Hunter and the Hunted [Private]

Nalia suddenly appeared, pulling him into a nearby alleyway. Her expression was set with a grim expression, and she put a finger to her lips, a gesture she had learned meant to be quiet. A faint shimmer ran down her body, and her invisibility consumed both of them. After a few moments, two people walked by. Thanks to her having physical contact with him, he would be able to see what she saw: black tendrils of energy drifting off of them. Closing her eyes, she waited for about five minutes before letting the illusion go. "Here, give me those." Grabbing the clothes, she pulled them on, visdibly shaking. "I spotted an inn on the opposite side of town. It looked like a good place."

Astor's head turned from side to side trying to find where Nalia had disappeared to the instant he turned his back, though the feeling that he was being watched didn't seem to go away. A chill seemed to float up his spine even as he continued down the path and into the town. Almost as if on instinct he tried reaching for a hood as though he were wearing a cloak, if only to realize that he hadn't put it on in all the excitement. With one last huff, and an attempt to not look like he was up to anything, he merely continued to walk through the street in the hope of finding some sort of article of clothing for his recent traveling companion.

What felt like hours passed while trying to find an open shop, a fact even more evident with the fully set sun over the horizon, and eventually desperation took place enough for him to search for hanging garments. In his search he eventually found something modest hung up that he would unfortunately have to appropriate so he wouldn't have to try and wait over night. He already was putting more trust than he should have in the thought that Nalia was still around and would stick around. Once removed from the line, he dived into what he could to at least offer a few gold coins for what was in essence a plain looking traveler's outfit. With that he tried leaving before anyone would see him and he could try and find Nalia on his way back out of town, of course with the night now present it seemed that there would be the need of an inn before they could travel further.

Nalia easily slipped into her bird form, darting ahead of him and landing in a high tree that afforded her a look over the nearest town. She had spent her entire life up there on that mountain, and now... she had nothing. She ran, and endedup giving herself up to the Empress... and for what? The people she had watched over for so long were wiped out. Turning her head to the right, she watched as he entered the city. She didn't know why, but she felt like there was something... light deep inside him. I wonder who you are... really....

Astor sighed, "No I suppose that she wouldn't want as much of an asset as you are to be in plain view or anyone just knows we have you." His voice carried annoyance with Nalia's explanation. His hand quickly snatched up the new feather, a brief look of confusion at the fact that the feather popped out of her tail of all places, "Once I do get you some clothes, you are going to need to tell me more about everything you do. Including these feathers appearing from the ether." He spoke before Nalia disappeared and he had to walk that road to the next town.

Nalia glanced over her shoulder at him, pausing for a moment before shaking her regal head and continuing forward. "Do you really think your Empress would want any potential enemies to know what you have captured? That would put her future plans in jeopardy." Hearing the main road approaching, her tail flicked and a small feather appeared in front of him. "Here. I will be as near as I possibly can without being noticed. Once I have clothes and I am back in human form, you will be completely in charge for the rest of the journey. Unless a decision on your part puts my life at jeopardy."

Astor shrugged his shoulders with the brief explanation that Nalia gave him, "You can do whatever magic you have if it makes it easier for you." He glanced over to Nalia as they walked the path to some sort of civilization after the more recent incident, "It all depends, if there were more of my soldiers with me. It's possible all I'd need is a method of restraint, such as a rope or a mobile stockade, and no one would make a second glance to the fact you would be completely bare. Given the current situation however I'm sure you would rather not."

Nalia made a disgusted noise as she stretched before heading towards the path that lead down the cliff face. "I will give you a feather when we reach the main road. Imbuded with my power, it will let you instantly find me whenever you need. I will stay out of sight, in this form, until we reach the nearest town. You will need to find me some clothing. I would look an odd sight walking around covered in vines for clothing. That would create just as much of a commotion as if I walked around bare skinned."

