Hide And Go Seek [Open]

[Rodi]

“…Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty! Here I come, Julienhe!” Rodi’s voice carried into the depths of the Northern Tangle. “You better be hidden!”

The battle muse uncovered his eyes and began to scan the surrounding area. Julienhe was a baby shadow dragon, and was therefore impossible to train. However, her natural instinct to hide combined with her camouflage ability made hide-and-go-seek a game that was possible to play on occasion. Rodi just had to make sure she didn’t run off too far. The Tangle was not the safest place.

A black metal collar, lined with leather and padded with wool for comfort, adorned Julienhe’s neck. It was attached to a long, black rope. The rope was tied to Rodi’s horse, ensuring that the little reptile could not escape. She was strong, but not quite strong enough. Yet.

Rodi looked at the trees and the bushes, dutifully trying to avoid the rope itself. That would be cheating. He was hoping this little game would help teach the dragon to hide. It was one of the skills she would need if she was going to return to the wild. Except Rodi was beginning to think these exercises were not necessary. Reptiles did not seem to…learn.

[echo]

"Here I come Julienhe, you better be hidden!"

[/i]

The voice carried distinctly through the forest into the wind daemon's ears, making him perk up. Now hearing a more or less intelligent voice wasn't very common around here. Who could it be? Obviously two or more beings, seeing as one was talking to the other, who didn't respond. You better be hidden, what could that mean? A game?

Echo's eyes lit up with the rare prospect of a game. He hadn't played a game in a long time and he loved such pleasures dearly. His mind was made up; he'd fine whoever was implying a game like that. He should convince him that he could play. But first, locate the man. He could tell that the speaker was a male, not too old from the sound of it, but he decided to be careful nevertheless. They were all afraid of daemons. He knew that much.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the wind that constantly whipped his golden hair around, making the braid tickle his cheek lightly. The wind told him of a creature a few moments away, he was moving slowly, cautiously, pausing and swiveling his head.

Time to go.

Echo moved in the direction that the wind hinted at him to, wondering what type of being the speaker was, how careful should he be? It didn't really matter, he could always flee with the wind, gone and not coming back. If his curiosity wasn't kindled by the game.

The first impression he got was the horse, snorting and shifting around as it rested. Something was tied to its saddle, a black rope, long enough to disappear into the bushes without seeming to end. Something was obviously tied to it, someone had tied it to the horse. That someone was the person he was looking for.

A flash of red, bright scarlet red. Not a natural color for the forest. Echo smiled, walking in that direction. From the height that he had caught the color, it was taller than he was, much taller. But no matter. He could deal with it. "Sir?" He announced his presence to the battle muse.[/center][/color][/size][/font]

[Rodi]

”Sir?”

Rodi turned, swift as a rabbit, at the sound of a voice. Despite the innocent tone in the voice, his wicked dagger was drawn and ready. In the Tangle, one never knew what sort of dangerous creatures one would encounter. The one truth in the forest was that everything there was dangerous. You did not survive long if you were not. When the battle muse caught sight of the young daemon, however, he lowered his guard slightly. The kid was cute and did not appear to be vindictive, but Rodi, being a fae, knew just how deceiving appearances could be.

He lowered the blade from where it was aimed at the boy’s throat, but did not put it away entirely. His eyes were cold, hard and calculating. He was not trying to scare the child, but he figured that anyone brave enough to go wandering around the Tangle was either foolish or capable enough to withstand some scrutiny. After only a moment, Rodi did reach one conclusion. The kid was far too innocent looking for a daemon. By the looks of him, he was a wind elemental. That meant he was most certainly a cunning little thing. He was also cute.

“Can I help you?” Even his words were guarded. His voice was too young to be the rich bass it was surely growing into. For now it was more of a low baritone. And it was hard, much like his garnet gaze, but slightly more gentle. Rodi was not trying to be mean. The muse did make a genuine effort t soften his features, but to relax completely would be foolish. Rodi was not only in charge of his own life, but little Jul’s. He had taken on the paternal role for her and was swiftly growing attached to the child creature.

