↳ mountain

　　　↳ ᴇɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ ᴏɴᴇ. ↰

@✧　Shuangmei "Oh is that so? I'm sorry about that. I didn't know that I am on someone's territory or the peak is closed for any visitors." Autumn said, rubbing her nape and looks around the place and look up to the sky as it is getting dark. "Perhaps I could stay at your place for tonight if you don't mind? By the time I made my way down, it will be quite dark. Would you mind that,sir?" She asked the ancient looking latter nicely, a bit disappointed now that she knew she had trespassed and also the peak is not open for anyone at all.

@✧　Autumn Levine ↳ sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 22, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: la serena - azam ali

Unperturbed by the woman's evident surprise, Shuangmei delicately flutters his fan in front of himself. "You are in my territory," he informs her, gaze piercing. Though he doesn't sense ill intent from her, Shuangmei is all-too aware of how well one can hide their true intentions. "The peak is no longer open to visitors, I am afraid." He has enjoyed the peace and quiet of the mountaintop, with only one individual darkening his doorstep—but the dragon had not been aggressive and had been on his way in enough time. Humans, however, were nosy little creatures that did not seem to know how to stay out of trouble and mind their own business. They could not be allowed to discover his secrets. Thoughtful, Shuangmei snaps his fan shut and thumps it against his palm—killing the human is an option, but there is no amusement to be had in such an easy kill.

@✧　Shuangmei Autumn just finished setting up her tent and sighed heavily, wiping her own sweat that trickled down her chin with his fore arm,dabbing them lightly as she panted. She dusts her hands off and grabs her back, crouching down to take out the necessities to lit up fire for the coldness or maybe for the night. While rummaging the bag, she was oblivious of the presence of a male behind her so the result from the booming voice, Autumn flinches hard and gasps aloud, dropping the tin container in her hands. "Oh God!" She panted and rests a hand on her chest as she squint her eyes,looking at the long haired man in front of her. "H-hi.. ummm.. I am setting camp. So I could go hike later on to that peak-- i-im sorry, I didn't see you there or on my way here.." she said with a little frown as she calmed herself down.

@✧　Autumn Levine ↳ sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 22, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: doom - calivania
↳ sʜᴜᴀɴɢᴍᴇɪ: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ff/ba/fb/ffbafba42159bc4eef38d5dec55cfc90.jpg

Shuangmei senses the presence near his home when he is out for a walk with his daughter. They aren't far from the house—close enough that this presence is in Shuangmei's territory—and he sits Guiying at the base of a tree, encased in a bubble of protective magics in case anyone tries to approach her while he is dealing with the intruder. Snapping his white fan out of his sleeve, the dragon stalks to the cave entrance, the rustle of pink cloth all that announced his otherwise silent approach.

There is a female within the cave—human, Shuangmei presumes, from the lack of aura. Shuangmei does not trust humans; they are conniving little things that kill creatures just for being creatures. He's not fond of their kind, though the grudge he holds is not with them. "What are you doing here?" he asks. His voice snaps through the cave like a whip.

@✧　Shuangmei Having the map on the screen of her phone, Autumn looks up at the mountain area that she is heading to. Sure, going hiking the mountain alone is a bad idea for some people especially for a petite girl like her but Autumn will just do anything for her job. And today, her assignment that she assigned by her ownself is to find a new hot spot for the people who wanted to have some peace of mind, and the mountain is a good place to start, or at least she thought it is. Following the almost invisible trail, falling and tumbling a few times, Autumn finally arrived at a clearing. She looks up to see the real peak is hidden from some clouds and she hadn't got the right equipment for that. Frustrated with it, she rests his hands on her waist and taps her feet in thought. She looks around the clearing and her eyes caught the sight of a cave. Without further thinking, she went ahead to the cave for shelter and began putting up then tent she brought to take a break.

@♆　Monarch ↳ ᴀᴘʀɪʟ 24, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: reapers - muse
↳ sɪʟᴀs: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e7/be/20/e7be209864333f6a3e3ac4271e4505b7.jpg

Sometimes Silas wonders if too much time away from the battlefield as dulled his senses. He'd been alert practically since the start of today's run through the mountains. It wasn't his first time traveling for Vos, but it was his first time taking part in a more important mission than he was normally assigned, and outside of the city at that. Of course, as soon as he let his guard down for a single second it was almost the exact moment their shipment was attacked.

