Don't Play With Fire... Unless You Speak Its Language

[CrhisaHoa]

>^Name^<
Mabylamya FireWolf, she generally goes by Mabyl
(May-ble; like Maple [Syrup], but with a B)

>^Species^<
Winged-Werewolf Shapeshifter

>^Gender^<
Female/Wolfess

>^Alliance^<
Good

>^Age^<
Roughly eight thousand years old

>^Human Age Equivalency^<
Thirties, though her human form looks to be in her twenties. She still has many millennia of prime left in her!

>^Mature Adult at Age^<
Twenty

>^Appearance^<
Mabyl has three forms, Wolf, Werewolf, and Winged Werewolf. Most of her time is spent as a normal, albeit large, wolf: Five feet tall at the shoulder and of equal length through the back, with a thick, heavy tail almost the same length and almost comically long-furred and bushy, Mabyl's built for brute strength and power with layers of dense, rippling muscle beneath her short but very thick, sleek pelt. Her deep chest, thick, dense bone structure, and exceptionally heavy, stocky build makes her proportions look much shorter than they actually are, with large, wide paws equipped with curved black claws and thick black pads to support her frame. Her fur consists of an unusually thin underfur layer for insulation and a thicker guard-fur layer that provides protection against the elements, especially water, and is an indistinct swirl of streaks, bands, and many flame-like markings of both pale and vibrant, fiery reds, yellows, oranges, browns and ambers.
Her lips, bottom jaw and chin, throat, chest, belly, undertail and last third of her tail are white with the barest hint of gold in direct light. A deep blue-black that highlights a bright, vivid flame-heart blue in the sun coats her paws like paint, the inside and backs of her legs, and cover the backs of her ears before running down in twin streaks to meet at the back of her skull, continuing in a dorsal stripe along her spine and a thread across the top of her tail, with the tip of her tail looking as if it were also dipped in paint. Her eyes are a burning fire-gold with tints of fiery red and orange.

At a standing eight feet, Mabyl's wereform is a blending of mostly wolf with some humanoid, capable of both biped and quadruped movement. Her hindlegs are elongated wolven digitigrade with a somewhat longer thigh proportionally than in Wolfform; her forelegs are hybrids of human and wolf, with a long palm and thick, stubby paw-like fingers and very short thumb that retain short claws instead of nails. Her build echoes her Wolfform but to a lesser degree due to her more upright stance, and she often uses this slight increase in agility in battle by shifting back and forth between forms. Her tail is longer and heavier to balance her when biped, her muzzle is shorter, broader and blunter, and there is a more distinct dip between the front of her skull and the start of her muzzle; she retains her wolven coloring in this form.

Her wings are exceptionally large and broad for soaring and gliding. They're membranous and fingered but shaped like a long-winged eagle's, with each "segment" distinct, and covered in fur that largely follows that of her wolven pelt's colors, but with a fiery red leading edge, blue-black trailing edge, and gold-tinted white underbellies. She can choose to have wings or no in wereform, taking internal mass - hollow bones, mainly - and shifting it to the shoulders to form the wings. They're twenty-five feet long each, the membrane extending down the rear side of the thigh for extra lift, halting behind the knee.

>^Personality^<
Mabyl's temperament is as varied as the element which she commands, as wild and unpredictable as fire and a magnet for trouble of all kinds, both from outside sources and self-inflicted. Stubborn and a formidable verbal opponent, while not unwilling to hear and weigh multiple opinions, once she's made a decision and set it in stone, it'll take a mountain - or at least a very good argument - to move her from it, especially when it concerns the strong morals and ethics she holds dear. At the same time, she can be loving, patient and maternal, especially around children of any kind, but she has a sharp tongue and a temper that can flare at a moment's notice. She has a dry and witty sense of humor, with a quick, keen mind that doesn't willingly tolerate foolishness when she believes one should know better. Nor does she tolorate one iota of untruth or unfairness; she will never lie unless forced or in a very extreme circumstance, and woe to those who flirt and skirt the line before her.
An interesting quirk is she hates the extremes of temperature, getting cranky and snappish when too cold, and grouchy and impatient when forced to work in high humidity (though dry heat doesn't seem to bother her, being a firewolf). But she loves water and rain of any sort despite her element, be it swimming or just relaxing to its music, and can often be found napping by a stream all through the year.

>^Abilities^<
>Telepathy< Mabyl has a Telepathic range of one-half mile, twice that if she's desperate and more when mentally Linked with someone; working in tandem with another Telepath, she can extend her normal range if merging ranges or or meeting another Telepath partway. She can detect mindfeels - the mental equivalent of a fingerprint, usually containing gender, general species or eqivalent (feline, canine, draconid, equine, etc.), rough age estimate (child, adolescent, adult, elder, old in years but young in mind, etc.), the unique mental signature of the individual, and sometimes very strong particular emotions - that are within her range; she also has an exceptionally strong mental defense, and can extend that to those she has physical contact or mental Link with.

>Firespeak< Firespeak is the language of fire - hisses, crackles, pops, sometimes combustion-roars, etc. - and speaking it allows Mabyl to summon and/or manipulate fire to greater or lesser degrees.

>Flarza< Mabyl has eight fire-sprite companion flames called Flarza, which differ from natural flames and are each as large as her paw. These obey only their mistress - though they will cooperate with those they recognize as friends so long as no harm comes to Mabyl - and under most circumstances need no fuel save oxygen and Mabyl's proximity. They cannot comprehend their mistress' fascination with water; they tend to become slightly agitated (*Cough*Impatient spitfires*Cough*) when she's swimming, and burrow under her guardfur out of the rain when it's... Well, rainy. They will never hurt Mabyl, except when they perform a burn-out; this is when they enter either through her mouth to her internal workings, or through flesh wounds to reach blood and muscle and such, and blast through her system, burning out poisons and toxins and super-hyping her body's healing rate to minutes instead of weeks.

