Broken Howls and Tattered Leaves

That sounds scary... First a giant spider, then a strange creature tearing through the forest? What happened after!?

Well, if you would stop hopping about and interrupting my story, I would have gotten to that.

... I'm sorry Great Shadow.... I will be quiet now...

Don't worry little pup. After all, one cannot learn without asking questions. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Strange creature....

I sat in front of a small crowd of Timber Wolves, shifting uncomfortably as they stared at me intently. I could feel them judging me while I waited for Terra to address the group. She had a determined look on her face as she spoke with a stern voice.

"Guardians of the Forest. As I am sure you are aware, an unknown creature is headed this way at a frightful speed. It holds no respect for the forest and its children." Many of the Wolves gave out a low growl at the mention of harming the forest. Terra continued. "I have asked your newest brother to lead a pack to attempt to stop this creature before it causes anymore damage. I cannot ask that everyone here to go, so Twigleaf shall be choosing some to join him in his fight against the creature." I was starting to shake slightly in fear. Just thinking of fighting this creature scared me. What if it harmed my soul stone? What if it actually capture it?! I would be unable to stop it from reaching Terra...

"Are you all right Child of Man?" Terra asked me, snapping me out of my fear and worrying.

Ah...um, yes... I think?

"You shouldn't worry too much. The Wolves gathered here are my strongest Guardians. They will protect you with every ounce of their beings." Terra's voice was smooth and I felt safer.

I-I hope so... I said slowly. I turned to the small group and looked them over. Most of them were much larger than me, but there were several that were smaller and had flowers. Wait. Flowers? I had thought that all Wolves were gender neutral. At least, that is what Strong Oak told me. Although I did stop him before he could explain the Wolves version of the Birds and the Bees. Already went through that once and I sure didn't want to have that level of awkward again.

Well, um. I started, several of the wolves growled at me to hurry up and reminded me on the urgency of the situation. R-right... I think we could use at least 15 of you. T-that should be enough... I pointed out several large ones and a few of the flowering ones. I was curious as to their abilities. The Wolves that weren't chosen grumbled and slinked off. I hoped that they would listen to Terra and not try to take matters into their own paws. Crap. Am I already so used to this body that I am using paws instead of hands? Weird...

The jungle was eerily silent, seeing as the wolves evacuated most of the wildlife away from the creatures approach. We all watched and followed the hulking creature walked cautiously. It was probably because there was no sound at all except the creatures own clanking footsteps. What got me first about the creature was that it was humanoid, or even a human. It wore the largest suit of armor I had ever seen. It was even larger than most of the ones in the video games I used to play. I really miss video games. The second thing was that the small female.... thing... that sat on it's shoulder seemed to be having a conversation with it. I could almost hear the creature, but it's voice wasn't directed at me so it came as a barely audible whisper. The creature paused as the wolves started growling at it.

Lets go... I said as they approached the creature.

"Timber Wolves! These are hers!" The female creature jumped down off of the larger things shoulder. She approached the closest wolf and held her hand out. I could hear the whisper again before the girl replied to it.

"I'm sure she just sent them as an escort." The wolf she was reaching for lunged at her, the large armored mass grabbed her up and smashed the offending wolf's head. Another wolf leapt towards it from behind, only to have the creature's elbow break his jaw. As strong as this creature was, which frightened me to no end, it sped away back the way it came. Was it scared? The other wolves let out a victorious howl and gave chase. I reluctantly followed. Were these creatures really hostile? The younger looking female seemed to recognize the Wolves and wasn't afraid, and the larger one only retaliated. I really didn't have time to muse over these findings. I had to take care of this situation for Terra. With all she had done for me, I couldn't let her down.

The rest of the wolves chased the iron juggernaut to a dead end, a high cliff face rising behind them. It lay the female down and stood in vigilant defense. No, this thing wasn't scared. It was very clever. I quickly ordered all the remaining wolves to attack. It had the defensive advantage, but we had it out numbered. There was no wa-

Oh sweet Celestia... I spoke too soon. This creature, this iron giant, was a fighting machine. To me, the untrained fighter, it looked like he was flailing his arms about and knocking the wolves away with the simplest of ease. I started to cringe and slowly back away as the branches broke and wood flew. This creature showed no signs of slowing down. I thought the fight would end when one of the wolves gripped it's neck in his powerful jaws, but all it did was bring down it's chin and smash in the wolf's head. There was no blood where the wound should have been. I don't think this creature even had flesh. The closest thing I could think of was a golem. An ancient creature made of clay and magic. Much like how I was made from wood and magic. It fought off the remaining wolves with little trouble at all. Then it turned it's empty visor towards me. I did the only sensible thing to do in this kind of situation. I ran. I ran like the coward I really was.

I only looked behind me long enough to see that it was following, the female in its arms and she seemed to be happy about something. These two were seriously monsters. You know, being a creature of the forest and all and having magic that allowed me to control it to a certain degree, you would think that I would have seen the root that stuck half way out of the ground. I tripped over it and landed in front of a small mound of forest debris and soil. I was about to get up and keep running away from the golem that was chasing, but a large spider popped out of the mound, which was actually a lid, and dragged me into it's den. I immediately froze, stuck to the sticky webbing that coated the pits inner walls. I couldn't see much at first, but after my eyes adjusted, I could see the spiders glistening fangs and it's shining eyes.

FUUUUUUUUUUUCK! I mentally screamed. I was going all rage guy as the spider's fangs drew closer, the clicking and clacking sent shivers down my spine. I could feel the poison dripping down onto my wooden flesh and was kinda amazed that it's hot, rancid breath filled the small pit.

AN: hello everybody! As you can see, this is the first chapter of the crossover with Eathlome's story An Iron Pawn. I really suggest you guys go read it. It is some pretty cool shiznit. The chapter may be small, but the awesome will only continue to grow as the story progresses. See ya next chapter!