Finally, the god of the wilds had set foot upon the untamed wilderness of the Laeto Rainforest. Long had he wished to travel to the realm, but his duties of godhood and being a parent had kept him away from the area for a long time, yet now he had the free time to get out and he would use it.

He did not wander the humid soaked ground in his human form though, instead, he thought it would be wise to shift to his bear form. This would allow him to better get an idea of what lived out in the dense forest. Even though he could feel the emotions and thoughts of the wild creatures, humanity always caused on thing to swell in their minds and that was panic. Yet, even though he had shifted to a more natural form, he still stood out among the creatures. For due to his ascension his form had shifted somewhat.

He was far larger than even the largest of brown bears, his right eye even in his bear form was missing and a large scar ran down the side of his head. His claws while in this form had a slight glow of the mana that was stored in the heart of Flidias, this led to his paw prints leaving a faint glow for a few moments before dissipating back into the aether. If a hunter would see Zanar in this form, they would probably think that they won the biggest catch of their lives. Though his form was intimidating the creatures of Laeto seemed to ignore him.

Zanar could feel the gaze of some predators as they watched him stroll through the trees. He could feel their hunger and their longing to attack him, but also sensed their defensive nature and being cautious of even trying to attack the god. It was as if they knew exactly who he was, or what he was even. This did not stop everything though, as insects still took what they could through his dense fur if it pleased them. The only thing that he did have to worry about within the area was the tribal people that laid claim to the untamed.

He was glad to be able to see the creatures through the eyes of one though. Far too long had he laid in the domain of the hunter and never spent much time in that of the wild beast. It also was many moons that he had shifted into his bear form, so in the end, one could say that he was killing two birds with one stone.

She had snuck out. The epimeliad knew that her ‘master’ (of sorts) would not be pleased, but she needed to get out for a bit. It had not been easy for her to leave the hidden village without notice being taken. Long pink hair was bound in a tie at the nape of her neck, which she continued to play with as she walked through the rainforest. A light smile played on her lips as she enjoyed her stroll with bare feet. Toes dug into the dirt and moss with each step made. Her dress was of simple make that clung to her slim frame. There was little to be noticed of curves, though her delicate features made up for the lack womanly figure.

Falmarin’s pale green eyes took in the lush green forest. She felt more relaxed than she had since her coming into two-legger existence. There was no feel of animosity towards her keeper, Kyo. He was a great man who was helping her keep hidden from the rest of the clan. Despite all his help, the nymph wanted to expand her world. For ages she had been living as an apple tree to watch the world. Now, she had the ability to travel and experience it all.

Her fingers lightly grazed the bark of a large tree that contained a rather sizable beehive. Some of the bees were walking along her arm, which tickled her slightly. Falmarin smiled at them before moving along on her walk. Her path forward halted upon finding some glowing footprints of a large predator. For a split moment her brows furrowed in confusion, and then raised quickly in surprise. It was a giant bear paw. Breath quickened slightly as she followed the path that the paws left behind. The glow intrigued her, and for some reason Falmarin was drawn to it.

It didn’t take long before the nymph finally came upon the large beast that made the tracks. Bare feet shifted the dirt as she stood behind the large bear. Her throat bobbed from nerves. Even if she were nervous, the young woman didn’t feel threatened in any way. All she felt were the typical nerves whenever around another entity that had any source of power. She could recognize power when she was in its presence. Over her many years there had been encounters with those deemed worthy of titled a deity. Farlmarin could feel a shiver ripple down her spine as she bent down onto her knees and bowed head. Though she did not feel a threat, there were great nerves shifting in her gut. It wasn’t easy, but she was able to keep her head from being completely bowed. Kyo was instilling some sort of backbone into the epimeliad.

From the moment that Zanar had entered the forest, he had felt more than content thoughts and feelings from the creatures around. They were untouched by the hands of man for the most part and allowed to thrive in such lush conditions. He could not help but feel happiness swell in his heart, far to often had species been wiped out by man due to them being scared or even greedy for pelts, fang, and claw. If only the mind of man could be opened up, to see that these natural creatures of the wild were more afraid of the power of man more than anything..even the more volatile predators fought only to protect themselves. Men stood at the apex, they were the apex predators who even fought amongst themselves.

Lost in thought he did not notice the other being sneak up behind him. Only once he heard the thoughts of the creatures around was he made aware of their presence. He was curious and astonished that someone would sneak up on a bear his size, especially if they saw the tracks that were enchanted. Turning his head, he saw the pink hair upon the figure, the vibrant color matching perfectly with the exotic flora around the area.

