Arylia smiled looking up at the beautiful sky so clear and bright. A serene sort of day a day perhaps for a swim. The thought appealing to her so much she decided to go the woods and have a dip in the lake. Gathering her things she made her way there intending to spend the day in the water, something she had enjoyed doing when she was younger.

Arriving in no time she quickly changed looking around making sure no one would see her she undressed quickly changing into a bathing ensemble. Walking slowly into the water she allowed her body to get used to the waters temperature before she submerged herself completely. Jumping back out of the water she threw her head back her hair flying behind her the water following in its wake.

Smiling she began to swim laps back and forth wondering why this place was deserted in her younger years there wasn't a day that went by that someone wasn't around swimming or walking around.

Wondering if someone else would decide on a swim she held out hope and continued what she was doing.

Talen himself had been relaxing in the woods for a while, feeling rather more at peace with nature than in the cities, primarily after having been kicked out of his home and forced to live in the wilderness because of what he was born as. There had been a long-going dislike of the two primary humanoid species back in his home, and he'd inevitably gotten caught up literally between it...but he'd put all that behind him now.

After a long but peaceful walk through the Taurai Woods, he'd come across a lake in the middle of them, though not in his normal humanoid form. At the moment he padded along a forest trail in the form of a blue-furred panther, a form he'd achieved slightly over a year previously, and which he most often adopted when he was out in places like this. It had been a while, though, but he was still plenty stable on his four feet.

Looking around, he noticed that someone was already at, or more specifically in, the lake, and he padded over to the water's edge, sitting down still in his current form and watching the elven girl for a few moments, not really sure if he should go in or just leave. Everyone had a different reaction to him in this form, though in truth he looked forward to seeing what those would be, provided they weren't hostile.

She had just finished her lap and was prepared to start another when she sensed something or someone there watching her. Stopping she looked around not noticing anything at first. Her eyes darting around the entire edge of the lake and finally came to rest on from what she could see at such great distance a blue panther. Wiping her her with the sides of her index fingers she looked at the spot again still seeing it there. She had to admit it was beautiful but she wondered if it was friend or foe. Thinking she wanted to find out she swam towards it. Reaching the edge she walked out and looked right into the gorgeous beasts eyes, guessing that it was foe she said, 'my you are a beauty aren't you,' she said a smile on her face wondering why it was just sitting here all alone. 'Did you fancy a swim?' she asked not thinking it would answer her.

(eh...actually, supposed to be blue, but no big deal)

Acting as much like an actual panther as he could, or more had taught himself to, Talen tilted his head slightly to the side as the girl swam over, apparently not seeming to mind his presence much, which was good. Although admittedly very few people had ever been threatened by it, he was always slightly worried that would happen nonetheless, but right now it wasn't.

"My you are a beauty aren't you," the girl said, with a smile on her face. "Did you fancy a swim?"

Responding in the only reasonable way he could, since it would be strange for one to hear him talk in this form at least until they knew him, he got up from his sitting position, looking up at her with gentle, very unthreatening eyes.

((So sorry don't have the foggiest idea where I got purple from but I did edit accordingly. Again so sorry.))

Looking into his eyes she felt something what it was she could not put her finger on it but there was something. Sitting down next to the panther she just stroked it, her hand moving from the top of his head all the way across his back until she reached his tail. Thinking it was so odd for a panther to allow someone to stroke it even though she meant it no harm, she was compltely intriuged by the animal. Her eyes back on the water she said, 'are you a pretty panther or might you be something else?'

Her mind began to wonder, she had seen so many different things lately, met so many different types of people or species it was hard to tell who was who and what was what. The whole time her thoughts were running away from her she was absentmindedly stroking the panthers soft and silky fur.

After a few minutes she realized where she was and what she was doing, turning jumping ever so slightly but not enough for anyone to notice she had been startled she looked again at the panther. 'Well whatver you are whatever you may be I fancy the company it is a bit lonely out here and you make me feel safer.' Turning her head she stared into the beasts eyes hers shining brightly because of the sun she wondered if it even knew what she was saying or if it even cared.

