Wooded Hunting Area near Alrania's Capitol City

A forest near Alrania's capitol city... nothing too special aside from the usual greenery, flowers and herbs, and fauna. Hunting is allowed here, though part of it is sectioned off with an imaginary border exclusively for the nobles and royals to hunt.

In a clearing there is a small waterfall and spring, which is then connected to a stream that flows onward...




A spring green cropped blouse...

Light green, very short skirt adorned with embroidered flowers...

A striped skirt several inches longer...

Pale yellow gauzy skirt, its length approximately halfway between knee and ankle on an average-height woman...

And a bluish-purple full-length skirt, also blowing in the breeze...

These articles of clothing were not upon any one person, but rather gently scattered about the trees and brush as though hung out to dry from a thorough washing. However, upon closer inspection one would find they were dry and mostly clean despite a few grass stains that still had not washed out even after many tries. There could only be a very few select reasons for such garments to by lying about...

Dressed in only a long hunter green traveling cloak, Lani approached the tiny waterfall and small attached spring with a smile upon her face. She would head into Alrania’s capitol city tomorrow, not something she often did. However, before she did that, she might as well enjoy the spring she’d found on her way. A swim and bath sounded like a delightful idea. The young lady toed the water with her bare feet, giggling to herself at a joyous memory of a playful splashing fight she'd had with Alida, her dragon companion. Obviously, Alida had won the match with much laughter and merriment from the both of them.

Without a further thought, Lani immediately cast off the cloak at the water’s edge and dove in very near the waterfall. She would swim for a while, then bathe, and repeat the pattern. Another habit she'd learned from Alida, and one that made sense in her opinion. It was a great way indeed to get exercise and tend to one’s cleanliness at the same time.

In spite of its short size, the waterfall thundered as it sprayed mist upon everything and anything in its range. The power of the cascading water was such that as Lani stood at the base of the falls and bent to wash her curly caramel-chocolate hair, she could not even hear the boisterous melody of birdsong in the air.

Little did she realize she was in the Royals and Nobles-only portion of the woods...

Theseus sighed to himself as he jogged his way through Alrania's forest. Yet again, he had managed to lose track of his arrow, and while arrows were rather easy, not to mention fairly cheap, for a Prince to replace, he felt almost compelled to retrieve lost arrows the third, or in his case, sixty-seventh time around. He truly was an epic failure when it came to athletics. How he managed to miss a target literally two feet before him and somehow have the arrow soar nearly 40 feet through the skies was beyond him.

A blondish eyebrow raised at the various articles of clothing scattered throughout the forest. He wondered briefly if his late night/early morning gallavant to the pub perhaps had left about a different result it seemed he was misfortunate enough to not recall, though opted to not dwell on it. No need to torment oneself into further dissapointment with the loss of a memory such as that one than he already was with his apparent failure at archery.

"A-ha!" He exclaimed triumphantly as he caught the glint of his gold-tipped arrow floating on the water. He shrugged off his riding gear and various articles of clothing before cannon-balling into the water with delight, his previous failure forgotten.

He never noticed the other maiden in the water...

Lani did not suppress the small smile that came to her features at the feel more than sound of something entering the lake as well, though couldn't help but find it slightly odd. Perhaps a woodland friend of hers from Dorpha had decided to join her? That too seemed odd, for animals did not normally share the water at the same time as humans... even if said human shared the space of the great outdoors with it.

Turning away from the falls, the young woman only saw a brief blur of a yellowish something that looked like hair as it dove into the water. Lani tilted her head in curiosity, for the moment oblivious to the unfamiliar gear and clothing upon the bank of the water. However, something else did catch her eye.

Swimming out towards the thing, Lani felt her blood chill as dexterous fingers wrapped around the wood of the gold-tipped arrow, retrieving it from the watery surface. Had someone shot at her? Would they do so again? Where were they? Lani glanced around the wood in alarm but saw nor heard anyone...

One amber and one green eye examined the arrow closer, ears keenly attuned for even the faintest of noises now. Although, all Lani heard at the moment was the falling water and could now hear the chirped birdsong filtering through the air.

Needless to say when a man emerged from the water, and fairly close to her, Lani gasped and slipped on the smooth stones of the spring's bed, falling backward in her attempt to backpedal to a 'safe' distance. Ever since nearly becoming a band of slavers' form of personal entertainment Lani was a little extra cautious around men she didn't recognize. Yet... he did have the same build as a young lad she once knew and rather liked from the orphanage she grew up in.