Mistress of Magic

    Outside of Alne is a lake and in a corner of a lake, is an area that is just private enough that some people don't really pass by here. Not always true, but at this hour, well, not many will be up and moving about!

Using some stones, the Imp has created a circle that surrounds her and with magic runes etched on these stones, they are lit with gentle fire which has warmed the area this mountain blue slate imp resides in. Magic after all, is a wonderful thing, and can bend the rules if one knows a few tricks!

It is here in this little private spot, amongst the reeds, flowers, and trees, does this imp giver herself a bit of a warm bath, while she hums a song that some Landers also enjoy singing.

    Some strange law of Fate must assure, then, that someone ends up moving through here regardless. And Fate's victim on this day, then, is Atif. The salamander is a blur of red and gold while he runs across the trees -- be it for just reasons of practice, getting somewhere for some silly daily quest, or just... running for the sake of running. The Red Salamander has been known to do all three of these things.

    But two things catch the tall lizard's attention enough to bring him slowing down. The sound of song slipping into his ears, and a flicker of fire in the corner of his eye. When he looks, and the sees the bizarre arrangement of stones lit up with the sparsed flames, he comes to a full stop, blinking curiously from amidst the trees. "... What is that...?"

    The song is a familiar enough one, even without words, for him to recognize it. ... And, unfortunately, this first translates to him assuming there must be a Lander there. Doing some kind of ritual. Potential quest he's missed until now?

    And thus, the string of unfortunate assumptions brings Atif to padding up towards the stone circle, without even bothering to announce himself. Up until he gets close enough to leap up with a "hup!" to come landing on the very edge of the magically-formed structure.

    "Helllooaaeeh?!"

    And he sees the Imp within, in the water gathered there. Standing there on the one foot that had landed on the edge, tail raised up, he's frozen completely still for two seconds while his face brightens up to a color of red that rivals both his hair and the scales on his arms and legs.

    In the next instant, his weight falls backwards while a rapid string of syllables that may or may not parse out as "OHGODI'MSORRYIDIDN'TMEANTOIWASN'TTHINKING", arms raised up to block his face even while he falls backwards and down and THUDS back-first onto the grassy groudn on the other side.

    The sound of someone landing on the ground, catches the imps attention, she peers over her right shoulder where no hair can block her view at the poor Salamander who has dared to enter her little domain.

A smile creeps over her limps, almost predatory nature. Then she laughs gently as he thuds backwards while speaking in such a rapid panic. She lowers herself down in the water, where her shoulders almost sink under, staring at him with her lavender eyes.

"Such a modest young man you are," She says with a soft, sweet tone to her voice. "You have naught to worry about, dear sir, I will not curse any who lay eyes on me." Then a devious smile crosses her lips. ".. Only perhaps bite." Then snaps her teeth in his direction before she laughs gently.

Then she shifts her weight slightly in the water, her brow raising as she turns her head just a bit. "You are... That one outside of the Scale's base, are you not? Yes. Yes I do believe you are." She motions over to the cloth that hangs over a branch, "Would you be a sweet, dear gentleman, and hand me that cloth over yonder, hm? That way I may dry myself off and we can talk a bit," She hehes softly, "more... Proper, hm?"

    As is probably unsurprising to absolutely everyone, Atif purposefully stays laid down over there, one arm covering his eyes. THough her particular words don't exactly do anything to make his face *less* red. "I-I-I... I just didn't want to be rude..." He mumbles.

    THe request gets him moving at least. Even if only with him strafing along the edge of the... bath, with his back turned towards her, onec he's up on his feet. The cloth indicated is taken from the tree branch, and then he backs up all the way to the edge of the stone pool all over again. THere he might need to turn so that his side is facing her, so that he can actually extend his arm over to her, hand holding out the requested cloth. Such as it is. "H-...here..."

    The imp steps out of the water, with easy grace, even with those hoof feet of hers making easy work of the soft dirt. She takes the cloth from him, with a simple touch, while her wing tip barely touches his back. "Thank you, my dear kind sir." Then goes to dry herself off as she moves to place herself out of view behind a tree.

