[ AW ] twilight

Autumn arrived even in the deepest reaches of the forest. The winding maze of trees could not escape its decaying touch. He looked up at his friend’s bare branches and shook his head with a sigh. It didn’t matter to Zoltan that it was going bare, but he hoped that his tree friend wouldn’t feel too exposed. He knew that the leaves would grow in again soon, trying not to think of what it would be like to lose his fur every winter. It became a habit of his to sleep against the base of the oak tree every night in case the cold settled into its branches. Without the leaves to keep it warm Zoltan took it upon himself to be a barrier against the cold. The tree was much taller and older than the wolf who claimed its companionship, but he did his best to protect his precious friend. Darkness was beginning to fall when Zoltan noticed that the fae had revealed themselves. Glowing balls of light dancing in the gloom. His blue eyes lit up with joy and he laughed in delight as they bounced in the air around him. It was always a blessed day when the fae came to visit. Little did he know they were simply fireflies and not the entities he worshipped.

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Mathias prowled through the growing darkness, feeling a sense of existential unknowing that seeped into every part of his body like a pungent poison. It was a strange feeling. He was not used to not knowing what to do. From an early age, his life had been planned for him. He had grown up in a household that, if not wealthy, was well-off. His family had, by outward appearances, respectable jobs. To those that truly knew them, of course, Le Milieu was not respectable in any way, but this did not matter. Mathias had always had a purpose. A duty. A task to perform. He had been a loyal soldier, a sly trader, a charming and enigmatic salesman. He had played that part well.

But that was long ago. He was no longer in the Mainlands, and he -- hopefully -- was far beyond the Imperial Army's reach. Somehow, he and his brother, Adrian, had escaped persecution, but they had fled with nothing but each other. That fact rubbed salt into a sore wound, as they had never gotten along swimmingly, but rubbed along as brothers did. They were quite different. But now, all they had were their memories and each other, and they were alone in this blasted forest with not a clue where to turn next. Neither were Highlanders. How were they supposed to know what to do now?

It was this he was pondering in a rare moment of solitude (Adrian was somewhere nearby, hunting) when he realized he was not alone. In his wandering, he had come up to a tree, and a wolf was lying there beneath its branches in the darkness. Mathias froze, his amethyst and silver eyes snapping onto the figure before him. The smell was unfamiliar, but strictly that of the Highland region, and he felt the muscles in his shoulders slightly relax. No chance to be deported here. But it was a chance to be discovered, nonetheless. He had not encountered any natives of the region yet, and he could not let his life as a runaway criminal be discovered so soon. He hesitated, but knew he had already been discovered. It would be nice to have some indication as to what this place was called and where he was, anyway. So he continued his approach, aware of the rifts between Mainlanders and Highlanders. His lips slipped into his award-winning smile. "Hello," he said gently, his voice smooth and polite. "I hope not to startle you. I did not see you there until now."

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His blue eyes danced with the glowing orbs that floated through the air around him. It was rare that the fae appeared so late in the season and Zoltan believed it was because they had heard him praying for the protection of his ailing mother. They were here and they had heard. J The wind picked up and the branches of his tree friends started to sway as if dancing to celebrate the appearance of the fae. It also carried the scent of a stranger on the breeze. Company was a rare privilege in the fae forest. Zoltan rarely left his home, believing that all he needed was his trees and his mother. So far they had been enough, but curiosity tugged at the reclusive boy like a leash around his neck. ”Hello. I hope not to startle you. I did not see you there until now,” Calmly he met the stranger’s gaze and shook his head. “It’s okay the trees warned me you were here,” he replied, believing that they had carried the breeze with his scent towards him. His gaze returned to the fae (fireflies) and he let out a sigh upon noticing that they had disappeared from sight. Perhaps the presence of the stranger had frightened them away. “Are you lost?” Zoltan asked, head tilting curiously. He had often gotten lost as a pup in the forest before he learned all its secrets.

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The boy looked around, seemingly unperturbed. “It’s okay. The trees warned me you were here." Mathias felt a small frown tug at the edges of his lips, but he successfully kept it at bay. Instead, he gave a slight nod, as if he understood, though he did not. Was this another silly Highlander belief? He knew they thought strangely of nature -- that they had little sprites they believed bandied about in the trees. This boy clearly believed that the tree was speaking to him somehow, but if Mathias were to scoff, it would not be good for his disguise, and so he did not.

“Are you lost?” This was a curious question, but perhaps Mathias looked like a lost man. "In a manner of speaking," he said with a small, loose shrug. "This forest is vast. My brother and I have never learned its secrets well enough to find an easy exit." His explanation came quickly and effortlessly, half-truths wound together with lies in such a way that they came freely upon his tongue.

"You seem quite comfortable here, though," he added, gesturing between the boy and the tree that he said he communed with. "I assume that you know exactly where you are." He smiled, his tone friendly, though his words were vague. He was wary of this boy. The first stranger in a strange land... Mathias was sure that he was right to keep his guard up.

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Zoltan did not clue into the other’s scepticism, big blue eyes appraising the stranger with the wonder and fascination of a child seeing something for the first time. Strangers were rare in the Fae Forest and the young witch rarely ventured beyond its boundaries. He felt safe here under the protection of the fae and within close quarters of his loving mother. It was all he knew and for the moment all he cared to know. It did not stop curiosity from peaking when visitors came. He knew better than to get attached to someone that the fae might mark as a sacrifice. He hadn’t figured out the trick to telling them apart from regular wolves yet, but his mother was very good at it. The dark stranger had a very different way of speaking to the gaelic accented words that Zoltan was used to. Did that mean he was from somewhere further away? His conception of far was small, but he pictured somewhere bigger than the Fae Forest. It was both frightening and exciting for the sheltered witch to think about. His wiry tail bristled with excitement, wagging weakly between his legs. In a manner of speaking. the man vaguely agreed that he was lost and mentioned a brother that was living here with him. Someone else that Zoltan had to meet. “I was born here. I know all the trees by heart,” he boasted, although it was not entirely truthful. He was not born here, but the gaps in his memory had been filled in with Elwynn. The ugly scars covering the left side of his neck were from a childhood accident and not attempted murder. “I could show you,” he suggested, moving closer to the stranger returning his smile with a bright friendly one of his own.

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