One of the leading vehicles is rocked by an explosion that sends it careening off the path. He sees it from the back of the caravan and hears a high-pitched whistle, immediately springing out of his seat and lurching through the back doors just in time before another explosion rocks the area.

He drops into chaos.

More vehicles have left the formation as dozens of enemies pour between their lines, coming out from behind rocky crags and hidden caves. Vos is fighting back with everything they have, and it's too soon to tell which direction the battle will take. Silas is thrown off for a moment, enough for one of the attackers to swoop in close and go straight for his head. He just manages to avoid her attack from being fatal, but she still scratches him deeply across the side of the face before flying away after someone else. He looks around, eventually spotting the leader, Monarch, in a bright red shirt several yards down the path.

Silas can feel the exact moment his mind clicks into battle ready and starts moving through the cluster of fighting and dead bodies towards Monarch. Along the way he's met by adversaries, taking them out swiftly and efficiently by breaking their necks and using their own weapons against them. He's not the type to savor killing, and he only does it when necessary, like now. What he wouldn't give to have a gun right at this moment, but he'll make do with his hands. Eventually he gets close enough to Monarch that he's within speaking distance, and the smell of blood coming from him is strong enough to even make Silas wince.

"Sir," he says, military-like from years of addressing superiors with respective titles - even if he never meant them back then. "There are three caravans out of commission and about a dozen members down. Enemy numbers seem to be one and a half times more than ours, but they're losing just as many as us. What do you want us to do?" Silas needs orders, he needs a clear vision, because otherwise he'll second guess himself too much. He'll worry about the punishment that comes from acting out of line from the intended vision. It hasn't happened with Vos yet, but really, he thinks, it's only a matter of time.

@☼　Thorn Umber “Not from what I’ve heard and seen.” The nymph paused, then smiled lightly at the foxes words that followed. “I suppose you’re right. Even if they just have one or two friends, I think they’ll be happy with that and the chaos they cause.” Jianhong understood the feeling of searching for new friendships. Through no fault of his own, he’d outlived his old friends by a long stretch. While he was still getting used to the modern day, he’d luckily been able to find some people to rely on, even just in a minor amount.

The older looked confused however when Thorn suddenly sat down to search through the bag with a determination that let it be known he was looking for something in particular. For a moment Jianhong assumed he was about to be shown a very small and elusive pinecone, but he paused when he spotted the sweet wrapper instead. What made the nymph buffer even further was having his hand guided to take the treat, and for a short time he just stared rather dumbly at the fox. Then he smiled warmly, a content glow gathering up the nymph. “Thank you Thorn. I haven’t got anything to offer you in return, but you and Arthur are welcome to come and have tea anytime you’d like. Well - I’m not sure if Arthur would like tea, but I can offer him mice. Or, you said you eat nice as well, I can find you some mice.”

“I’d be happy to. Though I can’t promise it would taste the best if we tried to get some of the sap, I’ll show you which ones I mean and you can try it in the winter.” Jianhong dipped his head into a low nod, though his eyes still shone from the gift, which he tucked in one of his pockets carefully for later on.

@✧　An Jianhong "They don't like friendly friends?" Thorn said with his eyes widening. Thorn was alone for the majority of his life. Even after Itzal found and saved him he didn't have many friends, especially friends close to his own age. As someone who had longed for friends and company for the majority of his life, anyone, creature or no, not wanting friends was incredibly strange to the kitsune. How could someone not want friends? "Well...if they don't want friends I guess it's a good good thing. If find one, only one. No more. Right right?" That was a nicer way of looking at things. Thorn decided that if the imps wanted friends they would make one, so there was no use pitying them if they weren't feeling lonely in the first place.

The kitsune continued to rifle through his bag, searching for something else. When he couldn't find it immediately, he frowned and sat down on the ground to dump the contents out unceremoniously. His notepad, pencils, and a few other pinecones all came tumbling out of the canvas material. Thorn reached out to stop them from rolling away, then shook the bag. After sorting through the materials, he brightened as he found what he was looking for. Beaming, Thorn held out a piece of apple flavored hard candy to the other male. "Do not have chicken, but have candy. Here here." Standing up, Thorn reached for Jianhong's hand to put the candy in it. "Was my last one, but want you to have it have it. Should always be nice to people who are nice nice to me."