>Physical< Mabyl's strong and tough - think tank - with quick small-scale reflexes such as paw-swipes, ducking and jumping; in a straight line, wide turns and shallow zigzags, she can also book it big time, and keep it up for a good while. She's also adapted her fighting style to make use of quick shifting between wolven forms, using the altered shapes, dimensions and center of gravity to give her a wider range of motion in battle, mostly in the form of abrupt about-faces and dodging. Her unicorn friends (Crystal and her family, for those that remember her) were able to teach her basic Capoeira(click for info) moves and some acrobatics - flips, cartwheels, etc. - that give her a slight but usually unexpected edge in hand-to-hand combat when in Wereform.
Her senses are twice as keen as a normal wolf's, especially her hearing, and she's become adept at picking up vibrations from the ground, sort of like a vague echolocation that she can use to roughly determine an approaching person's size, speed and direction, as well as other miscellaneous things depending on the circumstances (light steps could be a child or female, for example, or a step might be irregular and denote a limp or injury of some sort, etc.). Her Telepathy-honed mind is swift and cool even in temper, keeping her calm and level-headed amidst turmoil; A natural leader and tacticien, Mabyl makes for a formidable opponent in the best of circumstances.

>Shifting and flight< Mabyl can shift between wolf and werewolf forms, and she can have wings only in wereform, but they are an optional feature; most of the time she prefers not to have them. She's trained until she can smoothly shift in seconds or less between wolven forms (it helps that they're very similar to each other), and while she prefers the ground as a main mode of travel, she's an adept flyer as far as her capabilities go.

>^Disadvantages^<
>Telepathy< While she has a strong mental defense, Mabyl's Telepathic range is very limited in and of itself, especially in a place the size of Deep Forest. One who was keen-sensed or listening might hear her from farther away if she gave out a very 'loud,' 'open' mental shout, but other than a Link or range-merge with another Telepath, that's about it. Not all creatures in Deep Forest will work along the mental laws she's used to, either, and she'll find herself unable to read the mindfeel of some people; as well, her mental walls aren't impossible to break through, just very difficult.

>Firespeak< Working normal fire in unusual ways - burning without fuel or on water, not burning/hurting something/one, making it grow unnaturally hotter or colder, changing colors without the right fuel, etc. - costs energy and concentration, with the size of the flame and unnaturalness of the task depicting how much is needed, from barely nothing to great effort.

>Flarza< Flarza can't die, exactly, but they can be rendered helpless and reduced to mere coals if denied oxygen or become drenched/submerged in water (or otherwise thoroughly smothered), at which point they need to burn fuel like normal fire for an hour or more to recover. Unless her life is in certain danger, at which point they can burn normal fuel and go as far as they need to aid her, their maximum range away from her is a mile, and even that's pushing it; mostly, they stick very to close to her, not often venturing more than quarter mile away at most. Also, a burn-out can only be done to Mabyl, their mistress, because they are Bonded to her, though they can cauterize the wounds of others. Also, while it doesn't last very long, a burn-out is exceptionally painful, and Mabyl is prone to violent thrashings often accompanied by pained sounds from whimpers and whines to barks and howls; she is very weak afterwards, and while her body may be healed, it will need anywhere from a few hours to several days to recover from the overload of energy and activity. Her Flarza that did the burn-out will also need time to recover, burning normal fuel to regain the size and power they expended on their mistress.

>Physical< Like any tank, Mabyl's bulk presents several problems. For one, while she's fast with swift reflexes and can be overwhelming in size and sheer ferocity, the simple factor of just how big she is severely cuts her large-scale agility to almost zil. This leaves her very vulnerable to smaller, quicker aggressors, and while she's got plenty of endurance, anyone would get worn down physically and mentally when faced with such frustration for too long. Her Wereform has a bit better agility, and as mentioned has the capacity to perform a roughened version of the human martial arts Capoeira, but not enough to take away the tank-like aspect of her build, and the stunts she can pull off with rapid form-shifting are limited to mostly evasive and sharp power-turn movements. And not to be forgotten, keen senses mean just that - which means that they can be more easily overloaded and even damaged than weaker senses, and vibrations can easily be too soft or too many for her to interpret anything.

>Personal< Prime example is her temper. Sure, she can tame and stuff it down if she needs to, but most of the time she doesn't bother to do anything except temper it to a reasonable level. Sharp tongue, quick wit, and even quicker temper are natural facets of her personality that make her who she is, and she sees no reason to do otherwise. As a result, she often comes across as a harsh, argumentive brute - sometimes even so far as bully - who's far more insensitive than she actually is. Always up for a good verbal spar, arguments, banter and tart words are a normal thing for this wolf, and while she's willing to deal with the concequences of her actions and decisions, it's not always pleasant. And on that note, just because she's old and wise doesn't mean she's not still essentially 'human', so far as it goes, and she's as capable - more than her share, sometimes! - as making mistakes at eight millennia as she was when she was eighty.

>Shifting and Flying< While she's normally a swift shifter between wolven forms, too much at once, fatigue, loss of focus, and other variable circumstances will affect how well she perform. As for flying, she can travel far and long, and is adept at eagle-type flying, but also faces the same limitations as those same large raptors and their broad wingspans, namely in the form of necessarily wide turns (if she wants to keep in good control of her flight, that is), being largely reliant on winds and thermals - and a bit of slow-speed lift from her Flarzas, since she lacks the 'slots' of feathered wings - and having trouble taking off and flying in enclosed areas. It also takes a few seconds to shift mass and form her wings, and she must be in wereform to do it.

>^Family^<
Mother>Deceased
Father>Deceased
Mate>Namalyr>Missing, presumed dead
Son>Emmer GoldFlame>Wandering, location unknown

>^History^<
Mabylamya prefers not to discuss the details of her history, saying only that she left her birthkins' Packlands at a relatively young age both because she could not physically handle the hot, humid climate due to her stocky build - although for a long time she visited every so often - and because of painful personal issues within pack and family. She's traveled quite a lot, but eventually settled down to become a rover in the world where Crystal and her family make their home; indeed, she's become close friends with them, and some other odd but memorable characters. She has seen and learned much, and those who know her for who she is highly value her knowledge and wisdom.

