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Tapana Wood

. . . . . . .

A woodland area along the coast of Jord. Here you can almost always smell the faint sent of the sea in the air. What seems nonthreatening at first, as you go deeper into the woods, the trees become thicker and it gets darker. In the heart of the woods is where the most dangerous animals live. Be wary of wolfs and bears. Be sure to keep your wits about you, because you never know what or who you will find in these woods.

Overall, it takes about one day of nonstop hiking to cross the woods and reach the city of Lupa from Terra Solo or from the Ladies Shrines.

. . . . . . .

Besides the little anger fit the furry buddy had the two of them did what they did best, and climbed around the trees in a game of chase. At the same time tried to get back to the small place they called home, though in their hearts the wilderness was more like home than being in any of the cities or capital. Avani didnt have anything wrong thinking about the city residents since that was how she made a living by helping out when needed. The small community of Lupa was her favorite to travel however, because most of the farmers that lived there with their families knew her from when she was smaller, giving several nickname like 'wild child' or 'Tippy', from how she could climb almost like on tip toes hence the close sound. As well Avani was a huge help when it was time to harvest soon, she would be a good scarecrow to scare off wild animals from the crops. But today wasn't a trip there as Zip was scurrying around her to wake up from the branch they had fell asleep on from a tiring playtime, she woke up to the sun breaking in the treeline with the familiar light scent of the sea just barely lingering in the air to let her know morning was now close to afternoon. Avani got up and stretched out, stiff from sleeping in one position that just happened.
"Well my good buddy, old pal..... from the look of the sun's movement were closer more to Terra Solo. What do you think we'll see among the trees, most likely the same busy street flooded in people as always and those rare cases of seeing any royals out in the public." Zip gave her an annoyed chirp since both of them agreed that they belong more in the wilderness than cooped up in city life, but respected the royal family there.
Even though Avani knew here direction, it was still roughly another couple miles away till reaching Terra Solo, but as always it wasn't a bother. With a last check of everything Avani and Zip took a good leap to the next tree to use the path only to rest and be on watch for anything else on the path as the two of them headed forward to do what they did best, watching among the trees unless Avani felt like actually going into the city to look in curiousity with Zip close by no matter what.
"Once we get closer maybe....maybe we can see what the city folks do in the day."
Zip chirped in a growl wondering what was going in her head, but she shrugged it as another temper of being near other people besides her.

Upon entering the forest, it was not long before the sparse trees bordering the town of Lupa gave way to the dense forest of the Tapana Woods. The sky grew visibly darker as the towering canopy blocked rays of light from hitting the forest floor. The air in the forest was warm and muggy. The sound of a chirping bug or squawking bird could occasionally be heard. The place had a foreboding feel to it, as if it didn't welcome strangers underneath its branches. You could begin to understand the townsfolk's fear of Tapana, as irrational as it may have seemed before.

As Clive and Toroto trudge through the underbrush it's not entirely clear where they are heading. Only the occasional familiar yet ominous puncture mark on a tree gives any clue that they are heading in the right direction. However, has the undergrowth grows denser, it becomes obvious that some large object has been dragged through it. Then, after about a mile or so of travel into the rugged forest, they come across a grisly scene.

In a small clearing between the trees lies the fresh remains of a large bovine. The impressive horns attached to the dismembered scull would lead them to the conclusion that this is Duke... or at least what is left of him. It looks as if the bull has been torn to pieces and eaten until nothing but his blood soaked bones and viscera remained. In the area surrounding the bones, the underbrush is matted down as if some enormous creature had lain on it. Other than that, there are no other signs as to what might have eaten Duke. However, one disturbing fact is clear. Whatever ate the bull had the power to cleave bones and tear though flesh with the greatest of ease.

Toroto's examination of the bite marks on the bones do not reveal them to be any animal he recognizes, yet there is something strangely familiar about them. As Toroto is looking over the remains, Clive gets a tense look on his face and looks up to the east. He put a finger up to his mouth to signal silence and then whispers to Toroto. "I sense a presence fifty yards east of here. It keeps flitting in and out, but there is definitely something over there." Clive motions in a certain direction but the foliage is too thick to see what lies beyond. "Shall we go check it out?"

As Toroto slowly walks through the thick underbrush, he will find that his vision was still restricted to only a few feet by the foliage. However, as he got closer to the area indicated by Clive. He could begin to hear the soft, melodic voice of a young woman humming a song to herself. Then, out of nowhere, the forest suddenly gave way to a clearing containing a large pond.

There, at the water's edge, a girl was bathing. She had a thin yet athletic build and was waist deep in water. Her wild, long blond hair clung to her wet, tan skin and her two big, crystal blue eyes spotted Clive and Toroto as they came trudging out of the tree line. Her musical humming immediately stopped. For a moment she simply stared at them as if it was taking some time for the situation to register in her mind. Then a loud, high pitched shriek escaped her mouth as she covered up her private areas.

She quickly dove back into the pond so that only her head was above the water. Her face flushed red with embarrassment she quickly stammered out, “W-who--who are you? What do you want? Why are you here? Could you please go away? I'm trying to take a bath!”

"What? What are you talking about? I'm--I'm not from the village." The girl seemed confused by Toroto's statement and seemed to get more nervous when he drew his sword in front of her. "W-what's with the sword? Could you please leave? I can't change in front of you!"

As the blond girl stammers at Toroto and Clive, movement can be heard in the forest beyond in a direction towards the pond. However, by the sounds of it, it was not a very large creature. After another moment or so another young woman appeared in in the clearing wearing a simple leather garment and brandishing a crude spear . She looked incredibly similar to the girl in the pond, with her own wild blond hair and tanned skin. The main difference was this girl looked to be a few years older and had piercing red eyes. She gazed fiercely at the two amen and her eyes narrowed as she focused in on Toroto's drawn sword. "How dare you brandish a weapon at my sister! What do you thieves want, anyway? We have nothing to offer you, so leave before I make you taste your own blood!"

The older girl scoffs at Toroto's remarks and buries the butt of her spear in the ground. "My sister and I are capable of taking care of ourselves. There is no need for us to flee from our home." The older girl's stance is no longer so aggressive but she still seems to be on guard. "I've never heard of you before, nor do I believe you have heard of me, but I am known as Corsica the Blade Breaker and that is my sister Ying." Corsica motions over to her sister who shyly waves from the pond. "Tell me more of this creature you hunt, this Beast of a Thousand Knives."

Ying, still chin deep in the murky pond water, timidly speaks up. "Um, Sister, could we please continue this conversation elsewhere? I am getting cold and would like to put some clothes on."

Corsica nods at her sister. "Yes, of course. Let us talk over there. " Corsica motions to an area behind some bushes and immediately begins to head in that direction. "I see you men are tense, but you can relax now. I would not let my sister bath here if the area was not clear."

Clive shrugs casually at Toroto's question as if he did not think his question was a big deal. "I'm an earth elemental; I can detect vibrations in the earth and use that to interpret where someone is or how big they are."

Clive then turns his attention to Corsica. “To be honest, we don't know what this creature is. It might be using daggers or it might be using claws--it's hard to tell. This is what the marks looked liked." Clive draws the rows of marks in the dirt on the forest floor and then goes on to further explain all the other clues they had found regarding the creature.

It was during this time that Ying came back over to the group. She had dried off and now wore a roughly made leather top and skirt. As she approached, she heard the tail end of Clive and Corsica’s discussion of the monster and gave a gasp at the marks drawn on the ground. Ying and Corsica exchanged knowing looks, and Ying dropped her eyes back to the ground. Corsica then looked at both Clive and Toroto. “I think we know of this beast you hunt...”