Aldr Skog

Flying in ahead of the group, Khepri rose above into the canopy, gazing at the endless green treetops before her. With a twinge of annoyance the bard sighed and floated back down to the ground, stopping just above the heads of her teammates. A light sneer came to her face. She wasn't sure if fate was being cruel or fortunate. Since what Deidra said before, she had a small, sickening pit in her stomach aimed purely at showing the knight that she was making a huge mistake. When her eyes switched to Rudiger, the feeling was similar, but... worse. As though he'd driven his sword into her back.

As for Roxanne, well, she really hadn't much to say on the matter. She was sure the girl was denying her nature just as much as before, and to leave her in Isra just to come to some barbarian lands! The bard was annoyed, but it was nothing compared to how she felt for the other two.

Crossing her arms, she addressed them. "There isn't much to be seen from above. The brush is too thick, though I can scout ahead much faster than any of you could manage. This area is quite vast."

Roxanne followed behind Deidra, grumbling softly to herself. How had she gotten mixed up with Khepri again? The bird-woman was nothing but trouble. Roxanne still wasn't exactly sure why Khepri had come all the way to Taingaard, but she harbored a sneaking suspicion that it was simply to annoy her. She also didn't quite know what all her new powers entailed, but she definitely didn't trust her with that lyre as far as she could throw her. As far as her other companions...she still didn't remember the man's name. Rupert? Riggs? Ratticker? Whatever it was, she didn't remember him being all that competent last time they'd met. Hadn't he let his horse fall on his leg? As for the woman, Roxanne didn't know what to think of her.

"Stick closer to us," she said as Khepri drifted down. "You're too vulnerable up there. If there's a flying monster in the area, it'll snap you right out of the sky, and we don't want that."

Glancing back, she turned to the one-eyed knight.

"You doing ok back there?" she asked. "If the weather bothering you, well...you don't ever really get used to the cold. They do make very nice coats here, though."

"I think you underestimate me too much. Both of you. I've only ever been caught when I was human, don't you remember? Nothing flies as fast as a Bird of Paradise. At least, nothing I've encountered yet."

She purposely didn't reply to the part about getting lost. While she could mark her surroundings easily from the sky, winding through the trees was a rather different experience altogether. She did zoom ahead but kept in sight of the three, all up until she heard Rudiger huffing and puffing behind her. She turned to face him, folding her arms.

"Tsk, tsk, knight-errant. I don't think I remember you being this out of breath the last time you exerted this much energy. Or could I be remembering it differently?" She smirked at him, wondering if the memory still lingered in his mind.

Which, of course, it did. She made sure he would never forget.

"Shall I help to invigorate you?"

To Khepri in her flight she would see an ocean of green and although the rumored gigantic trees should logically show themselves clearly in the horizon it wasn't so. However she did see something that might pique her curiosity as far away and deep inside the forest part of the forest treetops appeared almost golden green as if they sparkled in the sun. Was it an illusion or did they really take on a shiny golden color?

Meanwhile down on the ground it seemed like this path wasn't completely untrodden and the one taking point would not fail to notice footsteps in the mud about the size of normal boot leading further into the woods. Fresh footsteps.

Rudiger's jaw clenched tight as Khepri made her offer. As nice as that night in The Midnight Sun had been, it had also caused him no ends of troubles, and only a fool went wagging his fingers back to the flame. He was glad Deidra answered for him, because if he unclenched his jaw he might've begun to lose his temper once more.

Though his eyebrow did raise quite high as the wolf... he supposed was Gundulf... took form from Deidra's armor. He had heard her talking to him occasionally (only small snippets that made Rudiger concerned if Deidra was experiencing multiple identities or was possessed... possibly both) but hadn't thought that it was quite literally her armor. And that it could form into a rather menacing looking wolf.

As he debated the wisdom of mounting a wolf, especially a metallic one... or how one even rode one... he heard Roxanne's observations. "Well to be frank I'm not completely surprised," he declared to Roxanne, "Seeing that we're on a beast hunt. What exactly are we looking at?"

Deidra raised a hand trying to stop the bird woman, but it was too late as she was already shooting through the trees rapidly getting out of earshot. If there was truly someone else in the woods, it was even more important that they stay together. It would be easy to pick them off one by one if they were too far apart.

She sighed as she rubbed her forehead before waving over Gundulf. "Come scent this Gundulf, and alert us if you scent them drawing close." The massive wolf, butted between Roxanne and Rudiger, sniffing at the ground, lightly pawing at the soft surface to expose more of the scent to him. He let out a low growl as he picked out the scent from the sodden earth and moss.

"And to answer your question Miss Roxanne, this is Gundulf. He is my family familiar and he's protected me since I was born. He will cause you no harm so long as you don't harm me." As she explained this she crouched down to make sure her bootlaces were tight and her sword was strapped firmly to her body to avoid it bumping into her, as well as for easy access. "I'm going to try and keep up with Miss Khepri in case she needs help. We are certainly not alone in this forest and I'm unsure how well she can defend herself. Gundulf will stay with you. If anything happens with you, he will let me know." She gave another nod before she set off at a sprint in pursuit of Khepri, easily jumping over tree roots and ducking under tree limbs. She moved significantly faster without the weight of her armor on.

