The forest floor was a mixture of dirt, plants, and tracks of creatures who came through the area. A small dirt path wove through the trees and stretched further and further. Would that path ever end? Sounds of birds chirping in the trees and the rustle of a squirrel running through the bushes were common here. Wind whispered through the trees and carressed the plants on the ground making them sway back and forth. Sunlight was an oddity in this place since the trees mostly blocked out its rays. Only tiny spots of light were able to escape the trees’ blockage and make little dots of light on the forest floor. It was not too cold. But it was not warm. It was dark. But it was there was a bit of light. Most of the animals of the forest were not concerned with the darkness. They had their ears and their noses to be able to sense the world around them. Vines curled around the base of trees and tiny ants on the ground went on their daily business.

The larger monsters and beasts were in the deeper part of the forest at the moment and would most likely stay there until they were hungry. A deer peeked its head out of the trees and scanned the area with its nose. After seeing that the area was clear, it leapt across the path straight back into the forest. If one hadn’t seen it, then one would have assumed it never happened. There was a patch of brown mushrooms clinging onto an old log that must have used to be a tree at one point in time. A blue bird was nested up in the tree nearest the path. It was a lovely bird with clean feathers and a small black beak. Despite being so beautiful, it was silent and did not chirp the entire time that it had been there. Instead it was just relaxing from it’s position. Not too far from the bird or the road, a little rabbit was hiding in a bush watching the path. The rabbit’s fur was a mixture of a light brown, tan and white.

There was so much beauty in this forest that went unnoticed by most passing by. Kyra herself had disguised herself as an animal. She might have been the rabbit, as it was her favorite animal, but then again maybe not. Kyra might have been the bird sitting high and safe in the tree above, watching the world below. Or she could have been that deer that passed by earlier. Yet that was less likely than the other two options. She was enjoying herself in her rest and was watching the scenery around her. There wasn’t much light to see it but the areas that she couldn’t see she just made up what was there with her imagination. Her imagination was just as beautiful as what the forest actually contained. Suddenly, she heard a sound in the distance. It was the sound of a person obviously but it was coming closer down the path. There was at least one person she could now entertain herself with.

Despite the beauty of the forest, it wasn’t enough one it’s own to keep Kyra from the terrors of boredom. A mischievous chuckle could be heard in the forest and echoed around. It would be difficult to find the source of the laugh. Both the rabbit and the bird did not move from their spots despite the person or people coming down the road. They were not close enough for Kyra to figure out how many were there. She only knew so far that somebody or some people were coming. Kyra decided to first observe and listen. Then she would figure out what to do next and figure out what is the best way to have a little trick with them. Or perhaps she would find out some sort of use of them for a different trick. Or maybe it was just a person she could call upon later. Multiple different ideas formed in her mind before she even got sight of these people or person. Whatever happened, one thing was for certain. This was going to be fun. 

Derek set his crossbow down, leaning it up against a tree and with a grown of relief he slipped his pack from his back. It caught for a second on the red cloak he had to wear, after forgetting it once he was still not living it down among the other people in his unit. The truth was, though, he missed the comfortable leather of the overcoat. Instead he had the stiff leather breast plate and a red cloak which, given the colour of the trees that surrounded him, made him chuckle a little. If the colour had been muted a little it would almost work as camouflage. Whoever had chosen the bright crimson had surely wanted the mercenaries to stand out, though. There would be no blending in while wearing this thing.

He dug around in his pack until he found an apple, only a little bruised, and his canteen. Another of the scouts passed him by, giving him a friendly nod on his way past. While technically they could stop and rest any time there were occasions when he felt some of the more veteran scouts would judge him harshly. This had not been one, though he could not remember that particular comrade's name. There were so many of them to remember, and with units being swapped around constantly he found he was never with the same people twice. This wasn't really the life he had thought he was going to live. He had had a nice, quiet life as a city guard but now here he was slogging through some forest near Vilpomolan, guiding the way for the others so they could spend who knew how long in the pirate city doing who knew what. He was still considered a new recruit, despite the action he had recently seen. It was more than a little frustrating considering his seniority in the city guard.