Suddenly, a small snort and a rustle of bushes sounded from not too far off. Rodi recognized the snort of his young charge and a soft smile finally broke onto his stony face. She had probably been frightened by the newcomer. The creature was so shy. According to his reading, that was a common trait among her kind. Their defense mechanism was geared towards flight. They were rarely aggressive. Run and hide. That was what instinct told them to do. That was what she was doing then. Too bad the noise she made gave her away.

[echo]

Echo forced himself not to flinch at the sudden flicker. A blade had been drawn, in the right place to kill him, in the wrong place to let him live if it was thrust forward. Nope, that for one wasn't going to happen. He was going to live. The battle muse's eyes were hard, but Echo was able to catch just the slightest glimpse of relaxation; he was just wary enough to lower the blade, but not put it away. Echo didn't blame him, he knew just how dangerous the Tangle could be from first-hand experience. A close encounter, but one that he had survived. If not, he wouldn't be here.

He held the fae's gaze for as long as the fae needed. Now if there was one thing that Echo was super competitive about, it was staring contests and that was exactly what he was doing. Although having a staring contest with a battle muse was a new thing. A very new thing. For one, he was the first being with eyes as brilliant red as those that he had dared to challenge. And he had a blade, a dagger as it was too long to be a knife and too short to be a sword. It wasn't posing too much of a threat to him as of now, but still, it was a blade and it was capable of damage.

"Can I help you?"

A simple question, yet had so many different possibilities in terms of answers. So... the one that made the most sense. Would that be "Yes you can" or...

He heard a little rustling. If he wasn't so intent on the battle muse, he'd have turned to face it. And if he did that, he would have missed the first smile that the fae smiled. It was a soft, gentle smile directed towards the rustle in the bushes. From that gaze, he deducted that the creature that had made that noise was in some way related to the fae. Maybe... maybe this was the "Julienhe" that he was talking to earlier. Well, he knew what his answer would be now.

"Sir, were you by any chance... playing a game of hide-and-seek?" He asked, allowing some of his hope and slight wistfulness to creep into his voice and eyes. He did really want to play that game, rather badly too.

[/color][/size][/font]

[Cadrian]

"'All you have to do is pluck one of the feathers from the Phoenix and run like hell. I'm sure someone of your abilities can do it.' Phe. Bastard could have mentioned that it was in the Tangle... Damnit." The grumblings came from a small fae, standing at about 4'7", who was stomping unhappily through the forests.

Had he known when he took the challenge that the Phoenix lived only in the Tangle, he wouldn't have taken it. Cadrian didn't feel like running into his psychopathic mother out here - if she still lived here and if she was still alive, that is.
The only good thing?
He was being paid a lot for this feather.
It was almost a ridiculous amount of money, to be honest, and vaguely the boy wondered if he had been offered that much because his employer didn't think he would survive the attempt. Oh gods... How dangerous was a pissed off Phoenix, exactly?
Shaking his head, Cadrian paused.
Stop thinking about it... If you think about it, you'll just freak yourself out, and then you'll want to back down. And Cadrian never backs down from a challenge! he thought, tilting his head back to stare up at the sky.

Okay.
If he were a Phoenix, where would he live?

The boy didn't have time to think about it for long, when he heard voices nearby. Male voices, it sounded like.
"Sir, were you by any chance... playing a game of hide-and-seek?"
Hide-and-seek? Cadrian hadn't played that in... well, in a long time. He'd played snag-and-flee and avoid-the-guards, but not hide-and-seek. Besides, who played hide-and-seek in the freaking Tangle? Even if Cadrian hated it more than most people, it still wasn't a good place to play child's games like that. So, what kind of people were insane enough to play games here?

His curiosity peeked, Cadrian moved toward the voice, quietly climbing up a tree. The tree actually hung over the pair, and the boy carefully moved onto the branch, crouching there and staring down at the two.
Both male.
One was daemon, one was fae.
And they both seemed to be really young, close to his age even. At least, that's what it looked like. It was harder to tell with fae and daemons, considering both species kept an ageless appearance. The fae had a wicked looking dagger, and it was shiny and caught Cadrian's eyes. Immediately, the urge to snag it popped up. However, the fae was a battle muse, and if Cade had learned anything, it was that you never took a weapon from a battle proficient anything - at least if you wanted to live.

