Forest Training (Open)

[Creator]

The figure of a teenage boy materialized in the shadow of a tree, giving off a faint hissing sound, like air escaping a tire. He stepped forward, unsure of his safety in these woods, but even if he was attacked, he would be able to escape. He walked a bit deeper into the woods, though he was still in the least dangerous area. Damon wasn't foolish enough to frolic into overly-dangerous lands without backup. He began to wander around a bit, picking up small twigs and dried leaves. He made a small pile near the tree he had used for cover just moments ago, and set some sticks up in tepee-style.

Within minutes, he had a decent fire going; starting fires had never been much trouble for him. Thankful for the small amount of light it offered, he picked a random tree and walked over, Wolf's Fury forming around his hands. He began swiping wildly, never striking the same place twice as he moved around the tree, occasionally leaping up and standing on it to swipe higher. The claws never seemed to dull; they were made of an extremely dense metal. He began jabbing at the tree, stabbing countless holes, carefully placed in-between the slashes.

Damon gradually made his way up the tree, leaving slashes and holes all around the tree as he went up. When he reached the top of the highest branch, he used his left pointer finger to carve a D at the end, before leaping down to the ground. Then he moved to a second tree, and began to repeat the long process. A few times he had to add wood to the fire, which was easy considering the amount of bark and splintered wood that littered the ground. After he finished his second tree, Wolf's Fury hissed away, and he began zooming from limb to limb, working on speed. He remained close to the fire, however, to avoid it getting too big.

After about an hour, he returned to the forest floor and held out his hand. A blue rubber fish formed from smoke in the shadows, and he knelt down to a fair-sized chunk of wood. He tapped the fish against it, and with a strange glow, it became a flapping trout. Damon stood, chucking. "So, it works," he said to himself, tossing the fish into a nearby stream. Now if only he knew how to turn a live fish into food...

[J-Bear!]

Jatza stepped quietly into view. "Hello, Damon," she whispered. "How are you?" She was whispering because it was so quiet here. She sat down, leaning against a tree, and watched the river.

[Creator]

Damon flailed, losing concentration. He flipped around even as he began to fall, Wolf's Fury forming around his hands, and stabbed the blades into the limb. He hung there, staring down at Jatza. Now that he was righted, he let himself fall, landing softly next to her.
"I'm alright. A bit tired. You?" he asked, letting the clawed gloves fizzle away.

[J-Bear!]

Jatza apopologized. "I'm sorry," she said, still whispering. "I'm fine. It's very pleasant here, isn't it?" She paused for a moment, thgen started singing in a foreign language. It created a sense of natural calmness.

[Creator]

"...I suppose it is," he said, actually looking at the place for the first time. He held out his hands, then remembered his guitar was solid, back at his room. In its gas form, he could summon it up when needed, but there was no way he could turn it into gas from this distance. So he simply listened.

[J-Bear!]

Jatza smiled, but didn't stop singing. When she finished, she breathed evenly, like a professional. "I haven't sung in a long time."

[Creator]

"I couldn't tell," Damon said with a laugh, tossing another few twigs onto the fire to keep it alive. "So what brings you out here?" he asked, glancing around the darkness that surrounded them. The fire was doing a decent job of holding it off, but he worried about how much longer it would last.

[J-Bear!]

"Thanks. I think." Jatza smiled. "Nothing really, I've just never been here." She had just been wandering and ended up here. "You?"

[Creator]

"I came to practice, but I'm getting tired now," he said with a half laugh. "And having someone to talk to makes relaxing really tempting." He took out two rolls of Smarties from his pocket and held one out to her. "You ever had these?" he asked. "They're good, at least I think so."

[J-Bear!]

"Aw, I'm sorry. Did I distract you?" Jatza laughed. "Well, relaxing is good." She looked at the roll in his hand. "Smarties? What are they, sweets? I've never had them before. Stupid traditional elven upbringing." She laughed again, the sound tinkling. She took the package and opened it, popping one in her mouth. "They're okay; a bit sour though."

[Creator]

"Then I suppose you won't want a Warhead," he said, stuffing back the other candy he had been removing. He laid back, staring into the blackness of the sky. "Nah, I was about ready to rest anyway. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be carving up the trees like this in the first place." He glanced at her quickly, still adjusting to the idea that elves were real. "So where do your people generally live? I mean, it's weird that nobody can find y'all."

[J-Bear!]

Jatza tilted her head. "Warhead?" She looked towards his hand and judged by the picture on the front, she didn't want one. She mirrored him, laying down on the soft grass, watching what little stars she could see, and listening to the river. "We normally live in forests like these. People can't find us because we don't want them too. Elves are generally better than humans in everything, no offense. We would be hassled to build, sing, dance, make discoveries, write, and just about everything. I think the only thing you humans do better is produce less feminine males." She chortled, then whistled a pleasant melody. "You're really easy to perform around, you know that? I haven't sung or whistled for anyone else, not even Yorry. Unless you count the karaoke contest . . ."

[Creator]

"Believe me, I know most humans are completely hopeless," he said with a laugh. "Though some aren't that bad. It all depends on how you look at things." He yawned, completely exhausted from the workout. "We tend to screw more things up than we fix, which has really gotten the world into a pickle. At this rate, we'll blow the damn thing up before long," he said sadly. He blinked when she said he was easy to perform for, and shrugged. "Maybe it's because I'm a musician myself. I dunno." He shoved a few more leaves into the fire and sighed. "Who's Yorry?"

[J-Bear!]

Jatza laughed. "That's nice to say about your own species. But you're right, and you admitted it, which is more than I can say for most humans." She shook her head. "That might be it." She furrowed her brow. "Well, Yorry was my boyfriend, and he died about five to ten minutes after we met. You remember Amber, correct? Well, she and her boyfriend decided they were going to cremate him. And he was a vampire. So he can't ever come back." She shrugged; it was still hard to talk about him, but not completely impossible.

[Creator]

"Oh my God," he said, genuinely startled. "That's horrible. I can't imagine... do you forgive Amber?" he asked, knowing already that he never could have in her shoes. He believed in one true love for each person, and figured the two of them couldn't have been meant for each other - fate wouldn't be so cruel. Still, losing someone hurt. "I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do, let me know."
He faded into an awkward silence, now shifting into a more serious mood.