A cry from further down the path had him cursing under his breath, stuffing his treasures back into his pack and slinging it back up onto his shoulder. He didn't have time to get his other arm through the second strap, to get his cape situated or his crossbow loaded. All in all, when he stumbled down the path and found the scout who had just passed him, he was completely unprepared for whatever might be going on. The scout, as a stark comparison, had his own loaded bow raised. It was pointed off into the forest, but he was swinging it back and forth as if searching for something. 

"Hey there, friend. What's the problem?" Derek asked as he dropped his pack, at the last minute switching the crossbow to his free hand and avoiding getting it tangled. Shrugging the cape back into place, he began looking around himself as he fumbled for a bolt to put into place. The crossbow was a troubling contraption, not one he had had much experience with to be honest. He knew his way around a hunting bow, but this wasn't that. The darn thing wasn't even pulled back into position to receive the bolt. "There's someone out here, I heard laughter." his companion told him as he put the bolt aside and worked on pulling the string back on the crossbow. Derek looked up at this. "There are other scouts out here, right? Couldn't it have been one of them?" his companion narrowed his eyes, as if weighing this response.

The tan rabbit’s tail began to vanish and this vanishing act spread all over the creature’s body until it was completely gone. An invisibility spell. There was movement in one of the bushes for a few seconds before all was silent. The smell of the forest was unchanged and it was the mercenaries that smelled the oddist. Kyra had rolled in dirt earlier to avoid monsters or beasts tracking her. She blended into this place in both sight and smell. A few more bushes moved despite there being nobody in sight.

“Oh!” The sound of a woman belting out the first word of a song broke the silence, “Long time ago I saw the strangest thing.”

An invisible harp played along with the singing.

“About it I must simply sing,” Suddenly the voice came from the left side of the forest instead of the right side. “There were a group of mercenaries wearing red.”

The invisible Kyra kept singing, “Red, I said. Wearing red!”

The voice stayed on the left side of the forest this time.

“Any ol’ person could see em. From wherever they come. Cause they chose that color.”

Now the voice was behind them from a distance.

“And they traveled together in a large group. Whoever made their strategy must be a nincompoop. They may have had more protection but they are easily spotted. I would not be surprised if they were all besotted.”

Suddenly the voice was in front of them from a distance.

“And that is what I told the mercenaries in red!” Kyra finished her song off with a final verse.

That entire song was clearly meant to be mocking this group of people. A blonde haired half elf with a white tunic and some brown pants appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Kyra was posing as if she had just finished a grande finale on a stage to a large audience. A harp rested in her right arm while her left arm was up in the air pointed towards the sky. Her eyes widened when she realized that her invisibility spell had worn off. Normally her spells lasted longer but she had been using the invisibility spell, teleportation spell, and polymorph spell all in a short amount of time which led to her invisibility spell being weaker. She faced the mercenaries and gave them a quick bow.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Kyra said pretending that they all were clapping and cheering for her.

A flash of light surrounded her which faded as quickly as it came. The half elf girl was gone but this time it was not invisibility. That spell was unusable now. She appeared beside Derek. Her hands attempted to wrap around his shoulders and bring herself closer to him.

“Hi sweetie.” Kyra said with a smile, “When are you going to come home and see the children?”

Scapegoats. They were always so fun to use. Derek seemed like the best goat since he appeared less prepared than the other mercenaries. 

Derek was waiting for his companion to agree with him so they could move on, no harm done, when eerie singing began. He cursed himself inwardly, waiting for the veteran to come up with some witty retort about how he had know this was coming. Instead, there was just the sound of leather creaking as his companion turned quickly, trying to track the source of the singing. Derek was… Oddly calm. A part of him knew that he should be panicking about some eerie voice warbling away in a creepy forest but he found himself smiling, enjoying the tune and the lyrics instead of letting it get to him. Whoever it was, out there using magic to project their voice, they were poking fun at him and the other Red Cloaks. He chuckled to himself, wondering if this person was actually any kind of a threat. Something about the voice was tugging at his memory, though he'd be damned if he could place it right now. Like a catchy tune, not that this was, the thought was going to hound him for the rest of the day. He knew it would, unless he could remember.

A figure appeared before them, then, and Derek swore he thought his companion would fire out of reflex before allowing the apparition to do anything. The figure, a blonde wearing simple enough clothing and holding a harp, bowed to them and began thanking them. Cocky thing, wasn't she? He could tell immediately that the one singing must be her. Unless she was a distraction. Or an illusion. Could be that she was meant to distract them while her friends circled around them, surrounded the two of them and then sprung their trap. He froze, then wrote it off as paranoia caught from the veteran beside him. Well, nobody was firing a crossbow, and nobody was jumping out yelling "You're surrounded!" so as of that second, he supposed everything was going pretty well.

