Nice day for a nature walk. (For Elena)

"Ooooooh... my.... gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad..." said one Tatum Waldie, staring into a place she almost never even thought to visit.  Perhaps she was too quick to claim that she has explored much of Endymion.

"For trees, the paths, the rocks... THIS PLACE IS A FREE RUNNERS PARADISE!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.  Already she was setting her course, planning out her run from one tree to the next.

"And for todays course we're going to make the climb of mount tree-ervest and traverse, via air, through the tree-tain range, making our way from one tree-tain to the next, until we slowly yet surely run out of trees, by which point we shall have made our final stop and come to the bottom for one spectacular landing."

"And that's not just one terrible and long run-on sentence, folks," Mercury joined in mentally, "That's just a rough draft, just like this run!  Think our star runner has what it takes?"

"Our star runner just might have that chance, Merc," Tatum expressed, "Our star runner just might!"  With that, she begins deftly climbing on of the trees.  "But just in case..."  

Thus began the true reason for why she decided to make this run the moment she saw all of those trees.  

"It's time to fly, 'On Mercury's wings!'" She called out.  For a very brief moment, wings appeared on her back before fading out.  She could feel her body becoming a little lighter, however.  With her new found jumping strength, she made the jump from tree to tree quite effortlessly, not a care in the world for whoever might be nearby.  After all, why should she care?  There was no one nearby, right?

"One... two... three..." Elena counts down as she plucks berries from their bushes. She's been craving for berries for weeks and she's glad that berry bushes are ready-to-harvest again after a month of no berry diet. Elena missed eating these berries and behind her was Ursa, who was watching her to pick the berries one by one. "Hey boy, i got a lot of berries, do you think it's enough?" Elena asked the bear cub as she showed her hands that are full berries. However, the bear cub would nod no meaning it wasn't enough for him. "Whaaaat? This is so many. Geez, Ursa you eat too much. I'm putting you on a diet. Too much berries is bad" she scolded the bear, who would then cry so loud that it can be heard in a distance. "Fine! These are all yours. Stop crying or predators will hear us!" she left the bear with a handful of berries to eat then set off to find an another berry bush to harvest.

On her way to find an another berry bush, It was dead silent at first but then, she starting to hear sound. Elena can hear the trees rustling like crazy, maybe there's a predator stalking her(who was actually Tatum) in the top of the tree? She doesn't know so she didn't waste any time to draw her bow and aim it randomly anywhere at the trees. "What are you? Show yourself!" she spoke just in case the "predator" might be human. Suddenly, a pine tree dropped directly on her head. It might've dropped because of the weight and the force of the jump. "Oww..." she said in pain.

"One jump, two jump, green jump, blue jump!" Tatum cried out as she jumped from place to place.

"You're really letting yourself go, aren't you?" Mercury spoke mentally to her, "At this rate, you're gonna end up slipping and falling due to a surprise or something!"

"Don't be rediculous!" She replied, "The chances of that happening are a million to none!"

"What are you? Show yourself!"

"STRANGER DANGER!" Tatum cried out, reaching for her jacket collar and pulling it up to mask her face.

There was an immediate problem with that.  Her next jump required her to reach out in order to make the jump.  However, in her haste, she instead used those hands to hide her face.

"Wow, you have insane luck..."  Mercury stated as Tatum plummeted to the ground.

What will she land on?!:

Before Elena could even look up, someone fell on her. The impact was so strong that it sent her lying on the ground and acted as the pillow for Tatum's landing. She also dropped her bow and quiver in the process. "Double ouch!" she said in pain. She really feels unlucky this day. First, a pine cone fell onto her head and now, a little girl fell on her. What's next? an airplane? I hope not. However, she was more worried about the little girl who fell on her rather than herself despite her back almost got broke. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked the little girl. "Ummm.... anyways, can you get off of me first? So I can check your body for injuries" she added.

