The restless bones of a fallen soldier pushed past the dense flora of the nearby woods, his lightly-armored frame carelessly bending against branches and brushing against trees as though he were an autonomous machine created solely to move forward. Bits of twigs and foliage clung to the skeleton's armor, and his boots bore a brown coat of earth that had dried and slowly flaked off as he trudged.
Consciousness seemed to snap into the undead warrior's mind; he felt small popping and snapping as he began to perceive his surroundings. He was in a forest, which contradicted the last thing he could recall. Gino puzzled how he could have ended up so far away without even noticing and scratched his head with a few spare fingers; that's when he noticed that his blade was drawn. His empty sockets seemed to fixate on his dagger for a moment. There was no fresh blood, which granted Gino a faint wave of relief. Still, he didn't remember drawing it in the first place and that distressed him.
Gino went to sheathe his blade but found its home at his waist occupied. His expressionless head tilted a little as he replaced a small, rolled up note with his dagger. The obvious course of action was to read it, and his boney fingers awkwardly unrolled the letter.

[hider=Letter]
[quote]Good day, dear reader. I hope this letter finds you well.

Worry not about how this message got to you; I am a mage, and have used my powers to ensure these letters only reach the intended recepients. I, like you and many others, am one the humans deem to be a threat, and have as a result of this had to go into hiding. I have since constructed a large home, one away from the prying eyes of humans, and have come up with an idea.

If many of us were to live in one place, we could easily protect ourselves against the humans. That is why you have received this letter. I am inviting you to come live within this manor, alongside others who have received it. Everything will be provided for, including food and other necessities.

On the back of this letter you will find the location of this manor. If you choose to come, you can rest assured a room will be available for you. If not, then I shall wish you the best.[/quote]
[/hider]

Gino might have panicked, were he not emotionally drained from his current state of existence. He calmed down as phantom eyes scanned the message once and then twice more. [i]Many of us? Protect ourselves from humans?[/i] Gino was a human...
Gino [u]was[/u] a human. He took in the sight of his exposed bones, and a faint sense of sorrow briefly washed over him. Even though, in his mind, he still believed himself to be human, nobody else would possibly see him that way. Perhaps such a place suited masterless bones like himself. A thought then seated itself in Gino's hollow skull.

[i]A mage![/i] A magic user might have the means to restore Gino's life, or perhaps grant him a peaceful death. Maybe, at least, magic could end the skeleton's unconscious wandering...
Resolved, Gino clutched the letter and pushed forward. He had no idea where he currently was, but his gut told him that he may have already been headed in the right direction before. Gino moved through the woods, now consciously avoiding obstacles in his surroundings, as a new energy showed in his movements.

----------------

Sometime later, boney fingers wrapped around the bark of a tree, as Gino's skull peeked past it's trunk and his empty eye sockets took in the scene. The building itself looked old, likely erected after his death, but still aged. There were too many birds, but, Gino admitted to himself, they weren't human, and were probably also welcome here.
His eyes surveilled down the building's walls until he barely noticed a few people entering the front door. He didn't get a good look, but his old scout's eyes noticed what seemed to be an adult and two children. The three looked human enough, but their features weren't clear from that distance. Still, Gino's shoulders relaxed. Children was a good sign that this place was peaceful. Gino hesitated for a moment longer, fearing his appearance might frighten children, but ultimately acknowledged the inevitable and marched towards the door with determination.