❖ NIGHTTIME IN THE SEVENWOOD ❖ (B/Clementine)

It had been a few days since Fane arrived in Seven, and yet he was still surrounded in the thick groves deemed the Sevenwood. The blonde wanderer did not like to consider himself lost, but it might've appeared that way to anyone who crossed him. He would often stop to look at his surroundings, focus on a landmark, and then head that direction. He wandered with such purpose that even he convinced himself that he knew where he was going. As long as he headed East, he figured. As long as he headed East, he would eventually reach the territory boring Iceburg.

But Fane was not traveling alone. Sometime earlier, he had saved a whiny crow from vines entangling it. In a rather earnest expression of gratitude, it dedicated its entire life to accompanying him. This declaration shocked Fane at first, but him disliking being alone and especially enjoying birds, he had quickly welcomed the company.

It was beginning to get dark in Seven, now. You couldn't clearly see the sky when in the Sevenwood, as all of it was veiled in the groves of trees. You could only the light that poured through the vegetation from up above and the shadows it cast over the Sevenwood as a result. When nightfall was approaching, the Sevenwood would reasonably get darker but would become especially dark in the late hours. The trees seemed to refuse to let light in during daylight, making nightfall especially stygian.

It was only the early evening, but the Sevenwood was particularly dark. The croaking of toads and the rustle of nearby critters echoed throughout the forest, along with the crunching of leaves underneath Fane's feet as he scrambled in between roots and bushes to find a way through the darkness. He didn't have a lantern with him, and the crow that perched on his head was asleep. He felt hopelessly blind during this time of day, but never stopped to sleep. He felt that sleep would only deter him from reaching his destination as soon as possible, so he only slept when it was involuntary, and this was often sporadic.

Fane couldn't be bothered to dress himself appropriately ever since he awoke on Mt. Hakobe. He had only been dressed in a thin, shabby cloak that would fall apart and tear to shreds if anything scraped it. Needless to say, he wore little else underneath it and was practically naked. But, Seven being mildly warm or even hot, the trip didn't seem too unbearable, and he hadn't even considered what it would be like once he arrived in Iceburg. He wore no shoes and, as a result, had feet that were bruised and scratched, but hardened by its heavy usage. He looked like homeless flotsam if he were in a city. But in the Sevenwood, he was no more than an eerie wanderer.

"Bwaaaaha!!" the slumbering bird suddenly shot up in fright from the sudden intrusion of the stranger. Despite being covered in feathers, it looked as if the life had been sucked away from it. It's eyes were wide and its mouth hanging open in what some would call a brief terror. However, unlike his feathered friend, Fane didn't seem stirred at all. When the stranger had, somehow, halted him, he still wore his friendly smile that often made him look like a dunce.

Placidly, Fane turned around to look at the woman. His eyes were wide and unfazed, and although the weapon she threatened him with seemed harmless if not artistic, he decided not to move regardless. "Me? Wandering?" Fane pointed to himself as if he was unsure if the woman was talking to the right person. But as quickly as he questioned it, he hummed to himself and tapped his lip, looking up into the trees curiously. "Oh, yes, well, I suppose it would seem that way to you, wouldn't it?"

Meanwhile, the bird had appeared to gather its bearrings and cooed at the woman. "Another pickle-pee! Yes, yes! Another pickle-pee indeed! Yes, yes!" the crow accused.

Fane continued to smile blindly. "Ahh! So pickle-pees are humans to you. How interesting, hehe." the blonde blushed a bit. He didn't seem to register any sort of threat coming from the woman, which could make anyone feel that he was either crazy or just thick-headed. The chatter between the bird and the man continued for a few moments more before he finally nodded and dipped his head in greeting. "You are mistaken, miss. I'm not wandering, you see! I—I am trying to make my way home, and my journey has brought me here into the Sevenwood. A-Ah. . . is that what it's named? The Sevenwood, yes? I'd be awfully embarrassed if I got it wron—well, it doesn't matter anyway, does it? It isn't like I'll be traversing through it for much longer." Fane laughed innocently has he fumbled over his words as if it was his sporadic train of thought being verbalized.

"Does pickle-pee wanna come, too? Do they? Do they?" The bird cooed again.

Fane perked up and grinned. "Well, isn't that and interesting proposal? But the poor maiden is probably lost, is all. The same incident happened in those woods. . . the one in Fiore. Oh, I have not informed you on that, have I?" he looked over to the girl again after staring at the bird, "I'm afraid I cannot assist you in these hours, milady. It has been awfully draining just to traverse through these woods myself. . . but you're free to come along if you wish."

The blonde man and the crow were an grossly chatty pair who didn't seem perturbed by the woman's presence. So much so that they invited her into their company despite being ignorant to her situation. They did not move closer to her and would simply stare until she gave an answer. His blue eyes were wide with anticipation but with the fragility of glass, as if he could crack any moment.

According to the maiden, she was not at all lost! So perhaps her little paint can stunt earlier was a pleasant surprise more than an act of desperation and anxiety! Because, well, why would one try to weaponize paint like she did if she wasn't putting on some sort of stunt? It made perfect sense to Fane, at least.