Astor rolled his eyes at Nalia with the annoyance that seemed to radiate off her. Then his head shot straight up when the same wolf formed a pair of wings and shot herself skyward, "Just when you start to know something." He muttered to himself before his eyes traced the trees behind him in the possibility that he was attacked. In the time that it took for Nalia to fly and see what she needed, Astor had taken a seat and simply watched the tree line, his head turned to face Nalia, "Fine then, but when we arrive at the main road you may want to take a more human appearance or you may cause a panic. Especially once we cross into my empress's territory, they do not take to wildlife very well. Typically with the nearest sharp object."

Nalia made an annoyed sound and lowered her chest to the ground, tucking her muzzle down as she stretched out all in the same movement. A faint white light appeared above her, and a moment later, the white light disappeared in a flash as a pair of white, angel like wings appeared on her back. "Wait here." Jumping into the air, she looked around her slowly and spotted a road that ran along the bottom edge of the mountain range. Dropping back down, she shook her head and the wings disappeared in a puff of feathers. "We need to follow the trail down to the bottom of the mountains. We'll need to camp just off the road, then head south. I'm sure this road will run into the main one eventually."

Astor grumbled under his breath after Nalia gave him the firm dressing down, "Apologies Nalia, I'm more of a soldier than a hunter. I just happen to know how to track prey better than others." He addressed tucking his arms into his chest and following the rest of the way out of the dense woods.

Once they broke free from the woods, Astor covered his eyes from the sun that seemed to stream directly into his eyes, "Fine." He squinted his eyes to try and filter out the light so he could get a bearing on where they were. He stood in silence for several minutes before he finally spoke, "I have no idea where we are." He spoke bluntly as he stared at the mountains ahead of them, "We must have gone out a side of the woods I didn't remember."

Nalia stopped suddenly and just stood there for a good bit before turning quickly to look at the hunter. "First of all, you need to think on your own. You are not a being that has no thoughts of its own. Secondly, my name is Nalia. You need to call me by my name, not just wolf. Thirdly, the forest is massive. You should know this. And you call yourself a hunter. Humph." Turning with a flick of her tail, she conti used forward.

After thirty more minutes, they emerge from the forest, to find themselves standing on an outcropping that overlooked the valley below them. "This is the extent of my knowledge. You must take the lead now."

Astor grunted in understanding with his non-dominate hand clenched on the scabbard on his belt while his eyes scanned along the tree line. His head briefly went to Nalia at the comment towards his empress, "I have no right to ask the empress's motives. We are only to follow her orders, questioning her orders are not to be tolerated." He added simply to her first comment and back to scanning for potential threats, "You say some incredible things, wolf." He spoke shortly before the air seemed to flood with the sweet fragrance just from Nalia walking through. Astor's mind became uneasy in the new silence, each sound that even seemed close seemed to echo endlessly around them. His head snapping back and forth between the amplified noises, making it clear that he wasn't used to the silence, "I am not familiar with this place wolf, how far do we have to go before we're out of these woods?"

Nalia made a sound of contempt, as she sniffed slightly at the air, turning and walking away from the river bank. "There are insurgents nearby. They always patrol the areas closest to the river." She found herself chuckling, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Your Empress sure likes to hold information close to herself, doesn't she?" She said in a light tone, taking in a deep breath as small wildflowers responded to her presence, letting out their soft fragrances. "I am nature. When I die, as long as I die within a pure space, I can come back within a week. The more polluted a place, the longer it takes. If I was to die, say, in Her capital, I would be gone forever, and everything within 300 miles would start to die." Her words and voice became soft, and she eventually lapsed into a long silence as her mind turned towards such devastation.

Astor huffed at the mention of him though pretended to ignore it lest he somehow incur Nalia's wrath and possibly impaled on a several tendrils of tree roots. He watched the brief display to quench the flames that the village had ignited in a state of awe, "How do you do what you do?" He asked once she took to her quadrapedal form once again, "I can't say that I've seen such a mastery of magic before. "

Nalia looked at him with a calculating eye, before turning with a light snort. "Ever a dog." She muttered under her breath before walking forward. Looking up towards the sky, she took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, raising her right arm as she did so. Towards the tips of her fingers, ice crystals formed, blowing towards the village. As they would arrive over said village, storm clouds formed and it started to snow, putting out the fires. "Now they can rest in peace." Walking forward again, she easily slipped into her wolf form. "I can lead. I smell her even this far away."