But it does bear mentioning that nearly two decades past, she did indeed have a mate, and seventeen years ago she gave birth to her first litter. All but one were stillborn, however, which near broke both her and her mate's hearts and drove them to the very limits of their abilities to provide for their only living son. They christened him Emmer, after an ember which holds the power to fan into a mighty flame, and agreed that they would take turns teaching him the skills they knew best. This lead to Emmer spending his the first half-decade mainly under his father's tutelage, learning the ways of a wild wolf; and when he began to show signs of becoming a FireSpeaker like his mother, Mabyl took him under her wing - sometimes quite literally - and showed him the ways of her people, guiding him in gaining his own Flarza companion.

However, after only four years learning under his mother, tragedy struck, and Namalyr - beloved mate and proud father - disappeared without a trace. Mabyl and her son searched long and hard, but were finally forced to admit defeat and accept that Namalyr... Wasn't coming back. Mabyl became more protective of Emmer, and though she did her best not to smother him, five years into his father's absence Emmer made the decision to strike out on his own for a while, learning the ways of the world without aid. Mabyl reluctantly let him go, and before he left blessed him as "GoldFlame," after the bright golden star on his brow and his unique Link with his one Flarza.

For a while, Mabyl wandered aimlessly about her self-declared homeland, spending much of her time with her extended equine family to soothe the ache in her breast at the absence of both her loved ones. But as tends to happen to those of this realm, when prowling through a portion of an oldgrowth forest that had been decimated by a wildfire, Mabyl crossed between two blackened trees whose tips touched to form an archway... And woke up in a strange forest with no idea where she is.

>^Anything Else We Need to Know?^<
Well, obviously, I don't have several centuries under my belt - far from it! Therefor, while I will do my best to accurately portray the knowledge and wisdom Mabyl possesses, keep in mind I'm less than a month away from seventeen, and so of course there's only so much I can do in that regard. Also, I'm a naturally peaceful, patient, and virtually temperless-person, so bear with me while I attempt to play such a highly volatile character xD Other than that, I haven't played Mabyl much with such a diverse crowd of characters as UV draws daily, so it'll be interesting to see what happens =3

Oh, and yes, at the moment I am planning to bring Crys back - eventually. Got some revamping and bio-writing to do first, though, and some other stuff to figure out, so it might be a while =P Meanwhile, Mabyl knows her and of her time in DF, but since it was quite a while ago her time and she's got eight millennias' worth of memories to sift through, it'd take her a while to put two and two together.

Quick question (Since this is AEWNK is already way too long X_x): If Mabyl is the equivalent of a Christian in her world, should that be added to her personality, or can it just be shown through roleplay?

>^IC (In Character) Entrance:
Black nose twitched. Black ears quivered. Goldfire eyes slitted, and beheld the offending fern which had tickled said nose. Said eyes blinked, bringing the blurry bracken into focus.

Wait. There hadn't been anything green in that blackened land. Certainly not a fern of this size.

The nose was tickled again, and the gigantic sneeze that erupted as a result finally brought Mabyl into full wakefulness as her head bobbed up, then bumped back onto the ground with the forceful expulsion of air.

Sneezing again as she sat up, the wolfess snorted to clear her airways of mucus as she looked around and took stock of her surroundings. Huge trees, check. Diffused leaf-filtered green sunlight, check. Lush moss and undergrowth, check.

Result? A forest.

Mabyl rolled her eyes. Ali would bust a gut if she heard the sluggish ramblings going through her best friend's mind right now.

And with that in mind, the wolfess hauled herself to her paws for a vigorous shake, limbs akimbo to steady the violent movement. Then, panting, she sat down again for a more thorough examination of the situation.

Obviously, she was no longer in a forest decimated by fire. The contrast between that one and the one she was currently in was almost disorienting; charcoal black, pasty ash and lazy smoke replaced by vibrant green of all shades, moss and flowers of all colors, and cheerful birdsong high in the trees. A careful sniff and moment of concentration further confirmed her theory; no matter where she'd traveled in her world, there had always been a subtle but distinct scent and underfeel to it, and even with her nose overloaded with the scent of burnt matter, it was obvious that this place had neither. And as she already knew there were more worlds than just her own and that of humans, it wasn't such a longshot to conclude that this was yet another dimension, or at least planet.

The question was, what happened now?

[Gaius]

What happened then was that someone a bit in front of Mabyl said, "Gezundheit." And then a head moved out from behind a tree to look at her. It was furry and featured a muzzle, like her own, but that was the extent of the similarities. The fur, for instance, held far drabber colors than her own. The simple light-gray, white patches around eyes and the end of the muzzle, with brown hair up top looked even less spectacular when compared to all the colors of flame. The muzzle concealed flatter teeth than her fangs. And, while both their ears were pointed, if someone had been aiming for wolf ears on the stranger's head... well, they had overshot the length by as much as a clear foot. It was, cutting to the quick, a donkey's face that peered at the wolf's. It had a bit shorter a muzzle, was more expressive than the average beast of burden's, and, as donkey faces went, it wasn't an ugly one. But there was no mistaking what it was.

For the previous few minutes, the owner of this face had been resting with his back against that, arms/forelegs crossed across his white, furry stomach. His legs were a little tired (the hind ones; he had an aversion to four-legging it), so he'd decided to give them some rest. Doing so had also given him time to reflect. 'So, been a while since the Fairest's little boot camp. And what are you doing differently?' That wasn't really fair, and he knew it. The Lady still fully expected him to find her name, and had given him no new information to help. Which wouldn't have been awful, except it meant all he had to go on was, "I think it's in or around Deep Forest. Probably." Not encouraging.

The donkey had sighed, closed his eyes, and just enjoyed the sounds and smells of nature. 'At least spring's a step up from winter,' he thought, cheering up a bit. And then his long ears had perked up at the sound of one sneeze, and a second. He'd smiled, then. 'Heh, wonder if someone disagrees with me on spring. Allergies'll do that to ya.' So, he'd called out his "Gezundheit," and gave whoever it was a peek. 'Huh. Well, she's... big. Colorful, too. ...' He began to worry he was getting too used to this place; surely the sight of such a huge, multicolored wolf with wings should have gotten slightly more reaction.

