Everyday on your way home, you would take a path through the woods. There was something peaceful about it. The roof of interwoven tree branches overhead was beautiful. Birdsong carried along the air, followed by the occasional scuffling of a small animal rooting around in the leaves for food. The path wound through the trees for a while before bursting free from the forest and opening up into a large clearing.
You had spent many hours in that clearing reading or drawing or even just thinking. It had been a safe haven for you for many years.
The path would eventually leave the wood and rejoin the road that would take you home, but in the meantime you enjoyed the fresh air and peaceful sounds of wildlife.
One day, as you were walking home, the birdsong suddenly quieted. You didn't notice at first, but then the silence got to you. The sounds of leaves crunching beneath your feet seemed louder. You stopped in your tracks and looked around.
When you noticed a pair of bright eyes looking out from the shadowy crook of a tree branch, you were surprised. You rarely ever saw someone out in the woods, usually a jogger or biker trying to get exercise. But this was different.
The person was tall and slender, with long limbs, long fingers, and a long face. Their ears were delicately pointed, their skin golden tan and covered in intricate markings. Their eyes were large and glowed green from the shadows, wide as they looked back at you. Their face was a work of art, breathtakingly beautiful and somehow ageless. Long white hair sprouted from their scalp, tousseled and tugged into a messy braid that spilled over their shoulder. There were green bits in their hair, like vines had literally grown into them somehow, and bits of bark hanging like jewelry around their neck.
You had never seen any person so beautiful.
"Hello," you breathed, taking a step towards them.
They blinked slowly, their eyebrows inching up just slightly.
"I'm [name]," you introduced, reaching out a hand as if to touch them. "What's your name?"
Shock broke across the being's face, followed by amusement, "You can really see me?"
Confused, you pulled your hand back to you, clutching it to your chest, "Yes?"
"Well," their smile disappeared, eyes darkening despite their glow, "Then we have a problem."