"You won't get the best of me..." Vehemens' voice broke the silence of the forest. He was aware that he was being watched, and the man did not like it one bit. His finger tightened around the trigger of his crossbow. Vehemens continued forward.

The fully clad warrior was alien to this fairy tale environment, and it was obvious. His blackened armor, crimson eyes, and bloodstained pike did not piece in with the rest of the picture. The air around him blushened with an entire spectrum of color caused by the large amounts of pixie dust, and the trees bear multicolored buds and leaves had a look as though they were made of candy. Indeed, Vehemens did not belong here.

From the moment he had entered the enchanted forest, it had seemed that all wild life and creatures that populated the Mystic Wood had foreseen the arrival of their hostile invader. They somehow managed to have caught whiff of his sinister plans, and in fear they hid from him. But their attempts at salvation would be in vain. Silently, he continued the labrynth of trees and bushes. This will be the last time I come to this hell hole. Vehemens thought, as he peered through the frondescence. Behind him, he heard the snapping of a twig. Quickly he turned around, aiming his crossbow from where the noise came. But to his dismay, it was only a deer. For a moment, he had thoughts of killing the deer and leaving this place, claiming it as his meager trophy, but he shoo'd the thoughts away, along with the deer.

As the animal pranced away, Vehemens turned back around, continuing his trek through the Mystic Wood. For what seemed like an eternity he traveled onward, thoughts of turning back bombarded him, but his pride would not allow him to leave until he had what he came for... The most agile of creatures that made this place their habitat, they were frail and small, but skilled in the ways of magic. A pixie. Vehemens sought to test his aiming skills and he was determined to complete his task, even if he had to make this forest his temporary home.

Vehemens began to walk aimlessly through the forest, his thoughts wandered as he did so. But his meditation was soon cut short, as he heard a feint noise in the distance. Could it be? The warrior rushed towards the source to find out. As he ventured nearer, he was able to make out the sounds. High pitched giggles permeated through the foliage of the forest. A grim smile appeared on Vehemens face as he took cover and kneeled behind a bush. He parted the leaves, aiming his crossbow through them. His crimson eyes catching glimpse of what seemed to be two, no.. three pixies, playing childish games in an opening of the forest. Vehemens had clear view of his quarry, and now he waited. He waited for them to tire, and to rest. And when that happened, their end would come...

Ah, the joys of the Mystic Wood! This particular little creature hadn't been in the area in the longest of times, and yet... She loved it there, without a doubt. It was her homeland, how could she not? Sure, she had basically ditched her friends and family to go and see her patron goddess, Ita... But that didn't mean that she couldn't return to her homeland every once in a while. She was tiny, barely two inches in height, and her form was innately slender, her features slightly elongated and accentuated by her elegant, pointed ears. The little thing was, quite obviously, a pixie, the doubled wings upon her back, sprouting from between her shoulderblades like those of a dragonfly, making her race clear.

She was away from the group of her kin, up in a tree overhead and hidden in the shadows of those colorful leaves - so the fact that Vehemens was there was obvious to her - but she made no move just yet, watching what was going on. The pixie may have been a prankster, but she liked to go into those sorts of things with some knowledge of what was going on. The little thing was dressed in a drab, ragged dress of grey, the tattered hem ending a few inches above her knees and a lack of sleeves showing off the smooth, honey-toned skin of her collarbone, shoulders, and upper back. Her eyes were tilted upwards at the corners and almond-shaped, like those of the Mediterranean might have, and their light, golden pinkish hue was dulled by the lack of light that fell upon her miniature form.

A trio of pouches hung from a string about her waist that served as a belt, as did a tiny dagger that she'd recently recieved from Ita, as did many in the realm, but the blade, well-named as "Skullshredder," was sheathed, the glimmer of metal hidden beneath a thin lining of leather. The pouches were different colors - one was an acrid hue of green, another a deep, soothing shade of blue, and the last an angry tone of crimson. What were they for? Well, only she'd know that until she used them, now wouldn't she? Until then, their contents would remain a mystery. The adolescent pixie was barefoot, as was every member of her race, disliking the idea of weighing herself down with shoes of any sort. She was incredibly light, making it easier for her fragile wings to lift and carry her through the air, but if she weighed herself down too much, she'd struggle when flying and tire much more quickly. As it was, she carried only essentials with her, leaving the rest in a secret cache somewhere. Most of her essentials were spells, though, and thus didn't weigh anything - that was the true strength of pixies, since they were so tiny. Being very magical beings, pixies were natural spell-casters.

