Scout had been sitting in her tent since she gave her report to Prowler yesterday. She had not eaten or slept during that time, her thoughts occupied with what she had found in the center of the forest. All that twisting flesh and black metal… the massive pulsing eyes that seemed to follow her every movement… The droves of twisted green creatures… It had all been too much for her. She had to get away from that place.

She had tried to convince Prowler to pack up and leave, this job was simply too big, too dangerous to accomplish. The Prowler of the past may have considered her words, but Prowler had all but brushed her warnings aside.

He wanted her to go back.

He wanted a more clear idea of what he would be dealing with.

She couldn't go back.

She wouldn't go back.

But she was terrified to tell Prowler that she wouldn't do it. With how unhinged he had become… she wasn't sure if it would end well for her. Maybe… maybe it was time to do what Prowler ordered her to do years ago after she had become an adult. Maybe it was time to leave. The thought stung, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was the right thing to do. It was only a matter of time before Prowler degenerated into the feral monster he always feared becoming.

Could she really bring herself to do that though?

It was what he had wanted her to do at the beginning… but she still felt hesitant to outright abandon him. Maybe there could be a compromise? Was there a way to leave the Blackwings but not fully abandon Prowler? She wasn't sure how she would go about that… but she knew one thing for certain.

She would not go back to the center of these cursed woods. She felt no curious urge to explore this forest any longer, not after what she had seen...

She rolled over in her bedroll, eyes heavy from lack of sleep. Scout needed to get up, get dressed, and go see Prowler. She slipped on her underclothes and followed with her dark wool outfit. She knew exactly what Prowler was going to say to her, and it made her despair. Her anxiety heightened further as she made her way to his tent, the glaring eyes of the other Blackwings following her the whole way. Maybe she should just wear her body glove everywhere, avoid those hateful glares.

Escape from Prowler-

Scout shook her head, standing before the tent flap leading into Prowler's domain. She took a deep breath, and brushed aside the tent flap, taking only a single step inside before gasping in shock. Prowler was tightly gripping Medic's throat in a gauntleted fist, blood spurting from the force of Prowler's grip. He held Medic's limp body aloft, shaking it furiously whilst growling beneath his helmet. The reverb the metal provided the guttural noise added to her terror.

Medic's head shook back and forth, blood spattering onto Prowler's black armor.

Scout stood wide-eyed for only a second before shouting "Prowler stop it!"

Prowler stilled immediately, turning his head to look at her. Scout could see the whites of his eyes beneath the slitted visor, opened wide with rage. Medic dropped to the ground with a bloody plop, completely still and dead.

"Ah, finally." Prowler said in a seemingly calm tone "Alright now, I understand that you don't want to go back to the center..." He continued, drawing closer to her with slow deliberate steps "But I must know what it is you saw; after all, you wouldn't want the Blackwings to walk in there blind yes?" He stood before her now, looming over her like a tower of metal and blood, not unlike the horrid thing she had found in the center of the forest.

She didn't dare move; hell, she couldn't even breathe from the sheer terror she felt. Prowler shook his bloody gauntlet, blood spattering against the tent, ground, and Scout's face. Even then, she couldn't even bring herself to flinch. Her eyes moved despite her wishes, finding the crumpled corpse of Medic. Prowler noticed this, and gripped her chin firmly in his bloodied gauntlet, tilting her head up to look him in the eyes. She gasped at the contact, feeling Medic's blood slide down her chin and neck from Prowler's cold bloodied hand.

"Do not worry about him. He is no longer in our employ." Prowler said, tone level "He stole from us, and he tried to lie to me… I unfortunately lost my temper."

Scout's lips were quivering, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"It is inconvenient, but I will just have you find another Medic for us after this next scouting operation." He said, releasing her chin "You're going back, I want a decent report this time, not some half-baked bullshit like what you told me yesterday." He continued, his tone growing irritated.

He turned his back to her then, and stomped over to Medic's body. When he came to a stop, he hovered over it, clenching and unclenching his fists. Scout just noticed it now, but his right hand was shaking furiously.

Despite her terror at what was happening, Scout spoke "Wh-what did he steal?"

Prowler only turned his head slightly, giving her a sidelong stare "A potion of speed. He was going to try an escape, I know it. Can you believe that he had the gall to tell me to my face that he didn't do it?" He asked, turning back to stare at Medic's corpse "I keep track of that cabinet's contents… he knew that, so why would he try something so dumb? Why did he make me do this!?" He shouted suddenly, the roar loud enough to cause Scout to clamp her ears shut.

