[PRS] Daino & Scorpius-Hyperion-Malfoy

The rustling from the bushes is concerning but Valarr keeps hidden. "Of course it's a human girl" he scoffs internally , shaking his head, half in wonder how his large destrier stays hidden.

Fresh bodies was never a good thing, the stench is foul to most but the beasts. She had clearly not noticed him , thankfully, he's not in the mood to kill some poor girl. He mumbles a small curse, mounting his horse.
He keeps his calm , watching the worry on her face, a expression he has seen plenty enough during the battles. Following her as a precaution , to see if some information can be retrived.

Arleigh forced the stubborn mare forward a couple of steps forward, but something was not quite right. The horse seemed agitated, even when Arleigh would have thought that there was nothing more that the working horse wanted than to return to her stable.

“Please jus- whoah!” The horse reared just as she tried to place a faster gear in. Arleigh had a good grip of the reins and squeezed her feet together, not to lose balance and fall of the horse. The mare let out a high neigh as she stomped down on the ground, turning them around slightly between the trees.

“What the hell,” Arleigh started whispering firmly with a frown firmly planted on her forehead, just about to scold the mare when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. The mare stomped again, clearly trying to get her attention to the same thing, a source of the horse’s hesitation. There, among the trees, she could point out the silhouette of a big, dark steed with something, someone, mounted on it.
She froze in her position. How had she missed that there was someone else besides the bodies here? Stupid, stupid, stupid idea. Her heart almost skipped a beat as she held her breath, rapidly scrutinizing the stranger behind the branches and leaves.

Valarrs own horse reacts to the mare's worried sounds, seems to be aggitated by them. A quick command and curse in Elvish does not calm it down.

He makes no attempt of following her just emmerges quietly from the bushes, arms at his side and a scrutinizing look in his eyes. "You're not allowed here, girl" His white blonde hair and piercing eyes oddly seem to blend into the woodland colors as well as the clothes, perfectly made to stalk in the woods.

The look of the stranger made it very clear what he was as Arleigh was able to take a closer look. The blonde hair, those almost magically sharp eyes, the quite marble-like fade on his skin… This was an elf, no doubt about it. She gripped the reins harder with her left hand and let her right one slowly wander down to rest on the decorated sword handle on her belt, her heart almost beating out of her chest by now.

Elves were not anything she had seen this close, and by the look of it, he was the culprit behind the bloodshed. Elves… Powerful, cunning creatures based on all the stories she had been told. Great fighters, this one in particular if you compared the body count to just one elf.
“The borders are a bit hazy,” she said with as much confidence as she could in her voice, her eyes fastened on the elf and his mighty steed. It was the only thing she could think of to counter with, a slightly panicked way of not freezing up in complete silence, but also a truth in a way. The stories always differed – one day the humans have taken elven territory, the next day the elves fought back and vacated whole villages in their attacks. It was not the easiest task to have any control over what belongs to whom these days. However, she was quite sure that the elf spoke the truth – these woods was something she doubted that the humans had ever conquered.

Valarr keeps his keen eyes on the girl, barely blinks so he won't miss a motion, although he had no doubt that the girl was no threat, these were not their woods, it belongs to the Elves, now and until the end of time. Her feigned confidence does elicit a soft chuckle from him. "We have set up markers and walls but you burn them and tear them down - and that sword will do you no good, girl. Head back to your village."

He takes a step closer, toying with her now, Valarr can practically hear her heartbeat from here, panicked like a trapped deer. He continues to speak "Do you remember where you came from, girl?" calming her was not something he cared to do, he had seen knights flee and attack in panic even when the elves intentions were good, he knew what folly can do to someone's reasoning. The Elves have never wanted the castles , they have always had their own , full of magic- they never took more than what was needed, humans do not share that sentiment, pillaging and destroying all they can.

Arleigh kept her gaze fastened on the elf and his steed, careful not to lose her concentration and look away for a brief moment. Who knew, it could be the last thing she would look at. She was having a hard time reading his intentions, but as he had freshly killed these humans just a moment ago, she took no chances.

She bit her tongue as he spoke, just to be on the safe side. She tended to sometimes speak too soon or without thinking, and being provoked or scoffing back might not be the best idea. Still, she did not like his way of speaking to her, even if he was quite right.