Gundulf straightened and gave both Roxanne and Rudiger a grumpy look, clearly not happy being left with them. He turned to lightly bite Rudiger's cuff before guiding them off at a brisk pace after Deidra.

Roxanne sighed as Khepri sped off into the trees, out of her line of sight. Hopefully she'd be ok, she thought. As Deidra ran off to follow the bird of paradise, Roxanne turned her attention to the metal wolf thing trotting along beside her. It certainly seemed like a useful thing to have, although she wasn't particularly amused with the grumpy look it gave her. She considered petting it, but decided against it and instead continued on the path.

"Come along then," she said to Grundulf. "You heard her, be good. And please try to hurry along, Rudiger. Look at those tracks, they're the track of a man, not a beast. If we're not quick enough, some unscrupulous hunter may try to steal our prize, rules or not."

As they ventured into the Aldr Skog proper, Roxanne spotted the little camp and held up her hand to stop. She wasn't sure where Deidra and Khepri had gone off to, but assumed that they were somewhere close by, hidden by the tangle of trees. She watched the sleeping man for a moment, scanning around to see if anyone else was about. 

"This must be the guy," she said. "Look at him, sleeping in the middle of the day. No wonder he's trying to cheat and sneak into our area, he's too lazy to hunt for himself. I'll sort him out, stay here."

Drawing her hunting knife from its sheath on her thigh, she began to creep towards the man. She snuck up to him, trying her best not to wake the man as she grabbed his weapons and pulled them out of his reach before pouncing on the sleeping man. Jumping onto his chest, she pinned his arms to his sides with her knees as she snatched his hat away and clapped her free hand over his mouth. As he woke up, she raised the hunting knife towards his face, angling it so that it shone in the sunlight.

"Mind telling me what you're doing in our hunting grounds?" she hissed, bracing herself in case he tried to throw her off. "You know the rules of the hunt. Stay in your own territory, don't sneak into anyone else's."

She loosened her grip on his mouth to let him speak, ready to hit him if he started screaming bloody murder.

Deidra had been following Khepri at a steady lope, having closed the distance between them relatively quickly, though it certainly was not easy to keep up with her. Especially as she didn't have the pesky root systems in her way or the dips and divots in the uneven ground. And speaking of dips, at the speed she was traveling, she almost didn't catch herself in time before the ground suddenly dropped off into the canopy of golden green. She gave a sharp yelp and reached out- catching and pulling herself back onto the root she'd nearly skipped off with the help of a stray vine, growing from one of the ancient trees.

"Woah-Oh... Wow." She said as she took in the spectacular sight spread out below her. The trees looked to be made of gold. And the trees so ancient, she could nearly hear their voices on the wind. This wood may even put the ancient vast lands of her home to shame. Something she didn't admit lightly as her eyes roved over the expanse of land. She smiled before looking back towards Khepri. "Would you look at this pla-" Again her words caught in her throat as she spotted the mammoth of a creature gunning for Khepri. Her eyes widened and with hardly a moment's hesitation, she pulled her sword from it's sheathe and wrapping her arm around the wine she'd snagged, launched herself out into the open air, her sword cutting into a deadly arc aimed for the massive creature attempting to attack her party member.

"Watch your back! In the saints name-Of everything it just had to be insects?!" She complained, none too fond of the creepy crawly creatures.

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Gundulf stood by Roxanne and Rudiger patiently, waiting for them to do what they would with the man he'd sniffed out. He couldn't very well offer them any advice as he would Deidra, only look at them disapprovingly. Both members received said signature look, some disgust tainting his look at Rudiger, scenting his nausea and taking a healthy step away. Such was the very reason he forbid his charge from imbibing the liquor humans were so fond of but dulled the senses and burned the nose.

Roxanne's attack on the man was well timed and planned out and as such the the guy had no chance when she jumped him and pinned his arms to the ground aiming her well sharpened sword as his... still snoring face. A thin stream of drool oozed from the side of his lips and aside from a cough when Roxanne jumped upon him, he would be fast asleep her hips feeling the steady breathing that continued unobstructed. Instead a faint whisper would be heard from the bird's cage nearby that had been covered by a small curtain.

"Hey..! Hey can you hear me! If you can hear me please help me out!" the high pitched voice spoke although the nature of the voice seemed to eerily blend in with the rustling of the leaves in the trees and thus hard to pin point with much accuracy.

At the brink of Aldr Skog Deidra had fearlessly jumped out towards one of the huge mosquito with little regards to her own safety. Luckily her tactic had worked and the as she cut through the giant insect the blood it had sucked from other - presumably even larger creatures - burst out in all directions.

As Khepri grabbed Deidra and they descended into the undergrowth of Aldr Skog they would slowly put the other mosquitoes behind them as they were not equipped for safely descending that steeply. As they landed in a soft mossy area they would find themselves at the feet at some truly grand trees which vastness might have even giants feeling ant like. In spite of a few big birds flapping from tree to tree and the rustling of leaves and grass it seemed quiet for now - but there was now only one way to go.