A World Of Adventure - And Danger (Invite)

[Dominick Raditz]

Dom ran into the forest, checking over his shoulder every few minutes to make sure Eilionoir was still following him. He was relying on his sense of smell to alert him to the presence of any of the forests inhabitants, and any potential danger. This was the first time he had been in the forest this late for a while, and although he was generally welcome there, as much a creature as many of the inhabitants, he wasn't sure how welcome his guest would be.

Their journey through the castle hadn't been too bad, they had made good time and the first sign of the teachers was as they closed the door to the castle. He had smelled one of them in the entrance hall during a quick breather on the front step, which had made the quick breather even shorter, leaving them running towards the forest short of breath, but at least they hadn't been caught.

He stopped in a small clearing, turned to face her, and turned back into his human form. "So, anywhere in particular you wanted to see?" He asked, his eyes surveying the area to make sure they weren't in any immediate danger. His senses were keener than most peoples, but he trusted his eyes more than his nose when he wasn't in wolf form. They should be fairly safe, but he had an extra surprise ready if anyone attacked them.

[Eilionoir Dolor]

Eilionoir followed Dom as they wove their way out of the castle, trusting him but still wary of danger. Her eyes, nose, and ears were on guard at all times, and she was ready to run or hide if necessary. She hoped it wasn't necessary. Tensions were especially high as they paused on the front steps to the castle, but they escaped notice of the teachers unscathed, save for lack of breath.

Even as they were running across the grounds at top speed and Eilionoir could feel her body protesting with every step, the adrenaline pumping through her veins kept her moving, allowed her to run at the same pace as Dom, who was most likely in better shape than she. The forest loomed above them at all times, growing closer with every slinky, catlike bound she took, sending thrills of fear and excitement down her spine every few seconds--or when she let her gaze linger on it for too long.

Finally they arrived, and Eilionoir slowed to a stop at the edge of the trees. She changed back when Dom did to her panting, sweaty human form, and immediately regretted having her school robes on. Those plus the layer of regular clothes she was wearing underneath made her especially hot. "Hang on," she said, and quickly tore off the robes, stuffing them into a nook between tree roots. She knew she'd remember the place by the awkwardly positioned roots that she'd put the robes under, as they were vastly different than any of the visible tree roots nearby.

Eilionoir breathed a sigh of relief as the cool night air washed over her bare arms and throat. For a moment she cursed the fact that she was wearing jeans, but took it back when she remembered where she was and what she was about to do. Thankfully, the black jeans weren't tight, and weren't falling off--the perfect fit--and didn't have as many tears in them as most of her pants. Also, this was one of the pairs without chains dangling all over the place. Her top, too--a sleeveless white shirt with black threads sewn into a pattern that laced its way up the center of her torso, which revealed nothing but her petite form and feminine curves--was comfortable and easy to move in.

"Uhh..." was her only response to Dom's inquiry as to where to go first. She didn't know where anything of interest might be in the forest--actually, she didn't know anything about it except that multitudes of creatures dwelt there, and that it was forbidden to students. "We can go wherever you'd like," she said, "I'd just like to come out of it alive...please..." Eili gave a small smile, but a small, dark voice in her mind mentioned slyly to her, Well, it might not be so bad if death visited... She immediately hushed that thought, though...

[Dominick Raditz]

(Sorry it took so long to reply, I couldn't get online over Christmas.)

Dom took a careful note of where Eilionoir had left her robes, in case they had to leave in a hurry. He didn't say anything, keeping his other powers hidden until they needed to be used, but knowing where things were made them a lot easier to summon. He looked back to her, relying on his ears to sense danger for the moment, and waited for her reply. His thoughts were different to how they normally were, his eyes picking up more detail from he outfit than he would have expected. he wondered what it meant, but didn't dwell on it too long.

"I guess we're better off just randomly wandering, then." He said, returning her smile. "Getting out alive isn't too hard, although if we get separated, you may want to run back to the school." He was being serious, but he kept his tone light. he didn't underestimate her, he just didn't know how strong she was, and couldn't guarantee her safety if they weren't together.

