In the forest.

[ShadowMask]

ShadowMask sat high up in a tree with one lay hanging off the side of the thick branch. Carefully she tested the pull on her bow with much satisfaction, the white wood looking innocent in the sun light that streamed in from the branches above.
A single leaf danced down from the tree and landed on the river like a tiny boat to be swept away.
Silently a deer came forward to eat the brush. ShadowMask leaned down with interest when suddenly the deer raised its head to sniff the air then was gone.
'Now what could have scared you?' She wondered with a smile. 'More soldiers to steal from?'
Almost perfectly hidden in her surroundings she waited to see who or what would come.

[Shanette]

It would have been to the elf's dissapointment that what appeared before her was not a human but a doe and a herana as a matter of fact. She would not have known that the deer was a herana though, for she exhibited no human attributes. All she had was spiked armour around her hooves, but any deer could get them. The doe had seen the bow in the elf's hands and was the one to silently warn the other deer who decided it would be best just be best to leave. She stood a fair distance from the human and stared up to her. It did not look like the human had any intention of hurting any deer right now, but it was commonly leared to fear the human if he owened a bow.
The doe lightly shifted her hooves, trying to decide if the elf was safe before she approached.

OOC: Hehe.. I hope you don't mind it is not someone to steal from, but as no one has answered your post yet, I though I would do so with my character.....

[ShadowMask]

((I forgot I was going to put "open" in the title so it is allright))
ShadowMask was just about to give up searching for what might have been soldiers when a single doe caught her eye as it watched her. A puzzled look came on the face of ShadowMask. 'How could it have known I was here? I did not make a sound.'
ShadowMask let out a defeated sigh, deciding it did not matter.
'The knights meal I had today was satisfying enough for one day.' She thought with a smirk as she remembered the look the knight made when he found his food gone.
With much agility ShadowMask climbed down from the tree and curiosity caused her to look up to see if the doe had fled.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

Arthur walked between the trees only slightly agitated. He didn't like these woods very much, they weren't his land and he didnt't feel as safe as he usually did in a fortress or with an army behind him. But now he was alone, his guard searching further back down the road for his lost knight. It was anybody's guess what had happened to him, but as the young warrior was a member of the royal guard, one of the more 'elite' positions in the army, Montford didn't want to so easily abandon his life.

He stopped when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A long corridor of trees reached away from him and he could have sworn he had just seen someone, or something fall out a tree a fair way away. He hadn't heard anything, and the image had only been for the briefest of seconds. He rested his land on his longsword and moved forward warily, not wanting to agitate anything that may bring harm to him, but curious all the same...

[Shanette]

Shannette did not flee from the human. She did not need to fear this one. If there were more, she would not have stayed, but one human could do little damage to her. If she felt threatened, she would run away or just turn back into human form. Her hoof armour was a formitable defence at any odd so she waited and looked at the elf with laughing eyes. The good thing about being a herana, is being able to be one thing while others know you as another and watch their curiosity, their fascination and with the less knowledgable ones, seeing their confusion.
As a doe, she could sense things that she in human form could not. It was not knowing that the person was there but sensing it. A deer is one of the more sensitive beings to feeling. They are more alert than other creatures, and often times expecting something unexpected. It was how she knew where the elf was. It was her feeling and intuition.
It is not always like this for a deer though, for then, how would the wolf eat? Sometimes a deer could become too absorbed in something and though it's ears may swivel to the slightest sound, it may choose to ignore it or not realize it as something existing. In this instance, that was what Shanette was doing. Too absorbed in her thoughts about elves and heranas, she did not catch the sound of another aproaching human, else she would have fled, for then she would have felt in danger, with such human like beings and their swords and only her and her hooves. Unfortunately for herana, the only way they can change between their two fors is when they are running. Two people could easily stop her from doing so.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

Arthur walked carefully through the trees where he had seen something move, and he leant out from behind a tree...

...only to see a doe. The High Lord let out a sigh and took his hand off his longsword. There was nothing to fear here. He looked around then, figuring he should continue with the search. His eyes scanned the ground for any sign of the missing knight, or any marks he may have left.

Arthur was still surprised to see the doe still there in between the trees. "Hmm... a brave one aren't you?" he said to himself, in indication of the deer. She was looking somewhere away from him and he followed its stare with lazy eyes.

But then he saw the elf standing there next to a thick tree. His hand almost instincively moved to his sword from the shock of the sight. He had looked over the area twice, but she was camoflagued in wos well he had missed her...

