The fairies' promises echoed on the wind, promising magic and glamour forever in the forest. Ernest did not believe a word of it. She knew well enough the stories. She would never escape if she let them have her. Still, they had tried. But she had ran. And still was running. Running away, into the forest, where they, hopefully would not follow. She did not want to deal with them.It seemed like hours that she ran before half-collapsing in a small clearing. Catching her breath while leaning against a tree, she listened for the fairies' whispers. Not a sound. She glanced around, as well, enough to confirm that no eyes were watching her. Good. This place would be as safe as any. She set about gathering wood for a fire."Listen," came a voice, loud in the silence of the forest. "Listen."Annoyed, Ernest marched over to her bag and pulled open the flap. A purple orb glowed within, floating slightly. "I'm listening," she snapped. When she'd found this thing, it had seemed like a blessing. Now, it was just a bother.Her own voice spilled out of the orb back at her. "Be careful of fires in unknown areas. Many nighttime predators are drawn to the light." Ernest glared at the orb. "It's only a small fire. Anyway, everything glows here." She gestured at the tree right next to her and continued gathering branches. She lit the fire and stared at the sphere. "You don't have to live on jerky and vegetables all the time," she added. "I do." She wasn't really worried. She had seen flashes of fire ever since she entered this forest, and nothing had been drawn to them. There was no reason anything would be drawn to hers.She set about making a soup, covering it with a bowl to keep the scent from being too noticeable. The orb hummed softly next to her. It had been humming ever since she had entered this darn forest.She poured herself a bowl of soup, planning to eat the rest of it for breakfast the next morning. The smell was wafting into the air now, but Ernest didn't care. For five minutes, she would enjoy the luxury of a warm supper and the glowing fire beside her.

"I really should reconsider my line of work." he would mutter to himself as he stepped towards the forest. Stopping a few meters away from the tree line he paused, allowing the myriad of sounds to wash over him.

Lifting his gaze to the dim skies above Itiel would allow a short whistle to pass his lips, signaling​ to his avian companion to swoop into a lower circle just above the tree tops. A sigh escapes him moments before trudging into the damp forest.

They told him to find the girl and bring back the orb, apparently they had had tried to send hunters after her. They must have failed or he wouldn't be here. In all honesty, he hated forests, reminded him a bit too much of his childhood. His musings continued on for sometime as he casually makes his way through the undergrowth, his attuned senses scanning and picking out signs of her hasty escape.

Upon reaching a small clearing another whistle escapes him to bring the large down to rest on a branch high above him. "We're stopping here for now." Itiel states to her whilst setting his equipment down beside him prior to settling against a mossy tree trunk for a rest.

Ernest heard the whistle, long and low, surprisingly near to her. She jumped to her feet and was looking around for the source of the sound before her brain processed that, in this half light, the whistler wouldn't be anywhere close enough to see her. This calmed her, but she dumped her water skin over the fire anyway, wanting to make sure that any meeting would be on her terms.

She considered her options. She could go see who this strange person was, hoping desperately it wasn't a trap. Or she could stay here, and abandon her hopes to find another person and maybe make her way out of this awful forest. 
"Listen," said the orb again, and she didn't like how loud it seemed, now that someone was nearby.
"What?" she asked in a whisper. "What now?"
Her voice echoed from the orb again. "Never walk blindly into danger. Watch for your enemies, and never do what they expect."
"Thank you for that lovely piece of advice," she said to the orb, sarcastically. "Honestly, I don't know why I brought you along. For all the recording you do, you're plenty annoying about parroting it back at me every time I'm in a stressful situation." She stuffed the orb in her pack and closed it, having made up her mind now. If she had to spend much longer in this haunting forest with this impossible orb, she was going to kill something. 
Still, she clambered into the trees, to try to approach the person from the side. Being as silent as she could, she slid through the branches. She still knew what direction the whistle had come from, so she went in that direction. 
After a minute or two, she thought she saw someone, resting their back against a tree and climbed along the edge of the clearing to get a better view. She wasn't watching where she was going, however, and ran straight into a huge eagle.
She had the presence of mind not to scream, but her one hand slipped from the branch and she ended up hanging from the branch, staring straight at the figure, who appeared to be an elf, at least from her perspective. Oh, well, he could see her now. She dropped down from the branch, landing on her feet.
"Hello there," she said, standing close to the edge of the clearing. She placed one hand on her dagger, watching the elf carefully. "What brings you to this part of the woods?"

The dark elf would take his time to supply her with a response, his eyes keeping a close watch on her withdrawn hand while he casually lifted a hand to adjust his hood.