"You don't have my consent to seeeeeeerch..." said a dizzied Tatum, "But I shall acquiesce your request..."  With that said she... erm... rolls... off of Elena and lays face down on the ground.

"New rule... no more free running in the forest... it's dangerous..." she muffled into the ground.  Aside from a few potential bruises, and some shooting pain up her back, she seems for the most part well, though her lack of being able to get up may prove concer-

"OHMIGOSH I landed on someone!" she said, suddenly getting to her hands and feet in concern.  "Miss, are you okay?  No broken bones, no severe injuries, no concussion, how many fingers am I holding up?!"

Perhaps she is doing okay after all, in spite of her own pain.

For the record, she's holding up four fingers.

As the pressure was released, Elena immediately stood up and stretched her body parts to make sure if every bone in her body were still working. Fortunately, Everything seems to be fine, she has a painful back but still fine. No broken bones and she is very glad about it. After that, she approached Tatum who seems to be very dizzy after the fall. But, before she could even approached the little girl suddenly got back in her feet and was shocked to have landed on her. "Hee-hee, i'm okay but what about you?" she asked. "And oh, you're holding four fingers" she joked.

Suddenly, the bear cub entered the scene with a worried face. When he saw Elena, he ran to her then jumped onto her. The cub must be glad to see Elena safe. "Easy boy, i'm okay haha" she told the bear. But, the bear can't stop licking her, showing his affection towards his owner. After the cub stopped, Elena gently dropped the bear into the ground. She looked at Tatum. "so what brings you in the forest, little lady? This is not a playground you know"

She completely ignored the questions she was presented with. She had an absolutely excellent reason to ignore such questions.

"Beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!"


"Beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!"

It was moments like these that she was grateful that only she could hear Mercury, despite the duo crying out in perfect unison. Those were questions she does not want to answer, in the least.

And for the record, yes, that was a bear squee of excitement. Obviously, this child is a lover of such creatures.

The squee made the bear climbed back onto Elena's arms. It got scared from Tatum as the little cub was shivering. "Awww... you scared poor Li'L Ursa." Elena patted the bear to comfort it which seemed to be successful as the shivering went less intense. "Don't be scared Ursa. She is a nice girl" She put Ursa right in front of Tatum for her to touch him. "What's your name? by the way" she asked the girl.

If this were an anime, her eyes would temporarily be replaced with hearts. Bears were basically, in her eyes, natures living breathing plushies... just dangerous and probably to be respected. Those so called temporary hearts for eyes would have only grown bigger when the bear was held out for her, the implications being that she was allowed to touch.

"W-wait, really?! I can-" was the most she got out before the earlier question finally registered. Oh, an now there was a new question.

"T-tatum," came the brief reply, "I was just exploring! That's my thing! I explore!" She then looked to Ursa and gently reached out for the cubs head. She didn't want to spook the bear into needing to swipe at her. She's had cats do it before, but a warning swipe from a cat was comparatively harmless. A warning swipe from a bear... she was not willing to find out how that would go.

"Well, Tatum. nice to meet you, my name is Elena and this little bear here is Ursa" Elena introduced herself. The bear on the other hand, didn't fear Tatum anymore as he let her rub him in the head. The bear seemed to have enjoyed the rub. Though, Elena is curious why would she be exploring the forest? There's nothing to find in these parts tho. Do little children just like to go some places?

"This is a strange place to explore. You shouldn't be here though, the forest are filled with predators like wolves or bears!" she warned the girl. She's not joking, she even encountered a tiger here once. "But if you want to stay for awhile, I have a treehouse. it's fun" she said to the girl. Yes, she's not aware that this is a form of kidnap. She just invited the little girl as if it was her own playmate. "C'mon follow me" Elena said before going. Ursa would stay by Tatum's side and will walk beside her if Tatum did follow Elena.

Predators?

"I think I'll be fine, to be honest," she replied to the comment about predators. "Trees are handy for escape! Besides, as an explorer, I can't let a stnoe go un-turned! There's always a chance that something could be found!"

