MagiStream

Zahalin chuckled. "We will add our numbers to the hunt as well," he said as he stepped closer to walk beside her. "We are not known for our peacefulness. We're quite a...restless bunch," he grinned.

Looking at her sideways, he glanced back to the tree and asked, "What troubles you about that tree?" He made a little face and looked around. "There are plenty of others. I've never seen so many of them all clustered so close together before."

Ivy smiled wryly, looking over to him. "Neither are the wolfriders. More hunters will be welcome- especially with more mouths to feed."

"I am a caretaker for the forest." She said simply. "It is my duty to heal the trees and plants as they sicken. Lately there has been a strange disease that has killed many trees- and that tree is very old. I would not want a tree that has already lived so long to die in such a painful way." She looked back at the willow and smiled softly. "The more trees I heal, the less hold the disease has in the forest. I am hoping in the next few turns I can have the disease eradicated from the forest entirely." She sighed, knowing it would be a lot of work to do so. But she was up to the challenge.

((alright- I'm off to work ;3 Be back around 10 pm or so))

((See you! Try to have fun. c: *hugs*))

Zahalin chuckled. "A fine hunt it will be, then," he smiled.

He watched her closely while she spoke, listening to her words to try to understand them... "To care so much about something like that... You must love a great deal," he said, then flushed, realizing the silly quality to what he'd said. "But that is honorable." He thought of their waterworker, a woman whose ability to direct the flow of streams and some water had kept them from dying of thirst on more than one occasion. She said the water sang to her, and perhaps it was that way with plants, though he'd never heard of someone with plant-magic before.

"Sometimes a bit too much." She admitted with a weak smile. "It is not really... permitted for me to go this far into the forest." She said uneasily. "I am no hunter, and I have little to defend myself with other than Little Paw." She looked over to him hesitantly, wondering why she was so comfortable talking with him. Usually it took quite a while for her to want to speak with someone freely like this. "But I do what I can to protect this forest- because it is our home. If the forest is treated well, it treats its inhabitants well in return." She rested a hand against a tree as she passed, feeling the warmth of the tree's essence, but no pain within. "In return for my care, the trees also let me shape them into objects which might frighten away those who would do us harm." She said, motioning over to a grotesque face seeming to come out of the tree, contorted with anger.

Zahalin blinked as they passed a strange...it appeared to be a face, pressing out of the tree's very skin, and his hand went to his knife before Ivy explained. He smiled at her. "What a great skill you have," he said in awe, shaking his head. "I can do no such thing, and there are none in my clan who can or ever have. I would think it was impossible...though I suppose you prove it's not."

Ivy flushed in embarrassment that he thought she was so impressive. "It is something that passes through our tribe. My mother is a healer- so I suppose the magic changes with generations. The magic is fairly draining, though. It leaves me very vulnerable after I finish, and someone usually has to be with me in case something takes advantage of my weakness." She sighed, hating to realize she was so very weak compared to other wolfriders.

Zahalin smiled and shook his head. "My father has a bit of healing magic, himself, and I'm still as magical as a stone." His sister, on the other hand...but that was a different matter, and he shook his head. "Magic...it's a blessing from the High Ones. You should be very proud to bear it." He smiled at her.

Ivy blushed and nodded, a soft smile coming over her face. "Thank you. I do cherish it- and Fox never ceases to remind me how lucky I am." She sighed, looking over at him. "I'm sure you have some interesting skills as well. You hunt, right? That is something I cannot do even with all my magic." She smiled.

Zahalin chuckled. "I hunt." He patted Zweehee's neck. "And I've been riding my fleetfoot for eights of years, and can stay on him even when he wants me off." He chuckled. "That's about all there is to me, I'm afraid." He smiled sideways at her, almost...captivated by the soft smile she gave, the way a blush reddened her cheeks...

Ivy's smile widened, and she looked up at the creature that walked beside him. "So- Zweehee, right?" She looked up at it curiously. "It looks like a deer, kind of..." She smiled and wrapped an arm around Small Paw when he murred in discontent at the attention to the other mount. "This is my wolf mount- I wish I could say I've ridden him into battle with the others, but I really haven't. He takes me where I need to go, and he's served me as a good friend for many years." She looked back over to him shyly.