[P] Travelling Creature

[Azalea Eternity]

Azalea tread carefully, looking around for any sign of trouble. She'd really gotten herself into a pickle this time. All she'd wanted was to find her dad, she was sure that the tall man would be easily visible as soon as she stepped outside of their home. He was tall and pure white and just huge! It couldn't possibly be that difficult to locate him. But, here she was, scrambling around the ruins and the surrounding buildings, barely avoiding the hustle and bustle of the more-populated areas (she certainly didn't want to get into trouble). Her unsteady and unbalanced puppy legs flailed as she jumped over a small log in the path, and she fell to the dirt with a distinct thud that she felt in her bones. She forced herself to not cry and to get back up, but now she was very, very far away from home and she was feeling distinctly unenthused with the day's choices. 

After all, surely her parents had returned home and were worried about her. And, surely Lilium and Whisper would have told them that she'd snuck off to find dad on her own. And, really, that was only an excuse. She'd really just wanted to explore a little bit without anybody watching over her. But it was painfully obvious now that she'd bit off more than she could chew, much more. Although, she was also a little impressed with herself, because she'd managed to travel undetected very, very far. So far that the ruins looked much smaller than they actually were and she was now by a big forest. It was huge, so huge that she could look to her left and not see the end, and look to her right and not see the end. She'd never been to a forest like this before, and it was both scary and incredibly intriguing. A butterfly floated along above her, snapping her attention from her fears over onto the pale yellow bug as it fluttered into the forest. On slightly trembling legs, she followed, watched as it alighted on a bunch of tiny white flowers that popped up here and there in the forest floor. 

A snapping noise made her look up and, well, she couldn't help herself, she screamed. She screamed so loudly and at such a high pitch, she was almost surprised that her ears didn't bleed. Fear, much more present than her previous anxiety, made her heart thump madly and her legs tremble. She began barking madly at the beast in front of her, tiny ears pinned back as her tiny mouth and tiny teeth growled a tiny growl. She backed away from the monster, tripping slightly over her own feet as she did so, because she had never been the most coordinated puppy in the litter, and her inability to move without falling was worsened by her trembling and her thumping heart and the general terror of the moment. After all, who could withstand the terror of seeing a giant monster, one with a leather-y face and giant antlers and teeth dangling from it's neck. 

WC: 531 words

[Coaxoch]

OOC: apologies for the wait on this. this is a cool creepy song  || WC: 677

We'll find our destination, can't tell us where to go

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The man had been worshipping in the Blackwoods for most of the morning, for the altar that had gone unused for some time had called to him, and he merely heeded the call. He left early in the morning, and donned the ethereal mask upon his head along with his normal loincloth and beaded shells that clinked against themselves and each other like a thousand little hooves when he briskly walked through the forest. Coaxoch had been walking, chanting, and cleansing his altar in the woods for a few hours before he had finally became comfortable with it's purity to come back and use the altar for worship. He only cleansed it because he felt the pressure of a spirit that seemed to think that the altar was a good place to anchor to, and Coaxoch needed to rid the altar of the pervasive being.

He wore his mask during this process for intimidation of the spirits. If they thought he was walking among them, as a monster than he would be taken seriously when he banished them from the altar. He knew he would need to actively use the Altar from then on as well, for the other spirits in the area seemed to know to respect it before now, and now that he was "gone" they were beginning to think differently. Coaxoch was not going to allow his "safe space" be ruined by the tainted spirits that still walked the Blackwoods freely.

When the sun finally had been able to poke through the still thick foliage of the Blackwoods was when he had realized that the day was progressing further into the afternoon and dusk would come soon. He would need to hunt before going all the way back home, but he did not want to risk getting lost in the Blackwoods come night. He did not live within the Blackwoods as he once did, and the spirits were much more hostile when the night came. He was not scared, but merely cautious. He made haste as he moved through the Blackwoods and soon beyond it, but there had been a smell he had come across in his travels.

A Salsolan child.

Sometimes, there were phantom scents that drifted through the Blackwoods, but they all were noticeably putrid and rotting smells rather than the scent of a child, so he found himself too curious to ignore it.

The spotted nose of the Shaman had done it's work and he followed the scent that lead somewhat back into the forest. He knew that many children had been buried within the Blackwoods, and had his brother's body made it back to the Blackwoods, he was sure that the male would have risen from it as well. Alas, Coaxoch had not known where his brother's body truly had been at rest, nor did he know how to look for it. He had asked his father long ago of his brother, but nothing came to light.

Coaxoch continued on and on until he had suddenly came up behind the little child. Once he had seen the being, she startled and began to madly bark at him. He chuckled lightly, and took a moment to get the mask from his face as to not frighten her any further. He'd forgotten how cute Eden and Evelyn had been at that age.

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you, little one. I am Salsolan, My name is Coaxoch Ulrich. " he told her, hoping that she would calm down a little bit, and he even moved to where he could be on the same level as her. "Are you alone out here? The Paladin and Equinest are likely very worried about you." he told her, with his blonde ears turning back and laying on his head lightly. He could smell them on her, and this was how he discerned whose child this really was. "I can help you get back home, if you'd like me to." he told her, hoping she wouldn't run off scared.

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We won't give in this time, feed the hunger

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Code by Lorr@SoulsRPG; Art by Bearsmug@Furaffinity.

[Azalea Eternity]

Azalea calmed down once the "monster" took a step away and started to take off his mask. For a horrible second, she thought it was taking off it's face, but the remaining bit of rational logic that remained with her quickly shut that notion down. Her racing heart slowly came down to it's resting rate as she watched him lower the mask. He had a friendly face, with bright eyes that were crinkled with laughter. She still took a couple of steps back, sitting down and staring at him as he introduced himself. "You know my mom and dad?" She asked, relief flooding through her body now that it had accepted that the man wasn't a monster. "Why did you scare me if you know my mom and dad! That wasn't nice! Do you always go and scare kids with your mask and your antlers and your monster get up?!" She asked, voice indignant as she huffed and puffed. "And, I don't want to get home! I came here to explore, not to be caught by a monster man and brought back home. I don't want to be home right now, I want to be running!" 

And with that announcement, Azalea jumped up and began to run through the woods, tiny legs not making that much progress in the grand scheme of things, but feeling as though she were flying. She stumbled her way through the fallen mossy branches, over the slippery rocks, and weaved through the saplings shooting up towards the sky in the search for scraps of sunlight. A glance over her shoulder showed her that she hadn't actually progressed very far, which was incredibly frustrating. She blew out a snort of annoyance in the direction of the man, emerald eyes narrowing as she turned away to find her path blocked by a large stone. Skidding to a halt, she sneezed in frustration. "Fine, I don't want to be here anyway, if you're going to be standing over me and watching me the whole time."

WC: 346 words

Sorry it took me so long!