Private - The Sound of the Forest

Running. His feet pounded heavily along the forest floor. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and onto his neck. He pushed through the brush, the branches tugging at his clothing as he forced his way through. His heart pounded so heavily it felt like a drum was in his chest. The forest was a blur as it passed, his eyes focused on a singular point before him. A bouncing, bounding point that worked its way through the forest with much more ease. It was his target. His prey.

Balmung knew he was once again pushing himself to his limits. He found himself doing this way too often, but perhaps he got something out of it that he couldn't describe. The ache that coursed its way through every muscle of his body, the sharp discomfort in his lungs with every gasp for air, the dizziness that caused the world around him to swirl from his overexertion. He welcomely embraced all of it, thriving in the experience.

When he lost sight of the antelope-like kybex, he slowed his pace to a light jog. He continued onward in the last direction that he saw the beast headed, it's clawed feet leaving deep imprints in the soft, moist earth of the forest's floor. It wasn't his first time hunting one of the graceful creatures, and this time was depressingly taking a turn much like the last. Balmung kept his head on a swivel, keeping an eye out for any glimpses of movement that might give away where the animal had hidden itself.

When he came upon the girl kneeling by the small pond, he stopped. He at first wondered what she might be doing all the way out in the middle of the forest alone, but quickly had his question answered when he saw her hand gently stroking the top of a duck's head. The fat duck wiggled its tail feathers around each time the hand made a pass and then was lifted to start all over again. The white-haired Balmung stood there watching, unsure of if he was interrupting someone's personal relaxation time.

@Jana

 

Jana sat on her knees, eyes gentle as they took in the white tufts of feathers her hand ran across. Her new, plump friend chittered as it curiously watched her with strikingly bright blue eyes. What an odd color for a duck, she had thought. Her fingers brushed across the top of its head, dipping down the curve of its neck, and giving the flat of its back a soft pat. The duck let out a throaty quack as it shook its head, feathers ruffling from the top of its head to the base of its mighty little duck wings. It raised up as if to show off its grand plumage of deep blue feathers on its chest, wings stretching open. Just as Jana was sure the duck had turned on her and was ready to chase her out of its territory, the wee thing shook its tail feathers in a friendly manner. It let out a cute honking noise, nearly like a goose, before sitting its fat bottom on the ground and laying its head across her lap. Jana laughed lightly, gliding her fingertips against the seam where its bill met the angelic white feathers. “You’re a cute thing, aren’t cha,” she cooed.

The duck began to chitter again, those odd blue eyes shutting sleepily. Occasionally the sweet thing would look up at her if she stopped her petting for too long, nipping at her hands to hurry it up. She would giggle each time, obliging to the stingy thing to save her fingers. The pond had settled to a soft hum of bullfrog croaks and hidden cicadas in the tall grass. Another curious duck glided across the surface of the water, its head tilting in odd angles before swimming in another direction. As peaceful as the setting was, it didn’t stop the numb tingles shooting down into her calve muscles. “Alright buddy,” she poked the duck in the middle of its forehead. Her feathered friend peaked open one eye to look up at her. “Anymore petting and I’ll have to charge,” she joked, tilting her head to the side in a weak attempt to stretch her neck.

A shock of white against the dark green of the forest caught her eye. Jana turned her attention toward the color, pausing once she realized she had company. A few yards away stood a man with tousled white hair that looked to be out of breath. She tried to keep her expression neutral although her brows quirked up in surprise. How long had he been standing there? Had he been silently stalking her or something? For a moment, she wondered what could be so entertaining about stalking a girl who had come traipsing through the forest not thirty minutes earlier to find a duck to pet. She shrugged, eyes leaving his figure to peer down at her friend who had also noticed the stranger. “What do you think?” she whispered to the duck, “Should we trust him?” It was a mere joke just for kicks, but the duck raised its head from her lap, blue eyes glaring over at the white-haired man suspiciously. The duck then shook its wings as if to shrug in indifference before resting its head back against her legs. “Well, you’re no help,” she grumbled under her breath.