Though her voice makes it clear where she is as she speaks to him, but at least he doesn't have to worry about looking at a nude woman! "I do not believe I got your name, may chance could I receive it from you, hm?"

Atif also might notice that the stones runes are starting to lose their glow and the water seems to be slowly returning back to the cold temperature of the rest of the lake.

    Wound up as Atif is, he actually jolts and stiffens up briefly from that brush of a wingtip. He might get the briefest of peeks once she moves out of the water, but he makes a point of keeping himself facing *away* from her afterwards while she moves along. "Y-... you're welcome..."

    The red starts to fade away from his face, at least, once she gets hiding behind a tree. And even if she is hidden behind it, he still can' t quite bring himself to look in her general direction yet.

    "Oh." The sounds that comes from him when asked for his name is suddenly much more energetic. "I'm Atif!" He chirps out, with it. "It's nice to meet you!"

    And then he falls silent for a few seconds while his exact words and his current situation sink in.

    "Er... I mean, in general, not because, uh, eh.... Erm, nevermind..."

    Real smooth, lizard.

    "Atif?" The woman imp says from behind the tree, "I shall need to remember this name." Once she walks out from behind the tree she is once more clothed, using the cloth to dry off her hair still though.

"I am Lady Magus Katherine Tanzer of the Outcasts." She gives him a soft smile. "And what of you, where do you hail from, hm? Perhaps the Holy Empire of Westelande I would presume... Unless," She moves her head slightly to the side to let her hair fall as it will. One hand coming to rest on her hip, "I presume to much?"

    Atif does dare to peek back over his shoulder when he hears the shuffle of hoofed feet along the grass -- and seeing her actually decent enough, he turns around over to facing her, too.

    "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Tanzer," he says then -- apparently happy enough to go along with the properness she is putting forth, even dipping briefly into a bow. A sheepish chuckle comes up his throat then, and his hand moves to rub at the side of his neck while he flashes out one of his more usual smiles. "It's kind of a safe assumption to make with us Salamanders though, isn't it? And it's a correct one with me, too. Not that I've been there in a while, mind you..."

    Katherine mms softly as Atif express that he is from the kingdom that she suspected he was from, "Yes, most of your nomadic people settled there, but still makes you no less fine warriors when called upon." She gives herself a bit of a stretch, one arm over her head, as her other hand traces along the length of the glove.

One hoof leg gently sliding out to the side, as her stomach muscles becoming visible, as she lets out a soft 'mmm' sound from the good stretch, before she allows her body to relax. "So," the imp says slowly moving over toward him with a slight hip sway, "It is no wonder you feel the need to make yourself a better and much more, refined, noble fighter, hm?"

    "Aheh... I think you might be giving me a bit too much credit there..." Atif says sheepishly, though with no less a good natured smile on his part.

    He watches her curiously now, and... when she takes to approaching him, he blinks his eyes, once, before flicking down to watch, for just a few seconds the sway of her hips. A bit of red flushes over the tops of his cheeks again, before he redirects his gaze to her face, swallowing with a quiet gulp. At least he doesn't try to retreat from her approach... though, even if he did, he'd end up bumping back agains the stone circle pretty quickly.

    "I, uhm... Have a lot to live up to, I suppose..." He murmurs, eyes briefly flicking from side to side. "...But beyond that, I just... I want to be able to help people, so... I want to be better, yes."

    "And that, my dear sir Atif," The imp says, moving her claw to rest gently under the taller man's chin. "Is all any of us can hope for. To be better and to stride every further... In our... chosen paths." Then her hand goes to slide down by her side, before she steps away.

"I think you will make a fine knight one day, Sir Atif. You just need to continue to have that," She looks over her should, as her imp tail flicks, with a bit of a curl at the end, "Spirit. That," She smiles with her head tilted up a little. "Drive."

