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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Dec 31, 2018 14:29:30 GMT -5
With the human trapped below her and curled in a feeble attempt to protect himself, Felamore curled her lip and let out another low growl. She considered for a few seconds what the consequences might be if she just eliminated him and left him outside her territory. Humans tended to retaliate pretty harshly when one of their own was harmed, and she couldn't risk hunters coming in while she had a pup in her den.
However, he'd come to her territory twice now, two days in a row, and he'd seen her clearly. He was a risk to allow to retreat home, even if no one would listen to his story.
Felamore lifted a paw and pushed it down on the boy's shoulder to keep him still as she looked him over. He didn't look like much of a hunter, or even a hiker.
"Who let a pup like you into my forest alone?" She hissed. Her voice was similar to a low growl, though it bore an echo as though three or four people spoke in unison.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Dec 31, 2018 14:47:27 GMT -5
Sam guessed that his words or tone of voice did nothing to help his situation judging by the massive paw that was pinning him to the ground. With his curiosity somewhat satisfied, now there was nothing but fear. He should have ran when he had the chance. In fact, he shouldn't have thought it'd be a good idea to come up here again. His body started to shake against his will.
And then the creature spoke. If he wasn't already having a stimulus overload, it was safe to say now his mind had reached it's limit of strange things. For a moment, Sam couldn't fully comprehend what he had just heard. No one else was around, so he was certain that it wasn't a trick. This beast talked... His mouth opened as if to reply, but no words escaped. This repeated several times until his brain recovered a bit from the shock. "N-no one let me," he murmured, not even sure what she was referring to. As far as he knew, no one needed permission to leave town. "I-I, um, I..."
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Dec 31, 2018 14:59:56 GMT -5
Felamore snorted a bit at his answer. Was no one meant to be watching the boy? Had they not learned after the last time a child entered her territory unattended. The last child had fallen from the rocks and she had no idea if they'd survived or not, but she couldn't understand why a parent would let any offspring come out to the woods alone after that.
She lowered her head a bit, looking for any scents on him that could offer her any answers, but she didn't know enough of the human world to make sense of what she found. The only thing she could really gather was that he definitely smelled like he lived with other humans. Someone would come looking if he didn't come home.
"Then what are you doing here?" She demanded, showing her teeth again.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Dec 31, 2018 15:24:13 GMT -5
If he had been able to, he would have shrank away when the creature sniffed at him. Sam just hoped that whatever it found didn't make it angrier. He hadn't done anything to make it mad, had he? Desperately, he tried to think back over everything he had done while he explored the forest. No trees were chopped down, no animals killed. He never left thrash lying around, and he always tried to leave everything as when he found it. If the beast thought he done something to its home, then it had the wrong person.
"I always come out here," Sam answered. "Well, not here exactly, b-but the forest. I've been doing so for a while now. It's a... habit of mine." He wasn't sure if his answers made much sense to the creature, or if it would even accept it. Who knows how long it had been watching him. But, then again, if it knew of his presence, why wait until now to do something about it?
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Dec 31, 2018 15:49:49 GMT -5
Well, that might at least explain the faint leafy smell to him and his visit yesterday. That much made sense. Still, she was admittedly frustrated that the humans continued to let their young wander the woods alone.
She started to lift her paw from his shoulder when a slight movement further in the woods drew her attention enough that she angled an ear towards it. She'd almost missed it, but it sounded as though her pup had been following her when she left. The pup had done well to go undetected up til now.
She would have to address him after she dealt with the human. She lifted her foot from the human finally and hooked her paw around the back of his shoulder. She gave him a push, rolling him over on his stomach and backing off to let him up.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Dec 31, 2018 16:14:13 GMT -5
There wasn't exactly much he could do to stop the creature from rolling him over. Truth be told, he just let it happen. Better to go with the flow than make it upset. Now on his something, Sam laid where he was for a moment more to make sure the beast wasn't going to do anything else. When nothing did, he slowly pushed himself to his feet.
