Species: Dragon, shifter

Gender: Female

APPEARANCE

Eye Color: Golden brown

Hair color: Brown

Height: 5'5

In human form, Seren appears almost overly normal. Her heritage prevents her from entirely blending in, and despite her average features, she is considered exceedingly beautiful. Even in this form, she moves with preternatural grace, seeming to glide through the space she occupies.

Her dragon form is not much more than raging flame to the human eye. Beneath the layer of scorching fire and ember, her scales are shades of gold, orange, and red, seeming to shimmer with her fiery form. Despite slitted pupils, her eyes are otherwise unchanged, and bear a disturbingly human appearance even in her beastly form. She is able to "dim" the flames that encapsulate this form, but often chooses to leave them at full raging force to hide herself from prying eyes.

PERSONALITY

Cunning | Ambitious | Calculated

The ancient legends of Audura claim that within the forest of the Steppes, a raging, feral beast claims her home. Among varying demons from the lesser levels of Hell, this being was said to have been borne from the deepest Pits, by the Devil himself. Those who saw her, if they survived, were left blinded and scorched.

Intelligent | Wise | Observant

These few survivors returned to tell stories of a beast as bright as the Sun, with the rage and cunning skill of the Devil's right hand. Perhaps she was.

The dragon claimed the forest for herself, and through legends she ensured to be passed down for generations, she was left alone to fester in solitude; detached from her home, stuck in a world of creatures who thought her nothing but evil, she stayed in her forest, content to be exactly as they thought.

Centuries spent in her beast form caused a disconnect between both her moral code and her sense of reality. Seren does little to aid any but herself, and has developed a strong distaste for companionship. Her solitude has only enhanced her natural defense mechanisms, a temper to match her beast form and a tongue made of steel.

{I will add more and more to this as we develop, but she's a very new character so this is all I have ;-;}

Species: Human

Height: 5'11" (180 cm)

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Appearance: A tall, white-haired male with a rich, tan complexion and a considerably lean physique. He, by no means, has an easygoing disposition, but he is approachable enough for others to strike up a conversation: whether it be out of curiosity or for the sake of idle chatter. At first glance, there is nothing worthy of note other than the stark pallor of his hair, but upon a inspection his eyes appear to be a muted crimson.

The magic he wields is not significantly strong as it only allows him to conjure a small flame with the sole use of acting as a light source in dark places.

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Personality: He often carries with him a subtle, assured sense of confidence in his actions; consequently, this gives the false impression that he is of presumptuous character, and thus he is often subject to scrutiny under envious eyes.

But, nonetheless he remains kind, even behind a strained smile out of an obligation to understand: an overwhelming sense of responsibility that could be considered an excuse for holding back his underlying resentment.

As a hunter, he is knowledgeable in his craft, knowing his way around effectively tracking prey with little difficulty, and combat. Although, he is reckless in his means to subdue the beasts he hunts, and it is not common for him to be left completely unscathed considering his tendency to place the safety of others above his own.

He does not dare to burden others with his own troubles, believing that it is unnecessary to do so and that he is more than capable of handling them on his own.

altruistic | calm | patient | reckless | self-assured

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Aleron noted the fresh scent of petrichor hung heavy in the air when he breathed: a deep sigh escaping his lips as he continued his trek further into the forest that was believed to be the home of a beast. The kind that belonged in myths, existing only in exaggerated fairytales scrawled upon the pages of storybooks that only children ever read, and despite all of the trifling warnings he was here to seek it out.

To slay it as he had with the others.

Of course, he could not deny that they paled in comparison to the one he sought to find in such a place brimming with life that could not be found beyond the walls of the very kingdom his cloak bore the insignia of. But, admittedly, despite his vigor, Aleron was beginning to lose his faith in this search.

With little information regarding the whereabouts of the beast, he might as well have been sent off to find something that did not exist, but even so he was not willing to give up just yet. After all, it had only been a few days since he had first arrived, and a week or so since he left the kingdom after receiving his orders to hunt something legendary in exchange for a considerable sum.

