You And Me.

@ Sophia Bush;

Hazel pulled on her backpack as she continued to make her way through the woods. It had been a little over a day since she had entered and only a few hours ago she was fast asleep in her tent. Though now it was time to continue her hunt. Hazel had done her research and was pleased to find that this forest had the must fairy sightings in recorded history. There seemed to be unexplainable phenomenons that occurred and Hazel would only be so lucky if something were to happen to her. But her word would not be enough. What Hazel needed was proof and she was hoping to get it.

Over the last day, Hazel was looking for anything that would show the signs of fairies near. Bells playing suddenly, giggles in the wind, especially a fairy circle. Though, for far nothing had popped up. But she had not lost hope yet. It took a lot more than this to get Hazel to move onto the next mystical creatures. She spent months on ghosts alone before moving onto demons, which also turned up nothing. Well... neither turned up nothing but Hazel wasn't able to find the proof that she craved. She wanted to show the world that the supernatural existed. That there was truth to the fairytales that they were told.

She let out a small sigh as she glanced up at the small hill in front of her. Admittedly, looking for ghosts was a lot easier than camping and hiking around these woods. Though, as got to the top of the hill, she was able to see a beautiful field in the middle of all of the wilderness. It wasn't particularly big but it was what she was hoping for. This was a reclusive spot, perfect for fairies to come and go. She headed in further, looking at the ground closely as she did so. But once she saw the fairy ring, Hazel couldn't help but let out a gleeful giggle. Oh she was a lucky girl, that was for sure.

Heading over to the circle, Hazel investigated it closely. Though she made sure not to take a single step into it. Fairy circles were known to do mysterious things. Some cultures saw them as luck bringers while others saw them as a dark omen. Hazel wasn't sure which was the truth but she knew to be careful.

The whispers had been heard far and wide, at this point. Some stupid mortal was playing with her life, trying to entice the supernatural into showing itself. Of course, she had had her fair share of luck. Somehow, she'd survived through a lot of attempts on her life. Even so, her luck would soon run out, he knew. Regardless of this though, from what was being whispered, she had still kept on trying. And this intrigued Zach in ways he didn't know how to explain. He had heard of stupid mortals risking their lives by doing drugs, jumping off of cliffs, out of airplanes. Hell, he'd reaped a lot of these mortals himself. But someone who was stupid enough to tangle with the supernatural? This, he had to see for himself. So, he had done what he does best. He'd located her, like he would any other soul he was out to reap, and had followed her, at a distance of course, through the woods, over the hill and right to the edge of the field.

Hiding between the trees, he watched her. Watched as she made her way to the fairy circle, watched as she investigated. A part of him was almost tempted to tell her not to step into it, but, it seemed like she knew what she was doing. Plus, he had to remind himself, he was there purely to watch and observe, not interfere. So he waited. Waited for something to happen.

Taking a small step back, Hazel slipped her backpack off and set it down on the ground. She then kneeled beside it, beginning to untie the small tent attached to it. If this was the location that the fairies had been, then she would stay her through the night, maybe take some time to explore the surrounding area around it the next day as well. There was much that Hazel could learn from this area, she was sure of it. Now it was up to her to be observant enough.

Hazel took some time setting up her tent some space away from the fairy circle. There would be no benefit in crowding it, especially since it would only liken the chance she would step into it. Though once she was done with her tent, Hazel headed over to the circle with a high-quality camera in hand. Squatting down, Hazel started to take a few pictures, slowly moving around the circle as she did so. Though, as she was moving around, Hazel's foot became caught under a root and she started to fall forward.

Zach watched, patiently as ever. It was just what he did. He could stand rooted to one spot for hours together, though he knew that if he put his mind to it, he could easily do it for far longer. He watched as she pitched her tent, watched as she took her own sweet time to get to know the area. She had, wisely, found a spot that wasn't too close to the circle. Any closer, and there was a good chance of her stumbling into it, if she did step out in the dead of night, without a light. This way, even if that happened, the chances of her stepping into the circle were close to zero.

