The Game is afoot ~ Emerson (Fortidsemne)

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It was, as usual, a uninteresting and boresome day, in the capital of the center territory, Doomsville, when Artem caught wind of some very interesting news. According to a little tattletale in Firewood Village, that on occasion sent Artem some gossip, there was a newcomer in firewood, whom traveled the forest, without protection and seemingly uninterrupted by the Shapeshifters.
The professional journalist quickly realized that this individual might have some interesting information about the Shapeshifters, or maybe even the newly appointed king, Fenrer, whom Artem had been denounced an audience with, time and time again. If nothing else, it would perhaps do Artem some good to get out of the capitol’s filth for a few days.

The same afternoon that Artem had received the tip, he embarked on his journey to Firewood Village, not in a carriage, like most of the other wealthy in terrorville. Artem had a fine mare saddled up for him, and rode out of the city, pushing the horse to it’s limit, before switching it out for another, halfway there. Thusly he saved a vast amount of time, which he prided himself for.
With the timed more than halved by his constant pushing of the horse, Artem found himself in Firewood village, and rented a counts chamber, in the finest inn he could find. He didn’t really look for any room, as he had made this trip before. He settled in and sat quietly in room the first night, enjoying a brandy and some sweet berry tea.

The journalist extraordinaire that Artem was, rose to the late morning sun, and went to work. He interviewed people from every corner Firewood Village, and quickly became aware that only a few people actually knew about the mysterious forest-walker.
Thusly, Artem with his took to the humble art of the patient Journalist, and waited for the forest-walker, mostly sitting at a table, shaded from the rain by a pavilion in front of the inn. From there, he had a near perfect view of the marketplace.

On the third day Artem found himself, yet again, sitting by his table waiting for the forest-walker, whom apparently went by the name of Emmers, or Emerson or some such. But the constant waiting was getting to him. He needed something to do, other than sipping cognac and tea. He was getting impatient, and had therefore decided to observe the Yocals, and hicks of Firewood Village, as they went about their busyness.
On the fourth day, Artem sat, yet again, beneath the pavilion and observed the local hicks, as they went about their everyday life. He had even dabbled a bit in reading their minds, just to entertain himself, but had to stop. You’d never know if today was the lucky day, when that forest-boy would show himself, and it would be a sad thing to have wasted all the energy on reading the minds of indeffirent villagers.

As Artem spied over the edge of his cup, looking for anyone new, he halted all movement. This young fellow, he hadn’t seen in any of the previous days. This had to be him!

Artem almost dropped his cup, as he rushed towards his target. Though he was merely walking, he moved with a certain speed. As he approached the seemingly unwitting Forest-boy, he slowed his speed, and folded his hands behind his back. He nonchalantly walked up to the stranger, and turned slightly towards him “Good day to you..” he said with the gruff voice, put into a warm and charming tone “.. I haven’t seen you here before”
Artem looked at the young man with a relaxed smile “Might I inquire as to what your name is? And if you might be the man whom wanders in the woods?”

Emerson had gone about his business as usual as possible after his meeting with Fenrer quite some time ago. He still wasn't quite used to the - for him - massive house, nor was Remy, but they made do... And he liked that it was quite a bit more secluded than the tiny hut they'd had on the outskirts of Firewood Village. Which also meant that the time that'd passed since meeting Fenrer, he had very rarely been to Firewood, because... Well, he didn't need those trips quite as much. Being allowed to hunt in the woods if he just left half behind to the shapeshifters, well, that still made sure he had an easy time getting enough food for him and Remy, and the horses were pretty easy to find food for, too. So he only really went into town if he wanted some bread once in a while, or needed some rope or other stuff to fix things back home.

Today was one of those days. He needed to trade in some herbs and furs to get the money he needed to buy a new harness for one of the horses as some of the leather had sadly given up on life and snapped in two. But one thing he'd had to adjust to as well, was that because of the longer walk, and Emerson hating to leave Remy behind, they had taken up a new tactic when going into town. Since Remy's size was rather convenient, Emerson always carried him in his backpack. They didn't even run the risk of people seeing him move around too much - mainly because of Remy always warning Emerson telepathically about when he needed to move, and then Remy would move as Emerson appeared to correct the way he was carrying his backpack. Win-win - he could keep his twin close without risking getting exposed for what they were.

Emerson had just finished selling off the skins he'd cured himself, one from a doe and three or four from rabbits, when he heard someone speak to him - it happened so rarely that people went up to talk to him, that he almost jumped in his spot, but he forced down that reaction and instead turned to look at the man who'd talked to him... He'd never seen him in the village before. But then again, with as little as he'd been in town the past long while, there'd been a few others he hadn't seen before, either.

"Well... Then we're two. I haven't seen you here before, either." he said, his tone probably a bit guarded, as with his body language. There wasn't many people he trusted, after all - not that he could really be blamed for being like that with his childhood experiences. His brows furrowed ever so slightly when he was asked for his name. He knew it was just the polite thing to do, exchange names, or well, he'd heard it was... But he still didn't like just giving his name up like that if you'd only just met him. "... I'm not the only one who wanders the woods," he answered, eyes quickly darting over the other's form, before going back to look him in the eyes as they spoke. "And you'll get my name if I get yours." that was a fair condition, at least to him. *What's happening? People usually just leave us alone...* Remy asked Emerson, slight worry in the 'tone' of his thinking. *I don't know, Remy... I haven't seen this guy before. I guess we'll have to see...*