Sam turned to look at the creature once more. If it wasn't going to attack him, then what was it going to do? Asking to stay seemed kind of rude at this point, and really he didn't believe his brain could take much more for the day. He reached for his bag, not noticing that his untouched lunch had fallen from one of the outside pouches. The wise decision was to leave. The creature, for whatever reason, was letting him go, so he shouldn't do anything to ruin it. Nearly tripping again, the boy finally moved his gaze away from the beast so he could hurry back down the path he used before.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Dec 31, 2018 16:28:43 GMT -5
Felamore saw the boy reach for his bag and narrowed her eyes a bit, but as soon as he had it he began moving away she stepped back again to let him go. She twitched her tail as he moved further away back toward the border of her territory.
Sure enough, she could hear the pup moving into the underbrush again. It was possible he didn't know he'd been noticed. He'd be back at the den and act like he hadn't followed her out, she could just meet him there. She was admittedly proud he'd followed her this far before she'd heard him, she didn't want to ruin his excitement.
Once the human was out of sight, she started to turn back toward her den. She stepped on something plasticy and smooth, something she'd never dealt with before. She stopped, bending down to sniff at it. It smelled good.
Unknown to Felamore, her pup had actually began moving after the human boy. He wast as great as a hunter as his mother yet, but he was half her size, darker, and lighter. He was good at hiding, though he was a bit clumsy in his stalking. Every twenty or thirty yards, he misstepped and rustled a shrub or cracked a stick underfoot. He was curious about the human, especially since he hadn't actually seen one so close before.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Dec 31, 2018 18:38:30 GMT -5
What had been left behind was a ham sandwich the boy had thrown together that morning and a Hostess cupcake, you know the chocolate kind with the white swirly icing on top. Not a big lunch, but Sam was never one for big meals. It was a rare thing for snacks like that to be in his household, so he had made a point to grab one before they were gone.
Sam made it halfway through the woods before he decided to take a moment and process what had happened. Leaning up against a tree, he looked back the way he'd come, half expecting to see the creature behind him, making sure he left and didn't try anything. But the path was clear. Still, his heart hammered inside his chest. "What was that?" he whispered. No mythical creature he knew was even close to that creature. Was there even such creature? With the fear of imminent death gone, his curiosity was once more getting the better of him. Tomorrow, he would have to try and search for answers. There had to be some kind of information to let him know he wasn't crazy. He wasn't crazy, right?
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 2, 2019 21:11:11 GMT -5
Felamore continued to sniff at the wrapped snacks in front of her until she determined one of the things contained meat and the other was something she hadn't encountered yet. She nipped the wrapping open and licked at the new thing until she determined that she did actually like it. She started biting at the new soft food and spat it out quickly when she found something different in the middle. Again, she approached it slowly with a few investigative licks before she deemed it to also be good. She picked up the item again and this time she properly ate it.
There was a lot of sweetness to it, she hadn't had that much sugar before. Was this a thing the humans ate normally? No wonder they couldn't sleep through winter seasons.
The pup still trailed after the human, keeping back just far enough to be out of sight through the foliage. When the boy stopped, he shifted his stance to move a little quieter. They were out of his mother's territory and he needed to tread lightly. Who knew what other beasts could be in these woods?
Even though the boy stopped and mumbled to himself, the pup continued to approach on silent paws. He got himself within pouncing distance when one of his middle paws rested on a dry twig and it snapped. It startled him, but he wasn't afraid of anything this human could do.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jan 2, 2019 22:16:04 GMT -5
Hearing the sound of the twig snapping, Sam jumped and turned around. His eyes scanned the forest. Nothing stirred save the leaves in the small breeze, but after what happened earlier, he wasn't taking any chances. If there was one strange creature in this forest, why couldn't there be more, less forgiving beasts?
"H-hello?" he called out. In the off chance that there was, in fact, another human being, then he wanted to make sure he didn't surprise anyone. If it wasn't, well, then maybe he could scare whatever it was off. Unless he had been followed by the creature. In which case, he added, "I-I'm leaving. I promise. Just stopped to catch my breath."
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 2, 2019 23:32:35 GMT -5
The pup stayed low in the foliage, watching the human boy for a moment as he stared back into the woods. He slowly rose, beginning to advance in a mock-charge like he'd seen his mother do.