He turned to head deeper into the forest, waiting for her to catch up before going too far ahead. The night could get interesting, although they would need something to talk about to avoid the boredom. Dangerous situations could be fun, but they needed something to do before any of them snuck up on them. "Was it difficult, becoming an Animagus?" He asked her, he had always considered trying it, but never actually done it. he always thought it would be nice to have the freedom of an animal form, without causing fear from being a Lycan.

[Eilionoir Dolor]

((Tis no problem. I've been really busy, anyway. ^_^))

Eilionoir watched him, fighting the urge to frown and reveal her piqued curiosity. He seemed so in tune with the world around them, like his senses were honed to near perfection. God, she wished she had that ability to be intimately linked to the world around them--in her Animagus form, she came close, as she was able to see, hear, and smell much better, but it still didn't feel like quite enough...

She also noted his interest in her looks--probably the slightly odd choice of clothing revealed now that she'd shed her robes--with some discomfort but more bafflement. No one had ever studied her that closely unless they were an adult preparing to reprimand her for being introverted...but even that wasn't exactly the same. His gaze unnerved her somewhat, and she was glad when he broke the (to her) intense silence.

Eili bit her lip slightly and glanced back toward the castle. Would she be able to find her way out of here alone? Her eyes flicked from the castle to the darkness surrounding her, darting from tree to tree nervously, half expecting something to pop up and eat them, and she listened to Dom's words without much comfort. He was being serious but had a light tone to his voice, like he was trying to brush off the danger like it was nothing. Eilionoir was beginning to feel quite nervous.

She took a deep, silent breath and calmed herself, though, and nodded, smiled, and followed when he began to trek down the path, hurrying to keep up. This was what she wanted, right? An adventure, facing danger with a friend at her side...her breath caught when she remembered that she had a friend now, but Eilionoir stayed the tears that wanted to well up in her eyes. Crying would just make her look foolish, despite her joy.

His question about learning to become an Animagus caught her off guard a bit, but she recovered quickly, grateful for the distraction from her emotions. "Well..." she began, "at first, it was. Took a lot of time and patience. Lucky for me, I had both." She smiled a little before continuing: "I suppose it could've been harder, but I really wanted a way to escape, to be able to walk freely without attracting unwanted stares. People liked to look at me when I walked by and then nudge their friends and whisper something, probably something nasty..."

At the thought, what felt like a blade of pain ripped through her, and she found her ability to speak had escaped her. So, she shut her mouth and stared at the ground, fighting to dam up the wave of emotions that had just come crashing down on her.

[Dominick Raditz]

Eilionoir looked slightly unnerved by his suggestion, and she looked back at the castle. Dom didn't blame her for being worried, it was easy to get lost in the forest, especially at night. If you didn't know what you were doing, that was. He looked up at the sky, searching for the right constellations, until his head was looking straight up. "There," He said, pointing upwards, looking straight at Polaris, "the Northern star. If you can find that, it'll show you north. Where ever we end up going tonight, I'll keep it between us and the castle, more or less, so you can find your way out." He looked back down to her, smiling reassuringly, and added "Nothing to worry about."

He listened to her story, but wished he hadn't asked when she fell silent. He looked over at her and, seeing her looking at the ground, moved over to her and placed his arm gently round her shoulders. "I was the same," he said softly, trying to reassure her, "only my animal form was no escape." He had rarely shared this, most people hated him enough for being a Lycan anyway, or in some cases part human. "I was forever being called 'Unnatural', and shunned by my people. For some people it was bad enough that my mother wasn't one of them, but it got so much worse when they found out I was a Lycan as well."

All the anger from his childhood returned, it wasn't his fault that he was who he was, why should he be punished for it. He had long forgotten them, but the anger was still there, still as strong as ever. He quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, thoughts like that could prove dangerous, especially in the middle of the forest. A thought quickly entered his head, pushing his anger further down, and he smiled a little. Quickly calculating where the castle was, and making sure that their new destination didn't break his promise, he adjusted their course slightly.

"If you're up for the excitement, we're about to head to one of the most dangerous places in the forest." He said, keeping his voice calm, "We won't be going inside, but we could still be in trouble if we're caught. You've got about 10 minutes to change your mind, before we get to the edge of their territory." He added, using his nose to lead them to the entrance to one of the Lycan tunnels, it would take them a bit longer to get to the actual entrance, but the territories extended past just the tunnels. Ten minutes took them to roughly the edge of the safe zone, inside they would no longer be able to use the excuse of being lost. Then again, they probably couldn't use that excuse just by being in the forest, most creatures didn't like the students trespassing at night.

