Hidden Tree Labyrinth

Sounds good! Once I know how her encounter with Datura is likely to end up, I'll have her wander closer to SW to keep it easy on Mirren?

Thank you for this thread <3

Perhaps she had said the right thing after all. Eyes closed as she leaned into him, lost in his being as completely as she had been in the rain, she felt him push against her and the warmth was palpable. Despite her joys and love for the world around her, Bella had never been taught in the way of herbs and medicine and had never been inclined so. Though impotent when faced with wounds and illness of the flesh, she had always believed in the power of a little kindness when it came to grievances of the soul. Empathy was free. It cost her nothing to give of herself in this moment, to try and share a burden with a stranger who needed it.

Slowly his head moved, his nose stroking down her jaw, the gentle touch sending a shiver right down her spine. It was familiar, intimate, powerful. It never failed to amaze her how such a spell could form between two perfect strangers, come together by nothing but coincidence, who could share a moment of need and understanding forged by the power of anonymity. They were nobody to each other and yet, in this moment, they could be anything and everything the other needed. There were no expectations or demands, no reputations to uphold or facades to maintain, only the pure exposure of self.

The way he welcomed her embrace so eagerly made her wonder what part she was playing, but it would have been entirely improper to ask. That was not the point. When he pulled back and stood, she saw the enchantment in his gaze, no doubt a perfect mirror of her own. She wore a soft smile in the dark as she met his eyes wondering at who was behind them. Since she had made the first move, the lead fell to her, and she accepted it willingly. "Sit with me," she said quietly, bringing herself to perch beside him, hoping to lean against his larger frame and revel in his close warmth as much as the cold of the night. Light in her eyes, she glanced at him before closing them, lifting her nose to resume the position he had found her in.

The rain wouldn't wash it away, and she couldn't wish it away, but together, together they might give him strength.

Thank you for this thread, and that sounds good. <3

It was the strangest thing, to have stumbled upon someone who was proving to be something of a diamond in the rough in the midst of an unremarkable summer night, far from home and far from what was familiar. Standing there across from her, their gazes locked in a way that was both consuming and rivoting, Mirren suddenly wondered why him>? And, what was more, why her? How was it that the two of them came to be in this place together, with nothing but miles of wilderness in every direction and no one else around to weather or enjoy the storm. How had it been that this girl had pulled him suddenly into her world, a place that somehow felt like...home. He didn't believe that he deserved her regard or her answers or kindness or the gentle calm of her touch, and yet she had bestowed all of these things on him without a single second guess.

Mirren didn't believe in fate anymore, but he knew without a doubt that he was meant to find her.

Sit with me, she'd said in her tone of velvet, and he was eager to oblige. He watched her every move as she sat beside him, reclining to his haunches and wordlessly inviting her to lean closer. The girl inclined her face to the falling rain just like before, and he took in every angle of her face and every variation of color in her fur studiously. All those little details were soon forgotten, however, as he noticed the easy rise and fall of her chest and was reminded that it wasn't her appearance that made her beautiful.

He gulped, glancing over her again briefly before closing his eyes and letting the rain dribble down between them.