Qest 2, Burned forest, anyone wanna RP?

Lia was slowly pacing in the grasslands, stopping here and there to take a bite of grass, munching thoughtfully as she advanced. Her ears moving to keep track of her surrounding, she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the breeze and sunrays. As she made to lay down, she suddenly raised her head, her ears moving franctically around her head.
What...? I wonder...
Nodding to herself, Lia lauched into a full gallop towards the... Call? Wathever it was, she wanted to know just what it was. She run until she came at the Burned Forest border. Stopping, she hesitated, barely a moment, wondering if she should maybe look for another deer to go in with... But what if the call stoped if she waited too long?
No.
She was way too curious not to go in right now.
Nodding again, she decisively put a hoof on the Burned Forest ground and moved forward.

Ferian stared at the Burned Forest. He stood on the still grassy edge of the two boundary lines. He had been standing there and standing for quite some time now.
Ferian had heard a call. It was similar to the one that had drawn him to the great tree. It was different too, somehow more foreboding and tense. Yet he still felt drawn to it. It nagged and pulled at the center of his mind and, despite his attempts to stay away from it, slowly drew him to the edge of the Forest of Youth.
This is where he now stood. His eyes scanned the now barren forest floor. Nothing grew here. Ferian had tried to feel for the presence of any plants in that area and had found none.
Not knowing how to proceed, Ferian continued to stare and watch.

Displaying her usual recklessness, Lia barely checked her surroundings while she walked in the Burned Forest. Still, she at least kept the Grasslands in sight. A few minutes after she had entered the Burned Forest, Lia saw, on the edge of the forest, another deer. Maybe they hear the call, too... I should ask! Wouldn't exploring be more fun if there was someone with me? Still not paying attention to any potential dangers, the young deer happily skipped towards the other one.
"Hey there! What are you waiting there for? D'you hear the call? D'you want to come with me? It'd be fun! Come on!"


((Woops... sorry for the long wait, I totally forgot to check the "notify me if a reply is posted" button...))

Ferian turned when he heard another deer approaching. He was slightly surprised to see somebody else around the area. He waited silently until she approached and spoke to him.
"Ah yes....I too felt something calling me here....Waiting? I'm not really waiting for anything. It's more that I haven't decided on whether I want to continue on.....I'm not sensing anything pleasant from this area......." His ears twitched as he spoke, not from nervousness, but from a continuing sense of apprehension that was gathering. He took a step back and waited for her to respond.

(OOC: No problem!)

"But... It feels like the tree's call! Sure, it's a little... colder, but it's still a call, right? And it's an adventure!"
Lia was barely resisting jumping up and down, full of restrained energy. Ears twitching and eyes shining, she was already thinking of what could be waiting for them at the end of that "adventure". Last time, she'd gotten power over plants. Now, what could it be? Oh, she just couldn't wait! And that deer was just waiting there...
Blissfully unaware that a trek trough the Burned Forest could be more dangerous than running from a sleepy old cougar, Lia decided that she would get to what was calling her, with that deer or alone. But still... It would be nice to have company. Lia nodded to herself and bounded forward, coming between the Youth Forest and the deer. The yound deer began nudging the other, pushing him exitedly with her head towards the Burned Forest.
"Come ooooonnnn, it'll be fun! Oh, and I'm Lia, by the way."

Ferian looked down at the doe, a little annoyed at being pushed. However, the longer he stood there, the stronger the call seemed to get. He would end up following it sooner or later, despite his efforts. Besides, he thought, it would be better to go with somebody than alone.
"Very well", Ferian said with a small sigh, "I will go with you. It's safer in numbers than it is alone." He took a step into the burned forest, looked around for a moment, and then proceeded onwards with a cautionary gait.

Lia bounded forward before doubling back to trot beside the other deer, ears moving back and forth. She did not move any faster than the other, but there was an energy and carelessness in her step that gave that impression. The young deer seemed to have no worries in the world.
"Nice! Thanks! And you still haven't told me your name."
She tilted her head, glancing at the deer through her eyelashes.
"Are you shy? Is your name a secret?"
She knew she sounded quite ridiculous, but the other deer did not look like the type to talk a lot and she did not want to spend the whole adventure in silence. And so, she asked riciculous questions to get him to talk. Questions that would get more and more ridiculous if they did not prompt any answer. Lia's eyes shone with mischief. How far would she have to go to get him to talk? She had quite a few ideas for questions, already...

If Ferian was startled by her bounding towards him, he didn't show it. His gait remained constant and his gaze steady. He couldn't tell if her questions were serious or if she was playing with him. One thing was for sure, she had far more energy than he did.
"I am neither shy nor is my name a secret. I am called Ferian."