However, still behind a clumsy pup, he didn't lower his head and instead ended up just shoving his face and then the other two hundred pounds of him into the human's chest. He didn't expect the human to stay standing after that, but he'd also never had a playmate besides his mother and he had no idea the force of his own strength.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jan 3, 2019 16:30:17 GMT -5
Hearing the rustling, Sam turned to see a smaller orange creature rushing towards him. There was a brief moment of confusion as he took this in. It didn't look to be as aggressive as the larger beast. But then why would it be charging him? Then his mind figured out that it wasn't veering or showing any signs of stopping. Before he could dodge, the creature barreled into him. Once more, the boy ended up on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
Sam laid there, gasping, in attempts to recover from the force. It hadn't been the worst collision. He'd had one of the football players slam him to the ground harder than the creature had done. Still, it hadn't been the best feeling in the world, especially when there was a particularly lumpy rock that happened to be underneath his back. "P-please, I was leaving. I didn't do anything, I swear," he pleaded.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 3, 2019 17:54:59 GMT -5
The pup stayed on top of the human, though he didn't think to actually pin him like his mother had. Instead, his tail was going back and forth so hard it was shaking his torso. A smile showed on his muzzled and his ears perked forward.
"But you didn't give us your name." He complained. "Or tell us why you were in our woods." He was excited, he couldn't deny it. He was still smaller than the human in terms of height, but he'd already been able to gauge the human was far smaller as far as muscle went and he did t even have long claws or sharp teeth to protect himself. As far as he was concerned, the human was a younger pup than he was, and he was finally no longer the smallest beast in the wood.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jan 3, 2019 18:06:49 GMT -5
Sam blinked. The contrast in behavior was startling so. There was no trace of anger or malice. If anything, there was only curiosity. The more the boy studied the beast above him, the more it reminded him of a dog. Save for, you know, the horns and the six legs. "M-my name is Sam," he answered carefully, just in case he was misjudging the behavior displayed.
"I didn't know this was your woods. I've been coming here for years and never saw any sign of you," the boy continued. "No one's ever mentioned anything about any strange creatures living here. I just like the peace and quiet out here. That's all. I promise, I don't hunt or anything like that." He might not be in any danger, but he still wanted to make sure the beast understood that he wasn't a threat.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 13, 2019 5:17:08 GMT -5
(Sorry for the long delay. I got a new job and its so exhausting, I can hardly do anything when I get home except pass out)
The pup's tail continued to swish back and forth excitedly as the human spoke. He was happy that Sam hadn't tried to run or attack, and was even talking to him. When Sam mentioned he wasn't a hunter, the pup's muzzle wrinkled and he started laughing. "I could have told you you're no hunter, you bumble through the woods loud enough to be heard from the mountain top."
As he calmed down from his amusement, he backed off of Sam to let him sit up. His tail was still moving about as he watched the human with great interest. "When humans used to come here a long time ago, Mom used to get rid of them pretty quickly. I guess they just forgot we were out here because they haven't seen us in so long."
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jan 13, 2019 9:25:05 GMT -5
(It's okay! I completely understand. I think I'm about to switch jobs too, so I know how stressful and busy that can be. I just hope everything goes well for you! ^^ )
Sam was slightly offended when the creature criticized the way he walked through the forest. Sure, he never cared to step lightly, but her wasn't that bad, was he? Maybe it was just the beast's hearing that was better than normal, and that was the reason for the exaggeration. Whatever the case, the boy pushed the petty thought aside.
With the beast backed away from him, he sat up, brushing leaves and dirt from his shirt as best as he could. "How long ago was that?" he asked. His heart rate was calming down. There was no danger, he had decided, not when the little creature was acting like a friendly dog. It didn't mean his looks weren't intimidating, but some of the shock was wearing off. If nothing else, he was a lot better to have than his mother.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 13, 2019 14:31:49 GMT -5
Once Sam was on his feet again, the pup moved forward again and stood much closer than most humans would have been comfortable with. He really hadn't met anyone other than Felamore since she tended to chase off other beasts and any humans that got too far into their border.