Jana locked her gaze with the stranger when she looked back, a cheery smile curving her lips. She gave him a wave, instantly regretting it when the feathery friend spotted her hands not doing their job of petting it back to sleep. It lunged out its neck, bill clamping down on her fingers. She yelped, more in shock rather than pain, before jerking her hand back. “You little shit!” Jana glared at the duck who looked unimpressed with the whole situation.

@Balmung

 

What is wrong with that animal? Balmung thought as the duck glared at him from the girl's lap. He wondered if perhaps he gave off the air of one of its predators, being covered in so much dirt and foliage. Does it think I'm here to make it my dinner?

He continued to watch as the duck resigned itself back to its earlier peaceful demeanor, only to see it furiously attack the girl's fingers when she pulled them away to give him a wave. Does this duck think it's some sort of lapdog? He thought to himself, inquisitively pondering the nature of such a peculiar animal. He began to wonder if this was an animal of the wild, or the girl's own personal pet. He supposed it matter not either way.

He slowly approached the pair, trying his best to seem as friendly as possible, though not doing a good job considering her forgot the most important piece: a smile. Instead, he strolled forward with a perpetual scowl on his face. When he got near enough to sit down, he plopped down with a hard drop into a legs-crossed position, resting his hands on his legs in a way that stuck his elbows out to the side in a posture that one could interpret as menacing. Clearly, he needed a lot of work on learning how to make oneself appear open and approachable.

In the most aggressive way manageable he reached forward, poking the duck hard on the bill as it lay in the girl's lap. The duck pulled its head back and honked, a show of frustration, before lunging forward and biting him on the finger. Unlike the nibbles that it had given the girl, this was an attack that brought aching redness to Balmung's finger. He retracted his finger as quickly as he hand extended it, pulling his finger to his mouth and sucking on it for a moment.

The white-haired man then jumped to his feet, glowering at the duck with eyes that harbored pure animosity. Truly, at this moment, he found this animal to be his greatest enemy. It's wide, orange bill, those sinisterly taloned, webbed feet, that clear expression of absolute non-understanding. Time froze for a moment as they two locked eyes.

When the duck began charging at Balmung, rushing forward in a waddle that intimidatingly bounced its body side to side and flapping its wings in a dominant display, he had no choice but to retreat to the safety of the nearest tree branch. He clung to the branch for dear life as the duck began to totter in circles underneath, berating him with a storm of quacks that could only be interpreted as insultuous. He thought for a moment that this may be the closest he had ever come to facing death.

As the duck began to propel itself into the air and gnash at his fingers, Balmung drew his sword and began batting it with a severe lack of grass. The threat of being skewered was enough to push the duck backwards, making it take on a more defensive approach. It must have been a silly sight for the girl, who watched on as Balmung and duck were locked in yet another intense staredown.

 

Jana had tensed when the odd stranger had moved toward them, unsure of his grumpy expression. Maybe this man wasn't as friendly as she first thought. Perhaps he had been upset she had caught him stalking her and was on his way over to explain just how stalking worked. Or maybe he had been on the hunt for a duck to pet as well, and her presence had ruined his plans. Either way, the lack of expression on his visage didn't settle well with her company. The blue chested duck peeked an eye open to look at the man approaching, it's soft chittering coming to an abrupt end. The feathers on its neck began to raise the closer the stranger came. And when he had poked the innocent creature... well... things got ugly.

Jana blinked. Once. Twice. She went for a third just to make sure she was seeing this correctly. She placed a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle the peals of laughter bubbling up in her throat. What on earth had this stranger gotten himself into? Jana decided to intervene once the man had turned to violence. Deciding her duck friend didn't deserve to be skewered just because it was trying to protect itself, she paced over to the tree. "Hey, bud! You gotta chill," she spoke, crouching down to pet the ruffled feathers of the duck. The feathery demon closed its eyes under her touch, quacking in her direction.

