Perhaps, had it been a warm and radiant summer afternoon, the girl with soft golden curls and milk chocolate undertones would have found a nice, shady place beneath one of the many trees here and taken a few pictures of the sun illuminating the leaves of emerald against a clear blue sky, the subtle tickling of soft summer grass felt against her back as it would cool her shirt. She'd captured a few of those moments before, photos of lazy afternoons where she day dreamed while watching the white tufts of cumulus as they moved sluggishly over the horizon. And pehaps, for some such images would all look to be one in the same. Beylani didn't think so, though. To her, each captured memory was different from the next. She could tell anyone willing to listen of each and every individual place in which such photos had been taken. Sure, she might earn a puzzled or skeptical look here and there, but her mother and father - being as encouraging and supportive of her endeavors as they'd always been - had always be sure to tell the young woman that the only thing which really ever mattered was what she knew to be true.

Ever since she'd been young and trying to find her calling, her parents had always told her never to let the thoughts or opinions define who she would become or what she would do in this life. She would always remember those days where tears streaked her cheeks from the wounds inflicted by harsh judgment of what she considered to be a part of her world and her inspiration she would share with the world. The other kids her age would sneer or laugh at the notion she could tell just by the leaves of the tree where she had been on the day that picture had been taken, what she had been feeling or thinking of. Peers had the capability of being the crulest of critiques at times, but even on those days where she felt so certain those images were as worthless as she'd almost been convinced to believe, her mother would come and sit on the bed beside her. She would stroke the young girl's hair and pick up the image and tell her how beautiful it was."Almost as beautiful as you, my sweet child", her mother would often croon while taking the girl into a loving embrace. Father had always told young Beylani that she was talented for her age and while others may disagree or interpret differently each photograph she would share with the world, as time would pass she would only grow ever more skilled in what she was now so certain to be her life calling. A tender smile dances across her lips as she drinks in the autumn beauty, lost for a moment in the memories she held close to her heart now and always.

She feels her pocket vibrating and she knows even before she was able to reach into her pockets to pull out her cellphone that it was a text message, and she could almost guess at who it was that would be texting her around noon. She sets her camera close to her seat on the fountain far from the edge as she takes her right hand and shoved it into her front pocket, fingers finding the smooth texture of the mobile device and carefully pulling it from its protective place to be cradled in her hand as her left taps gently on the touchscreen surface, entering in the password to unlock it. Successfully through the security, the background pops up and she pauses for a brief moment. It was a photo of her and her mother, cheeks pressed lightly together with beaming smiles against the backdrop of the small bistro that they would eat brunch at often when her mother was not at the office. There is a twinge of homesickness that pricks at her breast for a moment but in remembering why it was that she had moved to the big city of Sacrosanct in the first place along with the knowing that she could always visit her parents in Willowhaven, she focusing her attention to the small envelop icon in the bottom right of her screen. She touches it and the screen changes to reveal her most recent conversations: Mother. Father. For some, it might be a bit sad that these are the only two names that appear there, but it wasn't anything Beylani wasn't used to - and by now, she was perfectly fine with the idea she'd been forgotten by the people she once called friends before high school graduation had driven an ocean between the young woman and her once-companions. She clicks into the conversation with her mother, the unread text message originating from the one she had always been told she looked most like."Hope you're having a good day in the big city and staying safe. I'll call you later tonight after dinnertime. Love, mom". The smile on her lips only grows as she types back her reply."I'm at the city park, safe and sound. When you and dad come to visit and the weather is good, we'll have to have a picnic here! I'll hear from you tonight. Love, Lani".

