Trapped in the Encante (reboot) | o/o or small group | closed

Marli stopped at the fork in the path. She closed her eyes, listening to the way the songs overlapped each other. They were both beautiful. Too beautiful to choose. Her heart longed to follow both. To do so she would need to split herself in half. One side of her heart going left, and the other going right, but even then she couldn't wholly have both. It was the proverbial cake she couldn't have and eat in the same single moment. There was another part of her too, buried under her primal desires: her mind. If the second voice led back to the stream where she woke, perhaps it was there she could escape. She took a step to the left, but halted again when the song to the right sang louder. Marli tangled her hands in her hair. Her face tilted up to the tree roof while she bathed in the magic. Two songs intertwining around her and feeling as if they were made personally for her, and they were both of equal importance. She glanced over to the right. This was the sound she heard back home. What would be the point of coming here if her curiosity was never satisfied? She could find the source of this song first, then return afterwards for the stream, she reasoned.

With that, Marli headed down the path leading towards birdsong.

Marli trekked along down the path like a fly to honey. The triumphant crescendo sounded like a reward, though she covered her ears. It was easier to hear the higher pitched tones when the rest of her enviroment softened, after all. The birds and the orchestra of insects were simply too much for her mortal ears, while instead she breathed in the brilliant whistling as if it were the freshest air. Then the path got brighter. Nature walks in her previous life were magnificent—wait, her previous life? No, her present life, the same one, for she was still going to go home after she found where this song came from—but what she witnessed here could never be properly described by human terms. She let her hands fall from her ears to reach out and brush one of the low-hanging fruits with her fingertips. Only for a second did she let herself pause to admire one of the bugs lounging on a nearby leaf. A darling little thing. She resisted the urge to touch it with a subconsious reminder of the possible dangers. That thought was not enough to stop her from returning on her journey because she was already on her way again.

The girl hadn't even taken the time to notice that the leeches she'd peeled from her skin earlier left no painful marks. In fact, Marli hadn't thought of them again until she glanced down at her legs in a fleeting moment of lucidity. How long was her walk? Shouldn't her muscles be aching from the chilly dip in the stream?

All she knew for certain now was that she was almost there. There being the marvelous tree from whence the song originated. Was it the tree whistling? Marli couldn't think of any being she'd encountered that could produce such lovely notes, not without pausing however briefly to take a breath. Then again, at this point, she should have known the beings here didn't adhere to mortal abilities. Her gaze snapped to the leg that dipped from the tree. She sighed at the voice. These were the first words she heard from it, and oh, they were enchanting. She approached the trunk, gingerly touching her fingers to the moss. "Quem é você? And why did you bring me here?"

Marli felt as if she could never look away from this man—no, not quite a man. He looked like one, but he had an otherwordly presence around him with his feline-adjacent features and enchanting mien. The thought rose from her subconsious like a distant memory becoming clear. A god.

Oh, god, she'd brushed that childhood experience off as a fever dream. Marli remembered a time long ago, when she was just a little girl, maybe four years old, when she drove her mother and herself to tears for not laying down. It had been afternoon on a sweltering July day when it was time for her nap. Later her mother would tell stories about how when toddler Marli was exhausted the little terror made her own irritability everyone else's too. On that particular day Marli screamed her little lungs out in protestation of sleep. She remembered sitting on her bed, clutching a dolphin plushie close to her chest. Her mamã had left her alone to cry, the room darkened by curtains, and then she remembered a whistling sound.

Realization sparkled in her auburn eyes. "You…Jaci Jaterê?"

Likewise, Marli drank in the god's appearance while she fidgeted at the seams on the sides of her overalls. There was a bizarre temptation to reach up and push the hair away from his face. She pushed her own hair back instead. By now it had dried into loose curls that intermittantly drifted into her vision. He was smaller than in her mind's eye. More likely she had grown taller: all the way up to a lofty five foot, three. Otherwise he looked just like how she'd imagined him when her thoughts drifted through fuzzy memories of her childhood. It was so long ago already, and it only seemed farther away since she entered the Encante.

As much as Jaci Jaterê had stayed the same, she indeed changed. It was almost a decade since they last met, after all. Victories and heartaches shaped Marli Laurentius into a fully fledged adult. Sunlight had dappled more specks onto her golden arms and shoulders. She enjoyed enough hikes through the jungle to tone her legs, but she cared more about the view and her circle of friends than her body type. She missed them all terribly. Her expression shifted into concern at his words. "Can't you help me get home? At least show me the way."

Marli followed him with her gaze. Her head turned along with his steps until, of course, she couldn't turn anymore. She looked for a moment at the staff when it appeared. Even if she couldn't make out the details it seemed just as familiar and beautiful as the god who wielded it. If it were as powerful, could it send her home the way it had brought him to her doorway all those years ago, she wondered. But alas, when Jaci Jaterê continued to speak, her hopes dwindled. She nibbled on her bottom lip as the first waves of anxiety washed over her. Her whole body slowly spun with him this time. "You mean I could die?" Marli cinched her brows together while the weight of his words dawned. Death didn't frighten her as much as the unknown. At first it was the only option she could process into words. Her attention flicked away to the trees. Lack of focus made her stumble, and she stopped spinning, but the earth beneath her feet continued on. "Wait wait wait, I can turn—I have to be…"

"What-" Like a deer having heard a snap in the shrubbery, her ego startled and froze in the back of her mind. Marli's eyes widened not unlike a doe's. She lifted the back of one heel as if to flee, but deep down she knew she had no chance against a god. Then again she would have followed him into any cave or monster he brought her to. She wouldn't mind. Not if it was his charming presence who guided her. She might have reached out to hold his hand on the way.

