06-04-2010, 02:13 AM
Listening to the earthy hunter's words, Case allowed himself to ponder it a while. It was true, the forest did protect her own. Mother Earth looked after all, but especially her forests, which thrived with her lifeblood. She was the trees and waters and winds, her children the beasts of the earth and fish of the sea and the birds of the sky. And of course, man. Not that many men thought of themselves that way anymore. Well, who was he to judge them? He was a hunter. And that was that.
Erik . . . so that was this man's name. The fiery-haired youth's head cocked again, studying the older, slightly taller man. Somehow, he felt as if it suited the reticent fellow. His words surprised him though. Of the great tree? Erik was a plant? But he looked like a man . . . The final words caught him off guard. He, Case, of the great tree's clan? Did the great tree have a clan? Wasn't the great tree's clan all of the forests that dwelt on the lands? But he was a man, not a tree. How confusing. Yet the wild man found it oddly comforting.
Case turned when the snowy-haired girl spoke. As she did, his head went from one side to the other, staring at her like she'd just grown a second head or sprouted a tail. What strange things people thought of. Man's greatest dream was to fly? Then he must be a strange man to them. His greatest dream was to be the hunter of a great hunt. Erik was right. City-men were silly men.
Speaking of city-folk . . . the way the girl was eying his ornaments wasn't at all comforting. The fact that the underlying scent of wicked intent was seeping from her when she did that didn't help her case at all. With a scowl, Case growled a soft warning, baring surprisingly well-kept teeth that, if one were observant enough to notice, had slightly elongated canines; evidence of a mainly carnivorous diet. Unless she wanted to be prey, she had better keep those itchy fingers to herself.
Ah, a little sense from the sun-haired man. A man was a man. He was either man the prey, or man the hunter. Case was determined to stay as the latter. With an almost dismissive shrug - it might as well have been, since most of the stuff the other two spoke of were on the verge of complete nonsense to him - the fiery-haired man stretched out himself for a few moments, arching his back and reaching out in front of himself like a giant humans-shaped cat. Settling back into his crouched position again, the youth toyed with his longer locks as he spoke.
"Case not know. Sun-hair city-man, snow-hair city-girl, make no sense. Tell Case of city-man who think he is great tree, who want to be bird. Think much strange, make no sense."
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