Now Thorn stared at the trees, scratching his head and messing up his dark hair even more, though he didn't really care. "Birch..." he repeated in a mumble, frowning. "Know the name name. But do not know which tree is birch. If you show me...I can learn study?" he asked hopefully, eyes wide and liquid.

@☼　Thorn Umber “Perhaps for the best, I’ve never met one who’s wanted to be friends.” The nymph gave his head a light little shake, followed by the gesture of pushing shorter strands of hair from his eyes. He could’ve done with tying it back better before his walk, but couldn’t be bothered to redo it unless he had a mirror to do it well with. He’d take some pride in his appearance later on. Funnily enough that would be back home, where he wasn’t meeting new people, that it might be good to make a decent impression on.

“Oh, I see. Don’t worry, I’m not very good at joking, you won’t have to worry about missing them from me.” The nymph offered a light smile, feeling rather happy to be called nice. Little compliments always made his day better, though perhaps that came with spending so much time in his own company. “Oh, no. I understand you were just making sure I was safe. But - I’m quite glad you don’t eat random birds. Except for chicken. Though chicken is quite nice, I haven’t eaten it for some time.”

His head tipped at the mention of eating mice, but then he decided it was probably incorporated into whatever element of this boy was a fox. “Have you ever tried the sap from birch trees? You can drink it, though it’s best before the leaves start growing on them. It is sticky though, you’d have to be careful, it’s quite hard to get off clothes,” Jianhong agreed. “I’m not sure how tasty you’d find it.. I know you can eat some parts of them though.”

@✧　An Jianhong "Mischievous? Oh dear oh dear. Better not meet one then," Thorn said decidedly. He often had a hard time reading emotions and intent, so if he were to meet an evil spirit or a mischievous one he likely would not realize it until something bad had already happened to him. "Cannot tell when people joke or not or not. Imps probably don't want to make friendly friends. Will avoid one if I ever see one." The kitsune glanced around the forest, suddenly curious if there were imps around. Maybe there were only more nymphs, like this male. "I think you're nice nice," he assured with a smile. "Did not get mad at me for throwing the pinecones."

The fox sighed, then shook his head. "Am fox. Would not get sick. But I do not eat birdy birds. Do not want to. Does not feel right. Unless," he added slowly, "it is a chicken chicken. But other birds...do not want to eat. Am okay eating micey mice instead. Not so many bones at least." Thorn was not all that in tune with his fox side. He had never spent a long amount of time as a fox, and Arthur had told him he should avoid it until he had a better handle on his powers. Then he could try shifting. Until then, human form was just fine.

"Oh yes oh yes," Thorn replied to the question about the pinecone. "Spring time. Trees start to leak sticky sap. It gets on my clothes if am not careful careful. Is interesting, though. All the pine trees look different, and the pinecones look different different too. Sometimes have the urge to bite a pinecone." The fox laughed. "But does not sound like good good idea."

@♆　Silas Vernal ↳ ᴀᴘʀɪʟ 24, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: trøllabundin - eivør
↳ ᴍᴏɴᴀʀᴄʜ: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1a/25/10/1a2510b318a9cd72d14a8b0069e221f2.jpg

It would not have been a lie for Monarch to say that most shipments he guarded were never attacked. Today, however, he doesn't have that luck. His knives tear through a man's throat, and his fangs are heavy in his mouth when blood spatters across his face. Monarch had spent many years learning control over his vampire side and so the blood brings him no fear, no worry of a bloodthirst-driven rampage.

He doesn't have the time to be concerned about anything like that, anyway. Monarch's caravan is under attack, and he clambers on top of one of the trucks to survey the battlefield, crystal-blue eyes narrowed. He doesn't look like much, slight and slim and dressed in clothing that one wouldn't think would suit a gang member, but that was a statement true of every member of Vos. Even so, the shirts that ride up with each time his arms raise and the ripped-up jeans don't present a very fearsome individual.