Lia's ears flickered as she contemplated his answer. Ferian. Um.

"Ferian. Ferian, Ferian, Ferian. That's a good name."

To be honnest, she was a little disapointed that she didn't need her questions, now. No matter, she would keep them in mind for a later use. For now, she would concentrate on the call and on her Adventure. Oh! Maybe there would be enemies they'd need to outrun? That would be awesome! Not the enemy part, of course, but the outrunning one. That made her think of another question...

"Do you like to run? Are you fast?"

Alright, so it did not have any link to the previous topic of conversation, but who cared?

Ferian walked in silence for a moment. This doe was very..inquisitive... Most of the time when he traveled with other deer, it was a quieter journey. Not an awkward silence, but a peaceful one. He supposed that he couldn't blame her questioning him. He would want anything to take his mind off of this place too. So he decided to play along and answer her questions rather than ask her for silence.

"Do I like to run? I suppose so. It's natural to me, as I expect it is to all deer.."

He thought for a moment at her second question. Was he really fast? He hadn't tried to run as fast as he could since he was a small fawn...so he wasn't sure how he compared to other deer.

"I would say that I am fairly quick. Although I prefer to take my time with things."

"You suppose so?"

How could you suppose you liked something? You either liked it or you didn't, right? The second part of his answer made her ears drop for a second. Oh. He prefered to take his time. Alright. Not wanting to push him away and have to walk the rest of the way alone, Lia reined in her need to run. He prefered to take his time, and so she would refrain from running. At least for now...

"Fe-ri-an~" She said, lengthening the syllables. "What do you think is at the end of this call?"

The doe didn't seem happy with his answer. Ferian tried to think of a better way to respond.

"I mean that I do enjoy running, I just haven't thought about it much."

Ferian noticed her ears drop when he mentioned taking his time. He wasn't too surprised. Judging from her lively and restless gait, he could tell that she preferred to take things at a much faster pace than he did. Ferian felt a sense of guilt. Even if he thought that it was better to take things slowly, he didn't want her to have to restrain herself just to go at his speed. He picked up the pace a bit, hoping that she would feel more comfortable at that pace.

He listened to her second question, his gaze upon the land ahead of them.

"I'm not sure. I just hope that it's not something bad. By the way, I don't believe that I caught your name."

While the doe did not consciously take notice of the faster pace, her need to run cooled down, somewhat. She was content, for now, to go at a slow trot while she listened to his answers. "What could be bad? I mean, it's just a dead forest."

At his question, she huffed, amused. "I said it earlier, silly. I'm Lia. Well, Linnea, but Lia is much nicer. And shorter."

She went back to the previous topic quite quickly, not deeming 'name conversation' important enough to keep her thoughts away from 'adventure material'.

"You know, maybe there are wild dogs. Or cougars. I raced a cougar, once, did I tell you? Oh, he was awfully old, but still. D'you think we'll see some? Wild dogs, I mean"

Ferian tried not to sound too paranoid about the dangers he feared waited for them in this dead region.

"There are several things that we could find out here."

Before he could continue, she started talking again. Ferian listened to her repeat her name to him, and tried to not look embarrassed.

"Ah right..sorry about that. Lia, I'll remember it from now on..."

He cocked his head to the side, and gave her a strange look.

"Wild dogs and cougars are definitely possibilities out here. Racing them? I honestly would prefer to avoid them. You only get lucky so many times..."

"I'm not lucky, I'm good." She said, head raised high and gait proud. She quickly deflated, though, and threw Ferian a sheepish look. "Power over plants help, though."

She walked silently for a moment, lost in thoughts, an unusual occurence for her. When she finally came back to her usual hyperactive self, it was to ask "D'you think every deer got the same powers? I didn't really hang out with anyone since I got mine, so I'm not sure..."


((Woops, sorry... It took me so long and it's short...))

"Oh I'm sure you're quite good. Still, not running for my life would make this trip just a bit nicer."
He let out a soft, low chuckle. "Yes, plant powers would be helpful. That's why it took me so long to actually leave the forest. There are no plants here, and that makes me uncomfortable"

He turned to her surprised when she asked him her next question. He thought for a moment, back to his quest where he left with plant powers. He had asked the same question back then.

"No. The doe that I was traveling with a while ago said that each deer gets a unique power. Their power is one that suits their personality. I am connected to each plant. I can feel the life force of each plant. What is yours, if I may ask?"

"Power that suits your personality, hu?"

She tilted her head to the side, contemplating that information, before nodding, an extra bounce now added to her steps. Yes, power suiting her personality.

