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the vampire who traveled fairyland upon reindeer-back
Alek has an exceptionally weird day
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The Green Wind soars, winding through the city's towers upon his faithful cloud leopard, whistling as he glances down, looking for anyone seeming particularly bored or lost or like they might benefit from a bit of a nudge.

This world grows so dreadfully boring, after all, even as it advances, and there are always some humans who notice.

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Down below, a vampire exits a fairly unobtrusive building and sits down on the steps outside. Without thinking about it, he pulls out a pack of cigarettes. Before he can get much beyond that, he sighs as he remembers that this no longer does anything for him. He had just been turned a couple weeks before, and old habits die hard. Instead, he leans back against the wall behind him and looks up at the sky.

It's only been a couple weeks since he was turned, but in that time a lot has changed. Sitting outside a bar aimed at various supernatural creatures, he debates where he wants to go from here.

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A somewhat short man, with dark green curly hair and a green smoking jacket, riding a rather large cloud leopard, bounds down beside him from some inexplicable direction of 'up.'

No one else seems to notice the man, who's grinning and looking at Alek.

"Hello!" the man says, brightly.

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Alek startles when someone suddenly appears near him. He's never been the most observant person, but he thinks he should have noticed someone approaching on a leopard. He takes a quick look around and is surprised to see no one else reacting. Somewhat suspicious, Alek stands up.

"Hi," he says hesitantly. As he does, he his eyes flick to the leopard, and then around to see if anyone is staring at him. Based on the initial lack of reaction, he can only assume the man's invisible. If they can't see him, will they still notice Alek talking to thin air?

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"You seemed rather at a loss. Directionless, one might say."

People seem to be instinctively avoiding the leopard but no one's really acting like Alek's behaving oddly.

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"I...guess you could say that," he said, confused and kind of concerned about what was going on.

He was in some ways relieved other people were not reacting like was standing here talking to himself. At the same time, it scared him a bit that this person could make them both either invisible or at least inconspicuous.

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"How would you like to go on an adventure?"

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"What kind of adventure?"

He probably shouldn't even consider taking him up on this offer. He knew nothing about the man except that he was magic and decided to appear to Alek for some reason. At the same time, he really didn't have much of a sense of direction at the moment, and this could at least be interesting.

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"One to somewhere quite strange, full of strange people and strange happenings - and full of opportunities, too."

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"Will I be able to come back if I say yes?" He was also tempted to ask if saying yes was likely to kill him, or if he even had that much of a choice in the matter, but he was also unsure how many questions he could ask before the man got annoyed.

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"Of course! Staying's the hard part."

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"How is staying hard?"

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"Things like to be where they belong, usually."

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"Oh...okay," he says, although he has no idea what that actually means.

He looks back at the building behind him, and considers whether he really needs to be here right now. His friend might be sad he left, but they aren't that close. He doesn't really have anyone else he both gets along with and talks to regularly. This could be...interesting, at least. "Well, if I'll be back, I guess I'd be okay with going on an adventure."

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"Excellent!" the man exclaims. "Well, the quickest way we're going is upon Cloud Leopard, if you'll climb up behind me."

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"Sure," he says, not sounding entirely certain about this plan. Despite his uncertainty, he climbs on the leopard and holds onto the man in front of him.

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And off they go! The world zooms past, until they're over the ocean, clouds spraying around them.

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Alek may let out a small squeak when they take off, and he tightens his hold on the man in front of him. He assumed traveling by leopard would be weird, but this is much faster than expected. Still, if it takes a few minutes, he eventually manages to pay attention to his surroundings and can actually appreciate the view.

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They come to a set of pillars, rising from the ocean, like they're flanking a massive invisible gate.

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Well, that's new. He briefly wonders if he's going to Atlantis. Would that look like this though? He wishes he remembered more of the myths, fairy tales, and legends he heard as a kid. He feels he should have been told at some point when he became a vampire which of those were actually real, but that hasn't happened.

"So...does the place we're going have a name?"

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"Fairyland's what most people call it, though that's not entirely accurate as of late," the man says, cheerfully.

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"Oh, why isn't it accurate anymore?" He tries to remember what he's heard about fairies, but really it hasn't been much. He knows he's heard about fairy circles, and he thinks you're not supposed to eat things from fairies. He has no idea how this interacts with drinking blood, from a fairy or from Fairyland in general. Fortunately he's fed rather recently, but that'll still come up if he's here for more than a few days.