Then she walks away and snaps her fingers, there was a flicker of magic. The stones behind Atif rise from the water, before making there way toward her, she makes a slight hand gesture, with a flick of the wrist and the stones all gather before her creating a chair of sort, including a few that come to sit down on the ground in front.

Katherine goes to take a seat, One leg crossing over the other, as the long flap in the front seems to keep a panty shot from ever taking place. "Sit with me, my dear Atif. Let us talk some more." She leans forward, crossing her arms over her leg. Her cleavage becoming an easy sight to see. "I want to hear /more/ about your... Adventures."

    Atif freezes up again, in spite of his best mental efforts, when he finds the firm line of his chin cupped by a claw. And without even realizing it, effectively forced to maintain eye contact with the imp for those precious few seconds before she pulls away, and he lets out a breath he did not even know he was holding back. Heated cheeks flaring bright.

    "I... I can only hope to be worthy of being called that one day..." Nevermind that his way of dress doesn't exactly epitomize the stereotypical knight in any way. Except maybe in some anime he might have seen. Huh.

    He's much less alarmed by the magically induced motion of the rocks (and the probable resulting of water brought flowing over his shoeless, scale-covered and taloned feet) than... well, more or less anything else Katherine has been doing with him so far, only following them with his green gaze until they form a seat for her.

    ...And he finds himself visibly needing to exercise restraint to not let his eyes wander again, even if his focus might slip a little initially. Particularly with the crossing of her arms.

    He's polite enough to not linger back for very long after been invited over, at least. Even if he is still only barely constraining his blush when he pads over to sit down next to her, dragonic tail briefly curling up along his back behind him to avoid accidentally thwapping the Imp.

    "I don't know if my adventures have been that noteworthy yet," he says then, the picture of modesty that he is. "I can't claim the kind of fame that the Scale Alliance has been lately, for certain..."

    As Atif sits down in front of her, Kat watches him carefully. "Oh, don't be so modest." She says with a hand flick. "I enjoy all types of stories and really each are grand and glorious in their own right." She bites down on her thumb claw gently as she stares at him once more.

Her glowing, lavender eyes locked on his own, never seeming to leave his form for even an instant, "Now tell me," Her thumb claw brushes against her lips. "Tell me at least /one/ of your adventures." Then she nips on her claw once more.

    The feeling of being underneath the Imp's gaze actually makes Atif wriggle where he sits briefly, before taking control of his composure again. Though being that close again, he finds it visibly difficult to maintain his eyes on hers all the time. For various reasons. He does try, but the blushing Salamander's green eyes still find themselves flicking off elsewhere every now and then

    "I'm not very good at talking about myself is the thing..." Atif confesses, the typical cheerful front gone momentarily now in the face of that bit of self-introspection. "... I did have to face down a literal horde of goblins a while back, but that was more something I stumbled into, and I was hardly the only one."

    The imp slowly lowers her hand, before she makes a 'come hither' motion. Though while Atif may believe the index finger motion was for him, instead what he find is the rock, along with him, sliding ever closer to her.

Katherine lowers her leg and leans toward him. "Most would run from a horde of angry goblins. Even if you stumbled upon it, it is brave that you helped those who needed the succor." The imp reaches up and goes to move one of his bangs to the side. "Let me give you some friendly, free advice, my dear Atif."

The imp goes to stand about then, her tail daring to slide under his chin, as her rock throne crumbles to the ground behind her. "People love stories. Bards sing tales of great journeys, but while built on truths, there is always a itsy, bitsy," She makes a slight separation between her index finger and thumb, "white lie to make it grander than it is."

She turns to face him, lowering herself down in a crouch, with her claws gently touching the earth. She leans slightly to one side, her wings helping her keep balance, along with her tail. "If you want to get in with the big boys, you need to learn to, hm, dramatize a little. Not," She raises up an index finger, "To much, but just enough to bring an air of-- wonder. Do you," She motions to him, "Understand?" She asks as she goes to rise up on her hooved feet.

