The Call of the Wild (Tayva)

==Sixty miles east of Librium==

Not all of the territory outside the Treaty City was devoid of life. Most feared to go out that far, though. Terra was slowly reclaiming the devastated landscape. Well, it was slow in the eyes of the human race. The World Mother had all the time in the universe to get things right. Besides, what was an eon to Her?

The Great Outdoors was dormant. Not gone. One of the great forests east of Librium shifted like a hibernating bear finding a softer spot on the soil. Those sensitive to Nature might have heard the snore. This would be strange considering no news had come from this region before. The 'signal' being broadcast now could not be denied, however. It would draw in anyone capable of assisting the reclamation like moths to the flame.

But who else would be called?

Or what else?

Jungle life, that all she could see surrounding her. Lush greenery covering every square inch around the Celestial being. Harsh sunlight from above the canopy was filtered through, giving off the impression that it was midday within the unknown location. Wherever she was though, she felt as if she was at peace. As Tayva moved forward, she noticed a massive tree, bursting through the canopy like a needle through fabric. The base of the tree appeared to be hollow however, guarded by a mass of roots that seemed to block off entry.

Curious, Tayva began to make her way toward it, taking note of the pools of water that surrounded the tree, seeming to sparkle like gems as the streaming light was reflected from them. A place that was seemingly untouched by civilization, it seemed to be a testament to the majesty of nature. Before Tayva could approach any closer however, the world around her faded into white.

With a loud groan, the Celestial awoke to find herself in bed, the vision she had seen only a dream. A distant one at that. Rubbing her head she glanced down at her small companion Cayleb, who was just beginning to stir from his own slumber. Trying not to disturb him as she slipped from her bed, the girl made her way toward the window, catching a glimpse of the morning sun. The dream was not foreign to her, having witnessed it almost every night for the past few days. She knew it had something to do with the strange callings she had been feeling, past the city limits and out into the wastes. Whatever was out there, it needed her.

Yet she had finally found work growing herbal plants for a company, and it wasn't like she could simply walk out and abandon the job for awhile just to check things out. Then again, her next order wasn't due until next week, which seemed like plenty of time for her to do a little exploring. Plus she could find something while she was out to get for Veles, as a token of her appreciation for lending her his apartment for the past while. If it wasn't for that, she would have still been on the streets.

Looking at her worn out backpack which hung on the bedroom chair, she smiled, coming to her decision.

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The streets were busy within the city, and navigation through the crowds always seemed to be a chore. If the girl was going to go out into the Wastes, she would need to find some transportation, for going by foot would be rather dangerous. Making her way toward the gates, she decided to see if there were any sort of caravans or other travelers that she could perhaps hitch a ride with, to at least get her part ways out into the unknown.

In a little park just before one of the major exits from Librium sat a lineup of off roading vehicles. Vehicles in general were a rarity in this modern day world. Those that survived the Great Conflagration just barely did so. The newer ones were reserved to those that could afford them. The entourage parked here was clearly not military or corporate. No logos were emblazoned across the side, yet it was obvious they all traveled together. Each one had supports welded across the body. They almost looked like an African safari convoy, except driven by a ragtag bunch of people.

Some were hidden from view taking care of things in their respective vehicles. A slender woman, or possibly elven man, was getting a large order of coffee from a food truck (sans wheels). A stereotypical cowboy was leaning over the hood of his truck. Maps of the immediate vicinity were unrolled across it. The corners were held down with various rocks or tins of chewing tobacco. Cowboy was studying the map intently. His finger was tracing out a path out of Pennsylvania and down south. None of them noticed the backpacker.

Shifting her backpack to adjust for her comfort, Tayva began to walk through to examine the convoy of vehicles that were parked, seeming ready to go to some distant location. Perhaps she could hitch a ride with these people, to at least get her part ways to her destination. She did not expect to get a ride all the way to where she needed to go, as nice as it would have been. She would have had to explain why she needed to venture out to the city as well, but it would be tricky to explain the instinct to seek out the place of nature.

