Mapping the Veils (Lugh and Ombra)

[Mortaleredwolf]

It was a party sunny afternoon in the Whispering Pines. The birds sung sweetly in the canopies flitting and fluttering here and there, spreading their joy to what was left of the day. Down below the flora and fauna grasped what they could before the night could fall upon them and the chill of the winter breeze could nip at them.

Lugh was especially hard at work today by taking his blankets off the clothes line that hung between two young pines beside his home. One by one he lifted them with his lime green magic while clipping the clothespins onto the hem of the fluff of his long tail. Gently he folded his blankets up one by one and placed them in a basket.

Truth be told he could have done this much faster with golems or enchanting the birds around him (they never did what he asked) but today he felt like stretching a bit off his bum. 'This doesn't seem so bad,' he thought to himself, 'Perhaps I will go on a walk later tonight.'

[Fortuna Star]

Few wandered into Whispering Pines, or so she had overheard. It was still vastly unexplored and generally untouched by the townsponies, save for a racetrack and a home or two. But, fact of the matter was, few knew about the forest's land and how or to where it stretched. So she had chosen it to be the first place she explored, after arriving to the Crossing just the evening before. Some would be worried about traveling alone into unknown territory and certainly as the day grew late! However, no one else was she, as she was! Or so she would have put it. After all, Ombra Lapin has never gotten herself lost.

"I shall go
where you cannot
Journey in memory

To sky or red valley
under the sea..." The pale deer trotted leisurely through the darkening woods while muttering some odd little song to herself. She bore a smile, with eyes half-closed in a lazy sort of way, showing all-too-well just how calm she was in this foreign weald. And yet, her ruby-hued eyes were as vibrant as ever with a life that didn't match the rest of her self--and it made her serenity...eerie. Not only that, but even on soft grass and in a quiet forest...how could you not hear her hoofsteps?

Then, her slow trot transitioned into something of a gait, and the song she was humming was silenced. Ombra was weaving through Whispering Pines with none of that aimlessness she first had when she entered, but now with some purpose! She felt it...being drawn to some place, or somepony! Her natural instinct wouldn't steer her wrong. As to why? Well...what did that matter?

It wasn't too long before she came upon Lugh's dwelling, and Lugh himself. The first resident of this place she would seem to meet. Ombra, with a tilt of her rose-maned head, gave a bit of a smirk before coming up behind him as silently as ever. Her red eyes almost seemed to glow mischievously in the oncoming later afternoon...She moved until she was just nearly next to him, tipping upwards so that her lips came right to his ear but not quite touching. Then, in sudden cold breath:
"Hello."

The next moment, Ombra was about nearly 2 feet away behind him. Had she really moved that fast...? She was smiling still...

[Mortaleredwolf]

'Scratch that walk' He thought as a shiver ran from the top of his horn to the very tip of the hairs of his tail when the cold whisper was born. Don't be fooled though. Lugh isn't much of a scaredy pony... okay well he has a box of fears, but ghosts are far from the list. It just happened to come out of the blue.

Lugh leaped forward through his clothes line and stumbled on the other side. He quickly got up and whirled around to see what it was behind him. To his surprise and relief it wasn't any of the sort of specter but a doe.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief as he hastily put himself together; his tail brushed off the dirt and grass from his pelt. "You gave me quite a scare m'lady." He nervously laughed it off, his eyebrows furrowed as he cleared his throat of the lump. "Who and what, may I ask, possessed you to go about creeping in the woods at this hour?"

[Fortuna Star]

Ombra tittered softly at Lugh's reaction, bringing a hoof up to her lips to hide that teasing smirk of hers. She manged to hush herself, however, once Lugh got back up and turned to her. Though her red eyes still glinted with that same devilment. "I am Ombra Lapin," she began in a satiny though high-pitch voice. The deer then started to walk towards him, only to pass him as she surveyed her surroundings a bit more. "I'm just a simple cartographer, making her initial rounds in new territory~" spoke Ombra, poking at the basket of linens. "As for why at this hour..." She glanced over her shoulder at him:
"Well, what better time is there to start creeping? Ke hehehee..."

