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The forest was peaceful.

Cybele had been talking to a lot of people about what had happened to her, and about what had happened in general in the recent days of the war. There had been a lot of different reactions, a lot of different thoughts, and even a few questions that had been raised. It had been helpful, but also almost a bit overwhelming, and Cybele thought that it might be time to think through some of it on her own, or at the very least breathe some fresh air for a bit.

The woods were probably the best place for that. There weren't usually people around out here, except perhaps for a camper or two, but there wasn't enough traffic to make it a popular draining spot.

There was an Order aura here, though, and for all that Cybele had come out here to spend some time alone, that was enough to pique her interest. Had something dangerous happened here? She dashed after the aura, quick as she could.

When she saw a man with wolf ears chasing what sounded like a rabbit, she blinked once in surprise, but recovered quickly.

"Catching anything?" she asked.

Being Princess to people she barely knew was going to take some getting used to, but Cybele did her best to take it in stride, nodding politely.

Although her instincts took over for a moment and all sense of decorum left her as she heard the crinkle and thump of rabbit feet on leaves growing fainter through a patch of thorns and underbrush.

She winced. "Ah. I scared it, didn't I?"

It wasn't a very good impression to make on someone if she was running off their dinner when all she'd been wanting to do was check in. Hopefully, she could resolve the situation.

It did fall under her sphere.

"Here. We can find you another." She tilted her head, smile becoming a margin more genuine. "If I'm the Princess of the Hunt and I can't manage something simple like that, what good am I?"

“Oh, I’m Cybele,” she said with a small bow of introduction, her cheeks going the slightest hint pink because she should have started there and not been distracted by the Princess. “You can call me that, I’m not expecting people to be so formal.”

She looked up again. “I like Fang. It suits you.”

It would be easy to remember for someone who seemed a bit wild.

“Now, my magic makes your senses better, and it makes you faster, too. Let’s see if we can find something.”

She whispered her basic magic, and an ethereal bow formed in her hands, which she fired at Fang before he would have too much time to think about the imagery of it.

Cybele didn't have to do anything else. She watched Fang shoot off like an arrow through the underbrush, towards some kind of prey that she couldn't quite hear herself, without the magic affecting her.

It seemed like the magic itself had done its trick, though, because it seemed like it was only a few seconds later that Fang was crashing back through the underbrush with his catch.

"Oh, well done!" she said, folding her hands proudly at her chest and grinning. "Two?"

She stepped a bit closer to inspect the rabbits. "Nice ones, too. Should be tasty, and of course. I'm always glad to help."

Hunting for food felt a bit more productive than hunting youma, sometimes.

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise as he offered her the second rabbit, but she smiled, too, and she took it from him, not about to turn down generosity. "Thank you," she told him. "I'm glad I could help."

It was nice to use her magic for something like this instead of for the usual endless fights. She still didn't know much about what had happened in her past life, but she thought that perhaps it had been something like this.

It was nice, too, to give back to someone who had been at her mission. Although, he was giving her a rabbit, so she wasn't sure if they were even, but it was close enough, she decided.

"I think I'm going to head home," to refrigerate the catch, and see if she could get that quiet thinking in on the way back. "But I'm glad I was able to run into you, Fang."