He ducked behind a thick tree trunk, keeping a keen eye on her form. What was that blue light? And why was the purpose behind this midnight incursion into the gnarled depths that had everyone at the Hold so on their toes?

Roo crept through the trees, her hand tracing trunks, slipping between the shadows like she belonged to them. She seemed to know what route she was taking; there was no hesitation in her step. But the further they delved into the woods, the stiller the air became, and a faint sound - like someone tuning a mic, badly - began to echo in his ears.

His brow furrowed at the sound, at the strange situation. When Venenzio had talked of the Lumanlisc clan making deals with devils... well, similar imagery came to mind. He pushed the superstitious line of thought out of his mind lest it distract him.

But in that moment he had been distracted, Roo had vanished. In her place was a deer. Its antlers curved in odd, geometric forms, stark white against smokey fur. Its eyes, large and double-pupilled, stared at the Sangrian.

He froze, gaze locked in a strange staring contest with the unsettling creature. He'd heard of shapeshifters before, but could it be? He hadn't heard her creeping further through the brush, though the terrible feedback in his mind disturbed his senses.

The deer gazed back at him, unblinking, steam rolling from its nostrils like fog. It seemed to consider him silently as the darkness became a void, the only light in the world emanating from those awful antlers.
But then it tilted its head back and let loose a screech of warning, the sound thin, reedy, and clattering like stones.

He loathed the sound, both for giving away his position and for its ear splitting quality. He tried skirting around the tree trunk he'd been pressed against, all while focusing on the position of the strange deer.

The sustained note had the strange effect of seeming to distort the air around them - the creature in front of him doubled, and then the ground beneath them began to vibrate. But suddenly, the deer clamped its maw shut, whipping its head towards the heart of the woods as the trees behind it rustled, parting to reveal a small and familiar figure that paused in shock. Roo stared at him, one hand on the tree, the other clasped around a luminescent blue bottle.

There was no denying the fact that he'd been made, shadowed against the trees as he was. His eyes flashed at Roo from the darkness as they narrowed. "I didn't expect to see you out here."

"Gio?" she asked, confounded, as the deer gingerly stepped around her and disappeared into the brush. Her face, bracketed by branches, was pale and drawn against the light of the bottle. Rather than shock, anxiety seeped into her voice and pooled in her dark eyes. "You-- you shouldn't be out here. How did you--?