With that, she pivoted back around and came right up to him. "I have told you my name, as requested...but you've not shared your own. As a gentlecolt, you ought to remedy that...No?"

[Mortaleredwolf]

He cleared his throat yet again. 'Better time is there to start creeping...' She had said. Lugh hoped this doe wasn't up to no good. He also was greatly aware she moved like nothing he had encountered. 'was she really a specter?' he thought quietly.

"Ah yes, pardon and apologies, Lady Lapin. I am Lugh Blackthorn and I live in this new territory." He gave a bow before he held his hoof out to motion to his simple little caravan and his humble clothes line.

"So you are a cartographer? I suppose you have seen many a marvelous place?"

[Fortuna Star]

"Lugh Blackthorn..." she repeated, for no apparent reason except for simply because she could. "Hmm."

She turned away from him again, suddenly, and began to inspect to local greenery. It was notably different from the scene back near the tracks--Darker in hue, and certainly more lush. Ombra picked at a leaf that had caught her interest, and tucked it away in one of the small sacks on her back. "Oh I've been to quite a few such places," Ombra responded, "From one sea to the next, between Equestria and as far as Saddle Arabia and Geldnam..." She trailed off into thought then.
"...How did I get all the way there again?"

She seemed to shrug her own query off..."Though I've not been everywhere just yet, and this 'Crossing' is a new place to me," she then stated, "So I'll be staying here for some undetermined time...and I decided to trek into Whispering Pines first, and came upon you...
Ke hehe, perhaps you'd care to show my little self around, Mister Blackthorn?"
. . .Now how did those horror movies go again? Going with the strange, cackling lady was a...good move?

[Mortaleredwolf]

Good thing Lugh never saw a horror movie in his life... or was it a bad thing? However which nothing bad happened yet, besides this doe just liking to produce a scare. It was good enough for Lugh. So he trusted her and, being a gentlecolt, obliged to show her around. "I would be happy to escort you. I suppose we can start at the whispering tree and the lake."

Lugh placed his last blanket off the line and into the basket to be pushed inside. He turned back to the beaten path that lead to the main road and glanced to Ombra. "We can start there if you like. Tell me along the way... have you been overseas? To where the forests are older and old magic resides?"

[Fortuna Star]

"Oh, those do sound like interesting places...Lead the way~" she grinned, following alongside him. All the while, Ombra glanced about while mumbling to herself oh so quietly...
"...from residence....10 feet between...marker..." Seems like even now she was working and thinking about her maps. She was a creepy young miss, but clearly dedicated to her work. At Lugh's query, Ombra gave him most of her attention, although still scanning the area for markers to look out for. "I've been over the waves a few time, although not always intentionally," the doe smirked, "I find that it's not so much the destination, but the journey that makes things worthwhile..."
...was that another was to say, she just didn't know where she was going most of the time? Not lost--just not knowing. Yet.

"Old magic..." Ombra pondered a bit as they walked, rummaging through her memory banks for any images of such a forest. "...Yes. Twice at most. Neither of which I had the opportunity to explore much of, I'm afraid. One laid somewhere in the northern regions, where thick and thorny vines blocked your path every which way...with a lack of greenery to comfort one's self. It was always shrouded in mist, as I remember it. The 2nd...hmm, I don't quite recall that one. Ke hehe, perhaps I was made to forget..." She turned to face him, continuing, "Looking to feel nostalgic, perhaps?
...You are a little different from other Unicorns that I have seen."

With that, she began to move on ahead as the large tree, of which she assumed was "the Whispering Tree", came into view...

[Mortaleredwolf]

As he walked he listened to her mumble to herself. He supposed that is what cartographers do. Take in and experience everything. To journey without bothering of the destination. 'The journey?' Was that why he left home all those years ago? He couldn't quite remember anymore. He was sure it was something to do with that... maybe.

"Am I?" Am I really different? Was it a mistake to leave home?

