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**HyrulianBlackcat** · 11-30-2017, 10:22 PM

"She's got a knack for it, doesn't she," Sylvannas commented, beginning to groom the blood from her muzzle. "One would almost think she had a gift for it."
"Just cause I'm bad and you never met my parents," he grumbled back. He was pleased that Aria could pick it up so quickly, but he was a little irritated that the lynx kept pointing out his flaws. Not that it was anything new, she loved to point out how imperfect he was, especially compared to her. He glanced over at the chirri, who was ignoring Sylvannas in favor of more bread crumbs from Aria. He smiled. "Don't think so. Sylvannas likes to belittle me. She's a hunter after all, and a cat at that." Sylvannas snorted but didn't comment. "Our new little friend, however, seems be more friendly."
"He'd make a tasty snack," Sylvannas added nonchalantly. Jack glared at her, but she was too focused on cleaning her claws to notice.

**Peeps** · 11-30-2017, 10:42 PM

Aria payed attention to the exchange between Jack and Sylvanas more closely for once. Now it made more sense somehow. She couldn't understand them but could understand their relationship better. There did seem to be a difference with the bird though, some special clarity in her grasp of the bird speaking tone. She would have to practice because the idea of conversation with the chirri kept getting realer. Jack surely had to practice when his parents taught him. And if he could learn, she figured, why not also learn. The skill seemed attainable even though the speech wasn't human.

As she finished eating, Aria's eyelids grew heavy. She was getting too tired to keep talking to this chirri but knew what to say to see how well she could get it to obey. "I need to get some sleep," she tried, "Will you please stay here tonight? I could use your help tomorrow." The critter sounded a reassuring yes and Aria looked to Jack. "What should I sleep on?" she asked. She had been naive and thought she would find inns along her journey, but now knew how wrong that was. All she had on her was a blanket but she didn't want to get it all dirty.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 11-30-2017, 11:39 PM

"Sleep on?" Jack repeated with a frown. "You mean, like on a branch or something?" He was planning on sleeping on the blanket that he'd brought. He had only brought one to sleep on, having seen she had one already. It might be large enough to share, if she didn't want to sleep on hers, but only barely. And that was assuming Sylvannas didn't insist on sharing. Then again, she might prefer to sleep by herself, disliking his extreme cold. Would Aria be okay with that, if she wanted to share? His cold, that is. He'd noticed the night before that she couldn't tolerate the mountain cold nearly as well as Sylvannas could, much less his own cold.

**Peeps** · 12-01-2017, 10:58 AM

"No, like..." Aria's voice trailed off as she realized Jack didn't even know what she meant. She felt weird sleeping outside in the wild with no tent or anything. At least the lynx would probably help keep them safe thru the night. She remembered how cold Jack had been, how the ice in his veins was so cold you could feel it without touching. For that reason, she decided to deal with it and wrapped herself up in her blanket, lying down on the cold ground and began trying to get to sleep. "This is okay," she said, though you could tell from her tone that she wasn't exactly content. "Good night, Jack."

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 12-01-2017, 07:45 PM

Jack blinked in surprise. He had no idea why she sounded upset. But she lay down with her back to him, preventing him from asking. Instead he looked at the chirri, who was settling himself down in a tiny hollow he'd made among the pine needles. Jack was surprised the little bird had decided to stay, especially with Sylvannas so close. Granted, the lynx rarely troubled herself with something so small, but that didn't prevent any little critters from running away at the slightest sign of her presence. There was just something odd about him...

Sylvannas nudged his elbow with her head. When he looked down, she met his coppery gaze with her own golden one. She didn't say anything, but he could tell she was reminding him it was late. He should be getting to sleep. He smiled and rubbed her head, earning a quiet purr. Then he spread his blanket across the ground and lay down. After a moment, he heard Sylvannas climb a tree. She liked to sleep off the ground, wary of being snuck up on by night time predators. He didn't care; they tended to leave him alone. He always suspected his icy aura tricked them into thinking him dead flesh.

**Peeps** · 12-01-2017, 09:02 PM

*The next morning*

Aria woke when the chirri perched himself on her boot. Seeing a bird triggered her to instantly remember her dream. A majestic bird, much larger than the chirri, with glimmering feathers and wide wings had spoken to her in the sky of her dreams. They became one and made a promise to help one another. Her ability had been revealed to her, as well as a further understanding of bird speak.

The chirri fluttered up her body to perch on her finger.

"I'll call you Seer," she decided. "My eyes in the sky." He chirped in delight. "My name's Aria," she added, realizing she had never introduced herself.

"A pleasure, Aria!" Seer said back. After her dream this was not as strange to her. It was as if she had been trained during her sleep. It was relieving to finally connect with such an important part of herself.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 12-01-2017, 10:15 PM

Jack came awake with a start and a grunt when Sylvannas landed on him. Forty pounds falling from a tree branch several feet up is not a pleasant sensation, especially when the full force is applied to one's chest. It took several moments for Jack to catch his breath enough to grunt, "What was that for?"
"Nothing much," she answered casually, kneading his chest. He winced as her claws dug into the skin unexposed from his vest. "I've just been woken by a tiny ball of feathers and your little tagalong."
"Really? You woke me because you're grumpy?" he grumbled. With a heave, he pushed her off and rolled to his side. He smiled as he saw Aria sitting with the little chirri perched on her finger. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you made a new friend," he teased, sitting up and reaching over to find some breakfast in his packed supplies.