Rounding a corner, she caught sight of the strangely dressed man, leaning over a map and seeming to examine some sort of route. He was not alone, for there appeared to be several others talking among themselves. If she wanted to she could walk right by without being noticed, or so it seemed. However she would have to get their attention if she wanted a ride.

"Excuse me." she started, nearing the man with the strange hat and the map, figuring he would be the best to start with. Despite the time spent in the city, she was not quite that social yet, her voice lacking confidence as she approached the stranger. Still she had to at least try.

"I was wondering if I could catch a ride with your convoy to somewhere out in the wastes. I can't go by foot because it's quite far."

"Excuse me."

Jed looked up from his map to see a mousy girl walking towards him. The brim of the Stetson had previously hidden three scars in a raking pattern crossing his brow. Whatever had mauled him had just happened to miss removing the eye entirely. He turned his head for a brief moment to spit out a bit of his chewing tobacco.

"I was wondering if I could catch a ride with your convoy to somewhere out in the wastes. I can't go by foot because it's quite far."

The map reader gave Tayva a quick once over. "We ain't a taxi service, Miss." Jed's accent was heavy with the South. As if to reiterate the point, a squat fellow with a full beard exited one of the vans with a sniper rifle strapped across his back. The dwarf didn't walk over. Instead, he rearranged the gear in the back of the vehicle. "'Sides, Wastes ain't no place for you. I'm doin' you a favor."

There was a thunk as the dwarf slammed the back door of his van. "Oi, laddie. We better get going if we're gonna beat the herd east."

Jed waved and started rolling up the maps. He nodded good day to Tayva and slipped into the driver's seat of his truck. As he started it up, the female elf passed a coffee cup through the window. "New recruit?"

"Tourist." Jed left it at that. The elf nodded and moved on to the next vehicle.

"I'll show you who's a tourist." Tayva frowned, watching as the man left her to enter into one of the trucks. They seemed to be the only ones heading out at the moment, and she did not want to end up waiting for another group to simply reject her. She may not have looked like much of a fighter, but she had her talents, which he did not seem to consider at all judging by how quickly the head of the group had dismissed her.

She began to walk away, before stopping for a moment and catching a glance of their convoy once more. The last vehicle was a pickup, carrying all sorts of cargo under a tarp. Furthermore in their 'line of inspection', it seemed that it had already been checked. The Celestial smirked to herself, finding her way into the convoy. She would have to act quick however, as they were wrapping up their checks, and vehicles were already beginning to move out.

Tayva waited until most of the group had gone to their assigned vehicles, before slipping closer toward the vehicles, using some shipping boxes left for the next group out as cover. Creeping up to the back of the last truck in the line, she waited until the sound of its engine came to life, quickly scrambling over the rear gate that kept the contents inside, and tossing the edge of the cover over herself. Not that the driver would be able to see her through the rear view mirror thanks to the size of the load, but it wouldn't hurt to ensure she wouldn't get spotted.

"Don't worry... I'm coming...whatever you are..." she whispered to herself.

The bed of the pickup was almost completely packed with equipment. It was not a comfortable fit for a person of any race to wait a one or two hour drive. Tayva would have been better off trying to climb into the animal cage big enough to hold a large wolf. Of course, the stowaway really didn't have enough time to pick the lock and squirm her way in. At least she was lucky enough to stick herself on a loose tranquilizer dart. The Celestial went beddy-by with enough sedatives to put down a tiger.

*Bump.....dunk*

An axle squeaked as the truck hit a bump in the road. It was difficult to judge how much time had gone by when one was underneath a heavy tarp. Tayva wouldn't know until she peeked out, assuming she had any survivalist skills. Time wasn't the only unknown. The previously empty cage now had an occupant. It resembled a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but had two whip like appendages jutting from its shoulder blades. These appendages ended in feelers, which were now sweeping themselves across Tayva's flesh. The creature's tongue was licking at its lips.