He can care less, anyway.

The stench of blood is thick in the air, the assault a surprise that caught Monarch and his crew off-balance. The half-pixie grimaces, tilting his head to the side. Long, sparkling earrings tinkle as they sway with the motion, sounds that are quickly swallowed by the fight writhing around him.

Monarch shifts his hold on his knives and springs down from the top of the truck, landing lightly on his feet and springing up from his crouch to drive one of his knives up through a man's chin. He jerks it back out and spins to stop a blow, silver glinting when his knife cuts across his assailant's bicep. When the man falters Monarch presses onward, burying both of his blades in his ribcage and tearing, tearing, tearing.

He has never known to fight with mercy, all of his years spent making himself merciless, capable of killing without concern, a well-oiled machine. Monarch's self-conditioning is what will make him capable of claiming his throne when he is ready to take on his father.

But that is a job for Nymphalis, and today he is Monarch.

@☼　Thorn Umber Jianhong mused for a moment then gave his head a nod. “I’ve only met one or two, but I think I’d call them an evil spirit. Well, not all of them are evil- but they can be very mischievous. They don’t always mean harm, they just like to get a reaction from people.” His tree hadn’t always brought him many visitors over the years, but those he did have he remembered well. He’d been pestered by all sorts of people in his time. The offered hand was taken with ease, and he returned the gesture with a gentle shake. “I’m glad you think so. I think there’s a lot of nice nymphs out there. I’m not always good at being nice but I try to be,” He responded with a smile.

“It’s alright, they get nervous of me still too, and I’ve lived with them for years and years.” The nymph inclined his head into yet another nod. “I wouldn’t recommend it unless you prepare it properly, they can make you sick if you don’t cook them well enough. Technically you could eat most birds though.” Jianhong’s eyes widened again when he spotted yet another pinecone. He could definitely appreciate this self proclaimed fox’s commitment to collecting them.

“That one’s beautiful. My favourite that you’ve shown me so far. A good find for sure. It was like when you found it, yes? It’s very interesting.” If there’s one thing the nymph could appreciate, it was pretty parts of nature. While he spent time growing things in the comfort of his own home, it was easy to lose track of how pretty nature could become alone.

@✧　An Jianhong Thorn flashed a bright smile, dimples deepening in both of his cheeks. "Have never met an imp." The kitsune paused for a moment. "Is an imp a sort of...fae?" He scratched his head in thought, brows furrowing over his eyes as he tried to recall if he had ever read about one or been told about one. But no; he knew them in name only. "Or is imp like demon? Mean spirit spirit? Do not remember, do not know." Thorn did know, however, what a nymph was. His grin only broadened as he reached out a hand for the nymph to shake. "Nymphs are nice nice. Have met a few."

In his time living in the forest as a child he recalled Arthur leading him to a river nymph when he had hurt himself. The nymph had been very kind, helping him clean his wound and teaching him how to wrap it with stuff that kind of looked like seaweed, but was from the river. His cut had healed within a day. He wished he could remember her name, but Thorn had trouble with names and usually had to come up with nicknames for people. Even Arthur's name was a nickname; his real name was different. Japanese. Thorn didn't think he could pronounce it right and changed it to Arthur.

"Birds are very pretty pretty. Sometimes they get scared of me, or Arthur. Arthur says foxes eat birdy birds. Never eaten a bird, though." Then Thorn frowned. "Except chicken." Attention going back to his pinecones, the kitsune brightened again and produced yet another pinecone. "Collect," he said with a proud smile. "They look cool, interesting. Right right?" Thorn turned the pinecone over in his hands, smiling at it. This one had some sap on the ends of it, the sap adding an ashy white to the ends.

@☼　Thorn Umber While he received some answer to his question, Jianhong’s curiosity was not satisfied. Of course he knew it was rude to pry too deep into someone’s business if they chose not to give an explicit reply to the inquiry, and so he reined himself in from pushing more on the subject. “I see. Well, I suppose a fox is better than a chaotic imp.” Jianhong had already chosen not to try to hide the fact that he wasn’t human. It was near impossible for someone to find his tree without him showing it to them, and he wasn’t stupid enough to lead every person he met to it. Only the ones he truly trusted with the potential to end his life. “I am Jianhong. A nymph. It’s nice to meet you Thorn.”