Thinking this next bit would make her seem even sillier she decided to introduce herself to the animal. 'My name is Arylia and it is nice to meet you. Too bad you cannot tell me your name, as I so wish to know it.' Patting his head gently she smiled at it again her feet dangling in the water as she began to feel complete ease around it.

(eh, don't worry about it)

Looking up into the girl's eyes as she looked into his, Talen watched as she sat down by him, and sat down himself, not much preferring to stand on all fours anyway. Then as she stroked him down his head and back, and he thus couldn't help but purr softly, a low rumbling from the large creature.

"Are you a pretty panther or might you be something else?" the girl asked, and Talen tilted his head lightly to the side, looking over to her. Right now he didn't feel like actually showing what he was, instead choosing to simply take it easy and act as a panther; or rather, act as a large cat.

A few more moments passed in silence as he looked back out to the water and up to the night sky, always peaceful view, continuing to purr as the girl continued to stroke him. Then she spoke again after what seemed like a slight jump, perhaps surprised that she was sitting here like this, next to something like him. "Well whatver you are whatever you may be I fancy the company it is a bit lonely out here and you make me feel safer," she said, looking into his eyes as he looked back into hers. Times like this, he always enjoyed using this panther form...he could be around people, tune into their feelings, more so than he could in his natural form, although this allowed them to know him less than they might, aside from the fact that he was a gentle soul, that couldn't particularly be judged by appearance. "My name is Arylia and it is nice to meet you. Too bad you cannot tell me your name, as I so wish to know it," she continued, patting him lightly on the head.

Considering things for a moment, he decided to do what he'd been known to do on a few occasions in this form, and used a claw to write the name 'Talen' in the ground before him, glancing back up to her when he was done to see how she'd react.

So peaceful and so serene it was out there the only sounds to be heard was the waves breaking and the purring of a beautiful blue panther. Looking over at it again she thought it was funny, how the two of them must look just sitting there as if they were two old pals hanging out. The though caused her to laugh a little but the laugh quickly died in her throat when she noticed the panthers paw moving.

At first, she thought it might have hurt itself but then she noticed it dragging the claw across the ground and in what seemed like no time at all a name was written in the dirt clear as day. The panther apparently was named Talen and in her opinion that sounded a lot like a males name. Looking at the ground for what seemed like ages she finally snapped back to reality and moved away slightly. Turning so that she was facing him now she asked, 'No mere panther could do such a thing; at least I don't think they can. No, no it is not possible you cannot truly be a panther you must be more. Show me, show me what you are I will not harm you I swear it.' Her voice going slightly higher then its normal tone she wondered why he chose not to reveal his true self to her, but she did not back away, she chose to stay fascinated by this new turn of events.

Noticing Arylia's reaction of sliding away from him a short while after he'd written his name, seeming to be going over something in her head before she did this, Talen sighed slightly, a rather strange action to see a panther taking, though that wasn't what he truly was nonetheless. He wasn't really sure why at the moment, but there seemed to be something that bothered her about it.

"No mere panther could do such a thing; at least I don't think they can. No, no it is not possible you cannot truly be a panther you must be more. Show me, show me what you are I will not harm you I swear it," she said, and Talen chuckled softly. It was hardly as if he was worried about being harmed or anything of the sort, but at this point he certainly didn't have anything to lose showing her his true form, much less anything to gain by remaining in this form at the moment.

Thus, he stood up on all fours and backed up a few steps, then rearing up on his hind legs as his body began to thin and appear to form clothing, all, or at least most of, the fur receding, to reveal apparently a human boy in his late teens. Though he did have certain features of the panther; feline ears atop his head in place of human ears, his tail remaining, and furred hands ending in short claws. His eyes also remained the blue color of his panther form, only without the slitted pupils. "Suppose that didn't really last as long as usual," he said in a calm, peaceful voice, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Still often like using that form since I learned how to use it a few months ago, though."

