Broken Howls and Tattered Leaves

Oh wow! You actually got to meet the Forest Mother? I wish I could meet her, you make her sound pretty!

Ha ha ah… Yes, I did meet the Forest Mother, but she prefers to be called Terra instead of that stuffy title the ancient Guardians gave her.

So what happened next!?

Well, I spent the next few weeks getting used to my new body and mostly staying away from the other Wolves. Except for Strong Oak. He became something of the father figure I never had…

The holt was still dark as the sun peaked over the horizon. It would still be a few hours till the light actually reached through the trees. It had been almost a week since I started following Strong Oak around the rainforest and learning how to use my new abilities. I had a sneaking suspicion that Terra had told Strong Oak about me because when I emerged from her clearing, he had given me a knowing smile. Or at least as good of one that a lupine creature made of wood could. It was actually kinda creepy.

I awoke with the chirping of the birds and set out to find Strong Oak where he usually waited for me to wake up. He sat at the entrance of Terra’s Grotto and turned to me as I tried to stealthily approach. I learned that Timber Wolves could induce growth in all forms of plant life by literally asking them to grow. I guess you could say that Timber Wolves were the druids of the world thanks to Terra giving them the ability when she had created them. No matter how soft the moss I grew, Strong Oak could sense my approach. It was something of a game between us.

You will never be able to sneak up on me. Even when I grow old and rot away. He chuckled. Again, being a wolf made of wood made everything you do somehow creepy. His chuckles were like something breathing hoarsely down the back of your neck.

I’ll get you one day… I joked. So, what are we going to do today Oak?

I was thinking that we should go and check up on the manticore mother. Asides from protecting the forests, Timber Wolves also took care of the more dangerous creatures, leaving the weaker creatures to the ponies or other races. For the Rainforest though, one of the Cat-folk tribes took care of them.

She is still sick? The manticore in question had gotten in a fight with an insectoid creature that looked reminiscent of a Deathclaw from one of my favorite video games. While she had killed it, it had gotten her with the stinger it had on its tail and had scratched her injecting a paralyzing poison into her bloodstream. We would bring her food and help teach her kitten how to hunt for itself. Being able to change my shape by using sticks and plants to help change my mass was helpful. She was pretty stubborn at first, but gladly accepted the help after we fought off another of the Bugclaws. Strong Oak usually took care of the mother while I played with the kitten, both of us learning how to protect ourselves with our play fighting. I had never actually beaten the kitten yet though.

Yes, it will take some time for the herbs to show signs of healing, but I believe that she will get better with time. Strong Oak replied, pulling his roots from the ground. Another fun fact, when a Timber Wolf cannot get sunlight, they can plant themselves to draw nutrients from the soil. Most prefer direct sunlight because it gives the most energy over a short period. Let us be off now that you have finally awoken. I grimaced at his remark. I was still getting used to getting up at the crack of dawn.

Yeah, yeah. Lets get going already old man! I said as I dashed ahead of him. He just chuckled and followed me. I had already memorized most of the rainforest that surrounded Gaia’s Navel. Terra’s Grotto was actually set in the center of a large crater that really made it look like the world’s bellybutton, and the area around that was Timber Wolf territory. Not much actually entered unless they were escaping from a disaster, natural or otherwise.

We arrived with Oak in the lead, but stopped when we heard a rustling in the leaves before a massive lion-like creature with leathery wings and a scorpion tail leapt from them and tackled me in a vice like grip. The manticore kitten and I rolled a few feet before I gave up and allowed him to lick the back of my neck. Strong Oak laughed hoarsely as I slipped out of the manticore’s grip.

Yeah, nice to see you too. I said, attempting to shake the moist saliva from my branches. He had apparently gotten a hold of some honey because the saliva was pretty sticky and smelled sweet. Honey Jackers lived in the outer parts of the Rainforest and were as large as a small dog and twice as vicious as their Earth counterparts.

You two should go and hunt while I feed his mother. Strong Oak said. I nodded and whispered to the plants. The vines grew around my paws and into my branches, separating them and moving them around. It was all a strange experience to have your body pulled to pieces and not actually feel any pain. After a few minutes of having my body reformed, I took the form of a fully grown manticore. My mane was made of grass, and my fur was made of soft moss. My original body formed my new skeleton and parts of my tail were thrown about my mane, giving it a stiff appearance.

Let’s go George.  Strong Oak once asked me why I called him that, but I replied that it was Earth humor and he left it at that. I mean, the kitten was sooo soft that I just wanted to hug him and squeeze him. I couldn’t NOT call him George.

