The Forest

[Heart Summers]

Looking at the house she smiled, the outside looked lovely having been working on her small home the entire day. She wasn't sure why most didn't come outside during this time of day, to Crystal you never truly got things done unless you were willing to work all through the days. But instead people of the little town that was wrapped by the thickest of forest feared the unknown, and often blamed reasonable things on creatures that didn't exist. In fact everything that seemed to go wrong or astray was the fault of a make believe elf.

Crystal gave a frown as she looked over the front of her home, something was missing from the windows. Taking a moment she brushed her dark hair behind her ear, her summers dress holding smudges of dirt here and there. "That's it...I need flowers," her honey voice spoke to herself, gathering her light jacket and basket she headed off to find the right flowers. Despite the warnings of the town folk she often ventured into the forest alone, only this time she didn't realize that she would end up needing help from these make believe creatures.

 

[karthanian]

As he lay on the branch of a tree, the sun shining warmly on him as a cool breeze contrasted the warmth. Solon enjoyed his days in the forest, which was not only his home, but his birthplace and would eventually be his deathbed as well. Closing his eyes to enjoy the feeling of the world around him, to hear the breath of the wind, feel the bark of the tree. Not many people believed that his kind existed, let alone that they dwelt so close to human civilisation. Yet even with all the disbelief, Solon knew that anything bad that happened near or in the wood was attributed to them, whether it was actually their fault or not.

Pushing his blonde hair out of his face, Solon smiled feeling more alive than any human would know how too. Sitting up sharply, his keen elven senses noting something was wrong with the forest, that something had changed, he swung himself quickly over the branch. As nimbly as his fingers would allow him, Solon climbed down to the undergrowth of the forest, the grass springing slightly beneath his feet. As silently and quickly as his race had been graced with speed, Solon headed towards the forest entrance. There he saw something he hadn't seen for a long time, a human female walking into the elven dwelling, unphased by any warnings that should have been given to her. Stealthily, Solon began to follow the girl, taking in as much detail of her as he could, half appreciating the attractiveness of the girl, the way a stranger may appreciate her walking down the streets.

 

[Heart Summers]

She kept her steps careful as she moved over the forest thick, her eyes scanning for the perfect wildflowers to add to her basket. She didn't know why folks feared these beautiful trees that hung over her, nothing seemed out of place here. In fact to her this was the perfect place to come and take a moment to think over what you wanted to do in your life. Crystal smiled looking across the way to see a small animal scurry away from her, racing his little legs as fast as he could to safety. "Don't worry little one, I won't hurt you," she assured him, nearly tripping on a log that had made its home on the forest floor, fresh earthy green moss covering its once strong bark.

Crystal could have sworn that she felt something tracking her, yet every time she turned to look nothing was there. She merely shrugged it off, blaming the feeling on the old wise stories that the older villagers liked to tell to the little children. Looking down at her nearly finished basket she smiled at the array of purples and pinks. "Somethings missing...there," she whispered to herself, seeing that across a crack in the earth stood beautifully bloomed blue flowers, moving carefully to the edge she tried to stretch her body over the gaping hole. Her fingers nearly touching one of the petals, to her horror she felt her knee give in on her. Her body crashing forward, her hands now gripping the side of the edge, fighting to escape. "help!" she shouted in hopes that someone would hear her.

 

[karthanian]

Tracking the girl through the forest was easier than Solon had expected. It seemed humans had no ability to move silently through the trees, well nothing compared to that that the elven race seemed to possess. Moving from tree to tree, keeping out of her field of vision, it was easy for the male to watch the girl picking flowers up from the forest floor. Why would someone take something that has grown so beautifully and remove it from it's environment to cause it to die? Solon thought to himself as he frowned slightly. Abusing nature was not in any elven soul and it sorrowed him to see humans being so careless with everything around them.

It did not take Solon long to figure out things would turn wrong soon. "Why in the name of mother earth would she reach over a chasm like that? Are humans stupider than our elders have taught us?" Solon whispered near silently into the wind. Hearing the sound of falling earth, Solon turned back to the gap to see the woman had disappeared, a set of fingers apparent over the edge. The cries of help were too much for Solon to bear. "Don't struggle or you'll fall!" He cried out, his voice deep but carrying a sense of calm with it. Running over quickly, his strides eating up the distance, he looked over the edge to the female clinging for her life. "Wait for me to grab your wrists before you let go and hold onto me," Solon informed her, moving back to lay down on the ground by the edge, leaning over enough to reach his arms over. Grabbing her wrists, he slowly began to pull her back up over the edge.

 

[Heart Summers]

At the moment Crystal only listened to the man that had come to help her, hearing only his voice and seeing only his hands she did as she was told. She had risked her life before to get what she wanted, only this time she was glad that someone had been there to save her from her courage. When she was safely on land she couldn't help but place her head to the earth, thanking the heavens for letting her live one more day upon the green earth that she loved. Once her breathing returned to normal she sat up with a smile looking to the man that had saved her. Wanting to offer him thanks and dedication for saving her life, but when she glanced over the man she lost her words; her eyes taking in the sight of the very creature she had claimed to be fake.

Looking to the elf she didn't know what to say, the look of him sending her into a haze of disbelief and pure astonishment. He was more than just handsome, his delicate skin seeming to pull her closer to him. His pointed ears not at all gruesome as the elders had told the tales that they were. His voice now that she wasn't in peril had been smooth and alluring rather than evil and painful to listen to. "Thank you," she managed moving her hand to rub at her bruised ankle, only recently starting to burn and prick at her skin angrily.