Only halfway aware of how suddenly the sounds from all around her have become, she looks back up to the colorful scenery of Hyde Park and it all comes rushing back to her as she places her phone back into its resting place for the remainder of her adventure. Cheerful chirps of the finches and songbirds still fill the trees even on this cool autumn afternoon when many of their kin have surely taken to the long journey south. Baby blues watch as one or two people walk along the trail and disappear from sight around the beginning. One woman had been jogging in her workout suit with headphones plugged in and hazel eyes staring at the path ahead of her, neither looking to the left or right. How could someone prefer to listen to music when they had the gentle rustling of brightly colored leaves or the melody of the birds when everywhere else in Sacrosanct was nothing but the sound of traffic and the honking of angry drivers? She has nearly forgotten the cooing creatures that share the fountain with the small-town girl, her curiosity taking to the passer-bys that talked amongst themselves or hurried along with extended strides to complete their routine runs that she'd failed to notice the man that had only just sat down a small distance away from her. The sound of metal hitting against metal hardly had time to register in Beylani's distracted mind until the louder and equally sudden sound of flapping wings and claws against pavement shook her back to the present in just enough time to feel something colliding into her legs.

Her first reaction is to place her hand protective over her nikon to keep it from getting knocked over and she turns her head around quickly, blonde hair accented with darker streaks underneath that reaches just over her shoulder blades swirling around her with the sudden motion. Blue eyes widened in surprise as they land upon the rottweiler pup with mouth agape and pink tongue flopping to the side of his jaw who nearly leapt into her lap. The excited creature is the suddenly scooped up in the strong arms of the man with dark sunglasses that offers her an apologetic grin while the puppy then seems to forget all about the young woman for the moment and turns to nipping eagerly at his master's dark hair. The man speaks with a lavish and accented tone that is dripping in manner and class, reminding her of gentlemen often portrayed in old movies. It was new to her and yet she found herself intrigued by the speaker of this refined and proper voice, her own paling in comparison with its common notes found everywhere in today's world and lacking in any sort of accent. She beams a sweet smile at this man and his wiggling puppy, settling her camera once more in her lap and clasped by both hands on the chance that the excited creature dressed and formally as his master's words managed to slip from his hold and greet her again with likely the same enthusiasm."No worries! Puppies will be puppies, right? He's so friendly, and finely dressed for an afternoon stroll I'd say", she speaks brightly to the stranger beside her with a kind face. She watches as his gaze falls to the camera for a moment, a curiosity lighting up his refined features before he turns his gaze back to meet hers from behind those dark glasses as he asks her what it was she was taking pictures of. Before she can respond, the puppy manages to run his lolling tongue over the man's cheek and he is gently batted away but it is then that the stranger directing his attention momentarily to straighten the bow tie."Mostly just the scenery. The trees are always on beautiful in the fall".

She smiles at the sight before her, the little black and tan creature wiggling happily in his human's lap and looking up at this man with all the love a child would have for his parents and the quiet affection that she could swear she sees flicker across the man's face. She is tempted to lift the camera to her face and capture such a moment, but she is unsure on how this unknown man she only just met would react and so she decides against it. He continues on and Beylani cannot help but listen to his silken smooth voice, that sweet and, as her parents so often described it, radiant smile never straying from her lips. He speaks again of the camera and she wonders how he hadn't seen one before. After all, hers wasn't by any means the newest and biggest "must have" piece by the world famous photographers she admired and aspired to even be just half as good as them."This is actually my first time here. I'm still pretty new to this whole 'big city living' thing", she replies warmly and openly. As with most children, she'd been warned and raised to be wary of strangers, but this man sitting beside her hardly come across as shady and something about him just seemed so... inviting. He asks her if she's been to the walking track and she gives a soft shake of her head, but as he describes it she can feel herself eager to see this undiscovered sight, baby blues glittering with excitement she was unable to hide."No, I haven't but it sounds amazing. Do I follow this path or is there another way to it?", she asks curiously as she gestures to the trial that led them both to the fountain on which they sat. She hadn't the slightest clue where exactly she was, only knowing that the trail she followed had led here here and it still carried on into the trees and around a bend that had to lead somewhere. Hopeful that he would offer her some sort of guidance, she waits in quiet patience with that smile still dancing across blush-colored lips.