George playfully nipped my left wing and followed behind me. For being a 200 lb ball of fuzz, he was pretty silent when we hunted some of the larger game. He actually snuck up on a Grime Vole and snapped its neck before it even heard him breathing. George soon learned why Grime Voles weren’t hunted as much as say, a Mallo Wisp. Tasty buggers, Mallo Wisps. George took a bite of the rancid meat and immediately vomited it out. Grime Voles usually spend their time marinating in fecal matter and rotten trees, making them the smelliest thing that was second only to the gym shorts of that fat kid in my class.

I started thinking about Earth. My life wasn’t the prettiest, or even the most interesting, but it had my one friend in the entire world and that made it somewhat bearable. His name was Keith. Before you start cracking jokes like ‘One time, me and my buddy Keith…’ let me remind you that now I could probably kill you in a heartbeat now from a mile away. Keith and I would always hang out at the café and talk about nothing in particular. We sort of fed off of each other like how a changeling can feed off of the emotions of a pony. Just being around him made me giddy and we both would go off on tangents of completely random topics that had no bearing on anything at all. The last time we talked, we were discussing why there were no Beast races in Phantasy Star episode 1 and 2, but there they were in Phantasy Star Universe. We both agreed that the Beasts ate too many tacos and were shunted out of the air lock before they reached Ragol. I sighed. I would probably never see him again.

George finished heaving and we both buried the body. Better for a new tree to grow instead of having a rotting corpse sitting around that no one was going to eat. I whispered a small sapling into the freshly turned soil. I was really liking my new abilities, whispering plants into existence, being able to manipulate said plants at will, the night vision was nice, and the not really needing to eat was a big plus even if I will never have the glorious taste of bacon on my palette ever again. While I didn’t really need to eat, I enjoyed having something solid to chew on now and then.

We spent about a half hour hunting and got quite the haul. George was able to take down a Mini Drake and a Vorpal Stag. The stag’s horns were extremely sharp and was a pain in the ass to take down, but thanks to George’s poison we were able to kill it. We approached the small cave that George lived with his mother and dragged the meat inside. Strong Oak was quite impressed with the stag, it wasn’t everyday that you actually see one, let alone kill one. Strong Oak and I left the cave and headed back to the Navel, apparently Terra wanted to see me again.

“How do you fare, Child of Man?” Terra asked me as I approached her.

I think that I am finally getting used to how things work around here, if that is what you mean. I sat down on my lupine haunches, wondering just what she wanted me for.

“I have a task I need you to complete. Up high in my branches, you will find a seed. An acorn to be precise. I need you to collect it and bring it to me.”

Really…. Send the dog on a fetch quest? I huffed. Still, that doesn’t seem too hard.

“I will have to warn you that you will meet great danger atop my boughs, for many dangerous creatures live up in the canopy instead of on the ground.” She warned me. I could easily take care of any ‘dangerous’ creatures that came my way. Especially up in a tree.

Yeah, I think I can handle it. I replied cockily. I started my ascent with a mighty leap into the first branches as Terra shook her head.

“I do hope he doesn’t get himself killed…”

This was seriously too easy. The only things up here were a couple of Skeeter Crows, nasty bloodsucking crow like creatures that like to swarm warm blooded creatures. Being that I had no real blood, they left me alone. Like I said, this was way too easy.  I couldn’t grow any new branches while I was up here, seeing as Terra was the tree itself and only she could control its growth. Even with that slowing me down, I could still grow climbing claws from my paws and scale the trunk when there were no branches to climb on. The tree was massive and finding a single acorn was going to be a bit of work, but I was feeling confident that I could find it before the day was through.

Well geez! Where is this bloody thing! I huffed. I had spent the last few hours climbing Terra’s tree, batting away those pesky crows and other scavengers that seemed to roost up in the tree. Wait a second… Scavengers. All I had run into were scavenging creatures, but why were they here if there wasn’t any predators. My question was answered as I almost unwittingly ran into a massive, sticky thread. Fuck… My eyes widened in horror as I took a look at my surroundings. The sticky thread was everywhere, leaving holes barely large enough to crawl through on my belly. I could see hundreds of tiny spiders going about wrapping up insects and larger avians that got too close. They didn’t seem to eat the birds, just wrap them up nicely for whatever did.

“MMFH! MUMBFUUMF!” I heard a muffled voice to my right and it revealed itself to be a small wrapped bundle about as big as my head. It was shaking vigorously and causing the little spiders to swarm it, repairing the web as soon as it was broken by its occupant.

“MUMBLEFUMBF! FUMLEFUMM!” The muffled voice cried. Now would be the best time that I was deathly afraid of spiders, even the non deadly kind. They were just freaky looking and gave me the shivers like I was getting now. Sure, they probably couldn’t hurt me now, but that doesn’t get rid of a lifetime of fear. I closed my eyes and grew a sharp, wooden blade from my forepaw and cut the bundle out from the web. The little spiders didn’t seem to notice that their prey was now missing and went about repairing the web.