Astor took two involuntary steps backwards when the trees themselves started to pull from around her and start what could have been either an attack or a shield against anything that Nalia's hunter may try and pull. Each word from her stung down at him even before the ground trembled under his feet and threatened to make Astor lose his balance. He wanted to argue everything, but instead he stayed silent to every point that Nalia made. When Nalia snapped suddenly, Astor instinctively took a hold of the hilt of his sword and readied himself to draw. The proud hunter visage that was present just moments before just vanished and in its place was a soldier shaking in place readying himself to be set upon. It took Astor almost a minute to recover and try to return to the posture he had prior, "Fine." He then looked to the river, "I will be walking behind you then. That way I can keep track of you."

Nalia walked slowly towards him, the trees around her groaning, as if getting ready to defend her if need be. Stopping just short of what one would call personal space, Nalia tilted her head slightly to the right. "Those people left their country, fleeing the rivers of blood that went before and after her armies. Homes razed." The ground underneath the two of them started to tremble. "Families torn apart, girls and even boys, used for carnal amusement and then tossed aside like unwanted trash." Wind started to blow through the trees, crashing branches together with an angry noise. "Entire countryside villages, peaceful and pure. Nature defiled, all for her power to expand!" Her voice snapped at the end, and a heartbeat later, everything was calm as she took a calming breath. "Let us go now."

Astor felt a sudden chill run down his spine as she spoke. His hand slowly took the tension off the bow before returning the notched arrow to the quiver. He watched each step to the end of the branch where she defended in the green vines that now covered her decency, "If they had surrendered you instead of resisting at every chance then that village would still be standing. The empress is merciful to those that comply with her will." He retorted, his voice now starting to quiver as he stared to the lady he was tasked to find, "And what the empress wishes you for is none of my concern, only that I take you to her."

"One of the Empress' dogs." Her voice seemed to drop from its normal soft octave, taking on a sound on contempt with a hunt of hardness in her words. Euanre slinked off, wanting to avoid this scenario. When she sounded like that... The Lady of the Mountains was a scary creature. Nalia walked down the large oak branch she was standing on, ending up at its thinnest part, standing there as if she had no weight, her eyes never leaving the hunter. "She attacks a small village, to capture a wolf that has nothing to give her. I will go with you, yes. But that does not mean that I will be able to do as she asks." Stepping of the branch, as her feet touched the ground, tiny vines covered her body, quickly forming make shift clothes.

Before he could finally loose his arrow he tucked his arm to his head to avoid getting beaned by the sudden hail storm of fruit. In irritation, he twisted to try and aim at the attacker in the brief half second before he could be pelted by more, "Infernal creature." He grunted batting aside an over ripened apple that splashed onto his arm. After a brief second of trying to toss off the mushed fruit from his gauntlet, he aimed a barbed arrow at where the last fruit had been thrown, "Where are you hiding?" He spoke mostly to himself as he carefully walked on the balls of his feet to try and find both the offender and his prey.

In the near quiet his eyes traced the tree tops as well as where he had thought the wolf was now exposed through the top of the trunk that she had been hiding in before, "Surrender peacefully, I have no urge to kill you, wolf." He spoke with a breath that seemed to try and calm himself after being pelted and stained by the various fruits, "The empress wants you alive."

Watching the hunter reach for his bow, a yellow eyed creature felt the fur on the back of his neck start to stand up as it was rushed with a feeling of urgency. Silently moving to a tree behind him, he reached and quietly pulled a few fruits from the tree. Seeing the hunter pull back the arrow, he made a annoyed yarling sound and threw one of the fruits as the most filtered its way into the tree. "Ya! You leave her alone! Leave the Lady alone!" He snarled, darting from branch to branch, throwing fruits at him.

