Artist's Hollow

[Kaito]

It was a lovely morning to be a painter. The sunrise had been inspirational, the music of the birds flitted joyfully through the air, and a peaceful feeling hung like a comforting blanket in the cool air. No one knew better than Kaito the opportunities that a morning like this afforded, and he had been all too eager to gather his painting supplies and rush off to his favorite hollow in the heart of the Fae's most treasured of places. He loved to feel the forest in motion all around him, to feed from the pure energy that flowed through the very ground beneath his feet as he walked.

He stopped only when he reached his hollow, a beautiful little nook with mossy trees and rocks, just enough light leaking in through the canopy above, and a babbling brook somewhere nearby. A sigh of pure contentment escaped his lips, and he couldn't help but smile. True, outside of his haven there was war, and blood and politics, but here, he was free. Free to be himself, to do whatever he pleased. Which, at the moment, happened to be to paint.

He made his way over to the rock that he usually employed as his seat, setting his shoulder bag on the ground as he did so. He looked around for a moment, obviously looking for something. His eyes lit up when he saw the easel that he had left here the other day, and he quickly brought it over to sit it in front of the rock. Without a sound, he pulled his carefully crafted instruments from the bag at his feet. His paints were all mixed by hand, as he chose only the finest colors and pigments for his works. His brushes were made of the finest cherry wood to be found, and the hairs from the finest of unicorn's hair. He had always felt that, if you cared enough about what you did, then only the best tools would do. He pulled the final piece of equipment from the bag, the very thing he would use to forever hold his masterpiece.

Quickly, he poured the different colors he needed onto a rather large leaf he had found nearby and set to work creating.

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[Kenyon]

Kenyon strolled along, curious of the nature of the forest he explored. The Forest of the Fae was rumored to be one of the most dangerous places in Litharia, assuming you weren't Fae yourself. Kenyon, being a shifter, should have been dead by now, according to the stories. But this place wasn't so bad.
The shifter bent down to examine a small, brilliantly colored flower, and glanced up as a heavy gust of air blew his cloth headband a short ways off. What strange wind they have here, Kenyon mused as he held his bangs out of his eyes and searched around for his missing accessory. "There you are!" the shifter exclaimed, trotting into a small clearing, all the while attempting to shake off the small, colorful flower that had somehow attached itself to his pant leg.
Kenyon bent down to retrieve his headband, frowning as he nearly bumped into someones leg. Replacing the cloth strip, the shapeshifter stood, and came face to face with a small Fae boy. He jumped back, startled, his heart pounding. "Oh! Umm, hello there." Kenyon glanced around, taking in the paints and canvas,"Am I interrupting something here?"

[Kaito]

Kaito felt the strange gust of wind go whipping through the hollow and shuddered. There must be something in here that didn't belong, and the though of something punctuating his precious sanctuary sent chills up his spine. He liked to think of the forest as safe, a place that not even a whole army of humans could penetrate. Wishful thinking, of course, but he had his dreams.
Suddenly, he felt something hit his leg, and he let out a surprised whimper before leaping to his feet and turning on his attacker. He relaxed slightly when he got a good look at him, deciding that he obviously wasn't here to hurt him. HIs eyes narrowed suspiciously when he noted that the man was a Shifter, judging by his attire and the fact that he had managed to make it this deep into the Fae's forest without meeting his death.

That made him begin to wonder about this man in particular. How had he managed to make it here alive? He thought it best to get on with the introductions and hope that key information would come up in conversation later.
"Wh-Who are you?" he stammered, pointing his paint-covered brush in the face of the Shifter, accidentally placing a blue dot on his nose.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon held his hands out flat in the universal,"I'm not going to hurt you" gesture, and stepped back to give the painter some room. "I'm Kenyon Boe," he replied, seeming not to notice the paint dot. "So are the stories about this place being dangerous to all those not Fae false?" He questioned, turning around in a full circle to get a better look. Another one of those strange gusts of wind tore past Kenyon's back, nearly sending him face-first into the soil. Hm, weird, the shifter barely recovered and stumbled back to the seemingly terrified Fae boy. "Am I in the wrong forest or something?" he asked, meeting the strikingly colored eyes of the boy for the first time.
The off task part of Kenyon's mind started to wonder just how many years older the painter was than him. He even contemplated asking, and decided that would be rather rude to ask one you had just met. Kenyon shrugged to himself and brought his focus back to the matter at hand.

[Kaito]

Kaito relaxed more, but kept his brush at face height, just in case. Really, that sounded ridiculous. What could he possibly do with paint except maybe give his clothes a nasty stain? He sighed, letting his arm fall to his hide. Obviously this guy was more than just a little oblivious. At any rate, he didn't seem harmful. Then again, he was a Shifter. Just because he appeared one way didn't make it true in the least. Still, he would take his chances. He hadn't made a new friend in so long, he decided that his social needs demanded him to give this oblivious Shifter some credit.
"Um, no, this is the right forest," he replied, somewhat quietly, "I don't know how you made it here. I was hoping you would have known that."
He gave the man one last look over before finding him looking into his eyes. It startled him, and he jumped a little. He wasn't one to make eye contact with anyone, especially another male. They were so... intimidating. It had been so long since he had hung around one.
"I'm Kaito," he said quickly, realizing that it would be horribly rude not to give that piece of information.
Rather clumsily, he stuck out his empty hand to Kenyon.

