The Druid and The Dullahan | Lelianna

It was like a scene from a videogame: Lelianna was riding a bear.

Skjorn had come to visit her as she'd been working in her garden again. Spring was basically officially here at this point so the hermit was really enjoying planting and expanding her garden like always. However once the big grizzly had popped in to play, the progress had ground to a halt. it was awfully hard to say "no" to a cuddle session with a big fluffy bear. It was also nearly impossible for her to avoid getting flopped on top of and then having to wrestle the big creature so she wasn't crushed. Which was definitely exhausting, even if fun.

Eventually Lelianna had called uncle. She was strong but not strong enough to lift a bear off of her. After a while she'd simply climbed up onto his back and motioned for the big lug to take her somewhere she could feel the sun's rays. get some of her energy back. Whether or not Skjorn had actually understood her request, the hermit couldn't know. But eventually he'd started lumbering away with the redhead clinging to his back and just slumped there.

Fortunately enough he actually was taking her to a sunny clearing! One she recognized when it came into view. Sitting up she smiled, patting Skjorn on the back. "Thank you, oh noble steed." She said approvingly. The big bear sort of glanced up at her when she did so, but suddenly he stopped and looked forward again. A grunt left him. One Lelianna could identify the tone of. Instantly her eyes shot forward to look for whatever had gotten the bear's attention. It was then she spotted...A random...shirtless woman?

Had she actually stumbled upon someone else for once?

Blinking Lelianna carefully slid off Skjorn's back. "Shh, shh, it's ok boy." She said in as soothing of a voice as possible. Yet he'd be able to sense the alert caution of her own body language as she took a few steps forward. Well....she might as well call out and be polite, right? "Ah....H-Hello?" The voice rang out, loud enough to possibly reach the woman. Oh please don't let her be afraid of bears.

That was a gun.
That was a gun!

Even though Caroline was quick to lower it, Lelianna's reaction came only a few seconds after she'd aimed the thing towards her. A yelp of surprise and fear burst from her lips as she took a step backwards and promptly fell on her butt. Her power had extended outwards with her fear and a small dirt wall shot up in front of her.

That was a gun!!!

Yet there was no gunshot. At least, not one Lelianna had heard and those things were pretty loud! For a heartbeat she just sat there, heart pounding. She could feel and hear the creak and groan of the treeline behind her shifting in response to her fear. But she calmed it when she heard to sound of fire. Instead she heard...a voice? It was kind of hard to hear now that she was behind the little makeshift barrier. The woman was apologizing? Cautiously Lelianna poked her head out from behind the dirt to take a look. She'd stopped her aiming. At least at Lelianna. Now her attention was on Skj-

Oh no, Skjorn!

Having seen his friend react so violently and smelling the fear wafting off the magi, he only assumed the woman before him was hostile. With a mighty roar of anger he started charging before Lelianna could grab a patch of his fur. "Skjorn, wait!" She called out, panicking. That woman still had a gun! Maybe she hadn't meant to shoot Lelianna but it was hard not to shoot a grizzly heading straight for you! "No! Please, don't hurt him!" The words tore from her throat in a genuinely fearful plea as she scrambled to her feet and chased after the lumbering creature. The hermit wasn't about to lose her friend like this!

Her hands flew to one of her pouches, desperately trying to tear it open and get to the seeds inside. She could grow vines or something to try stopping him! Already she was trying with the grass, but the big bear was too strong so the blades simply tore while he made a beeline for Caroline.

With a look of horror Lelianna watched the other woman hesitate. Then Skjorn was upon her and the redhead watched as he gave her a swat that knocked her head clean off. 'Skjorn!!!" Lelianna shouted, one hand going to her mouth. By the gods, she'd just watched her bear kill someone right in front of her! Her other hand was uselessly buried in her now open pouch. If only she'd been a little faster. If only...

Wait was the body still moving?

