Just a misunderstanding

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah was considering his life choices at the moment. When he'd started taking hunting commissions, he's expected to deal with some normal things. Hunting rabid animals, dealing with predators that got too close to livestock, or even just getting particular species for food and clothing.

He had not expected for a panicked person to rush in screaming about a manticore. Nor did he expect them to mention that it was in the Greatwood. Really, why was Sah the one they went to? He was from Halo, as far from the aforementioned place as could be. Yet they'd been desperate and so he'd agreed. And that was how Sah found himself walking along the perimeter of where the Mathair was, tracking a manticore.

Lilly ran along beside him, following the beast's scent. Soon the creature was in sight and so creeping forward as silently as possible, Sah braced himself. Taking a silent breath, he leapt, his sword coated in small bursts of static lightning, that recently had become more powerful for some reason. The blade hit home, sinking into the beast's side.

Sah

REMI

if you're not going to swim deep with me

Many in the Greatwood knew of Remi's ability to become a manticore. It was one of the ways he kept her safe, and though he had never posed much of a threat to the fae, those wandering through the Wood were absolutely a different story...

Just now though, Remi's focus was on a particularly meddlesome cath sith that Delphia had told him of. Stalking the beast, he was intent on obfuscating its efforts to steal souls from a recent burial when Sah and Lilly had come along. With his head low, ears pinned against the wild halo of his mane and his tail archived high and menacing above his body, Remi was far too focused on not breaking eye contact with the shadow-y whisp of the cat to notice the presence of the hunter or the wolf.

When you're the alpha predator, it's easy to take things for granted.

With a surprised growl, Remi snarls and turns. The hunter's blade and lightning is hardly able to damage him at all, strong as he is, but it pulls his attention from the cat just the same. Overcome by a predatory rage at having had his prey startled, the manticore turns, opening a mouth filled with rows and rows of shark teeth, to roar at Sah and Lilly alike.

get out of my waters

Coding base by Sky!

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah has moved from considering, to genuinely regretting his life choices at the moment. Leaping back from the snarling predator, he gestures for Lilly to take cover away from the situation. The pup happily does so, and disappears into the bushes where she can watch from a safe distance.

Eyeing the manticore Sah snarls back. "Sorry buddy. Someone asked me to deal with a manticore in the forest." He eyed the creature, noticing the intelligence in it's eyes. "Though, I'm starting to guess that they wanted me dead for some reason." Sah offered with a tense shrug, but he kept his sword up in front of him. "Just promise not to hurt the wolf pup if you eat me?" The Outlander was seriously considering praying to someone that this creature was an Attuned and not a wild beast that was about to kill him.

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

Leafchange is a fairly predatory season for Remi, and so it takes several seconds for his mind to wrangle control over his body. His instincts flare brightly behind his eyes, calculating with incredible precision just how quickly and easily he could flay the man before him with his claws. But wrangle himself he does, and where previously there was a roaring manticore, suddenly there is a rather bemused looking alchemist.

With his arms folded across his chest and his curls looking like they might be styled after a bird's nest atop his head, Remi looks anything but a threat. "I think you might be right." He agrees, ruffling a hand through his curls and offering the man before him a sunny grin. Remi's words are thickly accented, but more or less understandable just the same. "I am immortal, so being tasked with killing me is..." He shrugs with a chuckle, as he holds out his hand toward Sah.

"I am Remi Taliesin."

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah let out a relieved sigh as his suspicion was confirmed. He takes the offered hand with a chuckle. "Sah. Nice to meet you Remi." A slightly playful tint appears on his smile. "Thanks for not eating me." Now that the man has shifted and is clearly not goign to attack, Lilly comes out of her hiding place. She approaches with open curiosity, and just a dose of caution as she gets close enough to sniff at the demi-god. Sah eyes her with a raised brow. "The nosy pup is Lilly."

Meanwhile, Sah mulls over the information. "An immortal. Fantastic. Now I have to go track that fucker down and kill him for trying to off me." The Outlander's voice is practically dripping with sarcasm. "Not sure why anyone would want to though. I'm just a hunter from Halo. An Abandoned Outlander, yes, but not a very powerful one."

As he's trying to piece together a motive, the name finally clicks. "Wait, Remi Taliesin you said, you're Ronin's husband?" Seren's family?

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

"Not a problem." The alchemist chuckles back. "I tend not to eat people, even when provoked." He had once, but that was a long time ago, and he hadn't actually known what it was he was eating—but never mind that. "Hallo Lilly." Remi offers with a nod in the wolf's direction, before glancing back to Sah.

"And...these are more or less my woods now. And we certainly do not allow for the murder of creatures here. Hunting for food, yes. But commissioned killing?" Remi crinkles his nose and gives his head a shake. That it was someone from Halo has the alchemist looking all the more confused. Why would someone from Halo bother with the goings-on of the Greatwood?

'Mm? Oh, yes." With a chuckle, Remi runs a hand through his curls as he nods. "For some time now. Do you know him?"

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah raised a brow at the demi-gods words. "Good to know. Glad that this was my first time taking a job out here. I've been in these woods before and hunted, but only for food. I'm glad that I haven't been breaking the rules the entire time."  But that certainly did make the entire situation all the more peculiar.

"The person who came to me put on a good show. Panicking to the point that that they didn't really even let me say no. I should have caught on then." Sah grimaced, teeth grinding slightly. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. And he would be tracking them down. "Any idea why someone would want to kill a random hunter in Halo? Or why they'd choose to send him out here of all places to get himself killed?" If these were Remi's woods, maybe he'd have a better idea of what the motive was.

The question about Ronin got a small shrug. "I've met him a couple of times but I don't know him very well. I'm friends with Seren." Weird friends, but friends nonetheless.