The girl disappeared in a flash of light, causing his companion to curse loudly, but then she was standing right in front of Derek. She was… Extremely close, now. He raised an eyebrow, taking half a step back as she reached up towards him. He raised an eyebrow, a smirk touching the left side of his mouth as he looked down into her eyes. He had almost a foot on her, and now she was close he could see her pointed ears. An elf, then, which meant her youthful appearance could mean she was still old enough to be his grandmother. His time as a city guard, dealing with the drunk and disorderly had left him fully capable with dealing with overly friendly citizens. His first acts was to place a hand over his coin purse, in case this was a ruse he had been familiar with. Fell for it once or twice, too. But as she asked him a question he finally placed the sound of her voice. He grinned, snapping his fingers.

"I heard you play once, outside of Endapano. It was in the camp, after a battle…" His voice trailed off as he remembered. He was about to say something else, a little lighter. He didn't exactly know her, but if she had been there then she couldn't be all that bad, when the sound of a throat being loudly cleared interrupted.

"What is going on here?" It was his companion, the veteran scout. Derek froze, eyes still on the girl's, realizing what this must look like.

"Ah. Well, you see, funny story." He looked up to see a crossbow leveled at both of them.

This was one of the people at that battle. No wonder he didn’t take issue with her using him as a scapegoat. She chose the right mercenary. However it seemed that his friends weren’t as relaxed about the whole thing. Well that would be a problem.

“Relax. I’m just here to see my sweet husband. He’s been gone for so long.” She said with a small smile on her face.

Kyra raised up her lyre again and began to play another song. But this was a different kind of song. Her fingers plucked the strings of the instrument as her voice began to sing.

“We sing we sang a lovely song,
Of dancing folks and festivals a long,
We sing we sang our songs together,
Making our hearts as light as a feather,”

It was a very special little song. A magical song called the song of festivity. A talented musician would be able to sing this and be able to quell any of her target’s anger and cause them to dance instead. Anger drained out of the mercenary’s faces as they dropped their weapons to dance.

“When cold nights blow at our door,
We shall sing forever more,
Keeping the fire warm and neat,
Our festivities shall be complete,”

“We sing we sang together again,
And gather to share each pain,
We sing we sang because we must,
To hope and give the gods our trust,”

“Give to the poor,
Help give a disease a cure,
Presents to bring joy,
Give that orphan a toy,”

“We sing we sang our generosity,
Though many show curiosity,
We sing we sang about why we give to them,
We might not get a chance to give again.”

Underneath one of the mercenaries an oval portal made up of light blue magic opened up. The mercenary fell through with the portal closing up behind him. All the other mercenaries were too distracted by her magical singing spell to notice. Everyone else but Derek would be under the spell. She used some more portal magic to send the mercenaries enemies away. They were simply being sent to the Highlands where it would be a while before they could come back. Eventually, almost all of them were sent through these portals. Kyra was beginning to feel tired. She had used up a lot of magical energy. 

Husband? Was she trying to get the pair of them shot? He racked his brain, trying to think about whether he had mentioned to anybody in the company about his romantic life. Nothing immediately came to mind, but considering how men talked when there was nothing else to occupy them he was sure it must have come up at some point. He kept completely still trying to puzzle out what the woman's angle was. If the other man knew he wasn't married, and she kept acting as though they were that was going to make this look even more suspicious. More suspicious than if they were married and she had somehow found him, out here in the middle of the woods, far from home? He closed his eyes and waited for the bolt.

Then cracked one open to peek as she shifted away from him, lifting her instrument and starting with another song. He groaned to himself, strangely not wanting to offend her so he tried to keep it quiet, but at the same time he hadn't planned on dying today and he couldn't stop the groan completely. He glanced over at their soon to be killer, decided to at least try and give an explanation for what was going on despite not knowing himself, and ended up laughing out loud as the stern faced veteran dropped his crossbow and began to dance along to the stranger's song. 

