Beneath the Canopy (Open)

[Vardian Custodio]

Vardian swooped down onto the ground, his feet landing heavily in the undergrowth, falling to his knees in the thick leaves as his large white wings wrapped through the air slowly and around his body.

He looked up at where he was and saw a small waterfall not far off, tumbling down into a sparkling pool which fed a stream off out of sight through the trees. The Elven forest was by far the most beautiful in the world in Vardian's opinion. the lush greed was everywhere, and the trees were alive in their own sense, the wind singing through them always lightly. The morning light was shafting down through the canopy and gave everything a warm hue.

The angel stood up slowly and his wings folded behind him as he walked towards the pool. He kneeled down and splashed his face with the water. It was cold and clear and beside it he said a long. silent prayer.

He looked up at the sound of leaves and twigs rustling nearby. No doubt he would bring attention to himself soon enough...

[ShadowMask]

ShadowMask walked through the forest with much distaste. Her bow lay knocked with an arrow in her hand as she tracked a deer, but her mind was constantly distracted with the thought of being so close to the place she was born, or so where Valerlanta was born. It was long ago when the elves decided they did not want a monster like her, so Valerlanta the elf left and quickly became ShadowMask, a thief of the forests.

Now walking, crouched low to the ground, she winced slightly as her foot brushed against a branch and startled her from her thoughts. Just when ShadowMask was about to curse at herself for her carelessness something white caught her eye through the branches.
Curiosity spread through her and she abandoned the deer trail to come across a beautiful waterfall. ShadowMask paused where she stood to peek around the trunk of a tree covered in emerald moss.
She saw movement, but the mist from the waterfall clouded what appeared to be a man from view.
She nearly swore when she leaned on and snapped a branch, biteing her lip she wondered if the other person had heard.

[Vardian Custodio]

Vardian peered through the mist, sure he had heard something over the soft trickling of the water falling into the pool. It might have just been an animal though. He patted his face with one of his wings, letting the feathers dry his eyes and features.

Vardian stood with a sigh and glided across the pool to the other side to see if he could see what had made the noise. The mist parted as he flew through, and cleared on the other side, it was only above the water it seemed.

Vardian looked around carefully, and he saw a deer bounding away softly. He watched it go for a moment, admiring its elegance and grace. Vardian took his eyes away from the creature and spread his wings, there were things to do, duties to perform. Just as he was about to jump into the air, he saw a slight movement off to his left and he rounded on it quickly to see what looked like an person hiding behind a tree some way away.

Vardian smiled and walked towards her, his wings folding back behind him, "Good morning elf," He said in a soft, sing-song voice. He glanced at her face and the soul radiating off her, deciphering her name. "You are Valeranta are you not?"

[ShadowMask]

For a moment ShadowMask only stared in amazement but then realized what she was doing and shook the feeling off.
"I was before, I am not now. "She replied slyly. The name brought back memories she wanted to forget.
ShadowMask slowly came from her hiding spot and looked him over with a quick glance. "And you are...?"
What she really wanted to ask was how he knew her name, but then their were things she was better off not knowing.
Twice she had to stop herself from looking at the glorious wings on his back.

[Vardian Custodio]

Vardian bowed steeply, "Accept my apology, I know only the names of creatures of the world at their birth. Titles are meaningless to me, and if one were to change their name, I would not know."

"My name is Vardian Custodio, Avatar of the Lord. I've been sent to your realm to protect it from itself," Vardian shook his shoulders slightly against a soft breeze, his feathers ruffing a little against the chill. "So far those duties have required little effort..."

His mind was cast away for a moment, but he brought himself back to reality at Valerla... Shadow Mask's expression.

"If I may be so bold, why did you change your name to Shadow Mask? My knowledge is poor over the past ten years..."

[ShadowMask]

To say ShadowMask was simply surprised about the sudden question of her past would be an understatement. Most of the places she did go with people would have necks cut if you asked a question too personal. For a moment she was unsuccessfully at hiding her emotions but swiftly shook them off.
"It would be simplest to say that I am not the person I was then." She said before letting out a sigh. "Do you often ask questions like these? They may be dangerous if you ask them to the wrong person."
The words sounded like more of a threat than she had wanted them to be, but it was the truth...though there was something about this 'Vardian Custodio' made her want to trust him...
She hesitated. Her mind was trying to find the right words to work her way around the truth, but in the end she could only be blunt. "I changed it...after they saw me for the monster they, and many others, say I am."
Again she spoke the truth, but she left out the part of thinking herself as a monster as well.
Once more she was startled, but this time by her own action. She had not spoke of anything about her past for a long time, in fact she could not even recall the last time.

[Vardian Custodio]

Vardian raised an eyebrow and eyed her for what must have seemed like an uncanny length of silence, trying to read her soul... it wasn't easy, Valerlanta had been through quite a bit, and her mind was well-defended against intruders. Most elves were, but not like this.

After a while he spoke again, "You are not evil though. That is obvious. You live for yourself, and to keep yourself safe, and you take no shame in killing to save yourself. But you are not evil. And there is no monster inside you." He waited a moment, thinking through his words, "Well... none that I can see."

Then Vardian answered her first question, "Alas, it is rare that I need to ask such questions. I should know, but in small cases there are things that not even I can tell about a person. I know only what people are at heart, not what they show."