The the hippy angel was able to see beyond the big kitty presumably thinking about lunch (or dinner), Tayva might notice a slip of paper stuck to the cage with a piece of chewing gum. A coffee stain partially hid the bold TOURIST written on it. It also said to knock on the window when she read it.

She could have sworn that she was getting closer to her destination. Perhaps not as far as she hoped, but the place she had seen in her dreams was definitely much clearer in her most recent unconscious state, compared to the somewhat foggy depiction she had witnessed earlier in the day. She had to take that as a good sign, but before she could make any further progress on deciphering her dream, she soon found that she was not alone. The sweeping of tendrils across her flesh made her shiver, and as she opened her eyes she found herself staring right at the beast before her.

Trying to worm her way away from the hungry creature, her eye caught sight of the note that had been stuck to the cage, quickly snatching it away before the creature could consider a quick strike. "Don't even think about it." she hissed back at the caged beast, holding out one of her hands. A soft green glow emanated from it, before becoming harsher and larger until a hand-sized sphere of pure energy stared down the beast. She did not dare fire upon their capture, but she hoped it would fend off the creature long enough for her to squeeze past the cage.

Nearing close enough to the back window, she knocked against it with her free hand, not moving her gaze from the jaguar thing before her. It was still watching her, as if waiting for the girl to let her guard down. Had they been on solid ground, the girl would have preferred the use of vines to simply keep the thing away from her. But she could not grow plant life on metal and plastic.

The little window in the back of the cab slid open after a moment. "Mornin', Sunshine!" came Jed's voice. Some commercial was playing over the radio waves. Everyone needed to go out and buy New Dawn's latest and greatest new kitchen appliance: a self cleaning microwave. "Don't worry about the displacer beast in the cage. That is...unless ya opened it."

A sudden lurch lifted everything off the ground for a second. "Damn potholes," Jed muttered. The beast started to growl, not sure of what had caused the sudden change in G forces. "Quiet, you!

So where ya headin'? Must be desperate to climb into a rift hunter's truck. We're about to hit the bridge going into Camden and then we're goin' South. Wanna stick around or are ya goin' a different way?"

If she focused hard enough, Tayva might feel the pull from the north. She wasn't close enough to know what side of the river she was supposed to be on though. She could have had worse odds. Either way, she'd be away from the big kitty soon.

"The bridge is the next exit, so ya gotta mile to figure it out."

"I have no intention of letting it out." Tayva replied, trying to give him some kind of a smile in response to his little joke. The creature didn't seem like the friendly sort after not, at least not compared to her small companion. However now she had to make a decision on how far to continue with the ride, in case she overshot her destination. She lowered her hand, the glow of energy subsiding as she started to focus on her destination. Her eyes gained a hazy green look to them, as she lost herself within her spiritual subconscious. Slowly she began to feel the pull from the north, like a magnet's attraction to metal.

"It's hard for me to tell how far I need to go..." Tayva frowned, before glancing back over to Jed, the haze in her eyes fading as they returned to normal. "I'll stick with you guys up until the bridge, then I'll follow the river. By the way my name's Tayva. And I'm not a tourist. It's sort of hard to explain, but I have an inexplicable bond with Terra, and lately I've been feeling some sort of draw to the north." Tayva stated, drawing her backpack closer to her side. She could feel Cayleb begin to squirm against her side as he began to awaken, but having heard that these people hunted rift beasts, she figured it would be best to keep her small friend a secret. Just as she had with everyone else, save for an exclusive few.

"Anyway, I apologize for having snuck onto your truck, but I was running out of options. This feeling isn't something that can easily be ignored. It won't go away until I deal with it." the girl added, rolling her shoulder slightly as she felt the itch of her hidden appendages under her skin. She figured that the travel would have been much quicker if she flew part of the way, so it was better to begin the process of freeing her wings now, than after when she did not have the chance to rest.

"I have no intention of letting it out." Tayva replied.

"You did manage to stick yourself a pretty potent sedative," the driver called back. "Frankly, I'm surprised ya woke up. Some liver ya got."

"It's hard for me to tell how far I need to go..."