Then things took another turn. Portals of magic energy began opening up beneath the dancing mercenaries, one by one. He had traveled through such portals once before, traveling from one battlefield to another quickly. The sensation had been odd, and not one that he had particularly enjoyed. Personally, he didn't think people were meant to travel like that. Who knew what they were passing through when they used magic like that! If it meant not dying, and not going through one of the portals himself though, then this was okay with him. He wondered exactly how they were going to arrive on the other side. Sprawled out, dropping from a height? A cold sensation passed through him. What if they were being sent somewhere dangerous, and they were all going to end up hurt? He stared at the elf, unsure how to proceed. If she could do all this then she was dangerous, but focused as she was on the song and the magic she was throwing around then maybe he would have a shot at subduing her. He thought this through, indecision paralyzing him. She hadn't outright threatened them, but one of the mercenaries had threatened her. That meant this was self defense, right? Maybe.

As the last of the mercenaries disappeared through a blue portal Derek's eyes shot down to the floor beneath his own feet, expecting one to open there next. He gave it a heartbeat, and then another, but nothing happened. He became aware of the regular sounds of the forest again and realized the elf had stopped singing. Looking back up, he gave her a sheepish smile, hoping that he hadn't made a mistake in not attacking her when he'd had the chance.

"Erm…" he began. Not a solid start, that. She was going to think him a fool if he didn't say something clever, soon. "You're… Not gonna send me through a portal too, are you?" Smooth. Great job, Derek. He scratched nervously at the back of his head, still smiling awkwardly.

Magic was hard. At the end of the song, her mana was drained. She’d already done a teleportation spell, invisibility spell, music spell and now had finished it all off with multiple portal spells. Putting the instrument back into her backpack, the half elf looked up to see Derek. This guy had not proceeded to try to murder her. Despite everything that the trickster had just put him through.

He was nice. Or just a very careful planner. But by the way he spoke, she could see that was not the case. An adorable awkward boy. That is what he appeared to be. Like a little puppy. Only human. She assumed he was human but he could literally be anything. Many species had a human-like appearance. It was difficult to tell them apart. Plopping down to the grassy forest ground, she looked up at him.

“Nope! You didn’t try to kill me. And you were very patient, even though I was using you as a scapegoat to get me more time.” Kyra explained, “Also, your puzzled expressions are hilarious. My name is Kyra. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Scapegoat.”

Her voice was full of joy and her eyes held mischief. The mercenaries wouldn’t be back to bother them. Kyra didn’t mind staying to talk to Derek.

“I hope you don’t mind that I sent your friends away. But they did seem to be in a murderous mood.” She said, “I put them on Apoy Island. They can have a nice vacation and calm down.”

Drip drop. Droplets began to trickle down from the trees. A drop of water fell onto her forehead. Her hand reached up as if to catch the water falling down. Kyra smiled genuinely, revealing the dimples on her cheeks, at the sight of rain. Pitter patters of the rain hitting the trees could be heard within the forest as if it was a melody played by unseen musicians. The grass became glossy, reflecting the light that occasionally peeked from the trees, and softly blew in the small breeze. Puddles began to form on the ground. Kyra stood up so that she wouldn’t become muddied in the water.

“Have you ever noticed how the world seems so much more colorful whenever it rains?” She said suddenly, “It’s as if the forest has brightened up.”

Plants seemed to become a brighter shade of green with the rain. As if it had become richer and prettier in a matter of seconds. Dirt on the ground had become darker which contrasted nicely to the bright green surrounding it. Details upon the trunks of the trees were clear and started to develop a slightly red shade mixed in with the medium browns. A patch of purple flowers sparkled with the new raindrops it had acquired.

“I’m not just a forest lover.” She said, “This can happen with cities too. It’s fascinating to watch the tiny rivers develop on the paved streets, running from one place to the next. Dragging whatever it likes along with it.”

Something about the rain made her feel sleepy. Her smile became smaller and had a tired tone to it. Despite the slight coldness the rain brought. Walking over to Derek, she attempted to rest her chin on his shoulder. Less in a mischievous way but more like she was tired.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just gonna use you as a pillow.” Kyra declared.

Did the half elf trust him fully? No. But if she died, it wouldn’t really mind her much. She’d known the taste of death before. It didn’t surprise or scare her anymore. If he had decided to murder her then he would have already done it. And if he was going to later, Kyra would be dissapointed but she probably wouldn’t remember that feeling afterwards.