There was a tingle of winter air mixed into the air of late autumn.<br/>She was hugging a tall, wide tree in the middle of the forest - and while for strangers' eyes there would be nothing special about that tree, it was different for this particular elf. She could feel the spirit magic imbued circulating through her whole body.<br/><br/>The Moon had a tint of silver-red color, as it was twinkling up high above the treetops. Far away, a little silver of water reflected the moonlight. But underneath the cover of the leaves and branches, the forest is deep, dark and damp from the just passed rain.<br/>Many travellers have been lost here, for the stillness and the lacking light can easily trick ones orientation.  Some were shriveled up corpses in some of the crevices, while others served as meals for dangerous animals or plants.<br/><br/>Somewhere inbetween she noticed small noises of cracking branches of wood, as heavy steps were coming towards her direction. A stranger. A traveller? Or an enemy?<br/>He did have a stealthy foot, so it might not be a lost cause of a warrior. However, in a forest, she would be able to detect him miles ahead. The stopping cries of the animals and insects in his vicinity. And the spirits. He seemed quite inexperienced in here..<br/><br/>Ari frowned, but she did not move from her position. The tree she sat on, was an old Oak, reigning supreme over all other trees in the vicinity - proudly sticking its head out of the lot. She would not be able to measure the width with just her own arms - she needed to hug the tree completely at least twice, to cover the whole radius.<br/><br/>Through the slits of her half closed eyes, she  only glanced shortly at the approaching shadow, but instead looked up to the Moon, and listened to the heartbeat of the forest spirits inside the big Oak. Like a little sun, the spirits warmed her body, as she dreamily stared above.<br/>Then the tips of her ears twitched, and she tilted her head. The shadow seemed to have found her past camping place, huh? There should be food there. Not that she minded, but he should never think of lighting up a fire.. especially not in<span style="font-style: italic">this</span>forest.