The Monster of Gardven Forest (MechaStarfish91 and JinmeiXaolung)

[MechaStarfish91]

"The monster of Gardven Forest..." Viktor heard several people talk about in the tavern he was in. There was one large fellow at a corner boasting about how he would go and take care of the monster himself. He sloshed his mug of ale around as he spoke, clearly drunk. Others in the tavern were saying other things about it. "What if it decided to come to our village?" a woman asked. "Why haven't the knights dealt with it?" asked another. Everyone sounded terrified of the creature. Viktor finished his tankard of ale and left a few coins on the table as payment.

He left the tavern and approached the building across from it which was the inn in the village. If Viktor was going to take on this monster, he was going to have to be well rested. He made his way up the the room he was staying in and went to bed. Just as the sun began to rise Viktor was up and packing his gear. The only weapons he had with him at the moment was a sword with a blade made of silver and a bow with a quiver full of arrows with silver points. He also had a travel bag with essentials for adventurers: ground cloth for sleeping on in the outdoors, a few fruits to eat (which he would stock up on in villages and towns he came across) and tools to keep his weapons maintained.

Viktor wasn't familiar with the area so he asked around until finding someone (by bribing them with enough coins to feed their family for a week) to escort him to the forest. "You've have to be crazy to go there, sir," the person told him as he prepared a horse for Viktor and himself. Viktor simply told the man he wasn't like most people. It took a while to get to the entrance to the forest. Once there Viktor got off the horse and listened. It was a little too quiet. The man who escorted him there was starting to look a little nervous.

Suddenly there was a sound of a tree limb snapping, but that was enough to scare the horses and the man, who ran back in the direction they came from with both horses. Viktor made a motion to stop them, but knew it wouldn't help. Great... he thought. Now how was he going to get back once he dealt with the problem. One problem at a time though. Viktor turned back to the direction of the forest and held his hand on his sword, prepared to draw it in case anything was actually there.

 

[JinmeiXaolung]

Ark'Ven poked her head up from the small pile of leaves she had been resting herself on as a strange energy presence entered her isolated little forest. She slowly rose a bit, leaning forward on all fours as she listened intently to the sounds of her forest - the one that had kept her safe and sheltered all these years after her home was raided without reason.

The young hybrid stood at just under 4 feet tall on both legs and despite the forest she lived in - her skin was a very exotic tan. She had long blonde hair that flowed down to her shoulderblades and two large ears perched high on her head. Her body was toned, athletic and clearly coursing with the blood of the Grimm. Where a normal person would have a hand and forearms, she had giant paws that lead up to her elbow before reverting back to a more humanoid appearance - her legs too, were a digigrade leg, very much like old heiroglyphs depicting Anubis. Two small wings were folded against her back and a tail swayed back and forth of it's own volition, hissing softly as it tried to pick out the new energy source from the rest of the usual scents.

She began to walk and once she was sure she had the newcomer's scent, she bolted towards it - spreading her wings and taking flight to hide herself among the trees in the very real chance that this being may be hostile towards her. She knew the odd villager to pass through here, always returning to the village with some crazy story about how they'd seen her and how vicious she was.

The truth of it all though, she'd never once attacked a passing villager or anyone else for that matter! She didn't know how these crazy rumors about her started, but ever since they did life had started to get harder in the forest. Knights showed up a bit more frequently now, and there was no shortage of mercenaries...she did what she needed to do in order to survive, often laying low within a cave not too far from Gardven Lake.

 

[MechaStarfish91]

As Viktor continued he looked in all directions to make sure he wasn't being ambushed. He thought he could feel eyes on him, and it made him nervous. he had no idea what he was up against, and the forest he was in didn't seem to be under the watchful eye of his kin, nor be in a faerie realm otherwise this creature would already have been dealt with. He would have to take care of it quickly before it took any lives...then he thought about it. There were only rumors of villagers seeing the creature, but nothing of it killing anyone.

"I know you're out there," Viktor called, so far out to no one, but somehow he knew it could hear him. "No one else is around, I promise." He then proceeded to strip himself of his weapons and laying them down to show he didn't mean harm. "Would you like to come out and talk?" he then asked. He moved away from where he placed his weapons but still kept an eye on them.

 

[JinmeiXaolung]

The strange Chimera of a creature peered her head out from around the trunk of a particularly thick tree as she heard the weapons being placed against the ground. She was careful yet not to reveal herself to this strange man, he came in here fully armed only to drop his weapons and ask her to speak with him? She pondered this, and the fact that she may not have a voice to speak with any longer. Still, he seemed to be the source of the strange energy in her forest - and his aura was something to behold-! Unlike most things, his aura wasn't one dominant color, but a shimmering rainbow of colors. Some serious magic must be at play on this man in one way or another.

After what felt like an eternity to her, Ark'Ven finally decided it was time to come out into the open. She stepped around the trunk of a tree, the thin fabric that she could scarcely call clothing clung tightly to her frame and really didn't leave much to the imagination - though she didn't seem to mind it at all. Without an inkling of an idea as to how to progress this situation, she simply stood there before Viktor, letting him decide the next move.

 

[MechaStarfish91]

He knew making a sudden movement might scare it...her off. He stood where he was and slowly started to sit down. "You can come closer. I'm not going to hurt you," he called to her. He was sitting on his knees now with his hands on top of his thighs. He had noticed she hadn't made a sound since she revealed herself. "Can you speak?" he then asked. He was focused on the creature, not breaking eye contact nor blinking. Prepared for whatever happened.