**Peeps** · 12-01-2017, 10:53 PM

"I have indeed," Aria said with a smile. She held out her hand for Jack to take a closer look at the green chirri under the early morning sunlight. "He's my Seer." She couldn't be anything but happy with this energy Seer gave off. His attitude was all positivity, even better than the lynx, she thought. He didn't crash into her to wake her up. Instead he was gentle, and seemed interested in her all the time. She knew he would do anything she asked.

Aria looked out at the view from their camp near the bottom of the mountain slope. They were practically in the forest now. If her sense of navigation was correct, they just had to reach the bottom and then follow the mountain's foot southwards til they hit Pinehaven. And for some reason her navigation skills felt extra acute today. She couldn't guess exactly where the village was, but she could have Seer check to make sure. Anxious to continue on, she looked over to see if Jack had breakfast ready.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 12-02-2017, 11:19 PM

"Seer's an odd name," Sylvannas commented, shaking pine needles from her fur.
"You think all human names are weird," Jack teased her as he handed Aria some food for breakfast. As he ate, he looked down the mountain side. They were only maybe halfway down the mountain, but it was much more level here and the forest crept up to blanket it with its leafy cover. Further down, the evergreens faded into the larger oaks and shrubs. He rarely came even this far down, and he was anxious about going even further. He hadn't caught his breath from the efforts the day before, and he felt a headache coming on. This always happened whenever he climbed down the mountain, and he knew it wouldn't get better unless he climbed back up, or was careful about continuing down. He sighed and rubbed his head with the heel of his hand. "When would you like to keep going?" he asked Aria, cracking a nut between his teeth.

**Peeps** · 12-20-2017, 04:57 PM

"How about when we finish eating?" Aria answered before she started eating. She wondered why he asked, because there was clearly no reason for them to dillydally on the mountain. All they needed was time to eat and then it seemed reasonable enough to get going. She was too anxious about her brother to slow down. At this point she still knew absolutely nothing. She prayed something would be revealed to her when and if they found Pinehaven.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 12-20-2017, 05:54 PM

Jack breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He'd been afraid for a moment that she'd want to eat while walking. While he could respect her desire to move on, he wasn't really looking forward to moving on. He might enjoy the exertions, but his muscles weren't used to the extra 100 or so pounds hanging off him while he climbed. He'd want to take it rather easy for at least a little while. Once food was finished, he stood and stretched, warming his muscles up and attempting to work the worst of the aches from them. "Shall we continue then?" he asked.
Sylvannas sidled close to him and rubbed her chin against his knee. "You know, your glacinox won't feel so sore if you shifted."
He reached down to scratch behind her ears. "I don't want to scare Seer, though."
"Would serve it right," she muttered. "Stupid little feather ball."
"You're just mad I won't let you try to eat it," he teased.
She turned to give him a look. "Jack. If I wanted to eat it, you wouldn't be able to stop me." He chuckled and rubbed her head, the movement just hard enough to ruffle her ears, much to her obvious irritation.

**Peeps** · 03-18-2018, 05:27 PM

"Yes, I'm ready," Aria answered. "Let's go." Standing up, she flapped the dirt off the blanket she had slept on. She stuffed it in her pack. The sun was bright and the temperature much more bearable than the day before, so she wouldn't need it. This bottom part of the mountain was much more level, and she was relieved that she wouldn't need to be carried any more.

"Should be this way."Even though this was her first time in this particular area, Aria had a sense of which direction they should be headed in relation to the mountains. She started that way, confident that they would be getting closer to the old village. Once they were in the right part of the woods it would be easy to pin down with the help of Seer.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 03-18-2018, 08:38 PM

Jack followed after her, easily keeping pace despite his sore muscles. She was growing excited to reach their destination. Even Sylvannas wasn't completely immune, although it was only a subtle change in her. She was still huffy as she padded alongside the group, shooting glares at the whistling Seer. Jack smiled at the lynx, but he ignored her irritation. In fact, he joined in Seer's cheerful whistling. He might not be used to the lower altitude and slightly warmer climate, but that wasn't going to prevent him from enjoying it. He was excited to see Aria's hometown and meet new people.

**Peeps** · 03-19-2018, 02:19 PM

Aria relentlessly pushed on, keeping a steady pace as the woods grew thicker and the slope eventually met it's end. This leveled out into the expansive Bybourne Forest floor. The scenery rushed her with a sweet nostalgic feeling. The morning sun peeked through holes in the blanket of green leaves where the birds sang as critters scurried around below. The forest wasn't always a safe place to pass through with the monsters and bandits and all, but she was focused and confident. She felt closer than ever to finding her brother and nothing could stop her now. Leaving the mountains behind, the duo moved west into the southern depths of the forest where Pinehaven lay awaiting Aria's return.

*Aria and Jack move to Shadow of the Past in Bybourne Forest*

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