All Those Friendly People • Private

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

How did one end up in this kind of situation? Surely it took someone with brain damage or little to no mental capacity at all to wonder into a dark forest and get lost. But, this is Astrid. Who could really say they were surprised? She had a horrid sense of direction. The girl couldn't find her way out of a paper bag that had been torn open on all sides. All it takes is a little distraction to lead her in, and like a moth to a felt-covered flame she was trapped.
The guild master had been to this location once before when she did a job with Shizuka. But of course one visit alone was not enough to familiarize herself with her surroundings. Not that it was an easy thing to do in such a spooky and creepy place. So now lost and confused, she could do nothing but wonder around aimlessly.
The silvernette continued wearily along the strangely trimmed path she had been walking down for maybe the last couple of minutes now, purple eyes darting from side to side each time she heard even the smallest of unnatural noises. This place had been a lot less scary when she was deaf. At least back then all she had to worry about was the creepy aura and visuals. But now audio was added in too? Nothing could make this worse.
"This is what i get for getting lost in my music..." she mumbled to herself, pinpointing the reason she accidentally walked into here in the first place. It's not like she wanted to end up here. In fact, of all the places in Fiore this was probably one of the last places she wanted to be. But while on a stroll going nowhere in particular she guessed she took a wrong path, and with her headphones places firmly upon her ears Astrid easily ended up getting lost mentally, and evidently, lost physically too. What was she to do now?
If she did not find her way out soon it was sure to get dark. And what's worse than getting lost? Getting lost in the dark. Who knew what kinds of creatures were out here. Well, vulcans for one. And after getting kidnapped by a vulcan so long ago she was not ready for such an experience again.
"Allô?" the French woman called out, hoping maybe someone would hear her. "Is there anyone here?"
It was maybe not the smartest thing to do, seeing how many creatures here would love to gobble up a prey making so much noise. But at this point if she didn't so anything then she might as well just be stuck. Calling out would at least give her some chance of getting out of this hellhole.

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When it rains look for rainbows
When it's dark look for
stars.

❧

How did one end up in this kind of situation? Seijin was simply dancing the Macarena on the moon until he got extremely gassy. The force of which the gas protruded out of Seijin projected him onto one of his favorite planets, Earthland. He landed through a swarm of trees landing on a nice patch of grass. The impact had echoed throughout the forest causing the inhabitants of the immediate vicinity to scramble in fear. It was dark and eerie, the strange mixture of scents clouded his nostrils. From the subtle scent of cedar wood, the stench of feral critters, and the dissipating fart that was miraculously expelled from Seijin's rear end, he was simply overwhelmed. Dazed and confused, Seijin brushed off some of the dirt on his shiny white and black fur. 

As he got up, he chuckled to himself as he remembered a familiar scenario in the past that had brought him to Earthland. The mysterious nature of the forest he had landed in felt quite peaceful as the moon was bright as ever. Luckily for him, Seijin was wearing his lucky glow in the dark fanny pack that was filled with amazing things of all sorts. The fanny pack contained a vinyl record of Pink Floyd, a bright red Chevrolet Impala 1959, a tiny toothpick for hobbits, an apple pie, a shiny box, a flashlight, a herd of buffalo, a disco ball, a book, a polaroid camera, and some fried chicken. Seijin unzipped his compact fanny pack and pulled out a flashlight in order to get a better grasp of where he had landed. 

"Aha! I'll go looking for some Scooby snacks!" Seijin remarked in a delightful manner. Joyfully skipping around the forest, Seijin used some of his mojo to grow a trail of delicate and exquisite flowers of all colors behind him as he skipped, but that's when he spotted something far away with his keen eyesight. "A gorgeous silvernette? In this spooky forest? What could she possibly be doing in a forest like this! I guess I can go searching for Scooby snacks at a different time." To Seijin, females have always been a bit of a mystery to him as he has been too shy to approach Earthland due to the fear of an awkward confrontation with the opposite gender. However, the presence of this silvernette was welcoming and allowed Seijin to step out of his comfort zone.

Seijin's eyes playfully lit up as he heard her voice out in the distance. He turned around to pick up some of the flowers he had produced using his super cool mojo, placing it in his left paw ready to offer the beautiful bouquet of flowers to the lovely silvernette. However, as he made a step forward to make him visible to the silvernette, he had tripped on a root. "OW!" Seijin exclaimed in pain as he realized that he had made a fool of himself in front of the mesmerizing silvernette. The loud thud had surely grasped the attention of the silvernette.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

