Most of life was spent learning. Some of it was learning from people that walked in and out of one's life as each and every one so often left if nothing else a small piece of wisdom to be taken and studied like a strange stone turned over in the hand with curious eyes. Throughout the girl's life, there had been many that came and went like the waves upon a sun-bleached shoreline, ever rolling over the land only to fall back into the vast blue-green sea. And like these waves, new things were left behind just as the foam crested saltwaters would place a shell or kelp upon those warm sands before their return back into the depths from which they had risen. The blue-eyed blonde woman was more than eager to retrieve these lessons left behind, whether they were good or bad she was told that they were all play a part in helping her grow into the one she was meant to be. From the fleeting life of many friendships, she had learned that not everything lasted forever and that ever whispering call of life would steal from her those she had once been so taken by and fond of. These moments of friendships so bright and full of life ending all too quickly had hurt Beylani several times, feelings of abandonment and a hope for something so much more enduring against the sands of time beginning to shift and shape within the young woman. It had been perhaps one of the hardest lessons for her to learn in this life; it was better to have loved then lost than to have never loved at all. Each time she had been certain she found a lifelong friend and they would leave her so easily without a tearful farewell and if anything always just seeming to drift away until they just didn't talk to her anymore, she had to remind herself that they had helped her enjoy many adventures however small. She'd made so many memories filled with both laughter and cries, smiles and tears that when she often reflected on one of these precious past moments, all she could feel for those past friends (most of them anyway as almost everyone had that one friend that left a deep wound resonating with resentment or anger) were love and feelings of hope that wherever they were in this big and beautiful world, they were doing what it was that they loved most.

Then there were those life lessons learned through that which came her way in the form of places or things. While the young woman had found that most of the things she'd come to know in this world were from the wisdom of her beloved parents or through the bittersweet guidance of past or current friendships, there had been occurrences in her past that had helped her see glimpses of the world beyond the protected walls that her mother and father had built for her in that little rural town they'd lived in for so long. She could remember watching the news with her father many times, hearing of robberies and bombings and murders. She would watch modern day events shake the world to its core and leave everlasting after-effects on so many lives that at first it had surprised her just how much death and destruction was really out there. All the corruption and the hate, it had saddened her. One might think seeing such things would have made her weary to leave home, abandon the shelter her parents had always told her would be there if ever she decided she needed to come home. Yet, they had only left a small negative impression on her. Why? Well, on some days she would watch the news or read the paper and she would see miracles happen, read about another person saving the life or lives of others. All the things she'd seen and read of, they helped her to understand that while there was certainly darkness and despair there was also beauty and wonder. She remembers the day she'd been driving down a long dirt road in Willowhaven and she had heard a song for the very first time... What the world needs now, is love sweet love, no not just for some but for everyone... That message had resonated deeply within the blue-eyed blonde girl that day and she had decided that she would see the world for the light and the small miracles, for all the kindness and the beauty. Some would think this to be terribly naïve and foolish, especially when moving to the largest city she had heard of and thinking that she would not find herself amidst the very tragedies she had witnessed or read of. Naïve though it may be, she believed strongly that this world needed to know a little more kindness, even with as insignificant and small as she was in the grand scheme of things. She had decided some time ago that she would give each soul she found the benefit of the doubt, no matter how shifty they might seem. After all, when one judged the metaphorical cover of a book and did not turn the pages and give the chapters within a chance, hidden treasures were so often overlooked. Diamonds in the rough, dark people with dark pasts and everyone in between, there was a little goodness in each heart; this she had always told herself and desperately wanted to believe.