Euanre! Nalia heard his voice through the tree. Taking her hair, she used it to wrap around her mouth and started to climb up th center of the trunk. Coming out the top, she spotted the hidden creature easily. "Euanre! You stop that right niw. Your life is not worth my own." "But Lady. You know what he is, what he comes for? I-" "Enough, Euanre. I know. He is one of her dogs. Do as I say and leave."

Astor caught the distant sound of the wolf coughing as she tried to free herself of the progressing hunter. His eyes focused on the trail left behind and his ears focused on the hacking coughs while the stinging concoction did its work. Pastor's tracking efforts brought him to the river and the lack of direction to follow now.

While Astor stood at the bank of the river he stared up and down stream, trying to make an assumption on where Nalia could have gone from here. Figuring on a guess he swung himself to travel up the stream hopeful of what he would find. His eyes scanned constantly across the river searching for any sign that Nalia had left the water.

In time he looked to a red oak with roots that seemed unnaturally set. Notching a new arrow with the bulb at the end, he silently stepped to the tree roots. In another swift motion he loosed the arrow into the roots cavity with the red powder purging through the small cavity. From there he waited for his quarry.

Nalia felt the burning in her nose and eyes even before she realized what had happened. Shaking her grand head with a short, she put on a fresh burst of speed, zipping through the trees in a ragged pattern, hoping to throw off the tail of whoever was following her. Trees swayed slightly in the wind, branches seeming to sip down to hide her passage. Roots slowly lifted just above the ground behind her, as if trying to trip up her hunter. As she ran through a small creek, she turned and headed south, slipping under bridges before finally diving into the Yang river. Swimming against the current, she popped up on the other side, the wind whipping around her to dry her fur. Still huffing from inhaling the red substance, she found a massive red oak and was able to wiggle under a gap in the barely exposed roots. The thousand year old tree sighed, it's roots coming together and slipping back under the ground, hiding her within the cavity of its roots. She rubbed a paw roughly against her nose, helping when she poofed back into human form. Exposed and cold, she covered herself with her long hair and hugged her knees to her chest, hoping that she had lost her attacker.

Astor crawled through the underbrush in an effort to capture his quarry. Each step was slow and careful not to make a sound or shift the brush about as he tracked Nalia. Being a part of the infamous Dragon Brigade had taught him many things about tracking prey and ensuring that he would be able to capture the white wolf that his empress had desired. The town that had sought asylum for the wolf hadn't needed to give Nalia over, he could have sound her regardless.

He froze when he heard the rustling of foliage around them. Instinctively he dropped low to keep himself from being seen immediately while his eyes traced where the sounds were coming from. Then there she was, the white wolf that his empress wanted. With slow and meticulous motions, Astor pulled his bow free and notched an arrow with a bulb attached. His arm pulled the arrow back with care to reduce any sound he would have made until it had finally reached its apex. There was a single exhale before he released the arrow right at the wolf's paws. That was when Nalia had shifted and disappeared. A second later the bulb his the ground and released a stinging red powder that flooded the air behind her, "Blast." Astor cursed now charging forward and trying to trace her steps lead.

Nalia sighed as she piked her way through the thick underbrush of the forest. Glancing up from under the hood of her cloak, she winced and turned away, quickly moving once again. High on the mountains was a town that she had been living in for some time. It was where she had been born, and it was where a town had quickly sprang up around her mountain cave home when she had saved a small family that was traveling across the mountains, fleeing a war back in their home country.

Unfortunately, the king of her own country, King Altare had passed away, and in the ensuing chaos with the lack of successor, the country across the mountains, Taesna, had invaded a year prior. There was still wide spread fighting, and her small town had become a haven for all kinds of people. With the haven status, came rumors. Rumors that the Empress of Taesna took to heart, sending out her Dragon Brigade to find her. She was a rare white wolf demon, and as such, she had a tie directly to nature itself. If the Empress was able to capture a white wolf demon, that would give her the extra power she needed to conquer the world.

Wiping the tears she shed for the people of the town that sacrificed themselves to give her time to escape away, she took in a deep breath and shifted into wolf form, disappearing into the forest. She really hoped that she did not get lost. This was her first time away from home in over a century.