An echo rung through the forest, an echo that sounded of a mighty impact, like some sort of comet hitting against the earth so hard it would cause a crater. Astrid flinched at the sound, purple orbs scanning the direction from which it came. But saw nothing. A great wind swept over the area, the tree's branches thrashing about before it faded away into a light breeze once more. Woodland creatures rushed past her in a hurry, paying her no mind, like they had their reasoning to run away as fast as they could from the source of the noise and powerful winds. None of this boded well for the elf. One could imagine if they heard a loud noise in the forest and all the animals ran away from it the one thing you would do too is turn the other direction and run as fast as you could. But Astrid felt otherwise. She could not say why she felt as though she should continue forward to what could potentially be her death... But when someone has faced death twice already their sense of danger gets a little out of whack. But even more than that the slayer just... felt as though she needed to check it out. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. Or in this case, curiosity killed the elf. The power from which the sound came from was great, even more so than a normal mage. No, even more so than a god. And she would know, she had come face to face with a god before. No, this soul energy, it was nothing like what she has sensed before. Its power was way off the charts. The spiritual pressure was enough to shake her to her core.
Glancing backwards to see if there was still any other life around here at all Astrid felt safer when she realized the impact had indeed caused all other life to flee from the scene. Meaning, it was just her and whatever this thing was. At least she now didn't have to worry about the creatures who dwelled here... The only thing she did have to worry about was that godly energy.
"Allô?" the French woman repeated, taking one careful step forward before an audible grunt caught her attention. From out the bushes came... A panda. That had obviously tripped, given that he was face down in the grass. A panda... Wait, a panda?
"A... Panda?" she blinked, not sure what to make of this. It was a panda that was giving off this powerful energy? Wait, why was there even a panda in the first place? The slayer never realized pandas were native to Fiore. What a magical discovery. The girl began to calm down upon seeing the black and white beast, letting out a sigh of relief that it had not been some weird monster. There was something about his cute and cuddly appearance that lowered her guard despite his power level. She couldn't help it, bears were always cute. He reminded her of her childhood teddies. He was so fluff she could squeeze him... Though right now she supposed she should check if it was okay, it hadn't moved since it fell.
Astrid took a few more delicate steps forward and squatted down to the bear's height. Unable to resist herself she reached out her arm to touch it, placing a small hand upon its head to begin petting its soft fur, a smile gracing her pale lips. Its fur really was soft, like fine cotton fresh off a sheep's body. The slayer tilted her head in confusion, expression turning worrisome.
"Excuse me, monsieur panda? Are you okay? Do you need me to heal you?" she questioned, not expecting a response back since it was a panda and all, but the girl usually talked to animals as if they were human. Pandas were no exception.

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The darkest nights
Produce the brightest
stars.

❧

An echo rung in his head and his conscience was desperately hoping that it was all just an awful nightmare and that he never tripped in front of the stunning silvernette. The impact of the fall was a devastating blow not to Seijin physically, but to his fragile self-esteem. He knew that he had made a fool of himself and that his almost amazing entrance would've definitely impressed the silvernette had the root never been in the way. However, as he was putting himself together mentally, he felt the soft hands of the silvernette gently stroke the fur on his head. Seijin gushed with joy while trying to keep a stern face on, but he couldn't hold back from blushing. As she spoke to him in a cute and calm tone, Seijin noticed how he was being referred to as a monsieur. Sure enough Seijin without a doubt pulled all the courage in his body to remember the French he had studied while he was on a study abroad trip in Paris back in his teen years. He glanced at her while making the most handsome face he could make and said, "Je- Je m'appelle Seijin! What is your name mademoiselle?" And as Seijin struggled to get the words out of his mouth he had realized that he had crushed the flowers he was going to give the silvernette when he tripped. Realizing that no girl would want crushed flowers - he improvised. He reached into his lucky glow in the dark fanny pack as he asked for her name and pulled out a piece of fried chicken.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

It could talk. Of course it could talk. What more had she been expecting? No one met a random panda in a spooky forest and not excepted weird things to happen. Though of course this was a world filled with monster and dragons of all shapes and sizes. Hell, even her own companion was a talking cat with a lisp that could sprout wings and fly about. By now nothing could faze the elf. Or really, not as much as it should.
"Oh my, it seems that you can talk" she comment allowed.
The slayer ceased her petting once she realized this was no ordinary creature, taking in what exactly the bear had spoken and the way he had said it, obviously using her own speech pattern. What was it with people and trying to imitate her accent? First Fei, now this strange panda who apparently called himself Seijin. At least from what she could gather from his simple greeting in a language she had a fair grasp of. She would never understand why people thought it was so endearing.
"Moi? I am Astrid, pleased to make your acquaintance" she gave the bear a soft smile. Not noticing any malice or dark feelings within his soul Astrid began to grow calmer under the bear's otherworldly presence. It was obvious he wasn't here to attack or destroy anything, at least not right now. It seemed all he wanted to do was eat... Some fried chicken. The elf watched closely as the bear pulled out some chicken from his fanny pack, tilting her head questionably.
"I didn't know pandas ate meat... Or wore fanny packs..." as far as she knew she thought they only ate plants and such.
First speech and now a new eating habit? This was turning out to be quite a knowledgeable encounter.
"What are you doing here in the forest? Were you the one who crashed?" the answer was quite the obvious one, but the elf could not help herself. She felt as though she had to carry on their strange conversation somehow. And maybe if she did she could discover what exactly he was...

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