Perhaps the biggest part of all the life lessons she'd learned along the way to where she was tonight - and the one that screamed out to her from within the most - was that for every action or word, no matter how big or small, there would be something to follow and one could easily be faced with terrible regret or bright success. Standing there before the dark man with dangerous hazel eyes almost seeming to pierce right through her soul, a wild storm of emotions roaring behind the rapid beating of her heart as she refused to let her gaze waiver, she knew that now was one of those life lessons where she would need to understand the consequence of her actions. A twisted and terribly conflicting concoction of fear and regret warring against the rise of her silent courage accompanied by silent resolve and hope swirl and churn wildly as she hardly dares to draw breath. She shouldn't be curious of the winged being that towered over her closely but as she watched something shift in his features, something that could almost have considered by the young woman as subtle surprise followed by a sliver of some sort of compassion such as mercy or understanding, she can't help but wonder what it had been that brought on this ever so small change. Whatever it was that flickers across those still dangerously gleaming hazel eyes that remain steadfast upon her, the initial aggression with which he had descended so quickly upon her seeming to falter only just slightly now beneath that mask of eerie calm he wore so effortlessly. This quiets the fear that had gripped her fiercely and she feels her heart beginning to slow if only be a small amount as the tightness in her chest eases. It would seem that someone in the afterlife was looking out for her as the odds for her seeing another sunset rise in her favorite when at first she had thought for certain her beloved parents would never again be able to embrace their only child and share in the future that nearly came to an abrupt end. She wonders for a moment if perhaps she should thank him, this dark and intimidating stranger standing so close she could almost reach out her hand to touch him. But that she knew unquestionably would be likely the worst decision she could make. Besides, even if he were as human as the blue-eyed blonde woman, would she have felt so compelled as to reach out? No. She'd already made one very poor choice, she was bound and determined not to become a repeat offender.

Her apology earns her merely a blink of acknowledgment as the man's bat-like appendages ruffle together as again the hostility that had burned so fiercely in the very air that surrounded him fades only just a touch more. A single brow rises, Beylani uncertain and ever more curious what thoughts were responsible for such a reaction, accompanied by a lazy smile that twists its way upon his lips. Was he amused? Intrigued? And if either, why? So many questions began to further lessen her fears and it is then his velvet voice that for one reason or another seemed to suit him rather well falls into the quiet of the very early morning, the sunlight having now begun to show its burning face above those jagged peaks of the far off mountains. For a human.... Those words seemed so odd in a sentence together, but then again she supposed that she was something that he wasn't. A small part of her wants to speak a defensive rebuttal but she holds her tongue, figuratively brushing aside the comment that some might have taken as offensive while choosing to consider his words as something as close to a compliment as they could come given the circumstances. Running would have been futile and foolish and so she had taken the only other course of action that she could think to be the right one in light of her previously less than sensible decision. His words then grow deeper, even smoother than before and she can feel a subtle yet all the same involuntary shiver run along the length of her spine."Yes, but they never told me of... beings like you", she speaks softly still as though perhaps only just realizing that just maybe they were not alone in the dark forest. She'd certainly not expected to be joined by another, in so many senses of that thought. She remains where she'd stood this entire time, through this terrifying turn of events when she'd only been seeking the sleeping beauty of the world that seemed separated from the rest of the busy and crowded city. His disposition shifts once more, this time taking on a more casual appearance as he speaks of the misfortune to befall her camera, suggesting that far worse could have happened, his tones seeming place the idea in her head that he was not the most intimidating thing to be found here. Her curiosity only grows and she wants to ask him "what else is there?", she wants to ask him what it was that he called himself, but none of these question find her lips and she keeps her wonder silent. There is an intrigue that ignites his gaze despite the seemingly lazy note on those smoothly spoken syllables as he asks her what it was that brought her out at such time of day where the world was caught between night and day. She dares to glance back down to her camera for a fleeting moment, baby blues catching the early morning sun as they look back up to those dangerous yet mysterious hazel eyes."Well, I was taking photos...", she answers with quiet certainty, watching curiously the chiseled and strangely handsome features of the winged man's face, feeling the courage and fascination slowly growing in her breast and the fear steadily seeming to melt away like morning dew under the warm caress of the sun. There were so many things she wanted to know, and yet the uncertainty as to his reaction towards prying words tinged with a perhaps childish fascination gives her pause, so she simply watches him from beneath those thick lashes, loose blonde curls blowing gently across her cheek shoulders in the quiet of the dawn.