To Lelianna's...amazement? Shock? Terror? The body of the decapitated woman continued to move. It took Skjorn by surprise too. Normally his prey didn't move when the heads were gone. Nor were they this strong! Both magi and bear were completely flabbergasted as Skjorn was lifted up and suplexed into the ground. If Lelianna's jaw could touch the ground to join Skjron's head, it would.

Her bear friend had been suplexed by a headless body.
Hello, nightmare fuel!

Skjron, dazed, was temporarily out of condition. Lelianna though? Lelianna heard a voice near her foot, looked down, and immediately screech. "HOLY MOTHER OF-" She backed up several steps. The head was talking to her. Heads don't do that! Not when they don't have a body! "YOU'RE A HEAD! AND TALKING! A TALKING HEAD!" it burst from lelianna's lips as if saying it out loud would help it make any more sense.

It didn't.

Staring at Caroline's head with an expression of "what the fuck" mixed with horror, Lelianna only just barely caught the sound of Skjorn grunting again. As she tore her gaze away, she noticed the bear starting to get up. No no, he shouldn't do that again! Thinking fast Lelianna grabbed a handful of seeds and tossed them at the big creature. Blueberry bushes instantly sprouted once they hit, the branches wrapping around the bear in a thick wooden net. Lelianna winced as she heard the confusion in his grunts. "Sorry big guy." She apologized sincerely.

Now then....the head.

Taking a deep breath to steele herself, Lelianna looked down. She swore her eye twitched a little. A talking head. Really. Of all the things she's seen this.....this by far was the weirdest. And that was saying something! Crouching down she hesitantly extended a hand, but then retracted it. Should she really go about touching heads? The green gaze of the hermit flicked back up to the headless body and then back to Caroline's head. Her mouth failed to form words for a while.

Finally, after a few seconds and a shake of her own head Lelianna managed to ask: "Are....d-do you need help?"

Surprised? She was surprised? Her expression further mixing in a frown, Lelianna looked pensive for a moment before nodding. "Yeah.....Yeah I think surprised is...is a word to....describe our current..." Already struggling for words and any scrabble of logic she had left, Lelianna just gestured around her vaguely as if to say "this." She ran her fingers through her hair, which unfortunately had lost some flowers due to her anxiety. Still out of it, she looked back up at Skjorn. The poor bear was all tangled up and trying to squirm but her impromptu bushes prevented it. "Uh yeah he's...he's fine now." Confused out of his mind maybe, but no longer attacking.

Lelianna rubbed her face and tried not to scream like her mind was doing right now.

Peeking out from her fingers, Lelianna watched the head (gods that was weird. It didn't even have any lungs to speak!) talk. "N-No no it's...I wasn't expecting anyone either." Especially not someone who, apparently, could live without their head being attached to their shoulders. Speaking of which, Lelianna watched the body stumble it's way over towards its head (still weird). She almost wished she could help but...her mind was still a horrifically turbulent thing of thoughts, questions, and yelling that she couldn't really make much of a decision.

Once Caroline was in her...own hands, Lelianna struggled up onto her feet. Even her legs were shaky. This whole thing had been one hell of an experience. Not one she wanted to repeat though. Once Caroline's head was back in place, it helped right some of the topsy-turvy going on in Lelianna's brain. Although wait, was that a click she heard? before she could think much about it though; introductions. "Oh! I-I'm, ah, Lelianna." She gracefully stumbled through. "And that bear is Skjron. He-- Oh jeez!" Somehow she'd glanced over the fact she basically had her bear friend ensnared in a trap. And he was starting to look really uncomfortable.

"Sorry Skjorn!" She said hurrying past Caroline for the moment. As she approached and willed the branches away, the blueberry bushes released him. Now came the tricky part. Skjorn rolled to his feet but Lelianna immediately started tending to him. He was still eying Caroline with a great deal of hostility, especially after what she pulled! Yet the hermit kept holding him back and scratching along his fur. All the while she kept her voice low and calm. As long as he believed she was calm, it would help reduce his reaction. Eventually through much attention the redhead managed to calm him down enough that he didn't try charging the other woman again. With that Lelianna slumped into his fur face first, groaning.

