A Day in the Forest (Marcus, Amber, Damien)

[taylor2]

Marcus awoke late in the morning, probably around ten a.m. You see Marcus's sleep schedule consisted only of the early hours of the morning, he was up mostly night and day. He slowly rose and stretched his great wolf body, yawning as he did so, he bared his large sharp teeth. He eyed his surroundings making sure nothing was amiss. The sun glared down at him, bright in the sky. It made him blink as he looked up to it. The temperature was only in perhaps the mid eighties as far as he could judge. He looked around at the trees surrounding him and checked for predators. Not much in this forest would consider a wolf it's prey, especially one as large as Marcus. Marcus was nearly double the size of a normal wolf. Reassured that he was quite alone he glanced back at the fallen tree he had nested under. He pondered lying down and letting himself fall back asleep. Then his stomach made a growling sound, quickly he decided against it.

Marcus set out, following the trails and paths of the forest that he had memorized. After a while of searching he picked up a scent. All of a sudden Marcus disappeared. He reappeared instantly but was a little less than a mile away. He was in a small clearing of trees and about 100 yards away rested a small family of deer. He slowly stalked up almost crawling along the forest floor. Eventually when he had closed the distance to about 25 yards he was spotted. One of the deer looked up at him and turned and bolted. The rest of them inevitably followed. He eyed the largest one and began the chase. His padded paws made a rhythmic sound as he followed. He gave himself into the chase enjoying it immensely. He could easily overtake the deer, he could even catch and kill them all if he wished, but he did not wish that. He killed only what was necessary, it was the way of the forest. After a short time he had caught up to the fairly large buck. He pounced on it and with one bite and a loud crunch he quickly snapped its neck. No need for unnecessary pain. He scarfed down the prime meat on the buck and ate his fill. Then he turned. The rest would be eaten by other animals and bugs of the forest. Nothing was wasted. It was the best way to live.

Now that he was full he began to turn to the duties that he did daily. He travelled around the forest, making sure nothing was amiss. Marcus protected it, especially from the other sentient species of the world. This was one uncorrupted place and he wouldn't let them change that. It would never be befouled, not while he was alive.

After doing his patrol around the forest Marcus went to the lake for a time of relaxation. He bathed himself, cleansing the remnants of his morning meal from his body. Then he lied down in the sun by the lake. The sunlight would dry his fur but there was a nice cool breeze stemming from the lake. He closed his eyes as he lied there. Quickly sleep embraced him, there was nothing wrong with a nap after all. Besides he was quite alert to his surroundings even in his sleep, he would be safe.

[lyssa6339]

One quiet morning in Amber's cottage she awoke to the light clawing of Todd's paws. Todd was not a pet, more of a friend, a companion if you will. She opened her eyes and saw him curled up next to her. She sat up and stretched. She saw the sun beaming through her window. Amber wondered if she would have a good hike today. She took a hike everyday. She lived close to the forest and it was a short walk to her favorite trail.

She got up and opened her window. Her cream transparent drapes dance a little with the wind. Amber could smell the fresh air and couldn't wait to get out of the house. She packed the usual, water, extra socks, flash light, snacks, and she brought her cell phone. As she walked through the small house she looked down when she passed her old parents room. Every time she passes it it makes her sad or upset, she hasn't been in there since the attack. She loved her parents deeply, she had learned everything she knew from them.

As she locked the door, she felt bad for not taking along Todd he hadn't been out of the house in a few days. It's just hard to take a arctic fox out in public without people asking questions. She didn't want what happened to her parents to happen to her so she tried to make a low profile of her self. And tried to pass for human, it seemed safer to her than what she really was. She loved being a druid, but it seemed more like a curse when she thought about what the hunters do to her kind. She had always wore her hair down so nobody would see her marking and many times tried to cover it with make up, but it never worked.

When she got to the start of the trail she looked around to see if she could see or hear anything, she didn't so she put her hair up. She thought to herself, no body would see it anyways, no one really goes for hikes around here. She started her usual hike differently than she normally did. She jogged in her heavy hiking boots for a while. Amber loved cyclamen flowers so she would make them as she went, but then made them fade. She was cautious not to make a trail for someone to follow.