There was a lot of chatter in between the maiden's questions, so most of them didn't get answered at the same time in which she asked them. Instead, a lot of it was filled with a back-and-forth between the crow and the blonde-haired man. It was only after their quiet bickering that both of the characters nodded in some sort of agreement, looking happily over to the maiden with apparent triumph.

"Very well, darling! This is what we both like to hear! There's nothing more pleasant than a beautiful maiden accompanying us during our travels! And rest assured now, there's nothing quite as wonderful as reaching your destination after a journey full of hardships—oh, but, not that our journey will most certainly bring any of that hogwash. We're just walking and prancing and all, after all." Fane chatted again, looking up to his feathered friend and nodding, "You know the Sevenwood, correct. Our journey will not be a difficult or treacherous one, now shall it?"

"No, no, pickle-pee! It will be the most safe! Little danger, indeed, indeed!" the crow reassured them.

Fane grinned and nodded over to the woman. "Did you catch that, milady? There's naught to fear in the Sevenwood. Not even the night. Not with our noble friend guiding us, that is. So why don't we all continue, yes? Come along now! Come on, come on!" the blonde man hurried them, never considering that nightfall was indeed approaching and with it, the realization of all of their weariness. Not even the crow could keep its eyes open for too long before nearly falling off of Fane's shoulder.

On the other hand, there was very little light and the difficulty in traversing the Sevenwood seemed to have increased twelvefold. Fane's feet were already bruised and scratched, but the welts became all the more apparent when stones on the ground would pierce them after blindly stepping on them. He ignored the pain, regardless.

Suddenly, Fane stopped, and not because of his missteps. It just occurred to him that he hardly answered any of her other questions! Dumbfounded, he abruptly twisted around to face the woman and fell to his knees, defeated, anguished.

"How boorish of me! I have not even given my name and here we are, now travel companions until fate tears us apart! How basic the etiquette, and for me to forget it?! How shameful! I shall atone right away!" he whined, standing up only to bow again, "Fane Howler, milady. My deepest apologies for forgetting something so terribly. . . expected of me. And this fellow right here is. . . is. . ." Fane raised himself and looked at his feathered friend, dumbfounded again as he struggled to recall its name. Suddenly, his apologetic, sheepish tones vanished, "—I don't suppose you ever introduced yourself either, my friend. Now have you?"

"No, no!" the nameless crow agreed.

Fane hummed thoughtfully. "Well that simply won't do, will it? What is your name, my friend?"

"I have no name, pickle-pee! No, no! I am but very nameless! Nameless! Nameless!" the nameless crow cooed.

The thinking Fane hummed again. "Well that simply won't do either! One cannot live without a name! It is most basic in our world!" he argued, shocked that such a thing could happen with a creature with such sentience! Even the dumbest of dogs were named.

"Pickle-pee! Pickle-pee! What is to be done, pickle-pee? What? What?" the nameless crow begged inquisitively.

Fane smiled from ear to ear, his hand slamming on his chest with a notable thump! "I will give you a name, of course! It is only the right thing to do! To be without a name as you have. . . it is unthinkable! Isn't that right, milady?—Oh, well, even milady here has a name, you see! She is not just milady! Do you understand? You do, don't you?" he urged the crow, who didn't seem to respond as he had hoped. It still seemed rather clueless about the concept. Regardless, with oozing excitement, Fane knelt down in front of the perchless crow and began speculating names for it.

"Last time I inspected, you were a girl, weren't you? A very pretty maiden, yourself, huh? How about Merla?"

"No! No!"

"Branwen?"

"No! No!"

"Bertram?"

"No, pickle-pee! No!"

"Gaagii?"

"No!! No!!"

"Rok? Rabaan? How about Pene? Pene's kind of cute. We haven't really used the P's, have we—"

"Pickle-pee!!"

It was at this point Fane sighed through his smile, although not visibly flustered about his options running thin, it was clear that his patience was just by his sigh. They continued listing off names, rejecting them, and then listing off more until one name seemed to render the nameless crow silent.

"Then what about Poko?" Fane finally suggested. The nameless crow stuttered nothing and pondered over the name for a moment, until finally, and with a distinctive coo, the nameless crow shouted.

"Pickle-pee, pickle-pee! I am Poko! Poko is I! Yes, yes!" Poko finally agreed to the name, squawking happily. But it seemed that Fane was equally overjoyed as his smile transformed into a grin.

"Ahaha! Well done, Poko! Well done! What a gorgeous name, and how it fits you so supremely as well! I might have outdone myself this time around, too!" Fane laughed. It wasn't until both of them was caught up in their laughter that he suddenly recalled that their introductions never quite finished.

Abruptly, Fane's laughter ceased as he sprung up from the ground and looked back to their travelling companion. "This here, as you might have noticed, is Poko! It's our pleasure to meet you, miss. . . miss. . ." Fane suddenly went quiet, smiling, "What should we call you, milady?" he asked in his usual friendly tones.