As the morning sun crested over the horizon to the East, a shadowy figure ran noiselessly through the underbrush of the forest floor. The movement was too quick to follow with the naked eye, but the more observant would have caught fleeting glimpses of a great feline form, smaller than some of its larger cousins but built for speed and stealth.
The cat neared the outskirts of the forest, and the thick vegetation slowly began to give way to sparser brush-like jumbles of brier and thorn. The scene resembled something of a bulwark of nature, with the desperate flora of the region seeming to weave together to create a great wall-like barrier barbed with thorns.
As the feline figure bounded toward the thick tangle of brush, it seemed to part before her, making way as she dashed through.
A short time later, the cat came to a sparse clearing surrounded on all sides by the remains of a forest laid bare by the onset of winter. Its branches were hanging low with the weight of heavy snow, and hardly a green leaf was to be seen.
It was then that the cat fluidly shifted shape and assumed the visage of a young woodland elf with the trappings of nature hanging all about her. Her name was Thia Xiloscient; she was one of the last remaining elven keepers of the forest, the rest of her clan having either died out over the centuries or left the forest for more fertile ground. It pained her to see her home in such disarray. She walked to the middle of the clearing and took a look around. This place was usually far beyond the reach of the winter storms, the region being protected by the magical patronage of Silvanus, the Oak Father. It was typically temperate year-round, with only a slight buffer zone at its edges to allow for the winter of the northern reaches of Ferune to break upon its borders.
The clearing that Thia now stood in, however, was a full two miles from the borders of the wood, and her fears were confirmed now that she saw the desperate state it was in. It was good that the denizens of the forest had sought to erect a sound and sturdy barrier farther to the north, and Thia smiled to herself as she thought that her labors these past tendays had not been in vain. There had been whispers that a particularly cold season was approaching, but it wasn't until now that she recognised the true gravity of that premonition. At least their efforts had not been without purpose. The forest would survive this winter, if not without some loss, and it would begin the process of regrowth come the spring.
As the young elf glanced about her surroundings one last time, preparing to make her departure, the sudden snapping of twigs brought her attention back to the grove. Her head spun around with the same feline reflexes she exhibited in her cat form as she brought her long oaken staff to bear in the direction of the noise. Her posture relaxed, however, when she saw a familiar face coming through the brush at the far end of the clearing. The wispy female form of a hamadryad of the forest approached with the smooth and steady stride of a being wholly attuned to the nature that surrounded it.
This hamadryad was called Lyra, she knew, and the creature cast a regal form as she approached. The elf mused to herself that the hamadryads were not unlike royalty, with the forests serving as their duchies and fiefdoms.
Lyra bade her to follow with a somewhat urgent candor, and Thia gritted her teeth in anticipation of what had prompted such a powerful being to seek her assistance. Not many things would prove beyond the capabilities of a hamadryad, but something had clearly unsettled this creature.
Together, the two walked onward to the outskirts of the forest, bound for whatever disturbance awaited them.