She moved to cradle her new friend in her arms, fingers deftly moving across the flat of its back. The duck began its happy chittering again, eyes still glaring at the man shaking in the tree. "You're a mean ole duck aren't ya?" She cooed, using a cute baby voice to get the beast's attention, her fingers moving to pet the thin feathers between its eyes. The duck quacked at her words in contentment, oblivious to being insulted as it nuzzled its little head under her chin. She hugged its plump body close to her chest, eyes moving over to the tree in amusement. "You can come down now, it should be safe."

 

He watched the brunette walk towards the duck, the meager rays of sunlight that broke through the canopy of the forest dancing the bits of armor that she wore. He found himself unable to take his eyes off of her as she seemed to easily stride over and calm the vile duck, never once showing a break in her calm demeanor.

When she looked up to him, he froze. Her warm, brown eyes staring back into his own filled him with a sense of cool relief, enough so that he felt all the muscles in his body begin to relax. When he felt himself slipping from the tree, he gave no resistance and allowed himself to fall. Balmung called on a bit of his aeromancy to stiffen the air beneath him and slow his fall, allowing him to drift through the air like a feather. His feet touched the ground without making a sound, the swirling of air that had fluttered around his body dissipated immediately, allowing his hair to softly fall back into place.

The blue-chested duck was peacefully gathered in the embrace of her slim arms. This was a much better alternative to having the accursed beast chasing after him, it's terrible wings flapping about and filling the air with loose feathers. Truly, this girl had quite the way with animals, able to turn a despicable beast into little more than an lowly pet. If that was an honest talent, Balmung would be surprised to find out what was.

Balmung

"Thank you... Sorry. Didn't know anyone was here. I was hunting. Lost it."

The words came out easily enough, despite the structure of his sentences being a little broken. Normally Balmung found himself clambering to come up with the words to say, but something about this girl was soothing and allowed him to drop his guard. He found himself worrying slightly that he was on the verge of becoming sociable. He internally shuddered at the thought, afraid he might allow himself to become too reliant on those around him.

 

Hearing his true reasoning of being in the forest, Jana was a bit disappointed it hadn't been something more exciting like stalking. Hunting was just too generic of an answer. Plenties of players and NPCs alike would run into her in similar scenarios, claiming they were hunting whos-its and whats-its. They'd ask if she'd been lucky enough to spot anything on her adventures of petting woodland creatures. When she had no hints to give, they were off on their own journey. This, however, was the first encounter that involved a duck attack. The fresh memory of this white haired stranger clinging to a tree made a small grin appear on her features. Her shoulders slumped a little, keeping her grip on the duck when it started to squirm at the sight of the man no longer cowering in a tree. Her free hand immediately went back to petting its neck, those cute little chitters getting a little louder.

"Ah, there's no need to thank me," she dismissed, not exactly sure how to address him. He seemed a bit backwards. As if he really wasn't sure how to interact with others. If the duck incident hadn't cleared that up, the odd way he spoke in broken sentences did. It reminded the Serena part of her of Liliana when she couldn't think of how to say certain words in English. It made her soft. "I'm sure if I were the one being chased by a blood thirsty duck, you'd be my knight in bright white armor," she laughed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The beast in her arms grew heavier, its bill resting on her shoulder as she rocked it with the movement of her body. Jana was almost sure it was on the brink of sleep now. "And there's nothing to be sorry for," she cleared up, "not like I'm queen of the pond or anything," she tittered, her eyes glancing from the stranger to the duck every once in awhile.

To be fairly honest, she wasn't sure where to look. He was a bright character to say the least. His white color scheme breaking apart the dark eldritch forest behind him. An unforeseen ray of light through darkness. That last analogy left a peculiar feeling in the pit of her stomach. What the hell was she talking about? Dismissing her thoughts, Jana gave the snoozing duck on her shoulder a few more caresses down its back. "So what were you on the hunt for?" She asked, surprising herself. Out of all the random people she had come across from looking for ducks to pat. People who'd stop her on her own quest to pet every species of duck in this game to ask for help on finding something, she decided this "ray of light" could use all the help he could get.

