thoughtformed | [Video]

Current Mood: relieved
Current Location: Forest

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[Video]

[Well, someone's finally figured out that camera option. The video whips about, smoothly, but too fast to be handled by an experienced cameraman. And it moves in strange ways - one moment three or four feet off the ground, then shooting straight up into the branches of a tree, weaving about at dizzying speed in and out of the long leaves and vines. Then it somersaults to mere inches above the soil and snakes through the underbrush, focusing on the glitter of a beetle, a shimmering spider's web, a moth blending into the bark of the nearest tree. This wild, stomach-churning ride is accompanied by a soundtrack of high, girlish laughter that fades in and out depending on how fascinated the cameraman is on any particular subject. The roller coaster finally stops at the crown of an enormous deciduous tree and pans slowly across the vista of heavily wooded mountain slopes. An arrogant young girl's voice, with a very clear Irish accent, comes from someone off-screen.]

This is nothing like my forest. It's younger. And wetter. The air's all thick with water, and there's no guardian! Not one as good as me, anyway. The animals were frightened of me, at first, and that's a sure sign. Comes of letting all these people ruin the forest. They'll learn better. Till I can find my way home, I'll take care of this place. It will be MINE.

[The last word comes out in an intense, sing-song whisper, and leaves a sort of odd ringing in the ears of the watcher. The camera promptly dives straight for the ground and shuts off just before impact.]

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[Jack had not anticipated her movements to be so quick and scrambled to collect his things and stumble to his feet in the unfamiliar terrain. By the time he'd sorted himself, Aisling was already back in front of him, looking no more worse for wear. Her feats had been incredible, and swift. More than he'd ever seen in a person ever. Jack's stunned expression melted into a warm smile.]

If you wouldn't mind. How do you do that? I've never seen anyone move like you do.

[Aisling stood, untroubled by the difference in their heights.]

It's not a spell, or anything. I run with the squirrels.

[Simple. Obvious. She beckoned and led him over to the tree, picking her way up the trunk more slowly this time, pausing to look back and make sure he was watching. Fingers sink into this little crevice, book on that bump in the bark, grip that rough patch, pull and scramble... It was harder to do it slowly, not keeping up the momentum, but that didn't mean she wasn't sure of herself. Soon enough she was sitting on one of the lower branches, swinging her feet.]

[Now that Jack watched how she did it, it seemed all very ordinary, but he wasn't stupid enough to take it just like that. He smiled and nodded, pulling out his pen and writing a few notes down.]

Very nicely done. But you don't like to slow down, do you? How long does it usually take you to get to the top of one of these trees and down again?

[Flipping over so that she was hanging upside-down, feet braced on the underside of the branch, Aisling asked her own question first.]

Are you a monk?

[Jack seemed almost startled by the question, and then laughed at the notion.] A Monk? Me? Oh no. Far from it. But I'm flattered that you would ask. Says a lot about my character, I think.

[Jack shook his head, closing the notebook and stashing his pen in the spine.] But no. There's nothing holy about me at all. But I'd like to think that it doesn't make me a bad person. Just average.

[Flip. Spring. Aisling vanished into the foliage, then reappeared a few seconds later in the tree five trunks over. Storing away the information, she decided that meant he was probably a druid. Maybe a sorcerer. She answered his question as if she'd never asked hers.]

Depends on the tree! Old, young, how tall, what kind!

[Jack watched her flip upward and off into the trees. Jack tried to follow along on the forest floor, often losing sight of her. She was incredible. Jack made a mental note of her speed. He was absolutely certain of it now. She wasn't human. More like some kind of ghost or forest spirit.]

So what are you? Do your people have a name?

[She ignored the questions, laughing. It hurt to think about her family, so she tried not to. She wasn't going to tell him her clan, or her people. He probably wouldn't recognize it anyway. He probably didn't even know about... about the Dark One. Hanging by her knees from a bough, Aisling pointed at the lumpy bark of the tree. If Captain looked close enough, he'd be able to see the camouflaged lizard hugging the trunk and pretending very hard that he wasn't there.]

[It was pretty apparent that she wasn't going to answer his question about her species, but maybe he could do a little research. Ireland was rich with folktales about little people and magical beings, so it wasn't too farfetched that he'd be able to find some clues in the old stories. He shrugged it off and looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was a lizard hanging onto the bark. There was a little boy inside Jack that perhaps wanted to pluck it off and examine it closely, but no, he'd made a promise, and Jack was nothing but faithful to his word.]

So I've gotten to ask you a lot of questions. Is there anything you want from me? I'd hate to come into your home and just take, take, take.

