Forest of Secrets (CoQ)

I'm Just Peachy, You? Oh. You Don't Talk Much.

Be ready for a huge mood change. This book has comedy and the main characters are goofballs. Also keep in mind that Noroi lost his memory and personality . . . So yeah! lets be realistic here, guys!

-Author

"This guy has haters already, doesn't he?" -Akira Eliza

The dryads have healing properties in their blood and bodily functions.

Noroi

I never thought that searching for my brother could be so hard. After learning Kamaharian and venturing out with only a poem my brother left, I realized that I had nothing but the little amount of money in my pocket that Bokili, the man who raised me ever since I was cursed, was kind enough to give me. At age nine, he took me in and raised me. I'm twenty-two now. All this time, I've managed to hang on to my mothers pendant. It was an emerald surrounded by diamonds and smaller sapphires. Moonstone encased it and slathered on top as if it was melted and poured. It was a locket. I had the key around my neck, one that I mostly forget I even have. It hung on a simple silver chain and inside, it held a picture of my mother. But now, without Bokili, I realize how lonely I've been. I would love to have a friend with me. I glanced around me. There was a slave shop to my right. It's a general rule that species don't mix. Although this only involves the Docile groups, Anti-docile hybrids are looked at with disdain as well. The five docile groups include werewolves, vampires, dryads, elves, and dwarfs. Any other species is considered " anti-docile". Now days, if they can walk and talk, their considered intelligent enough to follow the rules. I am a Fenrir. Basically, the upgraded version of a werewolf. The more powerful you are, the farther away from a full moon you can be before you gain the ability to turn into a massive wolf. I can turn into a wolf at around twelve to thirteen days before the full moon. Translation: I'm pretty fucking bad ass. When a hybrid is enslaved, usually, every penny is taken away from the parents. You get paid to take in slaves because it leaves another slot in the slave shop. Nobody wants hybrids so the owners get paid in monthly to take them. Usually, the more dangerous the slave, the more Yari you get for it. I'm not looking for one that I can treat poorly, I'm just looking for one that can hold an extra backpack for me. They can prove to be useful around the journey. Besides, I'm sure that they will be glad to get out of there. It would be nice to have someone to talk to. I opened the door and heard a soft ting-a-ling-a-ling sound. It was the sound of the bell above the door. Usually, I'd brush off things that seem just a little too familiar. I must have killed countless people over the years due to my curse. Many memories are bound to have been lost. The store clerk grinned at me and the slaves in the cage barely looked at me. Most of their eyes were dull and broken, probably because they spent years in their prison. I felt my heart swell with pity, but I quickly closed my heart to it. If I wanted to buck and rebel to this curse, I wasn't supposed to have a soft heart. I took a look around. Brick walls, a door that said "OFF LIMITS" and a door that said "PUBLIC BATHROOM". A big, burly man opened the door that said "OFF LIMITS" where he dragged a peach dryad by his hair. The dryad looked so broken and helpless that my heart ached with pain regardless of my previous intentions to be insensitive. He looked even more defiled than the rest. Not a single one had cuts and bruises except for that dryad.

That one. It has to be that one. No other one.

I decided to follow my gut instinct. I walked up to the dryad, but before I could get to him, two fat democrats rudely stood in front of me. I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance. Humph. The woman pointed to him. "That one!" her voice was shrill and stupendous. My ears folded back and I flinched. Werewolf, people. Sensitive to sounds. As she pointed a finger at the dryads face, he leaned over and bit down on the woman's finger. Hard. Can't say I wouldn't have done the same. Orange covered the front right section of his hair. The other two thirds of it was white. At the top of his head were two leaves. He had no muscle whatsoever on him. I suppose it was because he never got time to work out. In contrast, I have a lot of muscle on me and can lift just about anything, but I still won't call myself beefy. It occurred to me that the other half of the peach dryad was a vampire, since his fangs shown when he hissed and bared his fangs while the fat couple screeched (I'm surprised my ears didn't bleed) and backed away. Through the bars, she took her fan and slapped him across the face. Four lines of bead red blood dripped from his left cheek, but he looked like he didn't even notice. The woman completely forgot her huge purse as they hurried to the bathroom. Quicker than a Banshee, I slid in the woman's place and rummaged through her purse. I grabbed her wallet and stuffed it in my own gray, beat-up bag. The wallet was bulging with cards and Yari. I hit the jackpot. The peach's ice blue eyes stared at me menacingly and he snapped his teeth, reminding me of what he did to that woman. I stared at him blankly. He was trying to hide it, but his eyes were teary. The thing that fills those eyes . . . Is a scream that is awfully silent. His cage was small and I was wondering for a mere second how the hybrids sleep in such a small cage when he reached over and attempted to claw my eyes out. I leaped back and hardly missed him because he did manage to nail my nose. It began to sting and throb. I took in even more of the details. He had a torn shirt with holes in it along with a matching pair of gray shorts. his hair was littered with dirt and dandruff. Beside him, a food and water bowl was laid down. The food bowl had something that looked like kibble covered with black mold. I think there was a cockroach in the mix and could have sworn I saw something white and wormy. The thought alone twisted my stomach remorsefully. I needed to get him out of here now. The water was also stagnant and had something white floating around in it. He continued to reach for me, even though it was futile.

