flight again, and she blinked her soft eyes again before studying the girl alone, awaiting for her to have some sort of reaction. Her nostrils flared slightly as she sniffed at the air softly, making sure the animal and two-legged girl smelled of nothing evil; making sure the girl wasn't going to attack her.

(( If you want a pic of what she looks like currently, click here. Just keep in mind that she has dark, ruby-red eyes instead of blue :p ))

Leona still in the tree and the fox jumped down instead of her, this was the best thing about having a shapeshifer as your team mate. As the fox continued to look at the girl Leona stayed still, looking down at them both. She had her Katana in hand still ready to strike the woman if she was attack, her grip becoming tighter on the blades handle. Leona studied the woman on the horse, she was rather impresive.

Leona then looked at the weapons the woman had... very impresive... very impresive indead. She noted the work of the spear but that was also when Leona noticed the small cerberus pup she had... this brought an evil smirk upon her face, still looking down at the girl, her horse, her weapons and that pup.... Leona wanted that pup.... and she was going to try and get it.... but not if it meant near birth... even the pup was not worth that.

Leona still did not move an inch as she continued to watch them, her outfit which only went to above her knees was now creeping up slightly but still Leona stayed still... she did not want to blow her cover, not yet... not now.... not when Sophia was in range of an attack from this woman on the horse...

She looked at the little winged fox, with those ruby eyes. Char's guard visibly fell, but not mentally. She whispered another series of command words, and she dismounted her horse. Charlotte placed her lance in a holder specially designed for it, and her horse wandered off to find some grazing. Charlotte took her shield off of her back, looped her arm through it, and leaned on it's giant frame. She patted her sword happily now, as she looked to the wolf.

"Hmmm, hello sweety. I don't like foxes much, ya know. But you aren't half bad." Charlotte explained. She stood up off of her shield, and walked forwards to scratch under the little fox's chin. It was quite soft, but she never kept her eyes off Pepper, who grazed just within her vision. The little cerberus yipped a couple more times up into the tree, and Charlotte ignored it. It was safe in her pack, after all, who would be crazy enough to steal something from her? The little red and tan hound withdrew into the pack, and became silent.

"So, do you know who runs this little camp?" Charlotte inquired. All this trust was making her anxious, as her horse still looked uneasy.

As Charlotte dismounted her horse and walked towards her, Sophia drew her wings to her sides and folded them comfortably so that they wouldn't be in the way. When Charlotte's hand made contact with Sophia's soft fur, she closed her eyes slowly, keeping them open just barely so that she could still see what Charlotte was doing. However, she appeared to have her eyes completely closed.

When she reopened her eyes, Sophia's ears twitched again as the girl spoke her question. She shook her head, showing her that she understood what she had asked and that her answer was "no". She then sniffed the air again, and she glanced over at the food curiously before moving over to it. Her movement was graceful and liquid-like; never interrupted with sharp, sudden, jerky movements.

When she reached the campfire where something was being cooked, Sophia sniffed at it, trying to decipher what was being cooked. However, she couldn't pinpoint what it was, and so she turned her head around in an angel to look upon the girl again. She had taken no notice to the horse after it had gone off to graze.

As Leona seen the woman pet Sophia, her grip got tighter again upon her blade, a look or anger in her eyes now. She had still not spoken even one word since getting there. Leona looked over at the womans horse and smirked again, then as if moving with the wind, Leona was in a different tree, she looked down onto the woman and Sophia again but now also had a better view of the horse as it began to graze.

Leona then fixed her eyes back upon the woman, then in a quick by very angelic movement Leona jumped from the tree. She landed onto the ground with out a sound and silently ran towards the woman, once drawing near enough to her Leona raised her Katana to the throat of this new woman as Leona stood next to Sophia. This is when she finaly spoke by saying "Who are you.... and stay away from my fox...." Her eyes still narrowed and fixed on the woman with anger.

Her grip on the blade was infact very tight, she was skilled with her blade... that was for sure. With her free hand Leona lightly rubbed behind one of Sophias large white ears, still awaiting the reply from the woman as she did so.

Charlotte allowed the blade to touch her throat, in truth. Even now she had the advantage of surprise, as Pepper was a fully trained warhorse. Those who touched her or her master found themselves with stumps. But the horse didn't act, it just continued to graze, with one eye on Charlotte. Char leaned back slightly to allow herself some space between the blade and her throat. She gave a slight chuckled, and explained what she thought of the situation.

"I think this was a poorly set up ambush." Charlotte announced. They were both within striking distance now, and she wrapped her hand around the second strap of her Wall of Might. The six foot shield moved in a blur, sweeping across the fox with more than enough force to break her jaw, and it continued to swipe the swordswoman. Without checking for impacts, the valkyre jumped backwards. She drew her blade, the four foot three inch beast coming out of it's sheathe with a blood thirsty whine.

"And, I think we should talk this out. What do you want out of me?" Charlotte asked. She didn't want to fight two opponents at once, especially since they had the drop on her. But the battlescared blade stood available, and Pepper had angled herself in Charlotte's direction.

Sophia kept her gaze on Charlotte as Leona finally showed herself and raised her Katana to the girl's throat. Then her gaze fell on the shield and her eyes immediately narrowed, her wings twitching, ready to open quickly. Sophia then quickly ducked under Leona, making sure she was on her back, and she then opened her wings, spreaing them out. Next second, she was shooting up into the sky, right before the shield had hit her, and she turned around, her dark red eyes narrowed as she looked down upon Charlotte.

Snorting, Sophia eyed the sword that the girl had drawn, and her eyes glanced over at the warhorse that had angled herself in the girl's direction, apparently ready to protect her master. She then returned her gaze to Charlotte as she spoke, demanding what they wanted out of her and for them to talk it out. Sophia waited for Leona to respond, as she herself couldn't speak. Her tail swayed behind her, flicking in slight irritation and agitation, but her facial expression -- other than her eyes -- looked relatively calm.