 

Balmung

"Kybex."

The word slid off his tongue with a sense of fondness. He had been hunting the bounding antelope-like creatures for a while now, though never managing to bring one down. Their double set of twisting, helical horns, long scaled legs that ended in four sharply clawed toes, and short manes that ran down the length of their backs made them quite the spectacle to behold. Not to mention that the long strands of hair that whisked about candidly at the end of their long, meaty tails were perfect for decorating armor with. Balmung was surely very fascinated with the mystical animal that the kybex was.

He did his best to describe the features of the kybex to the girl, not noticing that his face was most likely alight with childlike wonder. He told her about how exhilarating it was to chase after the beasts through the thickly wooded forests of Brisshal, ducking branch and leaping brush in an attempt to keep up with the agile, bounding animals. The man in white told her of how he loved the feeling, regardless of if he brought down a kybex or not, at the end of the hunt when all of his muscles were left screaming and he could scarcely catch his breath.

He thought that he may have made himself sound like a fool. He had rambled on and on for a while about the object of his frequent hunts, but he had found it such an easy thing to talk about. It was not often that Balmung found someone to which he could talk to freely, and he found it odd that this stranger was such a person. He tried his best to hide his joy, but failed when realized that he could not keep the smile off of his face for more than a few seconds at a time. The corners of his mouth were powerless against the cheer that easily turned them up.

Balmung

"If I fell one, I'll make something. Maybe armor. Not sure. I'd need to kill one first. Can't believe I haven't... Do you hunt?"

He managed to stop himself from continuing his endless stream of kybex facts and his stories of hunting the beasts by asking her a question. He hoped he wasn't wrong about her. She looked the type to him, someone who would be at home in the forests hounding after game, revelling in the thrill of the chase, but you could never be too sure about people anymore. In fact, a lot of people were prone to getting angry whenever someone would even dare to assume something about them.

 

Jana was, for the lack of better terms, shook. Just moments ago her company had looked as if someone had stolen his last chicken nugget out of his plate. But here he was turning into a soft puddle of goo while talking about these kybex. Her features took on a gentle expression, her head tilted a bit to the side and a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. He was like a kid getting excited over their favorite toy. The sudden change in personality had left Jana a little dazed, but she listened with her full attention. Her hands stilled from petting the sleeping duck, her mind attempting to paint a picture of this creature in her head as he explained it in such vivid detail. It sounded rather familiar. She was almost certain she had seen one before while out here in the forest. And as his description turned to stories of his many adventures chasing these creatures, Jana realized that this white haired man wasn't backwards, just a little shy. That was her fair assumption.

He had been rambling on for quite some time when he came to a stop. The question had caught her off guard, as she had been hanging on to every word he had said in genuine awe. Jana had never met someone so enthusiastic over the wildlife, nor have such fond stories to tell. Her eyes widened as she realized he had addressed her, and she quickly nodded her head at the nearly awkward amount of silence that had passed. "Oh! Yeah, I do," she smiled brightly. "I hunt delgs, they're kinda like..." she paused and pursed her lips to the side, narrowing her eyes as they shifted to look at the grass. It took her a moment to think of a good way to describe them, "like if a crane and a peacock had a lovechild. That's what they look like," she nodded her head as to emphasis that was her best attempt at explaining them. "Their feathers are beautiful, good for decoration. And the meat is pretty tasty, too. It's a win-win," she chimed, before furrowing her brow and correcting herself, "well, for us anyway."

Her fingers began to move over the feathers of the duck again. "But my favorite thing to hunt are walbiis," her eyes held a far away look in them as it was her turn to explain the fascinating creature she adored. They were weasel like creatures with the vibrant colors of salamanders. Long, wiry fur grew upright from their spine. Thin spindly gazelle like horns grew from their foreheads in proportion to their bodies. They were small, quick critters that liked to wrestle and hide in rotten tree stumps. "I don't hunt them to kill, though," she explained, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she continued. "I just like to watch them. They're pretty timid so I can't get up close and personal like this fella," she patted the duck on its rump. "There's just something relaxing about watching them play together." She sighed in contentment at the thought of the playful creatures. "Im sure that sounds kinda dumb, sorry," she laughed.

