A dense forest of towering conifers where the wind whispers through the needles, creating an eerie yet enchanting symphony that echoes through the woods.
Roxanne was unaware of the altercation that her father had narrowly avoided. Instead she knew - or thought. at least - that all her flight training was finally paying off. Or her father was getting old, because she was totally beating him! She didn't even look back until she was nearly there, and noticed how she couldn't see him at all. For a moment, she thought he might've somehow gotten past her, but when she arrived by the riverside and he was nowhere to be found, she celebrated her victory. There the surprise awaited: a wooden stick, carefully carved over time to be sharpened at the ends. The stick's main branch was split in two. While one stayed straight, the other curved inwards. It was like having two swords with a single handle, and she gripped it by the non-pointy end and took it out of the earth where she had stabbed it into. Father still wasn't anywhere around by that point, so she figured he had to be held up by something. Flying back to where she last saw him (though arriving on the tree tops), her suspicions were confirmed: he wasn't even racing her.
She rolled her eyes. Distracted by a pretty wolf again? It wouldn't be the first time. Whenever they were out in public together, she'd often catch him making long looks towards certain people. It had only recently dawned on her what it meant, putting two and two together from the school stories he'd tell. 'Sorry if I'm intruding, I'm just passing through.' Without even thinking about it, she'd call from among the trees, "Wait! Do you know Reed Blackpaw?!"
It was a rather large snake, actually. He wondered if the one called Larkspur ever got sore shoulders from it. With wings relaxing to his sides more, the hoofed lion eased up on his caution upon receiving the answer, "Ah," they seemed chill enough, so he asked more calmly, "Where you headed?" he still wasn't quite ready to just let them go yet, not without assessing them more. Not long after that, Roxanne's voice would suddenly shout out from above, and his head would tilt upwards to find the bright pink leopard child perched among the trees. A low hiss escaped his maw - doesn't she know to stay hidden when strangers show up close to our den? But the cat was out of the bag now, too late for all that. Looking back down at Larkspur, he'd crack a small smile and shrug nonchalantly, "Yeah uh, we've been kind of looking for her. My name's Matthias; I'm a merchant," never hurts to spread the knowledge of his profession.
Ah, good - this feline also seemed to be on the calmer side. How nice that it appeared that practically everyone in this new world so far was at least not overtly aggressive.
"Just north," Larkspur said, tossing their head lightly in a vague direction. "With no set direction, I'm merely attempting to map-"
A voice calling out from the trees startled them, and the large snake wrapped around their shoulders, earning a defensive 'hiss!' from Folke as they refocused their attention. They blinked, slightly taken aback by the sight of a bright pink spotted cat - intriguing. While the blue horned feline seemed like something resembling a cougar, this new cat (a young one, they think) didn't ring any sort of bells for what it could possibly be. Would it be rude to ask? Or would it be more like asking about Larkspur's eyes? Something of a common question that the young cat was used to?
Processing the question, though (and taking in the equally distressed hiss from the blue cat), they obligingly nodded.
"I'm familiar with Reed, yes," Larkspur confirmed. Perhaps this was another lost soul who'd been unwittingly rescued by the sword-baring she-wolf. "She helped me fly again and I helped her find her friend, Balthizar."
The wolf paused, wondering if they should have waited for the others to explain why they were looking for their friends. Just in case, it had ended up being another situation like Malachi, where they held some form of grudge or displeasure against them. Then again, the pink cat seemed happy - or at least, excited to bring up her name.
She heard her father's hiss, but she didn't care! Everyone she'd asked so far didn't know who Reed was, and it was beginning to frustrate her. It's not like she had much better to do, being alone all the time.
But this time, someone did know her! She'd open her wings and steady herself, then make a somewhat clumsy descent from the trees. In her maw was still the carved wood dual-sword she had made, and she lifted it up proudly to show them before putting it on the ground. Happily the girl turned to Larkspur, shiny white teeth revealed in a smile, "Reed promised to teach me how to use a sword! But I haven't seen her in a while, but I made my own sword and look-!" she'd pick it up again. She really wanted them to see the ingenious design of having a split end, "I' curves righ' here, so you can jus' til' your head and ssab someone!" she'd demonstrate by tilting her head, which made the curved part drive forward, right into an invisible enemy's heart. Then she'd put it back down, aware they probably couldn't hear her well with a mouthful of wood, "But I also kept the straight bit, 'cause I figured it might still be important. But I don't really get it. I think it's 'cause maybe swords aren't meant to be held in your mouth, they're meant to be floated, but I don't make things float," she had enough sense not to go revealing that her father could make things float. She remembered their lessons on secrecy! Telling a stranger you have a sword doesn't count.