Gods she was spent.

At the very least she managed to turn her head to regard Caroline. Now that the dangerous and "excitement" had passed, she could actually make out features. Lelianna had a few questions, but only popped into her head (ha) almost immediately after her brain registered. "Oh! A-Are you...aaaahhh....Skjorn didn't hurt you...too bad did he?" The woman had, after all, taken a direct smack to the head. Enough to apparently knock it off.

Yeah let's not think about that again.

If Lelianna had been paying more attention and not been as frazzled she would have definitely shaken Caro's hand. As it was though, she was frazzled as she could possibly be. All her focus was on soothing the big furball before her so he didn't try to hurt the girl again. Once that was done? lelianna basically just slumped. But she did take the time to answer Caroline first. "Skjorn's a friend, not a pet." She explained patiently, still scratching the big fellow. She could see why people might mistake the relationship for that but... "I've just...grown up with him. Lots of animals actually." It was more like Lelianna had been adopted by Arecia's wildlife than anything.

An honorary family member of sorts.

Now when Lelianna looked back, fortunately Caroline had put on a shirt. In her panicked state she hadn't even noticed really. Listening, Lelianna felt her eyes widen. A cyborg? She's met a scant few but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day when she'd been in Suraja with her parents. Though she'd never met one that could just take it's head off! According to Caroline she might be the only one? The redhead was unsure but she felt she was being observed. If Caroline wanted to ask she could very easily assure her that her own head couldn't detach! After Caroline apologized again Lelianna actually felt...bad.

True she'd been the one who'd nearly been shot, but Caro's head had been hit clean off! That and Lelianna might have actually found someone as or more socially awkward than her! How could she not extend an olive branch? Clearly the girl was trying; she'd already apologized a few times now. Maybe the cyborg bit might explain her awkwardness. Whatever it was, Lelianna could relate to it.

One awkward dork to another.

"N-No no! It's...it's ok." She assured Caroline, giving her a kind smile. "I actually have met a cyborg before but that was ah....A long time ago. I-I've certainly never seen one that...could remove their head!" Laughing a little, she averted her eyes for a moment hoping the other girl wouldn't see that yes, she was still a little freaked out by that. Oh the joy she'd have sleeping tonight. Or trying. Lelianna cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter. "But ah....You're not making me uncomfortable I swear! I just...really, really wasn't expecting anything like this today." She paused for a second. "Or ever, honestly." What? A head-removing cyborg in Arecia woods? Who in the world could expect that?!

But back to the present. They'd had one hell of a first impression, and Lelianna knew how horrible that could be. Usually she was the one initiating the bad impression! "Um look..." She hesitated a moment before taking a step forward. Skjorn made a little noise but a pat from Lelianna assuaged the big bear for now. Lelianna took a few more steps towards Caroline but didn't utterly close the gap. "I...I-I know what it's like to have, ah...interesting first impressions and all." A few came to mind that made a blush inadvertently grow on her cheeks. "S-So I was w-wondering if we'd want a...do over?" She offered with a little shrug of her arms and a well meaning but a shy smile.

Look at her trying to be the social one for once. Good gods, is the world ending?

Well she was relaxing. That was good! A step in the right direction! Right? Right... Well at the very least Caroline appeared to be open to the idea of a do-over. She even smiled! That was definitely good! With only one glance back at Skjorn, Lelianna took Caroline's hand this time. It strengthened her smile a bit; made it a little less shy. "I'm Lelianna. It's nice to meet you too, Caroline." Wow look at her go! She didn't even stammer or get nervous (outwardly) or anything!

Though the question about Skjorn did make her pause. "Aaaaaaaaaah...." Turning her head Lelianna took a glance back at her fluffy friend. He was eyeing the two intently. Not growling or standing on his two feet menacingly, but Lelianna could see the signs of tension through his fur. The way he sat there just observing. "Mmmmmmaybe. I'll have to help you with that one." Lelianna decided, looking back at Caroline and finally dropping her hand.

