She hated when the shifts came quick. There was no way to predict them, and no way to simply settle into herself when they were quick. It was difficult to want to go much of anywhere (especially very far), when at any moment she might suddenly become her other self. It perhaps wasn't quite as bad when she went from foot to wing, but the reverse always required finding herself some clothing. And quickly, when she was somewhere populated, cold, or both.
It made staying in the woods a bit of a requirement at the moment. She stayed near the abandoned RV that she'd claimed as her own, only ever venturing a short distance away. At some point she'd need to go far enough to get herself something to eat, but for the time she could simply wait until she was winged again and take what the woods provided her. But even keeping herself fed didn't make the days pass any quicker, and she wasn't certain enough to venture into the town's library, either. Not yet. Which meant: she was bored. Which meant: she wandered, in order to learn the woods around her.
The boots on her feet were too big, the pants she wore were held up by a belt that she'd had to punch an extra hole into to make it fit, and the jacket dwarfed her. But they'd been among the clothing left in the RV, and she had learned long ago not to be choosy. It was what she wore when she slipped out to explore the woods, and the colors of everything were dull enough to almost provide camouflage.
Of course she'd seen the ranger's lookout (both from below and from above), and had even seen the man that stayed there. He was hard to miss with hair that blond, a shine of gold in the middle of the otherwise winter-brown trees. Sure, things were starting to bloom, but nothing caught the light the way that fair hair did. It sparked what might be memories, from somewhere deep in the past. Someone fair... who...?
No. Não era importante.
At least it wasn't. Until the day she heard the quick rustle of someone approaching through the forest at speed, and she knew. It was the man with the gold hair. But she wasn't ready to meet anyone. Her head snapped around, looking for escape, but those sounds only drew closer. Fast. He was coming. She pressed a hand to a tree and prayed for wings that didn't answer. No. No people. Not...