You Smell Like Flowers | Lelianna

Lelianna had actually been quite busy today. Turned out that a few trees had been cut down and apparently the forest was not too happy with that. The redhead had taken up her staff and a bunch of seeds before heading off to help them grown. The smell of spring was ever fresher in the air, so that had made her day's work a little better for her to bear. After remaking that patch of the forest she'd returned to her garden to do some work she personally was looking forward to.

Aka expanding and replanting!

With the new batch of seeds she'd gotten from Haven not too long ago the hermit was only eager to start spreading them out. In particular she was planting flowers today, carefully using her powers to speed up the growth and make sure they were firmly planted. To be honest she was perfectly happy in that moment. Maybe she was a bit dirty from kneeling down in the dirt. Her hands certainly were, covered up to her wrist in brown splotches from using her hands. Maybe she smelled like a wild mixture of flowers from the wide variety she was currently drowning in at this section of her garden. Maybe it was getting a little late and the girl hadn't even noticed. All that really mattered in that moment was how content she felt.

Until she got wind of something being up.

The birds were always a sign. Not that far from her she heard the fluttering of a decent number of winds taking off and rustling the leaves. The hermit's head immediately snapped to the side. What had them all flying suddenly? Feeling curious Lelianna used her nearby staff to get up. "Oooooooo, ow ow ow- pins and needles! Pins and needles!" She hissed, the feeling in her legs coming painfully back. Just leave it to her legs to fall asleep while she'd been gardening. Once she'd felt confident enough to move though, she did.

Lelianna approached the scene cautiously, moving through the shrubbery and thicket as silently as she could. gratefully this time Arecia decided to show her some mercy; her antlers didn't get stuck even once! Eventually she did reach the scene of Drew's kill. And the moment she did her eyes widened. "Oh!" Was the first ever-intelligent thing to tumble from her motion. To her credit though, she hadn't been expecting this. An animal, maybe, but not another magi. Although it was one sounding rather close to an animal at the moment so maybe there wasn't much of a difference. Still, he hadn't attacked her yet.

But he looked close to it.

She held up her empty hand, palm outward, in a placating gesture. "U-Um, hey I don't mean any harm or anything!" She promise with a nervous smile. "I, ah, just was investigating why the birds all flew off."

After saying her piece, Lelianna remained right where she was and continued to show she was coming no further or meant to interrupt the man's kill. She'd dealt with packs of wolves before. Bastan had been wary with her in the beginning. Only over time had she been able to be accepted by the taveling pack of canines. And seeing this magi's long black tail made her instantly suspect he was part wolf too. And yes, Lelianna was well aware that she shared aspects with the animal currently lying in a bloody heap near his feet.

Could you blame her for treating this cautiously?

As Drew backed away and apologized, the hermit still remained exactly where she was. Wary. Alert. Desperately hoping the man could control himself. The forest was reacting to her mood. She could feel and hear the subtle creaks and groans of the branches around her. Sense the low and steady hum in the back of her mind of the greenery's awareness alongside her. Hopefully she wouldn't have to defend herself. But if she needed to? She would.

Luckily it appeared she wouldn't have to. As Drew's body language started to shift into a less hostile state, Lelianna slowly and gradually relaxed her own. A long exhale of relief left her lips as she let the free hand drop to her side. Boy, she had not been expecting this. Or, frankly, the sheer amount of people she'd been running into lately. Really, her little crack theory about Arecia purposefully dragging people into the woods for her to meet and socialize with was quickly gaining more ground with her. Why else would she keep meeting strangers out here?

With Drew's second apology, Lelianna finally responded. "No no, it's okay. I....hadn't expected anyone either." She said, offering a tiny and friendly smile. Though there were still some nerves there. With a glance the green-eyed gaze flicked down from the wolf man to the deer. The smile faded instantly, her expression holding some sadness. She was always sad to see the death of any animal, but she understood the cycle. One did not live in nature for 8 years without seeing the cycle of life, death, and Darwinian selection at work. Besides, clearly this man had been hunting. Just hopefully for a valid reason and not purely wasteful killing.

And hopefully she wasn't next.

As Drew summoned the fire, she once more felt a little unease in her stomach. Though she figured it was due more to the nearby vegetation's reaction bleeding into her thoughts than her own fear. Once the flame was gone she felt a little better. She also felt better when he appeared to calm down further. Hey, his eyes even changed color! That was new. She waited a beat before after, still maintaining her distance: "Do you feel...better now? Oh, and I'm Lelianna by the way." Maybe if she gave herself a name she wouldn't look so similar to the dead prey near Drew's feet. Maybe.