"Whoah man, cool it. I'm just looking for someone to talk to. don't get your panties in a wad." pink erupted in his cheeks and he froze. His face literally said did he seriously just say that!? making me crack up with laughter. When I was finally done laughing my ass off, I realized that he was no longer trying to sushify me. The democrats from earlier walked up to the clerk with a centaur-fairy hybrid that looked like she was about to cry. Yep. Definitely tamer. He snapped on a collar and the two walked out with the woman's purse, clearly not noticing how the wallet was missing. Kudos for me. They snapped the chain around her neck and dragged her out. Afterwards, the clerk hurried over to tend to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He looked middle-aged and nice enough.

"Yes. I want that one." I pointed at the Peach, who snarled and glared at me defiantly.

"Are you sure? That one is the most dangerous one we have." I nodded. He opened the cage and, after wrestling around a bit with the peach, he managed to put on hand-covering handcuffs and a muzzle.

"The muzzle won't be needed . . . " I half mumbled.

"Nonsense. He wont go without a fight." I let the clerk do his thing.

"How long has he been here?" I asked.

"Nine years, the fucker has been here. No one will take him because no one can put up with him. You saw what he did to that fat lady. Managed to go up the years in rank and earn you a pretty Yari." I smirked at the clerk's sense of humor. Not all slave masters are bad. Some just want to earn a living. The clerk snapped on a collar and a leash with it. I noticed the engravings on the collar.

"What's the collar for?" I asked as he put the leash in my hand. I didn't know what else to do, so I just stood there.

"It's supposed to make him kind of settle down and get drowsy and obedient. You know, hard to resist the contractor. But it doesn't seem to work on him. You might as well just use it to make sure he doesn't run off." The clerk walked to the counter and handed me the biggest wad of cash Yari I've ever seen. My mind went crazy for a moment, before I silently slipped the wad of Yari in my backpack. Bessu still has enough life in her to trust her to not lose my money. As far as I remember, she doesn't have any loose holes. I was still loosely holding on to the chain, unsure of what to do with it.

"Have a nice day." The clerk said as he gave me a check, which truly made my jaw drop open. Five million and eighteen thousand Yari. That was enough to get me at least nine houses. Izu Henka.

"You too, sir. May Izu be in your favor." I lifted my arm up gently and tugged the chain, to the point where it was hardly noticeable.

"Hey, uh . . . Time to go." I said. He took one, slow step. I tugged on the chain, this time harder. He took two small steps. I tapped my foot and put my hands on my hips.

"Come on man, don't be a D-bag." I patiently waited for him as he took his sweet time. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we made it out the door. I instantly reached over to take the muzzle off of him. If he wanted to piss me off, mission complete. But I still know how to not be a jerk.

"Now look, I'm going to take all this stuff off, but you need to hold still." He didn't say anything as I took the muzzle, collar, and handcuffs off. As soon as the collar was off, he made a dash for it. dryads are slow but vampires are fast, so in a way, his speed balances out. But I'm faster. I leaped on top of him and pinned him down. He struggled against my grip, but my big paw of a hand was pressed down on him hard between his shoulder blades, knocking the air out of him. It didn't stop him from wiggling or squirming, though. Or cussing me out in such perfect and native Kamaharian that I could never measure. I'm Miyorian, not Kamaharian. I noticed that he couldn't perform most syllables that needed the tongue, like t or n, but he was understandable enough for me to realize that he was a true native here.

"Alright then, guess we're doing this the hard way." I pulled out a pair of handcuffs I mostly use specifically just in case someone tries to mug me. The pepper spray may seem more feminine, but I have that too. Not like the handcuffs will work against anything Anti-Domestic, (unless you're a Kemonomimi or some other creature that looks like a human with a few special effects, like a vampire or elf) but they can still be useful.

"There we go! Can't have you running off, can we? I have some errands to run, and you're coming along! You can thank fatty for the three helpful buy-whatever-you-want-for-free cards! Come on, this'll be fun." I said sickly sweet, then walked over to the clothing shop, half dragging the guy.