[Duci]

“Ow!” Seriously. The trees had it out for her.

This whole day started off pretty nice. The birds were singing, the weather was lovely. Peaceful. And then she got that job offer, which was cool. Duci got paid a lot for going out of Spirit. This was her first time in the Forest of the Fae, but she didn’t think it would be a big deal. It was just a forest. How bad could it be? If anything tried to hurt her, she’d just fly away. That was the advantage to having her pretty blue wings.

So Duci began traipsing through the forest. As usual, she looked like the most innocent thing in the world while in her true form. Long golden hair, light skin, haunting black eyes, the sweetest smile you will ever see…Even her clothes upheld the image. She wore her signature color of pastel pink. And it was a dress, one that flowed around her as though weightless but also clung to her in the right place; the joys of fae fabric.

But then that stupid tree (another one!) tripped her. She swore it moved. All of them moved. She was tired of their roots raising above the ground to make her fall. Like the whole forest was mocking her. Duci growled a little under her breath before standing and brushing the dirt and leaves away from her body. That was when she noticed she had company. Duci blinked shyly at Kenyon and the fae-creature.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon blinked in surprise and clasped Kaito's hand warmly,"Nice to meet you Kaito." He pondered the mystery of his place among the living and shrugged,"Maybe I'm just lucky? Either that or the forest just has bad aim," the shifter didn't exactly sound sure.
"So what are you doing here all alone?" Kenyon paused, glancing at the paints,"Or at least what are you painting?" He plopped down in the grass and crossed his legs, keeping a wary eye on the forest, lest it make another pass at his head.
He decided that he would probably be safer for the time being in the presence of the Fae, and besides, the boy seemed very friendly, albeit rather nervous. Kenyon met the boy's eyes again, wondering why the painter was such a recluse, and shrugging it off as none of his business.
A rustling sounded in the bushes and Kenyon leaped up, expecting something violent, and or, dangerous. Needless to say his jaw just about dropped when the pretty, innocent, rather bruised looking Duci emerged. "Miss..Amber Sweet! What are you doing here?" the shifter exclaimed, ducking another branch as he jogged over to meet her. He clasped her hand and led her over to the center of the hollow, having found that the forest would not attack as long as he was near Kaito.

[Kaito]

Kaito raised an eyebrow at that. He very much doubted that the forest could have bad depth-perception, but he kept it to himself. He didn't want to get on this guy's bad side, considering that he had just met him and all. It would be very bad to make any kind of enemy at a time like this, especially now that he was alone with him. Kaito usually kept to himself, so it wasn't likely that if he went missing any one would care enough to come and search for him. Still, he was beginning to feel at ease about the Shifter.

He had just began to sit down across from Kenyon when a noise startled him. In a second he was back on his feet, his wide blue eyes scanning the hollow for any potential threat. His gaze focused on a rather young looking girl with pretty blue wings. He couldn't help but stare at them for longer than necessary. Blue was his absolute favorite color, even if it was on a creature that could be something harmful. He took in her features and decided that she must be another Shifter as well. How many more of the damn things would be sneaking into his forest and disturbing his peace? He glared at her for a moment, somewhat out of reaction, before shaking it away. Just because the Council told you something was bad didn't mean it was true. After all, he was giving Kenyon the benefit of the doubt. Why shouldn't she get the same courtesy? Well, for one thing, the other Shifter was far more attractive than her...
"What are you doing here?" he couldn't help but as, probably a little too rudely.

[Duci]

A dazed feeling settled over Duci as Kenyon took her hand and led her towards the clearing. She almost thought that seeing him was another one of the forest's tricks. Could it do that? Make you see people you wanted to see? Why would she want to see him? I don't, she told herself unconvincingly. Her hand tingled from his touch. Duci had never heard of the forest making illusions like that...So then he was real right? She was going with that conclusion. Duci was glad to no longer be alone in the forest.

It was only through Kaito's voice that Duci noticed the fae-creature. She looked at him curiously. Pretty thing, wasn't he? Not very polite, but who could blame him? She was on his territory. Duci decided to let it go. She was quite good at swallowing her pride when she had to be. Even so, she threw her mental shield into place. The only thoughts and emotions he would read from her were the ones she wanted him to read. At the moment, that was nothing but innocence and friendliness.

It was her usual mask, of course. Duci offered the fae-creature a sweet smile. "My name is Amber. Amber Sweet." She looked at Kenyon. "I am a friend of this man, though our meeting here seems to be a rather extraordinary coincidence." She paused, wondering if she should tell them why she was there. What harm would it do? This was one of her few jobs that was not a crime. "I am here to do some trading with the fae folk," she told them, "But even with a map, this forest is near impossible to navigate for a shifter like myself."

