There was a tingle of winter air mixed into the air of late autumn.
She was hugging a tall, wide tree in the middle of the forest - and while for strangers' eyes there would be nothing special about that tree, it was different for this particular elf. She could feel the spirit magic imbued circulating through her whole body.

The Moon had a tint of silver-red color, as it was twinkling up high above the treetops. Far away, a little silver of water reflected the moonlight. But underneath the cover of the leaves and branches, the forest is deep, dark and damp from the just passed rain.
Many travellers have been lost here, for the stillness and the lacking light can easily trick ones orientation. Some were shriveled up corpses in some of the crevices, while others served as meals for dangerous animals or plants.

Somewhere inbetween she noticed small noises of cracking branches of wood, as heavy steps were coming towards her direction. A stranger. A traveller? Or an enemy?
He did have a stealthy foot, so it might not be a lost cause of a warrior. However, in a forest, she would be able to detect him miles ahead. The stopping cries of the animals and insects in his vicinity. And the spirits. He seemed quite inexperienced in here..

Ari frowned, but she did not move from her position. The tree she sat on, was an old Oak, reigning supreme over all other trees in the vicinity - proudly sticking its head out of the lot. She would not be able to measure the width with just her own arms - she needed to hug the tree completely at least twice, to cover the whole radius.

Through the slits of her half closed eyes, she only glanced shortly at the approaching shadow, but instead looked up to the Moon, and listened to the heartbeat of the forest spirits inside the big Oak. Like a little sun, the spirits warmed her body, as she dreamily stared above.
Then the tips of her ears twitched, and she tilted her head. The shadow seemed to have found her past camping place, huh? There should be food there. Not that she minded, but he should never think of lighting up a fire.. especially not in this forest.

I should light a fire was the first thought the came into Ander's mind.

The second thought was: Ow.

The wound on his shoulder, although bound, was not healing as fast as he would have liked it. Every step through the forest sent another sharp pain digging into his shoulder, and the last time he checked the bandages, his hand had come away red with blood. A dark red too, with in hints of infection. What was it that had attacked him?

It itched as well. That was probably the worst thing. It itched so much but whenever he went to scratch, he was rewarded with another burst of pain.

The third thought that went through Ander's head was: Where the hell am I?

He had been walking in the forest for hours now and he was sure he had already come across the remains of this camp before. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched either. It made him jumpy, and that hurt his shoulder even more. It was no use. He wasn't getting anyway.

Slumping down next to the remains of the camp he groaned and began searching through his pack for a fire-lighter.

When he found it, he lay down onto the floor. Maybe it wasn't a completely terrible idea to lie here before he went to gather some twigs and kindling. He could stare up at the stars through the leaves in the canopy above him and...

“Ow!” Ander sat back up again. He had leaned on his wound and paid the price. He mumbled under his breath a few dwarven curses he'd learned during a bar fight a few moons ago. They always sounded good Dwarven curses. Really worked up the phlegm in your mouth and put it to good use.

With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and began to pick up loose twigs and grass from the floor. He grumbled to himself. This was the last time he followed the advice of a strange old man and wandered into a forest. It seemed so right at the time, but now, feh. He was going back tomorrow to the city to find a nice tavern and drink himself into oblivion.

Then Ander had another thought. A little voice in the back of him mind whispered: You are not alone.

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His actions made her uneasy. Humans... were usually foolish. But wait, was it a human?
A cold winter breeze traveled a whiff of blood and alcohol residue over, and her frown deepened. She had been in these things, called taverns, once or twice, when she had to. It was loud, smelled bad and made her dizzy.
~Dont tell me its a drunk?~ But who would dare to go into this forest...
Then a thick, pungent smell of blood hit her nose again, and she almost let out a hiss.
~No way! The Infection - Nobody is going to soil this forest!~ gritting her teeth, she stopped ignoring the situation, and reached out to her bow, tied on her back. Her lithe body changed its resting position to an attacking in a matter of seconds.
Without the smallest noise, an arrowhead was brought in position, glinting in the direction of the intruder!

Balancing on the tree branch with one knee down one up, she immediately focussed the enemy, that was lying on the ground, and soaking it with dark energy. Her eyes twitched, as anger rose.
~How could the ghouls come this far?~ her eyes focussed on the figure that was either planning to die here to spread the infection or ... or?

Something was strange.
She heard a noise "Ow" - this was still human speech, no? But who knows if it wasnt a ghouls growl.
The bow was still in tension, but she looked at the figure slowly moving up again, gathering twigs... twigs?

Her worry was not gone, just replaced with another. Though, if she killed a person and he was carrying the seed of darkness, he would turn into a ghoul as well! The huntress had another headache now. Still, if he had any plans to light up those twigs... Her bow tensed up a little more.

The gathering stopped, and she raised an eyebrow as he stilled and looked around stealthily. ~ Huh, not bad - he has at least good instincts. Must be still living, after all.~ The bows tension loosened a bit, but her attention did not.

He had not noticed her. Why? Because the living instincts only check their own eye-level. Who bothers to look up?

Even if he looked up, the only thing that could give her out normally, was her red hair - and this was hidden under a dark hood of her cloak for the moment.
However, the elven huntress was a little different from other wood elves - barely noticeable, a green glow hovering in her eyes, was glowing in the darkness, next to the tree leaves hiding her in the moonlight.
The only thing that could give her out!
If he looked up, after all, she would slowly pull back, making him wonder if that green glow was just a mirage!