"Once, this vast section of the forest was the place The Sun Worshipers used to dwell, with their large temples for the sun, and they governed themselves quite well, everyone being a devout sun-worshiper. Little more is known about this ancient civilization...Legend tells that one fateful day, as the Sun-priests announced that it was the second millennia of their existence, a great and powerful mage came, who wielded power and knowledge beyond that of comprehension, opened up the sky and let an intense coldness from the blackness of our outer world rush in. All were buried alive, and frozen to death within the hour, and then the mage mysteriously disappeared as quickly as he had reappeared. Time passed, the civilization's buildings turned to ruins, but as the coldness of beyond our world was sealed, a forest of great sequoia trees grew here. No one knows how these trees managed to grow here, or why the place is constantly in wintery condition--but is a cold and thick forest, dappled with ruins of the Sun's Worshippers. 

It was then called 'Apollo's Plight' since it was the name of the god these Priests worshipped, their culture and civilization buried in a past of snow and cold. No one knows why this civilization became so--all that is known of them is legends, all of which have their own unique tales of these peoples, but all end in them dying in the snow, and large trees growing out of the ground. 

Do I believe in such myths? I only believe in what many point to; this place is snowy, the civilization ended in snow, and no one should spend too much time in this area. Danger lurks in the shadows, either thieves make their selves at home, or strange creatures do...If you dare venture into such a place, then you are not only most definitely going to be followed, but you will be put in danger. There are places in Apollo's Plight which some have not returned from...those who do come out the other end tell of shadows following them as well. The creaks and rivers may run clean, the ruins may provide good shelter, but I would advise against ever going there." 

---.---.---.---

That was what Tajjus's father had told him once, when he was but a boy, curious of his surroundings and beyond them. It had been before his people were swept away, mystically and strangely. Sand storms were what his people often endured, but to wake up and find out they hadn't endured the one which was his people's undoing...it made Tajjus suspicious. Was this how it had happened in this snowy region? Had the priests just woken up, and found their people killed? Tajjus wondered. He trundled through the two inch thick snowy terrain, walking by tall trees, also giving this site another reason to be known with their colossal size and height. Being raised in the desert, Tajjus was silently astounded by the tall trees. He had seen cactuses, but these...these were truly something else entirely. He brushed one of his his gloved hands across the bark of a sequoia which he passed, still amazed at the site. 

The snow was also foreign to him, but his garm and armor kept him protect from the iciness, under his armor he was covered with cloth, head to toe. He as a member of the once deadly Zithe-Khan, he was to hide himself from the world...which, Tajjus mused, may be for the best, since if there had been s per natural force behind his people's deaths, hiding himself before trying to slay the being which was responsible was a good strategy. Revenge? Yes. Thousands had died. If there was a being who was responsible, Tajjus would find out, and target the creature. 

Meanwhile, adjusting would prove to be a problem. The geography was beautiful, water was plentiful, there was no sun to bake him alive, and shelter was around every corner, things the desert lacked. Tajjus had once stopped to pick up the snow, not knowing what it was and spending a whole hour realizing it was frozen water. Tajjus's supply of water was completely full now, fresh and clean liquid now stashed away in his form. 

Tajjus continued to walk, keeping his eyes keened behind his visor as he did so, he had been told of weird creatures that walked this land, and sure enough, with weird land came weird things. He too was an alien in a sense, but he was going to be willing to defend himself, should he the time call for it. The terrain did make Tajjus slightly uneasy as well, especially how the shadows that the trees made were dark then his...and his form was closer to the ground.

About a quarter of a mile north of Tajjus, other events occurred.

A slightly transparent puff of white smoke emitted from Havia's mouth, which she observed while crouching in a snowy underbrush. Just ahead, Havia spotted a deer drinking out of a slightly frozen pond. In her hands, Havia gripped a bow and arrow, and waited for the right time to pull the string kill it's candles. The wolf inside her stirred, begging to jump out and prey on the deer. Havia shook the feeling off, determined to kill it with a weapon. It had been a month since she'd gone properly hunting. Every time, she traveled like a wolf. Last week, she'd adventured to the deadzone. And she nearly lost her head to some fallen crusaders. Dumbasses.

The deer then finally stirred and moved it's backend to reveal the hip, which Havia smirked. In a swift, normal speed, Havia stood up and released a sharp metal ended arrow from her bow. The arrow hit the deer in it's hip, completely immobilizing it. As it hit the snowy earth, Havia crept from cover and approached the bleeding dear. red blood stained the white snow, which the arrow stuck straight up. Havia crouched next to the deer, then examined where she'd hit it. Luckily, it was a clean shot, so it wouldn't be hard to clean and sell the meat. Gripping the arrow, Havia yanked the arrow out of the dead dear, then continued to place her arrow in it's back satchel, and bow along her back. She then removed a dagger from her belt, then continued to cut the dear open and remove the meat and valuables.