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"Not so many fairies, especially in the ruling positions."

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"Who else is ruling Fairyland?"

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"Currently no one in particular; we have a Queen only half the time - not a fairy, though - and a ruling council the other half. If there's an emergency the Queen's sister steps up, but I believe she's monarch of Fairyland-Below, which can make things complicated, and the Princess is half Marid, so her ruling would be quite complicated."

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He tries to commit this to memory, but he's missing some major concepts. "What's Fairyland-Below? And also a Marid? For that matter, what are you?" After a brief pause, he adds, "Sorry if that's rude."

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"Not rude at all! Fairyland-Below is the part of that world below Fairyland, as the name may imply. Shadows and stranger things live down there. A Marid's a sort of person, though not a sort of fairy, made of wave foam, who lives their life all out of order with the rest of us. I'm one of the six winds - the Green Wind, in fact."

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"So is Fairyland-Below underwater?" He glances down at the water below them, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that looked out of place. He tries to imagine what a person made out of wave foam would look like, but he doubts his mental image is accurate. "How does that work, you being wind?"

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"Underground, in vast chambers in the earth."

"I'm more an embodiment of the concept of wind, but it's just as accurate to say wind is an embodiment of the concept of me."

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"Huh, are the shadows friendly?"

Alek is not sure if he understands that, but he nods. "If there are six winds, are you different types of wind, or just different locations?"

Realizing something else, he asks, "And I'm guessing you know I'm a vampire, right?" The man knew he was feeling fairly lost, so he's been assuming he also knew things about him more generally. The man, or wind, hasn't really said anything else that would indicate that though.

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"That's a lot of questions all at once, but fortunately I'm pretty good at answering - the shadows are people, but most've them are people with somewhat less inhibitions, so they can be fun to be around but shadow-folk and flesh-folk get into conflicts over impulses sometimes. And we're different types of wind. My business is Earthly things, so I know what vampires are and how to spot one - plenty of people in Fairyland have odd diets, so as long as you're not assaulting people no one will mind."

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“Sorry about all the questions, but thank you for answering.” He personally thinks the shadow people sound fun from that description but he doesn’t know if he’s supposed to say that. “What type of wind is Green Wind then?”

He nods at the man’s comment on his diet. “Definitely not planning to assault anyone. Do you know how I would go about getting blood though?” That might be something he needs to figure out, but he figures he may as well ask. At home there were bars for that sort of thing.

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The explanation about the Green Wind does not fit into the margins of this comment, and, like this summary, it is spectacularly unhelpful.

"For blood, I'd assume asking people who seem likely to have the right type, or finding a blood fruit tree, or something of that nature."

The gateway is very close, now. Alek has maybe time for one more question before they're through.

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Alek will continue to be confused about what Green Wind is then, but he does not ask anymore questions about the topic.

He doesn’t really know how he’d guess who’s blood would work, but he figures he’ll figure it out later. He doesn’t know what blood fruit is, but he’ll ask around once they’re in Fairyland.

He eyes the gate and debates whether to ask anything else. “Do you think there will be other vampires in Fairyland?”

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"Possibly Below, but I don't think Above," he says, cheerfully.

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If there's still time for another questions, he asks, "Is it alright if I'm there, if we're going Above?"

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"Oh, yes, of course," he says, and then they're through the arch.

It's brighter, on the other side. Much more so.

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Alek shields his eyes in response to the sudden brightness. After a second, he tries to look around at his surroundings.

If this is sunlight and it's this bright all the time, he may have to become even more nocturnal than he already is. While he doesn't catch fire in the sun, he does get sunburns very easily, and he did not exactly bring sunscreen with him.

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There's a wooden tower in front of him, which the leopard lands on a platform of. The Green Wind jumps down. "Welcome to customs and immigration!" he says, cheerfully. "Also handling visitors, of course."

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Alek carefully gets off of the leopard and looks around.

"Thanks," he says, in response to the welcome. "What sort of handling do visitors need?"

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"Mostly checking you're not carrying any plagues, and giving people the ability to see things as they are until they adjust."

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"Don't think I can get sick anymore, at least not with human diseases. Guess I don't know if there are other kinds."

He glances around him again. "Do you just mean so it's less bright?" He figures there could also be illusions or something similar.

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"Fairyland has quite a number of glamors, as well, hiding what it really is. Well, come along on in!"

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Alek takes another look around, wondering if anything he sees is actually a glamor. He figures he'll find out soon enough, and follows the man.