Meanwhile, Marli stared off into the jungle nervously until she felt solid hands on her shoulders, then the staff tap her chin. Her clouded gaze traced a line from the trees back to his face. A sigh drifted from her lips. One by one, the muscles in her limbs released all the tension they'd clung to. The danger was no more. He must have chased it off, whatever it was. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure I will. Let's go."

(About how long would it take for her to change into an encantado?)

(Ahh gotcha. Thank you!)

Marli followed without any hesitation at first, eager to keep up pace. The farther away from where she'd intuited peril the better. She accepted his help with various obstructions on the path, murmuring grateful comments as she took his hand. Yet her fervor eventually waned into distractability. Now every few feet she lagged behind when a new color or insect caught her eye. Her toes dragged through the dirt, gathering mud in her sandals. It seemed so minutely inconvenient now that she didn't stop to clean her shoes. In the meantime, when wasn't distracted by a scurrying critter, she considered the way Jaci Jaterê walked like a cat in his own territory. She was magnetized.

After an amount of time Marli deemed appropriate, she asked, "I've already been walking for some time. Before I found you, I mean. And you said it's not far, but what exactly does your abode look like?" Her feet weren't protesting with sharp pains in her heel, and her soul was quite enriched with wonderful creatures and a god amidst her, but she couldn't resist a question for curiosity's sake.

(So I'm doing some light research and I'm finding that Marli's interests with hiking/nature probably fit best with Caipora, but I'm hesitant to have her turn into a spirit I only see that there's one of. Is that OK?)

(Ooh perfect!! Tysm :D She'll be turning into one of the Caipora then)

"Oh." Marli, stopping in her tracks, startled at the ladder that appeared in front of her. She peered quizzically at the god through the spaces in the ladder, then traced her gaze up towards the black shape looming above. Why not find out herself, indeed? She took hold of one of the wooden rungs and pulled herself upwards one step at a time. While she climbed a strand of hair fell onto her forehead. Her first instinct was to brush it away, but she faltered upon seeing a flash of red pass her eyes. It must have been a trick of the light. The magic of the Encante must be reflecting its strange colors into her mind. She tucked the strand behind her ear and continued her ascension. Still, she made a mental note to examine her hair later. Perhaps there was a leaf or bug that hitched a ride there.

At the top of the ladder, Marli clambered onto the platform. She stood there for a moment just to absorb the sight of the building. His dwelling reminded her of treehouses she'd seen built for children. Only this was infinitely more impressive, large enough for living quarters, and surprisingly normal. It was magnificent, yes, if not quite what she expected a god's abode to look like. She might have imagined something more ethereal. This one seemed so real and present. And yet it was more fitting for Jaci Jaterê than anything else she could fantasize.
"Alright. I will, thank you." The closer she got to the hut the better she could see those odd patterns in the walls. No, this certainly wasn't a child's playhouse. Marli parted the draping plants to the side with her arm, entering the god's residence.

Marli's expression shifted into an indiscernible emotion as she entered the hut, neither positive nor negative, just perplexed. Whatever expectations she had based on the outside were only further disproven. Despite his enchanting appearance and language, she once again found herself being reminded that this was no man she'd found herself with. Her grandmother used to tell stories about the gods, their lineages, and their fables. Or at least Marli had thought they were fables. She'd forgotten most of it by now.
"Well, it depends on what kind of guests you're inviting," she mused in turn, chuckling dryly.
Marli wandered over close to the stones. Seeing the figure nearby, she approached it and attempted to decipher the shape of the animal in the dim light. She nearly touched it before thinking better of herself and withdrawing her hand. "What is this?"

(All good! I hope you have a good time there)

Marli took the statuette, turning it to and fro and tracing the carved lines with a finger. "Ahh. It's very nice. I think I could've guessed what it might be the daylight." She glanced over when she heard the sound of Jaci Jaterê's hand patting the cushion, wandering over then to take the seat beside him. They had been this close before in the wilderness. Closer even. Here it felt different, more intimate after she'd been invited into his home and now sitting shoulder to shoulder. Who was she to have this honor? Marli stared at the figurine in her lap, casting furtive glances towards the god, and giving her most valiant effort to swallow the beating heart in her throat.

When their eyes met during one of her glances, Marli snapped her gaze back the pile of hot coals they sat beside. She chewed on her lip while he spoke. A familiar wave of anxiety rose at the mention of her death again. She'd almost forgotten about that option, and it wasn't any easier to swallow this time around, but at least she could keep herself from spiraling. Then there was the other option to become something other. Something immortal—an Encantado—he had said. Perhaps this option, the unknown, was even more frightening. Marli fidgeted with the would-be ocelot, rubbing her thumb up and down its wooden back. "I don't want to die," she admitted. "I want to go back home." A beat passed as she delved into deep thought, and then, "You said I couldn't leave as I am now. But I can leave? As an…Encantado?"