It was a strange turn of events, really, being on the opposite end. Seeing someone else stumble and stammer to make conversation. Lelianna had played that role so much she...genuinely felt herself starting to relax around the still relative stranger. It warmed her expression. Made it a bit easier to smile despite all that had happened in the past few minutes. hey she appreciated someone being patient with her. Least she could do was return the favor.

"Oh that's fine, really. I'm, um, not so good at the whole...'talking' thing either. And I'm actually a hermit." Again her smile turned just a little shy at that. Those darn stereotypes about crotchety old men in rags. "Which.....might explain that first bit. But, ah, don't worry. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's friends with bears. I think." Suddenly she narrowed her eyes a little and looked back at Skjorn. "Unless someone is hiding something from me." Skjorn did an exceptionally good job at holding a poker face. If bears could even do that. Glancing back at Caroline, Lelianna realized that her talking with a bear might seem kind of odd. Cheeks flooding just a bit with pink, she moved on.

"But I uh-- I live off over there-ish." Lifting a hand she pointed to where she and Skjorn had come out of the woods. "What about you? Do you live out here? Or are you from somewhere else? I-If I can ask you that is." Since she'd been a little nervous on asking maybe she didn't want to say herself?

"Yep! Well...At least where I live there isn't anyone. There's other hermits around here. The two I know are Jason and Fiamma." Those were at least the ones Lelianna had encountered herself. Maybe there was more? "Both are very nice. Fiamma's girlfriend is really sweet too! She comes and visits sometimes. Oh and Jason's big but I swear he's actually really, really nice." Just...a little terrifying with his height. But after that he had a heart of gold. "Ah, other than that it's just me, Stewart, Skjorn and Arecia. And other animals but I...w-wouldn't want to keep you here all day" She said with a little laugh.

No seriously, they'd be there all day.

"No one bothers me much. Honestly it's...i-it's nice to have company from time to time." Admitting it out loud made some color come to her cheeks again. However the second part of that final bit did bring Lelianna's face down just a tad. Hunters. "As for hunters, I've never seen any around here." That was all she'd answer for that. it had been 8 years, but she still didn't like to think too much on anything to do with...

When Caroline pointed off towards her tent, the surprise of its location was enough to keep her from darker thoughts. Though she caught onto those last words of Caroline's. Couldn't go back? A slightly concerned green eyed look turned her way for a moment. Had she been fleeing from something? That...actually sounded a little close to home with Lelianna herself. Which only made her feel sympathy. And honestly, even more comfortable somehow with the girl who nearly-may-have-shot-at her. She wasn't going to ask for details though. People came to the woods for their own reasons. For peace, recovery, or simple solitude. Lelianna wasn't about to judge. So while the concern still lightly danced in her eyes, she did manage to give Caroline a kind and soft smile.

"Actually you're really close to where I live." Lelianna admitted, glancing over to where Caroline had pointed out her campsite. Man, that was well hidden. When the redhead spotted it she pointed beyond it. "You're nearly right up against the edge of my garden. But please, you're perfectly fine where you are; stay as long as you like." The hermit quickly assured her. Then she actually perked up when she realized something. "We could basically be like...like neighbors!" Some of the flowers in her hair began to slowly grow and bloom again at the thought. That actually could be exciting! Right? Maybe? Hopefully she wouldn't fudge it up. "I could show you the garden too, i-if you'd like." Came the extra offer. Might as well, right? "I mean, pffft, you're nearly inside it already so it wouldn't be that hard." Shrugging, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Then Caroline's eye twitched and it appeared from pain.

it only took a second for Lelianna to connect the dots. Headache. Skjorn's hit. Damage. Oh no. Worry flooded her features quickly. She wasn't sure exactly how it worked with cyborgs but clearly they felt pain. "I-I...Is your head hurting from Skjorn? I'm so sorry for him I should've..." She trailed off, not really certain what she could have done in an unpredictable situation like that. Anything other than what she had, maybe. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Was what she asked instead. She wasn't sure if she even could be of help but gosh darn it if she didn't try!