Originally Mochi planned to escape as soon as an opportunity arose. Unfortunately, the hunter put a blanket around the cage, which made judging the perfect opportunity quite difficult. Though, based on how bright it is, the sun is starting to set.
While she may not be able to see outside, the opposite is also true. And so, Mochi makes preparations to be able to escape when necessary. First, she pulls out the locking pin. Pushing on a side slightly, she gets the pin stuck in the unlocked position. With this, the sides can open as long as there isn't any weight on the bottom.
Of course, that is the hard part. Mochi lacks the strength and dexterity needed to stay off of the bottom and push open a side at the same time. And her lack of fingers means climbing the cage is too hard. Maybe if she jumped... but she isn't sure if she can jump hard enough.
In any case, she'll have to wait for the opportunity to escape. Until then, she sits down and waits. Being moved around without seeing outside is slowly making her feel sick, and the smell of old wool wasn't helping.
In an attempt to distract herself, she starts counting each of the hunter's footsteps. Given little other information, the dull thumping was a tiny clue on how far the hunter is taking her. Thud thud, step step, one two, ten, twenty, a hundred...
After 500 steps, the footsteps get a little harder. The ground is probably dryer, with less tree coverage.
At 1300 steps, an orange glow passes through the blanket. Mochi is saddened at missing the sunset.
Around the early 3000s, Mochi sneezes and loses count. Mochi isn't too bothered though, and starts back at 3000. A few extra steps isn't a problem.
Finally, at 5600 steps, the distinct yet unnoticed smell of the forest fades away. Mochi had forgotten the forest had a smell, reminded of its presence only once it's no longer there. Though, she wished she remembered this on her own terms, rather than being carried out in a cage.
And then, Mochi hears the hunter shout something. Unfortunately, it's entirely gibberish to her. She wasn't exactly the linguistic kind of scholar. At the very least, she does recognizes the word for 'fox' though! Though it just meant they got the word from a different language.
Soon enough, a few more voices shout back in response. There's a brief argument (maybe?), before Mochi's cage is placed down. Wonderful, no more motion sickness! Or so Mochi had hoped.
"Ugh, wait, no. It's catching up. Let me rest real quick..." She lies down on the floor, balance swaying and head aching. This was why she never took cart rides.
As Mochi is busy dealing with motion sickness, the sound of more and more people surrounds the cage. By the time Mochi is able to sit up without falling over, there is a buzz of conversation all around the cage. Her escape might be a little harder than expected.
The hunter shouts out something, silencing all of the conversations. He then says a few more things that Mochi could only guess was gloating, before the blanket around the cage is pulled off, revealing Mochi to a crowd of people of many different races. Unfortunately, it provided no clue as to where she is, as the crowd blocks view of the surroundings.
The hunter continued talking, as Mochi looked through the crowd for anything interesting. For the most part, they appear to be simple townsfolk. Though, there is a lack of guards or soldiers or anything, which reassures Mochi that the surroundings will be relatively safe.
And then Mochi notices something odd. While most of the crowd are adults, there is a single child among them. Even stranger, she doesn't recognize what species they are, though they look like a bee.
Mochi and Pom make eye contact, and for a moment Pom feels like she's seen something similar before. She steps forward, closer to the cage, and stares at Mochi, trying to figure out what's so familiar. Pom doesn't notice everyone else looking away, looking to the forest. Pom didn't hear the howl.
Mochi did hear the howl. A wolf's howl, deep and sharp. The others heard it as well, turning right to where it came from. Which probably meant the forest was in that direction. How convenient for Mochi. But there was something else to that howling. There isn't any responding wolves.
A second howl echoes out, identical to the first. A deep, sharp howl. And to Mochi, it sounded desperate. That wolf is looking for a response. And, while it might be mean, Mochi decides to take advantage of that. Breaking the staring context between her and the child, Mochi lets out a high-pitch howl of her own. It was messy, horribly dissonant, and an overall terrible howl. And it drew the attention of everyone.
People started shouting. Some ran away, others stayed and argued, the child is swooped up and carried by the hunter. There is chaos and panic. And for Mochi, this is a good opportunity. Backing up to a corner of the cage, she springs forward with a powerful jump directly into the side, knocking it open and tumbling out.
Mochi is momentarily stunned by the impact. It isn't for long, but by the time she recovers, a large farmer has already caught her in a gentle hold. Mochi attempts to bite a finger or something to get free, but her mouth is kept far from any vulnerable flesh. She is completely unable to escape.
And then came a shadow. A maw of darkness rushes between Mochi and her captor. She drops down, released, the hands holding her sinking into the shadow of a wolf who stands above her. A large wolf with noble black fur, and a leg wrapped in a leaf bandage.
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'Mooncall' is an [A] tier skill, capable of communicating a message to a single target as long as both the user and target can see the moon. The prime wolf gained it upon their evolution, but never actually used it. That is, until one minute ago, when he used it twice to try and ask the fox where it is. And why it's scent was covered by Humanoids.
And now, the Prime Wolf Nikola stands over Mochi protectively, an indescribable fury growing in his throat. Around them was a crowd of people in various states of panic. They pose no threat to Nikola, and normally Nikola would hold no malice to them either.
So then, why does he feel such a rage? There is only one reason. They took the fox. That fox who saved him. The fox who stayed with him. That fox who gave him a moment of companionship. And he wasn't going to let someone take that from him.