Oh great. Another stereotypical mind changer, commonly known as a woman. The exit was coming up too.

"I'll stick with you guys up until the bridge, then I'll follow the river."

Thank the Lord above. She made a decision with time to spare. Jed angled the truck to follow the rest of the group off the old Vine Street in Philadelphia. What was left of it, anyway.

"I'm Jed," he replied. He was raised a Southern Gentleman and was obligated to answer, even if Tayva was a stowaway junkie.

"Anyway, I apologize for hav--yadda yadda." Jed tuned her out so he could focus on the bridge. It hadn't been maintained since the Enlightenment. The pavement was raised in some areas and guard rails were missing in others. Instead of reinforcing it afterwards, the peoples of Earth decided to build a brand new bridge a few miles down river. Rift hunters liked to use this one because if their catch got free.....well, the displacer beast in the back wouldn't be jumping from car to car.

"Don't sweat it, Darlin'." Jack took a quick moment to look up into the rearview mirror. "Just watch what you climb into next time." He reached down and grabbed the CB radio from the dashboard. "Gotta make a quick stop, boys. Our passenger wants off this crazy train."

A few hundred feet later, the truck pulled off to the side of the road. They were now in the Camden Waterfront. It wasn't so great back in the day. God knew what it was like now.

"Good luck on your quest, Tayva."

So that's what had knocked her out. She glanced around the floor of the truck's bed, finding the culprit for her sudden passing out. The contents of the dart were empty, having been poured into her body during her attempt to climb into the back of their truck. He was right, she did need to be a bit more careful. Kicking the emptied dart away, she felt a shift in gravity as the truck slowed to a stop to allow her to leave, and go where she needed to, wherever that ended up being. The girl still didn't have a positive idea on how far she would have to go, but hopefully it wasn't too far, especially if she could feel the pull the way she did now.

She had not noticed before, but their new surroundings were rather bare, as if the entire world was stripped of its surface. The ground seemed to be made up mostly of dried dirt and dust, small clouds of the combination being kicked up whenever the wind picked up. Around the river however it seemed a little more pleasant, as while it lacked most forms of life, the soil around it was more well suited to support plant life at least.

With her backpack tossed over her shoulder she climbed out of the back of the truck, giving the displacer beast one last look and stuck her tongue out at it. Landing on the ground, she turned so that her back was away from them, and gave them a small wave. "Thank you for the ride, despite the bumpy start." Tayva responded, before giving Jed a nod and a polite smile. "And good luck with your trip."

With that, she spun on her heel and started to move north, concentrating on a running start. Despite the inconvenience that the sedative had caused, it did leave her feeling refreshed, as if having a good night's sleep with less time passing. She wrapped her arm around her bag, feeling the increasingly-common tearing in her back as her wings shifted into the open air. She had managed to find clothing that provided a back low enough to prevent her wings from getting tangled up in the cloth, so as they spread free into the air, they found almost no resistance. There was a trickle of blood from their base however, as the change always resulted in the tearing of flesh, something the girl was forcing herself to become more used to.

Continuing to run, she started to flap, taking in the training that she had managed during the first bit of time that she had met Evyn. A strange girl, perhaps not as cheerful as she herself was. But she had found some reason to help her learn to fly, and the training had already begun to pay off. She soon found that her feet had left the ground, and her appendages now carried her aloft in the air, something that she always loved to do.

"Thank you for the ride, despite the bumpy start." Tayva responded, before giving Jed a nod and a polite smile. "And good luck with your trip."

"Thank ye. And you too." Jed shifted the truck back into gear as the freeloader wiggled out. He gave a quick wave out the window. When nothing fell to the ground, the driver moved back into position with the convoy.


Time and the landscape literally flew by as Sleeping Beauty took to the skies. It was easier to take note of the time from up here, assuming Tayva had any survivalist training. Even a novice explorer who could find the compass points would notice the sun was no longer directly overhead. She had a few hours of daylight left for any serious travel, longer if she stayed above the clouds. Of course, it was colder that high up.

