If you go down in the woods today... (Noaru)

[Mac]

Fall 20, 513 “Syliras gets hit with combined storms, causing heavy rains and minor lightning. Most people stay inside for the full day…" (Calendar of events) Most people… but not all. Mac swore under her breath, as Nehru looked at her as if to ask what now? Both dog and master were beginning to get quite damp, the rain coming down more steadily than it had a few minutes before, and being blown by a brisk wind that was chilling indeed. Earlier, before dawn, when they had set out from the city, the skies above had revealed no stars, and Mac had known rain was in the forecast for the day. But based on her experiences of being out and about year round, hunting, in all sorts of weather, she had formed an opinion that it would hold off until at least late afternoon. Now here it was, barely mid-day, and it was as dark as twilight, the dried leaves being whipped from the trees and swirling about in the capricious breeze. The skies looked as if they intended to truly open up and beneath her boots the ground was already growing treacherously slick, the wet leaves making the downhill track they were on slippery as ice. With a disgusted look, for her own inaccuracy in predicting this squall, he said to the huge dog, “Yep, got to say, I called it wrong, boy. Sorry about that.” She shifted her backpack to rest more comfortably on her shoulders, and resettled the bow that was slung across her back. She’d probably have little chance of getting any game today. Like sensible creatures, they would all be seeking out shelter and hunkering down somewhere, trying to keep dry. There seemed little point in hanging about under the trees, and she was getting cold. So…. With a sigh, she turned, looking back over her shoulder. That way lay the road, a good distance off of course. She already trudged a good few miles from it, searching out the game that was too shy to come so close to man’s doings. But she knew that if she cut across this hill and wound about by the stream that lay beyond, she could cut back to the road in a roughly diagonal course that would put her much closer to the city gates, and a dry, warm interior – be that her little room deep in the walls or in a congenial tavern somewhere in the city. That thought was attractive, so she turned back and began to negotiate the steep downward track, which was little more than a game trail through the underbrush. The wet foliage had her getting more and more damp by the minute, and when she reached the bottom of the trail, she was already quite wet. She and Nehru plunged on, utilizing a narrow cleared track that would take them upwards again and around the shoulder of the hill. But in the next minute or so, the clouds above gave up trying to hold back their heavy load, and a true deluge began. The pattering rain fell more and more steadily, and then it was if a dam had burst above her head. Cursing again, Mac spotted a crevice in the rock face to her right, and splashing across the narrow stream, she made for it as quick as a deer, Nehru at her heels. Ducking inside the narrow opening, she peered about. She had no desire to intrude upon a sleeping bear, or wolf. But the small cave could hardly even merit being called such, for it was little more than a shallow declivity in the rock face. Large enough and with room to spare for MacMac and her beast of a dog, it might have accommodated two or three more adult humans. Before the opening, which was just broad enough to admit a normal size man, the rain poured like a curtain of water. The tiny cave though was fairly dry, with the exception of a fissure to one side where water trickled from the rock. It would be enough to wait out the worst of the storm, though the girl had no idea how long a wait it would be. Nehru whined anxiously, his senses picking up on the currents in the air maybe, just as a bolt of lightning illuminated the crack that was their doorway now, lighting up half of the inside of the crevice. Mac put a comforting hand on the dark spot on Nehru’s wide head. He didn’t care for storms, and could grow quite anxious. Not too many seconds later came the peal of thunder, and he whined again. “Shhh, boy. It’s alright. Just a bit of thunder. We’ll be safe here,” Mac crooned, dropping to her knees to throw a comforting arm about the dog’s neck, and giving him a gentle hug, despite the smell of wet fur in her face.

[Noaru]

Noaru was on the forest floor when the last bolt of lightning struck. He looks upwards, towards the sky before continuing his waltz through the rain. Noaru stared at the world with vacant eyes, eyes that were unfeeling and colder and darker than the powers he held. The spirit levitated his jet-black form across the winds, resembling a shadow without a body to claim it.

The rain was something Noaru looked forward to, nothing bothered him in the rain, and nothing moved or made a sound. The rain created a unique world for him, one that he could quietly observe without interruption. Noaru in his reminiscence notices something pink in the corner of his right eye; he turns to see what this was but the figure disappears behind some trees. Noaru just some meters away, reveals a look of sheer disbelief.

“What was that?”

The spirit couldn't understand what he had just looked upon? Noaru figured that he was just hallucinating and needed some rest. Noaru notices the color again; it was pink and was moving. The spirit maneuvers through the trees; he was silent and swift unsure as to what he was following. Noaru lingers quietly behind the trees until he finds himself standing in front of a cave entrance. A bolt of lightning illuminates the surroundings behind him, casting a brief yet eerie shadow on the earth in front of the cave.

“Hmm...”

Noaru levitates in front of the cave and witnesses the brief appearance of his shadow beneath him. The spirit had almost forgotten that he couldn't be seen by the naked-eye in his current state but his shadow was a clear indicator of his presence. Noaru remained where he was to allow what had entered the cave to ‘‘feel '' his presence—he waited and listened for a sound or voice.