They start running away, and the prime wolf prepares to hunt. But a small squeak draws his attention. The fox steps out of his shadow and walks back towards the forest. They pause for a moment, turning back to Nikola and letting out a yip. And before Nikola could respond, the fox walks to the forest.
Nikola wished he could understand what the fox wanted. Was it revenge? or forgiveness? Was it apologizing for needing help, or saying thanks? Or maybe, it simply wanted to go home.
No one else dies today, as Nikola runs to catch up with the fox. They return to the forest together, making their way to a nice warm stone, with a clear view of the night sky. Where they witness an aurora and half a moon and fall asleep together.
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317 Kormilian Empire soldiers entered the blighted forest. In the first day, they killed three deer, a wolf, four coyotes. They trampled countless shrubs, uprooted many flowers, and cut down three trees. In one day, so much was destroyed, and nothing was given back to the forest.
Wisteria decided they won't be given a second day. She knew that, at the very least, these soldiers weren't here to help the forest. They have so far only taken and destroyed. And if she allowed them to continue any longer, it'd take years to recover. Years that she did not want to waste.
Flying out of her Oclid tree, she flies up as high as she could. She had to at least try to minimize collateral damage. She released her mana, sending a rippling wave of glowing threads across the sky. And from the glowing weave, came a hypnotic song.
One by one, the forest fell asleep. The song's effectiveness depends on one's level, and the soldiers had above average levels, so most of the forest falls asleep before the soldiers begin to fall. But eventually, they all do, with the leader only a mere minute of consciousness above everyone else.
Then, as the aurora and song fades away, Wisteria glides down to the sleeping army. She opens her extra eye, and everything starts to decay. Armor rusts, leather bags tear away, cloth unravels, and flesh melts. All that remains are bones.
The wise crow Wisteria hypnotized and tranquilized everyone as a personal mercy, and to hide her own identity. For what stands over the forest of bones is certainly not a crow. Or rather, it is no longer a crow.
Confirming there to be no survivors, Wisteria closes her third eye. Feathers regrow between bones, covering her once more in a royal white coat. Her heart aches, using too much energy today. She returns to the Oclid tree to rest. Well, she might as well spy on that cute small fox again.
...
And she couldn't believe her eyes. Blinking all three several times, the sight doesn't change. The prime wolf and the fox sitting together, awake, and watching the night sky.
Firstly, the prime wolf and fox being together was a surprise to be sure, but not an unwelcome one. Sure, the fox did save the prime wolf's life, so it made sense that at the very least, he'd be fine with the fox being nearby. But sitting so close, and looking at the night sky? This meant more than tolerating your savior's presence.
Wisteria contemplated how to feel about this. In the end, it's relief. This meant the prime wolf held no ill intent against the fox, and may even want to protect them. That'd mean she won't have to worry about the fox as much (not that she worried much to begin with).
The second issue though, was that they were awake, despite her hypnotic aurora. For the prime wolf, it just meant their level was fairly high, at least 60. But for the fox, she had no idea how they were awake. The sleep from her aurora can't be woken up from before sunrise. So either the fox has a passive or skill that countered it, or it didn't hear the song.
And the clue is the prime wolf next to them. He has experienced the aurora before. He knows hearing the song is part of it. And so, he must've made sure the fox didn't hear the song. With that, the fox would remain awake. Yes, that is a reasonable answer, and that is what Wisteria chooses to believe.
Because the alternative is far too unnerving.
As Wisteria watches, she hears a crow land next to her. Their skill and grace, as well as the circumstances, reveals their identity to be Laurel, a white crow and Wisteria's only living son.
"Mom, bad news! That bee-child's village kidnapped the fox! They got them in a cage and none of the others could do anything about it! What should we-"
"Oh? Do not worry. It has already been dealt with." Wisteria lets out a relieved laugh. The prime wolf Nikola is certainly a proactive one, if a bit shy.
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Soon after the wolf's howling, Pom was carried back home by Dorlin. Of course, she didn't hear the cause of everyone's panic, but it was clear something was happening.
Running into their house, Dorlin lets down Pom. He makes three simple gestures. 'Quiet', 'Hide', and 'Wait'. Pom nods in response, tempted to ask questions but trusting Dorlin to explain later. Then Dorlin grabs his ebony bow and arrows, and exits out the door, locking it shut.
And so, Pom silently waited. There weren't much hiding places, but she was small enough to hide in a basket. It was quite comforting, hiding somewhere so tight. It reminded her of before the village, before the forest, of the hive.
After what felt like hours, Pom grew bored. She had no way of knowing what's going on outside, lacking any hearing, and her antenna unable to pick up anything beyond the door.
No, that was wrong. Her antenna could pick up details beyond walls and doors, but only things moving, things she's familiar with. Normally she senses the neighbors all day, but now it's completely... empty.
Fear started to creep in. What is happening outside? Why can't she sense anyone? Is she all alone again...
Pom left her hiding spot. She went to the door and stuck an antenna threw the crack at the bottom. And she sensed something. People, unmoving, on the ground. The door unlocks and Pom runs out, to see everyone unconscious. They were still breathing, thankfully, but... what happened?
Pom only had a single clue. That fox. That cute, little, familiar fox. She remembered what it reminded her of. The monster that shattered her hive had the head of a fox.
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New title; Caller of the wolf
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