Cadrian didn't feel like getting knocked on his ass and potentially killed today.
Best just to quell those klepto urges and see how these two interacted.

[Rodi]

The little creature held Rodi’s gaze, which did little to ease the fae’s suspicions. To him, that was a challenge. The muse narrowed his eyes and his features hardened once again, daring the daemon to try anything. The moment was tense. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as the muse studied the boy before him, holding his gaze. He did not care how young the boy looked. Rodi was young, too, but that did not make him any less deadly. If this daemon wished to challenge him, then Rodi would show him that he was not easily messed with. He was a warrior.

"Sir, were you by any chance... playing a game of hide-and-seek?"

That was the last thing Rodi expected the daemon to say. He blinked, thrown off by the boy’s polite mannerism. It was still not enough to quell Rodi’s suspicions, but it helped. “I was, in a way,” he answered slowly. The fae wondered where the boy was going with this. Surely he did not want to play? They were in the Tangle! Pretty much everything there wanted to kill you, if not for a meal then for the pure pleasure of it. So what was this boy playing at?

While Rodi deliberated the threat level of the new arrival, Julienhe had managed to scramble up a tree and hide. Her scales reflected the environment around her, changing her scales to mottled browns and greens and black to match the dark forest around her. With her eyes closed, it was nearly impossible to see her. It was quieter in the trees, safer. Julienhe was able to relax. Until the Other came. The sounds of someone scrambling up her tree startled the baby dragon. She froze, ready to bolt if the Other came too close. Nearer and nearer the sounds came, until…

A sharp hiss erupted from the small creature’s mouth at Cadrian strayed too close to her hiding spot. Frightened, the dragon emitted a tiny puff of smoke as she stumbled backwards, losing her balance in the process. The poor animal tumbled unceremoniously from the tree, frantically flapping her wings to regain balance and not crash into the floor below. Unfortunately, she was not practiced enough and her wings were not developed enough. It was a good thing Rodi was there to catch her. The battle muse cradled his charge and sighed. Her black rope was now strung all over the place.

[Cadrian]

Now, Cadrian wasn't normally very jumpy; the boy had managed to stay perfectly still and calm during the most terrifying situations, which often involved nearly being caught for his thievery.
But who expected there to be a baby dragon in a tree?
The moment the creature hissed and blew smoke in his direction, every single one of his hairs stood on end and the boy leapt backwards just as the baby dragon stumbled backwards. He landed in a crouched position near the daemon and the fae, and Cade looked up at them and froze instantly, though he quickly relaxed. In fact, only a trained eye would have seen his tensing up - that, or someone incredibly lucky.

The changeling stood, brushing himself off and looking in the two's directions. Immediately, a sheepish grin formed on his lips and Cadrian lifted a hand, scratching at the back of his head behind his left ear. "Oh, hey there. Didn't notice the dragon. Scared the hell out of me she did." His amber eyes flicked to the baby dragon he had startled, then to the one holding it.

Of course.
It would be the battle muse.

Cadrian flicked his eyes between the fae and the daemon, wondering how they would react to a random fae falling from the trees - it was pretty obvious he had been watching them, and they would both be able to tell that if they weren't complete idiots. Unfortunately, Cade couldn't even lie about it.
Sometimes being both a fae and a thief didn't turn out well.
Ah well.
"By chance would either of you know where the Phoenix makes its nest?" he asked, deciding to try to keep the situation light-hearted. Maybe he could distract them enough that they wouldn't ask if he'd been watching them. Most people didn't take it well, and Cadrian didn't feel like getting into a fight (which he would most assuredly lose, at least against the battle muse).

[echo]

For a second, the fae's eyes seemed to harden, but then when he understood Echo's question, he seemed surprised. Well, surprised enough to blink and answer. In a way... but a way meant that he was playing a version of hide-and-seek. That was ok, whatever version it was, it was fine with him--as long as it was fun.