Tajjus had continued to walk forth, enjoying his surroundings while he observed them, careful with his steps. His tan- cloth with his leather armor did give him a slight give away. The cry of a beast in the distance caught the knife-throwers attention, and attempting to be stealthy, he rushed forth to the location. He flew through the trees upon foot, failing to be extremely stealthy since the snow was much more different then the sand. He had been trained to navigate extremely quietly in the sand to be an ideal hunter in the desert, but the snow was still much much more different. The result was that Havia would be able to hear Tajjus anyways, especially with her wolverine hearing.

Upon arrival, Tajjus found the girl beginning to skin the beast. Tidies for a moment was confused ads he looked at the deer. Silently, he examined it. It was so much more different then the small foxes or frog that the Zithe-Khan usually hunted, or the owls for that matter. Tajjus decided that there were more of these creatures elsewhere, and switched his focus to the creature who was currently skinning the other. Tajjus almost drew a knife as he saw Havia, confused at her appearance, and mistaking her for a beast for but a few seconds. It was so until he slowly circled around, to see her face. Tajjus did find his hand on one of his dagger hilts nonetheless...as he began to look at the queer being in front of him. It was a she--and she had long strands of very fine string stretching from her scalp, along with--what was that--

"By the Sands." The man muttered in his own indistinguishable language, Tajjus raised a brow behind his visor and clothed face. This creature was not only a girl. She was a girl with a face. She wasn't covered at all...what did that make her? The armored knife-thrower kept staring at her through his visor, his tall form looking down at her. He didn't know what he should do, or say. Was she able to speak? Was she able to move? Obviously. She was a human...so far. Tajjus still found her hair a little unnatural though.

While she skinned the dear, Havia did indeed hear footsteps. She didn't mind them however, probably guessing it was yet another animal. But then she listened to the patterns, then looked up to see a faceless man. Havia' brown eyes widened, which she hopped up and took a few paces back. Nobody ever came through Apollo's Plight. She came for hunting, and that was it. It was dead, and the destroyed city a little to the east was even more dead.

Havia left her dagger in the dear, opening her hands. Her palms faced Tajjus, to prove that she wasn't armed. The bow and arrow were visible, including a few daggers on her pants and chest holsters. She heard him mumble a few words, but nothing she could understand. "Holy Divines.." Havia mumbled to herself, unsure if this man knew english or not. Just silently move away.. she thought.

Tajjus saw the gesture that she was unarmed. It was very strange, to see someone's face, and to see that person's face change expression. Tajjus almost cocked his head at the sight, but he resisted the urge to do thus. She was a strange looking creature...or human to him, the fact that she was not willing to fight and slightly frightened of him caused his to put his own hand off his own knife blade. He glanced at her daggers. If he could call them so.

As a professional knife thrower, Tajjus knew a good knife when he saw one. he also knew the reverse. The dagger which was in the dear was definitely not meant for any kind of artistic fighting style, save savagely stabbing. It might as well have been a cleaver. Tajjus returned his visor's gaze to Havia, backing off from her prey, and gesturing to it passively. He did not understand the crude language which had escaped her mouth. Meanwhile, perhaps she didn't understand him, or he had been too quiet with his words.

"I mean you no harm, stranger." Tajjus said, if she couldn't understand him, she would still be able to tell that his tone signaled not a harmful one. He distantly looked to another tree as if he had a rousing suspicion that he was being followed. Were there more of her kind? Tajjus did ponder thus, as his arms folded behind his back. To believe a stranger of his looks would be even harder, since he was decked out with knives. Three throwing knives were strapped to his chest, while two long claymores were sheathed criss-cross on his back, in X formation. He also had a small leathery cape extending from his belt, which concealed even more knives. One each shoulder was two smaller blades in their sheathes, and that was just the surface of his weaponry.

Tajjus still had said his words in a clear, distinguishable tone, so he hoped that the she-beast wouldn't back away too far. Tajjus was keen enough to hear a small rustle behind him though. He pretended to not have heard it, though his suspicion of what lay behind him grew some. He had been experiencing the feeling that he was being followed for quite some time now. Tajjus was no religious man, but he did wonder if he was being followed, was it a man, or a ghost?

So it spoke english. Slowly putting her hands down, Havia motioned to the dead animal. "Once I am done, I will leave." she said. "I didn't know others hunted around here."

((Wow, I'm incredibly uncreative today >.<))

((Don't worry about that. Now. I',m going to work on a bad-guy character, since this place could use some extra evilness.))

Tajjus's dialect had translated to the girl well, so that was good. Tajjus did not fold his arms behind his back, nor did he keep his hands too far away from his knife sheaths. Since the girl seemed to have a different dialect than he did, translating her rough accent was tricky, but at last, he got the picture of what she was saying.

"I do not hunt here. I come. From Sea of Sand." Tajjus told her, placing a hand on his chest. He gestured in the direction from whence he came. The Sea of Sand was a vast desert area, and really no one ventured through it not only because of the unpleasantly burning sun, but because there was said to be no forms of life, save the occasional cats and cactus owl. Anything small that was designed for the desert was hard to find there was well. His apparel and his accent was unlike any others, but stranger to stranger saying where he was from might sound slightly crazy.

