xx. winterfall

Alba gasped. Horror filled her eyes, which was then replaced with a red vail of anger. Oblivious to Sither's warning, she crouched towards Twilight and asked:
"What happened? Tell me everything."

Twilight looked slightly scared of Alba.
"I was supposed to be fighting Eclipse as training, but I threw down my sword. Mother got so angry that she took out her own sword, and did that."

Alba frowned. Raven was her friend, but to do that to a child! To her own child!
Alba could not understand. She had often wondered what it would be like to have children, but even though Twilight was not her own, she felt a huge wave of anger and shock towards Raven. She needed to control her anger or she would end up killing one of her twins.

Sither then turned to the manticore and to the infant, in that order. He then saw that the trees were shapeshifting and moving at the same time. He looked all around, cursed, then, turned to the manticore. He muttered, 'Don't tell the kid, but we may have a serious problem here.' He mouthed 'Ent', then turned to the trees.

Twilight sensed Sither's caution, and swallowed hard. She was scared again, and gripped the hilt of her sword, hoping that Merlas would come back again.

Alba had no clue what that ment and knew Twilight was not stupid and could probably lipread, but she didn't say anything. She kept her eyes fixed on the slowly shifting trees around them.
She stood up and pulled Twilight close to her. If anything happened to her, she would never forgive herself.

Twilight looked up at Alba, and hung on to her hand. The Manticore was familiar to her, and familiar felt safe.

Alba glanced at Sither for any signe that might tell her what they were up against. She didn't dare speak, incase it activated the unknown creatures beyond the safety of the group.

There was a sudden thundering of hooves as Shadow appeared on the tall battlemare, Merlas. She dropped down silently, and strode over to stand next to Alba. She smiled slightly, and then bent down to hug Twilight.

Alba's eyes filled with relief at the sight of Shadow. She opened the mental link and said.
She's hurt. Raven took a bad turn. This guy's sensed something dangerous. Donno what it is. And boy am i glad to see you!

Shadow nodded to Alba, and gently took Twilight's arm, taking off the bandage. The wound was deep and long. Shadow healed it over, leaving only a light scar.

Alba looked away, unable to understand how Raven could do such a thing.
She focused on Sither, windering what he was going to do.

Sither stayed cautious of his surroundings. The branches were moving, transforming. The trees slowly retreated or advanced near them, and every time Sither had a short surprise. If they continue moving, he thought, we'll never find our way out of here.
Roots started to sprout from the ground.
Sither then yelled, 'Treefolk! Hear me!'
The trees slowly turned to Sither, but the group still did not know if they were looking at them. 'Your eyes are getting weak! I am no human, and nor is this girl! No need to lock us in the forest!'
He heard another cavalry. It was Shadow, this time. Sither felt releived. 'Long time no see, princess.' he said, quietly. Then, a big tree just squeezed out of the mass of the other trees. It bellowed, in an old and creckly voice, 'Curse these humans! Cutting us one by one! We can't defend ourselves. Oh, how will we ever survive?'
Sither thought a moment, then said, 'Have no fear, treefolk! I, Sither, have accepted the goal to find out the meaning of human existence! I shall find the answer soon, and you will all be freed from the death machines.'
Sither wondered how the Ents would react.

Sither, then. Kuijin. That she'd never heard of. She was calm now that the danger had passed; its scent was being carried away by the wind, cooling the skin beneath her thick gray-and-white plumage. Her back legs felt cold in the blowing wind, but she could take it easily as her eyes came back to the two others nearby. they were talking together, and now the first one - Sither - was going toward them. The grisskon, supposing that the fight had ended though she was still tensely alert to what her senses were telling her, let her flared tail feathers drop and silently padded closer to the tight little group. She stopped only a few spinelengths away.
There was still something on the incoming wind. She could smell it... but this scent she wasn't familiar with either. This was all taking a rather disconcerting turn. Kuijin, humanish things, invisible threats - what next? Walking trees? In the lands where she had lived, creatures did not change shape (or at least not often). Back home, they were either hunter or hunted. It seemed that everything could change from one moment to another in this place.
Her head snapped around again at the sound of pounding hooves. Was the horse coming back?...
Her dark eyes immediately picked out the silhouette on the beast's back, and she drew back warily into the shade of the trees, wondering what this new one's arrival meant. The grisskon closely watched it - her, it seemed, now that she had a clear view - but all she did was come to the younger one, unwrap something (cloth? what?) from her arm and do one more thing to the little girl, something the grisskon couldn't see. Her head feathers prickled uncomfortably. This was getting to be more than strange. Most of all, though, she felt that their were a few too many beings here for her comfort.

However, as the tree behind her moved, she completely forgot this and leaped right beside the only one she somewhat knew - Sither. He seemed to know what to do anyway. She lowered herself, dark eyes narrowed and searching.
Well, the trees were moving. What a wonderful world.