If he was being honest, he couldn't understand how she had managed to scrape through so many almost deaths. Somehow, she'd managed, over and over again, to not die. And, considering her "hobby", he knew she must've had quite a few brushes with death.

His thoughts trailed away as she emerged from her tent, camera in hand. As he watched, she made her way to the circle. Squatting, she started to take a few pictures, making her way slowly around the circle. In a split second, though, she had snagged her foot on a root and was tumbling into the circle. Before he realised what he was doing, he was by her side. His hand shot out to grab her. His fingers wrapped around her arm and, with a firm tug, he pulled her away. This only resulted in her falling backwards instead, but that was still definitely better than her falling into the circle.

"Do you have a death wish, or something?"

@ Sophia Bush;

It happened suddenly. One moment, Hazel could feel herself falling forward and before she knew it, she was on her back, looking up at a man that was standing over her. Confusion had taken over Hazel's face. Though the moment the stranger started to speak, a warm laugh erupted from her. It took Hazel a few moments until her light giggles subsided slightly and she was able to speak and shake her head. "No, of course not."

A large smile came over her face as she continued to look up at the man. Hazel coudn't say she was surprised that someone had managed to come up on her without her noticing. The woman knew she could become too focused on her work to realize what was going on around her. It wasn't a good trait but it was one she was aware of. "Thank you for catching me. You must believe in the fairy circles as well then, right?"

Pushing her hair out of her face, the woman slowly moved until she was sitting up again. Though as she did so, she was careful not to move her foot that was still stuck under the root. She could already feel some pain running up her leg from her ankle. While she was rather sure it was not broken, Hazel wouldn't be surprised if it was injuried after falling forward and then being pulled back. Taking her leg in her hands, Hazel slowly slid it out from under the root, a pained gasp leaving her as she did so. She pulled up her jeans lightly, revealing the swelling and bruising that was already beginning to occur.

Zach quirked his brow at the redhead. Why she found his question funny, he didn't know. Nor did he care to know, if he was being honest. What he really wanted to know was why he'd give up hiding and go to great lengths to save her. He knew it was only a matter of time before death caught up with her. Everyone in his business knew this. Hell, he was pretty sure there were bets going around, at this point. Yet, he had risked his identity and job to save her life. With a sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair before kneeling down beside her. He could see very clearly that she was in pain. She hadn't quite broken her leg, but she definitely couldn't put any weight on it either.

Ignoring her question, he stood back up and held his hand out to her. Since he'd already shown himself, he figured he could, at the very least, help her back to her tent. Maybe he could tell her to stay clear of the circle. Maybe he could convince her to give up and go get a normal, human job instead.

"I'll help you back to your tent. Come on."

Yeah, he really was a reaper of few words.

@ Sophia Bush;

Hazel reached up and took the man's hand. "Thank you, again. I am not sure what I would have done if you weren't here." She told him as a soft smile moved along her lips. While she was in some pain, thanks to her ankle, Hazel found it too heartwarming that a stranger was willing to help her so. It made it too difficult for there to be a frown on her face. "My name is Hazel, by the way."

Once they were back in her tent, and she slowly was sitting back on the ground with the man's help, Hazel grabbed her pack and started to dig through it. "So what are you doing in the forest? Hiking?" Hazel asked, peeking up for a moment to look at the man. She was rather sure he wasn't there for the same reason as her. It wasn't all that often that Hazel ran into someone who was also a supernatural hunter.

After a short dig through her bag, Hazel pulled out a first aid kit and set it down on the ground beside her. She then very carefully slid her shoe and sock off before pulling up the bottoms of her pants to get better access to her ankle. Her nose wrinkled up slightly at the sight. "Do you think I sprained it or strained it?" Hazel asked him as she started to go through her first aid kit. After a moment, Hazel let out a sigh before mumbling slightly. "I'll have to head back either way." There was no way she could continue her adventure through the forest with her ankle messed up. Though she was also curious as to how the Hell she was going to get back.