[Kaito]

Kaito looked at her suspiciously for a moment, wondering why anything that wasn't Fae or Daemon would be trading with the Fae. He sighed, shaking his head to clear it. He wanted to try to remain neutral, to not jump on a person just because of what they were. He was so used to the Fae, and the way that they thought about humans and shifters, that he found it very hard to persuade himself that not all of them were bad.

She definitely seemed nice enough, but then again she was a Shifter. They were, well, shifty. They could change into something else at will, so why couldn't they change their personalities to match the situation? Still, he would try to be nice, so he smiled his cute little smile back at her.
"Trading?" he asked, deciding that now probably wasn't a very good time to be painting.
Great. Just great. The morning had been going so wonderfully, too! Then again, maybe this could be a good thing. He did need some friends, after all.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon grinned at the two of them, "Miss Amber we seem to meet everywhere," he paused and said in a dramatic voice,"It must be fate." He laughed and trotted over to Kaito's canvas, watching the surrounding trees suspiciously.
Seeing the half-finished picture the shifter nodded, looking impressed, before turning to the Fae boy. "This is really good, finished or not. If you cared you could probably make good money on this stuff." Kenyon strode back to Duci and Kaito, letting his gaze rest on Duci for a moment longer than necessary.
He felt giddy for some reason, a feeling that had appeared with Duci. The shifter nearly dropped his smile for a more confused expression, but recovered in time.
Kenyon stopped, looking down at the small painter,"So why do you come out here all alone?" He turned to Duci,"And why did you come out here without any help, or protection, or anything?"

[Duci]

He was suspicious of her anyway. Fair enough. Duci was used to that. Shapeshifters were not the most liked breed in the world. She nodded in response to his question. “For fae fabric.” Not that she had anything to trade with her. Duci had no idea what the fae wanted. Yet. She would have to find out. Her client was very specific about not stealing. “Do you have any?”

Her attention immediately turned to Kenyon. She felt a happy smile worm its way onto her face, completely unbidden. She could not help it. The man was contagious. Fate indeed. Her gaze followed his over to Kaito’s paintings and she nodded appreciatively. Note to self. The fae boy was quite a good painter.

Duci looked back at Kenyon. “I could ask you the same thing. I am getting paid to be here, so I don’t have much choice.” She tilted her head to the side and gave the other shifter an appraising look. “Course, this place is starting to get on the creepy side. I certainly wouldn’t mind having an able bodied man by my side.”

She was fine on her own. She didn’t need him. No, but I want him!

[Kenyon]

Kenyon shrugged, a mischievous look on his face, "I just wanted to see if the rumors were true, no other reason," he laughed and turned to Kaito, "Don't worry about Miss Amber Sweet, she's good people, I trust her at least. She's saved me before."
On that note he centered on Duci and dipped into a bow, golden eyes twinkling with laughter, "I'd be honored to be your able bodied man. You saved me once and I do not believe business recommendations are enough to fill that debt."
Kenyon straightened, looking the painter in the eyes, "Would you help Kaito? Especially with me as hapless as I am we're likely to be attacked by the forest." he shrugged, smiling winningly, "It won't hurt us with you around. Miss Amber do you know where this client of yours is?"

[Kaito]

Why did he have to be so charming? It wasn't fair, really. He sighed, deciding he may as well escort them to wherever it was they were going. Really, he didn't know why he felt the need to assist them. They were both Shifters, and they were in his forest. What would the others think? Would he get in trouble for helping them? He decided that he didn't care, quite frankly.
"Um, sure I'll help you," he said quietly, sighing as he put his paint supplies back into his bag, "As much as I can, that is."
Had she said something about Fae fabric? Well, that really wasn't a big issue. Surely there would be a shop somewhere nearby. He thought he remember seeing one on his way here as a matter of fact. Mentally he traced the path, trying to keep them away from the Mound. Really, they would probably never find it, even with him to protect them from the forest, but he still wanted to be cautious.
"I believe I know where to find your fabric," he said to Duci, avoiding her eyes, "But I can't help but wonder what you plan to trade?"
Really, what did she have other than perhaps services of some kind? He suddenly remembered that it really wasn't his problem. He would help them get to the shopkeeper, but beyond that he couldn't be of any further assistance.

[Duci]

“…I trust her at least.”

Those words went through Duci like a knife through the heart. Normally, she would be thrilled to hear those words. The easiest way to establish a good clientele was by gaining the trust of those she worked for. But that did not mean Duci was trustworthy. Indeed, she would betray anyone if she was paid to do so. Duci did not deserve Kenyon’s trust.

“Thank you, gentleman!” she announced happily, “The day suddenly seems so much brighter.” Duci looked at Kaito. A fae guide would be extraordinarily lucky. How wonderful! “Actually, I don’t know what I’m going to trade. I have never traded with the fae before, so I am not sure what will be asked. I can trade favors, items, anything really. I know how much human currency is worth compared to fae fabric, so I will base my haggling off of that. Do you have any advice for me, Friend?” What was his name? Duci did not recall him introducing himself. Ah well.

She linked an arm around Kenyon’s and held her hand out towards Kaito questioningly. He seemed to skittish for her to initiate physical contact, even though the fae were supposedly all over that.