[Oh, ho! Free questions? He really didn't know much about who she was, did he? ...Unless he did, and he was luring her into asking something she couldn't repay. Hm. Better not ask him to teach her that spell, then. She considered him, not bothering to right her orientation.]

Someone said that the town has no chief. Who leads and protects the people there?

The police force does. They're hired by the city to protect the people there and help them when they're in need or in danger. As for a mayor or a "chief"... it's hard to say. There are city officials, but no one ever sees them, and I doubt anyone's elected them.

So there are warriors. That's good. But probably not enough. How far away is Ireland from here?

I'm not even sure we're on Earth anymore to be honest. [Jack folded his arms and leaned against a tree, watching Aisling hang upside down.] Luckily the same laws apply... We're just somewhere different. Somewhere real.

[Well of course it was real. This didn't feel like an illusion spell.]

Earth? And what laws?

Earth. The planet we live on. That's what the world is called. The laws are the laws of physics. Time, space, gravity. Those kinds of things.

[Jack folded his arms and frowned up at her.] Didn't you talk to the people when you arrived?

[Now, Aisling, making faces is rude. So she didn't. Barely. Instead she vanished back up into the canopy, her voice nonchalant.]

They talked to me. A lot of nonsense. Something about being fictional and that I have to stay here until they decide it's right, and a lot of other things. And they also gave me this.

[A small hail of nuts fell out of the tree from about where she disappeared, along with a key labeled WEST 105. Hope you weren't standing there, Captain! She didn't check first. Being up in the branches made it easier to hide how shaken she was. She might be on another world? She couldn't swim home if she wasn't on the same world.]

[Jack jumped a bit as the shower of nuts landed a few feet away from him. He cocked his head and stepped over to pick up the key. That was the key to her flat. He wondered briefly who she would be living with, but decided that it really didn't matter.]

This is the key to the place that they gave you to live. If you don't want to live out here in the beautiful forest, anyway. Someone else would be living with you, so I don't know if that's something you would like to consider or not.

A place in the town? With walls and doors? Who would want to do that?

[Her voice was full of scorn, and it wasn't clear if she had even thought that perhaps he lived in the city himself.]

Everything's choked and tame, there.

[She appeared between two trees some ten yards on further down the forest edge.]

Do you know more magic?

Some of us are used to living in homes. Not everyone is as brave as you living out here in the wilderness. People find it safe.

[Jack pushed off of the tree and followed her down, watching Aisling with a great interest.]

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. Sadly, one of them doesn't work anymore. But I can do a few other things. And do you want to hear about the best magic trick of all?

[Her forest was home. It wasn't entirely safe for normal people, though, that was true. More safe if they were her friends. But she wasn't brave for living there. It was just natural.]

If people feel safe behind walls, why isn't there a wall around the town here? Why doesn't your spell work anymore? Did you forget part of it?

[Aisling slipped behind a tree and popped up a few feet from him.]

What "magic trick"?

Actually, there is a sort of wall around the island. It keeps us in, but I don't really know how good it is at keeping things out.

[Jack smiled at Aisling as she came close to him, a playful twinkle in his eyes.]

If you kill me, I won't die.

[Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare. Suddenly Aisling wasn't sure if he was toying with her, or if he really was one of the Folk, or a magician or sorts. She had assumed magician, but the only people she knew of who were truly immortal like that were the High Ones. The ones with so much power that even if they were killed, the world wouldn't let them die permanently. What kind of power did he have that he could cheat death like that? ...And if someone like him could, why couldn't- She ducked her head a little so that she could put the thin protection of her hair between her and Jack. She shrank in on herself a little, remembering the cold, draining magics of the Dark One, and shivered. There was a long silence. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and strained, pitched a little higher than usual and sharp edged.]

How?

[Upon seeing Aisling's reaction, Jack knew that he'd made a mistake in telling her his secret. He frowned and shook his head.]

I died once. I was killed in battle. And.. a kind goddess looked favourably upon me. She pitied me, and seeing me dead, she brought me back to life. Unfortunately, the goddess was too strong and brought me back to life forever. So even when I die, I always come back, just like this.

[Aisling relaxed a little, swishing most of her hair out of her face. It wasn't his magic, then, but someone else's. That made him way less scary. Ok. Something in the way he described it said he had mixed feelings about the gift, too, which reassured her, in an obscure way. Still. Not a magic she wished to test.]

That's... powerful magic.

It is. It's the magic of time and space. It's been helpful at times.

[He could tell that she was still somewhat nervous and apprehensive with this new revelation. Jack smiled softly at her and held out his hand, which was quite ordinary, even with as old as it was.]

I'm not dangerous. I want to help people here. There's a lot of strange things that happen here, and I want to know why. I want to help people leave here and go home where they belong. That includes you.

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