Forest walk pt. 1

"Alright it is best if we continue moving. Those guards might have been the only ones. However, I am not willing to take chances." Vinncent said while he began walking north with Llorva tailing him.

Walking through the forest, the sun rising in the sky, Vinncent could not help but admire the atmosphere. Before he had been too occupied by the problem of the guards now with it being dealt with he could relax and enjoy it.

The gentle wind occasionally shifted the branches rustling their leaf's, and Bird song filled the air with its calming unorganized melody. Although the brush was thinning compared to the forest's rim it was still dense enough to conceal some of the wildlife but not all of it. There were herds of deer Indiscriminately eating the vegetation around them. Squirrels darted amongst the trees looking for fallen nuts. Hares hoped through the bushes as they grazed in the grass, their noses twitching periodically. Once or twice a snake would look out from a bush as the vibrations of Vinncent and Llorva's footsteps rang in the soil. Spiders sat on their webs amongst the grasses and trees.

It was relaxing and refreshing that such purity could exist in the world. Although places like this did exist on his earth, they were slowly dwindling. There were times where Vinncent would go out, deep into the forest to enjoy its natural beauty. He would enjoy it alone a majority of the time until a group of campers, tourists, college students or a couple looking to get risque would ruin the experience. Here in this world there were fewer people so the forests were yet to be torn asunder. The people of this world still had some concept of natural preservation. Only taking what was needed for buildings, to heat their houses and cook their food.

Llorva enjoyed the forest as well although the trees were not as tall as they were in Albion? The familiar surroundings reminded her of home. It had been seven years since the humans had invaded and razed her kingdom. Llorva was never told what had happened to her kingdom afterward although she had the feeling that those who couldn't escape had been enslaved like her. The thought drew heavily on her heart even though it had been years ago it still pained her that she could do nothing for her people. Looking to the sky Llorva saw that the sun was not far from the horizon.

"Vinncent it's getting late. We should find some place to rest for the night."

"I agree," Vinncent said as he looked at the setting sun

"Lets keep going until we find someplace where we can sleep. Tell me when you see a spot that you like." He continued as he kept walking.

The sun slowly encased the forest in the growing orange, red twilight. Llorva looked around the forest as she and Vinncnet walked on trying to find a place that could be used as a shelter for the night.

None of the trees or shrubs that she could see in the fading light could be considered useful for shelter. Just as the last light of the sun was shining over the horizon, Llorva caught sight of a hollow underneath a tree's stranglers.

"I think I might have found a spot." Llorva called out while she pointed at the tree.

Looking over Vinncent could see Llorva pointing to a tree slightly out of the way of their path.

"So you wanna sleep in a tree?" Vinncent asked confused "Is there something special about that tree? or can we sleep in any tree?"

"No, not the tree the hollow underneath it." she explained

Looking down to the trees base Vinncent could see a sizeable opening in the trees risen roots.

"It might be occupied already are you sure that's a good idea?" Vinncent cautioned as Llorva began making her way to the tree.

After listening to Vinncent voice his concerns Llorva approached the hollow with apprehension. As she got closer the hollow and the area around it became easier to study. Looking at the tree and the ground around it she saw no signs of any animal activity.

"It seems clear." Llorva yelled prompting Vinncent to approach albeit cautiously. As he approached she quietly thought to herself.

"Vinncent is right to be suspicious, I have fallen out of sync with the natural world."

Once Vinncent reached the hollow he did a quick inspection of the ground and tree by the hollow before crouching down to look inside. To his pleasant surprise and wonder the hollow was not some small space like he had thought. Instead there was a large cavern roughly the size of a medium apartment.

Towards the far wall a moderately sized brook gently flowed from one side of the cavern to the other. Pulling his head out of the hole Vinncent looked to Llorva.

"I don't know how you did it, but somehow you found a real nice spot."

"Are you being sarcastic? I've been looking everywhere we went and once I find a place this is what I get!?" Llorva pouted

"NO! I'm serious if you don't believe me look yourself." Vinncent said, pointing to the hole with his hands in the air.

"I seriously don't know how you did it. You found a small haven that I likely would have missed without you." He continued as Llorva began to put her head in the hollow.

"Yeah whatever, You're just being me..." Llorva's words caught in her throat as she looked deeper into the hollow.

Vinncent was right sure enough she had found "a small haven" She pulled her head out and looked at the opening of the hollow.

"We will have to widen the entrance. Perhaps we should also make some sort of barrier over the entrance?"

"I think that making a barrier may be a good idea to stop weather and animals from coming into the cavern however I worry about making it look unnatural and easy to spot incase of a search party." Vinncent said as he expressed his concerns.

"I think it should be fine if we pile some fallen branches and leaves." Llorva said while looking at their surroundings.

Vinncent nodded his head as long as the pile looked unorganized the façade of it being natural should fool anyone.

"That would work however a loose pile of sticks and leaves still wouldn't protect against animals and weather." he remarked

"Although I might be able to change that."

"What are you going to do? Are you going to weave them together? That would ruin the whole point of doing a pile." Llorva questioned

"I'm not going to weave then. It will still look like a pile however it will be a solid mass."

"And who are you going to accomplish that?" Llorva asked skeptically

"Simply by changing my form." Vinncent said as he changed into the xenomorph drone.

"How is that gonna help?"

"The species that I am taking the form of live in colonies similar to those of ants and bees..." Vinncents voice rang in her mind

"Like bees who build hives using wax that their bodies naturally produce in their abdomens. This species builds its hives in a similar manner, Instead of wax though they build their hive with a special resin created in two glands on either side of the head."

"So are you going to use the resin to hold the pile together?"

"Correct. This way the barrier can still look natural while being strong enough to keep out animals."

Vinncent began to amass nearby sticks and pile them into a pointed mound a foot and a half tall. Satisfied with the look of the pile he opened his jaw and began to heave as dark viscous amber fell from his mouth to the sticks below. Slowly it seeped into the pile coating the sticks as it moved. Vinncent moved his head around the pile to better spread the resin and encase more of the sticks. Once the pile was sufficiently covered in resin, Vinncent began to gather leaves and drop them onto the still hardening barrier before approaching the entrance to the hollow and beginning to widen it.