Allowing an uncomfortable silence to settle between them he finally allows a slow breath to escape him. "I'm looking for someone who took something of great importance."he states in a slow and measured tone while he adjusted his seating on the damp forest floor  "What about you?"dull orbs rise to meet her gaze whilst a smirk pulled on the corner of his lips.

Above their heads the slow wing beats of the eagle would meet Thier ears as she began her ascent above the tree tops. "I wouldn't think this to be a safe place for a shemlen."

Ernest held the strange elf's gaze, unperturbed by his silence. She waited for him to answer - he would answer, she was pretty sure. People who wanted to ignore her usually did from the outset. He was trying to make her impatient, but if there was one thing she had, at least for now, it was time.

She was beginning to wonder if he actually was going to speak or if he just wanted her to think that when he answered her. She was slightly surprised by his answer. She had heard that even the best bounty hunters typically stayed far away from this area. "I am going to the city on the other side of this forest," she said. "I thought I might as well look around while I was here." This was the truth; she saw no reason to lie.

She heard the eagle up in the branches. "I didn't know eagles lived in this forest," she said. "I will have to record that." For a second she thought of pulling out the orb to tell it, but she decided to keep it secret. "What is a shemlen?" she added. "Is that an elvish term? I've never heard it before."

Slowly rising to his feet to give the girl an assessing gaze keeping track of her every motion. "That eagle is with me."he says taking a quick glance at the bag she wore

"Shemlen is what my people call you humans…it literally means 'quick children' " Itiel would say in response to her inquiry. "Now then, isn't it a bit dangerous for one so young to be traveling through this forest?" the elf found it quite odd that she would be alone through a relatively dangerous place like this. Something was not quite right here.

Something was a little strange about this elf, Ernest decided. He seemed to be… almost suspicious of her. As if he expected that there were things about her she wasn't telling. Well, she had her secrets, but everyone did, and she doubted it was anything that would concern him. She kept this to herself, though.

"I didn't think eagles lived in here," she said, in response to his comment. "That makes a lot more sense." She also mentally noted down the meaning of 'shemlen.' She would remember that.

"I suppose it's somewhat dangerous," she said, speaking of the forest. "Honestly, I didn't expect it to be quite so much so. But while I'm here, I ought to look around. Discovering things is dangerous, anyway." She shrugged. "If you let fear get to you, you'll never go anywhere." She was used to danger. Even when she did find a city, she found it nearly as dangerous as the wilderness. She tended to be disliked among people. 

"Do you know exactly who it is you're looking for?" she asked. "Perhaps I could help you while I'm here."

She's asking too many questions, a part of his mind would say while he mulled over how best to answer her question.

He thought back to his briefing, some high and mighty official had acquired a not so… appropriate item from some not so pious individuals. The official it seemed decided to swindle these folk and a myriad of events occurred that Itiel couldn't care less about.

Their words were​ simple: Find the girl, and retrieve the orb. The vague description they gave of the "thief" did not help in tracking her, but what he did manage to find lead him here. It wouldn't take a scholar to connect her being here and what information he had gathered.

"I'm looking for a thief" he finally answers bringing his hand beneath the cloak he wore, gripping the handle of his dagger "Care to share what it is you hold in that bag?"

He thought too much, Ernest decided. She appreciated caution, but either he had no idea how long he was taking to answer questions or he was trying to psych her out. Probably the latter. He didn't seem to be the type to be unaware of anything. 

A thief? So he was definitely a bounty hunter. That probably made him an enemy, but as long as he didn't know that, she was safe. He didn't seem to trust her, though; although, if he wasn't sure who he was looking for, she would naturally fall under suspicion. She might have even actually taken something without knowing, though that seemed unlikely. 

Her suspicions were confirmed when he asked what was in her bag. He thought she might be who he was looking for. Now, she realized, she was in a trap. She didn't want him to see what was in her bag. Most of what was in there she never showed anybody. On the other hand, if she refused, he would assume she was the person he was looking for and would likely treat her accordingly. She knew what getting arrested was like. She hoped never to repeat the process. It occurred to her, though, that he hadn't actually asked her to show him what was in her bag. She might be able to get away with only telling him what she was willing to.

"I don't really have anything of importance," she said. "I certainly don't have anything stolen. I just keep my supplies in here. Food and water. A few little tools. That sort of thing." She didn't think he would care about any of that. And if he did, well she could show him anything from that list with little bother. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask, though. It would make it harder to keep her secrets.