Alfred
**It is afternoons such as these where Mercy Foxton finds herself foraging for herbs in the woods which Blackspire Manor resides in; tall, loosely packed pine, spruce and other dark trees laden over a fertile, brimming brush grounds with teeming critters and lush grass. Today is windy, with moderate sunlight shine through crevices in the clouds overhead, making the way for the dainty handmaid as she picked mushrooms one by one, storing them in her willow basket.**

**It is quiet. Mercy makes no noise while she slinks about, only listening to the breathing forest all around her in the form of wind and wildlife. Unfortunately, there were no more mushrooms lining the outlier of this backwoods trail, Mercy would need to delve deeper into the trees for her next venture, but her own sensibility was warding her off. Could it be she is alone, and only in her handmaid's attire? Such an unfitting outfit for this type of forest promenade, but she could not waste time going back and forth now, onward she had to continue.**

**But first, she would stand in the center of the beaten dirt path and look forward down the way, then back, where she came, in search of any other life forms...**
Peggy
*Upon leaving the Capitol not to long ago, a young Canifor would quietly make her way through the forested area of Lympia's wilderness. By her side was a Jackal who seemed rather captivated by his surroundings as newer scents met his nose and enticed him to move further off trail only to return back to Juna moments later. Juna didn't mind his wanderings for as far as she knew there wasn't anyone else out here that she had to worry about him attacking. 

Within Juna's hands was an adventurer's pack to which held a large egg inside. It was an Airstrider Egg of course and after having a recent talk Ehakli, Juna had never felt more clueless of it. Perhaps she should wait until she returned home before figuring out the best care for it. For now, however, Juna mostly kept it nestled close to her while she kept an eye on her surroundings. 

Her dark ears remained up and alert, mostly for the signs of animals she could hunt for in the event that she decided to rest here with how long the trek back to Salvania may take. With the breeze making its way through the forest, there was a high chance of her scent scaring off nearby prey, but she didn't mind much at this time with the sun still shining through the clouds above.*
Alfred
**While Mercy did not have a heightened sense of smell, at least none she currently knew of, she did possess a keen 'sixth sense' of sorts now that she was a vampire; thus she made out approaching footfalls from afar. They were leisurely just like her own, but a quicker pair followed in sequences of four! What could that be... An animal. It had to be, but what sort, what dangers did they bring!** "Uh oh. Uh oh... Uh oh..." **The Macen quickly made for the trees, finding a rather thick one to hide behind, while she peered from it, watching the road. Soon the sight of a traveling Okamimi–what looked like one–beheld her eyes.**

"Shoot..."

**She breathed. What would someone think seeing a maidservant this far into the woods?** "Uh oh, shoot... Shoot!" **And why was she so apprehensive, so suddenly? No one is out to get her, after all. This weary disposition must have stemmed from the time she spent lonely in isolation.**
Peggy
*Juna's ears would turn ever so slightly as the Macen would seemingly speak to herself. While Mercy did hide away from the Canifor's view, the sound of both movement and her words wasn't hard for Juna to pick up on. She came to a stop, tail swaying in a slow melodic motion. Someone was here, but who she wasn't sure. Picking up on the tension, Jace would trail back to her, his fur lifting along his shoulders instinctively.

Gradually Juna's hand would make its way down to the string of her bow that sat strung around her torso. However, it wasn't to grab it, more so she would find herself rubbing her fingers along the string in that calming habit sort of thing she did as she gazed around the dark woods.*"Who's there...?"*She asked in a quiet tone. While Juna couldn't see where Mercy was, the sounds and scent alone were enough to give her an idea. At least an idea of where to keep her distance of should she feel the need to grab her weapon in preparation of a random attack. 

While Juna was more timid in moving towards Mercy, her Jackal was quite the opposite. He ran his nose along the ground in search for the ever-so threatening scent while keeping his owner in his peripheral before he would suddenly pace his way in the direction of the tree Mercy hid behind.*
Alfred
**From the perspective Mercy had, she could see a four legged friend on its way over to her very spot; friend, because it was a canid, much like her canifor lord back at the manor, who of which Mercy holds the greatest of fondness for. Ergo, Mercy had little instinct to fear the coming jackal, but its owner was a different story. She knows from firsthand experience that dogs don't make for evil foes on their own, rather they are nurtured as such by the malefic tendencies of their owner.** "A dog?" **Mercy spoke aloud, while she stepped out from behind the tree, now in full view of the jackal.**

**She surveyed the animal with confidence, but felt less so about whoever its owner was...**

"Hello?...Who is out there, do you know what backwoods you're in? *Whose* Backwoods you're in?" **The teen asked, maintaining the length of two bodies distance from the jackal, while she kept him in sight, holding the top of her maid's dress skirt so it wouldn't be too sullied by the damp earth below. Her slippers, unfortunately, were long soiled by dirt, but they were much simpler to clean in water than cloth.**

"I-I'm no threat! Not... Now, at least."
Peggy
*Upon catching sight of the Macen, Jace would suddenly dart towards her as he would let out a series of barks to ward her off. Of course with him being a Jackal it was more high pitched sounding, however, Jace didn't seem to care as he brought himself to race towards the woman.

