While she had been previously quite hesitant and aggressive toward the wolfman, Aedre was now quite interested him in another way. She was fascinated by the small amount of information he had already provided, and wished to know more. Upon this pilgrimage of hers across her lands, she had not come in contact with something so fascinating. Someone who seemed so dangerous ten minutes before was now a man she was welcoming to her fire.
She expected his next question, for how could he trust a woman who had just threatened him? While he might have understood better had he known Flemeth and her daughters’ reputations in the Wilds, it was certainly not a situation that he wished to be in. If roles were reversed Aedre knew that her suspicions would be just the same if not moreso.
Indeed, for a moment the shaman had a thought: but what if this man, whose name she realized she had not asked, was truly more aggressive than she now assumed? While she was able to hold her own, she did not know the powers of shapeshifters. And yet while she paused for a moment, she realized that she did not feel uneasy about this encounter anymore. Garrett did not seem like a threat. He seemed like a wolf who was good to meet, unlike the many that she had stumbled upon in the past. His appearance was leading her on her life’s way.
As he circled her, Aedre kept a calm face. She had shown her ability with a knife, and her magic was even better than that. He could not surprise her without suffering from it. “I am alone,” she assured him once she had decided Garrett was not a threat. Or at least if he was that she could take care of it. “I hunted only yesterday and found a fat doe that was far too large for me. I cannot finish it all before it goes bad. Please join me, and we will share tales of our people.
“I do not wish to hurt you,” she stated outright, settling her hands on her hips as she watched him with that same calm smile on her lips. “Come, we shall build a fire and warm by it. It will not do well to stand in the cold any longer.” She suddenly realized that her feet were left bare in her hurry away from her makeshift home, and they were cold in the late autumn air.
Upon acquiescence, Aedre would lead Garrett back to her current tree-home. She had found the perfect shelter for the night in the hollowed-out tree. Indeed, the way it was carved out made it seem like something or someone had made a home there. And others had made it a home before the shaman had stumbled across it. It was large enough to fit three comfortably sitting, and a firepit had been formed out of stones. Often there were small places such as this found on the journey between villages in the Wilds. If people were to travel, often they needed a night or two of rest before finding their destination. Tree-homes such as this one were not rare, but were often hard to find.
Motioning, she allowed Garrett his routine and permitting him to enter first.