A Foray into writing

Sunlight streamed thru the leaves of the forest leaving dances of light on the forest floor. This forest was old, very old. Older than anything in the world, or so the people living in the scattered villages nearby said. The forest was held sacred by most of the speaking peoples of this land as it was felt that the gods themselves lived in the forest's heart. People could travel safely thru the forest with no fear of being accosted by thieves or others.

Ariyana opened her eyes as the dancing light of the sun played across her eyes. "What the..." she thought, "how did I get out here?" Sitting up and noticing that she lay under a large tree, Ariyana looked about her in confusion. Trying to think back to the night before, she noticed that the images in her mind frightend her. "I was in a village last night, no where near any woods, where am I?" Getting up and surveying her surroundings. Thinking hard, trying to remember, "lets see, I was in Lorvin heading to the Temple when....." her thoughts flashed scenes of fires and smoke. "I know, the village was attacked. But that still doesn't explain how I got here." She stood and stretched, seeing a nearby stream she walked to the waters edge. Loosening her hair she knelt and dipped her head in water. Running her hand in her hair she noticed something that startled her. "Gods, what happened to my hair, it's white!" It was more than just white, her hair shone like newly fallen snow. Frightened she looked at her face in the water, "at least I still look like myself, I expected to see a stranger staring back at me." Getting up, she decided to walk and explore the forest. Walking thru the trees she noticed that she was coming to the beginnings of a clearing. She also began to notice that she wasn't alone. Sitting just of the path was a white wolf, larger than any she had every heard about. Amazingly enough she didn't feel scared. "I should be terrified" she thought. As if sensing her thoughts the wolf gave her a look as if to say "I'm not going to hurt you." Puzzled, she continued on into the clearing. In the distance she noticed that there was a tower. Looking behind her she noticed the wolf was following her, she looked at her and felt as if the wolf was trying to say "your safe here". "I don't know why, but I think I'd better trust this wolf" she thought.

After walking for what seemed like hours, time was hard to determine in such a densely canopied forest, she stepped into a clearing, Ariyana began to walk towards the tower. After what seemed too short a time to walk what she thought should have been at least a mile, she came upon the outer wall surrounding the tower. The wall looked to be made up of simple stone, but when she looked closer Ariyana saw that it wasn't made of rock at all but some kind of crystal. "Ok, where is the opening thru this wall?" she thought. As soon as the spoke the thought in her head, a gateway appeared in front of her. "Where did that come from?" As she reached to knock on the gate, she noticed her hand passing through what she thought was a solid door. Before she could pull her hand back, she felt a tug and....was pulled thru the door. "What-what pulled my hand?" Looking around she noticed that the wolf she had seen earlier in the forest was now standing before her. "Now, how did you get here, I didn't notice you being ahead of me". Turning around towards the gate, Ariyana was surprised to see that the gate was gone. Before she had time to feel afraid, she noticed the sound of footsteps. Turning towards the steps she noticed a hooded figured dressed in white with silver and blue threaded throughout the edge of the cloak. She noticed the wolf walk respectfully up to the figure. "It seems this wolf is no ordinary wolf" she thought to herself, "he seems totally unafraid of people". As she watched the wolf stood before the hooded figure and seemed to communicate something to him, or was it a her? Unable to see a face as of yet Ariyana suddenly felt uncertain. As if sensing her unease, the wolf turned from the stranger and came to stand before her. "trust me" the wolf seemed to convey, "your safe". "I don't know why, but this wolf seems to be going out of his way to make me feel safe, but why?" As she thought about how she could possibly understand the motivations of what was supposed to be a wild animal, the stranger walked up to her removing their hood as they walked. With the hood down, Ariyana noticed it was a woman.