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The inside is a bit crowded, and noisy, and there's a mechanical person taking tickets and checking bags and trying to get the lines to behave. The Green Wind leads Alek over to one of the two lines, standing with him. It moves quickly, at least.

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Alek is kind of fascinated by all of the people, including the mechanical one. He follows the Green Wind, but he also tries to get an idea of what Fairyland is like from the people around him. In particular, he keeps an eye out for anyone who looks how he imagines fairies would.

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The mechanical person asks for his name and business in Fairyland.

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"I'm Alek Murray." He gestures at the Green Wind. "He brought me here." He hopes that's a sufficient answer for what his business is here.

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Then he'll very easily get processed, and then have something blown in his eyes that make them feel a bit gritty.

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Alek tries to blink away the grittiness. Then he looks around, trying to see if anything has changed.

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Nothing in here, though the view outside the windows is subtly different.

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He hadn't paid that close of attention to the outdoors previously. He notices it seems a bit off, but can't place why.

"So, where to next?"

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"Through the Gates into Fairyland proper, though I won't be able to accompany you there. I'm a Wind of this world, not that, after all."

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"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Am I meeting someone else there, or am I just supposed to go off and explore?"

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"Explore! See what there is to be seen. Hear what there is to be heard. And that sort of thing."

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"Alright, and if I want to go home?"

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"Find your way to Pandemonium, and look for the office of emigration."

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"Alright, thanks."

He'll have to find out where Pandemonium is in the future, but he assumes he can ask around. "Anything else I should know or are we good to head out?"

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"I think we're quite good!"

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"Okay! Well, I guess I'll see you around?"

With that, he will head towards the Gates, assuming he can tell where they are from here.

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He can! They're quite prominent, actually, and rather enormous. Several people are going through them in either direction, though he can't see what's on the other side.

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He walks up to the gates through the crowd of people. He's surprised that even now that he can see through glamours, he can't see through the gate. This must be different.

He takes a last look around then walks through the gate.

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There's a woodland! He's standing in front of an arch made out of stacked brown stone, the misty forest beyond lit by rays of light from above. It's colorful, like someone turned the saturation on reality way up, and there's small flowers on vines twirling up the trees and poking out of the leaf-litter.

The leaves, on closer look, are made of metal foil, and the flower petals shine a bit too brightly in the sun.

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He takes a moment to take in his surroundings. At first glance it looks like what he'd imagine Fairyland to look like, but then he notices the metallic glint from the leaves. He's not sure what to make of that.

There was a crowd going through with him at the same time. Is anyone else around? He takes a deep breath to see if he can smell any blood nearby, trying to determine if there's much wildlife.

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No people seem to be near him.

There seems to be some wildlife, though! There's also some things moving around that don't smell like they have blood, but do smell like metals.

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He's surprised at the fact no one else is around. If they were all going through at the same time, the gate must have some way to choose who goes where. He wonders if it's random or if there's a reason he turned up here, but he assumes he'll have to figure that out for himself.

He's glad there are other things around that are at least close enough to what he's familiar with to have blood. He notices the other moving things a moment later and tries to get a closer look at one. Do they look like any recognizable animal?

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Mostly they look like Earth animals, just made of curls of metal foil and clockwork. Silver mice scurry between hiding places, and a copper squirrel chitters at him, while a brass deer startles in the distance.

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He smiles at the squirrel and tries not to scare the deer off. He's tempted to try to follow one of the animals. First, though, he wants to get a better look at his surroundings. Do any of the trees have limbs within reach? If one does, and if the metal isn't sharp, he'll climb it to see if he can get a better view, maybe see a sign of other people.

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There's plenty of climbable trees. The first one bends under his weight, but the second tree is sturdier.

The forest spreads out, glittering in the sun, until it changes in the distance, becoming duller. It turns into plains in the other direction, and there's a crystal mountain rising in a third.

The wind shifts, blowing down from the mountain, bringing with it a scent of spilled blood.

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He starts to feel somewhat concerned when he sees that the forest continues on so far, with no sign of a city as far as he can see. Before he can get too worried, the scent of blood distracts him. He hesitates before quickly returning to the ground. He's been doing alright so far, but he's still a fairly new vampire, and the scent is hard to ignore. Does it smell human?

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Only kind of. Human mixed with animal, maybe.

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Well that’s interesting. He hasn’t been a vampire long enough to be able to distinguish species. His first thought is werewolf, because he’s met some of those before.