Her face registered shock at what had just happened. She knew he was not a mere panther. 'My that is amazing that is a new one for me, I have seen a lot here but that is definitely a first for me.' Giggling she stared but realizing that was rude she turned her head. 'So do you do this often?' she queried thinking that it was pretty cool he could change his appearance that way. 'Okay now I have seen just about everything,' she giggled. 'So tell me what race you are?'

"My that is amazing that is a new one for me, I have seen a lot here but that is definitely a first for me," Arylia said, giggling, after she'd apparently gotten over the mild shock of seeing him change forms. Then she turned her head after a few moments, continuing. "So do you do this often? Okay now I have seen just about everything," she giggled again. "So tell me what race you are?"

"Well...I do this kind of often, usually whenever I'm out in the wilderness," he replied to her first question, taking each of them in turn as he usually did. "As for what race I am, I'm half cat anthro, or cat-person, whichever you want to call it, and half human, which wasn't the best thing to be back home." After looking down to the ground for a bit in recollection, he looked back up, his face not showing any sadness or anything. "Hope you don't mind what I did too much, though, I just like spending time around people that aren't going to try and hunt me when I'm in my panther form a bit more than in this form. Not really sure why, I guess because I probably don't look quite as strange, despite the blue fur."

'Mind oh not I did not mind in the least. You are most beautiful in your panther form I was immediately intruiged by you.' She looked at the boy who had just finished being a panther still amazed at what he had just done. As a sorceress she could change her appearance but that required time, skill, and complete comcentration on her part but to transform at will. 'Hmm I met a girl recently she was a well a cat girl not a panther but a cat, would you two be from the same place perchance?' she wondered perhaps the two even knew each other.

"Mind oh not I did not mind in the least. You are most beautiful in your panther form I was immediately intrigued by you," Arylia said, looking up to him. "Hmm I met a girl recently she was a well a cat girl not a panther but a cat, would you two be from the same place perchance?"

A cat-girl? Well, if she was a full cat-person like it sounded like, which of course he wasn't, then it was likely enough that she'd come from the same land as him, Gaia. And depending on how old said girl was, he'd probably seen her around before. "I'd say probably yes, since there are a lot of cat-people where I came from. Couldn't really say for sure without seeing or asking her, of course, but it is likely," he said. Maybe he'd have to look around Arda sometime for her...it couldn't be too difficult with the lack of feline humanoids he'd seen around, not to mention with his good senses, quite near the level of a real cat's even given that he was a hybrid.

'Only thing is I do not think that she could transform or anything, At least she did not do so in my presence but she was rather nice. If she is from the same place then so far I think its people are particularly good natured' she stated. 'So tell me what brought you here to Arda?'

"Only thing is I do not think that she could transform or anything, At least she did not do so in my presence but she was rather nice. If she is from the same place then so far I think its people are particularly good natured," Arylia said. Well, that wasn't completely true...maybe people back home were good-natured toward their own kind, he couldn't have been able to tell since nobody was toward him, but they weren't nearly as much toward the other of the two humanoid races in Gaia. And not every cat-person could transform, he believed...he'd only been able to for around a year or so. "So tell me what brought you here to Arda?"

"I suppose I just ended up here in my travelling, though I last came from Everbane, though initially Avalon, where I ended up after stowing away on a trade ship," he admitted, stating the names of two of the four other lands he'd been to since before finally now coming to Arda. He wasn't even completely sure if he was going to stay here in this land, but so far it had seemed promising enough. There were plenty of people around, lots of them fairly kind, and a variety of species, maybe even more various than the other lands he'd been to. "Can't really say I've had a very easy time initially in any of the lands I've been to, but I've gotten used to them each time, and made a few friends."

'I have never heard of those places but that is primarily because I have been no where else but Arda. Every person I have met so far has come from some place else and I feel terrible. I know nothing of their lands, or their customs. I think I am going to have to start traveling myself so that I can have some interesting stories to tell the new friends I meet,' she said thoughtfully.

