Their focus had reached the treeline now, inspecting branching limbs, any foliage that held on despite the cold, and the trunks for anything that could be protruding or out of place. Anything lower would be too difficult to scan, and perhaps too late if whoever - whatever - watched them had ill intentions. The forest was so still around them, no wind to carry intentions. And if Devan was to move, who was to say it wouldn’t be closer to this unseen thing?
“There is no need to hide. Step forward.” The Frostguard’s call falls heavy in the still air, awaiting some kind of sign that their instinct was not being fooled.
“Under the ever-watchful Eye, all are seen.” And ever so slowly, a gauntlet coiled around the hilt of the weapon strung around their hip. Eyes glued to the white landscape striped with dark trunks, they stand tall and proud.
The voice brought every muscle in the giant to grind to a halt. They knew.
Regardless of the obvious stealth handicaps on Hale's end, he was impressed! The next words out of them were...weird, but it wouldn't be the first time he heard someone say dumb sounding words.
A moment's pause left the stranger in silence, the ever-falling snow engulfing all sights and sounds, until the earth beneath them gently rumbled as a shape stirred from behind. Too far to be a risk, too close to be safe, the behemoth pushed himself off the ground and shook off the snow like a dog, eventually two glowing eyes blinking into sight once more to openly stare directly at the figure with his skin a spotted mix of whites, dark grays, and faded blues – camouflage against the snow and trees.
Now revealed, there the foreigner would stay, and there he would watch.
They had their hand on something. They looked ready for something.
The beginnings of excitement began to tug at the corners of the troll's lips.
Were they bracing for a fight? Were they going to fight him?