Tajjus was still unsure of the girls face. Why wasn't she hiding it? Did she not know of the judgement that could come to pace if she didn't? It took a moment for him to recall that the Zithe-Khan were decibels of a faceless god, and they were not to be like the other people of the world. Every Zithe-Khan had a face behind his or her mask, it was just that it was forbidden to show it under most circumstances.

Havia took everything useful from the carcass, the pelt, the meat, the horns, and a few bones designed for alchemic use. She then stood up, bringing the bag over her shoulder. "Ya, well I'm from the woods around here known as the Richwood Forest System. Human, you do realize your trespassing."

(( Ill just drop in ))

The snow covered woods, echoed with the old Worshipers praises. Their voices still could be heard if one listened closely. Or thats what people say in bars or in the dark around a fire. Cather wasnt one to listen to tales spun by scared superstitious people, but she couldnt deny that there was a unique feeling one got when traveling in dark woods. The feeling, if not controlled, can become quite nerve raking. Even though Cather had traversed through the Sun Worshipers ruins and forests many time, she still couldnt shake the creeping feeling that always came upon her. 

Cather had been checking out her rabbit traps located in an old rocky ruin, when she had seen him. The man had just walked by, causing quite a ruckus with his foot falls. She had watched him from her location, keeping very still, as she noticed his interesting garb. His whole body was covered not one inch was showing, he also was decorated in a large variety of knifes, daggers and other pointy weapons. This made Cather think that he wasnt one to mess with, unless prepared. Since she had nothing better doing that day, besides checking more traps in the woods, she followed him. Moving from tree to tree making sure he wouldnt just look back and see her. The black and white pattern of her cloak made her hard to see in the woods around her. If she stopped moving her form would "blend" in with her surrounding becoming basically invisibility to the naked eye. She used years of practice and experience to move silently through the thick snow as she trailed the covered man. Cather had her hood down which covered most of her face, she also had her bow away for now. It was in a case on her back not stringed up, for if one had their bow taunt with its string always the bow would slowly lose its spring, so she only put the string on it when she needed to use it. So when she wasnt using the bow she used her knifes. 

Cather kept following the man till he came upon another being, but this one she knew, a Werewolf. She had no love towards the beasts that prowled these woods. They had never seen eye to eye. Many beings had good reasons to hate the hair creatures and Cather had a special hatred for them, but she wasnt stupid. She only engage them in battle when she needs to, for they are quite dangerous when they want to be. For many years she has tracked, watched and followed the wolf beast and have learned to mask her sent. Her bow, given to her long ago, has a unique odor which it emits. Over the years of always being in contact with the bow, and having near O contact with other humans, her sent has changed. From a human, to a mixture of wood, animals, and with a hint of human. So when a wolf catches her sent they get a mixture of several sents, giving them the impression of just normal woods. And they usually dont think that there is a human near by. For they only got a little of human in a lot of normal sents. 

From her position from behind a tree farther behind the covered man she watched as the two faced off and talked. The wolf beast even appeared to be trying to have a conversation, which surprised Cather for all wolf creatures she has ever met only want one thing, to eat her. 

Mar 15, 2015 14:36:41 GMT Kalis said:

Havia took everything useful from the carcass, the pelt, the meat, the horns, and a few bones designed for alchemic use. She then stood up, bringing the bag over her shoulder. "Ya, well I'm from the woods around here known as the Richwood Forest System. Human, you do realize your trespassing."

Tajjus had not noticed the other girl who had been following him. He was new to the snow, the cold, and he was a black sheep among white wooled ones. He was indeed a fighter and had good hearing, but the land was foreign to him, since Cather knew how to navigate better than he, she could hide herself rather effortlessly. Tajjus kept his visor locked on the girl who had shot the deer, 

'Ya, well I'm from the woods around here known as the Richwood Forest System. Human, you do realize you're trespassing.'

What an odd statement. Tajjus almost looked back to the ground, where his feet were buried in five inch thick snow. Trespassing? Well, Tajjus saw it as an accident, though a part of him wanted to see if anyone would challenge him to a fight for treading on turf which was not his. These grounds were as vast as the deserts though, and the only way from the deserts, so who could blame him? On the other servo, Tajjus had known the Zithe Khan to have very few explorers, and only a few of their best hoad briefly scouted out the land and barely made it back to tell the tale of what they saw. There had been strange bear-people, hawk people, wolf people, white cold sand, and water which fell from the sky. Tajjus had been in awe of such lore, and it had been all but a myth to him until now. Now he was inside some kind of dream, with all this cool weather, though it was becoming a harsh one since he was low on rations. Again. 

The Knife thrower had not budged from his position, and simply kept his arms at his sides, for if he folded them or twitched them in the wrong maneuver, his movement could be registered as a threat. But the way this girl called him a 'human' as if she wasn't made Tajjus's fingers itch for a claymore. Was she a demon? What secrets and evil did she hold inside her? Tajjus studied her over, and found little to no answers. She had been shy one moment, and cold the next. Strangers with knives weren't taken lightly, apparently. 

"I travel away from the dunes. I was unaware of that I tress-passed; but do enlighten me." Tajjus paused, cocking his head ever so slightly, "What kingdom do I travel into?"