The Stray

2-9: A Witch Abroad

Granny always said that animals— monsters and people both— had three reactions when faced with a sudden threat. Fight, flight, or freeze. Timothy's lived experiences in the Deepshadow taught him that was more or less true. Normally, he was the "flight" type, or barrin' that, the type to start getting glib. Fight, flight, freeze, or fast talk.

Today, though? He was out of fast talk, had nothing to fight, and nowhere to run. All he could do was freeze and face a horribly crowded square. The blinding sun wiped away any and all detail, leaving the street a mass of barely defined bodies surging around as a horrible, rolling ocean. He actually let out a pained squeak.

Maybe he ought to have paid more attention when they'd walked next door earlier, instead of staying in Miss Larue's shadow.

Mandy'd sheathed herself before they'd left the bakery, 'cause neither of them wanted to cause a stir. So in this moment, she tilted away from him and smacked his hip to wake him up. The sting jolted him into action: before he could even think of it, his shadow curled up from under his clothes to wrap around his eyes as a visor. It'd melt soon enough, but for now, relief flooded his eyes, and let the scene resolve. Thanks, Mandy... She tinkled softly at him, just as surprised as he was, peeking a little from her sheath.

He'd never seen so many people. They weren't piled atop each other like he'd imagined, though, instead bustling about in a messy, colorful swarm. His old village, Two Rivers, would have been all-wolf if not for granny bein' a vixen. He'd only ever seen other kinds of kindre when travelers or hunting parties came by, or when his mother had taken him to Redmoon to trade.

Fresa couldn't be more different. Here, there were so many kinds! Short li'l mice, close to his size, sometimes hopping up or even levitating to see over the crowd. Birds of different colors perching atop roofs, flapping over the crowd in search of goods, and taking off and landing in the square. One stall was run by a big shirtless bass man, who was trying and failing to make a raincloud over his own head. There were rabbits, dogs, squirrels, deer, and more! They went about in groups, chatting amongst themselves, and running shop stalls, and shopping and selling and bartering and goodness knows what else. It wasn't just kindre either. Slimes of all colors, especially lemony yellow ones, hopped and slobbled along in pairs and triplets along the path, giggling and chattering in pidgin Blubbub and Kinnic. It was so weird to see slimes with faces! And not just that, with bright big smiles! Slep bugs, the big'ol riding moth things, were here and there pulling loads or carrying people. A lone honeyfluff was chewing something near a fruit stall. The sound was terrific, a jabbering rumble of chirps and voices and footsteps and cloth and it was overwhelming. His witch senses only muddled the sound further, making the wall of noise denser and denser.

<<The forest burned down! Mate with me!>> A funny little birdbeast with a tentacle for a crest chittered loudly across the square.

"Hey, check your scales, man! There's no way that's a pound of apples."

"So about last night..."

"Getcher fresh strawberries!"

"Well of course it's bitter, numbnuts, it's literally called Bitter Snapp Black."

<<A spoon... finally...>>

"Cherry-lime Puckers are on discount! We gotta tell everyone!"

"It's real kind of ya to offer, but I meant cooking herbs."

Timothy shook his head hard, like he was trying to shake water from his ears. Focus, witch! He made himself focus on practical details. The square itself— Wright Square, he saw on a tall sign— must have been an important artery of the town, maybe even its heart. Four main roads met here, and while the town was huge, he didn't think there was room for more. The bakery was right behind him, of course, but he could see the Bullhorn tavern right across the square. And there was a general store, and a post office, and... some kind of big, fenced off tile circle? There were some glyphs carved all around its perimeter, so it was something mystical. A ritual circle...?