Long lashes flickered slightly as she cast a sideways glance to her left, the rustle of leaves in the wind catching her attention for a moment. But then her gaze refocused on the scene before her, a faint grin curling her lips upwards at the corners... This guy obviously had no idea what he was getting himself into, trying to hunt pixies... Sure, plenty of people tried, but the little sprites were so devillishly fast and tricky that few succeeded, and even fewer got off without being humiliated somehow. Having heard what he'd said earlier, the little creature chuckled to herself inwardly, her grin seeming to almost split her face in half at this point, a soft whisper parting from her lips, barely audible even to herself.

"Oh, won't I...?"

It was beginning to become late in the day, and Vehemens was almost falling asleep. His eyes kept closing, but moments before he entered into slumber, he would awaken. Vehemens' gaze shifted towards the pixies, who were still playing with each with as much energy as ever. The man sighed, this would be more difficult than he had originally expected. It would seem as though he would have to change his plans. He readjusted himself, leaning against a tree, brining the crossbow to eye-level. Vehemens was honestly surprised that he had not been seen yet. He had been crouched behind this bush for who knows how long.

The pixies, while playing with each other, would only stop for a second, hardly enough time for Vehemens to pull a trigger, and for the bolt to get there in time for it to hit the pixie for it moved. Perhaps he should use a different weapon. The man put his crossbow away, trying to make as little noise as he could. If the devil-pixies were too fast for a normal arrow, then perhaps a magic one would do. He extended his arm, his hand making a fist, with his index finger pointing outward. His finger traced the movements of one of the random creatures. Too fast... He though, now aiming a few inches ahead of its quick movements. Confident in his aiming abilities, Vehemens was ready to test his skill and luck.

"Bam!" He shouted, cathing the pixies' attention. They all stopped their foolish playing and turned in the direction the man's voice came from. A small arrow-shaped beam shot forth from Vehemens' finger, tagging one of the pixies and exploding into a small cloud of purple hues. The pixie gave a scream in pain and fell to the ground, injured. The rest of the creatures ran. Victorious, the armored man walked over to the fallen pixie. "Your time is up..." He said, raising his foot, readying himself to crush the pixie under it.

Watching the entire proceedings with a grim smile, the pixie kept her hiding spot in the tree overhead, snickering inwardly as the man's initial arrow missed. As previously stated, pixies are just too fast to be caught... But then again, they aren't all that bright either, which initiated a sigh of exasperation from the one that happened to be one of Ita The Reckless' Chosen. She stood when the injured pixie fell to the ground with a shriek, her eyes narrowed and burning with anger. How DARE he even think about crushing one of her kin! Her wings, which had been moving at a slow, relaxed pace before, began to speed up, giving off a soft buzz, like that of a bumblebee. It wasn't enough to be heard unless she was a bit closer, but it was a definite warning to any in the area, as was the acrid green hue that the limbs had taken on, the soft glow veiled behind a few layers of brightly-colored leaves. Her eyes took on a similar change, retaining the hazel-pink hue, but gaining caustic viridian glint. It wasn't smart to upset a pixie, and this guy would learn it soon enough.

Three roots would whip up from the ground beneath the man, the thickest of which would wrap around the foot he'd raised to crush the injured sprite, squeezing it tightly enough to cut off circulation, and the thinnest of which would snatch up the wounded pixie, lifting it up and into the thick foilage of a nearby tree. The middle-sized root would wrap around the leg on which the man was standing, curling around his ankle before giving a vicious jerk, hopefully knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He'd probably be too busy fending off the pair of tree roots that were giving him problems to deal with the pixie that had most likely gotten away.

During the entire thing, the adolescent pixie was just watching from above, snickering to herself mischeivously. She probably could've given the man some warning, but he should not have expected to hunt pixies and then get away with it without retribution from the pixies themselves. They were, after all, very magical creatures, and the one he'd have to deal with now was particularly powerful after leaving the Mystic Woods for a while.

"No, sir! I think YOUR time is up! Leave now before I eat you alive, you intolerable pile of sludge!"

The voice that emanated from above was slightly high-pitched, and it'd be easily assume that it's owner was a pixie, but after she spoke, she switched where she was standing, moving to a branch a few feet away. Being careful to not be detected, she slowed her wingspeed, dimming the angry buzz... but her anger wouldn't allow her to dissipate the acrid green hue. Oh well. Lucky it blended with the foilage about her, hm?