Such Are Days Worth Forgotten

The grand forest and the maze of trees, despite the ageless echoes of danger and monsters within those twisted branches, was also a place that one could go to to clear their mind. It was rather... conflicting, and in the end luck played the leading role on if you were to encounter a threat to your very well-being or if you could have a moment's peace by yourself or, as it usually was with the hidden way of the mighty forest, with others. Company was always so frequent when you least expected it. A stroll through a forest path alone could finish with an entire party if fortune played with you. So many had entered and left this expanse of brambles, and it was evident from the worn footprint-stamped paths, the broken twigs and branches, and the occasional sign of a scuffle. And yet, through it all, it had never changed. Quite amazing really.

But I babble, so let's talk about the present day, at the present time, and what dwells within. The sun was starting to set above, the sky glowing orange and purple with the passing day and what clouds remained lazily trundled by. As was the forest too was basked in a golden glow, the shadows on the grassy ground also dancing lightly with the slightest of breezes rustling leaves. There was an aura of calmness about, perhaps from that stillness in the air or that moment between day and dusk, but all was well at this brief moment in time. There was a small river in the forest up north, and although the river bubbled along it was hardly noisy. The sunlight, or what was left of it while it was setting, settled nicely through a gap in the looming trees to illuminate the waters.

Beside the riverside were three figures. One was on their knees, arching over the river and staring within. The other two were standing in this rather primal position, with shoulders slumped and back arched, perfectly still, behind this kneeling mobian. Going into more detail, the two stood were identical... somewhat. Though they wore the same clothes - a dirtily patched robe which covered the entirety of their bodies to make gender and species undefinable, what separated them were the different colours of sewn patches on the clothing and, more importantly the masks on their face. One was similar to that of a red eastern dragon, and the other green and western. They weren't incredible, in fact they seemed to be rather cheaply made. But it covered the face, and that's all that mattered.

Now the one kneeling was a lot more interesting than these 'dragon twins' (as we'll call them for obvious reasons). She was female, evident from the chest, the slim figure and the long, flowing blonde hair tied into two braids that trailed down the shoulders. She was a gentle girl, or seemed to be, with golden skin and golden wings, antlers atop her head with a floating blue gem between them. A flowing blue dress and golden feather-tails. The species itself, however, was undefinable. A chimera. She seemed to be a mixture of many - ears of a bat, hooves and antlers of a deer and tail and wings of a bird. A white and golden mixture of purity.

The woman had her golden eyes closed, listening to that faint rushing of the river, her body washed with what sunlight remained. Though she was listening to more than that, of course. As were the two behind her. There was one thing which always came to them, and her to them. Company. And waiting never, ever failed.

"I can tell you right now that we're lost, Ace" The voice in his mind said. "I'm aware of that!" He shouted out loud, though nothing in the area budged. "Maybe you should lead the way if you're so smart about where we are, I just want to leave and get to anything exciting going on!"

"A life of excitement will let you down at times, a place like this is a place for relaxation, you chose to come here, not me." The voice argued. Acetylene kicked the dirt. "Easy for you to say, you get to 'relax' all you want to when you live inside of my head!-"

"-soul"

"Same thing pretty much..." Ace stopped dead. He looked over and saw two figures wearing dragon shaped masks, how ironic.

"What is the purpose of those outfits?" The voice in his head questioned. "How should I know, you're the smart one, right?" Ace snickered.

Acetylene stood waiting to see if the duo would react to them, they appeared as if they were waiting, but for what? "Perhaps they are in need of assistance?" "Or maybe we could get some assistance from them?" Ace thought.

Waiting was a game. A game of patience. Seconds, minutes, hours, days even. It was simply a matter of having the will to wait for the result. Be it for good or for bad, but for her it payed well. She had all the time in the world, all the time to be alive, breathe and more importantly become better. And as her white bat ears twitched with the sound of foot against dirt, the gentle crunch of shoes sliding and pressing firmly into the ground, a sly smile spread across her gentle lips, and her warm blue eyes upheld that of greed for but a brief second. Perhaps it were lucky that she was facing the river, so the hybrid could not see that twisted expression upon the woman's face.

The two figures behind this lady, draped in those colour-distorted robes, turned their heads at once - in sync. Again, there was no inch upon them to be seen, no flash of flesh of the glimmer of fur nor skin. Their primal stances did not shift, but the western-masked individual took a step forward towards the hybrid. Their voice was odd. Actually odd's probably not the best term to describe what left that maw. The best thing to describe it was some sort of mangled, hissing and spitting sentence which sounded distorted and just plain wrong. Unnatural. Locked onto Acetylene, they asked: "Are you here to pay resspectsss to Her Benevolence?"

The Eastern sniffed at the air, like a dog would to a man with meat, before freezing in place like the metaphorical meat was poisoned, "Is he pure? Is he no blight? Is he worthy?" Rhetorical questions, of course, before it bounded forward on its feet towards the hybrid, the other joining in to circle Ace. Observing him. "Well?" All the while the woman stared into the water, awaiting the fellow's reactions and response.