Nevertheless, still with the small smile, he moved from behind the tree, revealing himself from the neck down. If she was expecting an anthropomorphic animal, she had little in the way of surprises. Though the hooves instead of hands and the blue jeans designed for hooved use might have done it. "Hey there. Bit of a cold? Or is the pollen getting you down?" He hoped the wolf could answer. Or at least not try to eat him. He hated when they did that.

[CrhisaHoa]

((Rethought some things, and edited her profile; wings only in wereform now, no human form, no 'Tagging', and added a bit to her Telepathy and Disadvantages.))

Mabyl stiffened and spun around, then relaxed when she saw the creature who had spoken. "Greetings, and thank you," she said, making an effort to keep her English understandable despite her rather ill-suited anatomy for it. As she'd learned the hard way, it was usually a good idea to first let a new acquaintance become comfortable with being around a five-foot wolven tank before surprising them with a voice in their head. The tip of her tail wagged in remembered amusement at some of her more humorous first meetings, and so it was that when she began to pad over to the strange equid, there was a slight smiling curling the corners of her mouth.

Stopping a couple yards away, the wolfess sat down again, carefully studying the stranger with both her physical and mental eyes. "Ferns are scratchy," she answered his query, "and noses are soft, and fortunately I have not experienced any sort of allergenic reaction in many years." There was something strange about this creature - besides the pants and upright stance, that is - and her brow furrowed as she carefully examined his scent and mindfeel.

"I don't suppose you'd know where I am, child?" she asked, glad she'd recalled her Flarza beneath her fur for warmth when she'd begun exploring the wind-lashed burned forest. Seeing several large flames floating around her head probably wouldn't be productive for a positive first impression, especially when the impress-ee was plainly a prey animal in origin. Those types tended to be a bit skittish around fire and predators, especially when both were present together and in force.

It occurred to her, then, to wonder at how the donkey - for that's what it appeared to resemble, from the descriptions and mental images her friend Crystal had given her at one point - knew English, which was to her knowledge the language only of humans in the country of America on the world the resident humans called 'Earth.' Very strange indeed.

((Up to you if she can pick up his mindfeel (mental 'fingerprint', added to Telepathy in Abilities) or not.))

[Gaius]

((Ah. Thanks for mentioning that))

It wasn't the only thing the Firespeaker would find strange about him. The mindfeel provided a little less info than might be desired. It was a male she was looking at, that much was plain. Species was... less so. Some bits of equine, certainly, as would be expected of any able to manipulate an equine body. But, if the mindfeel could be likened to a document, it was as though some concealing substance had been spilled (or poured) onto the rest. All that could be made out was that the core was not quite like the equine fragments near the edges, and, if Mabyl could identify it, the distortion was foreign and of fey origins.

While unaware she was taking a peek at some of his basics, he would have been relieved to know she'd found an obstruction. The truth was that he was, or had been less than two months ago, human. He typically kept it to himself because, while he'd warmed to his shape a bit, he still considered being turned mostly into a donkey to be a horrible embarrassment. Still, if nothing else, the wolf might have picked up on this underlying feeling.

Mental age was more straightforward, of course: around 20 in years, greater for some personality traits, and a bit less for most. As for his emotional state, if he had any fear of her, it wasn't strong enough to register; the only emotion showing appeared to be friendliness. Which also came through plain enough in his words and actions. "Ahhah. Glad it's more temporary than I thought," he said after she answered his question.

The human-turned-donkey smiled at her next words. 'Child? Heh, that's a new one.' But he could address that in a moment. His ears had also shifted a little as they picked up the slight 'accent' in her speech. In a bit of irony, just as she wondered why a donkey in a forest was speaking English, he actually wondered why a talking wolf in the Forest was speaking English with an accent. It wasn't stereotypical America-centric thinking; he just hadn't run into many who spoke a different language or with a non-American accent since he'd arrived. It had seemed odd when he'd first thought about it weeks ago, but he'd since dismissed it. 'It's not like everyone speaking one language perfectly is weird in a fantasy world. I'm just lucky it's the language I know.' Buuuut, while curious, he probably wasn't going to broach this topic.

Instead, he said, "Ah, new arrival? Well, then..." And, clearing his throat, he declared, "Welcome to Deep Forest." Then after a moment's pause, he added, ears dipping a bit as he rubbed the back of his head with a forehoof, "Yeaaaaah, I know. I didn't pick the name." With a cough, he brought the hoof back to his side and changed topics. "Speaking of which, call me--" The wolf's ears then got to enjoy the donkey braying at her. Given the way he clamped his mouth shut, his ears drooped rather low, and a bit of pink spread over his muzzle, he was likely as unhappy to have made the cry as she was to hear it. After clearing his throat, he went on with a less than enthusiastic chuckle. "Eheh... Yeah, don't call me that. The name's Devon." After taking a moment to mourn the passing of another first impression, he moved along with a fresh smile. "So, what do you go by?"

((Hope I more-or-less got the idea of a mindfeel. ^_^o I think I might have stretched it out a bit long))

[CrhisaHoa]

((No problem ^_^ And yes, you pretty much got it spot-on; though she might've picked up on his more human feel, since a mindfeel is how the mind 'thinks' and fires nearuons, etc. But, 'tis all good, and not all creatures in the Forest will follow the rules she's used to, after all ~_^ Funfun!))

Mabyl wrinkled her nose slightly as she read the information from her Telepathic exploration. Definitely and equine, with the figurative flavor she cataloged away as most likely that of donkeys in general, and something else she could only describe as light and airy - and more than a little devious - that she knew nothing of. It and something else she couldn't quite put her claw on reminded her strangely of her shapeshifter friend Crystal, and with nothing else to go on, she cautiously decided to treat the being before her as such.