    Atif has just enough time to give a confused look at the gesture of her finger before he finds his rock seat carrying him over! THere's a quiet squeak of surprise in the back of his throat, and he finds himself so awfully close to Katherine, he stills completely, and just... watches with slightly-widened eyes, almost as if transfixed, while she leans in and speaks to him, not moving even when she brushes at the crimson bangs of his hair.

    Attentively does he listen to the advice, head lifted upwards briefly from the brushing slide of her tail along his jaw, drawing a faint shiver from him.

    It's finally once she presents that final question when his posture relaxes at least a little, though he's still visibly wound up even then. "I understand," he confirms in a quiet murmur, even if he seems a bit uncertain. "I'm... not very good at that kind of thing, though. Maybe... I'm too honest for my own good."

    "Honesty is admirable," The imp says to Atif, "But honesty doesn't always bring in the fame. There is a /place/ for honesty and there is a time to," She moves her hand slightly to the side, "Shift it ever so slightly." Katherine rests her free hand on her hip.

"Like your story," She then starts to walk around him, her hips swaying side to side as she does. "You were out minding your own, when you heard the sounds of battle. So, you ran over to see what was happening to spot many of your fellow Adventurers in conflict with the goblins!" Katherine turns as she walks in front of him, her hoof stomping the ground. "So you moved quickly to aid them, clashing with the goblins, side by side!" Her hand reaches up to the sky, before she lowers her hand. Her lavender eyes falling on him. "And there, with your comrades in arm, you vanquished the goblin foes."

She then crouches down in front of him. Her hands coming rest beside the outside of his legs, with her fingertips resting on the rock. "See," She smiles gently, "Doesn't that sound better? And, as you can tell," Her eyes close ever so slightly, "It is not a lie at all."

    The weaving of the tale - even if it should be his tale - is listened to with attentive, slightly-widened eyes, head nodding every now and then, in time with the stomp of her hoof.

    "Yes!" He agrees with an eager little sound, scaled hands clapping together in front of his chest. "It sounds way more exciting!" Lips spread into a wide smile, green eyes sparkling.

    HIs eyes sweep down with her crouch, curiously... and probably end up accidentally settling on places that they shouldn't, judging from the faint return of a flush of red over his olive skin, legs instinctively closing a bit as if to make room for her to... to do what, exactly?

    "I am not used to telling stories in such a manner, however..." His lips purse a bit with that, seemingly disappointed in himself more than anything else. "...But I can try. If it would make people smile, too."

    "People /love/ a good story," Katherine does not move from where she is. "It is something to work on, my dear Atif. Soon enough, you'll have lords and ladies swooning over you." She reaches up and taps him gently on the nose. "And that is my free advice to you, my dear noble sir."

The imp goes to rise up on her feet once more and starts to walk away from him. "If you ever wish for some more advice, do free fall to speak my name upon the chimlink current." Atif would find a friend invite sent to him by Katherine. "Just remember," She gives him a coy wink, as her claws gently wrack across her lips, "The next one shall not be free."

    "I don't know i-" Atif begins, only to be interrupted by the devious sneak attack of a boop upon his nose, prompting his nose to scrunch up and eyes to cross up momentarily.

    With her stood up and turning away, he tilts his head curiously to the side. The ping from the menu has him quickly opening up the interface to eye over the friend request -- and without any hesitation, accept it.

    THough, her latter words bring his brows rising up at her back. "What... would that even cost?"

    The woman laughs and one finger plays with her own strand of hair. "It depends on my mood, honestly. I may simply ask for honest, sirs company. mayhap even a simple herb or three."

"I promise you, sir Atif of the Westelande. It won't be anything to difficult for a man of your... Talents and skills." She places two fingers to her lips and blows him a kiss. "Till next time, hmm?" The wind seems to carry a twirling of leaves, that gentle brush by his face with a soft fragrance of lavender.

For unless the red Salamander stops her, she is walking off into the forest humming that song once more as the wind seems to dance around her form.