She felt the wind on her skin, the sweet smell of pines, and the dirt beneath her feet. Amber absolutely loved nature. Days like this made her happy and peaceful. She slowed down to a walk and came across a wide opening. It was the lake. She had forgotten it was this close. She was hot from her run and thought of changing into her black bikini. I hope the water isn't to cold. She found a large near by bush and changed behind it. This is silly no one is around. Why did i need a bush? Amber was just a cautious person. She didn't like to take chances with anything.

The lakes sand was hot, so she ran to the edge if the water. It was warmer than she thought, but still cold. She couldn't just stand around, she was hot and sweaty from her run. Screw it, I'll get used to it soon. Amber almost fell trying to get in the water quickly. It's not that bad. She thought as she was floating on her back.

[taylor2]

Marcus had been dreaming. A dream that often came to him. He dreamt of the fateful night in which he was attacked. It always started with him and his buddies hanging out that night. His parents weren't home that night so Marcus didn't have to worry about being caught out late. It was a beautiful night, the great glow of the full moon shined down upon them. Marcus and his buddies were laying out under the stars around a small fire they had made in the forest. Thinking back he realized how idiotic this was as they lived in a town that got little rain and they built a fire near all sorts of dry plant life that would light up with the tiniest spark. They got lucky though and they never had a fire spread. Whenever they got the chance the boys would sneak out at night and hang out like this for hours. It was one in the morning before Marcus and his buddies said goodnight. He began the trek back to his house through the forest. It wasn't to far and Marcus has the path memorized to where he could probably follow it with his eyes closed. When Marcus was about halfway home he got a strange feeling like something was watching him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He looked around and in the darkness he saw nothing. He decided it was nothing, but the feeling did not go away. He walked about another quarter mile before he heard something. It was a loud growl. He turned around and in the black behind him he saw two huge glowing green eyes. Marcus yelled into the night as he turned and began to run. But it was a futile attempt. Within a couple seconds he felt a crushing weight knock him over. Marcus felt the amazing pain of his skin being pierced and he blacked out.

Marcus's eyes opened so quickly that you couldn't see his eyelids move. He had heard something... Movement, in the distance, it had helped wake him from the dream he had. And it wasn't the movement of any animal native to his forest. It was humanoid, he could tell by the footfalls. The humanoid was around a half mile away from what he could tell and heading in his direction. Marcus got up and stretched for a moment. Marcus decided to lie in wait for the approaching person and evaluate their intentions. Marcus found a spot in the brush where he could see out but could barely be seen. He knew a dozen other spots around the area he could hide in as well if he needed to teleport away. He watched the narrow trail until he saw her approaching, he lied there completely silent.

He studied her as she approached, she had her hair up and wore hiking boots. Just a human nature lover perhaps? As she came to the lake she looked out at it. Then she walked and disappeared behind a bush. He needed to keep her in sight, he didn't know if she was hostile yet. He crept out from his spot, his padded paws moving silently across the ground. He moved and crept into another spot where he could see her. His eyes opened a little wider and he noticed her changing. He took in the details of her body carefully. "Well she is beautiful, I'll give her that," he thought to himself. As she changed he noticed some color on her neck. His vision zoomed in giving him a perfectly close view of the marking. "She's not human," he observed silently. He thought on the markings trying to place this one. He was fairly certain it was the marking for a druid but he wasn't fully sure. He watched as she changed into her swimming attire and then she approached the lake. As she stepped upon the sand she broke into a run and nearly fell into the lake. He would've smiled to himself in his human form as he was amused. He watched her float around for a time.

Finally he decided she wasn't a threat. He wanted to see what would happen when she saw him. He crept towards the water so that she wouldn't see him approach then lied down near the beach close to the water. He knew she would see him soon, he was very large and hard to miss after all, at least when he was trying to be stealthy. He let his head rest on his large paws and then continued to watch her swim. He liked the elegance with which she swam. She was almost like a piece of nature herself. But he would see what she was truly like soon enough.

[lyssa6339]

After Amber practically fell into the water, she swam for a while and then just relaxed. She floated peacefully in the still water. She wondered if there were any fish in the lake and "called out" for them.