The rest of the information she discovered, to her relief, was more along the lines she was used to, and she mentally nodded in satisfaction at her original estimation of his age. No fear she could either sense or scent, either, which was good; though she thought there might be a tinge of something else, she was no Empath, and so dismissed it after making a mental note.

The wolfess snorted in amusement at his welcome declaration and afterthought comment, wondering in the back of her mind where she'd heard that name before. "I've heard worse in my day," she assured him. "Wide River, Big Mountain... I suppose if it fits, it fits, and that's that." And indeed, her ears backed themselves away from the grating noise that burst forth, giving her her first taste of the famous donkey's bray. At least it wasn't as piercing as other calls she'd heard... "A pleasure to meet you, Devon," she said, smiling and tacitly gliding over the incident without a word. The wolfess dipped her head. "My full name is Mabylamya FireWolf, but most best know me as Mabyl."

A pause, and she cracked a wry grin. "Though some have gotten away with "old hag," "granny," and "hothead" upon occasion, much to my chagrin."

[Artra]

(Bout time You brought the 'Old Hag' here. lol)

The bray echoed through the trees and Artra only found himself smirking as he shifted his course. His eyes scanned the emerald greens and shadows of the forest as he ran, his paws leaving only the subtlest sounds upon the lush grass that grew amazingly well under the tall trees. A breeze caught him in its gentle caress holding on its gentle wisps came the clear scent of a canine. He slowed his pace the scent of equine also filling his nose as the breeze continued to caress his form.

As he drew near the low murmur of voices could be heard bounding off of the trees, each new echo a fragmented form of its previous one until the words themselves were lost to the trunks of the trees and the air around him. He moved quietly, keeping his dark fur out of the lighter areas of the forest floor, trying to maintain his anonymity for as long as possible; Still sneaking around in the Woods, after two years, Some things never changed it seemed.

He stood in the darkness behind a tree for a long moment as he tried to listen in to the conversation, knowing that he was being full rude by doing so. He'd never quite warmed up to the idea of dropping in on new people to the wood, Something about greeting people as they came in from other worlds and other dimensions just seemed off to him, it was not his place to deliver the news that someone's life had been ruined or saved by luck of the draw.

(Sorry bout that Gaius, Here ya go. viewtopic.php?f=29&t=23047&p=146114#p146114))

[Gaius]

((Ah, good points on the human 'feel,' since the way he thinks hasn't changed meaningfully. ^_^ The entity that changed him also made it difficult for others to learn through supernatural means that he was really human. Since she was powerful, the effects would be pretty thorough. But yeah, Mabyl should probably be able to tell something's off. And, if I remember Crystal's profile, yeah, probably a similar feel. Incidentally, you'd be more than welcome back at the Fighting School thread.

And greetings to ya, Artra. Sorry to ask, but could I get a profile link for your charrie?))

Devon's smile became a tad more genuine, ears drooping a bit less as his verbal 'tic' went without comment. 'Just hope it didn't hurt her ears.' He returned her gesture, adding in a slight bow. A picture of elegance it wasn't, but he was happy at how much less awkward it had become since his transformation. "And the pleasure's all on my side of the... clearing." He congratulated himself on an expression decently adapted. Even if it wasn't a proper clearing... And he smiled a bit more at the last name. 'Ah, good old descriptive fantasy surnames...' he thought, thinking more of her color scheme than any potential fire magic.

"Glad to meet you, Mabyl." He'd almost called her 'maple.' Yes, the similar sound was plain to him, and now he wanted pancakes. 'Can I even eat those anymore?' He'd been playing it safe with his diet; the last thing he wanted was to die for a reason that stupid. But they were so good... The donkey tried not to think of pancakes, which was precisely the wrong thing to do. At least there was springtime grass aplenty...

Fortunately, Devon's ears twitched a bit, giving him something to think about beyond his newly recognized hunger, and the wolf he was talking to. Not that they gave him much. His hearing was incredibly keen, and the sound of a certain approaching figure had reached his ears. However, all the former human felt was a vague sense that something might be out there. Partly because a) Artra proved that you don't sneak around a forest for two years without getting damn good at it, and b) Devon, even after a month-plus with it, still wasn't used to picking the 'shape' of a sound out of the forest ambience of other creatures, the wind, running water, and so forth. Probably nothing, he decided, but... curious.

Anyway, back to the conversation he was in the middle of. The donkey gave a chuckle. "Well, if you've let them get away with it, it's nice to know you're amiable." After a moment, he put on as playful a smirk as his muzzle allowed. "Then again... If it fits, it fits, right?" Oh, how Devon hoped he hadn't misjudged the wolf's sense of humor...

[CrhisaHoa]

(('Nother edit, just some History and Family stuff, this time, to accommodate Artra's new charrie and Mabyl's son, Emmer =3
And don't let her hear you call her that, Bro, you'll get a cuff on the ear for sure xD))

Mabyl smiled wider as the donkey relaxed, chuffing lightly in amusement at his obviously spur-of-the-moment expression and attempted bow. "Aye, 'tis mine as well," she returned, thumping her tail lightly on the ground. Common canine she was not, but - again, the hard way - she'd found that most were set at ease at the sight of a universally friendly gesture from her kind.

As the stranger approached, Mabyl's keen ears and nose picked up on the subtle sounds and scents, but unlike Devon, the wolfess' senses had been honed for centuries and millennia for this type of activity, and while her head didn't snap around, her mind did go on the alert and reach out in a gentle probe.

Then the donkey spoke again, and though she didn't turn a blind eye to the newcomer, she nevertheless turned most of her attention back to Devon. Her jaws cracked in a lupine grin, and there was a definite twinkle in her eye as she winked and playfully growled back at him. "Watch yourself, pup, I've given unicorns thrice your size a thing or two to think about in my time. Old hag I might be at eight, but I've plenty of fire left in me! More than enough," she added, raising her suddenly stern voice and turning towards the trees, "to strip a eavesdropper down to size. Quit your skulking, cat, and come out; I'm not in the mood to deal with a stalker, much less a haughty feline."