I slowly cut open the bundle and a speeding blur of white attached itself to my hackles. “THANKSTHANKSTHANKSTHANKS!” The bird said without catching a breath. It took a few moments to catch its breath as I inquired.

Are you okay? You look pretty shook up. The bird, which I have now recognized as a parakeet. Strange how he looked just like the Earth counter part, the only thing strange about him was that he seemed to be completely sapient.

The parakeet gave me strange look. “Like you should be talking Woody. You’re shaking harder than a leaf in a tornado!” This was true. I was still shaking and I don’t think I would stop for a few days.

Oy! I just saved your ass! You should be thankful at least. Besides, it isn’t like I wanted to be this way! I blurted. The bird gave me a surprised look and said.

The bird gave me an odd look and dismissed it with a wave of his wing. "Whatever dude, I could have totally handled that myself." he said with a puffed out chest.

“So, why are we heading further into the devils doorstep?” He asked, clutching himself deeper into my branches. I was crawling at a near standstill as I looked about slowly in the dark. I could see fine, but Keet was scared shitless, as I could feel his bowels emptying onto my neck.

I-I have t-to get an a-acorn. I stuttered, I could almost feel as if something was watching us. Again, I can’t even describe how creepy this place was. I could see the tiny, red glow of the drone spiders as they crawled around on the webs. I was keeping an eye out for the big momma spider that I knew had to be up here somewhere. If video games have taught me one thing, it is that there will always be a boss nearest where your destination is.

“A-an acorn? Seriously d-dude? Just go f-find a n-normal tree and g-grab one of those!”

S-seeing as we a-are climbing about in a l-literal goddess’s hair, I w-would expect t-this one to be s-special. Both of our mouths were chattering at this point. We both decided that it would be best if we both just stopped talking.

After a few minutes of pure, unadulterated, hellish horror that was arachnophobia, Keet spotted something shining above us. “H-hey, do you t-think that is the a-acorn that we are l-looking for?” He pointed a wing at the shining acorn.

I w-would think so… Lets h-hurry up and grab it.. I said, stretching my legs so that Keet could grab it without leaving my hackles. He would have grabbed it, if it wasn’t or the fact that it was attached to a branch that was stuck to the BIGGEST SPIDER IN THE OMNIVERSE! We both sat there paralyzed as the ancient Titan Spider opened all eight of its massive, glowing eyes and clicked its dripping fangs at us in annoyance. Did you know that a Timber Wolf can still take a dump? It isn’t so much as shit as it is actually a part of you that drops out. It is usually a rotten part, but it makes it look like you are taking a dump anyways. I immediately removed all the rotten, and some that wasn’t, plant matter from my body. Keet followed suit in his own fashion, marking my back in white.

The Titan Spider roared at us and Keet fainted onto my back and I instinctively belted him onto my back with a vine. Yeah, apparently spiders here actually have vocal chords, or at least the ones large enough so that the smaller ones can get in there and make some with webbing. I fell off of my perch and let my body run on auto pilot. I grew blades on each of my forepaws and sliced through any webbing that got in my way. To my eternal horror, the spider followed me by swiftly climbing down and ripping through the webbing. It didn’t look like it was going to stop unless we were dead.

Then my body did something I wouldn’t have done. It grabbed onto a vine and bounced back towards the spider with blades brandished as I roared along with the spider. I parried its fangs and dug both my blades and my elongated fangs into the back of its head. Bad move there body, bad move. Thousands of the tiny drone spiders crawled from the wound and attempted to inject me with a deadly venom. Good thing I was made of wood, but Keet wasn’t so I shook violently to remove them from my body.

Saaaaaasssslllllaaaaaaassssssssaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh Was the spider spitting at me or trying to say something? I really couldn’t care less and I leapt from its back in a sleek backflip. Although, in hindsight, that was another bad move. The Titan Spider impaled me on its fangs in mid air, causing me to howl in pain. Apparently, Timber Wolves can actually feel pain. And boy did it hurt. Imagine with me for a minute, take around a thousand knives and dip them in poisonous hellfire and stick them into every part of your body so that you cannot see your skin. Then try to dance to Dubstep. What’s that in your entire body? *POW* IT WAS PAIN!

The spider ripped me off of its fangs, and I fell down back to the soft peat that made up the ground in Terra’s Grotto, hitting almost every branch on the way down. I could feel myself fading fast and I couldn’t help but hope that Keet was alright. I couldn’t rescue someone and then practically get them killed within an hour by squishing him against trees while he was unconscious. That would be just plain rude.

Oh, did I forget to mention the pain I was in? Getting ripped almost in half will do that to ya, mate…

Fucking OW… I then proceeded to black out before I hit the forest floor. Again, ow….