“I remember vey well,” she said quietly, her mare backing the same distance that he closed in by itself. The horse kept quite quiet except for the occasional front hoof stomp to signal how she did not want to stay too long.
“Are there more of you here?” she asked, gazing upon his facial features, memorizing his appearance as she used to with strangers. A precaution, a habit, or something along those lines. She was however very interested in not running into any like-minded creatures on her way back to warn the others of hostile elves.

Valarrs eyes easily follow her movements, the small twitches and her posture are easy to read. His blade had been cleaned of all blood but as the smell of blood lingers in the air still, finding it's way to the noses of hungry predators, some he thinks himself hear rustling about in the bushes, waiting.

Another chuckle rolls past his lips at the clenching of the girls jaw, 'she must be having a difficult time holding her tongue' he muses as his gaze scans her face and body once more, searching for any sign of that she might do something foolish.

"Mayhaps you should return there and go about your day, girl." The statement, although a kind enough one, could be heard as some sort of threat as his voice is deep and accent is still somewhat has a rough , Elvish tone to it. The language is melodic but certain phrases sound more menacing than intend to be. His destrier keeps pace with the mare, the large horse seems unphased by the predators about , a true war horse. "These are our woods" he simply replies, that should be a sufficient answer. Valar did understand why the humans were afraid of them but elven children were afraid of humans so it is all the same.

Arleigh felt a bit torn. Part of her wanted to turn her horse around and ride back as fast as she could to the ranch, while part of her craved more information. Were this a one-time attack and this elvish warrior was simply provoked by these human men, or were there more of them ready to attack the villages or cities around? It felt unforgivable to simply leave when there could be innocent lives at stake, but at the same time she preferred not to lose her own. This was also the first elf she had ever met this close, peaking her curiosity at the same time.

Her mare threw anxious glances to the sides, letting out short neighs to her owner. The working horse had probably picked up on some movement in the woods, perhaps animals or creatures drawn to the smell of blood and fresh meat. Arleigh herself could make up some faint rustling in the distant bushes or occasional noises of dry branches snapping under the weight of something moving. Wolves, perhaps? Even though she frequently visited the edge of the forest, she had no idea what lurked here deeper in the woods. Could be her imagination as well.

She opened her mouth to answer the fair-skinned warrior before an even closer rumble in the thick nearby bushes made her mare loudly stomp the ground and neigh loudly, and Arleigh was forced to remove her focused gaze from the elf to the close sound.

His own horse is stomping at the ground, huffing and neighing, the sounds from the bushes seems to be upsetting the warhorse as well, that is not a good sign. Valarr tightens the reins and keeps his gaze on the girl, as if he can hear the curious workings on her mind. Humans had always had so much fear in them, mayhaps not more than the elves but it seemed to show more in them.

The rusting of the bushes is getting louder, coming from several sides, indicating that they are surrounded. His thoughts went to wolves, what else could it be? Larger beasts do roam but not during the daytime, but a pack of wolves his not to be underestimated. The destrier stomps again, almost sending tremors in the ground due to the sheer weight behind the animal. Growling is heard from all around them, even if he was skilled enough to deal with a small pack of wolves, he was not certain how well a girl would do, even less one armed with a bow.

"Can you fight?" he asks, voice still hard and harbors a tone of suspicion. With one smooth movement he is down on the ground, sword embedded in the first wolfs neck, two more emerge from the underbrush, growling menacingly and charging for Valarr, who has widened his stance, preparing for another attack from the wolves.

The growls confirmed it for Arleigh – definitely wolves. Her mare was not enjoying the situation one bit and resolved to pace from side to side, almost as trying to decide on the very limited good options of an escape route. Arleigh’s mind was not as focused on the elf anymore, but instead on survival – this was not the first wild animals she had defended herself against, but one should never underestimate an opponent.

As the mare’s moving was of no good to her, she swung off her horse in a swift motion, hand on the hilt of her sword. The embroider on the grip was ever so familiar to her hand, a familiar touch, yearning to be swung. If she only could master the bow as easily. As her weight lifted from the horse it set off, not wanting to stay in the midst of these creatures. Arleigh on the other hand, this felt just like her element.

“You bet,” she replied, not even focusing on her reply as she drew her sword, quickly followed by a shriek of a wolf as she pierced its neck. She spun around, ducking from a lounging wolf and sliced the abdomen open from underneath, continuing the dance with a couple steps to the side, slightly twirling the balanced sword in her right hand. Her heartbeat was finally steadying itself from the initial adrenaline rush caused by the elven warrior, and she gazed around, registering the movement of the agitated hungry animals.