His breathing quickened, and he began screaming incoherently at the corpse. Scout released her ears and snuck out of the tent as Prowler's back was turned, the wrenching guilt she felt threatening to crush her beneath its weight. As soon as she was outside of the tent, she heard the sound of metal pounding into flesh, of bones breaking in between angered shouts from where she had left Prowler and Medic's corpse.

Scout ran, tears now freely trailing down her cheeks as she ran for her tent. She had gotten Medic killed! Because of her damn curiosity about Savage, she had cost Medic his life. Oh by the Earth Mother what had she wrought!? The other Blackwings she had helped enslaved laughed at her as she passed them, shouting insults and other curses. She deserved every single one and worse…

As she entered her tent, she made her decision. Scout could not; no, would not remain with the Blackwings for another day. She would not watch Prowler descend further into madness than he already had, and she certainly would not go and bring back another Medic for him to break.

Scout didn't own much, it was just a matter of packing away her spare clothing and bedroll. Once her tent was stripped bare, she slung on her backpack, and ran out of camp. No one gave chase, and no one sounded an alarm.

As she crossed the tree line and ran into the forest, she was struck with an unsettling thought. She had nowhere to go. Scout knew no one outside of the Blackwings, and she had no idea how to live off the land long enough to make it to one of the frontier towns. She had food and water in her bag, but not much. The rations she had simply would not cut it… so what could she do? Where could she go?

She kept running for what felt like forever, time meaning nothing to Scout amidst her inner turmoil.

Eventually, exhaustion took her, and she stopped dead in her tracks after passing into a small clearing. She shrugged off her backpack and fell to her knees, weeping openly. Scout felt completely overwhelmed, the tides of emotions simply too much for her to bear. Guilt for Medic's death, horror at what Prowler had become, and her own uncertainty of the future drove her to despair.

After a while, she stood from the dirt, sniffling and wiping the tears from her cheeks. Medic's freshly moistened blood came away on her gloves. She looked up, away from her bloodied clothing only to notice that the sky had darkened considerably. How long had she been crying in this clearing? How long had she been running?

What was she going to-

She heard the crunch of fresh leaves behind her, and she quickly turned to see a small green form lunging for her. She fell on her back as the small form straddled her waist, cackling madly. It was then that Scout made out the creature's long nose and warty green face. She had been found by a goblin. She struggled to rise, but two other goblins appeared to pin her arms to the earth. Her eyes widened with fear as the goblin on top of her begin ripping at her clothes, exposing her breasts to the cold open air.

"No!" She screamed, bucking her hips frantically.

The goblin was launched forward from this motion, it's skull colliding with one of the goblins pinning her arms down. It's grip on her arm loosened, and acting on sheer instinct, fear, and adrenaline, she wrenched her arm free. She then swung her fist directly into the eyeball of the third goblin, destroying the organ and causing the creature to cry out in agony.

Scout had not even meant to do that, she had swung out of terror, not any sense of skill. She wasn't accustomed to combat, she hadn't even killed anything before. When the gob let go of her to clutch it's bloody ruin of an eye, Scout scrambled to her feet, the goblin on top of her falling on it's back. Before she could set off into a sprint, however, her ankle was grabbed and she fell flat on her face, dust billowing up around her as she tried to get away with clawing fingers. Again two hands pinned her arms to the dirt, and again she felt claws ripping apart her clothing.

Her trousers were quickly torn to shreds, the cold autumn air biting into her bare legs as the goblin gripped her hips with both hands, raising her backside from the earth to be level with it's crotch. When she felt something hard and horribly warm press into the flesh of her rear, her eyes widened. Her efforts redoubled as she felt her smallclothes rip away, terror fueling her actions. She bit one of the goblin's hands, resulting in an agonized shriek from the little monster. Again it's grip loosened, and again she broke free, using what strength she had to wrest her arm from the second goblin.

The third one hung on however, gripping her hips tightly and digging it's little claws into her flesh. She barely felt the pain as she tried to shake the creature off. It's nails dragged through her skin as it lost its hold on her, rolling through the dirt as it fell.

