****** A few years later******
2 men are sitting around a fire eating and just staring at the flames when someone walks up to them. It was a woman wrapped in furs and she had what looked like two swords in her hands.
"Fellows, do you mind if I sit and visit with ya'll a bit?" She said in the cutest little girl voice she could manage.
Both of them just stared, they still had food in their hands, but they stopped eating and just stared.
"In the future I would advise you not to sit staring at the flames, it kills your night vision. Any old spirit can just walk right up on you before you even notice."
One of the idiots started reaching behind his back for something. In a soft yet firm voice she said. "I wouldn't advise putting your hand behind you, I might feel threatened and that wouldn't end well for you. You think because a naked girl comes to your camp you have to show your power? Before you try that you should wonder, how did she just appear and I'd also wonder, is she alone? Now me, I'm not worried either way, I'm curious who you are and why you're here but if you grab for your weapon, I'll have my answer and you'll be dead."
Next, she took off the fur she was wearing like a cape and set it on the ground and then she settled down and seemed to get comfortable. She tried to appear non threating and fearless. She spread her knees just enough to catch their eyes. Figured as long as they were looking at her cooter they would be thinking danger.
The men just stared, seemed to be in a bit of a daze.
"You boys never seen a girl before?"
One kinda mumbled, "Yep but never as purty as you."
"Why thank you kind sir, you might just live a bit longer with that attitude."
"Can I ask why you're naked, not that I mind at all, just curious."
"Ever seen a deer wearing clothes? Do you put clothes on your horse? I'm not suggesting I'm an animal but if the animals don't bother to cover up why should we? I've got my fur if I need it but it's a warm night, so I don't."
The men were obviously confused. "Are you saying that you never wear clothes?"
"If it's cold I wear my fur but no, mostly I don't. I do like my feet coverings; they help cover my tracks and protect my feet. No matter how tough my feet are I still step on sharp things from time to time so ever little bit helps."
"Aren't you worried someone will see you?"
"Out here no, and if so, who cares most of them don't wear much either."
"Holy shit you mean there are other naked people in these woods?"
"Well, I'm not sure about 'people', but I can say that I doubt you'll see clothes on anything you see out here."
"Not people?"
She had no idea why she did that, all she was doing was trying to keep them focused on her while everyone else got settled.
"Before we get into the whole people vs spirits thing lets get back on the subject of who you are and why you're here?"
The older looking of the two said, "Uh, well I'm Rick and this here is John. We heard about the magic forest out this way and came out to see if we could find it."
Magic forest? What the crap was he talking about. "Ok, tell me more about this magic forest. Is this it? What makes it magical?"
"I have no idea if this is it or not but you showing up sure makes me wonder. I don't really believe in magic, but I've heard stories."
"I've got time, tell me one!" She appeared as if she were excited. She was a little curious and figured it would be handy to hear what he had to say.
"Some years back some of the gangs were talking about an area where people went into but never came out. Some group of so-called government people heard about it, so in doing what governments always do they sent in a large force to investigate. Supposedly over a hunert guys came in and only 30 or so came out. No one ever saw anything. No bodies, no horses wandering around. They just disappeared. They never heard anything. 70 something guys disappear without a trace. That's magic in itself. I mean at least that's what they say."
John kicked in, "I heard that the first night they had five guys on watch but when the 2
nd
watch got up there weren't one of them around. They checked and none of the horses were gone. So, the 2
nd
night they set 10 guys on watch. When the 2
nd
watch got up everything was still good so they all relaxed. But when dawn came, they all woke up and realized the 2
nd
watch had disappeared. Now the shit really hit the fan then. They fortified the camp, set traps and such and the cap sent out 5 groups of 10 each to search for signs or something. And at the end of the day only 4 groups came back."
Rick plugged back in. "Been there less than 3 days and lost 20 guys! Boss man figured they was all deserters or at least that's what he said. They roamed around for a few days, doubled the guards and made all the groups spread out more and when nothing happened, they must have let their guard down because the next morning when they got up. Same thing but worse. No watch was in place and all the horses were gone! How the hell can nearly a hunert horses just walk off and nobody hear anything?"
She was having a hard time not giggling. She was part of that raid, but she of course couldn't say anything. So, doing her best to not grin she said. "Interesting story, how long did it take for the remaining guys to walk out?"
"Oh, the cap couldn't walk out, hell he'd be killed as soon as he got back. Failure wasn't an option, so he doubled down on guards and moved camp. But it seemed they lost 5 to 10 guys every night. After enough losses it's assumed the remaining guys got tired of the cap and killed him and all the other quote leaders and the rest all just walked out. Hell, had they gone back to the base they'd all been killed, and the story killed along with it. But they all knew that so they all just took off for parts unknown. The only fact we know for sure is that nobody made it back to camp and the story spread like crazy."
"Boys that's a wild story. What do you believe? Horses disappearing along with all those guys? Maybe those guys just got tired of following some war lord and snuck off."
"First off, we're not boys, were men and second. How do 100 horses walk away?"
"Now don't go gettin your nickers in a twist but I've known a few men in my life. My Pa was one and he was killed by a group of slavers, but he always taught me that real men do what's right. So, a man wouldn't kill families and rape women. No matter if they was starving they wouldn't steal from people. Now to be fair, we all do things we may regret later. Sometimes in the heat of battle or such, we all make mistakes, but we don't go out looking for it. I figure you've been hungry and got involved with some war lord or such. Had to do things you'd like to forget. My Pa would have died first. And one man I know for a fact would never rape or enslave girls. And he would never steal from good people. That's what I mean by being a man. I'm assuming you all have done things a man wouldn't have done. Sorry if that hurts your feelings but being a man is more than growing old." She didn't mean to start a fight, but she figured how they reacted would tell her a lot about their character.
"My first reaction is to stand up and defend myself, but I figure if I were to stand up, I'd be dead before I could open my mouth. And second to that, I'd be lying. I've been with groups that stole women and killed people. Once the fighting started, I was stuck, if I didn't fight, I'd get killed by my own side. But I can honestly say I managed to not kill any kids or rape any women." With a long pause, and obvious a bit of deep thought he continued. "If what you described is the measure of being a man then, as much as it hurts to even think much less say. I guess I'm still a boy."
John looked at Rick and nodded. "I'd like to explain or maybe justify my actions, but I think we all know it'd be nothing but bullshit. Damn woman, it's bad enough you walk into camp naked and make us look like fools but then you have to go and gut us with your talk, even if it's the truth."