"Fishies?" she said hopefully.
It took a minute and then a few shimmering fish appeared around her. She liked to swim with the fish, they tickled as they glided past her skin. She felt playful and so did they. For a moment she was reminded of the old movie 'The Little Mermaid', minus the big scaly tale. At least her parents didn't die."I wish my parents where here to see you guys, my mom loved fish."The little swimmers felt her sadness and slowed their swimming and tried to comfort her in a way. They swam around her slowly as if to protect her. She knew they didn't understand but liked that they cared. "I have to go back home now and take care of my friend, maybe i will come back and visit you all, soon." She said to them nicely.

She started to swim to shore and looked at the shore. What is that!! Is it? A wolf? When Amber was little she was almost attacked by a wolf. She has every right to react this way. It was not only a wolf but a huge one! Why is it just laying there? Go away!
She thought towards it. Her pleade didn't work. Go away!Go away!Go away! PLEASE! She was treading water waiting for it to go away. It didn't move. Is this really a wolf I'm looking at? Or is this something else? Isn't there a raise that can shape shift or something? Amber knew some stuff about other raises but not all of them.

She could feel that it wasn't going to attack her. She didn't trust that still but she continued to swim to shore. She had to trust her abilities but it didn't seem right. When she got closer she saw this wolf was bigger than she thought and had yellow grey eyes, a mostly white face like a mask. The fur was darker from about the eye brows and back. If she wasn't scared she would have thought it was pretty. She walked through the shallow water out on the sand. Her feet were getting covered with sand, but she didn't care. She wanted to know what this was. She stopped about 20 feet away from the huge animal.

[taylor2]

As Marcus sat by the water he watched her swim. She just swam around for a while then stopped for a moment. She seemed to be expecting something. He watched examining her actions. He soon saw small movements in the water. He zoomed his vision in and looked at the fish. They weren't big and they had a shine to them. This was not normal fish behavior at all. They were swimming around her. He knew now what the mark on her neck must mean. This was a druid. Her waiting expectantly had been her waiting for the fish she called. It made sense. He didn't think she was a threat. As far as he knew all druids loved the forests.

She continued swimming with the fish silently. He imagined she was still communing with them. That would be interesting to be able to speak to all the other animals in the forest. He was understood very well already, he had the respect of the predators, and fear of the prey. He was at the top of the food chain.

While thinking about this he had stopped focusing on the girl for a time. His attention went back to her. She had stopped swimming and the swimming of the fish had slowed. There seemed to be an air of sadness about her. He wondered what could be on her mind.

After a few more moments of her pause she looked towards the edge of the water and at the land. When she finally noticed Marcus he noted great shock and fear in her. He wasn't surprised. Wolves were normally feared and he wasn't exactly an average wolf. She stared at him silently for what must have been at least a minute. He eyed her amused. Eventually she swam to shore and walked towards him. She stopped a bit of a ways away.

He watched her for a few moments and when it became clear she wasn't planning on coming closer he got up from his lying down position. He yawned and stretched dramatically, showing all of his great teeth in the process. Then he began walking slowly towards her, not showing any aggression, but he walked with the proud manner of a King.

[lyssa6339]

Her feet were still covered in sand, and body dripping from the lake, she stared at the beast. It yawned and stretched. Its already large body was seeming to grow. Its mouth opened and she saw its teeth and shivered, and took a stumbled step back and wanted to run away. What the hell am I doing standing here? I should run home. Would it chase after me? But its not going to attack me. Maybe i should say something. Amber grew more frightened and tried to make her legs stop shacking. She gained the bravery to say something as the wolf walked towards her.

Please stop! Don't come any closer! What are you? Why can't I influence you?!" She said to the giant fur ball. "This doesn't make sense, it has to be a werewolf." She mumbled to her self.

The wolf's large paws were huge and left just as big tracks. She stared and marveled at them. She had only seen tracks that big once before. She couldn't place where she had seen them but it didn't make her feel any better. If anything they made her more scared, she felt tiny next to this monster of a wolf. See looked at it more as it approached and began to relax a tad. Not a lot but a small bit. The way it walked didn't seem predator like more like it might have been trying to prove something, almost like it was trying to say something, like this was its forest. If it felt like this was its forest, it didn't seem to mind her there. It wasn't giving off that kind of vibe. If it was going to hurt her it probably would have done so already.

She asked again, "What are you?" She said this with true curiosity. Amber was starting to think it was a werewolf, and that it didn't want to change human in-front of her.