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

The alchemist nods with a terse, but not unkind smile. "Hunt anytime you like, but only for sustenance. If anyone commissions you for a job here again, kindly send them my way." The threat in Remi's words isn't dulled at all by his smile. As for why? "No idea. These Woods have a habit of being uncooperative at the best of times. Perhaps someone just wanted you out of the picture for a while." Would Sah return to find their home broken into? Was it a cheating spouse? Remi really couldn't guess.

"Ah." The alchemist murmurs. "Seren is Ronin's daughter, not mine. But we are close just the same." It was out of respect for both father and child that he points this out, not because he doesn't want to be associated with Seren.

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah nodded firmly. "Understood." The Abandoned hated poachers and he'd never willingly become one. The fact that he nearly had done so made his blood boil. The person who sent him out here would not survive their next encounter. Sah did give a slight smirk however and added, "I'll send them to you, if there's anything left of them once I'm through." There likely wouldn't be much for the demi-god honestly.

Remi's idea had Sah humming in thought. "Guess I'll see what's waiting for me at home." There really wasn't any valuable in his house so he doubted it was for burglary. The only thing even remotely valuable was his oven. But he doubted that'd be stolen.

The comment about Seren drew an understanding nod from the Outlander. "That makes sense." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, guilt and awkwardness eating at him. "I'm really sorry about this entire mess of a situation though. And for the stab." Sah glanced at the demi-god's clear lack of pain, a small chuckle slipping out. "Though I think it was more a poke for you, wasn't it?"

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

Remi snorts a touch at that, but nods. He's got too many irons in the fire just now to worry about who might have sent Sah after him, and if the hunter wanted to deal with them himself? By all means.

The younger man's guilt has the alchemist shaking his head with a sunny grin. "No harm done." He agrees. "Very brave of you though, to go attacking a manticore with just a sword." Very stupid as well, but that didn't need to be said. "Next time though, I would try and distract me first, and then aim for the belly." Remi adds with a bit of a laugh. Hopefully there wouldn't be a next time though, especially as the alchemist was the only manticore around that he knew of.

"Have you been to the Greatwood before?"

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah relaxes as Remi brushes off his mistake. The slight compliment however has the Outlander shaking his head with a chuckle. "Brave? Sure, but mostly just not my smartest moment." Really, what had he been thinking? Sah had just wanted the man to shut up, so he'd just agreed to the job and headed out. The unexpected advice pulled Sah out of his thoughts and had a playful smirk stretching across his face. "I'll be sure to do that, if I ever make such a stupid decision again."

The last question has a small smile emerging. "Yes. Once. I actually met Lilly in the Wildwood." Said pup happily trotted over and sat on one of her bonded's feet. He gave her an amused look before turning back to Remi. "I was born and raised on the tundra, but I love it out here. The forest here, it's so.." Sah struggled ot find the right word to describe the aura he got from the Greatwood. "Alive." That was the best way he could think to summarize it.

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

'I find brave and smart rarely go hand in hand.' Remi adds with a grin. "I say that being married to quite the hero." Ronin was absolutely brave, and was not always absolutely smart. Winking at the other man as his advice is stored away hopefully never to be used, Remi stands up a touch straighter and folds his arms comfortably across his chest.

"Oh I see." He murmurs, chuckling down at the young canine. 'I have not really been to Halo much. I was there for a time when water and lilies were needed from Frey's Breath, but aside from that...' Crinkling his nose, he gives his head a shake. "I have never been on good terms with Launceleyns." He adds: Zariah had ruled mercilessly, then Neron. Though it had been Morgan largely in charge, by that point the alchemist had all but given up on the icy land.

Grinning, Remi can only nod in hearty agreement. "It quite literally is that. She'll turn you around and spit you back out again if she does not want you here. Getting to the heart of the Villiage is near impossible unless you know the way, or know how to ask."

yet my blood renders me a King

The comment about Ronin has Sah suppressing a snort of laughter. "Fair enough. I'm guessing you're the brains of the operation most days?" He was unable to keep a small teasing smirk from his face. Perhaps not the best choice when dealing with an immortal near-stranger, but the demi-god's relaxed aura drew it out of him.

Remi's description of the former leaders of Halo, had Sah nodding. "I've heard about them, but I've never met any. I've only been in Caido for a year or so, so I've never met Morgan either. But I have heard the stories." Betrayal, violence, romance, all of it. Why Halo had such a drama-filled history of leaders was beyond him.  

The description of the Greatwood intrigued Sah. "That explains why it was so easy for me to find Vai when I needed her. I was wondering why a path practically appeared. She'd mentioned that it was the Greatwood's doing, but I didn't really process it." A living forest. Sah had encountered a few like that in his world, and every time he was left feeling awe. Eyeing the forest around him, he felt respect come forth for the trees and vines surrounding the area.

Why had the forest so willingly brought him to Remi when he sought him harm, though? Besides the fact that Sah was incapable of actually hurting the immortal, why hadn't it just locked him out?

Sah

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

Remi can't help the laughter that bubbles from his lips as he gives the other man a decisive shake of his head. "I have been the brains of the operation maybe...twice? in all our years together?" Though it might have been more often than that, it certainly wasn't most days to be sure.

Reaching out to place his palm against one of the trees, the alchemist nods as he gives it a friendly pat. "She does need a bit of help now and again. That is why I'm here." To keep the ascended out. To keep her creatures from being hunted down by assassins sent from Halol. You know, just normal things.

"Well, you are free to stay as long as you like. Or, as long as she lets you, I suppose." This latter sentiment is said with a boyish chuckle and light shrug. If Sah pushed his luck, no doubt he'd find himself on the Greatwood's border staring at her pathways and wondering how he'd ended up so far from where he began.