[Eilionoir Dolor]

Eilionoir couldn't help flinching when his arm was suddenly around her shoulders; it was a light, gentle, and comforting touch, but she hadn't been expecting it. The fact that she'd been wrapped up in memories for those few moment's hadn't helped, since, honestly, she'd been spacing out for a few moments there. But, after the initial reaction, she relaxed slightly, breathing an inaudible sigh of relief. What she was relieved at, Eili wasn't quite sure, but the feeling was there, so it had to be real.

He spoke of his own past for a minute, and Eilionoir really, really wanted to wrench her eyes away from her feet and look up at him, to tell him that it was okay, she understood, and he wasn't alone. But something held her back. Some barrier existed around her, like a glass wall; she knew it did, because she'd built it. There'd been a momentary breach back at the Astronomy Tower, a crack in the glass, but she wasn't strong enough to shatter it completely.

So, instead, without raising her gaze, she said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that...you can't help how you're born." Eili found herself unconsciously shifting slightly closer to him, wanting to feel his light, almost casual, touch for as long as she could. She shook her head a little, infinitely confused. There is definitely something wrong with me...why am I acting so strange? This isn't me. I don't get hugs from people my own age. I don't have friends...

Somewhere in her mind, what smidgent of self esteem she had smacked the pessimistic voice and told it to just shut up.

He mentioned them heading towards "one of the most dangerous places in the forest" and she felt obliged to look up at him. She couldn't entirely hide the fear in her silvery eyes, only mask it with curiosity. "What exactly is this dangerous place?" she asked, telling herself that of course he wouldn't take her anywhere TOO perilous...at least, she hoped he wouldn't. One never knew...

[Dominick Raditz]

"You can't help how you're born." Dom shook his head slightly, he knew that, he had known it all his life, but it had never been much comfort. Not until he had heard someone else say it, that was. He felt Eilionoir moving closer to him, even if it was only a little, and he smiled. At least he had had some affect on her, and she was no longer as unhappy as she had been when they met, even if it was only a couple of hours ago.

He smiled more visibly when she asked where they were going, nothing too drastic, he didn't want to scare her, just showing he was glad she had asked. "The Lycan tunnels. Like I said, we wont be able to go inside, only clan members are allowed to do that, but it's almost as dangerous on the outside, for the excitement value." He said in response to her question. There was no way he would risk going inside the tunnels. He would be killed for sure, unless Kali intervened. The thought hurt him slightly, he hadn't seen her for ages, and he started to wonder if that was why he had decided to go this way. Then he remembered where they were, and returned to a full state of alertness. He could worry about things like that later, when they weren't in the middle of the forest.

He looked down at her, giving her a reassuring smile, only to catch a glimmer of fear in her eyes. "Don't worry, I wouldn't take you anywhere if I wasn't sure we could both get out alive, but just in case we do get separated, the castle is that way." He said, motioning over his shoulder with the thumb of his free hand. It wasn't quite the right direction, leading more towards the lake than the castle, but it still lead clear of the forest, and was the best he could manage without removing his arm from her shoulders. Something inside him was telling him that he could probably do that now, but as she hadn't pulled away he decided to leave it there, both as a reassuring gesture, and as a means of ensuring they wouldn't get separated.

[Eilionoir Dolor]

Eilionoir listened intently, holding his gaze while he spoke. That was the respectful thing to do, right? Well, anyway, she was suprised to learn they were going to the Lycan tunnels...suprised that she hadn't guessed it. He was half lycan, after all. He said it was dangerous on the outside, too, though. Probably all the clan members hanging around outside their lair... She supressed a shudder, knowing that would most certainly not help.

She refused to show her growing apprehension. Eili didn't want him to know that she was afraid, for fear that it might offend him, considering what she was somewhat fearful of at the moment were his own kind. She was reassured somewhat by his smile, but then her own face fell when she noticed his momentary mental lapse; he seemed distracted, and it wasn't a happy expression on his face.

