Leaping to flight in response to the peaceful silence of boundless nature shattering under the uncharacteristic cry of man, a flock of frightened birds created their own cacophony callback to the lost traveler. From deep within the brush, they were studied by keen and wary eyes. The owner of the untrusting gaze took in a ponderous breath as she tracked the fowl from their direction to their origin. Further from the point of takeoff, the silent observer directed her sight to the cause of unrest within the woods on this day.

The strange man certainly caused a stir among the local tenants of the field and forest. When he began to shift into exhaustion from his emotional sprint, his unknown audience evaluated the relationship between rider and mount. The steed’s ability to sense the rider’s venture willpower waning spoke to a familiarity between the two. The nature of such a close relationship would need to be further evaluated before it could be quantified as friendly or forced. With his face hidden in the locks of mane, the human seemed more child than man. 

Descending from his mount, the boy became primary focus of the hidden elf who watched from the fringe of thicket at the edge of the field. The horse set to grazing and the human searching the terrain painted a poetic dichotomy of serenity and unease. Lailani found herself cracking a small smile at the way each actor fell so perfectly into their role of calm beast and unsettled human.

Clearly the human was lost; there was no question of that fact. Whether he was worth aiding was another matter. Lailani, ever patient, checked the sun in estimation of the light remaining and settled into a crouch. They had some time yet, though not much. If the man did not enact some sort of behavior that deemed him worthy of her assistance, it would be an unfortunate evening for him indeed. The elf was uncertain if she desired him to prove suitable or not. It had been quite some time since she had interacted with another humanoid and even the vibrant life of the wilds could fall short in the realm of conversation.

She watched anxiously for a sign. All she needed was for him to make the right gesture; or the wrong one.