Then she was given an invitation to join Elena at a tree house, thus ironically proving her point.

She couldn't help but stare as Elena walked away for a bit, herself certainly aware of the irony.

"... Well, if worse comes to worse," she smirked, remembering that she wasn't completely defenseless. After all, there were at least a few things she could do without the need of Mercury.

Ever the brave one, aren't you? Mercury thought as Tatum started to follow Elena.

Far as I can tell, she just wants to have a friend! First sign of danger, I'm jumping out of there! No way she can keep up if we're flying on Mercury's wings!

Or you just want an excuse to make a new friend even if it puts your life on the line?

What was that?

You heard me.

That was a surprising thought to have. She shook her head. That was a silly thing to risk your life for, right? Besides... Bear! Ursa was a surprisingly friendly bear! Perhaps the little cub was already well socialized? Regardless she allowed this forest lady to lead her to her humble abode, making sure to do her best to memorize the way.

The trio walked along the forest path. "Don't worry, Tatum. The treehouse is only nearby" she looked back to the girl to see if it was following. Elena was that she was following her. If not, she would be worried where the little girl would go since the forest is dangerous. Elena thinks that Tatum wouldn't be able to fight if she did bumped into a predator. Because of her age, she would be ripped into pieces before she knows it.

Ursa on the otherhand, did a light roar on the journey. He seems to be trying to talk to Tatum and Elena can understand what he was trying to say. "Awww! Ursa will protect you if a predator appeared. you brave little cub" she said. She never knew that Ursa will be like this since the cub spent most of his time behind her back and have to rely on her to survive. Ursa is a big bear now.

After a few minutes of walking, they have arrive. The treehouse is not really that big. It is just a small shack on the top of the tree, nothing special. Elena climbed up to the ladder which leads already to her bedroom. She walked to her secret stash under the floorboards and took a bunch of three toys. One was a boardgame of Snake and Ladders, one was a box of legos, and the last one was a deck of Uno cards. She would show them all to Tatum. "Hey, I found these things in a human camp. I heard that they call these things 'toys'. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a toy before. Do you know how to use them?" she asked the little girl.

Oh, Ursa would need a piggyback ride in order to reach the shack. He can't climb the ladder. If Tatum would lift him, he wouldn't be heavy and she would be able to climb the ladder without the weight hindrance.

Awwww, he's a sweetie pie bear!

"If it turns out you are secretly a magical prince, I will totally give careful consideration to joining your kinding, oh kind bear!" Tatum said playfully as she bowed low to the bear cub. This cub was surprisingly well socialized, all things considered, and had quite the character. Either that or Elena was pretending to translate. Regardless, she wasn't going to question it.

... or maybe she should?

The ladder was a quest that she was willing to consider undergoing. At first, she thought about climbing up alone. Then she looked back down and saw a waiting bear.

"Don't tell me you need help up?" she asked as she hoped back down and kneeled for the bear to climb on. "Guess you haven't figured out climbing yet, huh?"

Once she was able to get to the top, she was... humbled. Not in the sense that the humble setting made her feel a sense of serenity. More like the humble setting shattered what she believed she was going to see. Considering that Elena reminded her of a wood elf, she was expecting magical scrolls and the like.

Then came the toys... that she apparently "Found" at a human campsite.

... she... pfft... she found them...

From a human camp site... snrk... It took all of her will power not to laugh. Oh well, what's done is done. She may as well just roll with it.

"I've played with those before," she admitted as she sat down near them. "They are all pretty easy to figure out, but if you want I could show you how to use them. Want a quick on all three or should I go in-depth about one of them?"

"Oh really? Can you show me how to play with it?" Elena asked the little girl. She might look a little bit ignorant here but she spent most of her life hunting for food in order to survive the forest. So, she really doesn't have any time to play any of these toys. "Show me everything you've got!" she added. She is very eager to learn how to play with these toys. She's glad to have found a new playmate.