Juna's gaze shot over to him, watching as Mercy brought herself out into view. Well, it wasn't an ambush like she expected, but still it was rather strange to see a woman wandering with a basket around the forest. Maybe she was collecting something.*"Jace, here!"*She would say with a click of her tongue, trying to get the Jackal's attention so that he would leave Mercy alone to no avail. Then again, Jace wasn't the best listener either, especially now as he tried to hop up on his hind legs to nip at Mercy.

Eventually Juna would gaze back towards the lady, tilting her head a bit as the Macen questioned if she knew where she was to which Juna would gaze around the dark forest before responding with:*"Lympia's... Forest...?"*Juna wasn't sure if it was a sort of trick question the lady was asking her. She didn't know much of locations besides the capitols and the forests that usually accompanied them. Was she perhaps on enemy territory? Hopefully not, though if that was the case, they were not making the best first impression especially with the hyper active Jackal.*
Alfred
"Ohno!–" **Mercy began to jerk away from the ensuing jackal, while it approached with ferocity. Just why it was doing so, was beyond Mercy's comprehension, since she'd tried her best to approach it gently. The macen's back eventually hit a tree's bark, and she had nowhere left to go, besides up; but Mercy would not scale the tree unless she absolutely had to, the sound of the animal's owner calling it to calm did certainly alleviate any tension that the animal was alone. She could only hope the owner wouldn't sic it onto her now.**

**In order to ward the small beast off, Mercy swung her basket with the intention to smack it away, if she had to, she would take more drastic measures to defend herself... But she prayed it would not come to such misfortune.**

"I really shouldn't have worn my handmaid fit. This isn't just a the Lymian wilderness we're in, this the hunting grounds my lord uses to hunt! Blackspire Manor, miss. I-I'm the steward there, now call the dog off before I have to do something!"
Peggy
*At the sound of a potential threat from the woman, Juna's gaze would turn towards Jace.*"Here, Jace... Come here-!"*She said in a more high pitched tone. Juna would reach for a small pouch at her waist, grabbing out a few bits of Jerky from it with one hand as she tried to hold the large egg in the other. With the Jerky soon being tossed out onto the ground, Jace's head would briefly turn away from Mercy as he soon took interest in the treat. Eventually the Jackal paced away from her, leaving the Macen for the small yet delicious bits of Jerky.

Juna had let out a quiet sigh, averting her gaze back to Mercy as she had finally processed what the Macen said about her being on some Manor, which Juna still wasn't quite sure what that meant. Was she not supposed to be here? Juna could assume with the way Mercy had spoken to her that she most likely shouldn't be, but she couldn't help but ask.*"Blackspire Manor...? I've... I don't think I've heard of it before... Am I... Not allowed to tread here?"

*While it may have come off as a rude question, the tone in Juna's voice only gave off the sign of curiosity or maybe even confusion. Her words came quietly and even as she spoke, her eyes would travel down to the basket Mercy carried. Not only because of the interest in it but also to have something else to look at besides the Steward directly in front of her.*
Alfred
"Phew... Thank you, thank you, miss. It's not that you *Can't* Travel through here, but my Lord uses these woods to hunt all the time, and he may mistake you for prey. You wouldn't want that to happen, trust me miss. Does the cute dog want a mushroom to eat? I-I have a few here, in my basket. I'm out here picking many, and picking some naturally occurring flavor herbs to make dinner with." **Mercy left the safety of her tree trunk to approach both dog and owner, reaching into her basket, she withdrew a odd looking yellowish mushroom; a chanterelle.**

"My name is Mercy Foxton. I'm the steward at Blackspire Manor, the *Only* Steward... So... I suppose it's dumb of me to risk my life out here on my lonesome. But I could cook a tasty dinner for my Lord tonight, and he might appreciate it this time. D-Don't you think so?"
Peggy
"Your Lord?"*Was this a sort of hierarchy thing, Juna wasn't sure. However, she could only assume that whoever this Lord was had some sort of power over this land to have someone enforcing that this was indeed his hunting grounds.*"Oh... I...I see... I'm a hunter too... I can understand if... This is his hunting grounds..."*The fact that Juna could remotely be mistaken for prey made her wonder what kind of animals this Lord could have possibly hunted in here that carried such similarities. 

As Mercy offered Jace the mushroom to eat, the Jackal would look up at her from his now vanished jerky. He licked his chops, staring up at the mushroom she held as his nose twitched at the scent of it. Juna finally allowed her gaze to travel up in order to look at Mercy directly, her ears flitting back at her introduction.*"Steward..."*She would repeat quietly with how Mercy emphasized it. Surely it was something important, maybe like the Lord was, but Juna could only look at her with a blank expression as she explained cooking a dinner for her Lord while she held out the mushroom.*

"Does your Lord... Like mushrooms...?"*She would ask her in response to Mercy's question. The only reason she asked being the fact that he hunted, surely there would be more to the feast than just a few plants right? Maybe her Lord did all the hunting so she could cook it, though it did make Juna wonder how often the feast didn't turn out to her Lord's liking with how she mentioned this time it being appreciated.*