Drew. Ok, they were getting somewhere. Though Drew wasn't exactly meeting her eyes. He looked nervous. About as nervous as Lelianna felt. He'd probably heard the nearby trees and shrugs responding to Lelianna's nerves. She swore she wasn't going to attack him! It was just...a reflex.

Both of their eyes seemed to drop to the deer at the same time. Lelianna's still with a trace of sadness. Drew's though? His was hunger. The redhead looked up swiftly when Drew responded so suddenly. Then she watched him walk off. For a moment she started to raise her hand to tell him everything was fine. yet before that could even happen the words died behind her lips. No, he wasn't fine, clearly. He was trying to get away from her. maybe he was worried about reverting back to that kind of feral state she'd just seen?

It was a mutual fear.

So Lelianna sighed and let her hand drop back to her side. She noticed he started actually heading closer to the edge of her garden but she didn't mind. Instead the hermit turned her head back to the fallen animal. Approaching t she crouched down, her face turning a little sad again. She could understand everything died and things needed to hunt to survive. Still, she couldn't help but feel compassion for the creature. Extending a hand Lelianna rested it on the deer's head. "May you find better pastures." She murmured, shutting the creature's eyes before standing again.

Now then, time to confront the big bad wolf.

It was easy to follow his trail. Drew hadn't exactly been trying to sneak away from her when he'd hurried off. When she spotted him her walk slowed to a halt a little ways away. He'd basically ran off from the spot of his kill...Lelianna wracked her brain to try and figure out why. Other than his fear of turning again, it seemed. But why did he do that? Then it hit her. Smell. Wolves had a great sense of smell and he'd been alerted by her before she'd come into view. It must've been the smell of her deer aspect.

With that figured out (sort of; she was guessing), Lelianna reached into one of her pouches. She'd originally been planning to plant these inside her garden, but this seemed a better use. That and, hey, she could always expand! Tossing the seeds out near Drew and hoping he didn't think she was trying to attack him, Lelianna focused on the seeds as they hit the ground. Very quickly shoots of lavender sprung up from where the seeds had fallen, growing into their full bloom and bursting with their scent. Drew basically had himself a tiny ring of flowers now. After waiting a beat or two to let the smell expand, Lelianna finally spoke up. "I...hope that helps block the scent. I figured that must've been why you were, ah...reacting like that."

Whoops! Maybe a little too much. She hadn't been too sure on how strong his senses were in comparison to a real wolf's so she figured it was better safe than sorry. But hey, it had clearly worked if he was coughing! Still her expression turned a little sheepish. "Uh.....Sorry I wasn't sure how much, ah, would be enough so....yeah."

Words. Look at how well she wielded them.

For a moment or two Drew just observed her and Lelianna wasn't sure what she should do. What he looking for something or-- oh he was asking a question. "My territory?" She repeated, glancing around. Well technically they were right next to her garden. And technically that was her territory? She'd never really thought of any part of the forest being "hers" but then again it...was sort of true. Maybe in animal terms. The creatures of the forest definitely recognized it, though she often let them in. So....yeah she guessed it sort of was her territory. "Um...Sort of. It's more over there." She pointed off to the side to where the edge of her garden and thus the garden itself lay. the vegetation certainly got thicker the closer they got towards it. "You're just on the outskirts of my garden so really, you're not intruding." She assured him.

"I just heard a commotion from the birds flying off a-and decided to investigate so....yeah." helplessly she shrugged. Speaking was not her strong suit here. "I-I swear I didn't mean to startle you or chase you off or anything. I just...was curious what...or who, I guess, was out here. Are you, um, from Haven?" Usually that was it. Or was this another hermit? or someone wandering in? Really the amount of people she was finding these days was startling. She felt like she was turning into Arecia's tour guide.

"Yeah. I was working when I heard the birds and well...here I am." Here she was indeed. Talking to a wolf man who'd just slain a deer. A man who was really like a dog! I mean, look at that head tilt! It was almost adorable. Almost. He still seemed kinda scary, actually. Yet he seemed nice so maybe he was like Jason? Big but friendly. Just with a touch more wild in him than what Lelianna had seen of Jason

"Oh! I don't actually live in Haven." Lelianna explained. "I, ah, actually live out here in the woods." At least this time she didn't have to say hermit. Although with this guy's sense of smell, maybe he could already tell. She didn't smell bad did she? Shoot...

