return to reality [aiden]

Dawn broke somewhere in the Caledonian Forest. In a silent clearing, a small ash tree stood sentinel some ten feet away from an equally small tent. As the first rays of light filtered down, a pine marten paused, startled by the ash tree which suddenly trembled. A moment later, the tree had vanished and in it's place stood a human, unmoving, blinking in the half-light. The marten scrambled up the nearest pine with barely a rustle of the branches.

Linnet stood for a moment, her mind as usual making the change more slowly than her body. All was quiet now, she looked around and saw her cloak, lying at her feet and reached for it. It was slightly damp and she realised she had morphed wearing it the previous night, not a mistake she usually made. A damp cloak was mildly irritating, but nothing to worry about. It would soon dry out once the sun rose. She held it for a moment longer then looked around for her backpack, now recalling she hadn't hidden that the previous evening either, because...the tent. The young man whose name she didn't know or remember. He had lain down outside, she thought, but presumably at some point during the night he had felt cold and gone inside.

She remembered he had not been sure where to look when she'd been naked, and now she knelt to her backpack, pulling out a longsleeved shirt and ankle-length green skirt, a bit ragged and muddy around the hemline. Pulling them on, Linnet shivered a little, realising the early morning had not yet been warmed by the sun. She felt hungry as well, but not enough that it concerned her. While in her elemental form she could take sustenance from the earth, so it was more a desire for food than an actual need.

Now she was awake, Linnet walked softly around the clearing to get her bearings, then closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hands slightly outstretched. It wasn't an elemental spell, and it didn't mean she now knew the precise way out, but she did know the direction of the sun and knew which way they would need to go. Then she returned to a few feet away from the tent and sat down again in a ray of light, waiting until she heard noises that meant her companion was awake.

"Good morning" she said softly.

@Aiden Donnovan

He didn't quite remember how his rather strange night had ended, only that it would have felt wrong to continue to lean on the tree he'd thought was just a tree. He'd slowly gotten up and made his way towards his tent and he vaguely remembered it but honestly it was all sort of a blur. He blinked his eyes open, sighing, as his brain caught up. He enjoyed the sound of nature in the morning, the calm silence that wasn't silence at all. Crisp morning air and the coolness of the dawn.

He went through a quick morning routine, which involved a few cleaning spells, dressing, and gather some jerky and coffee. He paused, staring at his food, before gathering everything up and making his way out of the tent. "Morning." he greeted back, smiling past a yawn as he plopped himself on the ground next to her. He pushed his thermos towards her and held out his bag of jerky, grinning, as he took a slice and proceeded to munch. He leaned back on his elbows, unbothered, as he had his breakfast. It was really a nice day, wasn't it? His hair felt a bit damn still and he glanced back at Linnet.

He had... quite a few questions. "Erm. I'm Aiden? Donnovan." bloody hell he'd been rather rude hadn't he? Hadn't even offered his name up in return for hers. He'd just been, well, shocked to learn his classmate was a bloody tree. "I was rather rude yesterday, I think. Just a bit of a surprise I guess." he mused, shrugging his shoulders. He was back to rolling with the punches now, though, and was happy to go with the flow of things, being well past his surprise.

The young man woke up, and now she could see him properly for the first time. His face did look vaguely familiar, though there wasn't any kind of emotion liked to the memory. Sometimes it happened like that; her involuntary year-long morph had affected her human emotions and memories, and even now some things hadn't quite returned. Linnet didn't mind, but she had learned that the lack of emotion connected to a memory generally meant that she hadn't been close to that person. That was good; he wasn't going to be upset if she acted like they were just acquaintances. She smiled.

"Hello Aiden" and then she thought for a moment about the previous night "I don't think you were rude. Sometimes people swear or scream if they actually see me morph" That was the main reason she tried not to do it when there was anyone around - unless there was a good reason to show what she was, of course, which had happened a few times recently. He'd offered her the flask and a bag of something edible she didn't recognise, which she took a piece of. It was chewy and tasted of meat. She liked it immediately, but declined whatever was in the thermos. Trees didn't like hot water, and these days, neither did Linnet. She decided it was her turn to ask questions now, anyway.

"What were you doing in the woods alone? Is it a camping holiday?" Normal wizards didn't often go out alone unless they were studying something and needed the solitude. Maybe Aiden felt at home in the forests...that would be nice. Most of her friends preferred cities or towns which Linnet could tolerate, but never felt truly comfortable. It would be nice to have a friend who understood that aspect of her...if Aiden wanted to be a friend, of course. Right now he probably wanted to get out of the woods, she recalled from their conversation the previous night. She looked across the clearing and pointed with one outstretched hand. "The closest way out of the forest will be that way. Whenever you're ready though, I'm fine just here..." with that she finished the strip of jerky, closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun, smiling calmly.

Interesting. “That seems rather rude.” he muttered, lips pulling down into a frown. He could definitely see how that sort of reaction could be common, though. Wizards we’re pretty skittish half the time. “Morphing seems brilliant.” he added, suitably impressed by the whole thing. He wondered how simple life had to be for a tree. He wanted to joke that one of his favorite things were trees but figured it might come off strange.

“Oh. Some survival training.” he told her with a bit of a shrug. “I do just enjoy camping though. There’s a few directional and tracking charms I wanted to test out.” He explained with a smile. He was setting out soon and always did a few camping trips right before, to make sure his skills were sharp and he was ready for whatever job Gringotts had for him. “I’m doing alright for right now?” he asked, getting comfortable and snacking on his own breakfast. He took a sip of coffee, glancing back at Linnet. “Unless you wanted to head out?” he asked curiously, wondering at her own plans.