The creature didn’t so much as blink an eye to the pattern of speech. It didn’t confuse him at all, which meant he didn’t need to ask the other to repeat any of his sentences or phrases. Now that Thorn had joined him on the ground, the nymph could gaze fairly evenly at him. Despite his kind usually being shorter in stature, having not always been a nymph came with its height advantages. Jianhong could comfortably stand as tall as or taller than most people.

“Birds are beautiful, I can understand why you’d want to take time to study them. This is also a good place to think - I’m here myself to relax for a short while.” The satchel seemed to produce all manner of items, he’d decided when he spotted the notepad’s appearance. The drawing was of a skilled hand nonetheless, and once more Jianhong’s head tipped to the side like a curious hound. His lips quirked up into a smile at the sight of the bird. “Did I make it leave when I walked up? I apologise, it looked like you were doing well with your drawing. Would you like me to see if I can ask it to come back?”

The nymph’s head inclined into a gentle nod and a hum left his curved lips. “That’s good. I suppose you don’t really need to know their names, so long as you know which ones have the ability to strike out at you. Why /do/ you have so many pinecones though? Do you enjoy collecting them, or are they just to throw at people who might try to hurt you? Do you draw them as well as birds?”

@✧　An Jianhong What are you? The question made Thorn squirm a bit. There weren't many kitsune left, and as far as Thorn knew, most of them were hidden in the mountains of Japan. Thorn wasn't sure how he'd ended up on the island here, found by Itzal and taken in when he was twelve. The kitsune simply answered with, "Name is Thorn. Am fox." There were other types of fox spirits. Gumihos, shapeshifters. He wasn't completely giving himself away. Plus this person did not seem to be human. Arthur always was protective over him around humans, but the owl still seemed quite relaxed. Arthur was his best gauge of danger since Thorn had a hard time reading other people's emotions and intent. He never had friends to play with growing up, and his speech had been this way ever since he could remember.

"Okay okay." Thorn visibly relaxed upon being assured that the stranger would not hurt Arthur or him. Thorn swung his legs over the branch then hopped onto a lower one, and then onto the ground so that he stood in front of the stranger. He tilted his head, looking up as Arthur also flew down to a lower branch. "Of course. Owls are smart are wise. Arthur is very smart. Very smart." Then he crinkled his nose, shaking his head and fixing his hair since his jumping around had tousled it. "Do not live in woods. Used to. Come here to think, to draw. Was drawing birdy birds." Thorn produced his notepad from his satchel and showed it to the other male. It was a drawing of a finch, though it was perhaps hard to tell since he couldn't get the patterning of the bird's feathers quite right.

Now Thorn dug into his satchel again to pull out two more pinecones, both of different shape. "Hm...do not know tree names. But I know which trees they came from from. Know which trees are poisonous are dangerous. Also know which trees are good for hiding in. But never learned their names. Only what they look like."

@☼　Thorn Umber As though sensing the understandable discomfort with his interest in the bird, Jianhong let his eyes return to the dimpled face of the man. It probably looked quite strange that they’d met and the first thing the nymph wanted to speak about was the intelligent beast. “Well, if you’re not an imp causing mischief, what are you?” His head remained lightly tilted to the side. In all honesty, Jianhong wasn’t expecting a real answer to the question. Some people preferred to be secretive about who they were, and he could respect that given the things he’d encountered in his time. “I won’t deny that you could’ve hidden, I could barely see you until you came to speak with me.”

The nymph straightened his back and gave his head another light shake at the anxious questions, sending a few stray hairs into his eyes. “I’m not going to hurt him, I was just curious too. I’m glad he helps you out a lot, he seems like a good friend.” Jianhong looked back to the owl, giving the bird a little nod of greeting. Again, he wasn’t expecting any particular response, but he felt slightly bad for not giving the owl a greeting when he’d started talking to the boy, like he was failing to include a valuable member of the conversation. “He must be intelligent to speak with you like that, very smart indeed. Does that mean you live out here, if he guides you?”

