By Momoless

The sun was slowly sinking over the forest in a corner of Warrenfall. Nerron stood in a small clearing, watching the last rays of sunlight disappear from his view, shrouding the mountainous forest he was hiking thru in darkness, his glowing eyes easily adjusting to it.  Earlier that day, just some hours ago by now, Nerron had finished a job for a noble, living in a villa in the lush valley at the bottom of the mountain. It had been a job of several weeks, and Nerron was looking forward to the reward being send to his home and having some time for himself. While parting, the noble had been extremely talkative, to Nerron's annoyance, but something had caught his attention. A story about an old shrine that seemed to be haunted for some months, just thru the forest and up the mountain. His curiosity being stronger than his common sense, he wanted to see this place, and find out if it really was haunted, and let's be honest, to see if something valuable was stored in the shrine.  The noble had told him to follow an old beaten down path, that used to be used by the villagers at the bottom of the valley, praying to whatever deity they believed in and the shrine was dedicated to. Since the haunting started, less and less people wandered up the path, so it became overgrown quickly, but Nerron could still make out where it used to be.  

Long before he even reached the shrine, Nerron's keen ears picked up a sound that didn't matched the typical forest noises. Not wanting to give away that he noticed, he just kept walking, but he kept track of the sound; something or someone was keeping pace with him, walking somewhere off to his side thru the thicker underbrush. He walked for a little while more, the other entity not getting closer or further away from him, just steadily keeping up with him. Before Nerron could make up his mind, if he should try to outrun the stranger, or confront them, he noticed a mist started to slowly hang over the forest. He wasn't sure if it was just a natural occurrence, since this area of the mountains was known for its foggy days, or if it was connected to the haunted shrine, or even to the stranger. Maybe all three options. With every step it got harder to keep track of the overgrown path, the fog getting thicker by the minute. If not careful, he could get lost, something that he didn't wanted to deal with at the moment.  Concentrating hard on the ground, making sure it was still part of the path and not wild forest floor, Nerron didn't noticed he was about to run into something obscuring the way until it was to late. With a surprised 'oof' he walked face-first into something soft and white, jumping backwards in shock.  A gently laugh greeted Nerron, and he breathed in in a sharp hiss of air. Whoever he walked into was someone he knew; Wilver. But of course, Nerron knew better. It was impossible for the other vayron to show up in the middle of forest in Warrenfall, when he should be in a completely different country.  “What is it, aren't you happy to see me?” the fake Wilver asked, trying to sound innocent. In a way, Nerron was happy to see the other, even if he knew it wasn't really Wilver, but most likely what was scaring the people of this area. In another way, he felt an awful pang of sorrow, thinking of the last time he had actually seen him. It had been after they first met when Nerron got hurt during a treasurhunt, and Wilver had insisted to escort him back to the capital of Thedale, where Nerron lived. They had finally reached the giant city at the brink of night, and Nerron had convinced the other to stay at a small Inn along the outskirt of the city. When Wilver was fast asleep, Nerron sneaked away with not even a goodbye, not wanting to lead Wilver to where he actually lived, at the center of the capitol, where the noble would live in huge beautiful and lush mansions, as he was born into a noble family himself, something he felt shameful about. Ever since he left the room and Wilver sleeping form, he hadn't seen him a second time, but he had often thought about the other. Their time together crossing the desert country had been something Nerron secretly had enjoyed, something unusual for him, since he disliked most other people, but Wilver had wormed his way persistently into his heart. His own attachment to another being had scared Nerron, another reason why he had just disappeared without another word.  

The other being in front of Nerron giggled, pulling his thoughts back to the reality.  “You should see your face” they said, laughing even more as Nerron pulled his brows down into a frown.  “You are a strange one, I could see in your mind that you really wanted to see this vayron,” they said, indicating their Wilver-like body “but you looked like you really hated actually seeing them.” Nerron snorted, shaking his head. “That is just my face, I look annoyed all the time. Partially because I am annoyed most of the time.” he said, trying to gloss over why he must have looked so pained. “Anyways, so you don't even try to convince me you are Wilver, so who are you? Or what? Do I have to worried? The people around here said this place is haunted after all.” The not-Wilver shook their head, laughing in amusement, the movement distorting the image, and soon Nerron could see they were looking less and less like Wilver, and more like a small dark blue and red vayron with several tails, reminding him of a kitsune.  “Oh you are a funny one, usually people run away in fear, or try to fight me. I even met some people who's minds were filled with greed upon seeing my illusions, but someone being so nonplussed is a first.” “Why are you trying to scare people in the first place?” Nerron asked, eyebrows raised. He didn't felt like the other was a threat or tried to be purposefully malicious. “Well, I am not trying to scare people on purpose, tho I have to admit, it is kinda funny. I just like to play with them, it can get boring out here. Usually I just show them things they want to see, but for some reason a lot of them don't like it very much....” the stranger explained, sounding a little sad. “Hm, maybe people don't appreciate their thoughts being poked at. They are private, you know? I sure didn't liked it” Nerron gave back. The strangers smile faltered to an expression of sadness. “I'm sorry,” they said, looking chided “I just want to make friends. I came here and made my home at the shrine, but soon less and less people would come by. I thought if I show them something they want, they would like me more.” Nerron gave a long sigh, already regretting his idea, but saying it anyways “Well I can tell you the people around here don't like you. In fact they think the shrine is haunted by a demon or something-” at this the strangers expression fell even more “- but maybe you could just move somewhere else? I know a lot of good locations, and I could introduce you to the locals, so you don't scare them again.” The small stranger perked up a little at the idea, looking thru the mist to where Nerron assumed the old shrine must sit not so far away, and back to Nerron.  “The shrine is pretty run down and has a leaky roof anyways.” they said with a laugh, agreeing to Nerron's idea of just finding a new place to call home.  As the two vayron made their way thru the fog back down the mountain, Nerron had a thought. “Can't you finally lift the mist? It starts to be annoying.”  “Oh, that isn't me.” the other said with a small shrug. “there are things out in this forest that do it. You can sometimes see them in the corner of your eye, but never directly. I don't know if you had noticed, but one of them had followed you earlier.” 

Nerron gave the other a look, not sure if they were joking or serious, but the implication that something else had tracked him earlier made his hair stand up with a small shudder.