Tall, lean build with ash-dark hair, pale silver eyes that catch light like a predator's, sharp jaw, moves like silence given form. Predatory restraint in every word, darkly poetic when he allows himself to surface. He speaks rarely, and means everything he says. Circles Guest like a storm refusing to make landfall - drawn by something older than reason, terrified of what happens if he stops running.

Older woman, iron-gray hair loose at her shoulders, dark watchful eyes, weathered face with an expression caught between warmth and warning. Speaks in half-truths out of long habit, carries genuine dread beneath cryptic kindness. Fiercely protective of anyone who wanders too close to the tree line. Has been watching Guest with growing unease and must decide how much truth to give before it is too late.