But before he could inquire further, a hiss pierced his ears and something fell from the skies... wait, trees. It was a dragon, a scaled dragon that the battle fae cradled. It seemed rather shocked--and it was attached to a black rope.

Mere seconds later, another being fell. This time it was more or less humanoid--with the exception of his ears, which were animal. He was a fae, trying to keep a light atmosphere. Perhaps he was afraid of the battle muse. Echo himself knew that he was rather incapable of fighting, though his claws might have been enough in hand-to-hand battle.

Also, what did he want with a Phoenix? Nothing good, obviously. Echo just stared at him, wondering what his business here was. The dragon had scared him, that meant that he was watching them. The wind daemon merely looked to the battle muse, trusting that he could take care of the... intruder if that was what one could call him.

[Rodi]

Julienhe was not the only thing that came tumbling out of the tree tops. Rodi watched expressionlessly as the changeling followed, landing gracefully enough near Rodi and the daemon. The battle muse took in the changeling’s demeanor. He did not appear to be a threat any more than the daemon did. That did not make them harmless, but Rodi did pride himself on being a good judge of potential threats. He allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. He raised an eyebrow as he met the gaze of the fellow fae creature. The boy had been watching them. It was obvious enough.

The muse decided not to be angry. He could hardly fault the changeling for observing them. In many circumstances, Rodi would have done the same thing. The battle fae released the newcomer from his hard stare and smiled a little. “I have never sought out the phoenix. I only know what most who come searching know. The bird nests somewhere in the center of The Tangle.” As he spoke, he withdrew a wicked looking dagger. He used the dagger to cut through the dragon’s rope. At that point, it was so tangled that Rodi did not think it worth attempting to save.

Julienhe wriggled in his arms, afraid of being near so many people. Rodi smiled softly and released his hold, knowing the dragon would instantly head for a familiar safe place; right inside the black sling that Rodi wore on his back just for her. “Would you be opposed to company while you search? I could use some excitement.” It was true. Playing with the dragon was fun, but Rodi needed a good fight. It was in his nature. Besides, he had always been interested in seeing the phoenix. The stories he heard were fascinating. “I am called Rodi, by the way. The dragon child is Julienhe.”

[Cadrian]

They weren't angry at him for obviously watching them?
Well, that just made his day then, didn't it?
A grin formed on the changeling's lips. Amber eyes watched the battle muse cut the rope that had held the little shadow dragon then watched the obviously frightened creature scurry up over the muse's shoulder and into the sling that was sitting there. Cadrian had seen many people with their own little animal companion, but he didn't have one. Most of the creatures just weren't sly enough for his liking. Plus, he would have to feed it if he tamed some random creature. Cade didn't do well with large responsibility usually.

What was this? The muse wanted to go with him? Cade's eyes twinkled as an idea sprang into his head - both the daemon and the fae could go with him, they could take care of the Phoenix if it decided to attack, and Cadrian could walk away with a brand new Phoenix feather, which meant he would walk away with a lot of gold.
Free gold, almost!

His grin became larger, more excited, and the boy nodded enthusiastically. "Of course I wouldn't mind! I'm a pretty social creature myself, and exploring the Tangle alone isn't my idea of a good time," the changeling stated, his eyes flicking to the daemon. "And you can come along too, if you'd like. The more the merrier, right?"
How great was this?
"I'm Cadrian, by the way. Cadrian or Cade. Whichever you prefer."[/color][/size]

[Rodi]

Something in Cadrian’s eyes made Rodi suspicious. He narrowed his gaze at the changeling, but said nothing about it. The look in his eyes should be warning enough. Should Cadrian attempt to harm Rodi or his dragon child in any way, the changeling would be met with a very angry battle muse. Most people were intelligent enough to not want that. Rodi was young, but his was the essence of war.