The further north she went, the stronger Nature's call became. It was strong but yet tired at the same time. Flying this long was beginning to take its toll. There were no Avian equivalents to highway rest stops set up over this portion of New Jersey. The locals would have been quite upset to step out of their homes only to have paper coffee cups and other....liquids...falling on them from the bunny shaped cloud. Nobody wants that. That also meant there were no beds waiting for her up here either.

Could the Celestial make it a night without running water? Or Heaven forbid....a computer?

Tayva struggled against her straining wings, but on her better judgement she decided to land, not wanting to strain herself too much. After all any injuries obtained at this point would go untreated unless she were to spend the entire night walking back home. Stiffening her wings she proceeded to descend from the sky, landing hard on her feet and grinding to a halt. The sudden cease of movement caused the girl to lose her balance, falling off to the side with a small groan. This also caused her to drop her bag, her young companion Cayleb bounding out and glancing around at their new environment with some confusion. The last thing he had seen after all was the city.

Getting back onto her feet, the girl made her way toward the river, sliding down the bank and sitting by the edge, letting her tired wings relax. The somewhat steep drop could provide the girl some way to hide from any predator that came by, unless of course they stopped at the river as well. Still it seemed to be better versus laying out on the ground in the middle of nowhere. Glancing over to her bag once more, she rummaged around for her supplies, which had been stored in another pocket. A bottle of water and some bread had been all that she had packed, having figured that her trip wouldn't take so long as it had. She broke off a piece of the bread and handed it to Cayleb, before eating away at her own small portion.

She could remember Veles having warned that the areas outside the cities were dangerous, so she would have to be careful from here on out.

Despite what Veles had said, it was quite tranquil here. The typical sounds of nature could be heard. Well, whatever qualified for typical these days. Tayva would hear the rustle of a bush every so often as a squirrel ran amok. Dinner went by without a hitch. She didn't have enough food to entice the furry woodland creatures to brave her odd smell and give in to their curiosity.

A soft song could be heard through the trees. Whether it came from man or beast was unknown at this juncture. Tayva could, however, see a bright orange something levitating over the water. It gave off no light of its own, ruling out fireflies and other luminescent creatures. This was clearly artificial and hanging from a tree that reached out over the water.

Whatever it was, it had quite the bouquet of lovely smells. Interesting that such a thing would be left alone like that.

Her eyes flickered a little as the orange object was seen hovering over the water, peaking her curiousity. She sat up, trying not to disturb the small critter sleeping at her side, trying to get a better look at the object before her. She tilted her head to the side, puzzled at what exactly it could have been, though the first thoughts that entered her mind were concern. The Celestial was not familiar with these parts, and so she had to be more cautious about the unknown. Especially things that did not appear to make much sense, such as the floating orange thing before her.

Still, she couldn't just let the thing reside without solving what it was. The girl looked around, finding a broken branch from a nearby tree. Grabbing it, she waded toward the edge of the water, her eyes cast downward to ensure that she wouldn't get wet from the waters not too far away. Slowly and carefully, the girl attempted to poke at the floating orange object, her eyes shifting between the object, and the tree above, in case it had to do with some sort of trap. Her wings remained stretched out behind her, to offer both balance, and a way to move backward in case she almost fell in.

Itty bitty fishies swirled around her feet. A few even dared to dart in and give a little nibble. Not finding her tasty, the minnows turned tail and went somewhere else in the river.

Upon closer inspection of the strange object, Tayva would recognize it as a pumpkin sized drawstring bag. Vague outlines shapes underneath were poking out. The sack was filled to capacity with a variety of foodstuffs. Much more than a meager canteen and roll. Freshly baked bread was certainly in there, but it had much more of an aroma than whatever the Celestial had brought.

And jelly.

Was that a sausage link?

"Well that's certainly odd..." the Celestial frowned, scratching the back of her head in confusion as she continued to observe the bag. It wasn't every day that some random sack of food appeared in the middle of nowhere, and despite her hunger at the smell of the food, she wondered if it could have belonged to someone else. It was then her attention went back to the tree. She wanted to make sure it wasn't someone else's before taking it after all.