She calmly turned back to Devon. "As for being amiable, that depends on the person I'm talking with. You, for example, are quite enjoyable company. Our lurker, on the other paw, is not off to a very good start." She nodded to his ears, smiling to reassure him so was not sore with him. "Learn to heed your instincts, child, and they'll serve you well."

((Bah, not my best, but it works X_x))

[Artra]

Artra listened for a minute.. two before he heard the now loud voice, clearly female, echo through the trees and beyond him.

"to strip a eavesdropper down to size. Quit your skulking, cat, and come out; I'm not in the mood to deal with a stalker, much less a haughty feline."

He sighed, foiled. As he began stepped from the shade of the forest proper his tail twitched eraticaly behind him, like the nervous twitch of a child who knew he was in trouble. He hated getting caught, though he supposed living in a place where people come from all dimensions, there were sure to be people he'd never be able to surprise.

His form pushed from the shadows, stepping into the first traces of light showing his black fur and golden eyes with slitted pupils. The dark rossets in his fur gave him an almost two tone pattern as the sun covered more of his pelt. His eyes looked upon the owners of the voices he's been listening to, the first was the donkey like anthro, the long ears and the hooves giving his origins away instantly; The other, a brilliant explosion of reds, yellows, and other fire tones, a large wolf, the female... the one who had caught him.

He stood silently his eyes dancing between them both for a long time before he spoke softly "I'm sorry for listening in on you both; It’s hard to overcome my past it seems." he muttered, his head pointed away and to the ground; his tail flicking absently behind him now. Even though his head was away his body posture was straight and strong, statue like, all except his tail.

[Gaius]

Devon was indeed pleased to see the old wolf's tail wag, and he felt his own swish a bit at the sight. He chuckled a bit at Mabyl's words of caution. There was a moment of doubt at the body language -- he wasn't used to creatures growling at him, or showing quite so many pointy teeth -- but the eyes, particularly the wink, ensured there was no trace of panic. "Old hag I might be at eight, but I've plenty of fire left in me!" He wondered, 'So, years, decades, or centuries?' about 'eight.' While his internal voice was busy being wrong by an order of magnitude, his external one, after a smile and a nod, decided to chime in on the 'fire' left in her: "And more than a little outsi--"

The donkey had his 'witty' remark cut short at her shout, his ears peaking and eyes widening as he jumped a bit. 'Damn things... Now she probably thinks I'm skittish, or something...' As mentioned, he wasn't used to ears so sensitive, so loud, unexpected noises close by tended to surprise him. Not that there wasn't some fear in there. 'Holy crap, the giant 8-something wolf is crazy and pissed off at--' But it was swift in passing as her words registered. 'Oh. So there's a reason she's looking that way...' As his ears dropped, Devon felt, for neither the first nor the last time, more than a little foolish.

The wolf turned back in time to catch a fresh blush on his face, perhaps less pronounced than after his earlier bray. "Ah. I see. Uhh, thank you. Ah, thought I heard something..." he mumbled back to her, a tad awkward. His tail gave a nervous flick, as though to show solidarity with Artra's own. Devon also wished his heart would slow down; it really wasn't helping the 'No, really, I'm not afraid of you' case he was trying to make. There was a smile at her nod and words on his 'instincts,' as well as another round of rubbing the back of his head, next to the mane. "Right, right. Just... never really needed to before."

By the end of the sentence, his head had turned at the lurker's footsteps -- far easier to hear when a) he was listening for them and b) they weren't exactly hidden. And so the donkey boy saw his second predator of the day. He had met other wolves in the Forest -- albeit less vibrantly colored ones -- but it was his first time seeing a panther, outside of pictures and childhood zoo visits. "Ah," he said to his fellow biped's apology. He... wasn't really sure what to say. Devon wasn't crazy about being spied on. But he also knew what it was like to overhear a conversation in the Forest, and then have a progressively harder time in joining it. The comment about the stranger's past also kinda threw him. "Well..." He shrugged. "No harm done, right?" His eyes turned toward Mabyl, curious if she agreed.

[CrhisaHoa]

((Bleh, not the most uber-awesome post I've ever done, but it's there. Sorry for the wait, busy-ness-sies stuffs and thingymabobbers.))

Mabyl watched attentively as the feline stepped out from the shadows, eyes glittering golden fire as she listened to her companions both old and new. She let the newcomer bear the full weight of her disapproving stare for several long moments, then inclined her head the barest degree. "Apology accepted, child," she said quietly, gaze softening at the edges. "But heed the word of one who has had many seasons and long years of hard learning, that when you stand by Truth - in word, in deed, yea, even in thought - the good will far outweigh the bad in the long run, despite what disadvantages may be in sight of the frail-eyed. Fewtimes, if any, is deception of any sort truly acceptable, and then only when love and freedom hangs in the balance, or a life you hold more precious by far above your own."

The wolfess looked between the two anthros. "Now, I believe introductions are in order, at least on my part." She turned back to the cat. "I am Mabylamya FireWolf, Mabyl if you will." A thought struck her then, from where she knew not, and her ears pricked inquisitively. "Tell me, if you would; are there by chance hoofed creatures in this world, long of mane and tail with graceful steps and a long, coiled horn upon their brow?" Her muzzle scrunched, and she muttered to herself. "Ah, what terms did the child use... Equine? Yes, that's right. And unicorn, I believe that was also one. Or was it unisai?" Then the canine shook herself, and smiled apologetically at her companions. "Forgive me, the memories of my years often become tangled as cobwebs, making finding such little things as words and names difficult among the masses. It is a wonder I have retained this language as well as I have since my behooved little sister tutored me."