"Of course I wouldn't mind! I'm a pretty social creature myself, and exploring the Tangle alone isn't my idea of a good time,"

And yet somehow the stranger’s excitement was contagious to Rodi. He smiled a little, still suspicious but willing to be friendly. So far the changeling had yet to give Rodi a reason to dislike him. Suspicion was simply second nature to a creature whose entire existence depended largely on secrecy. The whole secrecy thing was exhausting, really. When was the last time Rodi got to relax and…act his age?

But that was a selfish thought. His work was important and should always come first. An adventure through the Tangle would be beneficial to him. Without work from the Song to do, Rodi needed to stay sharp and keep training.

“Well met, Cadrian,” Rodi said, “Shall we begin our adventure?”

ooc:: I suppose we’ll just pretend Echo did not want to go with us.

[Whisper]

Whisper sprinted through the tangle, her black hair whipping around her face. If she could actually find some food, maybe she could sleep soundly tonight. but so far, she'd had no such luck. but there has to be SOME edible animal in the forest, right?

Since Whisp wasn't watching her surroundings, she collided into the changling without knowing what hit her, and she yelled in surpirise, jumping into a tree. when her breathing became normal again, Whisper peeked her head out of the tree to apologize to the changling.
"im so sorry! i wasn't really watching where i was going, and then BUMP! i ran into you. Sorry!"
Whisper's Mocha faceburne a deep red. she was never this clumsy, ecspecially with her heightened hearing! She could've heared them long before this!

Narrowing her eyes, Whisper looked around the clearing, realizing that there were others here too. A battle muse with flaming red hair stood under her, with a wicked dagger in his hand and a black rope at his feet. He looked young, but also tough and intimidating. /stupid, stupid girl!/ she thought to herself, wondering how she ever got into this situation.

Whisp's sharp nails dug into the tree, and she tried to relax, but when she was around people, that was nearly impossible. As a loner, whisp was almost never around people, and when she was, it was only to trade or get directions. But never like this. She'd been alone for too long....

[Cadrian]

Geniune excitement coursed his body; Cadrian loved a challenge. Any challenge was good, but he specifically liked challenges that pertained to his... abilities. And when companions made those challenges a bit easier, it was great. He kind of liked this battle muse already.

Of course, it would be nice to refer to him as a name rather than 'battle muse' the entire time.

Cadrian quirked an eyebrow, mildly confused when the other fae didn't offer his name. But, hey, who was he to complain? Maybe he had a funny sounding name or something (Cade had met some doozies in his adventures) and was embarrassed by it or something. So, until the fae gave him a name, Cadrian would call him something else... Something obvious.
Red? Red was obvious.
Really, extremely obvious.

A grin formed on his lips as Red asked them if they should begin. "Yeah, le - !"
The boy didn't get to finish his sentence. Something heavy and bigger than him slammed into his side unexpectedly, startling the changeling. A hiss passed through his lips and the boy's first reaction was to slash at the foreign object; his fingernails scrapped against cloth but not flesh. If Cadrian had been anything other than a cat-based fae or a thief, he would have fallen. As such, the boy managed to catch his balance.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't really watching where I was going, and then BUMP! I ran into you. Sorry!"

Cadrian looked up at the shifter that had jumped up into a tree. Honestly, he wanted to hiss at her and snapped at her, but she looked like she might cry if he did. So the boy held his tongue, took a breath, and smiled with effort. "Don't worry about it. Maybe don't charge through the forest next time though. Tons of things in the Tangle would have eaten you alive had you run into them; trust me." What was a shifter doing here? Normally only fae came into the Tangle, and that was very few.

[Whisper]

"Im very sorry, i was being foolish. I wasn't watching where i was going." Whisper apologized again. Slowly, she hauled herself out of the tree, landing gracefully onto the forest floor. Her eyes were wide, still not recovered from the collision. She bowed to the changling, still murmuring "sorry"s. She looked around the clearing, still nervous of the people. Slowly, she took a couple steps back, then turned around, back to the forest. She threw her head over her shoulder. "I'm Whisper, by the way. I'm really sorry, I'm so foolish...farewell."
And with tha, Whisp walked away. then collapsed about a quarter of a mile away, exhausted.