The Forest of the Mysterious Voice (open)

It was cold, the creeks and small rivers still frozen under a thin layer of ice. A single inch of snow still piled in patches on the ground and on the bare branches of the trees. Most animals of the forest were still fast asleep in their burrows and caves. Some still wandered around looking for food, or water that wasn't frozen over. A herd of deer could be seen drinking the drops from ice cycles that hanged high above them.
Not too far from this herd, a girl, who was born here in this forest, could be seen jumping from branch to branch high up in the trees. Once she neared the deer she stopped and jumped down. Now usually at the sight of a human or any predator the deer would have ran, but not from this girl. She was able to bond with not only the forest but the animals that inhabited it as well.

"Shilah." She called out as she walked into the middle of the herd. "Shilah." A young fawn, who's antlers were barely growing it's second nub, lifted its head and then pranced happily towards the girl. Aiyana laughed as the deer wagged it stubby tail and nipped at her hood, pulling it down over her face. "I'm glad to see you too." She giggled as she stroked behind his ears and antlers as he let go of her hood. Aiyana had come to pay her dear friend a visit, during the winter she liked to check up and see who had managed to survive the harsh winter. Shilah, the young fawn, was one that Aiyana held close in her heart. He was like a little brother to her. She had helped raise the fawn who had been orphaned at a young age. She managed to convince a doe in the herd to take him in so he wouldn't be left behind by the rest when his mother was taken from him.

Michael had decided to get away from the busy city and go for a nice ride out in the woods on his snow white Pegasus.  Getting away from the noise was something he liked to do regularly just to clear his mind for a bit, and the nice slow pace of ground travel was more leisurely than flying at a fast pace.  It was a very peaceful and quiet walk as he hummed to himself.  

Though the quiet though, he heard the voice of another.  Looking over, he saw in the distance what looked like a girl in rags talking to a young deer.  Strange...but then a lot of things were strange here.  He blinked and pulled on the reigns lightly, bringing his mount to a halt. After a moment, he figured it might be rude to just silently watch her and not let her know he was there, and so called out to her, "Helloo?".  He hoped that it wouldn't completely scare away the deer, yet get the girl's attention.

One of the deer lifted it's head and perked up its ears. Aiyana stood up quickly as she felt the deer's reaction. The deer began to scurry away. Aiyana softly nudged the young fawn to follow his herd. She heard the boy call out to her and looked towards his direction. She quickly turned around and ran, hoping he would not follow. It was a rule of the nymphs to stay hidden from human eyes. But again, Aiyana knew she was different from the rest of the nymphs and felt drawn to the humans, not knowing she was part human herself.

She quickly climbed up the branches of a tall pine tree, wanting to stay out of sight, for now.

Michael blinked and watched as the deer scurried away; probably heard him coming.  Then the girl looked to him, and ran away herself.  He blinked and called again, "WAIT!  I'm not...  I don't..."  But she ran to a pine tree and rapidly ascended from view.  "...Have any idea what just happened."    He wondered what that was all about.  Why did she suddenly run?  He hoped he hadn't scared her.  "..Sorry..." he said quietly to himself.  

He then blinked and looked over at the sudden sound of roaring bears.  "That doesn't sound good..."  He patted the neck of his mount.  "Better take precautions, girl."  With that, he and his Pegasus both activated their protection shield spell.  They became covered in a sort of white, shimmering glaze of energy.  Though not the most powerful of spells, these shields would at least provide SOME protection in case something were to happen.  

Angered bears were one of the most dangerous animals one could possibly come across.  Besides...you know...an angry frost dragon; or water lord.  But the point was it was bad.  He looked back over in the direction of the girl that had run away.  ...Did she somehow know something was up?  Had she somehow known about whatever that was and run away from it rather than him?  He wasn't sure.  He also wondered if she would be okay.  What if a bear caught her sent and headed after her?  Should he follow her?  But what if he should check out what happened?  "....Dang it, I hate these on-the-spot decisions.."  