"Oh!" She had almost completely forgotten they had yet to be acquainted. All of the crazy events that had taken place in such a short amount of time had nearly kept her winded. Jana had yet to intrude herself. Balancing the duck in one arm and putting on her most charming smile, she brought her free hand up in a casual salute, "I'm Jana, and I'd like to help you catch your first kybex."

 

Jana. The name was soft and tender. He realized this was his first time hearing it. It fit the girl well, he had to admit. It was a delicate name that filled his head with images of warm campfires and hot suppers. Hearing her name made his mind feel strangely at ease. It was a feeling that he enjoyed.

Balmung

"Quick enough to fell one?"

The words slipped out. He was not meant he sure to say them. And he was definitely unsure of if he meant them to sound how they had. The words had sounded rather like a tease, a challenge, a playful taunt. It was odd that he ever felt close enough to someone to speak to them in such a way. Especially someone that he hardly knew. Perhaps it was the nature of this girl to have people warm up to her so quickly.

He looked down to his feet, and to the sides, and up. Anywhere but her face, really. He had felt the fire begin to kindle behind his cheeks and was afraid that looking into those soft brown orbs would only cause the flames to grow until his face was radiating with heat.

 

She smirked in amusement at his shy blush, intrigued at how he was warming up to her so quickly. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. Jana was happy to be making a friend, she’d be even happier if she could help him take down a kybex. Though, she was still pretty new to the hunting skill and it would probably end in more than one failed attempt, she had already said she would help the white knight. “Maybe,” she matched his tone, eyes meeting his in playful scrutiny. Jana knew she was kidding herself. If her new friend had been chasing these things for a while now and hadn’t been able to catch up to one, she was more than positive she couldn’t either. But he didn’t know that, so she let the false confidence help her feel better about the situation she had gotten herself into. She straightened her posture, accidentally shaking the duck in her arms as she moved.

“But I think it might not be about matching their speed,” she thought aloud, pursing her lips. Her brown eyes scanned the area for a moment, adjusting her hold on the feathered beast in her arms are she craned her neck to look over her shoulder. Jana wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for. A sign? A clue? A kybex to pop out of the shrubbery? She sighed through her nose as she went to turn back to her company. “We should try to outsmart-,“ she was cut off by the duck she had accidentally woken up from her movements. It honked aggressively into her ear, the noise so loud that she dropped the critter and recoiled away. Jana felt her shoulders scrunch up as a defense, hand moving to press against her ear in hopes to stop the ringing. “Stronzo!” she exclaimed in the direction the beast had waddled off in, glaring after its fat rump. "After all that petting! How can you repay me like this?" she wailed, having half a mind to take off one of her boots and chuck it at the duck who, again, seemed completely unimpressed.

 

He agreed with the girl. It would be impossible to match the speed of a kybex. The long legs of the animal could generate enough speed alone to outpace any human. The short claws at the end of their toes didn't help that fact, acting as running spikes that helped to generate more traction so the animal could apply more force to its bounding strides. It would definitely be the better option to try and best the animal in a match of wits.

But how? He wondered silently. Perhaps a trap or an ambush? Could we not lead it to- His thoughts were cut off by the incessant honking of the vile duck that the girl held in her arms. Apparently something in the way she had been moving had roused the terrible waterfowl from its slumber, causing it to become irate. Much like the girl, Balmung was also taken by surprise, his eyes going wide and a hand moving to the hilt of his blade at the sudden outburst of sound.

Then he began to laugh. A lengthy chortle of pure amusement that filled the air of the forest clearing around the pond. He laughed to the point where he was nearly out of breath. He laughed until the tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes. He laughed until his sides were aching from the repeated motions of his chuckling breaths.

