Adym just nodded and smiled.

"Well, he was very wise." he said.

"...and kind as well, from my vague memory." he went on, before pausing suddenly, remembering the sadness that had been in Callie's tone when she had mentioned the man earlier.

It was unknown what had happened to her father specifically, but it was widely believed that he was dead. Many claimed to have seen him fall before their very eyes, so it was hard to argue with the accepted story.

"A-anyway." he stammered.

"I don't mean to dwell on sore spots of conversation. Sorry." he apologised.

"I see." Adym replied.

"Maybe we'll find out as we travel." he told her. "Hopefully we will." he added.

They then spent a short amount of time buying supplies (as well as packs to carry them in), and were soon on their way, stepping to the outskirts of town, and down the dusty dirt road.

"..." Adym was silent, before sighing quietly as they walked.

"I wonder what's going on." he mumbled.

"I certainly hope whatever it is... we can help."

"I'm sure you will be." Adym responded.

They walked down the road for a bit, before turning off and walking through the grass, towards the forest in the distance. As they walked, Callie noticed that it was starting to get a little dark, and while that was partly because of the hour, it was mainly because of the clouds that were starting to roll in.

Dark clouds.

Adym continued to push forward, though, either ignoring them or not noticing them.

"We're almost there." he told her.

"Once we enter the forest, we'll be close."

Adym paused for a moment, glancing upwards.

He muttered a curse in elven, before shaking his head.

"Plenty of caves in the forest." he told her. "We should be able to find one and hole up in it if things get really bad." he said further, as his pace quickened a little bit.

"Let's try to put as much distance behind us as we can before it starts up." he continued.

"At least get into the forest. It should prove us SOME shelter."

Adym watched as she started to make her way towards the cliffside, before something came to mind.

"Wait!" he called out.

"There's a cabin in the woods!" he remembered.

"It should be more than adequate enough, and it'll be more comfortable!" he said further.

He was glad he'd remembered that.

If they were heading to the cliff, they weren't heading to the forest.

And he didn't like that thought.

Adym looked around for a moment, and then sighed.

"Yes, and no." he said.

"See... it's strange. But it's how the forest is enchanted." he told her.

"If you need a place to rest and be safe, and the forest 'senses' that you do not mean it harm, then you won't find the cabin... the cabin will find YOU." he explained to her. "...as much as that doesn't make sense." he mumbled.

"That being said, I should be able to use my connection to the forest to home in on it." he then assured her.

"So even if I don't know where it is, I'll be able to get a general direction."

"I don't.......... think so." Adym replied.

"There wasn't the last time I was there. But... that WAS a while ago." he admitted with a sigh.

"I think there might be a few... well, sabre-wolves in there, but... they generally don't attack elves." he told her. [b}"And since you'll be with me, you should be safe as well."[/b] he assured her.

And that was when they heard a crash of thunder in the distance, as the clouds grew darker and darker.

Adym let out a few more elven curses, as they picked up the pace.

"At least this didn't start up while we were on the road."

Once there were under the protection of the canopy above, Adym paused, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

He looked calm, but suddenly looked... disturbed... for a moment. Like he was having... difficulties?

He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"...I'm having trouble communicating with the forest." he admitted. "It's almost like... hm... how to put this..." he then mumbled, before snapping his fingers. "Like trying to talk to someone over the phone, but it's static-y." he said, using a simile she would understand very quickly.

"However, I DID get a somewhat general idea as to the direction we should go." he then assured her.

"This way." he said, walking further in, but then stopping and placing a hand on a nearby large rock, causing a pair of large blue bio-luminescent mushrooms to grow.

"We'll need light." he reasoned, picking the fungi.

"...." Adym was silent at first.

"No." he said, approaching her. "It shouldn't be." he told her, handing her one of the large mushrooms.

"This is abnormally dark for this forest." he confirmed. "Meaning something is SERIOUSLY wrong in here." he continued, shaking his head slightly and looking at their surroundings.

"...but we can't let that stop us." he said.

"We need to keep pushing forward." he reasoned, as the thunder got louder, and they started to hear rain outside the forest.

"...and quickly. We don't want to get drenched when the rain eventually trickles down to the floor here."

Adym was silent as they made their way through the forest.

"I... hm." he mumbled.

"I can think of... one thing." he told her.

"There's a shrine by my village. It's the heart of this forest." he said. "The source of all the livelihood and strength and vitality for this area." he continued.

"...if... if the shrine were... corrupted..." he then went on, coming to a realisation.

"The shrine is corrupted."