"Nostalgic?" He thought about it. Was he trying to feel nostalgic? Or was he homesick? "Perhaps. Those do sound like old magic.. the one you can't remember sounds to be far older though. Guardians wouldn't want the forest found let alone explored," he didn't say this too lightly either. He would know. He belonged to a forest like that at one time. He didn't say that but it was probably obvious.


Once the tree came into view he smiled and caught up to walk beside her. "This is The Whispering Tree. I find this tree really pretty to behold. I quite visit often enough though."

[Fortuna Star]

She only gave a sour sort of chuckle. "It's not my job to worry about such things...only to keep moving," she shrugged, "And yes, you are a bit different...It would not be easy to forget one such as yourself..." Then Ombra looked up towards the vast, outstretching tree. With its wide trunk, and branches reaching towards the sky as far as it can--It was certainly a sight to behold. But then, she seemed to be looking elsewhere. Her gaze fell towards the roots and her unusually tall ears perked and twitched. "I am starting to see why this place is called "Whispering"," she muttered.
...What did she mean by that? And when did this heavy mist start rolling in? Were there...glowing eyes peeking out from the now shrouded roots...?

"Ke hehehehee...
I shall go
where you cannot
Journey in memory..."

[Mortaleredwolf]

'At least I am not forgettable...' he thought to himself was that a good or bad thing again? He still remembered the mess that happened in his previous home. The exploding enchantments...

His thoughts were cut short when he heard her words and stopped completely when he heard their whispers. This hadn't happened before when he visited no... not ever before. His ears pulled forward and listened ever so carefully before shrinking back. "What... What is this?" The glowing eyes sent shivers up and down his spine. This definitely wasn't any good. The fog was getting thicker than mud. It felt as if it weighed heavily. So heavy that it could grasp and slow everypony down.

[Fortuna Star]

Unlike Lugh, Ombra was rather calm. She simply stood there and smirked while the mist got even thicker, until they could barely see each other. Ombra's own pale body seemed to blend with the mist as well, and even her pink mane was getting difficult to spot. Only her eyes remained perfectly noticeable. But those glowing eyes...they only seemed to be brighter despite the fog, and more pairs began to appear around them, with no shadowy bodies to connect those gazes to. "Hmm hmm~ Did you know, 'Lugh Blackthorn' that being a Cartographer is, while very busy-keeping, is ultimately a passive duty to perform?" she commented out of the blue, "What do you suppose then, for someone whom is very good with maps and getting around, to do?
...We guide."

She began to walk into the mist, towards the first pair of glowing eyes. Ombra glanced at him over her shoulder, smiling still:
"There is always an entrance...and always an exit..."

[Mortaleredwolf]

"Even so, Lady Lapin, does the exit require of you to go through such things without a guard?" he asked. He was fearful of these apparitions but the only thing he knew how to do was enchant.

"I insist that you allow my golems to go first. At least to know if it is alright to pass." His magic brought sticks and stones sliding in from all directions. They flung up together to form two passive Timber wolves of Lugh's design. These sported slender tails (as all his golems tend to have) and they bounded forward to pass up Ombra.

[Fortuna Star]

"Oh no...You misunderstood!" Ombra chuckled, watching the golems dart past her. The first pair of eyes swiftly moved away from their original position, still with no body to make out, and rounded around the two before settling to their right this time. Still, just a ways away..."Though while I do guide those like you or I," Ombra continued, "This time, I'm guiding...someone else." With that, she turned her attention to those set of eyes and said, "Shall we all go?"

The eyes seemed to give a nod, before suddenly blinking out. Now it was just the dark mist. "We better get moving, 'Lugh Blackthorn'...Ke hehehehe..."

[Mortaleredwolf]

Lugh Blackthorn was so much confused and he was now very aware that they were not alone. Whatever they were he could now feel it watching forever. He continued to follow Ombra with his own timber wolves trailing behind them now. "So you... escort... What do you escort? Hold... If you are escorting someone why did you want me to show you around?"