Eili held her breath and bit her lip for a moment, trying to work up a little bit of courage--just enough to be bold, anyway. She thought she had it, so she asked: "Is...is everything alright?" Her voice wavered a little, since she was nervous, but she hoped desperately he didn't notice. She acknowledged his direction out of the forest with a quick backward glance and a fleeting smile, but her brow was still folded with concern. She had a nagging sense that she was burdening him somehow, but she told herself that that wasn't true. He wouldn't have his arm around her if he didn't want to...he just didn't seem like that kind of guy.

[Dominick Raditz]

Dom's senses were at a fully heightened state now, even with his occasional, momentary lapses of concentration. His ears were so attuned to all the sounds around him, that he could even hear a slight change in Eilionoir's heart beat. It was perfectly natural, for both fear and excitement, but he still reiterated the point, "It's not too late to turn back." He didn't expect her to, she had trusted him that far, and still not shown any external sign of wanting to turn back, but he didn't want to feel like he was pressuring her into going.

"I'm fine," He replied, it wasn't strictly honest, but then he wasn't entirely sure what had been wrong, so it was the best he could do, "just something I need to sort out at some point." That was closer to the truth. His voice was quieter for the last part, and he slowed his pace, they were close to the entrance, very close, and he didn't want them to be noticed before he had a chance to find out if there were any guards stationed. He slowly removed his arm from her shoulders, and moved quietly towards a tree, motioning for her to follow.

Leaning against the tree, he glanced around the corner. The tunnel entrance was just in view, and there didn't seem to be any Lycans on the outside, but there could still have been some just inside the mouth, out of view. "It's just over there," he whispered, motioning slightly with is head so as not to disturb any of the plants, then added "are you still up for this?" He wasn't really sure what they could do now they were there, but he still had a few seconds to come up with something.

[Eilionoir Dolor]

He mentioned that they could still turn back, and for a moment, Eilionoir almost stopped walking to turn around...almost. She didn't, partly because she was having fun, in spite of the fear, but more because she didn't want to seem like a weakling. She could handle whatever they came across, especially since he was there to help. So she just smiled up at him and kept going, matching her pace with his.

"I'm fine." Eilionoir chose to drop the subject of what was going on in his head. She didn't really have a right to know, anyway, considering she'd just met Dom, and whatever it was, it was probably bigger and deeper than she could handle. Oh, she knew all about deep feelings, but giving advice or aid? Ha. She's the one who's needed it her whole life. What would she know about giving it?

Eili slowed down when he did, and her heart and stomach each did a few flips. They were close. She slipped behind a tree just by his, and her gaze followed his pointed finger to the entrance to the tunnels. It was dark and shadowy, making the whole idea of actually going inside all the more foreboding. But she still nodded her head when he asked if she still wanted to go in. She'd never been afraid of the dark.

[Dominick Raditz]

There was fairly dense tree cover between them and the entrance to the tunnels, which meant that they would be harder to spot on the last approach, although it also meant it would be slow going. Dom had found a clear path to the entrance when he pointed it out to Eilionoir, but there was no way he would be taking it to get there. Even though the entrance was now in sight, it was only just, which still left plenty of time for a Lycan to pop their head out while the two of them made the final approach. Taking a slightly longer route, sneaking from tree to tree, would be far safer.

Daring to look round the tree once more, he quickly searched for a large tree nearby which would hide them both, but was also on the way to the tunnels. There was one that would do, although it was a bit further away than he would have liked. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he signaled to her to wait where she was, then ducked into a crouch and walked to the tree, as quickly as he dared, not wanting to make to much noise in the longer grass. They had been walking along what seemed to be a frequently used path before, but this area was over grown, and there was no telling what could be lying in wait, or if the Lycan's had laid any traps to alert them to intruders.

Everything seemed to be going well for them, and he reached the tree without finding any traps, or seeing any Lycans. He checked the coast was clear before signaling to Eilionoir to head over to him, only to see a couple of Lycan appear from the mouth of the cave. Neither of them should have been visible, providing they both stayed behind the trees, he just hoped Eilionoir had seen them and had the sense to stay calm. He could still protect her, even from that distance, but it would take a few seconds for him to get to her, and if he didn't realize that she had been detected immediately, then she might not have a few seconds. He ducked back behind the tree, relying on his own Lycan senses to tell him when they had gone again, and to make sure no one got too close to her before he could get her out of there.