Leona seen the sheild coming for her face but was on the back of Sophia, she had saved Leona. As they flew into the air Leona said into one of Sophias ears "Thank you Sophia... i owe you one... again.... " A very small laugh came from Leona as she held onto Sophia, not wanting to let her go as she also looked around. Flying was amazing, Leona had forgotten how amazing it was to fly... her demon form had wings... but they torn so she was unable to fly in that form anymore. Leona then listened to the words that Charlotte began to speak, gripping her blade a little tighter once more.

After she had finished speaking Leona said "We did not plan an ambush on you woman.... and as far as what we want out of you. Well for now.. for you to lower your blade, do you always attack travelers.... now come on... i was just on a little job with my girl here... we were not hired to kill you, so dont make me waste my talent." After saying this another smirk appeared on Leonas lips, she then began to softly pet Sophia as they flew their looking down upon Charlotte.

Leona then quickly said as she stroked down Sophias sides, her blade now back in its holster "An Assassin of my grade should not need to kill others.... mainly because the time i spent killing you would be wasted... i would not even get paid for it... how dull indeed." Leona then slowly rubbed her soft beautiful face against the silk like fur of Sophia with a soft smile on her lips, awaiting a reply or even just a general reaction from Charlottle.

{{Leona invited me to this topic via PM. >.> <.< Don't eat me.}}

Ita hacked and coughed up water, then slowly turned her head to the side to see all of her armor washed up on the shores of the lake. The once proud lupine deity had been reduced to a shivering mass of fur, water, and clothes that had gone under her plates. She grunted and gathered her pieces of golden-red armor, picking them up in a huge pile and slowly walking forward, deeper into the trees that surrounded Aelin.

A tiny splash in the water caught the lupine's attention. She turned around and paused. Bursting from the depths was a tiny cat-sized dragon, its wet scales glistening in the sunlight. It let out a screech before flying into the air and landing on Ita's shoulder. She lightly grinned at the tiny orange hatchling, causing it to coo and click almost like a bird. And with that, she continued on.

The space between each tree was much larger than that of other forests the goddess of chaos had been to (and burned down). The sun filtered easily through the gaps, as did the wind, which would have been good for most people, but instead caused Ita's shivering to accelerate. She growled in annoyance, but was soon interrupted by a large screech from her dragon. The lupine's eyes widened at the sight of three people; the woman she knew as Charlotte, and kept bumping into for the past week, a white angel-winged fox and a katana-wielding woman. All seemed to be locked up in some conflict. Ita took a few steps backward, dumbfounded at the fact she may have to fight, especially because the only weapon she was armed with was a tiny shortsword hanging from her hip. Her dragon arched its back and snorted out a long stream of lava, but both remained silent.

{{ I was invited by PM by Leona. Hope that's alright. }}

Aslyn walked down the beaten path towards Lake Aelin. With her small wooden canteen in her right hand, she stepped lightly against the dirt as she made her way to the source of water. She had gone long enough without filling her canteen, and she was getting quite thirsty.

Looking towards the Lake, as it was slowly becoming visible, she spotted a thin trail of smoke ascending upwards. She brushed it off, it was probably just another traveler coming here to rest for the night. However, something else caught her eye. A strange creature, wolf-like in a way, flopped itself out of the water. It appeared to be the very essence of chaos. Everything about it was confusion and power, fear and uncomfortableness. She picked up her pace, transitioning from a slow walk to a quick jog. Her jog progressed to that of a run as Aslyn dashed off towards the creature. She needed to see this up close, even if it was dangerous. If it was powerful, perhaps she could side with it. As she neared it, a small shortsword became visible.

With an arched neck, Aslyn realized it was stalking something, or atleast spotted something. Aslyn tured her head in it's direction, and spotted a small camp. Three more people were mid-battle, 2 of which seemed to be working together. Aslyn stayed back, waiting to see what happened and how the creature would react. She packed her canteen safely within her carrying pack and deposited it on the ground, just under some shrubbery. If she would have to fight, she would take her magic with her...

(Sorry, I was with friends all day)

Charlotte noted that they had avoided the blur of a shield. So the fox could carry a human? That was odd, and didn't make sense. And the fox seemed keenly intelligent, as it had spotted her change in grips on the shield to something more war like. Was it really just a winged fox? She knew it couldn't be a celestial, those red eyes screamed otherwise. And the woman beside her was an assassin? More of a brute than an assassin if she used a long blade. Charlotte knew a little of the assassin's path, and she knew that a real assassin used either a ranged weapon or something easily concealed. If she wanted to, she could swing her big sword around and call herself an assassin.

"If you weren't trying to ambush me, why did you bring a blade to my throat, assassin?" Charlotte inquired. It wasn't in her best interest to call Pepper or attack currently. She kept the great scarred sword out, and adjusted her hold on the shield. It was bulky, yes, but it had already proven it's use to her. Mythril could withstand a bolt from a heavy crossbow, as it turned out. The mercenary then noted that her horse was becoming a little more nervous. Those instincts were a life saver. Her pup was also acting wierd, and it seemed a little happier than usual. And a very familiar energy came to call in the back of her head.

"So, I would like to get on my way, perhaps eat whatever is cooking, before this turns into a real fight." Charlotte stated. Would they ever leave each other alone!? It seemed like she wanted Charlotte as some eternal henchvalkyre. Or maybe it was just a series of stupid coincidences. But either way, this situation looked like it was about to degrade in a hurry. She really had wanted to cut costs by avoiding fights, too! Healing wasn't cheap to pay for at all!