[Artra]

Artra nodded to the wolfess, hearing her words though his body didn't slaken till she turned to the questioning. He listened carefully, hearing the word unicorn and instantly remembering his encounter with a young girl named Crystal. "I've seen at least one, she had a form of a Unicorn" he said with a smile, letting his body relax, settled that by now he was in the clear for the most part. "Oh, My name is Artra" he added after a pause. He glanced at the equine anthro looking for a name but not speaking. His tail twitched behind him, as did his ears listening not only to the conversations at hand but to the woods around them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Gaius, I think I told you already but here it is again. Mabyl's son's joining thread is now being merged with this one, Consider this his entrance post. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=29401)

The last traces of sunlight began to bleed across the sky, the clear blue that once held dominion over head now fading into the sunburst of oranges, reds, yellows eventually descending deeper into the bruised purples heading to its ultimate diamond studded black.

His eyes slid closed upon seeing the flames painted so clearly across the night sky. His heart began to ache, the feeling of loss beginning to well up inside of his once again, a sizable lump taking root in his throat, a similar stone sinking into the pit of his stomach. He tried to fight the feelings, tried hard to not let them break through but, as he’d learned before, there was no hiding your feelings from yourself. A single tear escaped his right eye as he turned his muzzle skyward, sending a howl to the slowly ascending moon.

He laid himself down, forcing himself to go to sleep, knowing that the darkness always brought the sorrows back to him. Knowing that the sooner he was to be asleep the fast the next sunrise would come and the sooner he could hide his feelings behind the importance of the lives around him. It had been nearly 3 years since he’d seen his mother… and even longer since he'd seen his father, or held any hope of him being alive.

He fought his sleep for another minute as his mind wandered to the reasons he'd left. Why he thought he needed to get out from under that circle of protection that his mother had him in. He felt a need to explore the world, a need to get to know the truths of the world without the help anyone else, Without anyone having to show him the way. Though the reality of having no one to guide you also meant that there was no one there to comfort you, to tell you it would be ok. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and tried again to charge head on into sleep's embrace.

He didn’t feel sleep over take him, but instead felt the bristle of a gentle caressing breeze prickling at his fur. He shifted slightly, not opening his eyes yet, not wanting to, it seemed like he hadn’t been asleep but a few minutes anyways. He only knew this couldn’t be true as the chorus of bird began to sing over head. He sighed and lifted himself to a standing position, keeping his eyes towards the dirt. The birds closest to him stopped their songs for a moment before resuming and he didn’t think it awkward that the songs were not the ones he’d become accustom to waking to.

He looked up and inhaled sharply seeing a forest before him, much like the one he had been in but there was something clearly different about it. The trees seemed older, the ground greener and somehow the air held a different taste to him. He turned and looked about sensing the slight differences about the wood he now found himself in.

“Where am I?” he mused to himself softly, his tail swishing slightly from side to side in what appeared to be a friendly manner. He stepped forward heading into the forest unsure of his headings only hoping that it would lead him to someone friendly.

His paws carried him into the woods, the thoughts of being someplace new still putting undue stress on his system, making it where he didn't exactly hear or smell what he should have. He stepped past a tree and rubbed his side against it, using this for both the itch relief that he sought and his own version of a trail marker. He sighed lightly as he moved on, the light breeze that seemed to be following him since he'd arrived blowing at his back, into the forest.

[Parattchi]

((May I join in with my kitty too?~))

[Gaius]

((No worries on the wait, Crhisa. Just glad real life's granted you a reprieve.
Aye, Artra, it's no surprise. Good call, though; anyone reading along probably appreciates the notice and the link.
And it'd be fun to have you along, Para. Since it's their wolfies' thread, though, it's Crhisa and Artra's call.))

The Firespeaker's words may have been aimed at one biped, but they had an effect on the other as well. While the bases of Devon's ears didn't move much, they didn't have to: the length made the drop of the tips more obvious than he liked. 'Remember when I could control my body language? Man, that was sweet...' He knew he wasn't properly lying by not telling too many of his curse, and he thought he had some good reasons for keeping it secret. 'My situation might be a liiiittle weirder than she's thought about.' Still, withholding the truth made him feel a little guilty. At least his tail had the decency not to flick at that moment.

And then the wolf, after naming herself for the panther man's benefit, asked about unicorns. Devon tilted his head sideways, one ear rising and the other dropping, in a quizzical gesture. 'I didn't remind her of one, did I?' No, this wasn't an ego talking, nor a mistaken impression that a donkey could bring a nobler equine to mind. It was, if anything, a confirmed impression; barely a week after his change, a chuckling individual had basically told him, "Wow, I almost thought a donkey like you was a unicorn. Ha!" It had, naturally, done wonders for his self-esteem.

Anyway, Devon nodded at the word, and again at the feline's answer. "Right, unicorns; there are a few of them living in the Forest. The ones I've met have wings, too." Atra's introduction and prompting look got another nod. And mine's Devon. Good to meet you." He smiled at Mabyl's apology, also giving an exaggerated shrug, arms quite involved in the movement. It probably looked better with hands. "Hey, you have the language down better than a lot of native spea--" Again, a word came out as a cry more suited to his shape, cutting him off, and sending his ears flat against his head. 'Whatji... Really? They don't come that close together!' With a breath, the donkey put the feelings of panic from his mind, donned a sheepish grin, and went on, "Err, guess I'd be a case-in-point..." He shuffled his hooves a bit, crushing a few blades of grass beneath them.

Lucky for Devon, he found something else to think about. His ears twitched a bit, and this time he gave their reconnaissance some more attention. 'I really should get used to these things. ... Hmm... Pretty far off... I think... yes.' Distance he seemed able to gauge, unfamiliar as it was to do. It helped isolate the sound, but identification was still an issue. Artra's steps bore some similarity, but, accounting for distance -- 'Easier said than done,' -- they felt a bit more... 'Mabyl-shaped' to him. Confidence was in short supply, but he had a guess. Genuinely curious what the veterans could tell him, the donkey ventured to both panther and wolf, "... Paws?"

((Not so crazy about this one. >_< Need to write more often... And not when hungry. And when roommate isn't talking loudly through the wall all afternoon... *grumbles*
EDIT: Decided to make some small edits, and I threw on the first paragraph I wrote, after all. So enjoy the extra helping of emo-donkeh.))

