ʂσɱҽɯԋҽɾҽ σɳʅყ ɯҽ ƙɳσɯ

Nilo felt glad that Charlotte was enjoying the food, and now that they had payed back the kindness that had been given to them, they decided to take their leave " I'll be going now, I had an awesome time" once they stepped out the door, they shapeshifted into a deer and ran out into the forest.
______
When they reached the edge of the forest, Nilo shape-shifted back, they had to collect more pigment for their paints, because they had to paint a new masterpiece. They suddenly heard a noise in the distance, a crackling of bushes and grass, and they developed curiosity to it. The closer they go, the more they heard. Voices. Footsteps. Armor. They already knew what these people were, but to make sure it wasn't a nightmare, they had to look, they peeked over the bushes. Their heart dropped. Royal Guards.

Nilo looked over their shoulder at Charlotte who arrived a few moments after they did, they looked over at her and put a finger to their lips and the other to their ear. Unspoken words conveyed, they shapeshifted into a moth and fluttered onto one of the Royal Guard's armors to listen. " This is our third run this week, I'm pretty sure the perimeter is secure" said the first guard. He was wearing a full set of armor along with a helmet adorned with gold designs, and the other one had a gold adorned chestplate as well, probably signalling rank. " You can never be too safe" he replied " We should check near that big tree in the distance soon" at the sounds of this Nilo fluttered back behind the bush and shifted back " We need to get out of here as soon as possible" They warned Charlotte "They're coming this way"

"I don't think so," they replied " They only said they were doing a perimeter check" they thought about it for a bit "but that means they must have a camp or something nearby" They looked back at Charlotte "Wait, shh." Footsteps approached the now covered doorway. "Did you hear that?" said a voice from the outside, it was the higher ranking guard " There were voices just now" the other guard sighed " Now you're making things up, Sire" the first guard scoffed "Watch your tone with me or else" he paused "I think we're done for the day, let's start heading back" When the guards were out of earshot Nilo let out a sigh of relief and looked at Charlotte "We're fine now"

" I'm going to go outside to check if they're really gone" Nilo said, turned towards Charlotte, they then shape-shifted into a fruit fly and flew out through a crack in the wood of the tree. The guards were already far gone, at least, they thought so. To make sure, they did their own full perimeter check, to see if the guards had gone around. Halfway around the tree they buzzed to a halt. There was a girl there, a faerie? clinging to the tree for dear life. She must also be hiding from the royal guard they thought. The thought suddenly came to their head * She might be a trickster though, better be careful* They thought while flying back into the tree. Once they got back they shapeshifted again "Charlotte, you've got to see this"

(Boop)

(Hi~ I don't know how to continue this without Charlotte so u should probably intro your character into the story)

( Me neither :[)

"Not necessarily" they looked at her, trying to find something comforting to say " No guards though, so it's fine to come out, it's something a lot more… special" they unbarricaded the door and lead her outside .

" The guards… are gone yes. Question: Where exactly did you come from?" Nilo asked " Last time I checked, the only people in this forest were me, a few Faun's and Nymph's and a centaur or two, but I know for a fact there have never been fairies in this forest" they stared more intensely now, voice growing stricter" So… who are you running from"

" So there IS a guard camp near the forest, just as I suspected" Nilo's face shifted into a pensive gaze " And why are you running from them? I didn't think the Fae of all people would be targeted by the King's guard"

They shrugged "Makes sense. Fae have the same reputation as the Djinn used to." They looked back at her "Not that it's fair, but they just seem to hate us" they frowned a little " And their prejudice leads to catastrophes" they shrugged "Welp, welcome to the team I guess, this is Charlotte, we just met yesterday."

( I was waiting for @CWPoofToxicRush but I'm not sure if this is still active)

Nilo smiled brightly " If anyone was intruding" they added, " It was the guards" The smile on their face sort of faded " We might need to do something about that by the way" turning a but to face Charlotte " They definitely won't leave by their own volition"