He quickly figured though, that heading right for the bear(s) would be ASKING for trouble; and instead decided to go make sure the girl would be okay.  With a click and a tug of the reigns, he started to ride in the direction she had gone.  He hadn't seen that she went up into a tree and looked around for her on the ground, while at the same time looking over to where he had heard the noise.

Aiyana stayed in the shadow of the highest branches in the tree, out of sight. She kept an eye on the man and his....horse with wings? She heard him say sorry and was confused at what exactly he was apologizing for. He did not seem like he meant harm, but Aiyana still didn't trust him. Suddenly a roar of a bear was heard off in the distance.
"Machk." Aiyana whispered under her breath, as a look of concern showed. She then began to climb her way down and jumped off once she neared the ground. She didn't even pay attention if the man caught sight of her. Aiyana charged in the direction that the bears were heard.

Michael rode for a waise in the direction he had seen the girl go, but before long realized she had disappeared.  He stopped the Pegasus and had her turn around while he scanned he area.  "Darn it, where did she go?"  He normally would have just flown out of there, but was worried about leaving some girl alone in the forest with an enraged animal nearby.  Then the next time he looked in the direction that he heard the roar's from, he saw something both confusing and alarming.  It was the girl, and she was heading in the exact direction of the noise!  As he listened now, he could hear someone else out there, and noises that sounded like combat.  Were they fighting the animal?  

This who situation was a mess...  Michael wanted to stop the girl from literally running into trouble but figured she might just run away from him if he tried to catch up with her.  "That's it...we're heading straight into this mess!  YAH GIRL!" he yelled as he flicked the reigns.  The white, winged horse started to gallop towards the commotion, and when she was up to speed spread her wings out wide.  With a sudden leap they took off, swiftly flying between trees and passing Aiyana directly overhead; his main concern being getting to the site of the fight taking place.

Aiyana ran as fast as she could. As she arrived at the location where the two bears were heard, she caught sight of a short haired blonde girl. The girl was holding two pistols in her hands pointing at the two grizzlies.
"No!" Aiyana yelled as she charged in front of the bears and spread her arms to shield them.
"You will not harm them!" The bears stopped charging and stood a few yards behind Aiyana. They seemed to calm down at the girls sudden appearance.

Aiyana bent down and picked up one of the young cubs in her arms and stroked its fur. "This is their home." She said with a stern voice. "This forest has plenty of caverns, but this one is taken, and I will not allow you to hurt any of the animals that reside in them." She put the bear cub down and it scurried behind her to join its sibling and parents.
"What brings you here?" Aiyana asked holding a firm stance.
Suddenly a flap of wings were heard as the same man that had caught sight of her earlier approached on the winged, white horse.

Michael and his mount landed just a few yards from where the scene was taking place. Sure enough...it was a family of bears; but the girl had somehow managed to calm them down. He noticed she was in-between them and another girl, who looked like she was about to use lethal force to protect herself a moment ago. The Pegasus folded his wings, and the mild shimmer of her and Michael's shield both remained visible as they slowly approached, cautious of the bears. "I heard a fight going on. Is anyone injured?" If someone was he would offer his healing power.

The girl with the pistols said she needed the cave, and Michael looked over at it. That must have been the bears' home, and she must have been driving them out. Seeing that the the Aiyana was not only okay but seemed to be handling the situation well, he looked to the girl with the girl with the pistols and asked, "Why exactly do you want in that cave so bad that you would try moving out a family of bears to get in there?" It was an honest question. He was curious to know what was going on.

Michael blinked and just kind of sat there with a surprised and slightly awkward face as the chibi Alison yelled at him for his 'flying unicorn' to which he responded also in chibi form, "It's a Pegasus..." -.-;

He listened as the girl explained her intentions, and didn't think that would sit very well with the girl protecting the bears. "...Are you sure you can't just rent a storage unit or two?" He doubted this advice would be accepted by the girl...but it was worth offering. She probably had already considered that option anyway. However he wasn't sure what else to say and so would see how it went from here.