He tilted his head slightly at Sam's question, trying to think how far back his mother had told him this. "I'm not sure, the last human she dealt with was maybe forty winters ago, and I was too small to leave the den so I didn't see them. But it was longer ago that she stopped chasing them, and even longer ago that she stopped eating them because it made problems."
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jan 13, 2019 19:54:29 GMT -5
As the creature - he really needed to find out what this thing was - stepped closer, Sam watched him closely. He knew that even the friendliest of animal could turn vicious in a second, and there was no way he was going to risk angering it. The boy didn't step away, nor was he relaxed either.
"Forty winters," he murmured. He'd played enough video games to guess that was how they marked the years. That wasn't a terribly long time for a mythical creature to live. In fact, it was surprisingly less time than he would have expected. His dread, however, returned at the mention of the beast's mother's habit of eating humans. He swallowed hard. "That's, uh, that's good to know. I guess I was lucky then that she let me go."
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 13, 2019 21:38:28 GMT -5
The pup's head tilted again for a brief second before his tail wagged again. "You're hardly more than a pup too, she wouldn't have really thought about hurting you without a good reason. But she also says doing anything to hurt humans just makes more of them show up and that they really don't taste that great."
The pup practically had his muzzle in front of Sam's face, but he hadn't really picked up on the boy's caution. "So you have somewhere to go? I can walk you out of the woods, but mom would get cross with me if I went any further than that."
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 13, 2019 22:27:59 GMT -5
The pup made a soft chirp at Sam's words. He was still very curious about the human boy, and he wasn't aware of what most human settlements were like sincere he had no experience with them. But he wanted to learn. Humans were a complete mystery to him, since his mother had never really taught him anything about them. She hadn't taught him to fear them, or look down on them, or even to respect them. The topic of humans just never came up.
"If there is no where for you to go, then where is home?" The pup asked, already advancing to fill the space Sam had left between them.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 15, 2019 22:18:31 GMT -5
The pup walked along next to Sam. Now that he wasn't trying to stalk the boy, it was fairly easy to hear him moving around. He often turned his head, watching how the boy moved through the woods. It wasn't really as precise or silent as he thought something so small would travel through the woods. He'd just flick his ears and look forward.
"Will you come back in the woods?" He asked finally. "I know mom might have scared you today, but we don't see a lot of humans." He was curious what this human was like, and what many more were like. However, he knew better than leave the woods to investigate.
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Jan 25, 2019 20:27:52 GMT -5
(So sorry! This new job is ripping me apart! I'm gonna start a reply now!)
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Mar 8, 2019 17:48:33 GMT -5
(Hey sorry I’ve been so absent! I’m going to start trying to set aside a day to get on here every week and put out responses. I’ll try to get a post this weekend, I’m stuck at my parents today.)
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Post by ValkoinenLeuka on Mar 10, 2019 5:16:18 GMT -5
(It's been rough. But I'm getting back online. I need to keep trying to destress this way)
"I'll talk to her, as long as you want to come back. And I guess if you don't mind Mom wanting to watch you closely. These are her woods, still." The pup's tail swished back and forth, excited at the idea of having the human come back regularly. He was interesting, and he had answers about life among normal humans. The pup was insatiably curious about what went on beyond the woods. Even the boy's scent was different, and he wanted to know more.
He saw the edge of the woods ahead and he really considered leaving the woods to follow the boy home. He wanted to see where humans lived, and he wanted to know more about how their short lives played out. What would it be like? He wanted to know. But he didn't think it would go well. It wasn't completely dark yet, people would see him. People less kind and less yielding than the boy. He didn't want to meet those humans.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Mar 10, 2019 21:21:26 GMT -5
(I hear ya. Maybe things will get better for you soon.)
"I would like that," Sam muttered. If he didn't have the safe space of the woods, then where would he go? He could stay home, but it drove him crazy. Eventually, he wouldn't be able to stand it there. Not that he could tolerate it much to begin with. He sighed slightly as they neared the edge of the woods, his footsteps hesitating. "I don't mind being watched. All I do is sit out here, so there's nothing I really need to hide." Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't used to people staring at him. By now, it wasn't as bad as it used to be, but still. Just the memory of it still made his skin crawl.
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