But, it was not the money he was after, surprisingly enough, no. It was the pursuit of something new. Something mysterious and promising.

After the news of the mission had arrived in the form of a letter accompanied by the royal seal, his interest was piqued and upon receiving the details, his initial interest had morphed into a sense of urgency that compelled him to do whatever it took for him to be sent on his way.

And thus, here he was: in the midst of an unruly forest inhabited by beasts that were more than capable of ensuring that he would never return home.

Alive and, thankfully, breathing in his awe as he made his way further towards the heart of the forest through the dense foliage with a sword at his hip and a small, harmless flame hovering above his palm, barely lighting the way ahead.

He was thankful that he was yet to stumble upon one of the forests' vicious inhabitants this far into his expedition, but he could not deny that he was beginning to grow wary despite their supposed absence. Knowing that a forest, said to be the home of the very beasts responsible for causing the "disappearances" of other designated hunters like himself, had treated him kindly with little signs of trouble. But, even so, he refused to make the fatal mistake of lowering his guard.

Seren savored the feeling of freshly bloomed moss on her bare feet; it had been so long since she had deigned to wear her human skin, she had nearly forgotten what the soft feel of life did to invigorate her very soul. Her prey had come at the tail end of a spring rain, and she couldn't help but note the way it seemed to revel in the scent of the downpour.

It had been days since her prey had started its voyage into the unforgiving wood - it was only due to her own piqued interest that it had survived thus far. Its small flame had begun to attract various creatures, hungry from years of solitude, but they all balked at the proximity Seren kept to the human; nothing would dare come so close to her.

When the human had begun its journey, the very forest seemed to quiver with interest - it had been so, so very long since a human had come into her grasp.

She had shifted immediately, her naked body radiating heat despite the chill of the spring nights. As she followed the human deeper into her home, she was blessed with the tattered clothing of the royal guard, still the same even centuries later. She slung a ragged cloak over her body, ensuring her most tantalizing assets were nearly on display.

Better to toy with her food first. It was only human, after all.

The pair had begun to approach the very heart of the forest, and she felt its very soul start to thrum with anticipation - even the forest wanted her to eat, it seemed to say.

As darkness began to leech into growing rays of dawn, Seren deigned to take a closer look at her prey. Tan skin, offset by hair as white as bone. She crept through the wood, silently passing its travelling form. Just one look at its eyes - that was all she needed.

Hiding behind a tree roughly 20 feet ahead of her prey, she dared to peek around and look at her human. Her exceedingly sharp vision would allow her to see his eyes even from such a distance. When his eyes passed near her location as he continued his trek, however, her breath caught in her throat.

Eyes of deep crimson, the color of blood, the color of her watched the every lightening forest. The thought continued to clang through her head, despite her body warning that the human had an ever increasing chance of catching her. Her skin, his eyes, her scales, his eyes. Her, her, her.

She was frozen. Her eyes widened as her breath caught up to her, then sped into a hyperventilating pant, struggling to keep up with the thoughts that chased each other through her head. She needed to move, needed to shift into her beast form and kill the human, but she was frozen, rooted to her spot behind the tree.

His hand rested casually atop the hilt of his sword, but not once was he ever forced to draw it since he first stepped into the forest: a passing thought that both unnerved and comforted him. To know that this journey was different from the other expeditions he took part in: the ones in which he fought for his life and witnessed firsthand the fleeting mortality of his comrades in the grasps of the eternal. He could still recall the terror that seized a hold of him as if the expedition was yesterday, but here, in a forest that housed the same creatures, he was unscathed. Untouched by the very claws that could render him gone within mere seconds.

He continued to observe his surroundings in passing, eyes shifting about and acknowledging the variety of flora: the trees that towered over him like the palace spires with veils of lush moss that hung about their ancient bark. He was almost convinced that it was alive with a heartbeat of its own, thrumming with anticipation as he approached.