While Jianhong still looked rather uncertain about how genuine the other was when he said there would be no more pinecone throwing, he gave his head a light nod. “Alright, I’ll trust you not to throw any at me then.. well, want to show me them again then? Do you know what trees they’re from?”

@✧　An Jianhong The kitsune leaned forward on the branch even more, his stomach almost pressed to it so that he was close to laying atop it. He noticed the stranger's eyes kept going back to Arthur, and it made him frown; this man wouldn't possibly hurt Arthur, would he? But no, Arthur would have flown away if he sensed danger, maybe even have attacked the male. He was a great horned owl and was quite large. His claws and talons were sharp and strong, and Thorn knew better to ever try to get the bird to perch on his shoulder or arm like he had seen people do with birds in movies. No, Arthur was no pet. He was a friend. Someone Thorn would have died without.

"Right right. Not squirrel. Just me." Thorn crinkled his nose at the comment of coming close to being harmed, knowing he was only joking. "Am not an imp," he repeated once more, sitting up so that he could cross his arms so the stranger would knew he was feeling cross with the misidentification. "Is not unusual. Was only curious curious. Could have just hidden the whole time." Thorn's eyes flitted to the owl again, a slow grin coming on his lips. He was always very proud of Arthur; Arthur had saved Thorn's life, taught him how to live in the forest when he was young, and helped him learn and develop his abilities. Without the owl he would never have learned to show people hallucinations or learn to control his fire. He was still working on dream manipulation, and after that he would move on to lightning. "Arthur understands me when I speak speak with him. He talks to me in my dreams at night night. Small things I can understand all by myself myself! Little noises, little motions, little expressions. Arthur is a very expressive owl, very smart owl." Thorn straightened, suddenly worried. "Why want to know? Going to hurt Arthur?"

The kitsune chewed on his lower lip, glancing at the pinecone in his hands before stuffing it back in his satchel. "Was not going to throw. Only wanted to show. Already threw threw. No need for throwing anymore. Had to make sure you were not bad stranger."

@☼　Thorn Umber A quick deduction of the actions to get down from the tree had Jianhong suspecting that the other might not be human either. Most humans were considerably less nimble and comfortable with hopping down from a tree, and in turn it made his head tip ever so slightly to the side. Humans always seemed slightly out of place to him in nature now, as many had forgotten it was where they came from. The owl was a second thing that made him pause, yet another time. It seemed to communicate to the boy, and the stranger responded. What bond did the two have between them for them to speak so well with one another?

“Fair enough, I suppose it would be strange for even the biggest squirrel to carry pine cones back and forth between trees.” Seeing the bright look curving onto the man’s lips, Jianhong couldn’t help but give him a light grin in return. “I came very close to it,” The dramatic nymph responded, his long arms moving to cross casually over his chest. “You certainly seem like one, you’ve got an unusual method of making sure people are friendly, little imp.” The back arch didn’t go unnoticed by Jianhong, only peaking his already high curiosity in the stranger. Was he some kind of cat creature? If he was some wild child living in the woods, he’d undoubtedly look less tidy than he did. “I’m glad he approves of me then. How do you speak to him, little imp? You seem close with him, how did you come to understand what he’s telling you?”

A single brow quirked up when another pinecone was removed from the satchel. As though to protect himself in the event that it was thrown, Jianhong took a hesitant step back. He paused there though to shake his head. “Not allergic, don’t worry. No more throwing pinecones though, I’ll hit you with it this time if you do.”

@✧　An Jianhong Head cocking to the side, Thorn tried to make out if this man was human or not. Probably not; Thorn didn't see human males who had long hair like that, or dressed like that. Deciding he could probably trust the stranger enough to not run away, Thorn tucked his notebook into his satchel and slowly stood on his branch, jumping down to a lower one. The branch shook slightly upon impact but did not break. Arthur let out a purring sort of noise but did not move himself. Thorn glanced at this friend and grinned to assure him. The kitsune sat down on this branch, kicking his legs back and forth, his pale blue eyes curious.