Listening to what he had to say she picked up on the fact that he said he had not had an easy time on his travels. Remembering incidents here in Arda when some of the people treated outsiders with great disdain she imagined he must have encountered the same thing in other lands. 'Tell me what has happened to you? Surely the natives of other lands are more opened-minded?' she questioned.

"I have never heard of those places but that is primarily because I have been no where else but Arda. Every person I have met so far has come from some place else and I feel terrible. I know nothing of their lands, or their customs. I think I am going to have to start traveling myself so that I can have some interesting stories to tell the new friends I meet," Arylia said thoughtfully, and Talen chuckled softly, nodding. It defiinitely was fun to travel most of the time, constantly meeting new people and seeing new sights, though sometimes it was just good to relax, stick around one place for a while. "Tell me what has happened to you? Surely the natives of other lands are more open-minded?" she asked.

"For the most part they are, though of course there are plenty of evil creatures and such around as well. But I'm just glad that I no longer have to go through anything like what I did back home...to be truthful, I was surprised at how many hybrids were around when I first reached a land outside it," he said, thinking back to those days seven years ago, when he didn't understand much of anything about all the other humanoids around, except what he'd read about.

'Yes it is hard to believe that you cannot find solace in your own home. I mean, no we aren't the same but so what. I don't know anything about you so why would I dislike you, just as you know nothing about me to dislike me.' There were a lot of times she encountered these kinds of problems here in Arda others species not liking her kind and letting her know it, why people had to behave that way was beyond her, she tried her hardest not to treat others that way, she thought it was best to get to know someone first before juding them. It was all about respect with Arylia.

She giggled about his remark regarding different hybrids, 'well yes I suppose with all the traveling everyone seems to be doing their was bound to be a lot of new hybrids roaming around but I find it fascinating like with you, it's brilliant, when I saw you I wondered, but but when you revealed yourself to me I was so amazed. It's just spectacular.'

Giggling she looked at him, 'Sorry about going on so much I apparently don't get out much so there's a lot I seem to be missing out on.'

Talen shrugged after Arylia's first comment. He never could find out why people often tended to hate even some creatures that weren't traditionally evil, but that were simply different. It was just unfair, and he'd know, he'd been through a lot of it back home.

"Well yes I suppose with all the traveling everyone seems to be doing their was bound to be a lot of new hybrids roaming around but I find it fascinating like with you, it's brilliant, when I saw you I wondered, but but when you revealed yourself to me I was so amazed. It's just spectacular," Arylia continued, giggling and looking over to him. "Sorry about going on so much I apparently don't get out much so there's a lot I seem to be missing out on."

"Don't worry too much about it...but yeah, everywhere one goes there always seems to be something new to find or learn, which I've always liked about my bit of travelling. Sometimes it's nice to just have a home, a place to belong, though, and take a break from all of it," Talen said, looking up to the peaceful night sky. A home...that would be nice. Someday, at least, he was sure he'd find one.

'Yes a home is nice to have, a place to go to after you have had a long drawn out day,' she smiled leaning back against a large gray rock buried in the ground. Going home was something she did look forward to at the end of the day, especially a very bad one, which were few and far between, but when they did happen it was comforting to open the doors of her house, enter, shut out the rest of the world, and feel safe. But she had to admit there were days that she longed to be somewhere else, anywhere else, just taking in sites, and getting to know about other lands, and cultures. Looking back at Talen she said, 'Well if you do decide to settle, Arda is a great place I think you'd fit in nicely here, and you already know someone so you have a friend,' she said the last word a bit shyly. They had just met who knew if he would even come to think of her as any type of a friend, but for her well she didn't have many so any people she met she was more than happy to be friends with them if they were willing. Crossing one are= over the other she waited for him to respond and then started thinking about what it would be like to have him as a possbile neighbor.