Leaves crunched beneath the leather of his boots, and he walked with the same self-assured strides: a subtle, quiet confidence in his movements that boasted the underlying experience of a successful hunter. He was in no rush to complete the hunt, however, savoring the peace and quiet that proved to be a rare commodity back at the kingdom.

He could still recall the frantic bustle of the streets when he left: vendors with their usual, effortless spiels in order to promote their goods, commonly fruits that he had grown a liking to. Not to mention the merchants who were offering up a variety of goods, sometimes newly forged weaponry if he was fortunate enough. However, he had no time to dawdle and browse then, and thus he only left with the necessities: dried fruit, a couple flasks of water, the sword at his hip, and a light crossbow accompanied by a few steel-tipped arrows.

Sunlight was already peaking through the branches and leaves that hung overhead, although slowly, and thus the tension in his shoulders had eased. The flame hovering above his gloved hand had flickered and then ceased, leaving behind a thin trail of smoke as it vanished.

Almost immediately, the same compelling force that had driven him to venture into the forest in the first place had taken a hold of him, yet again. A tether that was luring him further in towards one of the larger trees: a promise that his pursuit of mystery would be satisfied.

As he approached, a twig had snapped beneath the weight of his foot, and for a moment his attention was redirected to the broken pieces on the forest floor, and when his gaze was lifted, his eyes met another's: the eyes of a woman wrapped in a tattered cloak of her own.

The human's eyes met hers, and she felt as if it could see into her very soul. Eyes of deep red met those of honey brown, and one word flitted through her mind as all the rest simply ceased to exist.

Mine.

When she had been a youngling, what felt like eons ago, her mother had warned her of the raw possession their kind could feel. Not with objects, as the legends told, but of other beings - sentient beings that could choose to love them eventually. Her mother had warned of this possessiveness, as it often overwhelmed both parties involved.

Mine.

Her heart thrummed to the beat of that voice in her head, aching to see why it had chosen the human in front of her. She had never felt such a pull, like they were connected by the very air they breathed. She blinked, taking a step away from the tree, eyes never leaving his.

Her hand shook as she gripped the bark of the tree, its rough texture her only tether to reality; without it, she may very well approach the human right then. Her previous enjoyment of the moss beneath her feet was nothing compared to the awe her body was wracked with when she heard his heart. It beat to a steady rhythm, almost matching her own, and she thought that she may never have felt such emotion in her life.

Mine.

She shook her head, cocking it in a way that was void of any humanity. Her eyes drifted over the male, and she decided then that enough was enough. She would not be kept by this human.

With a serene smile gracing her lips, Seren approached the male slowly, ignoring the voice pounding in her brain to touch him, to feel him, to know him. Him, not it. He was as purely male as they came.

Tightening her cloak around her, she stopped roughly 10 feet away from the male, close enough to scent him, but far enough that she hoped he wouldn't be able to glean much from her. Her toes curled into the mossy ground, reminding her of where she was, of what she was.

"You're awfully far into the forest, Sir. Aren't you even the slightest bit afraid?" She brushed a stray wisp of hair away from her face, tucking it behind ever so slightly pointed ears. Her eyes narrowed at him, and she continued, "After all, I know everybody has heard the legends of this wood. You're lucky you haven't been killed."

A ghost of a smile tugged upon the corners of his lips, "Afraid?"

He repeated the word as if it was foreign to him, although he was all too familiar with fear. He knew how trifling it could be in regards to the matters of the heart and mind, how it was similar in manner to the wind at sea, if not more unruly and unpredictable as it was more than capable of seizing the breath of man and chipping away upon the facade of false courage.

"I suppose you could say that," his hand remained rested upon the hilt of his sword, and although his mind told him to draw it for the sake of caution, he refrained from doing so, for now.

Although, he wasn't sure why: was out of a moral obligation: his refusal to draw his weapon in the presence of someone who was unarmed, nevermind vulnerable? Perhaps.