[Sorry it took me a minute to get to the reply! ]

Zach had walked her to the tent and was fully intent on leaving once she was seated. But one glance at her ankle stopped him in his tracks. A frustrated sigh almost escaped his lips as he watched her struggle with the first aid kit she had on her. There was no way she would be going anywhere on that ankle. Not without his help, anyway.

"We'd best get going then."

The last thing he wanted was for her to stick around, in case the fairies did decide that tonight was the night they were going to step out into the moonlight. She definitely didn't need to stick around, poking and prodding the fairy circle, not on that ankle.

The woman shifted on the ground slightly as she lifted her leg up a bit more. Hazel leaned down and started to work on her ankle. She had to make sure that it was properly covered with plenty of gauzes. Also, she needed to make sure that she had it tight enough to stop her ankle from moving too much. Hopefully, Hazel would be able to fix it up well enough until she made it to the doctors.

As the man spoke again, Hazel lifted her head up and looked to him. A thankful smile coming over her face. She could feel the weight lifting off of her shoulders, knowing that getting back would be so much easier with him. Now Hazel didn't have to wonder if she even could make it back. "Really? You'll help me down?" She asked him hopefully.

[Sorry it took me so long! ]

With a nod at her question, Zach glanced around once more. It wouldn't be long before it started getting dark, which meant that they could just about make it out of sight, if they moved in the next ten minutes or so.

"I'll help pack all this up."

Motioning towards her things, and her tent, he started to work. If it was just him, it wouldn't have mattered much. Mostly because he probably wouldn't have needed a tent in the first place. Even if he had pitched one up for himself, it would've taken him maybe two minutes to get it all packed up. With the human around, though, he had to work at human speed. And that was frustrating. Especially since he was only doing this to get the human away from the not-human.

@ Sophia Bush;
(It is okay!)

Hazel was quick to pack up her personal items into the back. It wasn't too difficult as it did not require much moving. Though the tent itself was a bit more work and something that Hazel couldn't help much with. She was able to crawl her way to one of the corners and undo the stakes there but most of it was up to the mysterious man to do. However, once everything was packed, it all fit into the large hiking bag that Hazel had brought along with her. For the most part, the young woman had decided to pack light, not wanting to be weighed down while hunting.

"Thank you so much again," Hazel said softly as she slowly moved up so she was standing. All of her weight was on her noninjured foot. The gauzed up one was lifted slightly above the ground as the young woman tried her best to avoid causing more damage to it.

Zach had to bite back an exasperated sigh more than once during the pack up ordeal. Once everything was done, he hoisted her hiking back on his shoulders and, giving the site a once over, held his arm out to her.

"We'd best get going before it gets dark."

He had realised that he hadn't quite introduced himself to her and, he knew, she was probably wondering who he was. Not that that meant he was going to tell her what his name was, or anything about himself. Anyway, his thoughts were more focused on the fact that he had just helped the girl with a death wish, escape death. He was still trying to figure out why he had even intervened in the first place.

@ Sophia Bush;

Once the man was offering his arm out to her, Hazel was quick to move in and accept his help. It was difficult enough to balance on only one foot. Soon enough, they were heading away from the fairy circle and make their way to her car. It was going to be a long trip there, but Hazel hoped that they would be able to get there before the sun began to rise. Though it was hard to say that would happen. Even with the man's help, she was moving a bit slower than she normally would.

"Well, I have been hiking out here for a while now. I don't think we'll get there before it is dark since the sun will be setting soon."

Hazel glanced over at the man for a moment before shifting her eyes back in front of her. She was thankful for his help but it was a bit odd. Especially since had avoided her questions about him thus far. And while Hazel didn't want to push it, she at least wanted to know who was helping her. "Would you mind if I asked you your name?"