Aria jumped and nearly attacked Phoenix as he pulled her behind the tree. As his hand covered her mouth, she realized who it was that had her and for some reason, one she would actively not think about later, she relaxed. Her first thought was that a court had found the kelpie. That might still be the case but as she heard the humans stomp through she wondered if maybe they had not found the creature and worked to take him down. Kelpies, after all, were of a predatory nature that humans did not appreciate.<br/><br/>She tensed as the smell of iron from their weapons reached her nose. Thoughts of it burning into her nearly-friendly acquaintanceâ€™s skin, sinking into his blood stream and poisoning it, made her shiver. If it was humans, she hoped they killed him before he suffered too much through the iron poisoning. Even smelling it made her skin crawl and made her want to cough.<br/><br/>Soon enough the humans had passed and Phoenix held her hand, leading them back towards the church. â€œDo not apologize for helping me stay safe,â€ She replied, her tone demanding. If anything, she owed Phoenix a thank you. She had been so caught up in searching for Faerie Court signs that she ignored what was loudly trudging its way through the forest. She didnâ€™t truly want to thank him. She didnâ€™t want to feel as though she owed him anything. But she knew that she should.<br/><br/>Instead of saying thank you, she squeezed his hand slightly once they slipped into the door of the church and found a moment to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. â€œThe things you find when you go searching for troubleâ€¦â€ she joked with an ironic, and slightly bittersweet smile as she faced him. The realization that she may need to leave this forest soon loomed over her head and made her feel heavy. Something took or killed the Kelpie. If humans were hunting fae, she would need to leave. And if the Faerie Court was in the forest she would need to leave very, very soon. Just as she was starting to feel settled, things began to change.