[Shanette]

Shannette heard the sudden movement of the man behind her, she took one fleeting glance and sprinted into the wood. She had seen this man before in a meeting, but he would not recognize her like this. Fearing the thought of becomeing a leather jerkin and a weeks worth of meat, she decided it was best to run. When she got far enough away, she stopped. She did not want to turn into her human form. Not here in the woods. She always felt out of place as a human in the woods but as a deer, she felt welcomed amoung all creatures- even the wolf for it even hated man.

She was sure De'mont would not follow her but she could never be sure. She began to debate with herself. She felt naked as a human in the woods, but she did not want him to hunt her. She gave a sigh. He would not follow her. IT looked like he was traking but it did not seem like it was deer that he was after.

If he did follow her, she'd ask him what he'd want. Perhaps she would muse in helping him. It depended.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

Arthur saw the deer run off, but he paid no attention to it. He was more interested in the elf in front of him. "Greetings elf ranger," he said with a nod of the head and he took his hand off his sword as the situation lost in tenseness.

"My name is High Lord Arthur de Montford. Would you by any chance have come across a human knight in these woods over the past day?" He had been told that little moved in an elven woods without its rangers knowing. Maybe they were right... maybe not.

If this elf hadn't then he would have to keep searching...

[ShadowMask]

((Sorry, I am in a motel with really bad internet...but I'm in California so its all good ))
First ShadowMask only watched as the deer ran off, then she swiftly saw and heard why it had. At first glace she was a little surprised, but that was swiftly surprised as he spoke.
"Why yes," She gave her sly smile as she replied. "I have."
ShadowMask loved to play with peoples minds by turning their own questions against them, but surprisingly this mans question was fairly straight forward.
Her bow had been set away on her back as she climbed down from the tree above so her hand instead reached for her sword while her eyes simply sparkled with amusement. She had no intention to fight...in fact she would rather avoid it... but she was no fool and lowering her guard around a knight was very foolish.
Her eyes glanced only for a moment to where the deer had ran, wondering if it would come back.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

He was taken aback a little. Truth be told it wasnt the response the High Lord had been expecting. "Truly?" He instinctively glanced around the woods, as if the knight would suddenly be in sight just because of her words, but he knew the folly of that thought.

"I am his commander, he has become lost and I am trying to find. Where did you last see him? Hopefully he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble around here..." In truth, the knight would be chastised for leaving his party, but not much more than that. Royal guards were extrememly hard to replace...

[ShadowMask]

((Sorry for posting Shannette but I do not know when I am going to have Internet next since we are leaving the motel to go camping and I thought would be good to post something))
"Near here." She said bluntly with her sly smile. 'Of course what is near and what is not is ones own opinion.' She thought to herself.
She casually leaned onto the tree as if the knight in front of her were no big threat.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

Arthur waited after she spoke, "Near here...". A few long seconds of silence followed and Arthur opened his hands in a questioning gesture, expecting her to continue speaking.

He thingyed his head to the side, realising that she wasn't going to say any more, and, slightly annoyed, asked the question again, "Where near here?"

Why did he suddenly have the feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as it could have been? Arthur waited, waging on whether the elf would be of any help to him or not...

[ShadowMask]

Again she glanced at to where the strange deet had left...it was an interesting creature with an odd sparkle of intelegents in its eyes and she would have enjoyed watching it longer but aparently it had left.
She sneared, her lips partly shadowed by the mask she always wore. It was simply another thing that covered up who she was in her past to who she was now.
ShadowMask had no doubt that the knight he was looking for was the same one she had stolen from earlyer and had a great meal out of it...but she had no intention of helping this man so easy.
"Somewhere that way." She said as she gave a relaxed point off to the right.
It was true that she never lied but that did not mean she could not avoid the questions given.

[Lord Commander De Montford]

Arthur looked over to where the elf had indicated. It was roughly where he was heading if he hadn't have run into the elf earlier. He saw her keep glancing over to a certain area and he realised that was where the deer had run off to.

Maybe she knew something he didn't, maybe the deer could have been a Herena. It was hard to tell for any man, but they were rare, and chances were that it was just a deer which had caught the attention of a curious elf.

"How far? And how long ago do you estimate?" he asked the elf, looking again through the trees where the elf had indicated. It went further off the path and he would need to call some knights to him to effectively search the area...

[ShadowMask]

She gave a cruel smile. "About fifty paces...near a tree."
Of course it was a forest full of trees and fifty paces could lead a person in any direction.
She gave a lazy glance over the man as if she did not care to bother before. By the quality of his armor it appeared he was just not any solider. Her smile grew slightly.
"I could lead you to him," She said truthfully with slight mischief edged to it, "for the right price of course."
Of course ShadowMask would be true to her word, but this was a sneeky trick to learn where his monney was hidden.
After all...if she was going she use her talent as a tracker it would only be fair to take payment when a back was turned.