In a world where mythical races exist and hunters kill them, there is a place, a sanctuary of sorts for all peoples running from the senseless violence. Will this promised land remain and will they have to lurk in the shadows forever?
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(Berry is pictured above)
The forest seems almost devoid of all sound. There are no crickets, no mice in the underbrush, and no life at all, it seems. The nightly wind carries a deep and bitter chill across the landscape. Suddenly, the silence is broken up by the sounds of hooves pounding frantically on the ground, followed by the sound of boots advancing on their target.
The young deerfolk runs as fast as his legs can take him. Three hunters are hot on the faun's trail, shooting at him with their rifles. The faun runs faster than these men, but they are catching up. Suddenly, the small creature sees a bridge over a creek. Without thinking, he dives under the bridge, ignoring the scrapes from the rocks and sticks. He can hear the heavy footfalls of the three hunters above his head.
"Where did that little vermin go?" One of the hunters asks. Another hunter replies to him, "I don't know, but we should get out of here. You know who owns these woods." The leader among them frowns, "Jeremy, can you tell me what you're holding?"
The hunter answers, "A gun?"
"Yes, a gun. And what do guns do?"
"They, uhm, shoot things."
"Yes, that's right! So if anything comes, what are you going to do?"
Jeremy scans his surroundings before looking back at the leader, "Shoot it..."
The leader smiles, "Good job! Now grow some balls and stop whi-"
Suddenly, a large black wolf attacks the leader, tackling him down into the shallow creek. The hunters, once they recover from the initial shock, fire upon the creature. The large beast doesn't even appear to bleed despite all of the bullets finding their mark. The wolf bites and tears away the hunter's flesh until the hunter is no longer writhing beneath its massive paws. As quickly as it came, the massive beast dissappears in a flash of feathers.
Jeremy goes down to see if the leader somehow survived, the impact with the shallow water making a splash. He gets confirmation that the leader is dead and turns around to get back on the bridge. In doing so, he spots the young faun that they were after. He points his gun at the creature, "Don't you move!!!! Kenneth, get over here, I found it!" The young faun freezes and his fingers find a rock behind him. He looks past the hunter, as if looking at the wolf from earlier behind him. The hunter looks away for just a second. The faun takes this chance to throw the rock, and while the hunter is off balance, he jumps and tries to get the gun.
There is a struggle to get the gun until the other hunter clubs the young deer in the back of the head. The faun let's go and falls on his back. The hunters kick the creature, perhaps angry about the loss of their captain or maybe just trying to knock him out. Just as the faun is about to get up, a figure appears. A sharply dressed humanoid seems to just appear out of the darkness. The faint glow from the moon reveals two horns and a large set of wings. The figure has a smile that reveals pointed teeth. The faun is barely conscious, but if he was fully awake, he would've seen those sharp teeth go to work on his attackers.
The small creature finally comes to in the arms of his protector. The small being has a fearful look as he looks over the man carrying him. Suddenly, all the pain comes back from the actions of those hunters. The man holding him smiles and speaks, "Hello there, little one, don't worry, we'll get you to a healer." The faun's ears twitch at the sound coming from the man and the vibrations in his chest from speaking. The man continues, "You can call me Mr. Oddish, what's your name?" The small creature doesn't respond. "It's okay, you can talk to me," Mr. Oddish says. The faun shakes his head. Mr. Oddish chuckles at this and continues to walk.
A large building slowly comes into view, and the atmosphere becomes brighter. For some reason, it just feels safer here. Mr. Oddish gestures at the building, "Okay, little one, don't be afraid of the people in here." The young deerfolk quickly shakes his head, afraid of possibility interacting with people. Large crowds are always a danger to this faun. Being alone is the safest thing in the world to him. The figure chuckles, "Do you want to come in at all?" The faun takes a moment to consider and slowly, somewhat hesitantly, nods in affirmative.
Mr. Oddish swings open the massive doors to walk through, nearly dropping the poor creature. Immediately, an elf man of impressive stature comes into view. The man has streaks of grey across his black hair. His hair is almost cut short, with the exception of a long, thin grey braid protruding from the end of his hair. The man has burn scars on his face and has a hard look in his eyes. The glare makes the faun shrink back against Mr. Oddish. "Don't be afraid, little one, this is just Mr. Yamoto. He keeps everyone in the school safe." Mr. Oddish explains. The faun remains tense despite the explanation.
Mr. Oddish sets the faun down, "Okay, stay here, I'll go find the nurse." The faun quickly grabs the man's leg, silently begging him to say. Mr. Oddish abliges him and brings his hand down for the faun to hold. The deerfolk's hand is small in the demon's hold. Mr. Oddish starts navigating through the halls with the faun in tow. "Small one, can you even speak?" Mr. Oddish asks, having to speak loudly through the chatter of the students in the halls. The faun doesn't get a verbal answer, deciding to just nod instead. Mr. Oddish asks another question, not completely believing the answer he received, "Do you know how to say your name?" The faun slowly answers in a voice not very used to speaking, "Bah- beeh..... b-Beery." Mr. Oddish smiles, "So your name is Berry? Are you still in pain?" He finally manages to steer Berry into the infirmary, and they sit down to wait on the nurse.