Blood dribbled down her legs as she ran for the tree line, all thoughts aside from escape pushed aside. Scout was now functionally naked with the exception of her shoes and the sleeves of her ruined suit. The goblins gave chase, but it wasn't long before Scout left them in the dust. She ran on and on, hopping over all manner of obstacles as she fled. She kept running even when the goblins were completely out of earshot. It was only then that she remembered her lost backpack.

Her enchanted suit was in there. The best tool she had ever owned was now in the hands of the goblins, along with her bedroll, spare clothing, and rations. She had lost everything because she had been foolish! With her being so distraught, she hadn't thought to mask her scent or even wear her blasted invisisuit! Now here she was, running through a darkening forest infested with goblins and other horrors with her naked flesh bared for all to see!

She kept running, she didn't dare stop, ignoring the cold and dread of today's ordeals. She kept running, not exactly knowing where she intended to go… until she came to a familiar clearing. A clearing of stumps and a small wooden fortress surrounded by rotting goblin corpses. It was now nearly nighttime, the sky darkening to a deep purplish hue.

She -whether by accident or on purpose- ran all the way to Savage's fortress. She hesitantly took a step toward it, the light orange light shining from within looking so inviting… would Savage take her in? At least for tonight? She paused before crossing the clearing of corpses. Scout was afraid that one of them may rise up to try and take her, but all the bodies she saw on her chosen path were smashed to unrecognizable pulp.

Savage may be scary, but it was either this or brave the dark woods naked.

She gingerly approached the fortress, hearing the sound of what she believed was wood being chopped. So Savage was awake at least, that was good. She hoped that he was having a good day today… Running through the forest once more was the last thing that she wanted. When she reached the gate, the chopping stopped.

Had he heard her?

She remained still until the chopping continued, breaking the silence.

She covered her chest and privates with both hands before shouting "Savage?"

The chopping stopped immediately, and she heard the sound of a cord being drawn taught. Footsteps then resounded off of wood above her, and she looked up to see Savage standing there in his tower, wide-eyed as he stared at her.

"What the fuck?" Savage asked "Why are you naked?"

His right hand, thankfully, was barely shaking at all. The stress of the day had to have been too much for Scout, so instead of giving a comprehensible answer like she intended, she instead burst out into tears.

Her vision blurred from the tears, obscuring him from her sight. She hung her head, continuing to gasp and weep instead of speak as tears carved a trail through Medic's dried blood.

He gave no response but she heard him stomp away and scuttle down his rope. The gate opened up shortly after, Savage keeping his eyes level with hers. He then gently grabbed her by the shoulders and led her inside, shutting the gate as soon as she was within the walls of the small fort.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"We gotta get those wounds flushed; come onto the porch." He ordered, looking her up and down with a critical eye.

Much to her relief, there was no lust in his gaze. He didn't hesitate to set her down in one of two wooden chairs that she was sure hadn't been present in her prior visit. The seat might have been comfortable, had she any proper clothing on to cushion her against the rough wood.

Savage quickly darted inside his cabin, bringing out the backpack she always saw him wearing. He unzipped the flap and began rifling through the contents. He came up with a large waterskin, some blue bandages, and what looked to be a paste the color of puke.

He uncorked the lid to the waterskin, and began pouring the cold water into the goblins claw marks. She flinched beneath the bitter cold but remained as still as possible for Savage.

This fresh cold brought her attention to the roaring fire nearby. It was set up where she and Savage had spoken previously, where he had ranted and raved in furious anger. This time, several large stones were set up around the burning firepit. The surrounding dirt was also completely clear, a multicolored pile of autumn leaves sitting in a corner of the walls nearby. Two uprooted stumps sat opposite one another, with the fire sitting right between them.

Had he set those up for them to continue their chats? Had he been looking forward to it that much? She blinked in surprise at how… cute? Yes, how cute it was. It was an odd thought, to say the least.

After the wounds were cleaned to Savage's satisfaction, he began applying the salve. It burned terribly on contact, but she had been expecting that. If it didn't hurt, it didn't heal. Savage's hands never lingered longer than they needed to as he smoothly moved from wound to wound, sliding the salve along her midriff, hips, and down a portion of her legs.

After that was done, he began wrapping the wounds with bandages. They didn't seem like conventional dressings, despite being cut the appropriate length and width. They were made of a light blue fabric, the color seemingly being washed out.

Upon noticing her inspection, Savage said "I made these out of a pair of pants that didn't fit me no more. Don't worry I boiled everything first."