[CrhisaHoa]

((Apologies if it seems rushed, I've never been good at dragging things out ^_^' Hopefully it doesn't seem like she figured things out too quickly, and if it does... Well, she's a Telepath and very observant, so I've got excuses xD
Maybe...
Anywho! Yus, Kitty, jump right in xD More the merrier, after all!))

Mabyl tilted her head at Artra, wondering why that name sounded familiar. "Pleasure to meet you," she murmured, eyeing him curiously. "Funny you should mention that; I, too, know a..." She stopped, a sudden flash of insight striking her. Deep Forest... Random dimensional portals... A 'she' with a form of a Unicorn...

The pieces aligned and snapped into place, and Mabyl's head flew up as if startled. "Of course!" she barked. "Now I remember!" The wolfess shook her head at the irony. "The chances of... Oh, dear. Forgive me, my friends, but I just suddenly remembered that a dear friend of mine - a unicorn, in fact - spent time here once long ago, what was it... A year? Two? She was but an adolescent then - teenager, I believe humans say - and I met her only a few years after she returned to her family." She turned her head to peer at the panther. "I wonder, Artra, if you knew a young mare, a winged unicorn, white as snow with sun-gold points and clear blue eyes? I only ask this because your name sounds familiar, much as 'Deep Forest' did, and I wonder if it is more of the same, just an old wolf's age."

Devon spoke, interrupted with a brief bray, and Mabyl turned her regard to the donkey, attention caught by the odd reference to himself as a 'native speaker.' She felt there was a story to be told, here, but decided to let it go for now, as her ears caught the soft, familiar tread of pawsteps across the forest floor. A pause, the sound of fur rasping across bark, and continuation along whatever path the creature had chosen.

A tickle deep within her mind and a soft crackle from the Flarza hidden beneath her fur alerted her that there was more than what it seemed, and after a brief glance at her companions and swift evaluation and decision, Mabyl gave a gentle hiss. Immediately, a pale golden flame seemed to materialize from within her pelt, and with a quick hiss-pop in acknowledgment it zipped into the trees and disappeared, its light swallowed by the thick emerald flora. "It is going to see who our visitor is," she explained calmly for the others' benefit, hoping that her ease of nature would reassure them that all was well and the Forest wasn't going to catch afire.

At least, not by her.

[Artra]

(Not my best post, but it gets the job done.)

Artra smiled at the wolfess's outburst, seeing the recognition on her face. "Yes, I know her, though its been at least two years since I've seen her." He said softly to mabyl looking around hearing the murmurings of paws on the forest floor. He didn't speak, letting it go sure that it was either a forest inhabitant like himself, un-knowingly drawn to people as they arrived in the Deep Forest, or something feral that would serve them no harm. His tail twitched slightly, curling and uncurling itself like a nervous twitch. For the first time in two years a single thought crossed his mind I wish had my blade.

His head turned to look at devon as he spoke and he winced at the donkey's unintentional bray. He did not get the nattive speaker reference but he figured if it was important he would learn to understand it in time. He looked to mabyl after a moment only to hear her loose an audible hiss and to watch a golden flame appear from beneath her fur and dart off into the woods. He didn't have time to pose his first question before Mabyl explained the phenomenon. "What was it?" he asked after she finished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emmer looked up, hearing muffled voices rebounding off of every tree seeming to come from every direction at once. He close dhis eyes and stopped moving, trying to focus on the sounds but this didn't help him. He sighed internally 'listening' to his Flarza beg to come out from under his fur. He gave it the go ahead and only smirked when he could see the twinges of golden red flame just above his eyes; his flarza taking up its favorite position on the crown of his head, just between his ears.

His eyes shot open just in time to see another ball of flame come cruising through the green floral colorings of the forest. It twittered and popped and hissed in an excited tone but to Emmer thats all it was until his Flarza filled him in. He nodded and began walking in the direction the flarza had approached from knowing exactly what this meant for him now. He couldn't help but smile and speed up his approach knowing who he was rushing to see now, knowing that there was someone here he knew at least.

[Gaius]

((Huh, this one came out a touch less meh than my last one. ^_^ I'll take it.))

The great wolf turned curiously at Artra's mention of a female unicorn, beginning to remark about one she had known. Devon wondered if she would address him in turn about the unicorns he had mentioned. And was proven wrong before she finished her sentence. Something clicked in the old wolf's head, and it had her verrry interested based on the look of realization. Also, the bark announcing it. The donkey was just glad his ears were the only parts of him to jump that time. He smiled along with the feline as Mabyl explained. 'She knew someone from the Forest before? Huh...'

She focused her attention on Artra, asking him about a specific unicorn. Devon didn't interrupt; he found it quite something that she would bump into someone she might have heard of. As she described the unicorn, though, his expression grew from one of interest to one of more active thought as well. 'White and gold fur with blue eyes...' He'd never had a head for names or faces, and time among non-humans taught him that extended to species and bodies, as well. But something sounded familiar. 'Wasn't there a unicorn like that at the fighting class...?'

However, Devon didn't get long to place her before the conversation moved forward. After the unpleasant noise he hadn't meant to make, he tried to ignore the brief looks of curiosity. At the panther's wince, he gave Artra an apologetic frown and a small shrug, ears still dipped low. 'Can't really blame him...'

He was glad for the shift in focus to the not-so-little feet going pitter-patter. And, subsequently, to the fire that jumped from her fur and flew off into the trees. "Huh," he said, a bit surprised, but far less alarmed than his earlier jumpiness might have suggested. The former human's many years as a fantasy fan had him witnessing shows and movies with magic of all sorts, which, well, numbed the shock value just a bit. Of course, the donkey's interest was still plain enough; there was a reason he'd dived into so much fantasy. He opened his muzzle, and closed it, as Artra took the words right out of his mouth. He had a statement to the tune of 'So Firewolf's more than just a name,' brewing in his head, but he let it simmer. Devon was interested in what Mabyl had to say.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

OOC
It still says she has a human form under the age bit ^_^ If her Christian-like faith affects her personality or way of life it would be best to add it to her profile, if it doesn't affect her at all then it's not needed. Other than that, accepted.