He had not meant to be so overtaken by the laughter, but something about the situation had tickled him in such a way that he couldn't prevent it. Only a few minutes ago the angered duck was chasing him up a tree and he was forced to swat his sword to and fro to keep it from flying up and attacking him with its toothy bill. Now, the girl who had seemed like she had the ability to handle the thing, had been assaulted from close range by the duck's thundering honk. Perhaps it was the timing of the whole thing, cutting her off mid-sentence while they were having an honest conversation that provoked such a response from the white-haired man.

It might be that he would never know what had caused him to erupt into such boisterous laughter, but the damage had already been done. As the humor began to fade, he couldn't help but to wonder if the girl might be offended by his guffawing. He hoped that she would see the light-heartedness behind his laugh and not be lead to believe that it was aimed at her, but rather was brought on by the buffoonery of the situation itself. He found himself a bit of afraid of angering the girl, but that's something he'd most likely never admit to anyone.

 

Jana had been on one foot, hand grabbing at the heel of her boot to pull it off. The sudden outburst of laughter stopped her from throwing her shoe into the pond after the rude duck. Planting both feet back on the ground, she turned toward the noise. Her new friend was captured in pure unadulterated joy, at her own expense of being startled or the whole situation, she didn't rightly care. It had been so out of the blue and unexpected that Jana was hesitant to react. How many times would this guy surprise her today? She was awestruck, just for a moment, when she decided he should smile more rather than scowl. The way his visage lit up in such a warm way accompanied with a smile made Jana feel happy, too. Whatever had tickled him so much to gauge such a reaction, she hoped to do it again.

His laughter felt contagious, and soon enough Jana herself was giggling. It started as a soft titter and gradually grew to a snorting laugh. Replaying the scene in her head the brunette decided it must have been a funny sight to behold. Jana started to calm down, wiping at the joyous tears in her eyes before giggling to herself. "Well, at least he didn't attack you this time," she snickered. Jana went to fix the boot she had went to pull off, pushing her heel securely back inside. "Ah, I wasn't expecting a laugh like that, but thanks!" Jana beamed, moving one of her braids to lay behind her shoulder. She straightened up, intertwining her fingers behind her. Her original thought about the kybex was gone, lost to the subtle ringing in her left ear. She felt a little bad, the duck had been giving them a rough go from nearly the start. Jana looked over her shoulder, peering through cattails to see the plump white body quacking aggressively into the weeds. At the noise she jumped. PTSD was no joke.

 

He sighed, filled with relief, when he finally got a hold of himself and was able to force the laughter away. He hadn't expected such an outburst from himself, but the loud honk of the duck caught him entirely off-guard. It was rare that much in the world of this game could bring him to honest, jolly laughter.

"Sorry. Didn't expect the duck to have a sense of humor. Kind of a terrible temper, that one."

He tried to act as if he hadn't been laughing at the girl, Jana, but he knew that she knew that he had most definitely been laughing at her misfortune. He felt a bit ashamed, worried it may have hurt her feelings. He was happy to have someone to talk to, an odd thing for Balmung to admit, and he would have been quite troubled if he had managed to lose the opportunity for, dare he say, friendship, so suddenly.

"I guess I'm Balmung. I mean, I haven't introduced myself. I am Balmung."

The words came out a little forced. He was having a hard time putting words into sentences, afraid that his idol-minded chuckling may have offended her. Well, she didn't look offended, but you could never tell with people these days. All this talk of microaggressions and internalized oppression really left him so confused as to what was going on in the world. He hoped she wasn't preparing some tirade about how she was a woman, not a comedian, and his laughter was most unappreciated. It would put a real damper on the good vibes that were beginning to swell between them.

At least he thought that he had made a connection. Getting chased up a tree by a small, yet fearsome, duck and not running away in shame was definitely something that he would say was unusual, and as much as he had wanted to run, Balmung found himself not wanting to exit the company of this Jana so soon after making her acquaintance.

He held out his hand in greeting, hoping the inviting expression on his face seemed more natural than forced.