The Start of...Something

[Fiya]

The rose-colored humanoid with dim-glowing hair had been travelling around the Hinterlands for around a month now, her spear-like weapon never growing tired of its usage as a hiking stick. The assistance from a few squirrels directed her to a clearing, where Fiya was to set up camp. Arcadia, here I come. A land of history, of magic, of discovery... What do you hold for me?

The ability to speak with animals had its determinants, however - Fiya had a difficult time trying to get an estimate on when she would arrive at the grand city, as most of the animals she spoke to hadn't traveled that far, besides avians of course. Even then, traveling by foot was much slower than a bird's flight. Still, the occasional bird scout was appreciated.

It was when Vincent - the small blue warbler that had introduced himself to Fiya on her forest travels to Arcadia - flew ahead and chirped in excitement to the traveler that Fiya knew she was close, if not to Arcadia then to something. A caravan, perhaps? Doubtful. Anything outside of Arcadia might as well be thieves and scandals. Then again, wasn't Fiya? No, she reassured herself. She had a meaning. At worst, Fiya thought herself to be a vigilante.

The woman took no attempt to hide - she was travelling on her own, so what if people tried to haggle her? She wouldn't go down without a fight, that was for sure. If anything, she made sure that her grip on her bardiche was firm.

 

[Phenix Alren]

It had been only a short time since Phenix had arrived on the planet, he now knew was called Erde Nona, and subsequently it was also only a short time since his first encounter with its deadly wildlife. Throughout his time spent traveling, ten days to be exact, he had encountered quite a few other things both wildlife and even some other humans. All of the creatures were vicious, though none quite as deadly as the giant snake he encountered on his first day. Luckily the only people he had met were a small group of traders who informed him of various important things. He even managed to trade them for some food and water to help me on his travels. Granted trade in his case meant giving them something he knew quite well would disintegrate as soon as it got more than five feet away from him. It took quite a lot of trickery to pull that deal off, but somehow he managed to convince them it was a fair deal and he made sure to be far away before they could find out they'd been deceived.

Phenix had noticed that the terrain on the planet seemed to be quite varied and at times he would go from traveling through densely wooded forest to prairies and back again. Though the one constant no matter where he was seemed to be the aforementioned deadly wildlife. He quickly took up the habit of traveling with his energy suit left on for a constant layer of protective armor and its useful cloaking effect. It had on more than one occasion prevented what could have been a deadly situation by allowing him to pass unnoticed by especially dangerous looking creatures. He also made a point to keep his energy sensing ability activated as much as possible to prevent himself from getting ambushed like he had once before. Though keeping it active all the time was impossible given how much concentration it took to use it. However, arguably the most important habit Phenix picked up to avoid beasts was to only rest in places where he couldn't be easily ambushed.

He currently found himself sitting in one such place. It was a small clearing which seemed ideal for taking a short rest and he sat in the dirt with his suit off as he ate some food. There was an ever-present feeling of exposure in the back of his mind. A feeling that he'd started experiencing after getting so used to always being cloaked. There was a certain since of safety that came with not being easily visible and he had grown to dislike the times he had to remove his suit. Sadly it was a necessary action as he couldn't eat or drink anything with it on and he figured his rumbling stomach gave his position away whether he was cloaked or not. The one thing he wouldn't go without as he sat eating was his energy sensing. It made his eating take a little longer as it required him to divide his focus, but he found it to be worth the security.

A few seconds time would pass and it seemed his use of his energy sensing was justified. A figured moved within the radius of his sensing ability. Based on the visual he received from his internal AI system Pepa it appeared to be human. Well on closer inspection it seemed more likely to be not human, but just humanoid in shape. The body shape was all correct but the figure seemed to have quite pointed ears. Either way Phenix was willing to bet the creature approaching him was intelligent as most humanoid species were. The question was just whether or not they would be hostile to him or friendly. The figure seemed to be carrying a large object which could possibly be a weapon. Though simply having a means of self defense didn't make them an enemy. In any event it seemed he didn't have enough time to reform his suit and cloak himself before the figure would reach the clearing. That meant it was unlikely he'd be able to escape the situation without at least being seen. So instead of attempting to go anywhere he simply stood up and waited. He prepared himself in case a fight broke out, but didn't make his body language hostile. It was entirely possible for the approaching person to be non-hostile and if they were Phenix didn't want to send the wrong message.

 

[Fiya]

The humanoid froze when she heard movement, quick to point her bardiche at the could-be threat. Her eyes lock on to the man, who she hoped wouldn't do anything. The back of her neck started to spark, causing a reaction in the roots of her hair.

"Who... What are you doing here?!" She yelled, as if demanding an answer in the Hinderlands would result in anything. "Don't try anything funny!" Oh dear gods, don't make this man...wait...he isn't a thief! The fired-up female blinks, then shakes her head. What she was doing was ridiculous. Attacking a stranger? Sure, she could be mean, but she had standards!

"I am...sorry. I'm used to encountering groups of bandits, monsters and of the like. Forgive me."