With that out of the way, he quickly finished the dressings, and stood. He removed the thick leather jacket he was wearing and handed it to Scout, who took it gratefully. He went back inside as she slipped her arms through the sleeves, zipping up the warm jacket and finally giving her some sense of modesty.

Savage soon reemerged with a long pair of blue trousers that would certainly not fit her, but even still she took them happily. Savage looked away as she slid on the oversized pants, the shaking of his right hand almost imperceptible. She sniffled, only just now noticing that she had stopped crying at some point.

"You should get by the fire. You hungry?" Savage asked, still not turning around.

Scout stood up then, holding the trousers up to keep them from sliding right off "Yeah I'm starved… do you have anymore water? Sorry I don't mean to be a drain."

Savage waved his hand dismissively, back still turned to her "It's all good. We're eatin' a few rabbits I caught today."

Scout moved toward the fire, passing Savage who flinched at her movement. Right... she had to slow it down around him, just that little scare had his hand shaking slightly faster.

"Sorry." She said, slowing her pace to the inviting flame.

He took a deep breath then, but didn't say anything more until they both were sitting across from one another. The orange light of the flame underlit Savage's bearded face, but he didn't appear frightening. The madness in his eyes was barely present, Scout had been truly lucky to find him on such a good day.

Well, a good day for him anyway; this had to have been one of the worst days of her life. Finally deciding to abandon Prowler, indirectly killing Medic, and her run in with those goblins had unfortunately made this a day to remember for the rest of her life. She hung her head and buried her face in her palms, tears welling in them once more.

"I'll get you some water to clean up your face and get to cookin'. Just caught these today so they're fresh." Savage said, standing up from his seat and moving back to his porch.

She didn't lift her head from her hands the entire time he was getting everything ready, not until he offered her that same waterskin. She took it gratefully, taking a long thirst quenching sip and gasping when she finished. Not much was left in the skin, but she used the remainder to clean off the dried blood on her face.

Savage returned quickly with a large iron cook pot, and put it directly on the fire, setting several raw pieces of meat in it. The pleasant scent of sizzling meat wafted up to greet her, joining the comforting warmth of the flame. The deep cold that set into her bones from her naked sprint was slowly receding thanks to the flame and Savage's jacket.

His jacket had already been warmed by his body-heat, but she still shivered from her previous exposure. She watched him work on the cooking meat while grasping the now empty waterskin awkwardly in her hands. A part of her felt bad for drinking the whole thing, but she couldn't help herself.

He prodded and flipped the cooking meat with a fork that had been carved out of wood. A small part of her felt bad for the dead tree, but she knew that the trees in these woods bore no soul.

At least she thought so. She didn't really remember her homeland, or even her parents for that matter. Her only memory of them was the time they told her about the great souls of the Elfwood trees, and how they should always be respected. Anything before that was a blur.

Prowler had been in her life basically since the beginning, but she knew not how she came to be under his care. Prowler had never wanted to speak of it with Scout, always stating that 'it is best to forget the past'.

He always looked so sad when she asked him about it, so she eventually stopped her questioning. All she knew for certain was that her parents were dead and Prowler had taken her in and raised her as his own.

It had been that way for thirty-three years. Prowler had been a grown adult when he took Scout under his wing, but despite not being of a long-lived race… he never seemed to age.

Really, members of his race were known for living only for a short period before dying of heart failure or in battle. Prowler had not suffered either fate, so madness had to be what happened if they somehow persisted longer than usual.

Again this was something he refused to speak about with her. Suddenly a small square plate of carved wood was placed in her lap, steaming rabbit meat atop it.

Savage then stabbed that same fork into the meat before saying "Bon appetit."

Scout looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

"What does that mean?" She asked him.

His eyebrow lifted at the question but swiftly lowered as Savage widened his eyes.

"Right… uh, it means enjoy your food but translated it literally means good appetite." He said, moving to the pot "It's a saying where I'm from." He explained as he fixed himself his own plate.

"Wait… so, you use a phrase from another language in our own?" Scout asked.

"Yep." He said simply, sitting down on his stump and promptly devouring his morsels like a wild animal.

He didn't even use a utensil, he simply grabbed and lifted the cooked meat to his mouth and crammed the entire thing in. She stared wide-eyed as he quickly chewed the meat, swallowed it, and repeated until the dish was completely clean of food.