Walking over to the tree, she began to clamber up the branches, using her wings to give herself a little extra lift in the initial stages of her climb, all the while looking for signs of something alive within the tree. Other than birds of course, a couple of which fluttered off squawking in displeasure at being startled by the winged girl.

Of course, if the bundle of food did not belong to anyone, then it would have been wise to take it with her during her trip. Bread and water were okay, but sooner or later it just would not do. If it belonged to someone though, she would have to make sure first, not wanting to take someone's rations which were carelessly hovering over the water's edge. But that food did smell good, the scent lingering on, enough to even stir Cayleb from his slumber.

One of the branches groaned when Tayva's foot came down into the crease between the branch and the trunk. It wasn't the groaning of wood, but that of a person. The light was getting too dim to recognize if this was a teenager or just a small adult. Either way, he didn't like having someone else's foot in his belly.

"You have an entire forest and you decide to climb up into my tree. This is why I left the city!"

That wasn't true. He had left because he was an Imp and it was in his nature to be paranoid of society. His glamour was up, so Tayva would not see his True Self. Besides, his face was still in shadows.

"What are you doing up here, anyway?" His hidden eyes widened at the sight of her wings. Was this Avian going to kill him? Had they been recruited for yet another purge of his kind? "Could you get off me, please?"

The sudden voice caught the girl off guard, causing her to lose her balance and tumble onto the ground. Apart from a few scrapes she didn't appear to suffer too badly, though her clothing was now covered in dirt. Looking upward a bit awkwardly, she caught sight of the stranger's shadowed figure once again, and blinked a couple of times.

"I'm so sorry!" she started, rolling onto her side before getting up and dusting herself off, ruffling out her wings a bit to rid of a few clumps of dirt lodged in her feathers. Assuring herself that she was cleaned off to the best of her abilities, she glanced up once more toward the male, before pointing out toward the water where the bag remained above the water's surface. "I saw the bag above the water, and I wanted to investigate what it was. I did not know if it was attended or not."

Cayleb, who had been roused from his slumber by the smell of the food, made his way toward the waters, his short attention span captured by the sight of the curious minnows that had tried to snack on the girl's feet earlier. The creature lowered himself down, like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse, before splashing into the water after the fish. His paws caught the tail of an unfortunate minnow that had strayed too close, and with a quick gulp he downed the scaly creature, fins and all.

"I'm so sorry!"

{I don't care. Just get off!}

"I saw the bag above the water, and I wanted to investigate what it was. I did not know if it was attended or not."

The imp got air back into his lungs. Hooray! "The difference between stealing and looting. If you wanted food, all you had to do was ask."

This was surprisingly friendly behavior from an imp. Not that Tayva knew his origins yet.

"You alone?" he cocked his head to the side. "Pretty far out for a solo trip. And why are you all the way out here? Run out of room on your transport back to Celestis?" He was assuming the Celestial was actually an Avian. Wings unfurled were likely to generate that image.

Tayva blinked at the accusation of being a thief, and waved her hands in an attempt at making an innocent gesture. "No! I was not trying to steal your things. I wanted to see who, if anyone, they belonged to. Hanging them over a river is not a usual place to keep one's belongings, so it caught my curiousity." Having finally recovered from the fall, the girl decided that the base of the tree was a better place to rest against versus flat on the ground, settling in against its base as she watched her small companion pounce and chase the fish that strayed close to the water's edge.

"Anyways, I'm heading out north. I'm not entirely certain what's out there, but there's something that's calling me. It's not really easy for me to explain, but I have to find out what it is that beckons me." It felt strange having to explain things over and over again to complete strangers. But without some sort of destination, it seemed like a rather strange occurrence for someone to be outside of the cities, especially with the dangers that loomed away from civilization.

"What about yourself? I didn't think I'd see anyone else out this far."

Tayva blinked at the accusation of being a thief and waved her hands. "No! I was not trying to steal your things. I wanted to see who, if anyone, they belonged to. Hanging them over a river is not a usual place to keep one's belongings, so it caught my curiosity."