"I assume that this perception of your... unseen monster is why you are out here in the wild, and not with the rest of your kin?" Maybe if someone with emotion had asked that they would have known they were asking things that were best left personal, but Vardian had no grasp of such things...

[ShadowMask]

ShadowMask struggled to keep a stone face. The thought of anyone being able to read her so well was strange to her. Even though he seemed to already know allot about herself, ShadowMask was still careful in choosing her words.
She smiled slightly. "No, a monster is not inside me...but all the same there is one."
Her eyes scanned the surrounding forest for a moment before continuing. "I live here and not with my kin because they simply see me as a creature they do not want to admit I am a relation to them."
She smiled a little more now. "And of course it is easier to disappear in these woods after I have done something I should not have."
ShadowMask leaned on the ruff bark of the tree. Since she had left the person 'Valerlanta' behind nobody ever really cared to take notice in her, and in truth she had got used to it, but now this Vardian Custodio had her talking of things she thought she would never talk of again.

[Vardian Custodio]

"A monster is a harsh thing to say about yourself, Miss Mask" Vardian noted. "Do you believe there is a monster inside you? Because in the end that is all that matters."

Vardian shifted his weight onto his left leg and looked up at the canopy of leaves above him in thought. Then he continued while still looking up, "Or, ask yourself this. Despite what you've done before, or what others have forced upon you, do you believe you would do it again if given the chance? Would you make a monster of yourself, or would you be Valerlanta?"

It was not uncommon for Vardian to see outcasts, or rogues towards their race. But he very rarely knew those who would assume that it is best for their exile to occur, without an overwhelming hatred for their kind. But he didn't think that Shadow Mask actually truly hated the elves, only a mild indifference perhaps...

[ShadowMask]

((Sorry, this is a bad one.))

"You ask hard questions, Mr. Custodio." ShadowMask said in a slight mocking tone.
"No, I do not believe there to be a monster inside of me, I believe I am the monster. Why else would I be hated like this?" She let out a sigh and brushed some stray hair from her face "...But given the chance to choose-"
ShadowMask looked around at the lush forest around her. "- I am not sure what I would decide. Being accepted would be nice, but I would miss living like this as well...almost free." She motioned to the surrounding area.
ShadowMask smiled slightly. 'There are some fun moments living like this though.' She thought to herself as she recalled some of the tricks she pulled on the knights who irritated her.
"Still, no matter how much I look to the past and think of what I would change I still wake each morning as the monster everybody hates." She said, hiding the regret from her voice.

[Vardian Custodio]

"Freedom, yes..." Vardian thought about that. "In the end, it is what we are all striving to achieve. Freedom from the tangles of others, and the weight of this world." Custodio sighed, knowing he would never experience that feeling. "So in the end, if you are free... then that is the option you should choose."

Vardian looked around at the trees, thinking about what Shadow Mask was saying, "People hate, Miss Mask. It is a fact or mortality, emotions have their drawbacks. You will never live your life without being hated by someone. However, I believe they do not hate you." Vardian had his supicisions. "I believe that they fear you little one..."

[ShadowMask]

"I am not little." She replied swiftly before she could stop herself.
"And as for hate and fear, they normally lead to the same outcome either way...people hate to be afraid so in the end they hate what they are afraid of."
Her watched a leaf flutter down from the branches above. "So what is it that you do, to protect this realm from itself?"
She could not recall ever meeting someone like him. People would like to say that they would help people without wanting anything in return but he was the first she knew to actually try.

[Vardian Custodio]

"I'm here to make sacrifices Miss Mask," Vardian began. "Maybe to protect from yourselves, some of you must perish, but I doubt it will come to that. No, I am here to bring light to the minds of creatures that would normally be filled with darkness."

"So you can choose to go walk the dark, or you can choose to walk in the light. Unfortunately most creatures never truly make that choice, they always aim for the middle ground. But times are changing, and in the end... everyone will have to choose where they belong. And you..." he pointed at her, "Will have to decide where that monster of yours truly resides. In your mind... or in your heart."

The angel looked up as a shaft of light broke through the leaves above him, "And that is a choice you must make for yourself." Vardian spread his wings and prepared to jump into the air, knowing he had to go, he had already spent too much time here. "There are some things I will never be able to help you with. Farewell Miss Mask, and pray that we meet again..."

And with that he pushed his wings down and he rose through the canopy of leaves, into the bright sky above...

[ShadowMask]

ShadowMask watched him go and was again amazed by his graceful looking wings. The words he left with her stuck in her mind like glue. 'Choose where I belong?' Again her eyes looked over the forest around her but then abruptly shook her head. 'Choose? I have no choice.'
Her eyes fell to the fresh deer tracks she had abandoned and she let out a deep sigh, no longer finding them as appealing but still continued on.

[Lady Nala]

Lady Nala had gone out on a journey, simply with her bow and arrows, to see what lurked in the forest of the elves. Her hearing tuned into the ruffling of the leaves, and the soft wind blowing. Her feet treaded lightly on the leaf blanketed forest.

Nala hoped that she would encounter no one, and that her task would be a simple one. She wanted nothing more than returning back to her "palace" and to tend to the others. Though this was also tending to them as well, trying to keep the dangers away. Just in case she was to come across someone, she left her hand on her bow.

((Sorry for intruding on your post. Is it still open?))