He watched her, curiously, as she approached him. He was on whether he should willingly take the risk of trusting her. After all, it wasn't a common occurence to come across another human being in the midst of a forest that was said to be ravaged by beasts who ensured that whoever ventured in, never returned.

He leaned forward slightly, and when he spoke his voice was as calm and collected as ever, "I suppose I am lucky. A fool perhaps, for having ventured this far into the wood, but I'm still alive, aren't I?"

He was taunting death with such words, but he was aware of his fortune, at least, unlike the true fools who would have believed themselves to be invincibe from then on out. He was all too familiar with the limits of his mortality: how his life would lack the resilience to return if he was struck dead, by monster or by sword. He knew that he was not meant to live forever.

He knew it well.

"I could say the same for you as well, my lady," he continued, swallowing the foreign formalities without as much as batting an eye. "Why are you out here in the wood? You're certainly not out here for a leisurely stroll, I take it?"

He looked into her eyes with the same spirit of inquiry as he awaited her answer. The hand atop his sword had refused to leave, and although he had no intentions of drawing it, he not only was smothered in curiousity, but doubt: an understanding that he could not trust a stranger so easily, in a place so alluringly dangerous.

Seren draw in a breath as the human leaned forward, his scent enticingly wafting towards her face. She straightened at his questions, bristling slightly as she noted the hand that continued to rest atop his sword. Stupid Royal guard.

Her eyes flared slightly, and she took a step back from the male, cautiously spinning her tale. "I've grown rather accustomed to the way this forest lives; I've been here all my life." Not a lie. "I was born in a small village on the outskirts of town, and a few years into my adolescence, my mother was killed by theives. I ran before they knew I was there, and this forest became my sanctuary. Have you felt its heartbeat? It lives, and it protects those who protect it."

A small smile tugged at her lips at the mention of her forest's life force. It was her friend, whichever form she chose to take. They accepted each other.

"The forest protects me from the beasts that live within, and in exchange, I don't kill its kind inhabitants for food, only those who do not belong here and who bring destruction."

Mostly truth, spare the part of her mother. It was always easier to lie when it was mostly the truth. Her hand left the bark of the tree, and she dared a step away from it - not towards the male, but to the side, to allow him to fully see her body. His hand on that blade made her wary, and she would do all she could to gain his trust.

Something about his presence grated against her mind, fighting to overpower that primal desire to kill. She hadn't yet decided if he would live.

Mine, a voice whispered, carressing soft talons down her mental shields. She again cocked her head in that unnatural way, staring at the male before her. "Why are you here?"

At last, Aleron withdrew his hand from the hilt of his sword, whether it was out of courtesy or sympathy, he was unsure. He listened with a keen ear to draw out the underlying string of lies beneath her words, but much to his surprise, there was nothing. He couldn't tell if her words were truth, but he couldn't tell whether she was a liar either. But, for one thing, he did know that there was sincerity within, and he wanted to believe her.

He didn't know how to explain it, of course, but it was almost as though the force that had led him thus far was trying to convince him to do so: to have some more faith in what he was told. He knew better than to carelessly offer his trust though, having done it once before in the past, he already learned his lesson and refused to play the part of an optimistic fool. But, how could he not?

However, he was beginning to wonder if it was the fatigue that was taking a toll on him, thus obscuring his better judgment, but of course it would always be difficult for him to move away from benevolence, let alone old habits.

There was one thing that he could not deny though, regardless of how he could rationalize it all: the forest itself was alive. Her words had confirmed it, and now it was up to him to decide the extent of the trust he would lend.

He stared at her as if to further gauge the genuineness of her story, knowing that it was just as likely to be an alibi for something far beyond him as it would to be the truth. But, his conscience told him otherwise.

Guilt was beginning to smother him, in a way that it had not before, in knowing that he came to the forest with ill intentions, and here was someone who bore a significant connection to it.

"If I told you that I was here as a hunter for a beast of the myths," he paused for a moment to choose his words carefully, "would you kill me?"