He looked up as soon as his plate was clear; his cheeks filled to bursting like a chipmunk. The absurd image of it actually brought a giggle out of Scout; something she never would have expected to happen after today's horrid events.

Savage blinked in surprise and swallowed the remainder of his food.

"You should eat before it gets cold." He said, gesturing to her untouched meal.

Scout was then very much aware of her empty stomach, and almost immediately attacked the meal with her carved fork. Even though the meat had no seasoning whatsoever, it tasted delicious compared to the hardtack she had grown used to eating.

She ended up eating the entire plate almost as quickly as Savage had, quelling her hunger in just a few mouthfuls. When she was finished she set her plate on the ground next to her stump.

Scout then found Savage's concerned gaze. She already knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"So what happened?" Savage asked softly.

Scout remained silent for a long while, until the sky had finally shifted completely to black. Savage didn't press her, he simply sat, waiting.

Eventually, she began to speak on the day's events. She vented on what Prowler had done, tears streaming down her cheeks once more as she explained why Prowler had done what he did.

Savage did not interrupt her, merely sitting silently while letting her speak. She then explained how she had finally opted to leave the Blackwings, packing her things and running off to god's knew where.

She began shaking as she spoke of her near-rape at the hands of the goblins that ambushed her. How her clothes had been ruined and her backpack had been left behind. Savage clenched his jaw with what she assumed was anger at the gobs for what they had done.

She then recounted her flight through the forest and how she had found her way to his fortress, sniffling and burying her head in her hands to hide her tears.

Savage remained silent for a time, simply allowing Scout to weep until finally he said "Ya can stay here as long as you need too…" He said hesitantly.

Scout understood why he felt hesitant to let her stay. He seemed to be aware of his own madness and didn't want to risk hurting her in a fit of anger. Prowler was like that before…

"I'll try and find your bag in the morning." He told her, standing from his seat "If ya can, you should get some rest, lemme move my bone throne outta there and you can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep next to the fire."

Right, he had a chair made out of goblin bones, but besides that…

"Are you sure?" Scout asked him softly.

Savage nodded, leaving the warm fire and entering his cabin. He re-emerged soon after, holding a white chair constructed of the aforementioned bones.

It was shockingly intricate, the bones interlocking to hold themselves together. It must have taken him ages to make it, and despite how macabre the chair was, she respected the craftsmanship that went into it. Savage then placed it behind his stump, sitting down in it and kicking his feet up on the flat top of the stump. The interlocking bones shifted beneath his weight, straining against each other with a quiet grinding sound that caused Scout to wince.

"Yeah," He said with a sigh "I'm sure. Go make yourself at home." Savage told her "Oh and by the way, I got somethin' I wanna ask you tomorrow. We gotta get something cleared up, but just go relax okay?" He said, resting the back of his head against his chair and closing his eyes.

What was it that he wanted cleared up? It couldn't have been that important if he was putting it off until the morning… but still she was curious. She stood from her seat, and moved slowly past Savage to the porch, hiking up the oversized pants as she went. She stopped in the open doorway, sparing a glance for the man who had saved her from a night in this damned forest.

"Thank you Savage…" She said silently.

"Canadian hospitality. Get some sleep girly." He said, unmoving.

She shut the door behind her, turning back to see the dark interior of Savage's cabin. The longhouse had been constructed with clear experience, the logs were all even in size and spacing, and had been limbed with expert precision, based on how the floor felt beneath her feet. She noticed a large shelf in the corner to her right, but it was too dark to make out what it held.

Scout realized that she didn't really know where Savage's bed was, and had to resort to fumbling through the dark to find it. She soon found herself crawling on the ground and feeling about with her hands until she eventually felt a pelt of fur. She didn't hesitate to crawl under the covers and comfy up, even with the jacket she felt very cold without the presence of the fire.

Scout briefly thought of stripping naked as she always did before sleep, but decided that it wouldn't be appropriate under Savage's roof. Really it was too cold for that anyway. Another fur pelt lay beneath her, insulating her from the floor and cushioning against the hard wood. Her thoughts raced through her mind uncontrollably for a long while before sleep found her, along with the emotions that accompanied them.

Guilt, fear, and sadness all coalesced and kept her awake for a few hours more, but sleep did eventually take her into its embrace. Her final thought before passing into unconsciousness almost brought her back to lucidity, but thankfully she didn't latch onto the thought.

"I hope Prowler will be okay…"