Interesting…

He turned completely to face the person, which he could now see was a young woman. Walking up slowly to her. His one eye fixated upon her own eyes. ”If I happened to have been feral, what would you have done? Approaching a creature, especially predators, from the rear tends to end poorly.” He spoke, his voice seemed to echo throughout while in this form. Even though he asked the question, he wondered if she could feel his aura. He had not been hiding it while he strolled more as a way to scare off the local tribes from hunting him.

”You must know of what I am, or have taken a guess at the very least I am sure. Thankfully if it was intuition it did pay off in your favor.” Zanar started to shift back to his human form. Thankfully he had clothing made to be able to shift with him, or he may have embarrassed the woman if he came to his natural form in full bare. He rolled his neck, a small pop ringing out. ”That is one thing I will never get used to is the change from form to form. It is still not the most pleasant thing in the world that is for sure.” He spoke rubbing the back of his neck.

”Ah my apologies, introductions are to be had. I am Zanar, one of the deities of this realm. You caught me in a sort of sightseeing to be honest. Though I am curious, if you did sense me to be divine I am wondering how. Most mortals can’t perceive that very easily…so my guess would be you are not exactly human, are you?

Head was kept lowered with her gaze remaining on the moss covered ground. Shifting of giant paws gave tell to his large form moving to face the nymph. Falmarin continued to keep her eyes from taking in his bear form at such a close range. She rested her delicate fingers upon the soft earth as the deity assessed her presence. The voice that came from the bear boomed in the forest as well as in her small frame. There was no effort for her to respond to his words as she already knew that it had not been the smartest of tactics to follow bear tracks. Even so, Falmarin was used to mingling with the beasts of the world. They were far more enjoyable in interact with than the humans that tended to take the world for granted. The epimeliad would always take her chances with the beasts.

It was when the great bear changed his forms into that of a man did Falmarin dare to lift her gaze up to him. The power continued to radiate off of him for her nature senses to understand what he truly was. His tone was gentle even as it poured out supremacy. Considering his tone, the nymph moved to stand up from her knees with hands still stretched downwards in a bow. ”Yes, my lord. I do use caution on normal occasions….though this is still rather new to me.”

She dared a look up to see him standing on two legs just as she was. A gentle smile was given towards the deity as she lifted her head up further. Hands were folded before the middle of her stomach in proper fashion. It was embarrassing that a lord of the realm was introducing himself to her. Nerves were beginning to form up in her again, though she could hear Lord Kyo in the back of her mind to ‘buck up.’

A nervous smile spread on her lips as she inclined her head in another bow. ”My name is Falmarin, my lord. I know of what you are because I am of the earth. Until recently I was an apple tree. With power inclined into me, I became a sentient epimeliad….or apple tree nymph. This is why I am still learning the in-and-out of etiquette for the world rules.” Falmarin smiled more relaxed though, her hands were knotting together. ”I have seen many of your kind over the years walk through the forest.”

Hands formed a bowl like shape to allow an apple to grow. With head bowed, she offered it to Zanar humbly. ”It would be an honor to feed the god of hunt and wilderness. Please take this as a token of respect for you and your relam.” She was hoping that her manners were along the correct lines. It was always hard to tell what, how and when to do certain things. It was nice to see a god stroll for the sake of taking in some rest. It was important for them to continue to connect with the earth.

There it was again, the use of honorifics. It was the one thing that he hated about his position, as he would rather be seen as one and the same as those around him. A fleeting hope at that, as he knew himself a god could never be seen at the same level as that as a mortal man or woman. He had insisted many times for his own Rangers and Clergy to not use such titles, but they did just the same. It always felt more embarrassing for Zanar to ask them to not use such titles when speaking to him. Outcome was always the same, with him standing there and them continuing to speak formally.

”Please, there is no need to speak formally with me. I’d rather you not, I may be one of the chosen but I do remember my roots and what I was before.”

His words rang true, as he was not but a simple human turned ursanthrope before he ascended to divinity. He could see though that the Nymph herself was not at ease herself. He did not know if it was because she was face to face with one of the Conclave, or just speaking to another person in general. He had never encountered a Nymph before in his travels, so perhaps for the both of them this was the first. ”I am sure you have, many have risen and fallen before I have. The beings I had never got a chance to meet myself, nor would I know how to act around them. Even being blessed to be among them, I still find myself uneasy around my brother’s and sister’s.”

Only a few moments later did she offer him something. One would think that a simple apple would not be enough for a god, he was not one to deny anything though. ”The honor is mine, not often to the shepherds give up their own to someone else.” He gratefully took the apple from the epimeliad and bowed the same to give his thanks to her. “I am curious though, what brings you through the forest. Not many come through Laeto by themselves. The jungle can be dangerous at times..” He asked her before taking a bite of the apple she presented. Unsurprisingly to him, it was about the freshest apple that he had ever taken a bite from. As to be expected from a creature that was the source of the produce.