"This isn't a pine tree so it would be really strange strange for a squirrel to have carried it over and brought brought it," the male commented, a grin growing on his lips, wide enough that the dimples in his cheeks were visible. "It was only a pinecone. Would not have died. Didn't die." Leaning forward on the branch, Thorn's back arched and he had to actively prevent himself from showing his tail; his kitsune features always wanted to pop out when he was in nature, or using his abilities. "Am not an imp." Now Thorn's grin turned into a frown, his chin lifting in an indignant manner. "Wanted to make sure you were not dangerous dangerous stranger. Could still be dangerous stranger." Thorn straightened his satchel, glancing up at Arthur, who was still in his higher branch. "But Arthur is not flying away away. Arthur is very smart, very good good senses. Knows who bad people are. Would have hid if you were. Never would have seen me."

Reaching into his satchel, Thorn pulled out another pinecone--though this one was slightly skinnier than the first, from a different type of tree. "Besides, was bored bored. Pinecones are harmless. Unless allergic. Not allergic?" Thorn peered over at the male with wide eyes, suddenly concerned he could have possibly elicited a dangerous reaction in the stranger.

@☼　Thorn Umber Jianhong’s eyes glinted as he looked up the tree. It took only a heartbeat for the rustle of branches to draw his dark eyes to them. Admittedly his attention was captured by the intriguing presence of the owl before the boy, and paused momentarily to take in the sight of the two of them. Not a common sight for sure, but what was the nymph to judge a stranger in a tree on the mountainside? As far as Jianhong could see, his accidental acquaintance was not a fairy or other little sprite he’d been expecting to be terrorised by. No, by all appearance the other man was just as human as the nymph himself could pass as to the untrained eye. Of course he didn’t fit the exact typical image of one of his kind; for starters he towered over most of them in height.

While the first reaction to this stranger had been one of frustration for the creature, Jianhong found himself quite amused. He’d really thought for a brief moment that he was under serious threat from something, but this man in the tree didn’t look so intimidating. “I could argue the exact same to you, you know. I was just trying to take a walk when I was attacked by someone throwing pine cones.” His hands quite easily rested on his hips now that he’d ridded his hands of the poor missile that had been thrown between them. Maybe it would prevent more shots being fired if his hands were very clearly in sight. Perhaps the stranger had been enjoying a walk of his own before Jianhong had turned up and was worried the tall man was going to pose the real threat. Or maybe he was just mischievous.

“You’d have to be a very big squirrel to throw it at me in the first place, so I wouldn’t have to worry about you getting hurt. Besides, I wouldn’t have thrown it if it told me it was just falling from it’s tree.” His lips quirked slightly, and he found himself struggling to keep an entirely straight face like the one this other person held. He let his eyes come up to meet the leaning male’s in return, in silent hope that this was merely a fun game to the other and not about to become something else. Jianhong hadn’t done armed for his walk. “Is there a reason you’re sitting up there like an imp throwing nature’s offspring at innocent passers by?”

@✧　An Jianhong The pinecone hit home and Thorn silently did a little fist pump to himself to reward himself for his aim. Though Thorn was quite sophisticated with throwing knives, so a pinecone should never be a problem for him. The kitsune peeked down again, looking at the person below. Their long hair made it hard to tell if they were male for female, but his voice confirmed him as male. Tilting his head, Thorn glanced at Arthur to see if the owl had anything to say. But Arthur was silent, his head still twisted so he could listen to the noise below.

To respond or not to respond? Thorn was not very good with strangers. He had been taught to be wary of them, to guard himself. Even now, if he wanted, he could hide himself in the trees using his illusion abilities. He could sit in the tree and create the illusion that he and Arthur both weren't there. That's how he survived living in a forest for a couple of years as a child; he hid. But he was a child then, and he had been certain the adults who would come to the woods might hurt him or try to take him to a new family, and he wouldn't have any of that. Those years had taught him now to use his ability incredibly well, so he supposed he was thankful for it in a way.

Thorn was still debating whether or not he should respond or let the stranger think a pinecone just happened to land on him when the pinecone was returned. Thorn reared back and dodged it, blinking in surprise. Without even consulting Arthur, the kitsune leaned over the branch with a frown. He pushed his glasses up, peering down. "It's not nice not nice to throw pinecones," he informed the stranger. Thorn moved his legs from resting atop the branch so that he could straddle it instead, able to lean down further to look at this stranger. "What if I were a squirrel squirrel? Could have hurt it, injured it." Thorn nodded, expression serious.