Likely story, but it wouldn't do to continue insulting someone who had a mutant cat with her. Even if it only ate sardines....for now.

"You don't spend much time in the outdoors, do you?" The fellow pointed to his cache. "That's a bear bag. Keeps large animals from rooting around through your stuff when its way above their heads. Also includes the bipedal varieties as well.

Well, 'supposed to." The last was said with a glance back at Tayva.

"Anyways, I'm heading out north," she said. "I'm not entirely certain what's out there, but there's something that's calling me. It's not really easy for me to explain, but I have to find out what it is that beckons me."

{She's a trusting sort, isn't she? Does she expect me to make a Missing Person's report if she doesn't come back? What if I was a bad man looking for a drifter to kill and bury out here?}

"What about yourself? I didn't think I'd see anyone else out this far."

Eyes squinted in the dark. She was dumb for an avian. Unless it was all an act and she was a really good infiltrator.

"You really don't get out much, do you? North? Tell me, how much further do you have to go? I hope you brought more than that tiny pack. The north isn't exactly known for its verdant and fertile fields. But you Avians feed off the sun, right? Maybe you're not so bad off.

And this beckoning...are you the only one that feels it?" He asked a little disbelievingly.

There were only three types of people that ventured out this far: business types, people on the run from society, and crazies.

"You don't spend much time in the outdoors, do you?" The fellow pointed to his cache. "That's a bear bag. Keeps large animals from rooting around through your stuff when its way above their heads. Also includes the bipedal varieties as well. Well, 'supposed to."

"I can't say that I've spent much time out this far in the wilderness I'm afraid." the girl replied with a slight shrug. "All I know is plants. I can tell you what will kill you in an hour or what will help fight a cold, but I can't tell you how to protect belongings." Perhaps not the most important information in the world for a place with minimal flora, but if she got close enough to the place she had seen in her sleep, then perhaps there would be the opportunity to find nutrition in that which grew there. If it was anything like she had seen at least.

"You really don't get out much, do you? North? Tell me, how much further do you have to go? I hope you brought more than that tiny pack. The north isn't exactly known for its verdant and fertile fields. But you Avians feed off the sun, right? Maybe you're not so bad off. And this beckoning...are you the only one that feels it?"

Tayva thought for a moment, trying to figure out if there was a way to tell how far away her destination was. The only potential way for her to judge the location was the spiritual tug that had called her out this far to begin with. The closer she got, the stronger it became. And there had been a considerable jump in the feeling between the city and where she had landed now.

"Maybe another day... or two. It's hard to judge without an accurate distance." With that the girl blinked, turning up to look at the shaded man once more. "Wait... what makes you think I'm an Avian?"

"All I know is plants. I can tell you what will kill you in an hour or what will help fight a cold, but I can't tell you how to protect belongings."

Oh great. Another researcher. The imp continued to study the creature before him for another moment.

"Maybe another day... or two. It's hard to judge without an accurate distance." She had a realization about something. "Wait... what makes you think I'm an Avian?"

"I don't know," he said sarcastically as he scooted closer to the bough where his bag was anchored. "Could be those big white flappy things jutting from your shoulder blades." His hands made a shadow puppet of a bird, fingers flexing and extending to simulate flight. He then went back to untying his bag. "Though I suppose you could be only half." It was unheard of, but hybrid avians were pretty darn rare.

With the knot undone, the imp started pulling up on the rope. He undid the other end and stowed the full length inside the bear bag. He then put his arms through the straps and hopped down from the tree. It wasn't that far and he done enough jumping in his life to know how to land properly.

"Now that I got my wind back, might as well be on my way." He readjusted the straps so the pack sat better. "Seeing as how you're not a thief and all, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to invite you along. My home's not far from here and Grandma loves to feed people. We can put you up for the night and send you on your way in the morning."

{Unless you're a threat. Then the family will probably make sure you don't tell some hoity toity elf where we are.}