"I can sort of 'move' plants out of my way. Especially useful when I'm running at full speed through the forest. And there's the small matter of flowers growing where I step. Not so useful when you're being pursued." Her nose twitched and she added "But I haven't experimented so much with my powers, so I'm not quite sure that's all I can do..."

She skirted around a dead tree before coming back to trot next to Ferian.

Ferian nodded his head in approval at her power.

"Yes, I can imagine that such a power comes in handy for you. Even the flowering part. I can imagine that if you were lost, it would be easy to retrace your "steps", so to speak." He gave a soft chuckle at the image that formed in his head.

At the pause in conversation, Ferian looked around at their bleak settings. Upon noting something in particular, he came to a stop and looked at his companion.

"Is it me, or does it seem like we've covered a great distance in the short time since we left? It feels like the sun has hardly moved..."

When Ferian brought up a way for the flowers to be useful, Lia bobbed her head, unconvinced. Maybe. She'd leave it at that. The deer's inquiry, though, had her paying attention to her surroundings.

"Yes... I think so." She bounced up and down proudly. "Told you I'm fast. Now..." Her ears lowered as she considered the surroundings. A glint appeared in her eyes as she looked back towards Ferian. She had slowed down her usual gait for a bit and she now had a boudless supply of energy to use.

"The call's getting stronger, I think. We're closer to it. How about a race?"



((Sorry for the delay, I wanted to finish Lia's 'plant form' app sheet and it took me longer than I expected))

Ferian bowed his head in thought. A race? He hadn't raced since he was a fawn. He would prefer to keep at his steady pace. However, he had already asked a bit of Lia, and it would only be fair to do as she wanted too. Besides, he figured, any change in the scenery would be welcome.

Ferian could also feel the call getting stronger. Normally he could control the desire to run towards it, but he didn't see much harm in giving in a bit longer. And the sooner they got there, the sooner they could get out of this desolate place.

"A race? Alright, but it has been a while for me. I don't imagine that I'll be much competition for you.."

She waited patiently, with almost no fidgeting (almost being the word), for Ferian to decide if he wanted to race. Oh please say yes, say yes, say yes... And then he agreed.

"Yes!!!"

She bounced forward before doubling back to come and stand next to him, facing their destination: the black fire. Her ears flickered and, had she been human, her face would have been split in two by a wide grin. As it was, her eyes twinkled and her nose twitched.

"Ready? I am when you are. Just count to three!"

Ferian watched her excited dash. She would certainly win this race. Not that he was bothered by that. As it was he shook his head and went to stand next to her.

"On three? Alright, ah..one...two...three!"
Ferian took off as soon as the word was out of his mouth. Even if he wasn't going to win, he might as well give her a good race.

(Sorry for the long wait, I was getting settled into my dorm)

One. Her ears flckered. Two... She tensed. Three! Following Ferian closely, she burst forward, enjoying the feel of the air on her fur and the ground beneath her hoofs. She veered to the right a bit to avoid a burnt tree before coming back to run beside Ferian. She took the time to give him a delighted look before bounding forward once more.

'Not much competition', he'd said, but he was still good, and she enjoyed running, no matter who she ran with. The fire was closer, now, and Lia found it more and more difficult to tear her eyes away from it. As it turned out, it was not a good thing. As she instinctively jumped over a dark shape, she completely missed the way it moved, and the sound of her hoofs on the ground and the wind in her ears drowned the soft growl it emitted.

The wild dog was standing up, looking at the deers, and Lia had no knowledge of it.

Ferian had to admit. She was good. Very good in fact. She veered away for a moment and then passed him with a delighted look. She was ahead of him, but not my much. Then she suddenly jumped over a dark shape. Ferian looked at the shape, and would have stopped completely in fear if his body had listened to his mind.

A dog. A wild dog. And Lia just jumped right over it. When she did, the dog snapped it's head up and watched her. Ferian wanted to turn right around and head the way they came, but he wasn't going to leave Lia alone. So he ran right past the dog and picked up the pace.

Once he had caught up to her, he saw that she was completely focused on their destination. He needed to get her attention.
"Lia...Lia! We may have a problem here."

Focused as she was on the race, she heard Ferian talk but did not catch what he was saying. She slowed down a bit and turned her head to look at him. "Wha..." And she caught sight of the dog. "Oh." Her eyes twinkled. Oh, that was good. Though... She glanced at Ferian and her ears twitched. He was definitely not as happy as her to see the dog. Her eyes flickered from the dark fire to the dog that was standing up. With the speed they were going at, they could reach the dark fire way before the dog reached them, as long as... Oh, nevermind. The dog had started running. They would only reach the fire seconds before the dog reached them.

"Well, I did ask for a race. It would seem we have a third participant."

That said, she huffed happily and went on running, seemingly uncaring that a wild dog was pursuing them.