Whatever it is, it’s part human and possibly in trouble, given he can smell blood. He’s somewhat worried that whatever has hurt the other person could hurt him, but right now it’s the only sign of other people he’s found. With that in mind, he heads off towards the mountain.

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"Don't come any closer," a voice rasps, when Alek gets close. Whoever it is has dragged themselves into a shallow cave.

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Alek freezes when the person speaks. "Sorry. Uh, are you okay?"

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"Fine."

She doesn't sound it.

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"Are you sure? I can go get things, if there's something around here that would help."

The smell of blood is hard to ignore, but he's managing for now. The fact the person is not entirely human helps.

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"Do you know the names of forest plants?"

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"Not really, but I could grab things if you described them?"

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She haltingly describes a type of moss.

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"I'll be right back," he says, then starts looking through the forest. He has never really taken the time to learn anything about plants, so he ends up grabbing a few different types, making note of where he got each. He returns to the cave with handfuls of each. Once he's back to the location he was in before, he pauses. "I got some different types of moss. Do you want me to bring them in to you? I can get more if you tell me which one's right."

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"Swear you're not a hunter, first."

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"I don't think I am, but I'm also not sure what a hunter is in this context. I swear I don't intend to hurt you though."

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"Fine. You can come in."

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He takes a breath before he goes in, somewhat nervous about being around the smell of blood. He then enters the cave slowly, trying not to look threatening.

"Here, I got a few different types, I can go get more of whichever one's right if that's not enough." As he offers the injured person the moss, he tries to see if he can tell what happened.

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She has a cut along her ribs that's bleeding pretty badly. Still, it looks like she was mostly grazed.

She takes the moss, eyeing him warily, and sorts through it - most of it gets pressed to the wound while she eats one type and sets one type aside. "That one's poisonous," she says of the set aside one. "But this's enough."

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He also eyes her carefully, trying not to pay too much attention to the wound. "Sorry about the poisonous one. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

He keeps some distance from her, both in an effort to seem nonthreatening, and to try to stay away from the blood.

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"I'll recover."

Pause.

"Thanks."

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"No problem." After a pause, he adds, "I'm Alek by the way. Do you know where we are?"

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"I'm Tunturi. We're in Copper Wood. Fairyland; you look like something from the human world."

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"Nice to meet you. Yeah, I just got here from the human world. Um, I'm actually a vampire." Looking around at the blood, he says, "Because I that I may want to go back outside soon, where there's a bit less blood."

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"Sure."

"Do you want to talk outside, or just wait for me to stop bleeding."

She kind of hopes the second option. Talking to people's exhausting.

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"I kind of want to go outside. It's up to you if you want to wait here until you're done bleeding or come with me?"

He kind of wants to learn more about what's going on, but he doesn't want her to push herself too much if she needs to rest.

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" - I might wait for a few scabs, at least. Should be fast."

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"Okay, I'll just be outside."

He steps back out of the cave and gives her a bit of space. While she's waiting to heal, he takes a closer look at the forest around him. Are there any hints at what happened?

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A blood trail heading into the cave; there's no signs of an actual struggle visible from here, though.

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He'll wait then, idly looking at the strange plants in the forest.

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She recovers pretty quickly - far faster than humans would - and then gingerly moves outside. Her wounds are closed, now, though the scabs over them are still fragile, and she's having to breathe shallowly.

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He notices her coming out and takes a step back to give her space. "Feeling better?"

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"Not bleeding anymore."

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"That's good. What happened anyway?"

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"Hunter came after me. Got mad when I fought back."

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"What are hunters, exactly?"

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"People who hunt. The problem ones are the ones hunting for wives." She spits the last word like it's a curse.

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“Oh, I’m sorry if that’s what happened. I’m glad you got away from them. Is that a common thing to run into here?”

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"For skin-changers. Perhaps other regions are better."

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"Skin-changers? Like werewolves?" He's also curious about what she means by regions, but he figures he can ask that later.

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"No. Selkies, swan maidens, crane women... We remove and put on our skins to change."

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"Oh, that's...new. Which are you?"

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"A reindeer."

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"Oh, so is the skin that you remove this one or the reindeer-shaped one?"

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"The reindeer one."

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"Do you have to keep it somewhere? That seems inconvenient."

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"It is."

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"I'm sorry. I guess it might be slightly more comfortable than changing into a werewolf?"

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"Doesn't really hurt at all."