Before she could reflect more on her possible need to bath, Drew apologized again. Gods he looked so uncomfortable. Did he think Lelianna was going to scold him or something? Her features softened and she shook her head. Ironically his discomfort did wonders for her comfort! "Really it's fine, I promise." Hopefully she could assure him that she really was not horribly offended or anything. Whatever he was thinking for why she might possibly need these many apologies! "I mean, I can hardly claim a whole forest right?" Joking a little, she smiled. "Besides, hardly anyone knows I'm out here." However there was a pause and a pensive frown came to her face. "Although...lately I've been running into a lot of people." Again, her theory for Arecia dragging people over was only growing stronger.

But enough theories!

She shook her head to clear her thoughts again. Back to the present. Right, right. "It's perfectly fine if you hunt around her. You could head back and get your...kill now." She said, only hesitating a beat before the word. "In fact that...might be a good idea before anything else shows up to steal it." Like, oh she didn't know...a bear? Starts with an S? Ends in a Kjorn? that or any of the other animal inhabitants within Arecia.

Or hell even another person. They were apparently coming in droves recently. Thank goodness Lelianna wasn't the kind of hermit to expressively want isolation.

Right. Hopefully he was okay now. Well enough that he didn't step all over the flowers Lelianna had just grown. So that was a good sign right? Though he still gave her a wide berth. The redhead flashed him a smile but a hint of concern was in there. If he still felt the need to give her a wide berth, was he still afraid he might jump her? Was he that in tune to his animal aspect? Granted, Lelianna hadn't seen too many others (considering she was , you know, a hermit). However with all her visits to Haven she'd never encountered someone quite like this.

She wasn't sure if she should say anything. Besides, what would she even say?

As Drew passed her, Lelianna fully intended to leave him be. If he had still seemed nervous getting near her, she didn't want to push her presence on him. However an uneasy feeling started to grow in the back of her mind. Lelianna frowned. That was coming from her connection with the plantlife. Was it trying to tell her something about Drew? Turning with a baffled and now wary expression Lelianna started making her way back after the big man. What could possibly-- Oh!

That was Bastan's pack!

Though a little hard to see from her point of view behind Drew (though when he moved it got easier), Lelianna could clearly make out Bastan as the leader of this particular group. She hadn't expected the pack to be around these parts now that winter was coming to an end! The big timber wolf and his pack indeed had turned to Drew as he growled and made his presence known. They weren't exactly happy with that and began to growl back in response. Lelianna could see they were spreading out to semi-encircle the other magi in case they needed to attack. Shoot, this might end very badly!

"Wait!" Lelianna called out, directing it at Drew. The sound of her voice drew some of the wolves' attentions towards her for a moment. Upon seeing her Bastan's ears perked up slightly in recognition. Thank the gods for small favors; he remembered her. Maybe she could diffuse the situation before it escalated? Unfortunately the wolves had already started eating away at the deer. Drew's prize for his hunt was basically ruined now, or at the very least lessened. "P-Please Drew." Lelianna wasn't so sure if he'd listen to someone he'd only just met, but there was definitely concern and minor panic in her plea. She'd rather not see either party hurt.

Oh thank goodness, Drew had halted. Lelianna could breath a sign of relief from that. There was still Bastan and his pack to deal with though. That and the fact that Drew's kill had been heavily tasted by the wolves. That was certainly going to be a problem. Lelianna was about to go forward to see if she could talk Bastan down when Drew did the unexpected. Flames suddenly erupted along Drew's arms and up to his shoulders.

It definitely scared the wolves alright.
Know who else it did?
Lelianna.

At the impressive display of pale blue fire along the fellow magi's back, Lelianna's eyes instinctively widened. It was fire. In the woods. And not just a little flickering flame; she could feel the heat from where she was and had to take a few steps back to get away from it. It was hot! The gentle hum in the back of her head suddenly changed to blaring alarm as the greenery nearest to him felt the horrible heat coming off of those licks of flame. A few leaves close to him started to burn. Reacting almost instantly to this display, Lelianna extended her powers outward to the thicket around Drew. As though it had been slapped the greenery around him drew back. It created something akin to a bubble around the wolf magi, leaving enough space between the vegetation and the flames to prevent anything from burning further.

As the wolves ran off Lelianna further used her power to lift dirt from the ground to smother the few fires that had sprouted on the nearby leaves. If Drew had not dosed the flames by now, Lelianna would turn her head to him and, with a voice of torn horror, exclaim: "Drew!" If he had already put the flames out, her expression would still be the same. A mingled mixture of horror and panic, with the faintest bit of fear in her eyes. If that fire had actually caught...The redhead didn't even want to think of the possible mess that could have occurred. "Please...Be careful." Her voice was still shaky from the adrenaline rush she'd received from the scare. She could feel the panic from the plant-life around her starting to ebb as the flames and the danger did that same.

One of these days she was going to have a heart attack.