@☼　Thorn Umber It was a lovely day, one Jianhong was determined to make the most of. Having been cooped up in the safety of his humble abode for too long, even the nymph needed to stretch his legs every so often. The forest was enchanting, but there was only so much entertainment he could find there. He had no interest in tormenting people who got too comfortable in the woods. As for the bustling town, he found it beyond draining to spend a lot of time there. Too much loud noise, too many people wandering around.

Perhaps it was a negative that he'd pushed himself quite so far away from the town and it's inhabitants, but it kept him safe, and living a stress free life. He'd have grey hair in a week if he tried to cope with some of the things he'd heard tales from the town. Of course they could always be fiction, but it was best to be safe rather than sorry. Hence; his walk to the mountain. Not too far from home, but somewhere he could find something productive to spend his time on for a short while.

He'd been strolling casually for a few minutes, trying to think of what the productive task could be, when something hard came into contact with the crown of his head. "What-" He began, looking mildly disoriented at such a well timed attack. A short huff left Jianhong as he struggled to untangle the object from his hair. The pinecone safely in hand some moments later and his form still tense, the man's brows furrowed, briefly scanning the trees in hopes of pinpointing the location of the attack. Fair enough, there was a few conifers, but none that should be able to throw a pinecone at his head so accurately. He squinted hard at the tree he'd been standing under.

"Is someone there?" He decided to inquire to the large tree. Even if it was nothing but a natural fall of the seed bearing ammunition, the nymph was determined to get to the bottom of it. A fairy trying to play a trick on him perhaps? "That had to be coincidence.." Jianhong began under his breath, still clutching the pinecone in hand, though rather tentatively, as though it hitting his head suddenly meant it would explode. The hair on the back of his neck was still prickling, so just to be sure, the nymph carefully threw up the pinecone, in the air, towards the tree. A reaction would tell him he was in company with a person, none would mean he'd just have to accept he'd walked straight into a falling pinecone.

Thorn sat high up in a tree, his back resting against the trunk with his long legs stretched out in front of him on a very sturdy branch. He had a notebook in his lap that he was doodling in, trying to capture the details of a bird that was nesting not too far away from him. The kitsune was, unfortunately, having trouble with getting the shading on the feathers just right. Thorn held his pencil in his mouth, his glasses drooping down at the end of his nose as his brow furrowed, eyes flitting back and forth between his drawing and the bird.

Thorn let out a sigh, turning his head to where his very best friend, a screech owl he named Arthur, sat. "Other birds are so much harder to draw than you," he complained to the owl. The bird turned to look at him, and Thorn nodded. "I know I know. Not all birds are as lovely as you as you." Thorn lifted his notebook up to his eyes to look at it at another angle, but it wasn't helping. By the time he looked back to his reference bird, the creature had flown away. The kitsune let out a groan, head falling back onto the tree. "Arthur, why is drawing so hard so difficult? Just wanna draw pretty birdies, pretty pretty. You know what I mean?" Another glance at the owl, who let out a quiet hoot, and Thorn grinned. "I knew you would. You always understand exactly what I mean, what I say."

Thorn shoved the pencil into the notebook and closed it, shoving it into a small brown satchel he had slung over his torso. The fox stretched his arms, slowly sinking down on the branch. It seemed like a lovely place to take a nap. Usually Thorn liked sunny spots, but trees were good now and then. Plus Arthur was here, and Thorn trusted Arthur to look out for him. They were good friends like that. "Going to nap nap, Arthur," he informed the owl, who in return flew to a branch closer to Thorn.

The fox shut his eyes, but after about five minutes he felt Arthur rustle beside him, the owl's beak gently tugging locks of Thorn's hair. Confused and just a little drowsy, Thorn looked to the owl. "What is it?" he asked. The owl's head turned, and Thorn knew he wanted him to look down. So he did, glancing below them. Someone was walking below, someone Thorn didn't recognize. He frowned, glancing at Arthur. "I'll handle it," he whispered, pulling out a pinecone from his satchel (don't ask why he had it). Thorn bit his lip, aiming before dropping the pinecone right on top of the person's head, waiting for their reaction.